Page:Czecho-Slovak Student Life, Volume 18.djvu/507
AMAU.: Nobly spoken, noble archduke. In another hour’s time thou standest in the lists victorious; thine honor avenged.—Hush, here comes thy royal enemy. (Enter King Richard, De Vaux, Baldwin, Kenneth, and attendants.)
BALD.: My honored liege, will you not at the last moment reconsider your determination to proceed to the extremity of a personal combat?
RICH.: We have told your grace that this matter touches not your lordship’s province; ’tis a question of England’s honor, of which our person is the custodian, and Richard had rather be a kitchen-knave than a knight dishonored.
BALD. And will your Majesty set the honor of your banner above the victory of the Cross?
RICH.: Your lordship is very pious in his words, but not very wise in his arguments. Know, then, that the banner of St. George leads the banner of the Cross to victory. Furl England’s banner in dishonor, and you take the very life of the Crusade host.
BALD.: Pardon me, my liege; but by giving offense you endanger the unity of the Christian army. We can not hope to prosper if our allies depart from us.
RICH.: Come, come, your lordship, school me no more. Richard yields not a jot of his honor.—Sir Kenneth, art thou ready?
KEN.: Aye, my lord, in every point.
RICH.: Cap-a-pie?
KEN.: From head to foot. (Enter Phillip with heralds and attendants.)
PHIL: Noble princes, ’tis an unpleasant task that devolves upon us today. We are certain that we express the sentiments of every good man here present, when we say that we deeply regret that this most unhappy feud could not elsewise be settled than by an appeal to arms. As referee in this combat, we solemnly refer the judgment to Him who searcheth the hearts of men, and pray that He dispose of the victory according to the truth and justice of the cause.—Richard, King of England, is it thy unalterable will to stand by thy appeal to arms?
RICH.: It is, your royal Majesty.
PHIL.: Is your champion ready?
RICH.: He is.
PHIL.: Leopold, Archduke of Austria, is it thy unalterable will to detend thy cause in an appeal to arms?
LEO: I shall so defend my honor, your Majesty.
PHIL.: Are you ready?
LEO.: I am.
PHIL.: Heralds, sound the challenge.
HERALDS: Here stands a good knight, Sir Kenneth of Scotland, champion of the royal Richard, King of England, who accuseth Leopold, Archduke of Austria, of foul dishonor done to his banner and his name. (Leopold and Kenneth engage in battle. After a passage of arms, they pause. Enter Theodoric.)
THEO.: (Begins off-stage.) I am Theodoric of Engaddi! I am the walker of the desert! I am the scourge of infidels! I am the friend of the friends of the Cross!—Hold! Hold! Upon your souls, I charge ye! King of England, allay thy pride! Thou callest thyself a lion—be thou a lion—royal and nobleminded; not a wolf that tears all, friend or foe.—Avoid ye! Avoid ye! Down with Mahommed and Termagaunt! Down with the devil and his prophet!—Prince of Austria, swallow thy vanity! and let not the rag of a banner blind thee to the light of the Cross! Thou callest thyself an eagle—soar, then, like him above silly jealousies—drive thy beak and claws at the misbelieving Moslem! Avoid ye! Avoid ye! I am the walker of the desert! I am the scourge of infidels! I am the vengeance of Heaven come upon the renegades of the Cross!—Two fiends, two fiends incarnate, have spread the poison of basilisks and the flames of hell thru the Christian host. The lesser fiend was struck by the lion’s claw—and God rest his soul!—The greater fiend, the seed of Lucifer, stands—there! There stands Giles Amaury, the traitor of his friend, the renegade to his faith, the forsworn knight of the Temple! Aye, thou false knight,