Read Online Three Major Plays by Lope de Vega, Gwynne Edwards - Free Book Online

where I chose to live. Summon
Your men. No one shall remain behind.
    MASTER . You shall see me ride out, my lance
At the ready.
125

    They exit * and PASCUALA and LAURENCIA enter .
    LAURENCIA . Let's hope he never comes back!
    PASCUALA . Well, I'm damned!
I thought you'd be broken-hearted at
The news.
    LAURENCIA . Heaven forbid! I'd rather not
See him again in Fuente Ovejuna!

PASCUALA . Believe me, LAURENCIA , I've seen others
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As fierce as you, some fiercer still,
And underneath a heart as soft
As butter.
    LAURENCIA . Have you seen an oak
As dry and hard as myself?
    PASCUALA . Oh, get
Away with you! No one should say
135
'I'll never drink that water!'
    LAURENCIA . Well I
Shan't, though others may say differently.
What good would it do me to fall
For Fernando? Do you think he'd marry me?
    PASCUALA . No.

LAURENCIA . Then I'll have nothing to do
140

    -7-

With him. How many girls in our village
Have put their trust in the COMMANDER ,
And seen their reputation shot
To pieces?
    PASCUALA . I'll be amazed if you
Escape his clutches.

LAURENCIA . You shouldn't believe
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Everything you see. He's chased me for
A month, PASCUALA , and still got nowhere.
    FLORES , his pimp, and that scoundrel, Ortuño,
They showed me a bodice, a necklace, and
A bonnet, and said so many things
150
About their master, Fernando,
They frightened me really, but they won't
Persuade me.
    PASCUALA . So where did this take place?
    LAURENCIA . There by the stream.* Six days ago.

PASCUALA . Well, I fancy they'll change your mind,
155

    LAURENCIA.
    LAURENCIA . What, me?
    PASCUALA . I don't mean the priest,
Now do I?
    LAURENCIA . I'm a young bird, true, but far
Too tough for his holiness. Believe me,
    PASCUALA , for breakfast I'd much
Rather have a nice slice of bacon,
160
With a piece of bread from a loaf
I've baked myself, and pinch a glass
Of wine from my mother's jar. At noon
I'd rather see beef and cabbage
Dancing to a merry, bubbling tune,*
165
And when I'm tired from travelling,
A slice of bacon wedded to
An aubergine. Then later on,
While supper's cooking, a bunch of grapes
    -8-

(God protect the vines from hailstones!),
170
And, when it's ready, a tasty fry
Of chopped-up meat with oil and peppers.
And so at last happily to bed,
To say my prayers, including 'lead
Me not into temptation!' I much
175
Prefer all this to the tricks and lies
Of rogues with all their talk and promises
Of love. Their only aim's to leave
Us in the lurch. They take us to bed
For their pleasure; when morning comes,
180
It's 'Goodbye, treasure!'
    PASQUALA . Quite right, LAURENCIA.
When they stop loving, men are more
Ungrateful than the sparrows. In winter,
When the fields are frozen, they come down
From the rooftops -- 'chirp, chirp' -- and eat
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The crumbs from your kitchen table.
But once the cold of winter's passed,
And they see the fields grow green at last,
It's not 'chirp, chirp' any longer; more
'Twerp, twerp',* from the safety of the rooftops,
190
All the farmer's kindness quite forgotten.
Such are men! Whenever they need us, we
Are their lives, their entire being;
Because of us their life has meaning.
But once their fire starts to cool,
195
They act just like those sparrows.* Never again
Will you hear 'sweetheart'! Suddenly,
You become just a tart!
    LAURENCIA . Never trust
A man!
    PASCUALA . Oh, I agree, LAURENCIA!
    Enter MENGO, BARRILDO, and FRONDOSO.

FRONDOSO . Your argument's ridiculous,
200

BARRILDO.
    -9-

BARRILDO . At least there's someone here
Who'll settle it.
    MENGO . Before you ask,
Let's come to an agreement. If they
Decide I'm right you both pay up
The prize for winning.

BARRILDO . Fair enough.
205

But if you lose, you'll give us something.
    MENGO . You can have this fiddle.* It's worth
A granary, and to me much more
Than that.
    BARRILDO . Agreed then.
    FRONDOSO . Let's do it!
God be with you, lovely ladies!
210

    LAURENCIA . Since when, Frondoso, do you call us ladies?
    FRONDOSO . We are followers of fashion.
Nowadays your schoolboy's called a