What! Must you go so fast?—and all at once
Exhaust the whole love of a woman's heart?
She does herself the violence to make
This dear confession of her love, and you
Are not yet satisfied, and will not be
Without the granting of her utmost favours?
TARTUFFE
The less a blessing is deserved, the less
We dare to hope for it; and words alone
Can ill assuage our love's desires. A fate
Too full of happiness, seems doubtful still;
We must enjoy it ere we can believe it.
And I, who know how little I deserve
Your goodness, doubt the fortunes of my daring;
So I shall trust to nothing, madam, till
You have convinced my love by something real.
ELMIRE
Ah! How your love enacts the tyrant's rôle,
And throws my mind into a strange confusion!
With what fierce sway it rules a conquered heart,
And violently will have its wishes granted!
What! Is there no escape from your pursuit?
No respite even?—not a breathing space?
Nay, is it decent to be so exacting,
And so abuse by urgency the weakness
You may discover in a woman's heart?
TARTUFFE
But if my worship wins your gracious favour,
Then why refuse me some sure proof thereof?
ELMIRE
But how can I consent to what you wish,
Without offending Heaven you talk so much of?
TARTUFFE
If Heaven is all that stands now in my way,
I'll easily remove that little hindrance;
Your heart need not hold back for such a trifle.
ELMIRE
But they affright us so with Heaven's commands!
TARTUFFE
I can dispel these foolish fears, dear madam;
I know the art of pacifying scruples.
Heaven forbids, 'T is true, some satisfactions;
But we find means to make things right with Heaven.
('T is a scoundrel speaking.)1
There is a science, madam, that instructs us
How to enlarge the limits of our conscience
According to our various occasions,
And rectify the evil of the deed
According to our purity of motive.
I'll duly teach you all these secrets, madam;
You only need to let yourself be guided.
Content my wishes, have no fear at all;
I answer for 't, and take the sin upon me.
(Elmire coughs still louder.)
Your cough is very bad.
ELMIRE
Yes, I'm in torture .
TARTUFFE
Would you accept this bit of licorice?
ELMIRE
The case is obstinate, I find; and all
The licorice in the world will do no good.
TARTUFFE
'T is very trying.
ELMIRE
More than words can say.
TARTUFFE
In any case, your scruple's easily
Removed. With me you're sure of secrecy,
And there's no harm unless a thing is known.
The public scandal is what brings offence,
And secret sinning is not sin at all.
ELMIRE, after coughing again
So then, I see I must resolve to yield;
I must consent to grant you everything,
And cannot hope to give full satisfaction,
Or win full confidence, at lesser cost.
No doubt 'T is very hard to come to this;
'T is quite against my will I go so far;
But since I must be forced to it, since nothing
That can be said suffices for belief,
Since more convincing proof is still demanded,
I must make up my mind to humour people.
If my consent give reason for offence,
So much the worse for him who forced me to it;
The fault can surely not be counted mine.
TARTUFFE
It need not, madam; and the thing itself…
ELMIRE
Open the door, I pray you, and just see
Whether my husband's not there, in the hall.
TARTUFFE
Why take such care for him? Between ourselves,
He is a man to lead round by the nose.
He's capable of glorying in our meetings;
I've fooled him so, he'd see all, and deny it.
ELMIRE
No matter; go, I beg you, look about,
And carefully examine every corner.
Scene VI
ORGON, ELMIRE
Orgon, crawling out from under the table
That is, I own, a man…abominable!
ELMIRE
What? You come out so soon? You cannot mean it!
Go back under the table; 'T is not time yet;
Wait till the end, to see, and make quite certain,
And don't believe a thing on mere conjecture.
ORGON
Nothing more wicked e'er came out of Hell.
ELMIRE
Dear me! Don't go and credit things too lightly.
No, let yourself be thoroughly convinced;
Don't yield too soon, for fear you'll be mistaken.
(As Tartuffe enters, she makes her husband stand behind her.)
Scene VII
TARTUFFE, ELMIRE, ORGON
TARTUFFE, not seeing Orgon
All things conspire toward my satisfaction,
Madam. I've searched the whole apartment through.
There's no one here; and now my ravished soul…
ORGON, stopping him
Softly! You are too eager in your amours;
You needn't be so passionate. Ah ha!
My holy man! You want to put it on me!
How is your soul abandoned to temptation!
Marry my daughter, eh?—and want my wife, too?
I doubted long enough if this was earnest,
Expecting all the time the tone would change;
But now the proof's been carried far enough;
I'm satisfied, and ask no more, for my part.
ELMIRE, to Tartuffe
'T was quite against my character to play
This part; but I was forced to treat you so.
TARTUFFE
What? You believe…?
ORGON
Come now, no protestations.
Get out from here, and make no fuss about it.
TARTUFFE
But my intent…
ORGON
That talk is out of season.
You leave my house this instant.
TARTUFFE
You're the one
To leave it, you who play the master here!
This house belongs to me, I'll have you know,
And show you plainly it's no use to turn
To these low tricks, to pick a quarrel with me,
And that you can't insult me at your pleasure,
For I have wherewith to confound your lies,
Avenge offended Heaven, and compel
Those to repent who talk to me of leaving.
Scene VIII
ELMIRE, ORGON
ELMIRE
What sort of speech is this? What can it mean?
ORGON
My faith, I'm dazed. This is no laughing matter.
ELMIRE
What?
ORGON
From his words I see my great mistake;
The deed of gift is one thing troubles me.
ELMIRE
The deed of gift…
ORGON
Yes, that is past recall.
But I've another thing to make me anxious.
ELMIRE
What's that?
ORGON
You shall know all. Let's see at once
Whether a certain box is still upstairs.
1Molière's note, in the original edition.
| Go to Contents |
Act V
Scene I
ORGON, CLEANTE
CLEANTE
Whither away so fast?
ORGON
How should I know?
CLEANTE
Methinks we should begin by taking counsel
To see what can be done to meet the case.
ORGON
I'm all worked up about that wretched box.
More than all else it drives me to despair.
CLEANTE
That box must hide some mighty mystery?
ORGON
Argas, my friend who is in trouble, brought it
Himself, most secretly, and left it with me.
He chose me, in his exile, for this trust;
And on these documents, from what he said,
I judge his life and property depend.
CLEANTE
How could you trust them to another's hands?
ORGON
By reason of a conscientious scruple.
I went straight to my traitor, to confide
In him; his sophistry made me believe
That I must give the box to him to keep,
So that, in case of search, I might deny
My having it at all, and still, by favour
Of this evasion, keep my conscience clear
Even in taking oath against the truth.
CLEANTE
Your case is bad, so far as I can see;
This deed of gift, this trusting of the secret
To him, were both—to state my frank opinion—
Steps that you took too lightly; he can lead you
To any length, with these for hostages;
And since he holds you at such disadvantage,
You'd be still more imprudent, to provoke him;
So you must go some gentler way about.
ORGON
What! Can a soul so base, a heart so false,
Hide neath the semblance of such touching fervour
I took him in, a vagabond, a beggar!…
'T is too much! No more pious folk for me!
I shall abhor them utterly forever,
And henceforth treat them worse than any devil.
CLEANTE
So! There you go again, quite off the handle!
In nothing do you keep an even temper.
You never know what reason is, but always
Jump first to one extreme, and then the other.
You see your error, and you recognise
That you've been cozened by a feignèd zeal;
But to make up for't, in the name of reason,
Why should you plunge into a worse mistake,
And find no difference in character
Between a worthless scamp, and all good people?
What! Just because a rascal boldly duped you
With pompous show of false austerity,
Must you needs have it everybody's like him,
And no one's truly pious nowadays?
Leave such conclusions to mere infidels;
Distinguish virtue from its counterfeit,
Don't give esteem too quickly, at a venture,
But try to keep, in this, the golden mean.
If you can help it, don't uphold imposture;
But do not rail at true devoutness, either;
And if you must fall into one extreme,
Then rather err again the other way.
Scene II
DAMIS, ORGON, CLEANTE
DAMIS
What! father, can the scoundrel threaten you,
Forget the many benefits received,
And in his base abominable pride
Make of your very favours arms against you?
ORGON
Too true, my son. It tortures me to think on 't.
DAMIS
Let me alone, I'll chop his ears off for him.
We must deal roundly with his insolence;
'T is I must free you from him at a blow;
'T is I, to set things right, must strike him down.
CLEANTE
Spoke like a true young man. Now just calm down,
And moderate your towering tantrums, will you?
We live in such an age, with such a king,
That violence can not advance our cause.
Scene III
MADAME PERNELLE, ORGON, ELMIRE, CLENATE, MARIANE, DAMIS, DORINE
MADAME PERNELLE
What's this? I hear of fearful mysteries!
ORGON
Strange things indeed, for my own eyes to witness;
You see how I'm requited for my kindness.
I zealously receive a wretched beggar,
I lodge him, entertain him like my brother,
Load him with benefactions every day,
Give him my daughter, give him all my fortune:
And he meanwhile, the villain, rascal, wretch,
Tries with black treason to suborn my wife,
And not content with such a foul design,
He dares to menace me with my own favours,
And would make use of those advantages
Which my too foolish kindness armed him with,
To ruin me, to take my fortune from me,
And leave me in the state I saved him from.
DORINE
Poor man!
MADAME PERNELLE
My son, I cannot possibly
Believe he could intend so black a deed.
ORGON
What?
MADAME PERNELLE
Worthy men are still the sport of envy.
ORGON
Mother, what do you mean by such a speech?
MADAME PERNELLE
There are strange goings-on about your house,
And everybody knows your people hate him.
ORGON
What's that to do with what I tell you now?
MADAME PERNELLE
I always said, my son, when you were little:
That virtue here below is hated ever;
The envious may die, but envy never.
ORGON
What's that fine speech to do with present facts?
MADAME PERNELLE
Be sure, they've forged a hundred silly lies…
ORGON
I've told you once, I saw it all myself.
MADAME PERNELLE
For slanderers abound in calumnies…
ORGON
Mother, you'd make me damn my soul. I tell you
I saw with my own eyes his shamelessness.
MADAME PERNELLE
Their tongues for spitting venom never lack,
There's nothing here below they'll not attack.
ORGON
Your speech has not a single grain of sense.
I saw it, harkee, saw it, with these eyes
I saw—d' ye know what saw means?—must I say it
A hundred times, and din it in your ears?
MADAME PERNELLE
My dear, appearances are oft deceiving,
And seeing shouldn't always be believing.
ORGON
I'll go mad.
MADAME PERNELLE
False suspicions may delude,
And good to evil oft is misconstrued.
ORGON
Must I construe as Christian charity
The wish to kiss my wife!
MADAME PERNELLE
You must, at least,
Have just foundation for accusing people,
And wait until you see a thing for sure.
ORGON
The devil! How could I see any surer?
Should I have waited till, before my eyes,
He…No, you'll make me say things quite improper.
MADAME PERNELLE
In sho
rt, 'T is known too pure a zeal inflames him;
And so, I cannot possibly conceive
That he should try to do what's charged against him.
ORGON
If you were not my mother, I should say
Such things!…I know not what, I'm so enraged!
DORINE, to Orgon
Fortune has paid you fair, to be so doubted;
You flouted our report, now yours is flouted.
CLEANTE
We're wasting time here in the merest trifling,
Which we should rather use in taking measures
To guard ourselves against the scoundrel's threats.
DAMIS
You think his impudence could go so far?
ELMIRE
For one, I can't believe it possible;
Why, his ingratitude would be too patent.
CLEANTE
Don't trust to that; he'll find abundant warrant
To give good colour to his acts against you;
And for less cause than this, a strong cabal
Can make one's life a labyrinth of troubles.
I tell you once again: armed as he is
You never should have pushed him quite so far.
ORGON
True; yet what could I do? The rascal's pride
Made me lose all control of my resentment.
CLEANTE
I wish with all my heart that some pretence
Of peace could be patched up between you two.
ELMIRE
If I had known what weapons he was armed with,
I never should have raised such an alarm,
And my…
ORGON, to Dorine, seeing Mr. Loyal come in
Who's coming now? Go quick, find out.
I'm in a fine state to receive a visit!
Scene IV
ORGON, MADAME PERNELLE, ELMIRE, MARIANE, CLEANTE, DAMIS, DORINE, MR. LOYAL
MR. LOYAL, to Dorine, at the back of the stage
Good day, good sister. Pray you, let me see
The master of the house.
DORINE
He's occupied;
I think he can see nobody at present.
MR. LOYAL
I'm not by way of being unwelcome here.
My coming can, I think, nowise displease him;
My errand will be found to his advantage.
DORINE
Your name, then?
MR. LOYAL
Tell him simply that his friend
Mr. Tartuffe has sent me, for his goods…
DORINE, to Orgon
It is a man who comes, with civil manners,
Sent by Tartuffe, he says, upon an errand
That you'll be pleased with.
CLEANTE, to Orgon
Surely you must see him,
And find out who he is, and what he wants.
ORGON, to Clèante
Perhaps he's come to make it up between us;