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Versione ebook di Readme.it powered by Softwarehouse.itPROLOGUE.
Delusions of the days that once have been
Witchcraft and wonders of the world unseen
Phantoms of airand necromantic arts
That crushed the weak and awed the stoutest hearts--
These are our theme to-night; and vaguely here
Through the dim mists that crowd the atmosphere
We draw the outlines of weird figures cast
In shadow on the background of the Past
Who would believe that in the quiet town
Of Salemandamid the woods that crown
The neighboring hillsidesand the sunny farms
That fold it safe in their paternal arms--
Who would believe that in those peaceful streets
Where the great elms shut out the summer heats
Where quiet reignsand breathes through brain and breast
The benediction of unbroken rest--
Who would believe such deeds could find a place
As these whose tragic history we retrace?
'T was but a village then; the goodman ploughed
His ample acres under sun or cloud;
The goodwife at her doorstep sat and spun
And gossiped with her neighbors in the sun;
The only men of dignity and state
Were then the Minister and the Magistrate
Who ruled their little realm with iron rod
Less in the love than in the fear of God;
And who believed devoutly in the Powers
Of Darknessworking in this world of ours
In spells of Witchcraftincantations dread
And shrouded apparitions of the dead.
Upon this simple folk "with fire and flame"
Saith the old chronicle"the Devil came;
Scattering his firebrands and his poisonous darts
To set on fire of Hell all tongues and hearts!
And 't is no wonder; forwith all his host
There most he rages where he hateth most
And is most hated; so on us he brings
All these stupendous and portentous things!"
Something of this our scene to-night will show;
And ye who listen to the Tale of Woe
Be not too swift in casting the first stone
Nor think New England bears the guilt alone
This sudden burst of wickedness and crime
Was but the common madness of the time
When in all landsthat lie within the sound
Of Sabbath bellsa Witch was burned or drowned.
ACT I.
I. -- The woods near Salem Village.
[Enter TITUBAwith a basket of herbs.]
TITUBA.
Here's monk's-hoodthat breeds fever in the blood;
And deadly nightshadethat makes men see ghosts;
And henbanethat will shake them with convulsions;
And meadow-saffron and black hellebore
That rack the nervesand puff the skin with dropsy;
And bitter-sweetand brionyand eye-bright
That cause eruptionsnosebleedrheumatisms;
I know themand the places where they hide
In field and meadow; and I know their secrets
And gather them because they give me power
Over all men and women. Armed with these
ITitubaan Indian and a slave
Am stronger than the captain with his sword
Am richer than the merchant with his money
Am wiser than the scholar with his books
Mightier than Ministers and Magistrates
With all the fear and reverence that attend them!
For I can fill their bones with aches and pains
Can make them cough with asthmashake with palsy
Can make their daughters see and talk with ghosts
Or fall into delirium and convulsions;
I have the Evil Eyethe Evil Hand;
A touch from me and they are weak with pain
A look from meand they consume and die.
The death of cattle and the blight of corn
The shipwreckthe tornadoand the fire--
These are my doingsand they know it not.
Thus I work vengeance on mine enemies
Whowhile they call me slaveare slaves to me!
[Exit TITUBA. Enter MATHERbooted and spurredwith a riding-whip in hishand.]
MATHER.
Methinks that I have come by paths unknown
Into the land and atmosphere of Witches;
Formeditating as I journeyed on
Lo! I have lost my way! If I remember
Rightlyit is Scribonius the learned
That tells the story of a man whopraying
For one that was possessed by Evil Spirits
Was struck by Evil Spirits in the face;
Ijourneying to circumvent the Witches
Surely by Witches have been led astray.
I am persuaded there are few affairs
In which the Devil doth not interfere.
We cannot undertake a journey even
But Satan will be there to meddle with it
By hindering or by furthering. He hath led me
Into this thicketstruck me in the face
With branches of the treesand so entangled
The fetlocks of my horse with vines and brambles
That I must needs dismountand search on foot
For the lost pathway leading to the village.
[Re-enter TITUBA.]
What shape is this? What monstrous apparition
Exceeding fiercethat none may pass that way?
Tell megood womanif you are a woman --
TITUBA.
I am a womanbut I am not good
I am a Witch!
MATHER.
Then tell meWitch and woman
For you must know the pathways through this wood
Where lieth Salem Village?
TITUBA.
Reverend sir
The village is near by. I'm going there
With these few herbs. I'll lead you. Follow me.
MATHER.
First saywho are you? I am loath to follow
A stranger in this wildernessfor fear
Of being misledand left in some morass.
Who are you?
TITUBA.
I am Tituba the Witch
Wife of John Indian.
MATHER.
You are Tituba?
I know you then. You have renounced the Devil
And have become a penitent confessor
The Lord be praised! Go onI'll follow you.
Wait only till I fetch my horsethat stands
Tethered among the treesnot far from here.
TITUBA.
Let me get up behind youreverend sir.
MATHER.
The Lord forbid! What would the people think
If they should see the Reverend Cotton Mather
Ride into Salem with a Witch behind him?
The Lord forbid!
TITUBA.
I do not need a horse!
I can ride through the air upon a stick
Above the tree-tops and above the houses
And no one see meno one overtake me.
[ [Exeunt.]
II. -- A room at JUSTICE HATHORNE'S. A clock in the corner.
HATHORNE.
You are welcomereverend sirthrice welcome here
Beneath my humble roof.
MATHER.
I thank your Worship.
HATHORNE.
Pray you be seated. You must be fatigued
With your long ride through unfrequented woods.
[They sit down.]
MATHER.
You know the purport of my visit here--
To be advised by youand counsel with you
And with the Reverend Clergy of the village
Touching these witchcrafts that so much afflict you;
And see with mine own eyes the wonders told
Of spectres and the shadows of the dead
That come back from their graves to speak with men.
HATHORNE.
Some men there areI have known suchwho think
That the two worlds -- the seen and the unseen
The world of matter and the world of spirit --
Are like the hemispheres upon our maps
And touch each other only at a point.
But these two worlds are not divided thus
Save for the purposes of common speech
They form one globein which the parted s as
All flow together and are intermingled
While the great continents remain distinct.
MATHER.
I doubt it not. The spiritual world
Lies all about usand its avenues
Are open to the unseen feet of phantoms
That come and goand we perceive them not
Save by their influenceor when at times
A most mysterious Providence permits them
To manifest themselves to mortal eyes.
HATHORNE.
Youwho are always welcome here among us
Are doubly welcome now. We need your wisdom
Your learning in these things to be our guide.
The Devil hath come down in wrath upon us
And ravages the land with all his hosts.
MATHER.
The Unclean Spirit said"My name is Legion!"
Multitudes in the Valley of Destruction!
But when our ferventwell-directed prayers
Which are the great artillery of Heaven
Are brought into the fieldI see them scattered
And driven like autumn leaves before the wind.
HATHORNE.
You as a Minister of Godcan meet them
With spiritual weapons: butalas!
Ias a Magistratemust combat them
With weapons from the armory of the flesh.
MATHER.
These wonders of the world invisible--
These spectral shapes that haunt our habitations--
The multiplied and manifold afflictions
With which the aged and the dying saints
Have their death prefaced and their age imbittered--
Are but prophetic trumpets that proclaim
The Second Coming of our Lord on earth.
The evening wolves will be much more abroad
When we are near the evening of the world.
HATHORNE.
When you shall seeas I have hourly seen
The sorceries and the witchcrafts that torment us
See children tortured by invisible spirits
And wasted and consumed by powers unseen
You will confess the half has not been told you.
MATHER.
It must be so. The death-pangs of the Devil
Will make him more a Devil than before;
And Nebuchadnezzar's furnace will be heated
Seven times more hot before its putting out.
HATHORNE.
Advise mereverend sir. I look to you
For counsel and for guidance in this matter.
What further shall we do?
MATHER.
Remember this
That as a sparrow falls not to the ground
Without the will of Godso not a Devil
Can come down from the air without his leave.
We must inquire.
HATHORNE.
Dear sirwe have inquired;
Sifted the matter thoroughly through and through
And then resifted it.
MATHER.
If God permits
These Evil Spirits from the unseen regions
To visit us with surprising informations
We must inquire what cause there is for this
But not receive the testimony borne
By spectres as conclusive proof of guilt
In the accused.
HATHORNE.
Upon such evidence
We do not rest our case. The ways are many
In which the guilty do betray themselves.
MATHER.
Be careful. Carry the knife with such exactness
That on one side no innocent blood be shed
By too excessive zealand on the other
No shelter given to any work of darkness.
HATHORNE.
For oneI do not fear excess of zeal.
What do we gain by parleying with the Devil?
You reasonbut you hesitate to act!
Ahreverend sir! believe mein such cases
The only safety is in acting promptly.
'T is not the part of wisdom to delay
In things where not to do is still to do
A deed more fatal than the deed we shrink from.
You are a man of books and meditation
But I am one who acts.
MATHER.
God give us wisdom
In the directing of this thorny business
And guide uslest New England should become
Of an unsavory and sulphurous odor
In the opinion of the world abroad!
[The clock strikes.]
I never hear the striking of a clock
Without a warning and an admonition
That time is on the wingand we must quicken
Our tardy pace in journeying Heavenward
As Israel did in journeying Canaan-ward!
[They rise.]
HATHORNE.
Then let us make all haste; and I will show you
In what disguises and what fearful shapes
The Unclean Spirits haunt this neighborhood
And you will pardon my excess of zeal.
MATHER.
Ahpoor New England! He who hurricanoed
The house of Job is making now on thee
One last assaultmore deadly and more snarled
With unintelligible circumstances
Than any thou hast hitherto encountered!
[ [Exeunt.]
III. -- A room in WALCOT'S House. MARY WALCOT seated in an arm-chair. TITUBAwith a mirror.
MARY.
Tell me another storyTituba.
A drowsiness is stealing over me
Which is not sleep; forthough I close mine eyes
I am awakeand in another world.
Dim faces of the dead and of the absent
Come floating up before me-- floatingfading
And disappearing.
TITUBA.
Look into this glass.
What see you?
MARY.
Nothing but a golden vapor.
Yessomething more. An islandwith the sea
Breaking all round itlike a blooming hedge.
What land is this?
TITUBA.
It is San Salvador
Where Tituba was born. What see you now?
MARY.
A man all black and fierce.
TITUBA.
That is my father.
He was an Obi manand taught me magic--
Taught me the use of herbs and images.
What is he doing?
MARY.
Holding in his hand
A waxen figure. He is melting it
Slowly before a fire.
TITUBA.
And now what see you?
MARY.
A woman lying on a bed of leaves
Wasted and worn away. Ahshe is dying!
TITUBA.
That is the way the Obi men destroy
The people they dislike! That is the way
Some one is wasting and consuming you.
MARY.
You terrify meTituba! Ohsave me
From those who make me pine and waste away!
Who are they? Tell me.
TITUBA.
That I do not know
But you will see them. They will come to you.
MARY.
Nodo not let them come! I cannot bear it!
I am too weak to bear it! I am dying.
[Fails into a trance.]
TITUBA.
Hark! there is some one coming!
[Enter HATHORNEMATHERand WALCOT.]
WALCOT.
There she lies
Wasted and worn by devilish incantations!
O my poor sister!
MATHER.
Is she always thus?
WALCOT.
Nayshe is sometimes tortured by convulsions.
MATHER.
Poor child! How thin she is! How wan and wasted!
HATHORNE.
Observe her. She is troubled in her sleep.
MATHER.
Some fearful vision haunts her.
HATHORNE.
You now see
With your own eyesand touch with your own hands
The mysteries of this Witchcraft.
MATHER.
One would need
The hands of Briareus and the eyes of Argus
To see and touch them all.
HATHORNE.
You now have entered
The realm of ghosts and phantoms-- the vast realm
Of the unknown and the invisible
Through whose wide-open gates there blows a wind
From the dark valley of the shadow of Death
That freezes us with horror.
MARY.
[(starting)]
Take her hence!
Take her away from me. I see her there!
She's coming to torment me!
WALCOT.
[(taking her hand)]
O my sister!
What frightens you? She neither hears nor sees me.
She's in a trance.
MARY.
Do you not see her there?
TITUBA.
My childwho is it?
MARY.
AhI do not know
I cannot see her face.
TITUBA.
How is she clad?
MARY.
She wears a crimson bodice. In her hand
She holds an imageand is pinching it
Between her fingers. Ahshe tortures me!
I see her face now. It is Goodwife Bishop!
Why does she torture me? I never harmed her!
And now she strikes me with an iron rod!
OhI am beaten!
MATHER.
This is wonderful!
I can see nothing! Is this apparition
Visibly thereand yet we cannot see it?
HATHORNE.
It is. The spectre is invisible
Unto our grosser sensesbut she sees it.
MARY.
Look! look! there is another clad in gray!
She holds a spindle in her handand threatens
To stab me with it! It is Goodwife Corey!
Keep her away! Now she is coming at me!
Ohmercy! mercy!
WALCOT.
[(thrusting with his sword)]
There is nothing there!
MATHER to HATHORNE.
Do you see anything?
HATHORNE.
The laws that govern
The spiritual world prevent our seeing
Things palpable and visible to her.
These spectres are to us as if they were not.
Mark her; she wakes.
[TITUBA touches herand she awakes.]
MARY.
Who are these gentlemen?
WALCOT.
They are our friends. Dear Maryare you better?
MARY.
Weakvery weak.
[Taking a spindle from her lapand holding it up.]
How came this spindle here?
TITUBA.
You wrenched it from the hand of Goodwife Corey
When she rushed at you.
HATHORNE.
Mark thatreverend sir!
MATHER.
It is most marvellousmost inexplicable!
TITUBA.
[(picking up a bit of gray cloth from the floor)]
And heretoois a bit of her gray dress
That the sword cut away.
MATHER.
Beholding this
It were indeed by far more credulous
To be incredulous than to believe.
None but a Sadduceewho doubts of all
Pertaining to the spiritual world
Could doubt such manifest and damning proofs!
HATHORNE.
Are you convinced?
MATHER to MARY.
Dear childbe comforted!
Only by prayer and fasting can you drive
These Unclean Spirits from you. An old man
Gives you his blessing. God be with youMary!
I. -- The woods near Salem Village.
[Enter TITUBAwith a basket of herbs.]
TITUBA.
Here's monk's-hoodthat breeds fever in the blood;
And deadly nightshadethat makes men see ghosts;
And henbanethat will shake them with convulsions;
And meadow-saffron and black hellebore
That rack the nervesand puff the skin with dropsy;
And bitter-sweetand brionyand eye-bright
That cause eruptionsnosebleedrheumatisms;
I know themand the places where they hide
In field and meadow; and I know their secrets
And gather them because they give me power
Over all men and women. Armed with these
ITitubaan Indian and a slave
Am stronger than the captain with his sword
Am richer than the merchant with his money
Am wiser than the scholar with his books
Mightier than Ministers and Magistrates
With all the fear and reverence that attend them!
For I can fill their bones with aches and pains
Can make them cough with asthmashake with palsy
Can make their daughters see and talk with ghosts
Or fall into delirium and convulsions;
I have the Evil Eyethe Evil Hand;
A touch from me and they are weak with pain
A look from meand they consume and die.
The death of cattle and the blight of corn
The shipwreckthe tornadoand the fire--
These are my doingsand they know it not.
Thus I work vengeance on mine enemies
Whowhile they call me slaveare slaves to me!
[Exit TITUBA. Enter MATHERbooted and spurredwith a riding-whip in hishand.]
MATHER.
Methinks that I have come by paths unknown
Into the land and atmosphere of Witches;
Formeditating as I journeyed on
Lo! I have lost my way! If I remember
Rightlyit is Scribonius the learned
That tells the story of a man whopraying
For one that was possessed by Evil Spirits
Was struck by Evil Spirits in the face;
Ijourneying to circumvent the Witches
Surely by Witches have been led astray.
I am persuaded there are few affairs
In which the Devil doth not interfere.
We cannot undertake a journey even
But Satan will be there to meddle with it
By hindering or by furthering. He hath led me
Into this thicketstruck me in the face
With branches of the treesand so entangled
The fetlocks of my horse with vines and brambles
That I must needs dismountand search on foot
For the lost pathway leading to the village.
[Re-enter TITUBA.]
What shape is this? What monstrous apparition
Exceeding fiercethat none may pass that way?
Tell megood womanif you are a woman --
TITUBA.
I am a womanbut I am not good
I am a Witch!
MATHER.
Then tell meWitch and woman
For you must know the pathways through this wood
Where lieth Salem Village?
TITUBA.
Reverend sir
The village is near by. I'm going there
With these few herbs. I'll lead you. Follow me.
MATHER.
First saywho are you? I am loath to follow
A stranger in this wildernessfor fear
Of being misledand left in some morass.
Who are you?
TITUBA.
I am Tituba the Witch
Wife of John Indian.
MATHER.
You are Tituba?
I know you then. You have renounced the Devil
And have become a penitent confessor
The Lord be praised! Go onI'll follow you.
Wait only till I fetch my horsethat stands
Tethered among the treesnot far from here.
TITUBA.
Let me get up behind youreverend sir.
MATHER.
The Lord forbid! What would the people think
If they should see the Reverend Cotton Mather
Ride into Salem with a Witch behind him?
The Lord forbid!
TITUBA.
I do not need a horse!
I can ride through the air upon a stick
Above the tree-tops and above the houses
And no one see meno one overtake me.
[ [Exeunt.]
II. -- A room at JUSTICE HATHORNE'S. A clock in the corner.
HATHORNE.
You are welcomereverend sirthrice welcome here
Beneath my humble roof.
MATHER.
I thank your Worship.
HATHORNE.
Pray you be seated. You must be fatigued
With your long ride through unfrequented woods.
[They sit down.]
MATHER.
You know the purport of my visit here--
To be advised by youand counsel with you
And with the Reverend Clergy of the village
Touching these witchcrafts that so much afflict you;
And see with mine own eyes the wonders told
Of spectres and the shadows of the dead
That come back from their graves to speak with men.
HATHORNE.
Some men there areI have known suchwho think
That the two worlds -- the seen and the unseen
The world of matter and the world of spirit --
Are like the hemispheres upon our maps
And touch each other only at a point.
But these two worlds are not divided thus
Save for the purposes of common speech
They form one globein which the parted s as
All flow together and are intermingled
While the great continents remain distinct.
MATHER.
I doubt it not. The spiritual world
Lies all about usand its avenues
Are open to the unseen feet of phantoms
That come and goand we perceive them not
Save by their influenceor when at times
A most mysterious Providence permits them
To manifest themselves to mortal eyes.
HATHORNE.
Youwho are always welcome here among us
Are doubly welcome now. We need your wisdom
Your learning in these things to be our guide.
The Devil hath come down in wrath upon us
And ravages the land with all his hosts.
MATHER.
The Unclean Spirit said"My name is Legion!"
Multitudes in the Valley of Destruction!
But when our ferventwell-directed prayers
Which are the great artillery of Heaven
Are brought into the fieldI see them scattered
And driven like autumn leaves before the wind.
HATHORNE.
You as a Minister of Godcan meet them
With spiritual weapons: butalas!
Ias a Magistratemust combat them
With weapons from the armory of the flesh.
MATHER.
These wonders of the world invisible--
These spectral shapes that haunt our habitations--
The multiplied and manifold afflictions
With which the aged and the dying saints
Have their death prefaced and their age imbittered--
Are but prophetic trumpets that proclaim
The Second Coming of our Lord on earth.
The evening wolves will be much more abroad
When we are near the evening of the world.
HATHORNE.
When you shall seeas I have hourly seen
The sorceries and the witchcrafts that torment us
See children tortured by invisible spirits
And wasted and consumed by powers unseen
You will confess the half has not been told you.
MATHER.
It must be so. The death-pangs of the Devil
Will make him more a Devil than before;
And Nebuchadnezzar's furnace will be heated
Seven times more hot before its putting out.
HATHORNE.
Advise mereverend sir. I look to you
For counsel and for guidance in this matter.
What further shall we do?
MATHER.
Remember this
That as a sparrow falls not to the ground
Without the will of Godso not a Devil
Can come down from the air without his leave.
We must inquire.
HATHORNE.
Dear sirwe have inquired;
Sifted the matter thoroughly through and through
And then resifted it.
MATHER.
If God permits
These Evil Spirits from the unseen regions
To visit us with surprising informations
We must inquire what cause there is for this
But not receive the testimony borne
By spectres as conclusive proof of guilt
In the accused.
HATHORNE.
Upon such evidence
We do not rest our case. The ways are many
In which the guilty do betray themselves.
MATHER.
Be careful. Carry the knife with such exactness
That on one side no innocent blood be shed
By too excessive zealand on the other
No shelter given to any work of darkness.
HATHORNE.
For oneI do not fear excess of zeal.
What do we gain by parleying with the Devil?
You reasonbut you hesitate to act!
Ahreverend sir! believe mein such cases
The only safety is in acting promptly.
'T is not the part of wisdom to delay
In things where not to do is still to do
A deed more fatal than the deed we shrink from.
You are a man of books and meditation
But I am one who acts.
MATHER.
God give us wisdom
In the directing of this thorny business
And guide uslest New England should become
Of an unsavory and sulphurous odor
In the opinion of the world abroad!
[The clock strikes.]
I never hear the striking of a clock
Without a warning and an admonition
That time is on the wingand we must quicken
Our tardy pace in journeying Heavenward
As Israel did in journeying Canaan-ward!
[They rise.]
HATHORNE.
Then let us make all haste; and I will show you
In what disguises and what fearful shapes
The Unclean Spirits haunt this neighborhood
And you will pardon my excess of zeal.
MATHER.
Ahpoor New England! He who hurricanoed
The house of Job is making now on thee
One last assaultmore deadly and more snarled
With unintelligible circumstances
Than any thou hast hitherto encountered!
[ [Exeunt.]
III. -- A room in WALCOT'S House. MARY WALCOT seated in an arm-chair. TITUBAwith a mirror.
MARY.
Tell me another storyTituba.
A drowsiness is stealing over me
Which is not sleep; forthough I close mine eyes
I am awakeand in another world.
Dim faces of the dead and of the absent
Come floating up before me-- floatingfading
And disappearing.
TITUBA.
Look into this glass.
What see you?
MARY.
Nothing but a golden vapor.
Yessomething more. An islandwith the sea
Breaking all round itlike a blooming hedge.
What land is this?
TITUBA.
It is San Salvador
Where Tituba was born. What see you now?
MARY.
A man all black and fierce.
TITUBA.
That is my father.
He was an Obi manand taught me magic--
Taught me the use of herbs and images.
What is he doing?
MARY.
Holding in his hand
A waxen figure. He is melting it
Slowly before a fire.
TITUBA.
And now what see you?
MARY.
A woman lying on a bed of leaves
Wasted and worn away. Ahshe is dying!
TITUBA.
That is the way the Obi men destroy
The people they dislike! That is the way
Some one is wasting and consuming you.
MARY.
You terrify meTituba! Ohsave me
From those who make me pine and waste away!
Who are they? Tell me.
TITUBA.
That I do not know
But you will see them. They will come to you.
MARY.
Nodo not let them come! I cannot bear it!
I am too weak to bear it! I am dying.
[Fails into a trance.]
TITUBA.
Hark! there is some one coming!
[Enter HATHORNEMATHERand WALCOT.]
WALCOT.
There she lies
Wasted and worn by devilish incantations!
O my poor sister!
MATHER.
Is she always thus?
WALCOT.
Nayshe is sometimes tortured by convulsions.
MATHER.
Poor child! How thin she is! How wan and wasted!
HATHORNE.
Observe her. She is troubled in her sleep.
MATHER.
Some fearful vision haunts her.
HATHORNE.
You now see
With your own eyesand touch with your own hands
The mysteries of this Witchcraft.
MATHER.
One would need
The hands of Briareus and the eyes of Argus
To see and touch them all.
HATHORNE.
You now have entered
The realm of ghosts and phantoms-- the vast realm
Of the unknown and the invisible
Through whose wide-open gates there blows a wind
From the dark valley of the shadow of Death
That freezes us with horror.
MARY.
[(starting)]
Take her hence!
Take her away from me. I see her there!
She's coming to torment me!
WALCOT.
[(taking her hand)]
O my sister!
What frightens you? She neither hears nor sees me.
She's in a trance.
MARY.
Do you not see her there?
TITUBA.
My childwho is it?
MARY.
AhI do not know
I cannot see her face.
TITUBA.
How is she clad?
MARY.
She wears a crimson bodice. In her hand
She holds an imageand is pinching it
Between her fingers. Ahshe tortures me!
I see her face now. It is Goodwife Bishop!
Why does she torture me? I never harmed her!
And now she strikes me with an iron rod!
OhI am beaten!
MATHER.
This is wonderful!
I can see nothing! Is this apparition
Visibly thereand yet we cannot see it?
HATHORNE.
It is. The spectre is invisible
Unto our grosser sensesbut she sees it.
MARY.
Look! look! there is another clad in gray!
She holds a spindle in her handand threatens
To stab me with it! It is Goodwife Corey!
Keep her away! Now she is coming at me!
Ohmercy! mercy!
WALCOT.
[(thrusting with his sword)]
There is nothing there!
MATHER to HATHORNE.
Do you see anything?
HATHORNE.
The laws that govern
The spiritual world prevent our seeing
Things palpable and visible to her.
These spectres are to us as if they were not.
Mark her; she wakes.
[TITUBA touches herand she awakes.]
MARY.
Who are these gentlemen?
WALCOT.
They are our friends. Dear Maryare you better?
MARY.
Weakvery weak.
[Taking a spindle from her lapand holding it up.]
How came this spindle here?
TITUBA.
You wrenched it from the hand of Goodwife Corey
When she rushed at you.
HATHORNE.
Mark thatreverend sir!
MATHER.
It is most marvellousmost inexplicable!
TITUBA.
[(picking up a bit of gray cloth from the floor)]
And heretoois a bit of her gray dress
That the sword cut away.
MATHER.
Beholding this
It were indeed by far more credulous
To be incredulous than to believe.
None but a Sadduceewho doubts of all
Pertaining to the spiritual world
Could doubt such manifest and damning proofs!
HATHORNE.
Are you convinced?
MATHER to MARY.
Dear childbe comforted!
Only by prayer and fasting can you drive
These Unclean Spirits from you. An old man
Gives you his blessing. God be with youMary!
ACT II
I. -- GILES COREY's farm. Morning.
COREY.
The Lord hath prospered me. The rising sun
Shines on my Hundred Acres and my woods
As if he loved them. On a morn like this
I can forgive mine enemiesand thank God
For all his goodness unto me and mine.
My orchard groans with russets and pearmains;
My ripening corn shines golden in the sun;
My barns are crammed with haymy cattle thrive
The birds sing blithely on the trees around me!
And blither than the birds my heart within me.
But Satan still goes up and down the earth;
And to protect this house from his assaults
And keep the powers of darkness from my door
This horseshoe will I nail upon the threshold.
[Nails down the horseshoe.]
Thereye night-hags and witches that torment
The neighborhoodye shall not enter here! --
What is the matter in the field? -- John Gloyd!
The cattle are all running to the woods! --
John Gloyd! Where is the man?
[Enter JOHN GLOYD.]
Look there!
What ails the cattle? Are they all bewitched?
They run like mad.
GLOYD.
They have been overlooked.
COREY.
The Evil Eye is on them sure enough.
Call all the men. Be quick. Go after them!
[Exit GLOYD and enter MARTHA.]
MARTHA.
What is amiss?
COREY.
The cattle are bewitched.
They are broken loose and making for the woods.
MARTHA.
Why will you harbor such delusionsGiles?
Bewitched? Wellthen it was John Gloyd bewitched them;
I saw him even now take down the bars
And turn them loose! They're only frolicsome.
COREY.
The rascal!
MARTHA.
I was standing in the road
Talking with Goodwife Proctorand I saw him.
COREY.
With Proctor's wife? And what says Goodwife Proctor?
MARTHA.
Sad things indeed; the saddest you can hear
Of Bridget Bishop. She's cried out upon!
COREY.
Poor soul! I've known her forty year or more.
She was the widow Wasselbyand then
She married Oliverand Bishop next.
She's had three husbands. I remember well
My games of shovel-board at Bishop's tavern
In the old merry daysand she so gay
With her red paragon bodice and her ribbons!
AhBridget Bishop always was a Witch!
MARTHA.
They'll little help her now-- her caps and ribbons
And her red paragon bodice and her plumes
With which she flaunted in the Meeting-house!
When next she goes thereit will he for trial.
COREY.
When will that be?
MARTHA.
This very day at ten.
COREY.
Then get you ready. We'll go and see it.
Come; you shall ride behind me on the pillion.
MARTHA.
Not I. You know I do not like such things.
I wonder you should. I do not believe
In Witches nor in Witchcraft.
COREY.
WellI do.
There's a strange fascination in it all.
That draws me on and on. I know not why.
MARTHA.
What do we know of spirits good or ill
Or of their power to help us or to harm us?
COREY.
Surely what's in the Bible must be true.
Did not an Evil Spirit come on Saul?
Did not the Witch of Endor bring the ghost
Of Samuel from his grave? The Bible says so.
MARTHA.
That happened very long ago.
COREY.
With God
There is no long ago.
MARTHA.
There is with us.
COREY.
And Mary Magdalene had seven devils
And he who dwelt among the tombs a legion!
MARTHA.
God's power is infinite. I do not doubt it.
If in His providence He once permitted
Such things to be among the Israelites
It does not follow He permits them now
And among us who are not Israelites.
But we will not dispute about itGiles.
Go to the village if you think it best
And leave me here; I'll go about my work.
[ [Exit into the house.]
COREY.
And I will go and saddle the gray mare.
The last word always. That is woman's nature.
If an old man will marry a young wife
He must make up his mind to many things.
It's putting new cloth into an old garment
When the strain comesit is the old gives way.
[Goes to the door.]
OhMartha! I forgot to tell you something.
I've had a letter from a friend of mine
A certain Richard Gardner of Nantucket
Master and owner of a whaling-vessel;
He writes that he is coming down to see us.
I hope you'll like him.
MARTHA.
I will do my best.
COREY.
That's a good woman. Now I will be gone.
I've not seen Gardner for this twenty year;
But there is something of the sea about him--
Something so opengenerouslarge; and strong
It makes me love him better than a brother.
[ [Exit.]
[MARTHA comes to the door.]
MARTHA.
Oh these old friends and cronies of my husband
These captains from Nantucket and the Cape
That come and turn my house into a tavern
With their carousing! Stillthere's something frank
In these seafaring men that makes me like them.
Whyhere's a horseshoe nailed upon the doorstep!
Giles has done this to keep away the Witches.
I hope this Richard Gardner will bring him
A gale of good sound common-sense to blow
The fog of these delusions from his brain!
COREY.
[(within)]
Ho! Martha! Martha!
[Enter COREY.]
Have you seen my saddle?
MARTHA.
I saw it yesterday.
COREY.
Where did you see it?
MARTHA.
On a gray marethat somebody was riding
Along the village road.
COREY.
Who was it? Tell me.
MARTHA.
Some one who should have stayed at home.
COREY.
[(restraining himself)]
I see!
Don't vex meMartha. Tell me where it is.
MARTHA.
I've hidden it away.
COREY.
Go fetch it me.
MARTHA.
Go find it.
COREY.
No. I'll ride down to the village
Bareback; and when the people stare and say
"Giles Coreywhere's your saddle?" I will answer
"A Witch has stolen it." How shall you like that!
MARTHA.
I shall not like it.
COREY.
Then go fetch the saddle.
[ [Exit MARTHA.]
If an old man will marry a young wife
Why then -- why then -- why then -- he must spell Baker!
[Enter MARTHA with the saddlewhich she throws down.]
MARTHA.
There! There's the saddle.
COREY.
Take it up.
MARTHA.
I won't!
COREY.
Then let it lie there. I'll ride to the village
And say you are a Witch.
MARTHA.
Nonot thatGiles.
[She takes up the saddle.]
COREY.
Now come with meand saddle the gray mare
With your own hands; and you shall see me ride
Along the village road as is becoming
Giles Corey of the Salem Farmsyour husband!
[ [Exeunt.]
II. -- The Green in front of the Meeting-house in Salem village. Peoplecoming and going.
COREY.
A melancholy end! Who would have thought
That Bridget Bishop e'er would come to this?
Accusedconvictedand condemned to death
For Witchcraft! And so good a woman too!
A FARMER.
Good morrowneighbor Corey.
COREY.
[(not hearing him)]
Who is safe?
How do I know but under my own roof
I too may harbor Witchesand some Devil
Be plotting and contriving against me?
FARMER.
He does not hear. Good morrowneighbor Corey!
COREY.
Good morrow.
FARMER.
Have you seen John Proctor lately?
COREY.
NoI have not.
FARMER.
Then do not see himCorey.
COREY.
Why should I not?
FARMER.
Because he's angry with you.
So keep out of his way. Avoid a quarrel.
COREY.
Why does he seek to fix a quarrel on me?
FARMER.
He says you burned his house.
COREY.
I burn his house?
If he says thatJohn Proctor is a liar!
The night his house was burned I was in bed
And I can prove it! Whywe are old friends!
He could not say that of me.
FARMER.
He did say it.
I heard him say it.
COREY.
Then he shall unsay it.
FARMER.
He said you did it out of spite to him
For taking part against you in the quarrel
You had with your John Gloyd about his wages.
He says you murdered Goodell; that you trampled
Upon his body till he breathed no more.
And so beware of him; that's my advice!
[ [Exit.]
COREY.
By heaven! this is too much! I'll seek him out
And make him eat his wordsor strangle him.
I'll not be slandered at a time like this
When every word is made an accusation
When every whisper killsand every man
Walks with a halter round his neck!
[Enter GLOYD in haste.]
What now?
GLOYD.
I came to look for you. The cattle --
COREY.
Well
What of them? Have you found them?
GLOYD.
They are dead.
I followed them through the woodsacross the meadows;
Then they all leaped into the Ipswich River
And swam acrossbut could not climb the bank
And so were drowned.
COREY.
You are to blame for this;
For you took down the barsand let them loose.
GLOYD.
That I deny. They broke the fences down.
You know they were bewitched.
COREY.
Ahmy poor cattle!
The Evil Eye was on them; that is true.
Day of disaster! Most unlucky day!
Why did I leave my ploughing and my reaping
To plough and reap this Sodom and Gomorrah?
OhI could drown myself for sheer vexation!
[ [Exit.]
GLOYD.
He's going for his cattle. He won't find them.
By this lime they have drifted out to sea.
They will not break his fences any more
Though they may break his heart. And what care I?
[ [Exit.]
III. -- COREY's kitchen. A table with supper. MARTHA knitting.
MARTHA.
He's come at last. I hear him in the passage.
Something has gone amiss with him today;
I know it by his stepand by the sound
The door made as he shut it. He is angry.
[Enter COREY with his riding-whip. As he speaks he takes off his hat andgloves and throws them down violently.]
COREY.
I say if Satan ever entered man
He's in John Proctor!
MARTHA.
Gileswhat is the matter?
You frighten me.
COREY.
I say if any man
Can have a Devil in himthen that man
Is Proctor-- is John Proctorand no other!
MARTHA.
Whywhat has be been doing?
COREY.
Everything!
What do you think I heard there in the village?
MARTHA.
I'm sure I cannot guess. What did you hear?
COREY.
He says I burned his house!
MARTHA.
Does he say that?
COREY.
He says I burned his house. I was in bed
And fast asleep that night; and I can prove it.
MARTHA.
If he says thatI think the Father of Lies
Is surely in the man.
COREY.
He does say that
And that I did it to wreak vengeance on him
For taking sides against me in the quarrel
I had with that John Gloyd about his wages.
And God knows that I never bore him malice
For thatas I have told him twenty times
MARTHA.
It is John Gloyd has stirred him up to this.
I do not like that Gloyd. I think him crafty
Not to be trustedsullen and untruthful.
Comehave your supper. You are tired and hungry.
COREY.
I'm angryand not hungry.
MARTHA.
Do eat something.
You'll be the better for it.
COREY.
[(sitting down)]
I'm not hungry.
MARTHA.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
COREY.
It has gone down upon itand will rise
To-morrowand go down again upon it.
They have trumped up against me the old story
Of causing Goodell's death by trampling on him.
MARTHA.
Ohthat is false. I know it to be false.
COREY.
He has been dead these fourteen years or more.
Why can't they let him rest? Why must they drag him
Out of his grave to give me a bad name?
I did not kill him. In his bed he died
As most men diebecause his hour had come.
I have wronged no man. Why should Proctor say
Such things bout me? I will not forgive him
Till he confesses he has slandered me.
ThenI've more trouble. All my cattle gone.
MARTHA.
They will come back again.
COREY.
Not in this world.
Did I not tell you they were overlooked?
They ran down through the woodsinto the meadows
And tried to swim the riverand were drowned.
It is a heavy loss.
MARTHA.
I'm sorry for it.
COREY.
All my dear oxen dead. I loved themMartha
Next to yourself. I liked to look at them
And watch the breath come out of their wide nostrils
And see their patient eyes. Somehow I thought
It gave me strength only to look at them.
And how they strained their necks against the yoke
If I but spokeor touched them with the goad!
They were my friends; and when Gloyd came and told me
They were all drownedI could have drowned myself
From sheer vexation; and I said as much
To Gloyd and others.
MARTHA.
Do not trust John Gloyd
With anything you would not have repeated.
COREY.
As I came through the woods this afternoon
Impatient at my lossand much perplexed
With all that I had heard there in the village
The yellow leaves lit up the trees about me
Like an enchanted palaceand I wished
I knew enough of magic or of Witchcraft
To change them into gold. Then suddenly
A tree shook down some crimson leaves upon me
Like drops of bloodand in the path before me
Stood Tituba the Indianthe old crone.
MARTHA.
Were you not frightened?
COREY.
NoI do not think
I know the meaning of that word. Why frightened?
I am not one of those who think the Lord
Is waiting till He catches them some day
In the back yard alone! What should I fear?
She started from the bushes by the path
And had a basket full of herbs and roots
For some witch-broth or other-- the old hag.
MARTHA.
She has been here to-day.
COREY.
With hand outstretched
She said: "Giles Coreywill you sign the Book?"
"Avaunt!" I cried: "Get thee behind meSatan!"
At which she laughed and left me. But a voice
Was whispering in my ear continually:
"Self-murder is no crime. The life of man
Is histo keep it or to throw away!"
MARTHA.
'T was a temptation of the Evil One!
GilesGiles! why will you harbor these dark thoughts?
COREY.
[(rising)]
I am too tired to talk. I'll go to bed.
MARTHA.
First tell me something about Bridget Bishop.
How did she look? You saw her? You were there?
COREY.
I'll tell you that to-morrownot to-night.
I'll go to bed.
MARTHA.
First let us pray together.
COREY.
I cannot pray to-night.
MARTHA.
Say the Lord's Prayer
And that will comfort you.
COREY.
I cannot say
"As we forgive those that have sinned against us"
When I do not forgive them.
MARTHA.
[(kneeling on the hearth)]
God forgive you!
COREY.
I will not make believe! I say to-night
There's something thwarts me when I wish to pray
And thrusts into my mindinstead of prayers
Hate and revengeand things that are not prayers.
Something of my old self-- my oldbad life--
And the old Adam in me rises up
And will not let me pray. I am afraid
The Devil hinders me. You know I say
Just what I thinkand nothing more nor less
Andwhen I praymy heart is in my prayer.
I cannot say one thing and mean another.
If I can't prayI will not make believe!
[Exit COREY. MARTHA continues kneeling.]
I. -- GILES COREY's farm. Morning.
COREY.
The Lord hath prospered me. The rising sun
Shines on my Hundred Acres and my woods
As if he loved them. On a morn like this
I can forgive mine enemiesand thank God
For all his goodness unto me and mine.
My orchard groans with russets and pearmains;
My ripening corn shines golden in the sun;
My barns are crammed with haymy cattle thrive
The birds sing blithely on the trees around me!
And blither than the birds my heart within me.
But Satan still goes up and down the earth;
And to protect this house from his assaults
And keep the powers of darkness from my door
This horseshoe will I nail upon the threshold.
[Nails down the horseshoe.]
Thereye night-hags and witches that torment
The neighborhoodye shall not enter here! --
What is the matter in the field? -- John Gloyd!
The cattle are all running to the woods! --
John Gloyd! Where is the man?
[Enter JOHN GLOYD.]
Look there!
What ails the cattle? Are they all bewitched?
They run like mad.
GLOYD.
They have been overlooked.
COREY.
The Evil Eye is on them sure enough.
Call all the men. Be quick. Go after them!
[Exit GLOYD and enter MARTHA.]
MARTHA.
What is amiss?
COREY.
The cattle are bewitched.
They are broken loose and making for the woods.
MARTHA.
Why will you harbor such delusionsGiles?
Bewitched? Wellthen it was John Gloyd bewitched them;
I saw him even now take down the bars
And turn them loose! They're only frolicsome.
COREY.
The rascal!
MARTHA.
I was standing in the road
Talking with Goodwife Proctorand I saw him.
COREY.
With Proctor's wife? And what says Goodwife Proctor?
MARTHA.
Sad things indeed; the saddest you can hear
Of Bridget Bishop. She's cried out upon!
COREY.
Poor soul! I've known her forty year or more.
She was the widow Wasselbyand then
She married Oliverand Bishop next.
She's had three husbands. I remember well
My games of shovel-board at Bishop's tavern
In the old merry daysand she so gay
With her red paragon bodice and her ribbons!
AhBridget Bishop always was a Witch!
MARTHA.
They'll little help her now-- her caps and ribbons
And her red paragon bodice and her plumes
With which she flaunted in the Meeting-house!
When next she goes thereit will he for trial.
COREY.
When will that be?
MARTHA.
This very day at ten.
COREY.
Then get you ready. We'll go and see it.
Come; you shall ride behind me on the pillion.
MARTHA.
Not I. You know I do not like such things.
I wonder you should. I do not believe
In Witches nor in Witchcraft.
COREY.
WellI do.
There's a strange fascination in it all.
That draws me on and on. I know not why.
MARTHA.
What do we know of spirits good or ill
Or of their power to help us or to harm us?
COREY.
Surely what's in the Bible must be true.
Did not an Evil Spirit come on Saul?
Did not the Witch of Endor bring the ghost
Of Samuel from his grave? The Bible says so.
MARTHA.
That happened very long ago.
COREY.
With God
There is no long ago.
MARTHA.
There is with us.
COREY.
And Mary Magdalene had seven devils
And he who dwelt among the tombs a legion!
MARTHA.
God's power is infinite. I do not doubt it.
If in His providence He once permitted
Such things to be among the Israelites
It does not follow He permits them now
And among us who are not Israelites.
But we will not dispute about itGiles.
Go to the village if you think it best
And leave me here; I'll go about my work.
[ [Exit into the house.]
COREY.
And I will go and saddle the gray mare.
The last word always. That is woman's nature.
If an old man will marry a young wife
He must make up his mind to many things.
It's putting new cloth into an old garment
When the strain comesit is the old gives way.
[Goes to the door.]
OhMartha! I forgot to tell you something.
I've had a letter from a friend of mine
A certain Richard Gardner of Nantucket
Master and owner of a whaling-vessel;
He writes that he is coming down to see us.
I hope you'll like him.
MARTHA.
I will do my best.
COREY.
That's a good woman. Now I will be gone.
I've not seen Gardner for this twenty year;
But there is something of the sea about him--
Something so opengenerouslarge; and strong
It makes me love him better than a brother.
[ [Exit.]
[MARTHA comes to the door.]
MARTHA.
Oh these old friends and cronies of my husband
These captains from Nantucket and the Cape
That come and turn my house into a tavern
With their carousing! Stillthere's something frank
In these seafaring men that makes me like them.
Whyhere's a horseshoe nailed upon the doorstep!
Giles has done this to keep away the Witches.
I hope this Richard Gardner will bring him
A gale of good sound common-sense to blow
The fog of these delusions from his brain!
COREY.
[(within)]
Ho! Martha! Martha!
[Enter COREY.]
Have you seen my saddle?
MARTHA.
I saw it yesterday.
COREY.
Where did you see it?
MARTHA.
On a gray marethat somebody was riding
Along the village road.
COREY.
Who was it? Tell me.
MARTHA.
Some one who should have stayed at home.
COREY.
[(restraining himself)]
I see!
Don't vex meMartha. Tell me where it is.
MARTHA.
I've hidden it away.
COREY.
Go fetch it me.
MARTHA.
Go find it.
COREY.
No. I'll ride down to the village
Bareback; and when the people stare and say
"Giles Coreywhere's your saddle?" I will answer
"A Witch has stolen it." How shall you like that!
MARTHA.
I shall not like it.
COREY.
Then go fetch the saddle.
[ [Exit MARTHA.]
If an old man will marry a young wife
Why then -- why then -- why then -- he must spell Baker!
[Enter MARTHA with the saddlewhich she throws down.]
MARTHA.
There! There's the saddle.
COREY.
Take it up.
MARTHA.
I won't!
COREY.
Then let it lie there. I'll ride to the village
And say you are a Witch.
MARTHA.
Nonot thatGiles.
[She takes up the saddle.]
COREY.
Now come with meand saddle the gray mare
With your own hands; and you shall see me ride
Along the village road as is becoming
Giles Corey of the Salem Farmsyour husband!
[ [Exeunt.]
II. -- The Green in front of the Meeting-house in Salem village. Peoplecoming and going.
COREY.
A melancholy end! Who would have thought
That Bridget Bishop e'er would come to this?
Accusedconvictedand condemned to death
For Witchcraft! And so good a woman too!
A FARMER.
Good morrowneighbor Corey.
COREY.
[(not hearing him)]
Who is safe?
How do I know but under my own roof
I too may harbor Witchesand some Devil
Be plotting and contriving against me?
FARMER.
He does not hear. Good morrowneighbor Corey!
COREY.
Good morrow.
FARMER.
Have you seen John Proctor lately?
COREY.
NoI have not.
FARMER.
Then do not see himCorey.
COREY.
Why should I not?
FARMER.
Because he's angry with you.
So keep out of his way. Avoid a quarrel.
COREY.
Why does he seek to fix a quarrel on me?
FARMER.
He says you burned his house.
COREY.
I burn his house?
If he says thatJohn Proctor is a liar!
The night his house was burned I was in bed
And I can prove it! Whywe are old friends!
He could not say that of me.
FARMER.
He did say it.
I heard him say it.
COREY.
Then he shall unsay it.
FARMER.
He said you did it out of spite to him
For taking part against you in the quarrel
You had with your John Gloyd about his wages.
He says you murdered Goodell; that you trampled
Upon his body till he breathed no more.
And so beware of him; that's my advice!
[ [Exit.]
COREY.
By heaven! this is too much! I'll seek him out
And make him eat his wordsor strangle him.
I'll not be slandered at a time like this
When every word is made an accusation
When every whisper killsand every man
Walks with a halter round his neck!
[Enter GLOYD in haste.]
What now?
GLOYD.
I came to look for you. The cattle --
COREY.
Well
What of them? Have you found them?
GLOYD.
They are dead.
I followed them through the woodsacross the meadows;
Then they all leaped into the Ipswich River
And swam acrossbut could not climb the bank
And so were drowned.
COREY.
You are to blame for this;
For you took down the barsand let them loose.
GLOYD.
That I deny. They broke the fences down.
You know they were bewitched.
COREY.
Ahmy poor cattle!
The Evil Eye was on them; that is true.
Day of disaster! Most unlucky day!
Why did I leave my ploughing and my reaping
To plough and reap this Sodom and Gomorrah?
OhI could drown myself for sheer vexation!
[ [Exit.]
GLOYD.
He's going for his cattle. He won't find them.
By this lime they have drifted out to sea.
They will not break his fences any more
Though they may break his heart. And what care I?
[ [Exit.]
III. -- COREY's kitchen. A table with supper. MARTHA knitting.
MARTHA.
He's come at last. I hear him in the passage.
Something has gone amiss with him today;
I know it by his stepand by the sound
The door made as he shut it. He is angry.
[Enter COREY with his riding-whip. As he speaks he takes off his hat andgloves and throws them down violently.]
COREY.
I say if Satan ever entered man
He's in John Proctor!
MARTHA.
Gileswhat is the matter?
You frighten me.
COREY.
I say if any man
Can have a Devil in himthen that man
Is Proctor-- is John Proctorand no other!
MARTHA.
Whywhat has be been doing?
COREY.
Everything!
What do you think I heard there in the village?
MARTHA.
I'm sure I cannot guess. What did you hear?
COREY.
He says I burned his house!
MARTHA.
Does he say that?
COREY.
He says I burned his house. I was in bed
And fast asleep that night; and I can prove it.
MARTHA.
If he says thatI think the Father of Lies
Is surely in the man.
COREY.
He does say that
And that I did it to wreak vengeance on him
For taking sides against me in the quarrel
I had with that John Gloyd about his wages.
And God knows that I never bore him malice
For thatas I have told him twenty times
MARTHA.
It is John Gloyd has stirred him up to this.
I do not like that Gloyd. I think him crafty
Not to be trustedsullen and untruthful.
Comehave your supper. You are tired and hungry.
COREY.
I'm angryand not hungry.
MARTHA.
Do eat something.
You'll be the better for it.
COREY.
[(sitting down)]
I'm not hungry.
MARTHA.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
COREY.
It has gone down upon itand will rise
To-morrowand go down again upon it.
They have trumped up against me the old story
Of causing Goodell's death by trampling on him.
MARTHA.
Ohthat is false. I know it to be false.
COREY.
He has been dead these fourteen years or more.
Why can't they let him rest? Why must they drag him
Out of his grave to give me a bad name?
I did not kill him. In his bed he died
As most men diebecause his hour had come.
I have wronged no man. Why should Proctor say
Such things bout me? I will not forgive him
Till he confesses he has slandered me.
ThenI've more trouble. All my cattle gone.
MARTHA.
They will come back again.
COREY.
Not in this world.
Did I not tell you they were overlooked?
They ran down through the woodsinto the meadows
And tried to swim the riverand were drowned.
It is a heavy loss.
MARTHA.
I'm sorry for it.
COREY.
All my dear oxen dead. I loved themMartha
Next to yourself. I liked to look at them
And watch the breath come out of their wide nostrils
And see their patient eyes. Somehow I thought
It gave me strength only to look at them.
And how they strained their necks against the yoke
If I but spokeor touched them with the goad!
They were my friends; and when Gloyd came and told me
They were all drownedI could have drowned myself
From sheer vexation; and I said as much
To Gloyd and others.
MARTHA.
Do not trust John Gloyd
With anything you would not have repeated.
COREY.
As I came through the woods this afternoon
Impatient at my lossand much perplexed
With all that I had heard there in the village
The yellow leaves lit up the trees about me
Like an enchanted palaceand I wished
I knew enough of magic or of Witchcraft
To change them into gold. Then suddenly
A tree shook down some crimson leaves upon me
Like drops of bloodand in the path before me
Stood Tituba the Indianthe old crone.
MARTHA.
Were you not frightened?
COREY.
NoI do not think
I know the meaning of that word. Why frightened?
I am not one of those who think the Lord
Is waiting till He catches them some day
In the back yard alone! What should I fear?
She started from the bushes by the path
And had a basket full of herbs and roots
For some witch-broth or other-- the old hag.
MARTHA.
She has been here to-day.
COREY.
With hand outstretched
She said: "Giles Coreywill you sign the Book?"
"Avaunt!" I cried: "Get thee behind meSatan!"
At which she laughed and left me. But a voice
Was whispering in my ear continually:
"Self-murder is no crime. The life of man
Is histo keep it or to throw away!"
MARTHA.
'T was a temptation of the Evil One!
GilesGiles! why will you harbor these dark thoughts?
COREY.
[(rising)]
I am too tired to talk. I'll go to bed.
MARTHA.
First tell me something about Bridget Bishop.
How did she look? You saw her? You were there?
COREY.
I'll tell you that to-morrownot to-night.
I'll go to bed.
MARTHA.
First let us pray together.
COREY.
I cannot pray to-night.
MARTHA.
Say the Lord's Prayer
And that will comfort you.
COREY.
I cannot say
"As we forgive those that have sinned against us"
When I do not forgive them.
MARTHA.
[(kneeling on the hearth)]
God forgive you!
COREY.
I will not make believe! I say to-night
There's something thwarts me when I wish to pray
And thrusts into my mindinstead of prayers
Hate and revengeand things that are not prayers.
Something of my old self-- my oldbad life--
And the old Adam in me rises up
And will not let me pray. I am afraid
The Devil hinders me. You know I say
Just what I thinkand nothing more nor less
Andwhen I praymy heart is in my prayer.
I cannot say one thing and mean another.
If I can't prayI will not make believe!
[Exit COREY. MARTHA continues kneeling.]
ACT III.
I. -- GILES COREY'S kitchen. Morning. COREY and MARTHA sitting at thebreakfast-table.
COREY.
[(rising)]
Wellnow I've told you all I saw and heard
Of Bridget Bishop; and I must be gone.
MARTHA.
Don't go into the villageGilesto-day.
Last night you came back tired and out of humor.
COREY.
Sayangry; sayright angry. I was never
In a more devilish temper in my life.
All things went wrong with me.
MARTHA.
You were much vexed;
So don't go to the village.
COREY.
[(going)]
NoI won't.
I won't go near it. We are going to mow
The Ipswich meadows for the aftermath
The crop of sedge and rowens.
MARTHA.
Stay a moment
I want to tell you what I dreamed last night.
Do you believe in dreams?
COREY.
Whyyes and no.
When they come truethen I believe in them
When they come falseI don't believe in them.
But let me hear. What did you dream about?
MARTHA.
I dreamed that you and I were both in prison;
That we had fetters on our hands and feet;
That we were taken before the Magistrates
And tried for Witchcraftand condemned to death!
I wished to pray; they would not let me pray;
You tried to comfort meand they forbade it.
But the most dreadful thing in all my dream
Was that they made you testify against me!
And then there came a kind of mist between us;
I could not see you; and I woke in terror.
I never was more thankful in my life
Than when I found you sleeping at my side!
COREY.
[(with tenderness)]
It was our talk last night that made you dream.
I'm sorry for it. I'll control myself
Another timeand keep my temper down!
I do not like such dreams. -- RememberMartha
I'm going to mow the Ipswich River meadows;
If Gardner comesyou'll tell him where to find me.
[ [Exit.]
MARTHA.
So this delusion grows from bad to worse
Firsta forsaken and forlorn old woman
Ragged and wretchedand without a friend;
Then something higher. Now it's Bridget Bishop;
God only knows whose turn it will be next!
The Magistrates are blindthe people mad!
If they would only seize the Afflicted Children
And put them in the Workhousewhere they should be
There'd be an end of all this wickedness.
[ [Exit.]
II. -- A street in Salem Village.
MATHER.
Yet one thing troubles me.
HATHORNE.
And what is that?
MATHER.
May not the Devil take the outward shape
Of innocent persons? Are we not in danger
Perhapsof punishing some who are not guilty?
HATHORNE.
As I have saidwe do not trust alone
To spectral evidence.
MATHER.
And then again
If any shall be put to death for Witchcraft
We do but kill the bodynot the soul.
The Unclean Spirits that possessed them once
Live stillto enter into other bodies.
What have we gained? Surelythere's nothing gained.
HATHORNE.
Doth not the Scripture say"Thou shalt not suffer
A Witch to live"?
MATHER.
The Scripture sayeth it
But speaketh to the Jews; and we are Christians.
What say the laws of England?
HATHORNE.
They make Witchcraft
Felony without the benefit of Clergy.
Witches are burned in England. You have read --
For you read all thingsnot a book escapes you --
The famous Demonology of King James?
MATHER.
A curious volume. I remember also
The plot of the Two Hundredwith one Fian
The Registrar of the Devilat their head
To drown his Majesty on his return
From Denmark; how they sailed in sieves or riddles
Unto North Berwick Kirk in Lothian
Andlanding theredanced hand in handand sang
"Goodwifego ye before! good wifego ye!
If ye'll not go beforegoodwifelet me!"
While Geilis Duncan played the Witches' Reel
Upon a jews-harp.
HATHORNE.
Then you know full well
The English lawand that in England Witches
When lawfully convicted and attainted
Are put to death.
MATHER.
When lawfully convicted;
That is the point.
HATHORNE.
You heard the evidence
Produced before us yesterday at the trial
Of Bridget Bishop.
MATHER.
One of the Afflicted
I knowbore witness to the apparition
Of ghosts unto the spectre of this Bishop
Saying"You murdered us!" of the truth whereof
There was in matter of fact too much Suspicion.
HATHORNE.
And when she cast her eyes on the Afflicted
They were struck down; and this in such a manner
There could be no collusion in the business.
And when the accused but laid her hand upon them
As they lay in their swoonsthey straight revived
Although they stirred not when the others touched them.
MATHER.
What most convinced me of the woman's guilt
Was finding hidden in her cellar wall
Those poppets made of ragswith headless pins
Stuck into them point outwardsand whereof
She could not give a reasonable account.
HATHORNE.
When you shall read the testimony given
Before the Court in all the other cases
I am persuaded you will find the proof
No less conclusive than it was in this.
Comethenwith meand I will tax your patience
With reading of the documents so far
As may convince you that these sorcerers
Are lawfully convicted and attainted.
Like doubting Thomasyou shall lay your hand
Upon these woundsand you will doubt no more.
[Exeunt.]
III. -- A room in COREY's house. MARTHA and two Deacons of the church.
MARTHA.
Be seated. I am glad to see you here.
I know what you are come for. You are come
To question meand learn from my own lips
If I have any dealings with the Devil;
In shortif I'm a Witch.
DEACON.
[(sitting down)]
Such is our purpose.
How could you know beforehand why we came?
MARTHA.
'T was only a surmise.
DEACON.
We came to ask you
You being with us in church covenant
What part you haveif anyin these matters.
MARTHA.
And I make answerNo part whatsoever.
I am a farmer's wifea working woman;
You see my spinning-wheelyou see my loom
You know the duties of a farmer's wife
And are not ignorant that my life among you
Has been without reproach until this day.
Is it not true?
DEACON.
So much we're bound to own
And say it franklyand without reserve.
MARTHA.
I've heard the idle tales that are abroad;
I've heard it whispered that I am a Witch;
I cannot help it. I do not believe
In any Witchcraft. It is a delusion.
DEACON.
How can you say that it is a delusion
When all our learned and good men believe it--
Our Ministers and worshipful Magistrates?
MARTHA.
Their eyes are blinded and see not the truth.
Perhaps one day they will be open to it.
DEACON.
You answer boldly. The Afflicted Children
Say you appeared to them.
MARTHA.
And did they say
What clothes I came in?
DEACON.
Nothey could not tell.
They said that you foresaw our visit here
And blinded themso that they could not see
The clothes you wore.
MARTHA.
The cunningcrafty girls!
I say to youin all sincerity
I never have appeared to anyone
In my own person. If the Devil takes
My shape to hurt these childrenor afflict them
I am not guilty of it. And I say
It's all a mere delusion of the senses.
DEACON.
I greatly fear that you will find too late
It is not so.
MARTHA.
[(rising)]
They do accuse me falsely.
It is delusionor it is deceit.
There is a story in the ancient Scriptures
Which I much wonder comes not to your minds.
Let me repeat it to you.
DEACON.
We will hear it.
MARTHA.
It came to pass that Naboth had a vineyard
Hard by the palace of the King called Ahab.
And AhabKing of Israelspake to Naboth
And said to himGive unto me thy vineyard
That I may have it for a garden of herbs
And I will give a better vineyard for it
Orif it seemeth good to theeits worth
In money. And then Naboth said to Ahab
The Lord forbid it me that I should give
The inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
And Ahab came into his house displeased
And heavy at the words which Naboth spake
And laid him down upon his bedand turned
His face away; and he would eat no bread.
And Jezebelthe wife of Ahabcame
And said to himWhy is thy spirit sad?
And he said unto herBecause I spake
To Nabothto the Jezreeliteand said
Give me thy vineyard; and he answeredsaying
I will not give my vineyard unto thee.
And Jezebelthe wife of Ahabsaid
Dost thou not rule the realm of Israel?
Ariseeat breadand let thy heart be merry;
I will give Naboth's vineyard unto thee.
So she wrote letters in King Ahab's name
And sealed them with his sealand sent the letters
Unto the elders that were in his city
Dwelling with Nabothand unto the nobles;
And in the letters wroteProclaim a fast;
And set this Naboth high among the people
And set two menthe sons of Belial
Before himto bear witness and to say
Thou didst blaspheme against God and the King;
And carry him out and stone himthat he die!
And the elders and the nobles in the city
Did even as Jezebelthe wife of Ahab
Had sent to them and written in the letters.
And then it came to passwhen Ahab heard
Naboth was deadthat Ahab rose to go
Down unto Naboth's vineyardand to take
Possession of it. And the word of God
Came to Elijahsaying to himArise
Go down to meet the King of Israel
In Naboth's vineyardwhither he hath gone
To take possession. Thou shalt speak to him
SayingThus saith the Lord! What! hast thou killed
And also taken possession? In the place
Wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth
Shall the dogs lick thy blood-- ayeven thine!
[Both of the Deacons start from their seats.]
And Ahab thenthe King of Israel
SaidHast thou found meO mine enemy?
Elijah the Prophet answeredI have found thee!
So will it be with those who have stirred up
The Sons of Belial here to bear false witness
And swear away the lives of innocent people;
Their enemy will find them out at last
The Prophet's voice will thunderI have found thee!
[ [Exeunt.]
IV. -- Meadows on Ipswich RiverCOREY and his men mowing; COREY in advance.
COREY.
Well donemy men. You seeI lead the field!
I'm an old manbut I can swing a scythe
Better than most of yonthough you be younger.
[Hangs his scythe upon a tree.]
GLOYD.
[(aside to the others)]
How strong he is! It's supernatural.
No man so old as he is has such strength.
The Devil helps him!
COREY.
[(wiping his forehead)]
Now we'll rest awhile
And take our nooning. What's the matter with you?
You are not angry with me-- are youGloyd?
Comecomewe will not quarrel. Let's be friends.
It's an old storythat the Raven said
"Read the Third of Colossians and fifteenth."
GLOYD.
You're handier at the scythebut I can beat you
At wrestling.
COREY.
Wellperhaps so. I don't know.
I never wrestled with you. Whyyou're vexed!
Comecomedon't bear a grudge.
GLOYD.
You are afraid.
COREY.
What should I bc afraid of? All bear witness
The challenge comes from him. Nowthenmy man.
[They wrestleand GLOYD is thrown.]
ONE OF THE MEN.
That's a fair fall.
ANOTHER.
'T was nothing but a foil!
OTHERS.
You've hurt him!
COREY.
[(helping GLOYD rise)]
No; this meadow-land is soft.
You're not hurt-- are youGloyd?
GLOYD.
[(rising)]
Nonot much hurt.
COREY.
Wellthenshake hands; and there's an end of it.
How do you like that Cornish hugmy lad?
And now we'll see what's in our basket here.
GLOYD.
[(aside)]
The Devil and all his imps are in that man!
The clutch of his ten fingers burns like fire!
COREY.
[(reverentially taking off his hat)]
God bless the food He hath provided for us
And make us thankful for itfor Christ's sake!
[He lifts up a keg of ciderand drinks from it.]
GLOYD.
Do you see that? Don't tell me it's not Witchcraft
Two of us could not lift that cask as he does!
[COREY puts down the kegand opens a basket. A voice is heard calling.]
VOICE.
Ho! CoreyCorey!
COREY.
What is that? I surely
Heard some one calling me by name!
VOICE.
Giles Corey!
[Enter a boyrunningand out of breath.]
BOY.
Is Master Corey here?
COREY.
Yeshere I am.
BOY.
O Master Corey!
COREY.
Well?
BOY.
Your wife -- your wife --
COREY.
What's happened to my wife?
BOY.
She's sent to prison!
COREY.
The dream! the dream! O Godbe merciful!
BOY.
She sent me here to tell you.
COREY.
[(putting on his jacket)]
Where's my horse?
Don't stand there staringfellows.
Where's my horse?
[ [Exit COREY.]
GLOYD.
Under the trees there. Runold manrunrun!
You've got some one to wrestle with you now
Who'll trip your heels upwith your Cornish hug.
If there's a Devilhe has got you now.
Ahthere he goes! His horse is snorting fire!
ONE OF THE MEN.
John Gloyddon't talk so! It's a shame to talk so!
He's a good masterthough you quarrel with him.
GLOYD.
If hard work and low wages make good masters
Then he is one. But I think otherwise.
Comelet us have our dinner and be merry
And talk about the old man and the Witches.
I know some stories that will make you laugh.
[They sit down on the grassand eat.]
Now there are Goody Cloyse and Goody Good
Who have not got a decent tooth between them
And yet these children -- the Afflicted Children --
Say that they bite themand show marks of teeth
Upon their arms!
ONE OF THE MEN.
That makes the wonder greater.
That's Witchcraft. Whyif they had teeth like yours
'T would be no wonder if the girls were bitten!
GLOYD.
And then those ghosts that come out of their graves
And cry"You murdered us! you murdered us!"
ONE OF THE MEN.
And all those Apparitions that stick pins
Into the flesh of the Afflicted Children!
GLOYD.
Oh those Afflicted Children! They know well
Where the pins come from. I can tell you that.
And there's old Coreyhe has got a horseshoe
Nailed on his doorstep to keep off the Witches
And all the same his wife has gone to prison.
ONE OF THE MEN.
Ohshe's no Witch. I'll swear that Goodwife Corey
Never did harm to any living creature.
She's a good womanif there ever was one.
GLOYD.
Wellwe shall see. As for that Bridget Bishop
She has been tried before; some years ago
A negro testified he saw her shape
Sitting upon the rafters in a barn
And holding in its hand an egg; and while
He went to fetch his pitchforkshe had vanished.
And now be quietwill you? I am tired
And want to sleep here on the grass a little.
[They stretch themselves on the grass.]
ONE OF THE MEN.
There may be Witches riding through the air
Over our heads on broomsticks at this moment
Bound for some Satan's Sabbath in the woods
To be baptized.
GLOYD.
I wish they'd take you with them
And hold you under waterhead and ears
Till you were drowned; and that would stop your talking
If nothing else will. Let me sleepI say.
I. -- GILES COREY'S kitchen. Morning. COREY and MARTHA sitting at thebreakfast-table.
COREY.
[(rising)]
Wellnow I've told you all I saw and heard
Of Bridget Bishop; and I must be gone.
MARTHA.
Don't go into the villageGilesto-day.
Last night you came back tired and out of humor.
COREY.
Sayangry; sayright angry. I was never
In a more devilish temper in my life.
All things went wrong with me.
MARTHA.
You were much vexed;
So don't go to the village.
COREY.
[(going)]
NoI won't.
I won't go near it. We are going to mow
The Ipswich meadows for the aftermath
The crop of sedge and rowens.
MARTHA.
Stay a moment
I want to tell you what I dreamed last night.
Do you believe in dreams?
COREY.
Whyyes and no.
When they come truethen I believe in them
When they come falseI don't believe in them.
But let me hear. What did you dream about?
MARTHA.
I dreamed that you and I were both in prison;
That we had fetters on our hands and feet;
That we were taken before the Magistrates
And tried for Witchcraftand condemned to death!
I wished to pray; they would not let me pray;
You tried to comfort meand they forbade it.
But the most dreadful thing in all my dream
Was that they made you testify against me!
And then there came a kind of mist between us;
I could not see you; and I woke in terror.
I never was more thankful in my life
Than when I found you sleeping at my side!
COREY.
[(with tenderness)]
It was our talk last night that made you dream.
I'm sorry for it. I'll control myself
Another timeand keep my temper down!
I do not like such dreams. -- RememberMartha
I'm going to mow the Ipswich River meadows;
If Gardner comesyou'll tell him where to find me.
[ [Exit.]
MARTHA.
So this delusion grows from bad to worse
Firsta forsaken and forlorn old woman
Ragged and wretchedand without a friend;
Then something higher. Now it's Bridget Bishop;
God only knows whose turn it will be next!
The Magistrates are blindthe people mad!
If they would only seize the Afflicted Children
And put them in the Workhousewhere they should be
There'd be an end of all this wickedness.
[ [Exit.]
II. -- A street in Salem Village.
MATHER.
Yet one thing troubles me.
HATHORNE.
And what is that?
MATHER.
May not the Devil take the outward shape
Of innocent persons? Are we not in danger
Perhapsof punishing some who are not guilty?
HATHORNE.
As I have saidwe do not trust alone
To spectral evidence.
MATHER.
And then again
If any shall be put to death for Witchcraft
We do but kill the bodynot the soul.
The Unclean Spirits that possessed them once
Live stillto enter into other bodies.
What have we gained? Surelythere's nothing gained.
HATHORNE.
Doth not the Scripture say"Thou shalt not suffer
A Witch to live"?
MATHER.
The Scripture sayeth it
But speaketh to the Jews; and we are Christians.
What say the laws of England?
HATHORNE.
They make Witchcraft
Felony without the benefit of Clergy.
Witches are burned in England. You have read --
For you read all thingsnot a book escapes you --
The famous Demonology of King James?
MATHER.
A curious volume. I remember also
The plot of the Two Hundredwith one Fian
The Registrar of the Devilat their head
To drown his Majesty on his return
From Denmark; how they sailed in sieves or riddles
Unto North Berwick Kirk in Lothian
Andlanding theredanced hand in handand sang
"Goodwifego ye before! good wifego ye!
If ye'll not go beforegoodwifelet me!"
While Geilis Duncan played the Witches' Reel
Upon a jews-harp.
HATHORNE.
Then you know full well
The English lawand that in England Witches
When lawfully convicted and attainted
Are put to death.
MATHER.
When lawfully convicted;
That is the point.
HATHORNE.
You heard the evidence
Produced before us yesterday at the trial
Of Bridget Bishop.
MATHER.
One of the Afflicted
I knowbore witness to the apparition
Of ghosts unto the spectre of this Bishop
Saying"You murdered us!" of the truth whereof
There was in matter of fact too much Suspicion.
HATHORNE.
And when she cast her eyes on the Afflicted
They were struck down; and this in such a manner
There could be no collusion in the business.
And when the accused but laid her hand upon them
As they lay in their swoonsthey straight revived
Although they stirred not when the others touched them.
MATHER.
What most convinced me of the woman's guilt
Was finding hidden in her cellar wall
Those poppets made of ragswith headless pins
Stuck into them point outwardsand whereof
She could not give a reasonable account.
HATHORNE.
When you shall read the testimony given
Before the Court in all the other cases
I am persuaded you will find the proof
No less conclusive than it was in this.
Comethenwith meand I will tax your patience
With reading of the documents so far
As may convince you that these sorcerers
Are lawfully convicted and attainted.
Like doubting Thomasyou shall lay your hand
Upon these woundsand you will doubt no more.
[Exeunt.]
III. -- A room in COREY's house. MARTHA and two Deacons of the church.
MARTHA.
Be seated. I am glad to see you here.
I know what you are come for. You are come
To question meand learn from my own lips
If I have any dealings with the Devil;
In shortif I'm a Witch.
DEACON.
[(sitting down)]
Such is our purpose.
How could you know beforehand why we came?
MARTHA.
'T was only a surmise.
DEACON.
We came to ask you
You being with us in church covenant
What part you haveif anyin these matters.
MARTHA.
And I make answerNo part whatsoever.
I am a farmer's wifea working woman;
You see my spinning-wheelyou see my loom
You know the duties of a farmer's wife
And are not ignorant that my life among you
Has been without reproach until this day.
Is it not true?
DEACON.
So much we're bound to own
And say it franklyand without reserve.
MARTHA.
I've heard the idle tales that are abroad;
I've heard it whispered that I am a Witch;
I cannot help it. I do not believe
In any Witchcraft. It is a delusion.
DEACON.
How can you say that it is a delusion
When all our learned and good men believe it--
Our Ministers and worshipful Magistrates?
MARTHA.
Their eyes are blinded and see not the truth.
Perhaps one day they will be open to it.
DEACON.
You answer boldly. The Afflicted Children
Say you appeared to them.
MARTHA.
And did they say
What clothes I came in?
DEACON.
Nothey could not tell.
They said that you foresaw our visit here
And blinded themso that they could not see
The clothes you wore.
MARTHA.
The cunningcrafty girls!
I say to youin all sincerity
I never have appeared to anyone
In my own person. If the Devil takes
My shape to hurt these childrenor afflict them
I am not guilty of it. And I say
It's all a mere delusion of the senses.
DEACON.
I greatly fear that you will find too late
It is not so.
MARTHA.
[(rising)]
They do accuse me falsely.
It is delusionor it is deceit.
There is a story in the ancient Scriptures
Which I much wonder comes not to your minds.
Let me repeat it to you.
DEACON.
We will hear it.
MARTHA.
It came to pass that Naboth had a vineyard
Hard by the palace of the King called Ahab.
And AhabKing of Israelspake to Naboth
And said to himGive unto me thy vineyard
That I may have it for a garden of herbs
And I will give a better vineyard for it
Orif it seemeth good to theeits worth
In money. And then Naboth said to Ahab
The Lord forbid it me that I should give
The inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
And Ahab came into his house displeased
And heavy at the words which Naboth spake
And laid him down upon his bedand turned
His face away; and he would eat no bread.
And Jezebelthe wife of Ahabcame
And said to himWhy is thy spirit sad?
And he said unto herBecause I spake
To Nabothto the Jezreeliteand said
Give me thy vineyard; and he answeredsaying
I will not give my vineyard unto thee.
And Jezebelthe wife of Ahabsaid
Dost thou not rule the realm of Israel?
Ariseeat breadand let thy heart be merry;
I will give Naboth's vineyard unto thee.
So she wrote letters in King Ahab's name
And sealed them with his sealand sent the letters
Unto the elders that were in his city
Dwelling with Nabothand unto the nobles;
And in the letters wroteProclaim a fast;
And set this Naboth high among the people
And set two menthe sons of Belial
Before himto bear witness and to say
Thou didst blaspheme against God and the King;
And carry him out and stone himthat he die!
And the elders and the nobles in the city
Did even as Jezebelthe wife of Ahab
Had sent to them and written in the letters.
And then it came to passwhen Ahab heard
Naboth was deadthat Ahab rose to go
Down unto Naboth's vineyardand to take
Possession of it. And the word of God
Came to Elijahsaying to himArise
Go down to meet the King of Israel
In Naboth's vineyardwhither he hath gone
To take possession. Thou shalt speak to him
SayingThus saith the Lord! What! hast thou killed
And also taken possession? In the place
Wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth
Shall the dogs lick thy blood-- ayeven thine!
[Both of the Deacons start from their seats.]
And Ahab thenthe King of Israel
SaidHast thou found meO mine enemy?
Elijah the Prophet answeredI have found thee!
So will it be with those who have stirred up
The Sons of Belial here to bear false witness
And swear away the lives of innocent people;
Their enemy will find them out at last
The Prophet's voice will thunderI have found thee!
[ [Exeunt.]
IV. -- Meadows on Ipswich RiverCOREY and his men mowing; COREY in advance.
COREY.
Well donemy men. You seeI lead the field!
I'm an old manbut I can swing a scythe
Better than most of yonthough you be younger.
[Hangs his scythe upon a tree.]
GLOYD.
[(aside to the others)]
How strong he is! It's supernatural.
No man so old as he is has such strength.
The Devil helps him!
COREY.
[(wiping his forehead)]
Now we'll rest awhile
And take our nooning. What's the matter with you?
You are not angry with me-- are youGloyd?
Comecomewe will not quarrel. Let's be friends.
It's an old storythat the Raven said
"Read the Third of Colossians and fifteenth."
GLOYD.
You're handier at the scythebut I can beat you
At wrestling.
COREY.
Wellperhaps so. I don't know.
I never wrestled with you. Whyyou're vexed!
Comecomedon't bear a grudge.
GLOYD.
You are afraid.
COREY.
What should I bc afraid of? All bear witness
The challenge comes from him. Nowthenmy man.
[They wrestleand GLOYD is thrown.]
ONE OF THE MEN.
That's a fair fall.
ANOTHER.
'T was nothing but a foil!
OTHERS.
You've hurt him!
COREY.
[(helping GLOYD rise)]
No; this meadow-land is soft.
You're not hurt-- are youGloyd?
GLOYD.
[(rising)]
Nonot much hurt.
COREY.
Wellthenshake hands; and there's an end of it.
How do you like that Cornish hugmy lad?
And now we'll see what's in our basket here.
GLOYD.
[(aside)]
The Devil and all his imps are in that man!
The clutch of his ten fingers burns like fire!
COREY.
[(reverentially taking off his hat)]
God bless the food He hath provided for us
And make us thankful for itfor Christ's sake!
[He lifts up a keg of ciderand drinks from it.]
GLOYD.
Do you see that? Don't tell me it's not Witchcraft
Two of us could not lift that cask as he does!
[COREY puts down the kegand opens a basket. A voice is heard calling.]
VOICE.
Ho! CoreyCorey!
COREY.
What is that? I surely
Heard some one calling me by name!
VOICE.
Giles Corey!
[Enter a boyrunningand out of breath.]
BOY.
Is Master Corey here?
COREY.
Yeshere I am.
BOY.
O Master Corey!
COREY.
Well?
BOY.
Your wife -- your wife --
COREY.
What's happened to my wife?
BOY.
She's sent to prison!
COREY.
The dream! the dream! O Godbe merciful!
BOY.
She sent me here to tell you.
COREY.
[(putting on his jacket)]
Where's my horse?
Don't stand there staringfellows.
Where's my horse?
[ [Exit COREY.]
GLOYD.
Under the trees there. Runold manrunrun!
You've got some one to wrestle with you now
Who'll trip your heels upwith your Cornish hug.
If there's a Devilhe has got you now.
Ahthere he goes! His horse is snorting fire!
ONE OF THE MEN.
John Gloyddon't talk so! It's a shame to talk so!
He's a good masterthough you quarrel with him.
GLOYD.
If hard work and low wages make good masters
Then he is one. But I think otherwise.
Comelet us have our dinner and be merry
And talk about the old man and the Witches.
I know some stories that will make you laugh.
[They sit down on the grassand eat.]
Now there are Goody Cloyse and Goody Good
Who have not got a decent tooth between them
And yet these children -- the Afflicted Children --
Say that they bite themand show marks of teeth
Upon their arms!
ONE OF THE MEN.
That makes the wonder greater.
That's Witchcraft. Whyif they had teeth like yours
'T would be no wonder if the girls were bitten!
GLOYD.
And then those ghosts that come out of their graves
And cry"You murdered us! you murdered us!"
ONE OF THE MEN.
And all those Apparitions that stick pins
Into the flesh of the Afflicted Children!
GLOYD.
Oh those Afflicted Children! They know well
Where the pins come from. I can tell you that.
And there's old Coreyhe has got a horseshoe
Nailed on his doorstep to keep off the Witches
And all the same his wife has gone to prison.
ONE OF THE MEN.
Ohshe's no Witch. I'll swear that Goodwife Corey
Never did harm to any living creature.
She's a good womanif there ever was one.
GLOYD.
Wellwe shall see. As for that Bridget Bishop
She has been tried before; some years ago
A negro testified he saw her shape
Sitting upon the rafters in a barn
And holding in its hand an egg; and while
He went to fetch his pitchforkshe had vanished.
And now be quietwill you? I am tired
And want to sleep here on the grass a little.
[They stretch themselves on the grass.]
ONE OF THE MEN.
There may be Witches riding through the air
Over our heads on broomsticks at this moment
Bound for some Satan's Sabbath in the woods
To be baptized.
GLOYD.
I wish they'd take you with them
And hold you under waterhead and ears
Till you were drowned; and that would stop your talking
If nothing else will. Let me sleepI say.
ACT IV
I. -- The Green in front of the village Meeting-house. An excited crowdgathering.
A FARMER.
Who will be tried to-day?
A SECOND.
I do not know.
Here is John Gloyd. Ask him; he knows.
FARMER.
John Gloyd
Whose turn is it to-day?
GLOYD.
It's Goodwife Corey's.
FARMER.
Giles Corey's wife?
GLOYD.
The same. She is not mine.
It will go hard with her with all her praying.
The hypocrite! She's always on her knees;
But she prays to the Devil when she prays.
Let us go in.
[A trumpet blows.]
FARMER.
Here come the Magistrates.
SECOND FARMER.
Who's the tall man in front?
GLOYD.
Ohthat is Hathorne
A Justice of the Courtand a Quarter-master
In the Three County Troop. He'll sift the matter.
That's Corwin with him; and the man in black
Is Cotton MatherMinister of Boston.
[Enter HATHORNE and other Magistrates on horsebackfollowed by the Sheriffconstablesand attendants on foot. The Magistrates dismountand enter theMeeting-housewith the rest.]
FARMER.
The Meeting-house is full. I never saw
So great a crowd before.
GLOYD.
No matter. Come.
We shall find room enough by elbowing
Our way among them. Put your shoulder to it.
FARMER.
There were not half so many at the trial
Of Goodwife Bishop.
GLOYD.
Keep close after me.
I'll find a place for you. They'll want me there.
I am a friend of Corey'sas you know
And he can't do without me just at present.
[ [Exeunt.]
II. -- Interior of the Meeting-house. MATHER and the Magistrates seated infront of the pulpit. Before them a raised platform. MARTHA in chains. COREY nearher. MARY WALCOT in a chair. A crowd of spectatorsamong them GLOYD. Confusionand murmurs during the scene.
HATHORNE.
Call Martha Corey.
MARTHA.
I am here.
HATHORNE.
Come forward.
[She ascends the platform.]
The Jurors of our Sovereign Lord and Lady
The King and Queenhere presentdo accuse you
Of having on the tenth of June last past
And divers other times before and after
Wickedly used and practised certain arts
Called WitchcraftsSorceriesand Incantations
Against one Mary Walcotsingle woman
Of Salem Village; by which wicked arts
The aforesaid Mary Walcot was tormented
Torturedafflictedpinedconsumedand wasted
Against the peace of our Sovereign Lord and Lady
The King and Queenas well as of the Statute
Made and provided in that case. What say you?
MARTHA.
Before I answergive me leave to pray.
HATHORNE.
We have not sent for younor are we here
To hear you praybut to examine you
In whatsoever is alleged against you.
Why do you hurt this person?
MARTHA.
I do not.
I am not guilty of the charge against me.
MARY.
Avoidshe-devil! You may torment me now!
AvoidavoidWitch!
MARTHA.
I am innocent.
I never had to do with any Witchcraft
Since I was born. I am a gospel woman.
MARY.
You are a gospel Witch!
MARTHA.
[(clasping her hands)]
Ah me! ah me!
Ohgive me leave to pray!
MARY.
[(stretching out her hands)]
She hurts me now.
Seeshe has pinched my hands!
HATHORNE.
Who made these marks
Upon her hands?
MARTHA.
I do not know. I stand
Apart from her. I did not touch her hands.
HATHORNE.
Who hurt her then?
MARTHA.
I know not.
HATHORNE.
Do you think
She is bewitched?
MARTHA.
Indeed I do not think so.
I am no Witchand have no faith in Witches.
HATHORNE.
Then answer me: When certain persons came
To see you yesterdayhow did you know
Beforehand why they came?
MARTHA.
I had had speech;
The children said I hurt themand I thought
These people came to question me about it.
HATHORNE.
How did you know the children had been told
To note the clothes you wore?
MARTHA.
My husband told me
What others said about it.
HATHORNE.
Goodman Corey
Saydid you tell her?
COREY.
I must speak the truth;
I did not tell her. It was some one else.
HATHORNE.
Did you not say your husband told you so?
How dare you tell a lie in this assembly?
Who told you of the clothes? Confess the truth.
[MARTHA bites her lipsand is silent.]
You bite your lipsbut do not answer me!
MARY.
Ahshe is biting me! Avoidavoid!
HATHORNE.
You said your husband told you.
MARTHA.
Yeshe told me
The children said I troubled them.
HATHORNE.
Then tell me
Why do you trouble them?
MARTHA.
I have denied it.
MARY.
She threatened me; stabbed at me with her spindle;
Andwhen my brother thrust her with his sword
He tore her gownand cut a piece away.
Here are they boththe spindle and the cloth.
[Shows them.]
HATHORNE.
And there are persons here who know the truth
Of what has now been said. What answer make you?
MARTHA.
I make no answer. Give me leave to pray.
HATHORNE.
Whom would you pray to?
MARTHA.
To my God and Father.
HATHORNE.
Who is your God and Father?
MARTHA.
The Almighty!
HATHORNE.
Doth he you pray to say that he is God?
It is the Prince of Darknessand not God.
MARY.
There is a dark shape whispering in her ear.
HATHORNE.
What does it say to you?
MARTHA.
I see no shape.
HATHORNE.
Did you not hear it whisper?
MARTHA.
I heard nothing.
MARY.
What torture! Ahwhat agony I suffer!
[Falls into a swoon.]
HATHORNE.
You see this woman cannot stand before you.
If you would look for mercyyou must look
In God's wayby confession of your guilt.
Why does your spectre haunt and hurt this person?
MARTHA.
I do not know. He who appeared of old
In Samuel's shapea saint and glorified
May come in whatsoever shape he chooses.
I cannot help it. I am sick at heart!
COREY.
O MarthaMartha! let me hold your hand.
HATHORNE.
No; stand asideold man.
MARY.
[(starting up)]
Look there! Look there!
I see a little birda yellow bird
Perched on her finger; and it pecks at me.
Ahit will tear mine eyes out!
MARTHA.
I see nothing.
HATHORNE.
'T is the Familiar Spirit that attends her.
MARY.
Now it has flown away. It sits up there
Upon the rafters. It is gone; is vanished.
MARTHA.
Gileswipe these tears of anger from mine eyes.
Wipe the sweat from my forehead. I am faint.
[She leans against the railing.]
MARY.
Ohshe is crushing me with all her weight!
HATHORNE.
Did you not carry once the Devil's Book
To this young woman?
MARTHA.
Never.
HATHORNE.
Have you signed it
Or touched it?
MARTHA.
No; I never saw it.
HATHORNE.
Did you not scourge her with an iron rod?
MARTHA.
NoI did not. If any Evil Spirit
Has taken my shape to do these evil deeds
I cannot help it. I am innocent.
HATHORNE.
Did you not say the Magistrates were blind?
That you would open their eyes?
MARTHA.
[(with a scornful laugh)]
YesI said that;
If you call me a sorceressyou are blind!
If you accuse the innocentyou are blind!
Can the innocent be guilty?
HATHORNE.
Did you not
On one occasion hide your husband's saddle
To hinder him from coming to the sessions?
MARTHA.
I thought it was a folly in a farmer
To waste his time pursuing such illusions.
HATHORNE.
What was the bird that this young woman saw
Just now upon your hand?
MARTHA.
I know no bird.
HATHORNE.
Have you not dealt with a Familiar Spirit?
MARTHA.
Nonevernever!
HATHORNE.
What then was the Book
You showed to this young womanand besought her
To write in it?
MARTHA.
Where should I have a book?
I showed her nonenor have none.
MARY.
The next Sabbath
Is the Communion Daybut Martha Corey
Will not be there!
MARTHA.
Ahyou are all against me.
What can I do or say?
HATHORNE.
You can confess.
MARTHA.
NoI cannotfor I am innocent.
HATHORNE.
We have the proof of many witnesses
That you are guilty.
MARTHA.
Give me leave to speak.
Will you condemn me on such evidence--
You who have known me for so many years?
Will you condemn me in this house of God
Where I so long have worshipped with you all?
Where I have eaten the bread and drunk the wine
So many times at our Lord's Table with you?
Bear witnessyou that hear me; you all know
That I have led a blameless life among you
That never any whisper of suspicion
Was breathed against me till this accusation.
And shall this count for nothing? Will you take
My life away from mebecause this girl
Who is distraughtand not in her right mind
Accuses me of things I blush to name?
HATHORNE.
What! is it not enough? Would you hear more?
Giles Corey!
COREY.
I am here.
HATHORNE.
Come forwardthen.
[COREY ascends the platform.]
Is it not truethat on a certain night
You were impeded strangely in your prayers?
That something hindered you? and that you left
This woman hereyour wifekneeling alone
Upon the hearth?
COREY.
Yes; I cannot deny it.
HATHORNE.
Did you not say the Devil hindered you?
COREY.
I think I said some words to that effect.
HATHORNE.
Is it not truethat fourteen head of cattle
To you belongingbroke from their enclosure
And leaped into the riverand were drowned?
COREY.
It is most true.
HATHORNE.
And did you not then say
That they were overlooked?
COREY.
So much I said.
I see; they're drawing round me closercloser
A net I cannot breakcannot escape from!
[(Aside)]
HATHORNE.
Who did these things?
COREY.
I do not know who did them.
HATHORNE.
Then I will tell you. It is some one near you;
You see her now; this womanyour own wife.
COREY.
I call the heavens to witnessit is false!
She never harmed menever hindered me
In anything but what I should not do.
And I bear witness in the sight of heaven
And in God's house herethat I never knew her
As otherwise than patientbraveand true
Faithfulforgivingfull of charity
A virtuous and industrious and good wife!
HATHORNE.
Tuttutman; do not rant so in your speech;
You are a witnessnot an advocate!
HereSherifftake this woman back to prison.
MARTHA.
O Gilesthis day you've sworn away my life!
MARY.
Gogo and join the Witches at the door.
Do you not hear the drum? Do you not see them?
Go quick. They're waiting for you. You are late.
[Exit MARTHA; COREY following.]
COREY.
The dream! the dream! the dream!
HATHORNE.
What does he say?
Giles Coreygo not hence. You are yourself
Accused of Witchcraft and of Sorcery
By many witnesses. Sayare you guilty?
COREY.
I know my death is foreordained by you
Mine and my wife's. Therefore I will not answer.
[During the rest of the scene he remains silent.]
HATHORNE.
Do you refuse to plead? -- 'T were better for you
To make confessionor to plead Not Guilty. --
Do you not hear me? -- Answerare you guilty?
Do you not know a heavier doom awaits you
If you refuse to pleadthan if found guilty?
Where is John Gloyd?
GLOYD.
[(coming forward)]
Here am I.
HATHORNE.
Tell the Court
Have you not seen the supernatural power
Of this old man? Have you not seen him do
Strange feats of strength?
GLOYD.
I've seen him lead the field
On a hot dayin mowingand against
Us younger men; and I have wrestled with him.
He threw me like a feather. I have seen him
Lift up a barrel with his single hands
Which two strong men could hardly lift together
Andholding it above his headdrink from it.
HATHORNE.
That is enough; we need not question further.
What answer do you make to thisGiles Corey?
MARY.
See there! See there!
HATHORNE.
What is it? I see nothing.
MARY.
Look! Look! It is the ghost of Robert Goodell
Whom fifteen years ago this man did murder
By stamping on his body! In his shroud
He comes here to bear witness to the crime!
[The crowd shrinks back from COREY in horror.]
HATHORNE.
Ghosts of the dead and voices of the living
Bear witness to your guiltand you must die!
It might have been an easier death. Your doom
Will be on your own headand not on ours.
Twice more will you be questioned of these things;
Twice more have room to plead or to confess.
If you are contumacious to the Court
And ifwhen questionedyou refuse to answer
Then by the Statute you will be condemned
To the peine forte et dure! To have your body
Pressed by great weights until you shall be dead!
And may the Lord have mercy on your soul!
I. -- The Green in front of the village Meeting-house. An excited crowdgathering.
A FARMER.
Who will be tried to-day?
A SECOND.
I do not know.
Here is John Gloyd. Ask him; he knows.
FARMER.
John Gloyd
Whose turn is it to-day?
GLOYD.
It's Goodwife Corey's.
FARMER.
Giles Corey's wife?
GLOYD.
The same. She is not mine.
It will go hard with her with all her praying.
The hypocrite! She's always on her knees;
But she prays to the Devil when she prays.
Let us go in.
[A trumpet blows.]
FARMER.
Here come the Magistrates.
SECOND FARMER.
Who's the tall man in front?
GLOYD.
Ohthat is Hathorne
A Justice of the Courtand a Quarter-master
In the Three County Troop. He'll sift the matter.
That's Corwin with him; and the man in black
Is Cotton MatherMinister of Boston.
[Enter HATHORNE and other Magistrates on horsebackfollowed by the Sheriffconstablesand attendants on foot. The Magistrates dismountand enter theMeeting-housewith the rest.]
FARMER.
The Meeting-house is full. I never saw
So great a crowd before.
GLOYD.
No matter. Come.
We shall find room enough by elbowing
Our way among them. Put your shoulder to it.
FARMER.
There were not half so many at the trial
Of Goodwife Bishop.
GLOYD.
Keep close after me.
I'll find a place for you. They'll want me there.
I am a friend of Corey'sas you know
And he can't do without me just at present.
[ [Exeunt.]
II. -- Interior of the Meeting-house. MATHER and the Magistrates seated infront of the pulpit. Before them a raised platform. MARTHA in chains. COREY nearher. MARY WALCOT in a chair. A crowd of spectatorsamong them GLOYD. Confusionand murmurs during the scene.
HATHORNE.
Call Martha Corey.
MARTHA.
I am here.
HATHORNE.
Come forward.
[She ascends the platform.]
The Jurors of our Sovereign Lord and Lady
The King and Queenhere presentdo accuse you
Of having on the tenth of June last past
And divers other times before and after
Wickedly used and practised certain arts
Called WitchcraftsSorceriesand Incantations
Against one Mary Walcotsingle woman
Of Salem Village; by which wicked arts
The aforesaid Mary Walcot was tormented
Torturedafflictedpinedconsumedand wasted
Against the peace of our Sovereign Lord and Lady
The King and Queenas well as of the Statute
Made and provided in that case. What say you?
MARTHA.
Before I answergive me leave to pray.
HATHORNE.
We have not sent for younor are we here
To hear you praybut to examine you
In whatsoever is alleged against you.
Why do you hurt this person?
MARTHA.
I do not.
I am not guilty of the charge against me.
MARY.
Avoidshe-devil! You may torment me now!
AvoidavoidWitch!
MARTHA.
I am innocent.
I never had to do with any Witchcraft
Since I was born. I am a gospel woman.
MARY.
You are a gospel Witch!
MARTHA.
[(clasping her hands)]
Ah me! ah me!
Ohgive me leave to pray!
MARY.
[(stretching out her hands)]
She hurts me now.
Seeshe has pinched my hands!
HATHORNE.
Who made these marks
Upon her hands?
MARTHA.
I do not know. I stand
Apart from her. I did not touch her hands.
HATHORNE.
Who hurt her then?
MARTHA.
I know not.
HATHORNE.
Do you think
She is bewitched?
MARTHA.
Indeed I do not think so.
I am no Witchand have no faith in Witches.
HATHORNE.
Then answer me: When certain persons came
To see you yesterdayhow did you know
Beforehand why they came?
MARTHA.
I had had speech;
The children said I hurt themand I thought
These people came to question me about it.
HATHORNE.
How did you know the children had been told
To note the clothes you wore?
MARTHA.
My husband told me
What others said about it.
HATHORNE.
Goodman Corey
Saydid you tell her?
COREY.
I must speak the truth;
I did not tell her. It was some one else.
HATHORNE.
Did you not say your husband told you so?
How dare you tell a lie in this assembly?
Who told you of the clothes? Confess the truth.
[MARTHA bites her lipsand is silent.]
You bite your lipsbut do not answer me!
MARY.
Ahshe is biting me! Avoidavoid!
HATHORNE.
You said your husband told you.
MARTHA.
Yeshe told me
The children said I troubled them.
HATHORNE.
Then tell me
Why do you trouble them?
MARTHA.
I have denied it.
MARY.
She threatened me; stabbed at me with her spindle;
Andwhen my brother thrust her with his sword
He tore her gownand cut a piece away.
Here are they boththe spindle and the cloth.
[Shows them.]
HATHORNE.
And there are persons here who know the truth
Of what has now been said. What answer make you?
MARTHA.
I make no answer. Give me leave to pray.
HATHORNE.
Whom would you pray to?
MARTHA.
To my God and Father.
HATHORNE.
Who is your God and Father?
MARTHA.
The Almighty!
HATHORNE.
Doth he you pray to say that he is God?
It is the Prince of Darknessand not God.
MARY.
There is a dark shape whispering in her ear.
HATHORNE.
What does it say to you?
MARTHA.
I see no shape.
HATHORNE.
Did you not hear it whisper?
MARTHA.
I heard nothing.
MARY.
What torture! Ahwhat agony I suffer!
[Falls into a swoon.]
HATHORNE.
You see this woman cannot stand before you.
If you would look for mercyyou must look
In God's wayby confession of your guilt.
Why does your spectre haunt and hurt this person?
MARTHA.
I do not know. He who appeared of old
In Samuel's shapea saint and glorified
May come in whatsoever shape he chooses.
I cannot help it. I am sick at heart!
COREY.
O MarthaMartha! let me hold your hand.
HATHORNE.
No; stand asideold man.
MARY.
[(starting up)]
Look there! Look there!
I see a little birda yellow bird
Perched on her finger; and it pecks at me.
Ahit will tear mine eyes out!
MARTHA.
I see nothing.
HATHORNE.
'T is the Familiar Spirit that attends her.
MARY.
Now it has flown away. It sits up there
Upon the rafters. It is gone; is vanished.
MARTHA.
Gileswipe these tears of anger from mine eyes.
Wipe the sweat from my forehead. I am faint.
[She leans against the railing.]
MARY.
Ohshe is crushing me with all her weight!
HATHORNE.
Did you not carry once the Devil's Book
To this young woman?
MARTHA.
Never.
HATHORNE.
Have you signed it
Or touched it?
MARTHA.
No; I never saw it.
HATHORNE.
Did you not scourge her with an iron rod?
MARTHA.
NoI did not. If any Evil Spirit
Has taken my shape to do these evil deeds
I cannot help it. I am innocent.
HATHORNE.
Did you not say the Magistrates were blind?
That you would open their eyes?
MARTHA.
[(with a scornful laugh)]
YesI said that;
If you call me a sorceressyou are blind!
If you accuse the innocentyou are blind!
Can the innocent be guilty?
HATHORNE.
Did you not
On one occasion hide your husband's saddle
To hinder him from coming to the sessions?
MARTHA.
I thought it was a folly in a farmer
To waste his time pursuing such illusions.
HATHORNE.
What was the bird that this young woman saw
Just now upon your hand?
MARTHA.
I know no bird.
HATHORNE.
Have you not dealt with a Familiar Spirit?
MARTHA.
Nonevernever!
HATHORNE.
What then was the Book
You showed to this young womanand besought her
To write in it?
MARTHA.
Where should I have a book?
I showed her nonenor have none.
MARY.
The next Sabbath
Is the Communion Daybut Martha Corey
Will not be there!
MARTHA.
Ahyou are all against me.
What can I do or say?
HATHORNE.
You can confess.
MARTHA.
NoI cannotfor I am innocent.
HATHORNE.
We have the proof of many witnesses
That you are guilty.
MARTHA.
Give me leave to speak.
Will you condemn me on such evidence--
You who have known me for so many years?
Will you condemn me in this house of God
Where I so long have worshipped with you all?
Where I have eaten the bread and drunk the wine
So many times at our Lord's Table with you?
Bear witnessyou that hear me; you all know
That I have led a blameless life among you
That never any whisper of suspicion
Was breathed against me till this accusation.
And shall this count for nothing? Will you take
My life away from mebecause this girl
Who is distraughtand not in her right mind
Accuses me of things I blush to name?
HATHORNE.
What! is it not enough? Would you hear more?
Giles Corey!
COREY.
I am here.
HATHORNE.
Come forwardthen.
[COREY ascends the platform.]
Is it not truethat on a certain night
You were impeded strangely in your prayers?
That something hindered you? and that you left
This woman hereyour wifekneeling alone
Upon the hearth?
COREY.
Yes; I cannot deny it.
HATHORNE.
Did you not say the Devil hindered you?
COREY.
I think I said some words to that effect.
HATHORNE.
Is it not truethat fourteen head of cattle
To you belongingbroke from their enclosure
And leaped into the riverand were drowned?
COREY.
It is most true.
HATHORNE.
And did you not then say
That they were overlooked?
COREY.
So much I said.
I see; they're drawing round me closercloser
A net I cannot breakcannot escape from!
[(Aside)]
HATHORNE.
Who did these things?
COREY.
I do not know who did them.
HATHORNE.
Then I will tell you. It is some one near you;
You see her now; this womanyour own wife.
COREY.
I call the heavens to witnessit is false!
She never harmed menever hindered me
In anything but what I should not do.
And I bear witness in the sight of heaven
And in God's house herethat I never knew her
As otherwise than patientbraveand true
Faithfulforgivingfull of charity
A virtuous and industrious and good wife!
HATHORNE.
Tuttutman; do not rant so in your speech;
You are a witnessnot an advocate!
HereSherifftake this woman back to prison.
MARTHA.
O Gilesthis day you've sworn away my life!
MARY.
Gogo and join the Witches at the door.
Do you not hear the drum? Do you not see them?
Go quick. They're waiting for you. You are late.
[Exit MARTHA; COREY following.]
COREY.
The dream! the dream! the dream!
HATHORNE.
What does he say?
Giles Coreygo not hence. You are yourself
Accused of Witchcraft and of Sorcery
By many witnesses. Sayare you guilty?
COREY.
I know my death is foreordained by you
Mine and my wife's. Therefore I will not answer.
[During the rest of the scene he remains silent.]
HATHORNE.
Do you refuse to plead? -- 'T were better for you
To make confessionor to plead Not Guilty. --
Do you not hear me? -- Answerare you guilty?
Do you not know a heavier doom awaits you
If you refuse to pleadthan if found guilty?
Where is John Gloyd?
GLOYD.
[(coming forward)]
Here am I.
HATHORNE.
Tell the Court
Have you not seen the supernatural power
Of this old man? Have you not seen him do
Strange feats of strength?
GLOYD.
I've seen him lead the field
On a hot dayin mowingand against
Us younger men; and I have wrestled with him.
He threw me like a feather. I have seen him
Lift up a barrel with his single hands
Which two strong men could hardly lift together
Andholding it above his headdrink from it.
HATHORNE.
That is enough; we need not question further.
What answer do you make to thisGiles Corey?
MARY.
See there! See there!
HATHORNE.
What is it? I see nothing.
MARY.
Look! Look! It is the ghost of Robert Goodell
Whom fifteen years ago this man did murder
By stamping on his body! In his shroud
He comes here to bear witness to the crime!
[The crowd shrinks back from COREY in horror.]
HATHORNE.
Ghosts of the dead and voices of the living
Bear witness to your guiltand you must die!
It might have been an easier death. Your doom
Will be on your own headand not on ours.
Twice more will you be questioned of these things;
Twice more have room to plead or to confess.
If you are contumacious to the Court
And ifwhen questionedyou refuse to answer
Then by the Statute you will be condemned
To the peine forte et dure! To have your body
Pressed by great weights until you shall be dead!
And may the Lord have mercy on your soul!
ACT V.
I. -- Corey's farm as in Act II.Scene I.
GARDNER.
Here stands the house as I remember it.
The four tall poplar-trees before the door;
The housethe barnthe orchardand the well
With its moss-covered bucket and its trough;
The gardenwith its hedge of currant-bushes;
The woodsthe harvest-fields; andfar beyond
The pleasant landscape stretching to the sea.
But everything is silent and deserted!
No bleat of flocksno bellowing of herds
No sound of flailsthat should be beating now;
Nor man nor beast astir. What can this mean?
[Knocks at the door.]
What ho! Giles Corey! Hillo-ho! Giles Corey! --
No answer but the echo from the barn
And the ill-omened cawing of the crow
That yonder wings his flight across the fields
As if he scented carrion in the air.
[Enter TITUBA with a basket.]
What woman's thisthatlike an apparition
Haunts this deserted homestead in broad day?
Womanwho are you?
TITUBA.
I'm Tituba.
I am John Indian's wife. I am a Witch.
GARDNER.
What are you doing here?
TITUBA.
I am gathering herbs--
Cinquefoiland saxifrageand pennyroyal.
GARDNER.
[(looking at the herbs).]
This is not cinquefoilit is deadly nightshade!
This is not saxifragebut hellebore!
This is not pennyroyalit is henbane!
Do you come here to poison these good people?
TITUBA.
I get these for the Doctor in the Village.
Beware of Tituba. I pinch the children;
Make little poppets and stick pins in them
And then the children cry out they are pricked.
The Black Dog came to me and said"Serve me!"
I was afraid. He made me hurt the children.
GARDNER.
Poor soul! She's crazedwith all these Devil's doings.
TITUBA.
Will yousirsign the book?
GARDNER.
NoI'll not sign it.
Where is Giles Corey? Do you know Giles Corey!
TITUBA.
He's safe enough. He's down there in the prison.
GARDNER.
Corey in prison? What is he accused of?
TITUBA.
Giles Corey and Martha Corey are in prison
Down there in Salem Village. Both are witches.
She came to me and whispered"Kill the children!"
Both signed the Book!
GARDNER.
Begoneyou imp of darkness!
You Devil's dam!
TITUBA.
Beware of Tituba!
[ [Exit.]
GARDNER.
How often out at sea on stormy nights
When the waves thundered round meand the wind
Bellowedand beat the canvasand my ship
Clove through the solid darknesslike a wedge
I've thought of him upon his pleasant farm
Living in quiet with his thrifty housewife
And envied himand wished his fate were mine!
And now I find him shipwrecked utterly
Drifting upon this sea of sorceries
And lostperhapsbeyond all aid of man!
[ [Exit.]
II.. -- The prison. GILES COREY at a table on which are some papers.
COREY.
Now I have done with earth and all its cares;
I give my worldly goods to my dear children;
My body I bequeath to my tormentors
And my immortal soul to Him who made it.
O God! who in thy wisdom dost afflict me
With an affliction greater than most men
Have ever yet endured or shall endure
Suffer me not in this last bitter hour
For any pains of death to fall from Thee!
[MARTHA is heard singing.]
MARTHA.
AriseO righteous Lord!
And disappoint my foes;
They are but thine avenging sword
Whose wounds are swift to close.
COREY.
Harkhark! it is her voice! She is not dead!
She lives! I am not utterly forsaken!
MARTHA.
[ singing. ]
By thine abounding grace
And mercies multiplied
I shall awakeand see thy face;
I shall be satisfied.
[COREY hides his face in his hands. Enter the JAILERfollowed by RICHARDGARDNER.]
JAILER.
Here's a seafaring manone Richard Gardner
A friend of yourswho asks to speak with you.
[COREY rises. They embrace.]
COREY.
I'm glad to see youayright glad to see you.
GARDNER.
And I am most sorely grieved to see you thus.
COREY.
Of all the friends I had in happier days
You are the firstayand the only one
That comes to seek me out in my disgrace!
And you but come in time to say farewell
They've dug my grave already in the field.
I thank you. There is something in your presence
I know not what it isthat gives me strength.
Perhaps it is the bearing of a man
Familiar with all dangers of the deep
Familiar with the cries of drowning men
With fireand wreckand foundering ships at sea!
GARDNER.
AhI have never known a wreck like yours!
Would I could save you!
COREY.
Do not speak of that.
It is too late. I am resolved to die.
GARDNER.
Why would you die who have so much to live for? --
Your daughtersand --
COREY.
You cannot say the word.
My daughters have gone from me. They are married;
They have their homestheir thoughtsapart from me;
I will not say their hearts-- that were too cruel.
What would you have me do?
GARDNER.
Confess and live.
COREY.
That's what they said who came here yesterday
To lay a heavy weight upon my conscience
By telling me that I was driven forth
As an unworthy member of their church.
GARDNER.
It is an awful death.
COREY.
'T is but to drown
And have the weight of all the seas upon you.
GARDNER.
Say something; say enough to fend off death
Till this tornado of fanaticism
Blows itself out. Let me come in between you
And your severer selfwith my plain sense;
Do not be obstinate.
COREY.
I will not plead.
If I denyI am condemned already
In courts where ghosts appear as witnesses
And swear men's lives away. If I confess
Then I confess a lieto buy a life
Which is not lifebut only death in life.
I will not bear false witness against any
Not even against myselfwhom I count least.
GARDNER
[(aside)]
Ahwhat a noble character is this!
COREY.
I pray youdo not urge me to do that
You would not do yourself. I have already
The bitter taste of death upon my lips;
I feel the pressure of the heavy weight
That will crush out my life within this hour;
But if a word could save meand that word
Were not the Truth; nayif it did but swerve
A hair's-breadth from the TruthI would not say it!
GARDNER.
[(aside)]
How mean I seem beside a man like this!
COREY.
As for my wifemy Martha and my Martyr--
Whose virtueslike the starsunseen by day
Though numberlessdo but await the dark
To manifest themselves unto all eyes--
She who first won me from my evil ways
And taught me how to live by her example
By her example teaches me to die
And leads me onward to the better life!
SHERIFF
[(without)]
Giles Corey! Come! The hour has struck!
COREY.
I come!
Here is my body; ye may torture it
But the immortal soul ye cannot crush!
[ [Exeunt.]
III -- A street in the Village.
GLOYD.
Quickor we shall be late!
A MAN.
That's not the way.
Come here; come up this lane.
GLOYD.
I wonder now
If the old man will dieand will not speak?
He's obstinate enough and tough enough
For anything on earth.
[A bell tolls.]
Hark! What is that?
A MAN.
The passing bell. He's dead!
GLOYD.
We are too late.
[ [Exeunt in haste.]
IV. -- A field near the graveyardGILES COREY lying deadwith a greatstone on his breast. The Sheriff at his headRICHARD GARDNER at his feet. Acrowd behind. The bell tolling.
HATHORNE.
This is the Potter's Field. Behold the fate
Of those who deal in Witchcraftsandwhen questioned
Refuse to plead their guilt or innocence
And stubbornly drag death upon themselves.
MATHER.
O sight most horrible! In a land like this
Spangled with Churches Evangelical
Inwrapped in our salvationsmust we seek
In mouldering statute-books of English Courts
Some old forgotten Lawto do such deeds?
Those who lie buried in the Potter's Field
Will rise againas surely as ourselves
That sleep in honored graves with epitaphs;
And this poor manwhom we have made a victim
Hereafter will be counted as a martyr!
FINALE
I. -- Corey's farm as in Act II.Scene I.
GARDNER.
Here stands the house as I remember it.
The four tall poplar-trees before the door;
The housethe barnthe orchardand the well
With its moss-covered bucket and its trough;
The gardenwith its hedge of currant-bushes;
The woodsthe harvest-fields; andfar beyond
The pleasant landscape stretching to the sea.
But everything is silent and deserted!
No bleat of flocksno bellowing of herds
No sound of flailsthat should be beating now;
Nor man nor beast astir. What can this mean?
[Knocks at the door.]
What ho! Giles Corey! Hillo-ho! Giles Corey! --
No answer but the echo from the barn
And the ill-omened cawing of the crow
That yonder wings his flight across the fields
As if he scented carrion in the air.
[Enter TITUBA with a basket.]
What woman's thisthatlike an apparition
Haunts this deserted homestead in broad day?
Womanwho are you?
TITUBA.
I'm Tituba.
I am John Indian's wife. I am a Witch.
GARDNER.
What are you doing here?
TITUBA.
I am gathering herbs--
Cinquefoiland saxifrageand pennyroyal.
GARDNER.
[(looking at the herbs).]
This is not cinquefoilit is deadly nightshade!
This is not saxifragebut hellebore!
This is not pennyroyalit is henbane!
Do you come here to poison these good people?
TITUBA.
I get these for the Doctor in the Village.
Beware of Tituba. I pinch the children;
Make little poppets and stick pins in them
And then the children cry out they are pricked.
The Black Dog came to me and said"Serve me!"
I was afraid. He made me hurt the children.
GARDNER.
Poor soul! She's crazedwith all these Devil's doings.
TITUBA.
Will yousirsign the book?
GARDNER.
NoI'll not sign it.
Where is Giles Corey? Do you know Giles Corey!
TITUBA.
He's safe enough. He's down there in the prison.
GARDNER.
Corey in prison? What is he accused of?
TITUBA.
Giles Corey and Martha Corey are in prison
Down there in Salem Village. Both are witches.
She came to me and whispered"Kill the children!"
Both signed the Book!
GARDNER.
Begoneyou imp of darkness!
You Devil's dam!
TITUBA.
Beware of Tituba!
[ [Exit.]
GARDNER.
How often out at sea on stormy nights
When the waves thundered round meand the wind
Bellowedand beat the canvasand my ship
Clove through the solid darknesslike a wedge
I've thought of him upon his pleasant farm
Living in quiet with his thrifty housewife
And envied himand wished his fate were mine!
And now I find him shipwrecked utterly
Drifting upon this sea of sorceries
And lostperhapsbeyond all aid of man!
[ [Exit.]
II.. -- The prison. GILES COREY at a table on which are some papers.
COREY.
Now I have done with earth and all its cares;
I give my worldly goods to my dear children;
My body I bequeath to my tormentors
And my immortal soul to Him who made it.
O God! who in thy wisdom dost afflict me
With an affliction greater than most men
Have ever yet endured or shall endure
Suffer me not in this last bitter hour
For any pains of death to fall from Thee!
[MARTHA is heard singing.]
MARTHA.
AriseO righteous Lord!
And disappoint my foes;
They are but thine avenging sword
Whose wounds are swift to close.
COREY.
Harkhark! it is her voice! She is not dead!
She lives! I am not utterly forsaken!
MARTHA.
[ singing. ]
By thine abounding grace
And mercies multiplied
I shall awakeand see thy face;
I shall be satisfied.
[COREY hides his face in his hands. Enter the JAILERfollowed by RICHARDGARDNER.]
JAILER.
Here's a seafaring manone Richard Gardner
A friend of yourswho asks to speak with you.
[COREY rises. They embrace.]
COREY.
I'm glad to see youayright glad to see you.
GARDNER.
And I am most sorely grieved to see you thus.
COREY.
Of all the friends I had in happier days
You are the firstayand the only one
That comes to seek me out in my disgrace!
And you but come in time to say farewell
They've dug my grave already in the field.
I thank you. There is something in your presence
I know not what it isthat gives me strength.
Perhaps it is the bearing of a man
Familiar with all dangers of the deep
Familiar with the cries of drowning men
With fireand wreckand foundering ships at sea!
GARDNER.
AhI have never known a wreck like yours!
Would I could save you!
COREY.
Do not speak of that.
It is too late. I am resolved to die.
GARDNER.
Why would you die who have so much to live for? --
Your daughtersand --
COREY.
You cannot say the word.
My daughters have gone from me. They are married;
They have their homestheir thoughtsapart from me;
I will not say their hearts-- that were too cruel.
What would you have me do?
GARDNER.
Confess and live.
COREY.
That's what they said who came here yesterday
To lay a heavy weight upon my conscience
By telling me that I was driven forth
As an unworthy member of their church.
GARDNER.
It is an awful death.
COREY.
'T is but to drown
And have the weight of all the seas upon you.
GARDNER.
Say something; say enough to fend off death
Till this tornado of fanaticism
Blows itself out. Let me come in between you
And your severer selfwith my plain sense;
Do not be obstinate.
COREY.
I will not plead.
If I denyI am condemned already
In courts where ghosts appear as witnesses
And swear men's lives away. If I confess
Then I confess a lieto buy a life
Which is not lifebut only death in life.
I will not bear false witness against any
Not even against myselfwhom I count least.
GARDNER
[(aside)]
Ahwhat a noble character is this!
COREY.
I pray youdo not urge me to do that
You would not do yourself. I have already
The bitter taste of death upon my lips;
I feel the pressure of the heavy weight
That will crush out my life within this hour;
But if a word could save meand that word
Were not the Truth; nayif it did but swerve
A hair's-breadth from the TruthI would not say it!
GARDNER.
[(aside)]
How mean I seem beside a man like this!
COREY.
As for my wifemy Martha and my Martyr--
Whose virtueslike the starsunseen by day
Though numberlessdo but await the dark
To manifest themselves unto all eyes--
She who first won me from my evil ways
And taught me how to live by her example
By her example teaches me to die
And leads me onward to the better life!
SHERIFF
[(without)]
Giles Corey! Come! The hour has struck!
COREY.
I come!
Here is my body; ye may torture it
But the immortal soul ye cannot crush!
[ [Exeunt.]
III -- A street in the Village.
GLOYD.
Quickor we shall be late!
A MAN.
That's not the way.
Come here; come up this lane.
GLOYD.
I wonder now
If the old man will dieand will not speak?
He's obstinate enough and tough enough
For anything on earth.
[A bell tolls.]
Hark! What is that?
A MAN.
The passing bell. He's dead!
GLOYD.
We are too late.
[ [Exeunt in haste.]
IV. -- A field near the graveyardGILES COREY lying deadwith a greatstone on his breast. The Sheriff at his headRICHARD GARDNER at his feet. Acrowd behind. The bell tolling.
HATHORNE.
This is the Potter's Field. Behold the fate
Of those who deal in Witchcraftsandwhen questioned
Refuse to plead their guilt or innocence
And stubbornly drag death upon themselves.
MATHER.
O sight most horrible! In a land like this
Spangled with Churches Evangelical
Inwrapped in our salvationsmust we seek
In mouldering statute-books of English Courts
Some old forgotten Lawto do such deeds?
Those who lie buried in the Potter's Field
Will rise againas surely as ourselves
That sleep in honored graves with epitaphs;
And this poor manwhom we have made a victim
Hereafter will be counted as a martyr!
FINALE
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