(upbeat music)
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(gentle music)
- [Narrator] Salome was written by Oscar Wilde in 1893
and it was unlike any of his other works.
He wrote the play deliberately in a lush and ornate style.
It takes place in the ancient city of Judaea,
in King Herod's palace
and all references in the play relate
to that specific biblical era.
The company of actors are interpreting
the play in modern dress,
but all references in the play relate to that period,
just before the death of Christ.
(somber music)
- How beautiful is the Princess Salome tonight!
- 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.
- She has a strange look.
She's 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.
- She is like a woman who is dead.
She moves very slowly.
(shouting)
- Who are those wild beasts howling?
- The Jews.
They are always like that.
They are disputing about their religion.
- Why do they dispute about their religion?
- I cannot tell.
They are always doing it.
- I think it is ridiculous to dispute about such things.
- How beautiful is the Princess Salome tonight!
- You are always looking at her.
You look at her too much.
It is dangerous to look at people in such fashion.
Something terrible may happen.
She is very beautiful tonight.
- [Man] The Tetrarch has a sombre look.
- [Man] Yes he has a sombre look.
- He is looking at something. - He is looking at someone.
- At whom is he looking?
- I cannot tell.
- Herodias has filled the cup of the Tetrarch.
- [Man] Is that the Queen Herodias?
- [Man] Yes, that is Herodias, the Tetrarch's wife.
- After me shall come another mightier than I.
I am not worthy so much as to unloose
the latchet of His shoes.
When He cometh, the solitary places shall be glad.
They shall blossom like the lily.
The eyes of the blind shall see the day,
and the ears of the deaf shall be opened.
The new-born child shall put his hand--
- Make him be silent.
He is always saying ridiculous things.
- No, no.
He is a holy man.
He is very gentle, too.
Every day, when I give him to eat, he thanks me.
- Who is he? - A prophet.
- What is his name? - Jokanaan.
He came from the desert,
where he fed on locusts and wild honey.
A great multitude used to follow him.
He even had disciples.
- What is he talking of? - We can never tell.
Sometimes he says terrible things,
but it is impossible to understand what he says.
- May one see him? - No.
The Tetrarch has forbidden it.
- The Princess has hidden her face behind her fan!
Her little white hands are fluttering
like doves that fly to their dove-cots.
They are like white butterflies.
They are just like white butterflies.
- What is that to you?
Why do you look at her?
You must not look at her.
Something terrible may happen.
- What a strange prison. - It is an old cistern.
- An old cistern.
It must be very unhealthy.
- Oh, no!
For instance, the Tetrarch's brother, his elder brother,
the first husband of Herodias the Queen,
was imprisoned there for 12 years.
It did not kill him.
At the end of the 12 years he had to be strangled.
- Strangled?
Who dared to do that?
- That man yonder, Naaman, the executioner.
- He was not afraid? - Oh, no!
The Tetrarch sent him the ring.
- What ring? - The death-ring.
So he was not afraid.
- Yet it is a terrible thing to strangle a king.
- Why?
Kings have but one neck, like other folk.
- I think it terrible.
- [Man] The Princess rises!
She is leaving the table!
She looks very troubled.
- [Man] How pale she is!
Never have I seen her so pale.
- [Man] Do not look at her.
I pray you not to look at her.
- She is like a dove that has strayed.
She is like a narcissus trembling in the wind.
She is like a silver flower.
- I will not stay.
I cannot stay.
Why does the Tetrarch look at me all the while
with his mole's eyes under his shaking eyelids?
It is strange that the husband of my mother
looks at me that way.
I know not what it means.
In truth, yes, I know it.
- You have just left the feast, Princess?
- How sweet the air is here!
I can breathe here!
Inside there are Jews from Jerusalem
who are tearing each other to pieces
over their foolish ceremonies,
and barbarians who drink and drink,
and spill their wine on the pavement,
and Greeks from Smyrna with painted eyes and painted cheeks
and frizzed hair curled in twisted coils,
and silent, subtle Egyptians,
with long nails of jade and russet cloaks,
and Romans brutal and coarse, with their unoouth jargon.
Ah!
How l loathe the Romans!
They are rough and common,
and they give themselves the airs of noble lords.
- Will you be seated, Princess?
- Why do you speak to her?
Why do you look at her?
Something terrible may happen.
- How good to see the moon!
She is like a little piece of money,
you would think she was a little silver flower.
The moon is cold and chaste.
I am sure she is a virgin, she has a Virgin's beauty.
Yes, she is a virgin.
She has never defiled herself.
She has never abandoned herself to men,
like the other goddesses.
- The Lord hath come.
The son of man, the son of man hath come.
(laughing)
He hath come!
(laughing)
The son of man hath come.
- Who was that who cried out?
- The prophet, Princess.
- Ah, the prophet!
He of whom the Tetrarch is afraid?
- We know nothing of that, Princess.
It was the prophet Jokanaan who cried out.
- Is it your pleasure
that I bid them bring your litter, Princess?
The night is fair in the garden.
- He says terrible things about my mother, does he not?
- We never understand what he says, Princess.
- Yes, he says terrible things about her.
- Princess, the Tetrarch prays you return to the feast.
- I will not go back.
- Pardon me, Princess,
but if you do not return some misfortune may happen.
- Is he an old man, this prophet?
- Princess, it were better to return.
Suffer me to lead you in.
- This prophet,
is he an old man?
- No, Princess, he is quite a young man.
- You cannot be sure.
There are those who say he is Elias.
- Who is Elias?
- A very ancient prophet of this country, Princess.
- What answer may I give the Tetrarch from the Princess?
- Rejoice not thou, land of Palestine,
because the rod of him who smote thee is broken.
For from the seed of the serpent
shall come forth a basilisk,
and that which is born of it shall devour the birds.
- What a strange voice!
I would speak with him.
- I fear it is impossible, Princess.
The Tetrarch does not wish anyone to speak with him.
He has even forbidden the high priest to speak with him.
- I desire to speak with him.
- It is impossible, Princess. - I will speak with him.
- Would it not be better to return to the banquet?
- Bring forth this prophet!
- We dare not, Princess.
- How black it is, down there!
It must be terrible to be in so black a pit!
It is like a tomb.
Did you not hear me?
I said bring forth this prophet.
I wish to see him.
- Princess, our lives belong to you,
but we cannot do what you have asked of us.
And indeed, it is not of us that you should ask this thing.
(gasping)
- Oh!
What is going to happen?
I am sure that some misfortune will happen.
- You will do this thing for me, Narabeth, will you not?
You will do this thing for me.
I have always been kind to you.
You will do it for me.
I would but look at this strange prophet.
Men have talked so much of him.
Often have I heard the Tetrarch talk of him.
I think the Tetrarch is afraid of him.
Are you, even you, also afraid of him, Narabeth?
- I fear him not, Princess.
There is no man I fear.
But the Tetrarch has formally forbidden
that any man should raise the cover of this well.
- You will do this thing for me, Narabeth.
You know that you will do this thing for me.
And tomorrow when I pass in my litter beneath
the gateway of the idol-buyers,
I will look at you through the muslin veils,
I will look at you, Narabeth, it may be,
I will smile at you.
Look at me, Narabeth.
Look at me.
You know you will do what I ask of you.
You know it well.
I know you will do this thing.
- Let the prophet come forth.
The Princess Salome desires to see him.
- [Man] Oh!
How strange the moon looks.
You would think it was the hand of a dead woman
who is seeking to cover herself with a shroud.
- She has a strange look!
She is like a little princess, whose eyes are eyes of amber.
Through the clouds of muslin she is smiling
like a little princess.
- Where is he whose cup of abominations is now full?
Where is he, who in a robe of silver shall one day die
in the face of all the people?
Bid him come forth, that he may hear the voice of him
who hath cried in the waste places
and in the houses of kings.
- Of whom is he speaking?
- You never can tell, Princess.
Where is she
who gave herself unto the Captains of Assyria,
who have baldricks on their loins
and tiaras of divers colours on their heads?
It is of my mother that he speaks.
- Oh, no, Princess.
- Yes, it is of my mother that he speaks.
- Where is she who hath given herself
to the young men of Egypt,
who are clothed in fine linen and purple,
whose shields are of gold,
whose helmets are of silver, whose bodies are mighty?
Bid her rise up from the bed of her abominations,
from the bed of her incestuousness,
that she may hear the words of him who prepareth
the way of the Lord,
that she may repent her of her iniquities.
Though she will never repent,
but will stick fast in her abominations;
bid her come, for the fan of the Lord is in His hand.
- But he is terrible, he is terrible.
- Do not stay here, Princess, I beseech you.
- It is his eyes above all that are terrible.
They are like black holes burned
by torches in a Tyrian tapestry.
They are like black caverns where dragons dwell.
Like black caverns in Egypt
in which dragons make their lairs.
They are like black lakes troubled by fantastic, moons.
Do you think he will speak again?
- Do not stay here, Princess, I pray you, do not stay here.
- How wasted he is!
He is like a thin ivory statue.
He is like an image of silver.
I am sure he is as chaste as the moon is.
He is like a moonbeam, like a shaft of silver.
His flesh must be cool like ivory.
I would look closer at him.
- No, no, Princess.
- I must look at him closer. - Princess!
Princess!
- Who is this woman who is looking at me?
I will not have her look at me.
I know not who she is.
I do not wish to know who she is.
Bid her begone.
It is not to her that I would speak.
- I am Salome, daughter of Herodias, Princess of Judaea.
- Back!
Daughter of Babylon!
Come not near the chosen of the Lord.
Thy mother hath filled the earth
with the wine of her iniquities,
and the cry of her sins hath come up to the ears of God.
- Speak again, Jokanaan.
Thy voice is wine to me.
- Princess! Princess!
Princess!
- Speak again, Jokanaan, tell me what I must do.
- Daughter of Sodom, come not near me.
But cover thy face with a veil,
and get thee to the desert and seek out the Son of Man.
- Who is he, the Son of Man?
Ishe as beautiful as thou are, Jokanaan?
- Get thee behind me!
I hear in the palace the beating of the wings
of the angel of death.
- Princess, I beseech thee to go within.
- Angel of the Lord God, what dost thou hear with thy sword?
The day of him who shall die in a robe of silver
has not yet come.
- Jokanaan!
Jokanaan, I am amorous of thy body!
Thy body is white like the lilies of a field
that the mower hath never mowed.
Thy body is white like the snows in the mountains of Judea,
that come down into the valleys.
The roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia
are not so white as thy body.
There is nothing in the world so white as thy body.
Let me touch thy body.
- Back.
Daughter of Babylon.
By woman came evil into the world.
Speak not to me.
I will not listen to thee.
I listen but to the voice, the voice of the Lord God.
- Thy body is hideous.
It is like the body of a leper.
It is like a plastered wall where vipers have crawled.
It is like a plastered wall where the scorpions
have made their nest.
It is like a whitened sepulchre full of loathsome things.
It is horrible, thy body is horrible.
It is thy mouth that I desire, Jokanaan.
Thy mouth is like a band of scarlet on a tower of ivory.
It is like a pomegranate cut with a knife of ivory.
The pomegranate flowers that blossom in the garden of Tyre,
and are redder than roses, are not so red.
The red blasts of trumpets
that herald the approach of kings,
and make afraid the enemy, are not so red.
Thy mouth is redder than the feet of those
who tread the wine in the wine press.
Thy mouth is redder than the feet of doves
who haunt the temples and are fed by the priests.
It is redder than the feet of him who oometh from a forest
where he hath slain a lion and seen gilded tigers.
Thy mouth is like a branch of coral that fishers have found
in the twilight of the sea,
the coral that they keep for the kings!
It is the vermilion that the Moabites
find in the mines of Moab,
the vermilion that the kings take from them.
It is the bow of the King of the Persians
that is painted with vermilion
and is tipped with, coral.
There is nothing in the world
so red, as thy mouth.
Let me kiss thy mouth.
- Never!
Daughter of Babylon.
Daughter of Sodom.
Never!
- I will kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan.
I will kiss thy mouth.
- Princess, Princess, thou who art like a garden of myrrh,
thou who are the dove of all doves,
look not at this man, look not at him!
Do not speak such words to him.
I cannot suffer them!
Princess, Princess, do not speak these things.
- I will kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan.
- No!
- The young Syrian has slain himself!
The young captain has slain himself!
He has slain himself who was my friend!
- Princess, the young captain has just killed himself.
- Let me kiss thy mouth.
- Daughter of adultery, there is but one who can save thee,
it is He of whom I spake.
Go seek Him.
He is on a boat on the sea of Galilee,
and He talketh with His disciples.
Kneel down on the shore of the sea,
and call unto Him by His name.
When He cometh to thee,
and to all who call on Him, He cometh,
bow thyself at His feet and ask of Him
the remission of thy sins.
- Let me kiss thy mouth!
I will kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan.
I will kiss thy mouth.
- Thou art accursed, Salome, thou art accursed.
- We must bear away the body to another place.
The Tetrarch does not care to see dead bodies,
save the bodies of those whom he himself has slain.
- [Man] You are right, we must hide the body.
The Tetrarch must not see it.
- The Tetrarch will not come to this place.
He never comes on the terrace.
He is too much afraid of the prophet.
- Salome.
Salome.
Where is Salome?
Where is the Princess?
Why did she not return to the banquet as I commanded her?
Ah!
There she is!
- You must not look at her!
You are always looking at her!
The moon has a strange look tonight.
Does she not?
She is like a mad woman, a mad woman who is seeking
everywhere for lovers.
She is naked, too.
She is, quite naked.
The clouds are seeking to clothe her nakedness,
but she will not let them.
She shows herself naked in the sky.
I am sure she is looking for lovers.
Does she not reel like a drunken woman?
She is like a mad woman, is she not?
- No, the moon is like the moon, that is all.
Let us go within.
You have nothing to do here.
- I will stay here!
Manasseh, lay carpets there.
Light torches, bring forth the ivory tables,
and the tables of jasper.
The air here is delicious.
I will drink more wine with my guests.
We must show all honours to the ambassadors of Caesar.
- It is not because of them that you remain.
- Oh yes, the air is delicious.
Come, Herodias, our guests await us.
(yells) I have slipped.
I have slipped in blood!
That is an ill omen.
That is a very evil omen.
Wherefore is there blood here?
And this body, what does this body here?
Think you that I am like the King of Egypt,
who gives no feast to his guests
but that he shows them a corpse?
Whose is it?
I will not look on it.
- It is our captain, sire.
He is the young Syrian whom you made captain
only three days ago.
- I gave no order that he should be slain.
- He killed himself, sire. - He killed himself?
For what reason?
I made him my captain.
- We do not know, sire.
But he killed himself.
- That seems strange to me.
I thought it was only the Roman philosophers
who killed themselves.
Isthat not true, Tigellinus,
that the philosophers kill themselves?
- They are the Stoics.
- It is strange that the young Syrian has killed himself.
I am sorry he has killed himself.
I am very sorry, for he was fair to look upon.
He was, even very fair.
He had very languorous eyes.
I remember I saw that he looked languorously at Salome.
Truly, I thought he looked too much at her.
- There are others who look at her too much.
- His father was a king.
I drove him from his kingdom.
And you made a slave of his mother,
who was a queen, Herodias.
So he was here as my guest, as it were,
and for that reason, I made him my captain.
I am sorry he is dead.
Ho!
Why have you left the body here?
Away with it.
I will not look on it.
Ah!
It is cold here.
There is a wind blowing.
Is there not wind blowing?
- No, there is no wind.
- I say there is a wind that blows.
And I hear in the air something like the beating of wings,
like the beating of vast wings.
Do you not hear it?
- I hear nothing.
I hear it no longer.
But I heard it.
It was the blowing of the wind, no doubt.
It has passed away.
I hear it again.
Do you not hear it?
Just like the beating of wings.
I tell you there is nothing.
- You are ill.
Let us go within.
- I am not ill.
It is your daughter who is sick.
She has the mien of a sick person.
Never have I seen her so pale.
- I have told you not to look at her.
- Pour me forth wine.
Salome, drink a little wine with me.
I have here a wine that is exquisite.
Caesar himself sent it me.
Dip into it thy little red lips, that I may drain the cup.
- I am not thirsty, Tetrarch.
- You see how she answers me, this daughter of yours?
- She does right.
Why are you always gazing at her?
- Bring me ripe fruits.
Salome, come, eat fruit with me.
I love to see in a fruit the mark of thy little teeth.
Bite but a little of this fruit
and then I will eat what is left.
- I am not hungry, Tetrarch.
You see how you have brought up this daughter of yours?
- My daughter and I come of a royal race.
As for thee, thy father was a camel driver!
He was also a robber! - Thou liest!
- Thou knowest well it is true.
- Salome, come sit next to me.
I will give thee the throne of thy mother. (laughs)
- I am not tired, Tetrarch.
- You see what she thinks of you.
- Bring me,
what?
What is it I desire?
I forgot.
Ah!
Yes, I remember.
- Lo!
The time is come!
That which I foretold has come to pass
saith the Lord God.
The day of which I spoke.
The Lord has come.
The Son of Man has some.
- Command him to be silent.
I will not listen to his voice.
This man is forever vomiting insults against me.
- He has said nothing against you.
Besides, he is a very great prophet.
- I do not believe in prophets.
Can a man tell what will come to pass?
No man knows it.
Moreover, he is for ever insulting me.
But I think you are afraid of him.
I know well you are afraid of him.
- I am not afraid of him.
I am afraid of no man.
I tell you, you are afraid of him.
If you are not afraid of him,
why do you not deliver him to the Jews,
who for these six months past
who have been clamouring for him?
- Truly, my lord, it were better to deliver
him into our hands.
- Yes, my lord.
- Enough on this subject.
I've already given you my answer.
I will not deliver him into your hands.
He is a holy man.
He is a man who has seen God.
- That cannot be.
There is no man who hath seen God since the prophet Elias.
- [Man] God is at no time hidden.
He showeth himself at all times and in everything.
God is in what is evil, even as he is in what is good.
- [Man] That is a very dangerous doctrine.
- No one can tell how God worketh.
His ways are very mysterious.
It may be that things which we call evil are good,
and the things which we call good are evil.
We must needs submit to everything, for God is very strong.
- Very strong.
- He breaketh in pieces the strong together with the weak,
for he regardeth not any man.
Truly God is terrible, he breaketh the strong and the weak
as a man brays corn in a mortar.
But this man hath never seen God.
- No man hath seen God since the prophet Elias.
- So the day is come, the day of the Lord.
(laughing)
And I hear, I hear upon the mountains
the feet of Him who shall be
the savior of the world.
- What does that mean?
Savior of the world.
What does that mean?
- It is a title that Caesar takes.
- But Caesar is not coming into Judaea.
Only yesterday I received letters from Rome.
They contained nothing concerning this matter.
And you, Tigellinus, who were at Rome during the winter,
you heard nothing concerning this matter, did you?
- Sire, I heard nothing concerning the matter.
I was explaining the title.
It is one of Caesar's titles.
- But Caesar cannot come.
He is too gouty.
(laughing)
They say that his feet are like the feet of an elephant.
Also, there are reasons of State.
He who leaves Rome loses Rome.
He will not come.
Albeit, Caesar is lord, he will come if he wishes.
Nevertheless, I do not think that he will come.
- It was not concerning Caesar
that the prophet spake these words, sire.
- Not of Caesar?
- No, sire.
- Concerning whom then did he speak?
- Concerning Messias who has come.
This man worketh true miracles.
Thus, at a marriage which took place
in a little town of Galilee,
a town of some importance, he changed water into wine.
And he was seen on a mountain talking with angels.
- Angels do not exist! - Angels exist,
but I do not believe this man has talked with them.
- [Man] He was seen by a great multitude
of people talking with angels.
- [Men] Not with angels.
- How these men weary me!
They are ridiculous!
- [Man] There is also the miracle of the daughter of Jairus.
- [Man] Yes, that is sure.
No man can gainsay it.
- These men are mad.
They have looked too long on the moon.
Command them to be silent.
- What is the miracle of the daughter of Jairus?
- The daughter of Jairus was dead.
He raised her from the dead.
- He raises the dead?
- Yes, sire, he raiseth the dead.
- I do not wish him to do that.
I forbid him to do that.
I allow no man to raise the dead.
This man must be found and told I forbid him
to raise the dead.
Where is this man at present?
- It is said that he is now in Samaria.
- It is easy to see that this is not Messias,
if he is in Samaria.
It is not to the Samaritans.
- No matter!
Let them find him, and tell him from me,
I will not allow him to raise the dead!
To change water into wine,
to heal the lepers and the blind.
He may do these things if he will.
I say nothing against these things.
In truth I hold it a good deed to heal a leper.
But I allow no man to raise the dead.
It would be terrible if the dead came back.
- Wanton!
You harlot!
Daughter of Babylon with her golden eyes
under her gilded eyelids!
Let there come against her a multitude of men.
Let the people take stones--
- Command him to be silent.
- [Jokanaan] Let the war captains
pierce her with their swords.
- Nay, but it is infamous.
- It is thus that I will wipe out all wickedness
from the earth,
and that all women shall learn
not to imitate her abominations.
- You hear what he says against me?
You allow him to revile your wife?
- He did not speak your name.
- What does that matter?
You know well that it is I whom he seeks to revile.
And I am your wife, am I not?
- Of a truth, dear and noble Herodias, you are my wife,
and before that you were the wife of my brother.
- It was you who tore me from his arms.
- Of a truth, I was stronger.
But let us not speak of that matter.
I do not desire to speak of it.
It is the cause of the terrible words
that the prophet has spoken.
Peradventure on account of it a misfortune will come.
Let us not speak of that matter.
Come, Herodias, we are not mindful of our guests.
Fill thou my cup, my well-beloved.
Fill with wine the great goblets of silver,
and the great goblets of glass.
I will drink to Caesar.
There are Romans here, we must drink to Caesar.
- [Together] Caesar!
Caesar!
- Caesar!
Do you see your daughter, how pale she is?
- What is it to you whether she be pale or not?
- Never have I seen her so pale.
- You must not look at her.
- In that day the sun shall become
black like the sackcloth of hair,
and the moon shall become like blood,
and the stars of the heavens
shall fall upon the earth like ripe figs
that fall from the fig tree.
And the kings of the earth shall be afraid.
- I should like to see that day of which he speaks,
when the moon shall become like blood,
and the stars shall fall upon the earth like ripe figs.
This prophet talks like a drunken man.
But I cannot suffer the sound of his voice.
I hate his voice.
Command him to be silent.
- I will not.
I cannot understand what it is that he saith,
but it may be an omen.
- Oh!
I do not believe in omens.
He speaks like a drunken man.
- It may be that he is drunk with the wine of God.
- What wine is that, the wine of God?
From what vineyards is it gathered?
In what wine-press may one find it?
- Tigellinus, when you were at Rome of late,
did the Emperor speak with you on the subject?
- On what subject, sire?
- On what subject?
Ah!
I asked you a question, did I not?
I have forgotten what I would have asked you.
- You are looking again at my daughter.
You must not look at her.
I have already said so.
- You say nothing else. - I say it again.
- And the restoration of the Temple
about which they have talked so much,
will anything be done?
They say that the veil of the Sanctuary
has disappeared, do they not?
- It was thyself didst steal it.
Thou speakest at random.
I will not stay here.
Let us go within.
- Dance for me, Salome.
- [Herodias] I will not have her dance.
- I have no desire to dance, Tetrarch.
- Salome, daughter of Herodias, dance for me.
- Let her alone.
- Salome, I command thee to dance.
- I will not dance, Tetrarch.
(laughing)
- You see how she obeys you.
- What is it to me whether she dance or not?
It is naught to me.
Tonight I am happy, I am passing happy.
Never have I been so happy.
- The Tetrarch has a somber look.
Has he not a somber look?
- Yes, he has a somber look.
- He shall be seated on his throne.
He shall be clothed in scarlet and purple.
In his hand he shall bear a golden cup
full of his blasphemies.
And the angel of the Lord shall smite him.
He shall be eaten of worms.
- You hear what he says about you.
He says you will be eaten of worms.
- It is not of me that he speaks.
It is of the King of Cappadocia that he speaks;
the King of Cappadocia, who is my enemy.
It is he who shall be eaten of worms.
It is not I.
Never has he spoken word against me, this prophet,
save that I sinned in taking to wife the wife of my brother.
It may be that he is right.
For, of a truth, you are sterile.
- I am sterile, I?
You say that, you that are ever looking at my daughter,
you that would have her dance for your pleasure?
It is absurd to say that.
I have born a child.
You have gotten no child, no,
not even from one of your slaves.
It is you who are sterile, not I.
- Peace, woman!
I say you are sterile.
You have born me no child,
and the prophet says that our marriage
is not a true marriage.
He says it is an incestuous marriage,
a marriage that will bring evils.
I fear he is right, I am sure that he is right.
But this is not the moment to speak of such things.
I would be happy at this moment.
Indeed, I am happy.
Never have I been so happy.
There is nothing I lack.
- I am glad you are of so fair a humour tonight.
It is not your custom.
But it is late.
Let us go within.
Do not forget that we hunt at sunrise.
All honours must be paid to Caesar's ambassadors,
must they not?
- Salome, Salome, dance for me.
I pray you, dance for me.
I am sad tonight.
I am passing sad tonight.
When I came hither I slipped in blood,
which is an evil omen,
also I heard, I am sure I heard in the air
a beating of wings,
the beating of giant wings.
I cannot tell what they mean.
Therefore dance for me.
I pray you, Salome, I beseech you, dance for me.
Salome, if you dance for me,
you may ask of me what you will,
and I will give it to you, even unto the half of my kingdom.
- Will you indeed give me whatsoever I shall ask, Tetrarch?
- Do not dance, my daughter.
- Everything, even the half of my kingdom.
- You swear it, Tetrarch?
- I swear it, Salome.
- By what will you swear, Tetrarch?
- By my life, by my crown, by my gods.
Whatsoever you desire
I will give it to you, even unto the half of my kingdom,
if you will but dance for me.
O, Salome,
Salome, dance for me!
- You have sworn, Tetrarch.
- I have sworn, Salome.
- My daughter, do not dance.
- Thou wilt be passing fair as queen.
Salome, if it please thee to ask for the half of my kingdom.
Will she not be fair as queen?
Ah!
It is cold here!
There is an icy wind.
And I hear in the air,
wherefore do I hear in the air this beating of wings?
One might fancy a bird,
a huge black bird that hovers over the terrace.
Why can I not see it, this bird?
The beat of its wings is terrible.
The breath of the wind of its wings is terrible.
It is a chill wind.
Nay, but it is not cold, it is hot.
I am choking.
Pour water on my hands.
Give me snow to eat.
Loosen my mantle.
Quick! Quick!
Loosen my mantle.
Nay, leave it!
It is my garland that hurts me, my garland of roses.
The flowers are like fire.
They burn my forehead.
I can breathe now.
How red those rose petals are.
They are like stains of blood on the cloth.
That does not matter.
You must not find symbols in everything you see.
It makes life impossible.
It were better to say that stains of blood
are as lovely as rose petals.
It were better far to say that.
But we will not speak of this.
Now I am happy.
I am, passing happy!
Have I not a right to be happy?
Your daughter is going to dance for me.
Will you not dance for me, Salome?
You have promised to dance for me.
- [Herodias] I will not have her dance.
- I will dance for you, Tetrarch.
- You hear what your daughter says?
She is going to dance for me.
You do well to dance for me, Salome.
And once you have danced for me,
forget not to ask of me whatsoever you will.
Whatsoever you will I will give it you,
even unto the half of my kingdom.
I have sworn it, have I not?
- You have sworn it, Tetrarch.
- And I have never broken my word.
I am not of those who break their oaths.
I know not how to lie.
I am a slave to my word,
and my word is the word of a king.
The King of Cappadocia always lies,
but he is no true king.
He is a coward.
Also, he owes me money he will not repay.
He has insulted my ambassadors.
He has spoken words that were wounding.
But Caesar will crucify him when he comes to Rome.
I am sure Caesar will crucify him.
Yet will he die, if not, being eaten of worms.
The prophet prophesied it.
Well, Salome, wherefore dost thou tarry?
- I am waiting until my slaves bring perfumes to me
and the seven veils, and take off my sandals.
- Ah, you are going to dance with naked feet.
'Tis well!
Oh, 'tis well.
Your little feet.
Your little feet will be like white doves.
They will be like little white flowers
that dance upon the trees.
No, no, she's going to dance on blood.
There is blood spilt on the ground.
She must not dance on blood.
It were an evil omen.
- What is it to you whether she dance on blood or not?
Thou has waded deep enough therein.
- What is it to me?
Ah!
Look at the moon!
She has become red.
She has become red as blood.
The prophet prophesied truly.
He prophesied that the moon would become red as blood.
Do ye not see it?
- Oh, yes, I see it well,
and the stars are falling like ripe figs, are they not?
And the sun has become black like a sackcloth of hair,
and the kings of the earth are afraid.
That at least one can see.
The prophet, for once in his life, was right,
the kings of the earth are afraid.
Let us go within.
You are sick.
They will say at Rome that you are mad.
Let us go within, I tell you.
- Who is this who cometh from Edom,
who is this who oometh from Bozra,
whose raiment is dyed with purple,
who shineth in the beauty of his garments,
who walketh mighty?
It is the Lord!
- Let us go within!
The voice of that man maddens me!
I will not have my daughter dance
while he is continually crying out.
I will not have her dance
while you look at her in such a fashion.
In a word, I will not have her dance.
- Do not rise, my wife, my queen,
it will avail thee nothing.
I will not go within till she hath danced.
Dance, Salome, dance for me.
My daughter, do not dance.
- I am ready, Tetrarch.
(slow flute music)
(sensual drum music)
- Wonderful!
Wonderful!
You see, she has danced for me, your daughter.
Come near, Salome,
come near, that I may give you your reward.
I pay the dancers well.
I shall pay thee royally.
I shall give thee whatsoever thy soul desireth.
What wouldst thou have?
Speak.
- I would that they presently bring me in a silver charger.
- In a silver charger?
Surely yes, in a silver charger.
She is charming, is she not?
But what would you have them bring you in a silver charger?
Tell me the thing.
Whatsoever it may be, I will give it you.
My treasures belong to thee.
What is it, Salome?
- The head of Jokanaan.
- That is well said, my daughter.
- No, no, Salome.
You do not ask me that.
Do not listen to your mother's voice.
She is ever giving you evil counsel.
Do not heed her.
- I do not heed my mother.
It is for my own pleasure that I ask
for the head of Jokanaan on a silver charger.
You have sworn, Tetrarch.
Forget not that you have sworn an oath.
- I know.
I have sworn by my gods.
I know it well.
But I pray you, Salome, ask of me something else.
Ask of me the half of my kingdom, and I will give it you.
But ask not of me what you have asked.
- I ask of you the head of Jokanaan.
- No, no, I do not wish it.
- You have sworn, Herod.
- Yes, you have sworn.
Everybody heard you.
You swore it-- - Be silent!
It is not to you I speak.
- Oh, my daughter does well to ask the head of Jokanaan.
He has covered me with insults.
He has said monstrous things against me.
One can see she loves her mother well.
Do not yield, my daughter.
He has sworn, he has sworn.
- Be silent, speak not to me!
Come, Salome, be reasonable.
I have never been hard to you.
I have ever loved you.
It may be that I have loved you too much.
Therefore ask not this thing of me.
This is a terrible thing.
This is an awful thing to ask of me.
Surely, I think that you are jesting.
The head of a man that is cut from his body,
is ill to look upon, is it not?
It is not meet that the eyes of a virgin
should look upon such a thing.
What pleasure can you have in it?
None.
No, no.
Harken to me.
I have an emerald,
a great round emerald, which Caesar's minion sent me.
When you look through this emerald,
you can see things which happen at great distance.
Caesar himself carries such an emerald
when he goes to the circus.
Only my emerald is larger.
I know well it is larger.
It is the largest emerald in the whole world.
You would like that, would you not?
Ask it of me, I will give it you.
- I demand the head of Jokanaan.
- You are not listening.
Salome, you are not listening.
Suffer me to speak.
- The head of Jokanaan.
- No, no, you would not have that.
You say that to trouble me,
because I have looked at you all this evening.
It is true, I have looked at you.
Your beauty troubled me.
Your beauty has grievously troubled me,
and I have looked at you too much.
But I will look at you no more.
Neither at things, nor at people should one look.
Only in mirrors should one look,
for mirrors do but show us masks.
Ah! Bring wine!
I thirst.
Salome, come let us be friends.
What would I say?
What was it?
I've forgotten.
Ah, yes!
Nay but come nearer, Salome, I fear you will not hear me.
You know my white peacocks, my beautiful white peacocks,
that walk in the garden between the myrtles
and the tall cypress trees.
Their beaks are gilded with gold,
and the grains that they eat
are gilded with gold also and their feet
are stained with purple.
When they cry out the rain comes,
and the moon shows herself in the heavens
when they spread their tails.
Two by two they walk in the garden
between the black myrtles and the cypress trees,
and each has a slave to tend it.
I will give them all to you.
I have but a hundred.
Only you must loose me from my oath.
You must not ask of me that which you have asked of me.
- I demand the head of Jokanaan.
- Well said, my daughter!
As for you, you are ridiculous with your peacocks.
- Be silent!
You cry out always, you cry out like a beast of prey.
You must not!
Your voice
wearies me.
Be silent, I say.
Salome, think of what you are doing.
This man comes perchance from God.
He is a holy man.
The finger of God has touched him.
God has put into his mouth terrible words.
In the palace, as in the desert, God is always with him.
At least it is possible.
One does not know.
It is possible that God is for him and with him.
Furthermore, if he died, a misfortune might happen to me.
In any case, he said that the day he dies,
a misfortune will happen to someone.
That could only be me.
Remember, I slipped in blood when I entered.
Also, I heard in the air the beating of wings,
the beating of giant wings.
These are very evil omens, and there were others.
I am sure there were others, though I did not see them.
Salome, you do not wish a misfortune to happen to me?
You do not wish that.
Then listen to me.
- Give me the head of Jokanaan!
Ah, you are not listening.
Be calm.
I am calm.
I am quite calm.
Listen.
I have jewels hidden in this place,
jewels that are marvelous.
I have a collar of pearls, set in four rows
that are like unto moons chained with rays of silver.
They are like 50 moons caught in a golden net.
On the ivory of her breast, a queen has worn it.
Thou shalt be as fair as a queen
when thou wearest it, Salome.
I have topazes, yellow as are the eyes of tigers.
I have opals that burn always, with an icelike flame,
opals that make sad men's minds,
and are fearful of the shadows.
I have sapphires big like eggs
and blue as blue flowers.
The sea wanders within them
and the moon comes never to trouble the blue of their waves.
I have chrysolites and beryls and chrysoprases and rubies.
I have sardonyx and hyacinth stone, stone of chalcedony,
and I will give them all to you,
and other things will I add to them.
The King of the Indies has but even now
sent me four fans fashioned from the feathers of parrots,
and the King of Numidia, a garment of ostrich feathers.
I have a crystal into which it is not lawful
for a woman to look,
nor may young men behold it
till they have been beaten with rods.
In a coffer of nacre, I have three wondrous turquoises.
He who wears them on his forehead
can imagine things which are not,
and he who carries them in his hand can make women sterile.
These are great treasures, Salome,
these are treasures above all price.
These are treasures without price.
But this is not all.
In an ebony coffer,
I have two cups of amber, that are like apples of gold.
If an enemy pour poison into these cups,
they become like an apple of silver.
In a coffer encrusted with amber,
I have sandals encrusted with glass.
I have mantles brought here from the land of the Seres,
bracelets decked about with carbuncles and with jade
that comes from the city of Euphrates.
What desirest thou more than this, Salome?
Tell me the thing that thou desirest,
and I will give it thee.
All that thou askest I will give thee, save one thing.
I will give thee all that is mine,
save one life.
I will give thee the mantle of the high priest.
I will give thee the veil of the sanctuary.
- Give me the head of Jokanaan.
(thunder claps)
- Let her be given what she asks.
For of a truth she is her mother's child.
(laughing)
Who has taken my ring?
There was a ring on my right hand.
Who has drunk my wine?
There was wine in my cup.
It was full of wine.
Someone has drunk it.
Surely some evil will befall someone.
Wherefore did I give my oath?
Kings ought never to pledge their word.
For if they keep it not, it is terrible.
And if they keep it, it is terrible also.
- My daughter has done well.
I am sure that a misfortune will happen.
- Why does he not cry out, this man?
If any man sought to kill me, I would cry out,
I would struggle, I would not suffer.
Strike, Naaman, strike, I tell you!
He has let his sword fall.
He is afraid, this slave!
He did not kill him!
He is a coward this slave.
Let soldiers be sent.
Come hither, thou welt the friend of him
who is dead, is it not so?
Well, I tell thee, there are not dead men enough.
Get ye to the soldiers
and bid them go down and bring me the thing that I ask,
the thing the Tetrarch has promised me,
the thing that is mine.
Hither, ye soldiers.
Get ye into this cistern and bring me the head of this man.
Tetrarch, Tetrarch!
Command your soldiers that they bring me
the head of Jokanaan.
Thou wouldst not suffer me to kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan.
Well, I will kiss it now.
I will bite it with my teeth as one bites a ripe fruit.
Yes, I will kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan.
I said it.
Did I not say it?
I said it.
I will kiss it now.
But wherefore dost thou not look at me, Jokanaan?
Thine eyes that were so terrible,
so full of rage and scorn, are shut now.
Wherefore are they shut?
Open thine eyelids!
Lift up thine eyes, Jokanaan.
Art thou afraid of me, that thou wilt not look at me?
And thy tongue, that was like a red snake
darting poison, it moves no more,
it says nothing now, Jokanaan,
that scarlet viper that spat its venom against me.
It is strange, is it not?
How is it that the red viper stirs no longer?
Thou wouldst have none of me, Jokanaan.
Thou didst reject me.
Thou didst speak evil words against me.
Thou didst treat me as a harlot,
as a wanton.
Me,
Salome,
daughter of Herodias, Princess of Judaea!
Well, Jokanaan, I still live, but thou, thou art dead.
And thy head belongs to me.
I can do with it what I will.
I can throw it to the dogs and to the birds of the air.
That which the dogs leave behind,
the birds of the air shall devour.
Oh, Jokanaan!
Jokanaan, thou welt the only man that I have loved.
All other men were hateful to me.
But thou, thou wert beautiful!
Thy body was a column of ivory set on a silver socket.
It was a garden filled with doves and silver lilies.
It was a tower of silver decked with shields of ivory.
There was nothing in the world so white as thy body.
There was nothing in the world so black as thy hair.
In the whole world, there was nothing so red as thy mouth.
Thy voice was a censer that scattered strange perfumes,
and when I looked on thee, I heard a strange music.
Wherefore didst thou not look at me, Jokanaan?
Behind thine hands and thy curses thou didst hide thy face.
Thou didst put upon thine eyes the coverings
of him who would see his God.
Well, thou hast seen thy God, Jokanaan,
but me, me, thou didst never see.
If thou hadst seen me thou wouldst have loved me.
I saw thee, Jokanaan, and I loved thee.
Oh, how I loved thee!
I love thee yet, Jokanaan.
I love thee only.
I am a thirst for thy beauty, I am hungry for thy body,
neither wine nor fruits can appease my desire.
What shall I do now, Jokanaan?
Neither the great waters
nor the floods can quench my passion.
I was a princess, thou didst scorn me.
I was a virgin, thou didst take my virginity from me.
I was chaste, and thou didst fill my veins with fire.
Wherefore didst thou not look at me, Jokanaan?
If thou hadst looked at me thou hadst loved me.
Well I know that thou wouldst have loved me,
and the mystery of love is greater
than the mystery of death.
Love only should one consider.
- She is monstrous, thy daughter,
she is altogether monstrous.
In truth, what she has done was a great crime.
I am sure that it was a crime
against an unknown God.
- I approve of what my daughter has done.
And I will stay here now.
- Ah!
There speaks the incestuous wife!
Come.
I will not stay here.
Come, I tell thee.
Surely some evil will befall.
Manasseh, lssachar, Ozias, put out the torches.
I will not look at things,
I will not suffer things to look at me.
Put out the torches!
Hide the moon.
Hide the stars.
Come, Herodias,
let us hide ourselves in our palace.
I begin to be afraid.
- I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan.
I have kissed thy mouth.
There was a bitter taste on thy lips.
Was it the taste of blood?
But perchance it is the taste of love.
For they say that love hath a bitter taste.
But what of that?
What of that?
I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan.
- Kill that woman! (thunder claps)
(somber music)
(gentle music)