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diff --git a/6742.txt b/6742.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b89d5f --- /dev/null +++ b/6742.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2450 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The School for Husbands, by Moliere + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The School for Husbands + +Author: Moliere + +Posting Date: April 18, 2013 [EBook #6742] +Release Date: October, 2004 +First Posted: January 20, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS *** + + + + +Produced by David Moynihan, D Garcia, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +L'ECOLE DES MARIS. + +COMEDIE. + + * * * * * + +THE SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS. + +A COMEDY IN THREE ACTS. + +(_THE ORIGINAL IN VERSE_.) + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. + +_The School for Husbands_ was the first play in the title of which +the word "School" was employed, to imply that, over and above the +intention of amusing, the author designed to convey a special lesson to +his hearers. Perhaps Moliere wished not only that the general public +should be prepared to find instructions and warnings for married men, +but also that they who were wont to regard the theatre as injurious, or +at best trivial, should know that he professed to educate, as well as to +entertain. We must count the adoption of similar titles by Sheridan and +others amongst the tributes, by imitation, to Moliere's genius. + +This comedy was played for the first time at Paris, on the 24th of June, +1661, and met with great success. On the 12th of July following it was +acted at Vaux, the country seat of Fouquet, before the whole court, +Monsieur, the brother of the King, and the Queen of England; and by them +also was much approved. Some commentators say that Moliere was partly +inspired by a comedy of Lope de Vega. _La Discreta enamorada_, The +Cunning Sweetheart; also by a remodelling of the same play by Moreto, +_No puede ser guardar una muger_, One cannot guard a woman; but +this has lately been disproved. It appears, however, that he borrowed +the primary idea of his comedy from the _Adelphi_ of Terence; and +from a tale, the third of the third day, in the Decameron of Boccaccio, +where a young woman uses her father-confessor as a go-between for +herself and her lover. In the _Adelphi_ there are two old men of +dissimilar character, who give a different education to the children +they bring up. One of them is a dotard, who, after having for sixty +years been sullen, grumpy and avaricious, becomes suddenly lively, +polite, and prodigal; this Moliere had too much common sense to imitate. + +_The School for Husbands_ marks a distinct departure in the +dramatist's literary progress. As a critic has well observed, it +substitutes for situations produced by the mechanism of plot, characters +which give rise to situations in accordance with the ordinary operations +of human nature. Moliere's method--the simple and only true one, and, +consequently, the one which incontestably establishes the original +talent of its employer--is this: At the beginning of a play, he +introduces his principal personages: sets them talking; suffers them to +betray their characters, as men and women do in every-day +life,--expecting from his hearers that same discernment which he has +himself displayed in detecting their peculiarities: imports the germ of +a plot in some slight misunderstanding or equivocal act; and leaves all +the rest to be effected by the action and reaction of the characters +which he began by bringing out in bold relief. His plots are thus the +plots of nature; and it is impossible that they should not be both +interesting and instructive. That his comedies, thus composed, are +besides amusing, results from the shrewdness with which he has selected +and combined his characters, and the art with which he arranges the +situations produced. + +The character-comedies of Moliere exhibit, more than any others, the +force of his natural genius, and the comparative weakness of his +artistic talent. In the exhibition and the evolution of character, he is +supreme. In the unravelling of his plots and the _denouement_ of +his situations, he is driven too willingly to the _deus ex +machina_. + +_The School for Husbands_ was directed against one of the special +and prominent defects of society in the age and country in which Moliere +lived. Domestic tyranny was not only rife, but it was manifested in one +of its coarsest forms. Sganarelle, though twenty years younger than +Ariste, and not quite forty years old, could not govern by moral force; +he relied solely on bolts and bars. Physical restraint was the safeguard +in which husbands and parents had the greatest confidence, not +perceiving that the brain and the heart are always able to prevail +against it. This truth Moliere took upon himself to preach, and herein +he surpasses all his rivals; in nothing more than in the artistic device +by which he introduces the contrast of the wise and trustful Ariste, +_raisonneur_ as he is called in French, rewarded in the end by the +triumph of his more humane mode of treatment. Moliere probably expresses +his own feelings by the mouth of Ariste: for _The School for +Husbands_ was performed on the 24th of June, 1661, and about eight +months later, on the 20th of February, 1662, he married Armande Bejart, +being then about double her age. As to Sganarelle in this play, he +ceases to be a mere buffoon, as in some of Moliere's farces, and becomes +the personification of an idea or of a folly which has to be ridiculed. + +Moliere dedicated _The School for Husbands_ to the Duke of Orleans, +the King's only brother, in the following words:-- + +MY LORD, + +I here shew France things that are but little consistent. Nothing can be +so great and superb as the name I place in front of this book; and +nothing more mean than what it contains. Every one will think this a +strange mixture; and some, to express its inequality, may say that it is +like setting a crown of pearls and diamonds on an earthen statue, and +making magnificent porticos and lofty triumphal arches to a mean +cottage. But, my Lord, my excuse is, that in this case I had no choice +to make, and that the honour I have of belonging to your Royal Highness, +[Footnote: Moliere was the chief of the troupe of actors belonging to +the Duke of Orleans, who had only lately married, and was not yet +twenty-one years old.] absolutely obliged me to dedicate to you the +first work that I myself published. [Footnote: _Sganarelle_ had +been borrowed by Neufvillenaine; _The Pretentious Ladies_ was only +printed by Moliere, because the copy of the play was stolen from him; +_Don Garcia of Navarre_ was not published till after his death, in +1682.] It is not a present I make you, it is a duty I discharge; and +homages are never looked upon by the things they bring. I presumed, +therefore, to dedicate a trifle to your Royal Highness, because I could +not help it; but if I omit enlarging upon the glorious truths I might +tell of you, it is through a just fear that those great ideas would make +my offering the more inconsiderable. I have imposed silence on myself, +meaning to wait for an opportunity better suited for introducing such +fine things; all I intended in this epistle was to justify my action to +France, and to have the glory of telling you yourself, my Lord, with all +possible submission, that I am your Royal Highness' very humble, very +obedient, and very faithful servant, + +MOLIERE. + + +In the fourth volume of the "Select Comedies of M. de Moliere, London, +1732," the translation of _The School for Husbands_ is dedicated to +the Right Honourable the Lady Harriot Campbell, in the following +words:-- + +MADAM, + +A _Comedy_ which came abroad in its Native Language, under the +Patronage of the _Duke_ of ORLEANS, Brother to the _King_ of +FRANCE, attempts now to speak English, and begs the Honour of Your +LADYSHIP'S Favour and Acceptance. That distinguishing good Sense, that +nice Discernment, that refined Taste of Reading and Politeness for which +Your LADYSHIP is so deservedly admir'd, must, I'm persuaded, make You +esteem _Moliere_; whose way of expression is easy and elegant, his +Sentiments just and delicate, and his morals untainted: who constantly +combats Vice and Folly with strong Reason and well turn'd Ridicule; in +short, whose _Plays_ are all instructive, and tend to some useful +Purpose:--An Excellence sufficient to recommend them to your LADYSHIP. + +As for this Translation, which endeavours to preserve the Spirit as well +as Meaning of the Original, I shall only say, that if it can be so happy +as to please Your LADYSHIP, all the Pains it cost me will be over-paid. + +I beg Pardon for this Presumption, and am, with the greatest Respect +that's possible, _Madam, Your Ladyship's Most Obedient and most Humble +Servant_, + +THE TRANSLATOR. + + +Sir Charles Sedley, well known through a history of a "frolick" which +Pepys relates in his "Diary," [Footnote: See Pepys' Diary, October 23, +1668.] wrote _The Mulberry Garden_, of which Langbaine, in his "An +Account of the Dramatick Poets," states "I dare not say that the +character of Sir John Everyoung and Sir Samuel Forecast are copies of +Sganarelle and Ariste in Moliere's _l'Ecole des Maris_; but I may +say, that there is some resemblance, though whoever understands both +languages will readily and with justice give our English wit the +preference; and Sir Charles is not to learn to copy Nature from the +French." This comedy, which was played by his Majesty's servants at the +Theatre Royal, 1688, is dedicated to the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, +a lady who has "'scap'd (prefaces) very well hitherto," but, says Sir +Charles, "Madam, your time is come, and you must bear it patiently. All +the favour I can show you is that of a good executioner, which is, not +to prolong your pain." This play has two girls like Isabella, called +Althea and Diana, two like Leonor, Victoria and Olivia, and four lovers, +as well as a rather intricate plot. The Epilogue is amusing, and we give +the beginning of it:-- + + Poets of all men have the hardest game, + Their best Endeavours can no Favours claim. + The Lawyer if o'erthrown, though by the Laws, + He quits himself, and lays it on your Cause. + The Soldier is esteem'd a Man of War, + And Honour gains, if he but bravely dare. + The grave Physician, if his Patient dye, + He shakes his head, and blames Mortality. + Only poor Poets their own faults must bear; + Therefore grave Judges be not too severe. + + +Flecknoe has also imitated several of the scenes of _The School for +Husbands_ in _The Damoiselles a la Mode_, which is a medley of +several of Moliere's plays (see Introductory Notice to _The +Pretentious Young Ladies_). + +James Miller has likewise followed, in _The Man of Taste_ (Act i., +Scene 2). (see Introductory Notice to _The Pretentious Young +Ladies_), one scene of the first act of Moliere's _The School for +Husbands_. + +Murphy, in _The School for Guardians_, has borrowed from three +plays of Moliere. The main plot is taken from _The School for +Wives_; some incidents of the second act are taken from _The +Blunderer_ (see Introductory Notice to _The Blunderer_), but the +scenes in which Oldcastle and Lovibond state their intention of marrying +their wards, and the way in which one of the wards, Harriet, makes her +love known to Belford is taken from _The School for Husbands_, +though Leonor does not betray in the French comedy, as she does in the +English, the confidence placed in her. The French Isabella acts like +Harriet, but then she has a foolish and jealous guardian. + +Wycherley in _The Country Wife_, probably acted in 1672 or 1673, +and which is partly an imitation of Moliere's _School for Wives_, +has borrowed from _The School for Husbands_, the letter which +Isabella writes to Valere (Act ii., Scene 8), and also the scene in +which Isabella escapes disguised in her sister's clothes: but, of +course, to give an additional zest to the English play, the author makes +Pinchwife himself bring his wife to her lover, Horner. The scene hardly +bears transcribing. He has also partly imitated in _The Gentleman +Dancing-Master_, first performed in 1673, some scenes of _The +School for Husbands_. + +Otway, in _The Soldier's Fortune_ (see Introductory Notice to +_Sganarelle, or The Self-Deceived Husband_), has borrowed from +Moliere's _School for Husbands_ that part of his play in which Lady +Dunse makes her husband the agent for conveying a ring and a letter to +her lover. + + + + +DRAMATIS PERSONAE. + + + SGANARELLE, [Footnote: This part was played by Moliere himself. + In the inventory taken after Moliere's death, and given by M. Soulie, + we find: "A dress for _The School for Husbands_, consisting of + breeches, doublet, cloak, collar, purse and girdle, all of a kind of + brown coloured (_couleur de muse_) satin."] + } + } _brothers_. + ARISTE, ) + + VALERE, _lover to Isabella_. + + ERGASTE, _servant to Valere_. + + A MAGISTRATE. + + [Footnote: The original has _un Commissaire_, who in Moliere's + time, appears to have been a kind of inferior magistrate under the + authority of the _Lieutenant-general de la Police_. + The _Commissaires de Police_ were not established till 1699; + and _The School for Husbands_ was played for the first time in 1661.] + + A NOTARY. + + ISABELLA, ) + ) _sisters_. + LEONOR, } + + LISETTE, _maid to Isabella_. + + + _Scene_.--A PUBLIC PLACE IN PARIS. + + + + + +THE SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS. + +(_L'ECOLE DES MARIS_). + + * * * * * + + + +ACT I. + +SCENE I.--SGANARELLE, ARISTE. + + +SGAN. Pray, brother, let us talk less, and let each of us live as he +likes. Though you have the advantage of me in years, and are old enough +to be wise, yet I tell you that I mean to receive none of your reproofs; +that my fancy is the only counsellor I shall follow, and that I am quite +satisfied with my way of living. + +AR. But every one condemns it. + +SGAN. Yes, fools like yourself, brother. + +AR. Thank you very much. It is a pleasant compliment. + +SGAN. I should like to know, since one ought to hear everything, what +these fine critics blame in me. + +AR. That surly and austere temper which shuns all the charms of society, +gives a whimsical appearance to all your actions, and makes everything +peculiar in you, even your dress. + +SGAN. I ought then to make myself a slave in fashion, and not to put on +clothes for my own sake? Would you not, my dear elder brother--for, +Heaven be thanked, so you are, to tell you plainly, by a matter of +twenty years; and that is not worth the trouble of mentioning--would you +not, I say, by your precious nonsense, persuade me to adopt the fashions +of those young sparks of yours? + +[Footnote: The original has _vos jeunes muguets_, literally "your +young lilies of the valley," because in former times, according to some +annotators, the courtiers wore natural or artificial lilies of the +valley in their buttonholes, and perfumed themselves with the essence of +that flower. I think that _muguet_ is connected with the old French +word _musguet_, smelling of musk. In Moliere's time _muguet_ +had become rather antiquated; hence it was rightly placed in the mouth +of Sganarelle, who likes to use such words and phrases. Rabelais employs +it in the eighth chapter of _Gargantua, un tas de muguets_, and it +has been translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart as "some fond wooers and +wench-courters." The fashion of calling dandies after the name of +perfumes is not rare in France. Thus Regnier speaks of them as +_marjolets_, from _marjolaine_, sweet marjoram; and Agrippa +d'Aubigne calls them _muscadins_ (a word also connected with the +old French _musguet_), which name was renewed at the beginning of +the first French revolution, and bestowed on elegants, because they +always smelled of musk.] + +Oblige me to wear those little hats which provide ventilation for their +weak brains, and that flaxen hair, the vast curls whereof conceal the +form of the human face; + +[Footnote: The fashion was in Moliere's time to wear the hair, or wigs, +very long, and if possible of a fair colour, which gave to the young +fashionables, hence called _blondins_, an effeminate air. +Sganarelle addresses Valere (Act ii. Scene 9), likewise as _Monsieur +aux blonds cheveux_. In _The School for Wives_ (Act ii. Scene +6), Arnolphe also tells Agnes not to listen to the nonsense of these +_beaux blondins_. According to Juvenal (Satire VI.) Messalina put a +fair wig on to disguise herself. Louis XIV. did not begin to wear a wig +until 1673.] + +those little doublets but just below the arms, and those big collars +falling down to the navel; those sleeves which one sees at table trying +all the sauces, and those petticoats called breeches; those tiny shoes, +covered with ribbons, which make you look like feather-legged pigeons; +and those large rolls wherein the legs are put every morning, as it were +into the stocks, and in which we see these gallants straddle about with +their legs as wide apart, as if they were the beams of a mill? + +[Footnote: The original has _marcher ecarquilles ainsi que des +volants_. Early commentators have generally stated that +_volants_ means here "the beams of a mill," but MM. Moland and E. +Despois, the last annotators of Moliere, maintain that it stands for +"shuttlecock," because the large rolls (_canons_), tied at the knee +and wide at the bottom, bore a great resemblance to shuttlecocks turned +upside down. I cannot see how this can suit the words _marcher +ecarquilles_, for the motion of the _canons_ of gallants, +walking or straddling about, is very unlike that produced by +shuttlecocks beaten by battledores; I still think "beams of a mill" +right, because, though the _canons_ did not look like beams of a +mill, the legs did, when in motion.] + +I should doubtless please you, bedizened in this way; I see that you +wear the stupid gewgaws which it is the fashion to wear. + +AR. We should always agree with the majority, and never cause ourselves +to be stared at. Extremes shock, and a wise man should do with his +clothes as with his speech; avoid too much affectation, and without +being in too great a hurry, follow whatever change custom introduces. I +do not think that we should act like those people who always exaggerate +the fashion, and who are annoyed that another should go further than +themselves in the extremes which they affect; but I maintain that it is +wrong, for whatever reasons, obstinately to eschew what every one +observes; that it would be better to be counted among the fools than to +be the only wise person, in opposition to every one else. + +SGAN. That smacks of the old man who, in order to impose upon the world, +covers his grey hairs with a black wig. + +AR. It is strange that you should be so careful always to fling my age +in my face, and that I should continually find you blaming my dress as +well as my cheerfulness. One would imagine that old age ought to think +of nothing but death, since it is condemned to give up all enjoyment; +and that it is not attended by enough ugliness of its own, but must +needs be slovenly and crabbed. + +SGAN. However that may be, I am resolved to stick to my way of dress. In +spite of the fashion, I like my cap so that my head may be comfortably +sheltered beneath it; a good long doublet buttoned close, as it should +be, + +[Footnote: The young dandies in the beginning of the reign of Louis +XIV., wore slashed doublets, very tight and short.] + +which may keep the stomach warm, and promote a healthy digestion; a pair +of breeches made exactly to fit my thighs; shoes, like those of our wise +ancestors, in which my feet may not be tortured: and he who does not +like the look of me may shut his eyes. + + + + +SCENE II.--LEONOR, ISABELLA, LISETTE; ARISTE _and_ SGANARELLE, +_conversing in an under-tone, unperceived_. + +LEO. (_To Isabella_). I take it all on myself, in case you are +scolded. + +LIS. (_To Isabella_). Always in one room, seeing no one? + +ISA. Such is his humour. + +LEO. I pity you, sister. + +LIS. (_To Leonor_). It is well for you, madam, that his brother is +of quite another disposition; fate was very kind in making you fall into +the hands of a rational person. + +ISA. It is a wonder that he did not lock me up to-day, or take me with +him. + +LIS. I declare I would send him to the devil, with his Spanish ruff, +and... + +[Footnote: The Spanish ruff (_fraise_) was in fashion at the end of +Henri IV.'s reign; in the reign of Louis XIII., and in the beginning of +Louis XIV.'s, flat-lying collars, adorned with lace were worn, so that +those who still stuck to the Spanish ruff in 1661, were considered very +old-fashioned people.] + +SGAN. (_Against whom Lisette stumbles_). Where are you going, if I +may ask? + +LEO. We really do not know; I was urging my sister to talk a walk, and +enjoy this pleasant and fine weather; but... + +SGAN. (_To Leonor_). As for you, you may go wherever you please. +(_To Lisette_). You can run off; there are two of you together. +(_To Isabella_). But as for you, I forbid you--excuse me--to go +out. + +AR. Oh, brother! let them go and amuse themselves. + +SGAN. I am your servant, brother. + +AR. Youth will... + +SGAN. Youth is foolish, and old age too, sometimes. + +AR. Do you think there is any harm in her being with Leonor? + +SGAN. Not so; but with me I think she is still better. + +AR. But... + +SGAN. But her conduct must be guided by me; in short, I know the +interest I ought to take in it. + +AR. Have I less in her sister's? + +SGAN. By Heaven! each one argues and does as he likes. They are without +relatives, and their father, our friend, entrusted them to us in his +last hour, charging us both either to marry them, or, if we declined, to +dispose of them hereafter. He gave us, in writing, the full authority of +a father and a husband over them, from their infancy. You undertook to +bring up that one; I charged myself with the care of this one. You +govern yours at your pleasure. Leave me, I pray, to manage the other as +I think best. + +AR. It seems to me... + +SGAN. It seems to me, and I say it openly, that is the right way to +speak on such a subject. You let your ward go about gaily and stylishly; +I am content. You let her have footmen and a maid; I agree. You let her +gad about, love idleness, be freely courted by dandies; I am quite +satisfied. But I intend that mine shall live according to my fancy, and +not according to her own; that she shall be dressed in honest serge, and +wear only black on holidays; that, shut up in the house, prudent in +bearing, she shall apply herself entirely to domestic concerns, mend my +linen in her leisure hours, or else knit stockings for amusement; that +she shall close her ears to the talk of young sparks, and never go out +without some one to watch her. In short, flesh is weak; I know what +stories are going about. I have no mind to wear horns, if I can help it; +and as her lot requires her to marry me, I mean to be as certain of her +as I am of myself. + +ISA. I believe you have no grounds for.... + +SGAN. Hold your tongue, I shall teach you to go out without us! + +LEO. What, sir.... + +SGAN. Good Heavens, madam! without wasting any more words, I am not +speaking to you, for you are too clever. + +LEO. Do you regret to see Isabella with us? + +SGAN. Yes, since I must speak plainly; you spoil her for me. Your visits +here only displease me, and you will oblige me by honouring us no more. + +LEO. Do you wish that I shall likewise speak my thoughts plainly to you? +I know not how she regards all this; but I know what effect mistrust +would have on me. Though we are of the same father and mother, she is +not much of my sister if your daily conduct produces any love in her. + +LIS. Indeed, all these precautions are disgraceful. Are we in Turkey, +that women must be shut up? There, they say, they are kept like slaves; +this is why the Turks are accursed by God. Our honour, sir, is very weak +indeed, if it must be perpetually watched. Do you think, after all, that +these precautions are any bar to our designs? that when we take anything +into our heads, the cleverest man would not be but a donkey to us? All +that vigilance of yours is but a fool's notion; the best way of all, I +assure you, is to trust us. He who torments us puts himself in extreme +peril, for our honour must ever be its own protector. To take so much +trouble in preventing us is almost to give us a desire to sin. If I were +suspected by my husband, I should have a very good mind to justify his +fears. + +SGAN. (_to Ariste_). This, my fine teacher, is your training. And +you endure it without being troubled? + +AR. Brother, her words should only make you smile. There is some reason +in what she says. Their sex loves to enjoy a little freedom; they are +but ill-checked by so much austerity. Suspicious precautions, bolts and +bars, make neither wives nor maids virtuous. It is honour which must +hold them to their duty, not the severity which we display towards them. +To tell you candidly, a woman who is discreet by compulsion only is not +often to be met with. We pretend in vain to govern all her actions; I +find that it is the heart we must win. For my part, whatever care might +be taken, I would scarcely trust my honour in the hands of one who, in +the desires which might assail her, required nothing but an opportunity +of falling. + +SGAN. That is all nonsense. + +AR. Have it so; but still I maintain that we should instruct youth +pleasantly, chide their faults with great tenderness, and not make them +afraid of the name of virtue. Leonor's education has been based on these +maxims. I have not made crimes of the smallest acts of liberty, I have +always assented to her youthful wishes, and, thank Heaven, I never +repented of it. I have allowed her to see good company, to go to +amusements, balls, plays. These are things which, for my part I think +are calculated to form the minds of the young; the world is a school +which, in my opinion, teaches them better how to live than any book. +Does she like to spend money on clothes, linen, ribands--what then? I +endeavour to gratify her wishes; these are pleasures which, when we are +well-off, we may permit to the girls of our family. Her father's command +requires her to marry me; but it is not my intention to tyrannize over +her. I am quite aware that our years hardly suit, and I leave her +complete liberty of choice. + +[Footnote: _The School for Husbands_ was played for the first time, +on the 24th of June, 1661, and Moliere married Armande Bejart (see +Prefatory Memoir), on the 20th of February, 1662, when he was forty, and +she about twenty years old. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose +that the words he places in the mouth of Ariste are an expression of his +own feelings.] + +If a safe income of four thousand crowns a-year, great affection and +consideration for her, may, in her opinion, counterbalance in marriage +the inequality of our age, she may take me for her husband; if not she +may choose elsewhere. If she can be happier without me, I do not object; +I prefer to see her with another husband rather than that her hand +should be given to me against her will. + +SGAN. Oh, how sweet he is! All sugar and honey! + +AR. At all events, that is my disposition; and I thank Heaven for it. I +would never lay down these strict rules which make children wish their +parents dead. + +SGAN. But the liberty acquired in youth is not so easily withdrawn later +on; all those feelings will please you but little when you have to +change her mode of life. + +AR. And why change it? + +SGAN. Why? + +AR. Yes. + +SGAN. I do not know. + +AR. Is there anything in it that offends honour? + +SGAN. Why, if you marry her, she may demand the same freedom which she +enjoyed as a girl? + +AR. Why not? + +SGAN. And you so far agree with her as to let her have patches and +ribbons? + +AR. Doubtless. + +SGAN. To let her gad about madly at every ball and public assembly? + +AR. Yes, certainly. + +SGAN. And the beaux will visit at your house? + +AR. What then? + +SGAN. Who will junket and give entertainments? + +AR. With all my heart. + +SGAN. And your wife is to listen to their fine speeches? + +AR. Exactly. + +SGAN. And you will look on at these gallant visitors with a show of +indifference? + +AR. Of course. + +SGAN. Go on, you old idiot. (_To Isabella_). Get indoors, and hear +no more of this shameful doctrine. + + + + +SCENE III.--ARISTE, SGANARELLE, LEONOR, LISETTE. + + +AR. I mean to trust to the faithfulness of my wife, and intend always to +live as I have lived. + +SGAN. How pleased I shall be to see him victimized! + +AR. I cannot say what fate has in store for me; but as for you, I know +that if you fail to be so, it is no fault of yours, for you are doing +everything to bring it about. + +SGAN. Laugh on, giggler! Oh, what a joke it is to see a railer of nearly +sixty! + +LEO. I promise to preserve him against the fate you speak of, if he is +to receive my vows at the altar. He may rest secure; but I can tell you +I would pass my word for nothing if I were your wife. + +LIS. We have a conscience for those who rely on us; but it is +delightful, really, to cheat such folks as you. + +SGAN. Hush, you cursed ill-bred tongue! + +AR. Brother, you drew these silly words on yourself. Good bye. Alter +your temper, and be warned that to shut up a wife is a bad plan. Your +servant. + +SGAN. I am not yours. + + + + +SCENE IV.--SGANARELLE, _alone_. + + +Oh, they are all well suited to one another! What an admirable family. A +foolish old man with a worn-out body who plays the fop; a girl-mistress +and a thorough coquette; impudent servants;--no, wisdom itself could not +succeed, but would exhaust sense and reason, trying to amend a household +like this. By such associations, Isabella might lose those principles of +honour which she learned amongst us; to prevent it, I shall presently +send her back again to my cabbages and turkeys. + + + + +SCENE V.--VALERE, SGANARELLE, ERGASTE. + + +VAL. (_Behind_). Ergaste, that is he, the Argus whom I hate, the +stern guardian of her whom I adore. + +SGAN. (_Thinking himself alone_). In short, is there not something +wonderful in the corruption of manners now-a-days? + +VAL. I should like to address him, if I can get a chance, and try to +strike up an acquaintance with him. + +SGAN. (_Thinking himself alone_). Instead of seeing that severity +prevail which so admirably formed virtue in other days, uncontrolled and +imperious youth here-about assumes... (_Valere bows to Sganarelle from +a distance_). + +VAL. He does not see that we bow to him. + +ERG. Perhaps his blind eye is on this side. Let us cross to the right. + +SGAN. I must go away from this place. Life in town only produces in +me... + +VAL. (_Gradually approaching_). I must try to get an introduction. + +SGAN. (_Hearing a noise_). Ha! I thought some one spoke... +(_Thinking himself alone_). In the country, thank Heaven, the +fashionable follies do not offend my eyes. + +ERG. (_To Valere_). Speak to him. + +SGAN. What is it?... my ears tingle... There, all the recreations of our +girls are but... (_He perceives Valere bowing to him_). Do you bow +to me? + +ERG. (_To Valere_). Go up to him. + +SGAN. (_Not attending to Valere_). Thither no coxcomb comes. +(_Valere again bows to him_). What the deuce!... (_He turns and +sees Ergaste bowing on the other side_). Another? What a great many +bows! + +VAL. Sir, my accosting you disturbs you, I fear? + +SGAN. That may be. + +VAL. But yet the honour of your acquaintance is so great a happiness, so +exquisite a pleasure, that I had a great desire to pay my respects to +you. + +SGAN. Well. + +VAL. And to come and assure you, without any deceit, that I am wholly at +your service. + +SGAN. I believe it. + +VAL. I have the advantage of being one of your neighbours, for which I +thank my lucky fate. + +SGAN. That is all right. + +VAL. But, sir. do you know the news going the round at Court, and +thought to be reliable? + +SGAN. What does it matter to me? + +VAL. True; but we may sometimes be anxious to hear it? Shall you go and +see the magnificent preparations for the birth of our Dauphin, sir? + +[Footnote: The Dauphin, the son of Louis XIV. was born at Fontainebleau, +on the 1st of November, 1661; _The School for Husbands_ was first +acted on the 24th of June of the same year; hence Moliere ventures to +prophesy about the Dauphin's birth.] + +SGAN. If I feel inclined. + +VAL. Confess that Paris affords us a hundred delightful pleasures which +are not to be found elsewhere. The provinces are a desert in comparison. +How do you pass your time? + +SGAN. On my own business. + +VAL. The mind demands relaxation, and occasionally gives way, by too +close attention to serious occupations. What do you do in the evening +before going to bed? + +SGAN. What I please. + +VAL. Doubtless no one could speak better. The answer is just, and it +seems to be common sense to resolve never to do what does not please us. +If I did not think you were too much occupied, I would drop in on you +sometimes after supper. + +SGAN. Your servant. + + + + +SCENE VI.--VALERE, ERGASTE. + + +VAL. What do you think of that eccentric fool? + +ERG. His answers are abrupt and his reception is churlish. + +VAL. Ah! I am in a rage. + +ERG. What for? + +VAL. Why am I in a rage? To see her I love in the power of a savage, a +watchful dragon, whose severity will not permit her to enjoy a single +moment of liberty. + +ERG. That is just what is in your favour. Your love ought to expect a +great deal from these circumstances. Know, for your encouragement, that +a woman watched is half-won, and that the gloomy ill-temper of husbands +and fathers has always promoted the affairs of the gallant. I intrigue +very little; for that is not one of my accomplishments. I do not pretend +to be a gallant; but I have served a score of such sportsmen, who often +used to tell me that it was their greatest delight to meet with churlish +husbands, who never come home without scolding,--downright brutes, who, +without rhyme or reason, criticise the conduct of their wives in +everything, and, proudly assuming the authority of a husband, quarrel +with them before the eyes of their admirers. "One knows," they would +say, "how to take advantage of this. The lady's indignation at this kind +of outrage, on the one hand, and the considerate compassion of the +lover, on the other, afford an opportunity for pushing matters far +enough." In a word, the surliness of Isabella's guardian is a +circumstance sufficiently favourable for you. + +VAL. But I could never find one moment to speak to her in the four +months that I have ardently loved her. + +ERG. Love quickens people's wits, though it has little effect on yours. +If I had been... + +VAL. Why, what could you have done? For one never sees her without that +brute; in the house there are neither maids nor men-servants whom I +might influence to assist me by the alluring temptation of some reward. + +ERG. Then she does not yet know that you love her? + +VAL. It is a point on which I am not informed. Wherever the churl took +this fair one, she always saw me like a shadow behind her; my looks +daily tried to explain to her the violence of my love. My eyes have +spoken much; but who can tell whether, after all, their language could +be understood? + +ERG. It is true that this language may sometimes prove obscure, if it +have not writing or speech for its interpreter. + +VAL. What am I to do to rid myself of this vast difficulty, and to learn +whether the fair one has perceived that I love her? Tell me some means +or other. + +ERG. That is what we have to discover. Let us go in for a while--the +better to think over it. + + + + +ACT II. + +SCENE I.--ISABELLA, SGANARELLE. + + +SGAN. That will do; I know the house, and the person, simply from the +description you have given me. + +ISA. (_Aside_). Heaven, be propitious, and favour to-day the artful +contrivance of an innocent love! + +SGAN. Do you say they have told you that his name is Valere? + +ISA. Yes. + +SGAN. That will do; do not make yourself uneasy about it. Go inside, and +leave me to act. I am going at once to talk to this young madcap. + +ISA. (_As she goes in_). For a girl, I am planning a pretty bold +scheme. But the unreasonable severity with which I am treated will be my +excuse to every right mind. + + + + +SCENE II.--SGANARELLE, _alone_. + + +(_Knocks at the door of Valere's house_). Let us lose no time; here +it is. Who's there? Why, I am dreaming! Hulloa, I say! hulloa somebody! +hulloa! I do not wonder, after this information, that he came up to me +just now so meekly. But I must make haste, and teach this foolish +aspirant... + + + + +SCENE III.--VALERE, SGANARELLE, ERGASTE. + + +SGAN. (_To Ergaste, who has come out hastily_). A plague on the +lubberly ox! Do you mean to knock me down--coming and sticking yourself +in front of me like a post? + +VAL. Sir, I regret... + +SGAN. Ah! you are the man I want. + +VAL. I, sir? + +SGAN. You. Your name is Valere, is it not? + +VAL. Yes. + +SGAN. I am come to speak to you if you will allow me. + +VAL. Can I have the happiness of rendering you any service? + +SGAN. No; but I propose to do you a good turn. That is what brings me to +your house. + +VAL. To my house, sir! + +SGAN. To your house. Need you be so much astonished? + +VAL. I have good reason for it; I am delighted with the honour... + +SGAN. Do not mention the honour, I beseech you. + +VAL. Will you not come in? + +SGAN. There is no need. + +VAL. I pray you, enter. + +SGAN. No, I will go no further. + +VAL. As long as you stay there I cannot listen to you. + +SGAN. I will not budge. + +VAL. Well, I must yield. Quick, since this gentleman is resolved upon +it, bring a chair. + +SGAN. I am going to talk standing. + +VAL. As if I could permit such a thing! + +SGAN. What an intolerable delay! + +VAL. Such incivility would be quite unpardonable. + +SGAN. Nothing can be so rude as not to listen to people who wish to +speak to us. + +VAL. I obey you, then. + +SGAN. You cannot do better. (_They make many compliments about putting +on their hats_). So much ceremony is hardly necessary. Will you +listen to me? + +VAL. Undoubtedly, and most willingly. + +SGAN. Tell me: do you know that I am guardian to a tolerably young and +passably handsome girl who lives in this neighbourhood, and whose name +is Isabella? + +VAL. Yes. + +SGAN. As you know it, I need not tell it to you. But do you know, +likewise, that as I find her charming, I care for her otherwise than as +a guardian, and that she is destined for the honour of being my wife? + +VAL. No! + +SGAN. I tell it you, then; and also that it is as well that your +passion, if you please, should leave her in peace. + +VAL. Who?--I, sir? + +SGAN. Yes, you. Let us have no dissembling. + +VAL. Who has told you that my heart is smitten by her? + +SGAN. Those who are worthy of belief. + +VAL. Be more explicit. + +SGAN. She herself. + +VAL. She! + +SGAN. She. Is not that enough? Like a virtuous young girl, who has loved +me from childhood, she told me all just now; moreover, she charged me to +tell you, that, since she has everywhere been followed by you, her +heart, which your pursuit greatly offends, has only too well understood +the language of your eyes; that your secret desires are well known to +her; and that to try more fully to explain a passion which is contrary +to the affection she entertains for me, is to give yourself needless +trouble. + +VAL. She, you say, of her own accord, makes you... + +SGAN. Yes, makes me come to you and give you this frank and plain +message; also, that, having observed the violent love wherewith your +soul is smitten, she would earlier have let you know what she thinks +about you if, perplexed as she was, she could have found anyone to send +this message by; but that at length she was painfully compelled to make +use of me, in order to assure you, as I have told you, that her +affection is denied to all save me; that you have been ogling her long +enough; and that, if you have ever so little brains, you will carry your +passion somewhere else. Farewell, till our next meeting. That is what I +had to tell you. + +VAL. (_Aside_). Ergaste, what say you to such an adventure? + +SGAN. (_Aside, retiring_). See how he is taken aback! + +ERG. (_In a low tone to Valere_). For my part, I think that there +is nothing in it to displease you; that a rather subtle mystery is +concealed under it; in short, that this message is not sent by one who +desires to see the love end which she inspires in you. + +SGAN. (_Aside_). He takes it as he ought. + +VAL. (_In a low tone to Ergaste_). You think it a mystery... + +ERG. Yes.... But he is looking at us; let us get out of his sight. + + + + +SCENE IV.--SGANARELLE, _alone_. + + +How his face showed his confusion! Doubtless he did not expect this +message. Let me call Isabella; she is showing the fruits which education +produces on the mind. Virtue is all she cares for; and her heart is so +deeply steeped in it, that she is offended if a man merely looks at her. + + + + +SCENE V.--ISABELLA, SGANARELLE. + + +ISA. (_Aside, as she enters_). I fear that my lover, full of his +passion, has not understood my message rightly! Since I am so strictly +guarded, I must risk one which shall make my meaning clearer. + +SGAN. Here I am, returned again. + +ISA. Well? + +SGAN. Your words wrought their full purpose; I have done his business. +He wanted to deny that his heart was touched; but when I told him I came +from you, he stood immediately dumbfounded and confused; I do not +believe he will come here any more. + +ISA. Ah, what do you tell me? I much fear the contrary, and that he will +still give us more trouble. + +SGAN. And why do you fear this? + +ISA. You had hardly left the house when, going to the window to take a +breath of air, I saw a young man at yonder turning, who first came, most +unexpectedly, to wish me good morning, on the part of this impertinent +man, and then threw right into my chamber a box, enclosing a letter, +sealed like a love-letter. + +[Footnote: The original has _un poulet_, literally "a chicken," +because love-letters were folded so as to represent a fowl, with two +wings; this shape is now called _cocotte_, from _coq_, and, +though no longer used to designate a billet-doux, is often employed in +familiar phraseology, in speaking of a girl who does not lead a moral +life.] + +I meant at once to throw it after him; but he had already reached the +end of the street. I feel very much annoyed at it. + +SGAN. Just see his trickery and rascality! + +ISA. It is my duty quickly to have this box and letter sent back to this +detestable lover; for that purpose I need some one; for I dare not +venture to ask yourself... + +SGAN. On the contrary, darling, it shows me all the more your love and +faithfulness; my heart joyfully accepts this task. You oblige me in this +more than I can tell you. + +ISA. Take it then. + +SGAN. Well, let us see what he has dared to say to you. + +ISA. Heavens! Take care not to open it! + +SGAN. Why so? + +ISA. Will you make him believe that it is I? A respectable girl ought +always to refuse to read the letters a man sends her. The curiosity +which she thus betrays shows a secret pleasure in listening to +gallantries. I think it right that this letter should be peremptorily +returned to Valere unopened, that he may the better learn this day the +great contempt which my heart feels for him; so that his passion may +from this time lose all hope, and never more attempt such a +transgression. + +SGAN. Of a truth she is right in this! Well, your virtue charms me, as +well as your discretion. I see that my lessons have borne fruit in your +mind; you show yourself worthy of being my wife. + +ISA. Still I do not like to stand in the way of your wishes. The letter +is in your hands, and you can open it. + +SGAN. No, far from it. Your reasons are too good; I go to acquit myself +of the task you impose upon me; I have likewise to say a few words quite +near, and will then return hither to set you at rest. + + + + +SCENE VI.--SGANARELLE, _alone_. + + +How delighted I am to find her such a discreet girl! I have in my house +a treasure of honour. To consider a loving look treason, to receive a +love-letter as a supreme insult, and to have it carried back to the +gallant by myself! I should like to know, seeing all this, if my +brother's ward would have acted thus, on a similar occasion. Upon my +word, girls are what you make them... Hulloa! (_Knocks at Valere's +door_). + + + + +SCENE VII.--SGANARELLE, ERGASTE. + + +ERG. Who is there? + +SGAN. Take this; and tell your master not to presume so far as to write +letters again, and send them in gold boxes; say also that Isabella is +mightily offended at it. See, it has not even been opened. He will +perceive what regard she has for his passion, and what success he can +expect in it. + + + + +SCENE VIII.--VALERE, ERGASTE. + + +VAL. What has that surly brute just given you? + +ERG. This letter, sir, as well as this box, which he pretends that +Isabella has received from you, and about which, he says, she is in a +great rage. She returns it to you unopened. Read it quickly, and let us +see if I am mistaken. + +VAL. (_Reads_). "_This letter will no doubt surprise you; both +the resolution to write to you and the means of conveying it to your +hands may be thought very bold in me; but I am in such a condition, that +I can no longer restrain myself. Well-founded repugnance to a marriage +with which I am threatened in six days, makes me risk everything; and in +the determination to free myself from it by whatever means, I thought I +had rather choose you than despair. Yet do not think that you owe all to +my evil fate; it is not the constraint in which I find myself that has +given rise to the sentiments I entertain for you; but it hastens the +avowal of them, and makes me transgress the decorum which the +proprieties of my sex require. It depends on you alone to make me +shortly your own; I wait only until you have declared your intentions to +me before acquainting you with the resolution I have taken; but, above +all remember that time presses, and that two hearts, which love each +other, ought to understand even the slightest hint._" + +ERG. Well, sir, is not this contrivance original? For a young girl she +is not so very ignorant. Would one have thought her capable of these +love stratagems? + +VAL. Ah, I consider her altogether adorable. This evidence of her wit +and tenderness doubles my love for her, and strengthens the feelings +with which her beauty inspires me.... + +ERG. Here comes the dupe; think what you will say to him. + + + + +SCENE IX.---SGANARELLE, VALERE, ERGASTE. + + +SGAN. (_Thinking himself alone_). Oh, thrice and four times blessed +be the law which forbids extravagance in dress! + +[Footnote: It is remarkable that Louis XIV., who was so extravagant +himself in his buildings, dress, and general expenses published sixteen +laws against luxury; the law Sganarelle speaks of was promulgated +November 27th, 1660, against the use of _guipures, cannetilles, +paillettes_, etc., on men's dresses.] + +No longer will the troubles of husbands be so great! women will now be +checked in their demands. Oh, how delighted I am with the King for this +proclamation! + +[Footnote: The original has _decri_ a proclamation which forbade +the manufacturing, sale or wearing, of certain fabrics.] + +How I wish, for the peace of the same husbands, that he would forbid +coquetry, as well as lace, and gold or silver embroidery. I have bought +the law on purpose, so that Isabella may read it aloud; and, by and by, +when she is at leisure, it shall be our entertainment after supper. +(_Perceiving Valere_). Well, Mr. Sandy-hair, would you like to send +again love-letters in boxes of gold? You doubtless thought you had found +some young flirt, eager for an intrigue, and melting before pretty +speeches. You see how your presents are received! Believe me, you waste +your powder and shot. Isabella is a discreet girl, she loves me and your +love insults her. Aim at some one else, and be off! + +VAL. Yes, yes; your merits, to which everyone yields, are too great an +obstacle, sir. Though my passion be sincere, it is folly to contend with +you for the love of Isabella. + +SGAN. It is really folly. + +VAL. Be sure I should not have yielded to the fascination of her charms, +could I have foreseen that this wretched heart would find a rival so +formidable as yourself. + +SGAN. I believe it. + +VAL. Now I know better than to hope; I yield to you, sir, and that too +without a murmur. + +SGAN. You do well. + +VAL. Reason will have it so; for you shine with so many virtues, that I +should be wrong to regard with an angry eye the tender sentiments which +Isabella entertains for you. + +SGAN. Of course. + +VAL. Yes, yes, I yield to you; but at least I pray you,--and it is the +only favour, sir, begged by a wretched lover, of whose pangs this day +you are the sole cause,--I pray you, I say, to assure Isabella that, if +my heart has been burning with love for her these three months, that +passion is spotless, and has never fostered a thought at which her +honour could be offended. + +SGAN. Ay. + +VAL. That, relying solely on my heart's choice, my only design was to +obtain her for my wife, if destiny had not opposed an obstacle to this +pure flame in you, who captivated her heart. + +SGAN. Very good. + +VAL. That, whatever happens, she must not think that her charms can ever +be forgotten; that to whatever decrees of Heaven I must submit, my fate +is to love her to my last breath; and that, if anything checks my +pursuit, it is the just respect I have for your merits. + +[Footnote: We are of course to read between the lines: "If there is +anything which could strengthen my resolution to save her, it is the +natural detestation which I feel for you."] + +SGAN. That is wisely spoken; I shall go at once to repeat these words, +which will not be disagreeable to her. But, if you will listen to me, +try to act so as to drive this passion from your mind. Farewell. + +ERG. (_To Valeere_). The excellent dupe! + + + + +SCENE X.--SGANARELLE, _alone_. + + +I feel a great pity for this poor wretch, so full of affection. But it +is unfortunate for him to have taken it into his head to try to storm a +fortress which I have captured. + +(_Sganarelle knocks at his door_.) + + + +SCENE XI.--SGANARELLE, ISABELLA. + + +SGAN. Never did lover display so much grief for a love-letter returned +unopened! At last he loses all hope, and retires. But he earnestly +entreated me to tell you, that, at least, in loving you, he never +fostered a thought at which your honour could be offended, and that, +relying solely on his heart's choice, his only desire was to obtain you +for a wife, if destiny had not opposed an obstacle to his pure flame, +through me, who captivated your heart; that, whatever happens, you must +not think that your charms can ever be forgotten by him; that, to +whatever decrees of Heaven he must submit, his fate is to love you to +his last breath; and that if anything checks his pursuit, it is the just +respect he has for my merits. These are his very words; and, far from +blaming him, I think him a gentleman, and I pity him for loving you. + +ISA. (_Aside_). His passion does not contradict my secret belief, +and his looks have always assured me of its innocence. + +SGAN. What do you say? + +ISA. That it is hard that you should so greatly pity a man whom I hate +like death; and that, if you loved me as much as you say, you would feel +how he insults me by his addresses. + +SGAN. But he did not know your inclinations; and, from the uprightness +of his intentions, his love does not deserve... + +ISA. Is it good intentions, I ask, to try and carry people off? Is it +like a man of honour to form designs for marrying me by force, and +taking me out of your hands? As if I were a girl to live after such a +disgrace! + +SGAN. How? + +ISA. Yes, yes, I have been informed that this base lover speaks of +carrying me off by force; for my part, I cannot tell by what secret +means he has learned so early that you intend to marry me in eight days + +[Footnote: In the letter which Isabella writes to Valere (see page 279), +she speaks of a marriage with which she is threatened in six days. This +is, I suppose, a pious fraud, to urge Valere to make haste, for here she +mentions "eight days."] + +at the latest, since it was only yesterday you told me so. But they say +that he intends to be beforehand with you, and not let me unite my lot +to yours. + +SGAN. That is a bad case. + +ISA. Oh, pardon me! He is eminently a gentleman, who only feels towards +me... + +SGAN. He is wrong; and this is past joking. + +ISA. Yes, your good nature encourages his folly. If you had spoken +sharply to him just now, he would have feared your rage and my +resentment; for even since his letter was rejected, he mentioned this +design which has shocked me. As I have been told, his love retains the +belief that it is well received by me; that I dread to marry you, +whatever people may think, and should be rejoiced to see myself away +from you. + +SGAN. He is mad! + +ISA. Before you, he knows how to disguise; and his plan is to amuse you. +Be sure the wretch makes sport of you by these fair speeches. I must +confess that I am very unhappy. After all my pains to live honourably, +and to repel the addresses of a vile seducer, I must be exposed to his +vexatious and infamous designs against me! + +SGAN. There, fear nothing. + +ISA. For my part I tell you that if you do not strongly reprove such an +impudent attempt, and do not find quickly means of ridding me of such +bold persecutions, I will abandon all, and not suffer any longer the +insults which I receive from him. + +SGAN. Do not be so troubled, my little wife. There, I am going to find +him, to give him a good blowing up. + +ISA. Tell him at least plainly, so that it may be in vain for him to +gainsay it, that I have been told of his intentions upon good authority; +that, after this message, whatever he may undertake, I defy him to +surprise me; and, lastly, that, without wasting any more sighs or time, +he must know what are my feelings for you; that, if he wishes not to be +the cause of some mischief, he should not require to have the same thing +told twice over. + +SGAN. I will tell him what is right. + +ISA. But all this in such a way as to show him that I really speak +seriously. + +SGAN. There, I will forget nothing, I assure you. + +ISA. I await your return impatiently. Pray, make as much haste as you +can. I pine when I am a moment without seeing you. + +SGAN. There, ducky, my heart's delight, I will return immediately. + + + + +SCENE XII.--SGANARELLE, _alone_. + + +Was there ever a girl more discreet and better behaved? Oh, how happy I +am! and what a pleasure it is to find a woman just after my own heart! +Yes, that is how our women ought to be, and not, like some I know, +downright flirts, who allow themselves to be courted, and make their +simple husbands to be pointed at all over Paris. (_Knocks at Valere's +door_). Hulloa, my enterprising, fine gallant! + + + + +SCENE XIII.--VALERE, SGANARELLE, ERGASTE. + + +VAL. Sir, what brings you here again? + +SGAN. Your follies. + +VAL. How? + +SGAN. You know well enough what I wish to speak to you about. To tell +you plainly, I thought you had more sense. You have been making fun of +me with your fine speeches, and secretly nourish silly expectations. +Look you, I wished to treat you gently; but you will end by making me +very angry. Are you not ashamed, considering who you are, to form, such +designs as you do? to intend to carry off a respectable girl, and +interrupt a marriage on which her whole happiness depends? + +VAL. Who told you this strange piece of news, sir? + +SGAN. Do not let us dissimulate; I have it from Isabella, who sends you +word by me, for the last time, that she has plainly enough shown you +what her choice is; that her heart, entirely mine, is insulted by such a +plan; that she would rather die than suffer such an outrage; and that +you will cause a terrible uproar, unless you put an end to all this +confusion. + +VAL. If she really said what I have just heard, I confess that my +passion has nothing more to expect. These expressions are plain enough +to let me see that all is ended; I must respect the judgment she has +passed. + +SGAN. If... You doubt it then, and fancy all the complaints that I have +made to you on her behalf are mere pretences! Do you wish that she +herself should tell you her feelings? To set you right, I willingly +consent to it. Follow me; you shall hear if I have added anything, and +if her young heart hesitates between us two. (_Goes and knocks at his +own door_). + + + + +SCENE XIV.--ISABELLA, SGANARELLE, VALERE, ERGASTE. + + +ISA. What! you bring Valere to me! What is your design? Are you taking +his part against me? And do you wish, charmed by his rare merits, to +compel me to love him, and endure his visits? + +SGAN. No, my love; your affection is too dear to me for that; but he +believes that my messages are untrue; he thinks that it is I who speak, +and cunningly represent you as full of hatred for him, and of tenderness +for me; I wish, therefore, from your own mouth, infallibly to cure him +of a mistake which nourishes his love. + +ISA. (_To Valere_). What! Is not my soul completely bared to your +eyes, and can you still doubt whom I love? + +VAL. Yes, all that this gentleman has told me on your behalf, Madam, +might well surprise a man; I confess I doubted it. This final sentence, +which decides the fate of my great love, moves my feelings so much that +it can be no offence if I wish to have it repeated. + +ISA. No. no, such a sentence should not surprise you. Sganarelle told +you my very sentiments; I consider them to be sufficiently founded on +justice, to make their full truth clear. Yes, I desire it to be known, +and I ought to be believed, that fate here presents two objects to my +eyes, who, inspiring me with different sentiments, agitate my heart. One +by a just choice, in which my honour is involved, has all my esteem and +love; and the other, in return for his affection, has all my anger and +aversion. The presence of the one is pleasing and dear to me, and fills +me with joy; but the sight of the other inspires me with secret emotions +of hatred and horror. To see myself the wife of the one is all my +desire; and rather than belong to the other, I would lose my life. But I +have sufficiently declared my real sentiments; and languished too long +under this severe torture. He whom I love must use diligence to make him +whom I hate lose all hope, and deliver me by a happy marriage, from a +suffering more terrible than death. + +SGAN. Yes, darling, I intend to gratify your wish. + +ISA. It is the only way to make me happy. + +SGAN. You shall soon be so. + +ISA. I know it is a shame for a young woman, so openly to declare her +love. + +SGAN. No, no. + +ISA. But, seeing what my lot is, such liberty must be allowed me; I can, +without blushing, make so tender a confession to him whom I already +regard as a husband. + +SGAN. Yes, my poor child, darling of my soul! + +ISA. Let him think, then, how to prove his passion for me. + +SGAN. Yes, here, kiss my hand. + +ISA. Let him, without more sighing, hasten a marriage which is all I +desire, and accept the assurance which I give him, never to listen to +the vows of another. (_She pretends to embrace Sganarelle, and gives +her hand to Valere to kiss_). + +[Footnote: This stage play is imitated by Congreve in _The Old +Bachelor_, (Act iv., Scene 22) when Mrs. Fondlewife goes and hangs +upon her husband's neck and kisses him; whilst Bellmour kisses her hand +behind Fondlewife's back.] + +SGAN. Oh, oh, my little pretty face, my poor little darling, you shall +not pine long, I promise you. (_To Valere_). There, say no more. +You see I do not make her speak; it is me alone she loves. + +VAL. Well, Madam, well, this is sufficient explanation. I learn by your +words what you urge me to do; I shall soon know how to rid your presence +of him who so greatly offends you. + +ISA. You could not give me greater pleasure. For, to be brief, the sight +of him is intolerable. It is odious to me, and I detest it so much... + +SGAN. Eh! Eh! + +ISA. Do I offend you by speaking thus? Do I... + +SGAN. Heavens, by no means! I do not say that. But in truth, I pity his +condition; you show your aversion too openly. + +ISA. I cannot show it too much on such an occasion. + +VAL. Yes, you shall be satisfied; in three days your eyes shall no +longer see the object which is odious to you. + +ISA. That is right. Farewell. + +SGAN. (_To Valere_): I pity your misfortune, but... + +VAL. No, you will hear no complaint from me. The lady assuredly does us +both justice, and I shall endeavour to satisfy her wishes. Farewell. + +SGAN. Poor fellow! his grief is excessive. Stay, embrace me: I am her +second self. (_Embraces Valere_) + + + + +SCENE XV--ISABELLA, SGANARELLE. + + +SGAN. I think he is greatly to be pitied. + +ISA. Not at all. + +SGAN. For the rest, your love touches me to the quick, little darling, +and I mean it shall have its reward. Eight days are too long for your +impatience; to-morrow I will marry you, and will not invite... + +ISA. To-morrow! + +SGAN. You modestly pretend to shrink from it; but I well know the joy +these words afford you; you wish it were already over. + +ISA. But... + +SGAN. Let us get everything ready for this marriage. + +ISA. (_Aside_), Heaven! Inspire me with a plan to put it off! + + + + +ACT III. + +SCENE I.--ISABELLA, _alone_. + + +Yes, death seems to me a hundred times less dreadful than this fatal +marriage into which I am forced; all that I am doing to escape its +horrors should excuse me in the eyes of those who blame me. Time +presses; it is night; now, then, let me fearlessly entrust my fate to a +lover's fidelity. + + + + +SCENE II.--SGANARELLE, ISABELLA. + + +SGAN. (_Speaking to those inside the house_). Here I am once more; +to-morrow they are going, in my name... + +ISA. O Heaven! + +SGAN. Is it you, darling? Where are you going so late? You said when I +left you that, being rather tired, you would shut yourself up in your +room; you even begged that on my return I would let you be quiet till +to-morrow morning.... + +ISA. It is true; but... + +SGAN. But what? + +ISA. You see I am confused; I do not know how to tell you the reason. + +SGAN. Why, whatever can it be? + +ISA. A wonderful secret! It is my sister who now compels me to go out, +and who, for a purpose for which I have greatly blamed her, has borrowed +my room, in which I have shut her up. + +SGAN. What? + +ISA. Could it be believed? She is in love with that suitor whom we have +discarded. + +SGAN. With Valere? + +ISA. Desperately! Her passion is so great that I can compare it with +nothing; you may judge of its violence by her coming here alone, at this +hour, to confide to me her love, and to tell me positively that she will +die if she does not obtain the object of her desire; that, for more than +a year, a secret intercourse has kept up the ardour of their love; and +that they had even pledged themselves to marry each other when their +passion was new. + +SGAN. Oh, the wretched girl! + +ISA. That, being informed of the despair into which I had plunged the +man whom she loves to see, she came to beg me to allow her to prevent a +departure which would break her heart; to meet this lover to-night under +my name, in the little street on which my room looks, where +counterfeiting my voice, she may utter certain tender feelings, and +thereby tempt him to stay; in short, cleverly to secure for herself the +regard which it is known he has for me. + +SGAN. And do you think this... + +ISA. I? I am enraged at it. "What," said I, "sister, are you mad? Do you +not blush to indulge in such a love for one of those people who change +every day? To forget your sex, and betray the trust put in you by the +man whom Heaven has destined you to marry?" + +SGAN. He deserves it richly; I am delighted by it. + +ISA. Finally my vexation employed a hundred arguments to reprove such +baseness in her, and enable me to refuse her request for to-night; but +she became so importunate, shed so many tears, heaved so many sighs, +said so often that I was driving her to despair if I refused to gratify +her passion, that my heart was brought to consent in spite of me; and, +to justify this night's intrigue, to which affection for my own sister +made me assent, I was about to bring Lucretia to sleep with me, whose +virtues you extol to me daily; but you surprised me by your speedy +return. + +SGAN. No, no, I will not have all this mystery at my house. As for my +brother, I might agree to it; but they may be seen by some one in the +street, and she whom I am to honour with my body must not only be modest +and well-born; she must not even be suspected. Let us send the miserable +girl away, and let her passion... + +ISA. Ah, you would overwhelm her with confusion, and she might justly +complain of my want of discretion. Since I must not countenance her +design, at least wait till I send her away. + +SGAN. Well, do so. + +ISA. But above all, conceal yourself, I beg of you, and be content to +see her depart without speaking one word to her. + +SGAN. Yes, for your sake I will restrain my anger; but as soon as she is +gone, I will go and find my brother without delay. I shall be delighted +to run and tell him of this business. + +ISA. I entreat you, then, not to mention my name. Good night; for I +shall shut myself in at the same time. + +SGAN. Till to-morrow, dear... How impatient I am to see my brother, and +tell him of his plight! The good man has been victimized, with all his +bombast! + +[Footnote: The original has _phebus_, which is often used for a +swollen and pretentious style, because it is said that a work on the +chase, written in the fourteenth century by Gaston, Count of Foix, in +such a style, was called _Miroir de Phebus_. It is more probable +that the word _phebus_, meaning showy language, is derived from the +Greek _phoibos_, brilliant.] + +I would not have this undone for twenty crowns! + +ISA. (_Within_). Yes, sister, I am sorry to incur your displeasure; +but what you wish me to do is impossible. My honour, which is dear to +me, would run too great a risk. Farewell, go home before it is too late. + +SGAN. There she goes, fretting finely, I warrant. Let me lock the door, +for fear she should return. + +ISA. (_Going out disguised_). Heaven! abandon me not in my resolve! + +SGAN. Whither can she be going? Let me follow her. + +ISA. (_Aside_). Night, at least, favours me in my distress. + +SGAN. (_Aside_). To the gallant's house! What is her design? + + + + +SCENE III.--VALERE, ISABELLA, SGANARELLE. + + +VAL. (_Coming out quickly_). Yes, yes; I will this night make some +effort to speak to... Who is there? + +ISA. (_To Valere_). No noise, Valere; I have forestalled you; I am +Isabella. + +SGAN. (_Aside_). You lie, minx; it is not she. She is too staunch +to those laws of honour which you forsake; you are falsely assuming her +name and voice. + +ISA. (_To Valere_). But unless by the holy bonds of matrimony... + +VAL. Yes; that is my only purpose; and here I make you a solemn promise +that to-morrow I will go wherever you please to be married to you. + +SGAN. (_Aside_). Poor deluded fool! + +VAL. Enter with confidence. I now defy the power of your duped Argus; +before he can tear you from my love, this arm shall stab him to the +heart a thousand times. + + + + +SCENE IV.--SGANARELLE, _alone_. + + +Oh, I can assure you I do not want to take from you a shameless girl, so +blinded by her passion. I am not jealous of your promise to her; if I am +to be believed, you shall be her husband. Yes, let us surprise him with +this bold creature. The memory of her father, who was justly respected, +and the great interest I take in her sister, demand that an attempt, at +least, should be made to restore her honour. Hulloa, there! (_Knocks +at the door of a magistrate_). + +[Footnote: See page 261, note 5.] + + + + +SCENE V.--SGANARELLE, A MAGISTRATE, A NOTARY, ATTENDANT _with a +lantern_. + + +MAG. What is it? + +SGAN. Your servant, your worship. Your presence in official garb is +necessary here. Follow me, please, with your lantern-bearer. + +MAG. We were going... + +SGAN. This is a very pressing business. + +MAG. What is it? + +SGAN. To go into that house and surprise two persons who must be joined +in lawful matrimony. It is a girl with whom I am connected, and whom, +under promise of marriage, a certain Valere has seduced and got into his +house. She comes of a noble and virtuous family, but... + +MAG. If that is the business, it was well you met us, since we have a +notary here. + +SGAN. Sir? + +NOT. Yes, a notary royal. + +MAG. And what is more, an honourable man. + +SGAN. No need to add that. Come to this doorway; make no noise, but see +that no one escapes. You shall be fully satisfied for your trouble, but +be sure and do not let yourself be bribed. + +MAG. What! do you think that an officer of justice... + +SGAN. What I said was not meant as a reflection on your position. I will +bring my brother here at once; only let the lantern-bearer accompany me. +(_Aside_). I am going to give this placable man a treat. Hulloa! +(_Knocks at Ariste's door_). + + * * * * * + + + + + +SCENE VI.--ARISTE, SGANARELLE. + + +AR. Who knocks? Why, what do you want, brother? + +SGAN. Come, my fine teacher, my superannuated buck; I shall have +something pretty to show you. + +AR. How? + +SGAN. I bring you good news. + +AR. What is it? + +SGAN. Where is your Leonor, pray? + +AR. Why this question? She is, as I think, at a friend's house at a +ball. + +SGAN. Eh! Oh yes! Follow me; you shall see to what ball Missy is gone. + +AR. What do you mean? + +SGAN. You have brought her up very well indeed. It is not good to be +always finding fault; the mind is captivated by much tenderness; and +suspicious precautions, bolts, and bars, make neither wives nor maids +virtuous; we cause them to do evil by so much austerity; their sex +demands a little freedom. Of a verity she has taken her fill of it, the +artful girl; and with her, virtue has grown very complaisant. + +AR. What is the drift of such a speech? + +SGAN. Bravo, my elder brother! it is what you richly deserve; I would +not for twenty pistoles that you should have missed this fruit of your +silly maxims. Look what our lessons have produced in these two sisters: +the one avoids the gallants, the other runs after them. + +AR. If you will not make your riddle clearer... + +SGAN. The riddle is that her ball is at Valere's; that I saw her go to +him under cover of night, and that she is at this moment in his arms. + +AR. Who? + +SGAN. Leonor. + +AR. A truce to jokes, I beg of you. + +SGAN. I joke... He is excellent with his joking! Poor fellow! I tell +you, and tell you again, that Valere has your Leonor in his house, and +that they had pledged each other before he dreamed of running after +Isabella. + +AR. This story is so very improbable... + +SGAN. He will not believe it, even when he sees it. I am getting angry; +upon my word, old age is not good for much when brains are wanting! + +(_Laying his finger on his forehead_). + +AR. What! brother, you mean to... + +SGAN. I mean nothing, upon my soul! Only follow me. Your mind shall be +satisfied directly. You shall see whether I am deceiving you, and +whether they have not pledged their troth for more than a year past. + +AR. Is it likely she could thus have agreed to this engagement without +telling me?--me! who in everything, from her infancy, ever displayed +towards her a complete readiness to please, and who a hundred times +protested I would never force her inclinations. + +SGAN. Well, your own eyes shall judge of the matter. I have already +brought here a magistrate and a notary. We are concerned that the +promised marriage shall at once restore to her the honour she has lost; +for I do not suppose you are so mean-spirited as to wish to marry her +with this stain upon her, unless you have still some arguments to raise +you above all kinds of ridicule. + +AR. For my part, I shall never be so weak as wish to possess a heart in +spite of itself. But, after all, I cannot believe... + +SGAN. What speeches you make! Come, this might go on for ever. + + + + +SCENE VII.--SGANARELLE, ARISTE, A MAGISTRATE, A NOTARY. + + +MAG. There is no need to use any compulsion here, gentlemen. If you wish +to have them married, your anger may be appeased on the spot. Both are +equally inclined to it; Valere has already given under his hand a +statement that he considers her who is now with him as his wife. + +AR. The girl... + +MAG. Is within, and will not come out, unless you consent to gratify +their desires. + + + + +SCENE VIII.--VALERE, A MAGISTRATE, A NOTARY, SGANARELLE, ARISTE. + + +VAL. (_At the window of his house_). No, gentlemen; no man shall +enter here until your pleasure be known to me. You know who I am; I have +done my duty in signing the statement, which they can show you. If you +intend to approve of the marriage, you must also put your names to this +agreement; if not, prepare to take my life before you shall rob me of +the object of my love. + +SGAN. No, we have no notion of separating you from her. (_Aside_). +He has not yet been undeceived in the matter of Isabella. Let us make +the most of his mistake. + +AR. (_To Valere_). But is it Leonor? + +SGAN. Hold your tongue! + +AR. But... + +SGAN. Be quiet! + +AR. I want to know... + +SGAN. Again! Will you hold your tongue, I say? + +VAL. To be brief: whatever be the consequence, Isabella has my solemn +promise; I also have hers; if you consider everything, I am not so bad a +match that you should blame her. + +AR. What he says is not... + +SGAN. Be quiet! I have a reason for it. You shall know the mystery. +(_To Valere_). Yes, without any more words, we both consent that +you shall be the husband of her who is at present in your house. + +MAG. The contract is drawn up in those very terms, and there is a blank +for the name, as we have not seen her. Sign. The lady can set you all at +ease by-and-by. + +VAL. I agree to the arrangement. + +SGAN. And so do I, with all my heart. (_Aside_). We will have a +good laugh presently. (_Aloud)_. There, brother, sign; yours the +honour to sign first. + +AR. But why all this mystery... + +SGAN. The deuce! what hesitation. Sign, you simpleton. + +AR. He talks of Isabella, and you of Leonor. + +SGAN. Are you not agreed, brother, if it be she, to leave them to their +mutual promises? + +AR. Doubtless. + +SGAN. Sign, then; I shall do the same. + +AR. So be it. I understand nothing about it. + +SGAN. You shall be enlightened. + +MAG. We will soon return. + +(_Exeunt Magistrate and Notary into Valeere's house_). + +SGAN. (_To Ariste_). Now, then, I will give you a cue to this +intrigue. (_They retire to the back of the stage_). + + + + +SCENE IX.--LEONOR, SGANARELLE, ARISTE, LISETTE. + + +LEO. Ah, what a strange martyrdom! What bores all those young fools +appear to me! I have stolen away from the ball, on account of them. + +LIS. Each of them tried to make himself agreeable to you. + +LEO. And I never endured anything more intolerable. I should prefer the +simplest conversation to all the babblings of these say-nothings. + +[Footnote: The original has _contes bleus_, literally "blue +stories" because old tales, such as _The Four Sons of Aymon, +Fortunatus, Valentine and Orson_ were formerly sold, printed on +coarse paper and with blue paper cover; a kind of popular, but not +political, "blue-books."] + +They fancy that everything must give way before their flaxen wigs, and +think they have said the cleverest witticism when they come up, with +their silly chaffing tone, and rally you stupidly about the love of an +old man. For my part, I value more highly the affection of such an old +man than all the giddy raptures of a youthful brain. But do I not see... + +SGAN (_To Ariste_). Yes, so the matter stands. (_Perceiving +Leonor_). Ah, there she is, and her maid with her. + +AR. Leonor, without being angry, I have reason to complain. You know +whether I have ever sought to restrain you, and whether I have not +stated a hundred times that I left you full liberty to gratify your own +wishes; yet your heart, regardless of my approval, has pledged its +faith, as well as its love, without my knowledge. I do not repent of my +indulgence; but your conduct certainly annoys me; it is a way of acting +which the tender friendship I have borne you does not merit. + +LEO. I know not why you speak to me thus; but believe me, I am as I have +ever been; nothing can alter my esteem for you; love for any other man +would seem to me a crime; if you will satisfy my wishes, a holy bond +shall unite us to-morrow. + +AR. On what foundation, then, have you, brother... + +SGAN. What! Did you not come out of Valere's house? Have you not been +declaring your passion this very day? And have you not been for a year +past in love with him? + +LEO. Who has been painting such pretty pictures of me? Who has been at +the trouble of inventing such falsehoods? + + + + +SCENE X.--ISABELLA, VALERE, LEONOR, ARISTE, SGANARELLE, MAGISTRATE, +NOTARY, LISETTE, ERGASTE. + + +ISA. Sister, I ask you generously to pardon me, if, by the freedom I +have taken, I have brought some scandal upon your name. The urgent +pressure of a great necessity, suggested to me, some time ago, this +disgraceful stratagem. Your example condemns such an escapade; but +fortune treated us differently. (_To Sganarelle_). As for you, sir, +I will not excuse myself to you. I serve you much more than I wrong you. +Heaven did not design us for one another. As I found I was unworthy of +your love, and undeserving of a heart like yours, I vastly preferred to +see myself in another's hands. + +VAL. (_To Sganarelle_). For me, I esteem it my greatest glory and +happiness to receive her, sir, from your hands. + +AR. Brother, you must take this matter quietly. Your own conduct is the +cause of this. I can see it is your unhappy lot that no one will pity +you, though they know you have been made a fool of. + +LIS. Upon my word, I am glad of this. This reward of his mistrust is a +striking retribution. + +LEO. I do not know whether the trick ought to be commended; but I am +quite sure that I, at least, cannot blame it. + +ERG. His star condemns him to be a cuckold; it is lucky for him he is +only a retrospective one. + +SGAN. (_Recovering from the stupor into which he had been +plunged_). No, I cannot get the better of my astonishment. This +faithlessness perplexes my understanding. I think that Satan in person +could be no worse than such a jade! I could have sworn it was not in +her. Unhappy he who trusts a woman after this! The best of them are +always full of mischief; they were made to damn the whole world. I +renounce the treacherous sex for ever, and give them to the devil with +all my heart! + +ERG. Well said. + +AR. Let us all go to my house. Come, M. Valere, tomorrow we will try to +appease his wrath. + +LIS. (_To the audience_). As for you, if you know any churlish +husbands, by all means send them to school with us. + +[Footnote: This is the last time Moliere directly addressed the audience +at the end of one of his plays; in _Sganarelle_ he did it for the +first time.] + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The School for Husbands, by Moliere + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS *** + +***** This file should be named 6742.txt or 6742.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/7/4/6742/ + +Produced by David Moynihan, D Garcia, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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