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ACT I. The stage represents the vestibule of the Palace of Ulysses, and before it a hall where Penelope's suitors are dining. . SUITORS CHORUS (at the back) Let's leave the lovers of glory To seek death or victory In the most distant climes. Amongst games and feasts, A most sweet passion urges us. God of love, god of intoxication, You preside over our destinies. PENELOPE (at the front of the stage, hearing them) What's increasing their barbarous mirth today ? Have they most certain information about my misfortune ? CHORUS OF SUITORS God of love, god of intoxication, You preside over our destinies. PENELOPE Vile and cowardly tyrants, the opprobrium of Greece ! CHORUS God of love, etc. PENELOPE They ceaselessly swim in joy. And as for me, in sorrow, I feel myself extinguished. CHORUS Among games and feasts God of love, god of intoxication, You preside over our destinies. (Enter The Deputies of the People.) THE DEPUTIES (to Penelope) A people, overwhelmed with sadness, Sighingly extends hands to you. Do you intend for us to lament forever Under inhuman oppressors ? PENELOPE (aside) Enslaved people, it's your weakness Which makes the ills for which I am pitying myself. DEPUTIES Give in to the wishes we addresses to you. Our destinies depend on you. PENELOPE Enslaved people, it's your weakness Which makes the ills for which I am pitying myself. SUITORS God of love, god of intoxication, You are presiding over our destinies. (The Suitors withdraw.) PENELOPE (to the Deputies) I know your misfortunes, and my courage shares them. If I have no further hope, if my spouse is dead, They want me to entangle myself in a new marriage. On the return of my son, I will submit to my fate. Don't ask for more. (The Deputies withdraw.) PENELOPE Just gods, avenging gods, are you abandoning us ? Ah! return to me my son, return my spouse to me. (Air) Captive Queen, Fearful mother, Spouse in tears, To what misfortunes Heaven is delivering me! Cease, cruel ones, to pursue me Or I will succumb to my sorrows. Return my son, return, Your perils are mine. If you perish on the ocean Who will be my support ? Return to your mother the only blessing That still remains to her in the world. Return, my son, return, Your perils are mine. (Nesus and his followers enter.) NESUS Tremble, Queen, tremble that your wish is accomplished. The snare of death awaits the son of Ulysses. If he returns, if he lands, he will perish under the waves. PENELOPE Telemachus! NESUS Witness the darkest conspiracies. I didn't want to be an accomplice to it And I am waiting only for a propitious wind To sail to Delos. PENELOPE You let Telemachus perish. THEONE You, the only one of twenty kings who make Ithaca shake, The only one from whom Penelope expected help ! NESUS I was going to shorten the course of her calamities. Everything has changed. Her heart refuses itself to my wishes, Her delays, her evasions are very well known to me. I no longer wish to nourish a hope that abuses me. Of whatever wrong she accuses me of, Let her accuse her scorn. THEONE What love ! NESUS In a generous and sincere heart, Deceived love changes into a mortal scorn. But if it's in me that she hopes To give to Telemachus a defender, a father, She has only to wish it: I am waiting for her at the altar. (He leaves.) PENELOPE O crime, o detestable wickedness! In this shocking peril, What to decide ? To whom to turn? My son, I am reduced to the inevitable choice Of betraying my spouse or seeing you perish. CHORUS OF WOMEN O unhappy mother ! Your son's going to perish. PENELOPE O unhappy mother! To what god to turn ? Alas! if I delay, My son, you are going to die. Must I betray your father ? Must I see you perish ? CHORUS OF WOMEN O unhappy mother ! Your son's going to perish. PENELOPE O unhappy mother ! To what god to turn ? There remains one hope to me; it's that a favorable wind, Or rather a favorable god, Is opposing his return and keeping him away from port. Alas ! to what is fate reducing me ! This return, this moment so desirable to me, Terrifies me more than death. (Eumaeus enters.) THEONE Eumaeus, what brings you around here ? EUMAEUS Heaven is touched by our tears, Telemachus is coming back. PENELOPE God ! EUMAEUS On the moist plain I have recognized the colors of his pavilions. PENELOPE O funereal day ! - I am dying. (she falls into the arms of her women). THEONE Go, wise and faithful friend, With a swift ship beg for help, Keep Telemachus away; they are after his life. EUMAEUS His life is threatened ! THEONE In her mortal terror, The Queen has only you to turn to. EUMAEUS Alas! what can my zeal do for him, In such a great peril and with time so short ! (Eumaeus leaves.) PENELOPE (in fright and distress) It's over with. Death surrounds him. Today, Nesus alone could Save him, defend him, and Nesus is abandoning him ! Ah! if there's still time, go, my darling Theone, Implore his support, Let him deliver my son, let him return him to his mother. That's enough ; for the reward of a head so dear I engage myself, or rather, I abandon myself to him. (Theone leaves.) CHORUS From the breast of the saddest alarms See beautiful days reborn. Hymen, escorted by Cherubs, Will soon have dried your tears. From the breast of the saddest alarms See beautiful days reborn. (During this chorus Penelope remains absorbed in her sorrow.) PENELOPE What have I promised ? ah! unfortunate woman! Either my spouse is breathing or his shade hears me From the breast of dark night, Between the altar and myself, I see who's awaiting me there. (air) Yes, there I see, this wandering shade. It's himself; yes I see it. He's plaintive and shivering. He's terrible and threatening. Dear shade, approach, appease yourself. I swore to you to be forever faithful And for my eternal constancy I taken all the gods for witness. But if I am not criminal Your son is going to perish before my eyes. (The Suitors enter.) PENELOPE Which of you, which of you, perfidious ones, Is getting ready to strike me in my breast ? Stained with the blood of my son, of which you are avid, Who will be the assassin of his mother today ? CHORUS OF SUITORS Who can impute this guilty plan to us ? PENELOPE Yes, sacrilegious one that you are, Yes, you've conceived this odious crime In the breast of your barbarous feasts, In the palace of Ulysses, in the face of the gods. CHORUS The mortal terror That reigns in your soul Can instantly calm itself at the altar. Between twenty kings, Enflamed by the same ardor, Make a choice. Your wishes will be our law. PENELOPE (excitedly) Let my son be returned to me, let him announce it to me himself, That Ulysses has descended to the night of the tomb. Henceforth, to protect him, I renounce my word And I am going to relight the torch of Hymen. CHORUS OF SUITORS No, no, it's a trick. It's a new subterfuge. PENELOPE Alas, yet another day. CHORUS OF SUITORS No, no, it's another trick. PENELOPE O mortal constraint ! CHORUS OF SUITORS It's a new subterfuge. PENELOPE You are freezing me with fear. CHORUS OF SUITORS Surrender, surrender without fear To this most ardent love. PENELOPE You freeze me with fear And you speak of love ! CHORUS Surrender, etc. PENELOPE Is it necessary to complete my misery, To deliver to you my estates, my palace, my treasures; That a ship instantly distance me from these shores ? I will go to Icarus, my father, To forget all the treasure you have ravished me of. Only with me let me take my son. That's a mother's only treasure. CHORUS OF SUITORS Name the spouse that your heart prefers. And in an instant your tears are going to dry up. CHORUS OF WOMEN O unhappy mother! Your son is going to perish. PENELOPE O unhappy mother ! It's for me die. (A symphonic movement announces the arrival of Telemachus) God ! my son ! (Telemachus enters with Eumaeus and the People. Penelope throws herself into his arms.) TELEMACHUS At last, august Queen, Our misfortunes are going to finish: Ulysses is not far away. PENELOPE He is living. TELEMACHUS Heaven is just And it has taken care of the life of a hero itself. (air) Covered with the immortal shield He's going to return to his estates. Insult, injury and cruelty Are going to see their attempts punished. In terror and silence Let all abase themselves before him Far from us, guilty license. Reassure yourself, weak innocence, The gods are returning you support. CHORUS OF SUITORS (aside) Imprudent youth, your hope Will be confounded today. PENELOPE Gods, protectors of innocence, You are declaring yourselves today. CHORUS OF PEOPLE To the sweet rays of hope Our hearts are open today. TELEMACHUS Reassure yourself, weak innocence, The gods are returning you their support. CHORUS OF SUITORS Imprudent youth, your hope Will be confounded today. CURTAIN

 

ACT II. The stage represents a hamlet where one makes out the old castle of Laertes and the house of Eumaeus. The sea can be seen in the distance. SCENE I EUMAEUS Cease, venerable Laertes, Cease to lament for the loss Of a son so long awaited. He breathes, he's coming back. LAERTES Have I really heard it ? Before leaving the light I will embrace my son! Then it's enough, great gods. I will join my ancestors without regret amongst the dead If the hand of my son shuts my eye. How many ills his absence has caused hereabouts. But who has just announced the news of his return To his faithful spouse ? TELEMACHUS (entering) I, Lord. LAERTES Heaven ! what do I see ? Shall I believe my own eyes ? Dear Prince, object of my tenderness, Is it you that I am pressing in my weak arms ? How many perils I see you've escaped ! (excitedly) Do you have confidence of the return of my son ? A very insubstantial hope Hasn't deceived you ? TELEMACHUS He's returning. Gods and men All conspire to assure me of it. LAERTES (sad and tender) Let him come without delay. Alas! in the condition we are in I no longer have the time to hope. (air) In my languishing old age I see the torch going out. I'm touching the edge of my tomb And for me no long wait. O death: slow down a bit Leave me a day so fine. (A crowd of Shepherds enters.) LAERTES (excitedly) Come, herdsmen, come congratulate a father. I will console myself for twenty years of misfortunes. Heaven's returning a son to me; it wants what I am hoping for. A SHEPHERD The rumor of his return has flown to us. CHORUS AND TELEMACHUS Adored Prince, what gaiety You are pouring into all hearts. Ulysses was seen in Greece ; And you are awaiting him on these shores ! LAERTES WITH THE CHORUS To their love, to my tenderness, To our love, to his tenderness, Beneficent gods, are returning him to you (The shepherds express their joy through dances. The music announces the approach of a storm. The stage darkens.) EUMAEUS (to Telemachus) Prince, you can observe from the shore A boat beaten by the waves And the terror of sailors Is announcing a violent storm. (The music expresses the progress of the storm.) CHORUS What uproar in the air ! The waves are replying to it ! The heavens and the seas Already are confounding themselves. On the foaming ocean, Gods ! what tortures ! What somber horror ! To the roar of thunder The winds in fury Are giving themselves to war. Heaven is spreading Terror on earth. TELEMACHUS How I pity the fate Of so many victims. EUMAEUS Immense abysses Are offering them death. TELEMACHUS O gods ! if my father Were running this danger ! LAERTES O god! if your father Were running this danger ! EUMAEUS O gods! if his father Were running this danger. THE THREE Neptune in wrath Is going to submerge them. CHORUS AND THE THREE What lamentable screams ! What funereal uproar! The unconquerable billow Is breaking them and vanishing. (All withdraw.) BLACKOUT   SCENE II The scene represents the grotto of the sea Nymphs. ULYSSES (alone) All perished. On to what shore Are the furious winds hurling me? Alone, distracted, unarmed, amongst a savage nation, Am I going to find death or slavery here? What do I see? Shall I believe my eyes? Everything reminds me of Ithaca. Yes, this beautiful place resembles That beautiful grotto, where on our shores The chorus of nymphs assembled And made the air echo with its divine harmonies. (Ulysses withdraws at the approach of the Nymphs.) (Enter the Sea Nymphs.) CHORUS OF NYMPH Day is reborn, the winds are quieting down, A more serene heaven is smiling upon us. The air has calmed, the waves are appeased ; On the shore everything is flourishing. Timid pleasures, reappear, That terror has dispersed. Come, tender love, you who guide them, Come, revive their hearts like the terror that froze them. (Ulysses reenters.) ULYSSES O Nymphs, reassure my timid presence. Alas! if I believe in the appearance, I've burned incense for you here a hundred times A NYMPH And who doesn't know the shores from which you are descending ! The name of Ithaca and its glory Are borne by victory Unto the farthest climes. ULYSSES Beautiful nymph, is it true ? you are not flattering me ? And am I, indeed, in Ithaca ? Laertes, Penelope, and her son Telemachus, Are they living ? Are they peacefully united ? NYMPH Violence and injustice Threaten mother and son. CHORUS OF NYMPHS Go see them again, prudent Ulysses, Dissimulate, observe, and punish. NYMPH Minerva, has imprinted old age on your face To deceive the eyes of your court. CHORUS Arm yourself with a fearless heart And, especially, defend yourself against tears of love. (The Nymphs leave.) ULYSSES (alone) What misfortune is again predicted to me ? Haven't I suffered enough ? Penelope, o you that I adore! And you my son, at your dawn, Far from me, what abyss has opened beneath your feet ? What misfortune is again predicted to me ? Haven't I suffered enough ? Ithaca! o my sweet homeland ! I've sighed only for you. I've seen you again, cherished isle, And I cannot see you without terror ! I escaped the sea in its fury, Calm is finally reborn in me; I've seen you again, cherished isle, And I cannot see you without terror. What misfortune, etc. Who's coming to me in this shore ? (Enter Telemachus and Eumaeus.) TELEMACHUS Worthy stranger, wasn't it you That we saw hurled on this shore by a shipwreck ? Ah! It was some god who rescued you From that horrible danger. ULYSSES Yes, young man, yes, this prodigy is the work of the gods ; And as unfortunate as I am I experience the blessings as much as I can. TELEMACHUS Hasten to calm our mortal fears In this ship broken by the winds in their wrath. A hero, the object of our tears, Ulysses, was he with you ? ULYSSES I know he was voyaging towards Ithaca. TELEMACHUS Did the gods separate him ? ULYSSES Then it's here that he reigned ? TELEMACHUS You see his son Telemachus. You see his faithful friend. ULYSSES You, his son ! TELEMACHUS Ah ! speak. Your heart shook. ULYSSES Alas! what mortal stain I bring to your sensitive hearts. Will your mother survive it ? He is... TELEMACHUS Don't finish. I see all our misfortunes. EUMAEUS Then it's true! The gods have ended his life. TELEMACHUS All hope is ravished from me. My too weak youth was expecting everything from him; And amongst the dangers with which it is pursued, Here I am henceforth without guide and without support ! ULYSSES (aside) Delightful moment! joy worthy of being envied ! EUMAEUS Eh! what! the last one of his ships Which had defied the rage of winds and seas Has just broken up on this shore And my unfortunate Master perished under the waves ! ULYSSES He saw the shipwreck without weakness and without fear And braved death with an intrepid eye. But, alas! what can courage do Against the order of the gods and the decrees of fate. TELEMACHUS O my father ! EUMAEUS O my master ! TELEMACHUS Cruel fate ! EUMAEUS Frightful day ! EUMAEUS AND TELEMACHUS (together) Who will be happy ? Ulysses couldn't be. ULYSSES (aside) Ah! what father, ah ! what master Was ever more lucky ! TELEMACHUS I've lost my model, I've lost my support. EUMAEUS His faithful spouse Was living only for him. ULYSSES What happiness, today She was expecting him by her ! TELEMACHUS AND EUMAEUS He no longer exists for her. She can no longer exist without him. ULYSSES He is happy still If he's living in all hearts. TELEMACHUS AND EUMAEUS If he's living in all hearts ! And you, you still doubt it, You, seeing our tears ? He's a god one adores. ULYSSES (aside) I feel my tears pouring out. EUMAEUS How to offer ourselves To the eyes of the Queen ? TELEMACHUS O gods ! what pain Her heart is going to suffer ! TOGETHER Very faithful witness Of our misfortune, From pity for her, Deceive her sorrow. ULYSSES (aside) My soul staggers ; A troublesome conqueror Distracts me and is betraying The depths of my heart. (end of trio) Open your eyes, my dear Eumaeus. EUMAEUS What am I hearing ? My soul was accustomed to that voice. Telemachus ! O beneficent gods ! Why, no, it's not him: this extreme age, These hairs whitened by the years... ULYSSES It's him ; it's Ulysses himself. TELEMACHUS (struck with astonishment and distracted by joy) My father ! ULYSSES In vain, Minerva wanted to hide me Under all the features of age. Come, recognize your father in the tender tears That love and joy are tearing from me. TELEMACHUS (in the arms of Ulysses) Father ! Finally, I see the author of my being. ULYSSES Let's moderate these distractions, and keep silent Before announcing my return. My uneasy vigilance Intends to observe everything in my court. EUMAEUS Ah ! beware the violence of our proud tyrants. ULYSSES Your tyrants ! EUMAEUS Oppressed Ithaca laments Under twenty kings, your unworthy rivals. Penelope, consumed by troubles and trembling, Sees them delivered endlessly to a thousand new excesses. ULYSSES (aside) Ah! let my hand be armed with my vengeful darts And I am going to crown my labors with their death. My son, danger is surrounding me. What will you do for me ? TELEMACHUS (excitedly) Command. By your side, Father, a thousand deaths would not astound me. I witness the gods and the blood from which I come. ULYSSES If we are loved, we will be very strong. The rumor of my death, that we are going to spread, These white hairs, these features that Minerva has distorted, These kings whose imprudence is easy to surprise, My son, all answer to me, that we will be avenged. (air) May vengeance march slowly Under an impenetrable veil. You shall perish, execrable troupe And all my blows will be bloody. We won't show to your insolent eyes Anything but a weak and miserable old geezer. May vengeance march slowly Under an impenetrable veil. ULYSSES, TELEMACHUS AND EUMAEUS Let vengeance march slowly Under an impenetrable veil. You shall perish, execrable troupe, And all our blows will be bloody. CURTAIN

 

ACT III. SCENE I The stage represents a room in the Palace of Ulysses.. ULYSSES Is she finally going to appear ? TELEMACHUS She's coming on my heels. ULYSSES I want to be alone with her. Leave us alone and spread the news Of my death. TELEMACHUS You are going to tear apart her tender, faithful heart. ULYSSES Obey, my son, and don't hesitate. (Telemachus leaves.) ULYSSES (alone) What haven't I suffered, to see her in silence Endure the humiliating ostentation of these kings ? What haven't I suffered, to see their insolence Insult the misfortune of a suppliant old geezer ? (air) Ah! how painful is prudence Between wrath and love, What torment for a heart to choke, turn by turn, A burning rage, a pitiful sensibility ! Twenty times my eyes covered themselves As with a cloud of tears. And twenty times I shook not to have my weapons To exterminate these perverts. Don't go forgetting the advice of Minerva, Ulysses ! they're listening to you, they're observing you. Here's the moment to employ The great art of dissimulation. Command your looks, compose your face, Forbid your tears to shed. Here she is! What a moment! And what am I going to tell her ? (Enter Penelope and women in her following.) PENELOPE Come closer, I respect age and its misfortune. You see us in sorrow But our ills are going to end, since Ulysses is breathing. Then he's left Corcyra ? You saw him ? ULYSSES I said the simple truth. PENELOPE Didn't you learn from his mouth What interests him and what touches me ? ULYSSES I know that he suffered harsh adversity ; I know that far from his country, Cast from peril to peril for a long while In the horror of battles, on infuriated seas, Your cherished image Never left him for a single moment. PENELOPE Ah! how guilty I would be, If, far from him, my heart had been capable Of a moment of tranquility. (air) Since the moment of our parting I haven't ceased to see Ulysses, And for my torture, his dangers Are all present to my eyes. Wind, water, sword, flame, All that can threaten a mortal's life, Bring terror to my heart. Sometimes I hoped, but always, I was afraid. ULYSSES The more painful glory is, the greater its charms. Sometimes Ulysses enjoyed it. On the tomb of Achilles, in the midst of twenty kings, He battled for the arms of Achilles against proud Ajax. PENELOPE And as soon as they heard his eloquent voice He doubtless triumphed. ULYSSES He made tears flow And softened hearts recognized his rights. PENELOPE You don't astonish me. My Ulysses possesses In the art of persuasion a charm that all surrender to. ULYSSES Under the walls of Ilion, now covered with ashes, Companion of heroes, he won their esteem. But new dangers were awaiting him at sea He saw the frightful abyss of Sylla and Caribydis. PENELOPE O gods ! ULYSSES The roaring waves bore him on their peaks Between two open gulfs. PENELOPE Ah! his past perils make me shiver once more. ULYSSES Circe, who could dim day that Her father the Sun god caused to bloom, Saw Ulysses in danger and deigned to welcome him. PENELOPE Circe ! ULYSSES Through a sweet intoxication The perfidious woman tried to obscure his reason But Ulysses avoided the poison Of the enchantress's cup. PENELOPE (air) You knew how much my tenderness Must wish for your return, My dear Ulysses! and wisdom Will preserve you less than love. ULYSSES More sincere, and more dangerous, Calypso, In her happy isle, Invited your spouse to immortality. PENELOPE Ah! how to resist the charms of a loving woman Who proposes such a reward for infidelity ! ULYSSES A charming Nymph, a bewitching abode, The fate of gods, Ulysses left them all for you. PENELOPE It's my happiness to believe it. Doubt was too cruel. No, no, he hasn't lost The memory of a mutual love. No, the wisest of mortals Will not have betrayed the altars, His faith, my love, and his glory. It's my happiness to believe him The most faithful of mortals. (Enter the Suitors, Eumaeus, Nesus.) NESUS Finally, the funereal fate of Ulysses Is no longer doubtful ; he's descended to the home of the dead. PENELOPE What are you daring to say ? SUITOR He just perished on these shores. And it's this stranger who attests to it. PENELOPE Him ! ULYSSES (to Nesus) Cruelty ! Ah! why dispel her error. PENELOPE Ulysses is dead ! ULYSSES I fled the deplorable remains Of his ship, broken by the winds in their fury. PENELOPE Old Geezer, they've probably enticed you to overwhelm me. Already, to humor these kings, Strangers more than once Have used the same language. Man, in misfortune, is so weak at your age And over him fear and hope Sometimes have too much power ! Intimidated, seduced by these kings, perhaps Without knowing him, you are conspiring. Ah! you don't know what heart you are tearing apart. If it's only a mistake, let me know it. There is still time, yet. But life, or my death, Depends on you, don't doubt it. A word, a single word decides it. I see you are softening; you seem to me to be hiding from me The horror that inspires in you a perfidious plot. You pity it, this heart that they want to snatch from me. From pity of my life that you are going to shorten, Speak. Here, where the majesty of gods resides: You are running no danger under their eyes. Be sincere in confidence. Is Ulysses living ? My sickly hope, Should it revive or die ? ULYSSES (low) O gods! sustain my courage. (aloud) Queen, you are insulting my humility. PENELOPE Good old man, pardon, I am doing you an outrage; Yet, I admit it, a confused movement Is obstinately rising against you in my heart. I am questioning your eyes, your features, your language, Everything there depicts candor to me. Well, at this moment I don't know what voice in secret gives you the lie. For me, perhaps, it's a weak omen ! But alarmed a hundred times, and always in vain, What proof urges me to believe you today ? ULYSSES Alas ! how vain your suspicions And how really easy it is to elucidate this cloud! Queen, on your fidelity, recognize the token That Ulysses left in my hands. PENELOPE The ring of Ulysses ! O gods ! o pitiless fate ! I can no longer doubt my misfortune. ULYSSES Ah! Think how much it cost me To announce this terrifying misfortune to you. PENELOPE (air) He is horrible, he is evil, He didn't know about my heart. Who never loved like I love Cannot conceive my misfortune. So long as the weakest semblance Could flatter me in my suffering Life had appeal for me; But a misfortune without hope Is only a long and painful death He is horrible, etc. TELEMACHUS Gods! she's succumbing. My mother ! (holding her in his arms and looking at Ulysses) Is there no more to be hoped ? PENELOPE What do you want me to hope ? He saw his shipwreck, and you heard him. No, I no longer have a spouse, no, you no longer have a father. My son, we've lost everything. O heaven ! This is the share of virtue ! After all the dangers he just ran, He came to perish on the shores that saw his birth. Go, Eumaeus, go, search the shore And among the debris rejected by the waves Gather on the beach The sacred remains of a hero. At least let my sorrow ease itself by honoring him. (Eumaeus leaves) You, my son, let a tomb be raised to his shade. It will be drenched every day by my tears. ULYSSES Prince, don't forget to hang his arms on it. PENELOPE Alas ! It's a fine enough trophy for his glory. (to Suitors) And you who are rejoicing in the misfortune that overwhelms me, Since, in the end, heaven is implacable, Forcing me to renounce these fetters so dear to me At the foot of this tomb that my people are erecting, It's there that I intend that they hear What I have promised to announce. CHORUS OF SUITORS Queen, fate is commanding you: There's no longer time to hesitate. (The Suitors withdraw.) ULYSSES What have you decided ? PENELOPE My death ; I am reduced to it, It's my only hope and I intend to have recourse to it. CHORUS OF WOMEN O gods ! You're a mother and you intend to die ! PENELOPE I intend to free myself from a frightful pursuit. ULYSSES A son still remains to you : he can aid you. PENELOPE Alas ! they are threatening him in the arms of his mother. ULYSSES They are threatening him ! PENELOPE And it's for him That they made me tremble today. ULYSSES (in an imposing tone) Heaven is at last ridding itself of these no goods You will see your tyrants fall. PENELOPE (astonished) And what god will accomplish this miracle ? ULYSSES (in an inspired tone) Ulysses predicted it : trust in this oracle ; The future unveils itself to the eyes of the dying. Live, Queen, live ; he himself orders it. Yes, I am coming to reveal his supreme will. It will make your odious tyrants tremble. PENELOPE Ah! what unknown trouble your are tossing into my soul ! Under the features of a mortal, are you one of the gods ? ULYSSES Mortal though I be, I predict that before your eyes, Like a flaming arrow, the vengeance of heaven Is soon going to arrive. PENELOPE Yes, it's some god who is inspiring him. I can no longer doubt it. ULYSSES Follow me then without hesitation, And this I dare to predict to you, Come see it executed. (They leave together.) CURTAIN SCENE II The stage represents a public square; the tomb of Ulysses in the middle of it. Telemachus is present. CHORUS OF THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA Let's weep for the wisest of kings. The world is full of his glory. We will no longer live under his laws. Of his virtues, of his exploits Let's preserve the memory forever. We will no longer live under his laws. (Enter Penelope, Ulysses and the Suitors.) PENELOPE Son of Ulysses, and you people, a venerable old man, Witness to his deplorable fate, Comes to bring our hearts the most sensitive blows. He says, he received Ulysses' supreme will Which he's coming to announce to me before you. There's nothing under heaven more sacred for us. But I intend for him to attest to it, with an oath right there On the tomb of my spouse. ULYSSES (after having mounted the steps of the tomb on which he rests his hand) Yes, I attest to the death of inflexible tyrants, On the tomb of Ulysses and his terrible armor, That he was unable without shaking to know you were in danger, That he pitied your misfortunes, And that he's coming to avenge them. PENELOPE, THE SUITORS, THE PEOPLE Heaven ! ULYSSES (to the Suitors) Tremble, wretches, recognize Ulysses ! GENERAL CHORUS Ulysses ! o gods ! ULYSSES (to his son and to the people of Ithaca) For their death, Take arms, take arms. (He distributes weapons to them.) CHORUS OF PEOPLE AND SUITORS Let's arm ourselves, let's arm ourselves. (The Suitors distance themselves ; Ulysses and his partisans cross the stage and leave the same, following the suitors.) PENELOPE Ah! the excess of my joy overcomes my weakness. CHORUS WITH PENELOPE It's him ! It's Ulysses ! great gods ! CHORUS OF PEOPLE OFF STAGE Fall, audacious tyrants ! PENELOPE Alas ! in what worry he's leaving me ! CHORUS ON STAGE Protect us, wise goddess, Ulysses is fighting before your eyes. CHORUS OFF STAGE Fall, audacious tyrants. SUITORS Let's flee the danger that's rushing on us. Ulysses has all the gods for him. CHORUS OFF STAGE Fall under his vengeful hand, Fall, audacious tyrants. CHORUS ON STAGE Protect us, wise goddess ! Ulysses is fighting under your eyes. PENELOPE (rushing to Ulysses who enters with Telemachus, Laertes, Eumaeus, and his followers) At last I'm pressing you in my arms ! ULYSSES (to Penelope) Your wrongs are avenged, your tyrants are punished. (to Laertes) Nothing will further afflict your august old age, Father, and beautiful days will still be the reward Of virtues whose example instructed my youth. Let's render thanks to the gods who have reunited us. PENELOPE Ah, what a moment for my tenderness ! ULYSSES, PENELOPE, TELEMACHUS, LAERTES (together) Immortal gods ! And you, Minerva, and you, My tutelary Divinity His tutelary divinity ! How many prayers ! how many altars ! how much incense I owe you ! ULYSSES Penelope ! LAERTES (to Ulysses) Ulysses ! ULYSSES (to Telemachus) My son ! PENELOPE Dear Ulysses ! TELEMACHUS (to Ulysses) My father ! THE FOUR I'm finally seeing you again ! Ah! how many charms for me This day, this fine day which shines on me ! PENELOPE Ah! what wife ! Ah ! what mother Will be happier than me ! ULYSSES What son, what husband, and what father Was ever as happy as I ! TELEMACHUS What son, in the arms of his father, Was ever as happy as I ! PENELOPE AND LAERTES (to Ulysses) What son, what husband, and what father Was ever as beloved as you ! GENERAL CHORUS Immortal gods! and you, Minerva, and you, His tutelary divinity ! Protect, defend, preserve, this good king. (A general ballet ends the Opera.) CURTAIN.