To build his fortune, I will ftrain a little, Old Ath. Moft noble lord, Pawn me to this your honour, he is his. Tim. My hand to thee; mine honour on my promise. Luc. Humbly I thank your lordship: Never may That ftate or fortune fall into my keeping, Which is not ow'd to you! [Exeunt Luc. and old Ath. Tim. Painting is welcome. The painting is almost the natural man; Pain. The gods preserve you! Tim. Well fare you, gentleman: Give me your hand; We muft needs dine together.-Sir, your jewel Hath fuffer'd under praise. Jew. What, my lord? difpraife? 5 - never may That ftate or fortune fall into my keeping, Which is not ow'd to you!] The meaning is, let me never henceforth confider any thing that I poffefs, but as owed or due to you; held for your service, and at your difpofal. JOHNSON. So Lady Macbeth fays to Duncan : Your fervants ever "Have theirs, themfelves, and what is theirs, in compt, "Still to return your own." MALONE. -pencil'd figures are Even fuch as they give out.] Pictures have no hypocrify; they are what they profefs to be. JOHNSON. Tim. A meer fatiety of commendations. If I fhould pay you for't as 'tis extoll'd, It would unclew me quite 7. Jew. My lord, 'tis rated As thofe, which fell, would give: But you well know, Are prized by their mafters: believe it, dear lord, Tim. Well mock'd. Mer. No, my good lord; he speaks the common tongue, Which all men speak with him. Tim. Look, who comes here. Will you be chid? Enter APEMANTUS. Jew. We will bear, with your lordship. Tim. Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus! 7-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. 8 Are prized by their mafters:] Are rated according to the esteem in which their poffeffor is held. JOHNSON. 9 Enter Apemantus.] See this character of a cynic finely drawn by Lucian, in his Auction of the Philofophers; and how well Shakspeare has copied it. WARBURTON. When thou art Timon's dog,] When thou hast gotten a better character, and instead of being Timon, as thou art, fhalt be changed to Timon's dog, and become worthy of kindness and falutation. JOHNSON. Apemantus, I think, means to say, that Timon is not to receive a gentle good morrow from him till that fhall happen which never will happen; till Timon is transformed to the fhape of his dog, and his knavish followers become honeft men. Stay for thy good morrow, fays he, till I be gentle, which will happen at the fame time when thou art Timon's dog, &c. i. e. never. MALONE. When thou art Timon's dog,] This is spoken deixтix, as Mr. Upton fays fomewhere:-striking his hand on his breaft. Wot you who named me first the kinge's dogge?" fays Ariftippus in Damon and Pythias. FARMER. Tim. Why doft thou call them knaves? thou know'st Apem. Then I repent not. Jer. 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 Timon. Apem. To knock out an honeft Athenian's brains. Apem. Right, if doing nothing be death by the law. Apem. The beft, for the innocence. Tim. Wrought he not well, that painted it? Apem. He wrought better, that made the painter; and yet he's but a filthy piece of work. 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 should'st, thou'dft anger ladies. Apem. O, they eat lords; fo they come by great bellies. Tim. That's a lafcivious apprehenfion. Apem. So thou apprehend't 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? Apem. Thou lieft. Poet. Art not one? Apem. Yes. 2 Not fo well as plain-dealing,] Alluding to the proverb: "Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars," "STEVENS. VOL, VIII. C Poet Poet. Then I lie not. Apem. Art not a poet? Poet. Yes. Apem. Then thou lieft: look in thy laft 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't do then, Apemantus? Apem. Even as Apemantus does now, hate a lord with my heart. Tim. What, thyself? Apem. Ay. Tim. Wherefore? Apem. That I had no angry wit to be a lord 3.-Art thou not a merchant? 3 That I bad no angry wit, to be a lord.] 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. 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 bould bate myself, because I could prevail on no captious wit (like him) to take the title in my ftead. The Revifal reads: That I bad fo wrong'd my wit to be a lord. STEEVENS. I believe Shakspeare was thinking of the common expreffion-be bas it in bis anger; and that the difficulty arifes here, as in many other places, from the original editor's paying no attention to abrupt fenOur author, I fuppofe, wrote: tences. That I had no angry wit.-To be a lord ! Art thou, &c. Apemantus is afked, why after having wished to be a lord, he fhould hate himself. He replies, For this reafon; that I had no wit (or difcretion] in my anger, but was abfurd enough to with myself one of that fet of men, whom I defpife. He then exclaims with indignationTo be a lord! Such is my conjecture, in which however I have not fo much confidence as to depart from the mode in which this paffage has been hitherto exhibited. Wit, in the fenfe of a witty or ingenious perfon, was not, I fufpect, the language of Shakspeare's time. MALONE. Mer. Mer. Ay, Apemantus. Apem. Traffick confound thee, if the gods will not! Apem. Traffick's thy god, and thy god confound thee! Tim. What trumpet's that? Serv. 'Tis Alcibiades, and fome twenty horse, All of companionship. Tim. Pray, entertain them; give them guide to us.— Exeunt fome Attendants. You must needs dine with me :-Go not you hence, Till I have thank'd you; when dinner is done, Shew me this piece.—I am joyful of your fights.-— Enter ALCIBIADES, with his company. Most welcome, fir! Apem. So, fo; there! Aches contract and starve your fupple joints ! That there should be small love amongst these sweet knaves, And all this courtesy! The ftrain of man's bred out Into baboon and monkeys. Ale. Sir, you have fav'd my longing, and I feed Moft hungrily on your fight. Tim. Right welcome, fir: Ere we depart, we'll share a bounteous time [Exeunt all but Apemantus. 4 All of companionship.] This expreffion does not mean barely that they all belong to one company, but that they are all fuch as Alcibiades bonours with bis acquaintance, and sets on a level with himself. STELVENS. 5 —The ftrain of man's bred out Into babcon and monkey.] Man is exhausted and degenerated; his frain or lineage is worn down into monkey. JOHNSON. 6 Ere we depart,-] Depart and part have the fame meaning. "Hath willingly departed with a part." King John. i. e. Hath willingly parted with a part of the thing in question. STEEVENS, See Vol. II. p. 332, n. 3, and Vol. IV. p.488, n. 2. MALONE. C 2 Enter |