Mortadello

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.