Four Mystery Plays

Name: Four Mystery Plays
Author: Steiner, Rudolf

Steiner, Rudolf

Mysteries and miracle-plays

He speaks of spirit-worlds in just such words
    As men may speak of villages or towns....
    The way in which our loftiest brothers speak
    Of other states of life oppresseth me.
    And yet I am devoted fervently
    Unto the progress of our earthly aims.

SECOND MASTER OF CEREMONIES:

    My firm reliance is our master's words.
    The man who cannot hear with perfect faith
    The tale of spirit and of spirit-worlds,--
    Is nowise lacking in the faculties
    To grasp a revelation of this kind.
    The things he lacks are of a different mould.
    He may well guess, unwilling to admit,
    That he is conscious of unworthiness
    To be a member of the higher worlds.
    A soul must be defiled by secret stain
    And eager to deny that they are there,
    That will not bow before the spirit-lore.

(Exeunt.)

(Enter the Monk; the Second Preceptor enters and steps up to him.)

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    What errand bringeth thee to this our house
    Which is for thee the home of enemies?

MONK:

    I must include amongst my friends all those
    Who bear the form of men. This is our rule.
    But hostile thou mayst well esteem the claim
    Which I, by duty bound, must here present.
    Those who are over me have sent me here.
    And their desire is that the property
    Belonging to the Church, as by old deeds
    Is well attested, should be given back
    To them without dispute. Yon tract of ground
    Upon which ye have sunk your mine, belongs
    In law and equity unto the Church.
    The manner in which ye possessed yourselves
    Of this estate confers no legal rights.

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    Whether in law we have a right to call
    It ours or no, would constitute a case
    For legal disputation long drawn out.
    But certain 'tis that it belongs to us
    If we refer it to a higher law.
    Yon tract of ground was lying lost and waste
    When it was purchased by our brotherhood:
    Not e'en an inkling had ye of the fact
    That far below rich treasure lay concealed.
    This have we won for human industry.
    Its treasures travel far and wide today
    To distant lands, to further human weal.
    And many honest souls are now at work
    In shaft and tunnel underneath the ground
    Which in your hands lay waste and desolate.

MONK:

    Then it doth not seem fair and right to thee
    To urge upon thy brotherhood the need
    Of peaceably accepting our demand
    That so we may regain our property?

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    Since we are not aware of any guilt,
    But are convinced our cause is wholly just,
    We can but wait in quiet confidence
    To see if ye are really bent on strife,
    When as before, yourselves are in the wrong.

MONK:

    Then will ye have to thank your headstrong will
    If we are driven to a sterner course.

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    The honour of our brotherhood demands
    That only when defeated, sword in hand,
    Do we allow ourselves to be despoiled.

MONK:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Four Mystery PlaysSteiner, Rudolf

Religion

Four Mystery Plays

Steiner, Rudolf

Mysteries and miracle-plays

He speaks of spirit-worlds in just such words
    As men may speak of villages or towns....
    The way in which our loftiest brothers speak
    Of other states of life oppresseth me.
    And yet I am devoted fervently
    Unto the progress of our earthly aims.

SECOND MASTER OF CEREMONIES:

    My firm reliance is our master's words.
    The man who cannot hear with perfect faith
    The tale of spirit and of spirit-worlds,--
    Is nowise lacking in the faculties
    To grasp a revelation of this kind.
    The things he lacks are of a different mould.
    He may well guess, unwilling to admit,
    That he is conscious of unworthiness
    To be a member of the higher worlds.
    A soul must be defiled by secret stain
    And eager to deny that they are there,
    That will not bow before the spirit-lore.

(Exeunt.)

(Enter the Monk; the Second Preceptor enters and steps up to him.)

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    What errand bringeth thee to this our house
    Which is for thee the home of enemies?

MONK:

    I must include amongst my friends all those
    Who bear the form of men. This is our rule.
    But hostile thou mayst well esteem the claim
    Which I, by duty bound, must here present.
    Those who are over me have sent me here.
    And their desire is that the property
    Belonging to the Church, as by old deeds
    Is well attested, should be given back
    To them without dispute. Yon tract of ground
    Upon which ye have sunk your mine, belongs
    In law and equity unto the Church.
    The manner in which ye possessed yourselves
    Of this estate confers no legal rights.

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    Whether in law we have a right to call
    It ours or no, would constitute a case
    For legal disputation long drawn out.
    But certain 'tis that it belongs to us
    If we refer it to a higher law.
    Yon tract of ground was lying lost and waste
    When it was purchased by our brotherhood:
    Not e'en an inkling had ye of the fact
    That far below rich treasure lay concealed.
    This have we won for human industry.
    Its treasures travel far and wide today
    To distant lands, to further human weal.
    And many honest souls are now at work
    In shaft and tunnel underneath the ground
    Which in your hands lay waste and desolate.

MONK:

    Then it doth not seem fair and right to thee
    To urge upon thy brotherhood the need
    Of peaceably accepting our demand
    That so we may regain our property?

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    Since we are not aware of any guilt,
    But are convinced our cause is wholly just,
    We can but wait in quiet confidence
    To see if ye are really bent on strife,
    When as before, yourselves are in the wrong.

MONK:

    Then will ye have to thank your headstrong will
    If we are driven to a sterner course.

SECOND PRECEPTOR:

    The honour of our brotherhood demands
    That only when defeated, sword in hand,
    Do we allow ourselves to be despoiled.

MONK:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Four Mystery Plays

Four Mystery Plays

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