CHARACTERS
| Messenger and Narrator | Tenor |
| Slowpoke | Bass |
| Betty, daughter to Slowpoke | Soprano |
Tenor (Recitative): Be silent, do not talk, but notice what will happen! Here comes old Slowpoke with his daughter Betty. He's grumbling like a common bear—just listen to what he says.
(Enter Slowpoke muttering): What vexatious things one's children are! A hundred thousand naughty ways! What I tell my daughter Betty might as well be told to the moon! (Enter Betty.)
Slowpoke (Recitative): You naughty child, you mischievous girl, oh when can I have my way—give up your coffee!
Betty: Dear father, do not be so strict! If I can't have my little demi-tasse of coffee three times a day, I'm just like a dried up piece of roast goat!
Betty (Aria): Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I must have my coffee, and if any one wishes to please me, let him present me with—coffee!
Slowpoke (Recitative): If you won't give up coffee, young lady, I won't let you go to any wedding feasts—I won't even let you go walking!
Betty: O yes! Do let me have my coffee!
Slowpoke: What a little monkey you are, anyway! I will not let you have any whale-bone skirts of the present fashionable size!