The Siege of Numantia Page #19

The Siege of Numantia is a tragedy by Miguel de Cervantes set at the siege of Numantia. The play is divided into four acts. The dialogue is sometimes in tercets and sometimes in redondillas, but for the most part in octaves.

• History

								

      This mode of dying better pleaseth me,
      Than any other in this time of woe.

Numantine.

      It suits me too, and I will pleasure thee,
      Since evil Fortune seems to will it so.
      On to the square, where now the fire we see
      Which burns to have our lives within its glow!
      Who conquers there may, without fear or shame,
      Consign the vanquished to the furious flame.

THEOGENES.

      Thou speakest well; make haste, for my desire
      Outruns Fate's tardy step with panting breath;
      Let sword devour me, or the furious fire,
      I see our glory in whatever death!

            [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

    SCIPIO, JUGURTHA, QUINTUS FABIUS, CAIUS MARIUS, and some Roman
    Soldiers.

SCIPIO.

      Unless my thoughts be guilty of deceit,
      Or these be lying signs which ye have marked
      Within Numantia's walls--the horrid din,
      The lamentable cries, the blazing fires--
      I fear and dread, and scarcely have a doubt,
      That these our barbarous foemen, brought to bay,
      Have turned their reckless rage against themselves.
      There are no people seen to man the towers,
      The watchmen give no customary calls,
      A death-like silence reigns within the town,
      As if these fierce and fiery Numantines
      Were living there in peace, and at their ease.

CAIUS MARIUS.

      Thou may'st at once be quit of such a doubt,
      For if thou wishest it, I offer me
      To scale the battlements, although in sooth
      It is a somewhat perilous risk to run;
      And solely to observe what our proud foes
      Are doing now within Numantia's walls.

SCIPIO.

      Plant then some ladder firm against the wall,
      And, Marius, make thy present promise good!

CAIUS MARIUS.

      Go, bring the ladder, and, Ermilius, you
      Give orders that my buckler quick be fetched,
      And eke my helmet with the snow-white plume;
      For, faith, I mean this day to lose my life,
      Or end the doubtings which possess the camp.

ERMILIUS.

      Thy buckler and thy helmet both are brought;
      And see, Olympius brings the ladder here.

CAIUS MARIUS.

      Commend me now to great and mighty Jove,
      For I am ready to fulfil my pledge.

            [He ascends the ladder.

SCIPIO.

      Raise, Marius, raise the knee a little more,
      Contract thy body, and protect thy head!
      Courage! for thou hast reached the top at last.
      What see'st thou?

CAIUS MARIUS.

      Holy gods! and what is this?

JUGURTHA.

      What startles thee?

CAIUS MARIUS.

                          It startles me to see
      A ruddy lake of blood, and on the ground
      In every street a thousand corpses lying!

SCIPIO.

      And is there none alive?

CAIUS MARIUS.

                               I reckon not;
      So far, at least, as my own vision goes,
      There is no living being in the town.

SCIPIO.

      Leap then within, and look thee well around!

            [CAIUS MARIUS leaps into the town.

      My friend, Jugurtha, follow him as well;
      We all shall follow thee.

JUGURTHA.

                                It doth not suit
      Thy weighty office to take such a step;
      Assuage thy feelings, good my lord, and wait
      Till Marius or myself return to bring
      The latest tidings of this haughty town.
      Hold firm the ladder there! Ye righteous heavens!
      O what a saddening spectacle and grim
      Is offered to my sight! O strange event!
      The smoking blood is bathing all the soil,
      The square and streets are crowded with the dead!
      I mean to leap within and see the whole.

            [JUGURTHA leaps into the city, and QUINTUS FABIUS
                says:

QUINTUS FABIUS.

      Without a doubt these fiery Numantines,
      By their barbaric fury goaded on,
      Have chosen rather to consign their lives
      Unto the sharp edge of their very swords,
      Than yield them up to our victorious hands,
      Whose sight and touch are horrible to them.

SCIPIO.

      If but one living being had remained,
      In Rome they had not me the triumph grudged
      Of having curbed and crushed this haughty race,
      The fierce and mortal foemen of our name;
      In will determined, ready aye to face
      The greatest peril and the direst risk;
      Whom not a Roman here can ever boast
      Of having challenged with the naked sword;
      Whose valour, whose dexterity in arms,
      Have forced me, and with reason, to surround
      And pen them in like fierce untamèd beasts,
      And gain that triumph with my art and skill
      Which was impossible by dint of arms.
      But Marius now returns, it seems to me.

            [MARIUS enters by descending from the wall, and says:

CAIUS MARIUS.

      In vain, illustrious, prudent General,
      Have we expended all our strength and might;
      In vain hast thou been diligent withal;
      Thy hopes of victory, that seemed so bright,
      Assured thee by thy martial skill and lore,
      Have changed to smoke, and vanished out of sight!
      The mournful story, and the end full sore
      Of proud Numantia's unconquered town,
      Deserve to be remembered evermore.
      Their loss and fall have gained them good renown;
      Their dying, which displayed their firmness most,
      Hath snatched from thee the triumph and the crown.
      Our schemes are vain, and all our labour lost;
      Their death with honour better issue shews
      That all the power the Roman arms can boast.
      This people, wearied with their countless woes,
      Have snatched themselves from life and misery,
      And given their long account a sudden close.
      Numantia now is changed into a sea
      Of ruby blood, encumbered with the slain,
      Who fell by self-inflicted cruelty.
      Escaped have they from slav'ry's grinding chain,
      Whose load unequalled they declined to bear,
      With swift audacity that feared no pain.
      I saw within the middle of the square,[13]
      Exposed to view, a fiercely blazing fire,
      Fed with their corpses and their riches rare.
      And as I gazed, there came with kindling ire
      Theogenes, that valiant Numantine,
      Intent on death with an insane desire;
      And as he cursed his fate and luckless sign,
      He sprang into the middle of the flame,
      With fury suited to his mad design;
      And as he sprang, he cried: "O brilliant Fame,
      Come hither with thy countless tongues and eyes,
      Behold a deed it fits thee to proclaim!
      Approach, ye Romans, and receive the prize
      Of this rich town, to dust and ashes changed,
      Its fruits and flowers to thistles turned likewise!"
      I went away, with steps and thoughts deranged,
      And paced the chief part of the city round.
      Through all the ruined streets and lanes I ranged,
      But not one single Numantine I found,
      Whom I could seize alive and bear away,
      To bring thee tidings with a certain sound,
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