lady whom nobody can identify! GIA. And one of us is married to one of you, and the other is married to nobody. TESS. But which of you is married to which of us, and what's to become of the other? (About to cry.) GIU. It's quite simple. Observe. Two husbands have managed to acquire three wives. Three wives—two husbands. (Reckoning up.) That's two-thirds of a husband to each wife. TESS. O Mount Vesuvius, here we are in arithmetic! My good sir, one can't marry a vulgar fraction! GIU. You've no right to call me a vulgar fraction. MAR. We are getting rather mixed. The situation is entangled. Let's try and comb it out. QUARTET—MARCO, GIUSEPPE, GIANETTA, TESSA. In a contemplative fashion, And a tranquil frame of mind, Free from every kind of passion, Some solution let us find. Let us grasp the situation, Solve the complicated plot— Quiet, calm deliberation Disentangles every knot. TESS.I, no doubt, Giuseppe wedded— THE OTHERS. In a contemplative That's, of course, a slice of luck fashion, etc. He is rather dunder-headed. Still distinctly, he's a duck. GIA. I, a victim, too, of Cupid, THE OTHERS. Let us grasp the Marco married - that is clear. situation, etc. He's particularly stupid, Still distinctly, he's a dear. MAR. To Gianetta I was mated; THE OTHERS. In a contemplative I can prove it in a trice: fashion, etc. Though her charms are overrated, Still I own she's rather nice. GIU. I to Tessa, willy-nilly, THE OTHERS. Let us grasp the All at once a victim fell. situation, etc. She is what is called a silly, Still she answers pretty well. MAR. Now when we were pretty babies Some one married us, that's clear— GIA. And if I can catch her I'll pinch her and scratch her And send her away with a flea in her ear. GIU. He whom that young lady married, To receive her can't refuse. TESS. If I overtake her I'll warrant I'll make her To shake in her aristocratical shoes! GIA. (to Tess.). If she married your Giuseppe You and he will have to part— TESS. (to Gia.). If I have to do it I'll warrant she'll rue it— I'll teach her to marry the man of my heart! TESS. (to Gia.). If she married Messer Marco You're a spinster, that is plain—