Rusalka Opera by Antonín Dvořák

Cast:  PRINCE (Tenor)  FOREIGN PRINCESS (Soprano)  RUSALKA, a naiad (Soprano)  WATER GOBLIN (Bass)  JEZIBABA, a witch (Mezzo Soprano)  1st DRYAD (Soprano)  2nd DRYAD (Soprano)  3rd DRYAD (Contralto)  GAME-KEEPER (Baritone)  TURNSPIT (Soprano)  HUNTER (Baritone)  CHORUS  wood sprites, the Prince's entourage, guests at the castle Overture  ACT ONE  A glade at the edge of the lake, surrounded by forests in which, situated on the shore of the lake, stands Jezibaba's cottage. Moonlit night. On an old willow tree reclining towards the lake sits Rusalka, deep in thought.  THREE DRYADS  dancing on the glade  Ho, ho, ho!  There's the moon above the lake!  Curiously she is peering  Till the bottom penetrating.  Watersprite his head is nodding,  Ho, ho, ho!  His old wise and greenish head.  Ho, ho, ho!  Who is coming through the night?  Watersprite, the moon is rising.  Through your window she is peeping,  Burglar?wise she will be breaking.  Ho, ho, ho!  Into your silvery hall!  Ho, ho, ho!  There's the moon roaming around!  With the waves the wind is playing.  Watersprite from sleep arousing,  Watersprite, the water?clown!  Ho, ho, ho!  Bubbles rise from down below.  The watersprite emerges and wipes out his eyes.  THE DRYADS  Ho, ho, ho!  Watersprite from sleep aroused!  Watersprite wants to get married.  Which of us will claim the merit.  To have combed him, to have loved him,  Ho, ho, ho!  In his under?water realm?  They dance gaily around the watersprite.  THE WATERSPRITE  Welcome, you forest dwellers, to the lake!  You, perchance, feel sad in the forest gloom?  I, down below, have splendours neverseen  And quantities of playful gold?fishes –  Now quickly through the reed  I'll stretch my hand, indeed,  And seize one of the damsels  And grab her by her feet  And drag her down to me!  He tries clumsily to catch one of the dryads.  THE DRYADS  Watersprite, ab, heya, hey,  Try to catch us if you may!  Whichever you catch, dear man,  Will give you a kiss for prize!  But your woman, hahaha,  Watersprite, oh, hahaha,  She will twist your ears for that!  They disperse.  THE WATERSPRITE  Urchins, all of them!  Look how they are running  Uphill, down dale, across the fields –  Well, they're young!  RUSALKA  Watersprite, my Father dear!  THE WATERSPRITE  Child, you've made me jump up –  Are you trying to dry up  In moonrays my fishnettings?  RUSALKA  Watersprite, my Father dear,  Till the waters claim me.  Stay with me little while,  Ban the sadness from me!  THE WATERSPRITE  How is that you're sad?  RUSALKA  You'll learn my story!  THE WATERSPRITE  Sad down below, too?  RUSALKA  Yes, sad unto death!  THE WATERSPRITE  Down there where gaiety reigns?  Can't believe it! What's your tale?  RUSALKA  I want to quit here, get out of deep waters,  I want to be human, live in the sunshine!  THE WATERSPRITE  Is that your wish? Can I trust my ears?  To become mortal? To become a human being?  RUSALKA  I learned from you the tales I did not know  That they have souls of which we are deprived  And that to heaven rise these human souls  When men do die and vanish from the earth!  THE WATERSPRITE  As long as these waves serve you for a cradle  Wish not for a soul which is full of sin!  RUSALKA  And also full of love!  THE WATERSPRITE  By eternal waters! ?  Do you mean to say you love a human being?  RUSALKA  He comes here frequently,  Reposes in my embrace,  Leaves his clothes on the shore  And into my arms plunges.  Yet I'm only a wave,  He can't perceive my being.  I know that a woman  I must be undoubtedly  For him to be allowed  To take me in his arms.  To kiss me passionately  Like I'm embracing him!  THE WATERSPRITE  Daughter, daughter! Night after night  Because of you, your sisters will shed tears! –  There is no help, there's nothing to be done  Once you've succumbed to a human creature!  RUSALKA  Watersprite, ah, watersprite!  He must have a chance to see me! –  Tell me, tell me. Father dear,  What must I do to reach it!  THE WATERSPRITE  Doomed you are, doomed you are for all time,  Made over, made over to a man!  No sense to ask you to play down below! –  Call on Jezibaba, the witch,  Pitiful Rusalka pallid!  He submerges.  Alas! Alas! Alas!  Disappears under the water.  RUSALKA  O, moon high up in the deep, deep sky,  Your light sees far away regions,  You travel round the wide, wide world  Peering into human dwellings.  O, moon stand still for a while.  Tell me, ah, tell me where is my lover!  Tell him, please, silvery moon in the sky.  That I am hugging him firmly.  That he should for at least a while  Remember me in his dreams!  Light up his far away place,  Tell him, ah, tell him who is here waiting!  If he is dreaming about me,  May this remembrance waken him!  O, moon, don't disappear, disappear!  The moon hides behind a cloud.  That water is cold! Oh, so cold!  She trembles with anxiety.  Jezibaba! Jezibaba!  THE WATERSPRITE  under the water  Pitiful Rusalka pallid!  Alas! Alas! Alas!  RUSALKA  with urgency  Jezibaba! Jezibaba!  JEZIBABA  coming out of her cottage, looks around  Crying, sighing and lamenting  Who's waking me before day break?  RUSALKA  Jezibaba, help me, help me,  From my captivity free me!  JEZIBABA  Hear I something? Smell I something?  Speak up! Tell me who you are!  RUSALKA  Rusalka, the water-fairy  Wants a philtre, dearest auntie!  JEZIBABA  If you're a nymph, appear quickly,  Show yourself up, lovely child!  RUSALKA  Waves like fetters weigh me down.  Water lilies hold me tightly.  JEZIBABA  Tear yourself away and hurry.  Hasten to me, to the cottage! –  Let her, wavelet, let her come here  As soon as her feet touch the ground!  Rusalka jumps down and moves with difficulty toward the witch.  JEZIBABA  Little feet, carry her, little feet, support her! –  Look, look, how her little feet know to walk already!  RUSALKA  falls to Jezibaba's feet  Jezibaba, help me!  Your ancient wisdom knows everything,  You've seen through Nature's mysteries.  You dream about people on a dark night,  The elements are within your might,  The poisons of earth and the rays of the moon  You know how to concoct and make into drinks.  You know to connect, you know to destroy.  You know how to kill and you know to create.  Man into a monster and back again  Your agelong wisdom knows how to transform.  You make the nymphs tremble during the nights.  For human ailments you prepare strange drugs.  To us and to people in the far flung world  You're both the element and the prototype man.  Mortal and immortal, you are both! –  Help me, ah, help me, you miracle's work!  JEZIBABA  I know that. I know that,  That's what everybody says!  Listen though, listen though  Ere you touch the drug you demand..  You've pearls, you have charm,  If I help you what get I?  RUSALKA  Take all that I have  But transform me into man!  JEZIBABA  Is that all? Nothing more?  That's why you came crying here?  Water does no longer hold you,  Now you want a human body  To be loved and to return love,  To be kissed and to give kisses!  I know that. I know that.  That's what everybody wants!  RUSALKA  Your wisdom guesses everything –  Give me human body, human soul!  JEZIBABA  I'll do that!  By the devil, yes!  But you'll give me in return  Your transparent water veil ?  And should you fail to obtain love  in the world.  You will have to live rejected  Cursed by the undersea world!  Should the love be wasted which you now desire  Angry water powers will drive you into mire.  And even now you'll have to suffer, too.  To all human beings, you'll have to remain mute!  Do you want to be  Mute to him whose love you seek?  RUSALKA  If I'm allowed to know his love  My tongue I'll gladly sacrifice!  JEZIBABA  Keep him, keep him  And know this too:  Should with a curse you return to your native waters.  Your lover also will find his end here!  For ever he will share with you  Your curse, eternal damnation!  RUSALKA  My human soul, my precious human soul,  My love will counteract this magic!  JEZIBABA  Then let's go, quickly go,  To my cottage come with me!  Poisons shall we brew together,  Rusalka will drink the philtre.  Then she will be as good as mute,  Abracadabra!  They enter the cottage and a red glow pours out of its window. A stream of sparks bursts out of the chimney. In a while we hear the brew seething in the kettle. These sounds mingle with Jezibaba's incantations. The dryads come running out of the woods and frightened peep in through the window.  JEZIBABA  in the cottage  Abracadabra!  Fog is lifting in the glade!  Dragon's blood ? one droplet,  Add ten drops of bile  A bird's heart still beating  And the kettle's brimming!  Jump, my tom?cat, jump and jump,  Stir the brew a little bit!  Abracadabra!  There will be no greater pain  This will make you human  And you have to drink it.  When you drink what's cooked in here,  Your tongue will become wooden!  Jump, my tom?cat, hola, height!  Pour that brew into her mouth!  Abracadabra!  And from now on not a word!  The hissing sound from the cottage weakens. The dryads have dispersed. The sky clears and horns are heard from the distance. Morning glow appears over the lake.  THE WATERSPRITE  from the depths  Pitiful Rusalka pallid!  Alas! Alas! Alas!  The horns became more distinct. the hunters are approaching. We hear the song of the hunter.  THE HUNTER  from distance  Rode a young hunter, rode and rode,  He saw a white doe in the woods.  She had a pair of deep?set eyes.  - My arrow, will it strike her down?  Ride on, young hunter, do not stay  And do not at that white doe aim!  From her white body keep away!  - My arrow, will it strike her down?  The horns are sounded again.  THE PRINCE  emerges from the woods, bow in hand  Here she appeared and again disappeared!  Up hill and down dale, through woods and fields  This strangest of games is roaming about –  And here now its tracks have vanished for good!  And rippling with secrets and mystery  These waters are inviting, luring me  As if all my hunting passion should  Cool off again in their wet embrace.  My step wavers, strange nostalgy I feel,  My tired hands refuse to carry arms.  The hunt just started, yet I have enough,  And that strange magic captured me again!  The hunters approach.  THE HUNTER  approaching  That was no doe ? hunter, stop!  God protect your body and soul!  Your heart is all as good as dead!  Who was it your arrow attained?  The hunters emerge from the woods.  THE PRINCE  The hunt is over, return home at once,  Sinister magic haunts the woods today,  Still stronger magic chills my heart! –  Go home, my friends, and leave me alone!  The hunters depart. The prince sits down on the shore of the lake, but when he looks up he sees Rusalka standing before him. Rusalka left the cottage. She is barefoot and clad in a grey garment of a destitute child. Her beautiful golden hair streams down along hey body. She is mute.  THE PRINCE  jumps up  Beautiful vision, delightful.  Are you a woman or a fairy?tale?  Want you to protect that precious game  Which I have just seen in the forest?  Are yo come to beg her life,  You and the doe are kindred blood?  Or do you yourself, coming to me,  Intend to be the hunter's trophy?  Unable to speak, Rusalka stretches out her hands towards him.  THE PRINCE  Secrets, perhaps, have closed your lips  Or are you for ever mute?  If mute are your lips, I swear to God,  They will answer to my kiss!  Explain the mysteries that have allured me here,  That have been calling me over thorns, over rocks,  So that I finally on this blissful day  Could feel the enchantment of your lovely regard!  What is there hidden in your heart.  If you do love me, tell it me.  If you do love me, tell it me!  Rusalka throws herself into his arms.  THE NAIADS  under the water  Sisters, one of us is missing!  Rusalka listens frightened.  THE NAIADS  Dear, sister, where did you go?  Rusalka trembles for indecision and fright.  THE WATERSPRITE  under the water  Up hill and down dale, through the woods!  THE NAIADS  Sister, ah, sister, where are you?  Rusalke clings to the prince.  THE PRINCE  I know you're but magic that will pass  And dissolve in the rolling mists -  But until our time expires  O, fairy?tale, do not vanish!  My hunting ends - why think of it?  You're the most precious of my does!  Golden star shining in the night -  Fairy?tale mine, a, come with me!  He takes Rusalka away. ACT TWO  A park surrounding the Prince's castle. In the background a gallery and the banquet hall. In the foreground a pond under old trees. Late afternoon, dusk and later night.  THE GAMEKEEPER  comes in with the turnspit  Well then, well then, my dear boy,  Tell your story to the end!  What for are the festivities  Which are taking place today?  Guests are swarming in the hall.  There is bustle in the kitchen.  On the tables, on the racks  Utensils of every kind!  THE TURNSPIT  We are in a hurry,  Dearest Uncle Vanek,  From dawn to dusk and through the night  We work without respite or rest!  Think of it, just think of it.  Have you ever heard such a thing:  The prince has in the woods  Found a female creature ?  And the chances are  He will marry her!  He has found her in your woods.  In your deep, deep, gloomy woods ?  Wherever he might have found her,  I would be afraid of her!  Utters not a single word,  Does not have a drop of blood,  Moves around like without sense –  That would be a fine, fine bride!  THE GAMEKEEPER  All this seems to confirm  What I've heard as rumour!  Like it or not, brother,  It will be as you say!  Lord keep us from evil.  For my reason tells me  That in this love?making  There must be some magic!  My forest is haunted  By sinister powers.  Stranger still the creatures  Which at midnight meet there.  Any weakling runs the danger  To be enthralled by the witch,  At the dam the watersprite can  Drag you quick down to his realm.  And who gets to see the dryads  Naked, without skirts or shirts  He is bound to lose his head –  Lord deliver us from that!  THE TURNSPIT  with anxiety  Uncle, I am frightened!  THE GAMEKEEPER  I can understand,  May the Lord show mercy  To your sinful soul!  THE TURNSPIT  Handsome used to be the prince.  See how transformed is he now!  He's no longer what he has been.  Wanders around like bemused.  Auntie Háta pays for prayers  Offered for him day by day.  And the parson as he learned it  Came to warn him of the danger  But the prince: „No and no!  She stays here! And that is all!“  THE GAMEKEEPER  That's why there are noble guests!  Why supplies are running low!  Why I had, and with speed,  Killed and brought here so much game!  THE TURNSPIT  With a bit of luck, though  Nothing comes of it,  And another woman  Can thereby profit!  Auntie Háta told us all  That the prince is inconstant:  That his love's already vanishing.  Another he has in mind.  To a lovely foreign princess  He began to turn his eyes!  THE GAMEKEEPER  God be praised, God be praised,  Bless him, keep him, give him peace!  In his place I without ado  Would chase out that foreign girl  Ere she drags me into hell:  Run her out, that golddigger!  THE TURNSPIT  suddenly  Huh, there comes the prince and the monster too!  He runs away.  THE GAMEKEEPER  Neither I shall await her arrival!  He runs in an opposite direction. Rusalka, beautifully attired, but always sad and pole, is coming with the prince.  THE PRINCE  A week now do you dwell with me  And fairy?like you seem to be,  In vain do I search in your eyes  To understand your mystery!  When we are married shall I get  What love has long been seeking  That you should burn with passion  And be a whole, whole woman!  Why is your embrace always cold,  Why do you flee from passion?  Why anxiously I tremble must  When in my arms I hold you?  In vain, in vain I still this feeling sad,  From your embrace I cannot free myself –  And though you be as frigid as you are,  I must possess you, possess you at last!  THE PRINCESS  comes through the gallery, sees the prince and Rusalka  It is not love, but well an angry feeling  That another is where I should have been  But if I am denied to be his wife,  Neither the two shall live in happiness!  She comes forward.  I wonder if the prince will recollect  That though a lover he's also a host!  seducingly  Shall all your guests silently contemplate  That happiness which you seem to enjoy?  She stands between the prince and Rusalka.  THE PRINCE  startles as soon as he sees the princess  Ah, your reproach is really timely  And from your lips I bear it gladly:  Even the bridegroom, beautiful princess,  Is above all, only your servant!  THE PRINCESS  regarding Rusalka  But say, this beauty, the lady of your heart,  How can she bear it and not to say a word?  Rusalka regards her with pain and anger.  THE PRINCESS  ironically  Or do her eyes have so much tenderness  That only through them you communicate?  THE PRINCE  embarrassed  Her eyes have though forgotten to remind me  That as a host I became negligent.  So with your leave I shall now compensate for  What for a while I neglected to do.  Offers the princess his hand. Rusalka steps forward and firmly takes hold of it.  THE PRINCE:  Why are you embarrassed? Why are you trembling so?  Now hasten to your room and prepare for the ball!  He takes the princess away.  THE PRINCESS  departing, to Rusalka  O, dress yourself in your most superb gown:  I have his gallantry, yet you possess his heart!  Rusalka stares after them as if she would like to restrain the prince from going, but then, sad and heart?broken, she departs through the gallery. Dusk sets in, night falls and later appears the moon. In the hall festive music is heard and lights are lighted. Festive milling is seen in the background, guests are arriving and forming circles. Later singing and dancing.  THE WATERSPRITE  emerges from the fishpond and looks into the gaily animated hall  Pitiful Rusalka pallid,  Caught in the web of wordliness! Alas! Alas!  No one in this world can give you  What my own realm abounds in!  No matter you are human now,  An agelong bond is binding you,  Although a man seems to love you,  You won't entice him for ever!  Pitiful Rusalka pallid,  Caught in the web of wordliness!  Everywhere your sisters seek you,  Try in vain to embrace you!  When you'll come back to your sisters,  Death will spread all around you,  You will come back sick of life  Eternal curse attached to you!  CHORUS  from the hall is heard  White blossoms all along the road,  Along the road all over,  A boy was riding to his maid  And the day smiled so brightly.  Do not wait, my lad, hasten there,  Soon you will attain manhood,  When you will come back by this way,  Red roses will be blooming.  All the white blossoms were the first  To succumb to the sun's rays,  But all the roses fiery  Adorn the bridal chamber.  Now and then the prince appears among the guests, courting the foreign princess and neglecting Rusalka.  THE WATERSPRITE  Pitiful Rusalka pallid,  Caught in the web of wordliness!  Alas! Alas!  Waterlily's blossoms white  Will be your sad companions –  No red roses will decorate  Ever your bridal chamber!  Rusalka, desperate, runs from the hall and flies through the park to the fishpond.  THE WATERSPRITE  surprised  Rusalka, daughter, I am here!  RUSALKA  suddenly regaining speech  Watersprite, my dearest father!  THE WATERSPRITE  So I came to your lovely place  To find you already crying?  RUSALKA  Father mine, watersprite, save me, save,  A terrible fright has seized me!  Woe me that I'd have betrayed you,  Woe him who's known the humans!  Alas! Alas!  Another's charm has captured him,  Passionate human beauty –  Stranger am I again to him,  Rusalka from the waters!  THE WATERSPRITE  He did reject you who loved you so?  Now you must, you must persevere!  RUSALKA  O, useless, useless, useless it is,  And emptiness is in my heart,  And useless are now all my charms,  If I am only half?a?man!  He does not know me any more,  Rusalka from the waters!  Her eyes are burning with a passion,  That human passion damnable,  I have been born of tepid water  And passion that I don't possess!  Accursed by you, lost to him forever,  Of Nature's wild forces an echo dull,  Neither a fairy, nor a woman,  I can neither die, nor can I live!  The prince and the princess come out of the banquet hall.  RUSALKA  See them, oh, see them! Here they are -  Father mine, Father mine, save me, save!  THE PRINCESS  accompanied by the prince  Strange fire in your eyes is burning,  Enchanted I listen to you,  You're growing both sweeter and warmer –  O, prince, say what does all that mean?  Where has your chosen one disappeared,  She that is mute and without name?  Where has she fled? She ought to see  Her prince who is completely changed!  THE PRINCE  Where did she go? God only knows!  But you alone have caused this change –  This summer night will not reveal  That other charms have captured me.  Call it a whim or what you will  That for a while I have loved her  And be a blazing fire where  The moon's pale light ruled up?to?now!  THE PRINCESS  But when my fire will have burnt you  And frightened all your passions wild  And when I'm gone far, far from you –  What will you do with that lunar shine?  When you'll be embraced by the lovely  Arms of that mute sleepwalker yours –  Who will inflame your passions then?  O, pitty, pitty, passion that!  THE PRINCE  full of passion  And should the whole, whole world  Disapprove of my longing –  You are that blossom red  Though for a moment only!  It's now I realize  What made my body dying  When with the help of love  It sought to become healthy!  THE PRINCESS  Why, only now I realize  That suddenly I'm being courted -  The bridegroom does not know himself  Whether he courts me or the other!  THE PRINCE  suddenly embraces the princess  What will remain of that love  Into whose trap I fell?  Its bonds I'll gladly tear up  If I can but love you!  Rusalka, desperate, runs out of her hiding?place and throws herself into the prince's arms.  THE PRINCE  mortally frightened  Your shoulders are as cold as ice,  You, frigid beauty, cold and white!  He pushes Rusalka away.  THE WATERSPRITE  appears in full moonlight and shouts  Hasten into the other's arms!  Rusalka's embrace you can't escape!  He drags Rusalka into the pond.  THE PRINCE  stupefied and not understanding anything  From the hand of this mysterious force  Save me, oh, save me, oh, save me!  He falls to the Princess's feet.  THE PRINCESS  in an outburst of laughter  Into the nameless abyss of hell  Hasten to rejoin your chosen one!  She departs. ACT THREE  The glade on the shore of a lake. Night is descending, the sky is overcast, yet later evening glow appears and finally, there is a moonlit night. Rusalka sits above the lake where she sat previously. She is all white and pale. Her hair has turned ashen, her eyes are extinguished.  RUSALKA  Insensible water power,  You've dragged me into the depth –  Why can't I in your cold embrace  Pass away, ah, pass away?  Deprived of my youthfulness.  Of my sisters' company,  For my love for ever banished  Grieve in these cold currents bleak.  Having lost my erstwhile sweet charm,  Cursed by my beloved,  In vain do I seek my sisters,  In vain long I for the world.  Where's the charm of summer nights  When the water?lilies bloomed?  Why can't I in this cold embrace  Pass away, ah, pass away?  JEZIBABA  comes out of her cottage  Ah, ah! Already you have come back?  Well, you have not been away long!  And your cheeks, they have turned so pale,  And how you lament here, all alone!  Say, have not kisses tasted so well  And human bed failed to warm you up?  RUSALKA  Woe me, woe me, my dear auntie,  All betrayed me and I have lost everything!  JEZIBABA  Short has been your honeymooning,  Long will be your lamenting,  After kissing human lips  Fasting will be infinite!  A man is a man, outcast by Nature,  His roots were severed since time out of mind,  Woe him who after his love was longing,  By his betrayal who now is condemned!  RUSALKA  Auntie, my wise one, auntie, say,  Cannot I, cannot I be helped?  JEZIBABA  Your lover has turned on you, ceased to love you  And now Jezibaba should again help you?  After wordly pleasures, my daughter unwise,  You would like to return to your sisters gay?  Well, I have a counsel, very good indeed ?  Whether you will like it, that's another thing!  Only human blood can cleanse you  From the Nature's curse,  From the love which you were seeking  In a man's embrace!  You shall be ‘gain what you have been  Ere this deception -  Yet warm human blood is only  The means of your health.  Every pain will abandon you,  Happy you'll be 'gain  If by your own hand will perish  Who has seduced you!  RUSALKA  frightened  Jezibaba, woe me, much you ask!  JEZIBABA  offers her a knife  Take this knife and vow that you will obey!  RUSALKA  throws the knife into the lake  You inspire horror, let me go!  I'll rather suffer anxieties,  I'll rather be for ever cursed.  All of my unrequited love  All of my despair I'll rather live  But he, he must, must happy be!  JEZIBABA  bursting into a wild laughter  Into silly human life you  Have through longing been enticed –  And now you seem to lack the strength  To spill a drop of human blood!  Mind you, man attains to manhood only  When he has dipped his hand in blood,  When moved by passion till blood spilling  He became drunk with his neighbour's blood.  To say that you wished to be human  To impress him with your passion!  You're just an empty water bubble  A lunar, pallid good?for?nothing!  Go then and suffer through all ages –  Dry?up in longing for your man!  She hobbles back to her cottage.  RUSALKA  Uprooted and banished  Into deep solitude  Without my sisters must I go –  Beloved, I know it, know,  I'll see you nevermore!  Woe me, a woe me hundred times!  She submerges in the lake.  THE NYMPHS  under water  You have left us for the world.  You have fled from our games –  Now that there's a curse on you,  Don't descend to us!  He is banned from our dance  Who has been by man embraced,  We'll disperse, yes, we'll disperse  If you approach us!  From your sadness emanates  Fright into our joyful games.  With the will?o'?the?wisps you play  At night on the moors!  Entice people with your light,  At the crossroads make them stray,  With your flimsy, bluish light  Lead them to their graves!  At the cross?roads, at the tombs,  You will find yourself new friends,  To the dance of water nymphs  Do not dare come back!  Silence. Evening glow in the west.  THE GAMEKEEPER  brings in the turnspit  That you're afraid? Don't be silly,  Other people used to come here!  Knock at the door and say gently  What you've been ordered to say:  Our prince that sick is gravely,  That he is out of his senses.  That a hellish creature cursed  Was on visit at his home,  And that therefore Auntie Háta  Begs Jezibaba's advice!  THE TURNSPIT  refusing  Ah, my legs are failing,  Foggy is my eye –  For the sake of heaven,  Uncle, you go there!  THE GAMEKEEPER  Many times I've passed by here  During the dark hours of night –  You're a coward if there's one  Who's afraid of an old woman!  THE TURNSPIT  Last time when you came to us,  Yourself have put fright in me,  Don't be therefore surprised, uncle,  That I feel frightened in the woods!  THE GAMEKEEPER  Idle talk, idle talk –  I do overstate sometimes!  Quickly now see to it,  Get an answer from the witch!  Rise up quick, go and knock,  Ask the old hag for her wit!  THE TURNSPIT  I would surely mumble,  I have such a fright –  Better yourself ask her  What she thinks of it!  THE GAMEKEEPER  Blushing I'd be, blushing  If you were my son!  But to show you that I  Have no fright at all!  Jezibaba! Hola, hola!  JEZIBABA  comes out of the cottage  Who is noisy? Who is calling?  The turnspit hides behind the gamekeeper.  THE GAMEKEEPR  Auntie Háta sends us to you here,  To you, Jezibaba, for advice!  JEZIBABA  For that advice, for a bit of reason  Does she send me this here boy for breakfast?  She touches the turnspit.  He needs to be fattened as I see,  Then he'll make a tasty, juicy roast!  THE TURNSPIT  defends himself desperately  Let go! Let go! Let me flee from here!  Uncle, Uncle, she wants to eat me!  JEZIBABA  shaking with laughter  Ha, ha, ha, ha,  Ah, you tiny dwarf, you,  Silly creature, you,  You would be a bad bit  For my digestion!  May the hell but swallow  Your accursed clan!  And now quickly tell me  What you have to say!  THE TURNSPIT  with anxiety  Our prince is gravely, gravely sick indeed,  He's under the spell of, of a mighty witch!  He's brought her to the castle, gave her all,  He did love her, I say, like he does himself.  Easily she might have been today his wife –  But the lovely witch has not waited till the wedding day.  When her sway was firmly established,  That unfaithful witch has suddenly disappeared.  The castle is still now under her spell –  The devil himself must have taken the witch to hell!  THE WATERSPRITE  suddenly emerges from the lake  Who, you say, took her?  Whom, you say, she betrayed?  Accursed the man  Who has dispatched you here,  You wretched creatures,  You begetters of lies.  It's he betrayed her,  Subjected her to curse!  THE GAMEKEEPER  takes to his heels  Watersprite! Watersprite!  THE TURNSPIT  follows close after him  Uncle! Uncle! For heaven's sake, uncle!  THE WATERSPRITE  in a frightful voice  I'll take my revenge with all the might I have!  JEZIBABA  Ha, ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, hal  She hobbles back to her cottage. The evening glow vanished, night has fallen and the moon is rising. Dryads dance in the glade.  THE Ist DRYAD  dancing  Hair, golden hair have I,  Glow?worms like to whirl around them at night,  My alabaster hand has now untied my hair,  And the moon is combing them with silver rays.  THE 2nd DRYAD  dancing  Feet, white feet have I,  Using them I have run all around the glade,  I've been running barefoot and dew has washed my feet  And the moon has shod them with slippers of gold.  THE 3rd DRYAD  dancing, together with the other  White, my body is white,  In the glade it glistens with all loveliness,  Wherever I move to, there my lovely body  Finds beautiful dresses made of moonlight beams.  THE DRYADES  Let us dance, sisters, ah, let us dance  In the fine nocturnal breeze!  It's about time for the watersprite  To call us up from the reeds!  Seeing the watersprite.  There he is, there he is  Already mending his nets!  dancing around him  Watersprite, ah, heya, hey.  Try to catch us if you may!  Whichever you catch, dear man,  Will give you a kiss for prize.  But your woman, hahaha,  Watersprite, ah, hahaha,  She will twist your ears for that!  THE WATERSPRITE  sadly  Stop your gaily romping,  My dear children goldenhaired –  Our native water  Alas has been soiled by man.  THE DRYADS  stand still  What is it that mars our gay dance?  Tell your tale, watersprite, tell your tale!  THE WATERSPRITE  At the deep bottom laments  Rejected by her sisters  Pitiful Rusalka pallid!  Alas! Alas! Alas!  He submerges. The moon hides behind clouds.  THE 1st DRYAD  Tears are rising to my eyes,  Suddenly I feed cold.  THE 2nd DRYAD  Behind clouds of grey and black  The moon has now hidden.  THE 3rd DRYAD  Darkness oppresses my head.  Sisters, sisters, let us flee!  They disperse.  THE PRINCE  like o madman runs out of the wood  Where are you, my white doe?  Fairy?tale! My silent image!  To my lamentations, to my constant searching  Will there nevermore be an end?  Day after day be longing urged,  Breathless I seek you in the woods,  When night approaches I sense you there,  Look for you in the moonlit mist.  Search for you all over the earth –  Fairy?tale, fairy?tale, come to me!  He stops.  Here it has happened! Speak, silent forests!  Sweet apparition, beloved. where are you?  By all that still lives in my heart  I entreat both heaven and earth,  I entreat God and the demons too –  Speak to me, speak up, where are you?  The moon emerges from the clouds.  RUSALKA  appears in the moonlight above the lake  Do you still know me, lover?  Do you still recall me to mind?  THE PRINCE  startled  If you are dead now, kill me quick!  If you are alive, save me, save!  RUSALKA  Living nor dead I, woman nor fairy,  Accursed I wander through the night!  In vain in your arms have I been dreaming  My poor love, my poor, wretched love –  Once in the past I have been your sweetheart,  Now I can only be your death!  THE PRINCE  Without you I can nowhere live –  Can you, oh, can you forgive me?  RUSALKA  Why did you hug me in your arms,  Why did your lips lie to me?  Now I'm but a lunar vision  Destined ever to torment you.  Now I am luring you at night,  Dishonoured is my lap,  With the will?o'?the?wisps I must  Drag you down to the depths.  You sought after passion, do I know  Which I have never had –  But if I give you a kiss now,  You are lost for all time!  THE PRINCE  staggering towards her  Kiss me, just kiss me, give me peace,  Never shall I turn to the world,  Kiss me if need be till I'm dead!  RUSALKA  And you have given me so much –  Why did you, my dearest, betray me?  Do you know, my lad, do you know,  From my embrace there's no return,  In my embrace you'll find your death?  THE PRINCE  All that I'll give you once again –  Kiss me, but kiss me thousand times!  Don ' t want to return, let me die,  Kiss me, just kiss me, give me peace,  I don't think, I don't think of the past!  RUSALKA  embraces him and kisses him  My love will freeze all sentiments –  I have to, have to make you die,  Yet I must take you into my arms!  THE PRINCE  Kiss me, just kiss me, give me peace!  Your kisses, 1 know, will redeem my sin –  I'm dying happy in your embrace!  He dies.  THE WATERSPRITE  deep under water  In vain shall he die in your arms,  In vain is any sacrifice,  Pitiful Rusalka pallid!  Alas! Alas! Alas!  RUSALKA  kisses the dead prince for the last time  Because you loved, because you were good,  Because you were humanly fickle,  Because of all which makes up my fate –  God have mercy on you, human soul!  She submerges in the lake.  Curtain