Lisbed [crying]-But are we not betrothed people? Jeronimus-So you were-but there is something gone wrong now. You must know, my daughter, that when he plighted his troth to you he was a decent fellow and a good Christian; but now I find him an heretic and an atheist, who deserves to become acquainted with a tar barrel rather than to be received in the bosom of a Christian family. Lisbed If that is all, dear father, we will soon get over the difficulty. [Advances toward MONTANUS. Jeronimus- Keep away from him, you forward minx! What is the meaning of all this, Mr. Bailiff? Jesper — Trouble enough, madam; he preaches false doctrines says that the earth is round, and other wicked blasphemies that I am ashamed talking about. Magdelone Jeronimus- Doesn't it seem to you that his honest old parents are to be pitied for having wasted so much money on his schooling? Magdelone-Is that all that is the matter? If he loves our daughter, he won't mind giving up his opinions and saying the earth is flat, for her sake; will you, Rasmus ? Montanus-It is impossible for me to say any such thing as long as I am in possession of my five senses. I can't give the earth any other shape than it really has got. I am ready to please you in every possible way, but I really cannot afford to stultify myself to gratify your whims. If my learned friends should come to know that I had made such a statement, I should be deemed a fool, and despised accordingly. Besides, we men of letters never recant our opinions, but defend what we once have advanced to the last drop of our inkstands. Magdelone Here, my good husband. I don't think this of such importance that we should break off the engagement for the sake of it. Jeronimus But I deem it of such importance that I would sue for a divorce on that ground if they had been actually married. Magdelone-And, faith, I will also have a word to say in this matter if Lisbed is your daughter, she is mine too. Lisbed [weeping and addressing MONTANUS]-Do, darling, say it is flat. Montanus- Upon my honor, my dear girl, it is impossible. Jeronimus- You must know, good wife, that I am master in my own house, and that I am her father. Magdelone And I will have you to know that I am mistress in my own house, and that I am her mother. Jeronimus- I should think that a father is more than a mother. Magdelone Then I think no such thing. That I am her mother is beyond a doubt - but if you are-but I won't say any more. You do vex me! Lisbed- Dearest heart, do say, for my sake, the earth is flat. Montanus- I cannot, sweetheart; nam contra naturam est. Jeronimus Wife! what do you mean! Am I not her father as much as you are her mother? Hear, Lisbed, am I not your father? Lisbed I believe it, as my mother says so; but I am sure she is my mother. Jeronimus-Now what do you think of such talk, Mr. Bailiff? Jesper With submission, Monsieur Jeronimus, I cannot say that Mam'selle is in the wrong, because Jeronimus- I have enough of this. Be assured, my good Rasmus Berg, that you will never marry my daughter before you recall your damnable opinions. Lisbed [weeping] — Oh, darling Rasmus, do, for heaven's sake, say it is flat! Jeronimus-Come away. [Exeunt omnes. Montanus [solus] - Here I have been baited and worried for a whole hour by my silly parents-in-law trying their utmost to move me from my opinion; but the worthy people know not Erasmus Montanus. Not to be an emperor would I take back what I have once said. I love Mademoiselle Lisbed, it is true; but that I for her sake should sacrifice philosophy, and recede from what I have publicly maintained that can never be. I trust, however, that things may yet come right, and I at last shall obtain the hand of my sweetheart without sacrificing my reputation. Present: MONTANUS, the LIEUTENANT. Lieutenant-But I have been told that Monsieur could prove that it is the duty of a son to chastise his parents: that would be no easy matter to demonstrate, I opine. Montanus-If I have propounded such thesis, I am abundantly able to demonstrate the proposition. Lieutenant-I will wager a ducat that Monsieur is not able to do it. Montanus-I accept the wager. Lieutenant · Done let us now hear. Montanus-Those we love the most we chastise the most; we ought to love none more than our parents; hence we ought to chastise them the most. And, by way of Syllogismus, I will further add: what I have received I am bound to repay; and as I, in my boyhood, have received many blows from my parents, it becomes my duty to return them again. Lieutenant-Enough: I have lost; you have fairly won your ducat. Montanus-Surely, lieutenant, I was not in earnest. I will profecto receive no money. Lieutenant-You shall receive it, upon my honor: I swear you shall. Montanus Well, then, I will consent to receive it to save you from perjuring yourself. [Accepts the money.] Lieutenant- I hear you can transform people: permit me to try and turn you into something else. Par exemple: shall I make a soldier out of you? Montanus - Oh, that is easy enough: all we students are, in a manner, spiritual soldiers. Lieutenant-Well, I will convince you that you are a bodily soldier as well. Listen: He who has taken the king's money is a regular enlisted soldier. You have just done that: ergoMontanus- Nego minorem. Lieutenant-Et ego probo minorem of the money you just now received. Montanus-Distinguendum est inter nummos. Lieutenant-There is no distinction whatsoever you are now a soldier. Montanus-Distinguendum est inter simpliciter et relative accipere. Lieutenant-Stuff and nonsense! The contract is concluded, and you have got your money. Montanus-Distinguendum est inter contractum verum et apparentum. Lieutenant- Do you deny that you have received my money? Montanus-Distinguendum est inter rem et modum rei. Lieutenant-Come along, comrade, and I will get you your uniform. Montanus-Pray take your money back. Besides, you have no witness that I have taken it. Enter JESPER and NIELS (a Corporal). Jesper I will swear, for one, that I saw the lieutenant put the money in your hand. Niels- And I also. Montanus-But why did I take the money?-distinguendum est inter — Lieutenant-I will stand no nonsense. Stay here, Niels, and watch him till I get the uniform. [NIELS collars him. Montanus-Murder, murder! Niels-If you don't stop your noise, you dog, I will run my bayonet through ye. Has he not enlisted, Bailiff? Jesper - That he has, sure enough. Lieutenant-Now quick-off with the black coat and on with the red one. Pshaw! you are much better off now than ever you were. Drill him well, Corporal: begin at once. He is a very learned chap, but he is still raw in his manual. [NIELS takes him aside, drills him, and strikes him occasionally with his cane. Present: JERONIMUS, MAGDELONE, LISBED, JEPPE, NILLE, LIEUTENANT, MONTANUS, CORPORAL. Montanus-I do, then, most humbly beg everybody's pardon. I promise to lead a different life, and I repent me of my former follies, which I have been brought to see in their true light no more by my late predicament than by this brave gentleman's sound reason and weighty words, whom I shall always hold - next to my parents-in the highest esteem and reverence. Jeronimus-You retract then, my dear son-in-law, your pestiferous notion about the earth being round: that piece of heresy worries me most of all. Montanus- My dear father-in-law, I don't care to discuss that matter any further: I will only remark that all men of learning hold nowadays that the earth is round. VOL. XVI.-18 Jeronimus The devil! O Mr. Lieutenant, do make him a soldier again, till he confesses that the earth is flat. Montanus Hold, my dear sir. The earth is as flat as a pancake. Will that satisfy you? Jeronimus - Yes, perfectly. Now we are all friends again, and you shall have my daughter. Let us all go in and drink a glass to a general reconciliation. honor of joining us. Lieutenant, do us the PEGGY AND JENNY. (From "The Gentle Shepherd.") BY ALLAN RAMSAY. [ALLAN RAMSAY, the founder of modern Scotch literary poetry, was born 1686, in Lanarkshire, of peasant family but good blood; in 1711, apprenticed like Jasmin to a barber and wig-maker (in Edinburgh), his literary taste and sense of fun soon gained him admission to a convivial and literary club of young gentlemen (1712-1715). In no long time he made a reputation as a poet, set up a book-shop, and for many years had immense influence by editing and publishing collections of old Scotch poetry, as well as writing vernacular poems; the former he published as "Tea-Table Miscellany" and "The Evergreen (1724), the latter were collected in 1721 and 1728, besides his great pastoral "The Gentle Shepherd." This was issued in separate dialogues for some years, connected and published together in 1725. It dominated Scotch poetry till Burns's time, greatly influenced him, and through him reigns still, and deeply affected the character of the Scotch peasantry. His "Fables," original and translated, appeared in 1830. He died in 1758.] The Scene. A FLOWRIE howm between twa verdant braes, |