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The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie. The Ring of the Niblung, part 1
LOGE
Perplexed to puzzle,Plans to ponderFor its redeeming—That promise I gave;But to discoverWhat cannot be,What none can do,No man can possibly promise.FRICKA
See the treacherousRogue thou didst trust!FROH
Named art Loge,But liar I call thee!DONNER
Accursèd flame,I will quench thy fire!LOGE
From their shame to shelter,Foolish folk flout me.[Donner threatens to strike Loge.
WOTAN
[Stepping between them.
Forbear and let him alone!Ye wot not Loge's wiles.His advice,Given slowly, gainsBoth in weight and in worth.FAFNER
Do not dally;Promptly pay!FASOLT
Long waits our reward.WOTAN
[Turns sternly to Loge.
Speak up surly one!Fail me not!How far hast thou ranged and roamed?LOGE
Still with reproachIs Loge paid!Concerned but for thee,Thorough and swift,I searched and ransackedTo the ends of the earthTo find a ransom for FreiaFair to the giants and just.In vain the search,Convincing at lastThat the world containsNothing so sweetThat a man will take it insteadOf woman's love and delight.[All seem surprised and taken aback.
Where life moves and has being,In water, earth and airI questioned,Asking of all things,Where weak still is strength,And germs only stirring,What men thought dear—And stronger deemed—Than woman's love and delight.But where life moves and has beingMy questions metBut with laughter and scorn.In water, earth and airWoman and loveWill none forego.[Varied gestures of amazement.
One man, one only,I met who, renouncing love,Prized ruddy goldAbove any woman's grace.The Rhine's pure-gleaming childrenTold me of their sorrow.The Nibelung,Night-Alberich,Wooed for the favourOf the swimmers in vain,And vengeance took,Stealing the Rhinegold they guard.He thinks it nowA thing beyond price,Greater than woman's grace.For their glittering toyThus torn from the deepThe sorrowful maids lamented.They pray, Wotan,Pleading to thee,That thy wrath may fall on the robberThe gold tooThey would have thee grant themTo guard in the water for ever.Loge promisedThe maidens to tell thee,And, keeping faith, he has told.
"The Rhine's pure-gleaming children
Told me of their sorrow"
WOTAN
Dull thou must beOr downright knavish!In parlous plight myself,What help have I for others?FASOLT
[Who has been listening attentively, to Fafner.
The Niblung has much annoyed us;I greatly grudge him this Rhinegold;But such his craft and cunning,He has never been caught.FAFNER
Other malicePonders the Niblung;Gains he might from goldListen, Loge!Tell us the truth.What wondrous gift has the gold,That the dwarf desires it so?LOGE
A plaything,In the waves providingChildren with laughter and sport,It gives, when to goldenRing it is rounded,Power and might unmatched;It wins its owner the world.WOTAN [Thoughtfully.
Rumours I have heardOf the Rhinegold;Runes of richesHide in its ruddy glow;Pelf and powerAre by the ring bestowed.FRICKA [Softly to Loge.
Could this gaud,This gleaming trinketForged from the gold,Be worn by a woman too?LOGE
The wife who woreThat glittering charmNever would loseHer husband's love—That charm which dwarfs are welding,Working in thrall to the ring.FRICKA [Coaxingly to Wotan.
O could but my husbandCome by the ring!WOTAN
[As if falling more and more under the influence of a spell.
Methinks it were wisdom,Won I the ring to my service.But say, Loge,How shall I learnTo forge and fashion it true?LOGE
A magic runeCan round the golden ring.No one knows it,Yet plain the spell to himWho happy love forswears.[Wotan turns away in annoyance.
That suits thee not;Thou art too late too.Alberich did not delay;Fearless he masteredThe potent spell,[Harshly.
And wrought aright was the ring.DONNER [To Wotan.
We should all beUnder the dwarf,Were not the ring from him wrested.WOTAN
The ring I must capture!FROH
Lightly now,Without cursing love it were won.LOGE [Harshly.
Just so:Without guile, as in children's games!WOTAN
Then tell us how.LOGE
By theft!What a thief stoleSteal thou from the thief;How better could object be won?But with baleful armsBattles Alberich.Wary, wiseMust be thy scheming,If the thief thou wouldst confound,[With warmth.
And restore the ruddyAnd golden toy,The Rhinegold, to the maidens.For this they pray and implore.WOTAN
The river-maidens?What profit were mine?FRICKA
Of that billow-born broodBring me no tidings,For they have wooedTo my woeFull many a man to their caves.[Wotan stands silent, struggling with himself. The other Gods gaze at him in mute suspense. Fafner, meanwhile, has been consulting aside with Fasolt.
FAFNER [To Fasolt
Worth far more than FreiaWere the glittering gold.Eternal youth, too, were hisWho could use the charm in its quest.[Fasolt's gestures indicate that he is being convinced against his will. Fafner and Fasolt approach Wotan again.
FAFNER
Hear, Wotan,Our word while we wait;Freia we will restore you,And will takePaltrier payment:The Niblung's red-gleaming goldWill guerdon us giants rude.WOTAN
Ye must be mad!With what I possess notHow can I, shameless ones, pay you?FAFNER
Hard labourWent to those walls;How easyWith fraud-aided force(What our malice never achieved)The Niblung to break and bind!
Fasolt suddenly seizes Freia and drags her to one side with Fafner
WOTAN [More quickly.
Why should I makeWar on the Niblung?—Fight, your foe to confound?InsolentAnd greedily graspingDolts you grow through my debt!FASOLT
[Suddenly seizes Freia and drags her to one side with Fafner.
Maiden, come!We claim thee ours!As pledge thou shalt be heldTill the ransom is paid.FREIA [Screaming.
Woe's me! Woe's me! Woe!FAFNER
From your midstWe bear her forth!Till evening—mark it well!—As a pledge she is ours.We will return then.But when we come,If the Rhinegold be not ready,The Rhinegold bright and red—FASOLT
The respite is ended,Freia is forfeitAnd bides among us for aye!FREIA
Sister! Brothers!Save me! Help
The Gods grow wan and aged at the loss of Freia.
DONNER
My hand sinks down.FROH
My heart stands still.LOGE
I have it: hear what ye lack!Of Freia's fruitYe have not partaken to-day.The golden applesWithin her gardenRestored you your strength and your youth,Ate ye thereof each day.The garden's guardianIn pledge has been given.On the branches driesAnd 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 godlikeAm I, ye high ones, as you
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 pinchedPromptly thou'lt beHast 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 hestI laboured hardTill it was done!Take but thy nails from my ear!ALBERICH
Then why this delayTo show thy work?MIME
I feared that somethingMight 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
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
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 obeyThe ring's dread lord
