Original subtitles

What a serene day the sky foretells!

Let us celebrate it in our song.

Let the echoes from this shore

lift our songs into the air!

Through our labours, let us do homage

to the creator of the universe.

Come quickly into my little boat

Shy young lass.

Here is the abode

of the pleasure that calls you.

I am leaving the shore.

Lisbeth, sail with me.

Ah, come! The cloudless sky

promises us a fine day.

In his elation he extols

his pleasures, his mistress.

He is not tormented

by the weariness of spirit that afflicts me.

How burdensome is life!

We no longer have a fatherland!

He sings, and Helvetia mourns her lost freedom.

Flowers wreathe her head. - His foolhardy courage

Their secret power - invites shipwreck

warding off the storm - and, defying the storm

assures us a safe return. - thinks only of his return.

And you, lonely lake - If he directed his course

witness to a sweet mystery - towards the dreaded reef

do not tell the land - a death-song, to be sure

the secret of love! - would follow his songs of love!

From the mountains we hear the signal for rest.

The country festivity cuts short our labours.

This rustic festival, unbeknown to the master's eye

will let us acknowledge the sweet land of our birth.

Greetings, honour, homage to the virtuous Melcthal!

The shepherds' festival, according to ancient custom

out of three young lovers makes three happy husbands.

Lovers, husbands! Ah, what thoughts beset me!

Blessed by you.

By The?

You will pronounce a blessing on us all.

It is the sacred privilege of age and virtue

and a sweet portent of the favours of Heaven.

Shepherds, let your voices unite!

Let the horns resound far and wide!

All of you celebrate on this glorious day

work, marriage and love...

With the joyous songs that resound

let our gentler tones unite!

Let us too celebrate, by turns

work, marriage and love!

Let us all celebrate on this glorious day

work, marriage and love!

By the roaring torrents let the horns answer each other!

And the echo from these hills, holding back our songs

will repeat their sweet sounds to the forests and valleys!

Let us celebrate through our games love and its passions.

Let us celebrate through our games marriage and its bonds.

Through our songs and our games let us celebrate the sweet bonds

of the loving shepherds

and fly to them!

Let my lonely roof offer you a protective shelter against the heat of the day!

It is there that my ancestors lived in peace

that I escape from the tyrants, that I conceal from their eyes

the happiness of being a husband, the happiness of being a father.

The happiness of being a father!

You hear him, o my son

it is the supreme blessing.

Will you always disappoint the wish of my old age?

The shepherds' festival on this glad day, through a triple bond

is going to consecrate the marriage vow

but not yours!

He talks of marriage, but never mine!

Oh that I may keep to myself

the secret of my disastrous obsession!

You, whose brow aspires to the diadem

o Mathilde, I love you!

I love you, and I betray

duty and honour, my father and my country!

Against the deadly avalanche

my strength served to shield you.

I saved you. You, the daughter of kings.

You whom a perfidious power destines to rule over us!

Drunk with a mad hope

my insane youth has wasted its blood for ungrateful masters.

To have known under them the glory of battle

that is my shame!

But then, my tears have wiped it out.

Let us not restore it through a fatal love.

But what's this noise?

The horn of the tyrants spewed out by Germany

sounds on the mountain.

Gessler is there; Mathilde accompanies him.

I must see her again, hear her voice again.

Let us be both happy and guilty!

Where are you going?

What's troubling you so?

The approach of a friend doesn't stop you?

NC)!

Why are you trembling?

Shall I have the courage to dissemble?

Under the burden of slavery

what great heart is not cast down?

I should understand woes that I share.

Arnold has not answered me.

Could I be more wretched?

Wretched?

He's hiding a secret from me.

Why do you remain silent? - What are you hoping for?

To restore to your heart strength and virtue... Arnold!

Ah, Mathilde, my soul's idol

must I then subdue my passion?

I can read his heart...

O my fatherland!

He reddens at his error. - To you my heart sacrifices...

If by serving tyranny he was a traitor to his country, - ...both love...

at least his remorse expiates a moment of dishonour. - ...and happiness!

For us no more servile fear; let us be men, and we shall conquer!

And how shall we avenge our indignities?

All unjust power is weak.

Against foreign masters what can sustain us?

Danger.

We face only one, they a thousand.

Think of the blessings you may lose!

I care not!

What glory can you hope to gain from defeat?

I'm none too sure what glory is...

but I do know the weight of fetters.

Then you hope... - for victory.

You too, I need to believe it.

We should be free? - Such is my vow.

But where shall we fight? - Here.

Defeated, what will be our refuge? - The grave.

And our avenger? - God!

When the hour of danger sounds, friend, I shall be ready.

Stay!

O fatal mischance!

Melcthal! Melcthal!

What do I hear? It's Gessler!

What! While he still defies us would you, a willing slave

crave the favour of a scornful glance?

What harsh words! For me they're an insult.

I shall confront the insolent oppressor as he passes.

No rash enterprise.

Think of your father, he must be protected. Think of your country, it must be avenged.

My father!

He wavers...

My Country!

He turns pale!

MY love!

What then is this secrecy? - What must I do?

O Heaven, you know how dear Mathilde is to me

but to virtue I yield.

Hatred and woe betide our tyrants!

Listen to those wedding-songs in the distance!

Let's not cast a gloom over the shepherds' festival.

Let's not mingle tears with their pleasures

and for one day at least - Let me hide my tears

let a people escape its woes. - from his eyes.

I owe no more, save to our woes.

O Heaven, you know how dear Mathilde is to me...

He will fight in our ranks. - ...but to virtue I yield.

Hatred and woe betide our tyrants!

Over our heads the sun shines

and seems to halt in midcourse

to witness the family festival.

Venerable Melcthal, honour of bygone days

it is for you to bless their chaste love.

O sky, the world's adornment, - They're to be united. How happy they are!

Cause a sweet augury to shine for them! - Their vows have Heaven's blessing!

For their love is as pure - Pure delight!

As your light on a fine day! - O chaste love!

You represent our ancient virtues.

Remember, young shepherds, that Switzerland, watching over you

asks of your marriage support and vengeance.

O faithful companions of these young men of the mountains

their descendants sleep within your chaste breasts.

May you have many sons.

Your fertility is the wealth of the land.

Gessler again!

Gessler again!

I must follow Mathilde!

Gessler forbids such vows.

Listen to the tyrant!

Listen: he tells you you have no homeland now.

That the source of the generous blood

that raged within our ancestors' hearts

has forever run dry.

A people without valour does not produce valiant offspring.

What would you bequeath your sons?

The fetters that have bruised your arms?

Women, banish your husbands from your beds!

There are already slaves enough!

What emotions lie behind this outburst?

Is the day nigh for you to give them free rein?

Perhaps

Ah, if only he would soon appear!

I cannot see Arnold any more...

He has left us.

He has run away from me.

In vain does he hide from me whatever trouble is pursuing him.

I must go and question him; you, go on with the festivities.

You fill me with icy fear and then speak of festivities!

Let the celebrations hide the sound of the storm from the tyrants!

Smother it in joyful songs.

They must know nothing of it until it breaks above their heads!

Hymen, your day of joy dawns for us.

Your glorious day dawns for us.

These happy couples are envious of the crowns that you give.

With joy and tenderness their youth grows in beauty.

Above our heads the storms are hushed.

Everything tells us...

Hymen, your day of joy dawns for us.

Through your flames, in our souls you proclaim our hope.

Your rapture unceasingly joins tenderness to duty.

These happy couples are envious of the crowns that you give.

Glory, honour to Tell's son, he gains the prize for skill!

Ah, mother!

O moment of rapture!

He gains the prize for skill: he inherits it from his father.

Glory! Glory!

For us, children of nature, the simple fustian garb

takes the place of the armour that protects the warriors.

But to the mark that summons it our arrow is true

and with it hope revives in our homes.

Mother, a herdsman comes hurrying towards us, pale and trembling, hardly able to support himself.

It's the worthy Leuthold. What misfortune brings him to us?

Save me! Save me!

What do you fear? - Their anger.

Leuthold, what power threatens you?

The only one that has never shown mercy

the cruellest, the most dreadful of all...

O my friends, save me from its blows!

What have you done? - My duty.

Out of all my family Heaven left me only one child, only one daughter.

An impious supporter of the Governor

a soldier, carried her off, my last remaining blessing!

Hedwige, I am a father, and I had to protect her.

My axe was not slow to find his forehead.

You see this blood? It is his.

He had a father's courage

but we must fear the tyrant's wrath for him.

A sure refuge waits for me on the other bank.

Take me there.

This torrent, that rock, allow no approach to the opposite bank.

To brave this danger means certain death.

Ah, barbarian, may you in your last hour

find God deaf to your remorse, as you are to my entreaty!

Arnold has vanished. I could not catch him.

Leuthold, woe betide you! - Great God! I implore your protection!

I hear threats and lamenting.

William, fate overwhelms me,

I am pursued, I am not at all guilty.

Yet I die if I do not escape at once.

There is only one way for my safety.

Your boat is there, fisherman, you hear him.

It's useless; he is as pitiless as the Governor.

He disregards Heaven's law, he refuses you!

Well then, follow me!

Murder demands blood. Woe betide you, Leuthold!

Let's make haste, there they are. Farewell.

You will perish.

Ah, never fear, Hedwige.

The perils are indeed great, but we have a guide up above!

God of goodness, God all-powerful

confound the oppressors' rage!

Deign to protect from shipwreck

the defender of the innocent!

This is the hour of justice!

Woe betide the murderer - let him die!

He is saved!

What do I see? O fury!

He has made the fearful crossing.

I recognise God's handiwork.

Their joy is a new outrage; slaves, woe betide you all!

What insolence!

Why does my age not serve my anger better?

Over our heads the storm rumbles.

Let's away!

Stay! There is more than one guilty person.

Who lent his help to the murderer?

Name the traitor - your lives are at stake.

They're going to talk... terror overwhelms them.

Obey.

Your lives are at stake.

Virgin, whom Christians adore

hear our voices, they implore thee.

I see them all begin to tremble.

Protect from the evil-doers' sword

our husbands and our children!

Obey.

We should have done as he did.

Friends, calm your terror.

He dared to act, do you dare to keep silent!

He dares to act, let us dare to keep silent!

Tremble, tremble! Name the traitor, speak!

Tell the tyrant that this soil supports no informers.

Seize this daring fellow who defies our governor.

Let the horror of devastation and pillage lie heavy upon this shore!

Shame and misery are the reward that my wrath bequeaths to misfortune!

If the horror of devastation and pillage lies heavy upon this shore

vile mercenary, my father's bow can shield us from your fury!

What wild harmony sounds with the horns!

The cry of the dying chamois blends with the noise of the torrent.

Is there any greater pleasure than hearing his dying breath?

The fury of the storm holds nothing more intoxicating.

What is that noise?

Into the midst of the shining water the sun glides down.

From the snow-crowned mountains the brightness vanishes.

The village bell sounds

ordering our return.

Night is here, night is here.

The shepherds' monotonous tones still follow us.

The Governor's horn sounds

ordering our return.

Night has fallen!

They're going away at last; I thought I saw him.

My heart did not deceive my eyes.

He has followed me here, he is somewhere nearby.

I tremble - if he were to appear!

What is this deep, mysterious feeling

whose warmth I nurture, that maybe I cherish?

Arnold, Arnold, is it really you

a simple inhabitant of these fields

the hope, the pride of these mountains

who captivate my thoughts and cause my terror?

Ah, that I might at least admit it to myself?

Melcthal, it is you whom I love. You saved my life

and my gratitude...

...excuses my love.

Gloomy forest, sad and wild wilderness

I prefer you to the splendours of palaces.

It is on the hills, in the dwelling-place of the storm

that my heart can be restored to peace

and the echo alone will learn my secrets.

Gentle and shy star of the shepherd

you whose light falls upon my footsteps

ah, be also my star and guide!

Like him your rays are discreet

and the echo alone will repeat my secrets.

My presence here perhaps offends you?

Mathilde, my indiscreet footsteps

have dared to force a way through to you.

One easily pardons the wrongs in which one shares.

Arnold, I was waiting for you.

That answer in which your soul breathes

I feel all too strongly that pity inspires it in you.

You pity my error.

I offend you by loving you.

How hideous is my destiny!

Is mine any the happier?

I must speak, I must, in this moment

so cruel and so sweet - so dangerous, perhaps

that fearful Mathilde may learn to know me.

I dare to say it with a noble pride

for you Heaven called me into being.

I have weighed the danger of a fatal prejudice.

It rises up between us in all its power.

I can respect it, but only in your absence.

Mathilde, order me to flee far from your sight

to give up my country and my father

to go and die on foreign soil

to choose for a tomb uninhabited shores

pronounce on my fate, say a word.

Stay.

Yes, you wring from my heart

this secret my eyes have betrayed.

I cannot stifle my passion

though it might destroy us both!

So it has come from her heart

this secret her eyes have betrayed!

Her passion responds to mine

though it might destroy us both!

But what a distance between us

what obstacles on all sides!

Ah, do not lose hope.

Everything raises you in my eyes.

Sweet admission! This tender way you speak

makes my heart drunk with delight!

I can love him, everything foretells

days of happiness by his side.

I love him dearly, everything foretells

days of happiness by his side.

Yes, I love you.

I love him dearly, a good omen

promises me happiness.

What ecstasies for my heart!

Return to the fields of glory

fly on to new exploits.

One is ennobled by victory.

The world will approve my choice.

May I earn on the fields of glory

the prize which awaits me on my return.

Can I doubt victory

when I obey love?

In the one who loves you/whom I love

yes, it is honour itself

that rules.

Mathilde, ever faithful

will come to your/my tent

to receive your/my faith.

Arnold, someone's coming.

Heaven! Walter and William, ah!

Flee their presence!

You weren't alone here?

Well?

We fear to disturb such a sweet conversation.

I do not inquire into your intentions.

Perhaps

more than any other, you should seek to know them.

No... What do they matter to Melcthal if he is deserting our ranks

if he secretly aspires to serve our tyrants?

Who told you so?

Your agitation, and Mathilde and her flight.

I'm being spied on, and by you?

Yes, by me.

Your conduct yesterday cast suspicion into my troubled heart.

But if I love...

Great God!

And if I am loved? Your suspicions?

Would be correct.

My love?

Is impious.

Mathilde?

She is our enemy.

She was born among our oppressors.

And basely Melcthal prostrates himself before her!

But what right have you for your blind fury?

Our rights? A word will tell you them all.

Do you really know what it is to love one's fatherland?

You speak of 'fatherland', we no longer have one.

I am leaving this shore inhabited by discord and hatred and fear

worthy daughters of slavery.

I hasten into battle to regain my honour.

When Helvetia is a field of tortures where they harvest its children

let your arms be Gessler's accomplices, fight and die for our tyrants!

The camps restore my courage.

In the camps loyalty reigns

already glory has marked my passage there

and replaces freedom.

On your account, Gessler, as a prelude to battle, has cut short an old man's life.

This victim awaits his funeral rites, he has claims on your help.

Ah, what a dreadful mystery!

An old man, you say?

Whom Switzerland reveres.

His name?

I must conceal it.

To speak would strike at your heart.

My father... - Yes, your father.

Melcthal, the honour of our hamlets

your father, assassinated by the hand of executioners!

What do I hear!

O crime!

Alas!

I'm dying.

His life that they dared to outlaw

I did not protect it!

My father, you must have cursed me!

My heart is torn by remorse!

O Heaven, o Heaven! I shall see you no more!

He shudders... - He reels...

...he scarcely breathes.

I'm dying.

He turns pale, remorse rends him

all the ties of love are broken.

His terror replaces his frenzy

his unhappiness will restore his virtues to him!

So it is true!

I witnessed the crime.

YOU?

I saw the victim struggle and fall.

Great God! What must I do? - Your duty.

Must I die? - You must live!

Well then, against Gessler assist my despair.

Will you follow me into Altdorf?

Restrain the wild passions to which your soul gives way.

Stay, and avenge both your father and your country.

Go on!

The night, favourable to our plans

already surrounds us with protective darkness.

You will see, in these parts that Gessler believes submissive

courageous friends rise up on all sides.

They will understand your tears.

Out of ploughshares they beat weapons

to win a worthy destiny.

Independence or death!

Independence or death!

Let us fire ourselves with a holy frenzy!

Liberty conspires for us.

From the heavens my/your father inspires us.

Let us avenge him, let's weep for him no more.

When he dies for his country

his glorious destiny seems to tell us

that it was for the palms of martyrdom to crown so many virtues!

I hear a sound coming

from the depths of the forest.

Listen!

Listen!

Silence!

I hear footsteps resounding in the forest.

The sound draws nearer...

Who is it?

Friends of the fatherland!

O joy!

O vengeance!

Honour to their presence!

We have successfully faced and overcome both perils and distance.

Neither floods nor forest could hold us back.

Under the escort of prudence

our daring has brought us through to Rütli.

O courageous sons of the canton of Unterwalden

this noble alacrity in no way surprises us.

Others will imitate it.

I hear the horn of our brothers of Schwyz.

O my country, be proud of your children!

In these times of grief a foreign race

spying upon our sorrow, condemns us to secrecy.

May this lonely wood

be sole witness to our tears.

The fear of such great misfortunes is pardonable

but have faith in my hope, their hearts will respond to ours.

We regret the absence of the canton of Uri alone.

To put their pursuers off their scent, the better to hide our sacred conspiracies

our brothers are rowing across the water

a route that will not betray them.

The promise is followed by swift results, do you not hear?

Who goes there?

Friends of the fatherland!

Honour to those who uphold our rights!

William, as you see, three peoples at your call

proud of their rights, will defy an infamous yoke.

Speak, and the brave words that spring from your heart

will fire our senses in shafts of flame!

The avalanche rolling down from our mountain tops

hurling death upon our fields

encloses within its flanks evils less ravenous

than those sown by our oppressors as they march.

Hereafter, it is we who with courage

must purge this shore of detested masters.

Friends, against this infamous yoke humanity protests in vain.

Our oppressors are triumphant.

A slave has no wife, a slave has no children!

A slave has no wife, a slave has no children!

This suffering is too great; what must we do?

Avenge the death of my father!

Melcthal! What was his crime?

His crime? He loved his fatherland!

Abominable, sacrilegious murder!

Let us at last be worthy of the blood from which we spring.

In darkness and in silence

with sword and lance arm the three cantons.

In darkness and in silence

with sword and lance arm the three cantons.

By the lake, when the beacons of vengeance burn

will you help us?

Have no doubt of it, yes, all of us.

Ready to conquer? - Yes, all of us!

Ready to die? - Yes, all of us!

Let the loyal clasping of our hands

confirm these sacred promises.

Let us swear, let us swear by the danger we face

by our grief, by our ancestors

to the God of kings and shepherds

to resist our unjust masters.

If there are traitors among us

may the sun refuse

the light of his torch to their eyes

Heaven refuse to hear their prayer

and the earth refuse them a tomb!

Day is here!

For us it is a signal of alarm.

Of victory!

What cry do we give in response?

To arms!

To arms!

To arms!

Arnold, why such despair?

Is this the tender farewell I was hoping to hear?

You are leaving, but soon we shall be able to see each other again.

No, I stay where a terrible duty chains me.

I stay to avenge my father.

What are you hoping for?

It is blood I hope for.

I renounce the favours of fate.

I renounce all that I love.

Glory

you yourself!

Me, Melcthal?

My father is dead. He fell beneath the murderous sword.

God!

Do you know who brandished the steel?

Ah, I shudder! Go on!

Your consternation has named him: Gessler!

Gessler!

All hope for our love is over.

When my life has scarcely begun

I lose my happiness for ever!

Yes, Melcthal, a barbarian's crime separates us

my wandering reason has understood your grief.

Braving the servitude of fate, in vain have I given you my faith.

What loneliness in my court!

You will no longer be near me.

Finally, to complete my misery

a crime deprives you of a father

and I cannot mourn him with you!

Destiny, despite your rage

this sad heart

will always harbour the image

of my liberator.

What noise reaches my ear?

Singing? Shouts?

Gessler rouses himself.

Daylight returns him to his crimes.

Alas!

These songs herald the preparations for a warlike festival.

Flee from the Governor's palace.

His joy is always deadly.

Flee, if ever I was dear to you!

I, flee!

Though upon a foreign shore

I cannot offer to your misery

my consoling attentions

my soul follows you completely.

It is faithful to your misfortunes.

These songs drown your prayer!

Their joy insults my grief!

Do you hear them? Do you hear them?

Ah, take pity on my tears!

Flee, if ever I was dear to you!

I, flee!

I think of my father!

By renouncing our love - By renouncing my love

we give him more than our lives. - I give him more than my life.

Farewell, Melcthal! - Farewell, Mathilde!

Farewell for ever!

Glory to the supreme power!

Awe to Gessler, who dispenses its laws!

Yes, it is the Emperor himself

who hurls vile curses with his terrible voice.

Peace to the power we love!

Let us hope for Mathilde's laws!

What need is there for a diadem?

Love is a supreme power, equal to that of kings.

Vainly in their insolence

do the people defy my vengeance

they must submit to my rule.

Before this sign of power

let everyone bow down in silence

as he bows before me!

Let the German Empire today receive the pledge of your obedience!

For a century now its power has deigned to sustain your weakness.

On that day, our rights, sealed by victory

were extended over your ancestors.

Through your songs and your games

celebrate the memory of such a glorious day

such is my will!

You whom the bird would not follow! Ah! Ah!

Fit your steps to our tunes! Ah! Ah!

In our fields the sons of the mountains

will teach your steps to their partners.

You whom the bird would not follow! Ah! Ah!

Fit your steps to our tunes! Ah! Ah!

You who are not, ah, ah!

Of these climes, ah, ah!

To our frosts, ah, ah!

You will return. Ah! Ah!

In our fields the sons of the mountains

will teach your steps to their partners.

Insolent fellow, bow down!

You may demean these people by taking strength from their weakness

but I refuse to recognise the law that would force a base action from me.

Governor, your law is being defied.

What rash fellow dares infringe it?

I recognise him; it is William Tell!

It is the traitor who rescued the murderer Leuthold from our blows.

Seize him!

It's that redoubtable archer.

It's that intrepid boatman.

No misguided pity; he is my prisoner.

May he be the last!

Such arrogance wearies me; the thunder gathers.

Let it pass over you and you will submit!

What excess of audacity! - What excess of audacity!

He defies, he threatens. - Such arrogance wearies me.

Come, no mercy, - No, no mercy

let's disarm him. - disarm him.

Mortal disgrace!

Hope of my line

o you whom I embrace

run far away from here!

See, fear strikes him - Let your fear vanish, my place is here.

He's afraid of death. - For mercy's sake let me die in your arms!

No mercy for him!

He goes quickly to his death.

Go home to your mother, I order it.

Let the fire blaze out on our hilltops

and give the three cantons the signal for battle!

Stop!

Their tenderness inspires my vengeance.

Answer, you who dare to defy me, is this your child?

The only one.

You want to save him?

To save him? What is his crime?

His parentage, your speeches, your schemings, your culpable insolence.

I alone have defied you, it is I who must be punished.

His pardon is in your hands, and you can obtain it.

You are celebrated everywhere as a skilful archer.

Have this apple placed upon the son's head.

With one sure arrow you will lift it off before my eyes.

Or you will both of you perish.

What are you saying?

Such is my will.

My mind is wandering.

How dread a decree

you would order on my son, you barbarian!

No, the crime is too great.

Obey.

Ah! You have no child!

There is a God, Gessler!

A master.

He hears us!

You dally too long, yield instantly.

I cannot.

Let his son die!

Stop! Abominable decree!

You triumph over my weakness.

The threat to Jemmy forces me to yield

Gessler.

And I bend my knee before you.

Look at the redoubtable archer.

Look at the intrepid boatman!

Fear overwhelms him, a word crushes him.

This punishment at least is just.

You punish me for having forgotten myself.

Father, think of your skill.

Ah, I fear my love too much.

Reach out your hand.

Feel my heart.

Faced with your arrow it will beat fearlessly.

Ah, let your soul be at ease.

Heaven and the rights of nature

will speak to him on our behalf.

See his suffering, think of my age.

You want him to take aim at his son!

You may be inflicting your wrath on a child

but he has placed his courage within my breast.

And if to appease your anger

death is to be my lot

dealt by his hand, it will be sweet.

The target is ready, the ordeal agreed

before you now I pray for it to come.

The death of my imagination will smile upon my youth.

I await the ordeal with courage

before you now I pray for it to come.

Shedding tears, I bless you

and I recover my strength from your breast.

The calm in your heart has steadied my hand.

No more weakness, no more alarms.

Give me back my weapons.

I am William Tell after all!

Tie up the child!

Tie me up? What an insult!

No, no, free at least shall I die.

I expose my head to the fatal shot without murmur

and shall await it without blanching.

What! The accents of innocence do not disarm his vengeance?

Courage, father!

At the sound of his voice my hand lets slip my weapons

my eyes are clouded by dangerous tears...

My son! Let me embrace him one last time.

Stay quite still

and bend an imploring knee to the ground.

Call upon God

it is He alone, my child

who through the son can save the father.

Stay like that, but look up at the sky.

In threatening this beloved head

this steel tip may startle your eyes.

The slightest movement...

Jemmy, think of your mother!

She waits for us both!

Victory!

Father!

His life is saved!

Heaven!

What! The apple shot away!

The apple has been shot away, William is triumphant!

O fury!

O joy!

My life is saved: could my father sacrifice his child?

I can no longer see.

I can hardly stand up.

Is it really you, my son?

I am overcome by happiness.

Ah! Let us help my father!

He has escaped my hatred.

What do I see?

Ah! I have saved my dearest treasure!

For whom did you intend this arrow?

For you, Gessler!

Tremble!

I'm no longer afraid.

Rodolphe, have him shackled!

What did I hear? Atrocious sacrifice!

Must we still fear for them?

They must both of them perish.

I shall not cut short such miserable lives, I have promised it.

But both are guilty

and both in fetters shall await death.

What! His son? A child! My lord, you must hear me.

The order has been given. It cannot be rescinded.

The son too!

You will not have him, no!

In the name of the sovereign I take him into my protection.

With a whole indignant people looking on at you

dare to snatch him from my arms!

Submit: at least we still have William.

Blessed assistance, celestial benevolence!

Let's submit: at least we still have the father.

O dear William, o dreadful fate!

Shackles will punish your virtue.

They are muttering, do you hear them?

The prisoner's audacity has fed their hatred.

Tonight, across the water, I shall take him to KUssnacht.

Across the water; but the wind, the storm?

Idle fear!

Is not the expert boatman with me?

At the castle that the lake surrounds

a new torment awaits him.

Have mercy!

Learn how Gessler pardons.

I abandon him to the reptiles

and their dreadful hunger will provide his tomb.

O my father! - O Jemmy!

Have mercy!

Never!

Barbarian!

When arrogance misleads them... - It is his own death he prepares.

...to be sparing with their blood is to dishonour yourself with us!

I take possession of his son.

Let him leave with us!

It is to dishonour yourself with us!

People, draw back or the guilty man dies.

Let this blade bear witness!

They stay silent.

They fear my vengeance. - They fear his vengeance.

Cursed be Gessler!

Such violence

will be answered by the sword!

To suffer such insolence, o torments of hell!

Long live Gessler!

Forsake me not, hope of vengeance!

William is in chains

and my impatience urges on the moment for battle.

How silent it is in this place!

I listen

but hear only the sound of my own footsteps.

I must drive out my hidden fear!

I must go in!

In spite of myself I halt upon the threshold.

My father is dead

I shall not go back in there.

Home of my forefathers, where my eyes first saw the light of day

only yesterday your protective shelter

offered a father to my love.

I call in vain, o bitter grief!

I call, he no longer hears my voice!

Beloved walls within which my father dwelt

I come to see you for the last time!

Vengeance!

What hope... I hear alarm cries.

My companions, I see them hurrying this way.

William is taken prisoner and we have no weapons!

We all want to rescue him.

Arms, give us arms

and we shall know how to die.

William and my father long since foresaw the hour for battle.

Under the rock, at the back of the lonely chalet, run and arm yourselves!

Let us run and arm ourselves!

No more useless fear, no more futile tears.

Gessler, you will perish!

For you, who deprive my love of my father and my mistress

is death enough?

Melcthal, let your hope revive!

At last we have swords to arm us.

Friends, friends, assist my vengeance.

If our leader is in fetters it is our task to save him.

The roads to Altdorf are open.

Follow me: let us thwart the murderous plans of a treacherous monster.

Let us wrest William from his blows!

Let us thwart the murderous plans of a cruel and treacherous tyrant.

Follow me... - This task is worthy of us!

...into battle!

Follow me into battle! - Let us follow him into battle.

Melcthal! Melcthal!

To arms!

Where are you going? Your grief bewilders you.

Do you not hear our enemies?

I mean to see Gessler: I shall follow them.

And what will you obtain from the barbarian?

Death, death!

I desire it.

He triumphs, and I live, when I no longer have a husband

when I no longer have a son!

Mother!

I heard a voice!

That soft, loving voice...

Mother!

I think I hear him!

It's he!

It's my child!

O joy!

But alas!

Your father is not with you.

He will escape his undeserved chains.

Trust in our aid and protection.

Princess! As I listened to him

I did not see you there.

O noble, beloved protectress

Hedwige kneels before you!

I give back to your loving arms

a son who is worthy of you.

This son, despite his youth, is a man of courage.

And when I tell you that your sorrows will soon be at an end

it is but a rightful tribute offered to your misfortune.

Mathilde promises that more peaceful days

will bless our humble homes.

She is for us the image of a sky from which the storm has passed.

And when she tells us that our sorrows will soon be at an end

hope takes up her words and comes to dry our tears.

What! By sharing in our misfortune

you have remained on this unhappy shore

you, the jewel, the pride of a court!

I want to be the hostage of a captive William.

My presence here will ensure his safe return.

His return!

Surely that is a vain hope?

How can we rescue him from Altdorf?

He is no longer there.

They are taking him to the lake.

The lake?

But a violent storm is raging.

My husband faces death on all sides!

I have suddenly remembered!

Quick, before it is too late.

Let the beacon of freedom at last be lit!

To what purpose?

To save my father's life.

Everyone will rise up at the sight of those guardian flames.

And wherever Gessler lands

vengeance will rain down on him!

What is that sound that clamours above?

It is death, making its way in the roar of the storm.

William is doomed!

O Providence, you who offer hope

to the weak, keep William safe!

Mislead and confound our enemies

in all their plans, in their desire for vengeance.

Shatter the yoke that oppresses us.

Punish the crime of the oppressor.

Keep William safe!

Else will he fall victim to the love he bears his country.

Follow me!

William is being driven on to these shores by the tempest.

His hands are no longer bound: the tiller yields to his will.

If William, in spite of the storm, can approach this shore

his freedom is assured.

Let's run to him!

Let's run to him!

I see you again!

Father!

O wondrous return!

What fire is this I see before me?

For want of a signal pyre

I myself set ablaze our ancestral roof.

But at least I have saved your weapons!

Now you may come, Gessler!

In vain does he try and escape us: let's follow his trail.

Let him find mercy only in a fatal blow!

It's he!

Draw back.

Let Switzerland breathe freely again!

For you, Gessler!

I die!

It's Tell's arrow! - O day of liberation!

His death puts an end to our woes at last.

Recognise God's help.

Nothing could spare him from the arrow of vengeance.

Neither his wealth nor his power

his torture nor his executioners.

At these fiery signals let our fear be gone at last.

We need blood to put them out

we need the oppressor's blood.

But what do I see? William!

He is free, o joy!

Let us fly at the tyrant!

What do you want? - His death!

Go and look for his grave in the lake.

Honour, all honour to the liberating arm!

Let's harbour no vain hope

so long as the proud battlements of Altdorf command our obedience.

You need swear no more vows.

Altdorf is in our power!

Victory! Altdorf is in our power!

You here, Mathilde?

Yes, I am here.

Disabused of false grandeur, as your equal I see you again.

And, supported by your sword

I shall fight for liberty alongside you.

Why, o my father, is your presence

wanting to the joy of all Helvetia?

Everything here is changing and growing in grandeur!

What pure air!

What a radiant day!

In the distance what a boundless horizon!

Yes, before our eyes nature unfolds its magnificence!

At our pious tones

Liberty, descend again from Heaven

and let your reign begin anew!

And let your reign begin anew.

Liberty, descend again from Heaven!