| |
Woods and Cave near the Sea-shore. | |
| |
Enter TIMON from the Cave. | |
| Tim. O blessed breeding sun! draw from the earth | |
| Rotten humidity; below thy sisters orb | |
| Infect the air! Twinnd brothers of one womb, | 5 |
| Whose procreation, residence and birth, | |
| Scarce is dividant, touch them with several fortunes; | |
| The greater scorns the lesser: not nature, | |
| To whom all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune, | |
| But by contempt of nature. | 10 |
| Raise me this beggar, and deny t that lord; | |
| The senator shall bear contempt hereditary, | |
| The beggar native honour. | |
| It is the pasture lards the rothers sides, | |
| The want that makes him lean. Who dares, who dares, | 15 |
| In purity of manhood stand upright, | |
| And say, This mans a flatterer? if one be, | |
| So are they all; for every grize of fortune | |
| Is smoothd by that below: the learned pate | |
| Ducks to the golden fool: all is oblique; | 20 |
| Theres nothing level in our cursed natures | |
| But direct villany. Therefore, be abhorrd | |
| All feasts, societies, and throngs of men! | |
| His semblable, yea, himself, Timon disdains: | |
| Destruction fang mankind! Earth, yield me roots! [Digging. | 25 |
| Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate | |
| With thy most operant poison! What is here? | |
| Gold! yellow, glittering, precious gold! No, gods, | |
| I am no idle votarist. Roots, you clear heavens! | |
| Thus much of this will make black white, foul fair, | 30 |
| Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant. | |
| Ha! you gods, why this? What this, you gods? Why, this | |
| Will lug your priests and servants from your sides, | |
| Pluck stout mens pillows from below their head: | |
| This yellow slave | 35 |
| Will knit and breath religions; bless the accursd; | |
| Make the hoar leprosy adord; place thieves, | |
| And give them title, knee, and approbation, | |
| With senators on the bench; this is it | |
| That makes the wappend widow wed again; | 40 |
| She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores | |
| Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices | |
| To the April day again. Come, damned earth, | |
| Thou common whore of mankind, that puttst odds | |
| Among the rout of nations, I will make thee | 45 |
| Do thy right nature.[March afar off.] Ha! a drum? thourt quick, | |
| But yet Ill bury thee: thoult go, strong thief, | |
| When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand: | |
| Nay, stay thou out for earnest. [Keeping some gold. | |
| |
Enter ALCIBIADES, with drum and fife, in warlike manner; PHRYNIA and TIMANDRA. | 50 |
| Alcib. What art thou there? speak. | |
| Tim. A beast, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy heart, | |
| For showing me again the eyes of man! | |
| Alcib. What is thy name? Is man so hateful to thee, | |
| That art thyself a man? | 55 |
| Tim. I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind. | |
| For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog, | |
| That I might love thee something. | |
| Alcib. I know thee well, | |
| But in thy fortunes am unlearnd and strange. | 60 |
| Tim. I know thee too; and more than that I know thee | |
| I not desire to know. Follow thy drum; | |
| With mans blood paint the ground, gules, gules; | |
| Religious canons, civil laws are cruel; | |
| Then what should war be? This fell whore of thine | 65 |
| Hath in her more destruction than thy sword | |
| For all her cherubin look. | |
| Phry. Thy lips rot off! | |
| Tim. I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns | |
| To thine own lips again. | 70 |
| Alcib. How came the noble Timon to this change? | |
| Tim. As the moon does, by wanting light to give: | |
| But then renew I could not like the moon; | |
| There were no suns to borrow of. | |
| Alcib. Noble Timon, what friendship may I do thee? | 75 |
| Tim. None, but to maintain my opinion. | |
| Alcib. What is it, Timon? | |
| Tim. Promise me friendship, but perform none: if thou wilt not promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art a man! if thou dost perform, confound thee, for thou art a man! | |
| Alcib. I have heard in some sort of thy miseries. | |
| Tim. Thou sawst them, when I had prosperity. | 80 |
| Alcib. I see them now; then was a blessed time. | |
| Tim. As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots. | |
| Timan. Is this the Athenian minion, whom the world | |
| Voicd so regardfully? | |
| Tim. Art thou Timandra? | 85 |
| Timan. Yes. | |
| Tim. Be a whore still; they love thee not that use thee; | |
| Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust. | |
| Make use of thy salt hours; season the slaves | |
| For tubs and baths; bring down rose-cheeked youth | 90 |
| To the tub-fast and the diet. | |
| Timan. Hang thee, monster! | |
| Alcib. Pardon him, sweet Timandra, for his wits | |
| Are drownd and lost in his calamities. | |
| I have but little gold of late, brave Timon, | 95 |
| The want whereof doth daily make revolt | |
| In my penurious band: I have heard and grievd | |
| How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth, | |
| Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states, | |
| But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them, | 100 |
| Tim. I prithee, beat thy drum, and get thee gone. | |
| Alcib. I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon. | |
| Tim. How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble? | |
| I had rather be alone. | |
| Alcib. Why, fare thee well: | 105 |
| Here is some gold for thee. | |
| Tim. Keep it, I cannot eat it. | |
| Alcib. When I have laid proud Athens on a heap, | |
| Tim. Warrst thou gainst Athens? | |
| Alcib. Ay, Timon, and have cause. | 110 |
| Tim. The gods confound them all in thy conquest; and | |
| Thee after, when thou hast conquerd! | |
| Alcib. Why me, Timon? | |
| Tim. That, by killing of villains, thou wast born to conquer | |
| My country. | 115 |
| Put up thy gold: go on,heres gold,go on; | |
| Be as a planetary plague, when Jove | |
| Will oer some high-vicd city hang his poison | |
| In the sick air: let not thy sword skip one. | |
| Pity not honourd age for his white beard; | 120 |
| He is a usurer. Strike me the counterfeit matron; | |
| It is her habit only that is honest, | |
| Herselfs a bawd. Let not the virgins cheek | |
| Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milkpaps, | |
| That through the window-bars bore at mens eyes, | 125 |
| Are not within the leaf of pity writ, | |
| But set them down horrible traitors. Spare not the babe, | |
| Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy; | |
| Think it a bastard, whom the oracle | |
| Hath doubtfully pronouncd thy throat shall cut, | 130 |
| And mince it sans remorse. Swear against objects; | |
| Put armour on thine ears and on thine eyes, | |
| Whose proof nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes, | |
| Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding, | |
| Shall pierce a jot. Theres gold to pay thy soldiers: | 135 |
| Make large confusion; and, thy fury spent, | |
| Confounded be thyself! Speak not, be gone. | |
| Alcib. Hast thou gold yet? Ill take the gold thou givst me, | |
| Not all thy counsel. | |
| Tim. Dost thou, or dost thou not, heavens curse upon thee! | 140 |
| Phr. & Timan. Give us some gold, good Timon: hast thou more? | |
| Tim. Enough to make a whore forswear her trade, | |
| And to make whores a bawd. Hold up, you sluts, | |
| Your aprons mountant: you are not oathable, | |
| Although, I know, youll swear, terribly swear | 145 |
| Into strong shudders and to heavenly agues | |
| The immortal gods that hear you, spare your oaths, | |
| Ill trust to your conditions: be whores still; | |
| And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you, | |
| Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up; | 150 |
| Let your close fire predominate his smoke, | |
| And be no turncoats: yet may your pains, six months, | |
| Be quite contrary: and thatch your poor thin roofs | |
| With burdens of the dead; some that were hangd, | |
| No matter; wear them, betray with them: whore still; | 155 |
| Paint till a horse may mire upon your face: | |
| A pox of wrinkles! | |
| Phr. & Timan. Well, more gold. What then? | |
| Believe t, that well do anything for gold. | |
| Tim. Consumptions sow | 160 |
| In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins, | |
| And mar mens spurring. Crack the lawyers voice, | |
| That he may never more false title plead, | |
| Nor sound his quillets shrilly: hoar the flamen, | |
| That scolds against the quality of flesh, | 165 |
| And not believes himself: down with the nose, | |
| Down with it flat; take the bridge quite away | |
| Of him that, his particular to foresee, | |
| Smells from the general weal: make curld-pate ruffians bald, | |
| And let the unscarrd braggarts of the war | 170 |
| Derive some pain from you: plague all, | |
| That your activity may defeat and quell | |
| The source of all erection. Theres more gold; | |
| Do you damn others, and let this damn you, | |
| And ditches grave you all! | 175 |
| Phr. & Timan. More counsel with more money, bounteous Timon. | |
| Tim. More whore, more mischief first; I have given you earnest. | |
| Alcib. Strike up the drum towards Athens! Farewell, Timon: | |
| If I thrive well, Ill visit thee again. | |
| Tim. If I hope well, Ill never see thee more. | 180 |
| Alcib. I never did thee harm. | |
| Tim. Yes, thou spokst well of me. | |
| Alcib. Callst thou that harm? | |
| Tim. Men daily find it. Get thee away, and take | |
| Thy beagles with thee. | 185 |
| Alcib. We but offend him. Strike! [Drum beats. Exeunt ALCIBIADES, PHRYNIA, and TIMANDRA. | |
| Tim. That nature, being sick of mans unkindness, | |
| Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou, [Digging. | |
| Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast, | |
| Teems, and feeds all; whose self-same mettle, | 190 |
| Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puffd, | |
| Engenders the black toad and adder blue, | |
| The gilded newt and eyeless venomd worm, | |
| With all the abhorred births below crisp heaven | |
| Whereon Hyperions quickening fire doth shine; | 195 |
| Yield him, who all thy human sons doth hate, | |
| From forth thy plenteous bosom, one poor root! | |
| Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb, | |
| Let it no more bring out ingrateful man! | |
| Go great with tigers, dragons, wolves, and bears; | 200 |
| Teem with new monsters, whom thy upward face | |
| Hath to the marbled mansion all above | |
| Never presented! O! a root; dear thanks: | |
| Dry up thy marrows, vines and plough-torn leas; | |
| Where of in grateful man, with liquorish draughts | 205 |
| And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind, | |
| That from it all consideration slips! | |
| |
Enter APEMANTUS. | |
| More man! Plague! plague! | |
| Apem. I was directed hither: men report | 210 |
| Thou dost affect my manners, and dost use them. | |
| Tim. Tis, then, because thou dost not keep a dog | |
| Whom I would imitate: consumption catch thee! | |
| Apem. This is in thee a nature but infected; | |
| A poor unmanly melancholy sprung | 215 |
| From change of fortune. Why this spade? this place? | |
| This slave-like habit? and these looks of care? | |
| Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft, | |
| Hug their diseasd perfumes, and have forgot | |
| That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods | 220 |
| By putting on the cunning of a carper. | |
| Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive | |
| By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee, | |
| And let his very breath, whom thoult observe, | |
| Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain, | 225 |
| And call it excellent. Thou wast told thus; | |
| Thou gavst thine ears, like tapsters that bid welcome, | |
| To knaves and all approachers: tis most just | |
| That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again, | |
| Rascals should have t. Do not assume my likeness. | 230 |
| Tim. Were I like thee Id throw away myself. | |
| Apem. Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thyself; | |
| A madman so long, now a fool. What! thinkst | |
| That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain, | |
| Will put thy shirt on warm? will these mossd trees, | 235 |
| That have outlivd the eagle, page thy heels | |
| And skip when thou pointst out? will the cold brook, | |
| Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste | |
| To cure the oer-nights surfeit? Call the creatures | |
| Whose naked natures live in all the spite | 240 |
| Of wreakful heaven, whose bare unhoused trunks | |
| To the conflicting elements exposd, | |
| Answer mere nature; bid them flatter thee; | |
| O! thou shalt find | |
| Tim. A fool of thee. Depart. | 245 |
| Apem. I love thee better now than eer I did. | |
| Tim. I hate thee worse. | |
| Apem. Why? | |
| Tim. Thou flatterst misery. | |
| Apem. I flatter not, but say thou art a caitiff. | 250 |
| Tim. Why dost thou seek me out? | |
| Apem. To vex thee. | |
| Tim. Always a villains office, or a fools. | |
| Dost please thyself in t? | |
| Apem. Ay. | 255 |
| Tim. What! a knave too? | |
| Apem. If thou didst put this sour-cold habit on | |
| To castigate thy pride, twere well; but thou | |
| Dost it enforcedly; thoudst courtier be again | |
| Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery | 260 |
| Outlives incertain pomp, is crownd before; | |
| The one is filling still, never complete; | |
| The other, at high wish: best state, contentless, | |
| Hath a distracted and most wretched being, | |
| Worse than the worst, content. | 265 |
| Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable. | |
| Tim. Not by his breath that is more miserable. | |
| Thou art a slave, whom Fortunes tender arm | |
| With favour never claspd, but bred a dog. | |
| Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded | 270 |
| The sweet degrees that this brief world affords | |
| To such as may the passive drudges of it | |
| Freely command, thou wouldst have plungd thyself | |
| In general riot; melted down thy youth | |
| In different beds of lust; and never learnd | 275 |
| The icy precepts of respect, but followd | |
| The sugard game before thee. But myself, | |
| Who had the world as my confectionary, | |
| The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men | |
| At duty, more than I could frame employment, | 280 |
| That numberless upon me stuck as leaves | |
| Do on the oak, have with one winters brush | |
| Fell from their boughs and left me open, bare | |
| For every storm that blows; I, to bear this, | |
| That never knew but better, is some burden: | 285 |
| Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time | |
| Hath made thee hard in t. Why shouldst thou hate men? | |
| They never flatterd thee: what hast thou given? | |
| If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag, | |
| Must be thy subject, who in spite put stuff | 290 |
| To some she beggar and compounded thee | |
| Poor rogue hereditary. Hence! be gone! | |
| If thou hadst not been born the worst of men, | |
| Thou hadst been a knave and flatterer. | |
| Apem. Art thou proud yet? | 295 |
| Tim. Ay, that I am not thee. | |
| Apem. I, that I was | |
| No prodigal. | |
| Tim. I, that I am one now: | |
| Were all the wealth I have shut up in thee, | 300 |
| Id give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone. | |
| That the whole life of Athens were in this! | |
| Thus would I eat it. [Eating a root. | |
| Apem. Here; I will mend thy feast. | |
| Tim. First mend my company, take away thyself. | 305 |
| Apem. So I shall mend mine own, by the lack of thine. | |
| Tim. Tis not well mended so, it is but botchd; | |
| If not, I would it were. | |
| Apem. What wouldst thou have to Athens? | |
| Tim. Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt, | 310 |
| Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have. | |
| Apem. Here is no use for gold. | |
| Tim. The best and truest; | |
| For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm. | |
| Apem. Where liest o nights, Timon? | 315 |
| Tim. Under thats above me. | |
| Where feedst thou o days, Apemantus? | |
| Apem. Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather, where I eat it. | |
| Tim. Would poison were obedient and knew my mind! | |
| Apem. Where wouldst thou send it? | 320 |
| Tim. To sauce thy dishes. | |
| Apem. The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the extremity of both ends. When thou wast in thy gilt and thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much curiosity; in thy rags thou knowest none, but art despised for the contrary. Theres a medlar for thee; eat it. | |
| Tim. On what I hate I feed not. | |
| Apem. Dost hate a medlar? | |
| Tim. Ay, though it look like thee. | 325 |
| Apem. An thou hadst hated meddlers sooner, thou shouldst have loved thyself better now. What man didst thou ever know unthrift that was beloved after his means? | |
| Tim. Who, without those means thou talkest of, didst thou ever know beloved? | |
| Apem. Myself. | |
| Tim. I understand thee; thou hadst some means to keep a dog. | |
| Apem. What things in the world canst thou nearest compare to thy flatterers? | 330 |
| Tim. Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves. What wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power? | |
| Apem. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men. | |
| Tim. Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confusion of men, and remain a beast with the beasts? | |
| Apem. Ay, Timon. | |
| Tim. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain to. If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee; if thou wert the fox, the lion would suspect thee, when peradventure thou wert accused by the ass; if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee, and still thou livedst but as a breakfast to the wolf; if thou wert the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner; wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury; wert thou a bear, thou wouldst be killed by the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life; all thy safety were remotion, and thy defence absence. What beast couldst thou be, that were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art thou already, that seest not thy loss in transformation! | 335 |
| Apem. If thou couldst please me with speaking to me, thou mightst have hit upon it here; the commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts. | |
| Tim. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the city? | |
| Apem. Yonder comes a poet and a painter: the plague of company light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way. When I know not what else to do, Ill see thee again. | |
| Tim. When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be welcome. I had rather be a beggars dog than Apemantus. | |
| Apem. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive. | 340 |
| Tim. Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon! | |
| Apem. A plague on thee! thou art too bad to curse! | |
| Tim. All villains that do stand by thee are pure. | |
| Apem. There is no leprosy but what thou speakst. | |
| Tim. If I name thee. | 345 |
| Ill beat thee, but I should infect my hands. | |
| Apem. I would my tongue could rot them off! | |
| Tim. Away, thou issue of a mangy dog! | |
| Choler does kill me that thou art alive; | |
| I swound to see thee. | 350 |
| Apem. Would thou wouldst burst! | |
| Tim. Away, | |
| Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall lose | |
| A stone by thee. [Throws a stone at him. | |
| Apem. Beast! | 355 |
| Tim. Slave! | |
| Apem. Toad! | |
| Tim. Rogue, rogue, rogue! | |
| I am sick of this false world, and will love nought | |
| But even the mere necessities upon t. | 360 |
| Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave; | |
| Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat | |
| Thy grave-stone daily: make thine epitaph, | |
| That death in me at others lives may laugh. [Looking on the gold. | |
| O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce | 365 |
| Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler | |
| Of Hymens purest bed! thou valiant Mars! | |
| Thou ever young, fresh, lovd, and delicate wooer, | |
| Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow | |
| That lies on Dians lap! thou visible god, | 370 |
| That solderst close impossibilities, | |
| And makst them kiss! that speak st with every tongue, | |
| To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts! | |
| Think, thy slave man rebels, and by thy virtue | |
| Set them into confounding odds, that beasts | 375 |
| May have the world in empire. | |
| Apem. Would twere so: | |
| But not till I am dead; Ill say thoust gold: | |
| Thou wilt be throngd to shortly. | |
| Tim. Throngd to? | 380 |
| Apem. Ay. | |
| Tim. Thy back, I prithee. | |
| Apem. Live, and love thy misery! | |
| Tim. Long live so, and so die! [Exit APEMANTUS. | |
| I am quit. | 385 |
| More things like men! Eat, Timon, and abhor them. | |
| |
Enter Thieves. | |
| First Thief. Where should he have this gold? It is some poor fragment, some slender ort of his remainder. The mere want of gold, and the falling-from of his friends, drove him into this melancholy. | |
| Sec. Thief. It is noised he hath a mass of treasure. | |
| Third Thief. Let us make the assay upon him: if he care not for t, he will supply us easily; if he covetously reserve it, how shalls get it? | 390 |
| Sec. Thief. True; for he bears it not about him, tis hid. | |
| First Thief. Is not this he? | |
| Thieves. Where? | |
| Sec. Thief. Tis his description. | |
| Third Thief. He; I know him. | 395 |
| All. Save thee, Timon. | |
| Tim. Now, thieves? | |
| All. Soldiers, not thieves. | |
| Tim. Both too; and womens sons. | |
| Thieves. We are not thieves, but men that much do want. | 400 |
| Tim. Your greatest want is, you want much of meat. | |
| Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots; | |
| Within this mile break forth a hundred springs; | |
| The oaks bear mast, the briers scarlet hips; | |
| The bounteous housewife, nature, on each bush | 405 |
| Lays her full mess before you. Want! why want? | |
| First Thief. We cannot live on grass, on berries, water, | |
| As beasts, and birds, and fishes. | |
| Tim. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes; | |
| You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con | 410 |
| That you are thieves professd, that you work not | |
| In holier shapes; for there is boundless theft | |
| In limited professions. Rascal thieves, | |
| Heres gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o the grape, | |
| Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth, | 415 |
| And so scape hanging: trust not the physician; | |
| His antidotes are poison, and he slays | |
| More than you rob: take wealth and lives together; | |
| Do villany, do, since you protest to do t, | |
| Like workmen. Ill example you with thievery: | 420 |
| The suns a thief, and with his great attraction | |
| Robs the vast sea; the moons an arrant thief, | |
| And her pale fire she snatches from the sun; | |
| The seas a thief, whose liquid surge resolves | |
| The moon into salt tears; the earths a thief, | 425 |
| That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen | |
| From general excrement, each things a thief; | |
| The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power | |
| Have uncheckd theft. Love not yourselves; away! | |
| Rob one another. Theres more gold: cut throats; | 430 |
| All that you meet are thieves. To Athens go, | |
| Break open shops; nothing can you steal | |
| But thieves do lose it: steal no less for this | |
| I give you; and gold confound you howsoeer! | |
| Amen. | 435 |
| Third Thief. He has almost charmed me from my profession, by persuading me to it. | |
| First Thief. Tis in the malice of mankind that he thus advises us; not to have us thrive in our mystery. | |
| Sec. Thief. Ill believe him as an enemy, and give over my trade. | |
| First Thief. Let us first see peace in Athens; there is no time so miserable but a man may be true. [Exeunt Thieves. | |
| |
Enter FLAVIUS. | 440 |
| Flav. O you gods! | |
| Is yond despised and ruinous man my lord? | |
| Full of decay and failing? O monument | |
| And wonder of good deeds evilly bestowd! | |
| What an alteration of honour | 445 |
| Has desperate want made! | |
| What viler thing upon the earth than friends | |
| Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends! | |
| How rarely does it meet with this times guise, | |
| When man was wishd to love his enemies! | 450 |
| Grant I may ever love, and rather woo | |
| Those that would mischief me than those that do! | |
| He hath caught me in his eye: I will present | |
| My honest grief unto him; and, as my lord, | |
| Still serve him with my life. My dearest master! | 455 |
| |
TIMON comes forward. | |
| Tim. Away! what art thou? | |
| Flav. Have you forgot me, sir? | |
| Tim. Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men; | |
| Then, if thou grantst thourt a man, I have forgot thee. | 460 |
| Flav. An honest poor servant of yours. | |
| Tim. Then I know thee not: | |
| I never had an honest man about me; ay all | |
| I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains. | |
| Flav. The gods are witness, | 465 |
| Neer did poor steward wear a truer grief | |
| For his undone lord than mine eyes for you. | |
| Tim. What! dost thou weep? Come nearer. Then I love thee, | |
| Because thou art a woman, and disclaimst | |
| Flinty mankind; whose eyes do never give, | 470 |
| But thorough lust and laughter. Pitys sleeping: | |
| Strange times, that weep with laughing, not with weeping! | |
| Flav. I beg of you to know me, good my lord, | |
| To accept my grief and whilst this poor wealth lasts | |
| To entertain me as your steward still. | 475 |
| Tim. Had I a steward | |
| So true, so just, and now so comfortable? | |
| It almost turns my dangerous nature mild. | |
| Let me behold thy face. Surely, this man | |
| Was born of woman. | 480 |
| Forgive my general and exceptless rashness, | |
| You perpetual-sober gods! I do proclaim | |
| One honest man, mistake me not, but one; | |
| No more, I pray, and hes a steward. | |
| How fain would I have hated all mankind! | 485 |
| And thou redeemst thyself: but all, save thee, | |
| I fell with curses. | |
| Methinks thou art more honest now than wise; | |
| For, by oppressing and betraying me, | |
| Thou mightst have sooner got another service: | 490 |
| For many so arrive at second masters | |
| Upon their first lords neck. But tell me true, | |
| For I must ever doubt, though neer so sure, | |
| Is not thy kindness subtle, covetous, | |
| If not a usuring kindness and as rich men deal gifts, | 495 |
| Expecting in return twenty for one? | |
| Flav. No, my most worthy master; in whose breast | |
| Doubt and suspect, alas! are placd too late. | |
| You should have feard false times when you did feast; | |
| Suspect still comes when an estate is least. | 500 |
| That which I show, heaven knows, is merely love, | |
| Duty and zeal to your unmatched mind, | |
| Care of your food and living; and, believe it, | |
| My most honourd lord, | |
| For any benefit that points to me, | 505 |
| Either in hope, or present, Id exchange | |
| For this one wish, that you had power and wealth | |
| To requite me by making rich yourself. | |
| Tim. Look thee, tis so. Thou singly honest man, | |
| Here, take: the gods out of my misery, | 510 |
| Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich and happy; | |
| But thus conditiond: thou shalt build from men; | |
| Hate all, curse all, show charity to none, | |
| But let the famishd flesh slide from the bone, | |
| Ere thou relieve the beggar; give to dogs | 515 |
| What thou denyst to men; let prisons swallow em, | |
| Debts wither em to nothing; be men like blasted woods, | |
| And may diseases lick up their false bloods! | |
| And so, farewell and thrive. | |
| Flav. O! let me stay | 520 |
| And comfort you, my master. | |
| Tim. If thou hatest | |
| Curses, stay not; fly, whilst thourt blessd and free: | |
| Neer see thou man, and let me neer see thee. [Exeunt, severally. | |
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