Sos. How absurd you are, Clitidas!
Cli. Not so absurd as you would make out. You are in love; I have a delicate nose, and I smelt it directly.
Sos. What can possibly make you think so?
Cli. What? I daresay you would be very much surprised if I were to tell you besides with whom you are in love.
Sos. I?
Cli. Yes; I wager that I will guess presently whom you love. I have some secrets, as well as our astrologer with whom the Princess Aristione is so infatuated; and if his science makes him read in the stars the fate of men, I have the science of reading in the eyes of people the names of those they love. Hold up your head a little, and open your eyes wide. E, by itself, E; r, i, ri, Eri; p, h, y, phy, Eriphy; l, e, le, Eriphyle. You are in love with the Princess Eriphyle.
Sos. Ah! Clitidas, I cannot conceal my trouble from you, and you crush me with this blow.
Cli. You see how clever I am!
Sos. Alas! if anything has revealed to you the secret of my heart, I beseech you to tell it to no one; and, above all things, to keep it secret from the fair princess whose name you have just mentioned.
Cli. But, to speak seriously, if for awhile I have read in your actions the love you wish to keep secret, do you think that the Princess Eriphyle has been blind enough not to see it? Believe me, ladies are always very quick to discover the love they inspire, and the language of the eyes and of sighs is understood by those to whom it is addressed sooner than by anybody else.