SGAN. Laugh on, giggler! Oh, what a joke it is to see a railer of nearly
sixty!
LEO. I promise to preserve him against the fate you speak of, if he is
to receive my vows at the altar. He may rest secure; but I can tell you
I would pass my word for nothing if I were your wife.
LIS. We have a conscience for those who rely on us; but it is
delightful, really, to cheat such folks as you.
SGAN. Hush, you cursed ill-bred tongue!
AR. Brother, you drew these silly words on yourself. Good bye. Alter
your temper, and be warned that to shut up a wife is a bad plan. Your
servant.
SGAN. I am not yours.
SCENE IV.--SGANARELLE, _alone_.
Oh, they are all well suited to one another! What an admirable family. A
foolish old man with a worn-out body who plays the fop; a girl-mistress
and a thorough coquette; impudent servants;--no, wisdom itself could not
succeed, but would exhaust sense and reason, trying to amend a household
like this. By such associations, Isabella might lose those principles of
honour which she learned amongst us; to prevent it, I shall presently
send her back again to my cabbages and turkeys.
SCENE V.--VAL?RE, SGANARELLE, ERGASTE.
VAL. (_Behind_). Ergaste, that is he, the Argus whom I hate, the
stern guardian of her whom I adore.
SGAN. (_Thinking himself alone_). In short, is there not something
wonderful in the corruption of manners now-a-days?
VAL. I should like to address him, if I can get a chance, and try to
strike up an acquaintance with him.
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