LIFE IS A SET OF NESTING DOLLS

Another Westeros Sound Horizon filk: this one with "Jinsei wa ireko ningyo" ("Life is a Set of Nesting Dolls"), a husband and wife love song that contains a Dickensian love story...
So I thought I had to do this with Stannis's character arc...


NARRATOR:
Stannis Baratheon,
the Lord of Dragonstone.

STANNIS:
I am the no-nonsense Master of Ships, Baratheon!
Ah... I am so broken, I must vent my frustrations!

Ladies and men of rank!
Wow, this year's campaign will surely be a tough one!
Today, we are going to offer you the story of my splendorous lifetime!
I would like to share the tragedies of my childhood and youth!
You will see this story will bring you surely to tears!

Lord of Light! Lord of Light!
What are those faces like pale wights!
Listen closely and embrace, hanging at the edge of your seat!

At Storm's End I was born and I was raised, the middle brother out of three...
And, as a child, our parents drowned next to our shore, after years sailing the seas...
My older brother Robert, heir and lord, was sent for fostering away...
He was proud and annoying, yet I really missed him: soon he went to war, I heard say!

Destiny is like those nesting dolls of those you put within one another...
No matter how many you open, sorrow's always found inside!

Lord of Light! Lord of Light!
Something more is now in sight!
And if we fail again, it will not bring us to tears!

I was thus finally promoted to Lord of Stormlands and Storm's End...
Those ships and tents with flags as green as springtime were 'round us: we were under siege!
My younger brother Renly was well fed, a spoiled child, they worried for his peeves...
While the rest of us, in the end, had to scour the godswood to eat grass and leaves!

Life for me is like those nesting dolls of those you put within one another...
No matter how many you open, pain is always found inside!

Now, everyone get ready with your handkerchiefs! The war came to an end and the siege was broken, yet then came the beginning of a real tragedy for Stannis Baratheon!

When the war gave way to peace, Robert was crowned king,
yet he gave Storm's End to Renly and Dragonstone to me,
though our ancestral estate belonged to me by right...
I had to wed a Reachwoman whose name I'd never heard...

Maybe since I let (I let) the royal children flee (they fled)...
For my greatest failure, I won Dragonstone!

Ere I left, I was due to marry Selyse...
She was not the kind that pleased me, yet I had to wed...
That night I found Robert with her sis in bed...
their illegitimate child would grow up with Renly.

I saw in Storm's End (Storm's End), thus, no future more (no future)...
There was naught for us, to leave for Dragonstone!
Dragonstone!

SELYSE:
Stannis? Stannis?
STANNIS:
Aww... Selyse!
My beloved wife! The only one who seems to understand me!
SELYSE:
Stop blaming yourself!
Any news about our military campaign?

STANNIS (ironic):
Business as usual, darling!
Right now, I thought we should do a pause, shall we not?
Of course, indeed, thank you, thank you...

Enough! War is serious business! There is a throne to claim and it is mine by right!

Even though warfare is meant for taking risks,
and we don't know how long the campaign will last.
The Seven never heard my prayers in my life,
while mortals have always been partial and unfair!

SELYSE:
Yet, in spite of all the hardships, you 
would rather die than give up!

STANNIS:
Hard, strong as iron, thus I'll break ere I bend.
It seems that my sorrows will reach no good end.
Robert keeps on with his strong drink and sex,
Renly keeps on dressing up and laughing at me...

SELYSE:
In spite of what both your brothers think,
I'll always stand by your side!

STANNIS & SELYSE:
I am not here to receive gold, or fame, or fortune!
I am not here to be renowned throughout the Known World!
That has never in my life been 
at all my objective!
What kind of ending has R'hllor in store?
One happy or tragic?
I just want to make the One True God rise
above the false images' creeds in Westeros!

STANNIS:
That star-crossed middle child
is now a thing of the far past...
Once I came to Dragonstone as 
an unwelcome traitor...
I still remember the smallfolk's faces, 
and I still hear their whispers.
That made me consecrate 
myself more to my duty!

STANNIS & SELYSE:
The existence of our family gives us
the strength to carry on now:
our only daughter and the blessing
of the Lord of Light!

Never at all fear the wrath of the Lord,
though he may seem cruel, wicked, partial, or unfair.
Never believe that R'hllor will always smile
upon those who struggle for their lives,
for 'tis how He puts them to the test!

STANNIS:
Life for me is like those nesting dolls of those you put within one another...
STANNIS & SELYSE:
Still, in spite of all the hardships, we will always carry on.
Always carry on...

STANNIS:
Selyse! Selyse! Lord of Light!
Lord of Light! Lord of Light!
SELYSE:
It's wonderful!