PÉLLÉAS.
PÉLLÉAS.
Ah! I breathe at last!... I thought, one moment, I was going to be ill
in those enormous crypts; I was on the point of falling.... There is
a damp air there, heavy as a leaden dew, and darkness thick as a
poisoned paste.... And now, all the air of all the sea!... There is a
fresh wind, see; fresh as a leaf that has just opened, over the little
green waves.... Hold! the flowers have just been watered at the foot
of the terrace, and the smell of the verdure and the wet roses comes
up to us.... It must be nearly noon; they are already in the shadow of
the tower.... It is noon; I hear the bells ringing, and the children
are going down to the beach to bathe.... I did not know that we had
stayed so long in the caverns....
GOLAUD.
We went down towards eleven o'clock....
PÉLLÉAS.
Earlier; it must have been earlier; I heard it strike half-past ten.
GOLAUD.
Half-past ten or a quarter to eleven....
PÉLLÉAS.
They have opened all the windows of the castle. It will be unusually
hot this afternoon.... Look, there is mother with Mélisande at a
window of the tower....
GOLAUD.
Yes; they have taken refuge on the shady side.--Speaking of Mélisande,
I heard what passed and what was said last night. I am quite aware all
that is but child's play; but it need not be repeated. Mélisande is
very young and very impressionable; and she must be treated the more
circumspectly that she is perhaps with child at this moment.... She
is very delicate, hardly woman; and the least emotion might bring on
a mishap. It is not the first time I have noticed there might be
something between you.... You are older than she; it will suffice to
have told you.... Avoid her as much as possible; without affectation
moreover; without affectation....--What is it I see yonder on the
highway toward the forest?...
PÉLLÉAS.
Some herds they are leading to the city....
GOLAUD.
They cry like lost children; you would say they smelt the butcher
already.--It will be time for dinner.--What a fine day! What a capital
day for the harvest!...
[_Exeunt._