Act I, Scene i | The public, arriving by degrees. Troopers, burghers, lackeys, pages, a | | pickpocket, the doorkeeper, etc., followed by the marquises. Cuigy, | | Brissaille, the buffet-girl, the violinists, etc. |
| (A confusion of loud voices is heard outside the door. A trooper enters | | hastily.) |
| THE DOORKEEPER (following him): |  Hollo! You there! Your money! |
| THE TROOPER: | | I enter gratis. |
| THE DOORKEEPER: | | Why? |
| THE TROOPER: | | Why? I am of the King's Household Cavalry, 'faith! |
| THE DOORKEEPER (to another trooper who enters): | | And you? |
| SECOND TROOPER: | | I pay nothing. |
| THE DOORKEEPER: | | How so? |
| SECOND TROOPER: | | I am a musketeer. |
| FIRST TROOPER (to the second): | | The play will not begin till two. The pit is empty. Come, a bout with the | | foils to pass the time. |
| (They fence with the foils they have brought.) |
| A LACKEY (entering): | | Pst. . .Flanquin. . .! |
| ANOTHER (already there): | | Champagne?. . . |
| THE FIRST (showing him cards and dice which he takes from his doublet): | | See, here be cards and dice. | | (He seats himself on the floor): | | Let's play. |
| THE SECOND (doing the same): | | Good; I am with you, villain! |
| FIRST LACKEY (taking from his pocket a candle-end, which he lights, and sticks | | on the floor): | | I made free to provide myself with light at my master's expense! |
| A GUARDSMAN (to a shop-girl who advances): | | 'Twas prettily done to come before the lights were lit! |
| (He takes her round the waist.) |
| ONE OF THE FENCERS (receiving a thrust): | | A hit! |
| ONE OF THE CARD-PLAYERS: | | Clubs! |
| THE GUARDSMAN (following the girl): | | A kiss! |
| THE SHOP-GIRL (struggling to free herself): | | They're looking! |
| THE GUARDSMAN (drawing her to a dark corner): | | No fear! No one can see! |
| A MAN (sitting on the ground with others, who have brought their provisions): | | By coming early, one can eat in comfort. |
| A BURGHER (conducting his son): | | Let us sit here, son. |
| A CARD-PLAYER: | | Triple ace! |
| A MAN (taking a bottle from under his cloak, | | and also seating himself on the floor): | | A tippler may well quaff his Burgundy | | (he drinks): | | in the Burgundy Hotel! |
| THE BURGHER (to his son): | | 'Faith! A man might think he had fallen in a bad house here! | | (He points with his cane to the drunkard): | | What with topers! | | (One of the fencers in breaking off, jostles him): | | brawlers! | | (He stumbles into the midst of the card-players): | | gamblers! |
| THE GUARDSMAN (behind him, still teasing the shop-girl): | | Come, one kiss! |
| THE BURGHER (hurriedly pulling his son away): | | By all the holies! And this, my boy, is the theater where they played | | Rotrou erewhile. |
| THE YOUNG MAN: | | Ay, and Corneille! |
| A TROOP OF PAGES (hand-in-hand, enter dancing the farandole, and singing): | | Tra' a la, la, la, la, la, la, la, lere. . . |
| THE DOORKEEPER (sternly, to the pages): | | You pages there, none of your tricks!. . . |
| FIRST PAGE (with an air of wounded dignity): | | Oh, sir!—such a suspicion!. . . | | (Briskly, to the second page, the moment the doorkeeper's back is turned): | | Have you string? |
| THE SECOND: | | Ay, and a fish-hook with it. |
| FIRST PAGE: | | We can angle for wigs, then, up there i' th' gallery. |
| A PICKPOCKET (gathering about him some evil-looking youths): | | Hark ye, young cut-purses, lend an ear, while I give you your first lesson | | in thieving. |
| SECOND PAGE (calling up to others in the top galleries): | | You there! Have you peashooters? |
| THIRD PAGE (from above): | | Ay, have we, and peas withal! |
| (He blows, and peppers them with peas.) |
| THE YOUNG MAN (to his father): | | What piece do they give us? |
| THE BURGHER: | | 'Clorise.' |
| THE YOUNG MAN: | | Who may the author be? |
| THE BURGHER: | | Master Balthazar Baro. It is a play!. . . |
| (He goes arm-in-arm with his son.) |
| THE PICKPOCKET (to his pupils): | | Have a care, above all, of the lace knee-ruffles—cut them off! |
| A SPECTATOR (to another, showing him a corner in the gallery): | | I was up there, the first night of the 'Cid.' |
| THE PICKPOCKET (making with his fingers the gesture of filching): | | Thus for watches— |
| THE BURGHER (coming down again with his son): | | Ah! You shall presently see some renowned actors. . . |
| THE PICKPOCKET (making the gestures of one who pulls something stealthily, | | with little jerks): | | Thus for handkerchiefs— |
| SOME ONE (shouting from the upper gallery): | | Light up, below there! |
| THE BURGHER: | | . . .Bellerose, L'Epy, La Beaupre, Jodelet! |
| A PAGE (in the pit): | | Here comes the buffet-girl! |
| THE BUFFET-GIRL (taking her place behind the buffet): | | Oranges, milk, raspberry-water, cedar bitters! |
| (A hubbub outside the door is heard.) |
| A FALSETTO VOICE: | | Make place, brutes! |
| A LACKEY (astonished): | | The Marquises!—in the pit?. . . |
| ANOTHER LACKEY: | | Oh! only for a minute or two! |
| (Enter a band of young marquises.) |
| A MARQUIS (seeing that the hall is half empty): | | What now! So we make our entrance like a pack of woolen-drapers! | | Peaceably, without disturbing the folk, or treading on their toes!—Oh, fie! | | Fie! | | (Recognizing some other gentlemen who have entered a little before him): | | Cuigy! Brissaille! |
| (Greetings and embraces.) |
| CUIGY: | | True to our word!. . .Troth, we are here before the candles are lit. |
| THE MARQUIS: | | Ay, indeed! Enough! I am of an ill humor. |
| ANOTHER: | | Nay, nay, Marquis! see, for your consolation, they are coming to light up! |
| ALL THE AUDIENCE (welcoming the entrance of the lighter): | | Ah!. . . |
| (They form in groups round the lusters as they are lit. Some people have | | taken their seats in the galleries. Ligniere, a distinguished-looking roue, | | with disordered shirt-front arm-in-arm with christian de Neuvillette. | | Christian, who is dressed elegantly, but rather behind the fashion, seems | | preoccupied, and keeps looking at the boxes.) |
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