[1] [The sonnet is not of Molière's invention, but is to be found in _Les Oeuvres galantes en prose et en vers de M. Cotin_, Paris, 1663. It is called, _Sonnet à Mademoiselle de Longueville, à présent Duchesse de Nemours, sur sa fièvre quarte_. As, of necessity, the translation given above is not very literal, I append the original. "Votre prudence est endormie, De traiter magnifiquement, Et de loger superbement, Votre plus cruelle ennemie; Faites-la sortir quoi qu'on die, De votre riche appartement, Où cette ingrate insolemment Attaque votre belle vie! Quoi! sans respecter votre rang, Elle se prend à votre sang, Et nuit et jour vous fait outrage! Si vous la conduisez aux bains, Sans la marchander davantage, Noyez-la de vos propres mains." The _die_ of _quoi qu'on die_ was the regular form in Molière's time, and had nothing archaic about it. This is sufficiently true of "Will she, nill she" (compare Shakespeare's "And, will you, nill you, I will marry you") to excuse its use here.] BEL. Ah! what a pretty beginning! ARM. What a charming turn it has! PHI. He alone possesses the talent of making easy verses. ARM. We must yield to _prudence fast in sleep's repose is plunged_. BEL. A _lodging for the most cruel of your foes_ is full of charms for me. PHI. I like _superbly_ and _gorgeously_; these two adverbs joined together sound admirably. BEL. Let us hear the rest. TRI. _Your prudence fast in sleep's repose Is plunged; if thus superbly kind, A lodging gorgeously you can find For the most cruel of your foes_ ARM. _Prudence asleep_! BEL. _Lodge one's enemy_! PHI. _Superbly and gorgeously_! TRI. _Will she, nill she, quick, out she goes! From your apartment richly lined, Where that ingrate's outrageous mind At your fair life her javelin throws_. BEL. Ah! gently. Allow me to breathe, I beseech you. ARM. Give us time to admire, I beg. PHI. One feels, at hearing these verses, an indescribable something which goes through one's inmost soul, and makes one feel quite faint. ARM. _Will she, nill she, quick, out she goes From your apartment richly lined_. How prettily _rich apartment_ is said here, and with what wit the metaphor is introduced! PHI. _Will she, nill she, quick, out she goes!_ Ah! in what admirable taste that _will she, nill she_, is! To my mind the passage is invaluable. ARM. My heart is also in love with _will she, nill she_. BEL. I am of your opinion; _will she, nill she_, is a happy expression. ARM. I wish I had written it. BEL. It is worth a whole poem! PHI. But do you, like me, understand thoroughly the wit of it? ARM. _and_ BEL. Oh! oh