Zoraya. She does not hear your voice!—Does she also speak of taking the veil?
Fatoum. Ah, God!—It is her only dream. But she is her father’s only child. He will not consent to it and is obliging her to marry, which makes her disconsolate.
Zoraya. Does she object to the marriage, or to the man who is to be her husband? (Calling) Joana! (Joana moves. Zoraya continues.) Answer!—Do you feel tenderly for him whom you are to marry?
Joana. (Feebly) I do not love him.
Zoraya. Then, it is a feeling of aversion?
Joana. No! (Sadly) I do not want to marry!—I want to be a nun.
Fatoum. Do you hear that!—To me, to her father, to the abbess and to the sisters at Mercy—she has nothing to say but: “I want to be a nun.” Do you think that they have encouraged her with that idea in the convent and pictured marriage as something frightful? She is afraid that she will fall into one of those sleep-walking dreams tonight, which would cause a scandal!
Zoraya. Perhaps marriage would cure this malady.
Fatoum. Oh! I implore you, Zoraya, to heal her yourself, at once——
Zoraya. In a day, it is impossible!—Can you not come later? I shall surely succeed in curing her by frequently placing her in the present state in which she thinks of nothing, feels nothing and moves only at my command.