Act 2
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Enter ADRIANA and LUCIANA
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ADRIANA and LUCIANA enter.
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ADRIANA Neither my husband nor the slave returned
That in such haste I sent to seek his master?
Sure, Luciana, it is two o'clock.
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ADRIANA Neither my husband nor the slave has returned, even though I sent the slave off running. Surely, Luciana, it’s already two o'clock.
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LUCIANA Perhaps some merchant hath invited him,
5And from the mart he’s somewhere gone to dinner.
Good sister, let us dine and never fret.
A man is master of his liberty;
Time is their master, and when they see time
They’ll go or come. If so, be patient, sister.
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LUCIANA Maybe some merchant at the marketplace invited him home for lunch. Sister, let’s eat and stop worrying. A man is master of his own freedom: time is his only master, and when the right moment comes along, he’ll come or go as he pleases. If this is so, be patient, sister.
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ADRIANA
10Why should their liberty than ours be more?
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ADRIANA Why should men be more free than women?
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LUCIANA Because their business still lies out o' door.
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LUCIANA Because their business lies outside the home.
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ADRIANA Look when I serve him so, he takes it ill.
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ADRIANA Listen, when I behave this way toward him, he hates it.
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LUCIANA O, know he is the bridle of your will.
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LUCIANA Oh, you should know that he’s the
bridlebridle = muzzlelike device used to restrain a horse bridle to your will. |
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ADRIANA There’s none but asses will be bridled so.
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ADRIANA Only a mule would agree to that.
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LUCIANA
15Why, headstrong liberty is lashed with woe.
There’s nothing situate under heaven’s eye
But hath his bound, in earth, in sea, in sky.
The beasts, the fishes, and the wingèd fowls
Are their males' subjects and at their controls.
20Man, more divine, the masters of all these,
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LUCIANA Why, too much freedom leads to woe. There’s nothing under heaven that doesn’t have its limits. The beasts on the earth, the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky are all subject to the males of their species and under their control. Men, who are nearest to God, are the masters of all these creatures. And men—the lords of the wide
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