e jealous of him, now. Jealous
of a man I've never spoken to! Jealous of a poor soul
who's to die in an hour!

WILFRED I am! I'm jealous of everybody and everything. I'm
jealous of the very words I speak to you-- because they
reach your ears-- and I mustn't go near 'em!

PHOEBE How unjust you are! Jealous of the words you speak to
me! Why, you know as well as I do that I don't even
like them.

WILFRED You used to like 'em.

PHOEBE I used to pretend I like them. It was mere politeness
to comparative strangers.

[Exit PHOEBE, with spinning wheel

WILFRED I don't believe you know what jealousy is! I don't
believe you know how it eats into a man's heart-- and
disorders his digestion-- and turns his interior into
boiling lead. Oh, you are a heartless jade to trifle
with the delicate organization of the human interior.

No. 1A. When jealous torments
(OPTIONAL SONG)
Wilfred

WILFRED When jealous torments rack my soul,
My agonies I can't control,
Oh, better sit on red hot coal
Than love a heartless jade.

The red hot coal will hurt no doubt,
But red hot coals in time die out,
But jealousy you can not rout,
Its fires will never fade.

It's much less painful on the whole
To go and sit on red hot coal
'Til you're completely flayed,
Or ask a kindly friend to crack
Your wretched bones upon the rack
Than love a heartless jade,
Than love a heartless jade.

The kerchief on your neck of snow
I look on as a deadly foe,
It goeth where I dare not go
And stops there all day long.

The belt that holds you in its grasp
Is to my peace of mind a rasp,
It claspeth what I can not clasp,
Correct me if I'm wrong.

It's much less painful on the whole
To go and sit on red hot coal
'Til you're completely flay