ZENEIDA BY M. DE CAHUSAC

Translated and Adapted by Frank J. Morlock

Etext by Dagny
This Etext is for private use only. No republication for profit in 
print or other media may be made without the express consent of the 
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http://www.cadytech.com/dumas/personnage.asp?key=130

++++++++++++++++++++++++


CHARACTERS
:


THE FAIRY


ZENEIDA


DAGNY
(originally Gnidie)


ROLAND
(originally Olinde)


++++++++++++++++++++++++





THE FAIRY
: There you are Zeneida, a bit compensated
For the retreat in which you are living in here.
But where did this new care arise from
In which your soul seems plunged?
I've transported you to places embellished
By Art, Nature, and the Graces,
And yet in your softened eyes
I am finding traces of an intense sorrow?
You are sighing? Admit frankly
That the fest for you had some pleasure.
The ball amused you; this Palace bores you.


ZENEIDA
: Lovable Fairy, it is true; all these new objects
Have some attractions for me,
But I've followed you first of all.


FAIRY
: I admit it; but sighing,
You were looking, leaving
With eyes of desire and envy
This ball so attractive for you.
Zeneida, I see your soul completely naked.
I am reading dangerous secrets in it
Which are escaping from your eyes
And that have struck my sight.


ZENEIDA
: (worried) O Heaven! What have I done so wrong?
I saw the ball with you,
On the bench where you placed me.
That's all I think.


THE FAIRY
: And this air of anger
That you displayed when I forced you
To watch this jealous mask.
Who despite the hurrying crowd
Of the curious who swarmed around us,
And yet more despite yourself,
To the glances you kept hidden?


ZENEIDA
: It's true, you annoyed me—
And the heat of the ball—


THE FAIRY
: You didn't feel it any more
When, for that reason, I wanted to disappear.


ZENEIDA
: (excitedly) But why these superfluous cares?
Why are you refusing to let me know?
I owe you everything; and I no longer see
Those from whom heaven gave me birth.
It's through your power that I hold my attractions.
Can I cherish your benefits too much?
To decorate myself with them—that's recognizing them


THE FAIRY
: And your prayers would be satisfied
If you had made this recognition known
To this young stranger whose amiable presence—


ZENEIDA
: Oh! Madame, I know his name.


FAIRY
: Does he know yours and in what fashion
My tenderness has taken care to raise your childhood?


ZENEIDA
: He asked me everything, but with so much intensity—


FAIRY
: That you told him everything.


ZENEIDA
: Roland is so pressing,
He prayed to me so tenderly
That he vanquished my resistance.
But perhaps I did wrong.


FAIRY
: Then, to your eyes,
He's very interesting, very lovable?


ZENEIDA
: Madame, he is charming.


FAIRY
: Perhaps, around here,
He's revealed himself on a favorable day,
And if you were to know him better—


ZENEIDA
: No question he would please me more.
Many others have spoken to me, but their air, their language,
Their gayety, their tone and their efforts,
Their rush to please me,
Have done exactly the contrary.
They had too much wit—


FAIRY
: Roland has some, at least?


ZENEIDA
: To be honest, I don't know.
But, with him, I felt he had.
When I was speaking, his eyes made me see
That he was experiencing an extreme pleasure.
In truth all the others
Appeared to me to be satisfied with themselves.
He alone was only for me.


FAIRY
: I see it, it is time to break silence.
Your fate is going to reveal itself.
With prudence one can often
Correct the malign influence of the stars,
Avoid it, or repair it,
And if your happiness is not in my power,
I must at least enlighten you.
In a moment Roland is going to appear.


ZENEIDA
: What, Madame, in this palace?
What, I will see him right away?


FAIRY
: He will see you too soon, perhaps.
Zeneida, you are unaware
That this inclination which drags you toward him,
This cruel pain in leaving him,
This pleasure in seeing him when you imagine him,
Is the first access of an intense passion
That your tender and naive soul
Will burn with so long as you live.
In your heart, Love, in a word, has just burgeoned.


ZENEIDA
: Love! Could it be a misfortune? Is it a blessing? I'm
unaware.


FAIRY
: It can make your life miserable.


ZENEIDA
: Truly, my terror is extreme.


FAIRY
: But if your Roland loves you
With a love that lasts forever,
Count on a supreme happiness
Whose course nothing can alter.


ZENEIDA
: Why, in that case, love is not so formidable?


FAIRY
: I see him. You know that you are lovable.


ZENEIDA
: Eh, but— Perhaps Roland will love me.


FAIRY
: Since he's a man, he will change.


ZENEIDA
: Ah! I don't doubt it, I will be unfortunate.
I'll never know how to change.


FAIRY
: That's not all. A rigorous law
Threatens your life with a danger
Which all my art cannot free you from.
There are secrets that I must no longer hide
From when you received life,
I rushed; I saw you with the eyes of a mother.
And too blind in my love,
From a fatal prejudice following extravagance,
Thinking like a woman at last, I believed that beauty
Was the blessing par excellence,
The supreme felicity.
So I exhausted my power
To dower you with all the vain attractions
Of the most brilliant face.
All my art served to embellish your features.
I abandoned the rest to nature.
The fairy Urganda appeared at this moment.
My soul was worried by her appearance.
Her threatening looks announced her wrath to me.
She said to me in a feverish tone:
“You ought to know that one day they must love her.”
With my respect I thought to disarm her.
She approached you, touched you, embraced you.
I was unaware if it was favor or disgrace
That Urganda poured over you,
But by the ills with which she threatened you,
I must judge her wrath.


ZENEIDA
: I am trembling. Finish, I beg you.
What ills must I worry about?
Roland, ought I to fear for your life?


FAIRY
: Here are her own words; I am going to repeat them.
Zeneida, you'll be beautiful.
But fear love; if one day it wounds your heart,
Your beauty will become ugliness,
If you don't please your lover without it.


ZENEIDA
: O Heaven! I will become—?


FAIRY
: Yes, ugly enough to frighten.


ZENEIDA
: Roland will find me ugly!
Ah! Don't let him come; I would die of sorrow.


FAIRY
: To the power of the Fairy, mine has to give in
And since Roland has pleased you,
You must see him, and if it's possible, please him
As Urganda has decided.
Of your love, especially be careful to be silent.
For the plan I've conceived,
That's the capital point.


ZENEIDA
: And the most difficult.
For if he loves me, could I hide it from him?
I don't know how to dissimulate to that degree.
My mouth will keep silent uselessly
And, despite me, my eyes will know how to speak.


FAIRY
: And ugliness.


ZENEIDA
: You are making me tremble.
Instruct me: what must I do?


FAIRY
: Well, your situation embarrasses me.
Men are so dangerous,
It's so difficult to find a sincere one!
The way he appears to our eyes
Is only a trickster seeking to please
With specious outsides.
Caprice rules their prayers
Or vanity causes their birth.
Flighty, Proud, Ungrateful,
The heart prefers at pleasure to be happy,
The false honor of appearing so
And the most modest of them all
On this article is the fop.


ZENEIDA
: What is it to think so falsely?
Ah! If I enjoyed the pleasure of being loved,
I would know how to shut in this important secret
Between my heart and my lover.
But alas, my startled soul
Must deliver itself to other cares.
No, I must no longer hope
For a happiness that would have charmed me.


FAIRY
: Why not? There's a way.


ZENEIDA
: (excitedly) A way?


FAIRY
: (malignly) I would have some hope,
If by chance, Roland indeed was thinking
The thing would be rare and pass appearance.
Still, it's possible.
Sometimes I've seen propitious nature,
By a lucky caprice ,
Make miracles when playing.


ZENEIDA
: If he was indeed thinking—


FAIRY
: He hasn't seen you.
A mask has veiled your features,
And yet is his soul disturbed?
By his farewells, by his regrets,
I've seen how much for you it was prepared.


ZENEIDA
: I also really noticed it,
Anyway, what he told me, quite hushed,
—All men don't have this tender and timid air.


FAIRY
: They find so many lures to deceive us,
What pleases is the only thing that guides them.


ZENEIDA
: Still, if there's one who isn't false,
I'd wager that Roland isn't.


FAIRY
: Well, let's test his tenderness.
Beware of discovering to him
How much your heart is interested,
And still to obey
The absolute orders of Urganda
Hide your beauty from your lover.
Try to enflame him as she directed.
Let the mask firmly
Conceal from his glances—


(Enter Dagny in casual dress.)


DAGNY
: Zeneida— (to Fairy) Ah! Madame,
Pardon me—I didn't see you.


FAIRY
: What's the matter with you?
Where's this embarrassment come from?


DAGNY
: Nothing is equal to the trouble of my soul.
I saw in the gardens— His air is enchanting,
God! How pretty his face is.
Perhaps you accuse me of madness,
But I saw him, I tell you, and I really believe my heart over it.


FAIRY
: Who did you see, Dagny?


DAGNY
: A charming young man. Must I tell you again?


ZENEIDA
: (to Fairy) Ah! It's him; I cannot doubt it.


FAIRY
: (to Dagny) And did he notice you?


DAGNY
: I really flatter myself that he saw me.
But I wouldn't dare be sure of it.
He was still far off—I was so casual.
I fled to go gussy up,
If I had been better fixed—


FAIRY
: I understand; you would have taken great care to show yourself?


DAGNY
: To see him again I'm going to prepare myself.
(to Zeneida) Suppose I were to wear the dress and hairdo
That I wore when they made my portrait?
I prefer that attire.
(to fairy) She's to your taste, and I'll get ready right away.
G'bye, I'm rushing to get dressed.


(Dagny leaves.)


ZENEIDA
: (very excitedly) Ah! Madame she will please him.
Forbid her—


FAIRY
: What, my daughter, already
A jealous care disturbs you?
Reassure yourself.


ZENEIDA
: (with scorn) Without this importunate mask,
Or if Dagny had one,
I wouldn't suspect her.
But she is so beautiful; she will want to please him.
Roland will see her allures.


FAIRY
: What matter if he loves you?


ZENEIDA
: He can change for her.


FAIRY
: In that case, to Urganda's orders
It is easy to be faithful.
You will be beautiful, at least.


ZENEIDA
: And if he doesn't love me,
What do I care about being beautiful?


FAIRY
: I hear some noise.


ZENEIDA
: My heart's beating. It's him.
(to Fairy) What! You are abandoning me.


FAIRY
: He's coming. Be prudent.
You hear.


(Exit Fairy.)


ZENEIDA
: (alone, putting on her mask) Alas! Today I feared
To see him too late for my fervor's taste;
And now, uneasy, trembling—


(Enter Roland.)


ROLAND
: I see her again! Zeneida, it's you?
How flattering this moment is to my passion.
I was sighing after a blessing so sweet
And I felt my soul flying towards you.


ZENEIDA
: (aside) I feel all he's saying.


ROLAND
: But what! For the reward of a passion so tender
You seem not to hear me.


ZENEIDA
: (as she turns) Pardon me, I am listening to you.


ROLAND
: What do I see? O Heaven! That insupportable mask
Again hiding your attractions from my love!
Eh! Am I never to see you
Except under an impenetrable veil?


ZENEIDA
: Alas! I am annoyed by it and I would wish
For you to see me with less mystery,
But—


ROLAND
: Well?


ZENEIDA
: Oh! I know how to shut up.
(aside, making a gesture to leave)
Got to get away from him; I will ruin myself.
I feel I'm listening to him with too much pleasure.
(to Roland)
Roland, leave me alone. With a feigned ardor,
No question, you intend to deceive me.


ROLAND
: Me, deceive you?


ZENEIDA
: The Fairy, luckily,
Had the care to instruct me.
This curious desire, this flattering talk,
Would have been able to seduce me without her.
One more time, Roland, leave me alone.
I know that the most honest man
Is ungrateful, perfidious or flighty,
And you won't keep your faith with me.


ROLAND
: Ah, Zeneida, what talk!
Such a suspicion overwhelms me with sorrow.
At my age you know few men
But believe in my testimony.
They've depicted to you too starkly.
Vices are not their sole appanage.
Some virtues speak in their favor
And confidence at least, must be their share.
If I judge of them by my heart,
Deign to do me justice!
Tear off this odious mask;
Be propitious to my desires.
Zeneida, these features will fulfill my prayers
If they were offered to my eyes.
Your refusal is my torture.
Is it from hate, or from caprice,
That you are making me wretched?


ZENEIDA
: (placing her hand on her mask, aside)
I am giving in to his extreme ardor.
(pulling back her hand hurriedly)
If he's deceiving me! If he's deceiving himself!


ROLAND
: What do I see? This flattering concern—
Does it speak to you in my favor?


ZENEIDA
: (aside) I don't know where I am,
And my reason is forgetting itself.
Ah, if he were to observe it! Shall I betray myself?
(to Roland) At least, I do not love you.


ROLAND
: I see that only too well, ingrate.
I displease you, you reject my cares!


ZENEIDA
: What are you saying?


ROLAND
: My despair flatters you.
You make me feel it too much,
Yes, you hate me— Well, I must flee you.


ZENEIDA
: Why, I don't hate you; I know that very well, perhaps.


ROLAND
: Then let yourself be softened by my love.


ZENEIDA
: (aside) My heart is no longer the master of my secret.
(to Roland) Roland, do you love me?


ROLAND
: Can you doubt it?


ZENEIDA
: Prove it to me by your obedience.


ROLAND
: Command, I can attempt anything.


ZENEIDA
: I must hide my features and keep silent.


ROLAND
: Ah! Zeneida, would you
Despair a heart that adores you?
Why veil your sweetest attractions,
Why this mask that I abhor,
When love alone is in cahoots with us?
(he goes to his knees)
I am going to die at your knees
If I don't obtain the favor that I implore.


ZENEIDA
: Ah!


ROLAND
: Is this sigh favorable to my passion?
Reveal yourself and I am happy,
Give in to my impatience.


ZENEIDA
: (aside) Alas! They are all so pressing.
What help can prudence be against them?


ROLAND
: My dear Zeneida!


ZENEIDA
: Roland! Ah, what moments!


ROLAND
: Let them be sweet for me without your resistance!
(he rises to remove her mask)
Ah! Allow me—


ZENEIDA
: No, I forbid it!


ROLAND
: (continuing) O Heaven! What unjust prohibition.


ZENEIDA
: (defending herself) Roland, get over it.


ROLAND
: (with more passion) My passion is too ardent
For this effort of obedience.
I am dying with the exhalation I feel.


ZENEIDA
: That's enough of it, stop, or fear my wrath.


ROLAND
: What? I can't be allowed?


ZENEIDA
: I have the courage necessary
To hide myself and remain silent
When you stop being submissive.


ROLAND
: You wish it; despite myself I obey,
But I have a notion of the depths of this mystery.


ZENEIDA
: And what notion do you have?


ROLAND
: (aside) Let's excite her vanity.


ZENEIDA
: Speak.


ROLAND
: Since I am forced to be sincere,
One doesn't hide to this degree when one has wherewithal to please.


ZENEIDA
: (stung) So you predict very ill of my beauty?


ROLAND
: But without trusting it—I suspect.


ZENEIDA
: Fine, I understand that sincerity.
(aside) Ah, if I dared— But, no, the means he's giving me,
Let's profit by it to sound the recesses of his heart.
(aloud) Your suspicion is only too true.
Roland, you are forcing my candor to this confession.
It is very true, to my misfortune,
That my features are not agreeable at all.
That's my whole secret.


ROLAND
: No, I don't believe you.
My heart is speaking to me; it depicts your attractions
And to it alone am I listening.


ZENEIDA
: Your suspicions—


ROLAND
: I was hoping to conquer your refusal
By interesting your glory.


ZENEIDA
: They are founded—


ROLAND
: Let's not speak of it any more;
They were feigned; forget about them.


ZENEIDA
: There's nothing offensive in them for me.
Beauty would render me a bit vain.
It's a flower that flatters and pleases for a moment
But which perishes almost in being born
And my ugliness doesn't trouble me.


ROLAND
: Ah! Vain for you to say it and I don't believe you.
No, the most honest woman
Was never secure to this degree;
The ugliest believe the contrary.
You are beautiful and very sure of pleasing;
Your mirror has told you so often.
If it was necessary, I'd swear to it
From your talk alone.


ZENEIDA
: Your obstinacy annoys me
I know myself, apparently,
And I tell you I am ugly.
No more arguing, or—I'll get angry.


ROLAND
: You are forcing me to it; well, I shall believe you.


ZENEIDA
: (aside) You believe me! He thinks it, the traitor!
(to Roland, timidly)
And this love which gave birth,
A vain phantom of beauty
By which your heart was flattered
Before knowing me very well,
Apparently is going to vanish
With the mistake which enchanted you?


ROLAND
: No. My love will always be the same.
You want in vain to alarm me.
Be ugly—I love you
And I won't ever stop loving you.


ZENEIDA
: What! If I were extremely ugly?


ROLAND
: But you are not.


ZENEIDA
: Yet, if I were?


ROLAND
: I feel that I would love you.


ZENEIDA
: (aside) I am enjoying a supreme happiness.
(to Roland) Roland, is it really true? you are not deceiving yourself?
Is a man capable of such an effort?


ROLAND
: Even if the mask be favorable,
To my eyes you lend it attractions,
Even if it covers a lovable face,
I feel myself seized near you
By an irresistible inclination
About you I feel myself stopped.
The sound of your voice, this ingeniousness,
Your graces, your wit, this agreeable smile,
These glances which, despite this mask overwhelm me,
Make me experience their conquering allures,
Even without beauty, will render you adorable.


ZENEIDA
: That's enough; I am in a ravishing state,
Roland. O heaven! What is my joy?
I am going to find the Fairy: I have to see her.
Roland, wait a moment.


ROLAND
: Ah! let me follow you.


ZENEIDA
: No: stay; I'll be back in a minute.


(Zeneida prepares to leave.)


ZENEIDA
: (at the back of the stage, before leaving)
Don't go away, at least. (exit)


ROLAND
: (alone) Ah what torture!
I don't know how to live in this situation.
Is it really true that she has told her secret?
After all, what's it matter? I adore her.
Since she loves me in her turn,
I will make her keep her mask on all day.
But someone's coming. Is this Venus or Flora?


(Enter Dagny.)


DAGNY
: (aside) It's himself; let's approach,
Let him be able to see my features.


ROLAND
: (aside) What a get-up, and what allures!
How perfectly it suits her face!
Zeneida without these trimmings
Pleases me even more.
(to Dagny) One must experience the sweetest happiness here
Where one is meeting all the pleasures together
If the diverse objects that the fairy puts together
Are all as charming as you.


DAGNY
: You find me nice, then? Ah, how lovable a man is!
Do you know that in this retreat
No one has yet told me the like?


ROLAND
: Then there are few gallants?


DAGNY
: And truly very few.
The Fairy only has women in her court.
They control me without cease;
Any one thing aggravates their envious spirits.
And something about me always injures them.
I return them tenderness for tenderness
And I judge them strictly.
On that point I have no scruples.
By their face or their humor
I see them all, luckily,
Stupids, uglies or laughables,
And I hate them with all my heart.


ROLAND
: (aside) Charming natural! She resembles others;
What's more, she's of good faith.
(to Dagny) But tell me, in this palace
Don't you see charms other than your own?
Isn't there some object you can praise?


DAGNY
: But I see so many people there, and besides I'm good.
I am still constrained to admit
That I don't meet anyone
Whose faults don't strike my glances.
For example, the Fairy is unjust, imperious;
At all times, for us she lacks concern.
Floride, as she boasts, is beautiful, generous,
And her figure majestic,
At first approach dazzling,
But to see her closer, soon the charm flees.
Outside sharpness conceals a proud soul.
Her strong tone shocks, aggravates.
She is mean, ungrateful, disdainful.
In short, impertinence makes her ugly
Like the others. Nature vainly
Embellishes her with a thousand attractions.
They mar their face
Through the defect of their wit.


ROLAND
: Your brush doesn't flatter.


DAGNY
: It is less malign than sincere
I pine after the original.


ROLAND
: (timidly) And Zeneida?


DAGNY
: Eh, why is right to please,
I found her nice enough, her wit is so-so,
And besides, she has a very nice character.


ROLAND
: (aside) She's ugly, the thing is clear,
Since she hasn't spoken ill of her.
(to Dagny) Then you love her a lot?


DAGNY
: Yes, everybody loves her.


ROLAND
: (aside) Now there at least my taste is justified.


DAGNY
: The fairy has moments of friendship for the two of us.
Her kindness, in that case, is extreme.
To paint and knit are her amusements.
In one of her moments
She wanted to do my portrait herself.
It's really pretty. The decorations especially,
I will let you see it. I think you have good taste.
Well, in this palace, be it base jealousy,
Or lack of discrimination,
Only Zeneida, yes, only she alone,
Was just enough, or even polite enough
To find me even more pretty
Than this portrait that was boasted of.


ROLAND
: No question, she was fair like a good friend,
And however little it may resemble—


DAGNY
: Oh! it's not a bad resemblance.
I told you, you will see it;
Like her you will judge it.
We will meet some other time together.
But I beg you, are you alone here?
We do not like going around except in company.
Apparently men go this way?
Where are your companions?
(aside)
He finds me pretty,
They will have good eyes, too.


ROLAND
: (aside) Ah! what depths of flirtatiousness.
(to Dagny) I came alone.


DAGNY
: What, alone in this place?


ROLAND
: Yes, alone. Does that mortify you?
For the glory of your attractions,
There's little except my vote.


DAGNY
: I don't say that; but still, I would like—


ROLAND
: To force everybody to render you homage?


DAGNY
: The Fairy's approaching; goodbye.
I am leaving you with regret.
(aside) I see he finds me charming.
Let's run to Zeneida to share this secret;
I intend to give her my confidence.


(Exit Dagny.)


ROLAND
: (alone) How different Zeneida is.
Qualities of heart are alone true treasures;
Without them beauty ceases to be attractive.


FAIRY
: (entering) I've retained my distraction for a while.
I want to see him myself, before she exposes herself—


ROLAND
: You know the cause of my pain.
Doubtless the power of your art allows you
To read my heart like myself.
You see my intense love.
I am expecting my blessing from you and Zeneida.


FAIRY
: I transported you into this pleasant abode
With the plan of joining the two of you.
Hope for everything if you feel
The flames of a durable love.


ROLAND
: What! I could flatter myself with being happy?


FAIRY
: I am unaware if her soul is interested in you.
It suffices for me, to unite you,
To know of your tenderness.
Zeneida is well born and will know to obey me.


ROLAND
: Ah! Madame, what are you daring to say?
Her hand is the sole blessing my soul desires.
But from your power, were I to perish,
I don't expect the happiness to which I aspire.
It's only from her heart that I wish to obtain it.


FAIRY
: I love to find this delicacy in you.
But examine yourself. Tell me frankly.
Zeneida is youthful,
Her graces, wit, lots of feeling,
But that's all, and her ugliness is such—


ROLAND
: So she's ugly—absolutely?


THE FAIRY
: Yes, I'd be painting an unfaithful portrait
If I pictured her otherwise.


ROLAND
: With such beautiful eyes, can she not be beautiful?


FAIRY
: But from where does this astonishment come?
On this point she should have spoken to you without mystery.


ROLAND
: Ah! I don't know. My love was flattering itself.
I hoped she was deceiving me
About her ugliness. Are you really sincere?


FAIRY
: No question, you will be revolted.


ROLAND
: No. Her graces, her character,
Have seduced me. I am enchanted by 'em
And, at bottom, lasting beauty
Is nothing else than the gift of pleasing.
Let her appear then, and before your eyes,
I am going to consecrate my love and my life to her.


FAIRY
: If you were to see her before— Yes, that would be much better.
I have her portrait with me.


ROLAND
: (with eagerness) Madame, I beg you,
Permit me to see it a moment.


FAIRY
: (aside) Heavens. He's going to endure a cruel test,
But the happiness of both of them depends on it.


ROLAND
: (almost terrified) What do I see? O heaven!
Is this really she?


FAIRY
: It flatters her a bit, but a prudent painter
Must sometimes embellish his model.


ROLAND
: And this portrait you say, is flattering?


FAIRY
: No question. Eh, what! Now there you are, already disheartened?
A mortal frigidity succeeds your distractions?


ROLAND
: I must admit I thought her less ugly.


FAIRY
: I indeed told you; her features are odious.
Admit now that this very tender passion
Is already distant.


ROLAND
: There are still her eyes
And all her features to take it well
Are not bad.


FAIRY
: But the ensemble is frightful.


ROLAND
: Frightful! That's too much. Her ugliness—


FAIRY
: Is extreme.


ROLAND
: There's nothing shocking in the depths of it.


FAIRY
: What? You find—


ROLAND
: And I even observe
Something touching.
Examine, madame, this mouth.


FAIRY
: The mouth's all right.


ROLAND
: But, I tell you, very fine.
She has this touching smile
And nothing can compare to hers.


(Enter Zeneida, still masked with Dagny.)


ZENEIDA
: Madame, he was deceiving me; he adores Dagny.
(to Roland) Ah! There you are!


DAGNY
: (to Roland) You find me pretty?
Isn't it true you said that?


ROLAND
: (coldly) I told you that and I repeat it.


ZENEIDA
: (to Fairy) Right in front of my eyes he is betraying me!


ROLAND
: (to Dagny) No question, your face is perfect.
Good taste alone suffices to find it so.


DAGNY
: (to Zeneida) Well, darling, did I deceive you?
Go, I am sure of pleasing
And I think my attractions less than your spite.


FAIRY
: (to Zeneida) What, you are weeping?


ZENEIDA
: I am desperate.


ROLAND
: Zeneida!


ZENEIDA
: How I hate her!


FAIRY
: Here all were living in peace.
A young man appears, war is declared.


ROLAND
: You can suspect?


ZENEIDA
: Oh! I know well enough.
Don't hope to deceive me again.
But what is this portrait? Doubtless it's his.


ROLAND
: It's the portrait of the one I adore.


DAGNY
: (in a reserved manner) What! Madame gave you mine so soon?


ROLAND
: (to Dagny) You are mistaken and this is of someone else.


DAGNY
: He's raving and I don't understand a thing.


ZENEIDA
: But this portrait, whose is it?


ROLAND
: It's yours.


ZENEIDA
: (taking the portrait) Mine? I want to see it.


FAIRY
: It's going to frighten her.


ZENEIDA
: (casting the portrait away) O Heaven! What is this imposture?
It's truly a monster of ugliness.


ROLAND
: Why, not at all.


ZENEIDA
: It's she, I am sure of it,
Who played me this bloody trick.
She finds her score by making me ugly.


DAGNY
: I please him without cheating
And I triumph by revealing myself.


ROLAND
: Finally, this portrait, I beg you,
What's so displeasing about it?
(tenderly)
It's yours and my ravished soul—


ZENEIDA
: Stop this joking.


ROLAND
: I am not joking.


ZENEIDA
: What a shocking proceeding.


ROLAND
: (to the Fairy) Madame, explain then.


FAIRY
: (laughing) On this important point
We won't hear any joking.


ZENEIDA
: I am outraged, and my scorn—


FAIRY
: (to Zeneida) Calm down. (aside) Her rage is amusing.


DAGNY
: (ironically) What's she upset about? They found her charming.


ROLAND
: (annoyed, showing the portrait) Why it's incontrovertibly her.


ZENEIDA
: He's outraging me with every word he says. (to Roland)
That's too much. I loved you.


FAIRY
: Remember Urganda.


ZENEIDA
: It's no longer anything that I apprehend.
Yes, I loved you.


ROLAND
: Is this you that I hear?


ZENEIDA
: But his pride, your perfidy,
Is changing my tender feelings for you into hate.


ROLAND
: Rather tear out my life.


ZENEIDA
: To avenge myself at the same time
For your frivolity, for her coquetry,
Look, ingrate, see if Dagny
Ought to have won out over me.


(Zeneida unmasks.)


ROLAND
: What do I see? O Heaven!


ZENEIDA
: No question Urganda has punished me.
I am horrible, he recoils in fright.
(to the Fairy)
Madame, am I really frightful?


FAIRY
: (laughing) A bit less than your portrait.


ROLAND
: Is this a flattering illusion?
I've seen nothing so perfect.


DAGNY
: The dummy! In my presence he boasts of Zeneida!


ZENEIDA
: What, I am not ugly?


ROLAND
: Ah! The day is less beautiful.
Why, these attractions, to the love that guides me,
Are not loaning a new passion—


ZENEIDA
: (to the fairy) I love him, I told him, and I am still
beautiful!
Then, he isn't perfidious?


FAIRY
: (laughing) Eh, why he maintains it.


DAGNY
: It is now what he will become.


ROLAND
: (to Zeneida) Madame is the witness to my faithful passion.


ZENEIDA
: But Dagny?


ROLAND
: It is certain that I love only you.
I swear it to you at your knees.


DAGNY
: What, you change like this? Because you loved me.


ROLAND
: One can praise in good faith
Without the soul being enflamed.


DAGNY
: (leaving) Ah! the fickle!


ZENEIDA
: And the portrait?


FAIRY
: It's I
Who wanted to test him. Stop being alarmed.
Happily, my efforts succeeded.


ROLAND
: Eh! Why test me like that?
What? Can't your art let you read in hearts?


FAIRY
: My art is submissive to Love.
But let's not think any more on this day
Except of crowning the flames that inspire you.


ZENEIDA
: Then I can, without trembling, love you, tell you so?


ROLAND
: I adore you, and your divine allures
Are new blessings that I admire,
But I didn't desire them.


FAIRY
: (to Roland) Your soul surrendered to lasting charms.
Those that offer beauty are really less desirable,
And steal off with the years.
A solid happiness will be your share,
And Love, guiding the feelings of your hearts,
Will triumph until the decline of age
And habit and time.


FAIRY
: (continuing) Let these parts embellish themselves at my voice.
You who live happily under my directives,
Come, reassemble, let your songs applaud
The happiness of these tender lovers.


(Genies, the troupe of young girls raised in the palace run in
dancing.)


A SERVING GIRL OF THE FAIRY
:
CANTATAILLE
Love animates these abodes.
Already the sound of our bag pipes
Feel the pleasures with which your heart rejoices!
This charming God, is going to spread through the air
An agreeable and sweet languor.
The breath of Zephyrs embellish each flower.
The warbling of nightingales is more tender.
All express your happiness.


(They dance.)


A SERVING GIRL OF THE FAIRY
:
ARIETE
Young beauties, all rush to please you.
But beware the ravages of time.
Wit, heart, the charm of talents
Suspend it's fickle course
And alone can prolong your beautiful years.





++++++++++++++++++++++++





VAUDEVILLE


I


When beauty alone seduces
One loves for a day, then one languishes
.
Love steals off, one is detested
But when heart gives way to talent
To character, to feelings
Time alone flees, and love remains.


II


Against his revolted parents
Damon, by an idol enchanted,
Is going to utter a funereal yes
.
But the charms that seduced him
Soon withered, Love flees
And unluckily, the woman remains.


III


“At Court I have good friends
I am sure of Lord Damis"
Said a modest financier
Damis exhausted his credit
The was eclipsed, the friend fled
And unluckily the debt remains
.


IV


They believe in triumphing over a lover
They resist him, they defend themselves
But it's vain that they struggle
Love smiles at these battles
The moment comes, reason flees
And the obstinate gallant remains
.


V


When the theatre gets drowsy
The play falls, the author flees
The envious laugh, and the actor fumes
But when the public applauds
The author shows himself, the actor laughs
The envious flee, the play remains
.


(Counter-Dance.)



CURTAIN