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Etext by Dagny
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PROLOGUE
CHARACTERS
ALQUIF, celebrated enchanter, spouse of Urganda
URGANDA, celebrated enchantress, wife of Alquif
Servants of Alquif
Serving women of Urganda
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The stage represents the regions that Alquif and Urganda have chosen to dwell enchanted and made drowsy with their following. A lightning flash and thunder begin to dissipate the drowsiness of Alquif, Urganda and their suite.
ALQUIF AND URGANDA: (under a rich pavilion)
Ah, I hear an uproar which presses us
To reassemble everyone:
The charm ceases,
Let's wake up.
(The servants wake up and repeat the last two verses.)
ALQUIF AND URGANDA: Spirits officious to please us,
You who stand watching for our security,
Your care is no longer necessary.
You can henceforth part freely.
Let heaven announce to the earth
The end of this enchantment.
Brilliant lightning, uproarious thunder
Mark with pomp this lucky moment.
(The statues that support the pavilion carry it off flying to the noise of thunder and the flashes of lightning. The servants rejoice at no longer being enchanted and witness their joy by dancing and singing.)
ONE OF URGANDA'S MAIDSERVANTS
Pleasures will follow us henceforth,
We are going to see our desires fulfilled.
Let's live without alarms.
Let's all live in peace.
Return, resume all your charms,
Innocent games return forever.
It's time that the vermilion dawn
Gives place to the sun which marches at her heels.
Everything sparkles down here,
It's time for each one to awaken.
Love doesn't sleep,
All sense its allures.
The lovable zephyr
Sighs for Flora.
On such a beautiful day,
All speak of love.
URGANDA: When Amadis perished, a deep sorrow
Made us withdraw to these parts.
A sleeping charm made us close our eyes
Until the fortunate time that the destiny of the world
Shall depend on a hero yet more glorious.
ALQUIF: This triumphant hero wants all to awake.
Vainly thousands of envious take arms on all sides.
In a word, with a single look
At his inclination,
He knows how to render their fury ineffective.
ALQUIF AND URGANDA: It's up to him to demonstrate
To the masters of the earth
The great art of war.
It's up to him to demonstrate
The great art of ruling.
URGANDA: Let's take Amadis from eternal night,
Heaven permits us to: a new destiny calls him
Where his blood once reigned.
ALQUIF: We wouldn't know how to choose a more beautiful abode.
Let's go be witnesses to the immortal glory
Of a king who's the astonishment of kings
And the most perfect model of the greatest heroes.
URGANDA AND ALQUIF: All the universe admires his exploits.
Let's go live happily under his rule.
ONE OF URGANDA'S MAIDSERVANTS AND THE CHORUS:
Let's follow love, it's she who leads us.
All must feel her lovable passion.
A bit of love causes us less pain
Than the trouble of protecting our hearts.
Despite our efforts, love enchains us.
One cannot flee this charming conqueror.
A bit of love causes us less pain
Than the trouble of protecting our hearts.
ALQUIF AND URGANDA: Fly, tender loves,
Amadis is going to return.
His great heart was made to follow you.
Fly, fly, pleasant games,
Escort Amadis to these happy climes.
(The Chorus repeats the last two verses.)
CURTAIN
AMADIS
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CHARACTERS
AMADIS, son of Perion of Gaul
ORIANA, daughter of Lisnart, King of Great Britain
FLORESTAN, the natural son of King Perion of Gaul
CORISANDE, sovereign of Gravesande
KNIGHTS, fighting in the games honoring Oriana
ARCALAUS, Knight-Magician, brother of Arcabonne and of Ardan Canile
SERVANTS AND SOLDIERS of Arcalaus
ARCABONNE, Sorceress, sister of Arcalaus and Ardan Canile
DEMONS, appearing as terrible monsters, agreeable nymphs, shepherds and shepherdesses
CAPTIVES AND JAILORS
URGANDA, celebrated sorceress, particular friend of Amadis
SERVANTS OF URGANDA, infernal demons, demons of the air, of heroes and heroines enchanted in the forbidden chamber of the palace of Apollidon
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ACT I
The stage represents the Palace of King Lisnart, the father of Oriana.
FLORESTAN: I'm returning to these parts to see the one I
love;
Each moment is dear to me;
But I know what I owe to the blood which unites us.
I cannot leave you in intense pain,
In the sorrow that I see you in.
The great heart of Amadis must be unshakable.
What misfortune can trouble an indomitable hero?
Conqueror of fierce tyrants and frightful monster.
AMADIS: Alas, I love! That's misfortune enough.
FLORESTAN: You fly ceaselessly from victory to victory.
Your great name extends as far as the day.
If you complain of love,
Console yourself with glory.
AMADIS: Ah! How charming love appears!
But, alas! it's not the cruelest torment.
How much allure I find in my nascent flame.
How I love to form a tender attachment!
I will pay very dearly
For the sweet deceits which seduce my soul.
Ah! how charming love appears!
But, alas! it's not the cruelest torment.
I've chosen glory for my guide.
I am pretending to march on the heels of Alicidas.
Luckily, so far I've avoided the fatal charm which enchanted
him.
His heart had only too much tenderness.
I've fallen into his misfortune.
I've poorly imitated his valor,
Too well I imitate his weakness.
I love Oriana, alas! I love her hopelessly.
FLORESTAN: She respects her father; she follows her duty.
AMADIS: Oriana loves me; I've loved her without misgivings.
FLORESTAN: What can she offer you but useless tears?
The Emperor of the Romans awaits her on his throne.
AMADIS: I could obtain her by force of arms
If her love was constant.
If I thought her heart proof against the charms
Of the most dazzling throne.
Was there ever a lover more faithful or more tender?
Was there ever a lover more unhappy than I?
The beauty whose law I follow
Banished me forever without wanting to listen to me.
Alas! is this the reward that I must expect
For my love and fidelity!
Was there ever a lover more faithful or more tender?
Was there ever a lover more unhappy than I?
FLORESTAN: When one is loved as one loves,
It's a betrayal to break it off.
But it's an extreme weakness
To love an inconstant and never change.
You will be happier with a new love.
AMADIS: Oriana, ungrateful and cruel,
Overwhelms me with mortal sorrows.
But I swore to maintain for her
An eternal love.
However unfortunate I may be,
I prefer to be still wretched than unfaithful.
It's too much to delay you; go, follow love.
Corisande is hereabouts waiting for your return.
FLORESTAN: Can I abandon you to your uncertainty?
AMADIS: Unhappy love seeks solitude.
(Amadis leaves. Corisande enters.)
CORISANDE: Florestan!
FLORESTAN: Corisande!
FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE: O blessed moment!
That ends my cruel torment.
After the extreme pain
Of a fatal separation
How pleasant and charming it is
To see the one one loves again!!
FLORESTAN: We must unite your heart and mine
With an eternal bond.
CORISANDE: Come reign wherever I rule
FLORESTAN: Let's love each other, beautiful Corisande,
And count grandeur as nothing.
FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE: You are the only blessing
That my heart demands.
CORISANDE: Why can't I stop the passion
Which leads you to seek the perils of war?
Why can't I offer you the empire of the earth
With the empire of my soul?
FLORESTAN: Very lucky that love engages you with me,
Very happy to bear your chains,
I esteem this sweet slavery a hundred times more
Than the empire of the universe.
CORISANDE: If your heart had been so sensitive
To the tender love which keeps me under your rule,
How would it have been possible for you
To distance yourself from me?
FLORESTAN: Son of a king whose name makes itself known
everywhere
And brother of Amadis, the greatest of heroes,
Could I remain in a shameful repose?
Could I have denied the blood that gave me birth?
To deserve to please the eyes that charmed me,
I sought the dazzle that victory bestows.
If I had loved glory less,
You wouldn't have loved me so much.
CORISANDE: Love's law must still be followed
If one has satisfied glory and duty.
FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE: It's my dearest wish
To love you all my life.
It's my sweetest hope
To love you and see you.
(Oriana enters.)
CORISANDE: I see Florestan again; I see him faithful.
ORIANA: Ah! How fine it is to love with an eternal love!
FLORESTAN: It's vain for Amadis to love you with constancy.
You've banished him with a cruel decree.
ORIANA: No; don't defend such a flighty lover.
His first love is over;
He adores Briolanie.
The confidant of his new passion
Knew only too well how to instruct me.
My heart is no longer permitted
To allow itself to be seduced.
FLORESTAN: Can Amadis be lacking in fidelity to you?
ORIANA: My rival is only too beautiful.
CORISANDE: Are you less adorable than she?
ORIANA: She's has the advantage of me,
Being a new conquest.
FLORESTAN: Amadis is seized with mortal despair.
FLORESTAN: No, no, this is only an artifice
Which conceals her injustice.
He will be very satisfied never to see me again.
CORISANDE: It would be a strange injustice
To wish to add deceit to changeability;
A great heart, when it changes
Must at least change openly.
ORIANA: A bit later, the ingrate could have changed without
crime.
I am going to become the victim
Of duty which rules my fate.
Couldn't the inconstant one make a bit more effort?
His heart will soon belong to himself.
Eh! couldn't he wait for my marriage or my death?
He wouldn't have long to wait.
FLORESTAN: Amadis punishes ingrates;
Oppressed innocence has recourse to his arms.
Too feeble justice calls for his help;
Never has so much virtue deserved
An immortal glory.
A hero who is the enemy of infidelity,
Can he be an unfaithful lover?
ORIANA: Until today, the dazzle of so much glory
Blinded my credulous soul.
Ah! The greatest heroes make no great scruple
Of an amorous infidelity.
Why am I complaining of an offense
Which puts my heart in my own power?
How ill I profit from a fortunate inconstancy
That assists me to follow my duty!
Just scorn, break my bond.
I am going to end my sad days,
Rather than betray such a beautiful love.
Amadis betrayed it without pain.
Just scorn, break my bonds.
It's to you alone that I have recourse.
Alas! you agitate me with a vain rage.
How I feel myself trembling, uneasy, uncertain!
How weak I am even with your help!
Just scorn, break my bonds.
FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE: No, one doesn't so easily get out of
An amorous relationship.
ORIANA: Unhappy she who involves herself
With such a flighty heart.
ORIANA, FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE:
Very lucky the one who can undertake
To never change.
CORISANDE: Two parties are going to come here to contest for
victory.
These war games are made for your glory.
ORIANA: How much difficulty I have in hiding my sorrows!
Don't abandon me in the trouble I am in.
(Two troops of Combatants enter and fight; the victors take the arms of the vanquished and place the arms they have one at the feet of Oriana.)
CHORUS: Beautiful princess, how your charms
Have enchanted hearts!
You force the proudest conquerors
To cede you their arms.
The greatest kings in the universe
Glory in wearing your fetters.
CURTAIN
ACT II
The scene changes to represent a forest whose trees are hung with trophies; a bridge and a pavilion at the back are visible.
ARCABONNE: (alone) Love, what do you want from me?
My heart isn't made for you.
No, don't oppose the inclination which drives me.
I am accustomed to resent hate.
I wish only to inspire horror and terror.
Love, what do you want from me?
My soul would have too much difficulty
To follow such a sweet rule.
It's my fate to be inhumane.
Love, what do you want from me?
My heart isn't made for you.
ARCALAUS: (entering) Sister what can be causing your somber
sorrow?
The woodland silence serves to support it.
ARCABONNE: I must confess my weakness
So as to begin to punish myself for it.
One day a hero took up my defense against a monster.
Without his help I was dead.
For reward, all he wanted was
The secret pleasure of saving my life.
I didn't know what hero had helped me.
Vainly, I informed myself of his name.
But his helmet fell open, I saw him for a moment
That moment was fatal to the rest of my life.
This generous unknown
Appeared to me only too friendly.
Endlessly he returns to me a pleasant image
Which pleases me more than I would like.
I'm ashamed of my intense unease.
Everywhere, I flee from love;
Everywhere I sense his features.
Vainly I seek peaceable forests.
Alas! Even silence itself,
Everything speaks to me of what I love.
ARCALAUS: Love is only a vain error.
One isn't surprised by it,
When one wishes to protect oneself from it.
Do you have a tender heart?
Your heart is completely owed to fury.
ARCABONNE: No: I no longer know my heart.
The love that my heart braved has reduced it to surrender
itself.
All barbarous as it is, it allowed itself to be surprised
With a soft languor.
No: I no longer know my heart.
ARCALAUS: Deliver yourself from slavery
That love entangles you in.
You who know how to command hell,
Don't you know how to break your chains?
ARCABONNE: You taught me the terrible science
Of terrible enchantments which make the day blanche.
Show me, if it is possible
The secret of avoiding the charms of love.
ARCALAUS: Think that our blood demands our vengeance.
Amadis has shed it; his valor offends us.
The superb Amadis ended the fate
Of formidable Ardan, our unfortunate brother.
ARCABONNE: How the name of Amadis inspires me with rage!
When will I taste the pleasure of his death?
ARCALAUS: How I love to see this generous distraction in you!
ARCALAUS AND ARCABONNE: Let's stir up our barbarity;
Let's listen to our blood that screams:
Let the enemy who dares to outrage us perish!
Ah! how sweet it is to avenge ourselves!
ARCABONNE: Today hope of vengeance consoles me
For all the torments love has caused me.
Hasten to deliver to my resentment
The enemy that I must sacrifice.
ARCALAUS: Let me engage him in my enchantments.
(Arcabonne withdraws; Arcalaus remains in the forest and notices Amadis advancing towards him.)
ARCALAUS: (alone) His bad fate leads him into the fatal snare.
Evil and jealous spirits
Who cannot tolerate virtue without pain,
You, whose inhuman fury
Find such sweet pleasure in evil,
Demons, prepare yourselves
To second my hate.
Demons, prepare yourselves
To work my wrath.
(Arcalaus withdraws to the pavilion at the end of the bridge.)
AMADIS: (alone) Thick woods, redouble your shadows;
You won't be somber enough;
You cannot hide too well my unfortunate love.
I feel a despair whose horror is intense.
I must no longer see the one I love,
I no longer wish to endure the day.
CORISANDE: (entering) O cruel fortune,
You take pleasure in troubling me!
You flattered me, to overwhelm me
With a mortal pain.
O cruel fortune!
AMADIS: Heaven! End my sorrow with a prompt death.
CORISANDE: Heaven! End my misfortune with prompt aid.
AMADIS AND CORISANDE: (without seeing each other)
Alas! What sighs are responding to me,
Alas! what sighs, what regrets
Are confused in my complaints!
Alas! what sighs, what regrets
Answer me in these forests!
CORISANDE: What do I see? Amadis!
AMADIS: Who's calling me?
CORISANDE: Through what fate do I see you here?
AMADIS: You see a faithful lover
Reduced to a last despair.
CORISANDE: Protect virtue oppressed by injustice.
Help Florestan, even blood animates you.
Like you, he was the champion of the wretched.
I was unable to keep his too generous heart.
He's let himself be seduced by the tears of an unknown.
The perfidious one knew how to lead him
Into frightful enchantments.
AMADIS: What way must I take to go to help him?
CORISANDE: You must expect horrible dangers to await you.
AMADIS: I've seen danger without terror,
When my happy days were worthy of envy.
Can I fear death at a time when life
Is only a torture for me?
CORISANDE: Florestan fell into a forlorn slavery
When he wanted to pass through these parts.
AMADIS: Come on.
ARCALAUS: (preventing Amadis from passing over the bridge)
Halt, audacious man.
Halt: I undertake to guard this passage.
See the marks of my exploits.
How many warriors have ceded victory to me?
Add a new trophy to those that I've hung
To my glory in these woods.
AMADIS: Cease to interfere with me: don't force my arm
To turn my vengeance on you.
ARCALAUS: If you are seeking your brother, he is in my power.
CORISANDE: Return Florestan to me.
ARCALAUS: Go, follow his heels.
Follow your lover to death. (Arcalaus' followers lead
Corisande away.)
Amadis, Amadis, our unique hope,
Ah! Don't abandon us.
AMADIS: Perfidious! I must punish
Your barbarous injustice.
(Amadis fights with Arcalaus.)
ARCALAUS: Infernal spirits, now is the time
To give me the help that I am expecting.
(Several demons, under the features of terrible monsters, attempt in vain to astonish and stop Amadis. Other demons, under the disguise of nymphs, shepherds and shepherdesses, replace the monsters and enchant Amadis.)
CHORUS: No, no, to be invincible,
One is not less sensitive.
What conqueror can
Resist the charm of beauty?
TWO SHEPHERDS: Love, sigh, faithful hearts.
Love in these woods
Assumes new power.
A thousand times happy,
Those who submit to its rule!
It makes the horror
Of deserts disappear.
At once; it's the master
Of all the universe.
What empire can there be
That is sweeter than its fetters?
TWO NYMPHS AND THE CHORUS: You mustn't wait any longer
For anything that disturbs our desires.
Give in to pleasures
Which may come to surprise you.
Give in; it's time to surrender
To the softest charms.
It's love that ought to pretend
To know how to disarm you.
Love must form
The fetters of a tender heart.
Give in; it's time to surrender;
Give in; surrender
To the softest charms.
Love is on our side.
It's vain to want to protect oneself from it.
(Amadis, enchanted, thinks he sees Oriana.)
AMADIS: Is it you, Oriana? O heaven! Is it possible?
Your heart is no linger incensed against mine?
The dazzle of your beautiful eyes in this secluded wood
Drives away the terrors hell has formed.
Whoever lives far from you is in terrible torment!
What pleasure to see you! I am enchanted by it!
Dispose of my life and my freedom.
(Amadis puts his sword at the foot of the nymph that he takes for Oriana and follows her eagerly.)
CHORUS: No, no, to be invincible,
One is not less sensitive.
What conqueror can resist
The charm of your beauty?
CURTAIN
ACT III
The stage represents an old ruined palace; the tomb of Ardan Canile is visible and several different cells.
Florestan is enchained and shut in a cell; Corisande is enchained in another cell. A Troupe of Female and Male Captives locked in cells. A troupe of jailors.
CHORUS OF MALE AND FEMALE CAPTIVES: Heaven! End our torments.
JAILORS CHORUS: Your clamors are useless
CHORUS OF MALE AND FEMALE CAPTIVES: Heaven! o heaven!
What torture, alas!
JAILORS CHORUS: Heaven's not listening to you.
A MALE AND A FEMALE CAPTIVE:
Shall we forever endure this inhumane duress?
JAILORS CHORUS: You won't leave your fetters
Except by the aid of death.
FLORESTAN: What is becoming of the rare happiness
That love flattered us with?
CORISANDE: Are these the chains that marriage is preparing for us?
FLORESTAN: I only feel the weight of the chains you bear.
FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE: What is becoming of the rare
happiness
That love flattered us with?
ONE OF THE MALE CAPTIVES: O death! How slow you are!
O death! O funereal death!
Answer my hopes.
O death! O funereal death!
Put an end to my sad fate.
ANOTHER CAPTIVE: Death, always cruel,
Likes to cut off our happy life.
And doesn't listen to the wishes
Of an unfortunate who is calling him.
ONE OF THE JAILORS: You rush to call death
When it is absent.
But you'll start to tremble
When it is present.
CHORUS OF MALE AND FEMALE CAPTIVES: O death! How slow you are!
O death, funereal death!
Answer my hopes.
Death! o funereal death!
Put an end to my sad fate
(Arcabonne, escorted and borne by demons, descends through the air into the ruined palace.)
ARCABONNE: It's time to end your importunate lament.
Leave! Drag your fetters out of here.
(The jailors open the cells and the captives leave.)
THE CAPTIVES: Satisfy yourself with the ills we have
suffered;
Cause our misfortune to cease.
ARCABONNE: You are going to cease to suffer:
Wretches, you are going to die!
Soon the enemy who outraged me
Will be delivered into my power.
And the closer I am to seeing him,
The more my rage increases.
Blood or friendship unites you with him.
You will all perish today.
CAPTIVES: Death is more worthy to be wished for
Than such a deplorable life.
ARCABONNE AND THE JAILORS: You are going to cease to suffer:
Wretches! You are going to die!
CORISANDE: Florestan!
FLORESTAN: Corisande!
FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE: What a fate for our tender love!
CORISANDE: Must your blood spill before my eyes!
FLORESTAN: Must I see the one I love expire without comfort!
CORISANDE: May just heaven protect you;
Dying, that's the sole favor that I ask.
FLORESTAN: No, no, the fatal blow which must cut off my life
Is not the one I fear.
CORISANDE: Florestan!
FLORESTAN: Corisande!
FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE: What a fate for our tender love!
(speaking to Arcabonne)
Cruel one: Let your rage
Satisfy itself by sacrificing me!
ARCABONNE: No: too much blood cannot be shed
To avenge the blood of my brother.
Console yourself in your tortures;
Death is not an ill as cruel as it seems.
It unites two lovers
By sacrificing them together.
CORISANDE: Since heaven doesn't permit me
To live with you in extreme happiness,
Death itself, with you,
Appeals to me.
The sweetness of dying with the one I love
Mollifies the horror of death.
(Florestan and Corisande repeat the last two lines in chorus.)
FLORESTAN: Lucky, in our misfortunes that nothing separates
us!
Not even barbarous death!
CORISANDE: We will wear such a beautiful fetter,
Even in the tomb.
(Florestan and Corisande repeat these last two lines in chorus.)
ARCABONNE: Ah! That's too much to listen to,
A love so tender.
You trouble me;
Shut up, unfortunates.
CAPTIVES: What harshness forces us
To suffer without complaining!
O just heaven! Avenge us.
JAILORS: Unfortunates, shut up!
ARCABONNE: You, who in this tomb are no longer
Anything but a little ashes,
And who formerly terrorized the earth,
Receive the blood that my fury
Hurries eagerly to shed.
What do I hear? What wailing
Is coming from this monument?
I am going to answer your impatience.
Pitiful manes: cease to murmur.
I will punish whoever offends us
With the cruelest vengeance
That rage can inspire.
I am going to answer your impatience.
Pitiful manes: cease to murmur.
(The Ghost of Ardan emerges from the tomb.)
GHOST Ah! You are going to betray me, wretched woman!
ARCABONNE: I have sworn to fulfill a horrifying vengeance!
See the passion of my resentment!
GHOST: Ah! You are going to betray me, wretched woman!
Ah! You are going to betray your oaths.
I am going back into the tomb; daylight hurts me;
You will follow me in a short time.
I'll be waiting for you in hell
To reproach your weakness.
(The Ghost returns to the tomb.)
ARCABONNE: No: nothing will stop the furor which animates me.
They are coming to deliver the victim to me.
(Amadis enters, enchained and accompanied by a troupe of soldiers guarding him. Arcabonne approaches Amadis with a dagger in her hand.)
ARCABONNE: Die—how flabbergasted my feelings are.
O heaven! What do I see? Is this Amadis.
AMADIS: I am a wretch who has no other wish
Except to find the end of my funereal fate.
ARCABONNE: What! The enemy whose death I've sworn
Is the hero who saved my life!
Is this what I'm undertaking? An inhuman murder
Will be the reward of my liberator.
No: a cruel vengeance
Against your life has armed me in vain.
A just gratitude
Makes the arms fall from my hand.
Live: leave your fetters: don't fear my hate.
What reward can I offer for what I owe you?
AMADIS: Unfortunate innocents have suffered much for me.
The only reward I wish is to break their chains.
ARCABONNE: Go in freedom to enjoy a sweet repose;
Give thanks to this hero.
(All the captives are set at liberty, but Arcabonne retains Amadis and keeps him with her. The captives rejoice in the liberty which is given them.)
FLORESTAN, CORISANDE AND THE CHORUS: Let's leave slavery;
Let's take advantage
Of what Amadis has brought back.
Our liberty
Is the reward of his courage.
Amadis has conquered
Envy and rage.
Amadis has conquered
Incensed hell.
Let's leave our slavery;
Let's take advantage
Of what Amadis has brought back.
Our liberty
Is the reward of his courage.
Let's leave slavery.
CURTAIN
ACT IV
The stage represents a pleasant island.
ARCALAUS: Through my enchantments Oriana is captive.
Her beauty caused our misfortunes.
Without pity, I hear her plaintive voice hereabouts,
And I love to see her tears shed.
Our enemy loves her; he's done everything for her.
He fought to obtain her.
ARCABONNE: I've just seen her; how beautiful she is!
You won't know how to punish her too much.
ARCALAUS: Let's not allow her to be unaware
Of the loss of a lover by whom her heart is charmed.
It's necessary that after death Amadis still suffer
In the one he loved most.
To Oriana's sight expose the victim
You've just sacrificed to our resentment.
A sigh escapes you and you don't dare to speak.
Does hate express itself with sighs?
ARCABONNE: Lucky are you to think
Only of hate and only of vengeance!
Alas! In our very enemy
I found the unknown that I love.
ARCALAUS: You love Amadis! He still sees the light of day!
What! A cowardly love prevails over our vengeance.
ARCABONNE: The strongest vengeance
Against love is weak.
ARCALAUS: Such weakness is most strange!
Our mortal enemy becomes your conqueror!
Despite all your oaths, your perfidious heart
Takes sides with Amadis!
Perjurer! Ah! It's on you that I must avenge myself.
ARCABONNE: Despite myself, I love him; this charming enemy.
I am incapable of being loved by him;
Another has known how to please him.
I defy you in your rage
To invent a crueler torture
For my punishment.
ARCALAUS: To increase your torture
It's necessary to make you see these two lovers happy.
Marriage must unite them
Before my vengeance makes a sacrifice of them.
ARCABONNE: Ah! A hundred times sooner that they both perish.
Between love and cruel hate
I thought myself able to take my share.
But in my heart love is a stranger
And hate is natural to me. (seeing Oriana approach)
My rival moans; how her ills are sweet to me!
To punish these lovers I imagine a pain
Worthy of my fury and your wrath.
It's little that an inhumane death—
ARCALAUS: Can I again be proud of you?
ARCABONNE: Be proud of jealous love.
It is more cruel than hate.
(Arcabonne and Arcalaus withdraw.)
ORIANA: (enters) (alone) To whom can I have recourse?
It's from you, just heaven, that I am expecting aid.
On these unknown shores, a barbarous enchanter
Disposes of my sad life.
Hell declares itself against me.
To whom can I have recourse?
It's from you just heaven that I am expecting aid.
Before, Amadis would have taken up my defense.
But the inconstant forgets me and follows another sovereign.
Why do I remember him, why
Not forget him till the end for his inconstancy?
Here, far from all assistance,
I am trembling with a mortal terror.
Ah! Must I still think
Of the one who no longer thinks of me?
ARCALAUS (entering) I hear you; cease to dissemble.
Complain about Amadis; I don't want to contradict
Such a just wrath.
ORIANA: I have so many subjects about which to pity myself
That I'd almost forgotten to complain of you.
No, it's not here that I implore his aid.
He went to find the beauty that he adores,
And I would be calling him with superfluous cries.
ARCALAUS: When you see him you will love him still.
ORIANA: No, no, I won't see him any more.
I have to hate him too much to renew the fetter
Which he removed from my heart.
ARCALAUS: If you hate him I will serve your hate.
In the end I conquered this superb conqueror.
ORIANA: You conqueror of Amadis! No, it's not possible
That he has ceased to be invincible.
Everything falls before his valor and you know it.
ARCALAUS: And so that's the way you hate him!
ORIANA: I intend to hate forever such a flighty lover.
And I've really promised myself to do it;
But his cruelest enemies,
Can they prevent themselves from admiring his courage?
No, nothing can be powerful enough
To prevail over this indomitable hero.
ARCALAUS: See if I am boasting wrongfully
Of having conquered this redoubtable conqueror.
(Amadis is carried in, stretched on his embloodied arms, seemingly dead.)
ORIANA: What do I see? O horrifying spectacle!
O too funereal fate!
Heaven! o heaven! Amadis is dead!
My rage was fatal to him.
I was wrong to accuse him of following another love.
Why cannot I by dying recall him to life?
Ought he to live for my rival?
Heaven which gave us this hero
Did not take up his defense
Against hellish power?
The universe has lost the author of its repose.
Weep, wail, weak innocent.
Weep: alas! you no longer supported him.
Today you see expire
Your unique hope.
O too funereal fate!
Heaven! o heaven! Amadis is dead!
He's calling me; I am going to follow him.
The fate which reunites us is sweet to me.
Amadis, I lived for you;
You dead, I can no longer live.
(Oriana falls into a faint. Arcabonne enters.)
ARCALAUS AND ARCABONNE: What pleasure to see
Such a cruel despair!
ARCABONNE: Join your furor to my inhuman rage
These lovers must revive by turns
To experience a frightful pain.
ARCALAUS: We must make their love
The minister of our hate.
ARCALAUS AND ARCABONNE: What a pleasure to see
Such a cruel despair!
ARCABONNE: Amadis must emerge
From the profound drowsiness
In which our enchantment holds him,
And he will weep for dead Oriana.
But what power has armed itself for them against us?
ARCALAUS: Who can bring this fiery rock here?
(A rock surrounded by flames approaches; the flames withdraw and reveal a vessel in the shape of a serpent that is called the Great Serpent. Urganda and her followers emerge from the vessel.)
URGANDA: I subdue to my rule hell, earth and ocean.
Without anyone knowing where I am, I scour the whole world.
And I know secrets that the heavens
Have only here unveiled to my eyes.
But I only arm my fatal power
Against unjust violence.
I take care to raise up down-beaten merit
And I make it my joy to serve virtue.
Tremble, tremble, recognize Urganda.
All obey as soon as I command.
Barbarians, leave these faithful lovers
In peace forever.
(Urganda touches Arcalaus and Arcabonne with her ring.)
ARCALAUS AND ARCABONNE: All my efforts are useless;
I remain motionless;
I give in to more powerful charms
That grasp my senses.
THE FOLLOWERS OF URGANDA: Tremble, tremble, recognize Urganda.
All obey as soon as she commands.
Barbarians, leave these faithful lovers
In peace forever.
(The followers of Urganda throw flowers and pour perfume over Amadis and Oriana to begin to dissipate the enchantment with which both are seized. One group of the servants dances while the others sing.)
TWO FOLLOWERS OF URGANDA: Hearts overcome by inhuman
tortures,
Don't give up hope in loving.
It's irritating to bear chains;
It's a cruel torment,
But when love wants to pay for the pains,
It's a charming pleasure.
There comes a day when fears are vain,
A sad fate changes in a moment.
It's irritating to wear chains,
It's a cruel torment.
But when love wants to pay for the pains,
It's a charming pleasure.
(The servants of Urganda carry Oriana and Amadis into the vessel, the Grand Serpent. Before going back into the ship, Urganda touches Arcalaus and Arcabonne a second time.)
URGANDA: I must return the use of your senses to you.
Perfidious ones! I am delivering you to your own rage.
(Urganda gets back into the Grand Serpent which begins to distance itself and to cover itself in flames.)
ARCALAUS: Demons obedient to our rule,
Fly, come to defend us.
Don't you dare to do anything?
Are you scorning our voices?
Hurry, you are waiting too long.
Demons obedient to our rule,
Fly, come to defend us.
(The demons of hell emerge to assist Arcalaus and Arcabonne. The demons of the air come to battle against the demons of hell and prevail over them.)
ARCALAUS AND ARCABONNE: They are braving our vain power;
Everything is going contrary to our wish.
We are losing all hope.
Let's renounce life.
CURTAIN
ACT V
The stage represents the enchanted palace of Apollidon, where the arch of faithful lovers can be seen and the forbidden chamber whose door is locked.)
URGANDA: Apollidon, by a magic power,
Once erected this magnificent palace.
Console yourself in these charming regions.
There you ought to find the end of your torments.
AMADIS: I cannot experience the charms
Of the most agreeable abode.
No, nothing is pleasing to eyes that love
Has condemned to eternal tears.
URGANDA: Oriana is here: recall your hope.
AMADIS: Oriana!
URGANDA: You are going to see her.
AMADIS: Through your cares I can see the beauty that I adore!
To see Oriana! Alas! It will be to annoy her again.
Ah! How my heart feels troubled;
I am trembling.
URGANDA: Amadis can tremble!
AMADIS: I am steadfast
Against a formidable enemy
Whose fury must be conquered.
But against the wrath
Of the beauty who knew how to please me,
Nothing is so weak as my heart.
URGANDA: Pay no attention to a vain fear.
Rush to see Oriana hereabouts.
AMADIS: I fear to deserve her hate.
She forbade me to appear in front of her eyes.
URGANDA: That's carrying constancy too far;
To obey without resistance
Such harsh rules,
And sometimes
Love is offended
By too much obedience.
(Urganda leaves and Oriana enters.)
ORIANA: My eyes, my sorrowful eyes, close forever.
I am losing the one I love the best;
Light must be ravished from me.
Alas! How harsh to give up my life,
To make me feel the loss I am experiencing!
My eyes, my sorrowful eyes, close forever.
ORIANA AND AMADIS: O heaven! Can I believe it?
ORIANA: Amadis, you live.
AMADIS: You pity my misfortunes!
Your beautiful eyes have given tears for me!
ORIANA: You are living!
AMADIS: Can I still live in your memory?
AMADIS AND ORIANA: O heaven! Can I believe it?
ORIANA: I see you love constantly
Despite your change.
In a new love
You can find more attractions.
But you will never find in it
A more faithful heart.
AMADIS: Oriana, are you accusing me?
ORIANA: Briolanie has charms too sweet.
I won't prevent your love from following her.
AMADIS: Ah! Don't resume your fatal wrath
If you want me to live.
ORIANA: You would have little difficulty in disabusing me.
Amadis against you, a regret bothers me.
The scorn that love excites
Only asks to be appeased.
AMADIS: Must your heart allow itself to be surprised
With a suspicion that costs us such a cruel torture?
ORIANA: It's the defect of a tender heart
To be easily alarmed.
AMADIS AND ORIANA: My sorrow might have been mortal;
Alas! I was going to succumb to it.
Ah! Let's beware falling back
Into such a cruel pain.
ORIANA: All told you
That I love you.
My tears, my intense sorrow;
All told you
That I love you.
AMADIS: I promise you
To never extinguish
Such a beautiful flame;
I promise you
An eternal love.
(Amadis and Oriana repeat these last two verses together.)
URGANDA: (reentering) Finally your hearts are rejoined.
AMADIS: Through your lucky help our troubles are over.
URGANDA: It's easy to appease quarrels
With which faithful lovers
Are only too often troubled.
Love run off by rage
Doesn't fail
To return stronger than before.
ORIANA: I despair of a severe duty.
My father has made a choice that's opposed to my wishes.
URGANDA: I shall take care of obtaining the consent of your father.
AMADIS AND ORIANA: What don't we owe to your generous efforts!
URGANDA: Such a perfect love deserves to be happy.
You must take away all anger.
Lovers hereabouts under this enchanted arch
Find the fair expression
Of their fidelity.
ORIANA: The assurance that Amadis is giving me today
Suffices for me.
URGANDA: Can one reassure love too much!
But Florestan is coming here to demonstrate his constancy.
(Florestan and Corisande enter.)
URGANDA: (speaking to Florestan) It's time to stop you.
FLORESTAN: Valor and love must prevail over all.
Where am I? Where does this wave come from?
What power stops my steps?
Thousands and thousands of invisible arms
Are defending this passage.
URGANDA: Be satisfied with the advantage
That no one before you has gotten this far.
CORISANDE: I know your love.
AMADIS: The universe is witness
To the efforts of your courage.
URGANDA, CORISANDE, AMADIS AND ORIANA:
Spare yourself useless care.
URGANDA: Amadis is going to attempt the fatal adventure.
He must accomplish it today!
In love, in valor, no other equals him.
It's a fine enough fate to give way only to him.
AMADIS: To render everything possible to my intense love,
A look from the beauty I love suffices.
URGANDA, ORIANA, FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE:
Heroes favored by the gods
Will always be victorious.
Amadis, your faithful love
Deserves an immortal glory.
(A chorus of invisible persons repeats these four lines, during the time Amadis spends under the arch of loyal lovers.)
URGANDA: (speaking to Oriana) Follow this glorious hero
Towards the enchanted chamber; advance without alarms.
AMADIS: (escorting Oriana) Come, by prevailing over this
magic charm
What charms are stronger than those of your beautiful eyes?
(The door of the forbidden room opens, and a troupe of heroes and heroines that Apollidon had previously enchanted to make them await the most faithful of lovers receive Amadis and Oriana and greet them as worthy of this honor.)
ONE OF THE HEROINES: Faithful hearts, your constancy
Will not be unrewarded.
A happy fate follows your torments.
In the end love crowns
Perfect lovers.
How sweet and charming
Are the rewards it gives.
In the end love crowns
Perfect lovers.
(The chorus repeats these last verses. The heroes and heroines express their joy with dances mingled with songs.)
THE GREAT CHORUS: Let's all sing today
The glory of love.
Greatly beware breaking your fetters,
You who suffer the cruelest pains,
Don't cease to be constant,
And you will be content.
SMALL CHORUS: We must follow
Laws which must charm us.
Living without knowing love
Is not living.
FLORESTAN: All follows our wishes
Nothing disturbs our life.
Love binds us forever
With the most beautiful fetters.
I can live for you;
How sweet is my blessing!
CORISANDE: (speaking to Florestan) It's no longer time to
shed tears.
Henceforth we'll love without alarms.
How many pleasures, how many fine days
Are going to offer themselves to our love!
THE GRAND CHORUS: Everything here charms our eyes;
Where could it be better?
SMALL CHORUS: Where could it be better
Than in these beautiful abodes?
THE GRAND CHORUS: The most charming pleasures
Will follow all our desires.
SMALL CHORUS: Perfect sweetness
Is for tender hearts.
ONE OF THE ENCHANTED HEROES: Let's forever enjoy
The sweet peace
That's calling us.
Let's rejoice forever
In the sweet peace
Of a faithful love.
THE GREAT CHORUS: To make a fine choice
Is enough to undertake.
It suffices that a tender heart
Engage itself one time.
CORISANDE: What torture when love is intense,
To tremble for the thing that you love!
What delight to see it out of a mortal danger!
When ills are over, how sweet it is to think of them!
GREAT CHORUS: In the end, we love without fear.
It's not the season for us to complain.
If they wail forever,
They will flee love.
ONE OF THE ENCHANTED HEROES, FLORESTAN AND CORISANDE:
A tender love is no less pleasing
When it torments.
The more effort a pleasure costs,
The more it enchants.
How charming is happiness
After a lengthy torment.
GRAND CHORUS: A thousand innocent joys
Are going to enchant our senses.
(The Small Chorus repeats these last verses.)
ONE OF THE ENCHANTED HEROES: Far from us, faithless ones,
Flee far away from us.
These beautiful dwelling places
Are not for you.
CORISANDE: In the place of a torture without equal,
Love knows how to please.
It makes us pardon
All the wrongs it did to us.
I have no regret for the tears I shed.
The happiness that follows them is reward enough.
GREAT CHORUS: Let's all sing today
The glory of love.
Greatly beware breaking your fetters,
You who suffer cruel pains,
Don't cease to be constant,
And you will be content.
CURTAIN