- Tevye: Dear God. Did you have to send me news like that - today of all days? I know, I know we are the chosen people. But once in a while, can't you choose someone else?
- Tevye: [in song] Do you love me?
- Golde: [speaking] I'm your wife!
- Tevye: [speaking] I know!
- [in song]
- Tevye: But do you love me?
- Golde: [singing] Do I love him? For twenty-five years I've lived with him, fought with him, starved with him. Twenty-five years, my bed is his...
- Tevye: Shh!
- Golde: [singing] If that's not love, what is?
- Tevye: [singing] Then you love me!
- Golde: I suppose I do!
- Tevye: Oh.
- [sings]
- Tevye: And I suppose I love you too.
- Tevye, Golde: [singing] It doesn't change a thing, but even so... After twenty-five years, it's nice to know.
- Villager: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
- Tevye: Very good. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless.
- [to God]
- Tevye: Sometimes I think, when it gets too quiet up there, You say to Yourself, "What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?"
- Lazar Wolf: How is your brother-in-law? In America?
- Tevye: Oh, he's doing very well.
- Lazar Wolf: Oh, he wrote you?
- Tevye: No, not lately.
- Lazar Wolf: Then how do you know?
- Tevye: If he was doing badly, he would write.
- Tevye: Where are you going?
- Lazar Wolf: Chicago. In America.
- Tevye: Chicago, America? We are going to New York, America. We'll be neighbors.
- Yente: Tzeitel! I happened to stop in the post office today, to say hello, see what's what. It doesn't cost anything to be friendly. Ah, so few people are like that. People, huh! I tell you, Tzeitel, if God lived on earth, people would break his windows!
- Tevye: And in the circle of our little village, We've always had our special types. For instance, Yente the matchmaker, Reb Nachum the beggar... And most important of all, our beloved Rabbi.
- Leibesh: Rabbi, may I ask you a question?
- Rabbi: Certainly, Lebisch!
- Leibesh: Is there a proper blessing... for the Tsar?
- Rabbi: A blessing for the Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Tsar... far away from us!
- Golde: Oh, you're finally here. Come, let's go home now.
- Tevye: I want to see Motel's new machine.
- Golde: You can see it some other time. Let's go home now.
- Tevye: Quiet, woman, before I get angry! Because when I get angry, even flies don't dare to fly!
- Golde: [sarcastically] I'm very frightened of you. After we finish supper I'll faint.
- Tevye: [angrily] Golde, I am the head of the house! I am the head of the family! And I want to see Motel's new machine NOW!
- [He looks inside then closes the door]
- Tevye: Now, lets go home.
- Lazar Wolf: Tevye, after the marriage, we will be related. You will be my - papa!
- Tevye: Your papa? Lazar Wolf, I always wanted a son. But I wanted one a little younger than myself!
- Hodel: [singing] For Papa, make him a scholar!
- Chava: [singing] For Mama, make him rich as a king!
- Hodel, Chava: For me, well, I wouldn't holler if he were as handsome as anything!
- Hodel, Chava: Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match! Find me a find, catch me a catch! Night after night in the dark I'm alone, so find me a match of my own!
- [first lines]
- Tevye: A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask 'Why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous?' Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!
- Tevye: Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as... as... as a *fiddler*--on the roof!
- Lazar Wolf: How is it going with you, Reb Tevye?
- Tevye: How should it go?
- Lazar Wolf: You are right.
- Tevye: And you?
- Lazar Wolf: The same.
- Tevye: I'm sorry to hear that.
- Tevye: [to God] Anyway, Motel and Tzeitel have been married for some time now. They work very hard, and they're as poor as squirrels in winter. But, they're so happy, they don't know how miserable they are.
- Tevye: [to God] It may sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not. After all, with Your help, I'm starving to death.
- All: [singing] Sunrise, sunset; sunrise, sunset; swiftly fly the years... one season following another, laden with happiness and tears.
- Fyedka: [introducing himself to Chava] I'm a pleasant fellow, charming, honest, ambitious, quite bright, and very modest.
- Perchik: There's a question... A certain question I want to discuss with you.
- Hodel: Yes?
- Perchik: It's a political question.
- Hodel: What is it?
- Perchik: The question of... marriage.
- Hodel: Is this a political question?
- Perchik: Well, yes. Yes, everything's political. Like everything else, the relationship between a man and a woman has a socioeconomic base. Marriage must be founded on mutual beliefs. A common attitude and philosophy towards society...
- Hodel: - And affection?
- Perchik: Well, yes, of course. That is also necessary. Such a relationship can have positive social values. When two people face the world with unity and solidarity...
- Hodel: And affection?
- Perchik: Yes, that is an important element! At any rate, I... I personally am in favour of such a socioeconomic relationship.
- Hodel: I think... you are asking me to marry you.
- Perchik: Well... in a theoretical sense... yes. I am.
- Hodel: I was hoping you were.
- Tevye: [after seeing Chava and Fyedka talking] What were you and he talking about?
- Chava: Nothing. We were just talking.
- Tevye: Good.
- [walks away]
- Chava: [chasing after Teyve] Papa! Fyedka and I... We've known each other for a long time...
- Tevye: Chaveleh, I would be much happier if you remained friends from a distance. You must not forget who you are and who that man is.
- Chava: He has a name, Papa.
- Tevye: Of course. All creatures on Earth have a name.
- Chava: Fyedka is not a creature, Papa. Fyedka is a man!
- Tevye: Who says he isn't? It's just that he's a different kind of man. As the Good Book says, "Each shall seek his own kind." In other words, a bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?
- Chava: The world is changing, Papa!
- Tevye: [rounding on her] No!
- [calmly]
- Tevye: No. Some things do not change for us. Some things will never change.
- Chava: We don't feel that way.
- Tevye: We?
- Chava: Fyedka and I... We want to be married.
- Tevye: What? Are you out of your mind? Don't you understand what that means, marrying outside of the faith?
- Chava: But, Papa...
- Tevye: I said no! Never talk about it again. Never mention his name again. Never see him again. Do you understand me?
- Chava: [quietly] Yes, Papa. I understand you.
- [Tevye admires the lavishness of a butcher's home]
- Tevye: And all this from killing innocent animals.
- Tevye: Because of our traditions, we've kept our balance for many, many years. Here in Anatevka, we have traditions for everything: how to sleep, how to eat... how to work... how to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered, and always wear a little prayer shawl that shows our constant devotion to God. You may ask, "How did this tradition get started?" I'll tell you!
- [pause]
- Tevye: I don't know. But it's a tradition... and because of our traditions... Every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.
- Men: [singing] Who, day and night, must scramble for a living, feed a wife and children, say his daily prayers, and who has the right as master of the house to have the final word at home? The papa! The papa! Tradition! The papa! The papa! Tradition!
- Women: Who must know the way to make a proper home, a quiet home, a kosher home? Who must raise a family and run the home, so Papa's free to read the Holy Book? The mama! The mama! Tradition! The mama! The mama! Tradition!
- Sons: [singing] At three I started Hebrew school, at ten I learned a trade. I hear they've picked a bride for me, I hope she's pretty.
- Daughters: [singing] And who does Mama teach to mend and tend and fix, preparing her to marry whoever Papa picks? The daughters! The daughters! Tradition!
- Men: [singing] The papas!
- Women: [singing] Mamas!
- Sons: [singing] Sons!
- Daughters: [singing] The daughters!
- All: [singing] Tradition!
- Hodel: We only have one Rabbi, and he only has one son. Why shouldn't I want the best?
- Tzeitel: Because you're a girl from a poor family. So whatever Yente brings, you'll take. Right? Of course, right!
- [sings, mimicking Yente]
- Tzeitel: Hodel! Oh Hodel, have I made a match for you! He's handsome, he's young! All right, he's sixty-two. But he's a nice man, a good catch, true? True! I promise you'll be happy, and even if you're not, there's more to life than that... Don't ask me what.
- [after Chava elopes]
- Tevye: [singing] Little bird... Little Chaveleh. I don't understand what's happening today. Everything is all a blur... All I can see is a happy child, the sweet little bird you were, Chaveleh, Chaveleh... Little bird, little Chaveleh, you were always such a pretty little thing, everybody's favorite child... Gentle and kind and affectionate, what a sweet little bird you were, Chaveleh, Chaveleh...
- Yente: Even the worst husband, God forbid, is better than no husband, God forbid. Who should know better than me? Ever since my husband died, I've been a poor widow. All alone, no-one to talk to, nothing to say to anyone. All I do at night is think of him. And even thinking of him gives me no pleasure.
- [Perchik and Hodel have announced their engagement]
- Tevye: He loves her. Love, it's a new style... On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren't they?... On the other hand, they decided without parents, without a matchmaker!... On the other hand, did Adam and Eve have a matchmaker?... Well, yes, they did. And it seems these two have the same Matchmaker!
- Tevye: Then there are the others in our village. They make a much bigger circle. We don't bother them, and so far, they don't bother us. And among ourselves, we *always* get along perfectly well.
- [pointing to Itchak and Avram]
- Tevye: Of course, there was the time when he sold him a horse and told him it was only six years old, when it was really 12. But now, it's all over, and we live in simple peace and harmony.
- [In Avram's ear]
- Tevye: It was 12 years old.
- [Avram nods]
- Itchak: It was six!
- Avram: Tevye knows!
- [they begin arguing]
- Tevye: And until your golden day comes, Rev. Perchik, How will you live?
- Perchik: By giving lessons to children, Do you have any children?
- Tevye: I have five daughters.
- Perchik: [Looking to Tevye in disbelief] Five?
- Tevye: Daughters...
- Perchik: Girls can learn too, girls are people.
- Mendel: A radical!
- Tevye: Oh, go away!
- Perchik: I'd be willing to teach them, open their minds to great thoughts.
- Tevye: Yeah? I'd like them to know the Good Book.