SCENE 15

The same. Doctor Strader's nurse is sitting there waiting. Enter the Secretary.

SECRETARY:

Soon Benedictus will, I hope, appear And hear himself the message thou dost bring: He went a journey and hath just returned. A great man surely doctor Strader was. At first I did not have much confidence In Hilary's tremendous plan of work; But, as I frequently was in the room Whilst Strader was engaged in showing him What further needs his plan of work involved, All my objections swiftly lost their force. Aye full of spirit, with the keenest sense For all things possible and purposeful, He yet was ever heedful that the end Should issue reasonably from the work; Ne'er would he anything for granted take. He held himself quite as a mystic should; As people who are anxious to behold A lovely view from some tall mountain-crest Keep plodding on till they have reached the top Nor try to paint the picture in advance.

NURSE:

A man of lofty spirit and great gifts Thou knewest hard at work in active life. I, in the short time it was given me To render earth's last services to him Learned to admire his loftiness of soul. A sweet soul, that, except for seven years Of utmost bliss, walked aye through life alone. Their wisdom mystics offered him,--but love Was all his need;--his lust for outward deeds Was naught but--love, which sought for many forms Of life in which to manifest itself. That which this soul sought on the mystic path Was needful to its being's noble fire, As sleep is to the body after toil.

SECRETARY:

In him the mystic wisdom was the source Of outward deeds as well; for all his work Was ever fully steeped in its ideals.

NURSE:

Because in him love was a natural law, And he had to unite himself in soul With all the aspirations of his life; E'en his last thoughts were still about the work To which in love he did devote himself-- As people part from beings whom they love So Strader's soul reluctantly did leave The work on earth through which his love had poured.

SECRETARY:

He lived in spirit with full consciousness: And Theodora was with him as aye She was in life--true mystic souls feel thus.

NURSE:

Because his loneliness knit him to her, She stood before him still in death. By her He felt that he was called to spirit-worlds To finish there his incompleted task. For Benedictus just before his death He wrote a message which I now have come To give into the mystic leader's hands. So must the life of this our time on earth Unfold itself yet further, full of doubt;-- But brightened by sun-beings such as he, From whom a wider number may receive, Like planets, light-rays which awaken life.

(Enter Benedictus left. Exit Secretary right.)

NURSE:

Before his strength departed, Strader wrote These few lines for thee. I have come to bring His message to his faithful mystic friend.

BENEDICTUS:

And as he set this message down for me What were the themes that his soul dwelt upon?

NURSE:

At first the latest of his plans in life Lived in his thought; then Theodora came To join him in the spirit; feeling this His soul did gently leave its body's sheath.

BENEDICTUS:

My thanks to thee, thou faithful soul, for all Thy services to him whilst yet on earth.

(Exit nurse. Benedictus reads Strader's last words.)

BENEDICTUS: (reading)

'My friend, when I perceived my strength was spent And saw that opposition to my work Did not alone from outward sources rise, But that the inner flaws of my own thought Were obstacles to check my plan's success, Once more I saw that vision which I told Not long ago to thee. But yet this time The vision ended otherwise. No more Was Ahriman my foe; a spirit stood There, in his stead, whom I could clearly feel To represent my own erroneous thought. And then did I remember thine own words About the strengthening mine own soul's powers. But thereupon the spirit disappeared.'-- There are a few more words,--but I cannot Decipher them--a chaos covers them By weaving in a veil of active thought.

(Ahriman appears; Benedictus sees him.)

(There is no longer any illusion about Ahriman. His form is much more inhuman; his right arm is bone, his right hand a claw, and he has a cloven hoof.)

BENEDICTUS:

Who art thou, who dost take a shadowed life, From out my chaos, in the soul's domain?

AHRIMAN (aside):

He sees me, but as yet he knows me not. And so he will not cause me fearful pain If I should try to labour by his side.

(To Benedictus.)

I can declare to thee what Strader means To tell thee further for thy personal good. And also for thy pupil's mystic path.

BENEDICTUS:

My mystic group will always know itself To be in touch with Strader's soul, although The life of sense no longer forms a bridge. But when a spirit-messenger draws near And manifests to us from his own worlds, Then he must needs first win our confidence. This he can only do if he appears Without disguise unto our spirit-gaze.

AHRIMAN:

Thou art but striving for self-consciousness: So stranger spirit-beings, who might wish To render thee a service, are compelled To show themselves as parts of thine own self, If they may only help thee undisguised.

BENEDICTUS:

Whoe'er thou art 'tis sure thou only canst Serve Good when thou dost strive not for thyself, When thou dost lose thyself in human thought To rise newborn within the cosmic life.

AHRIMAN: (aside)

Now is it time for me to haste away From his environment, for whensoe'er His sight can think me as I really am, He will commence to fashion in his thought Part of the power which slowly killeth me.

(Ahriman disappears.)

BENEDICTUS:

Now only do I see 'tis Ahriman, Who flees himself, but fashions out of thought A knowledge of his being in myself. His aim is to confuse the thought of man Because therein, misled by error old, He seeks the source of all his sufferings. As yet he knows not that the only way For him to find release in future is To find himself reflected in this thought. And so he shows himself to men indeed, But not as he doth feel he is in truth. Himself revealing, and concealing too, He sought to utilize in his own way A favourable hour in Strader's case. Through him he hoped to strike his friends as well; But he will not be able to conceal His nature from my mystic pupils now. He shall be present in their waking thought If he holds sway within their inner sight. So shall they learn to know his many forms, Which would disguise him whensoe'er he must Reveal himself unto the souls of men. But thou, sun-ripened soul of Strader, thou Who by the strengthening of thy spirit-powers Didst drive the Lord of Error into flight Thou shalt, as spirit-star, shine on thy friends. Thy light shall henceforth ever penetrate Into Maria's and Johannes' selves; Through thee will they be able to equip Themselves more strongly for their spirit-work, That so they may with powerful thought reveal Themselves as proof of soul-enlightenment, E'en at such times as dusky Ahriman, By clouding wisdom, seeks to spread the night Of Chaos o'er full-wakened spirit-sight.

Curtain

NOTES

[1] Note.--Very solemn and slow.