ACT THREE
Scene.—The gardens of the castle. Paths meet under a large lime in the centre, where seats are placed. The wall of the garden crosses the rear, and has a postern. It is night of the same day, and behind a convent on a near hill the moon is rising. A nightingale sings.
Enter Giulia, Cecco, and Naldo.
Giulia: That bird! Always so noisy, always vain
Of gushing. Sing, and sing, sing, sing, it must!
As if nobody else would speak or sleep.
Cecco: Let the bird be, my jaunty. 'Tis no lie
The shrew and nightingale were never friends.
Giulia: No more were shrew and serpent.
Cecco: Well what would
You scratch from me?
Giulia: If there is anything
To be got from you, then it must be scratched.
Cecco: Yet shrews do not scratch serpents.
Giulia: If they're caught
Where they can neither coil nor strike?