My mother in me lived again; My heart while singing thought it heard her. CRESPEL. There is my torment. Thy loved mother Left thee her voice. Vain regrets! Through thee I hear her. No, no, I beg... ANTONIA (sadly). Your Antonia will sing no more! (She goes out slowly.) CRESPEL (alone). Despair! A little while again I saw those spots of fire Mark her face. God! Must I lose her I adore? Ah, that Hoffman... 'tis he Who put in her heart this craze. I fled Far as Munich... (Enter Frantz.) CRESPEL. You, Frantz, open to nobody. FRANTZ (false exit). You think so... CRESPEL. Where are you going? FRANTZ. I'm going to see if anybody rang. As you said... CRESPEL. I said, Open to nobody. (Shouting) To nobody! This time do you hear? FRANTZ. Good Heavens! we're not all of us deaf? CRESPEL. All right! The devil take you! FRANTZ. Yes, sir, the key is in the door. CRESPEL. Idiot! donkey! FRANTZ. Its agreed then. CRESPEL. Morbleu! (He exits quickly.) FRANTZ (alone). Well! What! angry always! Strange, peevish, exacting! One would think that one pleased him For his money... Day and night I'm on all fours, At the least sign I'm silent; It is just as if I sang! But no, if I sang, His contempt he'd have to modify. I sing alone sometimes, But singing isn't easy! Tra la, la, tra, la la! Still it isn't voice that I lack, I think, Tra la la, tra la la, No, 'tis the method. Of course one can't have everything. I sing pretty badly, But dance agreeably, And I do not flatter myself; Dancing shows off my advantages. 'Tis my one great attraction, But dancing isn't easy. Tra la la, tra la la. (He dances and stops.) With women the shape of my leg Would do me no harm, Tra la la, tra la la! (He falls.) No, 'tis the method. (Hoffman enters followed by Nicklausse.) HOFFMAN. Frantz! This is it. (touches Frantz on shoulder.) Up, my friend. FRANTZ. Hey, who's there? (rises, surprised.) Monsieur Hoffman! HOFFMAN. Myself. Well, Antonia? FRANTZ. He's gone out, sir. HOFFMAN (laughing). Ha, ha, deafer yet Than last year... FRANTZ. Monsieur honors me, I am very well, thanks to heaven. HOFFMAN. Antonia! I must see her. FRANTZ. Very well! what a joy For monsieur Crespel! (He goes out.) HOFFMAN (sitting before the clavichord). 'Tis a song of love That flies away, Sad or gay; It takes its turn... ANTONIA (entering suddenly). Hoffman!... HOFFMAN (receiving her in his arms). Antonia! NICKLAUSSE (aside). I am one too many, good night. (He exits.) ANTONIA. Ah, I well knew that you loved me still. HOFFMAN. My heart told me that I was regretted, But why were we separated? ANTONIA. I do not know. (Ensemble.) HOFFMAN. I have happiness in my heart; To-morrow you'll be my wife Happy couple. The future shall be ours! To love let's be faithful, That her eternal chains, Keep our hearts Conquerors even against time! ANTONIA.