Richard Wilbur

Mascarille debates whether to abandon his master after repeated failures or to protect his own reputation as the city's most brilliant trickster.

The cunning servant Mascarille attempts to help his master Lélie deceive Trufaldin by posing as an Armenian messenger. The scene becomes a comedic battle of wits as Lélie's incompetence and geographical blunders nearly expose the ruse, forcing Mascarille to invent increasingly absurd explanations to save their plot.

Lélie confesses to his servant Mascarille that he has accidentally ruined their latest scheme by returning a purse of money to its owner. Mascarille, exhausted by his master's constant incompetence, humorously refuses to help any further, even as Lélie melodramatically threatens to take his own life.

Anselme delivers a stern but fatherly warning to Léandre regarding his scandalous infatuation with a gypsy woman and the consequences of his choice.