The curtain rises on the crew of the Norwegian brig singing a frolicking sailor song, and jesting with a bevy of girls, who bring them refreshments. The special object of their jest and fun (in which the girls also join), is the crew of the “Flying Dutchman,” whom they cannot persuade to join in their merry-making. They finally conclude that the crew of the neighboring ship must be dead, and the suspicion gains belief that the “Flying Dutchman” is playing one of his ugly tricks. The crew of the “Flying Dutchman” sing a fantastic song to which the Norwegian sailors intently listen, and whose weird words they finally endeavor to drown in a song of their own. Erik pleads again with Senta, and the “Flying Dutchman” appears on the scene, and orders his crew to prepare for immediate departure, thinking Senta had proven as faithless and inconstant in the love she had vowed him, as the rest of womankind he had come in contact with. Senta, however, vows that she will be true to him, and even after the “Flying Dutchman” discloses his identity, she does not falter in her resolution. “Thine will I be, until death shall us part!” she passionately exclaims and the curtain falls.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
| Daland | A Norwegian Navigator |
| Senta | His Daughter |
| Erik | A Huntsman |
| Mary | Senta’s Nurse |
| The Mate | Of Daland’s Vessel |
| The Flying Dutchman. | |
Sailors of the Norwegian Vessel. The Crew of the Flying Dutchman. Girls.
SCENE: The Norwegian Coast
[ERSTER AKT.]
[ ERSTER AUFTRITT.]
Matrosen.
Hohoje! Hohoje! Halloho! u. s. w.