[8] L'ÉCOLE DES MARIS. 1 ACTE I. SCENE I. SGANARELLE, ARISTE. M SGANARELLE. ON frére, s'il vous plaît, ne difcourons point tant, Et que chacun de nous vive comme il l'entend; Bien que fur moi des ans vous ayez l'a, Et foyez affez vieux pour devoir être fage, SCANARELLE. Oui, des fous comme vous, ARISTE. Grand-merci, le compliment eft doux. SGANARELLE. Je voudrois bien fçavoir, puifqu'il faut tout entendre, Ce que ces beaux cenfeurs en moi peuvent reprendre ? ARISTE. Cette farouche humeur, dont la féverité Fuit toutes les douceurs de la fociété, A tous vos procédés inspire un air bizarre, Et, jufques à l'habit, rend tout chez vous barbare. SCANARELLE. Il eft vrai qu'à la mode il faut m'affujettir, Et [9] THE SCHOOL for HUSBANDS. ACTI. SCENE I. SGANAREL, ARISTO. SGANAREL. RAY Brother, don't let us talk fo much, but let each of us live according to his Inclination; tho' you have the Advantage over me in Years, and are old enough to be wife, I muft tell you, notwithstanding, that I don't intend to bear Reproofs from you that my Fancy is the only Director I have to follow, and I am well pleas'd with living after my own manner.. ARISTO. But every Body condemns it. you, Brother. ARISTO. Thank ye; the Compliment is kind. SGANAREL. I'd fain know, fince all muft out, what thefe fine Cavillers can find in me to reprove? ARISTO. That furly Temper, the Severity of which fhuns all the Pleafures of Society, gives a whimfical Air to all you do, and renders all about you barbarous, even to your very Habit. SGANAREL. I should make my felf a Slave to the A 5 Fashion Et ce n'eft pas pour moi que je me dois vêtir. De ces petits pourpoints fous les bras fe perdans, Qui vous font reffembler à des pigeons patus? Et jamais il ne faut fe faire regarder. L'un & l'autre excès choque, & tout homme bien fage N'y rien trop affecter, &, fans empreffement, Et Fashion to be fure, and it's not for my self that I ought to dress my self; would you not, by your pretty tittle tattle Stories, Mr. Elder Brother of mine, (for, thank Heav'n, fo you are by one twenty Years, to tell you plainly, tho' its not worth while to fpeak on't :) would you not, I fay, in these things perfuade me into the Fashions of your young Coxcombs? Oblige me to wear thofe little Hats, which let their weak Brains evaporate, and thofe powder'd Wigs, the vaft Bufhinefs whereof obfcures the Figure of an human Countenance? Those short Jerkins but just below the Arms, and those large Bands hanging down even to the Navel ? Those Sleeves, which one fees dip in the Sauce at Table, and thofe Petticoats called Breeches? thofe pretty Shoes bedeck'd with Ribbons, that make you look like roughfooted Pigeons, and thofe large Rollers, where, as in the Stocks, the captive Legs every Morning are confin'd, and which make thefe accomplish'd Gentlemen walk ftraddling as if they were flying? I fhould delight you, without doubt, equipped in this manner; for you, I perceive, carry about you the fame Geugaws that they do. - ARISTO. One fhou'd always comply with the Majority, and never make one's felf be flared at. Either Extreme is offenfive; and every wife Man in his Clothes as well as his Words, fhou'd have nothing too much affected, but with Readiness follow whatever Change Custom introduces. I do not think one should imitate thofe one fees continually ftraining beyond the Fashion, who are fo fond of being in Extremes, they would be uneafy should any Body go a Step beyond them. But I hold it wrong, upon one's fingle Opinion, to avoid obftinately what all the World purfues, and think it's better to be amongst the Num ber Et qu'il vaut mieux fouffrir d'être au nombre des fous, Que du fage parti fe voir feul contre tous. SGANARELLE. Cela fent fon vieillard, qui, pour en faire accroire, Cache fes cheveux blancs d'une perruque noire. prenez, A me venir toujours jetter mon âge au nés ; A ne démordre point de mon habillement. Un bon pourpoint bien long, & fermé comme il faut, Et qui me trouve mal, n'a qu'à fermer les yeux. SCENE II. LEONOR, ISABELLE, LISETTE, ARISTE & SGANARELLE parlant bas enfemble fur le devant du théatre, fans étre apperçus. JE LEONOR à Ifabelle. E me charge de tout, en cas que l'on vous gronde. LISETTE à Isabelle.] Toujours dans une chambre à ne point voir le monde ? ISA |