OR, THE ANGEL OF VENICE 
7 
 
THE GONDOLIER.  Ay !  Ay !  my lord. 
ALESSANDRO. 
 Outrun the dolphin and the deer ! 
Murano ! 
LUCREZIA.  [To ALESSANDRO.]  Take my waist. 
ZELINA.  [To ALESSANDRO.] 
 And mine. 
ALESSANDRO.  
Oh !  not so fervent. 
I’m anxious to be chaste ;  Lorenzo is your servant. 
LORENZO.  I love them ;  they despise so poor a thing as I. 
ALESSANDRO.  I laugh at them ;  they rise to the occasion. 
LORENZO. 
 
Why ? 
ALESSANDRO.  This was the primal curse, the climax of the 
rancorous. 
That girls should be perverse, and cavaliers cantankerous. 
[The gondola moves off L., and is met by another, 
closed. 
LUCREZIA.  ’Tis Mortadello’s crest that glitters on the prow ! 
ALESSANDRO.  Alone—a chance to wrest the wand for Free-
dom now ! 
LUCREZIA.  Oh !  quiet :  nothing is prepared. 
ALESSANDRO. 
 
Premeditation 
Is the sure way to miss one’s one small chance of salvation. 
There was the chance :  I bet you’ll wish you had bid me 
brisk, 
And all of us regret we did not take the risk. 
[Their gondola passes off, as the closed one draws up 
at the steps.  MORTADELLO lands and assists 
MAGDALENA. 
MORTADELLO.  Ho, lackeys, links and torches !  Wake, you 
sleepy knaves ! 
High lady, condescend to take this hand, a slave’s. 
[The palace door opens, and lackeys bring torches.