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• The Bonds of Interest : ACT ONE, Part One, Scene One , ACT ONE Part One, Scene Four , ACT ONE Part Two, Scene Seven

The Bonds of Interest, translated by Gwynneth Dowling

ACT ONE, Part One, Scene One

Context:

Leandro and Crispin are on the run. They have arrived in an Italian town with not a penny to their names. Crispin, however, has a plan to make money and secure them board and lodging. He will pretend to be the servant of a taciturn and mysterious nobleman – Leandro.

Sample text

LEANDRO:

What are we going to do, Crispin? I can hardly think straight I’m so tired and hungry.

CRISPIN:

There’s nothing else for it. We’ll have to rely on our wits with a little bit of trickery thrown in. Sure, what’s wit without a bit of trickery? Now, what I’ve been thinking is this: you’ll say very little; you’ll appear severe, but fair. You’ll act quite the discerning gentleman. From time to time I’ll let you give me a kick up the arse. When anyone asks you a question, answer them mysteriously. And when you do speak, do it with authority, like you’re pronouncing judgement. You’re young and you scrub up well. Up to now those qualities have been wasted on you. But put yourself in my hands. There’s nothing better than having someone by your side pointing out your strengths. It’s better than both modesty and self-promotion put together. Us two, we’re like market goods. Our worth goes up or down depending on our market appeal. And rest assured that, even if you were glass, if you were on my market stall you’d be sold as a diamond. Now, let’s call at this inn, the first thing we’ve to do is set up camp in full view of this square.

LEANDRO:

An inn? And just how are we going to pay for that?

CRISPIN:

Look, if even that tiny detail worries you, we’ll just find ourselves some poorhouse, or we’ll sit and beg in the street. If we go down the begging route we’ll find some shelter, and if we brave the road again we can jump the first traveller that comes along. But if we’re true to ourselves and trust in our abilities, we’ll be grand.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Bonds of Interest by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT ONE Part One, Scene Four

Context:

The Captain and Harlequin have been refused entry to the inn. The Captain threatens the Innkeeper, attracting the attention of Crispin and Leandro, who are now settled at the inn. Crispin takes the opportunity to deceive the Captain and Harlequin into believing that his ‘master’ Leandro will help them financially. In this way, he gains their loyalty and reinforces Leandro’s reputation as a wealthy nobleman.

Sample text

SERVING BOYS: (Rushing out of the inn.)

They’re killing our master!

INNKEEPER:

Help me!

CAPTAIN:

I’ll leave none of you alive!

INNKEEPER:

Will no one help me!?

LEANDRO: (Coming out of the inn with CRISPIN.)

What on earth is going on?

CRISPIN:

In the very place my Master has chosen to lay his head? Can’t a man get a good night’s sleep? I’ll fetch the authorities, they’ll sort this out.

INNKEEPER:

That’ll ruin me! What with such a grand gentleman under my roof!

HARLEQUIN:

Who is he?

INNKEEPER:

How dare you even ask!

CAPTAIN:

I apologise, Sir, if we’ve disturbed your rest. It’s just that this git of an innkeeper …

INNKEEPER:

It’s not my fault, Sir. It’s these shameless ….

CAPTAIN:

Shameless? I’ll not have you ...

CRISPIN:

Enough, Captain. You have on hand the very man to resolve the dispute – this man here.

INNKEEPER: (gesturing at HARLEQUIN and the CAPTAIN)

These two have been eating at my table for more than a month now and they’ve not paid a penny of their bill. And then when I refuse to serve them they attack me.

HARLEQUIN:

Not me. I’ve been very understanding about the whole thing.

CAPTAIN:

And is it right to refuse a soldier credit?

HARLEQUIN:

And is it right that he doesn’t appreciate my odes to his hare pies and his stuffed partridges? I wrote them on trust alone, since I’ve never even tasted them. I’ve only tried his meat and potatoes.

CRISPIN:

These two good men make valid points. It’s just disgraceful that a poet and a soldier should be treated in this manner.

HARLEQUIN:

My good sir, you really are a kind soul!

CRISPIN:

Not me, sir, but my Master, who stands before you. He’s a great man. And as a great man, he considers no one in higher esteem than poets and soldiers.

LEANDRO:

That’s correct.

CRISPIN:

And you can rest assured that while he stops in this city, you will want for nothing. And anything that takes your fancy here, it’s on him.

LEANDRO:

That’s correct.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Bonds of Interest by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT ONE Part Two, Scene Seven

Context:

Leandro has been introduced to Silvia at Doña Sirena’s party. Crispin is left alone with Punchinello.

Sample text

PUNCHINELLO:

Who are you and how did you come to know me?

CRISPIN:

I was just a lad. You were already grown … have you forgotten those glory days on the high seas? Those victories over the Turks that we’d such a heroic hand in? Both of us chained together, down in the depths of that great galley, partaking in that noblest of pursuits - rowing?

PUNCHINELLO:

You impudent sod. Shut your mouth or I’ll …

CRISPIN:

Or you’ll do me in like your first master, and your first wife in Bologna, and that Jewish trader in Venice …

PUNCHINELLO:

Shut your mouth! Who are you that you know so much and you can talk so much about it?

CRISPIN:

I’m what you once were. I’m someone who’ll one day be what you are now. And I’ll have taken the same route to get there. Not with so much violence, mind. Times are different. Only lovers and madmen kill these days. Or gangs of starved men, setting upon travellers on the lonely highways and byways. They’re to be despised, only fit for the gallows.

PUNCHINELLO:

What do you want from me? Money, is that it? Let’s talk later. This isn’t the place …

CRISPIN:

Oh, don’t you fret about your money. I just want to be your friend, an ally, like old times …

PUNCHINELLO:

What can I do for you?

CRISPIN:

It’s what I can do for you. I want to give you a piece of advice … (He makes PUNCHINELLO look over to his right.) You see your daughter there dancing with that young man? See how she smiles, blushing at his talk? That gentleman is my master.

PUNCHINELLO:

Your master? So he must be a fortune-hunter, a chancer, a bandit like …

CRISPIN:

Like us? Is that what you were going to say? No. He’s much more dangerous than us. Because as you can see, he looks good. There’s something mysterious and enchanting in his gaze, and his voice has a heart-warming sweetness. It touches you, it’s like he’s telling some sad story. It’s enough to make any girl fall in love, wouldn’t you say? Don’t say I haven’t warned you. Run and get your daughter away from that man. And don’t let her dance with him again or ever hear his voice again in her life.

PUNCHINELLO:

And you say he’s your master? Is this how you serve him?

CRISPIN:

Does it surprise you? Have you forgotten your servant days already? At least I haven’t thought about killing him yet.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Bonds of Interest by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 12 January 2011.

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