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Page 23:
As Wagner's Prelude to Tristan und Isolde plays, they each step up onto the stage.
Tristan und Isolde, an opera by Richard Wagner, is arguably the most famous incarnation of the tragic love story. Audience members who are opera fans would most likely recognize the reference. It's very well-known, and even some non-opera fans might have heard it before!
Here is the Auckland Philharmonia performing the Prelude:
Page 23:
TRISTAN (in French): Noir ou blanc? Noir ou blanc?
Translation: Black or white?
Pronunciation:
023-01 - Noir ou blanc
00:00 / 00:03
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For a breakdown of King Mark's speech about the history of the country, visit the Historical Context page (or click here).
Page 27:
TRISTAN:
I was born in sorrow, for pity's sake.
Against all advice, my mother followed her heart
And had it broken by a king.
In most versions of the myth, Tristan is an orphan. His father, King Meliodas, disappears. His mother, Blanchefleur or Elizabeth/Elyabel, King Mark's sister, then dies in childbirth.
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TRISTAN (in French): J'arrive! Je veux suivre le Roi! Je veux lui parler!
Translation: "I'm here! I want to see the King! I want to speak to him!
Pronunciations:
J'arrive:
Je veux suivre le Roi!:
Je veux lui parler!:
026-1 - J'arrive
00:00 / 00:03
026-3 - Je veux lui parler!
00:00 / 00:03
026-2 - Je veux suivre le Roi
00:00 / 00:03
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Tristan (in French): Je sais.
Translation: "I know."
Pronunciation:
027-1 - Je sais
00:00 / 00:03
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Tristan (in French):
Je m'appelle Tristan.
Je suis né en tristesse, par pitié,
Contre tout conseil ma mère a suivi con coeur.
Translation:
My name is Tristan.
I was born in sadness, for pity's sake,
Against all advice, my mother followed her heart.
Pronunciation:
Je m’appelle Tristan.
Je suis né en tristesse
Par pitié
Contre tout conseil
Ma mère a suivi son coeur.
027-2 - Je m’appelle Tristan
00:00 / 00:03
027-3 - Je suis né en tristesse
00:00 / 00:04
027-5 - Countre tout conseil
00:00 / 00:03
027-6 - Ma mère a suivi son coeur
00:00 / 00:04
027-4 - par pitié
00:00 / 00:03
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Morholt: Yes, it's lovely to be in Kernow...
For a breakdown of the references in Morholt's speech, click here.
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Morholt: How are you, you wee bog man?
"Bogman" is a derogatory term in Irish English meaning simple or common.
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Tristan (in French): Je parle seulement avec le Roi.
Translation: I will only speak to the king.
Pronunciation:
029 - Je parle seulement avec le Roi
00:00 / 00:04
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Morholt: If there's anyone I hate more than the Cornish, it's the French.
For a breakdown of the references in Morholt's speech, click here.
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KING MARK: May you hang like a fog, twisting - listening to the sound of Cornwall and Ireland in complete, sweet union.
In the play, there is no moral ambiguity in the killing of the Irish king Morholt. Morholt has been demanding that Cornwall pay a tribute. He has invaded Cornwall and nastily promised to take everything they have. King Mark's hope for continued suffering after death is the threat of having to watch Cornwall and Ireland live in peace. He's a good king, not a villain.
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Tristan (in French): Je vais trouver la femme.
Translation: I am going to find the woman.
Pronunciation:
032 - Je vais trouver la femme
00:00 / 00:03
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Yseult (in Hungarian):
Szivárvány havasán
Felnött rozmaringszál
Nem szereti helyét
El akar költözni
Ko kell onnan venni
Új helybe kell tenni
Most, a sorsom
Itt a kezemben
Translation:
Rainbow on the snow
Full sprig of rosemary
I don't want to be here
I want to get away
What should I take with me?
I need to go somewhere else
Now, my fate
Is here in my hand.
Pronunciation:
Szivárvány havasán:
Felnött rozmaringszál:
Nem szereti helyét:
El akar költözni:
Ko kell onnan venni:
Új helybe kell tenni:
Most, a sorsom:
Itt a kezemben:
032-8 - Itt a kezemben
00:00 / 00:03
032-7 - Most, a sorsom
00:00 / 00:04
032-6 - Új helybe kell tenni
00:00 / 00:04
032-5 - ko kell onnan venni
00:00 / 00:03
032-4 - El akar költözni
00:00 / 00:03
032-3 - Nem szereti helyét
00:00 / 00:04
032-2 - Felnött rozmaringszál
00:00 / 00:04
032-1 - Szivárvány havasán
00:00 / 00:04
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Yseult (in Hungarian):
Minden rendben
Én tudok gyógyítani
Meggyógyítalak
Mindjárt jobb lesz
Így
Még egy kicsit
Jól van
Jó
Úgy
Minden rendben lesz
Translation:
Everything is fine
I can heal
I will heal you
You will feel better soon
So
A little more
It’s okay
Good
So
Everything will be okay.
Pronunciation:
Minden rendben:
Én tudok gyógyítani:
Meggyógyítalak:
Mindjárt jobb lesz:
Így:
Még egy kicsit:
Jól van:
Jó:
Úgy:
Minden rendben lesz:
033-9 - Úgy
00:00 / 00:02
033-8 - Jó
00:00 / 00:03
033-7 - Jól van
00:00 / 00:03
033-6 - Még egy kicsit
00:00 / 00:03
033-5 - Így
00:00 / 00:03
033-4 - Mindjárt jobb lesz
00:00 / 00:03
033-3 - Meggyógyítalak
00:00 / 00:03
033-2 - Én tudok gyógyítani
00:00 / 00:03
033-10 - Minden rendben lesz
00:00 / 00:03
033-1 - Minden rendben
00:00 / 00:04
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Yseult:
Like you, I was washed in by the tides to these strange shores.
Like you, I ran aground but was found.
A man pulled me from the waves. He raised me, loved me like a sister but now he is gone.
In some versions of the story, Yseult is from Cornwall, but a shipwreck led to her washing ashore on the coast of Ireland and being adopted by the king and queen.
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Tristan (in French):
Merci - mademoiselle...?
[...] Vous etes très gentille.
Translation:
Thank you - miss...?
[...] You are very kind.
Pronunciation:
Merci - mademoiselle...?:
Vous etes très gentille.
034-2 - Vous êtes très gentille
00:00 / 00:03
034-1 - Merci - mademoiselle…_
00:00 / 00:03
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Whitehands: The truth is out - like the baby with the bathwater.
The phrase "don't throw out the baby with the bathwater" is an idiom that means "don't throw out everything (the baby and their bathwater) just because part of it (the bathwater) is trash." In this case, the baby is Tristan and Yseult's budding affection, and the bathwater is the discovery that Tristan killed Morholt.
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Yseult (in Hungarian):
Megöllek
Nem méz sehová
Kinyírlak
Te
Translation:
I will kill you
You’re not going anywhere.
I will kill you
You
Pronunciation:
Megöllek:
Nem méz sehová:
Kinyírlak:
Te:
035-1 - Megöllek
00:00 / 00:02
035-4 - Te
00:00 / 00:02
035-3 - Kinyírlak
00:00 / 00:03
035-2 - Nem mész sehová
00:00 / 00:03
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Tristan (in French):
Qui?
Qu’est question tu fais?
Je ne comprend pas?
Pourquoi tu fais mal?
Qu’est-ce qui se passe?
Vous m’avez soigné
La blessure
C’etait génial
Maintenant vous êtes
Complétement folle
Translation:
Who?
What question are you asking me?
I don’t understand
Why are you hurting me?
What is happening?
You took care of me.
The injury
It was healed
Now you are
Completely crazy
Pronunciation:
Qui?:
Qu’est question tu fais?:
Je ne comprend pas?:
Pourquoi tu fais mal?:
Qu’est-ce qui se passe?:
Vous m’avez soigné:
La blessure:
C’etait génial:
Maintenant vous êtes:
Complétement folle:
035-9 - Vous m’avez soigné
00:00 / 00:03
035-8 - Qu’est-ce qui se passe_
00:00 / 00:03
035-7 - Pourquoi tu fais mal_
00:00 / 00:03
035-6 - Je ne comprend pas_
00:00 / 00:02
035-5 - Qu’est question tu fais_
00:00 / 00:03
035-4 - Qui_
00:00 / 00:03
035-13 - complétement folle
00:00 / 00:03
035-12 - Maintenant vous êtes
00:00 / 00:03
035-11 - c’etait génial
00:00 / 00:03
035-10 - la blessure
00:00 / 00:03
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Yseult (in Hungarian):
Mit csináltál
Milyen ember vagy te
Hogy lehet ilyet
Egy asszony leütni
Translation:
What did you do?
What kind of person are you?
How is this possible?
To knock down a woman
Pronunciation:
Mit csináltál:
Milyen ember vagy te:
Hogy lehet ilyet:
Egy asszony leütni:
035-17 - Egy asszony leütni
00:00 / 00:03
035-16 - Hogy lehet ilyet
00:00 / 00:03
035-15 - Milyen ember vagy te
00:00 / 00:03
035-14 - Mit csináltál
00:00 / 00:03
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Tristan (in French): Je ne comprends rien.
Translation: I don't understand anything.
Pronunciation:
036 - Je ne comprends rien
00:00 / 00:03
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Tristan (in French): Bonjour
Translation: Hello
Pronunciation:
039 - Bonjour
00:00 / 00:03
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Brangian: Oh wake up mistress! - smelling salts... I need smelling salts.
Smelling salts contain ammonia, and when they are held under the nose of someone who has fainted (or is groggy), the ammonia gas triggers a reflexive deep breath, and the rush of oxygen wakes them up.
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Tristan: I have found her. Yseult. Morholt's foundling sister.
Foundlings are babies/children of unknown parentage who are abandoned to be found and raised by others. In this case, Yseult is adopted by the king and queen, making her a princess, but not by blood. This may be why her red hair is such a remarkable feature.
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Tristan (in French): C’est ça. J’ai cherché partout dans le monde, et j’ai trouvé la femme.
Translation: That's it. I searched everywhere in the world, and I found the woman
Pronunciation:
C’est ça:
j’ai cherché partout:
dans le monde:
Et j’ai trouvé la femme:
040-4 - Et j’ai trouvé la femme
00:00 / 00:03
040-3 - dans le monde
00:00 / 00:03
040-2 - j’ai cherché partout
00:00 / 00:03
040-1 - C’est ça
00:00 / 00:03
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Tristan (in French): Mon Dieu
Translation: My God
Pronunciation:
043 - Mon Dieu
00:00 / 00:02
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TRISTAN:
But to watch her hand take his, to hear the promise,
'With my body I doo thee worship' - is more than I can bear.
"With my body I do thee worship" is a traditional marriage vow from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. It's sandwiched between "with this ring I thee wed" and "with all my worldly goods I thee endow." It makes sex sacred between married people, which is why Tristan, who has been having sex with Yseult, finds that phrase particularly upsetting.
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WHITEHANDS:
It's hard to keep things white:
Dirt loves it, blood loves it, sin loves it.
Christening gown, wedding dress, shroud:
All white.
If one were baptised in black,
It would not show up the dirt picked up along the way.
Whitehands is talking about the expectation of purity as represented by what is worn at three major moments in a person's life: birth, marriage, and death. But just as white is completely unforgiving when the smallest speck of dirt lands on it, the expectation of purity is the same.
*The medieval Christening outfit was mostly swaddling clothes, making the reference here a little anachronistic, but she is describing something like the picture on the right. The white symbolizes the innocence and purity of the baby who is being dedicated to Christianity.
*In medieval Celtic wedding dresses, blue was actually the color used to indicate purity before white came into fashion. Brides would often just wear their best dress. A royal wedding dress would use fine fabrics like silk, while a peasant's dress might be linen. A white wedding dress, as Whitehands describes, also symbolizes the expected purity (virginity) of a bride, who might be anywhere from 12 years old to mid-twenties.
*The white shroud is linen fabric that is draped over a dead body, also symbolizing expected purity and godliness of the dead person's spirit. The body was washed, dressed, and wrapped in a shroud before it was put out for viewing.
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WHITEHANDS: We'll strike hard and ring the bell on the barometer of love.
A barometer is an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure, but Whitehands is referring to a carnival game that claims to measure strength by gauging how hard one can hit the base of the game with a hammer.
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YSEULT: I have married a King who will expect certain things to be intact on the wedding night. I am no maid - and he will know this soon enough.
Yseult is no longer a virgin, which is why she is no longer a "maid." The king will expect his bride to be a virgin, which translates as an intact hymen (a membrane in the vagina that partially closes the opening and is expected to break and bleed the first time the person has sex). Of course, the hymen can break in many non-sexual ways. Hymens also come in a huge variety of positioning, thickness, and in some people, absence. In other words, there is no legitimate test of virginity.
In medieval marriages, blood on the sheets was the expected evidence of virginity, and the bloody sheets were often hung and displayed.
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YSEULT:
Wild nights,
Wild nights
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be our luxury
Futile the winds to a heart in port,
Done with the compass
Done with the chart
Rowing in Eden, ah the sea
Might I but moor tonight in thee
Yseult is quoting the entirety of Emily Dickinson's 1861 poem "Wild Nights." The poem uses the sea as a metaphor for unrestrained passion, which Yseult relates to the literal sea voyage on which she shared unrestrained passion with Tristan. Now that she's marrying, she is docked and safe. There are no more wild nights.
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Frocin (in Latin): Hell, all I need is one photo of Tristan and Yseult in flagrante delecto.
Translation: Literally “in passionate delight,” but the phrase is generally a euphemism for naked and/or having sex
Pronunciation:
050 - In flagrante delecto
00:00 / 00:04
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Tristan (in French): Si c’est bien, c’est blanc. Si non, c’est noir.
Translation: If it's good news, they're white. If not, they're black.
Pronunciation:
Si c’est bien:
C’est blanc:
Si non:
C’est noir
060-1 - Si c’est bien
00:00 / 00:02
060-2 - c'est blanc
00:00 / 00:02
060-4 - c’est noir
00:00 / 00:03
060-3 - si non
00:00 / 00:02
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