William Tell, Act 1

from a play by Schiller [wiki] [legend]





ACT ONE


(only one scene)


A landscape at Bürglen, in the canton of Uri. On the right the chalet of William Tell; on the left the lower cascade of the Schächental torrent, over which there is a slender bridge. Peasants are decorating with leafy boughs three small chalets destined for three newly-wedded couples; others are busy at different kinds of field labour. Jemmy is practising with his bow and arrows; William Tell, deep in thought and leaning on his spade, stands apart. Hedwige, seated by her house, is weaving a basket and glancing alternately at her son and her husband.





CHORUS
What a serene day the sky foretells!
Let us celebrate it in our concerts;
let the echoes from this shore
lift our songs into the air!
Let the echoes, etc.
Through our labours, let us do homage
to the creator of the universe.
What a serene day, etc.





FISHERMAN
Come quickly into my little boat,
shy young lass;
here is the abode
of the pleasure that calls you.
I am leaving the shore;
Lisbeth, sail with me;
ah, come! The cloudless sky
promises us a fine day, etc.





TELL (aside)
In his elation he extols
his pleasures, his mistress;
he is not tormented by
the weariness of spirit that afflicts me.
How burdensome is life!
We no longer have a fatherland!
He sings, and Helvetia
mourns her lost freedom.


cf? bw08: "That stagesquall has passed over like water off a Helvetian’s back."


FISHERMAN
Flowers wreathe her head;
their secret power,
warding off the storm,
assures us a safe return, etc.
And you, lonely lake,
witness of a sweet mystery,
do not tell the land
the secret of love! etc.





JEMMY, HEDWIGE
His foolhardy courage
invites shipwreck
and, defying the storm,
thinks only of his return, etc.
If he directed his course
towards the dreaded reef,
a death-song to be sure would
follow the songs of love! etc.





TELL (aside)
How burdensome is life!
We no longer have a fatherland!
He sings, and Helvetia
laments its last day!
He sings, and Helvetia, etc.
(The ranz des vaches is heard in the distance.)


ranz des vaches [wiki]


CHORUS
From the mountains we hear
the signal for rest;
the country festivity
cuts short our labours, etc.
This rustic festival,
unbeknown to the master's eye,
will let us acknowledge
the sweet land of our birth.
(Old Melchthal, leaning on his son Arnold, comes down the hill followed by his countrymen. All the village gather happily and enthusiastically around him.)





JEMMY HEDWIGE, FISHERMAN. TELL, CHORUS
Greetings, honour, homage to the virtuous
Melchthal! etc.





HEDWIGE
The shepherds' festival, according to ancient custom,
out of three young lovers makes three happy husbands.





ARNOLD (aside)
Lovers, husbands! - Ah, what thoughts beset me!
(Hedwige approaches Melchthal and asks him to bless the union of the young couples.)





HEDWIGE
Blessed by you.





MELCHTHAL
By me?





HEDWIGE
You will pronounce a blessing on us all.





TELL
It is the sacred privilege of age and the virtues,
and a very sweet portent of the favours of Heaven.





MELCHTHAL
Shepherds, let your voices unite,
let the horns resound far and wide!
All of you celebrate on this glorious day
work, marriage and love...





CHORUS (Women)
With the joyous songs that resound
let our gentler tones unite!
Let us too celebrate, by turns,
work, marriage and love!





ARNOLD, FISHERMEN, TELL, MELCHTHAL, JEMMY HEDWIGE, CHORUS
Let us all celebrate on this glorious day
work, marriage and love! etc.





CHORUS
By the roaring torrents
let the horns answer each other!
And the echo from these hills.
holding back our songs
will repeat their sweet sounds
to the forests and valleys!
Yes, the echo from these hills, etc.
... to the woods and the valleys!
Let us celebrate through our games
marriage and its bonds, etc.
By the roaring torrents
let the horns answer each other, etc.
Let us celebrate through our games
marriage and its bonds, etc.
By the roaring torrents
let the horns answer each other,
through our songs and our games
let us celebrate the sweet bonds
of the loving shepherds, etc.
and fly to them!
Through our songs, etc.
... and fly to them!
(The crowd departs.)





TELL (to Melchthal)
Let my lonely roof offer you a protective shelter
against the heat of the day!
It is there that my ancestors lived in peace,
that I escape from the tyrants,
that I conceal from their eyes
the happiness of being a husband,
the happiness of being a father.
(He embraces his son.)





MELCHTHAL (to Arnold)
The happiness of being a father!
You hear him, o my son, it is the supreme blessing.
Will you always disappoint the wish of my old age?
The shepherds' festival on this glad day
through a triple bond is going to consecrate
the marriage vow, and it is not yours?
(All leave except Arnold.)





ARNOLD
Mine, he says, never, never mine!
Oh that I may keep to myself
the secret of my disastrous obsession!
You, whose brow aspires to the diadem,
O Mathilde, I love you!
I love you, and I betray
duty and honour, my father and my country!
Against the deadly avalanche
my strength served to shield you:
I saved you, you, the daughter of Kings,
you whom a perfidious power
destines to give us laws!
Drunk with a mad hope, my insane youth
has wasted its blood for ungrateful masters:
to have known under them the glory of battle,
that is my shame! But then, my tears have wiped it out:
Let us not restore it through a fatal love.
(Hunting horns are heard.)
But what's this noise?
The horn of the tyrants spewed out by Germany
sounds on the mountain.
Gessler is there; Mathilde accompanies him;
I must see her again, hear her voice again;
Let us at the same time be happy and guilty!
(He is about to leave when he comes face to face with William Tell, who is coming out of his house.)




TELL
Where are you going?
What's troubling you so?
The approach of a friend doesn't stop you?





ARNOLD
No, no, no!





TELL
Why are you trembling?





ARNOLD (aside)
Shall I have the courage to dissemble?
(aloud)
Under the burden of slavery
what great heart is not cast down?





TELL (aside)
I should understand woes that I share:
Arnold has not answered me,
Arnold has not answered me!





ARNOLD (aside)
Could I be more out of luck?





TELL (aside)
Out of luck?
He's hiding a secret from me.
(aloud)
Why do you remain silent?





ARNOLD
What are you hoping for?





TELL
To restore to your heart strength and virtue...
Arnold!





ARNOLD (aside)
Ah, Mathilde, my soul's idol,
must I then subdue my passion?





TELL (aside)
I can read into his heart...





ARNOLD (aside)
O my fatherland! To you my heart
sacrifices both my love and my happiness! etc,





TELL (aside)
He reddens at his error...
If by serving tyranny
he was a traitor to his country,
at least his remorse expiates
a moment of dishonour.
I have been able to read into his heart...
He reddens at his error,
if by serving tyranny, etc.
(to Arnold)
For us no more servile fear;
let us be men, and we shall conquer!





ARNOLD
And how to avenge our indignities?





TELL
All unjust power is weak.





ARNOLD
Against foreign masters
what are our supports?





TELL
The dangers;
for us there is only one,
for them there are a thousand.





ARNOLD
Think of the blessings you lose!





TELL
What of it!





ARNOLD
Where's the glory in hoping for reverses?





TELL
I'm none too sure what glory is...
but I do know the weight of fetters,
but I do know the weight of fetters.





ARNOLD
Your hope -





TELL
Is in victory:
yours too, I need to believe it.





ARNOLD
We should be free?





TELL
It is my vow.





ARNOLD
But where do we fight?





TELL
Here.





ARNOLD
Defeated, what will be our refuge?





TELL
The grave.



ARNOLD
And our avenger, and our avenger?





TELL
God!





ARNOLD (aside)
O Mathilde, my soul's idol!
So I must subdue my passion!
O my fatherland, to you my heart sacrifices
both my love and my happiness! etc.





TELL (aside)
I can read into his heart.
He reddens at his error;
if, by serving tyranny,
he was a traitor to his country.
at least his remorse expiates
a moment of dishonour! etc.





ARNOLD
When the hour of danger sounds,
friend, I shall be ready.
(Arnold is about to go.)





TELL
Stay!





ARNOLD (aside)
O fatal mischance!





TELL
Melchthal! Melchthal!
(sound of horns, off)
What do I hear? It's Gessler!
What! While he still defies us
would you, a willing slave,
crave the favour of a scornful glance?





ARNOLD
What harsh words!
For me they're an insult.
I am going to face the insolent
oppressor on his way by.





TELL
No rash enterprise,
think of your father, he must be protected;
think of your country, it must be avenged, it must
be avenged, it must be avenged.
ARNOLD (aside)
My father!





TELL (aside)
He wavers...





ARNOLD (aside)
My country!





TELL (aside)
He turns pale!





ARNOLD (aside)
My love!





TELL (aside)
What then is...





ARNOLD (aside)
What must I do?





TELL (aside)
... all this secrecy?





ARNOLD (aside)
O heaven, you know how dear Mathilde is to me!
O heaven, you know how dear Mathilde is to me!
But to virtue I yield,
but to virtue I yield.
Hatred, woe, woe to our tyrants!
(The sounds of festivities are heard approaching.)





TELL
Listen to those wedding-songs
in the distance!
Let's not cast a gloom over the shepherds' festival:
let's not mingle tears with their pleasures,
and for one day at least
let a people escape from its woes.
And for one day at least, etc.





ARNOLD
Let me hide my tears from his eyes,
I owe no more save to our woes.
O Heaven, you know how dear Mathilde is to me, etc.





TELL
He will fight in our ranks,
he will fight in our ranks, in our ranks.
Hatred and woe to our tyrants!





ARNOLD
But to virtue I yield, etc.
Hatred and woe to our tyrants! etc.
(The procession for the three bridegrooms arrives. Three men go into the chalets which stand on-stage, to fetch the three brides. Hedwige, Jemmy and Melchthal come out from Tell's house.)





HEDWIGE
Over our heads the sun shines
and seems to halt in mid-course
to witness the family festival.
Venerable Melchthal, honour of bygone days,
it is for you to bless their chaste love.
(The three couples come forward and kneel before Melchthal who is sitting in a bower of greenery which has been prepared for him.)





MELCHTHAL (to the bridal couples)
When Heaven hears your promise
is it for me to consecrate it?





TELL
Yes, to do homage to old age
is still, my God, to honour you.





ALL (except Arnold)
O sky the world's adornment,
cause a sweet augury to shine for them!
For their love is as pure
as your light on a fine day! etc.





ARNOLD (aside)
They are going to be united. How I suffer!
They are going to be united. For me no more hope!
What pains I endure! fatal love!
For their love is as pure
as your light on a fine day! etc.





MELCHTHAL (to the bridal couples)
You will give back to us the example of the old virtues.
Bear in mind, young shepherds,
that Switzerland, which is watching you,
demands from your marriage supporters, avengers;
and you out of your children, O faithful helpmates,
teach your sons what kind of men their ancestors were
that they may be great in their turn,
that they may be free like them,
that they may be the pride of our mountains.
(The sound of the hunt draws nearer.)





TELL
Gessler again! again!





ARNOLD (aside and leaving without being seen)
I must run for it!





TELL
Gessler proscribes these vows. Listen to the tyrant,
listen, he calls out to you that there is no longer
a fatherland,
that the source of the courageous blood
that seethed in our ancestors' hearts
is forever dried up.
A people without virtues no longer brings forth brave men!
What would you bequeath to your sons?
The fetters by which your arms are bruised.
Wives, exile your husbands from your beds,
there are always enough slaves.





HEDWIGE
What violent emotions seem to excite you!
Has the day come to let them break out freely?





TELL
Perhaps!
I no longer see Arnold.





JEMMY
He's leaving us.





TELL
He's running away from me.
In vain does he conceal from me the uneasiness that attends him.
(to Hedwige)
I'm off to question him. You, start the games going again.





HEDWIGE
You chill me with fear and you talk of merrymaking!





TELL
Let it hide from the tyrants the noise of the
tempest!
Drown it beneath your joyful strains:
it must only roar for them
as it falls upon their heads!
(Exit Tell.)





CHORUS (dancing)
Hymen,
your happy
day
dawns for us.
Your glorious day
dawns for us, etc.
Of the crowns
that you give
these happy couples
are envious.
With joy
and tenderness
their youth
grows in beauty, etc.
Over our heads
the tempests
are dumb, etc.
Everything tells us -
Hymen,
your happy day, etc.
Through your flames
in our souls
you proclaim
our hope;
your rapture
unceasingly joins
tenderness
to duty, etc.
Hymen,
your happy day, etc.
... these happy couples
are envious.


(The three bridegrooms and their partners make up a dance-set for six. These dances are followed by an archery competition; several bowmen try without succeeding; Jemmy, luckier. hits the bull with his first shot.)




Glory, honour to Tell's son,
he gains the prize for skill! etc.





JEMMY (running to his mother)
Ah, mother, mother!





HEDWIGE
O moment filled with rapture!





CHORUS
He gains the prize for skill:
he inherits it from his father.
Glory! Glory!
For us, children of nature,
the simple fustian garb
takes the place of the armour
that protects the warriors.
But to the mark that summons it
our arrow is true,
and with it hope
revives in our homes. etc. etc.





JEMMY
Pale and trembling, hardly able to support himself,
mother, a herdsman comes hurrying towards us.





FISHERMAN
It's the worthy Leuthold; what misfortune brings
him to us?
(Leuthold appears; breathless, he carries a bloodstained axe on which he supports himself.)





LEUTHOLD
Save me! Save me!





HEDWIGE
What do you fear?





LEUTHOLD
Their anger.





HEDWIGE
Leuthold, what power threatens you?





LEUTHOLD
The only one that has never shown mercy,
the cruellest, the most dreadful of all...
O my friends, save me from its blows!





MELCHTHAL
What have you done?





LEUTHOLD
My duty. Out of all my family
Heaven left me only one child, only one daughter;
an impious supporter of the Governor,
a soldier, carried her off - she my last remaining
blessing!
Hedwige, I am a father, and I knew how to defend
her.
My axe was not slow to find his forehead;
Do you see this blood? It is his.





MELCHTHAL
He had a father's courage,
but we must fear the tyrant's wrath for him.





LEUTHOLD
A sure refuge waits for me on the other bank,
(to the Fisherman)
- take me there.





FISHERMAN
This torrent, that rock
allow no approach to the opposite bank.
To brave this danger is to expose oneself to
death.





LEUTHOLD
Ah, barbarian, may you in your last hour
find God deaf to your remorse,
as you are to my entreaty!





TELL (aside)
Arnold has vanished. I have not been able to
catch up with him.





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS (in the distance)
Leuthold, woe to you!





LEUTHOLD
Great God!





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Woe!





LEUTHOLD
I implore your protection!





TELL
I hear threats and complaining.





LEUTHOLD
William, fate overwhelms me,
I am pursued, I am not at all guilty;
yet I die if I do not escape at once:
there is only one way for my safety.





TELL
Your boat is there, fisherman, you hear him.





LEUTHOLD
It's useless;
he is as pitiless as the Governor.





TELL
He disregards Heaven's law,
he refuses you! Well then, follow me!





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS (coming nearer)
It is blood that the murder requires.
Woe to you, Leuthold!





TELL (to Leuthold)
Let's make haste, there they are.
Farewell.





HEDWIGE
You will perish.





TELL
Ah, never fear, Hedwige:
The perils are indeed great;
(pointing to the sky)
but God will lead him!
(Hedwige attempts to hold her husband back; Jemmy, for his part, seeks to follow his father. Tell entrusts them both to old Melchthal and, guiding Leuthold's unsteady steps, succeeds in getting him into the boat just as the soldiers are about to seize them both. The boat moves off at once.)





CHORUS OF VILLAGERS
God of goodness, God all-powerful,
confound the oppressor's rage!
Deign to protect from shipwreck
the defender of the innocent,
deign to protect the courage
of the defender of the innocent!





RODOLPHE
This is the hour of justice!





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
This is the hour of justice!





RODOLPHE
Woe to the murderer -





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Woe to the murderer -





RODOLPHE
Let him die!





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Let him die!





RODOLPHE
Let him die!





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Let him die!





CHORUS OF SWISS PEOPLE
God of goodness, God all-powerful, etc.
(The boat is seen approaching the opposite shore.)





JEMMY, HEDWIGE
He is saved!





RODOLPHE
What do I see? O fury!





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
He has made the fatal crossing.





HEDWIGE
I recognize God's handiwork.





JEMMY, MELCHTHAL
I recognize God's handiwork.





RODOLPHE
Their joy is a new outrage;
slaves, woe to you all!





JEMMY, MELCHTHAL (aside)
What insolence!
Why does not my age
serve my anger better?





CHORUS OF VILLAGERS
Over our heads the storm rumbles,
let's away, let's away!





RODOLPHE
Stay! There is more than one guilty person.
Who lent his help to the murderer?
Name the traitor - your lives are at stake.





JEMMY
They're going to talk...





HEDWIGE
They're going to talk...





JEMMY
... terror overwhelms them.





HEDWIGE
... terror overwhelms them.




RODOLPHE
(having the crowd rounded up by the soldiers)
Obey,
your lives are at stake.





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Your lives are at stake.





JEMMY, HEDWIGE. CHORUS OF VILLAGE WOMEN
(falling upon their knees)
Virgin, whom Christians adore,
hear our voices, they implore thee;
protect from the evil-doer's sword
Our/their husbands and our/their children!
Virgin, whom Christians, etc.





FISHERMAN
Our lives are at stake.
Ah, let us fear our tyrants, etc.





MELCHTHAL
Our lives are at stake!
I see them all trembling! etc.





CHORUS OF VILLAGE MEN
Our lives are at stake!
Ah, let us fear our tyrants! etc.





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Do you see them all trembling?
Your lives are at stake!
Do you see them all trembling? etc.





RODOLPHE
I see them all trembling.
Obey, obey,
Your lives are at stake! etc.





MELCHTHAL
We should have done as he did.
Friends, calm your terror,
he dared to act, do you dare to keep silent!





CHORUS OF VILLAGERS
He dares to act, let us dare to keep silent!





RODOLPHE
Tremble, tremble, name the traitor!





MELCHTHAL
Tell the tyrant that this soil
supports no informers.





RODOLPHE
Seize this daring fellow!
Seize this daring fellow
who defies my just fury.
Let the horror of devastation
and pillage
lie heavy
upon this shore!
Shame and misery
are the reward
that my wrath
bequeaths to misfortune!





JEMMY
If the horror of devastation
and pillage
lies heavy
upon this shore,
vile mercenary,
my father's bow
can shield us
from your fury!





JEMMY, HEDWIGE, FISHERMAN, MELCHTHAL, CHORUS OF VILLAGERS
If the horror of devastation
and pillage
lies heavy
upon this shore,
vile mercenary,
my/his father's bow
can shield us
from your fury.
We defy your fury! etc.





RODOLPHE
Let the horror of devastation
and pillage
lie heavy
upon this shore!
Ah, fear my rage! Yes! etc.





CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Let the horror of devastation
and pillage
lie heavy
upon this shore!
Shame and misery
are the reward
that my wrath
bequeaths to misfortune!





RODOLPHE
Let the horror, etc.





JEMMY
If the horror, etc.





JEMMY, HEDWIGE, FISHERMAN, MELCHTHAL, CHORUS OF SWISS PEOPLE
If the horror of devastation
and pillage, etc.
...we defy your fury!





RODOLPHE, CHORUS OF SOLDIERS
Let the horror of devastation
and pillage, etc.
... ah! fear my/his rage!
(The soldiers seize old Melchthal; the Swiss try to free him, but they are without arms and the old man is dragged off violently before their eyes. They try to follow him but a wall of halberds stops them. The curtain falls upon this scene.)