READ STUDY GUIDE: Act II, scenes i–vi |
|
Act II, Scene ii
| The same. Two children, who have just trotted into the shop. |
| RAGUENEAU: |
 What would you, little ones? |
| FIRST CHILD: |
| Three pies. |
| RAGUENEAU (serving them): |
| See, hot and well browned. |
| SECOND CHILD: |
| If it please you, Sir, will you wrap them up for us? |
| RAGUENEAU (aside, distressed): |
| Alas! one of my bags! |
| (To the children): |
| What? Must I wrap them up? |
| (He takes a bag, and just as he is about to put in the pies, he reads): |
| 'Ulysses thus, on leaving fair Penelope. . .' |
| Not that one! |
| (He puts it aside, and takes another, and as he is about to put in the pies, |
| he reads): |
| 'The gold-locked Phoebus. . .' |
| Nay, nor that one!. . . |
| (Same play.) |
| LISE (impatiently): |
| What are you dallying for? |
| RAGUENEAU: |
| Here! here! here |
| (He chooses a third, resignedly): |
| The sonnet to Phillis!. . .but 'tis hard to part with it! |
| LISE: |
| By good luck he has made up his mind at last! |
| (Shrugging her shoulders): |
| Nicodemus! |
| (She mounts on a chair, and begins to range plates on a dresser.) |
| RAGUENEAU (taking advantage of the moment she turns her back, calls back the |
| children, who are already at the door): |
| Hist! children!. . .render me back the sonnet to Phillis, and you shall have |
| six pies instead of three. |
| (The children give him back the bag, seize the cakes quickly, and go out.) |
| RAGUENEAU (smoothing out the paper, begins to declaim): |
| 'Phillis!. . .' On that sweet name a smear of butter! 'Phillis!. . .' |
| (Cyrano enters hurriedly.) |
|
|
||||
|
