Be good enough to carry out your order.
Yes, I’ve too long delayed its execution;
’Tis very fitting you should urge me to it;
So therefore, you must follow me at once
To prison, where you’ll find your lodging ready.
Who? I, sir?
You.
By why to prison?
You
Are not the one to whom I owe account.
You, sir, To Orgon. recover from your hot alarm.
Our prince is not a friend to double dealing,
His eyes can read men’s inmost hearts, and all
The art of hypocrites cannot deceive him.
His sharp discernment sees things clear and true;
His mind cannot too easily be swayed,
For reason always holds the balance even.
He honours and exalts true piety,
But knows the false, and views it with disgust.
This fellow was by no means apt to fool him,
Far subtler snares have failed against his wisdom,
And his quick insight pierced immediately
The hidden baseness of this tortuous heart.
Accusing you, the knave betrayed himself,
And by true recompense of Heaven’s justice
He stood revealed before our monarch’s eyes
A scoundrel known before by other names,
Whose horrid crimes, detailed at length, might fill
A long-drawn history of many volumes.
Our monarch—to resolve you in a word—
Detesting his ingratitude and baseness,
Added this horror to his other crimes,
And sent me hither under his direction
To see his insolence out-top itself,
And force him then to give you satisfaction.
Your papers, which the traitor says are his,
I am to take from him, and give you back;
The deed of gift transferring your estate
Our monarch’s sovereign will makes null and void;
And for the secret personal offence
Your friend involved you in, he pardons you:
Thus he rewards your recent zeal, displayed
In helping to maintain his rights, and shows
How well his heart, when it is least expected,
Knows how to recompense a noble deed,
And will not let true merit miss its due,
Remembering always rather good than evil.
Now Heaven be praised!
At last I breathe again.
A happy outcome!
Who’d have dared to hope it?
To Tartuffe, who is being led by The Officer.
There traitor! Now you’re …
Scene VIII
| Madame Pernelle, Orgon, Elmire, Mariane, Cléante, Valère, Damis, Dorine. | |
| Cléante |
Brother, hold!—and don’t |
| Orgon |
Well said! We’ll go, and at his feet kneel down, |
Endnotes
-
Referring to the rebellion called La Fronde, during the minority of Louis XIV. ↩
-
Molière’s note, inserted in the text of all the old editions. It is a curious illustration of the desire for uniformity and dignity of style in dramatic verse of the seventeenth century, that Molière feels called on to apologize for a touch of realism like this. Indeed, these lines were even omitted when the play was given. ↩
-
As given at the Comédie francaise, the action is as follows: While Orgon says, “You must approve of my design,” Dorine is making signs to Mariane to resist his orders; Orgon turns around suddenly; but Dorine quickly changes her gesture and with the hand which she had lifted calmly arranges her hair and her cap. Orgon goes on, “Think of the husband …” and stops before the middle of his sentence to turn and catch the beginning of Dorine’s gesture; but he is too quick this time, and Dorine stands looking at his furious countenance with a sweet and gentle expression. He turns and goes on, and the obstinate Dorine again lifts her hand behind his shoulder to urge Mariane to resistance: this time he catches her; but just as he swings his shoulder to give her the promised blow, she stops him by changing the intent of her gesture, and carefully picking from the top of his sleeve a bit of fluff which she holds carefully between her fingers, then blows into the air, and watches intently as it floats away. Orgon is paralysed by her innocence of expression, and compelled to hide his rage.—Regnier, Le Tartuffe des Comediens. ↩
-
Some modern editions have adopted the reading, preserved by tradition as that of the earliest stage version:
Heaven, forgive him even as I forgive him!
Voltaire gives still another reading:
Heaven, forgive me even as I forgive him!
Whichever was the original version, it appears in none of the early editions, and Molière probably felt forced to change it on account of its too close resemblance to the Biblical phrase. ↩
-
Molière’s note, in the original edition. ↩
Colophon
Tartuffe
was published in 1669 by
Molière.
It was translated from French in 1908 by
Curtis Hidden Page.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
B. Timothy Keith,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2000 by
Dagny, John Vickers, and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team
for
Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans available at the
HathiTrust Digital Library.
The cover page is adapted from
The Gentleman in the Shop,
a painting completed in 1660 by
Anonymous.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
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