Pro.The best way is to slander ValentineWith falsehood, cowardice and poor descent,Three things that women highly hold in hate.Duke.Ay, but she’ll think that it is spoke in hate.35Pro.Ay, if his enemy deliver it:Therefore it must with circumstance be spokenBy one whom sheesteemethas his friend.Duke.Then you must undertake to slander him.Pro.And that, my lord, I shall be loath to do:40’Tis an ill office for a gentleman,Especially against his very friend.Duke.Where your good word cannot advantage him,Your slander never can endamage him;Therefore the office is indifferent,45Being entreated to it by your friend.Pro.You have prevail’d, my lord: if I can do itBy ought that I can speak in his dispraise,She shall not long continue love to him.But say thisweedher love from Valentine,III. 2.50It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio.Thu.Therefore, as you unwind her love from him,Lest it should ravel and be good to none,You must provide to bottom it on me;Which must be done by praising me as much55As you inworthdispraise Sir Valentine.Duke.And, Proteus, we dare trust you in this kind,Because we know, on Valentine’s report,You are already Love’s firm votary,And cannot soon revolt and change your mind.60Upon this warrant shall you have accessWhere you with Silvia may confer at large;For she is lumpish, heavy, melancholy,And, for your friend’s sake, will be glad of you;Whereyou may temper her by your persuasion65To hate young Valentine and love my friend.Pro.As much as I can do, I will effect:But you, Sir Thurio, are not sharp enough;You must lay lime to tangle her desiresBy wailful sonnets, whose composed rhymes70Should be full-fraught with serviceable vows.Duke.Ay,Muchis the force of heaven-bred poesy.Pro.Say that upon the altar of her beautyYou sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart:III. 2.75Write till your ink be dry, and with your tearsMoist it again; and frame some feelinglineThat may discoversuchintegrity:For Orpheus’ lute was strung with poets’ sinews;Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones,80Make tigers tame, and huge leviathansForsake unsounded deepstodance on sands.After your dire-lamenting elegies,Visit by night your lady’s chamber-windowWith some sweetconcert; to their instruments85Tune a deploring dump: the night’s dead silenceWill well become suchsweet-complaininggrievance.This, or else nothing, will inherit her.Duke.This discipline shows thou hast been in love.Thu.And thy advice this night I’ll put in practice.90Therefore, sweet Proteus, my direction-giver,Let us into the city presentlyTo sort some gentlemen well skill’d in music.I have a sonnet that will serve the turnTo give the onset to thy goodadvice.95Duke.About it, gentlemen!Pro.We’ll wait upon your Grace till after supper,And afterward determine our proceedings.Duke.Even now about it! I will pardon you.Exeunt.ACT IV.IV. 1Scene I.The frontiers of Mantua. A forest.Enter certainOutlaws.First Out.Fellows, stand fast; I see a passenger.Sec. Out.If there be ten,shrinknot, but down with ’em.EnterValentineandSpeed.Third Out.Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye:If not, we’ll make yousit, and rifle you.5Speed.Sir, we are undone; these are the villainsThat all the travellersdofear so much.Val.My friends,—First Out.That’s not so, sir: we are your enemies.Sec. Out.Peace!we’ll hear him.10Third Out.Ay, by my beard, will we, for he’s a proper man.Val.Then know that I havelittle wealthto lose:A man I am cross’d with adversity;My riches are these poor habiliments,Of which if you should here disfurnish me,15You take the sum and substance that I have.Sec. Out.Whither travel you?Val.To Verona.First Out.Whencecame you?Val.From Milan.20Third Out.Have you long sojourned there?Val.Some sixteen months, and longer might have stay’d,If crooked fortune had not thwarted me.First Out.What, were you banish’d thence?Val.I was.IV. 1.25Sec. Out.For what offence?Val.For that which now torments me to rehearse:I kill’d a man, whose death I much repent;But yet I slew him manfully in fight,Without false vantage or base treachery.30First Out.Why, ne’er repent it, if it were done so.But were you banish’d for so small a fault?Val.I was, and held me glad of such a doom.Sec. Out.Have you the tongues?Val.My youthful travel therein made me happy,35Or elseI often had beenmiserable.Third Out.By the bare scalp of Robin Hood’s fat friar,This fellow were a king for our wild faction!First Out.We’ll have him. Sirs, a word.Speed.Master, be one of them;it’s an honourable kind40of thievery.Val.Peace, villain!Sec. Out.Tell us this: have you anythingto take to?Val.Nothing but my fortune.Third Out.Know, then, that some of us are gentlemen,45Such as the fury of ungovern’d youthThrust from the company ofawfulmen:Myself was from Verona banishedFor practising to steal away a lady,An heir, and near alliedunto the duke.IV. 1.50Sec. Out.And I from Mantua, for a gentleman,Who, in my mood, I stabb’d unto the heart.First Out.And I for such like petty crimes as these.But to the purpose,—for we cite our faults,That they may hold excused our lawless lives;55And partly, seeing you are beautifiedWith goodly shape, and by your own reportA linguist, and a man of such perfectionAs we do in our quality much want,—Sec. Out.Indeed, because you are a banish’d man,60Therefore, above the rest, we parley to you:Are you content to be our general?To make a virtue of necessity,And live, as we do, inthiswilderness?Third Out.What say’st thou? wilt thou be of our consort?65Say ay, and be the captain of us all:We’ll do thee homage and be ruled by thee,Love thee as our commander and our king.First Out.But if thou scorn our courtesy, thou diest.Sec. Out.Thou shalt not live to brag what we have offer’d.70Val.I take your offer, and will live with you,Provided that you do no outragesOn silly women or poor passengers.Third Out.No, we detest such vile base practices.Come, go with us, we’ll bring thee to ourcrews,IV. 1.75And show thee all the treasure we have got;Which, with ourselves,allrest at thy dispose.Exeunt.IV. 2Scene II.Milan. Outside theDuke’spalace, underSilvia’schamber.EnterProteus.Pro.Alreadyhave Ibeen false to Valentine,And now I must be as unjust to Thurio.Under the colour of commending him,I have access my own love to prefer:5But Silvia is too fair, too true, too holy,To be corrupted with my worthless gifts.When I protest true loyalty to her,She twits me with my falsehood to my friend;When to her beauty I commend my vows,10She bids me think how I have been forswornIn breaking faith with Julia whom I loved:And notwithstanding all her sudden quips,The least whereof would quell a lover’s hope,Yet, spaniel-like, the more she spurns my love,15The more it grows,andfawneth on her still.But here comes Thurio: now must we to her window,And give some evening music to her ear.EnterThurioandMusicians.Thu.How now, Sir Proteus, are you crept before us?Pro.Ay, gentle Thurio; for you know that love20Will creep in service where it cannot go.Tim.Ay, but I hope, sir, that you love not here.Pro.Sir, but I do; or else I would be hence.Thu.Who? Silvia?Pro.Ay, Silvia; for your sake.Thu.I thank you for your own. Now, gentlemen,IV. 2.25Let’stune, and to it lustily awhile.Enter,at a distance,Host, andJuliain boy’s clothes.Host.Now, my young guest, methinks you’reallycholly:I pray you, why is it?Jul.Marry, mine host, because I cannot be merry.Host.Come, we’ll have you merry: I’ll bring you30where you shall hear music, and see the gentleman that you asked for.Jul.But shall I hear him speak?Host.Ay, that you shall.Jul.That will be music.Music plays.35Host.Hark, hark!Jul.Is he among these?Host.Ay: but, peace! let’s hear ’em.Song.Who is Silvia? what is she,That all our swains commend her?40Holy, fair, and wiseis she;The heaven such grace did lend her,That she might admired be.Is she kind as she is fair?For beauty lives with kindness.45Love doth to her eyes repair,To help him of his blindness,And, being help’d, inhabits there.Then to Silvia let us sing,That Silvia is excelling;IV. 2.50Sheexcelseach mortal thingUpon the dull earth dwelling:To her let us garlands bring.Host.How now!are you sadder than you were before? How do you, man? the music likes you not.55Jul.You mistake; the musician likes me not.Host.Why, my pretty youth?Jul.He plays false, father.Host.How? out of tune on the strings?Jul.Not so; but yet so false that he grieves my very60heart-strings.Host.You have a quick ear.Jul.Ay, I would I were deaf; it makes me have a slow heart.Host.I perceive you delight not in music.65Jul.Not a whit, when it jars so.Host.Hark, what fine change is in the music!Jul.Ay, that change is the spite.Host.You wouldhave them always play but one thing?Jul.I would always have one play but one thing.70But, host, doth this Sir Proteus that we talk onOften resort unto this gentlewoman?Host.I tell you what Launce, his man, told me,—he loved her out of all nick.Jul.Where is Launce?IV. 2.75Host.Gone to seek his dog; which to-morrow, by his master’s command, he must carry for a present to his lady.Jul.Peace! stand aside: the company parts.Pro.Sir Thurio,fear not you: I will so plead,That you shall say my cunning drift excels.Thu.Where meet we?Pro.At Saint Gregory’s well.80Thu.Farewell.Exeunt Thu. and Musicians.EnterSilviaabove.Pro.Madam, good even to your ladyship.Sil.I thank you for your music, gentlemen.Who is that that spake?Pro.One, lady, if you knew his pure heart’s truth,85You wouldquickly learn to know him by his voice.Sil.Sir Proteus, as I take it.Pro.Sir Proteus, gentle lady, and your servant.Sil.What’syour will?Pro.That I may compass yours.Sil.You have your wish; my will iseventhis:90That presently you hie you home to bed.Thou subtle, perjured, false, disloyal man!Think’st thou I am so shallow, so conceitless,To be seduced by thy flattery,That hast deceived so many with thy vows?95Return, return, and make thy love amends.For me,—by this pale queen of night I swear,I am so far from granting thy request,That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit;And by and by intend to chide myselfIV. 2.100Even for this time I spend in talking to thee.Pro.I grant, sweet love, that I did love a lady;But she is dead.Jul.[Aside]’Twere false, if I should speak it;For I am sure she is not buried.Sil.Say that she be; yet Valentine thy friend105Survives; to whom,thyselfart witness,I am betroth’d: and art thou not ashamedTo wrong him with thy importunacy?Pro.I likewise hear that Valentine is dead.Sil.And so suppose am I; for inhisgrave110Assure thyself my love is buried.Pro.Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth.Sil.Go to thy lady’s grave, and callhersthence;Or, at the least, in hers sepulchre thine.Jul.[Aside]He heard not that.115Pro.Madam,ifyour heart be soobdurate,Vouchsafeme yet your picturefor my love,The picture that is hanging in your chamber;To that I’ll speak, to that I’ll sigh and weep:For since the substance of your perfect self120Is else devoted, I am but a shadow;And to your shadow will I make true love.Jul.[Aside]If ’twere a substance, you would, sure, deceive it,And make it but a shadow, as I am.Sil.I am very loath to be your idol, sir;IV. 2.125Butsince your falsehood shallbecome you wellTo worship shadows and adore false shapes,Send to me in the morning, and I’ll send it:And so, good rest.Pro.As wretches have o’ernightThat wait for execution in the morn.Exeunt Pro. and Sil. severally.130Jul.Host, will you go?Host.By my halidom, I was fast asleep.Jul.Pray you, where lies Sir Proteus?Host.Marry, at my house. Trust me, I think ’tis almost day.135Jul.Not so; but it hath been the longest nightThat e’er I watch’d, and the mostheaviest.Exeunt.IV. 3Scene III.The same.EnterEglamour.Egl.This is the hour that Madam SilviaEntreated me to call and know her mind:There’s some great matter she’ld employ me in.Madam, madam!EnterSilviaabove.Sil.Who calls?Egl.Your servant and your friend;5One that attends your ladyship’s command.Sil.Sir Eglamour, a thousand times good morrow.Egl.As many, worthy lady, to yourself:According to your ladyship’s impose,I am thus early come to know what service10It is your pleasure to command me in.Sil.O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman,—Think not I flatter, for I swear I do not,—Valiant, wise, remorseful, well accomplish’d:Thou art not ignorant what dear good will15I bear unto the banish’d Valentine;Nor how my father would enforce me marryVain Thurio, whom my very soulabhors.Thyself hast loved; and I have heard thee sayNo grief didevercome sonearthy heart20As when thy lady and thy true love died,Upon whose grave thou vow’dst pure chastity.Sir Eglamour, I would to Valentine,To Mantua, where I hear he makes abode;And, for the ways are dangerous to pass,IV. 3.25I do desire thy worthy company,Upon whose faith and honour I repose.Urge not my father’s anger, Eglamour,But think upon my grief, a lady’s grief,And on the justice of my flying hence,30To keep me from a most unholy match,Which heaven and fortune stillrewardswith plagues.I do desire thee, even from a heartAs full of sorrows as the sea of sands,To bear me company, and go with me:35If not, to hide what I have said to thee,That I may venture to depart alone.Egl.Madam, I pity much yourgrievances;Whichsince I know they virtuously are placed,I give consent to go along with you;40Reckingas little what betideth meAs much I wish all good befortune you.When will you go?Sil.Thisevening coming.Egl.Where shall I meet you?Sil.At Friar Patrick’s cell,Where I intend holy confession.45Egl.I will not fail your ladyship. Good morrow, gentle lady.Sil.Good morrow, kind Sir Eglamour.Exeunt severally.IV. 4Scene IV.The same.EnterLaunce, with his Dog.Launce.When a man’s servant shall play the cur with him, look you, it goes hard: one that I brought up of a puppy; one that I saved from drowning, when three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went to it! I have5taught him, even as one would say precisely, ‘thus I would teach a dog.’I was sentto deliver him as a present to Mistress Silvia from my master; and I came no sooner into the dining-chamber, but he steps me to her trencher, and steals her capon’s leg: O, ’tis a foul thing when a cur10cannot keep himself in all companies! I would have, as one should say, one that takes upon himto be a dog indeed, to be, as it were, a dog at all things. If I had not had more wit than he, to take a fault upon me that he did, I think verily he had been hanged for’t: sure as I15live, he had suffered for’t: you shall judge. He thrusts me himself into the company of three or four gentleman-like dogs, under the duke’s table: he had not been there—bless the mark!—a pissing while, but all the chamber smelt him. ‘Out with the dog!’ says one: ‘What cur is20that?’ says another: ‘Whip him out,’ saysthe third: ‘Hang him up,’ says the duke. I, having been acquainted with the smell before, knew it was Crab, and goes me to the fellow that whips the dogs: ‘Friend,’ quoth I, ‘you meanto whip the dog?’ ‘Ay, marry, do I,’ quoth he. ‘YouIV. 4.25do him the more wrong,’ quoth I; ‘’twas I did the thing you wot of.’ Hemakes me no moreado, but whips me out of the chamber. How many masters would do this forhis servant? Nay, I’ll be sworn, I have sat in the stocks for puddings he hath stolen, otherwise he had been executed;30I have stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed, otherwise he had suffered for’t. Thou thinkest not of this now. Nay, I remember the trick you served me when I took my leave of MadamSilvia: did not I bid thee still mark me, and do as I do? when didst thou see me heave35up my leg, and make water against a gentlewoman’s farthingale? didst thou ever see me do such a trick?EnterProteusandJulia.Pro.Sebastian is thy name? I like thee well,And will employ thee in some service presently.Jul.In what you please:I’ll dowhat I can.40Pro.I hope thou wilt. [To Launce] How now, you whoreson peasant!Where have you been these two days loitering?Launce.Marry, sir, I carried Mistress Silvia the dog you bade me.Pro.And what says she to my little jewel?45Launce.Marry, she says your dogwasa cur, and tells you currish thanks is good enough for such a present.Pro.But she received my dog?Launce.No, indeed,did shenot: here have I brought him back again.IV. 4.50Pro.What, didst thou offer herthisfrom me?Launce.Ay, sir;the other squirrelwas stolen from me by thehangman boysin the market-place: and then I offered her mine own, who is a dog as big as ten of yours, and therefore the gift the greater.55Pro.Go get thee hence, and find my dog again,Or ne’er return again into my sight.Away, I say! stay’st thou to vex me here?Exit Launce.A slave, thatstill an endturns me to shame!Sebastian, I have entertained thee,60Partly that I have need of such a youth,That can with some discretion do my business,For ’tis no trusting to yond foolish lout;But chiefly for thy face and thy behaviour,Which, if my augury deceive me not,65Witness good bringing up, fortune, and truth:Thereforeknow thou, for this Ientertain thee.Go presently, and take this ring with thee,Deliver it to Madam Silvia:She loved me well deliver’d it to me.70Jul.It seems you loved not her,to leaveher token.She is dead, belike?Pro.Not so; I think she lives.Jul.Alas!Pro.Why dost thou cry, ‘alas’?Jul.I cannot chooseBut pity her.Pro.Whereforeshouldst thou pity her?IV. 4.75Jul.Because methinksthatshe loved you as wellAs you do love your lady Silvia:She dreams on him that has forgot her love;You dote on her that cares not for your love.’Tis pity love should be so contrary;80And thinking on it makes me cry, ‘alas!’Pro.Well,give herthat ring,and therewithalThis letter. That’s her chamber. Tell my ladyI claim the promise for her heavenly picture.Your message done, hie home unto my chamber,85Where thou shalt find me, sad and solitary.Exit.Jul.How many women would do such a message?Alas, poor Proteus! thou hast entertainedA fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs.Alas, poor fool! why do I pity him90That with his very heart despiseth me?Because he loves her, he despiseth me;Because I love him, I must pity him.This ring I gave him when he parted from me,To bind him to remember my good will;95And nowam I, unhappy messenger,To plead for that which I would not obtain,To carry that which I would have refused,To praise his faith which I would have dispraised.I am my master’s true-confirmed love;IV. 4.100But cannot be true servant to my master,Unless I prove false traitor to myself.Yet will I woo for him, but yet so coldly,As, heaven it knows, I would not have him speed.EnterSilvia, attended.Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you, be my mean105To bring me where to speak with Madam Silvia.Sil.What would you with her, if that I be she?
Pro.The best way is to slander ValentineWith falsehood, cowardice and poor descent,Three things that women highly hold in hate.
Pro.The best way is to slander Valentine
With falsehood, cowardice and poor descent,
Three things that women highly hold in hate.
Duke.Ay, but she’ll think that it is spoke in hate.
35Pro.Ay, if his enemy deliver it:Therefore it must with circumstance be spokenBy one whom sheesteemethas his friend.
35Pro.Ay, if his enemy deliver it:
Therefore it must with circumstance be spoken
By one whom sheesteemethas his friend.
Duke.Then you must undertake to slander him.
Pro.And that, my lord, I shall be loath to do:40’Tis an ill office for a gentleman,Especially against his very friend.
Pro.And that, my lord, I shall be loath to do:
40’Tis an ill office for a gentleman,
Especially against his very friend.
Duke.Where your good word cannot advantage him,Your slander never can endamage him;Therefore the office is indifferent,45Being entreated to it by your friend.
Duke.Where your good word cannot advantage him,
Your slander never can endamage him;
Therefore the office is indifferent,
45Being entreated to it by your friend.
Pro.You have prevail’d, my lord: if I can do itBy ought that I can speak in his dispraise,She shall not long continue love to him.But say thisweedher love from Valentine,III. 2.50It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio.
Pro.You have prevail’d, my lord: if I can do it
By ought that I can speak in his dispraise,
She shall not long continue love to him.
But say thisweedher love from Valentine,
III. 2.50It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio.
Thu.Therefore, as you unwind her love from him,Lest it should ravel and be good to none,You must provide to bottom it on me;Which must be done by praising me as much55As you inworthdispraise Sir Valentine.
Thu.Therefore, as you unwind her love from him,
Lest it should ravel and be good to none,
You must provide to bottom it on me;
Which must be done by praising me as much
55As you inworthdispraise Sir Valentine.
Duke.And, Proteus, we dare trust you in this kind,Because we know, on Valentine’s report,You are already Love’s firm votary,And cannot soon revolt and change your mind.60Upon this warrant shall you have accessWhere you with Silvia may confer at large;For she is lumpish, heavy, melancholy,And, for your friend’s sake, will be glad of you;Whereyou may temper her by your persuasion65To hate young Valentine and love my friend.
Duke.And, Proteus, we dare trust you in this kind,
Because we know, on Valentine’s report,
You are already Love’s firm votary,
And cannot soon revolt and change your mind.
60Upon this warrant shall you have access
Where you with Silvia may confer at large;
For she is lumpish, heavy, melancholy,
And, for your friend’s sake, will be glad of you;
Whereyou may temper her by your persuasion
65To hate young Valentine and love my friend.
Pro.As much as I can do, I will effect:But you, Sir Thurio, are not sharp enough;You must lay lime to tangle her desiresBy wailful sonnets, whose composed rhymes70Should be full-fraught with serviceable vows.
Pro.As much as I can do, I will effect:
But you, Sir Thurio, are not sharp enough;
You must lay lime to tangle her desires
By wailful sonnets, whose composed rhymes
70Should be full-fraught with serviceable vows.
Duke.Ay,Muchis the force of heaven-bred poesy.
Duke.Ay,
Muchis the force of heaven-bred poesy.
Pro.Say that upon the altar of her beautyYou sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart:III. 2.75Write till your ink be dry, and with your tearsMoist it again; and frame some feelinglineThat may discoversuchintegrity:For Orpheus’ lute was strung with poets’ sinews;Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones,80Make tigers tame, and huge leviathansForsake unsounded deepstodance on sands.After your dire-lamenting elegies,Visit by night your lady’s chamber-windowWith some sweetconcert; to their instruments85Tune a deploring dump: the night’s dead silenceWill well become suchsweet-complaininggrievance.This, or else nothing, will inherit her.
Pro.Say that upon the altar of her beauty
You sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart:
III. 2.75Write till your ink be dry, and with your tears
Moist it again; and frame some feelingline
That may discoversuchintegrity:
For Orpheus’ lute was strung with poets’ sinews;
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones,
80Make tigers tame, and huge leviathans
Forsake unsounded deepstodance on sands.
After your dire-lamenting elegies,
Visit by night your lady’s chamber-window
With some sweetconcert; to their instruments
85Tune a deploring dump: the night’s dead silence
Will well become suchsweet-complaininggrievance.
This, or else nothing, will inherit her.
Duke.This discipline shows thou hast been in love.
Thu.And thy advice this night I’ll put in practice.90Therefore, sweet Proteus, my direction-giver,Let us into the city presentlyTo sort some gentlemen well skill’d in music.I have a sonnet that will serve the turnTo give the onset to thy goodadvice.
Thu.And thy advice this night I’ll put in practice.
90Therefore, sweet Proteus, my direction-giver,
Let us into the city presently
To sort some gentlemen well skill’d in music.
I have a sonnet that will serve the turn
To give the onset to thy goodadvice.
95Duke.About it, gentlemen!
Pro.We’ll wait upon your Grace till after supper,And afterward determine our proceedings.
Pro.We’ll wait upon your Grace till after supper,
And afterward determine our proceedings.
Duke.Even now about it! I will pardon you.Exeunt.
First Out.Fellows, stand fast; I see a passenger.
Sec. Out.If there be ten,shrinknot, but down with ’em.
Third Out.Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye:If not, we’ll make yousit, and rifle you.
Third Out.Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye:
If not, we’ll make yousit, and rifle you.
5Speed.Sir, we are undone; these are the villainsThat all the travellersdofear so much.
5Speed.Sir, we are undone; these are the villains
That all the travellersdofear so much.
Val.My friends,—
First Out.That’s not so, sir: we are your enemies.
Sec. Out.Peace!we’ll hear him.
10Third Out.Ay, by my beard, will we, for he’s a proper man.
Val.Then know that I havelittle wealthto lose:A man I am cross’d with adversity;My riches are these poor habiliments,Of which if you should here disfurnish me,15You take the sum and substance that I have.
Val.Then know that I havelittle wealthto lose:
A man I am cross’d with adversity;
My riches are these poor habiliments,
Of which if you should here disfurnish me,
15You take the sum and substance that I have.
Sec. Out.Whither travel you?
Val.To Verona.
First Out.Whencecame you?
Val.From Milan.
20Third Out.Have you long sojourned there?
Val.Some sixteen months, and longer might have stay’d,If crooked fortune had not thwarted me.
Val.Some sixteen months, and longer might have stay’d,
If crooked fortune had not thwarted me.
First Out.What, were you banish’d thence?
Val.I was.
IV. 1.25Sec. Out.For what offence?
Val.For that which now torments me to rehearse:I kill’d a man, whose death I much repent;But yet I slew him manfully in fight,Without false vantage or base treachery.
Val.For that which now torments me to rehearse:
I kill’d a man, whose death I much repent;
But yet I slew him manfully in fight,
Without false vantage or base treachery.
30First Out.Why, ne’er repent it, if it were done so.But were you banish’d for so small a fault?
30First Out.Why, ne’er repent it, if it were done so.
But were you banish’d for so small a fault?
Val.I was, and held me glad of such a doom.
Sec. Out.Have you the tongues?
Val.My youthful travel therein made me happy,35Or elseI often had beenmiserable.
Val.My youthful travel therein made me happy,
35Or elseI often had beenmiserable.
Third Out.By the bare scalp of Robin Hood’s fat friar,This fellow were a king for our wild faction!
Third Out.By the bare scalp of Robin Hood’s fat friar,
This fellow were a king for our wild faction!
First Out.We’ll have him. Sirs, a word.
Speed.Master, be one of them;it’s an honourable kind40of thievery.
Val.Peace, villain!
Sec. Out.Tell us this: have you anythingto take to?
Val.Nothing but my fortune.
Third Out.Know, then, that some of us are gentlemen,45Such as the fury of ungovern’d youthThrust from the company ofawfulmen:Myself was from Verona banishedFor practising to steal away a lady,An heir, and near alliedunto the duke.
Third Out.Know, then, that some of us are gentlemen,
45Such as the fury of ungovern’d youth
Thrust from the company ofawfulmen:
Myself was from Verona banished
For practising to steal away a lady,
An heir, and near alliedunto the duke.
IV. 1.50Sec. Out.And I from Mantua, for a gentleman,Who, in my mood, I stabb’d unto the heart.
IV. 1.50Sec. Out.And I from Mantua, for a gentleman,
Who, in my mood, I stabb’d unto the heart.
First Out.And I for such like petty crimes as these.But to the purpose,—for we cite our faults,That they may hold excused our lawless lives;55And partly, seeing you are beautifiedWith goodly shape, and by your own reportA linguist, and a man of such perfectionAs we do in our quality much want,—
First Out.And I for such like petty crimes as these.
But to the purpose,—for we cite our faults,
That they may hold excused our lawless lives;
55And partly, seeing you are beautified
With goodly shape, and by your own report
A linguist, and a man of such perfection
As we do in our quality much want,—
Sec. Out.Indeed, because you are a banish’d man,60Therefore, above the rest, we parley to you:Are you content to be our general?To make a virtue of necessity,And live, as we do, inthiswilderness?
Sec. Out.Indeed, because you are a banish’d man,
60Therefore, above the rest, we parley to you:
Are you content to be our general?
To make a virtue of necessity,
And live, as we do, inthiswilderness?
Third Out.What say’st thou? wilt thou be of our consort?65Say ay, and be the captain of us all:We’ll do thee homage and be ruled by thee,Love thee as our commander and our king.
Third Out.What say’st thou? wilt thou be of our consort?
65Say ay, and be the captain of us all:
We’ll do thee homage and be ruled by thee,
Love thee as our commander and our king.
First Out.But if thou scorn our courtesy, thou diest.
Sec. Out.Thou shalt not live to brag what we have offer’d.
70Val.I take your offer, and will live with you,Provided that you do no outragesOn silly women or poor passengers.
70Val.I take your offer, and will live with you,
Provided that you do no outrages
On silly women or poor passengers.
Third Out.No, we detest such vile base practices.Come, go with us, we’ll bring thee to ourcrews,IV. 1.75And show thee all the treasure we have got;Which, with ourselves,allrest at thy dispose.Exeunt.
Third Out.No, we detest such vile base practices.
Come, go with us, we’ll bring thee to ourcrews,
IV. 1.75And show thee all the treasure we have got;
Which, with ourselves,allrest at thy dispose.Exeunt.
Pro.Alreadyhave Ibeen false to Valentine,And now I must be as unjust to Thurio.Under the colour of commending him,I have access my own love to prefer:5But Silvia is too fair, too true, too holy,To be corrupted with my worthless gifts.When I protest true loyalty to her,She twits me with my falsehood to my friend;When to her beauty I commend my vows,10She bids me think how I have been forswornIn breaking faith with Julia whom I loved:And notwithstanding all her sudden quips,The least whereof would quell a lover’s hope,Yet, spaniel-like, the more she spurns my love,15The more it grows,andfawneth on her still.But here comes Thurio: now must we to her window,And give some evening music to her ear.
Pro.Alreadyhave Ibeen false to Valentine,
And now I must be as unjust to Thurio.
Under the colour of commending him,
I have access my own love to prefer:
5But Silvia is too fair, too true, too holy,
To be corrupted with my worthless gifts.
When I protest true loyalty to her,
She twits me with my falsehood to my friend;
When to her beauty I commend my vows,
10She bids me think how I have been forsworn
In breaking faith with Julia whom I loved:
And notwithstanding all her sudden quips,
The least whereof would quell a lover’s hope,
Yet, spaniel-like, the more she spurns my love,
15The more it grows,andfawneth on her still.
But here comes Thurio: now must we to her window,
And give some evening music to her ear.
Thu.How now, Sir Proteus, are you crept before us?
Pro.Ay, gentle Thurio; for you know that love20Will creep in service where it cannot go.
Pro.Ay, gentle Thurio; for you know that love
20Will creep in service where it cannot go.
Tim.Ay, but I hope, sir, that you love not here.
Pro.Sir, but I do; or else I would be hence.
Thu.Who? Silvia?
Pro.
Ay, Silvia; for your sake.
Thu.I thank you for your own. Now, gentlemen,IV. 2.25Let’stune, and to it lustily awhile.
Thu.I thank you for your own. Now, gentlemen,
IV. 2.25Let’stune, and to it lustily awhile.
Host.Now, my young guest, methinks you’reallycholly:I pray you, why is it?
Jul.Marry, mine host, because I cannot be merry.
Host.Come, we’ll have you merry: I’ll bring you30where you shall hear music, and see the gentleman that you asked for.
Jul.But shall I hear him speak?
Host.Ay, that you shall.
Jul.That will be music.Music plays.
35Host.Hark, hark!
Jul.Is he among these?
Host.Ay: but, peace! let’s hear ’em.
Who is Silvia? what is she,That all our swains commend her?40Holy, fair, and wiseis she;The heaven such grace did lend her,That she might admired be.
Who is Silvia? what is she,
That all our swains commend her?
Holy, fair, and wiseis she;
The heaven such grace did lend her,
That she might admired be.
Is she kind as she is fair?For beauty lives with kindness.45Love doth to her eyes repair,To help him of his blindness,And, being help’d, inhabits there.
Is she kind as she is fair?
For beauty lives with kindness.
Love doth to her eyes repair,
To help him of his blindness,
And, being help’d, inhabits there.
Then to Silvia let us sing,That Silvia is excelling;IV. 2.50Sheexcelseach mortal thingUpon the dull earth dwelling:To her let us garlands bring.
Then to Silvia let us sing,
That Silvia is excelling;
Sheexcelseach mortal thing
Upon the dull earth dwelling:
To her let us garlands bring.
Host.How now!are you sadder than you were before? How do you, man? the music likes you not.
55Jul.You mistake; the musician likes me not.
Host.Why, my pretty youth?
Jul.He plays false, father.
Host.How? out of tune on the strings?
Jul.Not so; but yet so false that he grieves my very60heart-strings.
Host.You have a quick ear.
Jul.Ay, I would I were deaf; it makes me have a slow heart.
Host.I perceive you delight not in music.
65Jul.Not a whit, when it jars so.
Host.Hark, what fine change is in the music!
Jul.Ay, that change is the spite.
Host.You wouldhave them always play but one thing?
Jul.I would always have one play but one thing.70But, host, doth this Sir Proteus that we talk onOften resort unto this gentlewoman?
Jul.I would always have one play but one thing.
70But, host, doth this Sir Proteus that we talk on
Often resort unto this gentlewoman?
Host.I tell you what Launce, his man, told me,—he loved her out of all nick.
Jul.Where is Launce?
IV. 2.75Host.Gone to seek his dog; which to-morrow, by his master’s command, he must carry for a present to his lady.
Jul.Peace! stand aside: the company parts.
Pro.Sir Thurio,fear not you: I will so plead,That you shall say my cunning drift excels.
Pro.Sir Thurio,fear not you: I will so plead,
That you shall say my cunning drift excels.
Thu.Where meet we?
Pro.
At Saint Gregory’s well.
80Thu.
Farewell.
Exeunt Thu. and Musicians.
Pro.Madam, good even to your ladyship.
Sil.I thank you for your music, gentlemen.Who is that that spake?
Sil.I thank you for your music, gentlemen.
Who is that that spake?
Pro.One, lady, if you knew his pure heart’s truth,85You wouldquickly learn to know him by his voice.
Pro.One, lady, if you knew his pure heart’s truth,
85You wouldquickly learn to know him by his voice.
Sil.Sir Proteus, as I take it.
Pro.Sir Proteus, gentle lady, and your servant.
Sil.What’syour will?
Pro.
That I may compass yours.
Sil.You have your wish; my will iseventhis:90That presently you hie you home to bed.Thou subtle, perjured, false, disloyal man!Think’st thou I am so shallow, so conceitless,To be seduced by thy flattery,That hast deceived so many with thy vows?95Return, return, and make thy love amends.For me,—by this pale queen of night I swear,I am so far from granting thy request,That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit;And by and by intend to chide myselfIV. 2.100Even for this time I spend in talking to thee.
Sil.You have your wish; my will iseventhis:
90That presently you hie you home to bed.
Thou subtle, perjured, false, disloyal man!
Think’st thou I am so shallow, so conceitless,
To be seduced by thy flattery,
That hast deceived so many with thy vows?
95Return, return, and make thy love amends.
For me,—by this pale queen of night I swear,
I am so far from granting thy request,
That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit;
And by and by intend to chide myself
IV. 2.100Even for this time I spend in talking to thee.
Pro.I grant, sweet love, that I did love a lady;But she is dead.
Pro.I grant, sweet love, that I did love a lady;
But she is dead.
Jul.[Aside]’Twere false, if I should speak it;For I am sure she is not buried.
Jul.[Aside]’Twere false, if I should speak it;
For I am sure she is not buried.
Sil.Say that she be; yet Valentine thy friend105Survives; to whom,thyselfart witness,I am betroth’d: and art thou not ashamedTo wrong him with thy importunacy?
Sil.Say that she be; yet Valentine thy friend
105Survives; to whom,thyselfart witness,
I am betroth’d: and art thou not ashamed
To wrong him with thy importunacy?
Pro.I likewise hear that Valentine is dead.
Sil.And so suppose am I; for inhisgrave110Assure thyself my love is buried.
Sil.And so suppose am I; for inhisgrave
110Assure thyself my love is buried.
Pro.Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth.
Sil.Go to thy lady’s grave, and callhersthence;Or, at the least, in hers sepulchre thine.
Sil.Go to thy lady’s grave, and callhersthence;
Or, at the least, in hers sepulchre thine.
Jul.[Aside]He heard not that.
115Pro.Madam,ifyour heart be soobdurate,Vouchsafeme yet your picturefor my love,The picture that is hanging in your chamber;To that I’ll speak, to that I’ll sigh and weep:For since the substance of your perfect self120Is else devoted, I am but a shadow;And to your shadow will I make true love.
115Pro.Madam,ifyour heart be soobdurate,
Vouchsafeme yet your picturefor my love,
The picture that is hanging in your chamber;
To that I’ll speak, to that I’ll sigh and weep:
For since the substance of your perfect self
120Is else devoted, I am but a shadow;
And to your shadow will I make true love.
Jul.[Aside]If ’twere a substance, you would, sure, deceive it,And make it but a shadow, as I am.
Jul.[Aside]If ’twere a substance, you would, sure, deceive it,
And make it but a shadow, as I am.
Sil.I am very loath to be your idol, sir;IV. 2.125Butsince your falsehood shallbecome you wellTo worship shadows and adore false shapes,Send to me in the morning, and I’ll send it:And so, good rest.
Sil.I am very loath to be your idol, sir;
IV. 2.125Butsince your falsehood shallbecome you well
To worship shadows and adore false shapes,
Send to me in the morning, and I’ll send it:
And so, good rest.
Pro.As wretches have o’ernightThat wait for execution in the morn.
Pro.
As wretches have o’ernight
That wait for execution in the morn.
Exeunt Pro. and Sil. severally.
130Jul.Host, will you go?
Host.By my halidom, I was fast asleep.
Jul.Pray you, where lies Sir Proteus?
Host.Marry, at my house. Trust me, I think ’tis almost day.
135Jul.Not so; but it hath been the longest nightThat e’er I watch’d, and the mostheaviest.Exeunt.
135Jul.Not so; but it hath been the longest night
That e’er I watch’d, and the mostheaviest.Exeunt.
Egl.This is the hour that Madam SilviaEntreated me to call and know her mind:There’s some great matter she’ld employ me in.Madam, madam!
Egl.This is the hour that Madam Silvia
Entreated me to call and know her mind:
There’s some great matter she’ld employ me in.
Madam, madam!
Sil.Who calls?
Sil.
Who calls?
Egl.Your servant and your friend;5One that attends your ladyship’s command.
Egl.
Your servant and your friend;
5One that attends your ladyship’s command.
Sil.Sir Eglamour, a thousand times good morrow.
Egl.As many, worthy lady, to yourself:
According to your ladyship’s impose,I am thus early come to know what service10It is your pleasure to command me in.
According to your ladyship’s impose,
I am thus early come to know what service
10It is your pleasure to command me in.
Sil.O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman,—Think not I flatter, for I swear I do not,—Valiant, wise, remorseful, well accomplish’d:Thou art not ignorant what dear good will15I bear unto the banish’d Valentine;Nor how my father would enforce me marryVain Thurio, whom my very soulabhors.Thyself hast loved; and I have heard thee sayNo grief didevercome sonearthy heart20As when thy lady and thy true love died,Upon whose grave thou vow’dst pure chastity.Sir Eglamour, I would to Valentine,To Mantua, where I hear he makes abode;And, for the ways are dangerous to pass,IV. 3.25I do desire thy worthy company,Upon whose faith and honour I repose.Urge not my father’s anger, Eglamour,But think upon my grief, a lady’s grief,And on the justice of my flying hence,30To keep me from a most unholy match,Which heaven and fortune stillrewardswith plagues.I do desire thee, even from a heartAs full of sorrows as the sea of sands,To bear me company, and go with me:35If not, to hide what I have said to thee,That I may venture to depart alone.
Sil.O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman,—
Think not I flatter, for I swear I do not,—
Valiant, wise, remorseful, well accomplish’d:
Thou art not ignorant what dear good will
15I bear unto the banish’d Valentine;
Nor how my father would enforce me marry
Vain Thurio, whom my very soulabhors.
Thyself hast loved; and I have heard thee say
No grief didevercome sonearthy heart
20As when thy lady and thy true love died,
Upon whose grave thou vow’dst pure chastity.
Sir Eglamour, I would to Valentine,
To Mantua, where I hear he makes abode;
And, for the ways are dangerous to pass,
IV. 3.25I do desire thy worthy company,
Upon whose faith and honour I repose.
Urge not my father’s anger, Eglamour,
But think upon my grief, a lady’s grief,
And on the justice of my flying hence,
30To keep me from a most unholy match,
Which heaven and fortune stillrewardswith plagues.
I do desire thee, even from a heart
As full of sorrows as the sea of sands,
To bear me company, and go with me:
35If not, to hide what I have said to thee,
That I may venture to depart alone.
Egl.Madam, I pity much yourgrievances;Whichsince I know they virtuously are placed,I give consent to go along with you;40Reckingas little what betideth meAs much I wish all good befortune you.When will you go?
Egl.Madam, I pity much yourgrievances;
Whichsince I know they virtuously are placed,
I give consent to go along with you;
40Reckingas little what betideth me
As much I wish all good befortune you.
When will you go?
Sil.
Thisevening coming.
Egl.Where shall I meet you?
Sil.At Friar Patrick’s cell,Where I intend holy confession.
Sil.
At Friar Patrick’s cell,
Where I intend holy confession.
45Egl.I will not fail your ladyship. Good morrow, gentle lady.
Sil.Good morrow, kind Sir Eglamour.
Exeunt severally.
Launce.When a man’s servant shall play the cur with him, look you, it goes hard: one that I brought up of a puppy; one that I saved from drowning, when three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went to it! I have5taught him, even as one would say precisely, ‘thus I would teach a dog.’I was sentto deliver him as a present to Mistress Silvia from my master; and I came no sooner into the dining-chamber, but he steps me to her trencher, and steals her capon’s leg: O, ’tis a foul thing when a cur10cannot keep himself in all companies! I would have, as one should say, one that takes upon himto be a dog indeed, to be, as it were, a dog at all things. If I had not had more wit than he, to take a fault upon me that he did, I think verily he had been hanged for’t: sure as I15live, he had suffered for’t: you shall judge. He thrusts me himself into the company of three or four gentleman-like dogs, under the duke’s table: he had not been there—bless the mark!—a pissing while, but all the chamber smelt him. ‘Out with the dog!’ says one: ‘What cur is20that?’ says another: ‘Whip him out,’ saysthe third: ‘Hang him up,’ says the duke. I, having been acquainted with the smell before, knew it was Crab, and goes me to the fellow that whips the dogs: ‘Friend,’ quoth I, ‘you meanto whip the dog?’ ‘Ay, marry, do I,’ quoth he. ‘YouIV. 4.25do him the more wrong,’ quoth I; ‘’twas I did the thing you wot of.’ Hemakes me no moreado, but whips me out of the chamber. How many masters would do this forhis servant? Nay, I’ll be sworn, I have sat in the stocks for puddings he hath stolen, otherwise he had been executed;30I have stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed, otherwise he had suffered for’t. Thou thinkest not of this now. Nay, I remember the trick you served me when I took my leave of MadamSilvia: did not I bid thee still mark me, and do as I do? when didst thou see me heave35up my leg, and make water against a gentlewoman’s farthingale? didst thou ever see me do such a trick?
Pro.Sebastian is thy name? I like thee well,And will employ thee in some service presently.
Pro.Sebastian is thy name? I like thee well,
And will employ thee in some service presently.
Jul.In what you please:I’ll dowhat I can.
40Pro.I hope thou wilt. [To Launce] How now, you whoreson peasant!Where have you been these two days loitering?
40Pro.I hope thou wilt. [To Launce] How now, you whoreson peasant!
Where have you been these two days loitering?
Launce.Marry, sir, I carried Mistress Silvia the dog you bade me.
Pro.And what says she to my little jewel?
45Launce.Marry, she says your dogwasa cur, and tells you currish thanks is good enough for such a present.
Pro.But she received my dog?
Launce.No, indeed,did shenot: here have I brought him back again.
IV. 4.50Pro.What, didst thou offer herthisfrom me?
Launce.Ay, sir;the other squirrelwas stolen from me by thehangman boysin the market-place: and then I offered her mine own, who is a dog as big as ten of yours, and therefore the gift the greater.
55Pro.Go get thee hence, and find my dog again,Or ne’er return again into my sight.Away, I say! stay’st thou to vex me here?Exit Launce.A slave, thatstill an endturns me to shame!Sebastian, I have entertained thee,60Partly that I have need of such a youth,That can with some discretion do my business,For ’tis no trusting to yond foolish lout;But chiefly for thy face and thy behaviour,Which, if my augury deceive me not,65Witness good bringing up, fortune, and truth:Thereforeknow thou, for this Ientertain thee.Go presently, and take this ring with thee,Deliver it to Madam Silvia:She loved me well deliver’d it to me.
55Pro.Go get thee hence, and find my dog again,
Or ne’er return again into my sight.
Away, I say! stay’st thou to vex me here?Exit Launce.
A slave, thatstill an endturns me to shame!
Sebastian, I have entertained thee,
60Partly that I have need of such a youth,
That can with some discretion do my business,
For ’tis no trusting to yond foolish lout;
But chiefly for thy face and thy behaviour,
Which, if my augury deceive me not,
65Witness good bringing up, fortune, and truth:
Thereforeknow thou, for this Ientertain thee.
Go presently, and take this ring with thee,
Deliver it to Madam Silvia:
She loved me well deliver’d it to me.
70Jul.It seems you loved not her,to leaveher token.She is dead, belike?
70Jul.It seems you loved not her,to leaveher token.
She is dead, belike?
Pro.
Not so; I think she lives.
Jul.Alas!
Pro.Why dost thou cry, ‘alas’?
Jul.I cannot chooseBut pity her.
Jul.
I cannot choose
But pity her.
Pro.
Whereforeshouldst thou pity her?
IV. 4.75Jul.Because methinksthatshe loved you as wellAs you do love your lady Silvia:She dreams on him that has forgot her love;You dote on her that cares not for your love.’Tis pity love should be so contrary;80And thinking on it makes me cry, ‘alas!’
IV. 4.75Jul.Because methinksthatshe loved you as well
As you do love your lady Silvia:
She dreams on him that has forgot her love;
You dote on her that cares not for your love.
’Tis pity love should be so contrary;
80And thinking on it makes me cry, ‘alas!’
Pro.Well,give herthat ring,and therewithalThis letter. That’s her chamber. Tell my ladyI claim the promise for her heavenly picture.Your message done, hie home unto my chamber,85Where thou shalt find me, sad and solitary.Exit.
Pro.Well,give herthat ring,and therewithal
This letter. That’s her chamber. Tell my lady
I claim the promise for her heavenly picture.
Your message done, hie home unto my chamber,
85Where thou shalt find me, sad and solitary.Exit.
Jul.How many women would do such a message?Alas, poor Proteus! thou hast entertainedA fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs.Alas, poor fool! why do I pity him90That with his very heart despiseth me?Because he loves her, he despiseth me;Because I love him, I must pity him.This ring I gave him when he parted from me,To bind him to remember my good will;95And nowam I, unhappy messenger,To plead for that which I would not obtain,To carry that which I would have refused,To praise his faith which I would have dispraised.I am my master’s true-confirmed love;IV. 4.100But cannot be true servant to my master,Unless I prove false traitor to myself.Yet will I woo for him, but yet so coldly,As, heaven it knows, I would not have him speed.EnterSilvia, attended.Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you, be my mean105To bring me where to speak with Madam Silvia.
Jul.How many women would do such a message?
Alas, poor Proteus! thou hast entertained
A fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs.
Alas, poor fool! why do I pity him
90That with his very heart despiseth me?
Because he loves her, he despiseth me;
Because I love him, I must pity him.
This ring I gave him when he parted from me,
To bind him to remember my good will;
95And nowam I, unhappy messenger,
To plead for that which I would not obtain,
To carry that which I would have refused,
To praise his faith which I would have dispraised.
I am my master’s true-confirmed love;
IV. 4.100But cannot be true servant to my master,
Unless I prove false traitor to myself.
Yet will I woo for him, but yet so coldly,
As, heaven it knows, I would not have him speed.
Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you, be my mean
105To bring me where to speak with Madam Silvia.
Sil.What would you with her, if that I be she?