SALOMÉ
A Tragedy in one Act.
Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde by Lord Alfred Douglas
THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY
HEROD ANTIPAS, Tetrarch of Judæa | SECOND SOLDIER
JOKANAAN, The Prophet | THE PAGE OF HERODIAS
THE YOUNG SYRIAN | JEWS, NAZARENES, ETC...
TIGELLINUS, A Young Roman | A SLAVE
A CAPPADOCIAN | NAAMAN, The Executioner
A NUBIAN | HERODIAS, Wife of the Tetrarch
FIRST SOLDIER | SALOMÉ, Daughter of Herodias
THE SLAVES OF SALOMÉ
SCENE: A great terrace in the Palace of HEROD, set above the banqueting-hall. Some soldiers are leaning over the balcony. To the right there is a gigantic staircase, to the left, at the back, an old cistern surrounded by a wall of green bronze. Moonlight.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: How beautiful is the Princess Salomé tonight!
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: Look at the moon! How strange the moon seems! She is like a woman rising from a tomb. She is like a dead woman. You would fancy she was looking for dead things.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: She has a strange look. She is like a little princess who wears a yellow veil, and whose feet are of silver. She is like a princess who has little white doves for feet. You would fancy she was dancing.
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: She is like a woman who is dead. She moves very slowly.
Noise in the banqueting-hall.
FIRST SOLDIER: What an uproar! Who are those wild beasts howling!
SECOND SOLDIER: The Jews. They are always like that. They are disputing about their religion.
FIRST SOLDIER: Why do they dispute about their religion?
SECOND SOLDIER: I cannot tell. They are always doing. The Pharisees, for instance, say that there are angels, and the Sadducees declare that angels do not exist.
FIRST SOLDIER: I think it is ridiculous to dispute about such things.
