Мольер (Жан-Батист Поклен)
The Love-Tiff
SCENE III. – ÉRASTE, VALÈRE, GROS-RENÉ
ERAS. Well, Valère?
VAL. Well, Éraste?
ERAS. How does your love prosper?
VAL. And how does yours?
ERAS. It grows stronger and stronger every day.
VAL. So does mine.
ERAS. For Lucile?
VAL. For her.
ERAS. Certainly, I must own, you are a pattern of uncommon constancy.
VAL. And your perseverance will be a rare example to posterity.
ERAS. As for me, I am not very fond of that austere kind of love which is satisfied with looks only; nor do I possess feelings lofty enough to endure ill-treatment with constancy. In one word, when I really love, I wish to be beloved again.
VAL. It is very natural, and I am of the same opinion. I would never do homage to the most perfect object by whom I could be smitten, if she did not return my passion.
ERAS. However, Lucile…
VAL. Lucile does willingly everything my passion can desire.
ERAS. You are easily satisfied then.
VAL. Not so easily as you may think.
ERAS. I, however, may, without vanity, believe that I am in her favour.
VAL. And I know that I have a very good share of it.
ERAS. Do not deceive yourself; believe me.
VAL. Believe me, do not be too credulous, and take too much for granted.
ERAS. If I might show you a certain proof that her heart…but no, it would too much distress you.
VAL. If I might discover a secret to you…but it might grieve you, and so I will be discreet.
ERAS. You really urge me too far, and though much against my will, I see I must lower your presumption. Read that.
VAL. (After having read the letter). These are tender words.
ERAS. You know the handwriting?
VAL. Yes, it is Lucile's.
ERAS. Well! where is now your boasted certainty…?
VAL. (Smiling and going away). Farewell, Éraste.
GR. – RE. He is mad, surely. What reason has he to laugh?
ERAS. He certainly surprises me, and between ourselves I cannot imagine what the deuce of a mystery is hidden under this.
GR. – RE. Here comes his servant, I think.
ERAS. Yes, it is he; let us play the hypocrite, to set him talking about his master's love.
SCENE IV. – ÉRASTE, MASCARILLE, GROS-RENÉ
MASC. (Aside). No, I do not know a more wretched situation, than to have a young master, very much in love.
GR. – RE. Good morning.
MASC. Good morning.
GR. – RE. Where is Mascarille going just now? What is he doing? Is he coming back? Is he going away? Or does he intend to stay where he is?
MASC. No, I am not coming back, because I have not yet been where I am going; nor am I going, for I am stopped; nor do I design to stay, for this very moment I intend to be gone.
ERAS. You are very abrupt, Mascarille; gently.
MASC. Ha! Your servant, sir.
ERAS. You are in great haste to run away from us: what! do I frighten you?
MASC. You are too courteous to do that.
ERAS. Shake hands; all jealousy is now at an end between us; we will be friends; I have relinquished my love; henceforth you can have your own way to further your happiness.
MASC. Would to Heaven it were true!
ERAS. Gros-René knows that I have already another flame elsewhere.
GR. – RE. Certainly; and I also give up Marinette to you.
MASC. Do not let us touch on that point; our rivalry is not likely to go to such a length. But is it certain, sir, that you are no longer in love, or do you jest?
ERAS. I have been informed that your master is but too fortunate in his amours; I should be a fool to pretend any longer to gain the same favours which that lady grants to him alone.
MASC. Certainly, you please me with this news. Though I was rather afraid of you, with regard to our plans, yet you do wisely to slip your neck out of the collar. You have done well to leave a house where you were only caressed for form's sake; I, knowing all that was going on, have many times pitied you, because you were allured by expectations, which could never be realized. It is a sin and a shame to deceive a gentleman! But how the deuce, after all, did you find out the trick? For when they plighted their faith to each other there were no witnesses but night, myself, and two others; and the tying of the knot, which satisfies the passion of our lovers, is thought to have been kept a secret till now.
ERAS. Ha! What do you say?
MASC. I say that I am amazed, sir, and cannot guess who told you, that under this mask, which deceives you and everybody else, a secret marriage unites their matchless love.
ERAS. You lie.
MASC. Sir, with all my heart.
ERAS. You are a rascal.
MASC. I acknowledge I am.
ERAS. And this impudence deserves a sound beating on the spot.
MASC. I am completely in your power,
ERAS. Ha! Gros-René.
GR. – RE. Sir?
ERAS, I contradict a story, which I much fear is but too true. (ToMascarille). You wanted to run away.
MASC. Not in the least.
ERAS. What! Lucile is married to…
MASC. No, sir, I was only joking.
ERAS. Hey! you were joking, you wretch?
MASC. No, I was not joking.
ERAS. Is it true then?
MASC. No, I do not say that.
ERAS. What do you say then?
MASC. Alas! I say nothing, for fear of saying something wrong.
ERAS. Tell me positively, whether you have spoken the truth, or deceived me.
MASC. Whatever you please. I do not come here to contradict you.
ERAS. (Drawing his sword). Will you tell me? Here is something that will loosen your tongue without more ado.
MASC. It will again be saying some foolish speech or other. I pray you, if you have no objection, let me quickly have a few stripes, and then allow me to scamper off.
ERAS. You shall suffer death, unless you tell me the whole truth without disguise.
MASC. Alas! I will tell it then; but perhaps, sir, I shall make you angry.
ERAS. Speak: but take great care what you are doing; nothing shall save you from my just anger, if you utter but one single falsehood in your narration.
MASC. I agree to it; break my legs, arms, do worse to me still, kill me, if I have deceived you in the smallest degree, in anything I have said.
ERAS. It is true then that they are married?
MASC. With regard to this, I can now clearly see that my tongue tripped; but, for all that, the business happened just as I told you. It was after five visits paid at night, and whilst you were made use of as a screen to conceal their proceedings, that they were united the day before yesterday. Lucile ever since tries still more to hide the great love she bears my master, and desires he will only consider whatever he may see, and whatever favours she may show you, as the results of her deep-laid scheme, in order to prevent the discovery of their secrets. If, notwithstanding my protestations, you doubt the truth of what I have told you, Gros-René may come some night along with me, and I will show him, as I stand and watch, that we shall be admitted into her house, after dark.
ERAS. Out of my sight, villain.
MASC. I shall be delighted to go; that is just what I want. (Exit).
SCENE V. – ÉRASTE, GROS-RENÉ
ERAS. Well?
GR. – RE. Well! Sir, we are both taken in if this fellow speaks the truth.
ERAS. Alas! The odious rascal has spoken the truth too well. All that he has said is very likely to have happened; Valère's behaviour, at the sight of this letter, denotes that there is a collusion between them, and that it is a screen to hide Lucile's love for him.
SCENE VI. – ÉRASTE, MARINETTE, GROS-RENÉ
MAR. I come to tell you that this evening my mistress permits you to see her in the garden.
ERAS. How dare you address me, you hypocritical traitress? Get out of my sight, and tell your mistress not to trouble me any more with her letters; that is the regard, wretch, I have for them. (He tears the letter and goes out).
MAR. Tell me, Gros-René, what ails him?
GR. – RE. Dare you again address me, iniquitous female, deceitful crocodile, whose base heart is worse than a satrap or a Lestrigon?
[Footnote: See Homer's Odyssey, X., v. 81-132.]
Go, go, carry your answer to your lovely mistress, and tell her short and sweet, that in spite of all her cunning, neither my master nor I are any longer fools, and that henceforth she and you may go to the devil together. (Exit).
MAR. My poor Marinette, are you quite awake? What demon are they possessed by? What? Is it thus they receive our favours? How shocked my mistress will be when she hears this!
* * * * *
ACT II
SCENE I. – ASCANIO, FROSINE
FROS. Thank Heaven! I am a girl who can keep a secret, Ascanio.
ASC. But is this place private enough for such a conversation? Let us take care that nobody surprises us, or that we be not overheard from some corner or other.
FROS. We should be much less safe within the house; here we can easily see anybody coming, and may speak in perfect safety.
ASC. Alas! how painful it is for me to begin my tale!
FROS. Sure, this must be an important secret then?
ASC. Too much so, since I even entrust it to you with reluctance; even you should not know it, if I could keep it concealed any longer.
FROS. Fie! you insult me when you hesitate to trust in me, whom you have ever found so reserved in everything that concerns you – me, who was brought up with you, and have kept secret things of so great an importance to you; me, who know…
ASC. Yes, you are already acquainted with the secret reason which conceals from the eyes of the world my sex and family. You know that I was brought into this house, where I have passed my infancy, in order to preserve an inheritance which, on the death of young Ascanio (whom I personate), should have fallen to others; that is why I dare to unbosom myself to you with perfect confidence. But before we begin this conversation, Frosine, clear up a doubt which continually besets me. Can it be possible that Albert should know nothing of the secret, which thus disguises my sex, and makes him my father?
FROS. To tell you the truth, what you now wish to know has also greatly puzzled me. I have never been able to get at the bottom of this intrigue, nor could my mother give me any further insight. When Albert's son died, who was so much beloved, and to whom a very rich uncle bequeathed a great deal of property, even before his birth; his mother kept his death secret, fearing that her husband, who was absent at the time, would have gone distracted, had he seen that great inheritance, from which his family would have reaped such advantage, pass into the hands of another. She, I say, in order to conceal this misfortune formed the plan of putting you into the place of her lost son; you were taken from our family, where you were brought up. Your mother gave her consent to this deceit; you took the son's place, and every one was bribed to keep the secret. Albert has never known it through us, and as his wife kept it for more than twelve years, and died suddenly, her unexpected death prevented her from disclosing it. I perceive, however, that he keeps up an acquaintance with your real mother, and that, in private, he assists her; perhaps all this is not done without a reason. On the other hand, he commits a blunder by urging you to marry some young lady! Perhaps he knows that you took the place of his son, without knowing that you are a girl. But this digression might gradually carry us too far; let us return to that secret which I am impatient to hear.
ASC. Know then that Cupid cannot be deceived, that I have not been able to disguise my sex from love's eyes, and that his subtle shafts have reached the heart of a weak woman beneath the dress I wear. In four words, I am in love!
FROS. You in love!
ASC. Gently, Frosine; do not be quite so astonished; it is not time yet; this love-sick heart has something else to tell you that will surprise you.
FROS. What is it?
ASC. I am in love with Valère.
FROS. Ha! I really am surprised. What! you love a man whose family your deceit has deprived of a rich inheritance, and who, if he had the least suspicion of your sex, would immediately regain everything. This is a still greater subject of astonishment.
ASC. I have a more wonderful surprise for you yet in store – I am his wife.
FROS. Oh, Heavens! his wife!
ASC. Yes, his wife.
FROS. Ha! this is worse than all, and nearly drives me mad.
ASC. And yet this is not all.
FROS. Not all!
ASC. I am his wife, I say, and he does not think so, nor has he the least idea of what I really am.
FROS. Go on, I give it up, and will not say any thing more, so much every word amazes me. I cannot comprehend anything of these riddles.
ASC. I shall explain if you will but hear me. Valère who admired my sister, seemed to me a lover worthy of being listened to; I could not bear to see his addresses slighted without feeling a certain interest in him. I wished that Lucile should take pleasure in his conversation, I blamed her severity, and blamed it so effectually, that I myself, without being able to help it, became affected with that passion which she could not entertain. He was talking to her, and persuaded me; I suffered myself to be overcome by the very sighs he breathed; and the love, rejected by the object of his flame, entered, like a conqueror, into my heart, which was wounded by an arrow, not aimed at it, and paid another's debt with heavy interest. At last, my dear, the love I felt for him forced me to declare myself, but under a borrowed name. One night I spoke to him, disguising my voice as if it were Lucile's, and this too amiable lover thought she returned his love; I managed the conversation so well that he never found out the deception. Under that disguise which pleased so much his deluded imagination, I told him that I was enamoured of him, but that, finding my father opposed to my wishes, I ought at least to pretend to obey him; that therefore it behooved us to keep our love secret, with which the night alone should be acquainted; that all private conversation should be avoided during the day, for fear of betraying everything; that he should behold me with the same indifference as he did before we had come to an understanding; and that on his part, as well as mine, no communication should take place either by gesture, word, or writing. In short, without dwelling any longer upon all the pains I have taken to bring this deception to a safe termination, I went on with my bold project as far as it was possible to go, and secured the husband I mentioned to you.
FROS. Upon my word, you possess great talents. Would any one think so, on seeing her passionless countenance? However, you have been pretty hasty, and though I grant that the affair has succeeded until now, what do you think will be the end of it, for it cannot be long concealed?
ASC. When love is strong it overcomes all obstacles, until it is satisfied; provided it reaches the wished-for goal, it looks upon everything else as a mere trifle. I have told you all to-day, so that your advice… But here comes my husband.
