“Die Feen” by Richard Wagner libretto (English)

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three

Act Three

Festive Hall. Morald and Lora on the throne,
Drolla, Gernot and Gunther next to them.
Chorus of men and maidens, festively dressed.
Victory dance.

Chorus
Hail to the fair peace
in the gently shining heavens!
Hail to the great victory,
which gave us peace!
To you that led us to victory,
be greeted now as our King!
To you that comforted us in our suffering,
be greeted now as Queen!
Hail to you, victorious Morald!
Hail to you, virtuous Lora!
Hail to you!

Morald
(Descends from the throne)
Enough; end this festive celebration!
My heart beats not with joy, but with sadness!
Your joyful greeting of the king does not belong to me!
Since conferring his title on me,
he has fallen into a most unfortunate state.
The dread night of madness has enwrapped him,
and embraces his suffering soul.
Though his will made me king,
yet I remain ruler only so long
as the gloomy Arindal succumbs to madness!

Lora
Oh, my brother! What deplorable fortune!
Now, while joy swells each bosom,
must I weep for your terrible fate!

Chorus
We respect your pain!
Our celebration will cease!

Lora and Morald
Almighty God,
to you in heaven
I send my fervent entreaties!
Let the mind of my
(brother) (Friend) (King) avoid
the terrifying power of madness!
May a beam from your radiance
enlighten the darkness of his soul!
(All leave)

Arindal
(Madly, behind the stage)
Hello! Let all the dogs out!
There, there! The deer! Look!
Here!
(Arindal enters)
You hunters, ever here!
You, huntsman, wander ahead!
Hurrah, sound the horn!
Oh look, the beast is already tired!
Grab it! I'll shoot the arrow!
See how it flies! I aimed well!
Haha! That struck the heart!
Oh look, the animal can cry!
A tear shines in its eye!
Oh, how crushed it looks to me
How beautiful she is!
Horrors! Ha, it's not an animal,
look! It is my wife!
(Collapses)
I see the heavens open,
the brilliant doors burst apart!
O what fragrance, o what splendor!
Am I a God, to feel this?
Elated, my spirits are lifted!
Ha, how the ground sinks away!
A hand is offered to me,
lovingly it leads me up,
I breathe the gentle air of gods!

So what? I'm still human!
You are cursed!
Haha! It's done!
Now I'm dust once more!
(Feeling faint)
Lie down to rest, dust,
the earth gladly holds you!
(He sinks down gradually on the steps of the
throne)
Ha, how it darkens around you!
It is the tender night.
O frightening, sweet air,
do you imprison my soul?
I lay in your arms,
so gentle was my rest,
I can not embrace you,
you're so far away, so far!
Yet you draw near to me,
yes, yes, I see you!
Why the deep grief
in your tearful glance?
(He falls asleep. As if from a great distance
one hears Ada's voice, then, from nearer, Groma's.)

Ada's Voice
My husband Arindal,
what have you done to me?
A cold stone
encloses my passionate love.
Only my tears soften the embrace
of this harsh prison
but through all the barriers
my love still reaches to you,
and if you hear my lament,
hurry forth unto me!

Groma's Voice
(From a different side behind the stage)
Get up, Arindal what are you waiting for?
Look, that shield and that sword
can give you victory, yet that lyre
can bring you greater fortune.
If you are filled with courage and love,
then you shall reach your highest goal!

Farzana
So would our Ada be saved
and her immortality returned!
Well, we must complete this final deed,
and never think of hesitating:
though it means the mortal's certain death!

Zemina
Truly, I have compassion for Arindal's skill;
already he makes amends for his perjury with
the terror of madness.

Farzana
O not just his perjury, his arrogance
ordains his death!
Shall an audacious mortal with impunity
rob us of the pride of the fairy realm?
Let us lead him on the path to Ada,
and encourage him to free her.

Zemina
What will you do? Accompany him on the
road, where he can really save her?

Farzana
What do you fear, fool? Because he could not
win as a man, how can he prove
himself where fairy power alone can win?
In battle, he will certainly lose!

Zemina and Farzana
Get up! Awake, Arindal!

Arindal
Who is calling me? Ha, where did my wild
delusion carry me?
I heard my wife call!
Oh God, how her voice brightened the gloomy
night into day!

Zemina and Farzana
Well, Arindal, do you recognize us?

Arindal
I see you again, dear fairies,
as you were to my wife.
Alas, my wife, where is she?

Zemina and Farzana
Do you have the courage to free her?

Arindal
What do I hear? Can I succeed
in freeing her by my courage?

Farzana
Why do you boast of your courage?
Is she not a victim of your cowardice?

Arindal
O, turn your scorn from me!
Tell me, can she still be freed?

Zemina
Trapped in the cold stone
she despairs of her rescue.

Arindal
You torture me! I have courage!
Who guides me to her then?

Zemina and Farzana
Well, we will take you to her!

Arindal
Oh God, I take the chance, for her!
(he takes the shield and lyre)
Oh to liberate my wife,
it fills me with embers of joy!
O, lead me to her,
for her I sacrifice all my life's blood!

Zemina and Farzana
Ha, this rash expression of joy
will ordain him to certain death.
We are glad to lead him to her,
because we will enjoy his downfall!
The scene transforms. Terrible chasm of the
underworld kingdom. Earth spirits and hideous
larvae roam this bustling place.

Chorus of Spirits
You spirits, up, guard loyally
the dark terrible gate,
which encircles the chasm!
Defend the way from the uninitiated!
It leads to the highest sanctuary!
Up, you spirits! Guard faithfully!

Arindal
Where are you leading me? Does my wife
languish here?

Chorus
Who comes there?

Farzana
A mortal desires of you to enter!

Chorus
Woe to him!

Zemina
Well, Arindal! Fight these spirits!

Arindal
O, these monsters have superior numbers!

Farzana
Coward, are you afraid?

Arindal
Love triumphs!
(he begins to fight the earth spirits and is soon
forced to give way)
Woe is me, I am already defeated!

Groma's Voice
The shield!
(Arindal holds the shield, the spirits disappear)

Zemina and Farzana
Terrible, ha, he has won!
Through a strange power, he defeated them,
but he will never again win!

Arindal
Oh what joy, victory is mine!
Thanks, Groma, to your high power!
(On a sign from the two fairies, Arindal follows
them)

Gunther and Gernot
Hail Arindal and take heart,
you progress to victory!
The stage is transformed into a different part
of the underground kingdom. Chorus of brazen
men: solidly lined up together.

Chorus of the brazen men
Close tightly together, and stay strong,
we defend the entrance to the highest
sanctuary!

Chorus
What is the stranger doing here?

Zemina
He defies your strength
and challenges you to fight!

Chorus
Woe to him!

Arindal
I am not frightened by your bronze shield,
my power will destroy you!
(He begins the fight by holding up the shield,
and is soon forced to yield)
Woe is me, the shield loses its strength!

Groma
The sword!
(Arindal fights with the sword.
The bronze men disappear.)

Zemina and Farzana
Ha, woe to us, the victory is his!
Instead of the insolent mortal's destruction,
our object is his greatest fortune!

Chorus of Groma's invisible spirits
(invisible)
Heil, Arindal, and take courage,
you progress to victory!

Farzana
But now his power weakens!

Arindal
Tell me! Where can I find my wife?

Farzana
So be it! Now you shall free her!
(On their sign a rock opens: in a small,
magically illuminated grotto appears a stone
the size of a person.)

Zemina
Look, Arindal your wife languishes there!

Arindal
Almighty god, how can I bear this sight?
What do I call this feeling that makes me tremble?
Is it bliss that I am near her?
Is it horror that I behold her like this?
Ah, what sadness fills my poor heart.
O Ada! How do I destroy the curse?

Zemina
Is it fitting to cry here?
You came here to free her!

Arindal
O tell me, how can I finish this?

Farzana
Disenchant this stone, and she is free!

Arindal
Woe is me!
Can mortal power ever accomplish this?

Farzana
Try it, but know what threatens you!
With bold presumptuous force
you have penetrated far into
the Fairies' sanctuary, and if you can not
now entirely complete your work,
you will atone for your wanton desire
with eternal transformation into stone!

Arindal
Ha, terrible! This is my lot!
Alas, it overcomes my courage
and my desire is paralyzed.
I cannot finish my task
and long suffering is her fate!

Farzana and Zemina
Ha, finally courage is defeated
and his desire is paralyzed.
He has not completed his task,
so eternal death is his lot.

Chorus of Groma's invisible spirits
(invisible)
Courage Arindal, and be strong,
you can free your wife yet!

Groma's Voice
Seize the lyre!

Arindal
Oh God, what do I hear?
Yes, I have divine power!
I am well aware of the sweet sounds of
divine power which the mortal possesses!
You, passionate love, longing and desire
charm this stone with your song!

Zemina and Farzana
Alas, this is Groma's work!

Arindal
(plays the lyre)
O you, the rapture of my heart,
sweetly wrapped in love!
And you, longing, hotly craved
with your blissful sweet pain!
You I call on, from my heart,
from my soul you soar!
May all feeling flow together
in sweet music of magic power,
and entreat the cold stone:
Give me back my wife!
(The stone transforms gradually into Ada, who
falls delighted into Arindal's arms.)

Ada
Now no power can rob you of me!
Farzana and Zemina turn away horrified. The
scene changes to a wonderful fairy palace,
surrounded by clouds. On a throne sits the
fairy king, around him the chorus of fairies and
spirits.

Fairy King
You, mortal, invaded our kingdom,
and the infinite power of love
gave you that high power that only
to immortals is bestowed!

Know therefore: by your actions as a man
Ada remains now immortal, as she was,
but as she was wrested from us by divine
power, you are more than a man: be immortal, like her!

Chorus
Greetings, Arindal in the high fairy kingdom,
your immortality is bestowed by your strength!

Ada
Renounce your earthly kingdom,
rule my fairyland now!

Arindal
Yet I feel mortal enough myself,
and I can not believe it for joy!

Zemina and Farzana
Delight returns again,
as both have now won!

Arindal
(Morald, Lora, Drolla, Gernot and Günter enter)
I'll give you two now my earthly country,
a higher realm is blessedly bestowed on me!
Be happy always, because I'll protect you!
(Ada leads him to the throne.)

Chorus
He has gained a high destiny,
he has shaken off the dust of the earth!
Therefore let us sing in eternity,
how much he is blessed by love!

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

libretto by John McKenna, Feb. 2013

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three