epic poem.

MASC. Egad, you have good taste.

MAD. Tolerably; none of the worst, I believe.

MASC. But do you not also admire _quite without heed was I? quite
without heed was I_, that is, I did not pay attention to anything; a
natural way of speaking, _quite without heed was I, of no harm
thinking_, that is, as I was going along, innocently, without malice,
like a poor sheep, _you I chanced to spy_, that is to say, I amused
myself with looking at you, with observing you, with contemplating you.
_Slily your eyes_. ... What do you think of that word _slily_--is it not
well chosen?

CAT. Extremely so.

MASC. _Slily_, stealthily; just like a cat watching a mouse--_slily_.

MAD. Nothing can be better.

MASC. My heart surprise, that is, carries it away from me, robs me of
it. _Stop thief! stop thief! stop thief!_ Would you not think a man were
shouting and running after a thief to catch him? _Stop thief! stop
thief! stop thief!_

[Footnote: The scene of Mascarille reading his extempore verses is
something like Trissotin in _Les Femmes savantes_ (see vol. III.)
reading his sonnet for the Princess Uranie. But Mascarille comments on
the beauties of his verses with the insolent vanity of a man who does