If I fhould pay you for't as 'tis extoll'd, Jew. My lord, 'tis rated As thofe, which fell, would give: But you well know, Things of like value, differing in the owners, 6 Are prized by their masters: believe it, dear lord, You mend the jewel by the wearing it. Tim. Well mock'd. Mer. No, my good lord; he fpeaks the common tongue, Which all men speak with him. Tim. Look, who comes here. Will you be chid? 7 Enter Apemantus. few. We will bear, with your lordship. Mer. He'll fpare none. Tim. Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus! Apem. 'Till I be gentle, ftay for thy good morrow; 5-unclew me quite.] To unclew, is to unwind a ball of thread, To unclew a man, is to draw out the whole mafs of his fortunes. JOHNSON. Are prized by their mafters:] Are rated according to the efteem in which their poffeffor is held. JOHNSON. 7 Enter Apemantus.] See this character of a cynic finely drawn by Lucian, in his Auction of the Philofophers; and how well Shakfpeare has copied it. WARBURTON. 8 Tim. Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus! -1 Apem. 'Till I be gentle, ftay for thy good morrow; When thou art Timon's dog, and thefe knaves honest, The first line of Apemantus's anfwer is to the purpofe; the fe cond abfurd and nonfenfical; which proceeds from the lofs of a fpeech dropt from between them, that should be thus restored : Tim Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus; Apem. 'Till I be gentle, ftay for thy good morrow. [Poet. When will that be?] Apem. When thou art Timon's dog, and thefe knaves koneft. WARBURTON. I think my punctuation may clear the paffage without any greater effort. JOHNSON. When When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honeft. Tim. Why doft thou call them knaves? thou Apem. Are they not Athenians? Apem. Then I repent not. few. You know me, Apemantus. Apem. Thou know'ft, I'do; I call'd thee by thy name. Tim. Thou art proud, Apemantus. Apem. Of nothing fo much, as that I am not like Tim. Whither art going? Apem. To knock out an honeft Athenian's brains. Apem. Right, if doing nothing be death by the law. Tim. Wrought he not well that painted it? Poet. You are a dog. Apem. Thy mother's of my generation; What's fhe, if I be a dog? Tim. Wilt dine with me, Apemantus ? Apem. No; I eat not lords. Tim. An thou fhould'ft, thou'dft anger ladies. Apem. O, they eat lords; fo they come by great bellies. • When thou art Timon's dog,- ] When thou haft gotten a better character, and instead of being Timon, as thou art, fhalt be changed to Timon's dog, and become more worthy of kindnefs and falutation. JOHNSON. When thou art Timon's dog,- -] This is fpoken dans, as Mr. Upton fays fomewhere :-ftriking his hand on his breaft." "Wot you who named me firft the kinge's dogge ?" fays Arifippus in Damon and Pythias. FARMER, 1 Tim. That's a lafcivious apprehenfion. Apem. So thou apprehend'ft it: Take it for thy labour. Tim. How doft thou like this jewel, Apemantus? Apem. Not fo well as plain-dealing', which will not coft a man a doit. Tim. What doft thou think 'tis worth?' Apem. Not worth my thinking.-How now, poet? Poet. How now, philofopher? Poet. Art not one? Apem. Yes? Poet. Then I lie not. Apem. Then thou lieft: look in thy last work, where thou haft feign'd him a worthy fellow. Poet. That's not feign'd, he is fo. Apem. Yes, he is worthy of thee, and to pay thee for thy labour: He, that loves to be flatter'd, is worthy o' the flatterer. Heavens, that I were a lord! Tim. What would'ft do then, Apemantus? Apem. Even as Apemantus does now, hate a lord with my heart. Tim. What, thyfelf? Tim. Wherefore? 2 Apem. That I had no angry wit to be a lord. Art Not fo well as plain-dealing,——] Alluding to the proverb: "Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that ufe it die beggars." STEEVENS. 2 That I had no angry wit, to be a lord.] This reading is abfurd, and unintelligible. But, as I have reftored the text, that I had fo hungry a wit, to be a lord, it is fatirical enough of conscience, viz. I would hate myfelf, for having no more wit than to covet fo infignificant a title. In the fame fenfe, Shakspeare uses lean-titted in his Richard II, "And Art thou not a merchant? Mer. Ay, Apemantus. Apem. Traffick confound thee, if the gods will not! Mer. If traffick do it, the gods do it. Apem. Traffick's thy god, and thy god confound thee! Trumpets found. Enter a Messenger. Tim. What trumpet's that? Mef. 'Tis Alcibiades, and fome twenty horse, All of companionship3. Tim. Pray, entertain them; give them guide to us. You must needs dine with me:-Go not you hence, 'Till I have thank'd you; and, when dinner's done, Shew me this piece.-I am joyful of your fights. "And thou a lunatick, lean-witted fool.". WARBURTON. The meaning may be, I fhould hate myself for patiently enduring to be a lord. This is ill enough expreffed. Perhaps fome happy change may fet it right. I have tried, and can do nothing, yet I cannot heartily concur with Dr. Warburton. JOHNSON. If I hazard one conjecture, it is with the smallest degree of confidence. By an angry wit Apemantus may mean the poet, who has been provoking him. The fenfe will then be this: I should hate myfelf, because I could prevail on no captious wit (like him) to take the title in my ftead. The Revifal reads: That I had fo wrong'd my wit to be a lord. STEEVENS. Perhaps the compofitor has tranfpofed the words, and they fhould be read thus: Or, Angry that I had no wit,to be a lord. Angry to be a lord,that I had no wit. BLACKSTONE: 3 All of companionship.] This expreffion does not mean barely that they all belong to one company, but that they are all fuch as Alcibiades honours with his acquaintance, and fets on a level with bimfelf. STEEVENS. Enter Enter Alcibiades, with the reft. Moft welcome, fir? Apem. So, fo; there Aches contract and ftarve your fupple joints!That there fhould be small love 'mongst these sweet knaves, And all this courtesy! The strain of man's bred out Into baboon and monkey. Alc. Sir, you have fav'd my longing, and I feed Moft hungrily on your fight. Tim. Right welcome, fir: Ere we depart, we'll fhare a bounteous time In different pleafures. Pray you, let us in. [Exeunt all but Apemantus. Enter two Lords. 1 Lord. What time a day is't, Apemantus? Apem. Time to be honeft. I Lord. That time ferves ftill. Apem. The most accurfed thou, that ftill omit'ft it. 2 Lord. Thou art going to lord Timon's feaft? Apem. Ay; to fee meat fill knaves, and wine heat fools. 4 -The ftrain of man's bred out Into baboon and monkey.] Man is exhausted and degenerated; his ftrain or lineage is worn down into a monkey. JOHNSON. Ere we depart,] Who depart? Though Alcibiades was to leave Timon, Timon was not to depart. Common sense favours my emendation. THEOBALD. Theobald propofes do part. Common fenfe may favour it, but an acquaintance with the language of Shakspeare would not have been quite fo propitious to his emendation. Depart and part have the fame meaning. Hath willingly departed with a part." K. John. i. e. Hath willingly parted with a part of the thing in queftion. See Vol. V. p. 50. STEEVENS. 2 Lord. |