Rheou. Never. The crowd is not a woman to be won by loud wooing, but one who must be taken by force, whom you must dominate before you can persuade.
Satni. Say no more, Rheou, I refuse.
Rheou. Blind! Fool! Coward!
Mieris enters, led by Yaouma. A moment later some men—Bitiou, Sokiti, Nourm.
Mieris. Rheou!—where are you? where are you? [Yaouma leads her toward him] It is true, this that I hear?—Exile—Misery?
Rheou. It is true.
Mieris. Courage—As for me, a palace or a cottage—I know not the one from the other.
Rheou. [to Satni] Satni, can you still refuse?
Satni. You torture me! No, I will not be credited with power that is not mine; to stir men up against their fellows—I would not kill, I tell you.
Mieris. I understand you, Satni—it is wrong to kill!—But look once more upon me—I am poor now, I am going away, will you not consent to heal me?