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You are here: > Princess Ida >> Act III
Dialogue following No. 22
Enter Chloe and all the ladies.
| Chloe. |
Madam, your father and your brothers claim
An audience! |
| Princess. |
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What do they do here? |
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They come |
| Chloe. |
To fight for you! |
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| Princess. |
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Admit them! |
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| Blanche. |
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Infamous! |
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One's brothers, ma'am, are men! |
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| Princess. |
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So I have heard. |
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But all my women seem to fail me when
I need them most. In this emergency,
Even one's brothers may be turned to use. |
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| Enter Gama, quite pale and unnerved. |
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| Gama. |
My daughter! |
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| Princess. |
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Father! Thou art free! |
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| Gama. |
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Aye, free! |
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Free as a tethered ass! I come to thee
With words from Hildebrand. Those duly given
I must return to blank captivity.
I'm free so far. |
| Princess. |
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Your message. |
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| Gama. |
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Hildebrand |
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Is loth to war with women. Pit my sons,
My three brave sons, against these popinjays,
These tufted jack-a-dandy featherheads,
And on the issue let thy hand depend! |
| Princess. |
Insult on insult's head! Are we a stake
For fighting men? What fiend possesses thee,
That thou has come with offers such as these
From such as he to such an one as I? |
| Gama. |
I am possessed
By the pale devil of a shaking heart!
My stubborn will is bent. I dare not face
That devilish monarch's black malignity!
He tortures me with torments worse than death,
I haven't anything to grumble at!
He finds out what particular meats I love,
And gives me them. The very choicest wines,
The costliest robes – the richest rooms are mine.
He suffers none to thwart my simplest plan,
And gives strict orders none should contradict me!
He's made my life a curse! (weeps) |
| Princess. |
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My tortured father! |
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Page Created
28 February, 2006
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