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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.]

DOORKEEPER:

[going after him] Wait! You must pay your fifteen sols!

TROOPER:

I get in free!

DOORKEEPER:

How so?

TROOPER:

I'm a soldier in the King's Cavalry!

DOORKEEPER:

[to SECOND TROOPER who also enters] And you?

SECOND TROOPER:

I get in free as well. I'm a musketeer!

FIRST TROOPER:

[to the second] The play doesn't begin until two. Let's have a bout with the foils to pass the time.

[They begin fencing.]

A LACKEY:

[entering] Psst—Flanquin!

SECOND LACKEY:

Is that you, Champagne?

FIRST LACKEY:

[taking cards and some dice out of his jacket pocket] Look what I've brought. Let's play!

SECOND LACKEY:

Good idea, my rogue friend!

[They both sit down on the floor.]

FIRST LACKEY:

[taking a candle-end from his pocket and lighting it] I've stolen for us a little light from my master.

A GUARDSMAN:

[to a SHOP-GIRL who comes toward him] How nice of you to come before the lights are lit!

[He grabs her at the waist.]

ONE OF THE FENCERS:

[receiving a thrust] A hit!

ONE OF THE CARD-PLAYERS:

A club!

GUARDSMAN:

[following the girl] A kiss!

SHOP-GIRL:

[trying to free herself from his grasp] Stop! They'll see us!

GUARDSMAN:

[drawing her to a dark corner] Now they can't!

A MAN:

[sitting on the floor with some others who are all eating food] By coming early, one can eat in comfort.

A BURGHER:

[leading his SON] Let's sit here, my son.

A CARD-PLAYER:

Triple ace!

A MAN:

[taking a bottle out from his jacket and seating himself on the floor] A drunkard should drink his Burgundy…[he drinks] in the Hotel Burgundy!

BURGHER:

[to his SON] My God! One would think we've stumbled into some place of ill-repute! What with drunkards! [He points with his cane to the drunk.] Brawlers! [One of the FENCERS jostles him.] And gamblers! [He stumbles into the midst of the CARD-PLAYERS.]

GUARDSMAN:

[behind the BURGHER, still teasing the SHOP-GIRL] Come on, just one kiss!

BURGHER:

[hurriedly pulling HIS SON away] Good heavens! And to think that Rotrou was played here!

HIS SON:

Yes, and Corneille too!

A TROOP OF PAGES:

[entering hand-in-hand, dancing and singing] Tra-la-lala-la-la-la-la-la…

DOORKEEPER:

[sternly, to the PAGES] You pages better behave yourselves. No pranks tonight!

FIRST PAGE:

[with an air of wounded dignity] Oh, sir! How can you even suspect that we would do such things? [quickly, to the SECOND PAGE, the moment the DOORKEEPER'S back is turned] Did you bring the string?

SECOND PAGE:

Oh, yes—and a fish-hook with it!

FIRST PAGE:

Great! We'll fish for wigs from up in the gallery!

A PICKPOCKET:

[gathering about him some evil-looking youths] Listen here, you young thieves. I'm about to give you your first lesson in stealing.

SECOND PAGE:

[calling up to other PAGES in the top galleries] Have you all brought your peashooters?

• soldiers on horseback; cavalrymen
• middle-class citizens (bourgeois); merchants
• low-level servants
• messenger servants
• noblemen who rank one below the ranking of a duke
• coins used in France during the Middle Ages; twenty sols equaled one Tournoise pound—the basic form of currency during that period.
• Any soldier, musketeer, or royal official was allowed free admission into the theater. Actors were opposed to this practice because their pay was based on ticket sales. The playwright Molière eventually succeeded in getting Louis XIV to put an end to the practice.
• fencing swords
• a variety of wine grown in the Burgundy region of France
• Jean de Rotrou (1609 – 1650) was a French playwright who worked under the patronage of Cardinal Richelieu during the time in which the play is set.
• Pierre Corneille (1606 – 1684), a French playwright considered to have mastered the art of classical tragedy. He is best known for his tragedy “Le Cid” (1637).

1. Notes
2. Reading Pointers for Sharper Insights
3. Dedication
4. Dramatis Personae
5. Act I
   1. A Performance at the Hotel de Bourgogne
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
6. Act II
   1. The Poet's Eating-House
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
   9. Scene VIII
   10. Scene IX
   11. Scene X
   12. Scene XI
7. Act III
   1. Roxane's Kiss
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
   9. Scene VIII
   10. Scene IX
   11. Scene X
   12. Scene XI
   13. Scene XII
8. Act IV
   1. The Cadets of Gascony
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
   8. Scene VII
   9. Scene VIII
   10. Scene IX
   11. Scene X
9. Act V
   1. Cyrano's Gazette
   2. Scene I
   3. Scene II
   4. Scene III
   5. Scene IV
   6. Scene V
   7. Scene VI
10. Copyright