< Page:Iolanthe lib.djvu
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27
| Celia. | Your disrespectful sneers— |
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Fairies. You break our laws,
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Lords Mount. and Toll. We break their laws,
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Exeunt Mountararat, Tolloller, and Peers. Fairies gaze wistfully after them. Enter Fairy Queen.
| Queen. | Oh, shame shame upon you! Is this your fidelity to the laws you are bound to obey? Know ye not that it is death to marry a mortal? |
| Leila. | Yes, but it's not death to wish to marry a mortal! |
| Fleta. | If it were, you'd have to execute us all! |
| Queen. | Oh, this is weakness! Subdue it! |
| Celia. | We know it's weakness, but the weakness is so strong! |
| Leila. | We are not all as tough as you are! |
| Queen. | Tough! Do you suppose that I am insensible to the effect of manly beauty? Look at that man (referring to sentry) A perfect picture! (To sentry) Who are you, Sir? |
| Willis. (Coming to "attention.") | Private Willis, B company, 1st Grenadier Guards. |
| Queen. | You're a very fine fellow, sir. |
| Willis. | I am generally admired. |
| Queen. | I can quite understand it. (To Fairies) Now here is a man whose physical attributes are simply god-like. That man has a most extraordinary effect upon me. If I yielded to a natural impulse, I should fall down and worship that man. But I mortify this inclination: I wrestle with it, and it lies beneath my feet! That is how I treat my regard for that man! |
Song—Fairy Queen.
Oh, foolish fay,
Think you, because
His brave array
My bosom thaws,
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