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ring it engraved on a sapphire blue heaven: 48a thousand times thousand points,a thousand golden flows (lines,I say, of brilliant light) shonefrom a luminous circumference, scoringthe cerulean page of the heavens, andPROLOGUETOTHEMYSTERYPLAYforming troops they charged the erstwhile ebonytyrant of their empire, who in disorder hastily fledstumbling on her own horrors,treading on her own shadow,DIVINENARCISSUSAn Allegory .:it. attempting to reach the occident with hernow routed, disordered army of shadows,pursued by the light following close behind.At last her fugitive step came within viewof the occident, and (recovered from herdefeat, regaining her valor in ruins),in the half of the world undefended bythe Sun, the second time arebel, determines to be crowned once again,while the fair golden mane of the Sun lit ourhemisphere, with just light and distributiveorder, gave all things visible their colors,restoring to the external senses theirfunction, the world illuminated with morecertain light, and I, awake.48 An allusion to the alternation of darkness and light on opposite sides of theworld. zzo .M
ldiers';)t'SCENE I(Enter OCCIDENT, an elegantIndian wearinga crown,and AMERICA at his side, an Indian nohlewomaninthe richlyemhroideredclothandheaddresswom whensinging the tocotin. 1 They sit on two chairs;aroundthem danceIndian men andwomen, holdingthefeathersandshellsordinarilyusedin this dance;as theydance,MUSIC singsJMusicMexicans most noble,whose ancient lineagehas its genesis inthe bright rays of the sun:this is the blessed day,1An Aztec dance with its accompanying music . z z3 M-.
the day in all the yearOccidentwhen we pay homage toFor among all the most high godsour highest deity;solemnly adored in my rites,then come now, come adornedso many deities that inwith your emblems of rank,this famed, illustrious cityjoin to your pietythey number more than two thousand,your joy, let them be one;to him we offer in savagein festive pageantryunrelenting sacrifice hotcome worship and revere the great God of Seeds!human blood spilled, entrails throbbing,heart pulsating still, oh most cruel;And since prosperityand though they number so manyin all our provinces(I say this again) my greatestis owed to him who bringsdevotion is fixed upon him,abundance, pious ones,the highest of all the high gods,make offerings to himexalted, the great God of Seeds.for they are owed to himof the first fruits, bountyAmericaof the year's rich harvest.And with reason, for this great godLet the finest blood flowalone upholds our belovedfrom your veins, blend the blood,realm, supporting our monarchy,so it may serve his cult;sustaining our kingdom with hisin festive pageantrylush abundance of succulentcome worship and revere the great God of Seeds!fruits; this benefit is supreme,obscuring all other boons, since(OCCIDENT and AMERICAtake their seats, andit preserves the life that it makespossible, and for this aloneMUSIC falls silent)we deem it most precious of gifts;. zz4. zz5 ·'St. M-L
knowing that this is true, that hisIISCENEbenevolence watches over(They exit, dancing; enter the Christian RELIGION,us, his children, why would we care2a Spanish lady, and ZEAL, 3 an armed captain general,that our mines, a bounty of gold,and behind them, Spanish SOLDIERS)make rich America richer,if the miasma from those minesturns fields barren, the fertile landReligionYou are Zeal, and being Zeal, howsown with seeds that once bloomed intocan your Christian fury bear tofruit, made desolate, a wasteland?see idolatry, false and blind,Then too, his divine protectioncults an idol, a vile affrontfood for us to eat. Afterward,to me, the Christian Religion?in precious viands sanctified,formed from his own flesh (but purged firstMZealReligion: please do not complainhe cleanses our souls of their stains.so quickly of my omission,And so, devoted to his cult,or lament my poor blandishments;let all of you repeat with me:for my right arm now is upraisedand brandishing my sword, and IOccident, America, and Musicshall avenge these wrongs, for your sake.In festive pageantry,Withdraw, my lady, to one sidecome worship and revere the great God of Seeds!while I claim your rightful vengeance.2Religion represents the missionaries.3 Zeal represents the conquistadors ., zz6, celebrate with superstitiousprovides more than corporealof all bodily corruption) . Zl:J.
(Enter OCCIDENT and AMERICA,dancing, andfrom the other side MUSIC and accompanimentJReligionOh, most powerful Occident,beautiful, rich America,who live impoverished amidMusicIn festive pageantrythese prodigal bounties of wealth:come worship and revere the great God of Seeds!put aside this blasphemous cultincited by Satan himself.Open your eyes! And now followZealThey have come out; I shall approach.my true belief, the one true faith,persuaded by my Christian love.'St. ReligionI shall go too; pity moves meOccidentto draw near (before your angerWho are they, what strangers are thesecharges them, enraged, for my sake)I see before me? Oh heavens,and invite them, in peace and love,why do they wish to impede theto receive the truth of my cult.course of my joys and happiness?AmericaZealThen let us hurry, for now theyWhat nations unheard of and strangehave begun their indecent rite.wish to counter the primacyof my most ancient rule and sway?MusicOccidentIn festive pageantrycome worship and revere the great God of Seeds!Oh you, strange and foreign beauty,oh you, a lovely rare pilgrim!(ZEAL and RELIGION approachJTell me who you are and why youcome to trouble my jubilance.· zz8 ·· ll9 ·
,r-----'.ReligionFor you have already drained dryI am the Christian Religion,the cup of your iniquities,and I shall endeavor to turnand our Lord God will not allowyour provinces to my worship.you to continue your sinning,and has sent me to punish you.OccidentA fine avowal you demand!OccidentWho are you? The mere sight of yourAmericaface can strike fear deep in my heart.A fine lunacy you intend!est. ZealOccidentI am Zeal. Why are you surprised?What you contrive, impossible!When all your excesses rebuffReligion, my beloved spouse,AmericaZeal will appear to avenge herNo doubt she is mad; just leave her,by chastising your insolence.and let our worship continue!A Minister of God am I,and seeing that your tyranniesOccident, America, and Musichave already gone so far, andAnd in festive pageantry,weary of seeing you live forcome worship and revere the great God of Seeds!so many years in deep error,He has sent me to punish you.ZealAnd therefore these mighty armed hosts,How, most barbarous Occident,vibrating thunderbolts of steel,and how, most blind idolatry,the ministers are of His wrathcan you disdain sweet Religion,and the instruments of His ire.my dearly loved and gentle wife? Z20 Z2 Z M.,. .l,
Occidentto his words, ignore, do not heedWhat God, what error, what offense,his fantasies; proceed with yourwhat punishment do you proclaim?righteous worship, do not allowI do not understand your words,upstart foreign nations in theirhave no idea of your meaning,insolence to interrupt you.or who you are that you dare tointerfere with the great task ofMusicmy people as they gather hereAnd in festive pageantryto recite as our cult demands:come worship and revere the great God of Seeds!Musicest.ttw.JZealAnd in festive pageantry,Since the first proposal of peacecome worship and revere the great God of Seeds!you have so haughtily turned down,then the second, for war, you mustAmericaaccept despite your arrogance.Barbarian, madman, blindlySound the call! To arms! This is war!with words none understands you wishto perturb the serenity(Drums and bugles soundJthat we enjoy in tranquil calmand peace: cease and desist fromOccidentyour puerile and hopeless effortsWhat monstrosities has heaven sentor you will be reduced to ash,against me? What weapons are these,and not even the winds will bearsuch arms my eyes have never seen?news that you once lived! And you, spouse,Ah, my guards! And you, my soldiers:those arrows you always prepare,(To OCCIDENT Jnow is the time to let them fly!and your vassals, be deaf and blind 122 123 M .l-
AmericaOccidentWhat lightning bolts does heaven hurlNow your valor must conquer meagainst me? What terrible orbsfor I stand firm against mere words.of burning lead rain down like hail?What monsters, hideous centaursZealdo battle against my people?Die, insolent America!(Offstage voices)ReligionTo arms, to arms! A war, a war! .Wait, Zeal, wait, oh do not kill her,for I need her to be alive!(Instruments play)Long live Spain! And long live her king!- ZealBut how is it you defend her(The battle isjoined, and soldiers enter through onewhen you are the one offended?j'vi,-!door and go out the other, the Indians fleeing and theSpaniards in pursuit; behind them, OCCIDENTretreats beforeRELIGION,and AMERICAZEALJbeforeReligionThere can be no doubt: her conquestfell to your valor, your prowess,but what falls to me is mercyand the pity to spare her life;IIISCENEyour charge, to conquer her by force,but mine to vanquish her with words,Religionwith the persuasive gentlenessSurrender, haughty Occident!. z24 ·of mild, invincible reason. z25 ·
OccidentZealYou have seen the perversityI have already said that forcein their blind abominationobliges me to cede to you;of your faith; is it not betterthis is true, but hear me: clearlythat all die?there is no force, no violencethat can hinder my will, keep itfrom acting with total freedom;Religionand so, as your captive I moan,Oh cease your justice,Zeal: you must not, cannot kill them:but you cannot stop me, here, deepfor I am by nature benignin my heart, from proclaiming thatand I do not want them to dieI worship and revere the great God of Seeds!'St. but to convert, and then to live.AmericaIVSCENEft'!,-!If your request that I not die,and this show of your compassionReligionare because, oh arrogant one,But wait, what I tender to youyou expect to conquer me firstis not force but a mild caress.with bodily weapons and thenWhich God is the one you revere?with the arms of intellect, youare mistaken, you are deceived;Occidentfor although I, a captive, weepHe is a God who makes fertilefor my liberty, my free willthe fields that produce our harvests;with even greater libertybefore whom the heavens bow down,still will worship my deities!and whom even the rains obey;the same God who washes away 126- 12:J
- our sins, no matter how vile, thenAmericabecomes the food he offers us.Oh, perplexed one, what is it youTell me if there can ever beenvision? Do you not see? Nofrom the most loving deityother God can confirm his worksmore benefits for humankindand his wonders with benefits.than these I describe for you now.ReligionReligionI must reason with the doctrineLord save me! What crafty designsof Paul, for when he preached to theand devices, what mimicriespeople of Athens he knew ofdo these falsehoods intend toward ourtheir law that mandated death forholiest, our most sacred truths?any seeking to introduceOh wiliest of serpents, mostnew gods to the city; he wasvenomous of snakes! Oh hydra 4aware as well of the altarspewing out of your seven mouthsdedicated "to an unknownall the deadly hemlock of thatGod," and declared these words to them:most noxious poison, lethal brew!"This is not a new deity,How far will this malice of yoursno, this God I tell you aboutimitate and feign the holyis the unknown God you worshipmiracles of our one true God?and adore here at this altar." 5But with your own lies and deceit,I shall do the same . Occident,if God grants this skill to my tongue,listen; blind idolatry, hear;I shall most surely convince you.for all your good fortune lies in 128 i Acts, .Mo.!nr-,,heeding my words! Listen and hear.4 Hydra, snake, and serpent all refer to Satan.'St.17:22-23.z29
Those miracles you tell about,AmericaIf all that you say is true,those prodigies you have revealed,those glimmers and rare features glimpsedtell me: is this deity sobehind the veils of false belief,benign that he will allow methe curtains of superstition;to touch him with my own hands likethose portents that you misconstrue,the idol that my hands create,attributing wondrous effects,using the seeds and the riversthe works of the only true Godof innocent blood that is shed here,and of His infinite wisdom,spilled here, caught for this one cause here,to your gods of mendacity.and for this sole effect alone?For if the flowering meadowReligionis fertile, if fields are fruitful,and if the fruit proliferates,Even though His essence divineand if the sown fields grow and bloom,is invisible and immense,and if the clouds distill the rain,it is already deeply joinedall is the work of His right hand;to our mundane, earthly nature,neither the arm that cultivates,and draws near us so humanlynor the rain that fecundates,that it allows the unworthynor the warmth that animates, nonehands of priests, but no others, toof these could make the plants flourishapproach the godhead and touch it. 6and grow without the presence ofHis productive Providence thatAmericagives the plants their vegetativeIn this, then, you and I agree,soul.because as for my God, no oneat all is sanctioned or allowed6 This speech of Religion refers to the Incarnation and the Eucharist . 130. z3z
to touch him save those who serve himand His most precious blood, when caughtas priests; and not only may theyin the chalice, is the blood, purenot touch him, hut the common folk,and innocent and pristine that,the laity, may not evenoffered on the altar of theenter his sanctified chapel.Holy Cross, is the salvationand the redemption of the world.ZealOh what reverence, more worthyto he paid to our one true God!AmericaSince you wish me to believe thesethings that are unheard-of and strange,Occidentcan the deity you describeTell me this, although you tell mehe as loving as our God, theother things too: is this God madeone whom I adore, and offerof matter as fine and as rareHimself to us as sustenance?as the red blood shed and offeredin sacrifice, as the seed thatM Religionis our sustenance and support?Yes, and all His divine wisdom,for that aim and purpose alone,Religiondwells on earth among humankind.I said this before: His divinemajesty is infinite, notAmericamaterial; hut His blessedAnd shall my eyes not see this God,humanity, bloodless in theso that I may he persuaded,holy sacrifice of the Mass,makes use of pure white seeds of wheatOccidentthat then is transformed into Hisand so that finally, at last,very flesh, His very blood;my obstinacy will leave me? z3 2,· z33
".-------more, for divine inspirationReligionYes, you will see when you are washedmoves me to want to fathom it.in the clear, crystalline fountainof Baptism.OccidentAnd me; and to know of the lifeand death of that resplendent GodOccidentOh yes, I knowthat before I sit at the rich::.table I must carefully wash, for that is my ancient custom.ReligionAll right, let us begin. First youmust know it is a metaphor, an idea dressed in the colorsZealThat is not the kind of washingof rhetoric and visibledemanded by the stains you bear .therefore to your eyes, as I shallMo.!reveal to you; for I well knowIyou are more inclined to favorOccidentIwho, you tell us, is in the bread.What kind is it?objects that can be seen overthe words that faith can tell you;and so, my friends, instead of earsReligionA sacramentthat like the living waters canyou need to use your eyes to learnthe teaching that faith will show you.wash away and cleanse all your sins.OccidentTrue: I would rather see itAmericaThe brevity of the great newsthan have you recount it to me.you bring confounds me, and I wouldlike to hear this in detail once· 134 ·. 135.I
an idol she truly worshipped,VSCENEwhose strange signs and traits the Demonattempted to twist into aReligionfeigned high mystery of our faithLet us begin.-theHoly Eucharist-knowtoothat there have been among otherZealGentile peoples other signs andReligion, pleasetraces of so high a marvel.tell me how you determine theform to represent mysteries.ZealAnd where will your play be performed?ReligionIn an allegorical playReligionI wish to make them visibleIn the crowned city of Madrid,so that she and the entirethe royal center of our faith,occident will be instructedand the most regal seat and thronein all that they have desiredof their Catholic Majestiesto know.to whom the Indies owe the holylights of our most Christian ScriptureZealshining bright in the occident.And what will you call theplay that you allegorize here?ZealDo you see improprietyReligionin writing it in MexicoDivine Narcissus, because ifand performing it in Madrid?unhappy America had. 1.36. l.JJ.
Religionmake visible what the play means,Do you mean you have never seennothing must be denied or changeda thing created in one placealthough I take them to Madrid:that is of use in another?for an intelligent speciesMoreover, writing it was notno distances are a hindranceonly a whim or mere capriceand no oceans an obstacle.but an act of due obediencestriving for the impossible.ZealAnd so the work, perhaps rusticThis being so, let us kneel beforeand rough, perhaps needing polish,the royal feet where two worlds meetis the result of obedience,and most humbly beg for pardon;not the child of audacity.ReligionZealand their bright, illustrious queen,Well then, tell me, Religion, nowthat you have brought forth this play, howAmericado you avoid the complaintwhose majestic, sovereign feetthat you introduce the Indies,the Indies do most humbly kiss;then wish to take them to Madrid?ZealReligionand her supreme noble councils;Since the play intends only tocelebrate this high mystery,Religionand those who have been introducedher ladies who illuminateare simply no more than a fewtheir hemisphere;abstractions that embody and. 138. 139.
Americaand her wise men,whom my poor wisdom humbly praysto pardon and forgive its wishto summon a great mysterywith these rough and clumsy verses.A ZLet us begin, for my longing aches to see what the God is likewho will he served to me as food,(AMERICA, OCCIDENT, and ZEAL all singJsaying that only nowdo the Indies perceivewho the true God of Seedsreally is! And so wesay that with tender tearsdistilled by our great joy,let all gaily repeatand raise rejoicing voices:All0 h let us bless the daywhen we came to know the great true God of Seeds!1(Exit dancing and singingJThe actual author was the Bishop of Puebla, don Manuel Fernandez deSanta Cruz.140.--
Sor Juana Ines cfe la CruzSELECTEDWORKS TRANSLATEDBYINTRODUCTIONEdith GrossmanBYjufia Afvare1. ' W.W.NORTON& COMPANYNew York London
stumbling on her own horrors, treading on her own shadow, attempting to reach the occident with her now routed, disordered army of shadows, pursued by the light following close behind. At last
