莫里哀(Moliere , 1622-1673；本名为章·波奎兰，Jean Baptiste Poquelin)是法国演员、导演、戏剧家。他和柯奈(Pierre Corneille)、拉辛(Jean Racine)同为新古典主义三大巨擘，并常被称为「法国的莎士比亚」。莫里哀于一六二二年出生于巴黎，为富商之子。自幼丧母，父亲再娶。虽然研习法律，但因为其外祖母酷爱戏剧的影响，终其一生，致力于戏剧。一*三年创设「优异剧团」，到处公演，可是剧团的演出并不成功，负了大批债务，莫里哀还因此一度被捕入狱。一六五八年回到巴黎，在路易十四(Louis XIV)御前演出成功，此后逐渐获得世人的推崇，名著诸如：主妇学校(The School for Wives,1662)塔图(Tartuffe, 1664, 1667, 1669)、愤世嫉俗者(The Misanthrope,1665)、守财奴(The Miser, 1668)等，相继问世。一六七三年于演出想像的病患(The Imaginary Invalid)时，在舞台上倒下，随即病逝。塔图为莫里哀的杰作之一，主要在讽刺假冒、伪善的教徒。本剧在一六*年第一次演出，因被认为冒犯宗教，受到教会无情的攻击，因而两度遭到禁演。如今流传的剧本，已是由原稿修改两次之后的版本了。

　　ALL MEMBERS OF the Orgon family were present in their living room except Orgon. Madame Pernelle, Orgon's mother, appeared to criticize everyone in a fit of anger. In her view Damis, her grandson, was foolish; Mariane, her granddaughter, was secretive; Dorine, the family maid, was talkative; Elmire, her son's young second wife, was wasteful; Cleante, Elmire's brother, was meddlesome. The only person she did not find fault with was Tartuffe, a hypocrite whom the rest of the family disliked. Because nobody agreed with her as far as Tartuffe was concerned, she was upset and swore that she would never visit the family again.

　　After Madame Pernelle left, Dorine pointed out that Orgon was easily deceived by Tartuffe's hypocrisy. Instead of taking care of the family, Organ gave away everything he had to Tartuffe and called him "brother." Meanwhile, Damis confessed his sister's(Mariane's)love for Valere and his own love Valere's sister.

　　Soon Organ returned and inquired about the health of the family. Dorine told him that Elmire had had a fever and could neither work nor eat for days. Orgon was indifferent and said nothing. When she told him that Tartuffe, in contrast, had eaten well, drunk heartily, and slept soundly, he keep referring to Tartuffe as "the poor fellow."

　　Cleante arrived and argued with Orgon about Tartuffe. Cleante insisted on the importance of distinguishing between true piety and false devotion. According to him, Tartuffe was an absolute impostor. Orgon turned a deaf ear to Cleante's bitter criticism of his friend Tartuffe. In defending Tartuffe he recalled how he was so impressed by the hypocrite's sincerity. Tartuffe came to the church and knelt in public to pray. He ran to offer Orgon holy water and shared the money he received from him with other church members directly in Orgon's presence. Tartuffe's hesitation to kill a flea was even touched upon in Orgon's attempt to show his compassion. When Cleante pressed for Mariane's marriage to Valere, Orgon quickly left, showing his complete indifference.

　　Later, alone with his daughter Mariane, Orgon demanded that she marry Tartuffe. She was shocked and spoke eloquently for Valere. She dominated Orgon in an exchange of words, and Orgon left in an outrage. Valere, having heard of the news of Mariane's being forced to marry Tartuffe, came to confirm whether the news was true. Valere and Mariane were both in a bad mood and began to quarrel with each other. The witty Dorine easily reconciled them. Moreover, she promised to devise a plan to help them get married.

　　Dorine told Damis to calm down when he complained how much trouble Tartuffe had brought to the family. He threatened to use violence against Tartuffe , but Dorine told him to leave shortly before Tartuffe entered. As soon as he saw Dorine, Tartuffe blamed her for wearing a low-bodice. He gave her a handkerchief to cover her bosom; otherwise, he believed, he might be tempted by her flesh to do something evil. Dorine taunted his pretense by replying, "All your flesh would not tempt me."

　　As was planned, Dorine left. Elmire entered and Tartuffe praised her for her beauty. When Tartuffe expressed his admiration for Elmire, she pretended that he was talking about religious devotion. This, of course, did not discourage him. Instead, thinking that they were alone in the room, he boldly revealed his feelings by holding Elmire's hands, touching her knee, feeling her soft dress, and moving his chair closer to hers. He promised Elmire that they would have "love without scandal and pleasure without fear." Just then, Damis suddenly jumped out of the closet. Angrily he swore to expose Tartuffe's wrongdoing to his father.

　　When Orgon came home, Damis revealed to his father what he had seen. Tartuffe did not deny his charge, but Orgon did not believe his own son. He wanted Damis to apologize to Tartuffe. When Damis refused, the father drove him from the house. Furthermore, to show his complete confidence in Tartuffe's honesty, he decided to hasten Mariane's marriage to Tartuffe and to make Tartuffe his only heir by giving away all his property to the impostor.

　　Cleante blamed Tartuffe for his misconduct. He pointed out that, as a self-styled true Christian, Tartuffe should be kind enough to speak for the banished son. He also considered it wrong for Tartuffe to inherit Orgon's estate. Tartuffe, however, refused to listen and left.

　　Members of the family still tried to change Orgon's mind. In vain Mariane begged her father not to force her marriage to Tartuffe. Similarly Elmire was unable to convince her husband of Tartuffe's hypocricy.

　　Finally, with reluctance, Orgon was persuaded to hide himself under the cloth-covered table to see and hear what kind of person Tartuffe really was. When they were alone together, Elmire purposely encouraged Tartuffe's advances. During the process she repeatedly coughed to call her husband's attention to Tartuffe's vulgar words. She told Tartuffe to go to check if her husband was nearby. Before he left Tartuffe told her not to worry because Orgon was a stupid person who could be easily led by the nose.

　　Coming out from under the table, Orgon was so angry that he called Tartuffe "a perfect monster." Surprisingly, Elmire warned him not to draw quick conclusions. She pushed him back under the table before Tartuffe entered again. No sooner had Tartuffe entered in order to make love to Elmire than Orgon appeared and ordered him to leave. Instead, with the signed papers for the house in his hand, Tartuffe ordered the family to get out.

　　The whole family was astonished and did not know what to do. Orgon had another worry, for he had entrusted a box to Tartuffe's safe keeping. The box, which contained important state secrets, had been given to him by his friend Argas, a political criminal now in exile. Damis returned, prepared to kill Tartuffe. Madame Pernelle still did not believe Tartuffe's wickedness until Mr. Loyal came to order them to go. Valere arrived to inform Orgon that the king had issued the order for Orgon's arrest. He had prepared a coach for Orgon's escape, but Orgon declined to take it.

　　Tartuffe arrived with a police officer. Being a hypocrite, he now said that his duty was to serve the king. To his great surprise, however, the officer arrested him rather than Orgon. The officer explained that the king had already recognized Tartuffe as a villain who had previously committed many serious crimes. The king ordered that all Orgon's papers and property be restored to him, for his majesty believed that a man's virtue is more important than his mistakes.

　　Cleante advised the Orgons to forgive Tartuffe so that he might mend his ways and seek true repentance. He also hoped that the king would moderate Tartuffe's sentence. Meanwhile, Orgon expressed the feeling of everyone by stating that Valere, whose love had proven be true, should have Mariane for his wife.

　　注解：

　　secretive　隐隐藏藏的

　　meddlesome　爱管闲事的

　　hypocrisy　伪善

　　indifferent　漠不关心的

　　heartily　有好胃口地；痛快地

　　to refer to　提及

　　absolute impostor　十足的骗子

　　to turn a deaf ear to　对……充耳不闻

　　to recall　忆起

　　flea　跳蚤

　　compassion　同情

　　outrage　粗暴；愤怒

　　to confirm　证实

　　witty　机智的；慧的

　　bodice　女装的上身部份

　　bosom　胸部

　　to taunt　嘲讽

　　scandal　丑闻

　　to hasten　加速

　　self-styled　自封的

　　banished　被驱逐的

　　estate　财产

　　advances　求爱

　　vulgar　粗鄙的

　　perfect monster　十足的恶人

　　no sooner……than……一……就……

　　to entrust + 物 + to + 人　委托某物给某人

　　exile　流亡

　　to issue　发出；发布

　　villain　恶棍

　　to moderate　减轻

　　sentence判决