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Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman

M >> Moliere (Poquelin) >> The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5


Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP.




THE SHOPKEEPER TURNED GENTLEMAN. (LE BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME.)


BY

MOLIERE,

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROSE.

_WITH SHORT INTRODUCTIONS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES_.

BY

CHARLES HERON WALL.



'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme' was acted before the King for the first
time at Chambord, on October 14, 1670, and on November 28 at the
Palais Royal. After the second representation, Louis XIV. said to
Moliere, "You have never written anything which amused me more, and
your play is excellent." But it obtained a still greater success in
Paris, where the _bourgeois_ willingly and good-humouredly
laughed at what they deemed their neighbours' weaknesses. The three
first acts are the best; Louis XIV. hurried Moliere so with the last
that they degenerated into burlesque.

Moliere acted the part of the Bourgeois.



PERSONS REPRESENTED.


MR. JOURDAIN.

CLEONTE, _in love with_ LUCILE.

DORANTE, _a count, in love with_ DORIMENE.

COVIELLE, _servant to_ CLEONTE.

A MUSIC MASTER, ETC.

A DANCING MASTER, ETC.

A FENCING MASTER.

A PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY.

A MASTER TAILOR.

ASSISTANT TAILORS.

TWO LACKEYS.

MRS. JOURDAIN.

LUCILE, _daughter to_ MR. JOURDAIN.

DORIMENE, _a marchioness_.

NICOLE, _maid-servant to_ MR. JOURDAIN.


_The scene is in_ PARIS, _in_ MR. JOURDAIN'S _house_.



THE SHOPKEEPER TURNED GENTLEMAN.

ACT I.


_The overture is played by a great many instruments; and in the
middle of the stage the PUPIL of the MUSIC MASTER is seated at a table
composing a serenade which MR. JOURDAIN has asked for_.



SCENE I.--MUSIC MASTER, DANCING MASTER, THREE SINGERS, TWO VIOLIN
PLAYERS, FOUR DANCERS.

MUS. MAS. (_to the_ MUSICIANS). Come into this room, and rest
till he comes.

DAN. MAS. (_to the_ DANCERS). Come also, on this side.

MUS. MAS. (_to his_ PUPIL). Have you finished?

PUP. Yes.

MUS. MAS. Let me see. Very good.

DAN. MAS. Is it anything new?

MUS. MAS. Yes; it is an air for a serenade that I made him compose
while we are waiting for our gentleman to wake up.

DAN. MAS. Will you allow me to see what it is?

MUS. MAS. You shall hear it, as well as the dialogue, when he comes;
he won't be long.

DAN. MAS. We both have plenty to do now; have we not?

MUS. MAS. Indeed we have. We have found the very man we both wanted.
He brings us in a comfortable little income, with his notions of
gentility and gallantry which he has taken into his head; and it would
be well for your dancing and my music if everybody were like him.

DAN. MAS. No; not altogether. I wish, for his sake, that he would
appreciate better than he does the things we give him.

MUS. MAS. He certainly understands them but little; but he pays well,
and that is nowadays what our arts require above all things.

DAN. MAS. I must confess, for my part, that I rather hunger after
glory. Applause finds a very ready answer in my heart, and I think it
mortifying enough that in the fine arts we should have to exhibit
ourselves before fools, and submit our compositions to the vulgar
taste of an ass. No! say what you will, there is a real pleasure in
working for people who are able to appreciate the refinements of an
art; who know how to yield a kind recognition to the beauties of a
work, and who, by felicitous approbations, reward you for your labour.
Yes! the most charming recompense one can receive for the things which
one does is to see them understood, and to have them received with the
applause that honours. Nothing, in my opinion, can repay us better
than this for all our fatigues; and the praises of the enlightened are
a true delight to me.

MUS. MAS. I grant it; and I relish them as much as you do. There is
certainly nothing more refreshing than the applause you speak of;
still we cannot live on this flattering acknowledgment of our talent.
Undiluted praise does not give competence to a man; we must have
something more solid to fall back upon, and the best praise is the
praise of the pocket. Our man, it is true, is a man of very limited
capacity, who speaks at random upon all things, and only gives
applause in the wrong place; but his money makes up for the errors of
his judgment. He keeps his discernment in his purse, and his praises
are golden. This ignorant, commonplace citizen is, as you see, better
to us than that clever nobleman who introduced us here.

DAN. MAS. There is some truth in what you say; still I think that you
set a little too much value on money, and that it is in itself
something so base that he who respects himself should never make a
display of his love for it.

MUS. MAS. Yet you receive readily enough the money our man gives you.

DAN. MAS. Certainly; but my whole happiness does not depend upon it;
and I can still wish that with all his wealth he had good taste.

MUS. MAS. I wish it as much as you do; and we are both working as hard
as we can towards that end. But at the same time he gives us the
opportunity of making ourselves known. He shall pay for others, and
others shall praise for him.

DAN. MAS. Here he comes.



SCENE II.--MR. JOURDAIN (_in a dressing-gown and night-cap_), THE
MUSIC MASTER, THE DANCING MASTER, THE PUPIL OF THE MUSIC MASTER, A
LADY SINGER, TWO MEN SINGERS, DANCERS, TWO SERVANTS.

MR. JOUR. Well, gentlemen! and what have you got there? Are you ready
to show me your little drollery?

DAN. MAS. How? What little drollery?

MR. JOUR. Why, the ... what do you call it? Your prologue or dialogue
of songs and dancing.

DAN. MAS. Ah, ah!

MUS. MAS. You see we are quite ready.

MR. JOUR. I have kept you waiting a little, but it is because I am to
be dressed to-day like a man of rank, and my tailor sent me a pair of
silk stockings which I thought I should never be able to get on.

MUS. MAS. We are here only to await your leisure.

MR. JOUR. I hope you will both stop till they have brought me my
clothes, so that you may see me.

DAN. MAS. As you please.

MR. JOUR. You will see me equipped fashionably from head to foot.

MUS. MAS. We have no doubt of it.

MR. JOUR. I have had this dressing gown made for me.

DAN. MAS. It is very handsome,

MR. JOUR. My tailor told me that people of quality are dressed like
this in the morning.

MUS. MAS. It becomes you wonderfully well.

MR. JOUR. Hullo! fellows! hullo! I say; my two lackeys, here!

1ST LACK. Do you want anything, Sir?

MR. JOUR. No; it was only to see if you heard me readily. (_To
the_ TWO MASTERS) What do you think of my liveries?

DAN. MAS. They are magnificent.

MR. JOUR. (_opening his gown, and showing his tight breeches of
scarlet velvet, and a green velvet morning jacket which he is
wearing_). This is a kind of deshabille to go about early in the
morning.

MUS. MAS. It is charming.

MR. JOUR. I say! lackey!

1ST LACK. Sir.

MR. JOUR. The other.

2ND LACK. Sir.

MR. JOUR. (_taking off his dressing-gown_). Hold my dressing-gown.
(_To the_ TWO MASTERS) Do you think I look well so?

DAN. MAS. Perfectly well; nothing could be better.

MR. JOUR. Now let us see a little of this affair of yours.

MUS. MAS. I should like, first of all, for you to hear an air which he
(_pointing to his_ PUPIL) has just composed for the serenade you
asked of me. He is one of my pupils, who has an admirable talent for
this kind of thing.

MR. JOUR. Yes; but you should not have had it done by a pupil; you
were not too good for the business yourself.

MUS. MAS. You must not be deceived, Sir, by the name of pupil. These
kind of pupils know sometimes as much as the greatest masters; and the
air is as beautiful as possible. Only just listen to it.

MR. JOUR. (_to his_ SERVANTS). Hand me my dressing-gown, so that
may hear better.... Stay, I believe that I shall be better without....
No, give it me back again; that will be best.

THE PUPIL
All night and day I languish on;
the sick man none can save
Since those bright eyes have laid him low,
to your stern laws a slave;
If thus to those you love
a meed of care you bring,
What pain, fair Iris, will you find
your foemen's hearts to wring?

MR. JOUR. This song seems to me rather dismal; it sends one to sleep;
could you not enliven it a bit here and there?

MUS. MAS. We must, Sir, suit the air to the words.

MR. JOUR. I was taught a very pretty one quite lately; stop a moment ...
ahem ... What is it? How does it begin?

DAN. MAS. Upon my word, Sir, I do not know.

MR. JOUR. There is some lamb in it.

DAN. MAS. Lamb?

MR. JOUR. Yes, ah! I have it. (_He sings._) /

When I had Jenny seen,
I thought her kind as fair,
I thought she'd gentler been
Than lambkin on the green;
But ah! but ah! she's far less mild,
Far sterner, I declare,
Than tigers are in forests wild.

Now, isn't it pretty?

MUS. MAS. The prettiest thing in the world.

DAN. MAS. And you sing it very well.

MR. JOUR. Do I? I have never learnt music.

MUS. MAS. You ought to learn it, Sir, as you do dancing. These are two
arts which are closely bound together.

DAN. MAS. And which open the human mind to the beauty of things.

MR. JOUR. Do people of rank learn music also?

MUS. MAS. Yes, Sir.

MR. JOUR. I will learn it, then; but I hardly know how I shall find
time for it; for, besides the fencing master who teaches me, I have
engaged a professor of philosophy, who is to begin this morning.

MUS. MAS. Philosophy is something, no doubt; but music, Sir, music....

DAN. MAS. Music and dancing, Sir; in music and dancing we have all
that we need.

MUS. MAS. There is nothing so useful in a state as music.

DAN. MAS. There is nothing so necessary to men as dancing.

MUS. MAS. Without music no kingdom can exist.

DAN. MAS. Without dancing a man can do nothing.

MUS. MAS. All the disorders, all the wars that happen in the world,
are caused by nothing but the want of music.

DAN. MAS. All the sorrows and troubles of mankind, all the fatal
misfortunes which fill the pages of history, the blunders of
statesmen, the failures of great captains, all these come from the
want of a knowledge of dancing.

MR. JOUR. How is that?

MUS. MAS. Does not war arise from a want of concord between them?

MR. JOUR. True.

MUS. MAS. And if all men learnt music, would not this be the means of
keeping them in better harmony, and of seeing universal peace reign in
the world?

MR. JOUR. You are quite right.

DAN. MAS. When a man has committed some fault, either in the
management of his family affairs, or in the government of a state, or
in the command of an army, do we not say, "So-and-so has made a false
step in such an affair"?

MR. JOUR. Yes, we do say so.

DAN. MAS. And from whence can proceed the false step if it is not from
ignorance of the art of dancing?

MR. JOUR. This is true, and you are both right.

DAN. MAS. This will give you an idea of the excellence and importance
of dancing and music.

MR. JOUR. I understand it now.

MUS. MAS. Will you look at our two compositions?

MR. JOUR. Yes.

MUS. MAS. I have already told you that it is a short attempt which I
made some time since to represent the different passions which can be
expressed by music.

MR. JOUR. Very well.

MUS. MAS. (_to the_ SINGERS). Come forward. (_To_ MR.
JOURDAIN) You must fancy that they are dressed like shepherds.

MR. JOUR. Why always shepherds? One sees nothing but that everywhere.

DAN. MAS. When we make people speak to music, we must, for the sake of
probability, adopt the pastoral. Singing has always been affected by
shepherds, and it is not very likely that our princes or citizens
would sing their passions in dialogue.

MR. JOUR. Well! well! Go on.

LADY SINGER.
The realm of passion in a loving heart
Full many a care may vex, full many a smart;
In vain we fondly languish, softly sigh;
We learn too late, whatever friends may cry,
To value liberty before it fly.

1ST MAN SINGER.
Sweeter than liberty are love's bright fires,
Kindling in two fond hearts the same desires;
Happiness could never live by love unfed,
Pleasure itself would die if love were dead.

2ND MAN SINGER.
Love would be sweet if love could constant be,
But ah! sad fate, no faithful loves we see!
The fair are false; no prayers their heart can move,
And who will love when they inconstant prove?

1ST SING. Ah! love, how sweet thou art!

LADY SING. Ah! freedom is happier!

2ND SING. Thou inconstant heart!

1ST SING. To me how dear, how blest!

LADY SING. My soul enraptured see!

2ND SING. I shrink, I turn from thee!

1ST SING. Ah! leave this idle strife, and learn to love.

LADY SING. I will show thee one who'll constant prove.

2ND SING. Alas! where seek her?

LADY SING.
To defend our name,
I offer you my heart, nor heed your blame.

2ND SING. But, Lady, dare I trust that promise blest?

LADY SING. Experience will decide who loves the best.

2ND SING.
Who fails in constancy or depth of love
The gods from him their favour will remove.

ALL THREE.
Such noble feelings should our souls inspire,
And melt our heart beneath love's gentle fire.
For love is sweet when hearts are true and pure,
And love shall last while earth and heaven endure.

MR. JOUR. Is that all?

MUS. MAS. Yes.

MR. JOUR. I think it very well turned out, and there are in it some
pretty enough little sayings.

DAN. MAS. You have here from me an essay of the most beautiful
movements and most graceful attitudes with which a dance can be
varied.

MR. JOUR. Are these shepherds also?

DAN. MAS. They are what you please. (_To the_ DANCERS) Ho! ho!
here!

_Entry of the_ BALLET.

FOUR DANCERS _execute the various movements and steps which the_
DANCING MASTER _orders them_.



ACT II.

SCENE I.--MR. JOURDAIN, DANCING MASTER, MUSIC MASTER.


MR. JOUR. This performance is not bad, and these fellows don't do it
badly.

MUS. MAS. When the dance is accompanied by the music, you will find it
still more effective, and you will see something charming in the
little ballet we have prepared for you.

MR. JOUR. It is for this afternoon, mind; and the person for whom I
have ordered all this is to do me the honour of coming to dine here.

DAN. MAS. Everything is ready.

MUS. MAS. But, Sir, this is not enough; a gentleman magnificent in all
his ideas like you, and who has taste for doing things handsomely,
should have a concert at his house every Wednesday or Thursday.

MR. JOUR. But why should I? Do people of quality have concerts?

MUS. MAS. Yes, Sir.

MR. JOUR. Oh! very well! Then I too must have some. It'll be fine?

MUS. MAS. Very. You must have three voices: a treble, a counter-tenor,
and a bass; which must be accompanied by a bass-viol, a theorbo lute,
and a harpsichord for the thorough-basses, with two violins to play
the harmonics.

MR. JOUR. You must also have a trumpet-marine. [Footnote: An
instrument with one thick string.] The trumpet-marine is an instrument
that I like, and a very harmonious one.

MUS. MAS. Leave all the arrangements to us.

MR. JOUR. Be sure you don't forget to send me, by and by, some singers
to sing at table.

MUS. MAS. You shall have all that is necessary.

MR. JOUR. But, above all, give us a nice ballet.

MUS. MAS. You will be pleased with it, and particularly with certain
minuets which you shall see in it.

MR. JOUR. Ah! minuets are my favourite dance, and you should see me
dance one. Come, my master.

DAN. MAS. A hat, Sir, if you please. (MR. JOURDAIN _takes the hat
from his_ SERVANT, _and puts it on over his night-cap; his master
takes him by both hands, and makes him dance to a minuet air which he
hums._) La, la, la, la, la, la; la, la, la, la, la, la, la; la, la,
la, la, la, la; la, la, la, la, la, la; la, la, la, la, la; in time,
if you please; la, la, la, la, la; the right leg, la, la, la; do not
shake your shoulders so much; la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la;
your two arms are crippled; la, la, la, la, la; hold up your head;
turn out your toes; la, la, la; your body erect.

MR. JOUR. Eh! eh!

MUS. MAS. Wonderfully well done.

MR. JOUR. Now I think of it! Teach me to make a bow to a marchioness.
I shall have need of it presently.

DAN. MAS. A bow to a marchioness?

MR. JOUR. Yes; a marchioness, whose name is Dorimene.

DAN. MAS. Give me your hand.

MR. JOUR. No. You need only do it yourself. I shall be sure to
remember.

DAN. MAS. If you want to salute her with great respect, you must first
of all bow whilst stepping backward, then, advancing towards her, make
three bows, and at the last bow bend down to her very knees.

MR. JOUR. Do it a little for me to see. (_After the_ DANCING
MASTER _has made three bows_) Good.



SCENE II.--MR. JOURDAIN, MUSIC MASTER, DANCING MASTER, A SERVANT.


SER. Sir, your fencing master is here.

MR. JOUR. Make him come in here for my lesson. (_To the_ MUSIC
_and_ DANCING MASTERS) I wish you to see me perform.



SCENE III.--MR. JOURDAIN, FENCING MASTER, MUSIC MASTER, DANCING
MASTER, A SERVANT _holding two foils_.

FEN. MAS. (_taking the two foils from the hands of the_ SERVANT,
_and giving one to_ MR. JOURDAIN). Now, Sir, the salute. The body
upright, resting slightly on the left thigh. The legs not so far
apart; the feet in a line. The wrist in a line with the thigh. The
point of the foil opposite the shoulder. The arm not quite so much
extended. The left hand as high as the eye. The left shoulder more
squared. The head erect; the look firm. Advance; the body steady.
Engage my blade in quart, and retain the engagement. One, two. As you
were. Once more, with the foot firm. One, two; a step to the rear.
When you make an attack, Sir, the sword should move first, and the
body be well held back. One, two. Engage my blade in tierce, and
retain the engagement. Advance; the body steady. Advance; one, two.
Recover. Once more. One, two. A step to the rear. On guard, Sir; on
guard. (_The_ FENCING MASTER _delivers two or three attacks,
calling out_, "On guard!")

MR. JOUR. Ah!

MUS. MAS. You are doing wonders.

FEN. MAS. As I have already told you, the whole art of fencing
consists of one of two things--in giving and not receiving; and as I
showed you the other day by demonstrative reason, it is impossible for
you to receive if you know how to turn aside your adversary's weapon
from the line of your body; and this again depends only on a slight
movement of the wrist to the inside or the out. [Footnote: Kindly
corrected by Mr. Maclaren, The Gymnasium, Oxford.]

MR. JOUR. So that a man, without having any courage, is sure of
killing his man, and of not being killed himself.

FEN. MAS. Exactly. Did you not see plainly the demonstration of it?

MR. JOUR. Yes.

FEN. MAS. And this shows you of what importance we must be in a state;
and how much the science of arms is superior to all the other useless
sciences, such as dancing, music....

DAN. MAS. Gently, Mr. Fencing Master; speak of dancing with respect,
if you please.

MUS. MAS. Pray learn to treat more properly the excellence of music.

FEN. MAS. You certainly are odd sort of people to try and compare your
sciences to mine.

MUS. MAS. Just see the man of importance!

DAN. MAS. A fine animal, to be sure, with his plastron.

FEN. MAS. Take care, my little dancing master, or I shall make you
dance in fine style. And you, my little musician, I'll teach you to
sing out.

DAN. MAS. And you, my beater of iron, I'll teach you your trade.

MR. JOUR. (_to the_ DANCING MASTER). Are you mad to go and
quarrel with a man, who understands tierce and quart, and knows how to
kill another by demonstrative reason?

DAN. MAS. I don't care a straw for his demonstrative reason, and his
tierce and his quart.

MR. JOUR. (_to the_ DANCING MASTER). Gently, I tell you.

FEN. MAS. (_to the_ DANCING MASTER). How! You little impudent
fellow!

MR. JOUR. Ah! my fencing master!

DAN. MAS. (_to the_ FENCING MASTER). How! you great cart-horse!

MR. JOUR. Stop! my dancing master!

FEN. MAS. If I once begin with you....

MR. JOUR. (_to the_ FENCING MASTER). Gently.

DAN. MAR. If I lay my hand upon you....

MR. JOUR. Softly.

FEN. MAS. I will beat you after such a fashion....

MR. JOUR. (_to the_ FENCING MASTER). For goodness sake!

DAN. MAS. I'll thrash you in such a style....

MR. JOUR. (_to the_ DANCING MASTER). I beg of you....

MUS. MAS. Let us teach him a little how to behave himself.

MR. JOUR. (_to the_ MUSIC MASTER). Gracious heavens! Do stop.



SCENE IV.--PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, MR. JOURDAIN, MUSIC MASTER,
DANCING MASTER, FENCING MASTER, A SERVANT.

MR. JOUR. Oh! you are in the very nick of time with your philosophy.
Pray come here and restore peace among these people.

PROF. PHIL. What is going on? What is the matter, gentlemen?

MR. JOUR. They have got themselves into such a rage about the
importance that ought to be attached to their different professions
that they have almost come to blows over it.

PROF. PHIL. For shame, gentlemen; how can you thus forget yourselves?
Have you not read the learned treatise which Seneca composed on anger?
Is there anything more base and more shameful than the passion which
changes a man into a savage beast, and ought not reason to govern all
our actions?

DAN. MAS. How, Sir! He comes and insults us both in our professions;
he despises dancing, which I teach, and music, which is his
occupation.

PROF. PHIL. A wise man is above all the insults that can be offered
him; and the best and noblest answer one can make to all kinds of
provocation is moderation and patience.

FEN. MAS. They have both the impertinence to compare their professions
to mine!

PROF. PHIL. Why should this offend you? It is not for vain glory and
rank that men should strive among themselves. What distinguishes one
man from another is wisdom and virtue.

DAN. MAS. I maintain that dancing is a science which we cannot honour
too much. [Footnote: In fact, dancing was much more honoured in
Moliere's time than it is now.]

MUS. MAS. And I that music is a science which all ages have revered.

FEN. MAS. And I, I maintain against them both that the science of
attack and defence is the best and most necessary of all sciences.

PROF. PHIL. And for what, then, do you count philosophy? I think you
are all three very bold fellows to dare to speak before me with this
arrogance, and impudently to give the name of science to things which
are not even to be honoured with the name of art, but which can only
be classed with the trades of prize-fighter, street-singer, and
mountebank.

FEN. MAS. Get out, you dog of a philosopher.

MUS. MAS. Get along with you, you beggarly pedant.

DAN. MAS. Begone, you empty-headed college scout.

PROF. PHIL. How, scoundrels that you are!

(_The_ PHILOSOPHER _rushes upon them, and they all three
belabour him_.)

MR. JOUR. Mr. Philosopher.

PROF. PHIL. Infamous villains!

MR. JOUR. Mr. Philosopher!

FEN. MAS. Plague take the animal!

MR. JOUR. Gentlemen!

PROF. PHIL. Impudent cads!

MR. JOUR. Mr. Philosopher!

DAN. MAS. Deuce take the saddled ass!

MR. JOUR. Gentlemen!

PROF. PHIL. Scoundrels!

MR. JOUR. Mr. Philosopher!

MUS. MAS. Devil take the insolent fellow!

MR. JOUR. Gentlemen!

PROF. PHIL. Knaves, beggars, wretches, impostors!

MR. JOUR. Mr. Philosopher! Gentlemen! Mr. Philosopher! Gentlemen! Mr.
Philosopher!



SCENE V.--MR. JOURDAIN, A SERVANT.

MR. JOUR. Well! fight as much as you like, I can't help it; but don't
expect me to go and spoil my dressing-gown to separate you. I should
be a fool indeed to thrust myself among them, and receive some blow or
other that might hurt me.



SCENE VI.--PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, MR. JOURDAIN, A SERVANT.

PROF. PHIL. (_setting his collar in order_). Now for our lesson.

MR. JOUR. Ah! Sir, how sorry I am for the blows they have given you.

PROF. PHIL. It is of no consequence. A philosopher knows how to
receive things calmly, and I shall compose against them a satire, in
the style of Juvenal, which will cut them up in proper fashion. Let us
drop this subject. What do you wish to learn?

MR. JOUR. Everything I can, for I have the greatest desire in the
world to be learned; and it vexes me more than I can tell that my
father and mother did not make me learn thoroughly all the sciences
when I was young.

PROF. PHIL. This is a praiseworthy feeling. _Nam sine doctrina vita
est quasi mortis imago_. You understand this, and you have no doubt
a knowledge of Latin?

MR. JOUR. Yes; but act as if I had none. Explain to me the meaning of
it.

PROF. PHIL. The meaning of it is, that, _without science, life is an
image of death_.

MR. JOUR. That Latin is quite right.

PROF. PHIL. Have you any principles, any rudiments of science?

MR. JOUR. Oh yes; I can read and write.

PROF. PHIL. With what would you like to begin? Shall I teach you
logic?

MR. JOUR. And what may this logic be?

PROF. PHIL. It is that which teaches us the three operations of the
mind.

MR. JOUR. What are they, these three operations of the mind?

PROF. PHIL. The first, the second, and the third. The first is to
conceive well by means of universals; the second, to judge well by
means of categories; and the third, to draw a conclusion aright by
means of the figures _Barbara, Celarent, Darii, Ferio, Baralipton_, &c.

MR. JOUR. Pooh! what repulsive words. This logic does not by any means
suit me. Teach me something more enlivening.

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