French drama -- 17th century -- Translations into English; Molière, 1622-1673 -- Translations into English
SBRI. Be quick, I tell you; don't waste time; you would be happy,
would you not, if you were hanged?
MR. POUR. Ah! (_Gives more money to_ SBRIGANI.)
SBRI. (_to the_ OFFICER). Here, Sir.
OFF. (_to_ SBRIGANI). I must go off with him, for I should not be in
safety here after this. Leave him to me, and don't stir from this
place.
SBRI. I beg of you to take the utmost care of him.
OFF. I promise you not to leave him one moment till I see him safe.
MR. POUR. (_to_ SBRIGANI). Farewell! This is the first honest man I
have found in this town.
SCENE VIII.--ORONTE, SBRIGANI.
SBRI. (_affecting not to see_ ORONTE). Ah! What a strange adventure!
What terrible news for a father! Poor Oronte, how much I pity you!
What will you say? How will you ever be able to bear with such a
misfortune?
ORO. What is it? Of what misfortune do you speak?
SBRI. Ah, Sir! This wretch of a Limousin has run away with your
daughter!
ORO. Run away with my daughter!
SBRI. Yes; she became so infatuated with him that she has left you to
follow him. It is said that he has a charm to make all women fall in
love with him.
ORO. Quick! Justice! Let the police be set after them!
SCENE IX.--ORONTE, ÉRASTE, JULIA, SBRIGANI.
ERA. (_to_ JULIA). Come along; you shall come in spite of yourself. I
will put you in your father's hands. Sir, here is your daughter, whom
I had to take by force from the man with whom she was running away; it
is not for her sake that I did it, but entirely for yours. For, after
such conduct, I ought to despise her, and it is enough to cure me
altogether of my love.
ORO. Ah! infamous girl that you are!
ERA. (_to_ JULIA). How could you treat me in that way, after all the
proofs of affection I have given you? I do not blame you for being
obedient to your father's will; he is wise and judicious in all he
does; and I do not complain of him for having preferred another to me.
They told him that that other man was richer than I by four or five
thousand crowns, and four or five thousand crowns are a good round
sum, and are enough to make a gentleman break his word; but that you
should forget in a moment all the love I had for you, suffer yourself
to fall madly in love with the first new-comer, and shamefully follow
him; without the consent of your father, after all the crimes that
were charged upon him! It is what all the world will condemn, and what
my heart can never cease to reproach you with.
JUL. Well, yes; I fell in love with him, and I wanted to follow him,
since my father had chosen him to be my husband. Whatever you may say,
he is a very honest man, and all the crimes they accuse him of are so
many detestable falsehoods.
ORO. Be silent; you are an impertinent hussy, and I know better than
you.
JUL. They are some tricks they have played him, and (_showing_ ÉRASTE)
it is he himself, no doubt, who managed it all, to disgust you with
him.
ERA. What! I should be capable of such a thing?
JUL. Yes, you.
ORO. Be silent, I tell you. You are a silly girl.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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