“Aida” – Act 4

ACT FOUR

Scene One

A hall in the King’s palace. (To the left, a great door leading to the subterranean hall of judgment. To the right, a passage leading to Radamès’s prison.)

Amneris (sadly, standing before the door of the underground chamber) My hated rival has escaped me. Radamès awaits from the priests the punishment of traitors. A traitor he is not. Yet he revealed the great military secret. He meant to flee, to flee with her! Traitors, all of them! To death! To death! Oh! What am I saying? I love him, I still love him. Desperate, mad is this love that consumes my life. Oh! If only he could love me! I would save him. But how? I shall try! Guards, bring Radamès here. (Radamès enters, escorted by the guards.) The priests are already assembling, the judges of your fate; yet you may still clear yourself of the terrible accusation. Clear yourself, and I shall plead for your pardon before the throne, and I shall bring you tidings of pardon and of life.

Radamès The judges shall never hear a word in my defense; before the gods and men, I feel neither base nor guilty. My incautious lips uttered the fatal secret, it is true, but my intentions remained pure, and my honor unstained. Amneris Then save yourself and clear yourself. Radamès No.

Amneris You will die. Radamès I abhor life! The source of every joy has dried up, every hope has vanished; I long only to die. Amneris To die! Ah, you must live! Yes, you shall live for my love; for you I have already suffered the terrible anguish of death; I loved you, I suffered so much, I passed my nights in tears, and homeland, throne, and life— I would give everything for you. Radamès For her, I too betrayed my country and my honor... Amneris No more of her! Radamès Infamy awaits me, and you would have me live? You have made me utterly miserable, you have taken Aida from me; perhaps you have killed her, and as a gift you offer me life?

Amneris I, the cause of her death! No, Aida lives! Radamès She lives! Amneris In the desperate flight of the fleeing hordes, only her father fell. Radamès And she? Amneris She disappeared, and no further word has been heard of her... Radamès May the gods lead her safely to her native land, and may she never know the misfortune of him who will die for her! Amneris Now, if I save you, swear to me that you will never see her again... Radamès I cannot! Amneris Renounce her forever, and you shall live!

Radamès I cannot! Amneris Once more: renounce her. Radamès It is useless. Amneris Then you wish to die, madman? Radamès I am already prepared to die. Amneris Who will save you, wretched man, from the fate that awaits you? You have turned into fury a love that has no equal. The vengeance for my tears will now be fulfilled by heaven, etc. Radamès Death is the greatest blessing if I am granted to die for her; in meeting my final fate, my heart will know boundless joy; I no longer fear human wrath, I fear only your pity, etc. Amneris Ah! Who will save you?... The vengeance for my tears, etc.

(Radamès leaves, surrounded by the guards.) Amneris (falls desolately upon a seat) Alas! I feel I am dying! Oh! Who will save him? And into the hands of these men I myself cast him! Now I curse you, cruel jealousy, that have decreed his death and the eternal mourning of my heart! (She turns and sees the priests crossing the stage to enter the underground chamber.) There they are, the fatal, inexorable ministers of death! Oh! Let me not see those white specters! (She covers her face with her hands.) And into the hands of these men I myself cast him! etc. Ramfis and Priests (in the underground chamber) Spirit of the god, descend upon us! Give us life in the radiance of eternal light; through our lips proclaim your justice. Amneris Gods, have pity on my tormented heart... He is innocent; save him, O gods! Desperate, terrible is my grief! Ramfis and Priests Spirit of the god, etc. Amneris Oh! Who will save him? Alas! I feel I am dying!

(Radamès, surrounded by the guards, crosses the stage and descends into the underground chamber. Amneris, seeing him, cries out.) Ramfis (in the underground chamber) Radamès, Radamès, Radamès: you revealed your country’s secrets to the enemy! Defend yourself! Priests Defend yourself! Ramfis He is silent... All Traitor! Amneris Ah, have pity! He is innocent! Gods, have pity! Ramfis Radamès, Radamès, Radamès: you deserted the camp on the day before the battle. Defend yourself! Priests Defend yourself! Ramfis He is silent...

All Traitor! Amneris Ah, have pity! Ah, save him! Gods, have pity! Ramfis Radamès, Radamès, Radamès: you broke your faith, false to your country, to the King, to your honor. Defend yourself! Priests Defend yourself! Ramfis He is silent... All Traitor! Amneris Ah, have pity! Ah, save him! Gods, have pity! Ramfis and Priests Radamès, your fate is decided: you shall suffer the death of the infamous; beneath the altar of the offended god, the tomb shall be opened for you while still alive. Amneris The tomb for him, alive! Oh, the villains! Never are they satisfied with blood... and they call themselves ministers of heaven!

Ramfis and Priests Traitor! Amneris (turning fiercely upon the priests as they emerge from the underground chamber) Priests: you have committed a crime! Infamous tigers, thirsting for blood, you outrage the earth and the gods, you punish one who is innocent. Ramfis and Priests He is a traitor! He shall die! Amneris (to Ramfis) Priest: this man whom you are killing, you know, was once loved by me; the curse of a tormented heart, with his blood, shall fall upon you! You outrage the earth and the gods, etc. Ah, no, he is no traitor... have pity, etc. Ramfis and Priests He is a traitor! He shall die! (They slowly move away.) Amneris Impious race! A curse upon you! The vengeance of heaven shall descend upon you!

Scene Two

Interior of the Temple of Vulcan and the tomb of Radamès. The scene is divided into two levels. The upper level represents the interior of the Temple of Vulcan, resplendent with gold and light; the lower level, an underground chamber. Long rows of arches disappear into the darkness. Colossal statues of Osiris, with their hands crossed, support the pillars of the vault. Radamès is in the underground chamber, on the steps of the staircase by which he descended. Above, two priests are engaged in closing the stone over the underground chamber.

Radamès The fatal stone has closed above me. Here is my tomb. The light of day I shall see no more. I shall never see Aida again. Aida, where are you? May you at least live happily, and never know my dreadful fate!—What sigh is that!... A specter... a vision... No! This is a human form... Heaven!... Aida! Aida It is I. Radamès You, in this tomb! Aida My heart, foreseeing your sentence, I secretly entered this tomb as it opened for you, and here, far from every human gaze, I longed to die in your arms.

Radamès To die! So pure and beautiful! To die for love of me... In the flower of your youth, to leave this life! Heaven created you for love, and I have killed you because you loved me! No, you shall not die! I have loved you too much! You are too beautiful! Aida (deliriously) See? The angel of death, radiant, draws near to us; upon his golden wings he bears us to eternal joys. Already I see heaven opening; there every sorrow ends, there begins the ecstasy of an immortal love. (Songs and dances of the priests and priestesses in the temple.) Priests and Priestesses Mighty Phtha, life-giving spirit of the world, ah! We invoke thee! Aida A mournful song! Radamès The rejoicing of the priests.

Aida Our hymn of death. Radamès (trying to move the stone of the underground chamber) Not even my strong arms can move you, O fatal stone! Aida In vain! All is over for us on earth. Radamès (with desolate resignation) It is true! It is true! (He approaches Aida and supports her.) Aida O earth, farewell; farewell, vale of tears... Dream of joy that vanished into sorrow. Heaven opens to us, and our wandering souls fly toward the radiance of eternal day, etc. Aida and Radamès O earth, farewell, etc. Ah! Heaven opens to us, etc. Priests and Priestesses Mighty Phtha, etc. (Aida gently sinks into Radamès’s arms. Amneris, dressed in mourning, appears in the temple and goes to prostrate herself upon the stone that closes the underground chamber.)

Aida and Radamès ...O earth, farewell, etc. Heaven opens! Amneris I implore peace for you! Beloved remains, may Isis, appeased, open heaven to you! Priests and Priestesses Mighty Phtha! Amneris I implore peace for you! Peace, peace, peace! END