Pelléas et Mélisande | Page 8

all at once, the noise of the
waves....
GOLAUD.
You must go look for it at once.
MÉLISANDE.
I must go look for it at once?
GOLAUD.
Yes.
MÉLISANDE.
Now?--at once?--in the dark?
GOLAUD.
Now, at once, in the dark. You must go look for it at once. I had rather
have lost all I have than have lost that ring. You do not know what it is.
You do not know whence it came. The sea will be very high to-night.
The sea will come to take it before you.... Make haste. You must go

look for it at once....
MÉLISANDE.
I dare not.... I dare not go alone....
GOLAUD.
Go, go with no matter whom. But you must go at once, do you
understand?--Make haste; ask Pélléas to go with you.
MÉLISANDE.
Pélléas?--With Pélléas?--But Pélléas would not....
GOLAUD.
Pélléas will do all you ask of him. I know Pélléas better than you do.
Go, go; hurry! I shall not sleep until I have the ring.
MÉLISANDE.
Oh! oh! I am not happy!... I am not happy!... [_Exit, weeping._

SCENE III.--_Before a grotto._
Enter PÉLLÉAS and MÉLISANDE.
[_Speaking with great agitation._] Yes; it is here; we are there. It is so
dark you cannot tell the entrance of the grotto from the rest of the
night.... There are no stars on this side. Let us wait till the moon has
torn through that great cloud; it will light up the whole grotto, and then
we can enter without danger. There are dangerous places, and the path
is very narrow between two lakes whose bottom has not yet been found.
I did not think to bring a torch or a lantern, but I think the light of the
sky will be enough for us.--You have never gone into this grotto?
MÉLISANDE.
No....
PÉLLÉAS.
Let us go in; let us go in.... You must be able to describe the place
where you lost the ring, if he questions you.... It is very big and very
beautiful. There are stalactites that look like plants and men. It is full of
blue darks. It has not yet been explored to the end. There are great
treasures hidden there, it seems. You will see the remains of ancient

shipwrecks there. But you must not go far in it without a guide. There
have been some who never have come back. I myself dare not go
forward too far. We will stop the moment we no longer see the light of
the sea or the sky. When you strike a little light there, you would say
the vault was covered with stars like the sky. It is bits of crystal or salt,
they say, that shine so in the rock.--Look, look, I think the sky is going
to clear.... Give me your hand; do not tremble, do not tremble so. There
is no danger; we will stop the moment we no longer see the light of the
sea.... Is it the noise of the grotto that frightens you? It is the noise of
night or the noise of silence.... Do you hear the sea behind us?--It does
not seem happy to-night.... Ah! look, the light!...
[The moon lights up abundantly the entrance and part of the darkness
of the grotto; and at a certain depth are seen three old beggars with
white hair, seated side by side, leaning upon each other and asleep
against a bowlder.]
MÉLISANDE.
Ah!
PÉLLÉAS.
What is it?
MÉLISANDE.
There are ... there are.... [_She points out the three Beggars._
PÉLLÉAS.
Yes, yes; I have seen them too....
MÉLISANDE.
Let us go!... Let us go!...
PÉLLÉAS.

Yes ... it is three old poor men fallen asleep.... There is a famine in the
country.... Why have they come to sleep here....
MÉLISANDE.
Let us go!... Come, come.... Let us go!...
PÉLLÉAS.
Take care; do not speak so loud.... Let us not wake them.... They are
still sleeping heavily.... Come.
MÉLISANDE.
Leave me, leave me; I prefer to walk alone....
PÉLLÉAS.
We will come back another day.... [_Exeunt._

SCENE IV.--_An apartment in the castle,_ ARKËL and PÉLLÉAS
_discovered._
ARKËL.
You see that everything retains you here just now and forbids you this
useless journey. We have concealed your father's condition from you
until now; but it is perhaps hopeless; and that alone should suffice to
stop you on the threshold. But there are so many other reasons.... And it
is not in the day when our enemies awake, and when the people are
dying of hunger and murmur about us, that you have the right to desert
us. And why this journey? Marcellus is dead; and life has graver duties
than the visit to a tomb. You are weary, you say, of your inactive life;
but activity and duty are not found on the