"Hear ye, counts, nobles and freemen of Brabant!" "Heinrich, King of the Germans, has come to this place to confer with you according to the law of the realm." "Do you willingly obey his command?" "We willingly obey his command." "Welcome, welcome," "O King, to Brabant!" "God greet you, worthy men of Brabant!" "Not for nothing have I journeyed here to you!" "I come to remind you of the Empire's plight!" "Must I first tell of the scourge that has so often visited German soil from the east?" "In the furthest marches of the realm you bade women and children pray:" ""Dear Lord,"" ""save us from the wrath of the Hungarians!"" "But it was I, head of the Empire, who saw fit to plan an end to such dreadful humiliation." "Victory in battle brought me peace for nine years - this I used to protect the Empire;" "I ordered fortified towns and castles to be built and used the levy as a resistance army." "But now this period is over, the taxes are being denied us - and with threats the enemy is arming itself." "Now it is time to defend the Empire's honour." "East and west, to all I say:" "let every acre of German soil put forth troops of soldiers." "Never again shall anyone abuse the German Empire!" "Let us away!" "With God for the honour of the German Empire!" "I come to you now, men of Brabant, to summon you to Mainz, there to join the troops." "How grieved and saddened I am to see that without a prince you live in discord!" "I am told of confusion and wild feuding;" "thus I call on you," "Friedrich of Telramund!" "I know you to be a man of the highest virtue." "Speak now, that I may know the reason for this strife." "I thank you, O King, for having come to pass judgement!" "I speak the truth, being incapable of deception." "The Duke of Brabant lay upon his deathbed when he assigned his children to my care," "Elsa, the girl, and Gottfried, the boy." "Faithfully I tended his great youth." "His life was the jewel of my honour." "Imagine, O King, my grim sorrow when I was robbed of this my honour's jewel!" "One day Elsa took the boy to the wood for a walk but she returned without him." "Feigning concern, she asked after her brother for, having strayed a little from his side, she could not, so she said, find him again." "All attempts to find the lost youth proved futile." "When I pressed Elsa with threats, her pale trembling and apprehension proved to us her terrible crime." "I was seized with a horror of the girl." "The right to her hand, granted me by her father, I willingly renounced there and then and took instead a wife who pleased me:" "Ortrud, scion of Radbod, Prince of Frisia." "Now I bring a charge against Elsa of Brabant." "I accuse her of fratricide." "And I rightfully claim this land for myself since I am next in line to the Duke, and my wife is of the house that once gave its princes to these lands." "You hear the charge, O King!" "Pass rightful judgement!" "Ha, Telramund charges her with a dreadful crime!" "How this accusation fills me with horror!" "What a fearful charge you utter!" "How could such a crime be possible?" "My lord, rapt in dreams is the vain girl who so arrogantly spurned my hand." "Thus do I accuse her of a secret amour." "She clearly thought that, once rid of her brother, she as Duchess of Brabant could rightfully refuse the vassal her hand and openly tend her secret lover." "Call the accused!" "Let the trial commence!" "May God grant me wisdom!" "Shall the trial be held in this place by might and right?" "May I remain unprotected by this shield until I have passed harsh and compassionate judgement!" "May the sword not return to the scabbard until it sees justice done through judgement!" "Where the King's shield hangs, there shall you now see justice done through judgement!" "Thus do I call loudly and clearly:" "Elsa, appear at this place!" "Behold!" "The accused approaches!" "Ah!" "How resplendent, how pure she looks!" "He who dared make such an accusation against her" "must be quite sure of her guilt!" "Are you" "Elsa of Brabant?" "Do you recognize me as your judge?" "Then I further ask you:" "are you aware of the serious charge brought against you here?" "What have you to say against the charge?" "So you admit that you are guilty?" "My poor brother!" "How strange!" "What peculiar behaviour!" "Speak, Elsa!" "What have you to confide to me?" "Lonely, in troubled days I prayed to the Lord." "My most heartfelt grief I poured out in prayer." "And from my groans there issued a plaintive sound that grew into a mighteous roar as it echoed through the skies." "I listened as it receded into the distance until my ear could scarce hear it." "My eyes closed and I fell into a deep sleep." " How extraordinary!" "is she dreaming?" "is she enraptured?" " Elsa, defend yourself before the court!" "In splendid, shining armour a knight approached, a man of such pure virtue as I had never seen before:" "a golden horn at his side, leaning on a sword - thus he appeared to me from nowhere, this warrior true." "With kindly gestures he gave me comfort." "I will wait for the knight." "He shall be my champion!" "May the grace of heaven preserve us that we may clearly see who is guilty here!" "Friedrich, you honourable man, think carefully, whom are you accusing?" "Her dreamy state deceives me not." "You hear how she raves about a lover!" "I have sound reason to make the accusation I do." "Her crime was reliably testified." "Yet to have to dispel your doubts with a witness would truly offend my pride!" "Here am I, here is my sword." "Who of you dares fight against my honour?" "None of us!" "We will only fight for you!" "And you, O King!" "Do you remember how I have served you, how I defeated the wild Dane in battle?" "Heaven forbid that I should need you to remind me!" "I freely admit that you are of the highest virtue." "In nobody's possession but yours would I wish to know Brabant." "God alone must decide in this matter!" "Ordeal by battle!" "Let it begin!" "I ask you, Friedrich, Count of Telramund!" "Do you agree to a fight to the death, to defend your honour in an ordeal by battle?" "Yes!" "And now I ask you, Elsa of Brabant!" "Do you agree to let a fight to the death take place here, to let a champion represent you in an ordeal by battle?" "Yes!" "Whom do you choose to be your champion?" "Learn now the name of her lover!" "Pay heed!" "I will wait for the knight." "He shall be my champion!" "Hear what reward I offer the one sent by God:" "in my father's lands he shall wear the crown." "I shall consider myself happy if he takes my possessions." "If he wishes to call me spouse l shall give him all that I am!" "A wondrous prize, were it God's to give!" "He who fights for it would be wagering a great deal!" "It is already midday." "The sun stands at its zenith." "It is time." "Let the call go forth!" "Let him who has come to fight in the trial by combat for Elsa of Brabant come forward, come forward!" "The call has died away unanswered!" "Behold, did I accuse her falsely?" " Things do not bode well for her!" " l have right on my side!" "I beseech you, beloved King, one more call to my knight!" "He is surely a long way off and could not hear." "Send out one more call to the trial!" "Let him who has come to fight in the trial by combat for Elsa of Brabant come forward, come forward!" "In dismal silence God passes judgement!" "You carried my lament to him." "He came to me at your command." " O Lord, tell my knight now" " Lord!" "Send her help!" " to help me in my need!" " Lord God!" "Hear us!" "Let me see him now as I saw him then, as I saw him then, let him be near me!" "Behold!" "Behold!" "What strange and wondrous thing is this!" "A swan?" "A swan is pulling a barque towards us!" "A knight is standing upright in it!" "How his armour shines!" "The eye is dazzled by such splendour!" "A swan is pulling a barque towards us!" "Behold, it is coming ever closer!" "A knight in it nears the shore!" "He is coming ever closer!" "A knight and a swan!" "What strange and wondrous thing!" "Behold!" "There!" "The swan is pulling on a golden chain!" "A miracle!" "A miracle has happened, a miracle never before seen or heard!" "We thank you, Lord our God, for protecting this weak woman!" "Greetings, you God-sent hero!" "Greetings, God-sent man!" "I thank you, my dear swan!" "Go back across the waters to whence your boat brought me." "Return again only to bring us happiness!" "Thus will you have carried out your duty faithfully!" "Farewell!" "Farewell, my dear swan!" "What sweet and blissful trembling comes over us!" "What blessed power holds us spellbound!" "How fair and noble to behold is he whom such a miracle brought ashore!" "Hail, King Heinrich!" "May God's blessing be with your sword!" "May your great and glorious name never vanish from this earth!" "I thank you!" "Do I rightly recognize the power that brought you to this land?" "Do you come to us as one sent by God?" "To stand in combat for a maiden accused of a great crime is why I have been sent." "Now let me see whether I am right in coming to her." "Speak then, Elsa of Brabant:" "If I am appointed as your champion will you without fear or trepidation entrust yourself to my protection?" "My knight, my saviour!" "Take me to you;" "I give to you all that I am!" "If I win this fight for you do you wish me to become your husband?" "As surely as I lie at your feet so will I freely give you my body and soul." "Elsa, if I am to become your husband, if I am to protect country and people for you, if nothing is ever to take me from you, then you must promise me one thing:" "never shall you ask me nor trouble yourself to know whence I journeyed, what my name is or what my origin!" "Never, my lord, shall the question come to me!" "Elsa!" "Do you understand what I am saying?" "Never shall you ask me nor trouble yourself to know whence I journeyed, what my name is or what my origin!" "My protector!" "My angel!" "My redeemer, who firmly believes in my innocence!" "What crime of doubt could be greater than that which would rob you of credence?" "As truly as you protect me in my need so shall I faithfully honour your command!" "Elsa!" "I love you!" "What wondrous thing do I see?" "Has a spell been cast over me?" "I feel my heart fail at the sight of this noble, blessed man!" "Hear ye!" "To all of you, people and nobles alike, I now proclaim:" "Elsa of Brabant is free of all guilt!" "That your charge was false, Count of Telramund, will now be shown to you through God's judgement!" "Stand down from the fight!" "If you risk it, you will never win!" "He is protected by the highest power, so of what use is your brave sword?" "Stand down!" "We your loyal friends beseech you!" "Defeat, bitter remorse awaits you!" "Sooner dead than a coward!" "I know not what magic brought you here, stranger, who stands so bold before me but your arrogant threats will never stir me for l am not wont to lie." "Thus I will take up the fight with you and hope for rightful victory!" "Command the fight, O King!" "Come forward, three men for each combatant, and measure off the battle ring!" "Hear me, listen carefully:" "let no man disturb this fight!" "Keep away from the battle ring for if anyone disrespects the law of peace, if freeman, he shall pay with his hand, if serf, he shall pay with his head!" "If freeman, he shall pay with his hand, if serf, he shall pay with his head!" "Hear ye likewise, combatants to be judged!" "Faithfully respect the law of battle!" "Let not the deceit and cunning of magic spoil the nature of the ordeal!" "God will pass rightful judgement, so trust in him, not in your own strength!" "God will pass rightful judgement on me, so I shall trust in him, not in my own strength!" "My Lord and God, I call upon you" "to be present at this fight!" "Proclaim through the sword's victory a verdict that clearly shows what is deceit and what is truth!" "May he who is innocent fight with the arm of a hero, and may he who is false be sapped of strength!" "So help us God in this hour for our wisdom is but folly!" " You will now make known your judgement, - l rely on his strength." " my Lord and God, thus I hesitate not." " Wherever he fights, he is victorious." " My Lord and God, I call upon you!" " l come before you to receive judgement!" "Dear Lord, abandon not my honour!" "Make known your true judgement!" "May he who is innocent fight with the arm of a hero," " and may he who is false be sapped of strength." " My Lord, O my God!" "So help us God in this hour" " for our wisdom is but folly!" " Give him your blessing!" "Make known your true judgement," " O Lord our God, do not hesitate!" " Lord my God!" "Through God's victory your life is now mine:" "I will spare it you." "May you devote it to repentance!" "Victory!" "Victory!" "Victory!" "All hail to you!" "Would that I could find tunes of jubilation equal to your glory, worthily to laud you, tunes rich in the highest praise!" "In you I must melt away, before you I fade into nothingness." "That I may be blissfully happy, take all that I am!" "Ring out, tune of victory, greet the hero with the highest praise!" "Glory be to your journey!" "Praise be to your coming!" "Hail to your origin, protector of the meek!" "Glory be to your journey!" "Hail to your origin!" "You have defended the right of the meek." "Praise be to your coming, hail to your origin!" "We sing the praises of you alone," " our songs ring out to you!" " Who is it that beat him?" " Never again will a knight of your stature..." " Over whom I am powerless?" "...return to these lands!" "I gained victory through your innocence alone;" "now you shall be richly rewarded for all that you have suffered!" "Who is it that beat him, over whom I am powerless?" "Will this man reduce me to despair?" "Are all my hopes no more?" "Praise be to your journey!" "Praise be to your coming!" "Hail to you!" "Hail to your origin!" "Arise, companion of my shame!" "Daybreak must not find us here." "I cannot go." "I am bound here as if by a spell." "From the splendour of this, our enemy's feast," "let me suck a terrible, deadly poison that will end our shame and their joy." "O fearful woman, what spell binds me to you still?" "Why do I not leave you be and run away, away to where my conscience might find peace again!" "Through you I lost my honour, all my glory;" "never again shall praise adorn me, my knighthood is but shame!" "I am condemned as an outlaw, my sword lies smashed, my coat of arms broken, and cursed is the house of my fathers!" "Wherever I turn I am shunned, condemned;" "lest he be defiled by my countenance, even the robber flees me!" "Would that I had chosen death for l am so wretched!" "I have lost my honour, my honour, my honour is no more!" "What drives you to such wild lament?" "I've been robbed of the weapon with which I would strike you down!" "Peace-loving Count of Telramund!" "Why do you mistrust me?" "You dare ask me?" "Was it not your evidence, your word that lured me into accusing the innocent one?" "Did you not lie to me, saying that from your wild castle your own eyes bore witness to the crime, carried out in the dark wood around you, that you saw Elsa herself drown her brother in the pond there?" "Did you not ensnare my proud heart by prophesying that the ancient House of Radbod would blossom anew and rule in Brabant?" "Did you not induce me to renounce the hand of Elsa, the innocent one, and take you for my wife because you are the last in the Radbod line?" "Ah, your words cut me to the quick!" "Yes, I said and testified all this to you!" "And did you not make me, whose name was esteemed, a man of the highest virtue, the shameful companion of your lies?" "Who lied?" "You!" "Did God not pass judgement and punish me for having done so?" "God?" "Oh, horror!" "How dreadful his name sounds from your lips!" "Ah, do you call your cowardice God?" " Ortrud!" " Do you mean to threaten me?" "Me, a woman?" "Oh, you coward!" "Had you but addressed such grim threats to him who now sends you into the misery of exile, you would have bought victory for ignominy!" "Ha, he who knew how to match him would find him weaker than a child!" "The weaker he was, the greater the might of God in battle!" "The might of God?" "Ha, ha!" "Give me the power and I will surely show you what a weak god it is" "that protects him." "O wild seer, do you mean by secret means to enchant my reason anew?" "The revellers have lain down to sumptuous rest." "Sit down beside me!" "The hour has come for my prophetic eye to enlighten you!" "Do you know who this knight is who was brought ashore by a swan?" "No!" "What would you give to find out if I told you that, were he forced to reveal his name and origin, that strength would vanish that is granted him by magic alone?" "Ha!" "Now I understand his interdict!" "Listen!" "Nobody here has the power to draw that secret from him, save she whom he so strongly forbade ever to ask him the question." "So Elsa must be brought to the point where she asks him the question?" "Ha, how quickly, how well you take my meaning!" "But how can that be done?" "Listen!" "The most important thing is not to flee this place;" "so use your wit!" "To arouse just suspicion in her, come forward and accuse him of having used magic to confound the trial!" "Ha!" "Deception and the cunning of magic!" "Should this fail, there is always the possibility of using force!" "Force?" "Not for nothing am I versed in the darkest of arts;" "so heed what I say to you!" "Every creature that is made strong by magic, should but the smallest part of its body be torn off, will immediately show itself to be powerless" " as it really is." " Ha, were that true!" "Had you but cut off a finger during the fight, even just the joint of a finger, the knight would have been in your power!" "Oh, horror!" "Ha, what is this I hear!" "I imagined myself to have been beaten by God, but the trial was confounded by deception." "Through magic's cunning I lost my honour!" "But I could avenge my shame, I could prove my honesty?" "I could smash the lover's deception and win back my honour?" "O woman, whom I see before me in the night, if you are deceiving me again, woe betide you!" "Woe!" "Ha, how you rave!" "Be calm and collected!" "I will teach you the sweet delights of revenge!" "May the work of revenge be conjured up from the wild night of my breast!" "You who are lost in sweet sleep know that disaster awaits you!" "Ye heavens, so oft filled with my sad laments, now I must gratefully tell you of the happiness that is mine!" " lt is she!" " Elsa!" "He came through you." "You smiled on his journey." "On wild ocean waves you faithfully preserved him." "She shall curse the hour in which I now behold her face!" "To dry my tears I have oft implored you;" "cool now my cheek, which burns with love!" "Away!" "Leave this place awhile!" " Why?" " She is for me." "Her knight is yours!" "Cool now" "this my cheek," "which burns with love." "With love!" "Elsa!" "Who calls?" "How plaintive is the sound of my name as it rings out through the night?" "Elsa!" "is my voice so strange to you?" "Will you completely disown the poor creature whom you are casting into the furthest reaches of exile?" "Ortrud!" "is that you?" "What are you doing here, unfortunate woman?" ""Unfortunate woman"!" "How right you are to call me that!" "In the distant solitude of the wood, where l was living quietly and peacefully, what did I do to you?" "What did I do to you?" "I was joyless, merely lamenting the misfortune that has long troubled my family." "What did I do to you?" "What did I do to you?" "In God's name, what are you accusing me of?" "Was it I who brought you suffering?" "However could you envy me the happiness of being chosen for the wife of the man you so gladly scorned?" "Merciful God!" "What am I to make of this?" "He must have been beguiled by some unhappy madness to have accused you, the innocent one, of a crime." "Now his heart is torn by remorse, he is damned to grim repentance." " God of justice!" " Oh, you are happy!" "After a brief, sweetly innocent period of suffering you now see life smiling upon you;" "you may gladly take leave of me, sending me down the road to death, lest the grim spectre of my misery ever visit your feasts again!" "I'd scarce do justice to your goodness, O mighty God who smiles upon me so, if I were to cast aside the misfortune that stoops before me now in the dust!" "Never!" "Ortrud!" "Wait for me!" "I will take you in myself!" "Ye gods profaned!" "Help me now in my revenge!" "Punish the ignominy that you have suffered here!" "Strengthen me in the service of your holy cause!" "Destroy the vile delusions of the apostate!" "Woden!" "I call on you, O god of strength!" "Freya!" "Hear me, O exalted one!" "Bless my deceit and hypocrisy that I may be successful in my revenge!" "Ortrud, where are you?" "Here at your feet." "Dear God!" "Must I behold you thus, you whom I had but seen in pride and splendour!" "I choke with pity to see you humbled thus before me!" "Stand up!" "Oh, spare me your supplications!" "If you bore me hate, I forgive you;" "and what you have already suffered through me I beg you to forgive me in turn!" "I thank you for showing me such goodness!" "He who tomorrow is to be called my husband, I shall appeal to his loving nature that he may show mercy to Friedrich, too." "You bind me in fetters of gratitude!" "At dawn let me see you ready." "Adorned in splendid garments you shall accompany me to the minster." "There I shall await my knight to become his wife before God!" "His wife!" "How can I ever repay such kindness for l am powerless and wretched?" "If you allowed me to live with you I would always be the beggar!" "I am left but one power, no law robbed me of it;" "through it I could perhaps protect you, save you from the scourge of remorse!" " What do you mean?" " Let me warn you not to put too blind a trust in your happiness;" "lest you be ensnared by misfortune let me look into the future for you." "What misfortune?" "Could you but comprehend the wondrous origin of this man." "May he never leave you as he came to you... by magic!" "Piteous creature, can you not understand how a heart can love without harbouring doubts?" "Have you never known the happiness that is given to us by faith alone?" "Enter here with me!" "Let me teach you to know the sweet bliss of true devotion!" "Let youreself turn to faith;" "There, is a happiness... a happiness without regret!" "Ha!" "This pride shall help me fight her devotion, it shall help me!" "Against this I shall turn my weapons." "Her arrogance will cause her to repent!" "Thus misfortune enters this house!" "Fulfil, O woman, what your cunning mind has devised;" "I feel powerless to stop your work!" "The misfortune began with my defeat, now shall she fall who brought me to it!" "Only one thing do I see before me, urging me on:" "he who robbed me of my honour shall die!" "The dawn fanfare bids us assemble, the day promises much!" "He who here performed such great miracles, the worthy champion will perchance do many more wondrous deeds!" "I hereby make known to you the King's word and wish;" "so pay heed to what he bids me tell you!" "Friedrich Telramund has been outlawed for daring to enter the trial by combat untrue." "Whosoever shall harbour him or join him shall himself be outlawed in accordance with the law of the realm." "A curse on him who was untrue, who was judged by God!" "May the innocent shun him," "may peace and sleep flee him!" "A curse on him!" "A curse on him who was untrue!" "And further the King proclaims that the God-sent stranger, whom Elsa wishes to take as her husband, is to be enfeoffed with the land and crown of Brabant." "But the knight does not wish to be called Duke." "You shall call him:" "Protector of Brabant!" "Great is the long-awaited man!" "Hail to him, hail to him!" "Hail to him who was sent by God!" "We will faithfully serve the Protector of Brabant!" "Now hear what he bids me tell you:" "today he celebrates his wedding feast with you;" "but tomorrow you shall come here prepared for battle, to serve the King as soldiers;" "he himself spurns the sweet pleasures of rest, he will lead you on to enjoy the noble fruits of glory!" "Do not delay in going to battle, the noble one leads you on!" "He who fights courageously with the knight shall see the road to glory smile upon him!" "Come!" "Do not delay in going to battle, the noble one leads you on!" "God sent him to make Brabant great!" "From God is he sent to make Brabant great!" "Now hear, he means to take us from this land!" "Against an enemy who has never yet threatened us!" "Such bold beginnings should not be granted him!" "Who shall stop him, since he has given the order to leave?" " l!" " Ha!" "Who are you?" "Friedrich!" "Do my eyes deceive me?" "You dare show yourself here, the prey of every serf?" "I will soon dare even more." "The truth will dawn radiant before your eyes!" "He who so boldly commanded you to go to war, him will I accuse of deceiving God!" "What is this I hear?" "You rave!" "What is your intent?" "Woe unto you!" "You are lost if the people hear you!" "Make way!" "Make way for Elsa, our lady!" "She is going in faith to the minster." "May she be blessed as she proceeds, she who suffered long in humility!" "May God guide her, may God protect her step!" "She approaches, the angelic one, consumed in a chaste glow!" "Hail to you, O virtuous one!" "Hail to you, Elsa of Brabant!" "May you be blessed as you proceed!" "Back, Elsa!" "No longer will I suffer to follow you like a maid!" "You shall give me precedence everywhere, you shall humbly bow down before me!" " What is the woman doing?" "Back!" " ln God's name!" "What is this I see?" "What sudden change has come over you!" "Just because I forgot my worth for one single hour, do you think I must only crawl before you?" "I dare now to revenge my suffering, I mean to redeem what is due to me!" "Woe!" "Did I let myself be led astray by your hypocrisy, you who stole to me moaning in the night?" "How can you arrogantly claim precedence over me, you, spouse of a man condemned by God?" "False judgement may have banished my husband but his name was honoured throughout the land;" "he was called the one of highest virtue, his brave sword was known and feared." "But your husband, pray, who here knows him?" "You yourself are unable to utter his name!" "What does she say, ha, what proclaim?" "She blasphemes." "Silence her tongue." "Can you utter it, can you tell us whether he is of worthy and noble descent?" "Or whence the waters brought him to you, when he shall leave you again, and whither he shall go?" "No, you cannot!" "For to do so would cause him great anguish - thus did the guileful knight forbid the question!" "Ha, does she speak the truth?" "What terrible charges!" "She slanders him!" "How dare she!" "You blasphemer!" "Dastardly woman!" "Hear the answer that I venture to give you!" "So pure and noble is his being, so virtuous is the distinguished man, that he shall be smitten with eternal misfortune who dares to doubt his sending!" "Indeed!" "Indeed!" "Did not my worthy champion, with the help of God, beat your husband in battle?" "Pray tell, all ye who are here present, which of the two is innocent?" "Only he!" "Only he!" "Your champion alone!" "Ha, the innocence of your champion would soon be tarnished if he had to tell of the magic that gives him such power!" "If you do not dare ask him we will all rightfully believe that you yourself are torn with worry, that his innocence is not what it seems!" "Help her against the loathsome woman's hatred!" "Make way!" "Make way!" "The King approaches!" "Hail!" "Hail to the King!" "Hail to the Protector of Brabant!" "What is this dispute?" " My lord!" "O my master!" " What is it?" "Who dares disturb this procession to the church?" "What is this dispute we have heard?" "What do I see!" "That unholy woman near you?" "My deliverer!" "Protect me from this woman!" "Chide me if I have been disobedient to you!" "I saw her grieving in front of this portal and took her in so that she might forget her misery." "Now see what dreadful recompense she pays my goodness:" "she chides me for trusting you too much!" "You fearful woman, depart from her side!" "You will never be victorious here!" "Tell me, Elsa, did she manage to poison your heart?" "Come, shed these tears there in joy!" "O King!" "Princes beguiled by deception!" "Stop!" "What does he want here?" "Cursed one!" "Leave this place!" " Listen to me!" " Away!" " Back!" "Leave this place!" " Or you will surely die!" "Listen to me, for you have done me a dreadful wrong!" " Away!" " Away!" "Leave this place!" "The trial by combat was defamed, deceived!" "You are beguiled by the cunning of magic!" "Seize the wretch!" "Listen!" "He blasphemes!" "He whom I see in splendour before me, him do I accuse of magic!" "May the power he won through cunning be scattered as dust before God's breath!" "How carelessly you proceeded with the trial that yet robbed me of my honour, for you spared him one question when he came to do battle!" "You shall not prevent that question now for l shall put it to him:" "His name, station and honour I ask him to reveal before all here present!" "Who is this who sailed ashore drawn by a wild swan?" "He who avails himself of such magical creatures, his purity do I consider deception!" "Now shall he answer the charge;" "if he can, then I received just punishment." "But if he cannot, you shall see that his innocence is not what it seems!" "What serious charges!" "How will he answer them?" "I need not stand here and justify myself to you who so forgot his honour!" "I can fend off the doubts of the wicked, never shall innocence succumb to them!" "Since he does not consider me worthy I call upon you, your Majesty!" "Will he say that you too are ignoble and refuse to answer your question?" "Yes, I can resist even the King and the highest counsel of princes!" "The burden of doubt will not trouble them, they saw my good deed!" "Only one person must I answer:" "Elsa!" "How she trembles!" "What secret must the knight harbour?" "I see her brooding wildly," " doubt is stirring within her breast!" " l see her brooding wildly!" "If it causes him anguish, may his tongue guard the secret!" "Has the lying tongue of hatred beguiled her?" "Doubt is stirring within her breast." "The secret he conceals would bring him disaster if he revealed it here to all present;" "how woefully ungrateful I should be to betray my saviour by forcing him to reveal it!" "O heaven, protect her heart from danger!" "We will protect him, the noble one, from danger." " lf l knew his lot" " He is vanquished," " l would keep it secret!" " whose coming to this land distressed me." "May the innocent one never be plagued with doubts!" "Yet my breast is torn with doubt!" " He proved his worth through his deed!" " lf his secrect causes her anguish," " The question posed, he is vanquished!" " may his tongue guard the secret." "Yet my breast is torn with doubt!" "We will protect him from danger, he proved his worth to us through his deed!" " lf l knew his lot," " He is vanquished," " if I knew his lot!" " once the question is put to him!" " We will protect him, the noble one!" " May he guard it!" "Great hero, boldly answer the disloyal one!" "You are too noble to shy away from his accusations!" "We stand with you, never shall we regret that we recognized you to be a true hero!" "Reach us your hand!" "You knights shall not regret believing in me even if my name and origin are never uttered!" "We faithfully believe that your name is noble even if it is never uttered!" "Reach us your hand!" "Trust me!" "Allow me to tell you of a way" " of being sure!" " Away from me!" "Let me take from him but the smallest part, the tip of his finger, and I swear that what he's keeping from you, you shall see before you and, faithful to you, he shall never leave your side!" " Ha!" "Never!" " l shall be near you tonight." "Just call, and it will be done quickly and painlessly." "Elsa, who are you talking to?" "Away from her, cursed ones!" "May I never see either of you near her again!" "Elsa, arise!" "In your hand, in your devotion lies the pledge of all happiness!" "Does the force of doubt not leave you in peace?" "Do you wish to put the question to me?" "My deliverer, who brought me salvation!" "My knight, in whom I must melt away!" "High above the force of all doubt shall my love stand." "Hail to you, Elsa!" " Let us now go before God!" " Lo, he is sent from God!" "Hail, hail to you!" "Hail Elsa of Brabant!" "Hail to you, Elsa!" "May you be blessed as you proceed!" " God be with you!" " Hail to you, virtuous one!" " Hail Elsa of Brabant!" " Hail to you!" "Faithfully guided, draw near to where the blessing of love shall preserve you!" "Triumphant courage, the reward of love, joins you in faith as the happiest of couples." "Champion of virtue, proceed!" "Jewel of youth, proceed!" "Flee now the splendour of the wedding feast, may the delights of the heart be yours!" "This sweet-smelling room, decked for love, now takes you in, away from the splendour." "Faithfully guided, draw now near to where the blessing of love shall preserve you!" "Triumphant courage, love so pure, joins you in faith as the happiest of couples." "As God blessed you in happiness, so do we bless you in joy." "Watched over by love's happiness, may you long remember this hour!" "Faithfully guarded, remain behind where the blessing of love shall preserve you!" "Triumphant courage, love and happiness join you in faith as the happiest of couples." "Champion of virtue, remain here!" "Jewel of youth, remain here!" "Flee now the splendour of the wedding feast, may the delights of the heart be yours!" "This sweet-smelling room, decked for love, has now taken you in, away from the splendour." "Faithfully guarded, remain behind, where the blessing of love shall preserve you!" "Triumphant courage, love and happiness join you in faith as the happiest of couples." "The sweet song fades;" "we are alone, alone for the first time since we met." "Now we are cut off from the world, no eavesdropper shall hear the salutations of the heart." "Elsa, my wife!" "Sweet, pure bride!" "Tell me now whether you are happy!" "How unfeeling it would be of me to say I was merely happy, when I am filled with heavenly joy!" "As I feel my heart go out to you I breathe delights that God alone bestows!" "If, O fair one, you are able to say you are happy then you fill me too with heavenly joy!" "As I feel my heart go out to you I breathe delights that God alone bestows!" "As I feel myself falling so passionately in love" "I breathe delights that God alone bestows!" "How noble is the nature of our love!" "Though we never met, we sensed each other;" "I was chosen to be your champion." "Love paved my way to you:" "your eyes told me you were free of guilt, your countenance compelled me to serve your grace." "But I had already seen you for you had come to me in a wondrous dream;" "when in waking hours I saw you standing before me I knew you had come following God's counsel." "I wanted to dissolve before your gaze, like a stream I wanted to wind around your feet, like a sweet-smelling flower in the meadow to incline enraptured towards the fall of your feet." "is this merely love?" "What shall I call this word, inexpressibly divine as your name, which I, alas, may never know, which I may never use to address my most revered!" "Elsa!" "How sweet the sound of my name from your lips!" "Will you not grant me the fair sound of yours?" "Only when we are led to the stillness of love shall you allow my lips to pronounce it." " My dear wife!" " All alone, when everyone is asleep;" "never shall it be brought to the ears of the world!" "Can you not smell these sweet fragrances?" "How wondrously they delight the senses!" "Mysteriously they approach through the air and unquestioningly I give myself over to their magic." "Thus was the magic that joined me to you when I first saw you, O fair one;" "I did not need to ask where you came from, my eyes saw you " "and my heart understood at once." "Just as these fragrances wondrously beguile my senses, though they approach me from the enigmatic night, so did your innocence enchant me, even if I did find you suspected of a great crime." "Oh, could I but prove myself worthy of you, would that I could do more than simply melt away in you;" "could but a service join me to you, could I but see myself suffer for you!" "As you found me accused of a great crime, oh, would that I knew you to be in need;" "that I might courageously carry a burden, would that I knew of a trouble that threatens you!" "is this the nature of the secret that your tongue keeps from the world?" "Perhaps misfortune awaits you if it is revealed to the whole world?" "If this were so and if I knew it, if I had it within my power, no threats would ever wrest it from me, for you I would go to my death!" "My beloved!" "Oh, make me proud through your confidence, lest I appear utterly unworthy!" "Let me know your secret, that I may clearly see who you are!" "Ah, hush, Elsa!" "Reveal your noble worth to my devotion!" "Tell me without remorse whence you came - may the power of silence be proved through me!" "You have already to thank me for the highest confidence since I gladly believed the oath you made." "If you never falter before my command I shall consider you to be above all other women!" "Come to me, O sweet, pure one!" "Be near my ardent heart, that the eyes in which I saw all my happiness may shine upon me softly!" "Oh, grant me that in sweet raptures I may breathe in your breath!" "Oh, let me clasp you to me firmly, that I may be happy in you!" "Your love must be the highest recompense for that which I left behind for your sake;" "no destiny in all God's world could have been nobler than mine." "If the King offered me his crown I should rightfully reject it." "The only reward for my sacrifice" "is your steadfast love!" "Thus do I ask you to put doubt from your mind, may your love be my proud recompense!" "For I come not from darkness and suffering, I come from splendour and delight!" "Dear God, what is this that I hear!" "What testimony have you spoken!" "You meant to enchant me but now misery is my lot!" "The destiny you left behind was your greatest happiness;" "you came to me from a place of delights and you long to return there!" "How am I, poor wretch, to believe that my devotion will ever satisfy you?" "The day will come when I am robbed of you because you regret your love for me!" "Do not torture yourself so!" "It is you who are torturing me!" "Am I to count the number of days that you will remain with me still?" "My worrying about how long you will stay will drain the colour from my cheek, then you will hurry from me, and I will remain here in misery!" "Never shall your charm diminish if you remain untainted by doubt!" "Ah, what power have I to bind you to me?" "Full of magic is your being, a miracle brought you here;" "how can I ever hope to be happy, how can I ever be sure of you?" "Did you hear nothing?" "Did you not hear anyone approaching?" "Elsa!" "Ah, no!" "Yes, there!" "The swan, the swan!" "There he comes, swimming across the water - you call to him - he brings the boat!" "Elsa!" "Stop!" "Calm your madness!" "Nothing can bring me peace, nothing can tear me from my madness, save - even if it should cost me my life - knowing who you are!" "Elsa, what do you venture to say?" "lll-fatedly noble man, hear the question I must ask you!" " Tell me your name!" " Stop!" " Whence did you come!" " Woe unto you!" "What is your origin?" "Woe unto us, what have you done!" "Save yourself!" "Your sword, your sword!" "Woe, now all our happiness is gone!" "Eternal God, have mercy on me!" "Take the slain man before the King, that he may be judged!" "Adorn Elsa, my dear wife, prepare her to be led before the King!" "There will I answer her, that she may know her husband's origin." "Hail King Heinrich!" "King Heinrich hail!" "I thank you, good men of Brabant!" "How my heart shall swell with pride if on every acre of German soil I find such mighteous throngs of troops!" "Let the Empire's enemy now approach, we will meet him with courage:" "from the barren wastes of the east he shall never dare attack again!" "For German soil the German sword!" "Thus shall the Empire's might be proved!" "For German soil the German sword!" "Thus shall the Empire's might be proved!" "Where now is he whom God sent to make Brabant great and glorious?" "What do they bring?" "What does this mean?" "They are Telramund's men!" "Whom do you bring here?" "What am I about to see?" "The sight of you fills me with horror!" "This is the wish of the Protector of Brabant;" "he will tell you who this is!" "Behold, Elsa the virtuous approaches!" "How pale and melancholy she looks!" "How sad you look!" "Does the departure affect you so deeply?" "Make way!" "Make way for the hero of Brabant!" "Hail!" "Hail to the hero of Brabant!" "Hail to your coming, worthy knight!" "Those whom you so faithfully called to war await you, eager to do battle, confident of victory under you." "We await you, eager to do battle, confident of victory under you." "My lord and King, hear my words:" "those brave knights whom I have called, I cannot lead them into battle!" "God help us!" "What cruel words he speaks!" "I have not come here as a brother in arms;" "hear me now as a plaintiff before you!" "Firstly, I bring a complaint before you and ask you to pass rightful judgement:" "since this man attacked me in the night, say whether I was right to slay him?" "As your hand struck him down on earth so shall God punish him in heaven!" "Secondly, you shall hear another charge." "Before all here present I now complain that the woman whom God made my wife has let herself be tricked into betraying me!" "Elsa!" " How could that happen?" " Woe unto you!" "Elsa!" "How could you do such a wrong?" "You all heard her promise me that she would never ask who I am?" "But now she has broken her solemn vow, her heart has succumbed to perfidious counsel!" "That the wild questionings of her doubt might now be stilled I shall no longer withhold the answer;" "I rightly refused to yield to the enemy's entreaties, but now I must reveal my name and origin." "Judge now whether I must shy away from the day!" "Before all here present, before King and Empire, I now faithfully reveal my secret." "Hear now whether or not I am equal to you in nobility!" "What incredible thing must I now learn?" "Oh, could he but spare himself this enforced proclamation!" "In a far-off land, inaccessible to your steps, there is a castle by the name of Montsalvat;" "a light-filled temple stands within it, more beautiful than anything on earth;" "therein is a vessel of wondrous blessing that is watched over as a sacred relic:" "that the purest of men might guard it, it was brought down by a host of angels;" "every year a dove descends from heaven to fortify its wondrous power:" "it is called the Grail, and the purest, most blessed faith is imparted through it to the brotherhood of knights." "Whosoever is chosen to serve the Grail is armed by it with heavenly power;" "the darts of evil prove powerless against him, once he has seen it, the shadow of death flees him." "Even he who is sent by it to a distant land, appointed as a champion of virtue, will not be robbed of its holy power, provided that he, as its knight, remains unrecognized there." "For so wondrous is the blessing of the Grail that when it is revealed it shuns the eye of the uninitiated;" "thus no man should doubt the knight, for if he is recognized " "he must leave you." "Hear how I reward the forbidden question!" "I was sent to you by the Grail:" "my father Parzival wears its crown, I its knight - am called Lohengrin." "To hear him thus attest his sacred origin" "causes my eyes to brim with tears of blessed joy!" "I swoon!" "What dreadful darkness!" "I gasp!" "I gasp for air, wretch that I am!" "The swan!" "The swan!" "Behold, it approaches once again!" "The swan!" "Woe, it approaches!" "Oh, horror!" "Ah, the swan!" "The Grail sends for the one who is late in returning!" "My dear swan!" "Ah, how gladly I would have spared you this last, sad journey!" "At the end of a year your time of service would have come to an end - then, freed by the power of the Grail, you would have appeared to me in a different form!" "O Elsa!" "I had longed to witness just one year of happiness by your side!" "Then your brother, whom you thought dead, would have returned, accompanied by the blessed retinue of the Grail." "When he comes home, when I shall be far away, give him this horn, this sword and this ring." "The horn shall bring him succour in danger, the sword shall bring him victory in wild battle;" "but the ring shall remind him of me, who once freed you too from shame and need!" "Farewell!" "Farewell!" "Farewell, my sweet wife!" "Farewell!" "The Grail will be angry with me if I stay longer!" "Farewell, farewell!" "Woe!" "Woe!" "Woe!" "You noble, distinguished man!" "What terrible distress you cause us!" "Go home!" "Go home, you proud knight, that I may jubilantly tell the foolish girl who it was that brought you in the boat!" "By the chain that I wrapped around him I clearly recognized this swan:" "he is the heir of Brabant!" "Ah!" "Thank you for driving away the knight!" "Now the swan will lead him home!" "If the hero had stayed any longer he would have freed the brother, too!" "Loathsome woman!" "Ha, what a crime you have confessed to in your brazen scorn!" "Learn how the gods take vengeance on you who no longer worship them!" "Behold the Duke of Brabant!" "He shall be your leader!" "My husband!" "My husband!" " Ah!" " Woe!"