ve to him
And reduce me to the state that he was in.
Dorine. Poor man!
Madame Pernelle. Son, I don't believe he'd allow
Himself to take part in actions so foul.
Orgon. How's that?
Madame Pernelle. People always resent holy men.
Orgon. Mother, what were you trying to say just then?
Madame Pernelle. That in your home one sees the strangest things;
Among them is the hate that envy brings.
Orgon. How is it hate when I've told you the truth?
Madame Pernelle. I warned you often when you were a youth:
In this world virtue is oppressed forever;
The envious may die, but envy never.
Orgon. But what does this have to do with today?
Madame Pernelle. People are telling you lies and hearsay.
Orgon. I've already said that I myself saw it.
Madame Pernelle. The malice of gossips is infinite.
Orgon. You'll make me damn myself, Mother. I tell you
I saw with my eyes just what he would do.
Madame Pernelle. Some tongues always have some poison to spit,
And nothing on earth is safe against it.
Orgon. I do not know what these words of yours mean.
I've seen it, I say, seen, with these eyes seen--
Do you know the word, seen? Must I shout it
In your ears a hundred times and still you doubt it?
Madame Pernelle. Dear Lord! Appearances may be deceiving:
You shouldn't judge based on what you're perceiving.
Orgon. I'll go mad!
Madame Pernelle. People are prone to suspicion;
Misjudgment is part of the human condition.
Orgon. So I must interpret charitably
His desire to cuckold me?
Madame Pernelle. Don't you see
That to accuse a man you need just cause,
And until you're quite sure, you ought to pause.
Orgon. To be more certain, what would you advise?
Should I have waited until before my eyes
He had . . . You'll make me say something quite lewd.
Madame Pernelle. I'm sure that a holy zeal has imbued
His soul, and I can't begin to believe
That he would be willing to cheat or deceive.
Orgon. Leave me . . . I'm now so angry that if you
Were not my mother, I'm not sure what I'd do.
Dorine [to Orgon]. This is fair payment, sir, for what we received.
You wouldn't believe us; now you're not believed.
Cleante. We are wasting time on foolish pleasures
That would be better spent in active measures.
We should not ignore this