Scene I.
(William Tell, Albert, his son, and Gessler with officers. Tell in chains.)Gessler.-What is thy name?
Tell.-My name?
It matters not to keep it from thee now-
Ges.-Tell! William Tell?
Tell.-The same.
Ges.-what ! he so famed "bove all his countrymen For guiding o"er the stormy lake the boat? And such a master of his how, "tis saidHis arrows never miss! Mark! I"ll spare thy life-The boy"s too!-both of you are free-on one condition.
Tell.-Name it.
Ges. -I would see you make a trial of your skill with that same bowYou shoot so well with.
Tell.-Name the trial you Would have me make.
Ges.-You look upon your boy
As though instinctively you guessed it.
Tell.-Look upon my boy! What mean you?
Look upon
My boy as though I guessed it ! Guessed the trial You"d have me make ! Guessed itInstinctively ! You do not mean-no, no- You would not have me make a trial of My skill upon my child ! Impossible !
I do not guess your meaning.
Ges.-I would see
Thee hit an apple at the distance of A hundred paces.
Tell.-Is my boy to hold it?
Ges. -No.
Tell.-No ! I"ll send the arrow through the core.
Ges.-It is to rest upon his head. Tell.-Great Heaven, you hear him! Ges.-Thou dost hear the choice I give-Such trial of the skill thou art master of, Or death to both of you; not otherwise To be escaped.
Tell.-O monster!
Ges.-Wilt thou do it?
Alb.-He will ! He will !
Tell.-Ferocious monster! Make
A father murder his own child-
Ges.-Take off
His chains, if he consent. Tell.-With his own hand ! Ges.-Does he consent? Alb.-He does.
(Gessler signs to his officers, who proceed to take off Tell"s chains. Tell is all the time unconscious of what they do.)Tell.-With his own hand!
Murder his child with his own hand-this hand! The hand I"ve led him, when an infant, by!
"Tis beyond horror-"tis most horrible.
Amazement! (His chains fall off.) What"s that you"ve done to me?
Villains ! put on my chains again. My hands Are free from blood, and have no gust for itThat they should drink my child"s. Here! Here! I"ll not Murder my boy for Gessler.
Alb.-Father-father !
You will not hit me, father !
Tell.-Hit thee! Send
The arrow through thy brain or, missing that, Shoot out an eye; or, if thine eye escape, Mangle the cheek I"ve seen thy mother"s lips Cover with kisses ! Hit thee-hit a hairOf thee, and cleave thy mother"s heart!
Gas.-Dost thou consent? Tell.-Give me my bow and quiver. Ges.-For what?
Tell.-To shoot my boy!
Alb.-No, father-no !
To save me ! You"ll be sure to hit the apple- Will you not save me, father?
Tell.-Lead me forth;
I"ll make the trial. Alb.-Thank you ! Tell.-Thank me ! DoYou know for what? I will not make the trial, To take him to his mother in my armsAnd lay him down a corpse before her!
Ges.-Then he dies this moment-and you certainly Do murder him whose life you have a chance To save, and will not use it.
Tell.-Well, I"ll do it. I"ll make the trial.
Alb. -Father--
Tell.-Speak not to me;
Let me not hear thy voice. Thou must be dumb, And heaven-unless its thunders muttered at The deed, and sent a bolt to stop it. Give me My bow and quiver !
(The bow is given to him. Albert is stationed a hundred pacesaway and an apple is placed upon his head. Tell"s friends gather round him.)Tell (to his bow).-Thou wilt not fail thy master, wilt thou?-Thou
Hast never failed him yet, old servant.-No!
I"m sure of thee-I know thy honesty,
Thou"rt staunch !-Staunch!-I"d deserve to find thee treacherousCould I suspect thee so. Come, I will stake My all upon thee ! Let me see my quiver.
(His quiver is passed to him.) Keep silence, every one,And stir not, for my child"s sake! And let me have Your prayers-your prayers-and be my witnesses, That if his life"s in peril from my hand,"Tis only for the chance of saving it !
Now friends, for mercy"s sake keep motionless And silent.
(Tell shoots, and a shout of wonder and exultation bursts from thecrowd as the arrow divides the apple. Tell falls on his knees and with difficulty supports himself.)Abridged from Schiller
Author.-Johann Christoph Friedrich Von Schiller, born 1759, died 1805, was one of the greatest of German poets. His best-known poem is his drama of William Tell. His "Diver " makes a fine recitation.
General.-The story of Tell and the Apple appears in so many countriesand in so many guises that some people think Tell was a myth. He may have been a Swiss hero whose real career is lost in legends. What does the passage reveal of the character of Gessler? Of Tell? Of Albert? Have a general talk about national heroes.