Socrates | Page 4

because you said it.
(Exit Terpandre and Acros)
ANITUS: Well, my dear Madame Drixa, I think you don't find it ill that
I am espousing Aglaea; but I don't love you any less. We will live
together as usual.
DRIXA: Oh! Milord, I am not jealous; and since business is going so
well I am very satisfied. Since I have the honor of being one of your
mistresses, I have enjoyed great consideration in Athens. If you love
Aglaea, I love the young Sophronine. And Xantippe, the wife of
Socrates has promised to give him to me in marriage. You will still
have the same rights over me. I am only annoyed that this young man
may be raised by that villainous Socrates, and that Aglaea may yet be
in his clutches. They must be gotten out of them as quickly as possible.
Xantippe will be enchanted to be rid of them. The handsome
Sophronine and the beautiful Aglaea are very ill in Socrates hands.

ANITUS: I really flatter myself, my dear Madame Drixa, that Melitus
and I will ruin that dangerous man, who preaches nothing but virtue
and divinity and who has dared to mock certain intrigues that happened
at the Mysteries of Ceres. But Socrates is the tutor of Aglaea. Agathon,
Aglaea's father, they say has left her great wealth. Aglaea is adorable. I
idolize Aglaea. I must marry Aglaea and I must deal tactfully with
Socrates while waiting to hang him.
DRIXA: Deal tactfully with Socrates in order that I may have my
young man. But why did Agathon allow his daughter into the clutches
of that old, flat nosed Socrates, that insufferable fault-finder who
corrupts the young and prevents them from frequenting courtesans and
the holy mysteries?
ANITUS: Agathon was infatuated with the same principles. He was
one of those sober and serious types who have different morals from
ours; who are from another country, and who are our sworn enemies,
who think they've fulfilled all their duties when they've adored divinity,
helped humanity, cultivated friendship and studied philosophy; one of
those folks who insolently pretend that the gods have not inscribed the
future in the liver of an ox; one of those pitiless dialecticians who find
fault with priests for sacrificing their daughters or spending the night
with them, as needs be. You feel they are monsters fit only to be
choked. If there were only five or six sages in Athens who had as much
credit as he, that would be enough to deprive me of most of my income
and honors.
DRIXA: The Devil! Now that's really serious.
ANITUS: While waiting to strangle him, I am going to speak with him
under the porticoes and conclude this business with him about my
marriage.
DRIXA: Here he is: you do him too much honor. I am going to leave
you and I am going to speak about my young man to Xantippe.
ANITUS: The gods accompany you, my darling Drixa. Serve them
always and beware of believing in only one God, and don't forget my

two beautiful Persian rugs.
(Enter Socrates)
Eh! Hello, my dear Socrates, the favorite of the gods and the wisest of
mortals. I feel I am raised above myself every time I see you and in you,
I respect Human Nature.
SOCRATES: I am a simple man destitute of sciences and full of
weakness like the rest. It's much if you support me.
ANITUS: Support you! I admire you; I would like to resemble you if it
were possible. And it is in order to be a more frequent witness to your
virtues, to hear your lessons more often, that I wish to marry your
beautiful pupil Aglaea whose destiny depends on you.
SOCRATES: It's true that her father, Agathon, who was my friend, that
is to say much more than just a relative, confided to me by his will this
amiable and virtuous orphan.
ANITUS: With considerable riches? For they say it's the best part of
Athens.
SOCRATES: On that subject, I can give you no enlightenment; her
father, that kind friend whose wishes are sacred to me, forbade me by
that same will, to divulge the condition of his daughter's fortune.
ANITUS: That respect for the last wishes of a friend, and that
discretion are worthy of your beautiful soul. But people know well
enough that Agathon was a rich man.
SOCRATES: He deserved to be, if riches are a favor of the Supreme
Being.
ANITUS: They say that a little hare-brain named Sophronine, is paying
court to her on account of her fortune. But I am persuaded that you will
show the door to such a character, and that a man like me won't have a
rival.

SOCRATES: I know what I must think of a man like you: but