Jeremiah: A Drama in Nine Scenes

Produced by Sharon Joiner, Jana Srna and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)






  [ Transcriber's Notes:

    Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully
    as possible, including inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation.
    Some corrections of spelling and punctuation have been made. They
    are listed at the end of the text.

    Stage directions in brackets were italicised in the original.
    Upright text within them has been marked with _underscores_.
  ]




  JEREMIAH

  A Drama in Nine Scenes

  By
  STEFAN ZWEIG

  Translated
  from the Author's revised German Text
  by
  Eden and Cedar Paul

  New York
  THOMAS SELTZER
  1922


  Copyright, 1922, by
  Thomas Seltzer, Inc.

  Printed in the United States of America




  TO
  FRIEDERIKE MARIA von WINTERNITZ


  Easter 1915-Easter 1917




CONTENTS


  SCENE                                PAGE

     I. The Awakening of the Prophet      1

    II. The Warning                      27

   III. Rumors                           71

    IV. The Watch on the Ramparts        99

     V. The Prophet's Ordeal            137

    VI. Voices in the Night             173

   VII. The Supreme Affliction          231

  VIII. The Conversion                  259

    IX. The Everlasting Road            303




THE AWAKENING OF THE PROPHET




THE PERSONS OF THE DRAMA


  ZEDEKIAH, the King.
  PASHUR, the High Priest.
  NAHUM, the Steward.
  IMRE, the oldest Burgher.
  ABIMELECH, the General.
  HANANIAH, the Prophet of the People.
  SWORDBEARERS, WARRIORS.

                   *       *       *       *       *

  JEREMIAH.
  HIS MOTHER.
  JOCHEBED, a Relative.
  AHAB, the Servingman.
  BARUCH, a young Man.
  ZEBULON, his Father.

                   *       *       *       *       *

  THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM.
  THE ENVOYS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
  CHALDEAN AND EGYPTIAN WARRIORS.

                   *       *       *       *       *

The action takes place in Jerusalem at the time of the Destruction of
the City.




SCENE ONE

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty
things, which thou knowest not. JEREMIAH XXXIII, 3.




SCENE ONE

The flat roof of JEREMIAH'S house; the white flagstones gleam in the dim
moonlight. Below are seen the towers and battlements of sleeping
Jerusalem. Nothing stirs, save that from time to time we hear the
whispering of the breeze that heralds the dawn.

Of a sudden, impetuous footsteps sound upon the stair. JEREMIAH staggers
in; his robe is torn open at the throat; he gasps like one being
strangled.


JEREMIAH

They batter in the gates ... to the walls ... to the walls!... Faithless
watchmen ... they are coming ... they are upon us.... The temple is in
flames.... Help, help!... The walls are breached.... [He has rushed
forward to the edge of the roof, where he abruptly stops. His cry rends
the shimmering silence. With a start, he awakens from his trance. He
looks forth over the town like a drunken man; his arms, which in his
terror he has raised, sink slowly to his sides; then wearily he draws
his hand across his open eyes] Illusion! Once again these terrible
visions. Full, how full, is the House of Dreams! [He leans on the
parapet and gazes down] Peace broods over the city; the country is at
peace; in me alone, in my breast alone, this fire rages. How quietly the
town reposes in God's arms, nestling in slumber, roofed over by peace,
the moonbeams falling on every house, and every house plunged in gentle
sleep. But I, I alone, am consumed with fire night after night; I crash
earthward with the falling towers, rush to escape, perish amid the
flames; I, and none but I, my bowels troubled, leap heated from my bed
and stagger forth into the moonlight seeking coolness! For me alone
comes a vision to shatter sleep; for me alone does a fiery horror wrench
the darkness from my lids. The martyrdom of this vision; the madness of
these faces which swarm in their blood-stained multitude and then fade
in the clear moonlight!

Always the same dream, the same illusion. Night after night, the same
terror seizes me, the same dream, culminating in the same torment. Who
has instilled this dream poison into my veins? Who hunts me thus with
terror? Who covets my sleep, that he must rob me of it; who is my
torturer, and for whom must I thus hold vigil? Answer! Who art thou,
invisible one, aiming at me from the darkness thy winged shafts? Who art
thou, terror incarnate, coming to lie with me by night, quickening me
with thy spirit until my frame is twisted as with labor pains? Wherefore
in this slumbering city should the curse be laid on me alone? [He is
silent, straining his ear to the all-pervading silence, and then
continues with growing excitement] Silence, nothing but silence, while
within is unceasing turmoil and storm-tossed night.