him be silent. He is always saying ridiculous things.
first soldier
No, no. He is a holy man. He is very gentle, too. Every day, when I give him to eat he thanks me.
the cappadocian
Who is he?
first soldier
A prophet.
the cappadocian
What is his name?
first soldier
Jokanaan.
the cappadocian
Whence comes he?
·7· first soldier
From the desert, where he fed on locusts and wild honey. He was clothed in camel’s hair, and round his loins he had a leathern belt. He was very terrible to look upon. A great multitude used to follow him. He even had disciples.
the cappadocian
What is he talking of?
first soldier
We can never tell. Sometimes he says terrible things, but it is impossible to understand what he says.
the cappadocian
May one see him?
first soldier
No. The Tetrarch has forbidden it.
the young syrian
The Princess has hidden her face behind her fan! Her little white hands are fluttering like doves that fly to their dove-cots. They are like white butterflies. They are just like white butterflies.
the page of herodias
What is that to you? Why do you look at her? You must not look at her…. Something terrible may happen.
·8· the cappadocian
[Pointing to the cistern.] What a strange prison!
second soldier
It is an old cistern.
the cappadocian
An old cistern! It must be very unhealthy.
second soldier
Oh no! For instance, the Tetrarch’s brother, his elder brother, the first husband of Herodias the Queen, was imprisoned there for twelve years. It did not kill him. At the end of the twelve years he had to be strangled.
the cappadocian
Strangled? Who dared to do that?
second soldier
[Pointing to the Executioner, a huge Negro.] That man yonder, Naaman.
the cappadocian
He was not afraid?
second soldier
Oh no! The Tetrarch sent him the ring.
the cappadocian
What ring?
·9· second soldier
The death-ring. So he was not afraid.
the cappadocian
Yet it is a terrible thing to strangle a king.
first soldier
Why? Kings have but one neck, like other folk.
the cappadocian
I think it terrible.
the young syrian
The Princess rises! She is leaving the table! She looks very troubled. Ah, she is coming this way. Yes, she is coming towards us. How pale she is! Never have I seen her so pale.
the page of herodias
Do not look at her. I pray you not to look at her.
the young syrian
She is like a dove that has strayed…. She is like a narcissus trembling in the wind…. She is like a silver flower.
[Enter Salomé.]
salomé
I will not stay. I cannot stay. Why does the Tetrarch look at me all the while with his mole’s eyes under his shaking eyelids? It is strange ·10· that the husband of my mother looks at me like that. I know not what it means. In truth, yes I know it.
the young syrian
You have just left the feast, Princess?
salomé
How sweet the air is here! I can breathe here! Within there are Jews from Jerusalem who are tearing each other in pieces over their foolish ceremonies, and barbarians who drink and drink, and spill their wine on the pavement, and Greeks from Smyrna with painted eyes and painted cheeks, and frizzed hair curled in twisted coils, and silent, subtle Egyptians, with long nails of jade and russett cloaks, and Romans brutal and coarse, with their uncouth jargon. Ah! how I loathe the Romans! They are rough and common, and they give themselves the airs of noble lords.
the young syrian
Will you be seated, Princess?
the page of herodias
Why do you speak to her? Why do you look at her? Oh! something terrible will happen.
salomé
How good to see the moon! She is like a little piece of money, you would think she was a ·11· little silver flower. The moon is cold and chaste. I am sure she is a virgin, she has a virgin’s beauty. Yes, she is a virgin. She has never defiled herself. She has never abandoned herself to men, like the other goddesses.
the voice of jokanaan
The Lord hath come. The son of man hath come. The centaurs have hidden themselves in the rivers, and the sirens have left the rivers, and are lying beneath the leaves of the forest.
salomé
Who was that who cried out?
second soldier
The prophet, Princess.
salomé
Ah, the prophet! He of whom the Tetrarch is afraid?
second
