Three genii are summoned to guide
them, and the two champions thereupon proceed to Sarastro's palace.
Tamino is refused admittance by the doorkeeper, but Papageno in some
unexplained way contrives to get in, and persuades Pamina to escape with
him. They fly, but are recaptured by Monostatos, a Moor, who has been
appointed to keep watch over Pamina. Sarastro now appears, condemns
Monostatos to the bastinado, and decrees that the two lovers shall
undergo a period of probation in the sanctuary. In the second act the
ordeal of silence is imposed upon Tamino. Pamina cannot understand his
apparent coldness, and is inclined to listen to the counsels of her
mother, who tries to induce her to murder Sarastro. The priest, however,
convinces her of his beneficent intentions. The lovers go through the
ordeals of fire and water successfully, and are happily married. The
Queen of Night and her dark kingdom perish everlastingly, and the reign
of peace and wisdom is universally established. The humours of Papageno
in his search for a wife have nothing to do with the principal interest
of the plot, but they serve as an acceptable contrast to the more
serious scenes of the opera.
The libretto of the 'Die Zauberfloete' is usually spoken of as the climax
of conceivable inanity, but the explanation of many of its absurdities
seems to lie in the fact that it is an allegorical illustration of the
struggles and final triumph of Freemasonry.
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