An English performing script for the opera by Béla Bartók. This translation is dedicated to the memory of Ország Jenő.
MINSTREL:
Ride the riddle Judith, Bluebeard and all,
seeking an evening's musical rest
from the only drama that you know best,
that matters the most till the curtain’s fall –
good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
Lonely faces. Intently, you
watch me – and I watch you too.
Where's the stage? Can you be certain?
Our eyelashes are the curtain,
the curtain ladies and gentlemen.
Behind the curtain lies the stage,
one man's castle, one man's cage.
The world's full of warriors, but we might
die of something else tonight,
tonight, ladies and gentlemen.
We live – and watch each other – and
we tell our tales. But understand:
you may sit next to a spouse or a friend
but each soul is free and alone in the end,
alone, ladies and gentlemen.
The stage lies naked without and within.
Let Bluebeard's performance begin!
The curtain has risen on Bluebeard's hall –
please applaud when it must fall,
naked, ladies and gentlemen.
Ancient castle steeped in old
rumours about one lonely man...
Listen as the tale is told.
(The Minstrel disappears in darkness which eventually turns to twilight in a vast, round, Gothic hall. To the left, steep stairs lead to a small iron door above. Seven immense doors, all closed, surround the stage, one to the right of the stairs, two to the left and four facing the audience. The hall is empty, dark and gloomy, like a tall cave. The total darkness is first broken when the iron door above suddenly opens exposing the black silhouettes of Bluebeard and Judith in dazzling white light framed by the doorway.)
BLUEBEARD:
See the castle. – Look about you:
here at last is Bluebeard's castle.
Doesn't glitter like your father's.
Will you follow me here, Judith?
JUDITH:
I am coming, coming Bluebeard.
(Bluebeard slowly descends several steps.)
BLUEBEARD:
Can you hear the tocsin tolling?
Clad in black, your mother mourns you
while your father takes to armour
and your brothers saddle horses.
Will you follow me here, Judith?
JUDITH:
I am coming, coming Bluebeard.
(Bluebeard descends to the foot of the stairs and turns back towards Judith who has followed him but stopped half way down. The light from the doorway above falls on the stairs and the two figures.)
BLUEBEARD:
Fearful, Judith? Would you go back?
JUDITH (with hands on bosom):
No, it's just my skirts that hold me,
just my silken skirts are tangled.
BLUEBEARD:
Look, the portal still is open.
JUDITH:
Bluebeard, listen!
(she descends several steps.)
I have left my father, mother,
I have left my noble brothers,
(She reaches the foot of the stairs.)
I have left, too, my intended
just to come here... to your castle.
(She snuggles up to Bluebeard.)
Bluebeard! If you should dismiss me,
I would never leave your portal –
I would rest upon your threshold.
BLUEBEARD (embracing Judith):
Let the doors up there be closed then.
(The small door above closes. The hall remains gloomy, with only the seven large doors and the two human figures visible.)
JUDITH
(holding Bluebeard's hand, she fumbles forward along the left hand side wall):
Here at last is Bluebeard's castle!
Neither balconies, nor yet windows?
BLUEBEARD:
Neither.
JUDITH:
Does the sun shine all for nothing?
BLUEBEARD:
All in vain.
JUDITH:
Ever chilly? Ever gloomy?
BLUEBEARD:
Chilly, gloomy.
JUDITH:
What would people say about it?
This would freeze all idle gossip.
BLUEBEARD:
Heard a rumour?
JUDITH:
Oh, how gloomy is your castle!
(She fumbles forward and shudders.)
Walls with moisture – Bluebeard, tell me,
is it water on my fingers?
Tears! Your castle... weeps the castle!
(Judith covers her eyes.)
BLUEBEARD:
Would it not be cosier in
your intended's castle, Judith?
Cheerful roses, whitewashed brick walls,
dancing sunshine, glowing tiles...
JUDITH:
Do not, do not wound me, Bluebeard!
I do not want roses, sunshine,
neither roses nor the sunshine!
Neither... neither...
neither...
Oh, how gloomy is your castle!
Oh, how gloomy is your castle!
Oh, how gloomy...
Wretched, wretched, wretched Bluebeard!
(Judith collapses in tears before Bluebeard, kissing his hand.)
BLUEBEARD:
Why did you come to me, Judith?
JUDITH:
I shall dry up all the dampness;
with my own warmth, I shall dry it!
I shall warm the chilly stone walls;
with my body, I shall warm them!
Won't you let me, won't you let me,
let me, Bluebeard!
Let the light into your castle!
Let's tear down the walls together!
Let the winds come, and the sunshine,
and the sunshine.
We shall make your castle glitter!
BLUEBEARD:
No, my castle doesn't glitter.
(Judith turns right, towards mid-stage.)
JUDITH:
Won't you lead me, lead me Bluebeard,
you must show me every corner.
(She moves further towards mid-stage.)
Huge – and shut – doors I am facing,
seven black doors, all shut firmly.
Tell me, why are all the doors shut?
BLUEBEARD:
So that they can keep my secrets.
JUDITH:
Open! Open for me! Open!
All the doors, they must be opened!
Let the winds come, and the sunshine.
BLUEBEARD:
Just remember all the rumours!
JUDITH:
Let the sunshine flood your castle!
Let the sunshine flood your castle,
wretched, gloomy, chilly castle!
Open! Open! Open!
(Judith slams her fist against the first door, and her gesture is answered by a long sigh.)
Oh!
(She backs away to Bluebeard.)
Oh! What was that? What was sighing?
Who was sighing? Tell me, Bluebeard!
T'was your castle! It was sighing!
It was sighing!
BLUEBEARD:
Fearful?
JUDITH (softly weeping):
Oh, it was your castle sighing!
BLUEBEARD:
Scared?
JUDITH:
Oh, it was your castle sighing!
Come and open, come on with me.
I – I want to open them, I!
Sweetly, softly I shall do it,
softly, gently, softly.
Bluebeard, let me have the door-keys,
let me have them for I love you.
(Judith leans against Bluebeard's shoulder.)
BLUEBEARD:
Blessed are you, blessed, Judith.
(The keys clink.)
JUDITH:
I thank you. – I thank you.
(She returns to the first door.)
I – I want to open it, I!
(At the sound of the turning lock, the castle's deep sigh is repeated.)
Hear that? Hear that?
(The door opens, revealing a glowing crimson rectangle in the wall, like an open wound, throwing a long, narrow streak of light across the stage.)
Oh!
BLUEBEARD:
Judith! Judith!
JUDITH (with hands on bosom):
Chains and... knives and...
bloody stakes and
crimson embers...
BLUEBEARD:
That's my torture chamber, Judith.
JUDITH:
Dreadful is your torture chamber,
dreadful, Bluebeard! Dreadful! Dreadful!
BLUEBEARD:
Fearful?
JUDITH (recovers):
All the castle walls are bloody!
All the walls are bleeding...
red and bleeding!
BLUEBEARD:
Fearful?
(Judith turns from the first door to Bluebeard in front of the crimson rectangle – her black silhouette stark against the glowing background. She is calm and determined.)
JUDITH:
No! Not fearful. Now there is light.
It is growing. Look at the light.
(She cautiously returns to Bluebeard, walking along the stream of light thrown across the floor from the open door.)
See that? Stream of radiance.
(She kneels, dipping her cupped hands into the light.)
BLUEBEARD: Crimson waters, bloody waters –
JUDITH (rises):
See there, see there, all that radiance?
See there! See there!
All the doors, they must be opened!
Let the winds come, and the sunshine,
all the doors, they must be opened!
BLUEBEARD:
You don't know what lies behind them.
JUDITH:
Give me, give me all the door-keys!
Give me, give me all the door-keys!
All the doors, they must be opened,
must be opened!
BLUEBEARD:
Judith, Judith, why demand that?
JUDITH:
For true love's sake.
BLUEBEARD:
From its base, my castle trembles.
You shall walk through every doorway.
(Bluebeard gives Judith the second key. Their hands meet in the crimson light.)
Take care, take care of my castle,
take care, take care of us, Judith!
JUDITH (approaching the second door):
Sweetly, softly I shall do it,
sweetly, softly.
(The lock snaps as Judith opens the second door. The light behind it is a disturbing mixture of red and yellow, throwing a second beam across the stage alongside the first.)
BLUEBEARD:
Judith –
JUDITH:
Heaps of dreadful, cruel weapons,
many dreadful tools of warfare.
BLUEBEARD:
That's my armoury there, Judith!
JUDITH:
Oh, how very mighty are you,
oh, how very cruel are you!
BLUEBEARD:
Fearful?
JUDITH:
Blood has stained your many weapons,
blood has stained your tools of warfare.
BLUEBEARD:
Fearful?
JUDITH (turns back towards Bluebeard):
Give me, give me all the door-keys!
BLUEBEARD: Judith! Judith!
(Judith slowly returns to Bluebeard. She walks along the second beam of light thrown across the floor.)
JUDITH:
There's the second river.
Stream of radiance. See that? See that?
Give me, give me all the door-keys!
BLUEBEARD:
Take care, take care of us, Judith!
JUDITH:
Give me, give me all the door-keys!
BLUEBEARD:
You don't know the castle's secrets!
JUDITH:
I have come here for my true love.
Here I am, belonging to you.
You must show me every corner,
you must open all the door-locks!
BLUEBEARD:
From its base, my castle trembles.
Pleasure quakes in stones of sorrow.
Judith! Judith! Sweet and cooling
when blood gushes from the wounded...
JUDITH:
I have come here for my true love,
you must open all the door-locks!
BLUEBEARD:
I shall give you three more door-keys.
You shall see, but never question.
Whatever you see, don't question!
JUDITH:
Give me then the keys you promised!
(Judith snatches the keys impatiently from Bluebeard's hand, rushes to the third door – and hesitates.)
BLUEBEARD:
Why did you stop? Why did you stop?
JUDITH:
Oh, I cannot find the keyhole.
BLUEBEARD:
Fear not Judith, we're beyond fear.
(Judith opens the third door. The light behind it is golden, throwing a beam of light across the floor alongside the other two.)
JUDITH:
Oh, the treasure! All that treasure!
(She kneels, delves into the treasure and places a pendant, a crown and a mantle on the threshold.)
Piles of gold and sparkling diamonds,
precious pearls adorning pendants,
noble crowns and splendid mantles!
BLUEBEARD:
That's my treasury there, Judith.
JUDITH:
Oh, how very wealthy are you!
BLUEBEARD:
Now you own this, all the treasure,
yours the gold and pearls and diamonds.
JUDITH (suddenly rises):
All your treasures marked with bloodstains!
Your most noble crown is bloody!
(Her impatience and anxiety grows.)
BLUEBEARD:
Judith, open up the fourth door,
let the light in – open, open!
(Judith, with a sudden movement, turns to the fourth door and opens it. Branches rich with flowers swing in; the light is bluish-green, stretching across the stage alongside the others.)
JUDITH:
Oh, the flowers! Fragrant garden
hidden under massive rock walls.
BLUEBEARD:
It's my castle's secret garden.
JUDITH:
Oh! The flowers...
Lovely lilies, tall as men,
fluttering, virgin-white roses,
red carnations sparkling in dew –
Never have I seen such gardens.
BLUEBEARD:
All my flowers bow to greet you.
All my flowers bow to greet you!
You shall tend them, you shall cut them,
and with time you shall revive them.
JUDITH (bends down in dismay):
Blood-stained steams beneath white roses...
Blood has drenched your garden's soil!
BLUEBEARD:
At your gaze, their petals open –
They shall sing your praise at daybreak –
JUDITH (rises to confront Bluebeard):
Who has watered Bluebeard's garden?
BLUEBEARD:
Judith, love me, never question.
See the radiance of my castle?
Judith, open up the fifth door!
(Judith rushes to the fifth door and throws it open, revealing a high balcony and a distant landscape behind it. Bright light floods the stage. Judith shields her eyes.)
JUDITH:
Oh!
BLUEBEARD:
This is my domain, behold it,
stretching past the far horizon.
Is my land not vast and noble?
JUDITH (distracted):
Vast and noble is your country.
BLUEBEARD:
Velvet woods and silken grasslands,
endless silver rivers winding,
misty peaks blue in the distance...
JUDITH:
Vast and noble is your country.
BLUEBEARD:
All I own I give you, Judith,
home of dawn and home of sunset,
home of sun and moon and starlight –
they shall be your playmates, Judith.
JUDITH:
But the clouds cast bloody shadows.
What sort of clouds are these, Bluebeard?
BLUEBEARD:
See the castle's sparkling radiance,
blessed woman, you have done this,
blessed are you woman, blessed.
(Bluebeard opens his arms.)
Come here, come here, come, caress me!
JUDITH:
But two doors are still not open.
BLUEBEARD:
Let those doors remain unopened,
let my castle ring with music.
Come to me, I yearn to hold you.
JUDITH:
First, these two doors should be opened.
BLUEBEARD:
Judith, Judith, let me hold you.
Come, I'm waiting, Judith, waiting!
JUDITH:
First, the two doors should be opened.
BLUEBEARD (his arms drop):
It was you who asked for glitter;
see my castle's sparkling radiance.
JUDITH:
I do not want you to have a
single door held shut against me!
BLUEBEARD:
Take care, take care of my castle;
mind, it shall not shine more brightly!
JUDITH:
I am coming at my peril!
I must, Bluebeard!
BLUEBEARD:
Judith! Judith!
JUDITH:
Now the two doors must be opened.
Open, Bluebeard! Open, open!
BLUEBEARD:
Why demand that? Why demand that?
Judith! Judith!
JUDITH:
Open! Open!
BLUEBEARD:
I shall give you one more door-key.
(Judith reaches out in silent demand. Bluebeard hands over the key. Judith goes to the sixth door. At the turn of the key, there is a deep moan. Judith recoils.)
BLUEBEARD:
Judith, Judith, please don't do it...
(Judith resolutely opens the door. The hall becomes darker as though a shadow had passed through it.)
JUDITH:
I behold a sheet of water,
silent, tranquil stretch of water –
what kind of lake is it, Bluebeard?
BLUEBEARD:
Tear drops, Judith, tear drops, tear drops.
JUDITH (shudders):
Oh, how tranquil on the surface –
BLUEBEARD:
Tear drops, Judith, tear drops, tear drops.
(Judith inquiringly bends down to examine the water.)
JUDITH:
Oh how silent, oh how tranquil.
(She turns to face Bluebeard.)
BLUEBEARD:
Tear drops, Judith, tear drops, tear drops.
(He slowly opens his arms.)
Come here, Judith, come here, Judith,
let me hold you.
(But Judith remains motionless.)
Come, I'm waiting, Judith, waiting.
(But Judith remains motionless.)
No, the last door will not open –
shall not open.
(Her head bowed, Judith approaches Bluebeard and sadly caresses him.)
JUDITH:
Bluebeard, you must... you must love me.
(Bluebeard embraces her. Long kiss. She rests her head on his shoulder.)
JUDITH:
Do you love me passionately?
BLUEBEARD:
You're the radiance of my castle,
kiss me, kiss me, never question.
JUDITH:
Tell me, Bluebeard, tell me, Bluebeard
of the loves who came before me...
BLUEBEARD:
You're the radiance of my castle.
Kiss me, kiss me, never question.
JUDITH:
Tell me how you loved them; were they
fairer than I? better than I?
Tell me of them, tell me, Bluebeard.
BLUEBEARD:
Judith, love me, never question.
JUDITH:
Tell me of them, tell me Bluebeard.
BLUEBEARD:
Judith, love me, never question.
JUDITH (leaves Bluebeard's caress):
Open up the seventh door too!
(Bluebeard does not respond.)
I know, I know, I know Bluebeard,
I have guessed your seventh secret.
Blood has stained your many weapons,
your most noble crown is bloody,
blood has drenched your garden's soil
and the clouds cast bloody shadows!
I know, I know, I know Bluebeard,
know the source of all those teardrops.
All your former women lie there
in their own blood spilled in murder.
Oh, the rumours! Truthful rumours!
BLUEBEARD:
Judith!
JUDITH:
Truthful! Truthful!
For myself, I want to see them.
Open up the seventh door too!
BLUEBEARD:
Take it... take it... take the seventh door-key.
(But Judith gazes rigidly and does not reach for the key.)
Open, Judith. You may see them.
There are all my former women.
(Judith remains motionless. Then with slow and uncertain movements, she takes the key, goes to the seventh door and opens it. At the sound of the turning lock, the sixth and fifth doors close with a sigh. The stage darkens considerably. The hall is now lit only by the coloured beams of light from the four opposite doors. Then the seventh door opens, shedding silver moonlight on the couple.)
BLUEBEARD:
You may see my former women,
see them, they were my beloved.
JUDITH (shrinks back in astonishment):
Living! Living! Here they're living!
(Three pale women come through the seventh door wearing crowns, jewels and mantles. They walk with dignity, coming one after another and stand before Bluebeard and Judith.)
BLUEBEARD (kneels before the three women; then, as in a dream, he stretches his arms open):
Lovely, lovely, lovely visions.
They are always, always with me.
They have gathered all my treasures,
they have watered all my flowers,
filled my land, stretched my horizon –
They own, they own all that I have.
JUDITH (anxious and overwhelmed, she involuntarily joins the women):
They are lovely, they are wealthy;
I am shabby like a beggar.
BLUEBEARD (rises and whispers to Judith):
With the dawn I found the first one –
crimson, fragment, lovely daybreak.
Since then, she owns every daybreak,
owns its crimson, cooling mantle
and its graceful crown of silver –
Since then, she owns every daybreak.
JUDITH:
I can't match her wealth and beauty –
(The first woman withdraws.)
BLUEBEARD:
Noon blazed when I found the second –
silent, flaming, golden noonday.
Since then, she owns every noonday,
owns its heavy blazing mantle
and its golden crown of glory –
Since then, she owns every noonday.
JUDITH:
I can't match her wealth and beauty –
(The second woman withdraws.)
BLUEBEARD:
Evening time, I found the third one –
peaceful, weary, dusky evening.
Since then, she owns every evening,
owns its dusky, gloomy mantle –
Since then, she owns every evening.
JUDITH:
I can't match her wealth and beauty –
(The third woman withdraws. Bluebeard confronts Judith in silence for some time. The fourth door closes.)
BLUEBEARD:
Night fell when I found the fourth one.
JUDITH:
Bluebeard, stop it! Bluebeard, stop it!
BLUEBEARD:
Darkness loomed beneath the starlight.
JUDITH:
No more! No more! Still, I'm with you.
BLUEBEARD:
Your pale features bathed in starlight,
your hair lashed away the night clouds.
All the nights are your own since then.
(Bluebeard goes to the third door and takes the crown, mantle and pendant from the threshold where Judith had left them. The third door now closes. Bluebeard places the mantle on Judith's shoulders.)
BLUEBEARD:
Yours the mantle bright with starlight –
JUDITH:
Bluebeard, spare me! Bluebeard, spare me!
BLUEBEARD (places the crown on Judith's head):
Yours the crown of night with diamonds.
JUDITH:
No! No! Bluebeard! Take them all back!
BLUEBEARD (places the pendant on Judith's neck):
You have my most precious treasure.
JUDITH:
No! No! Bluebeard! Take them all back!
BLUEBEARD:
You are lovely, you are lovely,
you were my most special woman,
most special woman!
(Judith and Bluebeard stare at each other. Weighed down by the mantle and bowing her crowned head, Judith walks along the beam of silver light following the other women through the seventh door. It closes.)
Now it shall be night forever.
Always... Always...
(The stage is covered in complete darkness in which Bluebeard disappears.)
* * *
I have used Thomas Ország-Land’s excellent English translation of this opera at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and I am happy to recommend it to music lovers.
– Georg Solti
