SCENE II.-Milan. Court of the Palace. Enter Pro. Already have I been false to Valentine, She twits me with my falsehood to my friend; And give some evening music to her ear. 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. Ay, Silvia,-for your sake. Thu. I thank you for your own. Now, gentlemen, Let's tune, and to it lustily awhile. Enter Host, at a distance; and JULIA in boy's clothes. Host. Now, my young guest! methinks you're allycholly; I pray you, why is it? Jul. Marry, mine host, because I cannot be Then to Silvia let us sing, Host. How now? are you sadder than you were before? How do you, man? the music likes you not. Jul. He plays false, father. Host. How? out of tune on the strings? Jul. Not so; but yet so false that he grieves my ery heart-strings. Host. You have a quick ear. Jul. Ay, I would I were deaf! it makes me have a slow heart. 1 Sudden quips, hasty, passionate reproaches. Host. I perceive, you delight not ir music. Jul. Not a whit, when it jars so. Host. Hark, what fine change is in the music! Jul. Ay; that change is the spite. Host. You would have them always play but one thing? 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 loved her out of all nick,2 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! will so plead, That you shall say, my cunning drift excels. Thu. Where meet we? Pro. At Saint Gregory's well. Thu. Farewell. [Exeunt THU. and Musicians. SILVIA appears above, at her window. Pro. Madam, good even to your ladyship. Sil. I thank you for your music, gentlemen: Who is that, that spake ? Pro. One, lady, if you knew his pure heart's truth, You'd quickly learn to know him by his voice. Pro. Sir Proteus, gentle lady, and your servant. Pro. 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! Think'st thou, I am so shallow, so conceitless, To be seduced by thy flattery, 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. [Aside. 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 To wrong him with thy importunacy? 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. [Aside Pro. Madam, if your heart be so obdurate, Vouchsafe me yet your picture 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, deceive it, And make it but a shadow, as I am. [Aside. Sil. I am very loth to be your idol, sir; But, since your falsehood shall become you we" To worship shadows, and adore false shapes, Send to me in the morning and I'll send it: And so good rest. Pro. As wretches have o'ernight, That wait for execution in the morn. [Exeunt PROTEUS; and SILVIA from above. Jul. Host, will you go? Host. By my halidom,' I was fast asleep. 2 i. e. Out of all reckoning or count; reckonings were kept upon nicked or notched sticks or tallies. 3 Halidom, (says Minsheu,) an old word, used by old countrywomen by manner of swearing. Egl. As many, worthy lady, to yourself. Sil. O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman, Egl. Madam, I pity much your grievances; As much I wish all good befortune you. Sil. This evening coming. Egl. Where shall I meet you? Sil. At friar Patrick's cell, Where I intend holy confession. Egl. I will not fail your ladyship: Good-morrow, gentle lady. Sil. Good-morrow, kind Sir Eglamour. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The same. Enter LAUNCE, with his Dog. 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 saved from drowning, when three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went 1 The double superlative is very often used by the writers of Shakspeare's time. 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 diningchamber, but he steps me to her trencher, and steals her capon's leg. Ó, '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 hanged for't sure as I live, he had suffer'd for't: you shall judge. He thrusts me himself into the of company three or four gentleman-like dogs, under the duke's table: he had not been there (bless the mark) a with the dog, says one; What cur is that? says pissing while; but all the chamber smelt him. Out another; Whip him out, says the third; Hang him up, says the duke. I, having been acquainted with the smell before, knew it was Crab; and goes me to the fellow that whips the dogs: Friend, quoth I, you mean to whip the dog? Ay, marry, do I, quoth he. You do him the more wrong, quoth I; 'twas 1 did the thing you wot of. He makes me no more ado, but whips me out of the chamber. How many masters would do this for their servant? Nay, I'll be sworn, 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 killed, otherwise he had suffered for't: thou think'st not of this now!-Nay, I remember the trick you served me, when I took my leave of madame Silvia: did not Í bid thee still mark me, and do as I do? When dids thou see me heave up my leg, and make water against a gentlewoman's farthingale? didst thou ever see me do such a trick? 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 will do what I can. Pro. I hope, thou wilt.-How now, you whoreson [TO LAUNCE. Where have you been these two days loitering? Laun. Marry, sir, I carried mistress Silvia the dog you bade me. peasant! Pro. And what says she to my little jewel? Laun. Marry, she says, your dog was a cur; and tells you, currish thanks is good enough for such a present. Pro. But she received my dog? Laun. No, indeed, did she not here have I brought him back again. Pro. What, didst thou offer her this from me? Laun. Ay, sir; the other squirrel was stolen from me by the hangman's boys in the market-place: and then I offered 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 Or ne'er return again into my sight. Away, I say: Stay'st thou to vex me here? A slave, that, still an end turns me to shame. [Exit LAUNCE. Sebastian, I have entertained thee," Partly, that I have need of such a youth, That can with some discretion do my business For 'tis no trusting to yon foolish lowt; But, chiefly for thy face and thy behaviour: Which (if my augury deceive me not) 5 In Shakspeare's time griefs frequently signified 2 Impose is injunction, command; a task set at col- grievances; and the present instance shows that in relege in consequence of a fault is still called an imposi-turn grievance was sometimes used in the sense of tion. grief. 6 To reck is to care for So in Hamlet: "And recks not his own read." 7 i. e. restrain. 8 Still an end, and most an end, are vulgar expres sions, and mean perpetually, generally See Gifford's Massinger, iv. 282. "Now help, good heaven! 'tis such an uncouth thing To be a widow out of Term-time! I Do feel such aguish qualms, and dumps, and fits, Pro. Why dost thou cry, alas ? Jul. I cannot choose but pity her. Pro. Wherefore should'st thou pity her? Jul. Because, methinks, that she lov'd you as well As you do love your lady Silvia : She dreams on him that has forgot her love; Pro. Well, give her that ring, and therewithal This letter ;-that's her chamber.-Tell my lady, I claim the promise for her heavenly picture. Your message done, hie home unto my chamber, Where thou shalt find me sad and solitary. [Exit PROTEUS. This ring I gave him, when he parted from me, To praise his faith which I would have disprais'd. am my master's true confirmed love; I But cannot be true servant to my master, Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you be my mean Jul. From my master, Sir Proteus, madam. Sil. Ursula, bring my picture there. [Picture brought. Jul. Madam, please you peruse this letter.- 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. The more shame for him that he sends it me; For, I have heard him say a thousand times, 1 i. e. in good earnest, tout de bon. 2 To passion was used as a verb formerly. Jul. About my stature: for, at Pentecost, Sil. She is beholden to thee, gentle youth!- I weep myself, to think upon thy words. Farewell. her. [Exit SILVIA. Jul. And she shall thank you for't, if e'er you know her. A virtuous gentlewoman, mild, and beautiful. 5 A high forehead was then accounted a feature eminently beautiful. Our author, in The Tempest, shows that low foreheads were in disesteem. with foreheads villanous low. 6 Respective, i. e. considerative, regardful, v. Mer chant of Venice, Act v. Sc. 1. 3 False hair was worn by the ladies long before wigs were in fashion. So, in Northward Hoe,' 1607, "There is a new trade come up for cast gentlewomen of periwig making." Perwickes are mentioned by Churchyard in one of his earliest poems. And Barnabe 7 The word statue was formerly used to express a Rich, in The Honestie of this Age,' 1615, has a phi-portrait, and sometimes a statue was called a picture lippic against this folly. 4 By grey eyes were meant what we now call blue eyes. Grey, when applied to the eyes is rendered by Coles, in his Dictionary, 1679, Ceruleus, glaucus Stowe says (speaking of Elizabeth's funeral,) that when the people beheld "her statue or picture lying upon the coffin, there was a general sighing." Thus hi the City Madam,' by Massinger, Sir John Frugal de I'll use thee kindly for thy mistress sake. ACT V. [Exit. Pro. Neither. Duke. Why, then she's fled unto that peasant And Eglamour is in her company. 'Tis true; for friar Laurence met them both, SCENE I.-The same. An Abbey. Enter EGLA- Besides, she did intend confession MOUR. Egl. The sun begins to gild the western sky; 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 off: Thu. I'll wear a boot, to make it somewhat Pro. But love will not be spurr'd to what it Pro. But pearls are fair; and the old saying is, Thu. But well, when I discourse of love and Jul. But better indeed, when you hold your peace. Thu. What says she to my valour? ardice. Thu. What says she to my birth? Pro. That you are well deriv'd. Jul. True, from a gentleman to a fool. Thu. Wherefore? [Aside. it cow- At Patrick's cell this even: and there she was not That leads towards Mantua, whither they are fled Be patient, we must bring you to our captain. 1 Out. Where is the gentleman that was with 3 Out. Being nimble-footed, he hath outrun us, But Moyses and Valerius follow him. Go thou with her to the west end of the wood, 1 Out. Come, I must bring you to our captain's Val. How use doth breed a habit in a man! Jul. That such an ass should owe them. [Aside. These are my mates, that make their wills their law, Jul. Here comes the Duke. Enter DUKE. Duke. How now, Sir Proteus? how now, Thurio? Pro. Nor I. Duke. Saw you my daughter? sires that his daughters may take leave of their lovers' statues, though he had previously described them as pictures, which they evidently were. 1 Mr. Boswell thought that this line should be given to Julia, as well as a subsequent one, and that they were meant to be spoken aside. They are exactly in the style of her other sarcastic speeches; and Proteus, who is playing on Thurio's credulity, would hardly represent him as an object of loathing to Silvia. 2 i. e. possess them, own them. 3 By Thurio's possessions he himself understands his lands. But Proteus chooses to take the word likewise in a figurative sense, as signifying his mental endowments, and when he says they are out by lease, he means, that they are no longer enjoyed by their master (who is a Have some unhappy passenger in chase: Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA. 6 To record, anciently signified to sing. It is still used by bird fanciers to express the first essays of a bird to sing; and is evidently derived from the recorder or pipe with which they were formerly taught. 7" thou that dost inhabit in my breast, Leave not the mansion so long tenantless; It is hardly possible (says Steevens) to point out four Te hazard life, and rescue you from him Val. How like a dream is this I see and hear! Sil. By thy approach thou mak'st me most un- Jul. And me, when he approacheth to vour pre sence. Sil. Had I been seized by a hungry lion, [Aside. Val. Why, boy! why, wag! how now? what is the matter? Look up; speak. Jul. O good sir, my master charg'd me to deliver a ring to Madam Silvia; which, out of my neglect was never done. Pro. Where is that ring, boy? [Gives a ring. Pro. How! let me see: why this is the ring I gave to Julia. Jul. O, cry you merey, sir, I have mistook; this is the ring you sent to Silvia. Shows another ring. Pro. But, how cam'st thou by this ring? at my depart, I gave this unto Julia. Jul. And Julia herself did give it me; Jul. Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths, Pro. What dangerous action, stood it next to O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush! death, Would I not undergo for one calm look? O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approv'd, Sil. When Proteus cannot love where he's be- Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love, Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou hadst two, Who respects friends? Sil. In love, Pro. Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words And love you 'gainst the nature of love, force you. Pro. Pro. Valentine! Be thou asham'd, that I have took upon me It is the lesser blot modesty finds, Women to change their shapes, than men their minds. Pro. Than men their minds? 'tis true: O hea- But constant, he were perfect: that one error Inconstancy falls off, ere it begins: Val. Come, come, a hand from either: ever. Jul. And I mine. Enter Out-laws, with DUKE and THURIO. Out. A prize, a prize, a prize! Val. Forbear, forbear, I say; it is my lord the duke. Your grace is welcome to a man disgrac'd, Val. Thou common friend, that's without faith or Banished Valentine. love, (For such is a friend now,) treacherous man! I am sorry I must never trust thee more, Val. Is nor of heaven, nor earth; for these are pleas'd; 1 i. e. as dear. 2 approv'd is confirm'd by proof. Sir Valentine! Duke. 5 i. e. of her heart, the allusion to archery is continu 3 The word now was supplied in the folio of 1632. ed, and to cleaving the pin in shooting at the butts. 4 Steevens confounded the phrases of to cry aim 6" Verona shall not hold thee," is the reading of the Merry Wives of Windsor, Act iii. Sc. 2) and to give only authentic copy. Theobald proposed the reading, aim, both terms in archery. He who gave aim appears" Milan shall not behold thee," which has been adopted to have been called the mark, and was stationed near the butts, to inform the archers how near their arrows fell to the butt. We are indebted to Mr. Gifford for distinguishing the terms.-Vide Massinger, vol. ii. p. 27. Julia means to say that she was the mark that gave direction to his vows. by all subsequent editors, but there is no authority for the change. If the reading is erroneous, Shakspeare must be held accountable for this as well as some other errors in his early productions. 7" To make such means for her," to make such in terest for, to take such disingenuous pains about her |