THE SHOPKEEPER TURNED GENTLEMAN
A monologue from the
play by Molière
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NOTE: This monologue is reprinted
from The Dramatic Works of Molière, Vol. III. Ed.
Charles Heron Wall. London: George Bell & Sons, 1891. |
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DORANTE: Mr. Jourdain is right, Madam, in what he says;
and he obliges me by doing so well the honours of his house to
you. I agree with him that the dinner is not worthy of you. As
it was I who ordered it, and as I have not for this kind of thing
the knowledge of some of our friends, you will not find here
a well studied repast, but will meet with many incongruities
of good eating and some barbarisms of good taste. If our good
friend Damis had ordered it, all would be according to rule;
there would be elegance and erudition everywhere; and he would
not fail to exaggerate to you the excellence of every dish, and
to make you acknowledge his high capacity in the science of good
eating. He would speak to you of a loaf with golden sides, crusty
all over, and yielding tenderly under the teeth; of wine full-bodied
and of not too perceptible an acidity; of a saddle of mutton
stewed with parsley; of a loin of Normandy veal, long, white,
tender, and which is, as it were, an almond paste between the
teeth; of partridges wonderful in flavour; and as his masterpiece,
a pearl broth reinforced with a large turkey flanked with young
pigeons, and crowned with white onions blended with endive. For
my part I confess my ignorance; and as Mr. Jourdain has very
well said, I wish the repast were more worthy of your acceptance.
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