Prince Frederick Of Homburg - Opening

Act I
SCENE 1

Fehrbellin. Garden in traditional French style. In the background a castle, from which a ramp leads down into the garden.

It is night.

Bareheaded wand with an open shirt, The Prince of Homburg, half-awake, half-asleep, sits under an oak tree, weaving himself a wreath. The Elector, his wife, Princess Natalie, the Count of Hohenzollern, Captain Golz, and others step secretly forth from the castle and look down from the balustrade of the ramp upon Homburg.

HOHENZOLLERN: The Prince of Homburg, our courageous cousin,
Who has led our cavalry the past three days
And given the elusive Swedes an eager chase,
Appeared again today, quite out of breath,
At our commanding post in Fehrbellin:
Were your orders to him then that he remain
For food and rest a mere three hours, then quick
Approach the Hackel Mountains once again,
To face our enemy Wrangel, who has tried
To entrench himself along the River Rhyn?
ELECTOR: 'Tis so!

The Broken Pitcher

ADAM: Well said, I say! Good, Mistress Martha Rull.

MRS. MARTHA: Your father's dying words were these: "Martha?

You find our daughter a good man you hear?

But should she turn into a common slut,

Then pay a guilder to the gravedigger,

To turn me on my back again, because,

Upon my soul, the though would spin me over.

Penthesilea - Opening

Scene 1
Enter Odysseues and Diomede from one side, Antilochus from
the other, with attendant soldiers
ANTILOCHUS: Greetings, mighty kings! Tell me how things go
Since
last we met before the walls of Troy?
ODYSSEUS: Badly, Antilochus. You see upon this field

The armies of the Greeks and Amazons

Locked in dread conflict like two rav'ning wolves.

And, by the gods, neither can tell the cause!

If Mars in anger, or our lord Apollo,

Do not restrain them, or the Thunderer

With levin-bolts do not divide the hosts,

They die, in hate inseparable,

The fangs of either deep in other's throat.
(to a soldier)

Bring me a helmet full of water, friend!

(tr: Humphry Trevelyan)

Amphitryon - Opening

ACT I

SCENE 1

It is night. Enter Sosia with a lantern.

SOSIA: Hey! Who's that sneaking by there? Ho! -- If day
Would break, I wouldn't mind; the night is ... What?
I'm friendly, gentlemen! We share one road. ...
You've come across the truest fellow, by
My faith, the sun has ever shone upon --
Or rather I should say right now: the moon. ...
They're either rascals, arrant coward knaves
That haven't got the stomach to attack me,
Each sound is shrieking noise here in these hills.



A comedy after Moliere

Tr: Charles E. Passage

The Broken Pitcher - Opening

Scene 1

Adam, seated, is bandaging his leg. Link enters.
LINK: Ay, what the devil! What a sight you look!
What happened to you, Adam? What befell?
ADAM: Well, look. All it takes to stumble is a pair
Of feet. The floor itself is flat -- or no?
Still, here I stumbled. For each man bears,
Within himself, his own stumbling block.
LINK: Oh, come now, friend. You say that each man [bears ...?


(Translated by Jon Swan)

1982
The Continuum Publishing Company
575 Lexington Avenue, New York 10022

Introduction 1982 by Walter Hinderer
Foreword 1982 by E. L. Doctrow

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of The Continuum Publishing Company.

Printed in the United States of America