NOTE: _233 race transcr.; men 1824. Colalti]Colatti 1824.
LELIO:
Cyprian!
Although my high respect towards your person
Holds now my sword suspended, thou canst not
Restore it to the slumber of the scabbard:
Thou knowest more of science than the duel; _240
For when two men of honour take the field,
No counsel nor respect can make them friends
But one must die in the dispute.
NOTE: _239 of the transcr.; of its 1824. _242 No counsel nor 1839, 1st edition; No […] or 1824; No reasoning or transcr. _243 dispute transcr. pursuit 1824.
FLORO:
I pray
That you depart hence with your people, and
Leave us to finish what we have begun _245
Without advantage.—
CYPRIAN:
Though you may imagine
That I know little of the laws of duel,
Which vanity and valour instituted,
You are in error. By my birth I am
Held no less than yourselves to know the limits _250
Of honour and of infamy, nor has study
Quenched the free spirit which first ordered them;
And thus to me, as one well experienced
In the false quicksands of the sea of honour,
You may refer the merits of the case; _255
And if I should perceive in your relation
That either has the right to satisfaction
From the other, I give you my word of honour
To leave you.
NOTE: _253 well omit, cj. Forman.
LELIO:
Under this condition then
I will relate the cause, and you will cede _260
And must confess the impossibility
Of compromise; for the same lady is
Beloved by Floro and myself.
FLORO:
It seems
Much to me that the light of day should look
Upon that idol of my heart—but he— _265
Leave us to fight, according to thy word.
CYPRIAN:
Permit one question further: is the lady
Impossible to hope or not?
LELIO:
She is
So excellent, that if the light of day
Should excite Floro’s jealousy, it were _270
Without just cause, for even the light of day
Trembles to gaze on her.