The Works of Shakespeare

Not, indeed: He hence remov'd last night, and with more haste Than is his use. WID.

Lord, how we lose our pains!

HEL. All's well that ends well, yet; Though time seem so advérse, and means unfit.I do beseech you, whither is he gone?

GENT. Marry, as I take it, to Rousillon; Whither I am going.

HEL.

I do beseech you, sir, Since you are like to see the king before me, Commend the paper to his gracious hand; Which, I presume, shall render you no blame, But rather make you thank your pains for it. I will come after you, with what good speed Our means will make us means.

SCENE II.-Rousillon. The inner Court of the Countess's Palace.

Enter Clown and PAROLLES.

PAR. Good monsieur Lavatch, give my lord Lafeu this letter: I have ere now, sir, been better known to you, when I have held familiarity with fresher clothes; but I am now, sir, muddied in fortune's mood, and smell somewhat strong of her strong displeasure.

CLO. Truly, fortune's displeasure is but sluttish, if it smell so strong as thou speakest of: I will henceforth eat no fish of fortune's buttering. Pr'ythee, allow the wind.

PAR. Nay, you need not stop your nose, sir; I spake but by a metaphor.

CLO. Indeed, sir, if your metaphor stink, I will stop my nose; or against any man's metaphor. Pr'ythee, get thee further.

& Muddied in fortune's mood,-) Warburton reads, moat, and we have an impression that meat was the author's word.

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PAR. 'Pray you, sir, deliver me this paper. CLO. Foh! pr'ythee stand away; a paper from fortune's close-stool to give to a nobleman! Look, here he comes himself.

Enter LAFEU.

Here is a pur of fortune's, sir, or of fortune's cat, (but not a musk-cat,) that has fallen into the unclean fishpond of her displeasure, and, as he says, is muddied withal: pray you, sir, use the carp as you may, for he looks like a poor, decayed, ingenious, foolish, rascally knave. I do pity his distress in my smiles of comfort, and leave him to your lordship. [Exit Clown.

PAR. My lord, I am a man whom fortune hath cruelly scratched.

LAF. And what would you have me to do? 'tis too late to pare her nails now. Wherein have you played the knave with fortune, that she should scratch you, who of herself is a good lady, and would not have knaves thrive long under her? There's a quart d'écu for you: let the justices make you and fortune friends; I am for other business.

PAR. I beseech your honour, to hear me one single word.

LAF. You beg a single penny more: come, you shall ha't; save your word.

PAR. My name, my good lord, is Parolles.

LAF. You beg more than word, then. -Cox' my passion! give me your hand. How does your drum? PAR. O my good lord, you were the first that found me.

LAF. Was I, in sooth? and I was the first that lost thee.

PAR. It lies in you, my lord, to bring me in some grace, for you did bring me out.

LAF. Out upon thee, knave! dost thou put upon me at once both the office of God and the devil? one brings thee in grace, and the other brings thee out. [Trumpets sound.] The king's coming, I know by his trumpets. --Sirrah, inquire further after me; I had talk of you last night; though you are a fool and a knave, you shall eat; go to, follow. PAR. I praise God for you.

SCENE III. The same.

[Exeunt.

A Room in the

Countess's Palace.

Flourish. Enter KING, COUNTESS, LAFEU, Lords,
Gentlemen, Guards, &c.

KING. We lost a jewel of her; and our esteem stin Was made much poorer by it: but your son,

• And our esteem-) The sum of what we hold estimable. d Done i' the blade of youth; Theobald and Mr. Collier's annotator, read "blaze of youth."

• Repetition.-) That is, recrimination.

The inaudible and noiseless foot of time
Steals, ere we can effect them. You remember
The daughter of this lord?

BER. Admiringly, my liege: at first
I stuck my choice upon her, ere my heart
Durst make too bold a herald of my tongue:
Where the impression of mine eye infixing,
Contempt his scornful pérspective did lend me,
Which warp'd the line of every other favour;
Scorn'd a fair colour, or express'd it stol'n;
Extended or contracted all proportions,
To a most hideous object: thence it came, [self,
That she, whom all men prais'd, and whom my-
Since I have lost, have lov'd, was in mine eye
The dust that did offend it.
KING.

Well excus'd;

That thou didst love her, strikes some scores away
From the great compt: but love that comes too
late,

Like a remorseful pardon slowly carried,
To the great sender turns a sour offence,
Crying, That's good that's gone. Our rash faults
Make trivial price of serious things we have,
Not knowing them, until we know their grave:
Oft our displeasures, to ourselves unjust,
Destroy our friends, and after weep their dust:
Our own love waking cries to see what's done,
While shameful hate sleeps out the afternoon.
Be this sweet Helen's knell, and now forget her.
Send forth your amorous token for fair Maudlin:
The main consents are had, and here we'll stay
To see our widower's second marriage-day.

COUNT. Which better than the first, O dear
heaven, bless!

Or, ere they meet, in me O nature cesse !" [name
LAF. Come on, my son, in whom my house's

Must be digested, give a favour from you,
To sparkle in the spirits of my daughter,
That she may quickly come. By my old beard,
And every hair that's on't, Helen, that's dead,
Was a sweet creature; such a ring as this,
The last that c'er I took her leave at court,b

I saw upon her finger.

BER.

Hers it was not.

LAF.

I am sure, I saw her wear it. BER. You are deceiv'd, my lord, she never saw it.

In Florence was it from a casement thrown me,
Wrapp'd in a paper, which contain'd the name
Of her that threw it: noble she was, and thought
I stood ingag'd: but when I had subscrib'd
To mine own fortune, and inform'd her fully,
I could not answer in that course of honour
As she had made the overture, she ceas'd,
In heavy satisfaction, and would never
Receive the ring again.

That she would never put it from her finger,
Unless she gave it to yourself in bed,
(Where you have never come,) or sent it us
Upon her great disaster.

BER.

She never saw it.
KING. Thou speak'st it falsely, as I love mine
honour:

And mak'st conjectural fears to come into me,
Which I would fain shut out. If it should prove
That thou art so inhuman,-'twill not prove so ;-
And yet I know not:-thou didst hate her deadly,
And she is dead; which nothing, but to close
Her eyes myself, could win me to believe,
More than to see this ring. - Take him away.-
My fore-past proofs, howe'er the matter fall,

KING. Now, pray you, let me see it; for mine Shall tax my fears of little vanity,

eye,

While I was speaking, oft was fasten'd to 't.

This ring was mine; and, when I gave it Helen,

I bade her, if her fortunes ever stood

Necessitied to help, that by this token

Having vainly fear'd too little. - Away with him;–

We'll sift this matter further.

This ring was ever hers, you shall as easy

Prove that I husbanded her bed in Florence,

I would relieve her. Had you that craft, to 'reave Where yet she never was.

her

[Exit BERTRAM, guarded.

a Which better than the first, &c.] These two lines form part of the King's speech in the original. Theobald made the present arrangement.

The last that e'er I took her leave at court, -) Which means, The last time that ever I took leave of her at court.

c Ingag'd:] Ingaged is here used to imply unengaged, or disengaged, as the old writers employ inhabited to express uninhabited.

(*) Old text, Platus.

(1) First folio, connectural.

(1) First folio, taze.

d Shall tax my fears of little vanity,-] "The proofs which I have already had are sufficient to show that my fears were not vain and irrational, I have rather been hitherto more easy than I ought, and have unreasonably had too little fear." JOHNSON.

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Enter a Gentleman.

KING. I am wrapp'd in dismal thinkings.
GENT.
Gracious sovereign,
Whether I have been to blame, or no, I know not;
Here's a petition from a Florentine,

Who hath, for four or five removes, come short
To tender it herself. I undertook it,

Vanquish'd thereto by the fair grace and speech
Of the poor suppliant, who by this, I know,
Is here attending: her business looks in her
With an importing visage, and she told me,

and In a sweet verbal brief, it did concern
Your highness with herself.

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how

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KING. [Reads.] Upon his many protestations to marry me, when his wife was dead, I blush to say it, he won me. Now is the count Rousillon a

widower; his vows are forfeited to me, and my honour's paid to him. He stole from Florence, taking no leave, and I follow him to his country for justice. Grant it me, O king, in you it best lies; otherwise a seducer flourishes, and a poar maid is undone. DIANA CAPULET.

LAF. I will buy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll; for this, I'll none of him. [Lafeu,

KING. The heavens have thought well on thee, To bring forth this discovery. - Seek these

suitors :

Enter BERTRAM, guarded.

KING. I wonder, sir, since wives are monsters to you,

And that you fly them as you swear them lordship, ert Yet you desire to marry.

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DIA. I am, my lord, a wretched Florentine,
Derived from the ancient Capulet;
My suit, as I do understand, you know,
And therefore know how far I may be pitied.

Wm. I am her mother, sir, whose age and honour

Both suffer under this complaint we bring,
And both shall cease, without your remedy.

further?

BER. My lord, I neither can, nor will deny But that I know them. Do they charge me [wife? DIA. Why do you look so strange upon your BER. She's none of mine, my lord. DIA.

If you shall marry,

You give away this hand, and that is mine;
You give away heaven's vows, and those are mine;
You give away myself, which is known mine;
For I by vow am so embodied yours,

That she, which marries you, must marry me,
Either both or none.

LAF. Your reputation [TO BERTRAM.] comes too short for my daughter, you are no husband for her.

BER. My lord, this is a fond and desperate
creature,
[highness

Whom sometime I have laugh'd with: let your
Lay a more noble thought upon mine honour,

Than for to think that I would sink it here.

KING. Sir, for my thoughts, you have them ill to friend, [honour, Till your deeds gain them: fairer prove your Than in my thought it lies! Good my lord, Ask him upon his oath, if he does think He had not my virginity.

DIA.

KING. What say'st thou to her? BER.

She's impudent, my lord,

And was a common gamester to the camp.

DIA. He does me wrong, my lord; if I were so,
He might have bought me at a common price:
Do not believe him: O, behold this ring,
Whose high respect, and rich validity,
Did lack a parallel; yet, for all that,
He gave it to a commoner o' the camp,
If I be one.

COUNT. He blushes, and 'tis it:
Of six preceding ancestors, that gem
Conferr'd by testament to the sequent issue,
Hath it been ow'd and worn.

That ring's a thousand proofs.
KING.

KING. Come hither, count; do you know these With all the spots o' the world tax'd and debosh'd;

women?

Whose nature sickens, but to speak a truth.

201 1330

a Whether I have been to blame,-] The original has "too blame," and the same reading occurs so frequently in the early editions of these plays, as to raise a doubt whether "too blame," was not an expression of the time. In "Henry IV." First Part, Act III. Scene 1, it will be remembered, we have:-"You are too wilful blame."

b I wonder, sir, since wives, &c.] The old text is, "I wonder, sir, sir, wives," &c. The correction is due to Tyrwhitt.

c Re-enter, &c.] In the ancient stage direction, "Enter Widow, Diana, and Parolles."

Am I or that, or this, for what he'll utter,
That will speak any thing?

KING.

She hath that ring of yours.
BER. I think, she has: certain it is, I lik'd her,

And boarded her i' the wanton way of youth:
She knew her distance, and did angle for me,
Madding my eagerness with her restraint,
As all impediments in fancy's course

Are motives of more fancy; and, in fine,
Her infinite cunning with her modern grace,
Subdued me to her rate; she got the ring,
And I had that, which any inferior might
At market-price have bought.

DIA.

I must be patient;

Ay, my lord.

KING. Tell me, sirrah, but, tell me true, I
charge you,

Not fearing the displeasure of your master,
(Which, on your just proceeding, I'll keep off,)
By him, and by this woman here, what know you?

PAR. So please your majesty, my master hath been an honourable gentleman; tricks he hath had in him, which gentlemen have.

KING. Come, come, to the purpose: did he love this woman?

PAR. 'Faith, sir, he did love her; but how!
KING. How, I pray you?
[a woman.
PAR. He did love her, sir, as a gentleman loves
KING. How is that?

PAR. He loved her, sir, and loved her not.

PAR. I am a poor man, and at your majesty's command.

LAF. He's a good drum, my lord, but a naughty

orator.

DIA. Do you know, he promised me marriage? PAR. 'Faith, I know more than I'll speak. KING. But wilt thou not speak all thou know'st? PAR. Yes, so please your majesty; I did go between them, as I said; but more than that, he loved her-for, indeed, he was mad for her, and talked of Satan, and of limbo, and of furies, and I know not what: yet I was in that credit with them at that time, that I knew of their going to bed, and of other motions, as, promising her marriage, and things that would derive me ill-will to speak of, therefore I will not speak what I know.

KING. Thou hast spoken all already, unless thou canst say they are married. But thou art too fine in thy evidence; therefore stand aside.This ring, you say, was yours?

DIA.

Ay, my good lord.

KING. Where did you buy it? or who gave it
you?

DIA. It was not given me, nor I did not buy it.
KING. Who lent it you?

DIA.

It was not lent mo neither.

KING. Where did you find it then?

DIA.

I found it not.

KING. If it were yours by none of all these

ways,

How could you give it him?

DIA.

I never gave it him.

LAF. This woman's an easy glove, any lord; she goes off and on at pleasure.

KING. This ring was mine, I gave it his first
wife.
[know.
DIA. It might be yours, or hers, for aught [
KING. Take her away, I do not like her now;
To prison with her, and away with him.-
Unless thou tell'st me where thou hadst this ring,
Thou diest within this hour.

I'll put in bail, my liegu.
KING. I think thee now some common customer.
DIA. By Jove, if ever I knew man, 't was you.
KING. Wherefore hast thou accus'd him all this
while?

DIA. Because he's guilty, and he is not guilty;
He knows I am no maid, and he'll swear to't:
I'll swear, I am a maid, and he knows not.
Great king, I am no strumpet, by my life;

KING. As thou art a knave, and no knave: - I am either maid, or else this old man's wife. what an equivocal companion is this?

[Pointing to LLAFEC.

a Her infinite cunning with her modern grace,-] The old copy reads, "Her insuite comming," &c. The extremely happy emendation in the text was first suggested by the late Mr. Sidney Walker, and has since been found among the annotations of Mr. Collier's "Old Corrector."

b Too fine in thy evidence;) Trop fine, too full of finesse. c Customer.] Customer was a term applied to a loose wom in. Thus, in "Othello," Act IV. Sc. 1:

"I marry her! what? a customer."

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The Works of Shakespeare, Volume 2