Chapter 27

Madame Pernelle, Mariane, Elmire, Dorine, Damis, Orgon, Cleante

Madame Pernelle. What's happening? The tales I'm told are awful. Orgon. Novel things have been happening to me, And for all my kindness, this is my fee. I lift the man out of his misery; Like a brother, I take him home with me; Each day I treat him with greater largesse; I give him my daughter and all I possess; And at the same time the lying low-life Looks for the best way to seduce my wife, And, not fully content with what he's achieved, He threatens me with the gifts he's received, And he wishes to use, in ruining me, Those profits he gained from my foolish bounty To drive me from the home that I gave to him And reduce me to the state that he was in. Dorine. Poor man! Madame Pernelle. Son, I don't believe he'd allow Himself to take part in actions so foul. Orgon. How's that? Madame Pernelle. People always resent holy men. Orgon. Mother, what were you trying to say just then? Madame Pernelle. That in your home one sees the strangest things; Among them is the hate that envy brings. Orgon. How is it hate when I've told you the truth? Madame Pernelle. I warned you often when you were a youth: In this world virtue is oppressed forever; The envious may die, but envy never. Orgon. But what does this have to do with today? Madame Pernelle. People are telling you lies and hearsay. Orgon. I've already said that I myself saw it. Madame Pernelle. The malice of gossips is infinite. Orgon. You'll make me damn myself, Mother. I tell you I saw with my eyes just what he would do. Madame Pernelle. Some tongues always have some poison to spit, And nothing on earth is safe against it. Orgon. I do not know what these words of yours mean. I've seen it, I say, seen, with these eyes seen-- Do you know the word, seen? Must I shout it In your ears a hundred times and still you doubt it? Madame Pernelle. Dear Lord! Appearances may be deceiving: You shouldn't judge based on what you're perceiving. Orgon. I'll go mad! Madame Pernelle. People are prone to suspicion; Misjudgment is part of the human condition. Orgon. So I must interpret charitably His desire to cuckold me? Madame Pernelle. Don't you see That to accuse a man you need just cause, And until you're quite sure, you ought to pause. Orgon. To be more certain, what would you advise? Should I have waited until before my eyes He had . . . You'll make me say something quite lewd. Madame Pernelle. I'm sure that a holy zeal has imbued His soul, and I can't begin to believe That he would be willing to cheat or deceive. Orgon. Leave me . . . I'm now so angry that if you Were not my mother, I'm not sure what I'd do. Dorine [to Orgon]. This is fair payment, sir, for what we received. You wouldn't believe us; now you're not believed. Cleante. We are wasting time on foolish pleasures That would be better spent in active measures. We should not ignore this swindler's threats. Damis. What! Does his boldness have no boundaries yet? Elmire. For myself, I don't believe it's possible; His ingratitude would be too visible. Cleante [to Orgon]. Don't put your faith in that. He will find ways To gild with reason all the things he says; And with less than this the people in power Have forced their foes to cringe and cower. I tell you again: well-armed as they are, You should never have pushed him quite so far. Orgon. True, but what could I do? Facing that bastard, I felt resentment that I never mastered. Cleante. I deeply desire to arrange between you Some shadow of peace, however untrue. Elmire. If I had known that he possessed such arms, I would never have set off these alarms, And my . . . Orgon [to Dorine, seeing Monsieur Loyal enter]. What does this man want? Go and see. I don't wish to have anyone meet with me!