Elisabeth - Prolog

English: Prologue. Translation by youtuber OiaHavanah.

Voice/Judge: But why, Lucheni? Why did you kill the Empress Elisabeth?
Luigi Lucheni: Alla malora [to hell]!
Judge: Answer, Luigi Lucheni!
Lucheni: Why? Why? Night after night the same question-- for a hundred years! Why all this questioning? Merda [shit]! I am dead!
Judge: The terrible assassination of the Empress of Austria!
Lucheni: Va a farti fottere [Fuck off].
Judge: Explain, at last, what was the motive!
Lucheni: The motive? I killed her because... She wanted it!
Judge: Don't speak such nonsense!
Lucheni: She really did! There are witnesses here to testify for it!
Judge: What witnesses would that be?
Lucheni: Her contemporaries, my dear sir! They can't find peace and still talk about... Elisabeth!

The Dead:
Sunken is the old world. The flesh decays, our spark fades.
But when soul meets soul, we still dance the dance of death.
Lust, Grief, Insanity, drives us.
Need, Envy, Duty, crushes us.
Dream, Desire, All that remains.
Wishes, Illusions, they move the world.
Elisabeth, Elisabeth. Even here we are apart.
An enigma that no spirit guesses. An omen that no man recognizes.
Shy, Weak, Lucky and damned.
Wild, Awake, Loneliness and desire.
Poor, Rich, What is it you seek?
Hard, Soft, What have you destroyed?

Lucheni: No one was as proud as she. She despised you.
The Dead: Death.
Lucheni: She laughed at you.
The Dead: Shadows in the abyss of time.
Lucheni: No one ever understood her but him. But she danced for freedom without giving in.
The Dead: Spoiled.
Lucheni: She wanted to look into the darkness.
The Dead: Threatened. She desired our curse. What terrified us, she adored.
Everyone has danced with Death, but no one like Elisabeth! [repeat 4x]

Lucheni: Attenzione [Attention]! His Majesty. Death.
Death:
What worth does it have, this old song? Those times when my heart was in anguish.
Angels call it joy. Devils call it pain. People say it must be love.
My orders are to destroy. I am cold. I collect those who belong to me. Young or old.
I do not know how I fell in love, when there is no love within. But it is true, I did love her.

Judge: You're avoiding the questions, Lucheni! Love. Death. Don't spin a story!
Lucheni: But it's true! She loved Death and he loved her.
Judge: For the last time, Lucheni. Who were you working for?
Lucheni: Death. No one but Death.
Judge: The motive, Lucheni?
Lucheni: Love. Un grande amore [A great love]!
All: Elisabeth, Elisabeth . . . (etc.)