Chapter 7 six

Salome: Let me kiss your mouth. John: Curse you!Daughter of an incestuous mother, you shall be cursed! Salome: I will kiss your mouth. John: I don't want to see you again.I don't want to see you again, you are cursed, Salome, you are cursed. [He goes down the well] Salome: I will kiss your mouth, John; I will kiss your mouth. First Soldier: We're going to bury the body elsewhere.His Majesty does not mind seeing dead bodies, unless those were killed by himself. Herodias' Attendant: He is my brother, and nearer than my brother.I once gave him a small bottle of perfume and the agate ring he always wore on his finger.In the evenings we would walk along the river together, under the almond trees, and he would tell me about his hometown.His tone is very low, like the sound of a flute, like the sound of a flute.He especially likes to look at himself in the stream.I used to scold him for it.

Second Soldier: You're right; we must hide the body.Your Majesty should not see it. First Soldier: His Majesty will not come here.He never came to the balcony.He was terrified of the prophet. [Enter Herod, Herodias, and all courtiers] Herod: Where is Salome?where is the princessWhy didn't she follow my request and return to the banquet?what!there she is! Herodias: You can't look at her!You are always watching her! Herod: The moonlight is strange tonight.isn't it?She was like a crazy lady, a crazy woman looking around for a lover.She is naked.She is completely naked.The clouds wanted to cover her up, but she wouldn't accept it.She hangs high in the sky to reveal herself.Like a drunken woman, she falters among thin clouds...I'm sure she's looking for a lover.Does she shake like a drunk?Is she like a crazy woman?

Herodias: No; the moon is only like the moon, but nothing more.Let's go in... there's nothing going on here. Herod: I will stay here!Manasseh, put the palanquin there.Raise the fire, bring the ivory table and white jade chair.The air here is quite delicious.I want to drink with my guests here.We will show our glory to Caesar's emissary. Herodias: You're not here for the ambassador. Herod: Yes; the air is quite delicious.Come, Herodias, guests are waiting for us.what!I slipped and fell!I stepped on blood and slipped!Bad omen.Omen of evil.Why is there this puddle of blood? ...and corpses, why are there corpses here?Do you think I am the king of Egypt, entertaining guests not with feasts but with corpses?who is thisI don't want to see his face.

First Soldier: That's our captain, Your Majesty.He's a young Syrian youth and you made him captain three years ago. Herod: I did not order him to be killed. Second Soldier: He committed suicide, Your Majesty. Herod: Why?He is the captain I appointed. Second Soldier: We don't know, Your Majesty.But he committed suicide. Herod: That sounds rather strange to me.I thought only Roman philosophers would kill themselves.Is that so, Tigellinus, would the Roman philosophers kill themselves? Tigellinus: Some do kill themselves, my lord.They are Stoics.Ascetics are the walking dead.They are a ridiculous bunch.I myself consider them to be sheer absurdity.

Herod: I agree.Suicide is ridiculous. Tigellinus: All the people in Rome laughed at them.The emperor once wrote to satirize them.This article was widely circulated. Herod: Ah!He wrote satirizing them?Caesar is amazing.He can do anything... The suicide of this young Syrian officer is very strange.I feel sorry for his suicide.I'm very sorry; for he looks dignified.He is handsome.He has sad eyes.I remember seeing him looking melancholy at Salome.Apparently, he was looking at her too much. Herodias: There is another who also looks at her too much. King Herod: His father was a king.I banished him from his kingdom.And you made his queen mother a slave, Herodias.So he is our honored guest now, or rather he was, and that is why I make him my captain.I am sorry that he has passed away.Ah!Why do you leave the dead body here?I don't want to see it - take it ASAP! [They remove the body. ] It's a bit cold here.There is wind blowing.Do you feel it?

SALOME Suffer me to kiss thy mouth. IOKANAAN Cursed be thou! daughter of an incestuous mother, be thou accursed! SALOME I will kiss thy mouth, Iokanaan. IOKANAAN I will not look at thee. Thou art accursed, Salome, thou art accursed. [He goes down into the cistern.] SALOME I will kiss thy mouth, Iokanaan; I will kiss thy mouth. FIRST SOLDIER We must bear away the body to another place. The Tetrarch does not care to see dead bodies, save the bodies of those whom he himself has slain. THE PAGE OF HERODIAS He was my brother, and nearer to me than a -27- brother. I gave him a little box full of perfumes, and a ring of agate that he wore always on his hand. In the evening we were wont to walk by the river, and among the almond-trees, and he used to tell me of the things of his country. He spake ever very low. The sound of his voice was like the sound of the flute, of one who playeth upon the flute. Also he had much joy to gaze at himself in the river. reproach him for that.

SECOND SOLDIER You are right; we must hide the body. The Tetrarch must not see it. FIRST SOLDIER The Tetrarch will not come to this place. He never comes on the terrace. He is too much afraid of the prophet. [Enter Herod, Herodias, and all the Court.] HEROD Where is Salome? Where is the Princess? Why did she not return to the banquet as I commanded her? Ah! HERODIAS You must not look at her! You are always looking at her! HEROD The moon has a strange look to-night. -28- she not a strange look? She is like a mad woman, a mad woman who is seeking everywhere for lovers. She is naked too. She is quite naked. The clouds are seeking to clothe her nakedness, but she will not let them. shows herself naked in the sky. She reels through the clouds like a drunken woman . . . . I am sure she is looking for lovers. Does she not reel like a drunken woman? She is like a mad woman, is she not?

HERODIAS No; the moon is like the moon, that is all, Let us go within . . . . We have nothing to do here. HEROD I will stay here! Manasseh, lay carpets there. Light torches. Bring forth the ivory tables, and the tables of jasper. The air here is sweet. I will drink more wine with my guests. C?sar. HERODIAS It is not because of them that you remain. HEROD Yes; the air is very sweet. Come, Herodias, our guests await us. Ah! I have slipped! I have slipped in blood! It is an ill omen. It is a very ill omen. Wherefore is there blood here? . . . and this body, what does this body here?

-29- Think you I am like the King of Egypt, who gives no feast to his guests but that he shows them a corpse? Who is it? I will not look on it. FIRST SOLDIER It is our captain, sire. It is the young Syrian whom you made captain of the guard but three days gone. HEROD I issued no order that he should be slain. SECOND SOLDIER He slew himself, sir. HEROD For what reason? I had made him captain of my guard! SECOND SOLDIER We do not know, sire. But with his own hand he slew himself. HEROD That seems strange to me. I had thought it was but the Roman philosophers who slew themselves. Is it not true, Tigellinus, that the philosophers at Rome slay themselves?

TIGELLINUS There be some who slay themselves, sire. They are the Stoics. The Stoics are people of no cultivation. -30- They are ridiculous people. I myself regard them as being perfectly ridiculous. HEROD I also. It is ridiculous to kill ones-self. TIGELLINUS Everybody at Rome laughs at them. The Emperor has written a satire against them. It is recited everywhere. HEROD Ah! he has written a satire against them? C?sar is wonderful. He can do everything. . . . It is strange that the young Syrian has slain himself. I am sorry he has slain himself. was fair to look upon. He was even very fair. He had very linguorous eyes. I remember that I saw that he looked linguorously at Salome. Truly, I thought he looked too much at her.

HERODIAS There are others who look too much at her. HEROD His father was a king. I drave him from his kingdom. And of his mother, who was a queen, you made a slave, Herodias. So he was here as my guest, as it were, and for that reason I made him my captain. I am sorry he is dead. Ho! why have you left the body here? It must be taken to some other place. I will not look at it, -- away with it! -31- [They take away the body.] It is cold here. There is a wind blowing. Is there not a wind blowing?