Do you love me?
GOLDE:
Do I what?
TEVYE:
Do you love me?
GOLDE:
Do I love you?
With our daughters getting married
And this trouble in the town,
You’re upset, you’re worn out,
Go inside, go lie down.
Maybe it’s indigestion.TEVYE:
Golde, I’m asking you a question-
Do you love me?GOLDE:
You’re a fool.
TEVYE:
I know-
But do you love me?GOLDE:
Do I love you?
For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes,
Cooked your meals, cleaned your house,
Given your children, milked the cow.
After twenty-five years, why talk about
Love right now?TEVYE:
Golde, the first time I met you
Was on our wedding day.
I was scared.GOLDE:
I was shy.
TEVYE:
I was nervous.
GOLDE:
So was I.
TEVYE:
But my father and my mother
Said we’d learn to love each other.
And now I’m asking, Golde,
Do you love me?GOLDE:
I’m your wife.
TEVYE:
I know-
But do you love me?GOLDE:
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.
If that’s not love, what is?TEVYE:
Then you love me?
GOLDE:
I suppose I do.
TEVYE:
And I suppose I love you, too.
TEVYE and GOLDE:
It doesn’t change a thing,
But even so,
After twenty-five years,
It’s nice to know.Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof.