MALATESTA. [Laughing.] Ha! ha! thou cunning villain! I was caught.
I own it, doctor.
PEPE. [Aside.] This old fool would laugh
To see me break a straw, because the bits
Were of unequal lengths. My character
Carries more dulness, in the guise of wit,
Than would suffice to break an ass's back.
[Distant shouts, music, &c.]
Hark! here comes Jeptha's daughter, jogging on
With timbrels and with dances.
MALATESTA. Jeptha's daughter!
How so?
PEPE. Her father's sacrifice.
MALATESTA. [Laughing.] Ho! ho!
You'll burst my belt! O! you outrageous wretch,
To jest at Scripture!
PEPE. You outlandish heathen,
Tis not in Scripture!
MALATESTA. Is it not?
PEPE. No more
Than you are in heaven. Mere Hebrew history.
She went up to the mountains, to bewail
The too-long keeping of her honesty.
There's woman for you! there's a character!
What man would ever think of such a thing?
Ah! we of Rimini have little cause
For such a sorrow. Would she'd been my wife!
I'll marry any woman in her case.