ACT III


Locale :  A room in DON PEDRO's house 
 
                  DOÑA BEATRIZ and INEZ enter 
 
BEATRIZ:                    What happened?
INEZ:                                       As I was saying...
BEATRIZ:                 Good Lord!  Inez, were they hurt?
INEZ:                    Like fallen angels they lay in the dirt.
                         Two men came to do some fighting.            
                         There was blood and lots of shouting.
                         They managed to rout the men                 
                         but servant and master, both upset,
                         were carried off to see the doctor: 
                         a broken foot for his helper
                         and the master with a wounded head.
 
BEATRIZ:                    Tell me, Inez, who told you?
INEZ:                    A friend of the one who's limping now,
                         told me the story all about how
                         it happened.  It's really true. 
                         He was the worse hurt of the two
                         when they jumped from the balcony.           
                         Today I went to their house to see.
BEATRIZ:                 Who do they think is at fault?
INEZ:                    That they don't know at all.
BEATRIZ:                 He's not still afflicted, is he?
 
INEZ:                       He is, but the cut on the head            
                         and broken foot they got here
                         are getting better it appears.
BEATRIZ:                 Has the claudication kept him abed?
INEZ:                    What's that "Claudication" you said?
                         Won't you ever quit that vice?
BEATRIZ:                 What a cretin!  Where's your mind?
                         Isn't it clear that to claudicate
                         means to stagger as you ambulate             
                         alternating your feet?
INEZ:                                            That's fine,
                             
                            but how should I know or not know?        
                         I do know that, full of fear,
                         they were hurt getting out of here,
                         and I went to find out, although...
BEATRIZ:                 I suffer too because of their woe.
                             
                            That man came into my room                
                         already aware of me, enlightened,
                         resolved, persevering, and determined, 
                         he evidently intended my doom.  
                         As fast as the danger loomed,
                         --if love can be called a danger--           
                         I tried to provide myself a shelter,
                         construing defense as an obligation,
                         even while making an observation             
                         on the compatibility of his nature.
 
                            To make it worse, my father entered.      
                         That almost led to tragedy,
                         but the intruder acted with courtesy
                         and did exactly as I ordered.                
                         For me, he hid as it occurred,
                         for me, he fell and was hurt.                
                         And since I was able to discern
                         that a certain equality exists
                         between gratitude and self-respect,          
                         I don't know which to prefer.
 
INEZ:                       What's this troubling you now?            
                         What's wrong?  What's making you sad?
BEATRIZ:                 What more do you want me to have?
INEZ:                    Don't waste your tears right now,
                         don't drop those pearls about.
                         You may need them another time.
BEATRIZ:                 Oh, Inez, Inez!  How can I hide
                         my secret feelings from you?    
                         You'd help me if you only knew               
                         the torments controlling my mind.
 
INEZ:                       You can tell me whatever you wish.                   
                                                 wish.        
                         Saint Secret's Feast is a working day
                         but I hope to make it a holiday
                         as soon as I can canonize him.               
                         Your secret is as safe as my promise.
BEATRIZ:                 Well if that's the way it has to be,         
                         I'll believe you if you believe me
                         I want to show how grateful I am
                         to that gentleman, the injured man           
                         for what he suffered for me.
 
                            But I don't want him to sense             
                         exactly what it is I feel.
                         If now I show him some pity
                         later I can still be cruel.     
                         I must maintain my self-respect
                         but also respond to the obligation           
                         to know more about his situation.
                         I can do that and straddle the line,
                         doing it not for his sake but mine.
INEZ:                    It could be done in appreciation.
 
                            (Ladies and gentlemen, she's been had.)
BEATRIZ:                 I'd like you to go visit him now
                         as if on your own account
                         and learn if the wound were bad.
INEZ:                    Anything else?
BEATRIZ:                                  This ribbon that I have,
                         take it to him.  Tell him that you           
                         stole it...   You know what to do.
INEZ:                    I can play that role very well,
                         just as if you did it yourself  
                         and you know I can do it, too.
 
                            Give me the ribbon. Anything more?        
                         You'll see how I make my feet move.
BEATRIZ:                 Here's the ribbon, now make it soon,
                         but don't you ever tell Leonor               
                         where you're going or what it's for.
INEZ:                    I won't tell her anything at all.            

BEATRIZ exits. LEONOR enters
Good Lord, we're having a ball! LEONOR: Why are you so happy, Inez? INEZ: Later there'll be time to tell... but the sooner I take the fall the greater the fun. I'm pleased because,--by God and my conscience!-- all we did with such diligence has had its effect on Beatriz. LEONOR: What's that? INEZ: Well, she told me that she was keeping a secret and then asked me to tell it to someone not letting him know I was sent by her, even though it was true and she meant it. Already Beatriz, in fantasy, has given herself to Don Alonso. The language with which he spoke overcame her immovability. She's letting him know through me. At last, at last! As it turns out, that woman's a woman without a doubt. Now I'll go to take him the news. But careful now, although I told you, you can't ever tell how you found out. LEONOR: I'll pretend that I never heard.
INEZ exits. DON JUAN enters
JUAN: Well, I've certainly heard plenty: enough to be warned, and adequately, of how little is to be inferred about the future from your words; of how little I can expect from your love and faithfulness. There are limits to what Love can do. In order to make up for you, Beatriz suffered Cupid's effect. LEONOR: Tell me when I was unfaithful. JUAN: Leonor, I've about lost my patience although I've suffered in silence up to now, thinking it'd be possible to verify the source of the trouble without ever mentioning it to you. But you've made that impossible to do and since I'm the one who's suffering, I won't give up without speaking and getting the vengeance I'm due. At your request and pleasure, Don Alonso came to court Beatriz. I won't argue since it wasn't for me, whether that was a proper measure to take. To avoid displeasure and safeguard your reputation, he escaped an open confrontation by jumping from your balcony window to the street where I waited to know the end result on that occasion. I saw that, while I was waiting, two other men were waiting, too. I stepped aside, not knowing who or what it was they were expecting. While still hiding, I heard fighting and came as quickly as I could to where the two men had stood; as fast as I was, it wasn't enough. Don Alonso had called their bluff and the two had left for good. I saw that my friend was injured. To help you, he got in this pickle now I see that you are fickle. My jealousy may at first seem absurd, but think about what you've heard. Heaven is witness to the pain I felt when I realized the stain on our love. Those men were there ready to fight anyone who dared call on you. That much is plain. As I said, I tried to dissemble until I could come here, Leonor, to find out who was outside your door, but it has been quite impossible for me to do so. My trouble and attempts have been in vain. So my jealousy wouldn't be plain and cause open gossip about our love, I came here tonight so that my tongue could speak and make my complaint. Here you are, listening silently, and I have made my allegations. You can see why I'm disillusioned. LEONOR: Don't I have a sister who could be the cause?.... JUAN: But if it were she who had a lover, you wouldn't try to fool her. It wouldn't be right, either in truth or in jest, to put her to a fraudulent test unless it were to save your hide. Even supposing that were true, if she really had a true lover, you wouldn't invent one as a cover. Why reject the old and devise the new? LEONOR: May heaven help me! JUAN: It won't do to find excuses now, Leonor. LEONOR: I wouldn't give them, what's more. I have never done anything wrong. JUAN: Since you were stringing me along, I swear now I don't love you anymore. LEONOR and DON JUAN exit separately Locale : A room in DON ALONSO's house DON ALONSO and MOSCATEL enter MOSCATEL: Sir, what's that? What's the matter? Where are you thoughts and your mind? Why are you worried? What's going on? Why are you sad all the time? You absent-minded? You dejected? What has brought on this change? A little sword-play, a minor fall can cause you to be so strange? A stay in the closet, a balcony leap, can stop you from taking a joke? ALONSO: I don't know what there is I can say to explain what I feel in my soul. Every pleasure seems to cause worry; everything good seems bad. MOSCATEL: You said you hadn't been as affected as Don Juan thought you had. ALONSO: That's true. MOSCATEL: And didn't you praise her beauty? ALONSO: Indeed I did. MOSCATEL: And when you ran into those men, weren't you somewhat upset? ALONSO: I won't deny it but I had good cause. MOSCATEL: You admit to jealousy then? ALONSO: Not at all. That's not enough reason: even if there were two men, even if they tried to make me jealous and succeeded in making me sick. After all, when I went to see her it was only to play a trick. If the result is my being tricked, truth has turned to error. I went to help a friend with a problem. Maybe that's why they were there. MOSCATEL: At the plaza once, a bullfight novice decided to give it a try, backed up by one of his friends who handled a cape with style. He gallantly tipped his hat to the ladies, and he bravely took the lance. A bull came forward, and face to face with the horse, the bull advanced. Although it might be better to say the animals were back to back because, noisily lifting their tails, each left a pile on the track. The gentleman fell landing on the bull and his backer took out his sword, but instead of giving the bull a whack he stuck the friend, who roared. Being well-bred, the friend arose and asked in voice that was full, "Does anyone know who he was guarding, was it me, or was it the bull?" The moral? Backed up by Don Juan, you went to visit Beatriz. You had a problem but no one can tell the backer from the backee. ALONSO: Quiet! That doesn't make good sense. MOSCATEL: Whether or not it's sensible, I thank God you've given up scolding me about my love being impossible, now that you have joined in the dance. ALONSO: If that's the way things are, tell me the name of the lady you love, she whom you're trying to guard. MOSCATEL: Oh, no! I couldn't do that so soon. It's hard to give up bad habits A knock is heard at the door ALONSO: You go see who's knocking at the door. MOSCATEL: Who's there? (I've about had it!) INEZ answers at first from off-stage and then enters INEZ: Isn't your master at home, Moscatel? MOSCATEL: (Good God! This is Inez!) The two of them talk at the door What a surprise! You came to see him! INEZ: Well, what did you expect? (I wish Moscatel would believe it's true just to make him a little jealous.) I came to convince him of my reputation for truth and keeping a promise. MOSCATEL: That's a distinctive point of honor! INEZ: Now, get out of the way. MOSCATEL: I can't. INEZ: Step aside now. Let me in. ALONSO: Who's here to visit us today? MOSCATEL: Nobody! INEZ: You lie! Somebody came as you know very well. ALONSO: A real somebody! Come here to my arms. A hug, if you please, Inez. INEZ: I would hug you a thousand times if only to repay your offer. MOSCATEL pinches INEZ Ouch! ALONSO: What happened? INEZ: I was stuck by the point of your dagger. ALONSO: There is no doubt that your arrival gave new life to my soul. Although you sent an angry answer with Moscatel, as you know, you also know that I love you. You shouldn't be ungrateful. INEZ: I didn't do that. My very first words told you I'd come if possible. ALONSO: You rogue! Why did you tell me a lie? MOSCATEL: Me, sir? ALONSO: By the living God! I ought to kick your lying teeth out. MOSCATEL: (What a terrible thought! But if she got her way, it'd be worse.) INEZ: (If Moscatel only knew why I had come, he wouldn't be jealous, but just for a minute or two...) MOSCATEL: Why do I take this from such a hussy? INEZ: Speak with respect. You can see that I'll soon enough be your mistress. To DON ALONSO Can we be alone, please? MOSCATEL: (Alone!) ALONSO: You go and guard the door. MOSCATEL: (Good heavens! Me, guard them?) ALONSO: What's that babbling? MOSCATEL: As loyal servant I cannot possibly consent to helping you in this infamous act, putting your life in danger for the sake of this sorceress Inez just to embark on an adventure. ALONSO: When did you start worrying about my health? Get outside! MOSCATEL: I wouldn't go out there if you killed me. I mean to save your life. ALONSO: You've never been so loyal before. MOSCATEL: Before I was saving it up so this time I could work all the harder. ALONSO: Now that is really enough! DON ALONSO pushes MOSCATEL out the door Now that we're here alone, Inez, come give me another embrace. INEZ: You may think I came because of you, but I don't think the same. I'm here for my lady's reputation, not for you or your money. ALONSO: Tell me what you're trying to say. INEZ: I'll tell you and shortly. When Beatriz, heard about the fight in the street outside their house and that you were badly wounded, she was sorry how things turned out. Having been worried about your health, she sends you this ribbon of hers. It comes from her even though she said that you should never learn it was she who sent it to you. That's all for now. Good-by. ALONSO: Wait! Listen! Do you mean to say Beatriz remembers that I?... Beatriz is upset about the accident? Beatriz is sending me favors? This has never happened to me before, a new experience to savor. INEZ: Not for me! Because once I knew your love was only pretended, something better was bound to come of it since she had been offended. Women like us get more from pretense than we do from a love that's true. MOSCATEL sneaks slowly back into the room MOSCATEL: (There is no peace for a jealous man. Being sad and jealous too, I'm here to watch my own degradation, to see what I can uncover. ALONSO: Beautiful Inez, since Beatriz has gone from one extreme to the other, let me, too, make the same exchange. What I can't repay as a lover, I will as a gentleman. You wait here while I go write her a letter. DON ALONSO exits MOSCATEL: (He's gone off to the other room, My heart can take a rest.) You, you fricking tiger from Hyrcania! You stinking crocodile from Egypt! You sneaky snake, you Albanian lion! What nasty words can I use, what evil thoughts can find expression bad enough to talk about you? INEZ: None! MOSCATEL: Since there are no such words, let my hands do the talking. A slap or two wouldn't be amiss. INEZ: Don't even think of slapping. This has only been fooling around. Now let's stop playing tricks. MOSCATEL: When you play with cheats and tricksters, you learn to shuffle the deck. Come to my arms. INEZ: I'd like to do that. DON ALONSO enters with a letter in hand ALONSO: What is happening here? INEZ: It's called a hug where I come from. MOSCATEL: Isn't it perfectly clear? It made me happy just to find out Beatriz had finally been tamed, --Excuse me for having such huge ears-- I gave this gentle embrace, to thank Inez for bringing good news. ALONSO: You take this letter, please, and give it to Beatriz. And for you,... I want you to have these. INEZ: May you live forever, longer at least than does the fabled Phoenix of Arabia, although it may not be true that it lives longer than a mother-in-law. INEZ exits MOSCATEL: Look here, sir, let's settle accounts now that I'm leaving too. ALONSO: What's that, Moscatel? MOSCATEL: You heard. I quit. I won't have a master like you, in love, one who'll forget about me in order to care for another. ALONSO: So this is how you mean to repay the trouble you've made me suffer? MOSCATEL: That's how it is. DON JUAN enters JUAN: What's how it is? ALONSO: He wants to quit his trade. JUAN: Why, Moscatel? MOSCATEL: This man has committed the worst, the foulest shame, the most abominable, heinous crime, committed the most infamous deed, the very greatest... JUAN: Stop! Enough! What was it? You can tell me. MOSCATEL: It seems my master has fallen in love. You can see that I'm in the right. ALONSO: The rogue is only acting this crazy because of what happened tonight when I went over to visit Beatriz in order to help you out. JUAN: Well I thank God that worry's over the trouble's been turned around. ALONSO: What do you mean the worry's over? JUAN: I'm not in love anymore. ALONSO: And how about Leonor? JUAN: I don't care. My mind is free from Leonor. Since love is a product of Fortune, it's subject to violent change. ALONSO: You have to go there with me now. JUAN: I'll never speak to her again. ALONSO: I have to go back to see Beatriz, to be where I can speak. All day long and far into the night out there on her street. I'm the one with the wounded head; yours is supposedly sane. Are you sure you won't go? JUAN: No, never. My jealousy's far too great. Its tyrannical and penetrating hurt has wounded my very soul. ALONSO: I'd trade wounds with you any time. Think about why and you'll know. Whether the hurt be mortal or venial I'd rather have a wounded soul, than be here in the condition you see, lacking a head that's whole. My reasoning is quite clear: a wound, unless the remedy is correct, is apt to kill but a cure, even if faked, is good enough for a jealous fit. JUAN: I promise, no matter what the cause that I'll never, Don Alonso, put you in a dangerous spot again. ALONSO: You shouldn't hesitate to do so; it makes no difference to me. JUAN: That business I will conclude, because the hurt you suffered was enough for me as well as for you. ALONSO: One small kick from a receptive mare wouldn't deter a real stud. JUAN: I'll never go back to her house again after what she has done. ALONSO: Well, even if it isn't for you, I must return to find out who threatened me with his sword. JUAN: We could inquire about who it was, without ever going close if it's a matter of your name. ALONSO: Don Juan, it's more important to me that women respect my fame than what other men might think. When there's cause for one as proud as Beatriz is to even imagine.... JUAN: I'll clear that up right now. ALONSO: Don Juan, Don Juan, let's be frank. Let's put our cards on the table. Somehow, I've got to see Beatriz. MOSCATEL: (He'll go as soon as he's able. And he'll swear that I've been lying.) JUAN: Well, if it means that much. what's keeping you here? Go ahead. I wish you the best of luck. ALONSO: How can I, unless you are there to help me with Leonor? JUAN: But.. you know I can't do that. I can't go see her anymore. ALONSO: This is one thing you must do for me. There's really nothing new about a friend helping out another making love to lady number two. JUAN: All right, Alonso, I'll do it for you, even though I swore I wouldn't. But before we go, remember what happened when you were in her closet. ALONSO: What does that matter? MOSCATEL: And the balcony! ALONSO: So what? MOSCATEL: And the swordplay? ALONSO: Not that! But Cupid made it happen. Only the occasion was a fake. Now that pretense has turned into truth what more can he do about it? Do what he will. Bring on his troops! We're off to balcony and closet! DON ALONSO, DON JUAN, and MOSCATEL all exit. Locale : The street outside DON PEDRO's house DON DIEGO and DON LUIS enter DIEGO: Don Luis, you know how hard I've tried to be your friend. LUIS: I know that very well. Our friendship had its start in your willingness to help. DIEGO: You won't hold it against me if I make a suggestion? LUIS: Not at all. DIEGO: I have a question... LUIS: You mean to say I was crazy. I'm willing to make that confession. There is no justification for having pulled my sword to start an altercation with a man whose opposition I could afford to ignore. But now to find a remedy for the problem. Once somebody thinks he's beaten the competition, and has no reason for jealousy, you can't predict his reaction. DIEGO: So now what will you do to satisfy your appetite? Don Pedro may have some insight on why it is that you were waiting outside last night. LUIS: I have no reason to be afraid. If a man can get a divorce even after a marriage is made, its consummation can be stayed until I'm satisfied, of course. DON PEDRO enters. PEDRO: Upset by this burning frost, this fire that chills my bones, this danger that I see approach my honor, seeking its loss, I leave them safe but alone. I want to speak to Don Luis and bring this marriage about, in order to stop the other lout and give me hope for some peace by keeping him out of my house. That's Don Luis over there. I'm glad to find him so near. He'll be her husband, I swear. He's noble and has a flare... DIEGO: Don Pedro's coming over here. LUIS: (I'd rather not, at this time,...) PEDRO: Don Luis, your family has told me of your desire to honor mine, and being grateful and happy about it, I came to find you and speak of the pleasure it gives me to welcome you... LUIS: Don Pedro, that good news is something I'll always treasure in spite of what I must do. I must confess that I tried to make such an arrangement and was fortunate in that I was able to obtain your consent, an honor both generous and kind. But... unhappily sir. something now has occurred. A new debt. A matter of honor at present has me so disturbed it's impossible to marry her. PEDRO: A matter of honor so important as to upset this proposal? LUIS: Yes. PEDRO: But how? What happened? Has Beatriz done something awful? LUIS: Nothing that was significant; nothing to make you angry. It's a point of my honor that causes this, you see. PEDRO: Tell me how that can be. LUIS: I just now found out, sir, that his royal majesty, --May heaven keep him safe, may his light forever be seen-- called by his Catholic zeal, has decided on a Spring campaign. I knew that a certain lord, a relative, by my good fortune, was forming a new battalion I asked him to make use of my sword allowing me to be his companion. He made me Captain of a company. So I can't marry your daughter since he who'd be both soldier and husband, as everyone agrees, always winds up being neither. If I should some day return, sir an example of greater valor, then you can make me happy. Right now I can't marry Beatriz without endangering my honor. DON LUIS and DON DIEGO exit PEDRO: "Right now I can't marry Beatriz without endangering my honor!" May heaven guard and help me! What in the world did he mean? What did he see or discover? Is the truth what I feel or what he said to me first? Why did he say that to me? When I wonder what to believe, do I have to think the worst? DON PEDRO exits Locale : A room in DON PEDRO's house
DOÑA BEATRIZ and INEZ enter
BEATRIZ: Why did you take the letter? INEZ: I take anything that's free. BEATRIZ: I'd be willing to bet you said you were doing it for me. INEZ: You have no reason to suspect any such thing, as you'll see. I kept quiet about the present and the letter, as quiet as can be. I kept your secret just as well as any you've ever told me. BEATRIZ: Tell me, Inez, your reason, for bringing this letter to me, if things are as you say. INEZ: (Good God! She caught me! but I'll get out of this if I have to pay the fee.) He asked me to bring it here in order to give it to you as soon as I found a chance. I thought it was something to do so he'd believe I was on his side. Because the ribbon I took I supposedly stole for him, he'd obviousy assume I'd do him the favor of bringing his letter to you. BEATRIZ: Well, I'm pleased to hear that. INEZ: And I'm glad you're satisfied. Watch out, Leonor's coming. BEATRIZ: I can't let her enter and find me with this letter from him. DOÑA LEONOR enters LEONOR: I could, if I were of a mind to do so, say here and now, that really I'm not blind: "What idiomatic missive is that written on paper that's lined, you're shamefully hiding from me?" BEATRIZ: And I could as easily remind you you're asking in vain: "If you refused to hear from me when I tried to tell you all, now that I've a secret to keep you think you've a right to know." Your words quoted exactly! DOÑA BEATRIZ exits but remains hidden behind the door LEONOR: What's up? INEZ: I'm dying to tell you. LEONOR: That letter, tell me quickly, where did it come from? INEZ: Why be like that with me? Couldn't you wait one minute and give me a chance to tell? The secret, in spite of my promise, is something I'm willing to sell. BEATRIZ: ( I don't know what's going on, so I'll hear what those two intend.) INEZ: I went to see him and right away I told him that I was sent by Beatriz. LEONOR: That was good work. BEATRIZ: (I thought I could depend on Inez, but she's too close to Leonor.) INEZ: I gave him her ribbon next telling him that it was from her. BEATRIZ: (Heavens! What's that she said?) LEONOR: I heard a noise from over there. INEZ: It's only Don Juan as you'll see. LEONOR: I don't... How it that possible. When he left, he swore that he would never return in this life. INEZ: Are you so innocent as to believe such stuff? Whenever a lover says most furiously and arrogantly "You'll never see me again!" You can be doubly sure that he is dying to come back soon. BEATRIZ: (Now that I've managed to see the trouble they're planning, I'll stay here safely concealed.) DON JUAN, DON ALONSO, and MOSCATEL enter JUAN: You probably think, Leonor, jealousy brought me here to see and to talk with you, because jealousy and fear go hand in hand as aides to love as it comes and it goes. But no, Leonor, I haven't come with any wish to know whether I was wrong to question your love and self-respect, or to apologize for my disdain and speaking to you with contempt. I came with a different purpose, not to bring on my doom. There is no lack of reason for coming here into this room. Don Alonso, who at your request came to court Beatriz ran into trouble on the street outside just as he tried to leave. He's worried your sister will think that his failure to reappear resulted from having been warned off, his cowardice, or abject fear. When he asked me to come with him to stand as guard at her door, how could I refuse to help as he had helped me before? LEONOR: Certainly you had an obligation. You had to return the favor. JUAN: That's why he's here, but as for me, don't even imagine, Leonor, that having suffered terrible doubts, pain, suspicion, and adversity has given me reason to come see you, I'm going to wait in the street. I'll wait as he talks to Beatriz to clear up this easy matter, to calm his scruples and redeem himself, so she'll understand him better. So, Don Alonso, do as you wish, since the daytime sun now lies, asleep and dying in the shadowy arms of the deep and darkening night. You'll be safe talking with Beatriz. Don Pedro won't find you here. LEONOR: Wait, Don Juan, please stop and listen. JUAN: What do you want me to hear? LEONOR: Excuses. JUAN: None exist. LEONOR: Apologies. JUAN: Useless! DON JUAN exits LEONOR: Don Alonso, I'm going too. I'll be right back. Don Juan is jealous. I'll must what I can do. DOÑA LEONOR exits ALONSO: Didn't I come to see Beatriz? MOSCATEL: You should have thought before! The same thing could happen again. What if it's even more? ALONSO: Tell me, Inez, where is Beatriz? We can talk while we wait. DOÑA BEATRIZ enters BEATRIZ: Here I am, hearing the villainies of a sister who's depraved, a friend who's false, a servant snake, a maid who's far too easy for anyone's good, and a supposèd lover who makes love cautiously. Put them together, Don Juan and Leonor, Inez and her friend Moscatel, and you'll understand why I'm troubled and excuse me for being upset. My only demand just now is the right to complain as the injured party, to deplore the way that I was offended, to mourn such churlish barbarity. Is my station in life so low, is my merit so small, is my appearance so repulsive, --I blush to say this at all-- that any man would dare look at me with treason in his heart, make love to me to play a trick? And do all this as part..... ALONSO: Beatriz, you're gorgeous when angry, even prettier when calmed down... I can repay the trouble we caused by clearing things up right now. BEATRIZ: Can it be easy to clear things up after what you have done? ALONSO: Just listen and you will hear the facts about the strategms of love: A man can feasibly make the attempt to conquer the open sea never dreaming that the subtle foam was a dangerous place to be. Suddenly the sea may take its toll, and his hopes can lie defunct. If you can't fool the seas with tricks, there is no trifling with love. A man can feasibly make the attempt, using some chemical powders, to emulate a lightning bolt and feel the effect of its power. He can be killed by that violent fire. Love's work like lightning is done. If you can't play with chemical powders there is no trifling with love. A man can feasibly make the attempt to practice at swords with a friend, an accident happens and he gets hurt just like a real opponent. His very dexterity causes the error. Love is just as perilous. If you mustn't use an unsheathed sword, there is no trifling with love. A man can feasibly make the attempt to tame the wildest of beasts, and just when it seems a playful pet, he's a victim of its teeth. A beast, who can't control his acts, is accustomed to playing rough. If there's no frolic with an untamed brute, there is no trifling with love. For fun I tried to conquer the sea, for fun I lit the flame, an unsheathed sword I tried to use, a beast I tried to tame; and so it is I drowned at sea, and felt the effects of fire, I knew the fury of steel and beast. There's nothing in this to admire. If all of these are able to kill, I wish to heaven above I'd learned my lesson not to play. There is no trifling with love. BEATRIZ: To that argument.... DOÑA LEONOR enters, quite flustered LEONOR: Lord help us now! Don Juan fled to the street, when I followed to talk with him, about his unfounded jealousy, and I saw my father coming this way. Right now! We have to hide... BEATRIZ: Not this time, Leonor, it's too late. LEONOR: Don Alonso... BEATRIZ: Not tonight! my father must know what's going on or how he's being fooled. LEONOR: If you try to tell him all that, I'll put the blame on you. Now, since we are both in danger, we both must find a remedy. BEATRIZ: Just to show you how to do it right, reluctantly I'll agree. MOSCATEL: I claim the closet as safe asylum. ALONSO: I wouldn't do that. Before.... INEZ: He's coming! BEATRIZ: You go hide in that room. MOSCATEL: And I will be your escort. ALONSO: (What a bother this love making is!) MOSCATEL: You go to the street, Inez, and tell Don Juan that we are hidden but about to lose our heads. DON ALONSO and MOSCATEL hide. DON PEDRO enters PEDRO: It's so dark. Where are the lights? Inez, you bring some candles. INEZ: I'll be right back. I've got them ready. INEZ leaves PEDRO: (To me! So disrespectful! Such an insult and right to my face! Heaven have pity on me. Give me patience or give me death.) BEATRIZ: What's wrong? LEONOR: Why the grief? PEDRO: Because of honor, I brought troubles... although that may be a lie, I didn't bring them, they came to me. Something to ruin my life! LEONOR: (Lord help us! He must know everything.) BEATRIZ: Well, won't you tell me, sir, what gave rise to such agitation? PEDRO: Beatriz, it's your errors. I'm forced to say an arrogant youth today made an open attempt to ruin the honor of this, our house, because of you, as I said. LEONOR: (Now I can do anything I wish.) BEATRIZ Of me? MOSCATEL speaks from his hiding place MOSCATEL: (Things aren't going well.) PEDRO: Yes, indeed. It's because of you that Don Luis has no repect for either this family or this house. BEATRIZ: (Now my heart can take a rest!) LEONOR: (I'm certainly glad to hear who it is, now I can take a new breath.) DON JUAN enters JUAN: (Things can go wrong once on their own, but given a second chance you shouldn't repeat your same mistake and put your head in the sand. I can't just stand here and wait for them to lock the door, Don Alonso might be forced to jump just as he was before.) If I can count on your friendship with my parents, Don Pedro, as a member of that fine family.... LEONOR: (I'd really like to know what Don Juan is trying to do.) BEATRIZ: (I'm dying to hear some more. JUAN: I'd be happy to have your help with a problem of discord. In the street outside your house three men attacked me I'd like to go search for them but not alone, you see. I know that I can count on you because your heart I know is like that Sicilian volcano Etna a fire covered with snow. PEDRO: Don't go any further. I know what my honor requires. Even at my age, I can't ignore a man who's expressed a desire for the help of my sword. Let's go. JUAN: Your response shows the man you are. As DON PEDRO turns to go, DON JUAN speaks aside to LEONOR As soon as I get your father out, you get Don Alonso to depart. DON ALONSO speaks from the door of the room where he has hidden ALONSO: (They must be the ones who tried to kill me the other day. There's nothing I can do to leave but it's impossible to stay.) PEDRO: Wait a moment while a get my shield from the cabinet in my room, one I have left from when I was young. JUAN: Go ahead, but make it soon. DON PEDRO enters the room where DON ALONSO and MOSCATEL are hiding BEATRIZ: A quick jump from the frying pan directly into the fire! Speaking from inside the room PEDRO: Who is in here? Who are you? ALONSO: Just a man. DON PEDRO, DON ALONSO, and MOSCATEL all enter MOSCATEL: How nice of him to inquire. His answer's true since it's only me, nobody, in here with him. PEDRO: Don Juan, I was going with you to help you fight with them, but this obligation is even greater and you have to help me. This man has offended my honor he must be killed, you see. ALONSO: Don Juan, in this urgent engagement you know your obligation. My life and those of these ladies demand our reparation. LEONOR: Oh, my! BEATRIZ: Oh, no! JUAN: (Has anyone seen a similar situation?) PEDRO: Why do you wait? Why the suspense? ALONSO: Why the hesitation? PEDRO: I'll kill him without your help. DON ALONSO and DON PEDRO start to fence. DON JUAN steps in JUAN: Stop! And you stop, too! PEDRO: Why are you trying to interfere? ALONSO: What are you trying to do? DON LUIS and DON DIEGO speak from off-stage LUIS: I hear a sword fight inside the house. DIEGO: Let's not wait any longer. Let's go in, Don Luis. LUIS: Stop fighting. PEDRO: They're coming! ALONSO: More danger! DON LUIS and DON DIEGO enter LUIS: What's going on here? PEDRO: This, Don Luis, will answer your discourtesy. If you feared to lose your honor by marrying Beatriz, mine is being satisfied and avenged. LUIS: Now you see the grounds for my refusal, the result of a fight I had in front of your house. ALONSO: It must be you who wounded me. LUIS: True enough. ALONSO: Later I'll get revenge. JUAN: So that was what was going on! My jealousy's at an end. Leonor will live forever in my heart. She needs my protection from you. PEDRO: Don Juan, nobody protects my daughters here unless it's the man who will marry them. ALONSO: You have my word. JUAN: If the remedy's that easy. you have mine as well. I'll marry Leonor ALONSO: And I will have Beatriz. PEDRO: And I must keep my mouth shut. Because once the damage is done, there's nothing more a father can do. MOSCATEL: It's all a matter of love. When love plays his tricks on any man, especially one who is free, he winds up wounded, lame, or married, and that's the worst of the three. INEZ: When love plays his tricks on a woman, especially one who's conceited, silly, and arrogant, she winds up in love, or worse: married and defeated. MOSCATEL: Inez, give me your hand in marriage if that's what we must do. Let's not think of trifling with love; too often it turns out true. ALONSO: No one here should play tricks on love. Take your warning from me. Watch out for Cupid and forgive the poet for an ending that's far too sweet.

THE END


Electronic text by Vern G. Williamsen and J T Abraham
Additional formatting by Matthew D. Stroud
 

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Association for Hispanic Classical Theater, Inc.


Most recent update: 28 Jun 2002