So be it then:--A being once did live Who flew from East to West, as runs the sun. He flew o'er lands and seas, and from this height He looked upon the doings of mankind. He saw how men did one another love, And, how in hatred they did persecute. Yet naught could stay this being in his flight, For love and hatred none the less bring forth Full many thousand times the same results. Yet o'er one house--there must the being stay; For therein dwelt a tired and weary man, Who pondered on the love of humankind, And pondered also over human hate. His contemplations had already graved Deep furrows on his brow; his hair was white. And, grieving o'er this man, the being lost His sun-guide's leadership, and stayed with him Within his room e'en when the sun went down. And when the sun arose again, once more The being joined the spirit of the sun; And once again he saw mankind pass through The cycle of the earth in love and hate. But when he came, still following the sun, A second time above that selfsame house, His gaze did fall upon a man quite dead. (Germanus, invisible behind the rock, speaks. As he speaks, he gradually drags his unwieldy size on to the stage; his feet like clogs are almost earth-bound.) GERMANUS: A man once lived, who went from East to West: Whose eager thirst for knowledge lured him on O'er land and sea; and with his wisdom's sight He looked upon the doings of mankind. He saw how men did one another love, And, how in hatred they did persecute; And at each turn of life the man did note How blind was wisdom's eye to probe its depths. For, though the world is ruled by love and hate, Yet could he not combine them into law. A thousand single cases wrote he down Yet still he lacked the comprehending eye. This dull, dry seeker after truth once met Upon his path a being formed of light; Who found existence fraught with heaviness Since it must live in constant combat with A darksome being formed of shadows black. 'Who art thou then?' the dry truth-seeker asked. 'Love,' said the one; the other answered, 'Hate.' But these two beings' words fell on deaf ears; The man heard not, but wandered blindly on In his dry search for truth from East to West. FELICIA: And who art thou, who thus against my wish Dost parody my words in his own way Until they sound a very mockery? GERMANUS: Only a dwarf-like image of me lives In man, and therein many things are thought, That are but mockery of their own selves. When I do show them in the actual size, In which they do appear within my brain. FELICIA: And therefore dost thou also mock at me? GERMANUS: I must right often ply this trade of mine; Yet mostly men do hear me not, so now I seized for once this opportunity To speak as well where men can hear my words.