Then if it give not way beneath your guilt,
When you have left it safely in your rear,
Before you frowns the gloomy Gate of Rocks,
Where never sun did shine. Proceed through this,
And you will reach a bright and gladsome vale.
Yet must you hurry on with hasty steps,
You must not linger in the haunts of peace.
JOHN.
O, Rudolph, Rudolph, royal grandsire! Thus
Thy grandson first sets foot within thy realms!
TELL.
Ascending still, you gain the Gotthardt's heights,
Where are the tarns, the everlasting tarns,
That from the streams of Heaven itself are fed,
There to the German soil you bid farewell;
And thence, with swift descent, another stream
Leads you to Italy, your promised land.
[Ranz des Vaches sounded on Alp-horns is heard without.]
But I hear voices! Hence!
HEDW. (hurrying in).
Where art thou, Tell?
My father comes, and in exulting bands
All the confederates approach.
DUKE JOHN (covering himself).
Woe's me! I dare not tarry 'mong these happy men!
TELL.
Go, dearest wife, and give this man to eat.
Spare not your bounty; for his road is long.
And one where shelter will be hard to find.
Quick-they approach!
HEDW.
Who is he?
TELL.
Do not ask!
And when he quits you, turn your eyes away,
So that you do not see which way he goes.
[Duke John advances hastily towards Tell, but he beckons him aside and
exit. When both have left the stage, the scene changes.]
SCENE III.
The whole valley before Tell's house, the heights which enclose it
occupied by peasants, grouped into tableaux. Some are seen crossing a
lofty bridge, which crosses the Shechen.
Walter Furst with the two boys. Werner and Stauffacher come forward.
Others throng after them. When Tell appears, all receive him with loud
cheers.
ALL.
Long live brave Tell, our shield, our saviour!
[While those in front are crowding round Tell, and embracing him,
Rudenz and Bertha appear. The former salutes the peasantry, the latter
embraces Hedwig. The music from the mountains continues to play. When
it has stopped, Bertha steps into the centre of the crowd.]
BERTH.
Peasants! Confederates! Into your league
Receive me, who was happily the first
That found deliverance in the land of freedom.
To your brave hands I now entrust my rights.
Will you protect me as your citizen?
PEAS.
Ay, that we will, with life and goods!
BERTH.
'Tis well! And now to him
[Turning to Rudenz]
I frankly give my hand,
A free Swiss maiden to a free Swiss man!
RUD.
And from this moment all my serfs are free!
[Music, and the curtain falls.]
