Act III

The Morgane Spring.

In Brittany, near the castle of Kernoët. - In the center of the stage is a water basin surrounded by druidic-shaped rocks shaded by several alders. Behind the rocks, the ground rises to form a hill; from there an old oak tree spreads its gnarled branches over the spring. This offers a calm expanse of water at the foot of a moss-covered boulder. In the rock next to the spring is a niche in the shape of a deposit.

On the left is the large wall of a monastery. A small gate, half covered by a dense curtain of ivy and honeysuckle, leads into the monastery garden.

On the right, a steep ravine descends to a desolate beach. Between two rugged cliffs, the high sea can be seen; in the distance, a three-masted ship at anchor. A beautiful summer evening.

First scene

Ervoanik. Lucile.

Lucile, followed by Evoanik, comes from the background. They can be seen walking around the rocks and climbing down under the oak tree. Lucile is in front, walking quickly; she looks around fearfully.

ERVOANIK (leaning on his shepherd's crook - breathless):
Where are you, mistress? Lucite: Here. (She clings to his arm.): Did no one follow us?

ERVOANIK: No one.

LUCILE: I think I heard voices...

ERVOANIK: That's the buzzing of the bees in the flowers. The heath is peaceful; the herd is going home and the sun is sinking into the sea.

LUCILE: Where are we? Second scene Third scene

ERVOANIK: At the convent you wanted to go to. Here is the gate to the Ursulines.

LUCILE (looking at the gate and lowering her head): Already there. The gate to the grave. Stay brave, my heart (sits down on a stone):

ERVOANIK: Mistress, you wanted the poor shepherd to call you the high mistress of Kernoät, in memory of the day when I carried you in my arms into the monastery hall as a little girl so that you could see your mother. You are the gentle queen of the heath. But why do you sadden your parents' servant? For eight days you have been hiding in my hut; no one from the castle has seen you; and you have not opened your mouth. With my trembling hands, I have prepared a resting place for you in the fairy tower, in the middle of the forest; I would like to keep you there forever. But now you have dragged yourself here, like an unhappy woman. What has happened to you? What pain weighs on your heart? Tell your old Ervoanik.

LUCILE: The pain is too deep, do not seek to explore it. It would be in vain.

ERVONAIK: So it is true that you want to become a nun?

LUCILE: Yes, only in the convent will I find peace. (She stands up. Aside:): This insurmountable barrier between him and me; it is necessary. — (She takes a few steps toward the ravine, gazes out at the sea, returns in fright, and clings to the shepherd again.): What is that, Ervoanik? Maurice's three-masted ship? I saw it.

ERVOANIK (spreading his arms protectively around her): Be calm; I will protect you. (He puts his hand over his eyes and looks out over the horizon.): Yes, there it is, the sailing ship! He's back, the old enemy, the seducer. Everyone is looking longingly at him, wanting to go with him. It's Ulliac's ship. He wants to kidnap Gaïd. Does Count Maurice also want to take you across the sea, like the sailor took my child? I have long suspected that the lord of the castle has cast an evil spell on his sister. But stay calm—I am here!

LUCILE: Oh, my good Ervoanik; no evil spell. If Maurice were here, you could do as little to prevent him from taking me on his ship as you could prevent Ulliac from taking Gaïd with him—unless God does not will it.

ERVOANIK (waving his crook): I have grown old on the heath. I understand magic. The spirits that slumber in these stones obey me. Let the enemy come; I swear that I will protect you, as surely as the source of Morgane is here.

LUCILE: The Morgane Spring. (She looks at the spring for the first time.): Yes, that's it. The mysterious spring by the Druid Rock. - The ferns! And the little blue flowers at its edge, just like back then. Delicate and sad. This water, which comes from an unknown place, forms slight circles on the surface that do not cloud the clear mirror. (To herself:): We were there, just once, in our early youth. I drank from this water, then fell asleep at the edge of the spring. I had a wonderful dream. I don't remember anything about it. But it lives on in my heart like an unquenchable light. Since that time, I have been able to read souls and see the future. - But Maurice? He did not sleep. He pressed a kiss on my eyelids. At the same spring where I found my soul touched by eternity, he was seized by wild passion. - Who are you, Morgane? Morgane! (To Ervoanik): Tell me, you who know the secrets of stones and springs; what is the secret of the fairy Morgane?

ERVOANIK (approaching Lucile, leaning over the shepherd's crook): Hush, quietly. — The nuns must not hear us. The priests say the spring is cursed. At Christmas, at matins, the abbess leaves the convent to cast spells to lift the curse. (He turns around and whispers softly in Lucile's ear.): But they can't. Morgane won't go away.

LUCILE: Have you seen her yet?

ERVOANIK: Seen her? No, but I can hear her sometimes. When the spring bubbles over in spring, I sprinkle water three times on the Druids' rock. Then the spring clouds over and weeps. Then a deep sigh comes from her heart... gentler than the trembling of a harp... . It dies in the distance... like when a soul dies, that's what it sounds like, that's the fairy... - Then I feel her all year long. When I can't sleep, her voice comes, bright as a bell; I fall asleep under the bushes. When I go to visit a sick person and I hear the voice, I know that the sick person will recover thanks to my visit. If a villain calls me to him and I hear the voice, I turn back. — That is always Morgane.

LUCILE: Why is the spring cursed?

ERVOANIK: It is not cursed at all. It is only enchanted. No one but me knows why. I was fifteen years old when I heard the story from the last person who still knew about it. In ancient times, two lovers, cursed by the whole world, fled to the spring. At that time, it was completely surrounded by dense forest. They stayed there for a whole day. During the night, they disappeared. The fairy Morgane took them away. Since then, many who love hopelessly go to the spring. At night, Morgane appears to them and tells them in which heaven or hell they can find their beloved. No one knows any more; only every time a man or woman does this, they are found dead in the morning.

LUCILE (passionately): Is that so?

ERVOANIK (mysteriously): I have seen it myself three times. And those who know say that the source of Morgana is the gate of death and leads to eternal love.

LUCILE (moved): Leave me alone!

LUCILE: Are you sure you won't fall asleep here?

Lucite: I will keep my thoughts together. Go to your hut; I will go to the fairy tower alone. (She sends him away with a gesture, without looking at him.)

ERVOANIK (shakes his head; then hesitantly climbs the rocky path. At the top, he stops and holds out his staff): Beware of those on the ship. Do not fall asleep at this spring.

Lucile at the edge of the spring, then the abbess.

LUCILE (sitting on a rock):

Maurice is looking for me; he must be near; time is running out; every moment is precious! And yet, I feel as if I am being held fast to this rock by an iron hand. Renunciation, cursed happiness, mysterious beyond: do not all three call to the abyss of eternity? Which of the three calls to me more strongly ...

(The monastery gate opens; the abbess appears on the threshold, illuminated by a ray of the setting sun. The hanging leaves of ivy and honeysuckle form a natural canopy above her head. In her hand she holds an ivory crozier.):

THE ABBESS: What brings you here, my daughter?

LUCILE (approaches her, head bowed, kisses her hand): To ask for your forgiveness, Mother.

ABBESS: I was expecting you this evening. I was told that you were hiding, as a fugitive, with the shepherd. Why did you not come to me; why must I find you here, like a stranger, at the cursed spring?

LUCILE: I didn't dare knock on your gate.

THE ABBESS: So your heart is burdened with self-reproach.

LUCILE: No, Mother. But it is shaken like a ship whipped by the storm. Maurice, my brother, he who is not my brother according to Blure... Oh, you know the secret of my life—he pursues me to kidnap me, and I (quietly): ... I love him.

THE ABBESS: Unfortunate one; lost soul!

LUCILE: I want to erect an insurmountable wall between him and me; oh, grant me your protection, that I may find peace in God.

ABBESS: You will find protection; peace will be granted to you; but your heart must be ready to renounce the world, life, your own self—you must surrender yourself to the Lord and submit to our strict rule.

LUCILE: I will.

THE ABBESS: My poor child, strong indeed is the demon who has tempted you. Your unfortunate brother has lured your evil spirit.

LUCILE (pleading): He is not my brother.

ABBESS: He has seduced you into accepting the love that belongs to his wife. I can only accept you after a strict examination.

(Organ music behind the stage):

This is the call of the holy place. At this moment, Lucile, your companion in the convent, is being consecrated as Sister Veronica. Like a bride in a brightly shining veil, she appears in the chapel. The organ plays the triumphal song. The wise virgins, who did not let their light go out, welcome their new sister. They are allowed to do so because no impure thought has ever touched Lucile's heart.

(The organ music stops during the hymns of the service, but resumes during the dialogue.):

CHORUS OF NUNS:
Haec est virgo sapiens
Quam Dominus vigilantem invenit.

LUCILE (with a sad joy that grows with the singing and organ music): And he was my lord. When I was still a child, I adorned myself for him like a bride; I wore the roses of love on my heart, my faith in him shone from my forehead like a radiant diadem.

THE ABBESS (strictly): Your heart should belong to the bleeding Christ.

CHORUS OF NUNS: Veni, electa mea, et ponam
In te thronum meum - Alleluia!

THE ABBESS: She now receives from the priest the veil of chastity, the belt of humility, that she may be Christ's chosen one. Are you ready to do so?

Lucite (does not hear what the abbess is saying, with growing ecstasy):
I too was chosen - chosen for him ... I wanted to be the air he breathes, the sky that surrounds him, the sun that gives him warmth. My heart was to be the ladder to the world of heaven ...

THE ABBESS (imperiously): You must sacrifice yourself to the crucified Christ!

(Funeral bells are heard, as at a burial. Lucile shudders, the organ begins to play a funeral mass; the stage darkens.):

(The novice lies on the gravestone; her arms spread out in a cross, the shroud falls over her. The funeral mass is sung for her; she dies to the world.):

SINGING OF THE PRIESTS:
Dies Irae, dies Illa
Solvet saeculum in favilla,
Teste David cum Sybilla.

ABBESS: Listen. Your earthly shell must die; feel yourself as dust and ashes.

LUCILE: O terrible God, you demand my earthly shell; I give it to you! Let it become dust! Let judgment come! Shall I lie beneath the shroud to find peace... feel the horror of death... no, I want real death... for him.

ABBESS: That is not all; listen—you must give even more!

CHANT OF THE PRIESTS: Judex ergo cum sedebit
Nil inultum remanebit,
Quidquid latet apparebit.

ABBESS: Listen. Your judge calls you—he who sees everything you must give him, your thoughts, your memories, your impure desires—your curse-laden happiness—if you do not bring it, he will not accept you.

LUCILE (in dull, growing passion): More than my heart; more than my life—you want the happiness of my heavenly dream with him!—O take it, that he may be happy.

ABBESS: That is not all. Listen—continue:

SONG OF THE PRIESTS:
Quid sum miser tune dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus?
Quum vix justus sit securus?

ABBESS: Do you hear? You must tear your love for him, the tempter, from your heart.

LUCILE (in extreme fear): Oh, not that, I beg you! This love is the life of my life, the anchor of my heart—like the oak tree clinging to the rock with all its roots, you can only uproot it with the rock, so you can only uproot my love with my heart.

ABBESS (harshly, coldly): Then you must tear your heart out of yourself with your love—there is no other way you can save your brother from hell.

LUCILE (stunned, reeling): You demand my love? Then take my soul with it. Go to her, that Maurice may live.

(She falls at the Abbess's feet. - Gaïd comes from the background; she listens and watches.):

ABBESS (serious, but soothing):
Now you are ready, my daughter, to become a servant of Christ. Sister Veronica will now take her vows. I will light the dove in the holy ark. Remain here kneeling in prayer (in a raised voice): and when you are ready, knock on the door with the hammer. But know that the convent is opening its doors to you—but you will never leave it again. To welcome you, we will sing the Gloria.

(The abbess enters the convent. Gaïd disappears. Night falls.):

Lucile, later Maurice and Gaïd.

Lucie (alone, straightens up but remains kneeling): So it has come to pass. I am now only a shadow without a soul. The spirit of God has departed from me. It wanders in distant heavens, searching for its lost brother. I—I am nothing now...

SONG OF THE PRIESTS IN THE MONASTERY:
In inferno nulla est redemptio,
Miserere, Deus, et salve me.
Miserere nobis!

(Three slow tolls of the death bell. Lucile drags herself to the steps of the gate. With each toll, she climbs one step. At the third toll, she raises her hands to grab the hammer.):

A VOICE (from the ravine): Lucile, are you here?

LUCILE (jumps up): Maurice! (She flees behind the rocks to the left of the spring.)

GAÏD (runs up, waving her spindle): Sir, she was just here.

MAURICE (following Gaïd): Where?

GAÏD: She was kneeling before the abbess, confessing; oh, how unhappy she looked, our poor lady.

MAURICE: Could you hear what they were saying?

GAÏD: No, only the last part. The abbess said, “When you are ready, knock on the door with the hammer. But know that the convent will open its doors to you; you will never leave again. To welcome you, we will sing the Gloria.” Then Mother Angelica entered the convent and your sister remained lying on the steps. - Oh, if I had been in her place, I would have run away - but she cried - she cried such bitter tears. —

MAURICE: She went through this gate.

GAÏD [ (peering into the darkness):]: No, she must be hiding somewhere here. She will come back. What a pity it would be if our dear Mrs. Lucile of Kernoët became a nun. Mrs. Lucile, the young, beautiful, rich woman. - Anyone who sings such love songs in the flowery heath with me as she does cannot spend her whole life listening only to Mass and Vespers. I bet she couldn't stand it in a convent either. — And even if she were already inside, you and Ulliac would jump over the walls and kidnap her; (whispering): as long as you are only a novice and have not taken your vows, you can still get out (shrugs): and if you called loudly enough, she would come even through locked doors. She cannot do you this pain. (Confidentially): In the fairy tower where she lives, she lay awake on my lap all night. I had loosened her beautiful black hair. She said that my hand cooled her fever. Sometimes she lifted her head and spoke your name.

MAURICE: Did she cry?

GAÏD: No, her eyes were dry; but like sparks of fire, it came from her eyes, like the flames of the fire on the hearth, which she stared at all night long.

MAURICE (pressing Gaïd morbidly into his arms): Gaïd, you are good, I will make you rich one day when we save her.

Gain: Of course we'll save her. The three of us: you, Ulliac, and me, (pleading): but I beg you, don't tell Father that I told you where Mrs. Lucile is. I had to swear to Saint Ursula that I wouldn't tell, (sadly): I swore loudly by Saint Ursula that I would not say anything, and very quietly by the dear lady of Kernoët that I would tell you everything.

MAURICE: Don't worry; your father won't find out.

GAÏD (flattering, bashfully): Count, when we leave on the ship, you'll take me with you, won't you?

MAURICE: I promise you that.

GAÏD: There are priests in America too, aren't there, who can marry people?

MAURICE (startled): Marry? Who?

GAÏD (laughing): Ulliac and me.

MAURICE: Yes, of course, you can rest assured.

GAÏD: And now I want to go to Ulliac. So that he can prepare the boat in the rock cave at Falhouät.

MAURICE: But the tide is rising now. Will you be able to get through under the cliffs?

GAÏD: If the waves touch me, I'll jump. The big waves give me wings, like the seagull has (exits singing):.

Fourth scene

Maurice, Lucie, half hidden behind a rock and invisible to Maurice.

MAURICE (sitting down exhausted on a rock): After the carriage in which I was waiting for Lucile, Ulliac brought me this terrible letter.
(He pulls a letter out of his pocket.): I know it by heart.
“God did not want me to be with you in this world; I will be with you in the eternal one. Do not search for where I am going now. Your Lucile.”
This and nothing since! Gone! Escaped? To a convent... The letter shows it. She has shied away from living with me in love. It is her... fault. But if this guilt were our only truth, our life, our only victory! In the eyes of men, it may be guilt. But is not a free man allowed to make his dream of life a reality? Does he not have the right to take his beloved wife away on his ship to the world beyond the ocean? And yet - Lucile wants to hide in this convent, for fear of guilt. - Oh, is she already there? - No, no, impossible, Lucile couldn't have done that.

SONG OF THE NUNS (in the chapel):
Gloria in exelsis Deo!
Laudamus te!
Benedicamus te!
Glorificamus te!
Hosanna! Hosanna!

MAURICE: The Gloria. What did Gaïd say? When she enters, the Gloria is sung... Then... then she's in there! Oh... you could do that to Maurice. You seek heaven without me... So I will choose hell... Betrayed by Lucile... she is no longer the guardian of my soul... Buried alive, my eternal bride... Life without her... No, I don't want that... There is the cliff where I first understood my soul... Deep is the abyss... May this sea take me in (he throws himself into the gorge)

LUCILE (emerging from her hiding place): Maurice . .. Oh, Maurice, let me die with you!

MAURICE (returning): Is it you... is it not a ghost?

LUCILE: Yes, it is me. In life, I cannot be with you; in death, I can.

MAURICE: So you wanted to sacrifice me to your God?

LUCILE: No, I found you again in Him. Without God, you are not you; but without you, God is not God. I wanted to kill my soul, but it remained what it was; it could not become anything else. Oh, I realize it now: every soul is a thought of God that shines by loving. To destroy love is to destroy the soul. - Well, no more convent; with you I will walk through the gate of death.

(Cuddles up to Maurice. A moonbeam falls on the two of them.):

SONG OF THE NUNS:
Gloria in excelsis!
Hosanna, Hosanna!

MAURICE: Is it really you, Lucile? Let my eyes see correctly. But you are still another! Another. Why not start this life again? The ship is ready. It will carry us to the New World.

(Moonbeam stops.)

LUCILE (shakes her head): Oh, I can't go back! ... I am your sister.

MAURICE: You are no longer my sister since we learned the secret. No blood ties bind us. Nothing but the prejudices of the world.

LUCILE: Maurice, in my soul I am your sister. And I want to remain so. If it cannot be in this world, then let us seek another... Let us pass through the gates of death. You must never doubt Lucile. Heaven must not separate us; I would rather share hell with you.

MAURICE: Life without you is impossible. May death unite us.

(They walk toward the ravine.):

Fifth Scene

The same, Ulliac

ULLIAC (coming hurriedly from the ravine):
Count, Gaïd said you were here.

MAURICE: What is it?

ULLIAC (embarrassed): Strange, Count... You know that Gaïd winds the sea grass there at the windmill, near the rock cave where I guard our ship. Yesterday she saw a woman sitting opposite on the rocky slope... completely wrapped in a large cloth... She looked like a village woman, one of those who watch the ships carrying away their loved ones; she sat as still as they do, not moving until the mast has sunk into the sea. But this one stares incessantly at our three-masted ship, as if she wants something from it. Tonight she is sitting there again. Because of the tide, the Emerald had to weigh anchor and go to the other side. She probably thought that the ship would sail away, so she climbed down onto the rocky shore to watch the ship. The waves were already crashing against the rocks. Gaïd and I ran like mountain goats and found the poor woman on the rocks, which were already being flooded by the water. I really believe she wanted to die, she was staring so intently at the Emerald. Then I recognized the woman as the countess... Your wife, Count...! Holy Virgin, who could have guessed!

MAURICE: What have you done!

ULLIAC: When we told her that the Emerald would not be leaving that night, she had herself taken to the windmill. There she is—completely soaked.

LUCILE: Did she mention me?

ULLIAC: No, Madame Lucile, she spoke of another lady, the Duchess.

MAURICE: Take the countess to the castle—and tell her that the Emerald will not be leaving in the next eight days.

ULLIAC: Very well, Count; (leaving): it's going very badly—I can already see that the departure will not happen. But I will still have Gaïd. — But what will become of Madame Lucile, the protector of the emerald ... Life in the country is miserable ... Only at sea can one be a true human being.

[Steiner's text breaks off here. The following is Marie von Sivers' translation]

Sixth Scene

Maurice. Lucile.

MAURICE (sitting down on the rock on the right, aside): Fulgence should love me to that extent! ... Just when I had freed myself from everything, she wants to throw old chains on me?

LUCILE (on the rock on the left): Fulgence wanted to die alone ... My rival would have outdone me? (She rises and approaches Maurice.): You see, Maurice, that we cannot die together.

MAURICE: Why?

LUCILE: You must live for Fulgence and for your country.

MAURICE: The gate of death has closed; we must take the path of life again... but life as a couple. The ship is still there, ready to weigh anchor and set sail at the first ray of daylight. Let's go!

(The sound of waves crashing on the beach behind the gorge can be heard.):

LUCILE: Maurice, one does not tempt fate twice. Hear the mighty voice of the waves, whose rhythm, in its eternal ebb and flow, resembles the fate of mankind! Now they roar like a rushing stream; it is the ocean returning. The tide wanted to carry us away, and the tide brings you back—a woman who loves you. Can you push her away?

MAURICE: You are the most divine of sisters, but the cruelest of lovers. I had forgotten Fulgence, why do you throw me back into her arms? In your arms I wanted to cross the seas, under your protection I wanted to brave storms and shipwrecks and win victories on new lands - only to rest on your heart, like on the powerful heart of the world that commands every tide and ebb.

LUCILE: So listen to this heart that loves you and understands you. In this hour, the voice of God speaks to you from it. Fulgence, too, has grown through pain; Fulgence returns to you as a different person. France calls you through her voice! ... You have a work to do in your fatherland, and you will accomplish it with her, as God wills it.

MAURICE: Will she be able to follow me on my path?

LUCILE: She wanted to die, so she loves you.

MAURICE: Fulgence, the ambitious one, will she be able to understand me?

LUCILE: Now that she loves you, she will obey you.

MAURICE: Life without you? Abyss, folly! What will I become without the light of your soul?

LUCILE: Do you believe that the wonderful love that unites us could ever end, despite the distance? Only now will I truly be the guardian of your soul.

MAURICE: O Lucile! Once, when we walked on stony [beaches], the sea had a longing rhythm, interrupted by silence like a lament of love... Hearing the music of the waves with you was almost heaven. Now the tide rises and howls in stormy distress. Hearing its desperate sum in the darkness without you... . that will be [hell]!

LUCILE: No, this ocean that we love, with all its symphonies and all its reflections, will unite us. — Yesterday I sat on the beach. The sun sank like a red ball into the sea and painted a blood-red path on its surface, reaching my feet, wet with foam. I felt my tears flowing as I watched it disappear, as if I were saying an eternal farewell. And yet my soul soared toward it along this path of fire, on the tips of the waves. It seemed to me that, like Christ, I had the power to walk on the waves. “Maurice, when I am no longer with you, look at the setting sun, the star of truth, and you will see me flying toward you with open arms.”

MAURICE: So you want to return to the convent?

LUCILE The roar of the sea gradually subsides and the moonlight shines again, illuminating the group until the end of the scene. Lucile speaks in a mysterious voice.): Listen! We are here at the source of Morgane... where we once slept the pure sleep of early youth, where we were first filled with infinite longing. I will be for you—from now on—the beautiful Morgane, ... the one you once dreamed of and whom I was jealous of. You will hear my voice in the invisibly weeping spring, in the light wind that rustles in the reeds and sighs in the depths of the forests. In the evening, by your hearth, a sum will whisper my name in your ear... Wonderful thoughts will arise in your heart... you will perceive the scent of roses and lilies... and you will say: It is she.

MAURICE: But where shall I consult with my guardian angel?

LUCILE: Here, at the Morganes Spring. I will dwell in the fairy tower, where the shepherd has prepared a refuge for me, where Gaïd serves me. When you come to the Morganes Spring, my heart will tremble gently at your presence... and I will come...

MAURICE: But I want to see you with my flock.

LUCILE: I will come to the castle tomorrow, I promise you, and you will see flames on my chest—the sign of victorious love.

MAURICE: There is a supernatural power in you that conquers me and convinces me. You are as if covered in diamond armor, and the warm aura that flows from your hands permeates me with a new bliss...

LUCILE: It is Morgane's breath... (she rises): And now go and comfort Fulgence... she needs you. But I am returning home to the fairy tower.

Maurice (also rising): Separate us? What a terrible word!

LUCILE: There is no separation. Our love is the path to immortality! Where there is indissoluble union, there begins the afterlife. Promise me you will live for your work.

MAURICE: I promise. And you, do you promise me you will come tomorrow?

LUCILE: I vow it.

MAURICE: I obey. And now, let me press my lips to your eyes... the kiss of yesteryear...

LUCILE: Which made me see after it blinded me... Take it...

MAURICE (after kissing her): Which revealed immortal love to me... when you opened your eyes.

LUCILE (with an imperious gesture): Farewell!

MAURICE: Until tomorrow?

LUCILE: Yes, until tomorrow!

(Maurice enters the path behind the spring and disappears. At the same moment, the moonlight fades. It is dark night again.):

Scene 7

Lucile, alone at first, then the apparition of the spring towards the end of the scene. Lucile sinks down onto a rock, covering her face with her hands, as if exhausted by a long struggle. After a moment, she rises and assumes a determined posture.

LUCILE: I have fulfilled everything, Maurice, I will no longer see you with these eyes, whose tears and rays were all for you! You too will suffer, but you will be stronger... because of me! No, my soul will no longer leave yours! (She approaches the edge of the spring, which is illuminated by a ray of moonlight, and picks a flower there.): An iris, a red lily! It will be the promised sign... my last farewell... (She attaches the iris to her chest.): And now, Morgane, source of eternal slumber and eternal love, I am yours. I call upon you for my deliverance, you who command at the threshold of death. I have drunk the cup of the earth to the dregs; I need another "drink, open your kingdom to me, that I may enter your vast spaces free and untouched, to reign there over my soul brother, to remain his soul guardian forever. (She kneels, takes water in her flat hand and drinks it.): To Maurice's victories! To eternal love! (She sprinkles the menhir three times with the spring water.): And now, Morgane, to me! (She crouches down in the rock niche next to the water basin. She can be seen half-slumbering under a moonbeam.): At last I will sleep!

(Deep night.):

VOICE OF GAÏDS (singing her lullaby in the heath):
A poor lad, his heart was heavy—
He walked along in his dreams,
He dreamed of a fairy.
“Morgane, Morgane, how I love you:
I see your flowing golden hair,
I see your eyes, so large and lovely; - So sad -”
O sweet mistress, o mistress of mine,
Do not sleep, do not fall asleep by the well.
Come to the hut, o come inside,
See the cheerful glow of the fire,
See - the sheep sleep so quietly,
I too will guard and cover you.
O sweet mistress, o mistress of mine,
To the shepherd's hut, to the little shepherdess,
Lirelalein,
O come to the hut - come inside!

Lucie (half rising from her slumber):
The ship! The ship! It's setting sail! It's rocking on the waves! How beautiful it is with all its sails!

VOICE OF GAÏDS (in the distance):
Listen, deep in the well,
The beautiful fairy sighs softly.
But when she emerges in shimmering jest,
The lad's beating heart breaks.

O sweet mistress, o mistress of mine,
Do not sleep, do not fall asleep by the well!
I will guard and cover you,
Will rock your white heart to rest,
Come to the hut, oh come inside,
Lirelalein,
Come to the hut, my mistress.

Luciite (in agitated slumber): The anchor has been raised! The sails are swelling! He's sailing out to sea! Maurice, don't go without me! ... (She falls back.):

(Deep and mysterious music. The apparition slowly rises from the spring and stands above it, illuminated by a supernatural light that seems to rise from the spring. It is a female figure, draped in a white, airy robe. A light veil covers her face. She wears a wreath of verbena and holds a mistletoe branch in her right hand and a chalice in her left.):

LUCILE (half rising): Who are you?

THE APPARITION: The one you called upon. I am Morgane, your genius... I am your better self.

LUCILE: What do you bring?

THE APPARITION: Liberation. Take this chalice.

LUCILE (rising slowly, takes the chalice with a somnambulistic movement and empties it in one gulp. Then she drops it into the spring and painfully raises her hand to her heart with a stifled cry.): Ah! It is death!

THE APPARITION: What seems to you to be life is death, and what seems to you to be death is eternal life. Look at me! (She reveals her face.):

LUCILE: O divine sister! You look like me... but how much more beautiful!

THE APPARITION: I am your immortal soul!

(Lucile falls lifelessly back into her niche. The apparition disappears.):

Scene 8

The Shepherd A pale ray of dawn illuminates the landscape.

VOICES OF THE NUNS (singing matins in the chapel):
Ave, stella maris matutina,
Ave Maria!

ERVOANIK (descending the path under the oak tree): My God, where is Lady Lucile? Where is our mistress? (He sees Lucile's body in the niche.): The poor woman! She fell asleep at Morgane's spring! (He approaches.): There she is, white as marble (he touches her): and cold as stone... No breath... dead! (He falls to his knees beside her and begins to sob.):

(A pink streak pierces the fog on the horizon of the ocean. The morning star sparkles in the bright azure sky.):

DISTANT VOICES:
Ave, Matutina!
Ave, stella maris!

(Curtain)

[Marie von Sivers' translation breaks off here. The following is the translation by Cécile Conrad-Valnor]