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Page 35
CONFESSOR. 'The Lord shall send upon thee vexation and rebuke in
all that thou settest thy hand for to do, until thou be destroyed,
and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy
doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.'
OMNES (loudly). Curs�d!
CONFESSOR. 'The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine
enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven
ways before them, and shalt be moved into all the kingdoms of the
earth. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and
unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. The
Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, the scab and the
itch, with madness and blindness, that thou shalt grope at noonday,
as the blind gropeth in darkness. Thou shalt not prosper in thy
ways, and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no
man shall save thee. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man
shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not
dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather
the grapes thereof. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto
another people, and thine eyes fail with longing for them; and
there shall be no might in thy hand. And thou shalt find no ease on
earth, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: the Lord shall
give thee a trembling heart, and failing of eyes and sorrow of
mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt
fear day and night. In the morning thou shalt say, would God it
were even! And at even thou shalt say, would God it were morning!
And because thou servedst not the Lord thy God when thou livedst in
security, thou shalt serve him in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness
and in want; and He shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until
He have destroyed thee!'
OMNES. Amen!
(The CONFESSOR has read the above loudly and rapidly, without
turning to the STRANGER. All those present, except the LADY, who is
working, have been listening and have joined in the curse, though
they have feigned not to notice the STRANGER, who has remained with
his back to them, sunk in himself. The STRANGER now rises as if to
go. The CONFESSOR goes towards him.)
STRANGER. What was that?
CONFESSOR. The Book of Deuteronomy.
STRANGER. Of course. But I seem to remember blessings in it, too.
CONFESSOR. Yes, for those who keep His commandments.
STRANGER. Hm. ... I can't deny that, for a moment, I felt shaken.
Are they temptations to be resisted, or warnings to be obeyed?
(Pause.) Anyhow I'm certain now that I have fever. I must go to a
real doctor.
CONFESSOR. See he _is_ the right one!
STRANGER. Of course!
CONFESSOR. Who can heal 'delightful scruples of conscience'!
ABBESS. Should you need charity again, you now know where to find
it.
STRANGER. No. I do not.
ABBESS (in a low voice). Then I'll tell you. In a 'rose' room, near
a certain running stream.
STRANGER. That's the truth! In a 'rose' room. Wait; how long have I
been here?
ABBESS. Three months to-day.
STRANGER. Three months! Have I been sleeping? Or where have I been?
(Looking out of the window.) It's autumn. The trees are bare; the
clouds look cold. Now it's coming back to me! Can you hear a mill
grinding? The sound of a horn? The rushing of a river? A wood
whispering--and a woman weeping? You're right. Only there can
charity be found. Farewell. (Exit.)
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