ESMERALDA (taking the scarf and putting it on).
PHŒBUS.
[He goes to her and tries to embrace her.
ESMERALDA (drawing back).
PHŒBUS (insisting).
ESMERALDA (drawing away still more).
PHŒBUS (laughing).
ESMERALDA.
PHŒBUS.
ESMERALDA.
PHŒBUS.
ESMERALDA.
PHŒBUS.
ESMERALDA.
PHŒBUS.
ESMERALDA.
[She slips out of his arms and escapes. Phœbus, disappointed, turns to Quasimodo, whom the archers hold bound at the back of the stage.
PHŒBUS.
[He places himself at the head of his guard and goes out, taking Quasimodo with him.
CHORUS OF THE WATCH.
[The sound grows fainter and finally ceases.
ACT II
Scene.—The square of Grève. The pillory. Quasimodo is in the pillory. Populace on the square
SCENE I
CHORUS.
What! is it possible?
Hark! how they abuse him!
Do you hear, my friends?
Quasimodo has been hunting on Cupid's domain!
A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE.
On his return from the pillory;
And it is Pierrat Forterne
Who will give us the signal.
TOWN-CRIER.
The man you see here, will be put
Under a strong guard,
In the pillory for one hour.
CHORUS.
The hunchback, the deaf, the one-eyed creature
This Barabbas!
I believe, s'death! he's looking at us.
Down with the sorcerer!
He makes faces, he kicks;
He makes dogs bark in the streets.
Punish the rascal well!
Double the whip and the penalty.
QUASIMODO.
CHORUS.
QUASIMODO.
CHORUS.
[Esmeralda, some instants ago, joined the crowd. She perceives Quasimodo, first with surprise, then with pity. Suddenly, in the midst of all the noise, she mounts the pillory, unfastens a little cup which she carries on her belt, and gives a drink to Quasimodo.
CHORUS.
Leave Quasimodo alone!
When Beelzebub roasts,
Nobody gives him water.
[She comes down. The archers unfasten Quasimodo and take him away.
CHORUS.
Who? This dolt!
It is terrible, it is infamous,
It is too much!
Do you hear, my friends?
Quasimodo
Dared to go hunting on Cupid's domain.
SCENE II
A magnificent drawing-room in which people are making preparations for a festival. Phœbus, Fleur-de-lys, Madame Aloise De Gondelaurier
MADAME ALOISE.
Be master here, as if you were another self.
Look to it that every one is gay to-night.
And you, my daughter, come, get ready.
You will be the most beautiful at this festival,
Be also the most happy.
[She goes up stage and gives orders to the servants, who continue the preparations.
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
We have hardly seen you twice!
This festival brings you back.
How fortunate for us!
PHŒBUS.
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
PHŒBUS.
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
They only swear who deceive.
PHŒBUS.
Are you not the most fair?
Am I not the most loving?
PHŒBUS (aside).
Is out of sorts to-day;
Suspicion is in her mind.
What a pity!
Beauties, the lovers you treat ill
Go elsewhere.
You can do more with pleasure
Than with tears.
FLEUR-DE-LYS (aside).
Who belong to him!
I, who have only him to think of
And worry about!
Ah! whether he is away or here,
What grief!
Present, he scorns my joy;
Absent, my tears.
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
What have you done with it? I don't see it.
PHŒBUS (troubled).
[Aside.] Good God! unlucky chance!
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
[Aside.]To whom has he given it?
And for whom am I deserted?
MADAME ALOISE (coming up to them and trying to reconcile them).
PHŒBUS (to Fleur-de-lys).
I remember, I carefully folded it
And put it in an enameled box
That I had made for it.
[Passionately to Fleur-de-lys, who still frets.
I swear I love you betterThan one could love Venus herself!
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
They only swear who deceive!
MADAME ALOISE.
Come, my daughter, you must be seen!
The guests are coming! Everything has its turn.
[To the servants.] Light the candles and let the ball begin.
I want everything to be beautiful, to seem as bright as day.
PHŒBUS.
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
PHŒBUS (watching Fleur-de-lys go out).
Even when she is near—
The one I love, the one who fills my soul—
Alas! she is not here.
To you my love!
Oh, dancing shadow,
My sweet-voiced dove,
Absent, yet with me
Wherever I move!
As is a nest 'mid rushes,
Sweet as a rosebud crowned with moss,
Sweet as the joy which sorrow hushes.
Soul that's pure though free!
Voluptuous ardors sink abashed
Before thy chastity.
An angel from the skies;
Her forehead veiled by shadows,
Flames darting from her eyes.
Now bright, now dark it seems;
But strangely—'tis in heaven
I see her in these dreams.
To you my love!
Oh, dancing shadow,
My sweet-voiced dove,
Absent, yet with me
Wherever I move!
[Enter several lords and ladies in gala dress.
SCENE III
The preceding. Viscount de Gif, M. de Morlaix, M. de Chevreuse, Madame de Gondelaurier, Fleur-de-lys, Diana, Bérangère. Ladies, Lords
VISCOUNT DE GIF.
MADAME ALOISE, PHŒBUS, FLEUR-DE-LYS (bowing).
Forget all care and grief
Beneath this hospitable roof.
M. DE MORLAIX.
Health, pleasure, and happiness!
MADAME ALOISE, PHŒBUS, FLEUR-DE-LYS.
All your good wishes, my lord!
M. DE CHEVREUSE.
I belong to you, as I do to God!
MADAME ALOISE, PHŒBUS, FLEUR-DE-LYS.
Come always to your aid!
[All the guests enter.
CHORUS.
Page, lordship, and ladyship, come!
With flowers in your hand,
A joy-seeking band,
Come to the festival, come!
[The guests greet and salute each other; servants circulate among the crowd, bearing platters laden with flowers and fruits. A group of young girls forms itself near a window to the left. Suddenly one of them calls to the others, and motions to them to look out of the window.
DIANA (looking out).
BÉRANGÈRE (looking into the street).
DIANA.
VISCOUNT DE GIF (laughing).
M. DE CHEVREUSE (after having looked).
Phœbus, it is your gypsy
Whom, the other night, with valor
You saved from a robber.
VISCOUNT DE GIF.
M. DE MORLAIX.
DIANA (to Phœbus).
And dance for us.
PHŒBUS (looking out with an absent air).
[To M. de Gif.] Do you think she would remember?
FLEUR-DE-LYS (who watches and listens).
Come, call her, tell her to come up.
[Aside.] I will see whether to believe what I am told.
PHŒBUS (to Fleur-de-lys).
[He motions to the dancer to come up.
THE YOUNG GIRLS.
M. DE CHEVREUSE.
DIANA.
VISCOUNT DE GIF.
FLEUR-DE-LYS (aside).
SCENE IV
The same. Esmeralda. The gypsy enters timidly, confused and radiant. Movement of admiration. The crowd falls back before her
CHORUS.
As a star would shine, surrounded by torches.
PHŒBUS.
Admiration is duty.
Of this ball she is queen,
Her crown is her beauty.
[He turns to Messieurs de Gif and de Chevreuse.
War and death would I face,
To hold in my arms
Such bewildering grace.
M. DE CHEVREUSE.
A dream most rare and tender,
Which, floating through earth's darkness,
Radiates celestial splendor.
Born in the public streets—
Oh, blind caprice of fate,
To trail through muddy streams
A flower so immaculate!
ESMERALDA (fixing her eyes on Phœbus in the crowd).
Just as that night I found him;
Whether in satin or in steel,
How grace and strength surround him!
Phœbus—my head is all on fire,
All burns within me, joy and pain;
My soul's consumed for lack of tears,
Just as earth yearns for rain.
FLEUR-DE-LYS.
Jealous, indeed, I ought to be;
But yet to match that loveliness
How great must be my jealousy!
Alas! perhaps we both, foredoomed
To waste 'neath sorrow's harsh caress,
Full soon shall die—she in her flower,
I in my loneliness!
MADAME ALOISE.
But, faith, 'tis a disgrace
That such a wretched gypsy
Should have so sweet a face.
Alas! the curious laws of fate
'Tis not for mortal mind to know:
The serpent hides his treacherous head
Beneath the fairest flowers that grow.
ALL (together).
Of radiant skies on a warm night.
MADAME ALOISE (to Esmeralda).
Come and dance us some new dance!
[Esmeralda prepares to dance, and draws from her bosom the scarf which Phœbus gave her.
FLEUR DE-LYS.
My rival! Here she is!
[Fleur-de-lys snatches the scarf from Esmeralda, and falls in a swoon. All the people rush angrily toward the gypsy, who flies for protection to Phœbus.
ALL.
Infamous creature, go—depart!
To brave us thus in our own home,
You must have an audacious heart.
Oh! height of insolence! Retire!
Go back into the public street!
The common tradesmen, they can praise
The jumping of your low-born feet.
Away with her, away at once!
Out at the door! 'Tis a disgrace
For this degraded girl to lift
Her eyes to such a lofty place.
ESMERALDA.
Save me, Phœbus, I implore thee;
For the poor forsaken gypsy,
Stands defenseless now before thee!
PHŒBUS.
Yes! her defender I will be.
I'll fight for her, and my strong arm
Will bear my heart out valiantly.
If some one must be her protector,
I am the one—and doubt me not,
Her wrongs are mine, and who insults her
Must answer for it on the spot.
ALL.
Away from here, away from here!
A gypsy he prefers to us;
With loving words he calms her fear.
Hush! silence! Both of you be still!
No further words of insolence.
[To Esmeralda.] From thee, too much impertinence!
[Phœbus and his friends protect the gypsy, who is menaced by all the guests of Madame De Gondelaurier. Esmeralda staggers toward the door.
ACT III
Scene.—The front yard of a tavern. Tavern to the right; trees to the left. In the back a door, and a small low wall which closes in the yard. In the distance the roof of Notre Dame with its towers and its spire. A dark silhouette of old Paris outlines itself against the red sunset. The river Seine is at the base of the picture
SCENE I
Phœbus, Viscount de Gif, M. de Morlaix, M. de Chevreuse, and many other friends of Phœbus, seated at tables, are drinking, and singing; afterward Don Claude Frollo
CHORUS.
Our Lady of Saint Lo,
To him who only water hates
Of all things here below!
PHŒBUS.
In every place
A well-filled cellar,
A pretty face.
Happy fellow!
Help him hold
Dainty women,
Wine that's old.
Of cold mien
Be unwilling,
'Tis sometimes seen,
He jokes with her
With merry winks,
Then he sings,
Then he drinks!
Or drunk or not,
He soon embraces
His Toinotte;
Then ferocious
He goes to bed
In a cannon's mouth,
And sleeps like lead!
Which often seems
To mix up women
With his dreams,
Is contented if the wind,
With its come and go,
Rocks the canvas of his tent
Gently to and fro!
CHORUS.
Our Lady of Saint Lo!
To him who only water hates
Of all things here below.
[Enter Claude Frollo, who seats himself at a table at some distance from Phœbus, and appears at first to observe nothing that passes around him.
VISCOUNT DE GIF (to Phœbus).
What are you doing with her?
[Claude Frollo makes a movement of attention.
PHŒBUS.
I have a meeting with her.
ALL.
PHŒBUS.
[The agitation of Claude Frollo increases.
VISCOUNT DE GIF.
PHŒBUS.
Oh, love! supremest rapture!
To feel one heart holds two!
To own the woman that one loves—
Be slave and conqueror too!
To have her soul; to have her charms,
Her song which fills with bliss;
To see her sweet eyes wet with tears,
To dry them with a kiss.
[While he sings, the others drink and strike their glasses.
CHORUS.
Whatever one thinks,
To drink to one's love,
And to love what one drinks!
PHŒBUS.
A grace divine,
Oh, wonder, ecstasy!
Friends, she is mine!
CLAUDE FROLLO (aside).
Misfortune on you dwell!
PHŒBUS.
Exhaust without remorse
The better part of life,
Love's precious intercourse!
What matter if one dies,
When joy has passed away,
I'd give a century for an hour,
Eternity for a day.
[The curfew rings; the friends of Phœbus arise from the table, replace their swords, their caps, their cloaks, and prepare to depart.
CHORUS.
It is the curfew-bell:
Hurry to your beloved;
God's blessing on you dwell!
PHŒBUS.
It is the curfew-bell.
I go to my beloved;
God's blessing on her dwell!
[The friends of Phœbus go out.
SCENE II
Claude Frollo, Phœbus. Claude Frollo stops Phœbus as he is about to go out
CLAUDE FROLLO.
PHŒBUS.
CLAUDE FROLLO.
PHŒBUS.
CLAUDE FROLLO.
Who awaits you at the meeting to-night?
PHŒBUS.
The one I love and who loves me.
My song-bird, my dancing gypsy,
My Esmeralda, it is she!
CLAUDE FROLLO.
PHŒBUS.
Second, go to the devil!
CLAUDE FROLLO.
PHŒBUS.
CLAUDE FROLLO.
PHŒBUS.
CLAUDE FROLLO.
Tremble! One of the gypsies she!
No law protects those awful places.
There love's a masquerade for hate,
Death lies concealed in their embraces.
PHŒBUS (laughing).
Return unto your fools' retreat!
Strange they allow you to escape!
May Esculapius, Jupiter, the Devil,
Thither conduct your straying feet!
CLAUDE FROLLO.
Believe that the report speaks true.
Darkness strange and deep surrounds them;
Phœbus! there death waits for you!
[Claude Frollo's earnestness seems to trouble Phœbus, who looks at his interrogator with anxiety.
PHŒBUS.
Ah, he wounds me,
In spite of myself, with doubt!
This city great
Is full of hate,
And treachery is all about!
CLAUDE FROLLO.
And I wound him,
In spite of himself, with doubt.
The fool, he fears,
And sees and hears
Nothing but treachery about.
Who lures you to destruction.
More than one gypsy in her rage
Has stabbed a heart palpitating with love.
[Phœbus, whom he tries to drag along, recovers himself and pushes him off.
PHŒBUS.
Gypsy, Jewess, or Moor,
The love that questions what she be
Is love most base and poor.
The fateful hour is come,
Unto my love I fly!
If death be but as sweet as she,
It will be fine to die!
CLAUDE FROLLO (holding him).
Your folly is great.
How dare you thus rashly
Trifle with fate!
Oh, dread the false creature
Who waits in the gloom,
And do not thus wildly
Rush to your doom.
[Phœbus exits quickly, in spite of Claude Frollo. Claude Frollo stands gloomy and undecided for a moment; then follows Phœbus.
SCENE III
A chamber. In the background, a window which opens on the river. Clopin Frouillefou enters, bearing a torch. He is followed by several men, to whom he makes a preconcerted sign, and places them in a dark corner, in which they disappear; then he returns to the door and signals to some one to come up. Don Claude appears
CLOPIN (to Claude).
And the gypsy without being seen.
[He shows him an alcove behind some tapestry.
CLAUDE FROLLO.
CLOPIN.
CLAUDE FROLLO.
Silence! take this purse.
I will give you as much more afterward.
[Claude Frollo hides himself in the alcove. Clopin exits with caution. Esmeralda and Phœbus enter.
CLAUDE FROLLO (aside).
Destiny's prey!
She enters in beauty,
In tears goes away.
ESMERALDA (to Phœbus).