Chapter 13 twelve

Herod: No, no! HERODIAS: Well said, my daughter. Herod: No, no, Salome.You cannot make this request.Don't listen to your mother.She will only give you the most evil advice.Leave her alone. Salome: I am not for my mother.This pleased me, so I asked for John's head to be placed on a silver platter.Thou hast sworn, Herod.Please don't forget you made the oath. Herod: I know.I swear by my god.I know very well.But I implore you, Salome, ask for something else.Ask me for half of my kingdom and I will give it to you.But don't make that demand of me. Salome: I beg you to give me John's head.

Herod: No, no, I don't want that. Salome: Thou hast sworn, Herod. Herodias: Yes, you made an oath.Everyone heard it.You swear in front of everyone. Herod: Shut up!I don't talk to you. Herodias: My daughter's request is too good.John totally insulted me.He slandered me with vicious words.Everyone understands how much she loves her mother.Don't give in, my daughter.He swore, he swore. Herod: Shut up, don't talk to me! ...Calm down, Salome, and keep your wits about you.I have never treated you harshly.I've always loved you...maybe I love you too much.Please don't push me.Terrible, downright terrible.Naturally, I thought you were joking.To see a man's head cut off from his body is just too morbid, isn't it?The eyes of a virgin should not behold such a cruel sight.Why are you happy about this?Absolutely not.No, no, this is not what you desire.Listen to me carefully.I have an emerald, a huge emerald, given by one of Caesar's favorites.If you look through this gemstone, you can clearly see the distant scenery.Caesar himself took an emerald with him when he went to watch the acrobatics.But my gem is bigger.I know this gem is bigger than Caesar's gem.It is the largest emerald in the world.You will like it, won't you?Ask me for this emerald and I will give it to you.

Salome: I want John's head. Herod: You didn't listen to me at all.You are not listening.Please listen to me, Salome. Salome: Head of John. Herod: No, no, you can't do that.You bother me a lot because I watch you all night.Really, I've been watching you all night.Your beauty bothers me.Your beauty bothers me painfully, and I see you too much.But I dare not look at you again.One should not look at one thing, or at another person too much.One should only look at the image in the mirror, because the image in the mirror shows us its mask.oh!oh!give me wine!I am thirsty... Salome, Salome, let us have a good talk.come over! ……what!What should I say?what happened?what!I remember... Salome—no, come near me; I'm afraid you can't hear me—Salome, you know my white peacock, my beautiful white peacock, the periwinkle in my garden with A peacock walking proudly among the juniper bushes.Gold ornaments hung from their mouths, and the grain they were fed was mixed with gold powder, and their feet were dyed purple.When they cry it rains, and when the moon is high in the sky they spread their brilliant tails.They roamed in pairs among the junipers and the black periwinkles, each peacock being watched over by a slave.Sometimes they fly over the bushes, and soon after they roll over the lawn and circle the lake.There are no more beautiful birds in this world.No king in the world had so many beautiful birds.I'm sure Caesar himself didn't have such a beautiful bird either.I will give you fifty peacocks.Wherever you go, they will follow you, surrounded by them, you will be like the moon among the white clouds...I give you all.I have a hundred peacocks, and no king in the world has so many peacocks.But I'll give it all to you.Just please don't make me break my oath, don't ask for what you just proposed.

[He drank the wine in one gulp. 〕 Salome: Give me John's head. Herodias: Well said, my daughter!As for you, those peacocks are no big deal. Herod: Shut up!You're always complaining; you're barking like a wild beast.Enough is enough for you.I hate your voice so much.Stop talking, I say... Salome, please think about what you are doing now.This man may have come from God.He is a saint.God's finger touched him.God used his mouth to say terrible things.In the palace, in the desert, the gods were always with him... at least it was possible.we do not know.Most likely God was for him and with him.Furthermore, if he dies, some unfortunate fate will befall me.In any case, he said there was always someone who would die of misfortune.That could be me.Do you remember, when I walked here, I stepped on the blood and slipped.In addition, I heard the sound of wings beating in the air, a group of huge wings.These are all ominous signs.I believe there are other omens that I have not seen.Well, Salome, you don't wish to see misfortune happen to me, do you?You don't want that.Well, please take my word for it.

Salome: Give me John's head. HEROD No, no! HERODIAS That is well said, my daughter. HEROD No, no, Salome. It is not that thou desire. Do not listen to thy mothers voice. She is ever giving thee evil counsel. Do not heed her. SALOME It is not my mothers voice that I heed. It is for mine own pleasure that I ask the head of Iokanaan in a silver charger. You have sworn an oath, Herod. Forget not that you have sworn an oath. HEROD I know it. I have sworn an oath by my gods. I know it well. But. I pray thee, Salome, ask of me something else. Ask of me the half of my kingdom, and I will give it thee. But ask not of me what thy lips have asked.

SALOME I ask of you the head of Iokanaan. HEROD No, no, I will not give it thee. SALOME You have sworn an oath, Herod. HERODIAS Yes, you have sworn an oath. Everybody heard you. You swore it before everybody. HEROD Peace, woman! It is not to you I speak. -57- HERODIAS My daughter has done well to ask the head of Iokanaan. He has covered me with insults. He has said unspeakable things against me. One can see that she loves her mother well. he has sworn an oath. HEROD Peace! Speak not to me! . . . Salome, I pray thee be not stubborn. I have ever been kind toward thee. I have ever loved thee. . . It may be that I have loved thee too much. thing of me. This is a terrible thing, an awful thing to ask of me. Surely, I think thou art jesting. The head of a man that is cut from his body is ill to look upon, is it not? It is not meet that the eyes of a virgin should look upon such a thing. What pleasure couldt thou have in it? There is no pleasure that thou couldt have in it. No, no, it is not that thou desire. an emerald, a great emerald and round, that the minion of C?sar has sent unto me. When thou lookest through this emerald thou canst see that which passeth afar off. C?sar himself carries such an emerald when he goes to the circus . But my emerald is the larger. I know well that it is the larger. It is the largest emerald in the whole world. Thou wilt take that, wilt thou not? Ask it of me and I will gi ve it thee.

SALOME I demand the head of Iokanaan. -58- HEROD Thou art not listening. Thou art not listening. Suffer me to speak, Salome. SALOME The head of Iokanaan! HEROD No, no, thou wouldst not have that. Thou sayest that but to trouble me, because that I have looked at thee and ceased not this night. It is true, I have looked at thee and ceased not this night. Thy beauty has troubled me. Thy beauty has grievously troubled me, and I have looked at thee overmuch. Nay, but I will look at thee no more. One should not look at anything. Neither at things, nor at people should one look. Only in mirrors is it well to look, for mirrors do but show us masks. Oh! oh! bring wine! I thirst . . . . Salome, Salome, let us be as friends. Bethink thee . Ah! I remember it! . . . Salome, -- nay but come nearer to me; I fear thou wilt not hear my words, -- Salome, thou knowest my white peacocks, my beautiful white peacocks, that walk in the garden between the myrtles and the tall cypress-trees. Their beaks are gilded with gold and the grains that they eat are smeared with gold, and their feet are stained with purple. When they cry ou t the rain comes, and the moon shows herself in the heavens when they spread their tails. Two by two they walk between the cypress-trees and the black

-59- myrtles, and each has a slave to tend it. Sometimes they fly across the trees, and anon they couch in the grass, and round the pools of the water. There are not in all the world birds so wonderful. I know that C? sar himself has no birds so fair as my birds. I will give thee fifty of my peacocks. They will follow thee whithersoever thou goesest, and in the midst of them thou wilt be like unto the moon in the midst of a great white cloud . . . . I will give them to thee, all. I have but a hundred, and in the whole world there is no king who has peacocks like unto my peacocks. But I will give them all to thee. Only thou must loose me from my oath, and must not ask of me that which thy lips have asked of me.

[He empties the cup of wine.] SALOME Give me the head of Iokanaan! HERODIAS Well said, my daughter! As for you, you are ridiculous with your peacocks. HEROD Peace! you are always crying out. You cry out like a beast of prey. You must not cry in such fashion. Your voice wearies me. Peace, I tell you! . . . Salome, think on what thou art doing. It may be that this man comes from God. He is a holy man. The finger of God has touched him. God -60- has put terrible words into his mouth. In the palace, as in the desert, God is ever with him . . . . It may be that He is, at least. One cannot tell, but it is possible that God is with him and for him. If he die also, peradventure some evil may befall me. Verily, he has said that evil will befall some one on the day whereon he dies. On whom should it fall if it fall not on me? Remember, I slipped in blood when I came hither. Also did I not hear a beating of wings in the air, a beating of vast wings? These are ill omens. And there were other things. I am sure that there were other things, though I saw them not . Thou wouldn't that some evil should befall me, Salome? Listen to me again.

SALOME Give me the head of Iokanaan!