Val. No more; unless the next word that thou speak'st Have some malignant power upon my life: [boy, Pro. Go, sirrah, find him out. Come, Valentine. Val. O, my dear Silvia! hapless Valentine! [Exeunt VALENTINE and PROTEUS. Launce. I am but a fool, look you, and yet I have the wit to think, my master is a kind of a knave; but that's all one, if he be but one knave. He lives not now, that knows me to be in love: yet I am in love; but a team of horse shall not pluck that from me, nor who 'tis I love; and yet 'tis a woman: but what woman, I will not tell myself. Enter SPEED. Speed. How now, Signior Launce? what news with your mastership? Launce. With my master's ship? why, it is at sea. Speed. Well, your old vice still; mistake the What news, then, in your paper? [word. Launce. The black'st news that ever thou Speed. Why, man, how black? [heard'st. Launce. Why, as black as ink. Speed. Let me read them. [read. Launce. Fie on thee, jolt-head! thou canst not Speed. Come, fool, come: try me in thy paper. Speed. "Item: She brews good ale." Launce. That's as much as to say,-Can she so? Speed. Here follow her vices. Launce. Close at the heels of her virtues. Speed. "Item: She doth talk in her sleep." Launce. It's no matter for that, so she sleep not in her talk. Speed. "Item: She is slow in words." Launce. O villain! that set this down among her vices. To be slow in words is a woman's only virtue: I pray thee, out with't, and place it for her chief virtue. Speed." Item: She is proud." Launce. Out with that too: it was Eve's legacy, and cannot be ta'en from her. Speed. "Item: She hath no teeth." Launce. I care not for that neither, because I love crusts. Speed. "Item: She is curst." [to bite. Launce. Well; the best is, she hath no teeth Speed. "Item: She will often praise her liquor." Launce. If her liquor be good, she shall: if she will not, I will; for good things should be Speed. "Item: She is too liberal." [praised. Launce. Of her tongue she cannot; for that's writ down she is slow of: of her purse she shall not; for that I'll keep shut. What's next? Speed. "Item: She hath more faults than hairs," Launce. That's monstrous: O, that that were Speed." and more wealth than faults." [out! Launce. Why that word makes the faults gracious. Well, I'll have her; and if it be a match, as nothing is impossible, Speed. What then? Launce. Why, then will I tell thee,-that thy master stays for thee at the North-gate. Speed. For me? Launce. For thee? ay; who art thou? he hath stay'd for a better man than thee. Speed. And must I go to him? Launce. Thou must run to him; for thou hast stay'd so long, that going will scarce serve the turn. Speed. Why didst not tell me sooner? plague of your love-letters! [Exit. Launce. Now will he be swing'd for reading my letter. An unmannerly slave, that will thrust himself into secrets. I'll after, to rejoice in the boy's correction. [Exit. SCENE II.-The Same. An Apartment in the DUKE's Palace. Enter DUKE and THURIO; PROTEUS behind. Duke. Sir Thurio, fear not but that she will love you, Now Valentine is banished from her sight. Duke. This weak impress of love is as a figure Pro. Gone, my good lord. Duke. My daughter takes his going grievously. Pro. A little time, my lord, will kill that grief. Duke. So I believe; but Thurio thinks not so. Proteus, the good conceit I hold of thee, (For thou hast shown some sign of good desert) Makes me the better to confer with thee. Pro. Longer than I prove loyal to your Grace, Let me not live to look upon your Grace. [effect Duke. Thou know'st how willingly I would The match between Sir Thurio and my daughter? Pro. I do, my lord. Duke. And also, I think, thou art not ignorant How she opposes her against my will? [here. Pro. She did, my lord, when Valentine was Duke. Ay, and perversely she perseveres so. What might we do to make the girl forget The love of Valentine, and love Sir Thurio? 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 Pro. Ay, if his enemy deliver it: [hate. Therefore, it must, with circumstance, be spoken By one whom she esteemeth as his friend Duke. Then you must undertake to slander him. Pro. And that, my lord, I shall be loath to do: 'Tis an ill office for a gentleman; Especially, against his very friend. [him, Duke. Where your good word cannot advantage 1 Out. That's not so, sir: we are your enemies. 2 Out. Peace! we'll hear him. [proper man. 3 Out. Ay, by my beard, will we; for he is a Val. Then know, that I have little wealth to [lose. Pro. You have prevail'd, my lord. If I can do it, A man I am, cross'd with adversity; By aught that I can speak in his dispraise, It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio. [him, And cannot soon revolt, and change your mind. Pro. Say, that upon the altar of her beauty For Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews, To sort some gentlemen well skill'd in music. [supper, Pro. We'll wait upon your Grace till after Act Fourth. [Exeunt. SCENE I.-A Forest near Milan. Enter certain Outlaws. 1 Out. FELLOWs, stand fast: I see a passenger. [with 'em. 2 Out. If there be ten, shrink not, but down Enter VALENTINE and Speed. My riches are these poor habiliments, 1 Out. Whence came you? 3 Out. Have you long sojourn'd there? If crooked fortune had not thwarted me. 2 Out. For what offence? 3 Out. By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat This fellow were a king for our wild faction. [friar, 1 Out. We'll have him. Sirs, a word. Speed. Master, be one of them: it's an honVal. Peace villian! [ourable kidd of thievery. 2 Out. Tell us this: have you any thing to take Val. Nothing, but my fortune. [to? 3 Out. Know then, that some of us are gentleSuch as the fury of ungovern'd youth Thrust from the company of awful men. [men, 1 Out. But to the purpose,-you are beautifi'd 2 Out. Indeed, because you are a banish'a man, [have offer'd. 2 Out. Thou shalt not live to brag what we Val. I take your offer, and will live with you; Provided that you do no outrages On silly women, or poor passengers. 3 Out. No; we detest such vile, base practices. SCENE II.-Milan. The Court of the Palace. Pro. Already have I been false to Valentine, 3 Out. Stand, sir, and throw us that you have But Silvia is too fair, too true, too holy, about you; If not, we'll make you sit, and rifle you. To be corrupted with my worthless gifts. In breaking faith with Julia whom I lov'd: Enter THURIO and Musicians. Thu. How now, Sir Proteus! are you crept before us? Pro. Ay, gentle Thurio; for you know, that love Will creep in service where it cannot go. Thu. 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. [men, Thu. I thank you for your own. Now, gentleLet's tune, and to it lustily a while. Enter, at a distance, Host, with JULIA in boy's clothes. Song. Who is Silvia? what is she, That all our swains commend her? The heaven such grace did lend her, Is she kind, as she is fair, For beauty lives with kindness? To help him of his blindness; That Silvia is excelling; Upon the dull earth dwelling: Host. How now! are you sadder than you were Host. How? out of tune on the strings? Jul. Not so; but yet so false, that he grieves my very heart -strings. Host. You have a quick ear. [have a slow heart. Host. Hark! what fine change is in the music. Tul. Ay, that change is the spite. [one thing? Host. You would have them always play but Jul. I would always have one play but one thing. But, 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 lov'd her out of all nick. Jul. Where is Launce? Host. 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, Pro. At Saint Gregory's well. Pro. Madam, good even to your ladyship. That I may compass yours. Sil. You have your wish: my will is even this, That presently you hie you home to bed. Thou subtle, perjur'd, false, disloyal man! To be seduced by thy flattery, Pro. Think'st thou, I am so shallow, so con[ceitless, That hast deceiv'd so many with thy vows? Return, 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, Even 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. "Twere false, if I should speak it; For, I am sure, she is not buried. Sil. Say, that she be; yet Valentine, thy friend, Survives, to whom thyself art witness I am betroth'd; and art thou not asham'd Pro. I likewise hear that Valentine is dead. Sil. And so, suppose, am I; for in his grave, Assure thyself, my love is buried. Pro. Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth. Sil. Go to thy lady's grave, and call her's thence; Or, at the least, in her's sepulchre thine. Jul. He heard not that. Pro. Madam, if your heart be so obdurate, Vouchsafe me yet your pieture for 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 Is else devoted, I am but a shadow, And to your shadow will I make true love. Jul. If 'twere a substance, you would, sure, And make it but a shadow, as I am. [deceive it, Sil. I am very loath to be your idol, sir; But, since your falsehood shall become you well To worship shadows, and adore false shapes, Send to me in the morning, and I'll send it. And so, good rest. [SILVIA retires. Pro. As wretches have o'er night, That wait for execution in the morn. [Exit PRO. Jul. 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. Jul. Not so; but it hath been the longest night That e'er I watch'd, and the most heaviest. [Exit. SCENE III.-The Same. Enter EGLAMOUR. Egl. This is the hour that Madam Silvia Entreated me to call, and know her mind. Madam, madam! There's some great matter she'd employ me in. SILVIA appears at her window. Sil. Who calls? ; Egl. Sil. O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman, Nor how my father would enforce me marry To keep me from a most unholy match, [plagues. Egl. Madam, I pity much your grievances; I give consent to go along with you; As much I wish all good befortune you. Sil. This evening coming. Egl. Where shall I meet you! Sil. At Friar Patrick's cell, Egl. I will not fail your ladyship. Where I intend holy confession. Good morrow, gentle lady. Pro. I hope thou wilt.-How, now, you idle 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? Launce. Marry, she says, your dog was a cur; and tells you, currish thanks is good enough for such a present. Pro. But she receiv'd my dog? Launce. No, indeed, did she not. Here have I brought him back again. Pro. What! didst thou offer her this from me? Launce. Ay, sir: the other squirrel was stolen from me by the hangman boys in the marketplace; and then I offer'd her mine own, who is a dog as big as ten of yours, and therefore the gift the greater. Pro. Go; get thee hence, and find my dog again, Pro. Why dost thou cry, alas! Jul. I cannot choose but pity her. Pro. Wherefore should'st thou pity her ? [well As you do love your lady Silvia. She dreams on him that has forgot her love; Sil. Good morrow, kind Sir Eglamour. [ Ereunt. | Tis pity, love should be so contrary; SCENE IV.-The Same. Enter LAUNCE and Crab. 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 sav'd from drowning, when three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went to it. I have taught him, even as one would say precisely, thus I would teach a dog. I was sent to 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 cur cannot keep himself in all companies. I would have, as one should say, one that takes upon him to 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 hang'd for't: sure as I live, he had suffer'd for't. I have sat in the stocks for puddings he hath stolen; otherwise he had been executed: I have stood on the pillory for geese he hath kill'd; otherwise he had suffer'd for't: thou think'st not of this now! Enter PROTEUS and JULIA. Pro. Sebastian is thy name? I like thee well, And will employ thee in some service presently. Jul. In what you please :-I'll do what I can. And thinking on it makes me cry, alas! Pro. Well, give her that ring; and therewithal Alas, poor Proteus! thou hast entertain'd Enter SILVIA, attended. Gentlewoman, good day. I pray you, be my mean Sil. What would you with her, if that I be she? Jul. If you be she, I do entreat your patience Jul. From my master, Sir Proteus, madam. Sil. Ursula, bring my picture there. [A picture brought. Go, give your master this: tell him from me, One Julia, that his changing thoughts forget, Would better fit his chamber, than this shadow. Jul. Madam, please you peruse this letter.Pardon me, madam, I have unadvis'd Deliver'd you a paper that I should not: This is the letter to your ladyship. Sil. I pray thee, let me look on that again. I will not look upon your master's lines: Jul. Madam, he sends your ladyship this ring. Sil. What say'st thou ? Jul. I thank you, madam, that you tender her. Poor gentlewoman! my master wrongs her much. Sil. Dost thou know her? Jul. Almost as well as I do know myself: To think upon her woes, I do protest, That I have wept a hundred several times. Sil. Belike, she thinks, that Proteus hath forsook her. [sorrow. Jul. I think she doth, and that's her cause of Sil. Is she not passing fair? Jul. She hath been fairer, madam, than she is. When she did think my master lov'd her well, She, in my judgment, was as fair as you; But since she did neglect her looking-glass, And threw her sun-expelling mask away, The air hath starv'd the roses in her cheeks, And pinch'd the lily-tincture of her face, That now she is become as black as I. Sil. How tall was she? Jul. About my stature; for, at Pentecost, When all our pageants of delight were play'd, Our youth got me to play the woman's part; And I was trimm'd in Madam Julia's gown, Which served me as fit, by all men's judgments, As if the garment had been made for me: Therefore, I know she is about my height. And at that time I made her weep a-good, For I did play a lamentable part. Madam, 'twas Ariadne, passioning For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight; Which I so lively acted with my tears, That my poor mistress, moved therewithal, Wept bitterly; and, would I might be dead, If I in thought felt not her very sorrow. Sil. She is beholden to thee, gentle youth.Alas, poor lady! desolate and left!I weep myself, to think upon thy words. Here, youth; there is my purse: I give thee this For thy sweet mistress' sake, because thou lov'st her. Alas, how love can trifle with itself! If this fond Love were not a blinded god? Act Fifth. SCENE I.-The Same. An Abbey. Egl. THE sun begins to gild the western sky, And now it is about the very hour, That Silvia at Friar Patrick's cell should meet me. Enter SILVIA. See, where she comes!-Lady, a happy evening. I fear, I am attended by some spies. Egl. Fear not the forest is not three leagues If we recover that, we are sure enough. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-The Same. A Room in the DUKE's Palace. Enter THURIO, PROTEUS, and JULIA. Thu. Sir Proteus, what says Silvia to my suit? Pro. O, sir! I find her milder than she was; And yet she takes exceptions at your person. Thu. What, that my leg is too long? Pro. No, that it is too little. [rounder. Thu. I'll wear a boot to make it somewhat Jul. [Standing aside.] But love will not be spurr'd to what it loathes. Thu. What says she to my face? Pro. She says it is a fair one. [black. Thu. Nay, then the wanton lies: my face is Jul. True; from a gentleman to a fool. D |