Act 1 — SCENE IV.—Before the castle. Enter GENEVIÈVE and MÉLISANDE.
Richard Hovey translation
MÉLISANDE.
It is gloomy in the gardens. And what forests, what forests all about the palaces!…
GENEVIÈVE.
Yes; that astonished me too when I came hither; it astonishes everybody. There are places where you never see the sun. But one gets used to it so quickly…. It is long ago, it is long ago…. It is nearly forty years that I have lived here…. Look toward the other side, you will have the light of the sea….
MÉLISANDE.
I hear a noise below us….
GENEVIÈVE.
Yes; it is some one coming up toward us…. Ah! it is Pélléas…. He seems still tired from having waited so long for you….
MÉLISANDE.
He has not seen us.
GENEVIÈVE.
I think he has seen us but does not know what he should do…. Pélléas, Pélléas, is it thou?…
Enter PÉLLÉAS
PÉLLÉAS.
Yes!… I was coming toward the sea….
GENEVIÈVE.
So were we; we were seeking the light. It is a little lighter here than elsewhere; and yet the sea is gloomy.
PÉLLÉAS
We shall have a storm to-night. There has been one every night for some time, and yet it is so calm now…. One might embark unwittingly and come back no more.
MÉLISANDE.
Something is leaving the port….
PÉLLÉAS.
It must be a big ship…. The lights are very high, we shall see it in a moment, when it enters the band of light….
GENEVIÈVE.
I do not know whether we shall be able to see it … there is still a fog on the sea….
PÉLLÉAS.
The fog seems to be rising slowly….
MÉLISANDE.
Yes; I see a little light down there, which I had not seen….
PÉLLÉAS.
It is a lighthouse; there are others we cannot see yet.
MÉLISANDE.
The ship is in the light…. It is already very far away….
PÉLLÉAS.
It is a foreign ship. It looks larger than ours….
MÉLISANDE.
It is the ship that brought me here!…
PÉLLÉAS.
It flies away under full sail….
MÉLISANDE.
It is the ship that brought me here. It has great sails…. I recognized it by its sails.
PÉLLÉAS.
There will be a rough sea to-night.
MÉLISANDE.
Why does it go away to-night?… You can hardly see it any longer…. Perhaps it will be wrecked….
PÉLLÉAS.
The sight falls very quickly…. [A silence.
GENEVIÈVE.
No one speaks any more?… You have nothing more to say to each other?… It is time to go in. Pélléas, show Mélisande the way. I mast go see little Yniold a moment. [Exit.
PÉLLÉAS.
Nothing can be seen any longer on the sea….
MÉLISANDE.
I see more lights.
PÉLLÉAS.
It is the other lighthouses…. Do you hear the sea?… It is the wind rising…. Let us go down this way. Will you give me your hand?
MÉLISANDE.
See, see, my hands are full….
PÉLLÉAS.
I will hold you by the arm, the road is steep and it is very gloomy there…. I am going away perhaps to-morrow….
MÉLISANDE.
Oh!… why do you go away? [Exeunt.