Рихард Вагнер
The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie. The Ring of the Niblung, part 1
DONNER
My hand sinks down.
FROH
My heart stands still.
LOGE
I have it: hear what ye lack!
Of Freia's fruit
Ye have not partaken to-day.
The golden apples
Within her garden
Restored you your strength and your youth,
Ate ye thereof each day.
The garden's guardian
In pledge has been given.
On the branches dries
And droops the fruit,
To drop soon and decay.
My loss is lighter,
For still did Freia,
Stingy to me,
Stint the delectable fruit.
Not half as godlike
Am I, ye high ones, as you!
[Freely, but quickly and harshly.
But ye trusted solely
To the fruit that makes young,
As well both the giants wist.
Your life they played for,
Plotted to take;
Contrive so that they fail.
Lacking the apples,
Old and worn,
Grey and weary,
Wasting, the scoff of the world,
The Gods must pine and pass.
FRICKA [Anxiously
Wotan, alas!
Unhappy man!
See what thy laughing
Lightness has brought us—
Scoff and scorn for all!
WOTAN [Coming to a sudden resolve, starts up.
Up, Loge,
And follow me!
To Nibelheim hastening downward,
I go in search of the gold.
LOGE
The Rhine-daughters
Thy aid invoked:
Not vainly they hoped for thy help then?
WOTAN [Angrily.
Fool, be silent!
Freia, the fair one—
Freia's ransom we go for.
LOGE
Where thou wouldst go
Gladly I lead.
Shall we dive
Sheer through the depths of the Rhine?
WOTAN
Not through the Rhine.
LOGE
Then swift let us swing
Through this smoky chasm.
Together, come, creep we in!
[He goes in front and vanishes at the side through a cleft, from which, immediately afterwards, sulphurous vapour streams forth.
WOTAN
Ye others wait
Till evening here;
The golden ransom
When got will again make us young.
[He descends after Loge into the chasm. The sulphurous vapour which rises from it spreads over the whole stage and quickly fills it with thick clouds. Those who remain behind are soon hidden.
DONNER
Fare thee well, Wotan!
FROH
Good luck! Good luck!
FRICKA
O come back soon
To thy sorrowing wife!
[The sulphurous vapour darkens till it becomes a black cloud, which rises upwards from below. This then changes to a dark, rocky cavern which keeps rising, so that the stage seems to sink deeper and deeper into the earth.
THIRD SCENE
From various points in the distance ruddy lights gleam out. An increasing clamour, as of smiths at work, is heard on all sides. The clang of the anvils dies away. A vast subterranean chasm becomes visible which seems to open into narrow gorges on all sides. Alberich drags the screaming Mime out of a side cleft.
ALBERICH
Héhé! Héhé!
Come here! Come here!
Mischievous dwarf!
Prettily pinched
Promptly thou'lt be
Hast thou not ready,
Wrought to my wish,
The dainty thing I desire!
MIME [Howling.
Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh!
Let me alone!
It is forged;
Heeding thy hest
I laboured hard
Till it was done!
Take but thy nails from my ear!
ALBERICH
Then why this delay
To show thy work?
MIME
I feared that something
Might still be wanting.
MIME, howling.
"Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh!"
ALBERICH
What is there to finish?
MIME [Embarrassed.
Here—and there–
ALBERICH
How here and there?
Hand me the thing!
[He tries to catch hold of his ear again. In his terror Mime drops a piece of metal-work which he has been clutching convulsively. Alberich picks it up hastily and examines it with care.
Rogue, observe!
See how all wrought is
Well finished and feat,
Done as desired!
The simpleton wants
Slyly to trick me
And keep by cunning
The wonderful work,
Though all his skill
Came alone from my craft.
Thou art discovered, thief.
[He puts the Tarnhelm on his head.
The helmet fits the head;
But will the spell prosper too?
[Very softly.
"Night and darkness,
Seen of none!"
[He vanishes, and a pillar of cloud takes his place.
Brother, canst see me?
MIME [Looks round in amaze.
Where art thou? I see no one.
ALBERICH [Invisible.
Then feel me instead,
Thou lazy scamp!
Take that for thy thievish thoughts!
MIME
[Writhes under the lathes he receives, the sound of which is heard without the whip being seen.
Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh! Oh!
ALBERICH [Invisible and laughing.
Ha! ha! ha!
Ha! ha! ha!
I thank thee, blockhead;
Thy work has stood the test.
Hoho! Hoho!
Nibelungs all
Bow now to Alberich!
For he is everywhere,
Waiting and watching;
Peace and rest
Are past for ever;
Ye must all serve him,
Though see him can none;
Where he cannot be spied
Look out for his coming;
None shall escape from his thraldom!
[Harshly.
Hoho! hoho!
Hearken, he nears:
The Nibelung's lord!
[The pillar of cloud disappears in the background. Alberich's scolding voice is heard more and more faintly. Mime lies huddled up in pain. Wotan and Loge come down through a cleft in the rock.
LOGE
Nibelheim here.
Through pale mists gleaming,
How bright yonder fiery sparks glimmer!
MIME
Oh! Oh! Oh!
WOTAN
I hear loud groans.
Who lies on the ground?
Mime writhes under the lashes he receives.
LOGE [Bends over Mime.
Why all this whimpering noise?
MIME
Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh!
LOGE
Hei, Mime! Merry dwarf!
Who beats and bullies thee so?
MIME
Leave me in peace, pray.
LOGE
So much is certain,
And more still. Hark!
Help I promise thee, Mime!
[He raises him with difficulty.
MIME
What help for me?
To do his bidding
My brother can force me,
For I am bound as his slave.
LOGE
But, Mime, how has he
Thus made thee his thrall?
MIME
By evil arts
Fashioned Alberich
A yellow ring,
From the Rhinegold forged,
At whose mighty magic
Trembling we marvel;
This spell puts in his power
The Nibelung hosts of night.
Happy we smiths
Moulded and hammered,
Making our women
Trinkets to wear—
Exquisite Nibelung toys—
And lightly laughed at our toil.
The rogue now compels us
To creep into caverns,
For him alone
To labour unthanked.
Through the golden ring
His greed can divine
Where untouched treasure
In hidden gorge gleams.
We still must keep spying,
Peering and delving:
Must melt the booty,
Which, molten, we forge
Without pause or peace,
To heap up higher his hoard.
LOGE
Just now, then, an idler
Roused him to wrath?
MIME
Poor Mime, ah!
My lot was the hardest.
I had to work,
Forging a helmet,
With strict instructions
How to contrive it;
And well I marked
The wondrous might
Bestowed by the helm
That from steel I wrought.
Hence I had gladly
Held it as mine,
And, by its virtue
Risen at last in revolt:
Perchance, yes, perchance
The master himself I had mastered,
And, he in my power, had wrested
The ring from him and used it
That he might serve me, the free man,
[Harshly
As now I must serve him, a slave!
LOGE
And wherefore, wise one,
Sped not the plan?
MIME
Ah! though the helm I fashioned,
The magic that lurks therein
I foolishly failed to divine.
He who set the task
And seized the fruits—
From him I have learnt,
Alas I but too late!
All the helmet's cunning craft.
From my sight he vanished,
But, viciously lashing,
Swung his arm through unseen.
[Howling and sobbing.
This, fool that I am,
Was all my thanks!
[He rubs his back. Wotan and Loge laugh.
LOGE [To Wotan.
Confess, our task
Will call for skill.
WOTAN
Yet the foe will yield,
Use thou but fraud.
MIME [Observes the Gods more attentively.
Who are you, ye strangers
That ask all these questions?
LOGE
Friends to thee,
Who from their straits
Will free all the Nibelung folk.
MIME [Shrinking back in fear when he hears Alberich returning.
Hark! Have a care!
Alberich comes!
[He runs to and fro in terror.
WOTAN
We'll wait for him here.
[He sits down calmly on a stone. Alberich, who has taken the Tarnhelm from his head and hung it on his girdle, is brandishing his scourge and driving before him a band of Nibelungs from the gorges below. These are laden with gold and silver treasure, which, urged on by Alberich, they pile up so as to form a large heap.
ALBERICH
Hither! Thither!
Héhé! Hoho!
Lazy herd!
Haste and heap
Higher the hoard.
Up with thee there!
On with thee here!
Indolent dolts,
Down with the treasure!
Need ye my urging?
Here with it all!
[He suddenly perceives Wotan and Loge.
Hey! Who are they
That thus intrude?
Mime! Come here!
Rascally rogue!
Gossiping art
With the pilgriming pair?
Off, thou idler!
Back to thy bellows and beating!
[Lashing Mime, he chases him into the crowd of Nibelungs.
Hey! to your labour!
Get ye all hence now!
Swing ye down swift!
From the virgin gorges
Get me the gold!
This whip will follow,
Delve ye not fast!
That labour ye shirk not
Mime be surety,
Or surely the lash
Of my whip will find him;
That where no one would guess
I watch and I wander,
None knows it better than he.
Loitering still?
Lingering there?
Alberich drives in a band of Nibelungs laden with gold and silver treasure.
[He pulls the ring from his finger, kisses it and stretches it out in menace.
Fear ye and tremble,
O fallen host,
And obey
The ring's dread lord!
[Howling and shrieking, the Nibelungs, among them Mime, scatter, and creep down into the clefts in all directions.
ALBERICH
[Looks long and distrustfully at Wotan and Loge.
What seek ye here?
WOTAN
From Nibelheim's gloomy realm
Strange tidings have travelled up,
Tales of wonders
Worked here by Alberich;
And, greedy of marvels,
Hither came we as guests.
ALBERICH
By envy urged,
Hither ye hie.
Such doughty guests
I do not mistake.
LOGE
Since I am known,
Ignorant elf,
Say then, with growling
Whom dost thou greet?
In caverns cold
Where once thou didst crouch,
Who gave thee light
And fire for thy comfort,
Had Loge not smiled on thee?
Or what hadst thou fashioned
Had not I heated thy forge?
I am thy kinsman
And once was kind:
Lukewarm, methinks, are thy thanks!
ALBERICH
On light-born elves
Laughs now Loge,
The crafty rogue:
Art thou, false one, their friend
As my friend thou wert once,
Haha! I laugh!
No harm from such need I fear.
LOGE
No cause then for thy distrust.
ALBERICH
I can trust thy falsehood,
Not thy good faith!
[Taking up a defiant attitude.
Yet I dare you all unflinching.
LOGE
'Tis thy might
That makes thee so bold;
Grimly great
Groweth thy power.
ALBERICH
Seest thou the hoard
Yonder heaped
High by my host?
LOGE
A richer one never was seen.
ALBERICH
A wretched pile
Is this to-day, though.
Boldly mounting,
'Twill be bigger henceforward.
WOTAN
But what is gained by the hoard
In joyless Nibelheim,
Where wealth finds nothing to buy?
ALBERICH
Treasure to gather
And treasure to garner—
Thereto Nibelheim serves.
But with the hoard
In the caverns upheaped
Wonders all wonder surpassing
Will I perform
And win the whole world and its fairness.
WOTAN
But, my friend, how compass that goal?
ALBERICH
Ye who live above and breathe
The balmy, sweet airs,
Love and laugh:
A hand of gold
Ere long, O ye Gods, will have gripped you!
As I forswore love, even so
No one alive
But shall forswear it;
By golden songs wooed,
For gold alone will his greed be.
On hills of delight
Your home is, where gladness
Softly lulls;
The dark elves
Ye despise, O deathless carousers!
Beware!
Beware!
For first your men
Shall bow to my might;
Then your women fair
Who my wooing spurned
The dwarf will force to his will,
Though frowned on by love.
[Laughing savagely.
Ha! ha! ha! ha!
Mark ye my word?
Beware!
Beware of the hosts of the night,
When rise shall the Nibelung hoard
From silent depths to the day!
WOTAN [Furiously.
Avaunt, impious fool!
ALBERICH
What says he?
LOGE [Stepping between them.
Cease from thy folly!
[To Alberich.
Who would gaze not in wonder,
Beholding Alberich's work?
If only thy skill can achieve
Everything hope has promised,
Almighty I needs must acclaim thee!
For moon and stars
And the sun in his glory,
Forced to do thee obeisance,
Even they must bow down.
But what would seem of most moment
Is that they who serve thee,
The Nibelung hosts,
Bow and bear no hate.
When thy hand held forth a ring
Thy folk were stricken with fear.
But in thy sleep
A thief might slip up
And steal slyly the ring.
Say, how wouldst thou save thyself then?
ALBERICH
Most shrewd to himself seems Loge;
Others always
Figure as fools.
If I had to ask for
Advice or aid
On bitter terms,
How happy the thief would be!
This helmet that hides
I schemed for myself,
And chose for its smith
Mime, finest of forgers.
I am now able
Swift to assume
Any form that I fancy,
Through the helm.
No one sees me,
Search as he will;
Though everywhere hidden,
I always am there.
So, fearing nothing,
Even from thee I am safe,
Most kind, careful of friends!
LOGE
I have met
Full many a marvel,
But one so wondrous
Have never known.
Achievement so matchless
Scarce can I credit.
Were this possible, truly
Thy might indeed were eternal.
ALBERICH
Dost thou believe
I lie, as would Loge?
LOGE
Till it is proved
I must suspect thy word.
ALBERICH
Puffed up with wisdom,
The fool will explode soon:
Of envy then die!
Decide to what I shall change;
In that form I shall stand.
LOGE
Nay, choose for thyself,
But strike me dumb with amaze.
ALBERICH [Puts the Tarnhelm on his head.
"Dragon dread,
Wreathe thou and wriggle!"
[He immediately disappears. An enormous serpent writhes on the floor in his place. It rears and threatens Wotan and Loge with its open jaws.
LOGE [Pretends to be terrified.
Ohé!
ALBERICH [Laughing.
Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!
LOGE
Ohé! Ohé!
Horrible dragon,
O swallow me not!
Spare the life of poor Loge!
WOTAN
Good, Alberich!
Well done, rascal!
How swiftly grew
The dwarf to the dragon immense!
[The dragon disappears and, in its stead, Alberich is again seen in his own shape.
ALBERICH
He he! Ye scoffers,
Are ye convinced?
"Ohé! Ohé!
Horrible dragon,
O swallow me not!
Spare the life of poor Loge!"
LOGE [In a trembling voice.
My trembling tells thee how truly.
A giant snake
Thou wert in a trice.
Having beheld,
I just credit the wonder.
Couldest thou turn
To something quite tiny
As well as bigger?
Methinks that way were best
For slyly slipping from foes;
That, though, I fear were too hard!
ALBERICH
For thee, yes;
Thou art so dull!
How small shall I be?
LOGE
The most cramped of crannies must hold thee
That hides the timorous toad.
ALBERICH
Nothing simpler!
Look at me now!
[He puts the Tarnhelm on his head again.
"Crooked toad,
Creep and crawl there!"
[He vanishes. The Gods see a toad on the rocks creeping towards them.
LOGE [To Wotan.
Quick and catch it!
Capture the toad!
[Wotan sets his foot on the toad. Loge makes a dash at its head and holds the Tarnhelm in his hand.
ALBERICH
[Is suddenly seen in his own shape writhing under Wotan's foot.
Ohé! I'm caught!
My curse upon them!
LOGE
Hold him fast
Till he is bound.
[Loge binds his hands and feet with a rope.
Now swiftly up!
Then he is ours.
[Both seize hold of the prisoner, who struggles violently, and drag him towards the shaft by which they descended. They disappear mounting upwards.
FOURTH SCENE
The scene has changed as before, only in reverse order. Open space on mountain heights. The prospect is veiled by pale mist as at the end of the second scene. Wotan and Loge climb up out of the cavern, bringing with them Alberich bound.
LOGE
Here, kinsman,
Thou canst sit down!
Friend, look round thee;
There lies the world
That was thine for the winning, thou fool!
What corner, say,
Wilt give to me for my stall?
[He dances round Alberich, snapping his fingers.
ALBERICH
Infamous robber!
Thou knave! Thou rogue!
Loosen the rope,
Set me at large,
Or dear for this outrage shalt answer!
WOTAN
My captive art thou,
Caught and in fetters.
As thou hadst fain
Subdued the world
And all that the world containeth,
Thou liest bound at my feet,
And, coward, canst not deny it.
A ransom alone
Shall loose thee from bondage.
ALBERICH
Ah, the dolt,
The dreamer I was,
To trust blindly
The treacherous thief!
Fearful revenge
Shall follow this wrong!
LOGE
Vain talk this of vengeance
Before thy freedom is won.
To a man in bonds
No free man expiates outrage.
If vengeance thou dreamest,
Dream of the ransom
First without further delay!
[He shows him the kind of ransom by snapping his fingers.
ALBERICH
Declare then your demands.
WOTAN
The hoard and thy gleaming gold.
ALBERICH
Pack of unscrupulous thieves!
[Aside.
If I only can keep the ring,
The hoard I can lightly let go,
For anew I could win it
And add to its worth
By the powerful spell of the ring.
If as warning it serves
To make me more wise,
The warning will not have been lost,
Even though lost may be the gold.
WOTAN
Wilt yield up the hoard?
ALBERICH
Loosen my hand
To summon it here.
[Loge frees his right hand.
ALBERICH
[Touches the ring with his lips and secretly murmurs the command.
Behold the Nibelungs
Hither are called;
I can hear them coming,
Bid by their lord,
With the hoard from the depths to the day.
Now loosen these burdensome bonds.
WOTAN
Nay, first in full thou must pay.
[The Nibelungs come up out of the cleft laden with the objects of which the hoard is composed.
ALBERICH
O bitter disgrace
That my shrinking bondsmen
Should see me captive and bound!
[To the Nibelungs.
Lay it down there,
As ye are bid!
In a heap
Pile up the hoard.
Must I aid, idlers?
No spying at me!
Haste there! Haste!
Then get ye gone quickly.
Hence to your work.
Home to your gorges!
Let the sluggards beware,
For I follow hard at your heels!
[He kisses the ring and holds it out with an air of command. As struck with a blow, the Nibelungs press terrified and cowering towards the cleft, down which they hastily disappear.
ALBERICH
The price is paid;
Let me depart!
And that helm of mine
Which Loge still holds,
That also pray give me again!
LOGE
[Throwing the Tarnhelm on to the heap.
The plunder must pay for the pardon.
ALBERICH
Accursed thief!
But patience! Calm!
He who moulded the one
Makes me another;
Still mine is the might
That Mime obeys.
Loath indeed
Am I to leave
My cunning defence to the foe!
Nothing Alberich
Owns at all now;
Unbind, ye tyrants, his bonds!
LOGE [To Wotan.
Ought I to free him?
Art thou content?
WOTAN
A golden ring
Girdles thy finger:
Hearest, elf?
That also belongs to the hoard.
ALBERICH [Horrified.
The ring?
WOTAN
The ring must also
Go to the ransom.
ALBERICH [Trembling.
My life—but the ring: not that!
WOTAN [With greater violence.
The ring I covet;
For thy life I care not at all.
ALBERICH
But if my life I ransom
The ring I must also rescue
Hand and head,
Eye and ear
Are not mine more truly
Than mine is the ruddy ring!
WOTAN
The ring thou claimest as thine?
Impudent elf, thou art raving.
Tell the truth;
Whence was gotten the gold
To fashion the glittering gaud?
How could that be
Thine which reft was,
Thou rogue, from watery deeps?
To the Rhine's fair daughters
Down and inquire
If the gold
Was as gift to thee given
That thou didst thieve for the ring!
ALBERICH
Vile double-dealing!
Shameless deceit!
Wouldst thou, robber,
Reproach in me
The sin so sweet to thyself?
How fain thou hadst
Bereft the Rhine of its gold,
If it had been
As easy to forge as to steal!
How well for thee,
Thou unctuous knave,
That the Nibelung, stung
By shameful defeat,
And by fury driven,
Was fired into winning the spell
That now alluringly smiles!
Shall I, bliss debarred,
Anguish-burdened
Because of the
Curse-laden deed,
My ring as a toy
Grant to princes for pleasure,
My ban bringing blessing to thee?
Have a care,
Arrogant God!
My sin was one
Concerning myself alone:
But against all that was,
Is and shall be
Thou wouldst wantonly sin,
Eternal one, taking the ring.
WOTAN
Yield the ring!
Thy foolish talk
Gives no title to that.
[He seizes Alberich and draws the ring from his finger by force.
ALBERICH [With a frightful cry.
Woe! Defeated! Undone!
Of wretches the wretchedest slave!
WOTAN [Contemplating the ring.
I own what makes me supreme,
The mightiest lord of all lords!
[He puts on the ring.
LOGE [To Wotan.
Shall he go free?
WOTAN
Loose his bonds.
LOGE [Sets Alberich quite free.
Slip away home,
For no fetter binds thee!
Fare forth, thou art free!
ALBERICH [Raising himself with furious laughter.
Am I now free,
Free in truth?
My freedom's first
Greeting take, for it is thine!
As a curse gave me the ring,
My curse go with the ring!
As its gold
Gave measureless might,
May now its magic
Deal death evermore!
No man shall gain
Gladness therefrom;
May ill-fortune befall him
On whom it shines.
Fretted by care
Be he who shall hold it,
And he who doth not,
By envy be gnawed!
All shall covet
And crave its wealth,
Yet none shall it profit
Or pay when won.
Those who guard it nothing shall gain,
Yet shall murder go where they go.
The coward, death-doomed,
By fetters of fear shall be bound;
His whole life long
He shall languish to death—
The ring's proud lord
And its poorest slave—
Till again I have
In my hand the gold I was robbed of.
So blesses
The Nibelung
The ring in bitter despair!
Hold fast to it!
[Laughing.
Keep it with care;
[Grimly.
From my curse none shall escape!
[He vanishes quickly through the cleft. The thick mist in the foreground gradually clears away.
LOGE
Hadst thou ears
For his fond farewell?
WOTAN [Left in contemplation of the ring.
Grudge him not vent to his spleen!
[It keeps growing lighter.
LOGE [Looking to the right.
Fasolt and Fafner
Come from afar
Bringing Freia again.
[Through the vanishing mist Donner, Froh, and Fricka appear, and hasten towards the foreground.
FROH
The giants return.
DONNER
Be greeted, brother!
FRICKA [Anxiously to Wotan.
Dost bring joyful tidings?
LOGE [Pointing to the hoard.
By fraud and by force
We have prevailed:
There Freia's ransom lies.
DONNER
From the giant's grasp
Freed comes the fair one.
FROH
How sweetly the air
Fans us again!
Balmy delights
Steal soft through each sense!
Sad, forlorn had our lot been,
For ever severed from her
Who gives us youth everlasting,
And bliss triumphant o'er pain.
[Fasolt and Fafner enter, leading Freia between them. Fricka hastens joyfully towards her sister. The foreground has become quite bright again, the light restoring to the aspect of the Gods its original freshnesh. The background, however, is still veiled by the mist so that the distant castle remains invisible.
FRICKA
Sweetest of sisters!
Lovely delight!
Once more for mine have I won thee!
FASOLT [Keeping her off
Hold! Touch her not yet!
Freia still is ours.
On Riesenheim's
Rampart of rock
Resting we stayed.
The pledge we held
In our hands we used
Loyally.
With deep regret,
I bring her back now
In case ye brothers
Can ransom her.
WOTAN
Prepared lies the ransom;
Mete out the gold,
Giving generous measure.
FASOLT
In truth it grieves me
Greatly the woman to lose;
And that my heart may forget her
Ye must heap the hoard,
Pile it so high
That it shall hide
The blossom-sweet maid from mine eyes!
WOTAN
Be Freia's form
The gauge of the gold.
[Freia is placed in the middle by the two giants, who then stick their staves into the ground in front of her so that her height and breadth is indicated.
FAFNER
Our staves give the measure
Of Freia's form;
Thus high now heap ye the hoard.
WOTAN
On with the work:
Irksome I find it!
LOGE
Help me, Froh!
FROH
I will end
Freia's dishonour.
[Loge and Froh heap up the treasure hastily between the staves.
FAFNER
Let the pile
Less loosely be built;
Firm and close
Pack ye the gauge!
[He presses down the treasure with rude strength; he bends down to look for gaps.
I still can see through;
Come, fill up the crannies!
LOGE
Hands off, rude fellow!
Touch nothing here!
FAFNER
Come here! This gap must be closed!
WOTAN [Turning away angrily.
Deep in my breast
Burns the disgrace!
FRICKA
See how in shame
Beautiful Freia stands;
For release she asks,
Dumb, with sorrowful eyes.
Heartless man!
The lovely one owes this to thee!
FAFNER
Still more! Pile on still more.
DONNER
My patience fails;
Mad is the wrath
Roused by this insolent rogue!
Come hither, hound!
Measure must thou?
Thy strength then measure with mine!
FAFNER
Softly, Donner!
Roar where it serves;
Thy roar is impotent here.
DONNER [Lunging out at him.
It will crush thee to thy cost, rogue.
WOTAN
Calm thyself!
Methinks that Freia is hid.
LOGE
The hoard is spent.
FAFNER
[Measures the hoard carefully with his eye, and looks to see if there are any crevices.
Still shines to me Holda's hair.
Yonder thing, too,
Throw on the hoard!
LOGE
Even the helm?
FAFNER
Make haste! Here with it!
WOTAN
Let it go also!
LOGE [Throws the Tarnhelm on the heap.
At last we have finished.
Have ye enough now?
FASOLT
Freia, the fair,
Is hidden for aye!
The price has been paid.
Ah, have I lost her?
[He goes up to the hoard and peers through it.
Sadly shine
Her eyes on me still,
Like stars they beam
Softly on me;
Still through this chink
I look on their light.
[Beside himself.
While her sweet eyes I behold thus,
From the woman how can I part?
FAFNER
Hey! Come hither,
And stop me this cranny!
LOGE
Greedy grumblers!
Can ye not see
The gold is all gone?
FAFNER
Not the whole, friend!
On Wotan's finger
Shines a golden ring still;
Give that to close up the crevice!
WOTAN
What! Give my ring?
LOGE
Be ye counselled!
The Rhine-Maidens
Must have the gold;
Wotan will give them what theirs is.
FAFNER.
"Hey! Come hither,
And stop me this cranny!"
WOTAN
What nonsense is this?
The ring I won so hardly,
Undismayed I hold and will keep.
LOGE
Broken then
Must be the promise
I gave the maidens who grieved.
WOTAN
By thy promise I am not bound;
As booty mine is the ring.
FAFNER
Not so. The ring
Must go with the ransom.
WOTAN
Boldly ask what ye will:
It shall be granted;
But not for all
The world would I give you the ring.
FASOLT [Furious, pulls Freia from behind the hoard.
All is off!
The bargain stands:
Fair Freia ours is for ever!
FREIA
Help me! Help me!
FRICKA
Heartless God,
Grant it! Give way!
FROH
Keep not the gold back!
DONNER
Give them the ring too!
WOTAN
Let me alone!
I hold to the ring.
[Fafner stops Fasolt as he is hastening off. All stand dismayed; Wotan turns from them in anger. The stage has grown dark again. From a cleft in the rock on one side issues a bluish flame in which Erda suddenly becomes visible, rising so that her upper half is seen.
ERDA [Stretching out a warning hand towards Wotan.
Yield it, Wotan! Yield it!
Flee the ring's dread curse!
Awful
And utter disaster
It will doom thee to.
WOTAN
What woman woe thus foretells?
ERDA
All things that were I know,
And things that are;
All things that shall be
I foresee.
The endless world's
Ur-Wala,
Erda, bids thee beware.
Ere the earth was,
Of my womb born
Were daughters three;
And my knowledge
Nightly the Norns tell to Wotan.
Now summoned by
Danger most dire,
I myself come.
Hearken! Hearken! Hearken!
All things will end shortly;
And for the Gods
Dark days are dawning!
Be counselled; keep not the ring!
[Erda sinks slowly as far as the breast, while the bluish light grows fainter.
WOTAN
A mystic might
Rang in thy words.
Tarry, and tell me further.
ERDA [Disappearing.
Thou hast been warned;
Enough dost know;
Weigh my words with fear!
[She vanishes completely.
"Erda bids thee beware"
WOTAN
If thus doomed to foreboding—
I must detain thee
Till all is answered!
[Wotan is about to follow Erda in order to detain her. Froh and Fricka throw themselves in his way and prevent him.
FRICKA
What meanest thou, madman?
FROH
Go not, Wotan!
Fear thou the warner,
Heed her words well!
[Wotan gazes thoughtfully before him.
DONNER [Turning to the giants with a resolute air.
Hark, ye giants!
Come back and wait still!
The gold we give you also.
FRICKA
Ah, dare I hope it?
Deem ye Holda
Worthy of such a price?
[All look at Wotan in suspense; he, rousing himself from deep thought, grasps his spear and swings it in token of having come to a bold decision.
WOTAN
To me, Freia,
For thou art free!
Bought back for aye,
Youth everlasting, return!
Here, giants, take ye the ring!
[He throws the ring on the hoard. The giants release Freia; she hastens joyfully to the Gods, who caress her in turns for a space, with every manifestation of delight.
FASOLT [To Fafner.
Hold there, greedy one!
Grant me my portion!
Honest division
Best for both is.
FAFNER
More on the maid than the gold
Thou wert set, love-sick fool,
And much against
Thy will the exchange was.
Sharing not, Freia
Thou wouldst have wooed for thy bride;
Sharing the gold,
It is but just
That the most of it should be mine.
FASOLT
Infamous thief!
Taunts? And to me!
[To the Gods.
Come judge ye between us;
Halve ye the hoard
As seems to you just!
[Wotan turns away in contempt.
Let him have the treasure;
Hold to what matters: the ring!
FASOLT
[Falls upon Fafner, who has meanwhile been steadily packing up the treasure.
Back, brazen rascal!
Mine is the ring.
I lost for it Freia's smile.
[He snatches haply at the ring.
Off with thy hands!
The ring is mine.
[There is a struggle. Fasolt tears the ring from Fafner.
FASOLT
I hold it. It is mine now!
FAFNER
Hold fast, lest it should fall!
[Lunging out with his stave, he fells Fasolt to the ground with one blow; from the dying man he then hastily tears the ring.
Now feast upon Freia's smile:
No more shalt thou touch the ring!
[He puts the ring into the sack and tranquilly continues to pack up the rest of the hoard. All the Gods stand horrified. A solemn silence.
Fafner kills Fasolt.
WOTAN
Dread indeed
I find is the curse's might.
LOGE
Unmatched, Wotan,
Surely thy luck is!
Great thy gain was
In getting the ring;
But the gain of its loss
Is gain greater still:
There thy foemen, see,
Slaughter thy foes
For the gold thou hast let go.
WOTAN
Dark forebodings oppress me!
Care and fear
Fetter my soul;
Erda must teach me,
Tell how to end them:
To her I must descend.
FRICKA [Caressing and coaxing him.
Why linger, Wotan?
Beckon they not,
The stately walls,
Waiting to offer
Welcome kind to their lord?
WOTAN [Gloomily.
With wage accurst
Paid was their cost.
DONNER [Pointing to the background, which is still enveloped in mist.
Heavily mists
Hang in the air;
Gloomy, wearisome
Is their weight!
The wan-visaged clouds
Charged with their storms I will gather,
And sweep the blue heavens clean.
[Donner mounts a high rock on the edge of the precipice, and swings his hammer; during what follows the mists gather round him.
Hey da! Hey da! Hey do!
To me, O ye mists!
Ye vapours, to me!
Donner, your lord,
Summons his hosts!
[He swings his hammer.
To my hammer's swing
Hitherward sweep
Vapours and fogs!
Hovering mists!
Donner, your lord, summons his hosts!
Hey da! Hey da! Hey do!
[Donner disappears completely in a thunder-cloud which has been growing darker and denser. The stroke of his hammer is heard falling heavily on the rock. A vivid flash of lightning comes from the cloud, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Froh has also disappeared in the cloud.
DONNER [Invisible.
Brother, to me!
Show them the way by the bridge!
[Suddenly the clouds roll away. Donner and Froh become visible. A rainbow of dazzling radiance stretches from their feet across the valley to the castle, which is gleaming in the light of the setting sun.
FROH
[Who, with outstretched hand, indicates to the Gods that the bridge is the way across the valley.
Lo, light, yet securely,
Leads the bridge to your halls.
Undaunted tread;
Without danger the road!
[Wotan and the other Gods stand speechless, lost in contemplation of the glorious sight.
"To my hammer's swing
