MR. DIA. Moreover, in respect to the qualities required for marriage, I assure you that he is all you could wish, and that his children will be strong and healthy. ARG. Do you not intend, Sir, to push his way at court, and obtain for him the post of physician there? MR. DIA. To tell you the truth, I have never had any predilection to practice with the great; it never seemed pleasant to me, and I have found that it is better for us to confine ourselves to the ordinary public. Ordinary people are more convenient; you are accountable to nobody for your actions, and as long as you follow the common rules laid down by the faculty, there is no necessity to trouble yourself about the result. What is vexatious among people of rank is that, when they are ill, they positively expect their doctor to cure them. TOI. How very absurd! How impertinent of them to ask of you doctors to cure them! You are not placed near them for that, but only to receive your fees and to prescribe remedies. It is their own look-out to get well if they can. MR. DIA. Quite so. We are only bound to treat people according to form. ARG. (_to_ CLÉANTE). Sir, please make my daughter sing before the company. CLE. I was waiting for your commands, Sir; and I propose, in order to amuse the company, to sing with the young lady an operetta which has lately come out. (_To_ ANGÉLIQUE, _giving her a paper_) There is your part. ANG. Mine? CLE. (_aside to_ ANGÉLIQUE). Don’t refuse, pray; but let me explain to you what is the scene we must sing. (_Aloud_) I have no voice; but in this case it is sufficient if I make myself understood; and you must have the goodness to excuse me, because I am under the necessity of making the young lady sing. ARG. Are the verses pretty? CLE. It is really nothing but a small extempore opera, and what you will hear is only rhythmical prose or a kind of irregular verse, such as passion and necessity make two people utter. ARG. Very well; let us hear.