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第3节

tartuffe-第3节

小说: tartuffe 字数: 每页4000字

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ORGON
Brother; your language smacks of atheism;
And I suspect your soul's a little tainted
Therewith。 I've preached to you a score of times
That you'll draw down some judgment on your head。

CLEANTE
That is the usual strain of all your kind;
They must have every one as blind as they。
They call you atheist if you have good eyes;
And if you don't adore their vain grimaces;
You've neither faith nor care for sacred things。
No; no; such talk can't frighten me; I know
What I am saying; heaven sees my heart。
We're not the dupes of all your canting mummers;
There are false heroesand false devotees;
And as true heroes never are the ones
Who make much noise about their deeds of honour;
Just so true devotees; whom we should follow;
Are not the ones who make so much vain show。
What! Will you find no difference between
Hypocrisy and genuine devoutness?
And will you treat them both alike; and pay
The self…same honour both to masks and faces
Set artifice beside sincerity;
Confuse the semblance with reality;
Esteem a phantom like a living person;
And counterfeit as good as honest coin?
Men; for the most part; are strange creatures; truly!
You never find them keep the golden mean;
The limits of good sense; too narrow for them;
Must always be passed by; in each direction;
They often spoil the noblest things; because
They go too far; and push them to extremes。
I merely say this by the way; good brother。

ORGON
You are the sole expounder of the doctrine;
Wisdom shall die with you; no doubt; good brother;
You are the only wise; the sole enlightened;
The oracle; the Cato; of our age。
All men; compared to you; are downright fools。

CLEANTE
I'm not the sole expounder of the doctrine;
And wisdom shall not die with me; good brother。
But this I know; though it be all my knowledge;
That there's a difference 'twixt false and true。
And as I find no kind of hero more
To be admired than men of true religion;
Nothing more noble or more beautiful
Than is the holy zeal of true devoutness;
Just so I think there's naught more odious
Than whited sepulchres of outward unction;
Those barefaced charlatans; those hireling zealots;
Whose sacrilegious; treacherous pretence
Deceives at will; and with impunity
Makes mockery of all that men hold sacred;
Men who; enslaved to selfish interests;
Make trade and merchandise of godliness;
And try to purchase influence and office
With false eye…rollings and affected raptures;
Those men; I say; who with uncommon zeal
Seek their own fortunes on the road to heaven;
Who; skilled in prayer; have always much to ask;
And live at court to preach retirement;
Who reconcile religion with their vices;
Are quick to anger; vengeful; faithless; tricky;
And; to destroy a man; will have the boldness
To call their private grudge the cause of heaven;
All the more dangerous; since in their anger
They use against us weapons men revere;
And since they make the world applaud their passion;
And seek to stab us with a sacred sword。
There are too many of this canting kind。
Still; the sincere are easy to distinguish;
And many splendid patterns may be found;
In our own time; before our very eyes
Look at Ariston; Periandre; Oronte;
Alcidamas; Clitandre; and Polydore;
No one denies their claim to true religion;
Yet they're no braggadocios of virtue;
They do not make insufferable display;
And their religion's human; tractable;
They are not always judging all our actions;
They'd think such judgment savoured of presumption;
And; leaving pride of words to other men;
'Tis by their deeds alone they censure ours。
Evil appearances find little credit
With them; they even incline to think the best
Of others。 No caballers; no intriguers;
They mind the business of their own right living。
They don't attack a sinner tooth and nail;
For sin's the only object of their hatred;
Nor are they over…zealous to attempt
Far more in heaven's behalf than heaven would have 'em。
That is my kind of man; that is true living;
That is the pattern we should set ourselves。
Your fellow was not fashioned on this model;
You're quite sincere in boasting of his zeal;
But you're deceived; I think; by false pretences。

ORGON
My dear good brother…in…law; have you quite done?

CLEANTE
Yes。

ORGON
I'm your humble servant。

(Starts to go。)

CLEANTE
Just a word。
We'll drop that other subject。 But you know
Valere has had the promise of your daughter。

ORGON
Yes。

CLEANTE
You had named the happy day。

ORGON
'Tis true。

CLEANTE
Then why put off the celebration of it?

ORGON
I can't say。

CLEANTE
Can you have some other plan
In mind?

ORGON
Perhaps。

CLEANTE
You mean to break your word?

ORGON
I don't say that。

CLEANTE
I hope no obstacle
Can keep you from performing what you've promised。

ORGON
Well; that depends。

CLEANTE
Why must you beat about?
Valere has sent me here to settle matters。

ORGON
Heaven be praised!

CLEANTE
What answer shall I take him?

ORGON
Why; anything you please。

CLEANTE
But we must know
Your plans。 What are they?

ORGON
I shall do the will
Of Heaven。

CLEANTE
Come; be serious。 You've given
Your promise to Valere。 Now will you keep it?

ORGON
Good…bye。

CLEANTE (alone)
His love; methinks; has much to fear;
I must go let him know what's happening here。




ACT II



SCENE I
ORGON; MARIANE


ORGON
Now; Mariane。

MARIANE
Yes; father?

ORGON
Come; I'll tell you
A secret。

MARIANE
Yes 。 。 。 What are you looking for?

ORGON (looking into a small closet…room)
To see there's no one there to spy upon us;
That little closet's mighty fit to hide in。
There! We're all right now。 Mariane; in you
I've always found a daughter dutiful
And gentle。 So I've always love you dearly。

MARIANE
I'm grateful for your fatherly affection。

ORGON
Well spoken; daughter。 Now; prove you deserve it
By doing as I wish in all respects。

MARIANE
To do so is the height of my ambition。

ORGON
Excellent well。 What say you ofTartuffe?

MARIANE
Who? I?

ORGON
Yes; you。 Look to it how you answer。

MARIANE
Why! I'll say of himanything you please。



SCENE II
ORGON; MARIANE; DORINE (coming in quietly and standing behind
Orgon; so that he does not see her)


ORGON
Well spoken。 A good girl。 Say then; my daughter;
That all his person shines with noble merit;
That he has won your heart; and you would like
To have him; by my choice; become your husband。
Eh?

MARIANE
Eh?

ORGON
What say you?

MARIANE
Please; what did you say?

ORGON
What?

MARIANE
Surely I mistook you; sir?

ORGON
How now?

MARIANE
Who is it; father; you would have me say
Has won my heart; and I would like to have
Become my husband; by your choice?

ORGON
Tartuffe。

MARIANE
But; father; I protest it isn't true!
Why should you make me tell this dreadful lie?

ORGON
Because I mean to have it be the truth。
Let this suffice for you: I've settled it。

MARIANE
What; father; you would 。 。 。 ?

ORGON
Yes; child; I'm resolved
To graft Tartuffe into my family。
So he must be your husband。 That I've settled。
And since your duty 。 。

(Seeing Dorine)
What are you doing there?
Your curiosity is keen; my girl;
To make you come eavesdropping on us so。

DORINE
Upon my word; I don't know how the rumour
Got startedif 'twas guess…work or mere chance
But I had heard already of this match;
And treated it as utter stuff and nonsense。

ORGON
What! Is the thing incredible?

DORINE
So much so
I don't believe it even from yourself; sir。

ORGON
I know a way to make you credit it。

DORINE
No; no; you're telling us a fairly tale!

ORGON
I'm telling you just what will happen shortly。

DORINE
Stuff!

ORGON
Daughter; what I say is in good earnest。

DORINE
There; there; don't take your father seriously;
He's fooling。

ORGON
But I tell you 。 。 。

DORINE
No。 No use。
They won't believe you。

ORGON
If I let my anger 。 。 。

DORINE
Well; then; we do believe you; and the worse
For you it is。 What! Can a grown…up man
With that expanse of beard across his face
Be mad enough to want 。 。 。?

ORGON
You hark me:
You've taken on yourself here in this house
A sort of free familiarity
That I don't like; I tell you frankly; girl。

DORINE
There; there; let's not get angry; sir; I beg you。
But are you making game of everybody?
Your daughter's not cut out for bigot's meat;
And he has more important things to think of。
Besides; what can you gain by such a match?
How can a man of wealth; like you; go choose
A wretched vagabond for son…in…law?

ORGON
You hold your tongue。 And know; the less he has;
The better cause have we to honour him。
His poverty is honest poverty;
It should exalt him more than worldly grandeur;
For he has let himself be robbed of all;
Through careless disregard of temporal things
And fixed attachment to the things eternal。
My help may set him on his feet again;
Win back his propertya fair estate
He has at home; so I'm informedand prove him
For what he is; a true…born gentleman。

DORINE
Yes; so he says himself。 Such vanity
But ill accords with pious living; sir。
The man who cares for holiness alone
Should not so loudly boast his name and bi

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