Page:Representative American plays.pdf/233

Ram. Had I been the youngest, I should have been the happier.

Cab. Yea, thou shouldst have been a counter of beads, a beggar of blessings, a winner of the elder brother's portion. Pish! thy brother Francisco is a rogue; he has ousted thee from thine inheritance.

Ram. If any one have done that, thou art the man. I am ruined, Cabarero, and thou art my destroyer.

Cab. <Now, I think thou art repenting of thy sins; but thou goest about it the wrong way.>

Ram. Look, Cabarero, there is my father's roof. There is no swallow twittering under its eaves, that has a merrier heart or a gayer song, than were mine once, when I was a boy under it.

Cab. Ay, faith, and that wast because thou wert a boy, a silly boy. Now wert thou a man, a discreet and reasonable man, thou wouldst be even as merry as before. <Thou dost not think thou wert born to be always in a grin?>

Ram. I was the eye of my mother, the heart of—<my father>; my sister loved me; my brother—<ay, and my brother.>—ay, they all loved me; and there was no one that did not smile on me, from the priest at the confessional to the beggar at the door. By St. James, I had many friends then; and I deserved their favor, for I was of good fame and uncorrupted.

Cab. I see thou art a man whose head is likely to be as empty as his pockets. 'Slife! uncorrupted? <Thy nose uncorrupted!> Bad luck is the lot of the best.

Ram. Antonio, I say, thou hast destroyed me. Until I knew thee, I abhorred shame, and <it is true> my hand was as stainless as an infant's.

Cab. It was thy father's scurvy covetousness that put thee on showing thy spirit.

Ram. Thou didst delude me. By the heaven which has deserted me, I did not think this hand could rob!

Cab. Pho, thou art mad! Remember thou art in the street.

Ram. That is the word, Antonio.—I robbed him—robbed him like a base thief: and then I became the outcast.

Cab. And then thou becam'st a fool! Thou didst but take <what was> a part of thine inheritance.

Ram. <And> yet he forgave me that!

Cab. He did not hang thee, for that would have brought shame on his house. [Forgave thee!] He forced thee to be foolish, and then discarded thee—turned thee off like a sick servant—abandoned thee.

Ram. <I think he should not have done that. Had he forgiven me that!>

Cab. Forgive! Nay, he forgave old Miguel the mule-driver a debt that would have kept thee in bread for a year; and yet it was evident to all that Miguel cheated him. But to forgive his own flesh and blood is another matter.

Ram. He forgave Miguel because he besought his pardon: I have not yet besought him. Dost thou remember the holy history of the prodigal? <Perhaps if I humble myself to him, he will forgive me.>

Cab. If thou art of that mind, thou may'st see, o' the instant, how he will spurn thee. Look, he is here, with thy sister, and—Pho! thou tremblest!—'Tis Mendoza, father of thy fair Juana.

Ram. He has discarded me too, and Juana is given to another. How can I entreat him? See, he will not look upon me!

Leon. Father, will you not speak? It is my brother Ramon.

Feb. The carrion vulture with him.—Get thee in.
I would I had no sons—What! in, I say!

Men. I thank your favor, no.
This thing despatched, I will to other business.
Good evening, señor.

Feb. You will be happy, friend—
Take no wild hothead boy to be your son:
Look to his friends: If Marco have but one
Loves mirth more than integrity, discard him.
These gadflies are our curses—Fare you well.