Enter LE BEAU.

O poor Orlando! thou art overthrown;

Or Charles, or something weaker, masters thee. 436
Le Beau. Good sir, I do in friendship counsel you
To leave this place: Albeit you have deserv'd
High commendation, true applause, and love;
Yet such is now the duke's condition,

That he misconstrues all that you have done.
The duke is humourous; what he is, indeed,
More suits you to conceive, than me to speak of.
Orla. I thank you, sir: and, pray you, tell ine

this;

Which of the two was daughter of the duke
That here was at the wrestling?

449

Le Beau. Neither his daughter, if we judge by

manners;

But yet, indeed, the shorter is his daughter :
The other is daughter to the banish'd duke,
And here detain'd by her usurping uncle,
To keep his daughter company; whose loves
Are dearer than the natural bond of sisters.
But I can tell you, that of late this duke
Hath ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece;
Grounded upon no other argument,

But that the people praise her for her virtues,
And pity her for her good father's sake;
And, on my life, his malice 'gainst the lady
Will suddenly break forth.-Sir, fare you well;
Hereafter, in a better world than this,

Ciij

450

I shall

I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.

[Exit.

Orla. I rest much bounden to you: fare you well! Thus must I from the smoke into the smother; From tyrant duke, unto a tyrant brother :— But heavenly Rosalind!

[Exit.

SCENE III.

An Apartment in the Palace. Enter CELIA, and

ROSALIND.

Cel. Why, cousin; why, Rosalind;-Cupid have mercy! Not a word?

Ros. Not one to throw at a dog.

461

Cel. No, thy words are too precious to be cast away upon curs, throw some of them at me; come,

lame me with reasons.

Ros. Then there were two cousins laid up; when the one should be lam'd with reasons, and the other mad without any.

Cel. But is all this for your father?

Ros. No, some of it is for my child's father: Oh, how full of briars is this working-day world! 471 Cel. They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery; if we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them.

Ros. I could shake them off my coat; these burs are in my heart.

Cel.

Cel. Hem them away.

Ros. I would try; if I could cry, hem, and have him.

Cel. Come, come, wrestle with thy affections. 480 Ros. O, they take the part of a better wrestler than myself.

Cel. O, a good wish upon you! you will try in time, in despight of a fall.-But, turning these jests. out of service, let us talk in good earnest: Is it possible on such a sudden you should fall into so strong a liking with old Sir Rowland's youngest son ?

Ros. The duke my father lov'd his father dearly. Cel. Doth it therefore ensue, that you should love his son dearly? By this kind of chase, I should hate him, for my father hated his father dearly; yet I hate not Orlando.

492

Ros. No, faith, hate him not, for my sake.
Cel. Why should I not? doth he not deserve well?

Enter Duke, with Lords.

Ros. Let me love him for that; and do you love him, because I do :-Look, here comes the duke. Cel. With his eyes full of anger.

Duke. Mistress, dispatch you with your safest haste,

And get you from our court.

Ros. Me, uncle?

Duke. You, cousin :

Within these ten days if that thou be'st found
So near our publick court as twenty miles,
Thou diest for it.

500

Ros.

Ros. I do beseech your grace,

Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me:
If with myself I hold intelligence,

Or have acquaintance with my own desires;
If that I do not dream, or be not frantick
(As I do trust, I am not), then, dear uncle,
Never, so much as in a thought unborn,
Did I offend your highness.

Duke. Thus do all traitors;

If their purgation did consist in words,
They are as innocent as grace itself :-
Let it suffice thee, that I trust thee not.

516

Ros. Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor : Tell me, whereon the likelihood depends.

enough.

Ros. So was I when your highness took his duke

dom;

So was I, when your highness banish'd him :
Treason is not inherited, my lord;

Or, if we did derive it from our friends,
What's that to me my father was no traitor:
Then, good my liege, mistake me not so much,
To think my poverty is treacherous.

Cel. Dear sovereign, hear me speak.

520

Duke. Ay, Celia; we but stay'd her for your sake,

Else had she with her father rang'd along.

530

Cel. I did not then entreat to have her stay,

It was your pleasure, and your own remorse;
I was too young that time to value her,

But

But now I know her: if she be a traitor,
Why so am I; we still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learn'd, play'd, eat together;
And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans,
Still we went coupled, and inseparable.

Duke. She is too subtle for thee; and her smooth

ness,

Her very silence, and her patience,

Speak to the people, and they pity her.

Thou art a fool: she robs thee of thy name;

540

And thou wilt show more bright, and seem more vir

tuous,

When she is gone: then open not thy lips;

Firm and irrevocable is my doom

Which I have past upon her; she is banish'd.

Cel. Pronounce that sentence then on me, my

liege;

I cannot live out of her company.

Duke. You are a fool;-You, niece, provide your

self;

If you out-stay the time, upon mine honour,
And in the greatness of my word, you die.

550

[Exeunt Duke, &c.

Cel. O my poor Rosalind! whither wilt thou go? Wilt thou change fathers? I will give thee mine. I charge thee, be not thou more griev'd than I am. Ros. I have more cause.

Cel. Thou hast not, cousin ;

Pr'ythee, be cheerful: know'st thou not, the duke Hath banish'd me his daughter?

Ros.