*Thou art a soldier, therefore seldom rich;
*It comes in charity to thee: for all thy living

Is 'mongst the dead; and all the lands thou hast
Lie in a pitch'd field.

*Alcib. Ay, defiled land, 23 my

lord.

*1 Lord. We are so virtuously bound *Tim. And so am I to you.

*2 Lord. So infinitely endear'd —

*Tim. All to you !24 - Lights, more lights! *1 Lord.

The best of happiness,

*Honour, and fortune, keep with you, Lord Timon ! *Tim. Ready for his friends.

*[Exeunt all but APEMANTUS and TIMON.

*Apem. What a coil's 25 here!

Serving of becks, 26 and jutting-out of bums! *I doubt whether their legs 27 be worth the sums *That are given for 'em. Friendship's full of dregs: Methinks, false hearts should never have sound legs. Thus honest fools lay out their wealth on courtesies. *Tim. Now, Apemantus, if thou wert not sullen, *I would be good to thee.

*Apem. No, I'll nothing; for, if I should be bribed too, there would be none left to rail upon thee; and then thou wouldst sin the faster. Thou givest so long, Timon, I fear *me thou wilt give away thyself in person shortly: what need *these feasts, pomps, and vain-glories?

Tim. Nay, an you begin to rail on society once, I am

23 A quibble on the word pitch; land defiled, because it is "a pitch'd field." So in 1 King Henry IV., ii. 4: "This pitch, as ancient writers do report, doth defile."

24 Probably meaning, "All good wishes, all happiness, to you!"

25 Coil is bustle, stir; what we call fuss. See vol. iv. page 208, note 4.

26 A beck is a nod, a salutation with the head.

27 Playing on the word leg: a leg or making a leg was much used, to denote an act of obeisance. See vol. xi. page 64, note 47.

*sworn not to give regard to you. Farewell; and come with *better music.

*Apem. So; thou wilt not hear me now;

[Exit.

*Thou shalt not then, I'll lock thy heaven 28 from thee.— *O, that men's ears should be

*To counsel deaf, but not to flattery!

[Exit.

ACT II.

SCENE I.- Athens. A Room in a Senator's House.

Enter a Senator, with papers in his hand.

Sen. And late, five thousand: to Varro and to Isidore
He owes nine thousand; besides my former sum,
Which makes it five-and-twenty. Still in motion
Of raging waste? It cannot hold; it will not.
If I want gold, steal but a beggar's dog,
And give it Timon, why, the dog coins gold:
If I would sell my horse, and buy ten more
Better than he, why, give my horse to Timon,
Ask nothing, give it him, it foals me straight
Ten able horses: no grim porter at his gate; 1
But rather one that smiles, and still invites
All that pass by. It cannot hold; no reason
Can found his state in safety.2-Caphis, ho!

28 By heaven he means good advice; the only thing by which, in his opinion, Timon could be saved.

1 It appears that to be stern or surly was a common characteristic of porters; hence a smiling one was a thing to be remarked upon. So in A Knight's Conjuring, by Dekker: "You mistake, if you imagine that Plutoe's porter is like one of those big fellowes that stand like gyants at lordes gates. Yet hee's surly as those key-turners are."

2 Reason cannot find his fortune to have any safe and solid foundation. - JOHNSON.

Caphis, I say!

Caph.

Enter CAPHIS.

Here, sir; what is your pleasure?

Sen. Get on your cloak, and haste you to Lord Timon;
Impórtune him for my moneys: be not ceased 3
With slight denial; nor then silenced when
Commend me to your master, and the cap

Plays in the right hand, thus: but tell him, sirrah,
My uses cry to me, I must serve my turn
Out of mine own; his days and times are past,
And my reliances on his fracted dates 4
Have smit my credit. I love and honour him;
But must not break my back to heal his finger :
Immediate are my needs; and my relief
Must not be toss'd and turn'd to me in words,
But find supply immediate. Get you gone:
Put on a most impórtunate aspéct,

A visage of demand; for, I do fear,

When every feather sticks in his own wing,
Lord Timon will be left a naked gull,5

Which flashes now a phoenix. Get you gone.
Caph. I go, sir.

8 The Poet repeatedly uses to cease as a transitive verb; hence admitting of the passive voice. See vol. viii. page 248, note 3.

4 Fracted dates are bonds that have run past the dates specified for payment, and so are broken.

5 A play on the word gull, which meant a bird and a dupe. Defined by Wilbraham, in his Attempt at a Glossary, &c.: A naked gull; so are called all nestling birds in quite an unfledged state."

6 Which for who, referring to Timon. The relatives were used indiscriminately.

SCENE II. The Same. A Hall in TIMON'S House.

Enter the Steward, with many bills in his hand.

Stew. No care, no stop! so senseless of expense,
That he will neither know how to maintain it,
Nor cease his flow of riot; takes no account
How things go from him; no reserve, no care
Of what is to continue: never mind

Was to be so unwise, to be so kind.1

What shall be done? he will not hear, till feel:

I must be round 2 with him, now he comes from hunting.
Fie, fie, fie, fie!

Enter CAPHIS, and the Servants of ISIDORE and Varro.

Caph. Would we were all discharged!

Var. Serv. I fear it.

Caph. Here comes the lord.

Enter TIMON, ALCIBIADES, and Lords, &c.

Tim. So soon as dinner's done we'll forth again,

My Alcibiades.

With me? what is your will?

1 One of these infinitives, I am not certain which, but probably the latter, appears to be used gerundively. So that the meaning may come something thus: "Never mind was formed, or fated, to be so unwise by being so kind." Hanmer, however, sets a comma after Was. This makes the sense a little different, thus: Never was a mind formed to be so kind by being so unwise. See Critical Notes.

2 Round is plain-spoken, downright. Often so.

3 Servants were often addressed by the name of their masters. · Good even, or good den, was the common salutation after noon, or from the time when good morning, or good morrow, ceased to be proper.

Caph. My lord, here is a note of certain dues.
Tim. Dues! Whence are you?

Caph.

Tim. Go to my steward.

Of Athens here, my lord.

Caph. Please it your lordship, he hath put me off
To the succession of new days this month:
My master is awaked by great occasion
To call upon his own; and humbly prays you,
That with your other noble parts you'll suit
In giving him his right.

Tim.

Mine honest friend,

I pr'ythee, but repair to me next morning.

Caph. Nay, good my lord,

Tim.

Contain thyself, good friend.

Var. Serv. One Varro's servant, my good lord,
Isid. Serv.

He humbly prays your speedy payment,

From Isidore;

Caph. If you did know, my lord, my master's wants, Var. Serv. 'Twas due on forfeiture, my lord, six weeks And past,

Isid. Serv. Your steward puts me off, my lord;

And I am sent expressly to your lordship.

Tim. Give me breath.

I do beseech you, good my lords, keep on;

I'll wait upon you instantly.-[Exeunt ALCIBIADES and Lords.

[To the Stew.] Come hither: pray you,

How goes the world, that I am thus encounter'd

With clamorous demands of date-broke bonds,
And the detention of long-since-due debts,
Against my honour.

Stew.
Please you, gentlemen,
The time is unagreeable to this business:
Your importunacy cease till after dinner;
That I may make his lordship understand