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A GADARENE. HE hath escaped, hath plucked his chains asunder, | |
| And broken his fetters; always night and day | |
| Is in the mountains here, and in the tombs, | |
| Crying aloud, and cutting himself with stones, | |
| Exceeding fierce, so that no man can tame him! | 5 |
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THE DEMONIAC from above, unseen. O Aschmedai! O Aschmedai, have pity! | |
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A GADARENE. Listen! It is his voice! Go warn the people | |
Just landing from the lake!
THE DEMONIAC. O Aschmedai! | |
| Thou angel of the bottomless pit, have pity! | |
| It was enough to hurl King Solomon, | 10 |
| On whom be peace! two hundred leagues away | |
| Into the country, and to make him scullion | |
| In the kitchen of the King of Maschkemen! | |
| Why dost thou hurl me here among these rocks, | |
And cut me with these stones?
A GADARENE. He raves and mutters | 15 |
He knows not what.
THE DEMONIAC, appearing from a tomb among the rocks. The wild cock Tarnegal | |
| Singeth to me, and bids me to the banquet, | |
| Where all the Jews shall come; for they have slain | |
| Behemoth the great ox, who daily cropped | |
| A thousand hills for food, and at a draught | 20 |
| Drank up the river Jordan, and have slain | |
| The huge Leviathan, and stretched his skin | |
| Upon the high walls of Jerusalem, | |
| And made them shine from one end of the world | |
| Unto the other; and the fowl Barjuchne, | 25 |
| Whose outspread wings eclipse the sun, and make | |
| Midnight at noon o’er all the continents! | |
| And we shall drink the wine of Paradise | |
From Adam’s cellars.
A GADARENE. O thou unclean spirit! | |
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THE DEMONIAC, hurling down a stone. This is the wonderful Barjuchne’s egg, | 30 |
| That fell out of her nest, and broke to pieces | |
| And swept away three hundred cedar-trees, | |
| And threescore villages!—Rabbi Eliezer, | |
| How thou didst sin there in that seaport town | |
| When thou hadst carried safe thy chest of silver | 35 |
| Over the seven rivers for her sake! | |
| I too have sinned beyond the reach of pardon. | |
| Ye hills and mountains, pray for mercy on me! | |
| Ye stars and planets, pray for mercy on me! | |
| Ye sun and moon, oh pray for mercy on me! CHRISTUS and his disciples pass. | 40 |
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A GADARENE. There is a man here of Decapolis, | |
| Who hath an unclean spirit; so that none | |
| Can pass this way. He lives among the tombs | |
| Up there upon the cliffs, and hurls down stones | |
On those who pass beneath.
CHRISTUS. Come out of him, | 45 |
Thou unclean spirit!
THE DEMONIAC. What have I to do | |
| With thee, thou Son of God? Do not torment us. | |
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CHRISTUS. What is thy name?
THE DEMONIAC. Legion; for we are many. | |
| Cain, the first murderer; and the King Belshazzar, | |
| And Evil Merodach of Babylon, | 50 |
| And Admatha, the death-cloud, prince of Persia; | |
| And Aschmedai, the angel of the pit, | |
| And many other devils. We are Legion. | |
| Send us not forth beyond Decapolis; | |
| Command us not to go into the deep! | 55 |
| There is a herd of swine here in the pastures, | |
Let us go into them.
CHRISTUS. Come out of him, | |
Thou unclean spirit!
A GADARENE. See, how stupefied, | |
| How motionless he stands! He cries no more; | |
| He seems bewildered and in silence stares | 60 |
| As one who, walking in his sleep, awakes | |
| And knows not where he is, and looks about him, | |
| And at his nakedness, and is ashamed. | |
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THE DEMONIAC. Why am I here alone among the tombs? | |
| What have they done to me, that I am naked? | 65 |
Ah, woe is me!
CHRISTUS. Go home unto thy friends | |
| And tell them how great things the Lord hath done | |
| For thee, and how He had compassion on thee! | |
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A SWINEHERD, running. The herds! the herds! O most unlucky day! | |
| They were all feeding quiet in the sun, | 70 |
| When suddenly they started, and grew savage | |
| As the wild boars of Tabor, and together | |
| Rushed down a precipice into the sea! | |
They are all drowned!
PETER. Thus righteously are punished | |
| The apostate Jews, that eat the flesh of swine, | 75 |
| And broth of such abominable things! | |
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GREEKS OF GADARA. We sacrifice a sow unto Demeter | |
| At the beginning of harvest, and another | |
| To Dionysus at the vintage-time. | |
| Therefore we prize our herds of swine, and count them | 80 |
| Not as unclean, but as things consecrate | |
| To the immortal gods. O great magician, | |
| Depart out of our coasts; let us alone, | |
We are afraid of thee.
PETER. Let us depart; | |
| For they that sanctify and purify | 85 |
| Themselves in gardens, eating flesh of swine, | |
| And the abomination, and the mouse, | |
| Shall be consumed together, saith the Lord! | |
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