Le Cid/1

Le Cid

Le Cid Act I written by Pierre Corneille, translated by A. S. Kline

Act II

Act I

Contents

Characters.

Act I Scene I (Chimene, Elvire)

Act I Scene II (Infanta, Leonor, Page)

Act I Scene III (The Count, Don Diegue)

Act I Scene IV (Don Diegue)

Act I Scene V (Don Diegue, Don Rodrigue)

Act I Scene VI (Don Rodrigue)

Characters

Don Ferdinand, King of Castile

Donna Urraque, his daughter, the Infanta of Castile

Don Diegue, the father of Don Rodrigue

Don Gomes, Count of Gomes, the father of Chimene

Don Rodrigue, the lover of Chimene

Done Sanche, enamoured of Chimene.

Don Arias, a Castilian gentleman

Don Alonso, a Castilian gentleman

Chimene, daughter of Don Gomes

Leonor, governess to the Infanta

Elvire, governess to Chimene

A Page, to the Infanta

Act I Scene I (Chimene, Elvire)

Chimene

Is the report you bring me now sincere?

Are you editing my father’s words, Elvire?

Elvire

All my thoughts are still enchanted by them:

He esteems Rodrigue, as you love him,

Reading his soul, if I am free from error,

He’ll wish you to take him as your lover.

Chimene

I beg you then, tell me a second time

Why he must approve this choice of mine;

Tell me once more what hopes I may enjoy;

Ever such sweet speech may you employ;

Promise our love’s flame, that flares so bright,

The freedom to display itself outright.

What did he say regarding the intrigue,

Involving you, Don Sanche, and Don Rodrigue?

Did you reveal that inequality

Between the two lovers, that so sways me?

Elvire

No, I portrayed indifference to either

Raising or lowering the hopes of neither,

Your eyes neither too gentle nor severe,

Until your father’s choice be made clear.

Your respect pleased him, his oratory,

And look, of this gave noble testimony.

And since I must repeat the whole story,

Here now is what he hastened to tell me:

‘She’s dutiful, and both deserve her hand,

Both are of noble blood, loyal, valiant,

Young, yet it’s clear to see in their eyes

The shining virtue of their ancient ties:

Don Rodrigue above all: in his visage,

Every trait reveals the heroic image,

His house so rich in soldiers of renown,

They seem born to wear the laurel crown.

His father’s valour, unequalled in his age,

As long as his strength lasted, held the stage;

On his brow his exploits are engraved,

Its wrinkles speak to us of former days.

What the father was I look for in the son;

My daughter may love him, pleasing me for one.’

He was on his way to Council, and was pressed,

So cut short what speech he had expressed;

But those last few words show his mind

Is not in doubt between them, you’ll find.

For his son, the king must choose a tutor,

Your father deserves that high honour;

The choice is not in doubt, and his valour

Beyond all competition with another.

Since his lofty exploits have no equal

In such a matter he will have no rival.

Don Rodrigue has convinced his father

To propose him when the council’s over,

Judge then the chance that he’ll be denied.

Rather your wishes shall be satisfied.

Chimene

Nonetheless, it seems, my soul is troubled,

Rejects this joy, all its confusion doubled:

Fate may show different faces, all diverse,

And in my bliss I fear some cruel reverse.

Elvire

Happily this fear shall disappoint you.

Chimene

Come what may, let us await the issue.

Act I Scene II (Infanta, Leonor, Page)

Infanta

Page, go now, tell Chimene anew

Her daily visit is long overdue

My love for her bewails her tardiness.

(Exit Page)

Leonor

Madame, each day this same wish you express;

And when she’s here, I hear you ask, each day,

How far her love has travelled on its way.

Infanta

Not without purpose: almost now I force her

To welcome the pangs that make her suffer.

She loves Rodrigue, I gave her him again,

Through me Rodrigue conquered his disdain;

Having thus forged these lovers’ heavy chains,

I wish to see an end to all their pains.

Leonor

Yet, Madame, considering your success

Your show of sadness runs now to excess.

Should love, that’s full for them of happiness,

Cause your noble heart this deep distress?

Why should the interest in them, I see,

Cause you unhappiness if they are happy?

But I presume: forgive my indiscretion.

Infanta

My sorrow has increased by being hidden.

Hear, hear how I have struggled, all is true,

Hear of the assaults against my virtue.

Love is a tyrant who spares none, I fear:

This young knight, this lover, aided here,

I love.

Leonor

You love him!

Infanta

Feel my beating heart,

See how it quivers at the conqueror’s dart,

When it hears his name.

Leonor

Madame, pardon me,

If I’m at fault for censuring this folly,

A great princess so strangely to forget

Herself, and love a simple knight as yet!

What will the king, what will Castile say?

Do you forget the role that you must play?

Infanta

So little that my blood would drench the earth

Before I’d stoop thus to betray my birth.

I might well answer that among great names,

Worth alone deserves to stir the flames;

Or, if my passion sought for some excuse,

A thousand precedents have lit the fuse:

But I’ll not follow where my thoughts engage;

My depth of feeling will not quench my courage.

I remind myself as a royal daughter

None but royalty is worthy of her.

My heart unable to defend itself,

I gave away what I dared not take myself;

In my stead, let Chimene drink the wine,

And fire their passion to extinguish mine.

No wonder then if my soul, while grieving,

With impatience waits upon their wedding;

You see, my peace of mind depends on it.

If lovers live in hope, love dies with it;

Its fire sinks when the fuel’s no longer there.

Despite the anguish of this sad affair,

When Chimene Rodrigue has secured

All my hopes are dead, my spirit cured.

Meanwhile my suffering none can remove.

Until the marriage, Rodrigue is still my love.

I labour to lose him, lose him with regret,

From that flows all my sorrowful secret.

I see, with pain, that love will now constrain

Me to sigh for that which I must disdain;

I feel my very soul is split in two.

Though my strength is great, my love is too.

This fatal marriage I both wish and fear:

I dare expect only imperfection here.

My honour and my love so fuel this plot,

I perish whether it takes place or not.

Leonor

Madame, there is nothing I can say,

Except that I’ll sigh with you, if I may.

I have just blamed you, now I pity you.

Yet since this bittersweet ill your virtue

Combats, as it does its charm and power,

Repulsing the assault, rejecting the allure,

It will bring peace to your troubled mind.

Place your trust in it, and the aid of time,

Above all in Heaven, that will not see

Virtue endure for long such adversity.

Infanta

My sweetest hope’s to lose all hope, I fear.

(Page enters)

Page

Madame, at your command, Chimene is here.

Infanta (to Leonor)

Go now, and greet her in the gallery.

Leonor

You wish to remain here in reverie?

Infanta

No, I merely wish, plagued by suffering,

To retrieve my calm, in meditating.

I will follow.

(Leonor and Page leave)

Just Heaven, whose help I need,

Put an end to the evil that possesses me,

Protect my tranquillity and my honour.

My good I seek in the good of another,

This marriage means so much to all three;

Make my soul strong, or complete it swiftly.

To join these lovers in its sacrament,

Is to break my chains and end my torment.

But I delay too long, let me seek Chimene,

And in welcoming her relieve my pain.