ACT I. SCENE I.-Athens. A Hall in Timon's House. POET. Good day, sir. PAIN. Enter Poet and Painter. I am glad you're well. POET. I have not seen you long; how goes the world? POET. Ay, that's well known; But what particular rarity? what strange, Which manifold record not matches?-See, Enter Jeweller, Merchant, and others, at several doors. Magic of bounty! all these spirits thy power Hath conjur'd to attend. I know the merchant. PAIN. I know them both; the other 's a jeweller. JEW. Nay, that's most fix'd. MER. A most incomparable man; breath'd, as it were, To an untirable and continuate goodness, He passes. a JEW. I have a jewel here— MER. O, pray, let's see 't: for the lord Timon, sir? POET. [Reciting aside.] When we for recompense have prais'd the vile, 'Tis a good form. [Looking at the jewel. JEW. And rich: here is a water, look ye. PAIN. You are rapt, sir, in some work, some dedication To the great lord. POET. A thing slipp'd idly from me. Our poesy is as a gum, which oozesb From whence 't is nourished. The fire i' the flint Shows not, till it be struck; our gentle flame In the accepted reading of this passage, a colon is placed after "goodness," and the phrase 'He passes," interpreted to mean, he surpasses or exceeds, is made a separate member of the sentence. From the expressions "breath'd" and "untirable," it may well be questioned, however, whether "He passes" should not be immediately connected with what goes before, and be understood in the same sense, of runs, which it bears in "Henry V." Act II. Sc. 1:-" He passes some humours and careers." Our poesy is as a gum, which oozes-] In the old text the latter portion of this line is ludicrously misprinted, "-as a Gowne, which uses," &c. Pope corrected gowne to "gum," and Johnson very happily changed uses to "oozes." Provokes itself, and, like the current, flies Each bound it chafes.* What have you there? PAIN. A picture, sir.-When comes your book forth? Let's see your piece. PAIN. "Tis a good piece. POET. So 'tis: this comes off well and excellent. POET. Admirable! how this grace Speaks his own standing! what a mental power PAIN. It is a pretty mocking of the life. POET. I'll say of it, It tutors nature: artificial strife Lives in these touches, livelier than life. Enter certain Senators, and pass over. PAIN. How this lord is follow'd! POET. The senators of Athens :-happy men!a PAIN. Look, more!† POET. You see this confluence, this great flood of visitors. I have, in this rough work, shap'd out a man, Whom this beneath world doth embrace and hug With amplest entertainment: my free drift I'll unbolt to you. PAIN. How shall I understand you? (*) Old text, chases. (+) Old text, moe. Happy men!] Theobald reads "happy man," perhaps rightly. In a wide sea of wax:] The allusion is presumed to point to the Roman practice of writing on waxen tablets: a practice prevalent in England until about the end of the fourteenth century; but the word wax is more probably a misprint, though not certainly, for verse, which Mr. Collier's annotator substitutes for it. c Properties-] Appropriates. See note (), p. 280, Vol. III. PAIN. I saw them speak together. POET. Sir, I have upon a high and pleasant hill, PAIN. 'Tis conceiv'd to scope. This throne, this Fortune, and this hill, methinks, POET. Nay, sir, but hear me on: Make sacred even his stirrup, and through him PAIN. Ay, marry, what of these? POET.-When Fortune, in her shift and change of mood, Spurns down her late beloved, all his dependants, Which labour'd after him to the mountain's top, Even on their knees and hands,* let him slip down, PAIN. "T is common: A thousand moral paintings I can show, That shall demonstrate these quick blows of fortune's More pregnantly than words. Yet you do well, To show lord Timon that mean eyes have seen The foot above the head. Trumpets sound. Enter TIMON, (1) attended; the Servant of TIM. Imprison'd is he, say you? VEN. SERV. Ay, my good lord: five talents is his debt His means most short, his creditors most strait: Your honourable letter he desires To those have shut him up; which failing, Periods his comfort. In our condition.] Condition here means, profession or art. Let him slip down,-] The old text has, "let him sit downe;" the necessary ⚫ alteration was made by Rowe. Talking with him.] The old stage direction is, "Trumpets sound. Enter Lord Timon, addressing himselfe curteously to every Sutor." I am hot of that feather to shake off My friend when he most needs me. I do know him Which he shall have: I'll pay the debt, and free him. TIM. Commend me to him: I will send his ransom; "Tis not enough to help the feeble up, But to support him after.-Fare you well. Enter an old Athenian. OLD ATH. Lord Timon, hear me speak. TIM. [Exit. Freely, good father. OLD ATH. Thou hast a servant nam'd Lucilius. TIM. I have so: what of him? OLD ATH. Most noble Timon, call the man before thee. Enter LUCILIUS. Luc. Here, at your lordship's service. OLD ATH. This fellow here, lord Timon, this thy creature, By night frequents my house. I am a man That from my first have been inclin❜d to thrift; And my estate deserves an heir more rais'd, Than one which holds a trencher. TIM. Well; what further? OLD ATH. One only daughter have I, no kin else, The maid is fair, o' the youngest for a bride, TIM. The man is honest. OLD ATH. Therefore he will be, Timon: His honesty rewards him in itself, It must not bear my daughter. • When he most needs me.] So the folio 1664; that of 1623 reads: when he must neede me." b Therefore he will be, Timon:] The meaning is not apparent. Malone construes it, "Therefore he will continue to be so, and is sure of being sufficiently rewarded by the consciousness of virtue." But this, too, is inexplicit. We should perhaps read, "Therefore he will be Timon's," &c., that is, he will continue to be in the service of so noble a master, and thus, his virtue will reward itself: or it is possible the words, "Therefore he will be," may originally have formed part of Timon's speech, and the dialogue have run thus: In a text so lamentably imperfect as that of the present play, a more than ordinary licence of conjecture is permissible. TIM. Does she love him? OLD ATH. She is young and apt: TIM. [To LUCILIUS.] Love you the maid? OLD ATH. If in her marriage my consent be missing, Mine heir from forth the beggars of the world, TIM. How shall she be endow'd, If she be mated with an equal husband? OLD ATH. Three talents on the present; in future, all. To build his fortune I will strain a little, For 't is a bond in men. Give him thy daughter: And make him weigh with her. OLD ATH. Most noble lord, Pawn me to this your honour, she is his. TIM. My hand to thee; mine honour on my promise. That state or fortune fall into my keeping, Which is not ow'd to you! [Exeunt LUCILIUS and old Athenian. POET. Vouchsafe my labour, and long live your lordship! TIM. I thank you; you shall hear from me anon: Go not away. What have you there, my friend? PAIN. A piece of painting, which I do beseech Your lordship to accept. TIM. Painting is welcome. PAIN. The gods preserve ye! TIM. Well fare you, gentleman: give me your hand; We must needs dine together.-Sir, your jewel Hath suffered under praise. JEW. What, my lord! dispraise? TIM. A mere satiety of commendations. If I should pay you for 't as 't is extoll'd, It would unclew me quite. JEW. My lord, 't is rated As those which sell would give: but you well know, Are prized by their masters: believe 't, dear lord, You mend the jewel by the wearing it. Are prized by their masters:] "Are rated according to the esteem in which their possessor is held."-JOHNSON. |