Re-enter the Lords, with other Lords and Senators. 1 Lord. How now, my lords! 2 Lord. Know you the quality of lord Timon's fury? 3 Lord. Push! did you see my cap? 4 Lord. I have lost my gown. 3 Lord. He's but a mad lord, and nought but humor sways him. He gave me a jewel the other day, and now he has beat it out of my hat:-did you see my jewel? 4 Lord. Did you see my cap? 2 Lord. Here 'tis. 4 Lord. Here lies my gown. 1 Lord. Let's make no stay. 2 Lord. Lord Timon's mad. I feel't upon my bones. 4 Lord. One day he gives us diamonds, next day [Exeunt. stones. Tim. My worthy friends, will you draw near? 3 Lord. I'll tell you more anon. 2 Lord. This is the old man still. 3 Lord. Will't hold? will't hold? 2 Lord. It does; but time will show? 3 Lord. I do conceive. Tim. Each man to his stool, with that spur as he would to the lip of his mistress: your diet shall be in all places alike. Make not a city feast of it, to let the meat cool ere we can agree upon the first place sit, sit. The gods require our thanks. ACT IV. SCENE I-Without the Walls of Athens. Enter TIMON. "You great benefactors, sprinkle our society with thankfulness. For your own gifts make yourselves Tim. Let me look back upon thee, O thou wall, praised, but reserve still to give, lest your deities be That girdlest in those wolves! Dive in the carth, despised. Lend to each man enough, that one need And fence not Athens! Matrons, turn incontinent; not lend to another; for, were your godheads to bor- Obedience fail in children! slaves, and fools, row of men, men would forsake the gods. Make the Pluck the grave wrinkled senate from the bench, meat be beloved, more than the man that gives it. And minister in their steads! to general & filths Let no assembly of twenty be without a score of vil- Convert o' the instant green virginity! lains: if there sit twelve women at the table, let a Do't in your parents' eyes. Bankrupts, hold fast; dozen of them be-as they are.-The rest of your Rather than render back, out with your knives, 3 foes, O gods!-the senators of Athens, together And cut your trusters' throats! bound servants, steal! with the common tag of people,-what is amiss in them, you gods make suitable for destruction. For And pill by law. Maid, to thy master's bed; Large-handed robbers your grave masters are, these, my present friends, as they are to me noth-Thy mistress is o' the brothel! son of sixteen, ing, so in nothing bless them, and to nothing are they welcome.” Uncover, dogs, and lap. [The dishes uncovered are full of warm water. Tim. May you a better feast never behold, water Is your perfection. This is Timon's last; [Throwing water in their faces. [Exit. Pluck the lin'd crutch from thy old limping sire, On Athens, ripe for stroke! thou cold sciatica, Take thou that too, with multiplying bans. [Exit. "Your better remembrance," i, e., your good memory. "Toward," i. e., near at hand; in prospect. "In all places alike:" This alludes to the mode in which guests were formerly placed at table according to rank. Your perfection," i. e., the highest of your excellence." Time's "General filths," i. e., common strumpets. Contrariflies," i. e., flies of a season.-"Minute-jacks," i. e., autom-eties.- Libertinism.-k "Multiplying bans," i. e., accumu. aton figures appended to clocks. lating curses. So noble a master fallen! All gone, and not 2 Serv. As we do turn our backs Slink all away; leave their false vows with him, With his disease of all-shunn'd poverty, Flav. All broken implements of a ruin'd house. Good fellows all, Flav. Let's yet be fellows; let's shake our heads, and say, [They embrace, and part several ways. Nor hath he with him to supply his life, I'll follow, and inquire him out: SCENE III.-The Woods. e Whose procreation, residence, and birth, Raise me this beggar, and 5 decline that lord; [dares, It is the pasture lards the rother's sides, And say, "This man's a flatterer?" If one be, m Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate Will lug your priests and servants from your sides, Make the hoar leprosy ador'd; place thieves, But yet I'll bury thee: thou'lt go, strong thief, [Reserving some gold. Tim. I am misanthropos, and hate mankind. I know thee well; "Dividant," ie., different; separate. But by is used here for without. Rother-beasts are horned cattle. "Grise," i. e., step; degree,-"Semblable," i. e., like"Fang," i. e., seize. Operative,-Pure-SorrowfulHospital.-P To "cast the gorge" is to revolt or turn the stomach. To the April day," Le, to the freshness of youth." Thou'rt quick,' i. e., thou hast life and motion in thee. What is it, Timon? Alcib. Tim. Promise me friendship, but perform none: If thou wilt not promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art a man! if thou dost perform, confound thee, for thou art a man! Alcib. I have heard in some sort of thy miseries. Tim. Thou saw'st them, when I had prosperity. Alcib. I see them now; then was a blessed time. Tim. As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots. Timan. Is this th' Athenian minion, whom the b Voic'd so regardfully? [world Art thou Timandra? Timan. Yes. [thee: Tim. Be a whore still! they love thee not, that use Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust. Make use of thy salt hours; season the slaves For tubs, and baths; bring down rose-cheeked youth To the tub-fast, and the diet. Tim. Timan. I have had but little gold of late, brave Timon, mon. Alcib. Keep it, I cannot eat it. That, by killing of villains, Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison He is an usurer. Strike me the counterfeit matron; Herself's a bawd. Let not the virgin's cheek Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milkpaps, Gules, a term in heraldry denoting red."Voic'd so regardfully," i. e., praised so highly. Alluding to the cure then in practice for lues venerea. Cutting. That through the window-bars bore at man's eyes, Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat shall cut, Make large confusion; and thy fury spent, [upon thee! Tim. Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse Phry & Timan. Give us some gold, good Timon: hast thou more? Tim. Enough to make a whore forswear her trade, And to make whores abhorr'd. Hold up, you sluts, Your aprons mountant: you are not oathable,Although, I know, you'll swear, terribly swear, Into strong shudders, and to heavenly agues, The immortal gods that hear you, spare your oaths, I'll trust to your conditions: be whores still; And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you, Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up; Let your close fire predominate his smoke, And be no turncoats. Yet may your pains, six months, Be quite contrary: and thatch your poor thin roofs With burdens of the dead;-some that were hang'd, No matter:-wear them, betray with them: whore Paint till a horse may mire upon your face: [still; pox of wrinkles! A Phry. & Timan. Well, more gold.-What then?Believ't, that we'll do any thing for gold. Tim. Consumptions sow In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins, Smells from the general iweal: make curl’d-pate ruffians bald; And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war Do you damn others, and let this damn you, Phry. & Timan. More counsel with more money, bounteous Timon. Tim. More whore, more mischief first: I have given you earnest. Alcib. Strike up the drum towards Athens! Farewell, Timon: If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again. Tim. If I hope well, I'll never see thee more. Tim. Yes, thou spok'st well of me. "Sans remorse, ," e., without pity.-Dispositions. Subtleties." Flamen," i. e., priest. To foresee his particular' is to provide for his private advantage, for which he leaves right scent of public good. To grave is to bury. [Digging. Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast, Enter APEMANTUS. More man? Plague! plague! Apem. I was directed hither: men report, Thou dost affect my manners, and dost use them. Tim. 'Tis, then, because thou dost not keep a dog Whom I would imitate. Consumption catch thee! Apem. This is in thee a nature but infected; A poor unmanly melancholy, sprung [place? From change of fortune. Why this spade? this This slave-like habit, and these looks of care? Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft, Hug their diseas'd perfumes, and have forgot That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods, By putting on the cunning of a carper. Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee, And let his very breath, whom thou'lt observe, Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain, And call it excellent. Thou wast told thus ; Thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters that bade wel come, d To knaves, and all approachers: 'tis most just, A madman so long, now a fool. What! think'st Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste, Of wreakful heaven, whose bare unhoused trunks, Answer mere nature,-bid them flatter thee; O! thou shalt find Tim. A fool of thee. Depart. Apem. I love thee better now than e'er I did. Tim. Thou flatter'st misery. Apem. I flatter not, but say thou art a caitiff. To vex thee. Tim. Always a villain's office, or a fool's. Dost please thyself in't? Арет. Tim. Ay. What! a knave tool Apem. If thou didst put this sour cold habit on To castigate thy pride, 'twere well; but thou Dost it enforcedly: thou'dst courtier be again, Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery Outlives incertain pomp, is crown'd before: The one is filling still, never complete; The other, at high wish, best state, contentless, Hath a distracted and most wretched being, Worse than the worst content. Thou should'st desire to die, being miserable. Tim. Not by his breath, that is more miserable They never flatter'd thee: what hast thou given! I, that I was Tim. I, that I am one now: Were all the wealth I have shut up in thee, I'd give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.— That the whole life of Athens were in this! Thus would I eat it. Apem. [Eating a rod Here; I will mend thy feast. [Offering something Tim. First mend my company, take away thyself Apem. So I shall mend mine own, by the lack of thine. Tim. 'Tis not well mended so, it is but botch'd; If not, I would it were. Apem. What wouldst thou have to Athens? That is, arrives sooner at the completion of its wishes"By his breath," i. e., by his voice, sentence.-5 First swath, " i. e., from the first swathe-band; from infancyThe serpent called the blind-worm.- Curved." En-"The icy precepts of respect," ie, the cold admonitions sear," i. e., close; stop up." The cunning of a carper" is of prudence.- Employment for.-"Sufferance," i a, mis the fastidiousness of a critic. ery; pain. Tell them there I have gold: look, so I have. Apem. Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather, where I eat it. Tim. Would poison were obedient, and knew my mind! Apem. Where would'st thou send it? Tim. To sauce thy dishes. Apem. The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the extremity of both ends. When thou was in thy gilt, and thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much curiosity in thy rags thou knowest none, but art despised for the contrary. There's a medlar for thee; eat it. Tim. On what I hate I feed not. Tim. Ay, though it look like thee. Apem. An thou hadst hated meddlers sooner, thou should'st have loved thyself better now. What man didst thou ever know unthrift, that was beloved after his means? Tim. Who, without those means thou talkest of, didst thou ever know beloved? Apem. Myself. Tim. I understand thee: thou hadst some means to keep a dog. Apem. What things in the world canst thou nearest compare to thy flatterers? Tim. Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves. What would'st thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power? Apem. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men. Tim. Would'st thou have thyself fall in the confusion of men, and remain a beast with the beasts? Apem. Ay, Timon.. Tim. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain to. If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee if thou wert the fox, the lion would suspect thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accused by the ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee, and still thou livedst but as a breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou should'st hazard thy life for thy dinner: wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury: wert thou a bear, thou would'st be killed by the horse: wert thou a horse, thou would'st be seized by the leopard: wert thou a leopard, thou wert germane to the lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life; all thy safety were remotion, and thy defence, absence, What beast could'st thou be, that were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art thou already, that seest not thy loss in transformation. Apem. If thou could'st please me with speaking to me, thou might'st have hit upon it here: the commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts. Tim. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the city? Apem. Yonder comes a poet, and a painter. The plague of company light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way. When I know not what else to do, I'll see thee again. Tim. When there is nothing living but thee, thou "Too much curiosity," i. e., too much finical nicety.— Remotion is removing away; removing afar off. shalt be welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog, than Apemantus. Apem. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive. 1I'd beat thee, but I should infect my hands. Slave! Toad! Rogue, rogue, rogue! [APEMANTUS retreats backward, as going. I am sick of this false world, and will love nought But even the mere necessities upon't. Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave: Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat Thy grave-stone daily; make thine epitaph, That death in me at others' lives may laugh. O, thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce [Looking on the gold. 'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars! Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer, Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god, That solder'st close impossibilities, And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts! Think, thy slave man rebels; and by thy virtue Set them into confounding odds, that beasts May have the world in empire! Apem. [tongue, Would 'twere so; Tim. Thy back, I pr'ythee. Throng'd to? Ay. Live, and love thy misery! Tim. Long live so, and so die!-I am quit.[Exit APEMANTUS. More things like men?-Eat, Timon, and abhor them. Enter Bandilti. 1 Band. Where should he have this gold? It is der. The mere want of gold, and the fulling from some poor fragment, some slender ort of his remainhim of his friends, drove him into this melancholy. 2 Band. It is noised, he hath a mass of treasure. 3 Band. Let us make the assay upon him: if he care not for't, he will supply us easily; if he covetously reserve it, how shall's get it? 2 Band. True, for he bears it not about him; 'tis hid. 1 Band. Is not this he? 2 Band. 'Tis his description. Tim. Both two; and women's sons. "The cap," i. e., the top; the principal.-d Touch for touchstone. |