Wallenstein's Camp

A peasant brings his son into the army camp before Pilsen, hoping that loaded dice will recover something of what the soldiers have taken. Around them, wine sellers, recruits and men from different regiments trade goods and gossip. Friedrich Schiller builds this verse play from their exchanges, showing how Wallenstein's authority reaches into the camp's everyday life. James Churchill's English translation uses rhyming lines to carry the boasts, arguments and jokes.

Talk of increased pay and newly gathered troops raises suspicions about the general's position. A woman selling provisions recalls her travels with the army, while a Capuchin preacher condemns the soldiers' conduct and then turns against their commander. His words provoke threats, though other soldiers offer him protection and ask to hear more. The shifting voices give readers a close view of military loyalty, civilian hardship and the uneasy relationship between faith and power.