r the wolf,
Athirst for blood.

MARIA (terror-struck, rises upon her knees in an attitude of
supplication. RIBERA averts his face).
Oh, father, kill me not!
Turn not away--I am not changed for thee!
In God's name, look at me--thy child, thine own!
Spare me, oh, spare me, till I win of Heaven
Some sign of promise! I am lost forever
If I die now.

RIBERA (looks at her in silence, then pushing her from him laughs
bitterly).
Nay, have no fear of me.
I would not do thee that much grace to ease thee
Of the gross burden of the flesh. Behold,
Thou shalt be cursed with weary length of days;
And when thou seek'st to purge thy guilty heart,
Thou shalt find there a sin no prayer may shrive--
The murder of thy father. To all dreams
That haunt thee of past anguish, shall be added
The vision of this horror!
[He draws from his girdle a dagger and stabs himself to the heart;
he falls and dies, and MARIA flings herself, swooning upon his body.]

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