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Kitabı oku: «The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie. The Ring of the Niblung, part 1», sayfa 3

Рихард Вагнер

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Hitherward sweep

Vapours and fogs!

Hovering mists!

Donner, your lord, summons his hosts!"

WOTAN

Smiling at eve
The sun's eye sparkles;
The castle ablaze
Gleams fair in its glow.
In the light of morning
Glittering proudly,
It stood masterless,
Stately, tempting its lord.
From dawn until sundown
No little toil
And fear have gone to the winning!
From envious night,
That now draws nigh
Shelter it offers us.

[Very firmly, as if struck by a great thought.

So greet I my home,
Safe from dismay and dread.

[He turns solemnly to Fricka.

Follow me, wife!
In Valhall sojourn with me.

FRICKA

What means the name Valhall?
I never seem to have heard it.

WOTAN

That which, conquering fear,
My fortitude brought
Triumphant to birth—
Let that explain the word!

[He takes Fricka's hand and walks slowly with her towards the bridge. Froh, Freia, and Donner follow.
LOGE [Remaining in the foreground and looking after the Gods.

They are hasting on to their end,
They who dream they are strong and
enduring.
I almost blush
To be of their number;
A fancy allures me
And wakes in me longing
Flaming fire to become:
To waste and burn them
Who tamed me of old,
Rather than perish,
Blind with the blind—
Yes, even if godlike the Gods were—
More wise were it, perhaps!
I must consider:
The outcome who knows!

[With a show of carelessness he goes to the Gods.
THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS [From the valley. Invisible.

Rhinegold!
Rhinegold!
Rhinegold pure!
How radiant and clear
Once thou didst shine on us!
For thy lost glory
We are grieving.
Give us the gold!
Give us the gold!
O give us the Rhinegold again!

WOTAN [About to set his foot on the bridge, pauses and turns round.

What wailing sound do I hear?

LOGE [Looks down into the valley.

The Rhine's fair children,
Bewailing their lost gold, weep.

WOTAN

Accursèd nixies!
Bid them tease us no more!

LOGE [Calling down towards the valley.

Ye in the water,
Why wail ye to us?
List to Wotan's decree.
Ye have seen
The last of the gold;
In the Gods' increase of splendour
Bask and sun yourselves now.

"The Rhine's fair children,

Bewailing their lost gold, weep"

[The Gods laugh and cross the bridge during what follows.
THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS

Rhinegold!
Rhinegold!
Rhinegold pure!
Oh, if in the waves
There but shone still our treasure pure!
Down in the deeps
Can faith be found only:
Mean and false
Are all who revel above!

[As the Gods cross the bridge to the castle the curtain falls.

THE VALKYRIE

CHARACTERS

WOTAN HUNDING

FRICKA SIEGMUND

SIEGLINDE

BRÜNNHILDE, Valkyrie

EIGHT OTHER VALKYRIES: Gerhilde, Ortlinde, Waltraute, Schwertleite, Helmwige, Siegrune, Grimgerde, Rossweisse

SCENES OF ACTION

ACT I. THE INTERIOR OF HUNDING'S DWELLING

ACT II. A WILD ROCKY MOUNTAIN

ACT III. ON THE TOP OF A ROCKY MOUNTAIN (BRÜNNHILDE'S ROCK)

THE FIRST ACT

The interior of a dwelling-place built of wood, with the stem of a mighty ash-tree as its centre; to the right, in the foreground, is the hearth, and behind this the store-room. At the back is the large entrance door; to the left, far back, steps lead up to an inner chamber; on the same side, nearer the front, stands a table with a broad bench behind it, fixed to the wall, and with stools in front. The stage remains empty for a space. Outside a storm is just subsiding. Siegmund opens the entrance door from without, and enters. With his hand on the latch he surveys the room. He seems overwhelmed with fatigue; his dress and appearance indicate that he is in flight. He shuts the door behind him when he sees nobody, walks to the hearth with the final effort of an utterly exhausted man, and throws himself down on a bearskin rug.

SIEGMUND

I rest on this hearth,
Heedless who owns it.

[He sinks back and remains stretched out motionless. Sieglinde enters from the inner chamber; she thinks her husband has returned. Her grave look changes to one of surprise when she sees the stranger stretched out on the hearth.
SIEGLINDE [Still at the back.

A stranger here!
He must be questioned.

[Coming nearer.

What man came in
And lies on the hearth?

[As Siegmund does not move, she draws nearer still and looks at him.

Way-worn, weary
He seems and spent.
Faints he from weariness?
Can he be sick?

[She bends over him, and listens.

He breathes still, his eyelids
Are sealed but in slumber.
Worthy, valiant his mien,
Though so worn he rests.

SIEGMUND [Suddenly raising his head.

A drink! A drink!

SIEGLINDE

I go to fetch it.

[She takes a drinking-horn and hurries out. She returns with it full, and offers it to Siegmund.

Lo, the water
Thy thirsting lips longed for:
Water brought at thy wish!

[Siegmund drinks, and hands her back the horn. As he signifies his thanks with a movement of the head, he gazes at her with growing interest.
SIEGMUND

Welcome the water!
Quenched is my thirst.
My weary load
Lighter it makes;
New courage it gives;
Mine eyes that slept
Re-open glad on the world.
Who soothes and comforts me so?

SIEGLINDE

This house and this wife
Belong to Hunding.
Stay thou here as his guest;
Tarry till he comes home.

SIEGMUND

Shelter he surely
Will grant a worn,
Wounded, weaponless stranger.

SIEGLINDE [With anxious haste.

Quick, show me! Where are thy wounds?

SIEGMUND
[Shakes himself and springs up briskly to a sitting posture.

My wounds are slight,
Scarce worthy remark;
My limbs are well knit still,
Whole and unharmed.
If my spear and shield had but been
Half so strong as my arm is,
I had vanquished the foe;
But in splinters were spear and shield.
The horde of foemen
Harassed me sore;
Through storm and strife
Spent was my force;
But, faster than I from foemen,
All my faintness has fled;
Darkness fell deep on my lids,
But now the sun again laughs.

SIEGLINDE
[Goes to the storeroom, fills a horn with mead, and proffers it to Siegmund with friendly eagerness.

This healing and honeyed
Draught of mead
Deign to accept from me.

SIEGMUND

Set it first to thy lips.

[Sieglinde sips from the horn and hands it back to him. Siegmund takes a long draught, regarding Sieglinde with increasing warmth. Still gazing, he takes the horn from his lips and lets it sink slowly, while his features express strong emotion. He sighs deeply, and lowers his gaze gloomily to the ground.
SIEGMUND [In a trembling voice.

Thou hast tended an ill-fated one!
May all evil
Be turned from thee!

[He starts up quickly, and goes towards the the back.

I have been solaced
By sweet repose:
Onward now I must press.

SIEGLINDE [Turning round quickly.

Who pursues thee so close at thy heels?

SIEGMUND [Stops.

Bad luck pursues me,
Everywhere follows;
And where I linger
Trouble still finds me:
Be thou preserved from its touch!
I must not gaze but go.

[He strides hastily to the door and lifts the latch.
SIEGLINDE [Forgetting herself calls impetuously after him.

Then tarry here!
Misfortune thou canst not bring
To those who abide with it!

SIEGLINDE

"This healing and honeyed

Draught of mead

Deign to accept from me."

SIEGMUND

"Set it first to thy lips."

SIEGMUND
[Deeply moved, remains standing; he looks searchingly at Sieglinde, who, ashamed and sad, lowers her eyes. Returning, he leans against the hearth, his gaze fixed on Sieglinde, who continues silently embarrassed.

Wehwalt named I myself:
Hunding here will I wait for.

Sieglinde starts, listens and hears Hunding outside leading his horse to the stable. She hurries to the door and opens it. Hunding, armed with shield and spear, enters, but, perceiving Siegmund, pauses on the threshold. Hunding turns with a look of stern inquiry to Sieglinde.
SIEGLINDE [In answer to Hunding's look.

On the hearth
Fainting I found
One whom need drove here.

HUNDING

Hast succoured him?

SIEGLINDE

I gave him, as a guest,
Welcome and a drink.

SIEGMUND [Regarding Hunding firmly and calmly.

Drink she gave,
Shelter too:
Wouldst therefore chide the woman?

HUNDING

Sacred is my hearth:
Sacred hold thou my house.

[To Sieglinde, as he takes off his armour and hands it to her.

Set the meal for us men!

[Sieglinde hangs up the arms on the stem of the ash-tree, fetches food and drink from the store-room and sets supper on the table. Involuntarily she turns her gaze on Siegmund again.
HUNDING
[Examining Siegmund's features keenly and with amaze, compares them with Sieglinde's. Aside.

How like to the woman!
In his eye as well
Gleams the guile of the serpent.

[He conceals his surprise, and turns with apparent unconcern to Siegmund.

Far, I trow,
Must thou have fared;
The man who rests here
Rode no horse:
What toilsome journey
Made thee so tired?

SIEGMUND

Through wood and meadow,
Thicket and moor,
Chased by the storm
And peril sore,
I ran by I know not what road.
I know as little
What goal it led to,
And I would gladly be told.

HUNDING [At table, inviting Siegmund to be seated.

'Tis Hunding owns
The roof and room
Which have harboured thee.
If to the westward
Thou wert to wend,
In homesteads rich
Thou wouldst find kinsmen
Who guard the honour of Hunding.
May I ask of my guest
In return to tell me his name?

[Siegmund, who has taken his seat at the table, looks thoughtfully before him. Sieglinde, who has placed herself beside Hunding and opposite Siegmund, gazes at him with evident sympathy and suspense.

Hunding discovers the likeness between Siegmund and Sieglinde.

HUNDING [Watching them both.

If thou wilt not
Trust it to me,
To this woman tell thy secret:
See, how eagerly she asks!

SIEGLINDE [Unembarrassed and interested.

Gladly I'd know
Who thou art.

SIEGMUND [Looks up and, gazing into her eyes, begins gravely.

Not for me the name Friedmund;
Frohwalt fain were I called,
But forced was I to be Wehwalt.
Wölfe they called my father;
And I am one of twins:
With a sister twin I was born.
Soon lost were
Both mother and maid;
I hardly knew
Her who gave me my life,
Nor her with whom I was born.
Warlike and strong was Wölfe,
And never wanting for foes.
A-hunting oft
Went the son with the father.
One day we returned
Outworn with the chase
And found the wolf's nest robbed.
The brave abode
To ashes was burnt,
Consumed to dust
The flourishing oak,
And dead was the mother,
Dauntless but slain.
No trace of the sister
Was ever found:
The Neidungs' heartless horde
Had dealt us this bitter blow.
My father fled,
An outlaw with me;
And the youth
Lived wild in the forest
With Wölfe for many years.
Sore beset and harried were they,
But boldly battled the pair of wolves.

[Turning to Hunding.

A Wölfing tells thee the tale,
And a well-known Wölfing, I trow.

HUNDING

Wondrous and wild the story
Told by thee, valiant guest:
Wehwalt—the Wölfing!
I think that dark rumours anent
This doughty pair have reached me,
Though unknown Wölfe
And Wölfing too.

SIEGLINDE

But tell me further, stranger:
Where dwells thy father now?

SIEGMUND

The Neidungs, starting anew,
Hounded and hunted us down;
But slain by the wolves
Fell many a hunter;
They fled through the wood,
Chased by the game:
Like chaff we scattered the foe.
But trace of my father I lost;
Still his trail grew fainter
The longer I followed;
In the wood a wolf-skin
Was all I found;
There empty it lay:
My father I had lost.—
In the woods I could not stay;
My heart longed for men and for women.—
By all I met,
No matter where,
If friend I sought,
Or woman wooed,
Still I was branded an outlaw;
Ill-luck clung to me;
Whatever I did right,
Others counted it wrong;
What seemed evil to me
Won from others applause.
Grim feuds arose
Wherever I went;
Wrath met me
At every turn;
Longing for gladness,
Woe was my lot:
I called myself Wehwalt therefore,
For woe was all that was mine.

[He looks at Sieglinde and marks her sympathetic gaze.
HUNDING

Thou wert shown no grace by the Norns
That cast thy grievous lot;
No one greets thee as guest
With gladness in his home.

SIEGLINDE

Only cowards would fear
A weaponless, lonely man!—
Tell us, O guest,
How in the strife
At last thy weapon was lost!

SIEGMUND

A sorrowful child
Cried for my help;
Her kinsmen wanted
To wed the maiden
To one whom her heart did not choose.
To her defence
Gladly I hied;
The heartless horde
Met me in fight:
Before me foemen fell.
Fordone and dead lay the brothers.
The slain were embraced by the maid,
Her wrongs forgotten in grief.
She wept wild streams of woe,
And bathed the dead with her tears;
For the loss of her brothers slain
Lamented the ill-fated bride.
Then the dead men's kinsmen
Came like a storm,
Vowing vengeance,
Frantic to fall on me;
Foemen on all sides
Rose and assailed me.
But from the spot
Moved not the maid;
My shield and spear
Sheltered her long,
Till spear and shield
Were hewn from my hand.
Standing weaponless, wounded,
I beheld the maid die:
I fled from the furious host—
She lay lifeless on the dead.

[To Sieglinde with a look of fervent sorrow.

The reason now I have told
Why none may know me as Friedmund.

[He rises and walks to the hearth. Pale and deeply moved, Sieglinde looks on the ground.
HUNDING [Rises.

I know a wild-blooded breed;
What others revere
It flouts unawed:
All hate it, and I with the rest.
When forth in haste I was summoned,
Vengeance to seek
For my kinsmen's blood,
I came too late,
And now return home
To find the impious wretch
In haven under my roof.—
My house holds thee,
Wölfing, to-day;
For the night thou art my guest.
But wield to-morrow
Thy trustiest weapon.
I choose the day for the fight:
Thy life shall pay for the dead.

[To Sieglinde, who steps between the two men with anxious gestures; harshly.

Forth from the hall!
Linger not here!
Prepare my draught for the night,
And wait until I come.

[Sieglinde stands for a while undecided and thoughtful. Slowly and with hesitating steps she goes towards the store-room, There she pauses again, lost in thought, her face half averted. With quiet resolution she opens the cupboard, fills a drinking-horn, and shakes spices into it out of a box. She then turns her eyes on Siegmund, in order to meet his gaze, which he never removes from her. She perceives that Hunding is watching, and proceeds immediately to the bed-chamber. On the steps she turns once more, looks yearningly at Siegmund, and indicates with her eyes, persistently and with speaking plainness, a particular spot in the stem of the ash-tree. Hunding starts, and drives her off with a violent gesture. With a last look at Siegmund, she disappears into the bed-chamber, and shuts the door behind her.
HUNDING [Taking his weapons from the tree-stem.

With weapons man should be armed.
We meet to-morrow then Wölfing.
My word thou hast heard;
Ward thyself well!

[He goes into bed-chamber. The shooting of the bolt is heard from within.
[Siegmund alone. It has grown quite dark. All the light in the hall comes from a dull fire on the hearth. Siegmund sinks down on to a couch beside the fire and broods forsome time silently in great agitation.
SIEGMUND

My father said when most wanted
A sword I should find and wield.
Swordless I entered
My foeman's house,
As a hostage here
I remain.
I saw a fair
Woman and sweet,
And bliss and dread
Consume my heart.
The woman for whom I long—
She whose charm both wounds and
delights—
In thrall is held by the man
Who mocks a weaponless foe.
Wälse! Wälse!
Where is thy sword?—
The trusty sword
To be swung in battle,
When from my bosom should burst
The fury that fills my heart?

[The fire collapses. From the flame which leaps up a bright light falls on the spot in the ash-tree's stem indicated by Sieglinde's look, and on which the hilt of a sword is now plainly visible.

Sieglinde prepares Hunding's draught for the night

What can that be
That shines so bright?
What a ray streams
From the ash-tree's stem!
My eyes that saw not
See the bright flash;
Gay as laughter it gleams.
How the radiant light
Illumes my heart!
Is it the look
That lingered behind,
Yonder clinging,
When forth from the hall
The lovely woman went?

[From this point the fire gradually goes out.

Darkly the shadows
Covered my eyes,
Till her shining glance
Over me gleamed,
Bringing me warmth and day.
Gay and splendid
The sun appeared,
And blissfully circled
With glory my head—
Till by the hills it was hid.

[The fire flickers up faintly again.

But once more, ere it set,
Bright it shone upon me,
And the ancient ash-tree's stem
Was lit by its golden glow.
The splendour passes,
The light grows dim,
Shadowy darkness
Falls and enshrouds me;
Deep in my bosom's fastness
Glimmers still faintly the flame!

[The fire goes out altogether. Total darkness. The door of the bed-chamber opens noiselessly. Sieglinde comes out in a white garment and advances softly but quickly towards the hearth.
SIEGLINDE

Art asleep?

SIEGMUND [Joyfully surprised.

Who steals this way?

SIEGLINDE [With stealthy haste.

'Tis I: listen to me!
In sleep profound lies Hunding;
The draught that I mixed him I drugged.
Use to good purpose the night!

SIEGMUND [Ardently interrupting.

Thou here, all is well!

SIEGLINDE

I have come to show thee a weapon;
O couldst thou make it thine!
I then might call thee
First among heroes,
For only by him
Can it be won.
O hearken: heed what I tell thee!
Here Hunding's kinsmen
Sat in the hall,
Assembled to honour his wedding.
He took as his wife,
Against her will,
One who was bartered by thieves.
Sad I sat there
Through their carousing.
A stranger entered the hall,
An old and grey-coated man.
So slouched was his hat
That one of his eyes was hidden;
But the other flashed
So that all feared it:
Overwhelming
Its menace they found;
I alone
Suffered, when looked on,
Sweet pain, sad delight,
Sorrow and solace in one.
On me glancing,
He scowled at the others,
As he swung a sword in his hands.
This sword he plunged
In the ash-tree's stem,
To the hilt driving it home.
The weapon he gains in guerdon
Who draws it from its place.
Though sore they struggled,
Not one of the heroes
Could win the weapon for his;
Coming, going,
The guests essayed it,
The strongest tugged at the steel;
Not an inch it stirred in the stem;
In silence yonder it cleaves.
I knew then who he was
That in sorrow greeted me.
I know too
Now for whom
The sword was stuck in the tree.
O might I to-day
Find here the friend
Brought from afar
By a woman's woe!
Then all I have suffered
In sorrow untold,
All scorn and all shame
In anger endured—
All would avenged be,
Sweetly atoned for—
Regained fully
The good I had lost;
For mine I should win
All I had wept for,
Could I but find the dear friend,
And clasp him close in my arms!

SIEGFRIED [Embracing Sieglinde with passionate ardour.

Dear woman, that friend
Holds thee at last,
Both woman and sword are his.
Here in my breast
Burns hot the oath
That welds us twain into one.
For all that I sought
I see now in thee,
In thee all
That once failed me I find.
Thou wert despised,
My portion was pain;
I was an outlaw,
Dishonoured wert thou;
Sweet revenge beckons,
Bids us be joyful;
I laugh
From sheer fulness of joy,
Holding thee, love, in my arms thus,
Feeling the beat of thy heart!

[The outer door swings open.
SIEGLINDE [With a start of alarm tears herself away.

Ha, who went? Who entered there?

[The door remains open. Outside a glorious spring night. The full moon shines in, throwing its bright light on the pair, so that they can suddenly see one another quite plainly.
SIEGMUND [In soft ecstasy.

No one went—
But one has come:
Laughing the spring
Enters the hall!

[He draws Sieglinde with tender force on to the couch, so that she sits beside him. The moon shines more and more brightly.

Winter storms have yielded
To May's sweet moon,
And mild and radiant
Sparkles the spring.
On balmy breezes
Light and lovely,
Weaving wonders,
Soft she sways.
Through field and forest
She is breathing;
Wide and open
Laughs her eye;
When blithe the birds are singing
Sounds her voice;
Fragrant odours
She exhales;
From her warm blood blossom flowers
Welcome and joyous.
Shoot and bud,
They wax by her aid.
With tender weapons armed,
She conquers the world.
Winter and storm yield
To the strong attack.
No wonder that, beaten boldly,
At last the door should have opened,
Which, stubborn and stiff,
Was keeping her out.
To find her sister
Hither she came;
By love has spring been allured;
Within our bosoms
Buried she lay;
Now glad she laughs to the light.
The bride who is sister
Is freed by the brother;
In ruin lies
What held them apart.
Loud rejoicing,
They meet and greet;
Lo! Love is mated with spring!

SIEGLINDE

Thou art the spring
That I used to pine for,
When pinched by the winter frost;
My heart hailed thee friend
With bliss and with fear,
When thy first glance fell on me sweetly
All I had seen appeared strange;
Friendless were my surroundings;
I never seemed to have known
Any one who came nigh.
Thee, however,
Straightway I knew,
And I saw thou wert mine
When I beheld thee:
What I hid in my heart,
All I am,
Clear as the day
Dawned to my sight
Like tones to the ear
Echoing back,
When, upon my frosty desert,
My eyes first beheld a friend.

[She hangs enraptured on his neck, and looks him close in the face.
SIEGMUND [Transported.

O rapture most blissful!
Woman most blest!

SIEGLINDE [Close to his eyes.

O let me, closer
And closer clinging,
Discern more clearly
The sacred light
That from thine eyes
And face shines forth,
And so sweetly sways every sense!

SIEGMUND

The May-moon's light
Falls on thy face
Framed by masses
Of waving hair.
What snared my heart
'Tis easy to guess:
My gaze on loveliness feasts.

SIEGLINDE
[Pushing the hair back from his brow, regards him with astonishment.

How broad and open
Is thy brow!
Blue-branching the veins
In thy temples entwine.
I hardly can endure
My burden of bliss.—
Of something I am reminded:—
The man I first saw to-day
Already I have seen!

SIEGMUND

A dream of love
I too recall;
I saw thee there
And yearned for thee sore!

SIEGLINDE

The stream has shown me
My imaged face—
Again I see it before me;
As in the pool it arose
It is reflected by thee.

SIEGMUND

Thine is the face
I hid in my heart.

SIEGLINDE [Quickly averting her gaze.

O hush! That voice!
O let me listen!
These tones as a child
Surely I heard—
But no! I heard the sound lately,
When, calling in the wood,
My voice re-echoing rang.

SIEGMUND

To sweet and melodious
Music I listen!

SIEGLINDE [Gazing into his eyes again.

And ere now thy glowing
Eye have I seen:
The old man whose glance
Solaced my grief,
When he greeted me had that eye—
I knew him
Because of his eye,
And almost addressed him as father.

[After a pause.

Art thou Wehwalt in truth?

SIEGMUND

If dear to thee,
Wehwalt no more;
My sway is o'er bliss not sorrow!

SIEGLINDE

And Friedmund does not
Fit with thy fortunes.

SIEGMUND

Choose thou the name
Thou wouldst have me be known by:
Thy choice will also be mine!

SIEGLINDE

The name of thy father was Wölfe?

SIEGMUND

A wolf to the fearful foxes!
But he whose eye
Shone with the brightness
Which, fairest one, shines in thine own,
Was named—Wälse of old.

SIEGLINDE [Beside herself.

Was Wälse thy father,
And art thou a Wälsung?—
Stuck was for thee
His sword in the stem?—
Then let my love call thee
What it has found thee;
Siegmund
Shall be thy name.

SIEGMUND [Springs up.

Siegmund call me
For Siegmund am I!
Be witness this sword
I grasp without shrinking!
That I should find it
In sorest need
Wälse foretold.
I grasp it now!
Love the most pure
In utmost need,
Passionate love,
Consuming desire
Burning bright in my breast,
Drive to deeds and death!
Nothung! Nothung!
That, sword, is thy name.
Nothung! Nothung!
Conquering steel!
Show me thy sharp
And sundering tooth:
Come forth from thy scabbard to me!

[He draws the sword with a violent effort from the stem of the tree and shows it to the amazed and enraptured Sieglinde.

Siegmund the Wälsung
Thou dost see!
As bride-gift
He brings thee this sword;
With this he frees
The woman most blest;
He bears thee
From the house of his foe.
Far from here
Follow thou him:
Forth to the laughing
House of the spring;
Thy shield be Nothung, the sword,
When Siegmund is captive to love!

[He throws his arm round her so as to draw her forth with him.
SIEGLINDE [Delirious with excitement, tears herself away and stands before him.