(_Exit_).
SCENE VIII.--METAPHRASTUS, _alone_.
Hence comes very properly that saying of a philosopher, "Speak, that I
may know thee." Therefore, if the liberty of speaking is taken from me,
I, for my part, would as soon be divested of my humanity, and exchange
my being for that of a brute. I shall have a headache for a week. Oh!
how I detest these eternal talkers! But if learned men are not listened
to, if their mouths are for ever to be stopped, then the order of events
must be changed; the hens in a little time will devour the fox; young
children teach old men; little lambs take a delight in pursuing the
wolf; fools make laws; women go to battle; judges be tried by criminals;
and masters whipped by pupils; a sick man prescribe for a healthy one; a
timorous hare...
SCENE IX.--ALBERT, METAPHRASTUS.
(_Albert rings a bell in the ears of Metaphrastus, and drives him
off_).
MET. Mercy on me! Help! help!
* * * * *
ACT III.
SCENE I.--MASCARILLE, _alone_.
Heaven sometimes favours a bold design; we must get out of a bad
business as well as we can. As for me, after having imprudently talked
too much, the quickest remedy I could employ was to go on in the same
way, and immediately to tell to our old master the whole intrigue.
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