The World's Most Famous Operas: Lakmé

Music by Léo Delibes (1836–1891)

Rendered into Arabic by: Samir Shikhani

An opera in three acts, first produced in Paris in 1883

The Characters:

• Nilakantha, a Brahmin priest
• Lakmé, his daughter
• Mallika, Lakmé's servant
• Gérald, an English officer
• Ellen, an English girl
• Rose, Ellen's cousin and companion
• Mrs. Benson: their chaperone
• Hadji, Nilakantha's servant

Time: the nineteenth century
Place: India

Act One

The Scene: the sacred garden around one of the temples of the Brahmins

The first act takes place before a temple that is mostly in ruins, surrounded by flowering tropical brambles; a stream glides past nearby, and around all this stands a fence of bamboo that guards the holy place from intruders. In the early morning the worshippers are heard repeating their prayers, led by the priest Nilakantha and his daughter Lakmé. When the priest leaves the temple, he orders the two Hindu servants to guard his daughter...

Lakmé remains with her servant Mallika, and together they join in a song in which they show their delight in the fragrance of the jasmine, the twittering of the birds, and the spreading shade of the trees... They resolve to bathe in the stream, so Lakmé takes off her ornaments and jewels and lays them on a stone bench; then the two board a boat, which drifts slowly along the stream.

Suddenly the stillness of the garden is torn by loud, boisterous laughter, coming from a party of English people who approach the bamboo fence and steal glances inside through the cracks. This party consists of two young officers, Gérald and Frederic, and two girls, Ellen and Rose, with their chaperone Mrs. Benson. As for the two girls, one of them, Ellen, is betrothed to Gérald and on the verge of marriage. Before long the five join together in a merry song.

Their admiration for the strange garden reaches such a pitch that the two girls insist on breaking through the flimsy bamboo fence, and soon they force their way through and all enter the garden. Frederic recognizes the place and knows that the priest of this temple is Nilakantha, fiercely fanatical and full of hatred for the English; so he warns his companions that they have done wrong in this and are in imminent danger, but they pay no heed. They express their admiration for the brightly colored flowers, and Frederic points to a beautiful flower which he describes as deadly poison, at which Mrs. Benson cries: "What a dreadful country!"

One of the girls catches sight of Lakmé's jewels on the stone bench, and recalls what is whispered in conversation about the famed beauty of the priestess, whom the inhabitants look upon as a goddess. After a brief jest, all withdraw, leaving Gérald alone in the garden to sketch the jewels. Little by little Gérald falls under the influence of the magical place.

Lakmé returns, singing a sweet song, and no sooner has she dismissed her servants than she catches sight of the English intruder who has violated the sanctity of the sacred garden. She warns him to leave the place before he is discovered and killed for defiling the temple. But he — taken with the girl's enchanting beauty as he had been captivated by the beauty of her garden — pays no heed. Before long the two fall in love with each other at first sight, and they express their feelings in a graceful sung dialogue that begins "It is the god of youth." Lakmé hears the approaching footsteps of her father and urgently begs Gérald to withdraw at once. He slips away without being seen by Nilakantha. A crowd of Hindus enters the garden, crying out at the top of their voices at the sight of the shattered bamboo fence, and they become certain that the place has been defiled by strangers. Nilakantha swears revenge, and the curtain falls upon Lakmé, terrified by the contest between her love for her father and her sudden love for the handsome young Englishman.

The Scene: a public square in an Indian city

The many kinds of activity in the Eastern bazaar make this scene one of the most splendid scenes in all opera. There are Chinese and Indian shops filled with carpets, perfumes, and Oriental jewels. The crowding is intense, and everyone seems to be keeping holiday — soldiers, tourists, fortune-tellers, and fruit-sellers... And soon the party of English people whom we saw break through the fence of the sacred garden in the first act appears amid this crowded, many-colored scene.

A bell is rung, and the vendors are driven from their places, which are taken by a troupe of sacred dancing girls who present a series of Oriental dances as part of a religious festival. The English visitors admire the spectacle greatly. In the course of their comments Gérald tells them that he has seen the goddess Lakmé. His betrothed, Ellen, questions him about her, and he answers only that she is a "mysterious" woman. From a dialogue between Rose and Frederic we learn that the British military detachment has been ordered to put down a revolt against English rule conducted by the Hindu inhabitants.

Nilakantha and his daughter Lakmé arrive, dressed in beggars' clothes. The priest is resolved to take revenge upon the English who violated the sanctity of his garden, and he senses in his heart of hearts that they are present among the great throng in the bazaar. So he bids his daughter — against her will — to sing, in the hope that Gérald may betray himself. She sings the famous Bell Song, which begins "There, in the forest." And what Nilakantha expected comes to pass, after he has forced his daughter to go on singing: Gérald falls into the trap when the voice of poor Lakmé, seized by utter despair, begins to tremble, and he hurries to her. Thus Nilakantha learns who broke the sanctity of the sacred garden. Gérald and Lakmé are left alone for a few minutes, during which they express in a short song their love in spite of the difference of religion and race between them..

Lakmé warns her beloved of the danger closing in upon him, and points out to him a little hut in the forest where they can meet. But he cannot flee from his military unit, and before she can persuade him to yield to her view, they are interrupted by the passing of a procession of Brahmin worshippers bearing the statue of the goddess Durga of the ten arms.

Nilakantha comes with his priests... and while the others conceal Gérald with their flowing robes, Nilakantha slips in among them and stabs him; he falls to the ground, and Lakmé rushes to him. But a cry of joy escapes her when she sees that his wound is not fatal, and she bursts into this song: "I shall live for you alone. May God guard our love!" And as the curtain falls she calls her servant and slave Hadji to help her carry away her wounded beloved...

Act Three

The Scene: in the heart of the Indian forest.

Here is the little hut, hidden behind the flowers, the sweet herbs, and plants of every kind — the hut to which Lakmé has carried Gérald. And here is the wounded officer, lying on a bed of leaves, while his beloved sits before him singing him this song: "Beneath the sky bright with stars." When he wakes, he joins her in a song in which the two speak of their future together. The sound of a chorus is heard rising from outside... it is a band of lovers on their way to a sacred spring, in keeping with the tradition which holds that lovers who drink from this spring are assured of mutual love forever, for the goddess blesses their love. Gérald questions his beloved about this, and she eagerly agrees to go to the spring and bring the holy water back to him...

No sooner has Lakmé left the hut than the officer Frederic, Gérald's comrade, appears. He has followed the two to this remote refuge by means of the broken brambles and the blood that stained their leaves. Frederic informs his comrade that their unit has been given orders to put down the revolt, and reminds him of his duty toward his country. And after a violent struggle between Gérald's head and his heart, between his duty and his love, he decides to return to his unit.

Lakmé returns, carrying a cup filled with the water of the sacred spring, and offers it to Gérald; but she is astonished at the manner in which he receives her. Military music is heard in the distance, and he turns to listen to the drums and fifes of the marching soldiers. Lakmé is now certain that she has lost him. At once she stretches out her hand, plucks one of the poisonous flowers, and puts it in her mouth. Gérald cries out in utter horror and takes her in his arms, swearing to love her forever, and drinks with her the cup of holy water, while their two voices rise in ecstasy.

Before the poisonous flower can do its work, Nilakantha and his followers burst into the hut. But they stand thunderstruck when Lakmé tells them what has happened. Poor Gérald begs the priest to kill him, but he does not. Lakmé offers her life to the goddess as she breathes her last breaths. Gérald weeps, knowing that it is for his sake she is dying. And Nilakantha bears away his daughter's body, repeating that she has ascended to the life eternal...