The essential writings of Machiavelli by Niccolò Machiavelli; Peter Constantine
Tags: General, Political, History & Theory, Political Science, Philosophy, Machiavelli, Political ethics, Early works to 1800, Political Process, Niccolo - Political and social views
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LIGURIO: I’m surprised that having sown your seed in every corner of the earth you would make such a hullabaloo about going to one of the spas just outside town.
NICIA: What a milksop you are! Do you think it’s a trifle to pack up a whole house? But I’m so eager to have children that I’m ready to do anything. Go have a talk with those doctors and see which of the spas that they suggest would be best for me to go to. I’ll be with my wife in the meantime. I will see you later.
LIGURIO: That is a good idea.
SCENE THREE
Ligurio and Callimaco .
LIGURIO [aside]: I cannot believe you’ll find a more foolish man in all the world! And yet how Fortune has favored him: He is rich, and he has a beautiful wife who is wise, has every grace, and is fit to rule a kingdom. People say about marriage, “Like meets like,” but if you ask me, that is rarely the case. You often see a man of substance married to a beast of a woman, or a wise woman on the arm of a fool. But Callimaco has something to hope for from this man’s foolishness. [ Enter Callimaco ] Ah, there he is. Hello, have you been lingering in the shadows?
CALLIMACO: I saw you with Messer Nicia and was waiting for you to get rid of him so you can tell me what you’ve accomplished.
LIGURIO: You know what kind of man he is: of very little wisdom and even less spirit. He resists leaving Florence, but I’ve warmed him up to the idea, and he has finally agreed to everything. I believe he will follow our lead should we decide on that plan. Only I’m not sure we can reach our goal that way.
CALLIMACO: Why not?
LIGURIO: Well, you know all kinds of people go to those spas, and some man might show up who will find Madonna Lucrezia as appealing as you do, a man richer than you and of a more pleasing countenance, so that you run the risk of exerting yourself only for the benefit of others; or else the large number of competitors will make her more reticent, or once you have overcome her reticence, she will favor someone else, not you.
CALLIMACO: I know what you are saying is true. But what can I do? What path can I choose? Where can I turn? I must try something, be it momentous, be it dangerous, harmful, underhanded! It is better to die than to live like this. If I could sleep at night, if I could eat, if I could converse, if I could take pleasure in anything at all, I would be more patient and wait for the right moment. But there is no remedy, and if I cannot be kept in hope by some scheme, I shall die! Hence, if I am bound to die, I don’t see why I should be afraid of anything! I’m even ready to throw myself into a scheme that is wild, cruel, abominable!
LIGURIO: Don’t say such things! Restrain such impulses!
CALLIMACO: You know well enough that it is in order to restrain these impulses that I am entertaining such thoughts. Therefore we must either pursue sending him to a spa, or set out on some other path that will give me hope—some false hope at least—so that I can sustain a thought that will at least help assuage my suffering.
LIGURIO: You’re right, and I’ll be the one to help you.
CALLIMACO: I believe you will, even though I know you make a profession of duping people. Anyway, I don’t believe that I will be one of your dupes, because if you try to hoodwink me I will take revenge, and you will lose the use of my house and any hope of getting all that I have promised you.
LIGURIO: You mustn’t doubt my loyalty: Even if there were not the profit you mentioned, and which I am hoping for, I feel that your temperament mirrors mine, and I am quite as eager for you to fulfill your desire as you are yourself. But let us leave all that aside. Messer Nicia has commissioned me to find a doctor to see which spa would be best for him to go to. What I suggest is this: You will tell him that you have studied medicine, and that you have had ample experience in Paris. It will be easy to convince him, fool that he is, and as you are a man of
LIGURIO: I’m surprised that having sown your seed in every corner of the earth you would make such a hullabaloo about going to one of the spas just outside town.
NICIA: What a milksop you are! Do you think it’s a trifle to pack up a whole house? But I’m so eager to have children that I’m ready to do anything. Go have a talk with those doctors and see which of the spas that they suggest would be best for me to go to. I’ll be with my wife in the meantime. I will see you later.
LIGURIO: That is a good idea.
SCENE THREE
Ligurio and Callimaco .
LIGURIO [aside]: I cannot believe you’ll find a more foolish man in all the world! And yet how Fortune has favored him: He is rich, and he has a beautiful wife who is wise, has every grace, and is fit to rule a kingdom. People say about marriage, “Like meets like,” but if you ask me, that is rarely the case. You often see a man of substance married to a beast of a woman, or a wise woman on the arm of a fool. But Callimaco has something to hope for from this man’s foolishness. [ Enter Callimaco ] Ah, there he is. Hello, have you been lingering in the shadows?
CALLIMACO: I saw you with Messer Nicia and was waiting for you to get rid of him so you can tell me what you’ve accomplished.
LIGURIO: You know what kind of man he is: of very little wisdom and even less spirit. He resists leaving Florence, but I’ve warmed him up to the idea, and he has finally agreed to everything. I believe he will follow our lead should we decide on that plan. Only I’m not sure we can reach our goal that way.
CALLIMACO: Why not?
LIGURIO: Well, you know all kinds of people go to those spas, and some man might show up who will find Madonna Lucrezia as appealing as you do, a man richer than you and of a more pleasing countenance, so that you run the risk of exerting yourself only for the benefit of others; or else the large number of competitors will make her more reticent, or once you have overcome her reticence, she will favor someone else, not you.
CALLIMACO: I know what you are saying is true. But what can I do? What path can I choose? Where can I turn? I must try something, be it momentous, be it dangerous, harmful, underhanded! It is better to die than to live like this. If I could sleep at night, if I could eat, if I could converse, if I could take pleasure in anything at all, I would be more patient and wait for the right moment. But there is no remedy, and if I cannot be kept in hope by some scheme, I shall die! Hence, if I am bound to die, I don’t see why I should be afraid of anything! I’m even ready to throw myself into a scheme that is wild, cruel, abominable!
LIGURIO: Don’t say such things! Restrain such impulses!
CALLIMACO: You know well enough that it is in order to restrain these impulses that I am entertaining such thoughts. Therefore we must either pursue sending him to a spa, or set out on some other path that will give me hope—some false hope at least—so that I can sustain a thought that will at least help assuage my suffering.
LIGURIO: You’re right, and I’ll be the one to help you.
CALLIMACO: I believe you will, even though I know you make a profession of duping people. Anyway, I don’t believe that I will be one of your dupes, because if you try to hoodwink me I will take revenge, and you will lose the use of my house and any hope of getting all that I have promised you.
LIGURIO: You mustn’t doubt my loyalty: Even if there were not the profit you mentioned, and which I am hoping for, I feel that your temperament mirrors mine, and I am quite as eager for you to fulfill your desire as you are yourself. But let us leave all that aside. Messer Nicia has commissioned me to find a doctor to see which spa would be best for him to go to. What I suggest is this: You will tell him that you have studied medicine, and that you have had ample experience in Paris. It will be easy to convince him, fool that he is, and as you are a man of
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