The Miser | Page 7

ever see such impudence? Did ever any one hear a daughter speak in
such a fashion to her father?
ELI. But did ever anyone see a father marry his daughter after such a
fashion?
HAR. It is a match against which nothing can be said, and I am
perfectly sure that everybody will approve of my choice.
ELI. And I know that it will be approved of by no reasonable person.
HAR. (seeing VALÈRE). There is Valère coming. Shall we make him
judge in this affair?
ELI. Willingly.
HAR. You will abide by what he says?

ELI. Yes, whatever he thinks right, I will do.
HAR. Agreed.

SCENE VII.--VALÈRE, HARPAGON, ÉLISE.
HAR. Valère, we have chosen you to decide who is in the right, my
daughter or I.
VAL. It is certainly you, Sir.
HAR. But have you any idea of what we are talking about?
VAL. No; but you could not be in the wrong; you are reason itself.
HAR. I want to give her to-night, for a husband, a man as rich as he is
good; and the hussy tells me to my face that she scorns to take him.
What do you say to that?
VAL. What I say to it?
HAR. Yes?
VAL. Eh! eh!
HAR. What?
VAL. I say that I am, upon the whole, of your opinion, and that you
cannot but be right; yet, perhaps, she is not altogether wrong; and....
HAR. How so? Mr. Anselme is an excellent match; he is a nobleman,
and a gentleman too; of simple habits, and extremely well off. He has
no children left from his first marriage. Could she meet with anything
more suitable?
VAL. It is true. But she might say that you are going rather fast, and
that she ought to have at least a little time to consider whether her
inclination could reconcile itself to....

HAR. It is an opportunity I must not allow to slip through my fingers. I
find an advantage here which I should not find elsewhere, and he
agrees to take her without dowry.
VAL. Without dowry?
HAR. Yes.
VAL. Ah! I have nothing more to say. A more convincing reason could
not be found; and she must yield to that.
HAR. It is a considerable saving to me.
VAL. Undoubtedly; this admits of no contradiction. It is true that your
daughter might represent to you that marriage is a more serious affair
than people are apt to believe; that the happiness or misery of a whole
life depends on it, and that an engagement which is to last till death
ought not to be entered into without great consideration.
HAR. Without dowry!
VAL. That must of course decide everything. There are certainly
people who might tell you that on such occasions the wishes of a
daughter are no doubt to be considered, and that this great disparity of
age, of disposition, and of feelings might be the cause of many an
unpleasant thing in a married life.
HAR. Without dowry!
VAL. Ah! it must be granted that there is no reply to that; who in the
world could think otherwise? I do not mean to say but that there are
many fathers who would set a much higher value on the happiness of
their daughter than on the money they may have to give for their
marriage; who would not like to sacrifice them to their own interests,
and who would, above all things, try to see in a marriage that sweet
conformity of tastes which is a sure pledge of honour, tranquillity and
joy; and that....

HAR. Without dowry!
VAL. That is true; nothing more can be said. Without dowry. How can
anyone resist such arguments?
HAR. (aside, looking towards the garden). Ah! I fancy I hear a dog
barking. Is anyone after my money. (To VALÈRE) Stop here, I'll come
back directly.

SCENE VIII.--ÉLISE, VALÈRE.
ELI. Surely, Valère, you are not in earnest when you speak to him in
that manner?
VAL. I do it that I may not vex him, and the better to secure my ends.
To resist him boldly would simply spoil everything. There are certain
people who are only to be managed by indirect means, temperaments
averse from all resistance, restive natures whom truth causes to rear,
who always kick when we would lead them on the right road of reason,
and who can only be led by a way opposed to that by which you wish
them to go. Pretend to comply with his wishes; you are much more
likely to succeed in the end, and....
ELI. But this marriage, Valère?
VAL. We will find some pretext for breaking it off.
ELI. But what pretext can we find if it is to be concluded to-night?
VAL. You must ask to have it