Bereczky Erzsébet (szerk.): Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man. Essays about the ideas and the directing of the Drama (Budapest, 1985)
Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man - full text of the drama - Translated by Joseph Grosz
There are so many things you do not know And never will. Or do you truly think The Pious Old One has created you, Out of the dust, to share the world with Him? You flatter Him, and He takes care of you; He tells you, take of this, don’t take of that; He guards and leads you like a helpless sheep — You have no need to think and feel at all. ADAM No need to think? Do I not think, right now? Do I not feel the sun, its warming rays, The joy of life, the everlasting grace Of God who made me master of this clod? LUCIFER Perhaps the worm has these same feelings too When it gnaws fruit which should belong to you — The eagle, too, when pinioning a bird. What makes you feel more noble than these are? It is a spark that faintly glows in every Being like motion of a mighty force, Which, like the single wavelets of the river, Glimmer for a moment and then merge Into their common level’s grayish depth — Perhaps, there is one thing, the hidden thought, Dawning to life in your unconscious heart. That could mature your mind and waken sense To choose between the right and wrong; that thought Would set you free from godly providence, Enabling you to steer your destiny. But for a small dung beetle, that you are, It’s best to live at ease in your small world And finish life untroubled, without knowledge — LUCIFER 139
