Chapter I: Part 1

THE RING OF THE NIBLUNG

THE RHINEGOLD: PRELUDE
THE VALKYRIE: FIRST DAY OF THE TRILOGY
SIEGFRIED: SECOND DAY OF THE TRILOGY
THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS: THIRD
DAY OF THE TRILOGY

THE RHINEGOLD & THE VALKYRIE

BY RICHARD WAGNER

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

BY ARTHUR RACKHAM

TRANSLATED BY MARGARET ARMOUR

LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN

NEW YORK DOUBLEDAY PACE & Co

1910

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"Raging, Wotan Rides to the rock! . . . . . . . . Like a storm-wind he comes" plate 01

The frolic of the Rhine-Maidens plate 02

The Rhine-Maidens teasing Alberich plate 03

"Mock away! Mock!
The Niblung makes for your toy!" plate 04

"Seize the despoiler! Rescue the gold! Help us! Help us! Woe! Woe!" plate 05

Freia, the fair one plate 06

"The Rhine's pure-gleaming children Told me of their sorrow" plate 07

Fasolt suddenly seizes Freia and drags her to one side with Fafner plate 08

The Gods grow wan and aged at the loss of Freia plate 09

MIME, howling. "Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh!" plate 10

MIME writhes under the lashes he receives plate 11

Alberich drives in a band of Niblungs laden with gold and silver treasure plate 12

"Ohé! Ohé!
Horrible dragon,
O swallow me not!
Spare the life of poor Loge! plate 13

"Hey! Come hither, And stop me this cranny!" plate 14

"Erda bids thee beware" plate 15

Fafner kills Fasolt plate 16

"To my hammer's swing
Hitherward sweep
Vapours and fogs!
Hovering mists!
Donner, your lord, summons his hosts!" plate 17

"The Rhine's fair children, Bewailing their lost gold, weep" plate 18

"This healing and honeyed
Draught of mead
Deign to accept from me."
"Set it first to thy lips" plate 19

Hunding discovers the likeness between Siegmund and Sieglinde plate 20

Sieglinde prepares Hunding's draught for the night plate 21

"Siegmund the Walsung Thou dost see! As bride-gift He brings thee this sword" plate 22

Brünnhilde plate 23

Fricka approaches in anger plate 24

Brünnhilde slowly and silently leads her horse down the path to the cave plate 25

"Father! Father!
Tell me what ails thee?
With dismay thou art filling thy child!" plate 26

Brünnhilde stands for a long time dazed and alarmed plate 27

Brünnhilde with her horse, at the mouth of the cave plate 28

"I flee for the first time
And am pursued:
Warfather follows close
. . . . . . .
He nears, he nears, in fury!
Save this woman!
Sisters, your help!" plate 29

"There as a dread
Dragon he sojourns,
And in a cave
Keeps watch over Alberich's ring" plate 30

The ride of the Valkyries plate 31

"Appear, flickering fire, Encircle the rock with thy flame! Loge! Loge! Appear!" plate 32

As he moves slowly away, Wotan turns and looks sorrowfully back at Brünnhilde plate 33

The sleep of Brünnhilde plate 34

THE RHINEGOLD

CHARACTERS

GODS: WOTAN, DONNER, FROH, LOGE
NIBELUNGS: ALBERICH, MIME
GIANTS: FASOLT, FAFNER
GODDESSES: FRICKA, FREIA, ERDA
RHINE-MAIDENS: WOGLINDE, WELLGUNDE, FLOSSHILDE

SCENES OF ACTION

I. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RHINE
II. OPEN SPACE ON A MOUNTAIN HEIGHT NEAR THE RHINE
III. THE SUBTERRANEAN CAVERNS OF NIBELHEIM
IV. OPEN SPACE AS IN SCENE II.

FIRST SCENE

_At the bottom of the Rhine_

_A greenish twilight, lighter above than below. The upper part is filled with undulating water, which streams respectively from right to left. Towards the bottom the waves resolve themselves into a mist which grows finer as it descends, so that a space, as high as a mans body from the ground, appears to be quite free from the water, which floats like a train of clouds over the gloomy stretch below. Steep rocky peaks jut up everywhere from the depths, and enclose the entire stage. The ground is a wild confusion of jagged rocks, no part of it being quite level, and on every side deeper fisures are indicated by a still denser gloom. Woglinde circles with graceful swimming movements round the central rock._

WOGLINDE

Weia! Waga!
Roll, O ye billows,
Rock ye our cradle!
Wagala weia!
Wallala, weiala, weia!

WELLGUNDE [_From above._

Woglinde, watchest alone?

WOGLINDE

If Wellgunde came we were two.

WELLGUNDE [_Dives down to the rock_.

How keepest thou watch?

WOGLINDE [_Swimming off, eludes her_.

Wary of thee.

[_They playfully tease and chase one another_.

FLOSSHILDE [_From above_.

Heiaha weia!
Ho! ye wild sisters!

WELLGUNDE

Flosshilde, swim!
Woglinde flies:
Help me to hinder her flying.

FLOSSHILDE [_Dives down between the two at play._

The sleeping gold
Badly ye guard;
Watch with more zeal
The slumberer's bed,
Or dear you'll pay for your sport!

[_They swim asunder with merry cries. Flosshilde
tries to catch first the one, then the other.
They elude her, and then combine to chase her,
darting like fish from rock to rock with jests and
laughter. Meanwhile Alberich climbs out of a dark
ravine on to a rock. He pauses, still surrounded
by darkness, and watches the frolic of the
Rhine-Maidens with increasing pleasure._

ALBERICH

Hey, hey! ye nixies!
Ye are a lovely,
Lovable folk!
From Nibelheim's night
Fain would I come,
Would ye be kind to me.

[_The maidens, as soon as they hear Alberich's
voice, stop playing._

WOGLINDE

Hei! Who is there?

WELLGUNDE

A voice! It grows dark!

FLOSSHILDE

Who listens below?

[_They dive down and see the Nibelung._

WOGLINDE and WELLGUNDE

Fie! the loathsome one!

FLOSSHILDE [_Swimming up quickly._

Look to the gold!
Father warned us
Of such a foe.

[Both the others follow her, and all three gather
quickly round the central rock.

ALBERICH

You above there!

THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS

What wouldst thou below there?

ALBERICH

Do I spoil sport
By standing and gazing here?
Dived ye but deeper,
Fain the Niblung
Would join in your frolic and play.

WELLGUNDE

He wishes to join us?

WOGLINDE

Is he in jest?

ALBERICH

Ye gleam above me
So glad and fair!
If one would only
Glide down, how close in my arms
Fondly clasped she would be!

FLOSSHILDE

I laugh at my fears:
The foe is in love.

WELLGUNDE

The amorous imp!

WOGLINDE

Let us approach him.

[She sinks down to the top of the rock, whose base
Alberich has reached.

ALBERICH

Lo! one of them comes!

WOGLINDE

Climb up to me here!

ALBERICH

[_Climbs with gnome-like agility, though with
repeated checks, to the summit of the rock.
Irritably._

Horrid rock,
So slippery, slimy!
I slide and slip!
My hands and feet vainly
Attempt to hold on
To the slithery surface!
Vapour damp
Fills up my nostrils--
Accursed sneezing!

[_He has got near Woglinde,_

WOGLINDE [_Laughing._

Sneezing tells
That my suitor comes!

ALBERICH

Be thou my love!
Adorable child!

[_He tries to embrace her._

WOGLINDE [_Escaping from him._

Here thou must woo,
If woo me thou wilt!

[_She swims up to another rock._

ALBERICH [_Scratching his head._

Alas! not yet caught?
Come but closer!
Hard I found
What so lightly thou didst.

WOGLINDE [_Swims to a third rock lower down._

Deeper descend:
Thou'lt certainly seize me!

ALBERICH [_Clambers down quickly._

Down there it is better!

WOGLINDE [_Darts upwards to a higher rock at the side._

But better still higher!

WELLGUNDE AND FLOSSHILDE [_Laughing_

Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

ALBERICH

How capture this coy,
Elusive fish?
Wait for me, false one!

[_He tries to climb after her in haste._

WELLGUNDE

[_Has sunk down to a lower rock on the other side._

Heia! my friend there!
Dost thou not hear?

ALBERICH [_Turning round._

What? Didst thou call?

WELLGUNDE

Be counselled by me:
Forsake Woglinde,
Climb up to me now!

ALBERICH

[_Climbs hastily over the river-bottom towards
Wellgunde._

Thou art more comely
Far than that coy one;
Her sheen is duller,
Her skin too smooth.
But thou must deeper
Dive to delight me!

WELLGUNDE

[_Sinking down till she is a little nearer him._

Well, now am I near?

ALBERICH

Not near enough.
Thine arms around me
Tenderly throw,
That I may fondle
Thy neck with my fingers,
And closely may cling
To thy bosom with love and with longing.

WELLGUNDE

Art thou in love?
For love art thou pining?
Approach and show me
Thy face and thy form.
Fie! thou horrible
Hunchback, for shame!
Swarthy, horny-skinned
Rogue of a dwarf!
Find thou a sweetheart
Fonder than I?

ALBERICH

[_Tries to detain her by force_

I may not be fair,
But fast I can hold!

WELLGUNDE

[_Swimming up quickly to the middle rock._

Hold firm, or I will escape!

WOGLINDE AND FLOSSHILDE [_Laughing._

Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

ALBERICH [_Angrily calling after Wellgunde._

Fickle maid!
Bony, cold-blooded fish!
Fair if I seem not,
Pretty and playful
Smooth and sleek--
Hei! if I am so loathsome
Give thy love to the eels!

FLOSSHILDE

What ails thee, dwarf?
Daunted so soon?
Though two have been wooed,
Still a third waits thee,
Solace sweet
Fain at a word to grant!

ALBERICH

Soothing song
Sounds in my ear!
'Twas well I found
Three and not one!
The chance is I charm one of many,
Whilst, single, no one would choose me!
Hither come gliding,
And I will believe!

FLOSSHILDE [_Dives down to Alberich._

How senseless are ye,
Silly sisters,
Not to see he is fair!

ALBERICH [_Hastening towards her._

I well may deem them
Dull and ill-favoured,
Seeing how lovely thou art!

FLOSSHILDE

Sing on! Thy song,
So soft and sweet,
Entrancing sounds in my ear!

ALBERICH [_Caressing her with confidence._

My heart burns
And flutters and fails,
Flattered by praises so sweet!

FLOSSHILDE [_Gently resisting him._

Thy grace and beauty
Make glad my eye;
And thy smile refreshes
My soul like balm

[_She draws him tenderly towards her._

Dearest of men!

ALBERICH

Sweetest of maids!

FLOSSHILDE

Wert thou but mine!

ALBERICH

Wert mine for ever!

FLOSSHILDE [_Ardently._

To be pierced by thy glance,
To be pricked by thy beard,
To see and to feel them for aye!
Might thy hair hard as bristles
Flow ever more
Enraptured Flosshilde wreathing!
And thy form like a frog's,
And the croak of thy voice--
O could I, dumb with amaze,
Marvel forever on these!

WOGLINDE AND WELLGUNDE

[_Dive down close to them and laugh._

Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

ALBERICH [_Starting in alarm._

Wretches, dare ye thus scoff?

FLOSSHILDE [_Suddenly darting away from him._

A suitable end to the song.
[_She swims up quickly with her sisters._

WOGLINDE AND WELLGUNDE [_Laughing._

Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

ALBERICH [_In a wailing voice._

Woe's me! Ah, woe's me!
Alas! Alas!
The third one, so dear,
Does she too betray?
O sly and shameful
Worthless and dissolute wantons!
Live ye on lies
Alone, O ye false nixie brood?

THE THREE RHINE MAIDENS

Wallala! Wallala!
Lalalelai leialalei!
Heia! Heia! ha! ha!
Shame on thee goblin,
Scolding down yonder!
Cease, and do as we bid thee!
Faint-hearted wooer,
Why couldst not hold
The maid, when won, more fast?
True are we,
And troth we keep
With lovers when once caught.
Grasp then and hold;
Away with all fear!
In the waves we scarce can escape.
Wallala!
Lalaleia! Leialalei!
Heia! Heia! Ha hei!

[_They swim apart hither and thither, now lower,
now higher, to provoke Alberich to give chase._

ALBERICH

Fiercely within me
Passionate fires
Consume and flame!
Love and fury,
Wild, resistless,
Lash me to frenzy!
So laugh and lie your fill--
One of you I desire,
And one must yield to my yearning!

[_He starts chasing them with desperate energy.
He climbs with terrible agility, and, springing
from rock to rock, tries to catch one maiden
after another. They keep eluding him with mocking
laughter. He stumbles and falls into the abyss, and
clambers up quickly again and resumes the chase.
They sink down a little towards him; he almost
reaches them, but falls, back again, and once
more tries to catch them. At last he pauses out
of breath, and, foaming with rage, stretches his
clenched fist up towards the maidens._

ALBERICH

If but this fist had one!

[_He remains speechless with rage, gazing upwards,
when he is suddenly attracted and arrested by the
following spectacle. Through the water a light
of continually increasing brilliance breaks from
above, and, at a point near the top of the middle
rock, kindles to a radiant and dazzling golden
gleam. A magical light streams from this through
the waves._

WOGLINDE

Look, sisters!
The wakener laughs to the deep.

WELLGUNDE

Through the billows green
The blissful slumberer greets.

FLOSSHILDE

He kisses the eyelid,
Making it open;
Bathed in splendour,
Behold it smiles,
Sending, like a star,
Gleaming light through the waves.

THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS

[_Swimming gracefully round the cliff together._

Heia jaheia!
Heia jaheia!
Wallala la la la leia jahei!
Rhinegold!
Rhinegold!
Radiant delight,
How glorious and glad thy smile,
Over the water
Shooting effulgence afar!
Heia jahei!
Heia jaheia!
Waken, friend!
Wake in joy!
That we may please thee,
Merry we'll play,
Waters afire,
Billows aflame,
As, blissfully bathing,
Dancing and singing,
We dive and encircle thy bed!
Rhinegold!
Rhinegold!
Heia jaheia!
Heia jaheia!
Wallala la la la heia jahei!

[_With increasing mirthful abandonment the maidens
swim round the rock. The water is filled with a
glimmering golden light._

ALBERICH

[_Whose eyes, strongly attracted by the radiance,
stare fixedly at the gold._

What is it, sleek ones,
That yonder gleams and shines?

THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS

Where dost thou hail from, O churl,
Of the Rhinegold not to have heard?

WELLGUNDE

Knows not the elf
Of the famed eye golden
That wakes and sleeps in turn?

WOGLINDE

Of the star resplendent
Down in the depths
Whose light illumines the waves?

THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS [_Together_

See how gaily
We glide in the glory!
Wouldst thou also
Be bathed in brightness,
Come, float and frolic with us!
Wallala la la leia lalei!
Wallala la la leia jahei!

ALBERICH

Has the gold no value
Apart from your games?
It were not worth getting!

WOGLINDE

He would not scoff,
Scorning the gold,
Did he but know all its wonders!

WELLGUNDE

That man surely
The earth would inherit
Who from the Rhinegold
Fashioned the ring
Which measureless power imparts.

FLOSSHILDE

Our father told us,
And strictly bade us
Guard with prudence
The precious hoard
That no thief from the water might steal it.
Be still, then, chattering fools.

WELLGUNDE

O prudent sister,
Why chide and reproach?
Hast thou not heard
That one alone
Can hope to fashion the gold?

WOGLINDE

Only the man
Who love defies,
Only the man
From love who flies
Can learn and master the magic
That makes a ring of the gold.

WELLGUNDE

Secure then are we
And free from care:
For love is part of living;
No one would live without loving.

WOGLINDE

And least of all he,
The languishing elf,
With pangs of love
Pining away.

FLOSSHILDE

I fear him not
Who should surely know,
By his savage lust
Almost inflamed.

WELLGUNDE

A brimstone brand
In the surging waves,
In lovesick frenzy
Hissing loud.

THE THREE RHINE-MAIDENS [_Together._

Wallala! Wallaleia la la!
Join in our laughter,
Lovable elf!
In the golden glory
How gallant thy sheen!
O come, lovely one, laugh as we laugh!
Heia jaheia!
Heia jaheia!
Wallala la la la leia jahei!

[_They swim, laughing, backwards and forwards in
the light._

ALBERICH

[_His eyes fixed on the gold, has listened
attentively to the sisters rapid chatter._

Could I truly
The whole earth inherit through thee?
If love be beyond me
My cunning could compass delight?

[_In a terribly loud voice._

Mock away! Mock!
The Niblung makes for your toy!

[_Raging he springs on to the middle rock,
and clambers to the top. The maidens scatter,
screaming, and swim upwards on different sides._

THE THREE RHINE MAIDENS

Heia! Heia!heia jahei!
Save yourselves!
The elf is distraught!
Swirling waters splash
At every leap:
The creature's crazy with love!
Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

ALBERICH

[_Reaching the topwith a last spring._

Still undismayed?
Go, wanton in darkness.
Water-born brood!

[_He stretches his hand out towards the gold._

My hand quenches your light;
I tear the gold from the rock;
Forged be the ring for revenge!
Bear witness, ye floods--
I forswear love and curse it!

[_He tears the gold from the rock with terrific
force, and immediately plunges with it into the
depths, where he quickly disappears. Sudden
darkness envelops the scene. The maidens dive down
after the robber._

THE THREE RHINE MAIDENS

Seize the despoiler!
Rescue the gold!
Help us! Help us!
Woe! Woe!

[_The water sinks with them. From the lowest depth
Alberich's shrill, mocking laughter rings up. The
rocks are hidden by impenetrable darkness. The
whole stage from top to bottom is filled with black
waves, which for some time appear to sink even
lower._

SECOND SCENE

_The waves have gradually changed into clouds which, becoming lighter and lighter by degrees, finally disperse in a fine mist. As the mist vanishes upwards in light little clouds an open space on a mountain height becomes visible in the dim light which precedes dawn. At one side Wotan with Fricka beside him both asleep, lie on a flowery bank. The dawning day illumines with increasing brightness a castle with glittering pinnacles which stands on the summit of a cliff in the background. Between this and the foreground a deep valley is visible through which the Rhine flows._

FRICKA

[_Awakes; her gaze falls on the castle, which has
become plainly visible; alarmed._

WOTAN [_Continuing to dream._

The happy hall of delight
Is guarded by gate and door:
Manhood's honour,
Power for aye,
Rise to my lasting renown!

FRICKA [_Shakes him._

Up from deceitful
Bliss of a dream!
My husband, wake and consider!

WOTAN

[_Awakes and raises himself slightly. His glance is
immediately arrested by the view of the castle._

The walls everlasting are built!
On yonder summit
The Gods' abode
Proudly rears
Its radiant strength!
As I nursed it in dream
And desired it to be,
Strong it stands,
Fair to behold,
Brave and beautiful pile!

FRICKA

While thou rejoicest,
Joyless am I.
Thou hast thy hall;
My heart fears for Freia.
Heedless one, hast thou forgotten
The price that was to be paid?
The work is finished,
And forfeit the pledge:
Hast thou then no care for the cost?

WOTAN

My bargain well I remember
With them who built the abode.
'Twas a pact tamed them,
The obstinate race,
So that this hallowed
Hall they have built me.
It stands--the strong ones' doing:--
Fret not thou, counting the cost.

FRICKA

O laughing, insolent lightness!
Mirth how cruel and callous!
Had I but known of thy pact,
The trick had never been played;
But far from your counsels
Ye men kept the women,
That, deaf to us and in peace,
Alone ye might deal with the giants.
So without shame
Ye promised them Freia,
Freia, my beautiful sister,
Proud of playing the thief.
What remains holy
Or precious to men
Once grown greedy of might?

WOTAN [_Calmly._

From such greed
Was Fricka then free
Herself when the castle she craved?

FRICKA

I was forced to ponder some means
To keep my husband faithful,
True to me when his fancy
Tempted him far from his home.
Halls high and stately,
Decked to delight thee,
Were to constrain thee
To peaceful repose.
But thou hadst the work designed
Intent on war alone;
It was to add
More to thy might still,
To stir up to tumult still fiercer
That built were the towering walls

WOTAN

Wouldst thou, O Wife!
In the castle confine me,
To me, the god, must be granted,
Faithful at home,
The right to wage war
And conquer the world from without.
Ranging and changing
All men love:
That sport at least thou must leave me.

FRICKA

Cold, hard-hearted,
Merciless man!
For the idle baubles,
Empire and sway,
Thou stakest in insolent scorn
Love and a woman's worth!

WOTAN

When I went wooing, to win thee
I staked ungrudging,
Gladly one of my eyes:
What folly now then to scold!
Women I honour
Beyond thy desire!
I will not abandon
Frei, the fair:
Such never was my intent.

FRICKA

[_ Anxiously looking towards a point not on the
stage._

Then succour her now:
Defenceless, in fear,
Hither she hastens for help!

FREIA

[_Enters as if flying from someone._

Help me, sister!
Shield me, o brother!
From yonder mountain
Menaces Fasolt:
He comes to bear me off captive.

WOTAN

Let him come!
Sawest thou Loge?

FRICKA

To this tricky deceiver
O why wilt thou trust?
He always snares thee anew,
Though from his snares thou hast suffered.

WOTAN

I ask for no aid
Where simple truth suffices;
But to turn the spite
Of foes to profit,
Craft and cunning alone
Can teach, as by Loge employed.
He whose advice I obeyed
Has promised ransom for Freia:
On him my faith I have fixed.

FRICKA

And art left in the lurch.
The giants come.
Lo! hither they stride:
Where lingers now thine ally?

FREIA

Where tarry ye, my brothers,
When help ye should bring me,
Weak and bartered away by my kin?
O help me, Donner!
Hither! Hither!
Rescue Freia, my Froh!

FRICKA

Now the knaves who plotted and tricked thee
Abandon thee in thy need.

[_Fasolt and Fafner, both of gigantic stature,
enter, armed with stout clubs._

FASOLT

Soft sleep
Sealed thine eyes
While we, both sleepless,
Built the castle walls:
Working hard
Wearied not,
Heaping, heaving
Heavy stones.
Tower steep,
Door and gate
Keep and guard
Thy goodly castle halls.

[_Pointing to the castle._

There stands
What we builded,
Shining fair
Beneath the sun.
Enter in
And pay the price!

WOTAN

Name, Workers, your wage.
What payment will appease you?

FASOLT

We made the terms
That seemed to us meet.
Hast thou forgot so soon?
Freia, the fair one,
Holda, the free one--
The bargain is
We bear her away.

WOTAN (Quickly.)

Ye must be mad
To moot such a thing!
Ask some other wage;
Freia I will not grant.

FASOLT

_Stands for a space speechless with angry surprise._

What is this? Ha!
Wouldest deceive?--
Go back on thy bond?
What thy spear wards
Are they but sport,
All the runes of solemn bargain?

FAFNER

O trusty brother!
Fool, dost now see the trick?

FASOLT

Son of light,
Light, unstable,
Hearken! Have a care!
In treaties keep thou troth!
What thou art
Thou art only by treaties,
For, built on bonds,
There are bounds to thy might.
Though cunning thou,
More clever than we:
Though we once freemen,
Are pledged to peace,
Cursed be all thy wisdom;--
Peaceful promises perish!--
Wilt thou not open,
Honest and frank
Stand fast by a bargain once fixed.
A stupid giant
Tells thee this:
O wise one, take it from him!

WOTAN

How sly to judge us serious
When plainly we were but jesting!
The beautiful Goddess
Light and bright--
For churls what charm could she have?

FASOLT

Jeerest thou?
Ha! how unjust!
Ye who by beauty rule,
Proud and radiant race!
How foolish, striving
For towers of stone,
Woman's love to pledge--
Price of walls and of halls!
We dolts, despising ease,
Sweating with toil-hardened hands,
Have worked, that a woman
With gentle delight
In our midst might sojourn
And ye call the pact a jest?

FAFNER

Cease thy childish chatter;
No gain look we to get.
Freia's charms
Mean little;
But it means much,
If from the Gods we remove her.
Golden apples
Ripen within her garden;
She alone
Grows the apples and tends them.
The goodly fruit
Gives to her kinsfolk,
Who eat thereof,
Youth everlasting.
Sick and pale,
Their beauty would perish,
Old and weak,
Wasting away,
Were not Freia among them.

[_Roughly._

From their midst, therefore, Freia must forth!

WOTAN [_Aside._

Loge lingers long!

FASOLT

We wait for thy word!

WOTAN

Ask some other wage!

FASOLT

No other: Freia alone!

FAFNER

Thou there, follow us!

[_Fafner and Fasolt press towards Freia. Froh and
Donner enter in haste._

FREIA

Help! Help from the harsh ones!

FROH

To me, Freia!

[_Clasping Freia in his arms._ [_To Fafner._

Back, overbold one!
Froh shields the fair one!

DONNER [_Confronting the giants._

Fasolt and Fafner,
Have ye not felt
With what weight my hammer falls?

FAFNER

What means thy threat?

FASOLT

What wouldst thou here?
No strife we desire;
We want but our due reward.

DONNER

Oft I've doled out
Giants their due:
Come, your reward is here
Waiting, full measure and more!

[_He swings his hammer._

WOTAN

[_Stretching out his spear between the combatants._

Hold, thou fierce one!
Nothing by force!
All bonds and treaties
My spear protects;
Spare then thy hammer's haft!

FREIA

Woe's me! Woe's me!
Wotan forsakes me!

FRICKA

Can such be thy thought,
Merciless man?

WOTAN

[_Turns away and sees Loge coming._

There comes Loge!
Hot is thy haste
Smoothly to settle
Thy sorry, badly-made bargain!

LOGE

[_Has come up out of the valley in the background._

What is this bargain
That I am blamed for?--
The one with the giants
That thou thyself didst decide?
O'er hill and o'er hollow
Drives me my whim;
House and hearth
I do not crave.
Donner and Froh,
They dream but of roof and room:
Wedding, must have
A home in which to dwell,
A stately hall,
A fortress fast.
It was such Wotan wished.
Hall and house,
Castle, court,
The blissful abode
Now stands complete and strong.
I proved the lordly
Pile myself;
In fear of flaws,
Scanning it close.
Fasolt and Fafner
Faithful I found;
Firm-bedded is each stone.
I was not slothful
Like many here:
Who calls me sluggard, he lies!

WOTAN

Cunningly
Thou wouldst escape!
Warned be, and wisely
Turn from attempts to deceive.
Of all the Gods
I alone stood by thee
As thy friend,
In the gang that trusted thee not.
Now speak, and to the point!
For when the builders at first
As wage Freia demanded,
I gave way only,
Trusting thy word
When thou didst solemnly promise
To ransom the noble pledge.

LOGE

Perplexed to puzzle,
Plans to ponder
For its redeeming--
That promise I gave;
But to discover
What cannot be,
What none can do,
No man can possibly promise.

FRICKA

See the treacherous
Rogue thou didst trust!

FROH

Named art Loge,
But liar I call thee!

DONNER

Accursèd flame,
I will quench thy fire!

LOGE

From their shame to shelter,
Foolish folk flout me.

[_Donner threatens to strike Loge._

WOTAN

[_Stepping between them._

Forbear and let him alone!
Ye wot not Loge's wiles.
His advice,
Given slowly, gains
Both in weight and in worth.

FAFNER

Do not dally;
Promptly pay!

FASOLT

Long waits our reward.

WOTAN

_Turns sternly to Loge._

Speak up surly one!
Fail me not!
How far hast thou ranged and roamed?

LOGE

Still with reproach
Is Loge paid!
Concerned but for thee,
Thorough and swift,
I searched and ransacked
To the ends of the earth
To find a ransom for Freia
Fair to the giants and just.
In vain the search,
Convincing at last
That the world contains
Nothing so sweet
That a man will take it instead
Of woman's love and delight.

[_All seem surprised and taken aback._

Where life moves and has being,
In water, earth and air
I questioned,
Asking of all things,
Where weak still is strength,
And germs only stirring,
What men thought dear--
And stronger deemed--
Than woman's love and delight.
But where life moves and has being
My questions met
But with laughter and scorn.
In water, earth and air
Woman and love
Will none forego.

[_Varied gestures of amazement._

One man, one only,
I met who, renouncing love,
Prized ruddy gold
Above any woman's grace.
The Rhine's pure-gleaming children
Told me of their sorrow.
The Nibelung,
Night-Alberich,
Wooed for the favour
Of the swimmers in vain,
And vengeance took,
Stealing the Rhinegold they guard.
He thinks it now
A thing beyond price,
Greater than woman's grace.
For their glittering toy
Thus torn from the deep
The sorrowful maids lamented.
They pray, Wotan,
Pleading to thee,
That thy wrath may fall on the robber
The gold too
They would have thee grant them
To guard in the water for ever.
Loge promised
The maidens to tell thee,
And, keeping faith, he has told.

WOTAN

Dull thou must be
Or downright knavish!
In parlous plight myself,
What help have I for others?

FASOLT

[_Who has been listening attentively, to Fafner._

The Niblung has much annoyed us;
I greatly grudge him this Rhinegold;
But such his craft and cunning,
He has never been caught.

FAFNER

Other malice
Ponders the Niblung;
Gains he might from gold
Listen, Loge!
Tell us the truth.
What wondrous gift has the gold,
That the dwarf desires it so?

LOGE

A plaything,
In the waves providing
Children with laughter and sport,
It gives, when to golden
Ring it is rounded,
Power and might unmatched;
It wins its owner the world.

WOTAN [_Thoughtfully._

Rumours I have heard
Of the Rhinegold;
Runes of riches
Hide in its ruddy glow;
Pelf and power
Are by the ring bestowed.

FRICKA [_Softly to Loge._

Could this gaud,
This gleaming trinket
Forged from the gold,
Be worn by a woman too?

LOGE

The wife who wore
That glittering charm
Never would lose
Her husband's love--
That charm which dwarfs are welding,
Working in thrall to the ring.

FRICKA [_Coaxingly to Wotan._

O could but my husband
Come by the ring!

WOTAN

_As if falling more and more under the influence of
a spell._

Methinks it were wisdom,
Won I the ring to my service.
But say, Loge,
How shall I learn
To forge and fashion it true?

LOGE

A magic rune
Can round the golden ring.
No one knows it,
Yet plain the spell to him
Who happy love forswears.

[_Wotan turns away in annoyance._

That suits thee not;
Thou art too late too.
Alberich did not delay;
Fearless he mastered
The potent spell,

[_Harshly._

And wrought aright was the ring.

DONNER _To Wotan._

We should all be
Under the dwarf,
Were not the ring from him wrested.

WOTAN

The ring I must capture!

FROH

Lightly now,
Without cursing love it were won.

LOGE

Just so:
Without guile, as in children's games!

WOTAN

Then tell us how.

LOGE

By theft!
What a thief stole
Steal thou from the thief;
How better could object be won?
But with baleful arms
Battles Alberich.
Wary, wise
Must be thy scheming,
If the thief thou wouldst confound,

_With warmth._

And restore the ruddy
And golden toy,
The Rhinegold, to the maidens.
For this they pray and implore.

WOTAN

The river-maidens?
What profit were mine?

FRICKA

Of that billow-born brood
Bring me no tidings,
For they have wooed
To my woe
Full many a man to their caves.

_Wotan stands silent, struggling with himself. The
other Gods gaze at him in mute suspense. Fafner,
meanwhile, has been consulting aside with Fasolt._

FAFNER

Worth far more than Freia
Were the glittering gold.
Eternal youth, too, were his
Who could use the charm in its quest.

[_Fasolt's gestures indicate that he is being
convinced against his will. Fafner and Fasolt
approach Wotan again._

FAFNER

Hear, Wotan,
Our word while we wait;
Freia we will restore you,
And will take
Paltrier payment:
The Niblung's red-gleaming gold
Will guerdon us giants rude.

WOTAN

Ye must be mad!
With what I possess not
How can I, shameless ones, pay you?

FAFNER

Hard labour
Went to those walls;
How easy
With fraud-aided force
(What our malice never achieved)
The Niblung to break and bind!

WOTAN [_More quickly._

Why should I make
War on the Niblung?--
Fight, your foe to confound?
Insolent
And greedily grasping
Dolts you grow through my debt!

FASOLT

[_Suddenly seizes Freia and drags her to one side
with Fafner._

Maiden, come!
We claim thee ours!
As pledge thou shalt be held
Till the ransom is paid.

FREIA [_Screaming_.

Woe's me! Woe's me! Woe!

FAFNER

From your midst
We bear her forth!
Till evening--mark it well I--
As a pledge she is ours.
We will return then.
But when we come,
If the Rhinegold be not ready,
The Rhinegold bright and red--

FASOLT

The respite is ended,
Freia is forfeit
And bides among us for aye!

FREIA

Sister! Brothers!
Save me! Help!

[_The giants hasten off, dragging Freia with them._

FROH

Up! Follow fast!

DONNER

Fall now the heavens!

[_They look inquiringly at Wotan._

FREIA [_In the distance._

Save me! Help!

LOGE [_Looking after the giants._

Downward over stock and stone
Striding they go;
Through the ford across the Rhine
Wade now the robbers.
Sad at heart
Hangs Freia,
Thrown rudely over rough shoulders!
Heia! hei!
The louts, how they lumber along!
Through the Rhine valley they reel.
Not till Riesenheim's march
Is reached will they rest!

[_He turns to the Gods._

How darkly Wotan doth dream!
What ails the high, happy Gods?

[_A pale mist, gradually increasing in density,
fills the stage. Seen through it the Gods look more
and more wan and aged. All stand in dismay and
apprehension regarding Wotan, whose eyes are fixed
broodingly on the ground._

LOGE

Does a mist mock me?
Tricks me a dream?
Dismayed and wan,
How swiftly ye fade!
Lo! the bloom forsakes your cheeks,
And quenched is the light of your eyes!
Courage, Froh!
Day's but begun!
From thy hand, Donner,
The hammer is falling!
And why frets Fricka?
Sees she with sorrow
That Wotan's hair, growing grey,
Has made him gloomy and old?

FRICKA

Woe's me! Woe's me!
What does it mean?

DONNER

My hand sinks down.

FROH

My heart stands still.

LOGE

I have it: hear what ye lack!
Of Freia's fruit
Ye have not partaken to-day.
The golden apples
Within her garden
Restored you your strength and your youth,
Ate ye thereof each day.
The garden's guardian
In pledge has been given.
On the branches dries
And droops the fruit,
To drop soon and decay.
My loss is lighter,
For still did Freia,
Stingy to me,
Stint the delectable fruit.
Not half as godlike
Am I, ye high ones, as you!

[_Freely, but quickly and harshly._

But ye trusted solely
To the fruit that makes young,
As well both the giants wist.
Your life they played for,
Plotted to take;
Contrive so that they fail.
Lacking the apples,
Old and worn,
Grey and weary,
Wasting, the scoff of the world,
The Gods must pine and pass.

FRICKA [_Anxiously_

Wotan, alas!
Unhappy man!
See what thy laughing
Lightness has brought us--
Scoff and scorn for all!

WOTAN [_Coming to a sudden resolve, starts up._

Up, Loge,
And follow me!
To Nibelheim hastening downward,
I go in search of the gold.

LOGE

The Rhine-daughters
Thy aid invoked:
Not vainly they hoped for thy help then?

WOTAN [_Angrily._

Fool, be silent!
Freia, the fair one--
Freia's ransom we go for.

LOGE

Where thou wouldst go
Gladly I lead.
Shall we dive
Sheer through the depths of the Rhine?

WOTAN

Not through the Rhine.

LOGE

Then swift let us swing
Through this smoky chasm.
Together, come, creep we in!

[_He goes in front and vanijhes at the side through
a cleft, from which, immediately afterwards,
sulphurous vapour streams forth._

WOTAN

Ye others wait
Till evening here;
The golden ransom
When got will again make us young.

[_He descends after Loge into the chasm. The
sulphurous vapour which rises from it spreads over
the whole stage and quickly fills it with thick
clouds. Those who remain behind are soon hidden._

DONNER

Fare thee well, Wotan!

FROH

Good luck! Good luck!

FRICKA

O come back soon
To thy sorrowing wife!

[_The sulphurous vapour darkens till it becomes a
black cloud, which rises upwards from below. This
then changes to a dark, rocky cavern which keeps
rising, so that the stage seems to sink deeper and
deeper into the earth._

THIRD SCENE

_From various points in the distance ruddy lights gleam out. An increasing clamour, as of smiths at work, is heard on all sides. The clang of the anvils dies away. A vast subterranean chasm becomes visible which seems to open into narrow gorges on all sides. Alberich drags the screaming Mime out of a side cleft._

ALBERICH

Héhé! Héhé!
Come here! Come here!
Mischievous dwarf!
Prettily pinched
Promptly thou'lt be
Hast thou not ready,
Wrought to my wish,
The dainty thing I desire!

MIME [_Howling._

Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh!
Let me alone!
It is forged;
Heeding thy hest
I laboured hard
Till it was done!
Take but thy nails from my ear!

ALBERICH

Then why this delay
To show thy work?

MIME

I feared that something
Might still be wanting.

ALBERICH

What is there to finish?

MIME [_Embarrassed._

Here--and there----

ALBERICH

How here and there?
Hand me the thing!

[_He tries to catch hold of his ear again. In his
terror Mime drops a piece of metal-work which he
has been clutching convulsively. Alberich picks it
up hastily and examines it with care._

Rogue, observe!
See how all wrought is
Well finished and feat,
Done as desired!
The simpleton wants
Slyly to trick me
And keep by cunning
The wonderful work,
Though all his skill
Came alone from my craft.
Thou art discovered, thief.

[_He puts the Tarnhelm on his head._

The helmet fits the head;
But will the spell prosper too?

[_Very softly._

"Night and darkness,
Seen of none!"

[_He vanishes, and a pillar of cloud takes his
place._

Brother, canst see me?

MIME [_Looks round in amaze._

Where art thou? I see no one.

ALBERICH [_Invisible._

Then feel me instead,
Thou lazy scamp!
Take that for thy thievish thoughts!

MIME

[_Writhes under the lathes he receives, the sound
of which is heard without the whip being seen._

Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh! Oh!

ALBERICH [_Invisible and laughing._

Ha! ha! ha!
Ha! ha! ha!
I thank thee, blockhead;
Thy work has stood the test.
Hoho! Hoho!
Nibelungs all
Bow now to Alberich!
For he is everywhere,
Waiting and watching;
Peace and rest
Are past for ever;
Ye must all serve him,
Though see him can none;
Where he cannot be spied
Look out for his coming;
None shall escape from his thraldom!

[_Harshly._

Hoho! hoho!
Hearken, he nears:
The Nibelung's lord!

[_The pillar of cloud disappears in the background.
Alberich's scolding voice is heard more and more
faintly. Mime lies huddled up in pain. Wotan and
Loge come down through a cleft in the rock._

LOGE
Nibelheim here.
Through pale mists gleaming,
How bright yonder fiery sparks glimmer!

MIME
Oh! Oh! Oh!

WOTAN

I hear loud groans.
Who lies on the ground?

LOGE [_Bends over Mime._

Why all this whimpering noise?

MIME

Ohé! Ohé!
Oh! Oh!

LOGE

Hei, Mime! Merry dwarf!
Who beats and bullies thee so?

MIME

Leave me in peace, pray.

LOGE

So much is certain,
And more still. Hark!
Help I promise thee, Mime!

[_He raises him with difficulty._

MIME

What help for me?
To do his bidding
My brother can force me,
For I am bound as his slave.

LOGE

But, Mime, how has he
Thus made thee his thrall?

MIME

By evil arts
Fashioned Alberich
A yellow ring,
From the Rhinegold forged,
At whose mighty magic
Trembling we marvel;
This spell puts in his power
The Nibelung hosts of night.
Happy we smiths
Moulded and hammered,
Making our women
Trinkets to wear--
Exquisite Nibelung toys--
And lightly laughed at our toil.
The rogue now compels us
To creep into caverns,
For him alone
To labour unthanked.
Through the golden ring
His greed can divine
Where untouched treasure
In hidden gorge gleams.
We still must keep spying,
Peering and delving:
Must melt the booty,
Which, molten, we forge
Without pause or peace,
To heap up higher his hoard.

LOGE

Just now, then, an idler
Roused him to wrath?

MIME

Poor Mime, ah!
My lot was the hardest.
I had to work,
Forging a helmet,
With strict instructions
How to contrive it;
And well I marked
The wondrous might
Bestowed by the helm
That from steel I wrought.
Hence I had gladly
Held it as mine,
And, by its virtue
Risen at last in revolt:
Perchance, yes, perchance
The master himself I had mastered,
And, he in my power, had wrested
The ring from him and used it
That he might serve me, the free man,

[_Harshly_

As now I must serve him, a slave!

LOGE

And wherefore, wise one,
Sped not the plan?

MIME

Ah! though the helm I fashioned,
The magic that lurks therein
I foolishly failed to divine.
He who set the task
And seized the fruits--
From him I have learnt,
Alas I but too late!
All the helmet's cunning craft.
From my sight he vanished,
But, viciously lashing,
Swung his arm through unseen.

[_Howling and sobbing._

This, fool that I am,
Was all my thanks!

[_He rubs his back. Wotan and Loge laugh._

LOGE [_To Wotan._

Confess, our task
Will call for skill.

WOTAN

Yet the foe will yield,
Use thou but fraud.

MIME [_Observes the Gods more attentively._

Who are you, ye strangers
That ask all these questions?

LOGE

Friends to thee,
Who from their straits
Will free all the Nibelung folk.

MIME [_Shrinking back in fear when he hears Alberich returning._

Hark! Have a care!
Alberich comes!

[He runs to and fro in terror.

WOTAN

We'll wait for him here.

[_He sits down calmly on a stone. Alberich, who
has taken the Tarnhelm from his head and hung it
on his girdle, is brandishing his scourge and
driving before him a band of Nibelungs from the
gorges below. These are laden with gold and silver
treasure, which, urged on by Alberich, they pile up
so as to form a large heap._

ALBERICH

Hither! Thither!
Héhé! Hoho!
Lazy herd!
Haste and heap
Higher the hoard.
Up with thee there!
On with thee here!
Indolent dolts,
Down with the treasure!
Need ye my urging?
Here with it all!

[_He suddenly perceives Wotan and Loge._

Hey! Who are they
That thus intrude?
Mime! Come here!
Rascally rogue!
Gossiping art
With the pilgriming pair?
Off, thou idler!
Back to thy bellows and beating!

[_Lashing Mime, he chases him into the crowd of
Nibelungs._

Hey! to your labour!
Get ye all hence now!
Swing ye down swift!
From the virgin gorges
Get me the gold!
This whip will follow,
Delve ye not fast!
That labour ye shirk not
Mime be surety,
Or surely the lash
Of my whip will find him;
That where no one would guess
I watch and I wander,
None knows it better than he.
Loitering still?
Lingering there?

[_He pulls the ring from his finger, kisses it and
stretches it out in menace._

Fear ye and tremble,
O fallen host,
And obey
The ring's dread lord!

[_Howling and shrieking, the Nibelungs, among them
Mime, scatter, and creep down into the clefts in
all directions._

ALBERICH

What seek ye here?

[_Looks long and distrustfully at Wotan and Loge._

WOTAN

From Nibelheim's gloomy realm
Strange tidings have travelled up,
Tales of wonders
Worked here by Alberich;
And, greedy of marvels,
Hither came we as guests.

ALBERICH

By envy urged,
Hither ye hie.
Such doughty guests
I do not mistake.

LOGE

Since I am known,
Ignorant elf,
Say then, with growling
Whom dost thou greet?
In caverns cold
Where once thou didst crouch,
Who gave thee light
And fire for thy comfort,
Had Loge not smiled on thee?
Or what hadst thou fashioned
Had not I heated thy forge?
I am thy kinsman
And once was kind:
Lukewarm, methinks, are thy thanks!

ALBERICH

On light-born elves
Laughs now Loge,
The crafty rogue:
Art thou, false one, their friend
As my friend thou wert once,
Haha! I laugh!
No harm from such need I fear.

LOGE

No cause then for thy distrust.

ALBERICH

I can trust thy falsehood,
Not thy good faith!

[_Taking up a defiant attitude._

Yet I dare you all unflinching.

LOGE

'Tis thy might
That makes thee so bold;
Grimly great
Groweth thy power.

ALBERICH

Seest thou the hoard
Yonder heaped
High by my host?

LOGE

A richer one never was seen.

ALBERICH

A wretched pile
Is this to-day, though.
Boldly mounting,
'Twill be bigger henceforward.

WOTAN

But what is gained by the hoard
In joyless Nibelheim,
Where wealth finds nothing to buy?

ALBERICH

Treasure to gather
And treasure to garner--
Thereto Nibelheim serves.
But with the hoard
In the caverns upheaped
Wonders all wonder surpassing
Will I perform
And win the whole world and its fairness.

WOTAN

But, my friend, how compass that goal?

ALBERICH

Ye who live above and breathe
The balmy, sweet airs,
Love and laugh:
A hand of gold
Ere long, O ye Gods, will have gripped you!
As I forswore love, even so
No one alive
But shall forswear it;
By golden songs wooed,
For gold alone will his greed be.
On hills of delight
Your home is, where gladness
Softly lulls;
The dark elves
Ye despise, O deathless carousers!
Beware!
Beware!
For first your men
Shall bow to my might;
Then your women fair
Who my wooing spurned
The dwarf will force to his will,
Though frowned on by love.

[_Laughing savagely._

Ha! ha! ha! ha!
Mark ye my word?
Beware!
Beware of the hosts of the night,
When rise shall the Nibelung hoard
From silent depths to the day!

WOTAN [_Furiously._

Avaunt, impious fool!

ALBERICH

What says he?

LOGE [_Stepping between them._

Cease from thy folly!

[_To Alberich._

Who would gaze not in wonder,
Beholding Alberich's work?
If only thy skill can achieve
Everything hope has promised,
Almighty I needs must acclaim thee!
For moon and stars
And the sun in his glory,
Forced to do thee obeisance,
Even they must bow down.
But what would seem of most moment
Is that they who serve thee,
The Nibelung hosts,
Bow and bear no hate.
When thy hand held forth a ring
Thy folk were stricken with fear.
But in thy sleep
A thief might slip up
And steal slyly the ring.
Say, how wouldst thou save thyself then?

ALBERICH

Most shrewd to himself seems Loge;
Others always
Figure as fools.
If I had to ask for
Advice or aid
On bitter terms,
How happy the thief would be!
This helmet that hides
I schemed for myself,
And chose for its smith
Mime, finest of forgers.
I am now able
Swift to assume
Any form that I fancy,
Through the helm.
No one sees me,
Search as he will;
Though everywhere hidden,
I always am there.
So, fearing nothing,
Even from thee I am safe,
Most kind, careful of friends!

LOGE

I have met
Full many a marvel,
But one so wondrous
Have never known.
Achievement so matchless
Scarce can I credit.
Were this possible, truly
Thy might indeed were eternal.

ALBERICH

Dost thou believe
I lie, as would Loge?

LOGE

Till it is proved
I must suspect thy word.

ALBERICH

Puffed up with wisdom,
The fool will explode soon:
Of envy then die!
Decide to what I shall change;
In that form I shall stand.

LOGE

Nay, choose for thyself,
But strike me dumb with amaze.

ALBERICH [_Puts the Tarnhelm on his head._

"Dragon dread,
Wreathe thou and wriggle!"

[_He immediately disappears. An enormous serpent
writhes on the floor in his place. It rears and
threatens Wotan and Loge with its open jaws._

LOGE [_Pretends to be terrified._

Ohé!

ALBERICH [_Laughing._

Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

LOGE

Ohé! Ohé!
Horrible dragon,
O swallow me not!
Spare the life of poor Loge!

WOTAN

Good, Alberich!
Well done, rascal!
How swiftly grew
The dwarf to the dragon immense!

[_The dragon disappears and, in its stead, Alberich
is again seen in his own shape._

ALBERICH

He he! Ye scoffers,
Are ye convinced?

LOGE [_In a trembling voice._

My trembling tells thee how truly.
A giant snake
Thou wert in a trice.
Having beheld,
I just credit the wonder.
Couldest thou turn
To something quite tiny
As well as bigger?
Methinks that way were best
For slyly slipping from foes;
That, though, I fear were too hard!

ALBERICH

For thee, yes;
Thou art so dull!
How small shall I be?

LOGE

The most cramped of crannies must hold thee
That hides the timorous toad.

ALBERICH

Nothing simpler!
Look at me now!

[_He puts the Tarnhelm on his head again._

"Crooked toad,
Creep and crawl there!"

[_He vanishes. The Gods see a toad on the rocks
creeping towards them._

LOGE [_To Wotan._

Quick and catch it!
Capture the toad!

[_Wotan sets his foot on the toad. Loge makes a
dash at its head and holds the Tarnhelm in his
hand._

ALBERICH

[_Is suddenly seen in his own shape writhing under
Wotan's foot._

Ohé! I'm caught!
My curse upon them!

LOGE

Hold him fast
Till he is bound.

[_Loge binds his hands and feet with a rope._

Now swiftly up!
Then he is ours.

[_Both seize hold of the prisoner, who struggles
violently, and drag him towards the shaft by which
they descended. They disappear mounting upwards._

FOURTH SCENE

_The scene has changed as before, only in reverse
order. Open space on mountain heights. The prospect
is veiled by pale mist as at the end of the second
scene. Wotan and Loge climb up out of the cavern,
bringing with them Alberich bound._

LOGE

Here, kinsman,
Thou canst sit down!
Friend, look round thee;
There lies the world
That was thine for the winning, thou fool!
What corner, say,
Wilt give to me for my stall?

[_He dances round Alberich, snapping his fingers._

ALBERICH

Infamous robber!
Thou knave! Thou rogue!
Loosen the rope,
Set me at large,
Or dear for this outrage shalt answer!

WOTAN

My captive art thou,
Caught and in fetters.
As thou hadst fain
Subdued the world
And all that the world containeth,
Thou liest bound at my feet,
And, coward, canst not deny it.
A ransom alone
Shall loose thee from bondage.

ALBERICH

Ah, the dolt,
The dreamer I was,
To trust blindly
The treacherous thief!
Fearful revenge
Shall follow this wrong!

LOGE

Vain talk this of vengeance
Before thy freedom is won.
To a man in bonds
No free man expiates outrage.
If vengeance thou dreamest,
Dream of the ransom
First without further delay!

[_He shows him the kind of ransom by snapping his
fingers._

ALBERICH

Declare then your demands.

WOTAN

The hoard and thy gleaming gold.

ALBERICH

Pack of unscrupulous thieves!

[_Aside._

If I only can keep the ring,
The hoard I can lightly let go,
For anew I could win it
And add to its worth
By the powerful spell of the ring.
If as warning it serves
To make me more wise,
The warning will not have been lost,
Even though lost may be the gold.

WOTAN

Wilt yield up the hoard?

ALBERICH

Loosen my hand
To summon it here.

[_Loge frees his right hand._

ALBERICH

[_Touches the ring with his lips and secretly
murmurs the command._

Behold the Nibelungs
Hither are called;
I can hear them coming,
Bid by their lord,
With the hoard from the depths to the day.
Now loosen these burdensome bonds.

WOTAN

Nay, first in full thou must pay.

[_The Nibelungs come up out of the cleft laden with
the objects of which the hoard is composed._

ALBERICH

O bitter disgrace
That my shrinking bondsmen
Should see me captive and bound!

[_To the Nibelungs._

Lay it down there,
As ye are bid!
In a heap
Pile up the hoard.
Must I aid, idlers?
No spying at me!
Haste there! Haste!
Then get ye gone quickly.
Hence to your work.
Home to your gorges!
Let the sluggards beware,
For I follow hard at your heels!

[_He kisses the ring and holds it out with an air
of command. As struck with a blow, the Nibelungs
press terrified and cowering towards the cleft,
down which they hastily disappear._

ALBERICH

The price is paid;
Let me depart!
And that helm of mine
Which Loge still holds,
That also pray give me again!

LOGE

_Throwing the Tarnhelm on to the heap._

The plunder must pay for the pardon.

ALBERICH

Accursed thief!
But patience! Calm!
He who moulded the one
Makes me another;
Still mine is the might
That Mime obeys.
Loath indeed
Am I to leave
My cunning defence to the foe!
Nothing Alberich
Owns at all now;
Unbind, ye tyrants, his bonds!

LOGE [_To Wotan._

Ought I to free him?
Art thou content?

WOTAN

A golden ring
Girdles thy finger:
Hearest, elf?
That also belongs to the hoard.

ALBERICH [_Horrified._

The ring?

WOTAN

The ring must also
Go to the ransom.

ALBERICH [_Trembling._

My life--but the ring: not that!

WOTAN [_With greater violence._

The ring I covet;
For thy life I care not at all.

ALBERICH

But if my life I ransom
The ring I must also rescue
Hand and head,
Eye and ear
Are not mine more truly
Than mine is the ruddy ring!

WOTAN

The ring thou claimest as thine?
Impudent elf, thou art raving.
Tell the truth;
Whence was gotten the gold
To fashion the glittering gaud?
How could that be
Thine which reft was,
Thou rogue, from watery deeps?
To the Rhine's fair daughters
Down and inquire
If the gold
Was as gift to thee given
That thou didst thieve for the ring!

ALBERICH

Vile double-dealing!
Shameless deceit!
Wouldst thou, robber,
Reproach in me
The sin so sweet to thyself?
How fain thou hadst
Bereft the Rhine of its gold,
If it had been
As easy to forge as to steal!
How well for thee,
Thou unctuous knave,
That the Nibelung, stung
By shameful defeat,
And by fury driven,
Was fired into winning the spell
That now alluringly smiles!
Shall I, bliss debarred,
Anguish-burdened
Because of the
Curse-laden deed,
My ring as a toy
Grant to princes for pleasure,
My ban bringing blessing to thee?
Have a care,
Arrogant God!
My sin was one
Concerning myself alone:
But against all that was,
Is and shall be
Thou wouldst wantonly sin,
Eternal one, taking the ring.

WOTAN

Yield the ring!
Thy foolish talk
Gives no title to that.

[_He seizes Alberich and draws the ring from his
finger by force._

ALBERICH [_With a frightful cry._