Out of the Wings

Don Duardos (1522), Gil Vicente

Don Duardos : THE OPENING OF THE PLAY , DUARDOS’S FIRST SOLILOQUY , DUARDOS’S SPEECH TO ARTADA

Don Duardos, translated by Jo Clifford

THE OPENING OF THE PLAY

Context:

Clifford has adapted Vicente’s published Prologue into an introductory speech and added the figure of The Author in her adaptation.

Sample text

THE AUTHOR:: Lords and ladies! Ladies and gentlemen!
Your majesties! Always we have tried to please you
in tragedy and farce, in history and moralities,
we have told you stories of your common life
because that, it seemed, gave pleasure.
But tonight, ladies, tonight! Tonight
it is the delicate we try to please.
Because even in these enterprising and cash conscious times
we know there still exist such precious souls
and we would give our very lives to please them.
So we have burrowed through archives,
we have ransacked countless libraries,
and finally, after years of arduous trials,
we have found in the furthest extremity of the imagined world
lovers whose nobility exceeds even our desire to serve you
subjects whose beauty
whose grace of speech
whose excellence of discourse
exceeds anything imagined by the human heart:
so here, before your very eyes,
in Constantinople, amid the splendours of the imperial court,
and in the presence of the all powerful emperor himself,
we bring you
DON DUARDOS!; The AUTHOR becomes the EMPEROR.
THE AUTHOR:: Excuse me.
DUARDOS:: Most famous lord, may your sacred majesty
be praised and exalted for ever!
And may your splendour shine
as widely as your goodness is proclaimed!
I have come to beg a little thing
but one that in your power and might
you cannot deny me,
For it is founded on truth.
And if you, great lord, deny the truth
then reason and order will leave the world
and you will be the emperor of lies.
A lady has been wronged, my lord,
Gridonia wounded to the point of death!
EMPEROR:: Brave adventurer, the words you use
show you are more than a common knight.
DUARDOS:: I am no more than what my feelings make me.
I am no more than the grief I feel for this lady.
EMPEROR:: You are asking for the right to fight my son.
DUARDOS:: He killed the man she loved
the man she loved as god!
It may have seemed he only fought with one
but he has murdered two.
PRIMALEON:: Are you looking for revenge?
DUARDOS:: Are you by any chance Primaleon?
PRIMALEON:: I am!
DUARDOS:: Then, yes, I am looking for revenge.
And it seems that I have found it.
Provided the Emperor gives me leave.
EMPEROR:: I do not know you, foolish knight
I only know that you are wrong.
DUARDOS:: And why?
EMPEROR:: Because you will not find any honour here
you’ll find no praise or glory
all that you’ll encounter is your death!
DUARDOS:: It cannot be helped.
I know Primaleon to be a deadly enemy
but that does not alter the beauty of this lady
or the fact she has been wounded and aggrieved.
It does not change her right to be avenged.
PRIMALEON:: Whether she has that right or not
is something you will very quickly see.
DUARDOS:: We’re wasting time.
PRIMALEON:: Let our weapons decide the truth!; And at this they fight. The EMPEROR becomes the AUTHOR
THE AUTHOR:: Enter Flerida; The AUTHOR becomes the EMPEROR
EMPEROR:: My daughter.
FLERIDA:: Peace. Peace! Most gentle men,
nobles like you should not let yourselves be killed.
Peace between you will be pleasing to me
and pleasing as well to God.
And you, foreign cavalier,
for my love’s sake I truly ask
you be the first to end this fight
you be the first to see none come to harm.
DUARDOS:: Lady this instant I lay down my arms
from this moment I cease all fighting
not for the sake of any fear
not for the sake of any God
but for you. For the sake of you
you who more fiercely fight with me
than any other deadly enemy.
How strange this chance encounter is!
For here in the midst of battle, here
in the furthest extremity of human life
I find myself engaged in a far darker war
a war of passion, whose power is such
I feel deep fear.
FLERIDA:: But you’re not going
going without saying more?
DUARDOS:: I will return
but first I must find more glory
if love allows me life
I will . . . but I cannot tell!; Exit DON DUARDOS
FLERIDA:: I should have asked his name!
I should have . . .
I have done wrong.
I have done such wrong
ARTADA:: Perhaps it was the Knight of the Sea
or else Don Duardos,
for none can equal him.; The EMPEROR becomes the AUTHOR.
THE AUTHOR:: And so these figures draw aside
PRIMALEON:: But what about me
THE AUTHOR:: You wander through the desolate world.
You say
PRIMALEON:: I will find the identity of this unknown knight
or I will die in the attempt!
THE AUTHOR:: That’s right.
PRIMALEON:: And?
THE AUTHOR:: You die in the attempt.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation Don Duardos by Jo Clifford is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

DUARDOS’S FIRST SOLILOQUY

Context:

Duardos convinces the gardener Gil and his wife Costanza Ruiz to pretend that he is their son in exchange for gold, as he invents a story of treasure hidden in their garden which only he can find by digging throughout the night. He has been conversing with Flerida and Artada, but upon their exit . . .

Sample text

THE AUTHOR:: And so the ladies leave.
Without them its flowers all wither and die.
And don Duardos says to the gardener:
DUARDOS:: I have to work right through the night
for this treasure requires labour in darkness.
I’m off to dig for it like a dog.
COSTANZA RUIZ:: Good. God help you dig. I’ll lock the door.
It’s a summer night. Even if you sleep out in the
open, it won’t do you any harm.
Oh you three wise men who came from the east
listen to my prayer:
for the sake of all your holy miracles
help this strange young man
find millions of gold ducats!
THE AUTHOR:: And don Duardos is alone in the garden.
The first soliloquy:
DUARDOS:: Palace made holy by the treasure in your hand
you are fashioned out of purest gold.
But you should be made out of more than gold!
Rubies and fine emeralds should be your windows
and your doors; for they are used by angels.
Lady of this garden I worship you
more than I worship any other god.
You are the source of all my gladness
you are the cause of all my grief.
You are the one who has created
this humble task that for your sake I chose.
Lady of this garden I worship you
to you I offer up my soul.
Lady don’t ever boast of power
don’t ever come to realise your strength
for if you do I’m doomed for ever.
Lady the excellence of women
is exemplified by you.
Lady for the sake of who you are
take pity on my suffering and grief!
Lady of this garden I worship you
I saw the compassion in your eyes
full of feeling, of pure light and clarity
two suns whose brightness blinds all human kind.
Look down on me, a pilgrim for your sake
travelling the weary road to oblivion and death!
You sleep, I wake: all that sleeps in me is hope
all night I am sleepless in the dark
with no god no soul no life
firm in perfect constancy.
If consolation came to me
I’d kick her in the teeth
I’d tell her not to waste her time on me
not to waste her time on her mortal enemy.
And now the day has come.
And I must give them some of their treasure.
But my real treasure is my Flerida
Goddess of my heart
whose power I worship for ever.
GIL:: You must have had a rotten night.
Black as pitch. No moon.
DUARDOS:: And no pleasure.
COSTANZA RUIZ:: Your breakfast’s ready
DUARDOS:: My food is suffering and my drink is tears
COSTANZA RUIZ:: Would you like a boiled egg?
DUARDOS:: This is what I found on this first night
GIL:: Look at that!
I’m almost tempted to think that even Flerida
is not as lovely as that is!
DUARDOS:: Ay, ay!
GIL:: You must be tired.
DUARDOS:: My heart would tell of its ills
if it did but dare to.
COSTANZA RUIZ:: How do you like your egg?
DUARDOS:: Don’t let’s talk of food
let my treasure be the purpose of my life.
This cup must be Flerida’s,
for she is descended from a Moor:
she has the right to inherit it.
So we should give it to her for our conscience sake;
and the three hundred ducats are all yours.; Exit DUARDOS.
COSTANZA RUIZ:: But you should at least have a bit of bacon
GIL:: I wish we could give him a nice pig’s foot!
COSTANZA RUIZ:: And we’re so out of everything!
Let’s put this safely away.
Let’s take him down the pub
buy him a drink at least
he can curl up by the fire and have a rest.; Exit GIL and COSTANZA RUIZ.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation Don Duardos by Jo Clifford is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

DUARDOS’S SPEECH TO ARTADA

Context:

Duardos has refused to reveal his identity to the princess Flerida and her lady-in-waiting Artada, yet declares his love for Flerida.

Sample text

DUARDOS:: Tell her I don’t know who I am
Nor what I’m saying, what I follow
or what I do; I no longer know
if I’m a man, or am still myself at all.
Tell her that I have no name
the name I had she took from me and burnt.
Tell her that I am not a man
the man I was has been destroyed and lost.
I walk the earth and cannot be silent
my voice is broken yet I have to scream.
I live a life that is cruelly dying
I burn in fire yet do not avoid the flame.
I run though my body’s bound in chains
I fly yet cannot escape from love.
I take pleasure in what gives me pain
I suffer agony yet do not cry out in grief.
Tell her if I am a king
each sigh I breathe is a glorious kingdom.
Tell her if I am lowborn
all my sufferings have a true nobility
and that should be all she needs to know.

Copyright