ympia, (the Automaton), who surprises everybody by her {439}
loveliness and her fine singing.--Hoffmann is completely bewitched and
as soon as he finds himself alone with her, he makes her an ardent
declaration of love and is not at all discouraged by her sitting stock
still and only answering from time to time a dry little "ja, ja". At
last he tries to embrace her, but as soon as he touches her she rises
and trips away.

Hoffmann's friend Niklas finds him in the seventh heaven of rapture and
vainly endeavours to enlighten him as to the reason of the beauty's
stiffness and heartlessness.

When the dancing begins Hoffmann engages Olympia, and they dance on,
always faster and faster, until Hoffmann sinks down in a swoon, his
spectacles being broken by the fall. Olympia spins on alone as fast as
ever and presently dances out of the room, Cochenille vainly trying to
stop her. Coppelius now enters in a fury having found out that
Spalanzani's draft on Elias is worthless. He rushes to the room, into
which Olympia has vanished and when Hoffmann revives he hears a
frightful sound of breaking and smashing, and Spalanzani bursts in with
the news that Coppelius has broken his valuable automaton. Thus
Hoffmann learns that he has been in love with a senseless doll. The
guests, who now enter shout with laughter at his confusion, while
Spalanzani and Coppelius load each other with abuse.

The second act takes place in Giulietta's palace in Venice. Everything
breathes joy and love.--Both Niklas and Hoffmann are courting the
beautiful lady. {440} Niklas warns his friend against her, but
Hoffmann only laughs at the idea that he is likely to love a courtezan.
The latter is entirely in the hand of the wizard Dapertutto, who acts
towards Hoffmann as an evil spirit under three different names in each
of his three love affairs. Giulietta has already stolen for him the
shadow of her former lover Schlemihl; now Dapertutto wounds her vanity,
by telling her, that Hoffmann has spoken disdainfully of her, and makes
her promise to win the young man's love and by that means to make him
give her his reflection from a looking-glass.

She succeeds easily, and there ensues a charming love-duet, during
which they are surprised by the jealous Schlemihl. Giulietta tells
Hoffmann, that her former lover has the key of her apartments in his
pocket, she then departs leaving the two lovers and Dapertutto alone.
When Hoffmann peremptorily demands the