Der Ring des Nibelungen The Ring of the Nibelung - Part 1: Das Rhinegold The Rhinegold - Scene 2 by Richard Wagner Lyrics
[Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)]
[Part 1: Das Rheingold (The Rheingold)]
[SCENE TWO]
[An open space on the mountain-tops]
FRICKA
Wotan, husband, awake!
WOTAN (still dreaming)
Gate and door guard
the sacred hall of my joy:
man's honour,
eternal might
extend to endless fame!
FRICKA
Up, leave dreams'
delightful deceit!
Rouse yourself, husband, and reflect!
WOTAN
'Tis completed, the everlasting work:
on the mountain peak stands
the gods' stronghold,
superbly soars
the resplendent building!
As in my dreams I desired it,
as my will directed,
strong and fair
it stands on show,
sublime, superb structure!
FRICKA
Do you but delight
in what I dread?
The fortress fills you with joy,
but I fear for Freia.
Reckless man, recall
the price to be paid.
The fort is finished,
and forfeit is the pledge;
have you forgotten what you engaged to pay?
WOTAN
I well know what were the terms
of those that built me yonder fortress;
by a contact I tamed
their insolent race
into building me
this sublime abode,
which now stands - thanks to their strength:
as to the price, pay that no heed.
FRICKA
O laughing, outrageous levity!
Loveless light-heartedness!
Had I known of your contract
I would have prevented the fraud;
but you men firmly kept
the women away
so that, deaf and silent to us,
you could deal alone with the giants.
Thus shamelessly
you brazenly bartered
Freia, my lovely sister,
and rejoiced at the base bargain.
What do you harsh men hold
sacred and valuable
when you thirst for power?
WOTAN
Was Fricka truly free
from like thirst
when she herself begged me for the building?
FRICKA
Concern over my consort's constancy
makes me sadly ponder
how to keep him by me
when he is drawn to roam away:
a stately dwelling,
splendidly appointed,
might tempt you
to tarry here and rest.
But you, in building an abode,
thought only of defences and battlements:
they would increase
your dominion and power;
only to arouse storms of unrest
did this towering castle arise.
WOTAN
Though you wished, wife,
to keep me in the castle,
you must grant me, as a god,
that, even confined
in the fortress,
I must win the outside world over to myself.
All who live
love roaming and variety;
I cannot relinquish this sport.
FRICKA
Unloving,
most unpleasant man!
For the ilde toys
of might and dominion
Would you, in blasphemous scorn,
stake love and a woman's worth?
WOTAN
So as to win you for my wife
one of my eyes
I sacrificed to woo you:
how stupid is your scolding now!
I prize women
even more than pleases you!
And I will not yield
our good Freia:
in truth, I never had any such intention.
FRICKA
Then protect her now;
defenceless and frightened,
she is hurrying here for help!
FREIA
Save me, sister!
Protect me, brother!
From yonder mountain
menacing Fasolt
would come to force me, Holda, away.
WOTAN
Let him threaten!
Did you not see Loge?
FRICKA
You always prefer
to trust that trickster!
Mich harm he's alredy done us,
yet ever again he ensnares you.
WOTAN
When simple courage suffices,
I ask for none to help me.
But to turn to use
foes' jealousy
only craft and cunning will serve,
such as Loge artfully employs.
When he counselled this contract,
he promised to deliver Freia:
on him I now rely.
FRICKA
And he forsakes you!
With quick strides
the giants approach:
where loiters your crafty helper?
FREIA
Where linger my brothers,
who should bring help,
since my brother-in-law abandons me in my weakness?
Donner, help!
Come hither!
Rescue Freia, my Froh!
FRICKA
They who betrayed you in this base pact
have now all gone to ground.
FASOLT
Sleep softly
sealed your eyes
while we two, unsleeping,
built the fort.
Toiling mightily
yet untiting,
we heaped up
massive stones;
a lofty tower,
door and gate
guard and enclose
the hall of the fine fortress.
There stands
what we raised,
brightly shining
in the light of day:
now pass in
and pay us our fee!
WOTAN
Name your fee, my men:
what do you think of asking?
FASOLT
We asked what
seemed to us fair;
is your memory so weak?
Freia the fair,
Holda the free,
it was agreed
we should take home.
WOTAN
Has this contract
sent you off your heads?
Think of some other fee:
I cannot sell Freia.
FASOLT
What say you? Ha,
are you planning treachery?
Betray our bond?
The marks of solemn compact
that your spear shows,
are they but sport to you?
FAFNER
Most trusty brother!
Simpleton, do you now see the swindle?
FASOLT
Son of light,
easily swayed,
hearken and beware:
hold firm to your bond!
What you are,
you are only by contracts:
limited
and well defined is your power.
You have more wisdom
than we have wits;
you bound us, who were free,
to keep peace:
I will curse all your wisdom
and flee from your peace
if openly,
honourably and freely
you do not know to keep faith in your bond!
A simple giant
thus counsels you:
wise one, weigh his words!
WOTAN
How cunning to take in earnest
what was agreed only in jest!
The lovely goddess,
bright and light,
of what use is her charm to you louts?
FASOLT
Do you mock us?
Ha, how unjust!
You who rule by beauty,
radiant, august race,
how foolishly you strive
for towers of stone,
and place in pledge woman's beauty
for fortress and hall!
We dullards toil away,
sweating, with our horny hands,
to win a woman
who, winsome and gentle,
will live with us poor creatures:
and do you now upset our bargain?
FAFNER
Cease your idle chatter,
we'll get no gain from this.
Custody of Freia serves
little purpose;
but to carry her off from the gods
is worth much.
Golden apples
grow in her garden;
only she
knows how to tend them!
By eating the fruit,
her kindred
are endowed with eternal,
never-ageing youth;
sick and wan,
their bloom will wane;
old and weak,
they will waste away
if they are forced to forego Freia.
So let her be taken from their midst!
WOTAN
Loge delays too long!
FASOLT
Straight give your answer!
WOTAN
Think of another fee!
FASOLT
No other: only Freia!
FAFNER
You there, follow us!
FREIA
Help! Help from these ruffians!
FROH
To me, Freia!
Let her be, rascal!
Froh will protect the fair one.
DONNER
Fasolt and Fafner,
have you yet felt
my hammer's heavy blow?
FAFNER
Why do you threaten?
FASOLT
Why do you rush upon us?
We sought no strife
and only want our wages.
DONNER
Many a time have I paid
giants their due.
Come on, the size of the payment
I'll weigh in full measure!
WOTAN
Hold, hothead!
Violence avails naught!
My spearshaft
protects bonds:
spare your hammer's haft.
FREIA
Alas! Woe's me!
Wotan forsakes me!
FRICKA
Do I understand you aright,
cruel man?
WOTAN (seeing Loge come)
Loge at last!
Is this how you hasten
to right the evil bargain
that you concluded?
LOGE
What? What bargain
did I conclude?
That which you contracted
with the giants in council?
My whim takes me
to depths and heights:
house and hearth
delight me not.
Donner and Froh,
they are dreaming of food and shelter!
When they want to wed,
a house would gladden them.
A stately home,
a stronghold,
this was Wotan's wish.
House and court,
hall and keep,
the glorious fortress
now firmly stands;
its proud walls
I myself tested;
I made sure
that all was solid;
I found Fasolt and Fafner
reliable:
not a stone but was firm in its place.
I was not idle,
as were many here:
he lies who rebukes me as lazy!
WOTAN
You slyly
evade the point:
take good care
how you betray me in my trust.
I, your only friend
among all the gods,
took you up
when the rest mistrusted you.
Now speak and counsel well!
When those who built the castle
stipulated Freia as payment,
you know
that I agreed only
because you undertook
to redeem the noble pledge.
LOGE
To consider
with the utmost care
how to release her
that I promised.
But that I could find
what never existed
and never could succeed,
how could that ever be promised?
FRICKA (to Wotan)
See what a treacherous
knave you trusted!
FROH
Your name is Loge,
but I call you lair!
DONNER
Accursed fire,
I'll quench you!
LOGE
To cover their disgrace
the fools revile me.
WOTAN
Leave my friend in peace!
You know not Loge's wiles:
his counsel is
of richer weight
when he delays in giving it.
FAFNER
No delays!
Pay up quickly!
FASOLT
We're waiting for our wages.
WOTAN
Now listen, shifty one!
Keep your word!
Where have you been roving?
LOGE
Ingratitude is always
Loge's lot!
Concerned but for you,
I looked about,
feverishly ransacking
the ends of the earth
to find a substitute for Freia,
such as would be fair to the giants.
In vain I searched,
and see now full well
that in the whole wide world
nothing is so rich
than a man will accept it
in lieu of woman's beauty and delight.
Wherever there is life and being,
in water, earth and air,
I asked
and sought of all,
where forces stir
and seeds sprout:
what would a man
think mighitier
than woman's beauty and delight?
But wherever there was life and being
my cunning question
was derided:
in water, earth and air
nothing will give up
love and womankind.
Only one I saw
who had forsworn love:
for shining gold
he had renounced woman's affection.
The Rhine's innocent children
bewailed their plight to me:
the Nibelung,
night-Alberich,
moped in vain
for the maidens' favours;
in revenge, the robber then
stole from them the Rhinegold;
he now esteems it
earth's most precious prize,
greater than woman's grace.
For the glittering toy
torn from the deep,
the daughters made moan to me:
to you, Wotan,
they appeal
to bring the thief to justice,
and to give the gold
back to the waters
for it to remain their own for ever.
I promised the maidens
to tell you this:
now Loge has kept his word.
WOTAN
You are mad,
if not downright malicious!
You see me in trouble myself:
how can I bring others help?
FASOLT
I grudge the gnome this gold;
much harm the Niblung has alredy done us,
yet the dwarf has always slyly
slipped from out our clutches.
FAFNER
New mischief
will the Niblung plot against us
if the gold gives him power.
You there, Loge!
Say without lies:
of what great value is the gold then,
that is satisfies the Niblung?
LOGE
It is a toy
in the depths of the water,
to give pleasure to laughing children;
but if it were fashioned
into a round ring
it would bestow supreme power
and win its master the world.
WOTAN
I have heard talk
of the Rhine's gold:
its glittering glow hides
runes of riches;
a ring would give unbounded
power and wealth.
FRICKA
Would the golden trinket's
glittering gems
equally serve
as fair adornment for women too?
LOGE
A wife could ensure
her husband's fidelity
if she decked herself
with the bright ornament
that dwarfs forge to shine,
toiling in the power of the ring.
FRICKA
Could my husband win
this gold for himself?
WOTAN
To control this ring
seems wise to me.
But how, Loge,
can I learn the art
of forging this gem?
LOGE
A magic spell
turns the gold into a ring.
No one knows it;
but anyone can easly acquire it
who renounces blissful love.
That you will not do;
and you are too late also:
Alberich did not hesitate;
boldly he gained
the power of the spell:
the ring became his.
DONNER (to Wotan)
The dwarf would have
dominion over us all
if the ring were not wrested from him.
WOTAN
I must have the ring!
FROH
It is easily won
now without cursing love.
LOGE
So easy,
without skill, like child's play!
WOTAN
Then tell us, how?
LOGE
By theft!
What a thief stole,
you steal from the thief:
could possessions be more easily acquired?
But Alberich guards himself
with guile;
you must act
shrewdly and subtly
to bring the thief to justice
and to return
to the Rhinemaidens the gold,
their shining toy;
for that is what they beg of you.
WOTAN
The Rhinemaidens?
What is this counsel to me?
FRICKA
I wish to know nothing
of that watery brood:
many a man
- to my sorrow -
have they lured with their seductive sport.
FAFNER (to Fasolt)
Belive me, that glittering gold
is worth more that Freia:
for eternal youth he gains
who commands it by gold's magic.
Hear, Wotan,
what we have at last to say!
Freia may stay with you in peace;
an easier fee
I've found in settlement:
we rough giants would be satisfied
with the Niblung's shining gold.
WOTAN
Have you lost your senses?
Can I give you, shameless ones,
what I do not own?
FAFNER
The castle there
was hard to build:
it will be easy for you,
with cunning craft
(which we in quarrels could never command),
to fetter the Niblung firmly.
WOTAN
Shall I exert myself
against the gnome for you?
For you fetter the foe?
You fools,
my debt has made you shameless
and over-covetous.
FASOLT
Come here, girl!
You are in our power!
Follow us now as hostage
till we receive your ransom.
FREIA
Woe! Woe is me!
FAFNER
Let her be carried
far from here!
Till evening - pay due heed -
we will hold her as hostage:
we shall return;
but when we come,
if as ransom the bright gleaming Rhinegold
is not lying ready -
FASOLT
Then the time will be up
and Freia forfeit:
she will go with us for ever!
FREIA
Sister! Brothers!
Save me! Help
(she is dragged away by the giants
as they hurry off)
FROH
Up, after them!
DONNER
Let us break everything!
FREIA
Save me! Help!
LOGE
Over stock and stone they stride
down to the valley;
through the ford across the Rhine
wade the giants:
Freia hangs,
far from happy,
over the ruffians' shoulders!
Heia! Hei!
How the louts lurch along!
Now they tramp through the valley:
only at the boundary of Riesenheim
will they make a pause.
On what does Wotan brood so darkly?
How goes it with the glorious gods?
LOGE
Does a mist deceive me?
Does a dream mock me?
How anxious and pale
you've suddenly become!
The bloom has fled from your cheeks,
the light has faded from your eyes!
Courage, Froh,
it is but early yet!
From your hand, Donner,
the hammer falls!
How is it with Fricka?
Is she displeased
with Wotan's grey gloom
that suddenly turns him into a greybeard?
FRICKA
Alas! Alas!
What has happened?
DONNER
My hand drops.
FROH
My heart falters.
LOGE
I have it: hear what it is you lack!
Of Freia's fruit
you have not yet eaten today:
the golden apples
in her garden
make you hearty and young
when you eat them every day.
She who tended the garden
is now a hostage;
on the branches the fruit
fades and withers;
soon it will decay and fall.
It irks me less;
to me Freia
has always been ungenerous,
niggardly with the precious fruit:
for I am only half as godlike
as you glorious ones!
But you staked all
on the youth-giving fruit:
this the giants knew well;
your life
they laid against it:
now take care to defend it.
Without the appless,
old and gray,
hoary and haggard,
withered, the scorn of all the world,
the race of gods will die.
FRICKA
Wotan, husband,
unhappy man!
See how your giddy thoughtlessness
has brought disgrace and humiliation
on us all!
WOTAN
Come, Loge,
come down with me!
We will descend to Nibelheim:
I will procure the gold.
LOGE
The Rhinemaidens
appealed to you:
can they hope for a hearing?
WOTAN
Silence, babbler!
Freia the kind,
Freia we must deliver.
LOGE
As you command,
I will willingly lead you
steeply down:
shall we journey through the Rhine?
WOTAN
Not through the Rhine!
LOGE
Then shall we swing down
through the sulphurous cleft?
Slip into it with me!
WOTAN
You others wait
here till evening:
our loss of youth
I'll banish with redeeming gold!
DONNER
Fare thee well, Wotan!
FROH
Good luck! Good luck!
FRICKA
O return soon
to your anxious wife!
[Part 1: Das Rheingold (The Rheingold)]
[SCENE TWO]
[An open space on the mountain-tops]
FRICKA
Wotan, husband, awake!
WOTAN (still dreaming)
Gate and door guard
the sacred hall of my joy:
man's honour,
eternal might
extend to endless fame!
FRICKA
Up, leave dreams'
delightful deceit!
Rouse yourself, husband, and reflect!
WOTAN
'Tis completed, the everlasting work:
on the mountain peak stands
the gods' stronghold,
superbly soars
the resplendent building!
As in my dreams I desired it,
as my will directed,
strong and fair
it stands on show,
sublime, superb structure!
FRICKA
Do you but delight
in what I dread?
The fortress fills you with joy,
but I fear for Freia.
Reckless man, recall
the price to be paid.
The fort is finished,
and forfeit is the pledge;
have you forgotten what you engaged to pay?
WOTAN
I well know what were the terms
of those that built me yonder fortress;
by a contact I tamed
their insolent race
into building me
this sublime abode,
which now stands - thanks to their strength:
as to the price, pay that no heed.
FRICKA
O laughing, outrageous levity!
Loveless light-heartedness!
Had I known of your contract
I would have prevented the fraud;
but you men firmly kept
the women away
so that, deaf and silent to us,
you could deal alone with the giants.
Thus shamelessly
you brazenly bartered
Freia, my lovely sister,
and rejoiced at the base bargain.
What do you harsh men hold
sacred and valuable
when you thirst for power?
WOTAN
Was Fricka truly free
from like thirst
when she herself begged me for the building?
FRICKA
Concern over my consort's constancy
makes me sadly ponder
how to keep him by me
when he is drawn to roam away:
a stately dwelling,
splendidly appointed,
might tempt you
to tarry here and rest.
But you, in building an abode,
thought only of defences and battlements:
they would increase
your dominion and power;
only to arouse storms of unrest
did this towering castle arise.
WOTAN
Though you wished, wife,
to keep me in the castle,
you must grant me, as a god,
that, even confined
in the fortress,
I must win the outside world over to myself.
All who live
love roaming and variety;
I cannot relinquish this sport.
FRICKA
Unloving,
most unpleasant man!
For the ilde toys
of might and dominion
Would you, in blasphemous scorn,
stake love and a woman's worth?
WOTAN
So as to win you for my wife
one of my eyes
I sacrificed to woo you:
how stupid is your scolding now!
I prize women
even more than pleases you!
And I will not yield
our good Freia:
in truth, I never had any such intention.
FRICKA
Then protect her now;
defenceless and frightened,
she is hurrying here for help!
FREIA
Save me, sister!
Protect me, brother!
From yonder mountain
menacing Fasolt
would come to force me, Holda, away.
WOTAN
Let him threaten!
Did you not see Loge?
FRICKA
You always prefer
to trust that trickster!
Mich harm he's alredy done us,
yet ever again he ensnares you.
WOTAN
When simple courage suffices,
I ask for none to help me.
But to turn to use
foes' jealousy
only craft and cunning will serve,
such as Loge artfully employs.
When he counselled this contract,
he promised to deliver Freia:
on him I now rely.
FRICKA
And he forsakes you!
With quick strides
the giants approach:
where loiters your crafty helper?
FREIA
Where linger my brothers,
who should bring help,
since my brother-in-law abandons me in my weakness?
Donner, help!
Come hither!
Rescue Freia, my Froh!
FRICKA
They who betrayed you in this base pact
have now all gone to ground.
FASOLT
Sleep softly
sealed your eyes
while we two, unsleeping,
built the fort.
Toiling mightily
yet untiting,
we heaped up
massive stones;
a lofty tower,
door and gate
guard and enclose
the hall of the fine fortress.
There stands
what we raised,
brightly shining
in the light of day:
now pass in
and pay us our fee!
WOTAN
Name your fee, my men:
what do you think of asking?
FASOLT
We asked what
seemed to us fair;
is your memory so weak?
Freia the fair,
Holda the free,
it was agreed
we should take home.
WOTAN
Has this contract
sent you off your heads?
Think of some other fee:
I cannot sell Freia.
FASOLT
What say you? Ha,
are you planning treachery?
Betray our bond?
The marks of solemn compact
that your spear shows,
are they but sport to you?
FAFNER
Most trusty brother!
Simpleton, do you now see the swindle?
FASOLT
Son of light,
easily swayed,
hearken and beware:
hold firm to your bond!
What you are,
you are only by contracts:
limited
and well defined is your power.
You have more wisdom
than we have wits;
you bound us, who were free,
to keep peace:
I will curse all your wisdom
and flee from your peace
if openly,
honourably and freely
you do not know to keep faith in your bond!
A simple giant
thus counsels you:
wise one, weigh his words!
WOTAN
How cunning to take in earnest
what was agreed only in jest!
The lovely goddess,
bright and light,
of what use is her charm to you louts?
FASOLT
Do you mock us?
Ha, how unjust!
You who rule by beauty,
radiant, august race,
how foolishly you strive
for towers of stone,
and place in pledge woman's beauty
for fortress and hall!
We dullards toil away,
sweating, with our horny hands,
to win a woman
who, winsome and gentle,
will live with us poor creatures:
and do you now upset our bargain?
FAFNER
Cease your idle chatter,
we'll get no gain from this.
Custody of Freia serves
little purpose;
but to carry her off from the gods
is worth much.
Golden apples
grow in her garden;
only she
knows how to tend them!
By eating the fruit,
her kindred
are endowed with eternal,
never-ageing youth;
sick and wan,
their bloom will wane;
old and weak,
they will waste away
if they are forced to forego Freia.
So let her be taken from their midst!
WOTAN
Loge delays too long!
FASOLT
Straight give your answer!
WOTAN
Think of another fee!
FASOLT
No other: only Freia!
FAFNER
You there, follow us!
FREIA
Help! Help from these ruffians!
FROH
To me, Freia!
Let her be, rascal!
Froh will protect the fair one.
DONNER
Fasolt and Fafner,
have you yet felt
my hammer's heavy blow?
FAFNER
Why do you threaten?
FASOLT
Why do you rush upon us?
We sought no strife
and only want our wages.
DONNER
Many a time have I paid
giants their due.
Come on, the size of the payment
I'll weigh in full measure!
WOTAN
Hold, hothead!
Violence avails naught!
My spearshaft
protects bonds:
spare your hammer's haft.
FREIA
Alas! Woe's me!
Wotan forsakes me!
FRICKA
Do I understand you aright,
cruel man?
WOTAN (seeing Loge come)
Loge at last!
Is this how you hasten
to right the evil bargain
that you concluded?
LOGE
What? What bargain
did I conclude?
That which you contracted
with the giants in council?
My whim takes me
to depths and heights:
house and hearth
delight me not.
Donner and Froh,
they are dreaming of food and shelter!
When they want to wed,
a house would gladden them.
A stately home,
a stronghold,
this was Wotan's wish.
House and court,
hall and keep,
the glorious fortress
now firmly stands;
its proud walls
I myself tested;
I made sure
that all was solid;
I found Fasolt and Fafner
reliable:
not a stone but was firm in its place.
I was not idle,
as were many here:
he lies who rebukes me as lazy!
WOTAN
You slyly
evade the point:
take good care
how you betray me in my trust.
I, your only friend
among all the gods,
took you up
when the rest mistrusted you.
Now speak and counsel well!
When those who built the castle
stipulated Freia as payment,
you know
that I agreed only
because you undertook
to redeem the noble pledge.
LOGE
To consider
with the utmost care
how to release her
that I promised.
But that I could find
what never existed
and never could succeed,
how could that ever be promised?
FRICKA (to Wotan)
See what a treacherous
knave you trusted!
FROH
Your name is Loge,
but I call you lair!
DONNER
Accursed fire,
I'll quench you!
LOGE
To cover their disgrace
the fools revile me.
WOTAN
Leave my friend in peace!
You know not Loge's wiles:
his counsel is
of richer weight
when he delays in giving it.
FAFNER
No delays!
Pay up quickly!
FASOLT
We're waiting for our wages.
WOTAN
Now listen, shifty one!
Keep your word!
Where have you been roving?
LOGE
Ingratitude is always
Loge's lot!
Concerned but for you,
I looked about,
feverishly ransacking
the ends of the earth
to find a substitute for Freia,
such as would be fair to the giants.
In vain I searched,
and see now full well
that in the whole wide world
nothing is so rich
than a man will accept it
in lieu of woman's beauty and delight.
Wherever there is life and being,
in water, earth and air,
I asked
and sought of all,
where forces stir
and seeds sprout:
what would a man
think mighitier
than woman's beauty and delight?
But wherever there was life and being
my cunning question
was derided:
in water, earth and air
nothing will give up
love and womankind.
Only one I saw
who had forsworn love:
for shining gold
he had renounced woman's affection.
The Rhine's innocent children
bewailed their plight to me:
the Nibelung,
night-Alberich,
moped in vain
for the maidens' favours;
in revenge, the robber then
stole from them the Rhinegold;
he now esteems it
earth's most precious prize,
greater than woman's grace.
For the glittering toy
torn from the deep,
the daughters made moan to me:
to you, Wotan,
they appeal
to bring the thief to justice,
and to give the gold
back to the waters
for it to remain their own for ever.
I promised the maidens
to tell you this:
now Loge has kept his word.
WOTAN
You are mad,
if not downright malicious!
You see me in trouble myself:
how can I bring others help?
FASOLT
I grudge the gnome this gold;
much harm the Niblung has alredy done us,
yet the dwarf has always slyly
slipped from out our clutches.
FAFNER
New mischief
will the Niblung plot against us
if the gold gives him power.
You there, Loge!
Say without lies:
of what great value is the gold then,
that is satisfies the Niblung?
LOGE
It is a toy
in the depths of the water,
to give pleasure to laughing children;
but if it were fashioned
into a round ring
it would bestow supreme power
and win its master the world.
WOTAN
I have heard talk
of the Rhine's gold:
its glittering glow hides
runes of riches;
a ring would give unbounded
power and wealth.
FRICKA
Would the golden trinket's
glittering gems
equally serve
as fair adornment for women too?
LOGE
A wife could ensure
her husband's fidelity
if she decked herself
with the bright ornament
that dwarfs forge to shine,
toiling in the power of the ring.
FRICKA
Could my husband win
this gold for himself?
WOTAN
To control this ring
seems wise to me.
But how, Loge,
can I learn the art
of forging this gem?
LOGE
A magic spell
turns the gold into a ring.
No one knows it;
but anyone can easly acquire it
who renounces blissful love.
That you will not do;
and you are too late also:
Alberich did not hesitate;
boldly he gained
the power of the spell:
the ring became his.
DONNER (to Wotan)
The dwarf would have
dominion over us all
if the ring were not wrested from him.
WOTAN
I must have the ring!
FROH
It is easily won
now without cursing love.
LOGE
So easy,
without skill, like child's play!
WOTAN
Then tell us, how?
LOGE
By theft!
What a thief stole,
you steal from the thief:
could possessions be more easily acquired?
But Alberich guards himself
with guile;
you must act
shrewdly and subtly
to bring the thief to justice
and to return
to the Rhinemaidens the gold,
their shining toy;
for that is what they beg of you.
WOTAN
The Rhinemaidens?
What is this counsel to me?
FRICKA
I wish to know nothing
of that watery brood:
many a man
- to my sorrow -
have they lured with their seductive sport.
FAFNER (to Fasolt)
Belive me, that glittering gold
is worth more that Freia:
for eternal youth he gains
who commands it by gold's magic.
Hear, Wotan,
what we have at last to say!
Freia may stay with you in peace;
an easier fee
I've found in settlement:
we rough giants would be satisfied
with the Niblung's shining gold.
WOTAN
Have you lost your senses?
Can I give you, shameless ones,
what I do not own?
FAFNER
The castle there
was hard to build:
it will be easy for you,
with cunning craft
(which we in quarrels could never command),
to fetter the Niblung firmly.
WOTAN
Shall I exert myself
against the gnome for you?
For you fetter the foe?
You fools,
my debt has made you shameless
and over-covetous.
FASOLT
Come here, girl!
You are in our power!
Follow us now as hostage
till we receive your ransom.
FREIA
Woe! Woe is me!
FAFNER
Let her be carried
far from here!
Till evening - pay due heed -
we will hold her as hostage:
we shall return;
but when we come,
if as ransom the bright gleaming Rhinegold
is not lying ready -
FASOLT
Then the time will be up
and Freia forfeit:
she will go with us for ever!
FREIA
Sister! Brothers!
Save me! Help
(she is dragged away by the giants
as they hurry off)
FROH
Up, after them!
DONNER
Let us break everything!
FREIA
Save me! Help!
LOGE
Over stock and stone they stride
down to the valley;
through the ford across the Rhine
wade the giants:
Freia hangs,
far from happy,
over the ruffians' shoulders!
Heia! Hei!
How the louts lurch along!
Now they tramp through the valley:
only at the boundary of Riesenheim
will they make a pause.
On what does Wotan brood so darkly?
How goes it with the glorious gods?
LOGE
Does a mist deceive me?
Does a dream mock me?
How anxious and pale
you've suddenly become!
The bloom has fled from your cheeks,
the light has faded from your eyes!
Courage, Froh,
it is but early yet!
From your hand, Donner,
the hammer falls!
How is it with Fricka?
Is she displeased
with Wotan's grey gloom
that suddenly turns him into a greybeard?
FRICKA
Alas! Alas!
What has happened?
DONNER
My hand drops.
FROH
My heart falters.
LOGE
I have it: hear what it is you lack!
Of Freia's fruit
you have not yet eaten today:
the golden apples
in her garden
make you hearty and young
when you eat them every day.
She who tended the garden
is now a hostage;
on the branches the fruit
fades and withers;
soon it will decay and fall.
It irks me less;
to me Freia
has always been ungenerous,
niggardly with the precious fruit:
for I am only half as godlike
as you glorious ones!
But you staked all
on the youth-giving fruit:
this the giants knew well;
your life
they laid against it:
now take care to defend it.
Without the appless,
old and gray,
hoary and haggard,
withered, the scorn of all the world,
the race of gods will die.
FRICKA
Wotan, husband,
unhappy man!
See how your giddy thoughtlessness
has brought disgrace and humiliation
on us all!
WOTAN
Come, Loge,
come down with me!
We will descend to Nibelheim:
I will procure the gold.
LOGE
The Rhinemaidens
appealed to you:
can they hope for a hearing?
WOTAN
Silence, babbler!
Freia the kind,
Freia we must deliver.
LOGE
As you command,
I will willingly lead you
steeply down:
shall we journey through the Rhine?
WOTAN
Not through the Rhine!
LOGE
Then shall we swing down
through the sulphurous cleft?
Slip into it with me!
WOTAN
You others wait
here till evening:
our loss of youth
I'll banish with redeeming gold!
DONNER
Fare thee well, Wotan!
FROH
Good luck! Good luck!
FRICKA
O return soon
to your anxious wife!