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“La bohème” by Giacomo Puccini libretto (English)
Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three; Act Four |
Translation: William Fense Weaver © Capitol Records, Inc., 1952 |
In the Latin Quarter (A square with shops of all kinds. On one side is the Café Momus. Mimì and Rodolfo move about with the crowd. Colline is nearby at a rag-woman's stand. Schaunard is buying a pipe and a trumpet. Marcello is pushed here and there by the throng. It is evening. Christmas Eve.) HAWKERS Oranges, dates! Hot roasted chestnuts! Crosses, knick-knacks! Cookies and candies! Flowers for the ladies! Pies for sale! With whipped cream! Finches and larks! Dates! Fresh fish! Coconut milk! Skirts! Carrots! |
THE CROWD What a throng! Such noise! Hold tight! Let's run! Lisa! Emma! Make way there! Emma, I'm calling you! Once more around... We'll take Rue Mazarine. I can't breathe here... See? The café's right here. What wonderful jewels! Your eyes are more wonderful! This crowd tonight sets a dangerous example! Things were better in my day! Long live freedom! AT THE CAFÉ Let's go. Here, waiter! Hurry. On the run. Come here. My turn. Beer! A glass! Vanilla. Liqueur! Well? Hurry. Drinks! Coffee... .Quickly. Hey, there... SCHAUNARD (blowing on the trumpet, producing odd sounds) This D is out of tune. How much for the horn and the pipe? |
COLLINE fat the rag-woman's, who is sewing up an enormous overcoat he has just bought) It's a little worn... RODOLFO Let's go. MIMÌ Are we going to buy the bonnet? COLLINE ...But it's cheap and dignified. RODOLFO Hold tight to my arm. MIMÌ I'll hold you tight. MIMÌ and RODOLFO Let's go! (They go into the milliner's.) MARCELLO I, too, feel like shouting: which of you happy girls wants love? HAWKERS Dates! Trout! Plums from Tours! MARCELLO Let us make a bargain together - for a penny I'll sell my virgin heart. |
SCHAUNARD Pushing and shoving and running, the crowd hastens to its joys, feeling insane desires - unappeased. HAWKERS Trinkets! Brooches! etc. COLLINE (showing a book) A rare find, truly unique: a Runic grammar. SCHAUNARD (What an honest fellow!) MARCELLO Let's eat! SCHAUNARD and COLLINE And Rodolfo? MARCELLO He went into the milliner's. (Rodolfo and Mimì come out of the shop.) RODOLFO Come, my friends are waiting. MIMÌ Is my pink bonnet becoming? HAWKERS Whipped cream! Coconut milk! Pies! Whipped cream! |
CAFÉ CUSTOMERS Waiter! A glass! Quick. Hey there... Liqueur. RODOLFO You're dark, that colour suits you. MIMÌ (looking back at the shop) That lovely coral necklace. RODOLFO I've a millionaire uncle. If God acts wisely, I'll buy you a necklace much more beautiful... URCHINS, MIDINETTES, STUDENTS Ah! ah! ah! etc. TOWNSPEOPLE Let's follow these people! Girls, watch out! Such noise! What a throng! We'll take the Rue Mazarine! I'm stifling, let's go! See, the cafe's right here! Let's go there, to Momus! Ah!... HAWKERS Pies for sale! Whipped cream! Flowers for the ladies! |
Knick-knacks, dates, hot roasted chestnuts! Finches, larks! Cream cakes! RODOLFO Whom are you looking at? COLLINE I hate the vulgar herd as Horace did. MIMÌ Are you jealous? RODOLFO The man who's happy must be suspicious too. SCHAUNARD And when I'm stuffing myself I want plenty of room about me. MIMÌ Are you happy then? MARCELLO (to the waiter) We want a prize dinner. RODOLFO Oh yes. Very. MARCELLO Quickly. SCHAUNARD And bring plenty. |
RODOLFO And you? MIMÌ Very. (Marcello, Schaunard and Colline sit at a table in front of the café.) STUDENTS There, to Momus! MIDINETTES Let's go! Let's go! MARCELLO, COLLINE, SCHAUNARD Quickly! VOICE OF PARPIGNOL (in the distance) Here are the toys of Parpignol! RODOLFO Two places. COLLINE At last! RODOLFO Here we are! This is Mimì, happy flower-girl. Her presence alone makes our company complete. For...for I am a poet; and she is poetry itself. |
As songs flow from my brain, the flowers bloom in her hands, and in joyful spirits love blossoms also. MARCELLO What rare imagery! COLLINE Digna est intrari. SCHAUNARD Ingrediat si necessit. COLLINE I grant only one accessit. VOICE OF PARPIGNOL (closer) Here are the toys of Parpignol! COLLINE Salami... (Parpignol arrives in the square, pushing a barrow covered with frills and flowers.) CHILDREN Parpignol! Parpignol! Parpignol! Here is Parpignol! With his cart all decked with flowers! Here is Parpignol! I want the horn, the toy horse! The drum! The tambourine! I want the cannon; I want the whip, I want the troop of soldiers. |
SCHAUNARD Roast venison. MARCELLO A turkey. SCHAUNARD Rhine wine! COLLINE Table wine! SCHAUNARD Shelled lobster! MOTHERS What a bunch of naughty rascals! What are you doing here now? Go home to bed, you noisy things. Slaps will be the least you'll get... go home to bed, you bunch of rascals, to bed! A BOY I want the horn, the toy horse... RODOLFO What will you have, Mimì? MIMÌ Some custard. SCHAUNARD The best. A lady's with us. |
CHILDREN Bravo Parpignol! The drums! The tambourine! A troop of soldiers! (They run off, following Parpignol.) MARCELLO Tell me, Mimì, what rare gift Rodolfo has given you? MIMÌ An embroidered pink bonnet, all with lace. It goes well with my dark hair. I've longed for such a bonnet for months...and he read what was hidden in my heart... Anyone who can read the heart's secret knows love...he's such a reader. SCHAUNARD He's a professor in the subject. COLLINE With diplomas, and his verses are not a beginner's... SCHAUNARD That's why what he says seems to be true! MARCELLO Oh, sweet age of false utopias! You hope and believe, and all seems beautiful. |
RODOLFO The sublimest poem, my friend, is the one which teaches us to love! MIMÌ Love is sweet, sweeter than honey. MARCELLO That depends: it's honey or gall! MIMÌ Heavens! I've offended him! RODOLFO He's mourning, Mimì! SCHAUNARD and COLLINE Cheer up! A toast! MARCELLO Something to drink! ALL Away with brooding, raise your glass. We'll drink. MARCELLO (seeing Musetta enter, laughing) I'll drink some poison! SCHAUNARD, COLLINE and RODOLFO Oh! Musetta! |
MARCELLO Her! THE SHOPWOMEN What! Her! Yes! Well! Her! Musetta! She's done well for herself! What a dress! (Musetta stops, accompanied by the old and pompous Alcindoro. She sits at another table in front of the café.) ALCINDORO Running like a porter back and forth... No, it's not proper. MUSETTA (calling Alcindoro as if he were a dog) Here, Lulu! ALCINDORO I can't take any more. MUSETTA Come, Lulu. SCHAUNARD That ugly old fool's all in a lather! ALCINDORO What? Outside? Here? MUSETTA Sit, Lulu. |
ALCINDORO Please, save these little nicknames of yours for when we're alone. MUSETTA Don't act like Bluebeard! COLLINE He's evil behind that front! MARCELLO With the chaste Susanna. MIMÌ But she's beautifully dressed. RODOLFO Angels go naked. MIMÌ You know her? Who is she? MARCELLO Ask me that question. Her first name's Musetta. Her last name's Temptation. Her occupation is being a leaf in the wind... Always turning, changing her lovers and her loves... Like the screech-owl she's a bird of prey. Her favourite food |
is the heart...she devours them! And so I have no heart. MUSETTA (Marcello's has seen me... But the coward won't look at me. And that Schaunard's laughing! They all make me livid! If I could just hit them! Scratch their eyes out! But I've got this old pelican on my hands. Just wait!) Waiter! MARCELLO (hiding his emotion) Pass me the stew. MUSETTA Hey! Waiter! This plate smells dirty to me! (throwing the plate on the ground) ALCINDORO No, Musetta! Quiet, now! MUSETTA (He won't look.) ALCINDORO Quiet, now. Manners! Please! MUSETTA (He won't look.) |
ALCINDORO To whom are you speaking? COLLINE This chicken is a poem! MUSETTA (Now I'll hit him, I'll hit him!) ALCINDORO Who are you talking to? MUSETTA To the waiter. Don't be a bore! SCHAUNARD The wine is excellent. MUSETTA I want my own way! ALCINDORO Lower your voice! MUSETTA I'll do as I please! ALCINDORO Lower your voice! MUSETTA Don't be a bore! |
MIDINETTES and STUDENTS Look, look who it is, Musetta herself! With that stuttering old man, it's Musetta herself! Ha ha ha ha ha! MUSETTA (But could he be jealous of this mummy?) ALCINDORO Decorum...my rank...my reputation! MUSETTA (Let's see if I still have enough power over him to make him give in.) SCHAUNARD The play is stupendous! MUSETTA (looking at Marcello) You aren't looking at me. ALCINDORO Can't you see I'm ordering? SCHAUNARD The play is stupendous! COLLINE Stupendous! |
RODOLFO (to Mimì) Let me tell you now: I'd never be forgiving. SCHAUNARD She speaks to one for the other to hear. MIMÌ (to Rodolfo) I love you so, and I'm all yours... Why speak of forgiveness? COLLINE (to Schaunard) And the other, cruel, in vain pretends he is deaf, but enjoys it all. MUSETTA But your heart is beating like a hammer. ALCINDORO Lower your voice. MUSETTA But your heart is beating like a hammer. ALCINDORO Lower your voice. MUSETTA As I walk alone through the streets, the people stop to look and inspect my beauty, |
examining me from head to toe. MARCELLO Tie me to the chair! ALCINDORO What will people say? MUSETTA And then I savour the subtle longing in their eyes when, from my visible charms, they guess at the beauty concealed. This onrush of desire surrounds me. It delights me, it delights me. ALCINDORO (This scurrilous song infuriates me!) MUSETTA And you who know, who remember and suffer, how can you escape? I know: you won't admit that you're in torment, but it's killing you. MIMÌ I can tell that the poor girl is head over heels in love with Marcello. ALCINDORO What will people say? |
RODOLFO Marcello loved her once... SCHAUNARD Ah! Marcello will give in! RODOLFO ...The flirt ran off... COLLINE Who knows what'll happen! RODOLFO ...to find a better life. SCHAUNARD The snare is equally sweet to hunter and hunted. COLLINE Gods above! I'd never land myself in such a situation! MUSETTA (Ah, Marcello's going mad! Marcello is vanquished!) ALCINDORO Lower your voice! Be quiet! MIMÌ I feel so sorry for the poor girl. |
COLLINE She's lovely - I'm not blind... MIMÌ (nestling close to Rodolfo) I love you! SCHAUNARD (The braggart is about to yield! The play is stupendous! Marcello will give in!) (to Colline) If such a pretty creature stopped and talked to you, you'd gladly send to the devil all your bearish philosophy. RODOLFO Mimì! Love is weak when it leaves wrongs unavenged. Love, once dead, cannot be revived, etc. MIMÌ I feel so sorry for the poor girl. Love is sad when it's unforgiving. I feel so sorry, etc. COLLINE ...but I'm much happier with my pipe and a Greek text. She's beautiful, I'm not blind, etc. ALCINDORO Mind your manners! Be quiet! |
MUSETTA I know: you won't admit your torment. Ah! but you feel like dying! (to Alcindoro) I'll do as I please, I'll do as I like, don't be a bore, a bore, a bore! (Now to get rid of the old man.) (pretending a pain) Ouch! ALCINDORO What is it? MUSETTA The pain! The pain! ALCINDORO Where? MUSETTA My foot! MARCELLO (My youth, you're still alive, your memory's not dead... If you came to my door, my heart would open it!) MUSETTA Loosen it! Untie it! Break it! Tear it! Please! There's a shoemaker nearby. Run quickly! I want another pair! |
Ah, how it pinches, this damn tight shoe! I'll take it off...here it is. Run, go on, run! Hurry, hurry! MIMÌ (I can see she's madly in love with Marcello.) RODOLFO (I can see: the play's stupendous!) ALCINDORO How unwise! What will people say? My reputation! Do you want to ruin it? Wait! Musetta! I'm going! (He hurries off.) COLLINE and SCHAUNARD (The play is stupendous!) MUSETTA Marcello! MARCELLO Siren! (They embrace passionately.) SCHAUNARD Here's the finale! (The waiter brings the bill.) ALL The bill! |
SCHAUNARD So soon? COLLINE Who asked for it? SCHAUNARD Let's see. COLLINE and RODOLFO It's high! (Drums are heard approaching.) RODOLFO, SCHAUNARD and COLLINE Out with the money! SCHAUNARD Colline, Rodolfo and you, Marcello? CHILDREN The Tattoo! MARCELLO I'm broke! SCHAUNARD What? MIDINETTES, STUDENTS The Tattoo! RODOLFO I've only got thirty sous. |
TOWNSPEOPLE The Tattoo! MARCELLO, SCHAUNARD and COLLINE What? No more money? SCHAUNARD Where's my wealth? URCHINS Are they coming this way? MUSETTA (to the waiter) Give me my bill. MIDINETTES, STUDENTS No! That way! URCHINS They're coming that way! MIDINETTES, STUDENTS They're coming this way! URCHINS No, that way! MUSETTA Good! TOWNSPEOPLE, HAWKERS Make way! Make way! CHILDREN I want to see! I want to hear! |
MUSETTA Quick, add these two bills together... The gentleman who was with me will pay. MOTHERS Lisetta, please be quiet. Tonio, stop that at once! GIRLS Mamma, I want to see. Papa, I want to hear. RODOLFO, MARCELLO, SCHAUNARD, COLLINE The gentleman will pay! CHILDREN I want to see the Tattoo! MOTHERS Please be quiet! Stop that at once! MIDINETTES They're coming this way! TOWNSPEOPLE They're coming that way! TOWNSPEOPLE, STUDENTS, HAWKERS Yes, this way! URCHINS When it comes by, we'll march with it! |
COLLINE, SCHAUNARD, MARCELLO The gentleman will pay! MUSETTA And here, where he was sitting, he'll find my farewell! (putting the bill on the chair) TOWNSPEOPLE That drum-roll expresses our country's glory. RODOLFO, COLLINE, SCHAUNARD, MARCELLO And here, where he was sitting, he'll find her farewell! THE CROWD Make way, make way, here they come! URCHINS Hey! Look out, here they are! MARCELLO Now the Guard is coming! THE CROWD All in line! COLLINE, MARCELLO Don't let the old fool see us make off with his prize. RODOLFO The Guard is coming! |
MARCELLO, SCHAUNARD, COLLINE That crowded throng will be our hiding-place. THE CROWD Here's the drum-major! Prouder than an ancient warrior! The drum-major! MIMÌ, MUSETTA, RODOLFO, MARCELLO, SCHAUNARD, COLLINE Hurry! Let's run off! THE CROWD The Sappers! The Sappers, hooray! Here's the drum-major! Like a general! The Tattoo is here! Here he is, the handsome drum-major! The golden baton, all a-glitter! See, he looks at us as he goes past! RODOLFO, MARCELLO, SCHAUNARD, COLLINE Bravo Musetta! Artful minx! Glory and honour, the glory and honour of the Latin Quarter! THE CROWD All a-glitter! The handsomest man in France, the drum-major! Here he is! See, he looks at us as he goes past! (Since Musetta cannot walk with only one shoe, Marcello and Colline carry her on their shoulders. They all follow the guards and disappear. Alcindoro comes back with a new pair of shoes, and the waiter hands him the bill. When he sees the amount and sees nobody around, Alcindoro falls, bewildered, onto a chair.) |
libretto by William Fense Weaver |
Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three; Act Four |