LOVE IS THE BEST DOCTOR
A monologue from the
play by Molière
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NOTE: This monologue is reprinted
from The Dramatic Works of Molière, Vol. II. Ed.
Charles Heron Wall. London: George Bell & Sons, 1898. |
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FILERIN: Are you not ashamed, gentlemen, to have shown
so little prudence for people of your age, and to have quarrelled
like two young madcaps? Do you not see What harm such disputes
do us in the world, and is it not enough that learned men should
see the want of agreement and difference of opinions which exist
between the authors of our time and our ancient masters, without
our showing by our quarrels the knavery of our art? For my part,
I understand nothing of the mischievous policy of some of our
brethren, and we must acknowledge that all these contentions
have of late done us a great deal of harm, and if we are not
more careful we shall bring about our own ruin. I do not speak
for myself, for, thank Heaven, I have managed my own affairs
pretty well; let the wind blow, let the rain or hail come down,
those who are dead are dead, and I have enough money now to be
independant of the living; but, to say the least, all these disputes
do no good to our calling. Since it is the will of Heaven that
for so many centuries men should have been infatuated with us,
let us not ourselves destroy their illusions with our noisy cabals,
but profit as much as we can by their foolishness. You know that
we are not the only people who try to build on the weaknesses
of mankind. It is the study of half the world, and everyone tries
to take their fellow-men by their weak side, and to extract some
profit from them. Flatterers, for instance, seek to profit by
the love men have of praise, by giving them all the vain incense
they wish for; and it is an art by the help of which, as we can
see every day, large fortunes are made. Alchemists try to profit
by the passion men have for riches, by promising mountains of
gold to those who listen to them. Fortune-tellers, with deceitful
predictions, profit by the vanity and ambition of credulous minds.
But the greatest weakness men are subject to, is the love they
have for life; and we profit by it. With our pompous jargon we
know how to take advantage of the veneration for our trade the
fear of death impresses on them. Let us keep ourselves, then,
in the place of respect which their weakness has given us, and
let us agree before our patients so as to ascribe to ourselves
whatever happy termination their illnesses may have had, and
throw upon Nature all the blunders of our science. Let us not
foolishly destroy their fortunate fondness for an error which
provides bread for so many people, and which, with the money
of those we kill, allows us to raise noble heritages for ourselves.
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MONOLOGUES BY MOLIÈRE |
