“Pagliacci” by Ruggero Leoncavallo libretto (English)

Contents: Roles / Prologue; Act One; Act Two

ACT ONE

Scene One

A country cross-roads at the entrance to a village.
(The blare of trumpet out of tune and the beating of a
big drum announce the coming of the players, amid
shouts, laughter and the whistling of urchins. A throng
of villagers, men and women in holiday dress, come
running to the scene. Tonio, annoyed by the swelling
crowd, stretches out in front of the theatre. It is three
o’clock under a burning August sun.)

MEN and WOMEN
(arriving in groups)
They’re here! They’re back! And there’s Pagliaccio!
All follow him, young and old,
and all applaud his quips and clowning.
And he bows gravely as he passes,

then beats the big drum again.
Hey! Hey! Whip your donkey, good Harlequin!
They’re here, they’re here!
Now the urchins shout
and throw their caps in the air!

CANIO
(from within)
Go to the devil!

BEPPE
(from within)
Take that, you rascal!

CHORUS
They throw their caps up into the air!
Up they go, with shouts and whistles...
Here come the cart! Make way...
They’re coming! Good God, what pandemonium!
They’re here...make way!
(Enter Beppe, dressed as Harlequin. He leads a donkey
which is drawing a brightly painted, multi-coloured
cart. Nedda is reclining in the front of the cart while
Canio, in the costume of Pagliaccio, is standing in the
back. Canio is beating the big drum.)

ALL
Hurrah! Hurrah for the
Prince of Clowns!
All cares take flight
before his merriment.
Hurrah! They’re here!
etc.

CANIO
Thank you...

CHORUS
Bravo!

CANIO
I should like...

CHORUS
And the show?

CANIO
My friends!

ALL
Oh! You deafen us! Stop!

CANIO
Am I allowed to speak?

ALL
Oh! With him we have no choice
but to yield and listen.

CANIO
Your able and respectful
servant is preparing
a great show for you
at eleven this evening.
You will see the madness
of the good Pagliaccio,
and how with a well-laid trap
he gains his vengeance.
You’ll see the vile body
of Tonio tremble,
and what a heap of intrigue
that rogue contrives.
Come and honour us,
ladies and gentlemen.
At eleven tonight!

ALL
We’ll be there - and save
your good spirits for us!
At eleven tonight!
(Tonio steps forward to help Nedda down from the
cart, but Canio, who has already leapt down, gives him
a cuff, saying:)

CANIO
Off with you!

WOMEN
(laughing)
Take that, you fine gallant!

BOYS
(whistling)
With our compliments!

TONIO
(to himself)
You’ll pay for this! Bandit!

VILLAGER
(to Canio)
Say, won’t you come and drink
a glass with us at the cross-roads?
Come, won’t you?

CANIO
With pleasure.

BEPPE
Wait for me,
I’ll be with you!

CANIO
And you, Tonio, are you coming?

TONIO
I’ll groom the donkey. You go ahead.

VILLAGER
(laughing)
Watch out, Pagliaccio, he wants to be alone
to woo your Nedda.

CANIO
(smiling, but with a frown)
Ah, so! You think so?
(half serious, half ironic)
My friends, believe me, it’s better
not to play such games with me;
I say to Tonio, and in part to all of you
I say, the stage is one thing and life itself another;
and if up there Pagliaccio
surprises his wife with a lover
in her chamber,
why, he delivers a comic lecture
and thereupon calms down
and submits to a thrashing -
and the public applauds to see such sport!
But if I surprised Nedda in real life -
as sure as I am speaking to you -
the story would have a different ending.
It’s better not to play
such games, believe me.

NEDDA
(to herself)
He bewilders me!

VILLAGERS
You take us
seriously, then?

CANIO
I! Hardly! Forgive me,
I adore my wife!
(the sound of bag-pipes off-stage)

BOYS
The pipers! The pipers!

MEN
They are on their way to church.
(The church-bells sound vespers.)

OLD PEOPLE
They are accompanying the happy train
of couples as they go to vespers.

WOMEN
Come, everyone. The bell
calls us to the Lord.

CANIO
But be sure to remember,
at eleven tonight.

CHORUS
Let’s go, let’s go!
Ring, bells! It is vespers calling,
girls and lads, let us join
in pairs and hasten now
to church. Ring, bells!
Yonder the sun kisses

the western heights, ring, bells!
Look out, companions,
our mothers watch us.
Ring, bells! The world is gleaming
with light and love.
But our elders keep watch
over bold lovers!
Ring, bells!
etc.
(During the chorus, Canio has gone behind the theatre
to take off his Pagliaccio costume. He returns, nods a
smiling farewell to Nedda and leaves with Beppe and
five or six villagers. Nedda remains alone.)

Scene Two

NEDDA
What a fire in his glance!
I lowered my eyes for fear
that he read my secret thoughts.
Oh, if he ever caught me,
brute that he is! But enough of that.
These are mere fearful dreams and folly.
Oh, beautiful midsummer sun!
And I, bursting with life, languid with desire,
and yet not knowing what it is I long for!
(She looks up at the sky.)
Oh, what a flight of birds, what clamour!
What do they seek? Where do they go? Who knows?...
My mother, who foretold the future,
understood their song and even so
she sang to me as a child.
Hui! How wildly they shout up there,
launched on their flight like arrows!

They defy storm-clouds and burning sun,
as they fly on and on through the heaven.
Light-thirsty ones, avid for air and splendour,
let them pursue their journey; they, too,
follow a dream and a chimera,
journeying on and on through clouds of gold.
Let winds buffet and storms toss them,
they challenge all with open wings;
neither rain nor lightning daunts them,
neither sea nor chasms, as they fly on and on.
They journey towards a strange land yonder,
a land they’ve dreamt of, which they seek in vain...
Vagabonds of the sky, who obey only
the secret force that drives them on and on.
(Tonio enters during the song and listens enchanted.
Nedda sees him as she finishes.)
You here! I thought you’d gone!

TONIO
Only your singing is to blame.
I listened enraptured.

NEDDA
Ah, such a fine speech!

TONIO
Don’t laugh at me, Nedda...

NEDDA
Off with you...off to the tavern.

TONIO
I know well that I am the twisted half-wit,
that I inspire only scorn and loathing.
But even so, I too dream dreams; I too
know in my heart the pulsing of desire.
When you pass coldly by me, in disdain,
you do not know what anguish grips me...
For I have felt the sorcery, alas, and
I am vanquished in your spell.
Oh, let me speak and tell you...

NEDDA
That you love me?
You will have time to tell me that
tonight, if you so wish,
while you perform your tricks
there on the stage.

TONIO
Don’t laugh at me, Nedda.

NEDDA
But now please spare yourself the trouble.

TONIO
No, here and now I want to tell you,
and you shall hear me say,
that I adore you and desire you
and that you will be mine!

NEDDA
Eh! Tell me, Master Tonio!
Have you an itching back, or must I
pull your ears to cool
your ardour?

TONIO
You mock me? Wretched woman!
By God’s Cross, watch out or you’ll
pay dearly for it!

NEDDA
You’re threatening me?
Shall I call Canio?

TONIO
Not until I kiss you.

NEDDA
Look out!

TONIO
(advancing with open arms to seize her)
Oh, you will soon be mine!

NEDDA
(seizes Beppe’s whip and lashes Tonio across the face.)
Wretch!

TONIO
(falling back with a scream)
By the Holy Virgin of the Assumption, Nedda,
I swear, you’ll pay for this!
(He goes out, growling threats.)

NEDDA
Snake that you are, go! Now that you have shown
what you are! Tonio the half-wit! Your soul is like
your body, filthy and deformed!
(Enter Silvio, who calls softly.)

SILVIO
Nedda!

NEDDA
Silvio! How rash at this hour!

SILVIO
Bah! I knew I was risking nothing.
I saw both Canio and Beppe far off
at the tavern, and I came here cautiously
through woods I know.

NEDDA
A moment earlier and you’d have met Tonio!

SILVIO
Oh, Tonio the half-wit!

NEDDA
The half-wit is to be feared!
He loves me - so he told me now - and in his
bestial passion dared assault me,
yelling for kisses.

SILVIO
By God!

NEDDA
But with the whip
I curbed the fury of the filthy dog!

SILVIO
Ah, you will live forever with this worry...
Oh, Nedda, Nedda,
resolve my fate,
stay with me, Nedda, stay!
You know the holiday is ending
and everyone will leave tomorrow.
Nedda, Nedda!
What will become of me and of my life
when you have gone away?

NEDDA
Silvio!

SILVIO
Nedda, Nedda, answer me.
If it is true that you have never loved Canio,
if, as you say, you loathe
this wandering life and trade,
and if your great love for me is not a myth,
come, let us flee tonight! Come, flee with me!

NEDDA
Oh, do not tempt me! would you ruin my life?
Quiet, Silvio, quiet. This is madness!
I put my trust in you, who have my heart...
Do not abuse my ardent passion!
Do not tempt me! Take pity on me!
Do not tempt me! And then who knows? It’s best to part.
Fate is against us, our words are in vain!
Yet from my heart I cannot tear you. I shall live
only on the love which you awakened in my heart!

SILVIO
Oh! Nedda, let us flee!

NEDDA
Do not tempt me! Would you ruin my life?
etc.

SILVIO
Nedda, stay!
What will happen to me when you’ve gone?
Stay! Nedda! Let’s fly! Ah, come!
Ah! Come with me! Ah, come!
No! You love me no longer!

TONIO
(observing them from one side)
Wench, I’ve caught you now!

NEDDA
Yes, I love you, I love you!

SILVIO
And you will leave tomorrow?
Why, if you must leave me without pity,
why then, sorceress, have you ensnared me?
Why then, that kiss of yours
in the abandon of your close embrace?
If you forget those fleeting hours,
I cannot do so: I desire still
that warm abandon and that flaming kiss
that kindled such a fire in my blood!

NEDDA
I have forgotten nothing: I have been stirred
and shaken by your burning love.
All I wish is to share a life of love with you,
bound to you ever in a sweet enchantment.
To you I give myself and you I take;
you alone rule me: I am wholly yours.

NEDDA and SILVIO
Let us forget everything.

NEDDA
Look into my eyes! Loot at me!
Kiss me, kiss me! Let us forget everything!

SILVIO
You will come?

NEDDA
Yes. Kiss me.

NEDDA and SILVIO
Yes, I look at you, I kiss you,
I love you, I love you!
(Canio and Tonio come furtively in as Nedda and Silvio
are approaching the wall.)

TONIO
Walk softly and you’ll surprise them.

SILVIO
I’ll be down there at midnight.
Come cautiously and you will find me.
(Silvio vaults over the wall.)

NEDDA
Until tonight, and I’ll be yours forever.

CANIO
Oh!

NEDDA
Run!
(Canio also scales the wall in pursuit of Silvio.)
Heaven help him!

CANIO
(off-stage)
You’re hiding, coward!

TONIO
(laughing cynically)
Ha!...Ha!...

NEDDA
Bravo! Bravo, Master Tonio!

TONIO
I do what I can.

NEDDA
That’s as I thought!

TONIO
But I have not lost hope of doing better.

NEDDA
You fill me with disgust and loathing!

TONIO
Oh, you don’t know
how glad that makes me!
(Canio returns, wiping his brow.)

CANIO
(raging)
Scorn and derision!
Empty-handed! He knows that path well.
But no matter! For you yourself will tell me
now the scoundrel’s name.

NEDDA
Who?

CANIO
(furious)
You, by the Almighty!
(drawing a stiletto from his belt)
And if I have not cut your throat
already at this moment, it’s because
I want his name before this blade
is fouled with your stinking blood. Speak!

NEDDA
It is no use insulting me. My lips are sealed.

CANIO
His name, his name! Don’t waste time, woman!

NEDDA
I’ll never tell you.

CANIO
(rushing at her in a fury with stiletto raised)
By the Madonna!
(Beppe enters and wrests the knife from Canio.)

BEPPE
Master! What are you doing? By God’s love,
the villagers are leaving church and coming
to the show. Come, calm down!

CANIO
(struggling)
Let go, Beppe! His name! His name!

BEPPE
Tonio,
come here and hold him. Hurry, the public is arriving.
(Tonio takes Canio by the hand and Beppe turns to
Nedda.)
You’ll do your explaining later. You there,
get going. Go and get dressed. You know,
Canio is hot-tempered but good-hearted.
(He pushes Nedda through the curtain and follows her.)

CANIO
Shameful! Shameful!

TONIO
Be calm now, Master, it is better to dissemble.
The lover will be back. Trust me,
I’ll keep an eye on her. Now for the show!
Who knows, perhaps he’ll come to see the play
and so betray himself. To succeed
you must dissemble.

BEPPE
(re-entering)
Come one, Master, hurry,
you must dress. And you, Tonio, beat the drum.
(Tonio and Beppe leave. Canio, overwhelmed, remains
behind.)

CANIO
Perform the play! While I am racked with grief,
not knowing what I say or what I do!
And yet...I must...ah, force myself to do it!
Bah! You are not a man!
You are Pagliaccio!
Put on the costume, the powder and the paint:
the people pay and want to laugh.
And if Harlequin steals your Columbine,
laugh, Pagliaccio, and all will applaud you!
Change all your tears and anguish into clowning:
and into a grimace your sobbing and your pain...
Laugh, Pagliaccio, at your shattered love!
Laugh at the sorrow that has rent your heart!
(Grief-stricken, he goes out through the curtain.)

Intermezzo

Contents: Roles / Prologue; Act One; Act Two