L'enfant et les Sortilèges

By Maurice Ravel

Libretto by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette

Time: Unspecified
Place: A country manor

A Child is in his room, stretched out lazily on the floor in front of his books.  He whines that he is bored and wishes he were free to run about making mischief.  He wants to make Mama very sorry that she banished him to his dreary lessons. 

Mama enters and, discovering that he has not even started his lesson and has carelessly spilled ink all over the carpet, scolds him furiously.  The Child peevishly sticks out his tongue at her.  Mama tells him that, as a reward for his impudence, he shall remain locked in the room until dinner-time with only sugarless tea and a dry crust of bread for lunch.  As she leaves, she tells him to think about his misdeeds and the displeasure they have caused her.

The moment the door closes, the spiteful Child starts off on a vindictive rampage, and proceeds to tear everything in the room apart. Exhausted at last, the little demon goes to throw himself into the large Armchair, but a head pops up from the backrest and the chair scampers out from under the astonished Child.  The Louis XV Chair also comes to life and the two pieces of furniture execute a peculiar dance.  Repudiating their tormentor, they declare themselves free from his abuse.  No longer will they provide him with a soft place to relax and dream.

The Grandfather Clock complains that, thanks to the Child, he has literally become unbalanced and can no longer keep time. How sad for this venerable old timepiece to be subjected to such indignity---he who sounded the hour so sweetly when the little boy was born!  Ashamed, the Clock hides his face against the wall.

The Cup and Saucer the Child hurled across the floor and smashed grow to enormous proportions, come to life and engage in nonsensical banter.  They dance around the room in high spirits, then disappear from sight.

Feeling cold and lonely, the Child goes to warm himself by the fireplace.

All at once he leaps back as the Fire darts out into the room and dances madly about, admonishing him for prodding her with the poker, overturning the kettle, and spilling the matches.  She warns that though she warms those who treat her well, she also knows how to burn those who insult her.  The boy frolics with the little flames which skip playfully around him, but when a big cloud of smoke descends to smother the Fire, he grows frightened.

Voices call out, seemingly from nowhere.  It is the lament of the Shepherds and Shepherdesses, who step out of the pattern on the tattered strips of wallpaper.  As they file past the Child, they sing a plaintive march, mourning that their beautiful world has been demolished.  Upbraiding the Child for his ingratitude, they remind him that when he was an infant their colorful images inspired his very first smile.  Sadly, they turn away and leave, and the boy falls upon the floor, sobbing in despair.

Suddenly out steps an enchanted Princess from a fairytale the Child had just begun to read the day before---the boy's first love and the one for whom he cries out in his dreams.  The Princess laments that by destroying the book before her story reached its ending, the Child has suspended her forever in an indefinite fate.  To his dismay, the Child learns that in his thoughtless rampage he murdered all the magical characters and elements of the tale that delighted him so.  With childish bravado, he tells her that he will take the place of her knight in shining armor and rescue her from all danger.  What can a weak little boy do in the brief moments of a dream, she asks; perhaps if he had left her story intact he would have grown up to discover that he was indeed her Prince Charming, but now all is lost. 

Alone and despondent, the Child searches vainly among the ruined books for some trace of the Princess’s story.  Instead of the beautiful Princess, however, a wizened Little Old Man, Arithmetic, pops up and pours forth an incomprehensible stream of equations and numbers.  The odd fellow waves his stick over the boy's mathematics book and the Numbers leap off the page and jump about frantically to their master's dizzying tune.  The Child becomes dazed and frightened. 

Twilight descends and a full moon shines through the window.  The Child rouses himself and discovers a big black Tomcat stretching sinuously nearby.

Despite the boy's expectations, the animal does not speak, but only hisses at him in annoyance, for he only has eyes for the white Female Cat who stands in the doorway.  The felines perform a provocative dance that greatly upsets the Child.  They then head out into the garden, and the boy, hypnotized, follows.

A magical transformation takes place, and the Child stands in wonder amid the various sounds of the night creatures.  An enormous Tree shuffles forward, bemoaning his suffering from the cuts inflicted the day before by the little boy.  Recalling the prank, the brat pulls out his knife and runs toward the Tree with a mischievous glint in his eye.  The other Trees, all victims of the young hooligan's handiwork, interrupt him, swaying in unison and wailing that their wounds are bleeding sap even now.

Colorful insects fly back and forth in the garden.  A lonely Dragonfly swoops in and hovers over the Child's net, mourning the loss of her mate whose lovely wings it ensnared.  The Nightingale and Bat join her, crying out for their beloved companions, who were also murdered by the Child. In a fury, the Bat picks up the net and chases after the boy.

The music grows calm and peaceful as a group of animals enter.  A bunch of baby Tree-frogs hop about with their father, leapfrogging over one another.

Music is playing and all of the animals become very excited, "Mama!", the Child cries in alarm.

When the father Tree-frog approaches the Child in friendship, the Squirrel warns him to beware the cage.  The frog dismisses this, having always been able in the past to escape the little boy.  The Squirrel prophesies that the foolish Frog will eventually learn the tyranny of the iron bars.  The Child, listening to this conversation, pleads with the Squirrel to understand that he only captured him in order to observe him more closely.  He tells the boy to look into his eyes to see how they reflect the freedom of unfettered nature.

The boy also reads in those bright eyes that he has no place in the free life of the Squirrel, and all at once the Child becomes aware of his isolation in this great mysterious garden.  "Mama!" he cries, cowering in fear as the animals crowd menacingly around him.

The beasts buffet the helpless boy back and forth, and in their fury they soon turn on one another.  All at once, a Baby Owl is injured in the melee; the animals, ashamed of their actions, immediately grow quiet. 

Disregarding his own wounds, the Child rushes over to the stricken creature and with his handkerchief binds up its bloody foot.  The animals watch in wonder this first instance of compassion from their dreaded enemy.  The Baby Owl gets up and hops away, and the boy, overcome by the ordeal, falls in a faint.  Greatly concerned, the creatures despair that they have hurt him and do not know how to tend his injuries.  They worry that he may die without immediate attention.

Then someone remembers:  a little while ago, he called out, "Mama!"  This must be the way to summon help for their poor friend.  Crowding around the Child, the animals put their voices together and cry, "Mama!  Mama!"  The animals sing a fervent hymn to the unconscious lad.  The garden begins to fade away and suddenly the Child wakes to find himself safely back in his room, with Mama's friendly face smiling over him.  He joyfully throws his arms around her in as the opera reaches its heartwarming conclusion.

• Synopsis courtesy of New York City Opera

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