WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:05.839 Act one of the School for Husbands by Moliere, translated 2 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.320 by Henri van Laun. This is a LibriVox recording. All 3 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:14.439 LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information 4 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:21.719 or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Dramatis Personi 5 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.039 Saganarel read by. 6 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:32.000 Nemo Oresta, His brother read by Todd Valerire. 7 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:34.560 Lover to Isabella read. 8 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:41.439 By Peter Tucker Ergast Servant to Valaire read by Thomas Peter. 9 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:47.000 A Magistrate read by Allan Mastone. 10 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:51.000 The Notary read by James Curran. 11 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.320 Isabella read by Sonya Leonaud. 12 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:58.799 Her Sister read by Leagna. 13 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:04.959 Lisette Made to Isabella read by Avayll. 14 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:12.840 Stage directions read by Sandra Scene. A public place in Paris, 15 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:19.439 The School for Husbands les call de Marie Act one, 16 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.799 seene one Scannarell arrists. 17 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:28.760 Pray, brother, let us talk less and let each of 18 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:32.599 us live as he likes. Though you have the advantage 19 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:36.400 of me in years and are old enough to be wise, 20 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:40.400 Yet I tell you that I mean to receive none 21 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.519 of your reproofs. That my fancy is the only counselor 22 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.200 I shall follow. Then I am quite satisfied with my 23 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:49.400 way of living. 24 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:51.840 But everyone condemns it. 25 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.239 Yes, fools like yourself, brother. 26 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.280 Thank you very much. It is a pleasant comp lament. 27 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:05.120 I should like to know, since one ought to hear everything, 28 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:08.000 what these fine critics blame in me. 29 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:12.879 That's surely an austere temper, which shuns all charms of society, 30 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:16.800 gives a whimsical appearance to all your actions, and makes 31 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.960 everything peculiar in you, even your dress. 32 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:24.960 I ought then to make myself a slave in fashion, 33 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:28.280 and not to put on clothes for my own sake. 34 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:34.919 Would you not, my dear elder brother, for heaven be 35 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:38.879 thanked so you are, to tell you plainly, by a 36 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:42.479 matter of twenty years, and that is not worth the 37 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:46.680 trouble of mentioning. Would you not, I say, by your 38 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:51.560 precious nonsense, persuade me to adopt the fashions of those 39 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:56.319 young sparks of yours. Oblige me to wear those little 40 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:00.439 hats which provide ventilation for their weak brains, and that 41 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:05.560 flaxen hair, the vast curls whereof concealed the form of 42 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:10.800 the human face, those little doublets but just below the arms, 43 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:15.120 and those big collars falling down to the navel, those 44 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.199 sleeves which one sees at table trying all the sauces, 45 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:24.759 and those petticoats called breeches, those tiny shoes covered with 46 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:29.360 ribbons which make you look like feathered legged pigeons, and 47 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:32.800 those large rolls wherein the legs are put every morning 48 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.479 as were into the stalks, and in which we see 49 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:40.439 these gallants straddle about, where their legs is wide apart, 50 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.120 as if they were the beams of a mill. I 51 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:49.120 should doubtless please you bedizened in this way I see 52 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.039 that you wear the stupid ghugaws, which it is the 53 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:53.199 fashion to wear. 54 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:57.840 We should always agree with the majority, and never cause 55 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:03.520 ourselves to be stared at extremes shock. And a wise 56 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.599 man should do with his clothes as with his speech, 57 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.560 avoid too much affectation, and without being in too great 58 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:16.800 a hurry, follow whatever change custom introduces. I do not 59 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.000 think that we should act like those people who always 60 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:24.319 exaggerate the fashion, and who are annoyed that another should 61 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:28.519 go further than themselves in the extremes which they affect. 62 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:34.439 But I maintain that it is wrong, for whatever reasons obstinately, 63 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:38.079 to chew what every one observes. That it would be 64 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.000 better to be counted among the fools than to be 65 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.639 the only wise person in opposition to every one else. 66 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:49.319 That smacks of the old man, who, in order to 67 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:53.000 impose upon the world, covers his gray hairs with a 68 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:53.560 black wig. 69 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:57.759 It is strange that you should be so careful always 70 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.800 to fling my age in my face, and that I 71 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:04.439 should continually find you blaming my dress as well as 72 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:08.560 my cheerfulness. One would imagine that old age ought to 73 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:11.319 think of nothing but death, since it is condemned to 74 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.480 give up all enjoyment, and that it is not attended 75 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:17.639 by enough ugliness of its own, but must needs be 76 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:19.240 slovenly and crabbed. 77 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:24.560 However that may be, I am resolved to stick to 78 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:29.120 my way of dress in spite of the fashion. I 79 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:32.279 like my cap so that my head may be comfortably 80 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:37.240 sheltered beneath it. A good long doublet buttoned close as 81 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.720 it should be, which may keep the stomach worn and 82 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:45.360 promote a healthy digestion. A pair of breeches made exactly 83 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:50.480 to fit my thighs, shoes like those of our wise ancestors, 84 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.560 in which my feet may not be tortured, and he 85 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:58.199 who does not like the look of me may shut his. 86 00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:07.279 Eyes scene too Leonor, Isabella, Lizette, Arrist and Ganarel conversing 87 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:13.839 in an undertone unperceived Leonor to Isabella. 88 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:15.839 I take it all myself in case you are. 89 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:20.120 Scorded, Lizette to Isabella. 90 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:22.360 Always in one room, seeing no one. 91 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:25.879 Such is his humor. 92 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:30.600 I pity you, sister, Lizette to Leonor. 93 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:34.079 It is well for you, madam, that his brother is 94 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:38.079 of quite another disposition. Fate was very kind in making 95 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:40.680 you fall into the hands of a rational person. 96 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.360 It is a wonder that he did not lock me 97 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:45.360 up to day or take me with him. 98 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:48.480 I declare I would send him to the devil with 99 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:50.079 his Spanish rough. 100 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:54.879 And Gonareel, against whom Lizette stumbled. 101 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:59.759 Where are you going? If I may ask, we really 102 00:06:59.800 --> 00:06:59.959 do not. 103 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.519 Oh no, I was urging my sister to take a 104 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:05.319 walk and enjoy this pleasant and fine weather. 105 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:10.439 But is Gannael to Leonor, as. 106 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.839 For you, you may go wherever you please. To lise 107 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:18.360 it you can run off. There are two of you. 108 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.439 Together, two Isabella. 109 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.720 But as for you, I forbid you excuse me to 110 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:27.399 go out. 111 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.560 Oh brother, let them go and amuse themselves. 112 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:41.040 I am your servant, brother, youth will youth is foolish 113 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:44.959 and old age too. Sometimes do you. 114 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.360 Think there is any harm in her being with leonor 115 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:49.000 not so? 116 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:53.040 But with me? I think she is still better. 117 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:55.800 But but her. 118 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:01.399 Conduct must be guided by me. In short, I know 119 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.199 the interest I ought to take in it. 120 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:07.199 Have I less in her sisters? 121 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.480 By heaven? Each one argues and does as he likes. 122 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:18.399 They are without relatives, and their father, our friend, entrusted 123 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:22.879 them to us in his last hour, charging us both 124 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:27.720 either to marry them or if we declined, to dispose 125 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:32.600 of them hereafter, he gave us, in writing the full 126 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.320 awe authority of a father and a husband over them 127 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:41.600 from their infancy. You undertook to bring up that one. 128 00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:46.080 I charged myself with a care of this one. You 129 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:49.840 govern yours at your pleasure, leave me. I pray to 130 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:52.159 manage the other as I think best. 131 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:54.080 It seems to me. 132 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:00.039 It seems to me, and I say it openly. That 133 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.120 is the right way to speak on such a subject. 134 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:08.360 You let your ward go about gaily and stylishly. I'm 135 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:14.399 content you let her have footmen in a maid. I agree. 136 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:19.519 You let her get about love idleness, be freely courted 137 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:25.840 by dandies. I'm quite satisfied. But I intend that mine 138 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.120 shall live according to my fancy and not according to 139 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:33.200 her own. That she shall be dressed in honest surge, 140 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.440 and wear only black on holidays that shut up in 141 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:43.039 the house, prudent and bearing. She shall apply herself entirely 142 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:47.720 to domestic concerns, mend my linen in her leisure hours, 143 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:53.279 or eltnate stockings for amusement. That she shall close her 144 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:58.159 ears to the talk of young sparks, and never go 145 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:03.679 out without someone to want. In short, flesh is weak. 146 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:07.559 I know what stories are going about. I have no 147 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:11.720 mind to wear horns if I can help it. And 148 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:15.000 as her lot requires her to marry me, I mean 149 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:19.080 to be as certain of her as I am of myself. 150 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.399 I believe you have no grounds. 151 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:26.360 For hold your tongue. I shall teach you to go 152 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:32.600 out without us what sir, good heavens madam, without wasting 153 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:36.000 any more words. I am not speaking to you, for 154 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:37.120 you are too clever. 155 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:39.639 Do you regret to see Asbella with me? 156 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:45.240 Yes? Since I must speak plainly, you spoil her for me. 157 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:49.639 Your visits here only displease me, and you will oblige 158 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:51.200 me by honoring us. 159 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.360 No more do you wish that I shall likewise speak 160 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:57.159 my thoughts plainly to you. I know not how she 161 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:00.240 regards all this, but I know what effect mistrust would. 162 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:00.559 Have on me. 163 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.639 Though we are the same father and mother, she is 164 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:06.240 not much of my sister if your daily conduct produces 165 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:06.960 any love in her. 166 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.919 Indeed, all these precautions are disgraceful. 167 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:12.600 Are we in Turkey? 168 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:14.159 That women must be shut up? 169 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:15.200 There? 170 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:18.679 They say they are kept like slaves. This is why 171 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.559 the Turks are accursed by God. Our honor, Sir, is 172 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:26.600 very weak, indeed, if it must be perpetually watched. Do 173 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.399 you think, after all, that these precautions are any bow 174 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:33.519 to our designs? That when we take anything into our heads, 175 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:36.759 the cleverest man would not be but a donkey to us. 176 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:41.360 All that vigilance of yours but a fool's notion. The 177 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.200 best way of all, I assure you, is to trust us. 178 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:48.720 He who torments us puts himself in extreme peril, for 179 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.720 our honor must ever be its own protector. To take 180 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:56.080 so much trouble in preventing us is almost to give 181 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:59.840 us a desire to sin. If I were suspected by 182 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:02.720 my husband, I should have a very good mind to 183 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:04.159 justify his fears. 184 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:07.639 Is gennerel to arrest. 185 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:13.360 This, my fine teacher, is your training, and you endure 186 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.559 it without being troubled. 187 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:21.240 Brother, her words should only make you smile. There is 188 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:25.120 some reason in what she says. Their sex loves to 189 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:28.440 enjoy a little freedom. They are, but ill checked by 190 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:34.240 so much austerity. Suspicious precautions, bolts and bars make neither 191 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:38.840 wives nor maids virtuous. It is honor which must hold 192 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:42.240 them to their duty, not the severity which we display 193 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:46.240 towards them. To tell you candidly, a woman who is 194 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:49.960 discreet by compulsion only is not often to be met 195 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.879 with we pretend in vain to govern all her actions. 196 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.679 I find that it is a heart we must win. 197 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:01.879 For my part, whatever cared my taken, I would scarcely 198 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:05.000 trust my honor in the hands of one who, in 199 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:08.840 the desires which might assail her, required nothing but an 200 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:10.360 opportunity of falling. 201 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.399 That is all nonsense, have it so? 202 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:20.720 But still I maintained that we should instruct youth pleasantly, 203 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:25.279 chide their faults with great tenderness, and not make them 204 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:29.639 afraid of the name of virtue. Leonor's education has been 205 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:33.080 based on these maxims. I have not made crimes of 206 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:36.559 the smallest acts of liberty. I have always assented to 207 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:41.320 her youthful wishes, and thank Heaven, I never repented of it. 208 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:44.799 I have allowed her to see good company, to go 209 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:49.799 to amusements, balls plays. These are things which, for my 210 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:52.879 part I think are calculated to form the minds of 211 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:56.960 the young. The world is a school which, in my opinion, 212 00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:00.519 teaches them better how to live than any book. Does 213 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:04.840 she like to spend money on clothes, linen, ribbons? What? 214 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:05.320 Then? 215 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:10.159 I endeavor to gratify her wishes. These are pleasures which, 216 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:12.639 when we are well off, we may permit to the 217 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:17.039 girls of our family. Her father's command requires her to 218 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:20.480 marry me, but it is not my intention to tyrannize 219 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:24.120 over her. I am quite aware that our years hardly 220 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.360 suit and I leave her complete liberty of choice. If 221 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:31.919 a safe income of four thousand crowns a year, great 222 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:36.639 affection and consideration for her may, in her opinion, counterbalance 223 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:40.000 and marriage the inequality of our age. She may take 224 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:43.919 me for her husband. If not, she may choose elsewhere. 225 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.759 If she can be happier without me, I do not object. 226 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:51.960 I prefer to see her with another husband, rather than 227 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.799 her hand should be given to me against her will. 228 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:01.039 Oh how sweet he is, all sugar and honey. 229 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:05.559 At all events. That is my disposition, and I thank 230 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:08.799 Heaven for it. I would never lay down these strict 231 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:11.360 rules which make children wish their parents dead. 232 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:17.240 But the liberty acquired in youth is not so easily withdrawn. 233 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:22.720 Later on, All those feelings will please you, but little 234 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.840 when you have to change her mode of life. 235 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:27.320 And why change it? 236 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:28.440 Why? 237 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:33.679 Yes, I do not know. Is there anything in it 238 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:34.960 that offends honor? 239 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:38.919 Why? If you marry her she may demand the same 240 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.399 freedom which she enjoyed as a girl. 241 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:42.759 Why not? 242 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.200 And you so far agree with her as to let 243 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:53.360 her have patches and ribbons, Douglas, to let her get 244 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:57.039 about madly at every ball and public. 245 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:59.320 Assembly, Yes, certainly. 246 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.879 And the bows will visit at your house? 247 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:04.320 What then? 248 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:08.200 Who will junk it and give entertainments? 249 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:10.000 With all my heart? 250 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:16.200 And your wife is to listen to their fine speeches exactly, 251 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:20.279 and you will look on at these gallant visitors with 252 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:27.279 a show of indifference. Of course, go on, you old idiot. 253 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:32.440 Two Isabella, get indoors and hear no more of this 254 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:35.720 shameful doctrine. 255 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:41.080 Scene three arrist x Ganarelle leonor Lisette. 256 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:44.000 I mean to trust to the faithfulness of my wife 257 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:47.360 and intend always to live as I have lived. 258 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:51.919 How pleased I shall be to see him victimized. 259 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.240 I cannot say what fate has in store for me, 260 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:59.279 but as for you, I know that if you fail 261 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:01.879 to be so, Oh, it is no fault of yours, 262 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.920 for you are doing everything to bring it about. 263 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.440 La fun giggler, Oh, what a joke it is to 264 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:11.680 see a railer of nearly sixty. 265 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:14.720 I promise to preserve him against the fate he speak. 266 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:18.240 If he is to receive my vows the altar, he 267 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:21.000 may rest secure. But I can tell you I would 268 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.559 pass my word for nothing if I were your wife. 269 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.920 We have a conscience for those who rely on us. 270 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:31.200 But it is delightful, really to cheat such folks as you. 271 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.400 Hush, you cursed, ill bred tongue. 272 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:41.319 Brother, you drew these silly words on yourself. Good Bye 273 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.039 all to your temper, and be warned that to shut 274 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:50.160 up a wife is a bad plan, your servant. 275 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:53.759 I am not yours. 276 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.519 Scene for scannarel alone. 277 00:17:56.839 --> 00:18:01.759 Oh, they're well suited to one another. What an admirable family. 278 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:05.599 A foolish old man with a worn out body who 279 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:10.799 plays the fop, a girl mistress and a thorough coquette 280 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:17.960 impudent servants. No wisdom itself could not succeed, but would 281 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:22.559 exhaust sense and reason trying to amend a household like 282 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:28.599 this By such associations, Isabella might lose those principles of 283 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:33.079 her honor which she learned amongst us. To prevent it, 284 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:38.240 I shall presently send her back again to my cabbages 285 00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:40.160 and turkeys. 286 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:48.720 Scene five. Valerire, scannerel ergust Valerire behind Auguste. 287 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:52.839 That is he the argus whom I hate, the stern 288 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.039 guardian of her whom I adore. 289 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:59.079 Scannarel thinking himself alone. 290 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:04.240 In short, is there not something wonderful in the corruption 291 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.400 of manners nowadays? 292 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:08.880 I should like to address him, if I can get 293 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:12.279 a chance, and try to strike up an acquaintance with him. 294 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.599 Scannarel, thinking himself alone, instead. 295 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:22.839 Of seeing that severity prevail which so admirably formed virtue 296 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:30.279 in other days, uncontrolled and imperious youth here about assumes. 297 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.519 Valerire bows to Scannarel from a distance. 298 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.839 He does not see that we bow to him. 299 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:40.440 Perhaps his blind eye is on this side. Let us 300 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:41.319 cross to the right. 301 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:47.880 I must go away from this place. Life in town 302 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:50.000 only produces in me. 303 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:53.599 Vallaire gradually approaching. 304 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:55.480 I must try to get an introduction. 305 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:04.279 Scannarel. Hearing a noise, I thought someone spoke, thinking himself 306 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:06.279 alone in. 307 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:11.680 The country, Thank Heaven, the fashionable follies do not offend 308 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:12.400 my eyes. 309 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:16.480 Ergust to Valaire, speak to him. 310 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:24.799 What is it? My ears tingle? There all the recreations 311 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:26.200 of our girls are. 312 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.720 But he perceives Valaire bowing to him. 313 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:31.960 Do you bow to me? 314 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:39.440 Ergust to Valaire, go up to him, scannereal not attending 315 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:40.079 to Valaire. 316 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:42.759 Thither no cocks come comes. 317 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:45.279 Valerire again bows to him. 318 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:47.079 What the deuce? 319 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:53.279 He turns and sees August bowing on the other side. 320 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:57.359 Another What a great many bows, sir? 321 00:20:57.599 --> 00:20:59.759 My accosting you disturbs. 322 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:02.039 You, I fear that may be. 323 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:06.440 But yet the honor of your acquaintance is so great, 324 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:10.880 a happiness, so exquisite a pleasure, that I had a 325 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:16.200 great desire to pay my respects to you well, and 326 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:19.599 to come and assure you without any deceit, that I 327 00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:21.160 am wholly at your service. 328 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.240 I believe it. 329 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.440 I have the advantage of being one of your neighbors. 330 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:28.319 For which I thank my lucky fate. 331 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:33.559 That is all right, But sir, do you know the news. 332 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:36.400 Going the round at court and thought to be reliable? 333 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:38.440 What does it matter to me? 334 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:42.920 True, but we may sometimes be anxious to hear it. 335 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:46.920 Shall you go and see the magnificent preparations for the 336 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:49.119 birth of our Dauphinso. 337 00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:52.319 If I feel inclined. 338 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.599 Confess that Paris affords us a hundred delightful pleasures which 339 00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:59.640 are not to be found elsewhere. The provinces are a 340 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:03.200 desert in comparison, how do you pass your. 341 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.799 Time on my own business? 342 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.920 The mind demands relaxation and occasionally gives way by too 343 00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:16.079 close attention to serious occupations. What do you do in 344 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:17.680 the evening before going to bed? 345 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:21.039 What I please? 346 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.680 Doubtless no one could speak better. The answer is just, 347 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.039 and it seems to be common sense to resolve never 348 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:31.039 to do what does not please. If I did not 349 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:34.720 think you were too much occupied, I would drop in 350 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:36.240 on you sometimes after supper. 351 00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:38.720 Your servant. 352 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:43.400 Scene six Valaire, August. 353 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:46.759 What do you think of that eccentric fool? 354 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:53.559 His answers are abrupt and his reception is chernish. 355 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:54.440 Ah, I am in a rage? 356 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:56.880 What for why? 357 00:22:56.920 --> 00:22:59.799 Am I in a rage to see her? I love 358 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.720 in the power of a savage, a watchful dragon, whose 359 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.119 severity will not permit her to enjoy a single moment 360 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:06.640 of liberty. 361 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:10.680 That is just what is in your favor. Your love 362 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:15.000 ought to expect a great deal from these circumstances. Know 363 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:18.680 for your encouragement that a woman watched is half won, 364 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:22.519 and that the gloomy, ill temper of husbands and fathers 365 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:27.200 has always promoted the affairs of the gallant. I intrigue 366 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:30.799 very little, for that is not one of my accomplishments. 367 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:34.000 I do not pretend to be a gallant. But I 368 00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:37.599 have served a score of such sportsmen, who often used 369 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:40.160 to tell me that it was their greatest delight to 370 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:44.240 meet with churlish husbands who never come home without scolding, 371 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:50.039 downright brutes, who without rye or reason, criticize the conduct 372 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:54.599 of their wives in everything, and, proudly assuming the authority 373 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.759 of a husband, quarrel with them before the eyes of 374 00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:02.039 their admirers. One no, they would say, how to take 375 00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:05.759 advantage of this, the lady's indignation at this kind of 376 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:08.920 outrage on the one hand, and the considerate compassion of 377 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:12.400 the lover on the other afford an opportunity for pushing 378 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:17.599 Mautters far enough. In a word, the surliness of Isabella's 379 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:21.160 guardian is a circumstance sufficiently favorable for you. 380 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:25.000 But I could never find one moment to speak to her, 381 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.359 and the four months that I have ardently loved her. 382 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:32.279 Love quickens people's wits, though it has little effect on yours. 383 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:36.359 If I had been, why what could you have done? 384 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:40.799 For one never sees her without that brute in the house. 385 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.279 There are neither maids nor men servants whom I might 386 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:47.319 influence to assist me by the alluring temptation of some reward. 387 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.759 Then she does not yet know that she love her. 388 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:54.400 It is a point on which I am not informed. 389 00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:59.240 Wherever the child took this fair one, she always saw 390 00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:02.839 me like a shop behind her. My looks daily tried 391 00:25:02.920 --> 00:25:06.119 to explain to her the violence of my love. My 392 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:09.119 eyes have spoken much, but who can tell whether after 393 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:10.759 all their language could be understood. 394 00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:15.640 It is true that this language may sometimes prove obscure 395 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:19.119 if it have not writing or speech for its interpreter. 396 00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.279 What am I to do to rid myself of this 397 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:26.279 vast difficulty? And to learn whether the fair one has 398 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:30.200 perceived that I love her. Tell me some means or other. 399 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:34.599 That is what we have to discover. Let us go 400 00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:37.640 in for a while, the better to think over it. 401 00:25:39.640 --> 00:25:49.119