dramaturgo, poeta, soldado y sacerdote
Escribió todos los géneros literarios de la época
Fue hombre de instintos contradictorios
Aprendió gramática y retórica con los jesuitas (mostró la inteligencia desde niño aunque de la familia humilde)
Luego, estudió en la Universidad de Alcalá , (abandonó sus estudios por una mujer???)
Miguel de Cervantes lo llamó a él "fénix de los ingenios" "Monstro de la naturaleza"
Elena Osorio quien era Filis de sus obras.
Isabel de Urbina
Viuda sin estar casados
Juana Guardo
Micaela de Luján <Camila Lucinda> de sus versos = tres hijos
Marta de Nevares Santoyo de 26 años, casada
En peregrino en su patria
suministró una lista de más de 200 obras dramáticas.
Arte nuevo de hacer comedías (1609)
comedia
los temas
honor, amor, integra personajes de diversas clases sociales
La mujer es fuerte, atractiva y valiente en el teatro de Lope de Vega.
obras teatral = 1500 obras en 1632
723 comedías
44 autos sacramentales
las tras obras importnates (tragedias)
1) Fuente Ovejuna (1612-13)
El mejor alcalde, el rey (1620-23)
Peribañez y el comendador de Ocaña (1605-1608)
Textbook Website Practice
Fuente Ovejuna (1619) es una obra de teatro barroco en la que el pueblo se levanta contra la injusticia y los abusos de poder. Según el crítico literarioMenéndez Pelayo, "no hay obra más democrática en todo el teatro castellano".
Argumento:
La obra se basa en un episodio histórico que ocurrió en Fuente Ovejuna, un pueblo cordobés en 1476. Es la época de la reconquista y de la sociedad feudal tardía. Este pueblo es sometido no a la monarquía sino a la Orden de Calatrava.
El Comendador del pueblo, Fernán Gómez de Gúzman, no respeta las leyes y abusa de su poder, traicionando los principios feudales y comportándose como un tirano. No sólo traiciona al puebo, sino también a los Reyes Católicos, cuando decide atacar Ciudad Real. Tras una dura batalla, conquista dicho pueblo para el bando deJuana la Beltraneja.
Mientras tanto, Laurencia, la hija del alcalde, le dice a una amiga que el Comendador, que ya tenía fama de aprovecharse de las mujeres del pueblo, le había propuesto a Laurencia ser amantes, pero ella lo rechazó.
Los Reyes Católicos se enteran de que la Ciudad Real ha sido conquistada por las tropas del Maestre de Calatrava y de Fernán Gómez y deciden enviar sus tropas a Ciudad Real para derrotar a los de Calatrava y retomar la ciudad.
El Comendador se encuentra por casualidad con Laurencia y trata de llevarla a su palacio a la fuerza. En ese momento llega Frondoso, que está enamorado de Laurencia, y la rescata, apuntándole su ballesta al Comendador. Tras este suceso, el Comendador está furioso por el rechazo de Laurencia y quiere detener a Frondoso por haberlo amenazado con la ballesta. Además, recibe la noticia de que los Reyes Católicos han retomado Ciudad Real.
Frondoso le pide la mano a Laurencia y ella lo acepta, pero en medio de la celebración de la boda, llega el Comendador y detiene a los novios.
El pueblo, ya harto de los robos, atropellos y crueldades del Comendador, decide unirse y tomar la justicia por su mano. Una noche llegan al palacio, invaden su casa y lo matan en nombre de Fuente Ovejuna y de los Reyes Católicos.
En el juicio, cuando el juez les pregunta quién mató al Comendador, todo el pueblo responde: “Fuente Ovejuna, señor”. El puebo pide el perdón real y los Reyes Católicos absuelven el pueblo, porque es imposible determinar la identidad los culpables concretos e incorporan la villa a la corona.
Los TEMAS
el poder colectivo
el abuso del poder y la traición
Defensa de la monarquía
el honor y el amor
Los personajes que hablan en Fuente ovejuna
La reina ISABEL de Castilla
El REY Fernando de Aragón
Rodrigo Téllez Girtón, MAESTRE de la Orden de Calatrava
Fernán Gómez de Guzmán
COMENDADOR mayor de la Orden de Calatrava
Dón Gómez MANRIQUE
Un JUEZ
Dos REGIDORES de Ciudad Real
ORTUñO, criado del Comendador
FLORES, criado del Comendador
ESTEBAN, Alcaide de Fuenteovejuna
ALONSO, un regidor de Fuenteovejuna
Otro REGIDOR de Fuenteovejuna
LAURENCIA, labradora de Fuenteovejuna, hija de Esteban
JACINTA, labradora de Fuenteovejuna
PASCUALA, labradora de Fuenteovejuna
FRONDOSO, labrador
MENGO, labrador gracioso
BARRILDO, labrador
LEONELO, Licenciado en derecho
CIMBRANO, soldado
Un MUCHACHO
LABRADORES y LABRADORAS
MúSICOS
Translated by Stanley Applebaum
Acto Tercero
Clic aquí para ver toda la obra en español.
p142
Act three
Enter ESTEBAN, ALONSO, and BARRILDO.
Est: Haven't they come to the meeting?
Bar: THey haven't come.
Est: Then, harm is approaching us more rapidly.
Bar: Most of the town has already been notified.
Est: Frondoso in shackles in the tower,
and my daughter Laurencia in such straits------
if God's mercy doesn't help us.....
Enter JUAN ROJO and the COUNCILMAN.
Juan: Why are you crying out, Esteban, when secrecy
is so essential to our well-bing?
It's a greater wonder that I cry out so little.
Enter MENGO.
Men: I have come, too, to take part in this meeting.
Est: A man whose gray hairs are soaked in tears
asks you, honorable husbandmen,
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What sort of funeral service all of us should perform
for our native town which is dishonored and now ruined.
And if a funeral is rightly called "showing honor,"
how can it be held if there is no man
among us whom this barbarian is not insulting?
Answer me: it there one of you
who isn't injured in his honor or his person?
Aren't all of you lamenting for one another?
Then, if all of you have lost your honor,
what are you waiting for? What misfortune is this?
Juan: The greatest ever suffered in the world.
But, since it is already proclaimed and manifested
that the two monarchs have pacified Castile
and their arrival in Córdoba is imminent,
let two town councilmen visit them
and, throwing themselves at their feet, ask for redress.
Bar: Until King Fernando, who humbles
so many enemies, can arrive, it will be better
to seek other means, because, occupied as he is, he won't be able
to help us, with so many wars impeding him.
Cou: If you were to listen to my suggestion,
I vote that we evacuate the town.
Juan: How is that possible in such a limited time?
Men: By my faith, if he gets wind of our disturbance,
it will surely cost the lives of some at this meeting!
Cou: By now, the mast of our patience is entirely shattered
and our ship is sailing frenzied with fear.
with such great ferocity they abduct the daughter
of respectable man, who governs
the town in which you live, and on his head
they break his staff of office so unjustly!
What slave was ever treated more basely?
Juan: What is it you want the people to attempt?
Cou: to die, or put the tyrants to death,
for we are many and they are few.
Bar: An armed uprising against our lord!
Est: The King alone is lord, after heaven,
and not inhuman, barbarous men.
If God aids our just enthusiasm,
what can it cost us?
Men: See to it, gentlemen,
that you proceed cautiously in these matters.
Because I here represent
the lowly peasants, who are undergoing more injuries,
I speak more wisely about their fears.
Juan: If our misfortunes increase at the same rate,
what fear of losing our lives holds us back?
They're burning our houses and vineyards:
they're tyrants. Let's avenge ourselves!
p144
Enter LAURENCIA, disheveled.
Lau: Let me in , for I have a right
to join a council of men:
for a woman may well attend,
if not to vote, at least to give voice to her distress.
Do you recognize me?
Est: Dear Heaven!
Aren't you my daughter?
Juan: You don't recognize
Laurencia?
Lau: I'm in such a state
that the change in my makes you
unsure who I am.
Est: My daughter!
Lau: Don't call me
your daughter.
Est: Why not, my precious one?
Why not?
Lau: For many reasons.
To name just the main ones:
because you allow me to be abducted
by tyrants without avenging me,
by traitors without reclaiming me.
I did not yet belong to Frondoso,
so you can't say that , as my husband,
he should have taken revenge;
the revenge was owed by you;
because, as long as the wedding
night hasn't arrived,
the father and no the husband
is assumed to have the obligation;
until a jewel is handed over
to me, even though I've paid for it,
I shouldn't be responsible
for the security guards or the thieves.
In front of your eyes Fernán Gómez
carried me off to his house;
you abandoned the sheep to the wolf
like cowardly shepherds.
All the daggers I saw at my breast!
All the horrible absurdities,
All the speeches, all the threats,
and all the awful crimes,
so that I would yield my chastity
to his foul lusts!
Doesn't my hair tell you the story?
Can't you see here the clots
p145
of blood and the bruises?
You call yourselves upright men?
You call yourselves fathers and kinsmen?
You, whose hearts
aren't breaking with sorrow
to see me in so many sorrows?
You're sheep, the name
of Fuenteovejuna tells it plainly,
Give some weapons to me,
since you're just lumps of stone, of bronze,
of jasper, since you're are cruel as tigers...
No, you're not tigers, because they ferociously
pursue the abductor of their young,
killing the hunters
before they can put out to sea,
launching their boat on its waves.
You were born cowardly hares;
you're barbarians, not Spaniards!
Chicken-hearts, you allow
other men to enjoy your women!
Put distaffs in your belts!
Why do you gird on rapiers?
As God lives, I'll have to arrange
for only women to regain
their honor from these tyrants,
their blood from these traitors!
And at you they'll shy stones,
you spinning-girls, you unmanly,
effeminate cowards!
And tomorrow may you be adorned
with our headdresses and skirts,
our cosmetics and rouge!
Without a formal sentence, without a public announcement,
the Commander now wishes
to hang Frondoso
from the battlements of a tower:
he'll do the same to everyone,
and I'm glad of it, you half-men:
that way, this honorable town will be left
without women like you, and the age
of Amazons will return,
an eternal wonder of the world
p146
Est: Daughter, I am not one of those
who allow themselves to be called
such despicable names.
I will go alone, even if
the whole world opposes me.
Juan: So will I, no matter how much
the greatness of my opponent awes me.
Cou: Let's all die!
Bar: Unfurl
a banner to the wind on a pole,
and let these monsters die!
Juan: What order do you think should be observed?
Men: We should go and kill him without being orderly.
Assemble the people with one proclamation,
because they all agree
that the tyrants should die!
Est: Take swords, short spears,
crossbows, pikes, and cudgels!
Men: Long live the two monarchs,
our lords!
ALL: May they live many years!
Men: Death to tyrants and traitors!
ALL: To traitors and tyrants, death!
They all exit (except Laurencia)
Lau: Go your way, because heaven hears you!
Oh, women of the town,
come here to me, in order to regain
your honor, come one and all!
Enter PASCUALA, JACINTA, and other women
Pas: What's going on? What are you shouting about?
Lau: Don't you see that they are all going
to kill Fernán Gómez,
and that men, lads, and boys
are running furiously to do the deed?
Is it right for them alone
to enjoy the honor of this exploit,
seeing that the injuries done to us women
are not the least of all?
Jac: Then, speak up, what are you suggesting?
Lau: That we all form ranks
and undertake a deed
that will fill the whole world with awe,
Jacinta, let the great injury done to you
take the lead: be in charge
of a squad of women!
Jac: Those doen you aren't slighter.
p147
Lau: Pascuala, you'll be our standard-bearer.
Pas: Then, let me hoist
our banner on a spear:
you'll see whether I deserve the title.
Lau: There's no time for that,
since good luck is coming to our aid:
it's enough if we carry
our headdresses as pennants.
Pas: Le't's appoint a captain!
Lau No.
Pas: Why not?
Lau: Because where
my great valor is present,
there is no need for a Cid or a Rodomonte.
All exit.
Enter FRONDOSO, with his hands tied, FLORES, ORTUñO,
CIMBRANOS, and the COMMANDER>
Com: With the rope left over from tying his hands
I want him hanged, as a more sever punishment.
Fro: Great lord, what kind of reputation are you leaving for your
descendants?
Com: Hang him at once from the nearest merlon.
Fro: It was never my intention actually to kill you
on that occasion.
Flo: I hear a lot of noise.
Noise is heard
Com: Noise?
Flo: And of a kind that means they are interrupting
your justice, my lord.
Ort: They're breaking down the doors.
Noise
Com: The door to my house, which is the seat
of the commandery!
Flo: The townspeople are coming all together.
Juan: (Voices are heard within.) Smash, demolish, destroy, burn, set ablaze!
Ort: An uprising of the people is hard to restrain.
Com: The people against me?
Flo: Their fury is going
so far that they've thrown
the doors to the ground.
Com: Untie him!
Frondoso, placate this peasant of a mayor!
Fro: I will go, my lord, because their love for me has incited them.
p148
exit
Men: (voices within.) Long live Fernando and Isabel, and death
to the traitors!
Flo: My lord, for God's sake I beg you,
don't let them find you here!
Com: If they persist,
this room is strong and fortified.
They'll turn back.
Flo: When insulted people
lose their temper and become determined,
they never turn back without blood and vengeance.
Com: At this doorway, as if it were a portcullis,
let us ward off their furor with our weapons!
Fro: (voices within). Long live Fuenteovejuna!
Com: Some captain!
my vote is for us to attack their fury.
Flo: My lord, I'm amazed at yours!
Est: We can now see the tyrant and his accomplices.
"Fuenteovejuna!" and let the tyrants die!
They all enter
Com: Townspeople, wait!
All: insults never wait!
Com: Tell me about them, and on my honor as a knight,
I'll make up these mistakes to you.
All: Fuenteovejuna! Long live King Fernando!
Death to bad Christians and traitors!
Com: Won't you hear me out? I'm talking to you,
I, your lord.
All: our lords
at the Catholic Monarchs!
Com: Wait!
All: Fuenteovejuna, and death to Fernán Gómez!
All exit. Enter the women, with weapons.
Lau: Halt in this waiting-place,
my daring soldiers, and not women!
Pas: What women are like when taking revenge!
In this place, you can expect them to drink his blood!
Jac: Let's receive his body on our lances!
Pas: They're all of the same opinion.
Est: (voices within) DIe, traitorous Commander!
Com: I'm dying!
Mercy, O Lord, for I trust in Your clemency!
p149
Bar: Here is Flores.
Men: Give it to that rogue,
for it was he who gave me two thousand lashes.
Flo: (voices within). I won't be avenged if I don't take the soul out of him.
Lau: Let's not hesitate to go in!
Pas: Don't get upset!
It's a good idea to guard this door.
Bar: (voices within) I won't be placated!
Your turn to weep, lordlings!
Lau: Pascuala, I'm going in, because my sword
mustn't be so submissive and kept in its sheath.
Exit
Bar: Here is Ortuño
Fro: Cut up his face!
Enter FLORES, fleeing, with MENGO behind him.
Flo: Mengo, mercy! I'm not to blame!
Men: Enve if being a pimp weren't enough,
it would be enough for that scoundrel to have whipped me!
Pas: Hand him over to us women, Mengo! Halt,
stop, by your life!
Men: He's now handed over,
because I wish no greater punishment on him.
Pas: I'll avenge your whipping.
Men: THat's what I want.
Jac: Come on, let the traitor die!
Flo: At the hands of women?!
Jac: Isn't that too great an honor for him?
Pas: You're complaining of that?
Jac: Die, you pander to his pleasures!
Pas: Come on, let the traitor die!
Flo: Mercy, ladies!
Enter ORTUñO, fleeting from LAURENCIA.
Ort: Look, it wasn't me...
Lau: I know who you are!
Go in, and stain your victorious weapons
with their base blood!
Pas: I'll die killing.
All: Fuenteovejuna! And long live King Fernando!
p150
Exit. Enter KING FERNANDO, QUEEN ISABEL,
and DON MANRIQUE, the Master of Santiago.
Man: Our preparations were
such that we have seen
the desired effect achieved
with little resistance.
There was not much opposition;
and even if there had been any,
without a doubt it would have been
of little or no consequence.
The Count of Cabra is busy
holding the fortress,
in case our bold opponent
should return, attempting to retake it.
King: The plan was a wise one,
and it's expedient for him to remain there,
regaining the people's allegiance
and controlling the passage between realms;
because, that way, we can be sure
that we'll receive no harm
from Alfonso, who, back in Portugal,
is planning to regain power.
And it's good for Cabra to remain
operative in that place,
and, with his usual diligence,
to display his merit;
because he will thereby avoid
the harm that we fear,
and, as a loyal sentinel,
will procure the good of the kingdom.
Enter FLORS, wounded.
Flo: Catholic King Fernando,
to whom heaven grants
the crown of Castile
thanks to your manly excellence:
hear the greatest cruelty
ever seen among nations,
from the place where the sun rises
to the place where it grows dark!
King: Clam yourself!
Flo: Supreme King,
my wounds do not permit me
to tell the sad event at length,
because my life is nearing its end.
I have come from Fuenteovejuna,
p151
where, with merciless hearts,
the inhabitants of the town
have put their lord to death.
Fernán Gómez has been killed
by his treacherous subjects;
because indignant vassals
become bold with a slight reason.
He was labeled a tyrant
by the common people,
and, on the strength of that appellation,
they committed the fierce deed;
breaking into his house,
and not heeding his offers,
made on the honor of a knight,
to make good all his debts to them,
not only did they refuse to listen to him,
but with impatient fury
they pierced his Cross-bearing breast
with a thousand cruel wounds,
and from the high windows
they made him fly to the ground,
where the women received him
on their pikes and swords.
They carried his body to a house,
where, in competition, with all their might
they plucked his beard and hair
and quickly slashed his face.
In fact, the fury
that increased within them was so great
that the largest pieces left of him
were his ears.
They obliterated his coat-of-arms with pikes,
and shouted that they wished
to display your royal arms,
because the former ones were an insult to them.
They plundered his house,
as if it belonged to an enemy,
and merrily distributed
his possessions among themselves.
I saw all that I have reported from a hiding place,
because my unhappy fate
didn't allow me to lose
my life in such a dire emergency;
and so, I remained where I was all day
until night fell
p152
and I was able to steal away in secret
in order to give you an account of all this.
Sire, since you are jut, see to it
that the barbarous criminals
receive their just punishment
for such a cruel event:
see, his blood is calling
out loud for them to feel your severe wrath.
King: You can be assured
that they won't remain unpunished.
This sad occurrence is
such that I am lost in amazement.
A judge shall leave immediately
with the duty of confirming your report
and punishing the guilty parties
as an example to the people.
A captain shall go with him
for his safety:
for such great boldness
calls for an exemplary punishment;
cure this soldier
of the wounds he has sustained!
Exit, Enter male and female peasants
with Fernán Gómez's head on a lance.
Mus: "Long live
Isabel and Fernando,
and death to tyrants!"
Bar: Let Frondoso recite his refrain.
Fro: Here comes my refrain, by my faith;
if it's missing a syllable,
let a more careful man correct it!
"Long live beautiful Isabel
and Fernando of Aragon,
since they are a couple,
he with her, she with him!
May Saint Michael lead them both
to heaven by the hand!
May they live many years,
and death to tyrants!"
Lau: Let Barrido recite his
Bar: Here goes,
and this time I've really put some thought into it.
Pas: If you recite it carefully,
it will be good, and better than good.
Bar: " May the famous monarchs live
many years, since they've gained
p153
the victory, and are about to become
our luck-bringing masters!
May they always emerge victorious
from battles with giants and dwarves,
and death to tyrants!"
Mus: "May they live many years!" (etc.)
Lau: Let Mengo say his.
Fro: Let Mengo speak.
Men: As a poet, I'm only a layman.
Pas: You ought to say: someone
on whose butt men lay lashes.
Men: "One Sunday morning
that man had me whipped
so hard that my behind
gave fearful twitches;
but now that I'm beating them,
long live the Christina monarchs, oh!
and death to tyrants, oh!"
Mus: "May they live many years!"
Est: Take the head over yonder.
Men: His face is like a hanged man's.
JUAN ROJO brings out an escutcheon with the royal arms.
Cou: The arms have already come?
Est: Show us the arms.
Juan: Where should they be placed?
Cou: Here, in the town hall.
Est: A fine escutcheon!
Bar: What happiness!
Fro: With this sun, our day
is now starting to dawn.
Est: Long live Castile and León.,
and the bars of Aragon,
and death to tyranny!
Fuenteovejuna, give heed
to an old man's words;
because accepting his advice
has never done any harm.
The monarchs will surely want
to investigate this case,
and especially when they're so close to the passage between the realms
and the expedition they have to make.
p154
All of you, get together and agree on
What you're going to say.
Fro: What's your advice?
Est: to die
saying: "Fuenteovejuna!"
And let everyone stick to this.
Fro: That is the straight path:
it was Fuenteovejuna that did it.
Est: Are you willing to give that reply?
All Yes.
Est: Well then, I am going to enact
the investigator's role now,
so we can better rehearse
what we have to do.
Let Mengo be the one placed
on the rack.
Men: Couldn't you find
someone more weak-willed?
Est: Did you think
this was for real?
Men: Then speak right away.
Est: Who killed the Commander?
Men: Fuenteovejuna did it!
Est: Dog! What if I torture you?
Men: Even if you kill me, sire
Est: Confess, thief!
Men: I confess.
Est: Well, who did it?
Men: Fiemtepvekima!
Est: Turn the screws again!
Men: It makes no difference.
Est: We shit on their trial!
Enter the COUNCILMAN.
COU: What are you doing there like this?
Fro: What has happened, Cuadrado?
Cou: The investigator has arrived.
Est: Everyone gather over here!
Cou: He has a captain with him.
Est: Let the devil come! By now you all know
what reply you must give.
Cou: They're arresting the townspeople,
without omitting a soul.
Est: There's no need to be afraid.
Who killed the Commander,
Mengo?
Men: Who? Fuenteovejuna!
p155
They exit. Enter the MASTER of Calatrava and a SOLDIER.
Mas: To think that such a thing happened!
His fate was unhappy.
I feel like putting you to death
for the news you have brought.
Sol: My lord, I'm only a messenger,
and it wasn't my intention to vex you.
Mas: To think that an irritated, unruly town
was bold enough to do that!
I shall go there with five hundred men
and level the town with the ground;
there shall not remain in it
even the memory of their names.
Sol: My lord, calm your anger;
because they have turned themselves over to the King,
and the important thing for you now
is to avoid irritating the King.
Mas: How can they turn themselves over to the King
if they belong to the commandery?
Sol: You can litigate with him
later over that matter.
Mas: When has litigation ever released
anything that the people placed in his hands?
They are my sovereign lords,
and I acknowledge it.
Knowing that they have turned themselves over to the King,
I shall calm my anger,
and I choose to see him in person
because, even if I am to blame
for serious offenses,
in the whole affair my youth
will serve as my excuse.
I go there shamefacedly; but it is
honor that obliges me to,
and it is essential not to be unwary
when my interests are so honorable.
They exit.
Enter LAURENCIA, alone
Lau: Being in love, and fearing lest harm come to the beloved,
is to be considered a new sorrow of love,
because whoever expects that harm will come to the one he loves
gains additional worries because of his fear.
If one's constant, vigilant concerns
are afflicted by fear, they are easily dismayed;
because it is no small sorrow to one of constant faith
p156
to see fear make away with his happiness.
I adore my husband; the occasion I see before me
condemns me to fear that he will be harmed,
unless a happy fate assists him.
My desires incline toward his well-being:
if he is present, my sorrow is assured;
if he is absent, my death is assured.
Enter FRONDOSO.
Fro: My Laurencia!
Lau: Beloved husband,
how can you be so rash as to come here?
Fro: Does my loving concern
deserve such resistance on your part?
Lau: Darling, try to protect yourself,
because I fear that harm will come to you.
Fro: Laurencia, may it not be heaven's will
that an occurrence gives you grief!
Lau: Don't you fear to witness the severity
with which the others are being treated,
and the furor with which
this investigator is proceeding?
Try to save your life.
Flee, don't wait around to be hurt.
Fro: How can you want me to attempt
something so unacceptable?
Is it right for me to abandon the others
in their present danger,
and to absent myself from your sight?
Don't order me to go away,
because it's unreasonable
for me, in order to avoid harm to myself,
to be a stranger to my own flesh and blood
on such a terrible occasion.
A cry within
I thought I heard a cry,
and, if I heard correctly, it was
that of someone being tortured.
Listen with an attentive ear!
The JUDGE speaks within, and various characters reply.
Jud: Tell the truth, my good old man.
Fro: My Laurencia, they're torturing
an old man.
Lau: What persistency!
Est: Release me for a while.
Jud: I now release you.
Tell me, who killed Fernando?
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Est: Fuenteovejuna did it.
Lau: Father, I immortalize your name.
Fro: A brave action!
Jud: Tighten the ropes
on that boy. Dog, I know
that you know. Tell who it was!
Silent? Tighten, you drunk!
Boy: Fuenteovejuna, sir.
Jud: By the King's life, peasants,
I'll hang you with my own hands!
Who killed the Commander?
Fro: To think that, under torture, a mere boy
refuses to reply this way!
Lau: Brave people!
Fro: Brave and strong.
Jud: Now place that woman
on the rack!
Give her a tug of the ropes at once!
Lau: By now, he's blind with anger.
Jud: Believe me, I'm going to kill you
on this rack, peasants.
Who killed the Commander?
Pas: Fuenteovejuna, sir.
Jud: Tighten!
Fro: His words are in vain.
Lau: Pascuala refuse to talk, Frondoso.
Fro: Even children refuse. Why are you amazed?
Jud: You seem to be bewitching them, executioner!
Tighter!
Pas: Oh, merciful heaven!
Jud: Tighter, you villain! Are you deaf?
Pas: Fuenteovejuna did it.
Jus: Bring me that chubbier fellow,
that stripped one, that fat one!
Lau: Poor Mengo! It's surely him.
Fro: I'm afraid he'll confess.
Men: oh! oh!
Jud: Start tightening!
Men: Oh!
Jud: You need help?
Men: Oh! Oh!
Jud: Peasant, who killed
the lord Commander?
Men: Oh! I'll tell you, sir!
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Jud: Loosen the ropes a little.
Fro: He's confessing.
Jud: Rest your shoulder
on the board of the rack
Men: Who killed him?
Men: Sire, Fuenteovejuna.
Jud: Is such roguery possible?
They are laughing at the pain.
The man I was expecting would talk
refuses with the greatest perseverance of all.
Let them go; I'm tired out.
Fro: Oh, Mengo, God bless you!
The fear I had on your account has relieved me
of the fear I felt for two people.
People enter, including MENGO, BARRILDO, and the COUNCILMAN.
Bar: Hurrah, Mengo!
Cou: And righty so.
Bar: Mengo, hurrah!
Fro: That's what I say.
Men: Oh! Oh!
Bar: take this, friend, and drink.
Eat.
Men: Oh! Oh! What is it?
Bar: Citron preserves.
Men: Oh! Oh!
Fro: Take a drink
Bar: ...All right now.
Fro: He's gulping it with a will. He's feeling fine.
Lau: Give him some more to eat.
Men: Oh! Oh!
Bar: Drink this one for me.
Lau: He's soaking it up like nobody's business.
Fro: He who refuses well, drinks well.
Bar: Do you want another?
Men: Oh! Oh! Yes, Yes.
Fro: Drink, because you richly deserve it.
Lau: He's imbibing one glass for each tug on the rack.
Fro: Cover him up, because he's cold.
Bar: Want more?
Men: Yes, three more rounds.
Oh! Oh!
Fro: He is asking whether there's wine.
Bar: There is: drink as much as you like;
because he who refuses gets to drink.
What's wrong with it?
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Men: It is a little sour.
Let's go, because I'm catching a cold.
Fro: Let him read that this wine is better.
Who killed the Commander?
Men: Fuenteovejuna did it.
Exit (all but FRONDOSO and LAURENCIA).
Fro: It's only fair that he be honored.
But tell me, my love,
who killed the Commander?
Lau: Fuenteovejuna, darling.
Fro: Who killed him?
Lau: You are frightening me!
I tel you, it was Fuenteovejuna.
Fro: And I ----with what did I kill you?
Lau: With what? By making me love you so.
Exit. Enter the KING, QUEEN ISABEL, and (later) MANRIQUE.
Isa: Sire, I didn't expect to find you
here, and my luck is good.
King: The happiness of beholding you transforms
my sight into new glory.
I was on my way to Portugal,
and I had to pass through here.
Isa: Let your Majesty deflect your route,
since the situation calls for it.
King: In what condition did you leave Castile?
Isa: It is in peace, calm, and smooth.
King: Since you were the one who smoothed it,
I'm not at all surprised.
Enter Don MANRIQUE.
Man: The Master of Calatrava,
who has just arrived here,
asks you to give him permission
to enter your presence.
Isa: I wanted very much to see him.
Man: By my faith, my lady, I assure you
that, though young,
he is a valiant soldier.
Enter the MASTER
Mas: I, Rodrigo Téllez Girón,
Master of Calatrava,
who never ceases praising you,
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humbly ask your forgiveness.
I confess that I was misled,
and that I exceeded proper bounds
in matters affecting your pleasure,
having been badly advised.
Fernán Gómez's advice
and personal interest misled me ------
and unjust pointer of the scales-----and thus I
humbly beg your pardon.
And if I deserve to receive
the flavor I beseech you for,
from now on I guarantee
that I offer myself to your service:
and, in this campaign
against Granada, to which you are bound,
I promise you shall see
the merit that lies in my sword,
the moment I draw it there,
giving the Moors severe distress,
I shall plant my red-Cross banners
atop their lofty battlements;
moreover, I shall employ
five hundred soldiers in your service,
together with the loyal pledge
never to give you vexation as long as I live
King: Master, rise from the floor;
for, as often as you come,
you will be very welcome.
Mas: You are the consolation of the afflicted.
Isa: With your exceptional merit,
you speak as nobly as you act.
Mas: You are a beautiful Esther;
and you, a divine Ahasuerus.
Enter MANRIQUE
Man: Sire, the investigator
who went to Fuenteovejuna
has arrived with his report
for an audience with Your Majesty.
King: Sit in judgment on these aggressors.
Mas: If I did not see YOU here, sire,
I would certainly teach them
what it means to kill Commanders.
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King: That is not a duty of yours.
Isa: I confess that I shall see
the charge in your hands,
if God grants my wish
Enter JUDGE
Jud: I went to Fuenteovejuna
as you ordered,
and I proceeded with special care
and diligence;
but after inquiring into
the crime that had been committed,
there's not a single sheet in writing
to prove any specific guilt.
because, in total conformity,
with valiant hearts,
when I asked who had done it,
they replied; "Fuenteovejuna."
I tortured three hundred
with no little severity,
and I assure you, sire,
that I got no more than that out of them.
I placed even ten-year-old children
on the rack, but it wasn't
possible to learn the truth
either by cajolery or by trickery.
And, since the possibility
of proving anything is so remote,
you've either got to pardon them
or wipe out the whole town.
They have all come to see you
to give you stronger confirmation of this:
you can ask them yourself.
King: Since they are here, tell them to come in
Enter the two Mayors, FRONDOSO, the women, and as many peasants as are wanted.
Lau: Is that the King and Queen?
Fro: Yes, and they wield great might in Castile.
Lau: By my faith, they're good-looking;
may Saint Anthony bless them!
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Isa: Are these the aggressors?
Est: My lady, we are Fuenteovejuna,
now coming humbly
with a will to serve you.
The excessive tyranny
and unbearable severity
of the late Commander,
who outraged us in a thousand ways,
caused all this damage.
He stole our property
and raped our young women,
a stranger to mercy.
Fro: So mucho so, that this girl,
whom heaven has granted to me,
making me so fortunate
that nobody's good fortune is equal to mine,
when she married me,
on that first night,
just as if she belonged to him,
he carried her off to his house;
and, if she hadn't known how to protect
herself, and been such a blossom of virtue,
it's all to clear
what might have happened.
Men: Isn't it time for me to speak?
If you give me leave, I expect
that you'll be astounded to learn
the way he treated me.
Because I tried to defend
a girl from his people.
who were insolently
trying to abduct her,
that cruel Nero
treated me in such a way
that he left my behind
looking like a slice of salmon.
Three men assailed
my backside so persistently
that I even think the welts
will last forever.
On this protracted malady,
in order for my hide to be made whole,
I've spent more on myrtle powder and berries
than my whole farm is worth.
Est: Sire, we wish to belong to you.
You are our natural king,
and, naming you as such,
we have already installed your coat-of-arms.
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We hope for your clemency,
and we hope you will see
that is this situation we are offering you
our innocence as security.
King: Since the incident cannot
be proved in writing,
even though the crime was serious,
it has to be forgiven.
And it's a good thing for the town
to remain mine, since it claims my protection,
until we see whether by chance
another Commander is appointed to inherit it.
Fro: In short, YOur Majesty speaks
like a man who has been right in so many matter.
And here, wise spectators,
Fuenteovejuna comes to an end.
