Act 2 — Act II

Scene I.—The palace. Saladin and his sister Sittah, playing chess.

Sittah: Check!

Saladin: And checkmate!

Sittah: Nay, nay; advance your knight.

Saladin: The game is yours. Al Hafi pays the stake.

[Enter Hafi, who examines the board.

Hafi: The game's not over yet; why, Saladin, Your queen can move——

Sittah: Hush, hush! There, go, Al Hafi! I'll send to fetch my money.

Hafi: She hath never Claimed aught of what you lose; it lies with me. While we wait the treasure out of Egypt, Your sister hath maintained the state alone.

Saladin: Was there none else could lend me, save my sister?

Hafi: I know none such.

Sittah: What of thy friend, the Jew? The town is ringing with the news of gems And costly stuffs he hath brought home with him.

Hafi: He would not lend to Saladin. Ah, Prince, He's envious of your generosity. That is the Jew! I'll knock at other doors.

[Exit.

Scene II.—The place of palms. Daya and Recha with Nathan.

Daya: He's still beneath the palms.

Recha: Just one peep more.

Nathan: Don't let him see you with me. Best go in.

[Exeunt Daya and Recha. Enter the Templar.

Forgive me, noble Frank.

Templar: Well, Jew; your will?

Nathan: I'm Nathan, father to the maid you saved. In what can I be useful? I am rich. Command me.

Templar: Nay, your wealth is naught to me. Yet, this, a coin or cloth for a new mantle, When this is done. Don't quake; it's strong and good To last awhile; but here it's singed with flame.

Nathan: This brand. Oh, I could kiss it! Would you send This mantle to my daughter that her lips May cling to this dear speck?

Templar: Remember, Jew, My vows, my Order, and my Christian faith!

Nathan: All lands produce good men. Are we our nation's? Were Jews and Christians such ere they were men? And I have found in thee one more who stands A man confest.

Templar: Nathan, thy hand; I blush To have mistaken thee. We will be friends. Hark you, the maid, your daughter, whom I saved, Makes me forget that I am partly monk. How say you; may I hope?

Nathan: Your suit, young man, Must be considered calmly. Give me time To know your lineage and your character. A parent must be careful of his child.

[Enter Daya.

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.

Nathan: Hath Saladin no further need of me? Perchance my stores might furnish forth thy wars.

Saladin: Is this Al Hafi's hint? I'll not disown My object was to ask——

Nathan: Thou shouldst have all But that I owe a weighty debt to one— The Templar thou didst spare.

Saladin: I had forgot him.

Nathan: He saved my daughter from the flames.

Saladin: Ah, so? He looked a hero. Bring him hither; Sittah must see our brother's counterfeit.

Nathan: I'll fetch him. For the rest, we are agreed.

Scene V.—The Place of Palms. Daya and the Templar.

Daya: Knight, swear to me that you will make her yours; Make both her present and eternal welfare. Listen. She is a Christian, and no child Of Nathan's.

Templar: Are you sure of what you say?

Daya: It cost me tears of blood. She does not know She is a Christian born.

Templar: And Nathan reared Her in this error, and persists in it? Oh, it confounds me—go; and let me think.

[Exeunt.