Tails in the size! a tympany of greatness
Puffs up too monstrously my narrow chest.
How surely dost thou malice these extremes,1
Uncomfortable man! When I was needy,
Cast naked on the flats of barren pity,
Abated to an ebb so low, that boys
A-cockhorse frisk'd about me without plunge,
You could chat gravely then, in formal tones,
Reason most paradoxically; now,
Contempt and wilful grudge at my uprising
Becalms your learned noise.
Aurel. Such flourish, Auria,
Flies with so swift a gale, as it will waft
Thy sudden joys into a faithless harbour.
Aur. Canst mutter mischief? I observ'd your
While the whole ging crow'd to me.
Are echo'd under every roof; the air
Is straiten'd with the sound, there is not room
Enough to brace them in; but not a thought
Doth pierce into the grief that cabins here:
Here, through a creek, a little inlet, crawls
A flake, no bigger than a spider's thread,
Which sets the region of my heart a-fire.
I had a kingdom once, but am deposed
From all that royalty of blest content,
By a confederacy 'twixt love and frailty.
Aurel. Glories in public view but add to misery,
Which travels in unrest at home.
That home Aurelio speaks of I have lost,
And, which is worse, when I have roll'd about,
Toil'd like a pilgrim round this globe of earth,
Wearied with care, and overworn with age,
Lodged in the grave, I am not yet at home;
1 How surely dost thou malice these extremes,] i. e. view with ill-will, bear malice to, &c.
There rots but half of me, the other part
Sleeps, heaven knows where: would she and I-my wife
I mean,-but what, alas! talk I of wife?-
The woman-would we had together fed
On any outcast parings, coarse and mouldy,
Not lived divided thus! I could have begg'd
For both; for 't had been pity she should ever
Have felt so much extremity.
Patience required in wrongs of such vile nature:
You pity her; think rather on revenge.
Aur. Revenge! for what, uncharitable friend?
On whom? let's speak a little, pray, with reason.
You found Spinella in Adurni's house;
"T is like he gave her welcome-very likely;
Her sister and another with her; so!
Invited, nobly done; but he with her
Privately chamber'd:-he deserves no wife
Of worthy quality, who dares not trust
Her virtue in the proofs of any danger.
Aurel. But I broke ope the doors upon them.
Aur. Marry,
It was a slovenly presumption,
And punishable by a sharp rebuke.
I tell you, sir, I, in my younger growth,
Have by the stealth of privacy enjoy'd
A lady's closet, where to have profaned
That shrine of chastity and innocence,
With one unhallow'd word, would have exiled
The freedom of such favour into scorn.
Had any he alive then ventured there,
With foul construction, I had stamp'd the justice
Of my unguilty truth upon his heart.
Aurel. Adurni might have done the like; but that The conscience of his fault, in coward blood, Blush'd at the quick surprisal.
How ill some argue, in their sour reproof,
Against a party liable to law!
For had that lord offended with that creature,
Her presence would have doubled every strength
Of man in him, and justified the forfeit
Of noble shame; else 't was enough in both
With a smile only to correct your rudeness.
Aurel. "T is well you make such use of neighbours'
Some kind of beasts are tame, and hug their injuries:
Such way leads to fame too!
Aur. Not uncivilly,
Though violently, friend.1
Aurel. Wherefore, then, think you,
Can she absent herself, if she be blameless?
You grant, of course, your triumphs are proclaim'd;
And I in person told her your return:
Where lies she hid the while?
Aur. That rests for answer
In you; now I come to you: we have exchanged
Bosoms, Aurelio, from our years of childhood;
Let me acknowledge with what pride I own
A man so faithful, honest, fast, my friend;
He who, if I speak fully, never fail'd,
By teaching trust to me, to learn of mine:
I wish'd myself thine equal; if I aim'd
Awrong, 't was in an envy of thy goodness;
So dearly (witness with me my integrity)
I laid thee up to heart, that, from my love,
My wife was but distinguish'd in her sex:
Give back that holy signature of friendship,
Cancell'd, defaced, pluck'd off, or I shall urge
Accounts, scored on the tally of my vengeance,
Without all former compliments.
Though violently, friend,] i. e. do not use rude language, however warm you may be.-GIFFORD.
I fawn upon your fortunes, or intrude
Upon the hope of bettering my estate,
That you cashier me at a minute's warning?
No, Auria, I dare vie with your respects;
Put both into the balance, and the poise
Shall make a settled stand: perhaps the proffer,
So frankly vow'd at your departure first,
Of settling me a partner in your purchase,
Leads you into opinion of some ends
Of mercenary falsehood; yet such wrong
Least suits a noble soul.
Aur. By all my sorrows,
The mention is too coarse.
Aurel. Since then the occasion.
Presents our discontinuance, use your liberty;
For my part, I am resolute to die
The same my life profess'd me.
Aur. Pish! your faith
Was never in suspicion; but consider,
Neither the lord, nor lady, nor yet that
Which shuffled them together, opportunity,
Have fasten'd stain on my unquestion'd name;
My friend's rash indiscretion was the bellows
Which blew the coal (now kindled to a flame)
"Will light his slander to all wandering eyes.
Some men in giddy zeal o'erdo that office
They catch at, of whose number is Aurelio:
For I am certain, certain, it had been
Impossible, had you stood wisely silent,
But my Spinella, trembling on her knee,
Would have accused her breach of truth, and begg'd
A speedy execution on her trespass:
Then with a justice, lawful as the magistrate's, Might I have drawn my sword against Adurni, Which now is sheath'd and rusted in the scabbard, Good thanks to your cheap providence!-Once
I make demand-my wife !-you,-sir
The noise affrights not me; threaten your enemies, And prove a valiant tongue-man;-now must follow,
By way of method, the exact condition
Of rage which runs to mutiny in friendship.
Auria, come on, this weapon looks not pale [Draws.
At sight of that.-Again hear, and believe it,
What I have done, was well done and well meant;
Twenty times over, were it new to do,
I'd do 't and do 't, and boast the pains religious;
Yet since you shake me off, I slightly value
Other severity.
Aur. Honour and duty
Stand my compurgators: never did passion
Purpose ungentle usage of my sword
Against Aurelio; let me rather want
My hands, nay, friend, a heart, than ever suffer
Such dotage enter here. If I must lose
Spinella, let me not proceed to misery,
By losing my Aurelio: we, through madness,
Frame strange conceits in our discoursing brains,
And prate of things as we pretend they were.
Join help to mine, good man, and let us listen
After this straying soul, and, till we find her,
Bear our discomfort quietly.
Aurel. So, doubtless,
She may be soon discovered.
Aur. That's spoke cheerfully.
Why there's a friend now!-Auria and Aurelio At odds! oh! it cannot be, must not, and shall not.
But look, Castanna's here!-welcome, fair figure
Of a choice jewel, lock'd up in a cabinet,
More precious than the public view should sully.
Cast. Sir, how you are inform'd, or on what
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