The School for Husbands | Page 5

that another
should go further than themselves in the extremes which they affect;
but I maintain that it is wrong, for whatever reasons, obstinately to
eschew what every one observes; that it would be better to be counted
among the fools than to be the only wise person, in opposition to every
one else.
SGAN. That smacks of the old man who, in order to impose upon the
world, covers his grey hairs with a black wig.
AR. It is strange that you should be so careful always to fling my age in
my face, and that I should continually find you blaming my dress as
well as my cheerfulness. One would imagine that old age ought to think
of nothing but death, since it is condemned to give up all enjoyment;
and that it is not attended by enough ugliness of its own, but must
needs be slovenly and crabbed.

SGAN. However that may be, I am resolved to stick to my way of dress.
In spite of the fashion, I like my cap so that my head may be
comfortably sheltered beneath it; a good long doublet buttoned close,
as it should be,
[Footnote: The young dandies in the beginning of the reign of Louis
XIV., wore slashed doublets, very tight and short.]
which may keep the stomach warm, and promote a healthy digestion; a
pair of breeches made exactly to fit my thighs; shoes, like those of our
wise ancestors, in which my feet may not be tortured: and he who does
not like the look of me may shut his eyes.

SCENE II.--LÉONOR, ISABELLA, LISETTE; ARISTE and
SGANARELLE, _conversing in an under-tone, unperceived_.
LEO. (_To Isabella_). I take it all on myself, in case you are scolded.
LIS. (_To Isabella_). Always in one room, seeing no one?
ISA. Such is his humour.
LEO. I pity you, sister.
LIS. (_To Léonor_). It is well for you, madam, that his brother is of
quite another disposition; fate was very kind in making you fall into the
hands of a rational person.
ISA. It is a wonder that he did not lock me up to-day, or take me with
him.
LIS. I declare I would send him to the devil, with his Spanish ruff,
and...
[Footnote: The Spanish ruff (_fraise_) was in fashion at the end of
Henri IV.'s reign; in the reign of Louis XIII., and in the beginning of
Louis XIV.'s, flat-lying collars, adorned with lace were worn, so that
those who still stuck to the Spanish ruff in 1661, were considered very
old-fashioned people.]
SGAN. (_Against whom Lisette stumbles_). Where are you going, if I
may ask?
LEO. We really do not know; I was urging my sister to talk a walk, and
enjoy this pleasant and fine weather; but...
SGAN. (_To Léonor_). As for you, you may go wherever you please.
(_To Lisette_). You can run off; there are two of you together. (_To
Isabella_). But as for you, I forbid you--excuse me--to go out.
AR. Oh, brother! let them go and amuse themselves.

SGAN. I am your servant, brother.
AR. Youth will...
SGAN. Youth is foolish, and old age too, sometimes.
AR. Do you think there is any harm in her being with Léonor?
SGAN. Not so; but with me I think she is still better.
AR. But...
SGAN. But her conduct must be guided by me; in short, I know the
interest I ought to take in it.
AR. Have I less in her sister's?
SGAN. By Heaven! each one argues and does as he likes. They are
without relatives, and their father, our friend, entrusted them to us in
his last hour, charging us both either to marry them, or, if we declined,
to dispose of them hereafter. He gave us, in writing, the full authority
of a father and a husband over them, from their infancy. You undertook
to bring up that one; I charged myself with the care of this one. You
govern yours at your pleasure. Leave me, I pray, to manage the other as
I think best.
AR. It seems to me...
SGAN. It seems to me, and I say it openly, that is the right way to
speak on such a subject. You let your ward go about gaily and stylishly;
I am content. You let her have footmen and a maid; I agree. You let her
gad about, love idleness, be freely courted by dandies; I am quite
satisfied. But I intend that mine shall live according to my fancy, and
not according to her own; that she shall be dressed in honest serge, and
wear only black on holidays; that, shut up in the house, prudent in
bearing, she shall apply herself entirely to domestic concerns, mend my
linen in her leisure hours, or else knit