The Barber of Seville Page #4

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Wretched Figaro!

- Good-for-nothing! Curse him!

- There he is, always shouting

He's made a hospital

of the whole family...

...with opium, blood-letting...

...and hellebore!

- Have you seen the barber?

- Why?

- l wish to know

- He upsets you too?

And why not?

l'll tell you. Yes, l've seen him,

talked to him, he pleases me

His joviality appeals to me

Burst with rage,

you hateful old man

Just look at the little charmer!

The more l love her,

the more she despises me

Certainly it is the barber

who has made her malicious

What could he have told her?

Let's find out

Hey, Berta, Ambrogio

What's the use!

They're half-dead. Get out!

May the devil take you!

Barber from hell!

Some day l'll make you pay

Don Basilio,

you've arrived just in time

l wish, by force or by love,

to marry my Rosina by tomorrow

You understand me?

You are right

l have come to warn you, but...

...it's a secret!

Count Almaviva has arrived

- Who? Rosina's unknown lover?

- Precisely

Oh, the devil!

We must remedy this!

Certainly, but discreetly

What do you mean?

We must begin the affair

by inventing some story...

...that will put him

in a bad light publicly...

...that will make him appear

an infamous man...

...a lost soul

l shall serve you

Within four days, believe me,

Basilio gives you his word...

...we shall have driven him

out of town

You believe so?

Certainly! lt is my own system,

and it does not fail

And you'll do it? But...

Slander?

Don't you know

what slander is like?

No, l don't

No? Then be still and listen to me

Slander is a little breeze

lt is a very gentle zephyr

lmperceptibly, subtly,

lightly, sweetly...

...it begins to whisper

Softly, softly, at ground level...

...hissing in an undertone...

...it goes spreading,

it goes buzzing

lt penetrates insidiously

the ears of people

lt bewilders and inflates

the mind and the brain

Emerging from the mouth,

the noise grows in volume

lt gathers force little by little,

flies from place to place

lt seems like the tempest

that in the heart of the forest...

...goes whistling, rumbling,

and freezes you with horror

Finally it breaks loose,

it spreads, it redoubles

lt produces an explosion...

...like the shot of a cannon...

...like an earthquake, a hurricane...

...a universal tumult,

that makes the air resound

And the wretch who's slandered,

trampled on, humiliated...

...under the public scourge

expires, if he's lucky

What do you say to that?

That may be true, but we are

losing time and need is pressing

No, l wish to do it my way

Let's go into my room

l want us now to draw up

the marriage contract

When she is my wife...

...l'll see to it that she's kept safe

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