[Enter a RECRUIT, a CITIZEN, DRAGOONS.]
RECRUIT [emerges from the tent with a helmet on his head and a wine-bottle in his hand]:
Say good-bye to my father and uncles too!
I’m a soldier, and never again I’ll see you!
FIRST TROOPER: Another one to join the throng!
CITIZEN: Oh, Franz, you’ll be sorry before long!
RECRUIT [sings]:
Drum and fife,
The sound of war!
A wandering life
The whole world o’er!
I’ll lead my horse
A merry course,
With sword at my side
I’ll go far and wide,
Swift as an arrow,
Free as a sparrow
Through bushes and trees
Like heaven’s fair breeze!
Hurray there! Friedland’s the flag that I serve!
SECOND TROOPER: Well spoken! we’ll see you get all you deserve!
[They make him welcome.]
CITIZEN: Let him go! His parents are decent folk.
FIRST TROOPER: We weren’t found under a gypsy’s cloak.
CITIZEN: But he has money and means, I tell you.
Just feel this cloth, the finest they’ll sell you!
TRUMPETER: The Emperor’s coat has the highest value.
CITIZEN: He’ll inherit a share in a hatter’s trade.
SECOND TROOPER: By his own will man’s fortune is made.
CITIZEN: His grandmother’s shop will be his when she dies.
FIRST TROOPER: Pah! who talks of trade when the sulphur flies?
CITIZEN: And an inn from his godmother’s estates,
A cellar with twenty casks of wine.
TRUMPETER: That’s something for him to share with his mates.
SECOND TROOPER: Brother! your tent must be pitched next to mine.
CITIZEN: He leaves a bride in sorrow and tears.
FIRST TROOPER: Good, that shows an iron heart that’s a stranger to fears.
CITIZEN: When his grandmother hears it, she’ll pass away!
SECOND TROOPER: All the better, then he can inherit straightway.
SERGEANT-MAJOR [approaches with dignity, and lays his hand on the RECRUIT’s helmet]:
See here! you know what you have done.
You have made your choice, a new man you’ve put on,
With this helm on your head and a sword at your waist,
In a worthy band yourself you have placed.
A noble spirit you must be airing –
FIRST TROOPER: Especially with money you mustn’t be sparing.
SERGEANT-MAJOR: Upon the good ship Fortunah
About to set your course you are;
The whole wide world is yours, my son,
But nothing ventured, nothing won.
These foolish townsfolk will always drag
Round and round on the spot, like the tanner’s nag;
Only the soldier can prove his worth,
For war is the password now on earth.
Look at me now! Here in my coat
I carry the Emperor’s stick – just note!
All forms of government and rule
Start with the stick – it’s their very first tool;
The sceptre in the king’s own hand
Is only a stick, be it never so grand;
Once you’re a corporal, you stand
On the ladder that leads to power and might;
Yes, even you can reach such a height.
FIRST TROOPER: Provided you can read and write.
SERGEANT-MAJOR: I’ll give you an example straightway,
I heard it myself the other day.
The commander of the dragoon brigade,
Butler by name, was a comrade of mine
Thirty years ago, at Cologne on the Rhine.
Major-general now he’s been made.
It’s because he didn’t stay in the shade;
All the world with his exploits has rung –
My services remained unsung.
Yes, and Friedland himself, our commander-in-chief,
Who’s powerful now beyond belief,
Was a simple nobleman once, and no more,
But he put his trust in the goddess of war,
And now to such greatness and power he has grown
That he’s the next man to the Emperor’s throne!
Who knows if he’ll ever meet his match – [Slyly]
But don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
FIRST TROOPER: Yes, he started with little, and now he’s so great.
At Altdorf, when he wore a student’s gown
His name was soon known all over the town,
For – if such a thing it’s permitted to state,
He nearly broke his servant’s crown.
The gentlemen in Nuremberg city
Wanted to lock him up, without pity;
They’d built a fine new prison cell,
For the honour of christening it they’d picked him.
But what did he do? He was sly, you can tell,
He sent in his poodle as the first victim.
They call it the kennel to this very day.
He’s a fine one to think of that, I’d say!
And of all his mighty deeds, that trick
Is the one to remember him I’d always pick.
[The girl has come to serve them; the SECOND TROOPER flirts with her.]
DRAGOON [intervening]: Stop that, comrade, and let her go.
SECOND TROOPER: Whose business is it, I’d like to know!
DRAGOON: Then let me tell you, that girl is mine!
FIRST TROOPER: A girl for himself alone! That’s fine!
Master dragoon, are you out of your senses?
SECOND TROOPER: The camp’s no place for such pretences.
A pretty face isn’t just for one,
It’s for all to share, like the light of the sun! [Kisses her.]
DRAGOON [tearing her away]: I tell you again, I’ll not stand it! Have done!
FIRST TROOPER: Here come the bandsmen, forget your offences!
SECOND TROOPER: If you want a fight, that’s all right by me!
SERGEANT-MAJOR: Peace, peace, you fellows! A kiss is free.