(Scene.-A ruined chapel by moonlight. Aisles C., R. and L.,divided by pillars and arches, ruined Gothic windows atback. MAJOR-GENERAL STANLEY discovered seated R.C.pensively, surrounded by his daughters.)
CHORUSOh, dry the glist'ning tearThat dews that martial cheek,Thy loving children hear,In them thy comfort seek.With sympathetic careTheir arms around thee creep,For oh, they cannot bearTo see their father weep!(Enter MABEL)SOLO—MABELDear father, why leave your bedAt this untimely hour,When happy daylight is dead,And darksome dangers low'r?See, heav'n has lit her lamp,The midnight hour is past,And the chilly night-air is damp,And the dews are falling fast!Dear father, why leave your bedWhen happy daylight is dead?GIRLS: Oh, dry the glist'ning tear, etc.(FREDERIC enters)MABEL: Oh, Frederic, cannot you, in the calm excellence ofyour wisdom, reconcile it with your conscience to saysomething that will relieve my father's sorrow?FREDERIC: I will try, dear Mabel. But why does he sit, nightafter night, in this draughty old ruin?GENERAL: Why do I sit here? To escape from the pirates'clutches, I described myself as an orphan; and, heavenhelp me, I am no orphan! I come here to humble myselfbefore the tombs of my ancestors, and to implore theirpardon for having brought dishonour on the familyescutcheon.FREDERIC: But you forget, sir, you only bought the property ayear ago, and the stucco on your baronial castle isscarcely dry.GENERAL: Frederic, in this chapel are ancestors: you cannot denythat. With the estate, I bought the chapel and itscontents. I don't know whose ancestors they were, butI know whose ancestors they are, and I shudder to thinkthat their descendant by purchase (if I may so describemyself) should have brought disgrace upon what, I haveno doubt, was an unstained escutcheon.FREDERIC: Be comforted. Had you not acted as you did, thesereckless men would assuredly have called in the nearestclergyman, and have married your large family on thespot.GENERAL: I thank you for your proffered solace, but it isunavailing. I assure you, Frederic, that such is theanguish and remorse I feel at the abominable falsehoodby which I escaped these easily deluded pirates, that Iwould go to their simple-minded chief this very nightand confess all, did I not fear that the consequenceswould be most disastrous to myself. At what time doesyour expedition march against these scoundrels?FREDERIC: At eleven, and before midnight I hope to have atonedfor my involuntary association with the pestilentscourges by sweeping them from the face of the earth—and then, dear Mabel, you will be mine!GENERAL: Are your devoted followers at hand?FREDERIC: They are, they only wait my orders.RECIT—GENERALThen, Frederic, let your escort lion-heartedBe summoned to receive a gen'ral's blessing,Ere they depart upon their dread adventure.FREDERIC: Dear, sir, they come.(Enter POLICE, marching in single file. They form in line, facingaudience.)SONG—SERGEANTWhen the foeman bares his steel,Tarantara! tarantara!We uncomfortable feel,Tarantara!And we find the wisest thing,Tarantara! tarantara!Is to slap our chests and sing,Tarantara!For when threatened with -meutes,Tarantara! tarantara!And your heart is in your boots,Tarantara!There is nothing brings it roundLike the trumpet's martial sound,Like the trumpet's martial soundTarantara! tarantara!, etc.MABEL: Go, ye heroes, go to glory,Though you die in combat gory,Ye shall live in song and story.Go to immortality!Go to death, and go to slaughter;Die, and every Cornish daughterWith her tears your grave shall water.Go, ye heroes, go and die!GIRLS: Go, ye heroes, go and die! Go, ye heroes, go and die!POLICE: Though to us it's evident,Tarantara! tarantara!These attentions are well meant,Tarantara!Such expressions don't appear,Tarantara! tarantara!Calculated men to cheerTarantara!Who are going to meet their fateIn a highly nervous state.Tarantara! tarantara! tarantara!Still to us it's evidentThese attentions are well meant.Tarantara! tarantara! tarantara!EDITH: Go and do your best endeavour,And before all links we sever,We will say farewell for-ever.Go to glory and the grave!GIRLS: For your foes are fierce and ruthless,False, unmerciful, and truthless;Young and tender, old and toothless,All in vain their mercy crave.SERGEANT: We observe too great a stress,On the risks that on us press,And of reference a lackTo our chance of coming back.Still, perhaps it would be wiseNot to carp or criticise,For it's very evidentThese attentions are well meant.POLICE: Yes, it's very evidentThese attentions are well meant,Evident, yes, well meant, evidentAh, yes, well meant!ENSEMBLEChorus of all but Police Chorus of PoliceGo and do your best endeavour, Such expressions don'tappear,And before all links we sever Tarantara,tarantara!We will say farewell for ever. Calculated men to cheer,Go to glory and the grave! Tarantara!For your foes and fierce and Who are going to their fate,ruthless, Tarantara,tarantara!False, unmerciful, and In a highly nervous state—truthless. Tarantara!Young and tender, old and We observe too great astress,toothless, Tarantara,tarantara!All in vain their mercy crave. On the risks that on uspress,Tarantara!And of reference a lack,Tarantara,tarantara!To our chance of coming back,Tarantara!GENERAL: Away, away!POLICE: (without moving) Yes, yes, we go.GENERAL: These pirates slay.POLICE: Tarantara!GENERAL: Then do not stay.POLICE: Tarantara!GENERAL: Then why this delay?POLICE: All right, we go.ALL: Yes, forward on the foe!Yes, forward on the foe!GENERAL: Yes, but you don't go!POLICE: We go, we goALL: Yes, forward on the foe!Yes, forward on the foe!GENERAL: Yes, but you don't go!POLICE: We go, we goALL: At last they go!At last they really go!(Exeunt POLICE. MABEL tears herself from FREDERIC and exits,followed by her sisters, consoling her. The MAJOR-GENERALand others follow the POLICE off. FREDERIC remains alone.)RECIT-FREDERICNow for the pirates' lair! Oh, joy unbounded!Oh, sweet relief! Oh, rapture unexampled!At last I may atone, in some slight measure,For the repeated acts of theft and pillageWhich, at a sense of duty's stern dictation,I, circumstance's victim, have been guilty!(PIRATE KING and RUTH appear at the window, armed.)KING: Young Frederic! (Covering him with pistol)FREDERIC: Who calls?KING: Your late commander!RUTH: And I, your little Ruth! (Covering him with pistol)FREDERIC: Oh, mad intruders,How dare ye face me? Know ye not, oh rash ones,That I have doomed you to extermination?(KING and RUTH hold a pistol to each ear)KING: Have mercy on us! hear us, ere you slaughter!FREDERIC: I do not think I ought to listen to you.Yet, mercy should alloy our stern resentment,And so I will be merciful— say on!TRIO—RUTH, KING, and FREDERICRUTH: When you had left our pirate fold,We tried to raise our spirits faint,According to our custom old,With quips and quibbles quaint.But all in vain the quips we heard,We lay and sobbed upon the rocks,Until to somebody occurredA startling paradox.FREDERIC: A paradox?KING: (laughing) A paradox!RUTH: A most ingenious paradox!We've quips and quibbles heard in flocks,But none to beat this paradox!A paradox, a paradox,A most ingenious paradox!Ha! ha! ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha! ha!KING: We knew your taste for curious quips,For cranks and contradictions queer;And with the laughter on our lips,We wished you there to hear.We said, "If we could tell it him,How Frederic would the joke enjoy!"And so we've risked both life and limbTo tell it to our boy.FREDERIC: (interested). That paradox? That paradox?KING and RUTH: (laughing) That most ingenious paradox!We've quips and quibbles heard in flocks,But none to beat this paradox!A paradox, a paradox,A most ingenious paradox!Ha! ha! ha! ha! Ho! ho! ho! ho!CHANT—KINGFor some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I've no desire tobe disloyal,Some person in authority, I don't know who, very likely theAstronomer Royal,Has decided that, although for such a beastly month as February,twenty-eight days as a rule are plenty,One year in every four his days shall be reckoned as nine and-twenty.Through some singular coincidence— I shouldn't be surprised ifit were owing to the agency of an ill-natured fairy—You are the victim of this clumsy arrangement, having been bornin leap-year, on the twenty-ninth of February;And so, by a simple arithmetical process, you'll easily discover,That though you've lived twenty-one years, yet, if we go bybirthdays, you're only five and a little bit over!RUTH: Ha! ha! ha! ha!KING: Ho! ho! ho! ho!FREDERIC: Dear me!Let's see! (counting on fingers)Yes, yes; with yours my figures do agree!ALL: Ha! ha! ha! ho! ho! ho! ho!FREDERIC: (more amused than any) How quaint the ways of Paradox!At common sense she gaily mocks!Though counting in the usual way,Years twenty-one I've been alive,Yet, reck'ning by my natal day,Yet, reck'ning by my natal day,I am a little boy of five!RUTH/KING: He is a little boy of five!Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!ALL: A paradox, a paradox,A most ingenious paradox!Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!, etc.(RUTH and KING throw themselves back on seats, exhausted withlaughter)FREDERIC: Upon my word, this is most curious— most absurdlywhimsical. Five-and-a-quarter! No one would think itto look at me!RUTH: You are glad now, I'll be bound, that you spared us.You would never have forgiven yourself when youdiscovered that you had killed two of your comrades.FREDERIC: My comrades?KING: (rises) I'm afraid you don't appreciate the delicacyof your position: You were apprenticed to us—FREDERIC: Until I reached my twenty-first year.KING: No, until you reached your twenty-first birthday(producing document), and, going by birthdays, you areas yet only five-and-a-quarter.FREDERIC: You don't mean to say you are going to hold me to that?KING: No, we merely remind you of the fact, and leave therest to your sense of duty.RUTH: Your sense of duty!FREDERIC: (wildly) Don't put it on that footing! As I wasmerciful to you just now, be merciful to me! I imploreyou not to insist on the letter of your bond just asthe cup of happiness is at my lips!RUTH: We insist on nothing; we content ourselves withpointing out to you your duty.KING: Your duty!FREDERIC: (after a pause) Well, you have appealed to my sense ofduty, and my duty is only too clear. I abhor yourinfamous calling; I shudder at the thought that I haveever been mixed up with it; but duty is before all —at any price I will do my duty.KING: Bravely spoken! Come, you are one of us once more.FREDERIC: Lead on, I follow. (Suddenly) Oh, horror!KING/RUTH: What is the matter?FREDERIC: Ought I to tell you? No, no, I cannot do it; and yet,as one of your band—KING: Speak out, I charge you by that sense ofconscientiousness to which we have never yet appealedin vain.FREDERIC: General Stanley, the father of my Mabel—KING/RUTH: Yes, yes!FREDERIC: He escaped from you on the plea that he was an orphan?KING: He did.FREDERIC: It breaks my heart to betray the honoured father of thegirl I adore, but as your apprentice I have noalternative. It is my duty to tell you that GeneralStanley is no orphan!KING/RUTH: What!FREDERIC: More than that, he never was one!KING: Am I to understand that, to save his contemptible life,he dared to practice on our credulous simplicity?(FREDERIC nods as he weeps) Our revenge shall be swiftand terrible. We will go and collect our band andattack Tremorden Castle this very night.FREDERIC: But stay—KING: Not a word! He is doomed!TRIOKING and RUTH: FREDERICAway, away! my heart's on fire; Away, away! ere I expire—I burn, this base deception to I find my duty hard todo to-repay. day!This very night my vengeance dire My heart is filled withanguish dire,Shall glut itself in gore. It strikes me to thecore.Away, away! Away, away!KING: With falsehood foulHe tricked us of our brides.Let vengeance howl;The Pirate so decides.Our nature sternHe softened with his lies,And, in return,To-night the traitor dies.ALL: Yes, yes! to-night the traitor dies!Yes, yes! to-night the traitor dies!RUTH: To-night he dies!KING: Yes, or early to-morrow.FREDERIC: His girls likewise?RUTH: They will welter in sorrow.KING: The one soft spotRUTH: In their natures they cherish—FREDERIC: And all who plotKING: To abuse it shall perish!ALL: To-night he dies, etc.(Exeunt KING and RUTH. FREDERIC throws himself on a stone inblank despair. Enter MABEL.)RECIT—MABELAll is prepared, your gallant crew await you.My Frederic in tears? It cannot beThat lion-heart quails at the coming conflict?FREDERIC: No, Mabel, no.A terrible disclosureHas just been made.Mabel, my dearly-loved one,I bound myself to serve the pirate captainUntil I reached my one-and-twentieth birthday—MABEL: But you are twenty-one?FREDERIC: I've just discoveredThat I was born in leap-year, and that birthdayWill not be reached by me till nineteen forty!MABEL: Oh, horrible! catastrophe appalling!FREDERIC: And so, farewell!MABEL: No, no!Ah, Frederic, hear me.DUET—MABEL and FREDERICMABEL: Stay, Fred'ric, stay!They have no legal claim,No shadow of a shameWill fall upon thy name.Stay, Frederic, stay!FREDERIC: Nay, Mabel, nay!To-night I quit these walls,The thought my soul appalls,But when stern Duty calls,I must obey.MABEL: Stay, Fred'ric, stay!FREDERIC: Nay, Mabel, nay!MABEL: They have no claim—FREDERIC: But Duty's name.The thought my soul appalls,But when stern Duty calls,MABEL: Stay, Fred'ric, stay!FREDERIC: I must obey.BALLAD—MABELAh, leave me not to pineAlone and desolate;No fate seemed fair as mine,No happiness so great!And Nature, day by day,Has sung in accents clearThis joyous roundelay,"He loves thee— he is here.Fa-la, la-la,Fa-la, la-la.He loves thee— he is here.Fa-la, la-la, Fa-la."FREDERIC: Ah, must I leave thee hereIn endless night to dream,Where joy is dark and drear,And sorrow all supreme—Where nature, day by day,Will sing, in altered tone,This weary roundelay,"He loves thee— he is gone.Fa-la, la-la,Fa-la, la-la.He loves thee— he is gone.Fa-la, la-la, Fa-la."FREDERIC: In 1940 I of age shall be,I'll then return, and claim you—I declare it!MABEL: It seems so long!FREDERIC: Swear that, till then, you will be true to me.MABEL: Yes, I'll be strong!By all the Stanleys dead and gone, I swear it!ENSEMBLEOh, here is love, and here is truth,And here is food for joyous laughter:He (she) will be faithful to his (her) soothTill we are wed, and even after.Oh, here is love, etc.(FREDERIC rushes to window and leaps out)MABEL: (almost fainting) No, I am brave! Oh, family descent,How great thy charm, thy sway how excellent!Come one and all, undaunted men in blue,A crisis, now, affairs are coming to!(Enter POLICE, marching in single file)SERGEANT: Though in body and in mindPOLICE: Tarantara! tarantara!SERGEANT: We are timidly inclined,POLICE: Tarantara!SERGEANT: And anything but blindPOLICE: Tarantara! tarantara!SERGEANT: To the danger that's behind,POLICE: Tarantara!SERGEANT: Yet, when the danger's near,POLICE: Tarantara! tarantara!SERGEANT: We manage to appearPOLICE: Tarantara!SERGEANT: As insensible to fearAs anybody here,As anybody here.POLICE: Tarantara! tarantara!, etc.MABEL: Sergeant, approach! Young Frederic was to have led youto death and glory.POLICE: That is not a pleasant way of putting it.MABEL: No matter; he will not so lead you, for he has alliedhimself once more with his old associates.POLICE: He has acted shamefully!MABEL: You speak falsely. You know nothing about it. He hasacted nobly.POLICE: He has acted nobly!MABEL: Dearly as I loved him before, his heroic sacrifice tohis sense of duty has endeared him to me tenfold; butif it was his duty to constitute himself my foe, it islikewise my duty to regard him in that light. He hasdone his duty. I will do mine. Go ye and do yours.(Exit MABEL)POLICE: Right oh!SERGEANT: This is perplexing.POLICE: We cannot understand it at all.SERGEANT: Still, as he is actuated by a sense of duty—POLICE: That makes a difference, of course. At the same time,we repeat, we cannot understand it at all.SERGEANT: No matter. Our course is clear: we must do our bestto capture these pirates alone. It is most distressingto us to be the agents whereby our erring fellow-creatures are deprived of that liberty which is so dearto us all— but we should have thought of that beforewe joined the force.POLICE: We should!SERGEANT: It is too late now!POLICE: It is!SOLO AND CHORUSSERGEANT: When a felon's not engaged in his employmentPOLICE: His employmentSERGEANT: Or maturing his felonious little plans,POLICE: Little plans,SERGEANT: His capacity for innocent enjoymentPOLICE: 'Cent enjoymentSERGEANT: Is just as great as any honest man's.POLICE: Honest man's.SERGEANT: Our feelings we with difficulty smotherPOLICE: 'Culty smotherSERGEANT: When constabulary duty's to be done.POLICE: To be done.SERGEANT: Ah, take one consideration with another,POLICE: With another,SERGEANT: A policeman's lot is not a happy one.ALL: Ah, when constabulary duty's to be done, to bedone,A policeman's lot is not a happy one, happy one.SERGEANT: When the enterprising burglar's not a-burglingPOLICE: Not a-burglingSERGEANT: When the cut-throat isn't occupied in crime,POLICE: 'Pied in crime,SERGEANT: He loves to hear the little brook a-gurglingPOLICE: Brook a-gurglingSERGEANT: And listen to the merry village chime.POLICE: Village chime.SERGEANT: When the coster's finished jumping on his mother,POLICE: On his mother,SERGEANT: He loves to lie a-basking in the sun.POLICE: In the sun.SERGEANT: Ah, take one consideration with another,POLICE: With another,SERGEANT: A policeman's lot is not a happy one.ALL: Ah, when constabulary duty's to be done, to bedone,A policeman's lot is not a happy one, happy one.(Chorus of Pirates without, in the distance)A rollicking band of pirates we,Who, tired of tossing on the sea,Are trying their hand at a burglaree,With weapons grim and gory.SERGEANT: Hush, hush! I hear them on the manor poaching,With stealthy step the pirates are approaching.(Chorus of Pirates, resumed nearer.)We are not coming for plate or gold;A story General Stanley's told;We seek a penalty fifty-fold,For General Stanley's story.POLICE: They seek a penaltyPIRATES: Fifty-fold!We seek a penaltyPOLICE: Fifty-fold!ALL: They (We) seek a penalty fifty-fold,For General Stanley's story.SERGEANT: They come in force, with stealthy stride,Our obvious course is now—to hide.POLICE: Tarantara! Tarantara! etc.(Police conceal themselves in aisle. As they do so, the Pirates,with RUTH and FREDERIC, are seen appearing at ruined window.They enter cautiously, and come down stage on tiptoe.SAMUEL is laden with burglarious tools and pistols, etc.)CHORUS—PIRATES (very loud)With cat-like tread,Upon our prey we steal;In silence dread,Our cautious way we feel.No sound at all!We never speak a word;A fly's foot-fallWould be distinctly heard—POLICE: (softly) Tarantara, tarantara!PIRATES: So stealthily the pirate creeps,While all the household soundly sleeps.Come, friends, who plough the sea,Truce to navigation;Take another station;Let's vary piraceeWith a little burglaree!POLICE: (softly) Tarantara, tarantara!SAMUEL: (distributing implements to various members of thegang)Here's your crowbar and your centrebit,Your life-preserver—you may want to hit!Your silent matches, your dark lantern seize,Take your file and your skeletonic keys.POLICE: Tarantara!PIRATES: With cat-like treadPOLICE: Tarantara!PIRATES: in silence dread,(Enter KING, FREDERIC and RUTH)ALL (fortissimo). With cat-like tread, etc.RECITFREDERIC: Hush, hush! not a word; I see a light inside!The Major-Gen'ral comes, so quickly hide!PIRATES: Yes, yes, the Major-General comes!(Exeunt KING, FREDERIC, SAMUEL, and RUTH)POLICE: Yes, yes, the Major-General comes!GENERAL: (entering in dressing-gown, carrying a light)Yes, yes, the Major-General comes!SOLO—GENERALTormented with the anguish dreadOf falsehood unatoned,I lay upon my sleepless bed,And tossed and turned and groaned.The man who finds his conscience acheNo peace at all enjoys;And as I lay in bed awake,I thought I heard a noise.MEN: He thought he heard a noise— ha! ha!GENERAL: No, all is stillIn dale, on hill;My mind is set at ease—So still the scene,It must have beenThe sighing of the breeze.BALLAD—GENERALSighing softly to the riverComes the loving breeze,Setting nature all a-quiver,Rustling through the trees.MEN: Through the trees.GENERAL: And the brook, in rippling measure,Laughs for very love,While the poplars, in their pleasure,Wave their arms above.MEN: Yes, the trees, for very love,Wave their leafy arms above.ALL: River, river, little river,May thy loving prosper ever!Heaven speed thee, poplar tree,May thy wooing happy be.GENERAL: Yet, the breeze is but a rover,When he wings away,Brook and poplar mourn a loverSighing,"Well-a-day!"MEN: Well-a-day!GENERAL: Ah! the doing and undoing,That the rogue could tell!When the breeze is out a-wooing,Who can woo so well?MEN: Shocking tales the rogue could tell,Nobody can woo so well.ALL: Pretty brook, thy dream is over,For thy love is but a rover;Sad the lot of poplar trees,Courted by a fickle breeze!(Enter the MAJOR-GENERAL's daughters, led by MABEL, all in whitepeignoirs and night-caps, and carrying lighted candles.)GIRLS: Now what is this, and what is that, and why does fatherleave his restAt such a time of night as this, so very incompletelydressed?Dear father is, and always was, the most methodical ofmen!It's his invariable rule to go to bed at half-past ten.What strange occurrence can it be that calls dearfather from his restAt such a time of night as this, so very incompletelydressed?(Enter KING, SAMUEL, and FREDERIC)KING: Forward, my men, and seize that General there! Hislife is over. (They seize the GENERAL)GIRLS: The pirates! the pirates! Oh, despair!PIRATES: (springing up) Yes, we're the pirates, so despair!GENERAL: Frederic here! Oh, joy! Oh. rapture!Summon your men and effect their capture!MABEL: Frederic, save us!FREDERIC: Beautiful Mabel,I would if I could, but I am not able.PIRATES: He's telling the truth, he is not able.KING: With base deceitYou worked upon our feelings!Revenge is sweet,And flavours all our dealings!With courage rareAnd resolution manly,For death prepare,Unhappy Gen'ral Stanley.MABEL: (wildly) Is he to die, unshriven, unannealed?GIRLS: Oh, spare him!MABEL: Will no one in his cause a weapon wield?GIRLS: Oh, spare him!POLICE: (springing up) Yes, we are here, though hithertoconcealed!GIRLS: Oh, rapture!POLICE: So to Constabulary, pirates yield!GIRLS: Oh, rapture!(A struggle ensues between Pirates and Police, RUTH tackling theSERGEANT. Eventually the Police are overcome and fallprostrate, the Pirates standing over them with drawnswords.)CHORUS OF PIRATES AND POLICEPIRATES POLICEWe triumph now, for well we You triumph now, for well wetrow trowYour mortal career's cut short; Our mortal career's cutshort;No pirate band will take its No pirate band will take itsstand standAt the Central Criminal Court. At the Central CriminalCourt.SERGEANT: To gain a brief advantage you've contrived,But your proud triumph will not be long-livedKING: Don't say you are orphans, for we know that game.SERGEANT: On your allegiance we've a stronger claim.We charge you yield, we charge you yield,In Queen Victoria's name!KING: (baffled) You do?POLICE: We do!We charge you yield,In Queen Victoria's name!(PIRATES kneel, POLICE stand over them triumphantly.)KING: We yield at once, with humbled mien,Because, with all our faults, we love our Queen.POLICE: Yes, yes, with all their faults, they love their Queen.ALL: Yes, yes, with all their faults, they love their Queen.(POLICE, holding PIRATES by the collar, take out handkerchiefsand weep.)GENERAL: Away with them, and place them at the bar!(Enter RUTH)RUTH: One moment! let me tell you who they are.They are no members of the common throng;They are all noblemen who have gone wrong.ALL: They are all noblemen who have gone wrong.GENERAL: No Englishman unmoved that statement hears,Because, with all our faults, we love our House ofPeers. (All kneel)I pray you, pardon me, ex-Pirate King!Peers will be peers, and youth will have its fling.Resume your ranks and legislative duties,And take my daughters, all of whom are beauties.FINALE—MABEL, EDITH and ENSEMBLEPoor wandering ones!Though ye have surely strayed,Take heart of grace,Your steps retrace,Poor wandering ones!Poor wandering ones!If such poor love as oursCan help you findTrue peace of mind,Why, take it, it is yours!ALL: Poor wandering ones! etc.
END OF OPERA
ORCASTLE ADAMANT
libretto by William S. Gilbertmusic by Arthur S. Sullivan
DRAMATIS PERSONAEKing HildebrandHilarion (His son)Hilarion's friends:CyrilFlorianKing GamaHis sons:AracGuronScynthius
Princess Ida (Gama's daughter)Lady Blanche (Professor of Abstract Science)Lady Psyche (Professor of Humanities)Melissa (Lady Blanche's Daughter)Girl Graduates:SacharissaChloeAdaSoldiers, Courtiers, "Girl Graduates," "Daughters of the Plough,"etc.
ACT IPavilion in King Hildebrand's PalaceACT IIGardens of Castle AdamantACT IIICourtyard of Castle Adamant
SCENE. Pavilion attached to King Hildebrand's Palace.Soldiers and courtiers discovered looking out throughopera-glasses, telescopes, etc., Florian leading.CHORUS AND SOLO (Florian)"Search throughout the panorama"Chorus: Search throughout the panoramaFor a sign of royal Gama,Who to-day should cross the waterWith his fascinating daughter—Ida is her name.Some misfortune evidentlyHas detained them — consequentlySearch throughout the panoramaFor the daughter of King Gama,Prince Hilarion's flame!Prince Hilarion's flame!SOLO - FlorianFlorian: Will Prince Hilarion's hopes be sadly blighted?Chorus: Who can tell? Who can tell?Florian: Will Ida break the vows that she has plighted?Chorus: Who can tell? Who can tell?Florian: Will she back out, and say she did not mean them?Chorus: Who can tell?Florian: If so, there'll be the deuce to pay between them!Chorus: No, no — we'll not despair, we'll not despair,For Gama would not dareTo make a deadly foeOf Hildebrand, and so,Search through the panoramaFor a sign of royal Gama,Who today should cross the waterWith his fascinating daughter—Ida, Ida is her name.(Enter King Hildebrandwith Cyril)Hildebd: See you no sign of Gama?Florian: None, my liege!Hildebd: It's very odd indeed. If Gama failTo put in an appearance at our CourtBefore the sun has set in yonder west,And fail to bring the Princess Ida hereTo whom our son Hilarion was betrothedAt the extremely early age of one,There's war between King Gama and ourselves!(aside to Cyril)Oh, Cyril, how I dread this interview!It's twenty years since he and I have met.He was a twisted monster — all awry——As though Dame Nature, angry with her work,Had crumpled it in fitful petulance!Cyril: But, sir, a twisted and ungainly trunkOften bears goodly fruit. Perhaps he wasA kind, well-spoken gentleman?Hildebd: Oh, no!For, adder-like, his sting lay in his tongue.(His "sting" is present, though his "stung" is past.)Florian: (looking through glass)But stay, my liege; o'er yonder mountain's browComes a small body, bearing Gama's arms;And now I look more closely at it, sir,I see attached to it King Gama's legs;From which I gather this corollaryThat that small body must be Gama's own!Hildebd: Ha! Is the Princess with him?Florian: Well, my liege,Unless her highness is full six feet high,And wears mustachios too — and smokes cigars——And rides en cavalier in coat of steel——I do not think she is.Hildebd: One never knows.She's a strange girl, I've heard, and does oddthings!Come, bustle there!For Gama place the richest robes we own——For Gama place the coarsest prison dress——For Gama let our best spare bed be aired——For Gama let our deepest dungeon yawn——For Gama lay the costliest banquet out——For Gama place cold water and dry bread!For as King Gama brings the Princess here,Or brings her not, so shall King Gama haveMuch more than everything — much less than nothing!SONG (Hildebrand and Chorus)"Now Hearken to my Strict Command"Hildebd: Now hearken to my strict commandOn every hand, on every hand——Chorus: To your command,On every hand,We dutifully bow.Hildebd: If Gama bring the Princess here,Give him good cheer, give him good cheer.Chorus: If she come hereWe'll give him a cheer,And we will show you how.Hip, hip, hurrah! hip, hip, hurrah!Hip, hip, hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!We'll shout and singLong live the King,And his daughter, too, I trow!Then shout ha! ha! hip, hip, hurrah!Hip, hip, hip, hip, hurrah!For the fair Princess and her good papa,Hurrah, hurrah!Hildebd: But if he fail to keep his troth,Upon our oath, we'll trounce them both!Chorus: He'll trounce them both,Upon his oath,As sure as quarter-day!Hildebd: We'll shut him up in a dungeon cell,And toll his knell on a funeral bell.Chorus: From his dungeon cell,His funeral knellShall strike him with dismay!Hip, hip, hurrah! hip, hip, hurrah!Hip, hip, hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!As up we stringThe faithless King,In the old familiar way!We'll shout ha! ha! hip, hip, hurrah!Hip, hip, hip, hip, hurrah!As we make an end of her false papa,Hurrah, hurrah!(Exeunt all)(Enter Hilarion)RECITATIVE AND SONG (Hilarion)"Today we meet"RECITATIVE - HilarionTo-day we meet, my baby bride and I—But ah, my hopes are balanc'd by my fears!What transmutations have been conjur'd byThe silent alchemy of twenty years!BALLAD - HilarionIda was a twelve-month old,Twenty years ago!I was twice her age, I'm told,Twenty years ago!Husband twice as old as wifeArgues ill for married lifeBaleful prophecies were rife,Twenty years ago,Twenty years ago!Still, I was a tiny princeTwenty years ago.She has gained upon me, sinceTwenty years ago.Though she's twenty-one, it's true,I am barely twenty-two—False and foolish prophets youTwenty years ago,Twenty years ago!(Enter Hildebrand)Hilarion: Well, father, is there news for me at last?Hildebd: King Gama is in sight, but much I fearWith no Princess!Hilarion: Alas, my liege, I've heard,That Princess Ida has forsworn the world,And, with a band of women, shut herselfWithin a lonely country house, and thereDevotes herself to stern philosophies!Hildebd: Then I should say the loss of such a wifeIs one to which a reasonable manWould easily be reconciled.Hilarion: Oh, no!Or I am not a reasonable man.She is my wife — has been for twenty years!(Holding glass) I think I see her now.Hildebd: Ha! Let me look!Hilarion: In my mind's eye, I mean — a blushing brideAll bib and tucker, frill and furbelow!How exquisite she looked as she was borne,Recumbent, in her foster-mother's arms!How the bride wept — nor would be comfortedUntil the hireling mother-for-the-nonceAdministered refreshment in the vestry.And I remember feeling much annoyedThat she should weep at marrying with me.But then I thought, "These brides are all alike.You cry at marrying me? How much more causeYou'd have to cry if it were broken off!"These were my thoughts; I kept them to myself,For at that age I had not learnt to speak.(Exeunt Hildebrandand Hilarion)(Enter Courtiers)CHORUS"From the distant panorama"Chorus: From the distant panoramaCome the sons of royal Gama.They are heralds evidently,And are sacred consequently,Sons of Gama, hail! oh, hail!(Enter Arac, Guron, and Scynthius)TRIO (Arac, Guron, Scynthius and Chorus)"We are Warriors Three"SONG - AracArac: We are warriors three,Sons of Gama, Rex,Like most sons are we,Masculine in sex.All Three: Yes, yes, yes,Masculine in sex.Arac: Politics we bar,They are not our bent;On the whole we areNot intelligent.All Three: No, no, no,Not intelligent.Arac: But with doughty heart,And with trusty bladeWe can play our part—Fighting is our trade.All Three: Yes, yes, yes,Fighting is our trade.Bold and fierce, and strong, ha! ha!For a war we burn,With its right or wrong, ha! ha!We have no concern.Order comes to fight, ha! ha!Order is obey'd,We are men of might, ha! ha!Fighting is our trade.Yes — yes, yes,Fighting is our trade, ha! ha!THE THREE PRINCIPALS CHORUSFighting is our trade, haha! They are men of might, ha! ha!Fighting is their trade.Order comes to fight, ha! ha!Order is obey'd!Order comes to fight!Ha, Ha!Order is obey'd!Fighting Fightingis. Yes, yes, yes, isFighting is our trade, ha theirHa! trade!(Enter King Gama)SONG (Gama)"If you give me your Attention"Gama: If you give me your attention, I will tell you what Iam:I'm a genuine philanthropist — all other kinds aresham.Each little fault of temper and each social defectIn my erring fellow-creatures, I endeavour to correct.To all their little weaknesses I open people's eyes;And little plans to snub the self-sufficient I devise;I love my fellow creatures — I do all the good Ican—Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!And I can't think why!To compliments inflated I've a withering reply;And vanity I always do my best to mortify;A charitable action I can skillfully dissect;And interested motives I'm delighted to detect;I know ev'rybody's income and what ev'rybody earns;And I carefully compare it with the income-taxreturns;But to benefit humanity however much I plan,Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!And I can't think why!I'm sure I'm no ascetic; I'm as pleasant as can be;You'll always find me ready with a crushing repartee,I've an irritating chuckle, I've a celebrated sneer,I've an entertaining snigger, I've a fascinating leer.To ev'rybody's prejudice I know a thing or two;I can tell a woman's age in half a minute — and I do.But although I try to make myself as pleasant as Ican,Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!And I can't think why!Chorus: He can't think why!He can't think why!(Enter Hildebrand, Hilarion, Cyril and Florian)Gama: So this is Castle Hildebrand? Well, well!Dame Rumour whispered that the place was grand;She told me that your taste was exquisite,Superb, unparalleled!Hildebnd: (Gratified) Oh, really, King!Gama: But she's a liar! Why, how old you've grown!Is this Hilarion? Why, you've changed too—You were a singularly handsome child!(To Florian) Are you a courtier? Come, then ply your trade,Tell me some lies. How do you like your King?Vile rumour says he's all but imbecile.Now, that's not true?Florian: My lord, we love our King.His wise remarks are valued by his courtAs precious stones.Gama: And for the self-same cause.Like precious stones, his sensible remarksDerive their value from their scarcity!Come now, be honest, tell the truth for once!Tell it of me. Come, come, I'll harm you not.This leg is crooked — this foot is ill-designed—This shoulder wears a hump! Come, out with it!Look, here's my face! Now, am I not the worstOf Nature's blunders?Cyril: Nature never errs.To those who know the workings of your mind,Your face and figure, sir, suggest a bookAppropriately bound.Gama: (Enraged) Why, harkye, sir,How dare you bandy words with me?Cyril: No needTo bandy aught that appertains to you.Gama: (Furiously) Do you permit this, King?Hildebd: We are in doubtWhether to treat you as an honoured guestOr as a traitor knave who plights his wordAnd breaks it.Gama: (Quickly) If the casting vote's with me,I give it for the former!Hildebd: We shall see.By the terms of our contract, signed and sealed,You're bound to bring the Princess here to-day:Why is she not with you?Gama: Answer me this:What think you of a wealthy purse-proud man,Who, when he calls upon a starving friend,Pulls out his gold and flourishes his notes,And flashes diamonds in the pauper's eyes?What name have you for such an one?Hildebd: A snob.Gama: Just so. The girl has beauty, virtue, wit,Grace, humour, wisdom, charity and pluck.Would it be kindly, think you, to paradeThese brilliant qualities before your eyes?Oh no, King Hildebrand, I am no snob!Hildebd: (Furiously) Stop that tongue,Or you shall lose the monkey head that holds it!Gama: Bravo! Your King deprives me of my head,That he and I may meet on equal terms!Hildebd: Where is she now? (Threatening)Gama: In Castle Adamant,One of my many country houses. ThereShe rules a woman's University,With full a hundred girls, who learn of her.Cyril: A hundred girls! A hundred ecstasies!Gama: But no mere girls, my good young gentleman;With all the college learning that you boast,The youngest there will prove a match for you.Cyril: With all my heart, if she's the prettiest!(To Florian) Fancy, a hundred matches — all alight!—That's if I strike them as I hope to do!Gama: Despair your hope; their hearts are dead to men.He who desires to gain their favour mustBe qualified to strike their teeming brains,And not their hearts. They're safety matches, sir,And they light only on the knowledge box—So you've no chance!Florian: And there are no males whatever in those walls?Gama: None, gentlemen, excepting letter mails—And they are driven (as males often areIn other large communities) by women.Why, bless my heart, she's so particularShe'll hardly suffer Dr. Watts's hymns—And all the animals she owns are "hers"!The ladies rise at cockcrow every morn—Cyril: Ah, then they have male poultry?Gama: Not at all,(Confidentially) The crowing's done by an accomplished hen!FINALE(Gama, Hildebrand, Cyril, Hilarion, Florianand Chorus of Girls and Men)DUET (Gama and Hildebrand)"P'raps if you Address the Lady"Gama: P'raps if you address the ladyMost politely, most politely—Flatter and impress the lady,Most politely, most politely,—Humbly beg and humbly sue—She may deign to look on you,But your doing you must doMost politely, most politely, mostpolitely!All: Humbly beg and humbly sue,She may deign to look on you,But your doing you must doMost politely, most politely, mostpolitely!Hildebd: Go you and inform the lady,Most politely, most politely,If she don't, we'll storm the ladyMost politely, most politely!(To Gama) You'll remain as hostage here;Should Hillarion disappear,We will hang you, never fear,Most politely, most politely, mostpolitely!All: He'll [I'll] [You'll] remain as hostage here.Should Hilarion disappear,They [We] will hang me [you] never fear,Most politely, most politely, mostpolitely!(Gama, Arac, Guron and Scynthius are marched off in custody,Hildebrand following)RECITATIVE — HilarionCome, Cyril, Florian, our course is plain,To-morrow morn fair Ida we'll engage;But we will use no force her love to gain,Nature, nature has arm'd us for the war wewage!TRIO — Hilarion, Cyril, and FlorianHilarion: Expressive glancesShall be our lances,And pops of SilleryOur light artillery.We'll storm their bowersWith scented showersOf fairest flowersThat we can buy!Chorus: Oh, dainty triolet!Oh, fragrant violet!Oh, gentle heigho-let!(Or little sigh).On sweet urbanity,Through mere inanity,To touch their vanityWe will rely!Cyril: When day is fading,With serenadingAnd such frivolityWe'll prove our quality.A sweet profusionOf soft allusionThis bold intrusionShall justify,This bold intrusionShall justify.Chorus: Oh, dainty triolet!Oh, fragrant violet!Oh, gentle heigho-let!(Or little sigh).On sweet urbanity,Through mere inanity,To touch their vanityWe will rely!Florian: We'll charm their sensesWith verbal fences,With ballads amatoryAnd declamatory.Little heedingTheir pretty pleading,Our love exceedingWe'll justify!Our love exceedingWe'll justify!Chorus: Oh, dainty triolet!Oh, fragrant violet!Oh, gentle heigho-let!(Or little sigh).On sweet urbanity,Through mere inanity,To touch their vanityWe will rely!Sops: Oh dainty Altos, Tenors, andBasses:triolet! Oh fragrant Ohviolet! Oh dain-gentle tyheigh-o-let! (Or tri-little o-sigh). let!Hilarion & Cyril:Oh dainty Chorus:triolet! Oh fragrant Ohviolet (Add Florian) Oh fra-gentle grantheigh-o-let! (Or vi-little o-sigh). let!Sops & Altos: Tenors & Basses:Oh dainty Oh daintytriolet! Oh tri-fragrant o-violet let!All: Oh dainty triolet!Oh fragrant violet!(Re-enter Gama, Arac, Guron, and Scynthius heavily ironed, followedby Hildebrand)RECITATIVEGama: Must we, till then, in prison cell be thrust?Hildebd: You must!Gama: This seems unnecessarily severe!Arac, Guron& Scyn: Hear, hear!TRIO - Arac, Guron and ScynthiusFor a month to dwellIn a dungeon cell:Growing thin and wizenIn a solitary prison,Is a poor look outFor a soldier stout,Who is longing for the rattleOf a complicated battle—For the rum - tum - tumOf the military drumAnd the guns that go boom!boom!All: The rum — tum — tumOf the military drum,Rum — tum — tum — tummy tummy tummy tummy tumWho is longing for the rattle of a complicatedbattle—For the rum tum tumOf the military drum!Prr, prr, prr, ra — pum — pum!Hildebd: When Hilarion's brideHas at length compliedWith the just conditionsOf our requisitions,You may go in hasteAnd indulge your tasteFor the fascinating rattleOf a complicated battle—For the rum - tum - tum,Of the military drum,And the guns that go boom! boom!All: The rum — tum — tumOf the military drum,Rum — tum — tum — tummy tummy tummy tummy tum!Who is longing for the rattleOf a complicated battleFor the rum — tum — tumOf the military drum!Tum, prr — prr — prr ra — pum, pum!But til that time you'll [we'll] here remain,And bail we [they] will not entertain,Should she our [his] mandate disobey,Your [Our] lives the penalty will pay!But till that time you'll [we'll] here remain,And bail we [they] will not entertain.Should she our [his] mandate disobey,Your [Our] lives the penalty will pay!Should she our [his] mandate disobey,Your [Our] lives the penalty will pay!(Gama, Arac, Guron, and Synthius aremarched off.)END OF ACT I