Racine: Phaedra

276
MOLIERE
I will tell you frankly that wherever you go, people laugh
at this morbid temper of yours; that so much anger
against the customs of the times makes you ridiculous
in the eyes of a great many,
Alceste. So much the better, I say, so much the better; it
is all I ask for, it is a very good sign in my favor, and I
rejoice at it. Men are all alike, so odious to me, that I
should be very sorry for their good opinion.
Philinte. You are greatly incensed against human nature!
Alceste. Yes, I have conceived for it an intense hatred.
Philinte. Will all poor mortals, without exception, be in-
cluded in this great hatred? There are surely some in
our days . . .
Alceste. No, there are no exceptions, and I hate all men
alike. Some, because they are wicked and mischievous;
others, because they are lenient towards the wicked, and
do not bear to them that deep contempt which vice ought
to inspire in honest hearts. You can see to what an un-
just excess this toleration is carried in the case with that
downright villain, against whom I have a lawsuit. Everybody
can see through the mask of the treacherous rascal
he is known everywhere for what he is ; and his soft
looks and honeyed words only deceive those to whom he
is a stranger. Everyone knows that this abject scoundrel,
who deserves to be exposed, has pushed his way in the
world through mean and dirty jobs; and that the lofty
position to which these have brought him, makes merit
repine and virtue blush. Whatever shameful epithets you
may apply to him, there is no one to take up the defence
of his wretched honor; call him infamous cheat, and
cursed villain : everyone agrees to it, and nobody contra-
dicts you ; yet his face is everywhere welcome ; he is
received and entertained everywhere; people smile upon
him ; he worms himself into every society ; and if by
canvassing there is any preferment to be competed for,
you will see him carry it off over the heads of the most
honest. 'Sdeath ! this tampering with vice kills me, and
I am seized at times with a terrible longing to fly away
into some desert, far from the approach of men.
Philinte. Alas ! let us trouble ourselves less about the man-