Enter SOPHRONOS and ARETUS. Soph. We find him timely now; let's learn the cause. Are. 'Tis fit we should.-Sir, we approve you learn'd, And, since your skill can best discern the hun.ours Cor. You are yourself a scholar, And quick of apprehension: Melancholy Of body, but the mind's disease. So Ecstasy, From Melancholy; which is briefly this, Of our affection. Are. There are sundry kinds Of this disturbance? Cor. Infinite: it were More easy to conjecture every hour We have to live, than reckon up the kinds Soph. Thus you conclude, that as the cause is doubtful, The cure must be impossible; and then 1 "Vide," Ford says, "Democritus Junior." He alludes to the Anatomy of Melancholy, by Robert Burton; from which not only what is here said, but the descriptions and personifications of the various affections of the mind in the interlude (scene iii.) are imitated, or rather copied; for the poet has added little or nothing of his own to what he found in that popular volume. To say the truth, the stupendous and undistinguishing diligence of our "Democritus the Younger" almost precluded the possibility of adding to any topic which he had previously made the object of his researches.-GIFFORD. Our prince, poor gentleman, is lost for ever, Cor. My lord, you are too quick; thus much I Promise and do; ere many minutes pass, Soph. For reward You shall make your own demand. Are. We both will pledge our truth. That I may be discharged from my attendance Cor. I'll acquaint you With what is to be done; and you shall fashion it. SCENE II. A Room in THAMASTA'S House. Enter KALA and PARTHENOPHILL. [Exeunt. Kala. My lady does expect you, thinks all time Too slow till you come to her: wherefore, young man, If you intend to love me, and me only, Par. I dare not wrong you ; You are too violent. Kala. Wrong me no more Than I wrong you; be mine, and I am yours; Par. Then, to resolve All further hopes, you never can be mine, Must not, and, pardon though I say, you shall not. Kala. Shall not! Well, You were best to prate unto my lady now, What proffer I have made. Par. Never, I vow. Kala. Do, do! 't is but a kind heart of my own, And ill luck can undo me.-Be refused! O scurvy!-Pray walk on, I'll overtake you. [Exit PAR. Enter MENAPHON. Men. Parthenophill passed this way; prithee, Kala, Direct me to him. Kala. Yes, I can direct you; But you, sir, must forbear. Men. Forbear? Kala. I said so. Your bounty has engaged my truth, receive Startle your reason; 't is but mere respect Dear sir, The stranger, whom your courtesy received Men. Rival, Kala? Take heed; thou art too credulous. Kala. My lady Dotes on him: I will place you in a room, Where, though you cannot hear, yet you shall see Such passages as will confirm the truth Of my intelligence. Men. "T will make me mad. Kala. Yes, yes. It makes me mad too, that a gentleman 1 I'll mar her market.] Her mistress's; whom she accordingly betrays to Menaphon.-GIFFORD. So excellently sweet, so liberal, So kind, so proper, should be so betrayed By a young smooth-chinn'd straggler; but, for love's sake, Bear all with manly courage.-Not a word; I am undone then. Men. That were too much pity: Honest, most honest Kala! 't is thy care, Kala. You have ev'n spoken All can be said or thought. Men. I will reward thee: But as for him, ungentle boy, I'll whip Kala. O speak little. Walk up these stairs; and take this key, it opens A chamber door, where, at that window yonder, You may see all their courtship. Men. I am silent. Kala. As little noise as may be, I beseech you; There is a back-stair to convey you forth Unseen or unsuspected. [Exit MENAPHON. He that cheats A waiting-woman of a free good turn She longs for, must expect a shrewd revenge. Sheep-spirited boy! altho' he had not married me, He might have proffered kindness at the least: But they are come: On goes my set of faces most demurely. Enter THAMASTA and PARTHENOPHILL. Tha. Forbear the room. Kala. Yes, madam. Tha. Whosoever Requires access to me, deny him entrance Till I call thee; and wait without. Tha. I expose [Exit KALA. The honour of my birth, my fame, my youth, VOL. I.-8 In seeking an adventure of a parley So private with a stranger: if your thoughts Which should preserve a virtuous name unstain'd. Of your most noble nature, that to question Base-bred; and, which is most of all, unthankful. Tha. The constant loadstone and the steel are found In several mines; yet is there such a league Of earth had nourish'd both. The gentle myrtle Yet nature hath between them lock'd a secret They will, both in their branches and their roots, The well-grown oak; the vine doth court the elm; For that unguarded (as thou think'st) affection, True love may blush, when shame repents too late; But in all actions, nature yields to fate. Par. Great lady, 't were a dulness must exceed The grossest and most sottish kind of ignorance, Not to be sensible of your intents; I clearly understand them. Yet so much 1 Would argue me uncivil,] i. e. unacquainted with the language and manners of good society.-GIFFORD. |