n--Charles Dalmores; Herod--Maurice
Renaud; Vitellius--Crabbe; Phanuel--M. Vallier; High Priest--M.
Nicolay. The musical director was Henriques de la Fuente.]

CHAPTER VII

"LAKME"

Lakme is the daughter of Nilakantha, a fanatical Brahmin priest, who
has withdrawn to a ruined temple deep in an Indian forest. In his
retreat the old man nurses his wrath against the British invader, prays
assiduously to Brahma (thus contributing a fascinating Oriental mood to
the opening of the opera), and waits for the time to come when he shall
be able to wreak his revenge on the despoilers of his country. Lakme
sings Oriental duets with her slave, Mallika:--

Sous le dome epais ou le blanc jasmin
A la rose s'assemble,
Sur la rive en fleurs, riant au matin
Viens, descendons ensemble--

a dreamy, sense-ensnaring, hypnotic barcarole. The opera opens well; by
this time the composer has carried us deep into the jungle. The
Occident is rude: Gerald, an English officer, breaks through a bamboo
fence and makes love to Lakme, who, though widely separated from her
operatic colleagues from an ethnological point of view like Elsa and
Senta, to expedite the action requites the passion instanter. After the
Englishman is gone the father returns and, with an Oriental's cunning
which does him credit, deduces from the broken fence that an Englishman
has profaned the sacred spot. This is the business of Act I. In Act II
the father, disguised as a beggar who holds a dagger ever in readiness,
and his daughter, disguised as a street singer, visit a town market in
search of the profaner. The business is not to Lakme's taste, but it is
not for the like of her to neglect the opportunity offered to win
applause with the legend of the pariah's daughter, with its
tintinnabulatory charm:--

Ou va la jeune Hindoue
Fille des parias;
Quand la lune se joue
Dans les grand mimosas?

It is the "Bell song," which has tinkled so often in our concert-rooms.
Gerald recognizes the singer despite her disguise; and Nilakantha
recognizes him as the despoiler of the hallowed spot in which he
worships and incidentally conceals his daughter. The bloodthirsty
fanatic observes sententiously that Brahma has smiled and cuts short
Gerald's soliloquizing with a dagger thrust. Lakme, with the help of a
male slave, removes him to a hut concealed in the forest. While he is
convalescing the pair sing duets and exchange vows of un