- Papageno: [to the audience] How he stares at me!
- [Tamino starts towards him. Papageno talks quickly in a panic]
- Papageno: Careful, I have enormous strength!
- Tamino: Enormous strength?
- Papageno: Yeah.
- Tamino: Then you are my rescuer who fought the monster?
- [Papageno testily glances behind him at the corpse of a monster lying behind him. He looks, stunned, at the audience before turning back to face Tamino]
- Papageno: Monster?
- Tamino: But how did you do it? You have no weapons!
- [Papageno thinks for a second]
- Papageno: I don't need any.
- [He grins gleefully]
- Papageno: A good squeeze of my hand...
- [He demonstrates by squeezing his hand]
- Papageno: is stronger than any weapon.
- Tamino: Then... then you... strangled it?
- [Papageno makes a strangling motion with his hands and emphasises with a 'Kchhh' sound]
- Papageno: Strangled.
- [He walks off to one side and confesses desperately to the audience]
- Papageno: I've never been that strong in all my life!
- [first lines]
- Tamino: [singing] Help! Help, or I am lost! The cunning snake has made me my prey! Merciful Gods! It's gaining! It's gaining! Oh, rescue me! Oh, protect me!
- [He swoons]