interior of tell's cottage.a fire burning on the hearth.the open door s the scene outside.
hedwig, w, and wilheim hedw.
my own dear boys! your father comes to-day;he lives, is free, and we and all are free;the country owes its liberty to him!
walt.
and i, too, mother, bore my part in it!
i must be named with him.my father's shaft ran my life close, but yet i never flinch'd.
hedw.(embracing him).
yes, yes, thou art restored to me again!
twice have i seen thee given to my sad eyes, twice suffered all a mother's pangs for thee!
but this is past--i have you both, boys, both!
and your dear father will be back to-day.
[a monk appears at the door.]
will.
see, mother, yonder stands a holy friar;
he comes for alms, no doubt.
hedw.
go lead him in, that we may give him cheer, and make him feel that he has come into the house of joy.
[exit, and returns immediately with a cup.]
will.(to the monk).
come in, good man.mother will give you food!
walt.
come in and rest, then go refresh'd away!
monk (glancing round in terror, with unquiet looks).
where am i? in what country? tell me.
walt.
how! are you bewildered, that you know not where?
you are at burglen, in the land of uri, just at the entrance of the shechenthal.
monk (to hedwig).
are you alone? your husband, is he here?
hedw.
i am expecting him.but what ails you, man?
there's something in your looks, that omens ill!
whoe'er you be, you are in want--take that.
[offers him the cup.]
monk.
howe'er my sinking heart may yearn for food, nought will i taste till you have promised first--hedw.
touch not my garments, come not near me, monk!
you must stand farther back, if i'm to hear you.
monk.
oh, by this hearth's bright, hospitable blaze, by your dear children's heads, which i embrace--[grasps the boys.]