RECHA.She's so plain--So free from artifice--so like herself.SITTAH.Well!RECHA.And my father says 'tis rarely booksWork that effect.SITTAH.Oh, what a man he is,Dear Recha!RECHA.Is he not?SITTAH.He never failsTo hit the mark.RECHA.Yes, yes; and yet this father----SITTAH.What ails you, love?RECHA.This father----SITTAH.Oh my God!You're weeping.RECHA.And this father--it must forth--My heart wants room, wants room----(Throws herself in tears atSittah'sfeet.)SITTAH.What ails you, Recha?RECHA.Yes, I must lose this father!SITTAH.Lose him--never!Why so? Be calm. Courage! it must not be.RECHA.Your offer to be friend and sister to meWill now not be in vain.SITTAH.Yes, I am both.Arise, arise, or I must call for help.RECHA.O pardon! I forget, through agony,With whom I speak. Tears, sobbing, and despairAre naught with Sittah. Reason, calm and cool,Is over her alone omnipotent.No other argument avails with her.SITTAH.Well, then?RECHA.My friend and sister, suffer notAnother father to be forced on me.SITTAH.Another father to be forced on you!Who can do that, or wish to do it, love?RECHA.Who but my good, my evil genius, Daja?She can both wish it and perform the deed.You do not know this good, this evil Daja.May God forgive her, and reward her, too,For she has done me good and evil, both.SITTAH.Evil? Then she has little goodness left.RECHA.Oh, she has much.SITTAH.Who is she?RECHA.Who? a Christian,Who cared for me in childhood's early years.You cannot know how little she allowedThat I should miss a mother's tender cares--May God reward her for it!--but she hasWorried and tortured me.SITTAH.Wherefore, and how?RECHA.Poor woman, she's a Christian, and from loveHas tortured me: a warm enthusiast,Who thinks she only knows the real roadThat leads to God.SITTAH.I understand you now.RECHA.And one of those who feel in duty boundTo point it out to every one who straysFrom the plain path, to lead, to drag them in.And who can censure them? for if the roadThey travel is the only one that's safe,They cannot, without pain, behold their friendsPursue a path that lead to endless woe,Else, at the self-same time, 'twere possibleTo love and hate another. Nor does thisAlone compel me to complain aloud.Her groans, her prayers, her warnings, and her threatsI could have borne much longer willingly.They always called up good and wholesome thoughts.Who is not flattered to be held so dear,And precious by another, that the thoughtOf parting pierces him with lasting pain?SITTAH.This is most true.RECHA.And yet this goes too far,And I have nothing to oppose to it--Patience, reflection, nothing.SITTAH.How? to what?RECHA.To what she has disclosed to me.SITTAH.Say, when?RECHA.'Tis scarce an instant. Coming hitherWe passed a Christian temple on our way;She all at once stood still, seemed inly moved,Raised her moist eyes to heaven, then looked on me."Come," she exclaimed at length, "come straight on here,Through this old fane." She leads, I follow her.My eyes with horror overrun the dimAnd tottering ruin: all at once she stopsBy a low ruined altar's sunken steps.O, how I felt, when there, with streaming eyesAnd wringing hands, down at my feet she fell!SITTAH.Good child!RECHA.And, by the Holy Virgin, who had heardSo many suppliants' prayers, and had performedFull many a wonder there, she begged, imploredWith looks of heart-felt sympathy and love,That I would now take pity on myself,And pardon her for daring to unfoldThe nature of the Church's claims on me.SITTAH.I guessed as much.RECHA.I'm born of Christian blood,Have been baptised, and am not Nathan's child!Nathan is not my father! God, O God!He's not my father, Sittah! Now, behold,I'm once more prostrate at your feet.SITTAH.Arise!Recha, arise! behold, my brother comes.SceneVII.Saladin,Sittah,andRecha.SALADIN.What is the matter, Sittah?SITTAH.She has swooned.SALADIN.Who is she?SITTAH.Don't you know?SALADIN.'Tis Nathan's child.What ails her?SITTAH.Look up, Recha! 'tis the Sultan.RECHA (crawling to Saladin's feet).No, I'll not rise--not rise nor even lookUpon the Sultan's countenance, nor wonderAt the bright lustre of unchanging truthAnd goodness on his brow and in his eye,Before----SITTAH.Rise, rise!RECHA.Before he promises----SALADIN.Come, come! I promise, whatsoe'er your prayer.RECHA.'Tis only this--to leave my father to me,And me to him. As yet I cannot tellWho seeks to be my father: who it isCan harbour such a wish I'll ne'er inquire.Does blood alone make fathers--blood alone?SITTAH.Who can have been so cruel as to raiseThis dire suspicion in my Recha's breast?Say, is it proved? beyond all doubt made clear?RECHA.'Tis proved, for Daja had it from my nurse,Whose dying lips entrusted it to her.SALADIN.Dying! she raved. And even were it true,A father is not made by blood alone;Scarcely the father of a savage beast--Blood only gives the right to earn the name.Then fear no more, but hear me. If there beTwo fathers who contend for thee, leave both,And claim a third! O! take me for your father!SITTAH.Oh, do so, Recha, do so!SALADIN.I will beA good, kind father to you. But, in truthA better thought occurs. Why should you needTwo fathers? They are mortal, and must die.'Twere better, Recha, to look out betimesFor one to start with you on equal terms,And stake his life for thine. You understand?SITTAH.You make her blush!SALADIN.Why that was half my scheme.Blushing becomes plain features, and will makeA beauteous cheek more beauteous. My commandsAre giv'n to bring your father, Nathan, here.Another comes as well. You'll guess his name?Hither they come! Will you allow it, Sittah?SITTAH.Brother!SALADIN.And when he comes, maid, you must blushTo crimson.RECHA.Sittah! wherefore should I blush?SALADIN.You young dissembler, you will else grow pale!But as thou wilt and canst. (A female slave enters, and approachesSittah.) What, here so soon?SITTAH.Well, let them enter. Brother, here they are!SceneVIII.Nathan,theTemplar,and the others.SALADIN.Welcome, my dear good friends! Nathan, to youI must first mention, you may send and fetchYour moneys when you will.NATHAN.Sultan----SALADIN.And nowI'm at your service.NATHAN.Sultan----SALADIN.For my goldIs now arrived; the caravan is safe:These many years I have not been so rich.Now, tell me what you wish for, to achieveSome splendid speculation? You in trade,Like us, have never too much ready cash.NATHAN.Why speak about this trifle first? I seeAn eye in tears (going towardsRecha). My Recha, you have wept.What have you lost? Are you not still my child?RECHA.My father!NATHAN.That's enough! We're understoodBy one another! But look up--be calm,Be cheerful! If your heart is still your own,And if no threatened loss disturb your breast,Your father is not lost to you!RECHA.None, none!TEMPLAR.None! Then I'm much deceived. What we don't fearTo lose, we ne'er have loved, and ne'er have wishedTo be possessed of. But 'tis well, 'tis well!Nathan, this changes all! At your command,We come here, Sultan. You have been misledBy me, and I will trouble you no more!SALADIN.Rash, headlong youth! Must every temper yieldTo yours!--and must we all thus guess your mind?TEMPLAR.But, Sultan, you have heard and seen it all.SALADIN.Well, truly, it was awkward to be thusUncertain of your cause!TEMPLAR.I know my fate.SALADIN.Whoe'er presumes upon a service done,Cancels the benefit. What you have savedIs, therefore, not your own. Or else the thief,Urged by mere avarice through flaming halls,Were like yourself a hero. (Advancing towardsRechato lead her to theTemplar.) Come, sweet maid!Be not reserved towards him. Had he been so,Were he less warm, less proud, he had held back,And had not saved you. Weigh the former deedAgainst the latter, and you'll make him blush!Do what he should have done! confess your love!Make him your offer! and if he refuse,Or e'er forget how infinitely moreYou do for him than he has done for you--For what, in fact, have been his services,Save soiling his complexion? a mere sport--Else has he nothing of my Assad in him,But only wears his mask. Come, lovely maid.SITTAH.Go, dearest, go! this step is not enoughFor gratitude; it is too little.NATHAN.Hold!Hold, Saladin! hold, Sittah!SALADIN.What would you?NATHAN.It is the duty of another nowTo speak.SALADIN.Who questions that? Beyond all doubtA foster--father has a right to voteFirst, if you will. You see I know the whole.NATHAN.Not quite. I speak not, Sultan, of myself.There is another and a different manWhom I must first confer with, Saladin.SALADIN.And who is he?NATHAN.Her brother.SALADIN.Recha's brother?NATHAN.E'en so.RECHA.My brother! Have I then a brother?TEMPLAR(starting from his silent and sullen inattention).Where is this brother? Not yet here! 'Twas hereI was to meet him.NATHAN.Patience yet awhile.TEMPLAR(bitterly).He has imposed a father on the girl;He'll find a brother for her now!SALADIN.Indeed,That much was wanting. But this mean rebuke,Christian, had ne'er escaped my Assad's lips.NATHAN.Forgive him: I forgive him readily.Who knows what in his youth and in his placeWe might ourselves have thought? (Approaching him ina very friendly manner) Suspicion, knight,Follows upon reserve. Had you at firstVouchsafed to me your real name----TEMPLAR.How! what!NATHAN.You are no Stauffen.TEMPLAR.Tell me who I am.NATHAN.Conrad of Stauffen, not.TEMPLAR.Then what's my name?NATHAN.Leo of Filneck.TEMPLAR.How?NATHAN.You start!TEMPLAR.With reason.But who says this?NATHAN.I, who can tell you more.Meanwhile, observe, I tax you not with falsehood.TEMPLAR.Indeed!NATHAN.It may be both names fit you well.TEMPLAR.I think so. (Aside) God inspired him with that thought.NATHAN.Your mother was a Stauffen: and her brother(The uncle to whose care you were consigned,When, by the rigour of the climate chased,Your parents quitted Germany, to seekThis land once more) was Conrad. He, perhaps,Adopted you as his own son and heir.Is it long since you travelled hither with him?Does he still live?TEMPLAR.What shall I answer him?He speaks the truth. Nathan, 'tis so indeed;But he himself is dead. I journeyed here,With the last troops of knights, to reinforceOur order. But inform me how this taleConcerns your Recha's brother.NATHAN.Well, your father----TEMPLAR.What! did you know him too?NATHAN.He was my friend.TEMPLAR.Your friend! Oh, Nathan, is it possible?NATHAN.Oluf of Filneck did he style himself;But he was not a German.TEMPLAR.You know that?NATHAN.He had espoused a German, and he livedFor some, time with your mother there.TEMPLAR.No moreOf this, I beg. But what of Recha's brother?NATHAN.It is yourself.TEMPLAR.What, I? am I her brother?RECHA.He, my brother?SALADIN.Are they so near akin?RECHA(approaching theTemplar).My brother!TEMPLAR(stepping back).I, your brother?RECHA(stopping and turning to Nathan).No, in truth,It cannot be. His heart makes no response.O God! we are deceivers.SALADIN(to theTemplar).Say you so?Is that your thought? All is deceit in you:The voice, the gesture, and the countenance,Nothing of these is yours. How! will you notAcknowledge such a sister? Then begone!TEMPLAR (approaching him humbly).Oh! do not misinterpret my surprise.Sultan, you never saw your Assad's heartAt any time like this. Then do not err,Mistake not him and me. (Turning toNathan.) You give me much,Nathan, and also you take much away,And yet you give me more than you withdraw--Ay, infinitely more. My sister, sister! (embracesRecha.)NATHAN.Blanda of Filneck.TEMPLAR.Blanda, ha! not Recha?Your Recha now no more! Have you resignedYour child? Give her her Christian name once more,And for my sake discard her then. Oh, Nathan,Why must she suffer for a fault of mine?NATHAN.What mean you, oh, my children, both of you?For sure my daughter's brother is my childWhenever he shall wish.(While they embraceNathan, Saladinuneasily approachesSittah.)SALADIN.What say you, sister? Sittah.SITTAH.I'm deeply moved----SALADIN.And I half tremble whenI think of the emotion that must come:Prepare yourself to bear it as you may.SITTAH.What! How!SALADIN.Nathan, a word--one word with you.(He joinsNathan,whileSittahapproaches the others to express her sympathy, andNathanandSaladinconverse in a low tone.)Hear, hear me, Nathan. Said you not just nowThat he----NATHAN.That who?SALADIN.Her father was not bornIn Germany. You know then whence he came?And what he was?NATHAN.He never told me that.SALADIN.Was he no Frank, nor from the Western land?NATHAN.He said as much. He spoke the Persian tongue.SALADIN.The Persian! need I more? 'Tis he! 'twas he!NATHAN.Who?SALADIN.Assad, my brother Assad, beyond doubt.NATHAN.If you think so, then be assured from this:Look in this book (handing him the breviary).SALADIN.Oh, 'tis his hand! once moreI recognise it.NATHAN.They know naught of this:It rests with you to tell them all the truth.SALADIN(turning over the leaves of the breviary).They are my brother's children. Shall I notAcknowledge them and claim them? Or shall IAbandon them to you? (Speaking aloud.) Sittah, they areThe children of my brother and of yours. (Rushes to embrace them.)SITTAH(following his example).What do I hear? Could it be otherwise?SALADIN(to theTemplar).Proud youth! from this time forward you are boundTo love me. (ToRecha.) And henceforth, without your leaveOr with it, I am what I vowed to be.SITTAH.And so am I.SALADIN(to theTemplar).My son! my Assad's son!TEMPLAR.I of your blood! Then those were more than dreamsWith which they used to lull my infancy--(Falls atSultan'sfeet.)SALADIN(raising him).There, mark the rascal! though he knew somethingOf what has chanced, he was content that IShould have become his murderer! Beware.(The curtain falls whilst they repeatedly embrace each other in silence.)
She's so plain--
So free from artifice--so like herself.
Well!
And my father says 'tis rarely books
Work that effect.
Oh, what a man he is,
Dear Recha!
Is he not?
He never fails
To hit the mark.
Yes, yes; and yet this father----
What ails you, love?
This father----
Oh my God!
You're weeping.
And this father--it must forth--
My heart wants room, wants room----
(Throws herself in tears atSittah'sfeet.)
What ails you, Recha?
Yes, I must lose this father!
Lose him--never!
Why so? Be calm. Courage! it must not be.
Your offer to be friend and sister to me
Will now not be in vain.
Yes, I am both.
Arise, arise, or I must call for help.
O pardon! I forget, through agony,
With whom I speak. Tears, sobbing, and despair
Are naught with Sittah. Reason, calm and cool,
Is over her alone omnipotent.
No other argument avails with her.
Well, then?
My friend and sister, suffer not
Another father to be forced on me.
Another father to be forced on you!
Who can do that, or wish to do it, love?
Who but my good, my evil genius, Daja?
She can both wish it and perform the deed.
You do not know this good, this evil Daja.
May God forgive her, and reward her, too,
For she has done me good and evil, both.
Evil? Then she has little goodness left.
Oh, she has much.
Who is she?
Who? a Christian,
Who cared for me in childhood's early years.
You cannot know how little she allowed
That I should miss a mother's tender cares--
May God reward her for it!--but she has
Worried and tortured me.
Wherefore, and how?
Poor woman, she's a Christian, and from love
Has tortured me: a warm enthusiast,
Who thinks she only knows the real road
That leads to God.
I understand you now.
And one of those who feel in duty bound
To point it out to every one who strays
From the plain path, to lead, to drag them in.
And who can censure them? for if the road
They travel is the only one that's safe,
They cannot, without pain, behold their friends
Pursue a path that lead to endless woe,
Else, at the self-same time, 'twere possible
To love and hate another. Nor does this
Alone compel me to complain aloud.
Her groans, her prayers, her warnings, and her threats
I could have borne much longer willingly.
They always called up good and wholesome thoughts.
Who is not flattered to be held so dear,
And precious by another, that the thought
Of parting pierces him with lasting pain?
This is most true.
And yet this goes too far,
And I have nothing to oppose to it--
Patience, reflection, nothing.
How? to what?
To what she has disclosed to me.
Say, when?
'Tis scarce an instant. Coming hither
We passed a Christian temple on our way;
She all at once stood still, seemed inly moved,
Raised her moist eyes to heaven, then looked on me.
"Come," she exclaimed at length, "come straight on here,
Through this old fane." She leads, I follow her.
My eyes with horror overrun the dim
And tottering ruin: all at once she stops
By a low ruined altar's sunken steps.
O, how I felt, when there, with streaming eyes
And wringing hands, down at my feet she fell!
Good child!
And, by the Holy Virgin, who had heard
So many suppliants' prayers, and had performed
Full many a wonder there, she begged, implored
With looks of heart-felt sympathy and love,
That I would now take pity on myself,
And pardon her for daring to unfold
The nature of the Church's claims on me.
I guessed as much.
I'm born of Christian blood,
Have been baptised, and am not Nathan's child!
Nathan is not my father! God, O God!
He's not my father, Sittah! Now, behold,
I'm once more prostrate at your feet.
Arise!
Recha, arise! behold, my brother comes.
Saladin,Sittah,andRecha.
What is the matter, Sittah?
She has swooned.
Who is she?
Don't you know?
'Tis Nathan's child.
What ails her?
Look up, Recha! 'tis the Sultan.
No, I'll not rise--not rise nor even look
Upon the Sultan's countenance, nor wonder
At the bright lustre of unchanging truth
And goodness on his brow and in his eye,
Before----
Rise, rise!
Before he promises----
Come, come! I promise, whatsoe'er your prayer.
'Tis only this--to leave my father to me,
And me to him. As yet I cannot tell
Who seeks to be my father: who it is
Can harbour such a wish I'll ne'er inquire.
Does blood alone make fathers--blood alone?
Who can have been so cruel as to raise
This dire suspicion in my Recha's breast?
Say, is it proved? beyond all doubt made clear?
'Tis proved, for Daja had it from my nurse,
Whose dying lips entrusted it to her.
Dying! she raved. And even were it true,
A father is not made by blood alone;
Scarcely the father of a savage beast--
Blood only gives the right to earn the name.
Then fear no more, but hear me. If there be
Two fathers who contend for thee, leave both,
And claim a third! O! take me for your father!
Oh, do so, Recha, do so!
I will be
A good, kind father to you. But, in truth
A better thought occurs. Why should you need
Two fathers? They are mortal, and must die.
'Twere better, Recha, to look out betimes
For one to start with you on equal terms,
And stake his life for thine. You understand?
You make her blush!
Why that was half my scheme.
Blushing becomes plain features, and will make
A beauteous cheek more beauteous. My commands
Are giv'n to bring your father, Nathan, here.
Another comes as well. You'll guess his name?
Hither they come! Will you allow it, Sittah?
Brother!
And when he comes, maid, you must blush
To crimson.
Sittah! wherefore should I blush?
You young dissembler, you will else grow pale!
But as thou wilt and canst. (A female slave enters, and approachesSittah.) What, here so soon?
Well, let them enter. Brother, here they are!
Nathan,theTemplar,and the others.
Welcome, my dear good friends! Nathan, to you
I must first mention, you may send and fetch
Your moneys when you will.
Sultan----
And now
I'm at your service.
Sultan----
For my gold
Is now arrived; the caravan is safe:
These many years I have not been so rich.
Now, tell me what you wish for, to achieve
Some splendid speculation? You in trade,
Like us, have never too much ready cash.
Why speak about this trifle first? I see
An eye in tears (going towardsRecha). My Recha, you have wept.
What have you lost? Are you not still my child?
My father!
That's enough! We're understood
By one another! But look up--be calm,
Be cheerful! If your heart is still your own,
And if no threatened loss disturb your breast,
Your father is not lost to you!
None, none!
None! Then I'm much deceived. What we don't fear
To lose, we ne'er have loved, and ne'er have wished
To be possessed of. But 'tis well, 'tis well!
Nathan, this changes all! At your command,
We come here, Sultan. You have been misled
By me, and I will trouble you no more!
Rash, headlong youth! Must every temper yield
To yours!--and must we all thus guess your mind?
But, Sultan, you have heard and seen it all.
Well, truly, it was awkward to be thus
Uncertain of your cause!
I know my fate.
Whoe'er presumes upon a service done,
Cancels the benefit. What you have saved
Is, therefore, not your own. Or else the thief,
Urged by mere avarice through flaming halls,
Were like yourself a hero. (Advancing towardsRechato lead her to theTemplar.) Come, sweet maid!
Be not reserved towards him. Had he been so,
Were he less warm, less proud, he had held back,
And had not saved you. Weigh the former deed
Against the latter, and you'll make him blush!
Do what he should have done! confess your love!
Make him your offer! and if he refuse,
Or e'er forget how infinitely more
You do for him than he has done for you--
For what, in fact, have been his services,
Save soiling his complexion? a mere sport--
Else has he nothing of my Assad in him,
But only wears his mask. Come, lovely maid.
Go, dearest, go! this step is not enough
For gratitude; it is too little.
Hold!
Hold, Saladin! hold, Sittah!
What would you?
It is the duty of another now
To speak.
Who questions that? Beyond all doubt
A foster--father has a right to vote
First, if you will. You see I know the whole.
Not quite. I speak not, Sultan, of myself.
There is another and a different man
Whom I must first confer with, Saladin.
And who is he?
Her brother.
Recha's brother?
E'en so.
My brother! Have I then a brother?
Where is this brother? Not yet here! 'Twas here
I was to meet him.
Patience yet awhile.
He has imposed a father on the girl;
He'll find a brother for her now!
Indeed,
That much was wanting. But this mean rebuke,
Christian, had ne'er escaped my Assad's lips.
Forgive him: I forgive him readily.
Who knows what in his youth and in his place
We might ourselves have thought? (Approaching him ina very friendly manner) Suspicion, knight,
Follows upon reserve. Had you at first
Vouchsafed to me your real name----
How! what!
You are no Stauffen.
Tell me who I am.
Conrad of Stauffen, not.
Then what's my name?
Leo of Filneck.
How?
You start!
With reason.
But who says this?
I, who can tell you more.
Meanwhile, observe, I tax you not with falsehood.
Indeed!
It may be both names fit you well.
I think so. (Aside) God inspired him with that thought.
Your mother was a Stauffen: and her brother
(The uncle to whose care you were consigned,
When, by the rigour of the climate chased,
Your parents quitted Germany, to seek
This land once more) was Conrad. He, perhaps,
Adopted you as his own son and heir.
Is it long since you travelled hither with him?
Does he still live?
What shall I answer him?
He speaks the truth. Nathan, 'tis so indeed;
But he himself is dead. I journeyed here,
With the last troops of knights, to reinforce
Our order. But inform me how this tale
Concerns your Recha's brother.
Well, your father----
What! did you know him too?
He was my friend.
Your friend! Oh, Nathan, is it possible?
Oluf of Filneck did he style himself;
But he was not a German.
You know that?
He had espoused a German, and he lived
For some, time with your mother there.
No more
Of this, I beg. But what of Recha's brother?
It is yourself.
What, I? am I her brother?
He, my brother?
Are they so near akin?
My brother!
I, your brother?
No, in truth,
It cannot be. His heart makes no response.
O God! we are deceivers.
Say you so?
Is that your thought? All is deceit in you:
The voice, the gesture, and the countenance,
Nothing of these is yours. How! will you not
Acknowledge such a sister? Then begone!
Oh! do not misinterpret my surprise.
Sultan, you never saw your Assad's heart
At any time like this. Then do not err,
Mistake not him and me. (Turning toNathan.) You give me much,
Nathan, and also you take much away,
And yet you give me more than you withdraw--
Ay, infinitely more. My sister, sister! (embracesRecha.)
Blanda of Filneck.
Blanda, ha! not Recha?
Your Recha now no more! Have you resigned
Your child? Give her her Christian name once more,
And for my sake discard her then. Oh, Nathan,
Why must she suffer for a fault of mine?
What mean you, oh, my children, both of you?
For sure my daughter's brother is my child
Whenever he shall wish.
(While they embraceNathan, Saladinuneasily approachesSittah.)
What say you, sister? Sittah.
I'm deeply moved----
And I half tremble when
I think of the emotion that must come:
Prepare yourself to bear it as you may.
What! How!
Nathan, a word--one word with you.
(He joinsNathan,whileSittahapproaches the others to express her sympathy, andNathanandSaladinconverse in a low tone.)
Hear, hear me, Nathan. Said you not just now
That he----
That who?
Her father was not born
In Germany. You know then whence he came?
And what he was?
He never told me that.
Was he no Frank, nor from the Western land?
He said as much. He spoke the Persian tongue.
The Persian! need I more? 'Tis he! 'twas he!
Who?
Assad, my brother Assad, beyond doubt.
If you think so, then be assured from this:
Look in this book (handing him the breviary).
Oh, 'tis his hand! once more
I recognise it.
They know naught of this:
It rests with you to tell them all the truth.
They are my brother's children. Shall I not
Acknowledge them and claim them? Or shall I
Abandon them to you? (Speaking aloud.) Sittah, they are
The children of my brother and of yours. (Rushes to embrace them.)
What do I hear? Could it be otherwise?
Proud youth! from this time forward you are bound
To love me. (ToRecha.) And henceforth, without your leave
Or with it, I am what I vowed to be.
And so am I.
My son! my Assad's son!
I of your blood! Then those were more than dreams
With which they used to lull my infancy--
(Falls atSultan'sfeet.)
There, mark the rascal! though he knew something
Of what has chanced, he was content that I
Should have become his murderer! Beware.
(The curtain falls whilst they repeatedly embrace each other in silence.)