DAYA: The sultan sends for thee in haste. NATHAN: I'll go. Knight, take it not amiss. TEMPLAR: I'll quit you first. Farewell! [_Exit._ NATHAN: 'Tis not alone my Leonard's walk, But even his stature and his very voice. Filnek and Stauffen--I will soon know more. SCENE III.--_A room in_ NATHAN'S _house_. RECHA _and_ DAYA. _A slave shows in the_ TEMPLAR. RECHA: 'Tis he, my saviour! Ah! TEMPLAR: Thou best of beings, How is my soul 'twixt eye and ear divided. RECHA: Well, knight, why thus refuse to look at me? TEMPLAR: Because I wish to hear you. RECHA: Nay, because You would not have me notice that you smile At my simplicity. TEMPLAR: Ah, no; ah, no. How truly said thy father, "Do but know her." Yet now I must attend him. There is danger. SCENE IV.--SALADIN'S _audience chamber_. SALADIN _and_ NATHAN. SALADIN: Draw nearer, Jew. Your name is Nathan? NATHAN: Yea. SALADIN: Nathan the Wise? NATHAN: Ah, no. SALADIN: Of modesty Enough, your words and bearing prove you wise. Now, since you are so wise, tell me which law Appears to you the better. NATHAN: Once on a time, eastward, there dwelt a man Who prized a ring, set with a wondrous opal That made the owner loved of God and man. This ring he willed should ever more remain The heirloom of his house; and to the son He loved the best bequeathed it, binding him To leave it also to his best beloved, And forward so. At length the ring descended To one who had three sons he loved alike. To each in turn the doting father promisèd The ring, and on his death-bed, sorely grieving To disappoint two heirs, he had two rings Made like the first, so close that none could tell The model from the copies. These he gave To his three sons in secret, and so passed. The sequel may be guessed, the strifes, complaints-- For the true ring no more could be distinguished Than now can--the true faith. Each to the judge Swore that he had the bauble from his father, And called his brother forger. Quoth the judge: "Which of you do his brothers love the best? You're silent all. You're all deceived deceivers! None of your rings is true, the true is gone. Your father sought to end its tyranny. Let each believe his own the real ring And vie with others to display its virtue. And if its power a thousand thousand years Endure in your descendants, let them then Before a wiser judge than I appear, And he'll decide the cause." SALADIN: Even God Himself! NATHAN: Art thou, O Saladin, this wiser judge? SALADIN: Not yet have sped the thousand thousand years. His judgment seat's not mine. Go, go, but love me.