SCENE V.

DOLIVAL, CANDOR.

Hey! Good day, my dear uncle.

Ah! Dolival, it is you.
I was not expecting you, my friend, I see you
Quite early this year.

I slipped away to make a tour.
Paris must surely get along without me for a while.
But I shall not be here long, I think.

A certain matter... it must be finished...
I always have an unbridled ardor for the hunt.
My uncle, are the young partridges already quite strong?

The plain is not yet cleared,
And I respect its treasures;
No pleasure can compensate for their loss.

While traveling by post, observing the countryside,
(That is what I always pay attention to)
I have not discovered a single partridge;
Not a single guard has presented himself to my eyes.

My guards are my inhabitants.

Ah! My poor uncle, I bet
That they spend all their time poaching the land.

That may be; but my table is served.