Absalom the King
Act I
Scene i
(A young woman, Tamar, is pushed though a door out into a road and the door is bolted so that she cannot reenter. She reaches down and takes a handful of dirt and rubs it into her hair and smears it on her face. She then tears her fine garments and robes and sits upon the ground weeping.)
Scene ii
(Sevants in a hall of the palace speak in hushed tones.)
First Servant
The king weeps in his chambers now.
Second Servant
Wherefore doth great King David weep?
First Servant
Prince Absalom hath killed his brothers all.
Second Servant
What? Murdered them? All? In his house?
First Servant
The prince invited them to his estate
To celebrate the shearing of the sheep
And the gathering of the unspindled wool.
When they were safe collected there,
And eating and imbibing the sweet wine,
Then did he, and his servants, slay them all.
So it was told by one who has escaped.
Second Servant
A fearful hospitality!
He must be altogether mad!
Why would he do such evil thing?
First Servant
It doth make him the only heir.
Second Servant
The people won’t accept such ways,
They fear that God will punish Israel!
First Servant
But David loves fair Absalom
And the King is beloved by God.
Second Servant
Did David love his other sons?
I think he did not love them less.
First Servant
When Caine slew Abel he was sent By God from Eden out to other lands.
Second Servant
Should David send away his son?
The young Prince Absalom?.
Would it not surely break his heart!
Scene iii
(The chambers of King David)
King David
Why hast God done this thing to me?
Why hath He slain my family?
Why have they borne the punishment
That should have been mine alone?
Those children, dear, that once
Rejoiced with me, ate at my table here,
Whose sweet fond voices I did love,
And wiped away their tears.
All that I did was done for them.
Here I will be lost in old age,
Who shall keep my name in remembrance now?
Young man
My King, I am thy humble servant Sire.
I may know something of this thing.
If it please thee, may I speak more?
It may ease thy mind and heart some
Which art now battered and so broke by it.
King David
If words can do that, then thy words
Are richer than all my wealth in this world
Young man
Do not be certain Absalom
Slew all thy sons who were with him.
King David
Pray God that thou art right!
Young man
His quarrel was with Amon since
He forced himself upon his sister once.
And ever after he did full hate him,
Although he did not speak it out to him.
King David
Why killed he all the others then?
Young man
Be not so well persuaded that he has!
We only heard from Amon’s servant, Sire,
Who fled the throng before the rest
And feared for his life when his master fell.
If even the worst thou hast dreamt
Did happen there this night, yet some escaped,
And they will come here to tell thee,
And ask for thy protection now.
Guard
My Lord, I do see many men,
All riding mules at a swift pace,
Dart down the hills outside the city walls.
(There is a stirring in the room and suddenly the room fills with people.)
Prince
Dear Father, Absalom killed Amon and
We fled lest he should turn on us.
My brothers and myself ask thee:
Be merciful and please preserve thy sons
King David
Thou did well to leave my dear sons.
Thank God thou art safe and unharmed.
Scene iv
(At the house of Absalom.)
Servant
My lord, thy servants all have left,
They feared thy Father’s wrath.
Whereto must we go now?
Thy Father wilt not idly brood,
But when the mourning period doth pass
Most surely will come after thee.
Absalom
We’ve none to meet him in the field
And he hath allies all around.
It may be that in Ge’shur, where
Rules my grandfather, we shall get
A sympathetic hearing and asylum yet.
To see my brother dead hath spent
My passion for it and now all
That’s left is but despair for self.
Servant
Great is the pity here my lord
Once thou might have been king.