And twenty caged nightingales do sing: Or wilt thou sleep? we'll have thee to a couch, Softer and sweeter than the lustful bed On purpose trimm'd up for Semiramis. Say, thou wilt walk; we will bestrew the ground: As breathed stags, ay, fleeter than the roe. Adonis, painted by a running brook; And Cytherea all in sedges hid, Which seem to move and wanton with her breath, 3 Serv. Or Daphne roaming through a thorny wood, Scratching her legs that one shall swear she bleeds: And at that sight shall sad Apollo weep, So workmanly the blood and tears are drawn. Lord. Thou art a lord, and nothing but a lord: Thou hast a lady far more beautiful Than any woman in this waning age. 1 Serv. And, till the tears that she hath shed for thee, Like envious floods, o'er-ran her lovely face, Sly. Am I a lord; and have I such a lady; I smell sweet savours, and I feel soft things:Upon my life, I am a lord, indeed; And not a tinker, nor Christophero Sly.- 2 Serv. Will't please your mightiness to wash your hands; [Servants present a ewer, bason, and napkin. O, how we joy to see your wit restor❜d! O, that once more you knew but what you are! These fifteen years you have been in a dream; Or, when you wak'd, so wak'd as if you slept. Sly. These fifteen years! by my fay5, a goodly nap. But did I never speak of all that time? 1 Serv. O, yes, my lord; but very idle words:For though you lay here in this goodly chamber, Yet would you say, ye were beaten out of door; And rail upon the hostess of the house; And say, you would present her at the leet", Because she brought stone jugs and no seal'd quarts: Sometimes you would call out for Cicely Hacket. Sly. Ay, the woman's maid of the house. 3 Serv. Why, sir, you know no house, nor no such maid, Nor no such men as you have reckon'd up,- And twenty more such names and men as these, Sly. Now, Lord be thanked for my good amends! All. Amen. Sly. I thank thee; thou shalt not lose by it. 5 According to some old authorities, Sly here uses a very ladylike imprecation. 'Ecastor,' says Cooper, by my fay, used only of women. It is merely a contraction of by my faith. That is at the Court Leet, where it was usual to present such matters, as appears from Kitchen on Courts: Also if tiplers sell by cups and dishes, or measures sealed or not sealed, is inquirable.' Blackstone proposes to read, 'old John Naps o'the Green.' The addition seems to have been a common one. In Henry IV. Part 11. we have Peter Bullcalf of the Green, and Clement Perkes o'the Hill. Enter the Page, as a Lady, with Attendants. Page. How fares my noble lord? Sly. Marry, I fare well, for here is cheer enough. Where is my wife? Page. Here, noble lord; What is thy will with her? Sly. Are you my wife, and will not call mehusband? My men should call me-lord; I am your goodman. Page. My husband and my lord, my lord and husband; I am your wife in all obedience. Sly. I know it well:-What must I call her? Sly. Al'ce madam, or Joan madam? Lord. Madam, and nothing else: so lords call ladies. Sly. Madam wife, they say that I have dream'd and slept Above some fifteen year and more. Page. Ay, and the time seems thirty unto me; Madam, undress you, and come now to bed. For your physicians have expressly charg'd, That I should yet absent me from your bed: Sly. Ay, it stands so, that I may hardly tarry so long. But I would be loath to fall into my dreams again; I will therefore tarry, in despite of the flesh and the blood. Enter a Servant. Serv. Your honour's players, hearing your amend ment, Are come to play a pleasant comedy, For so your doctors hold it very meet; Therefore they thought it good you hear a play, Page. It is a kind of history. Sly. Well, we'll see't: Come, madam wife, sit by my side, and let the world slip; we shall ne'er be younger. [They sit down. ACT I. SCENE I. Padua. A public Place. Luc. Tranio, since-for the great desire I had And, by my father's love and leave, am arm'd Gave me my being, and my father first, A merchant of great traffic through the world, Vincentio, come of the Bentivolii. 8 For comedy. 1 Ingenious and ingenuous were very commonly confounded by old writers. Vincentio's son, brought up in Florence, It shall become, to serve all hopes conceiv'd2, Glad that you thus continue your resolve, Fall to them as you find your stomach serves you; No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en 1 In brief, sir, study what you most affect. 2 i. e. to fulfil the expectations of his friends. 3 Apply for ply is frequently used by old writers. Thus Baret: with diligent endeavour to applie their studies.' And in Turberville's Tragic Tales: 'How she her wheele applyde.' 4 Small piece of water. Pardon me. 6 The old copy reads Aristotle's checks. Blackstone suggests that we should read ethics, and the sense seems to require it, I have therefore admitted it into the text. 7 The modern éditions read, Talk logic, &c.' The old copy reads Balke, which Mr. Boswell suggests may be right, although the meaning of the word is now lost. It seems used in the same sense as above by Spenser, F. "Her list in stryfull termesi. c. 2. St. 12 with him to balke. It may signify 'belch logic with acquaintance, &c. Cooper renders the Versus ructari of Horace To bealke verses, Animate, |