Clo. 'Twas never merry world, since, of two usuries, the merriest was put down, and the worser allow'd by order of law a furr'd gown to keep him warm; and furr'd with fox and lamb-skins 2 too, to signify that craft, being richer than innocency, stands for the facing. Elb. Come your way, sir :— ther friar. Bless you, good fa Duke. And you, good brother father: 3 What offence hath this man made you, sir? Elb. Marry, sir, he hath offended the law; and, sir, we take him to be a thief too, sir; for we have found upon him, sir, a strange pick-lock, which we have sent to the deputy. Duke. Fie, sirrah! a bawd, a wicked bawd! The evil that thou causest to be done, That is thy means to live: Do thou but think Duke. Nay, if the devil have given thee proofs 2 Perhaps we should read "fox on lamb-skins," otherwise craft will not stand for the facing. Fox-skins and lamb-skins were both used as facings. So, in Characterismi, 1631: "An usurer is an old fox clad in lamb-skin." 3 The Duke humorously calls him brother father, because he had called him father friar, which is equivalent to father brother, friar being derived from frère, Fr. 4 It is not necessary to take honest Pompey for a housebreaker the locks he had occasion to pick were Spanish padlocks. In Jonson's Volpone, Corvino threatens to make his wife wear one of these strange contrivances. Thou wilt prove his. Take him to prison, officer: Elb. He must before the deputy, sir; he has given him warning: The deputy cannot abide a whoremaster if he be a whoremonger, and comes before him, he were as good go a mile on his errand. Duke. That we were all, as some would seem to be, From our faults, as faults from seeming, free! 5 Enter LUCIO. sir. Elb. His neck will come to your waist; a cord, 6 Clo. I spy comfort: I cry, bail: Here's a gentleman, and a friend of mine. Lucio. How now, noble Pompey? What, at the wheels of Cæsar? Art thou led in triumph? What, is there none of Pygmalion's images, newly made woman,' to be had now, for putting the hand in the pocket and extracting it clutch'd? What reply? Ha! What say'st thou to this tune, matter, and method? Is't not drown'd i'the last rain? Ha! What say'st thou, trot? Is the world as it was, Which is the way ? Is it sad, and few man ? words? Or how? The trick of it? Duke. Still thus, and thus: still worse! Lucio. How doth my dear morsel, thy mistress? Procures she still? Ha! 5 That is, as free from faults as faults are from seemliness. H. 6 His neck will be tied, like your waist, with a cord. The friar wore a rope for a girdle. 7 That is, have you no new courtesans to recommend to your customers? Clo. Troth, sir, she hath eaten up all her beef, and she is herself in the tub.8 Lucio. Why, 'tis good; it is the right of it: it must be so: Ever your fresh whore, and your powder'd bawd: an unshunn'd' consequence; it must be so Art going to prison, Pompey? Clo. Yes, faith, sir. Lucio. Why, 'tis not amiss, Pompey: Farewell; go; say I sent thee thither. For debt, Pompey ? Or how? Elb. For being a bawd, for being a bawd. Lucio. Well, then imprison him: If imprisonment be the due of a bawd, why, 'tis his right: Bawd is he, doubtless, and of antiquity too; bawd-born. Farewell, good Pompey: Commend me to the prison, Pompey: You will turn good husband now, Pompey; you will keep the house. 10 Clo. I hope, sir, your good worship will be my bail. Lucio. No, indeed, will I not, Pompey; it is not the wear." I will pray, Pompey, to increase your bondage: if you take it not patiently, why, your mettle is the more: Adieu, trusty Pompey.-Bless you, friar. Duke. And you. Lucio. Does Bridget paint still, Pompey? Ha! Clo. You will not bail me then, sir? abroad, friar? What news? Elb. Come your ways, sir; come. What news 8 The method of cure for a certain disease was grossly called the powdering tub. 9 That is, inevitable. 10 That is, stay at home, alluding to the etymology of husband. 11 That is, fashion. Lucio. Go, -to kennel, Pompey, go: [Exeunt ELBOW, Clown, and Officers. What news, friar, of the Duke ? ? Duke. I know none: Can you tell me of any Lucio. Some say he is with the emperor of Russia; other some, he is in Rome: But where is he, think you? Duke. I know not where but wheresoever, I wish him well. Lucio. It was a mad fantastical trick of him, to steal from the state, and usurp the beggary he was never born to. Lord Angelo dukes it well in his absence he puts transgression to't. Duke. He does well in't. Lucio. A little more lenity to lechery would do no harm in him: something too crabbed that way, friar. Duke. It is too general a vice, and severity must cure it. Lucio. Yes, in good sooth, the vice is of a great kindred; it is well allied: but it is impossible to extirp it quite, friar, till eating and drinking be put down. They say this Angelo was not made by man and woman, after the downright way of creation : Is it true, think you? Duke. How should he be made then? Lucio. Some report a sea-maid spawn'd him Some, that he was begot between two stock-fishes; But it is certain, that when he makes water his urine is congeal'd ice; that I know to be true: and he is a motion 12 generative; that's infallible. Duke. You are pleasant, sir; and speak apace. Lucio. Why, what a ruthless thing is this in him, for the rebellion of a cod-piece to take away the 12 That is, a puppet, or moving body. life of a man? Would the Duke that is absent have done this? Ere he would have hang'd a man for the getting a hundred bastards, he would have paid for the nursing of a thousand: He had some feeling of the sport; he knew the service, and that instructed him to mercy. Duke. I never heard the absent Duke much detected 13 for women: he was not inclin'd that way. Lucio. O, sir! you are deceiv'd. Duke. "Tis not possible. Lucio. Who? not the Duke? yes, your beggar of fifty; — and his use was, to put a ducat in her clack-dish: the Duke had crotchets in him: He would be drunk too; that let me inform you. 14 Duke. You do him wrong, surely. Lucio. Sir, I was an inward 15 of his: A shy fellow was the Duke: and I believe I know the cause of his withdrawing. Duke. What, I pr'ythee, might be the cause? Lucio. No, pardon; 'tis a secret must be lock'd within the teeth and the lips: but this I can let you - The greater file 16 of the sub ject held the Duke to be wise. Duke. Wise? why, no question but he was. Lucio. A very superficial, ignorant, unweighing 17 fellow. 13 Detected for suspected. See The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act. iii. sc. 5, and note 4. 14 A wooden dish with a movable cover, formerly carried by beggars, which they clacked and clattered to show that it was empty. It was one mode of attracting attention. Lepers and other paupers deemed infectious originally used it, that the sound might give warning not to approach too near, and alms be given without touching the object. The custom of clacking at Easter is not yet quite disused in some counties. 15 That is, intimate. 16 The greater file," the majority of his subjects. 17 That is, inconsiderate. |