them the signal for revolt when the hour comes. The people cry out in answer that the first who must be brought down is the Roman governor Pollione. All leave the place, which remains empty for a few moments; then the young priestess Adalgisa returns, kneels before the altar, and implores the gods to deliver her from her sinful love. Pollione enters and asks her to flee with him to Rome. She repulses him at first, but soon yields to him; they embrace warmly, and she swears to him that she will follow him wherever he goes, whatever fate lies hidden for her. He then asks her to meet him at that same place, at the same hour, on the following night, so that they may flee together. The curtain falls as they sing their violent passion.

Act Two

The scene: Norma's dwelling.

Norma enters with her two chil-dren and their nurse Clotilde... She soon gives voice to her anx-iety over her children's future, now that Pollione has been summoned to Rome; she fears he will forsake her and her children, and she knows well that the discovery of her secret marriage would bring down upon her a terrible vengeance.

She hears footsteps and urges Clotilde to hide the two children. Adalgisa comes in, showing the marks of deep distress from the violent struggle raging within her between her love for Pollione and her fidelity to her faith and her people and the vows she has taken. She kneels before the high priestess and confesses that she has fallen in love with a man and has resolved to abandon the

temple and flee with her beloved to a distant land.

She begs forgiveness, or that she be given strength to conquer this sinful love. Norma remembers how she herself broke her own vows, and remembers the great secret happiness of the first years of her marriage; she feels deep tenderness for the young priestess and releases her from her religious vows, assuring her that the gods will forgive her. She asks about her beloved, and Adalgisa answers: "He is a Roman." At that instant Pollione stands before them, and Adalgisa cries in all innocence: "There he is!" Norma is thunderstruck, and a terrible silence grips them all, broken by Norma in a violent outburst in which she accuses Pollione of betraying her and her children. Then she turns to Adalgisa, saying that her beloved has committed two betrayals: he has deceived his wife, and deceived his mistress... Adalgisa is stunned at first and cannot believe what she hears; but when she is assured of the truth of it, she declares to Norma that her love for Pollione is dead, and that she has cast off every thought of fleeing with him...

Pollione implores Adalgisa not to forsake him, but she breaks free and throws herself into Norma's arms, begging her protection. Norma orders her husband Pollione to depart from her presence, but he defies her and refuses to go. As this stormy scene reaches its height, the striking of the bronze shield of Irminsul is heard, summoning the priests to the temple. While Norma stands with her arms around Adalgisa, Pollione rushes out, choking down his rage and his violent agitation...

Act Three

The scene: a chamber in Norma's house.

The two children lie asleep on their bed, side by side. Norma enters the room quietly, carrying a lamp, which she sets on the table, and gazes at her children in fierce agitation. Then she draws a dagger she had hidden in her breast, repeating with deepest sorrow: "Better for them to die than to live as slaves in Rome!" She raises the dagger, but she cannot kill the fruit of her own flesh; a cry of terror escapes her as she stands bewildered, and she falls kneeling before the bed, sobbing.

The children awake, and Norma calls the nurse Clotilde and orders her to summon Adalgisa. When she enters, Norma asks her to carry the two children to their father Pollione, at the camp of the Romans, and entrust them to him. Adalgisa perceives that Norma is resolved to put an end to her own life, and implores her not to do it. She herself has determined never to see Pollione again; yet she will go to him once more — not for the children's sake, nor for her own, but to beg him to return to the woman who loves him and who is, at the same time, the mother of his two children!

But Norma, stricken and broken, pays no