1 Lord. That time serves still.

Apem. The most accursed thou,' that still omit'st it. 2 Lord. Thou art going to lord Timon's feast? Apem. Ay; to see meat fill knaves, and wine heat fools.

2 Lord. Fare thee well, fare thee well.

Apem. Thou art a fool, to bid me farewell twice. 2 Lord. Why, Apemantus?

Apem. Should'st have kept one to thyself, for I mean to give thee none.

1 Lord. Hang thyself.

Apem. No, I will do nothing at thy bidding; make thy requests to thy friend.

2 Lord. Away, unpeaceable dog, or I'll spurn thee

hence.

Apem. I will fly, like a dog, the heels of the ass.

[Exit.

1 Lord. He's opposite to humanity. Come, shall we in,

And taste lord Timon's bounty? he outgoes
The very heart of kindness.

2 Lord. He pours it out. Plutus, the god of gold, Is but his steward: no meed, but he repays

2

Sevenfold above itself; no gift to him,

But breeds the giver a return exceeding

All use of quittance.3

1 Lord.

The noblest mind he carries,

That ever governed man.

2 Lord. Long may he live in fortunes! Shall we in? 1 Lord. I'll keep you company.

1 Ritson says we should read:

"The more accursed thou."

2 Meed here means desert.

[Exeunt.

3 i. e. all the customary returns made in discharge of obligations.

SCENE II. The same. A Room of State in Timon's House. Hautboys playing loud music. A great banquet served in; FLAVIUS and others attending.

Then enter TIMON, ALCIBIADES, LUCIUS, LUCULLUS, SEMPRONIUS, and other Athenian Senators, with VENTIDIUS, and Attendants.-Then comes, dropping after all, APEMANTUS, discontentedly.

Ven. Most honored Timon, 't hath pleased the gods to remember

My father's age, and call him to long peace.
He is gone happy, and has left me rich :
Then, as in grateful virtue I am bound
To your free heart, I do return those talents,
Doubled, with thanks and service, from whose help
I derived liberty.

Tim.

O, by no means,

Honest Ventidius: you mistake my love:

I gave it freely ever; and there's none

Can truly say, he gives, if he receives:

If our betters play at that game, we must not dare
To imitate them. Faults that are rich, are fair.1
1
Ven. A noble spirit.

[They all stand, ceremoniously, looking on

TIMON.

Tim. Nay, my lords, ceremony

Was but devised at first to set a gloss

On faint deeds, hollow welcomes,

Recanting goodness, sorry ere 'tis shown;

But where there is true friendship, there needs none.

Pray, sit; more welcome are ye to my fortunes,

Than my fortunes to me.

[They sit.

1 Lord. My lord, we always have confessed it. Apem. Ho, ho, confessed it? hanged it,2 have you

not?

1 «The faults of rich persons wear a plausible appearance.”

2 There seems to be some allusion to a common proverbial saying of Shakspeare's time, "Confess and be hanged."

Tim. O Apemantus! you are welcome.
Apem.

You shall not make me welcome.

I come to have thee thrust me out of doors.

No,

Tim. Fie! thou art a churl: you have got a humor

there

Does not become a man; 'tis much to blame :

They say, my lords, Ira furor brevis est ;

But yond' man's ever angry.

1

Go, let him have a table by himself;
For he does neither áffect company,

Nor is he fit for it, indeed.

Apem. Let me stay at thine apperil,2 Timon; I come to observe; I give thee warning on't.

Tim. I take no heed of thee; thou art an Athenian ; therefore welcome; I myself would have no power: pr'ythee, let my meat make thee silent.

Apem. I scorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for 3
I should

Ne'er flatter thee.-O you gods! what a number
Of men eat Timon, and he sees them not!
It grieves me, to see so many dip their meat
In one man's blood; and all the madness is,
He cheers them up too.

I wonder men dare trust themselves with men.

4

Methinks they should invite them without knives ;
Good for their meat, and safer for their lives.
There's much example for't; the fellow that
Sits next him now, parts bread with him, and pledges
The breath of him in a divided draught,

Is the readiest man to kill him: it has been proved.
If I

Were a huge man, I should fear to drink at meals,

1 The old copy reads, "Yond' man's very angry.

2 Steevens and Malone dismissed apperil from the text, and inserted own peril; but Mr. Gifford has shown that the word occurs several times in Ben Jonson:

"Sir, I will bail you at mine own apperil.”

3 For in the sense of cause or because.

Devil is an Ass.

4 It was the custom, in old times, for every guest to bring his own knife,

4

Lest they should spy my windpipe's dangerous notes;
Great men should drink with harness 2 on their throats.
Tim. My lord, in heart; 3 and let the health go round.
2 Lord. Let it flow this way, my good lord.
Apem.
Flow this way!
A brave fellow!-he keeps his tides well. Timon,*
Those healths will make thee, and thy state, look ill.
Here's that which is too weak to be a sinner,
Honest water, which ne'er left man i'the mire.
This, and my food, are equals; there's no odds.
Feasts are too proud to give thanks to the gods.

APEMANTUS'S GRACE.

Immortal gods, I crave no pelf;
I pray for no man but myself.
Grant, I may never prove so fond 5
To trust man on his oath or bond;
Or a harlot for her weeping;
Or a dog, that seems a sleeping;
Or a keeper with my freedom;
Or my friends, if I should need 'em.
Amen. So fall to't;

Rich men sin, and I eat root.

6

[Eats and drinks.

Much good dich thy good heart, Apemantus!
Tim. Captain Alcibiades, your heart's in the field

now.

Alcib. My heart is ever at your service, my lord. Tim. You had rather be at a breakfast of enemies, than a dinner of friends.

1

1 "The windpipe's notes" were the indications in the throat of its situation when in the act of drinking. Perhaps, as Steevens observes, a quibble is intended on windpipe and notes.

2 i. e. armor.

3 "My lord's health in sincerity."

4 This speech, except the concluding couplet, is printed as prose in the old copy, nor could it be exhibited as verse without transposing the word Timon, which follows look ill, to its present place. Malone thinks that many of the speeches in this play, which are now exhibited in a loose and imperfect kind of metre, were intended by Shakspeare for prose, in which form they are exhibited in the old copy.

5 Foolish.

6 i. e. do it.

Alcib. So they were bleeding new, my lord, there's no meat like them; I could wish my best friend at such a feast.

Apem. 'Would all those flatterers were thine enemies then; that then thou might'st kill 'em, and bid me to 'em.

1 Lord. Might we but have that happiness, my lord, that you would once use our hearts, whereby we might express some part of our zeals, we should think ourselves forever perfect.'

2

Tim. O, no doubt, my good friends, but the gods themselves have provided that I shall have much help from you. How had you been my friends else? Why have you that charitable title from thousands, did you not chiefly belong to my heart? I have told more of you to myself, than you can with modesty speak in your own behalf; and thus far I confirm you. O, you gods, think I, what need we have any friends, if we should never have need of them? they were the most needless creatures living, should we ne'er have use for them; and would most resemble sweet instruments hung up in cases, that keep their sounds to themselves. Why, I have often wished myself poorer, that I might come nearer to you. We are born to do benefits; and what better or properer can we call our own, than the riches of our friends? O, what a precious comfort 'tis to have so many, like brothers, commanding one another's fortunes! O joy, e'en made away ere it can be born! Mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks; to forget their faults, I drink to you.

3

Apem. Thou weepest to make them drink, Timon. 2 Lord. Joy had the like conception in our eyes, And, at that instant, like a babe sprung up.

Apem. Ho, ho! I laugh to think that babe a bastard. 3 Lord. I promise you, my lord, you moved me much.

1 i. e. arrived at the perfection of happiness.

2 "Why are you distinguished from thousands, by that title of endearment?

3 "O joy! e'en made away [i. e. destroyed, turned to tears] ere it can be born."