And, being enfranchis'd, bid him come to me :- Ord Ath. Lord Timon, hear ine speak. [Exit. Luc. Humbly I thank your lordship: Never may [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 Tim. Freely, good father. Your lordship to accept. thec. Tim. Attends he here, or no?-Lucilius! Luc. Here, at your lordship's service. By night frequents my house. I am a man Tim. The man is honest. It must not bear my daughter. Tim. Does she love him? Old Ath. She is young, and apt: Tim. [To LucILIUS.] Love you the maid? I call the gods to witness, I will choose Mine heir from forth the beggars of the world, Tim. How shall she be endow'd, Tim. This gentleman of mine hath serv'd me long; Give him thy daughter: 1 Should we not read When he most needs me?" 2 Johnson says this thought is better expressed by Dr. Madden in his Elegy on Archbishop Boulter :More than they ask'd he gave; and deem'd it mean Only to help the poor-to beg again.' It is said that Dr. Madden gave Johnson ten guineas for correcting this poem. 3 See note on King Richard III. Act iii. Sc. 2. Therefore he will be [rewarded,] Timon; It is true that Shakspeare often uses elliptical phrases, • What a full fortune does the thick-lips owo If he can carry her thus.' Painting is welcome. Pain. We must needs dine together.-Sir, your jewel Jew. What, my lord? dispraise? Jew. My lord, 'tis rated As those, which sell, would give: But you well know, Things of like value, differing in the owners, 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 ? Jew. We will bear, with your lordship. Mer. morrow; When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest,10 Tim. Why dost thou call them knaves? thou know'st them not. Apem. Are they not Athenians? Tim. Yes. Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs in compt, 6 Pictures have no hypocrisy; they are what they profess to be. 7 To unclew a man is to draw out the whole mass of his fortunes. To unclew being to unwind a ball of thread. possessor is held. cian, in his Auction of the Philosophers; and how well 10 Stay for thy good morrow till I be gentle, which will happen at the same time when thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest,'—¡, e, never. 192 TIMON OF ATHENS Tim. Whither art going? 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. Pain. You are a dog. Apem. Thy mother's of my generation; What's she, if I be a dog? Tim. Wilt dine with me, Apemantus? Apem. No; I eat not lords. Tim. An thou should'st, thou'dst anger ladies. Apem. O, they eat lords: so they come by great bellies. Tim. That's a lascivious apprehension. Apem. So thou apprehend'st it: Take it for thy labour. Tim. How dost thou like this jewel, Apemantus? not cost a man a doit. Tim. What dost thou think 'tis worth? And all this court'sy! The strain of man's bred out Alcib. Sir, you have sav'd my longing, and I feed Tim. Right welcome, sir: 1 Lord. What time a day is't, Apemantus ? 1 Lord. That time serves still. Apem. The most accursed thou, that still omit'st it. 2 Lord. Fare thee well, fare thee well. Apem. Should have kept one to thyself, for I Apem. No, I will do nothing at thy bidding; make Apem. Not worth my thinking.-How now, poet? thy requests to thy friend. Apem. Thou liest. Poet. Art not one? Apem. Yes. Poet. Then I lie not. Apem. Art not a poet? Apem. Then thou hest look in thy last work, where thou hast feign d him a worny fellow. Poet. That's not feign'd ne is so. Apem. Yes, he is wortav of thee, and to pay thee for thy labour: He that loves to be flattered, is worthy o' the flatterer. Heavens, that I were a Jord! Tim. What would'st 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.2Art not thou a merchant? Mer. Av, Apemantus. Apem. Traffic confound thee, if the gods will not! Apem. Traffic's thy god, and thy god confound thee. us. Trumpets sound. Enter a Servant. 1 Alluding to the proverb: Plain-dealing is a jewel, 2 This line is corrupt undoubtedly, and none of the emendations or substitutions that have been proposed are satisfactory. Perhaps we should read, That I had (now angry) wish'd to be a lord: or, That I had (so angry) will to be a lord.' Malone proposed to point the passage thus, That I had no angry wit. To be a lord!' and explains it, That I had no wit (or discretion] in my anger, but was at surd enough to wish myself one of that set of men, whom I despise.' These are the best helps I can afford the reader towards a solution of this enigmatical passage, and it must be confessed they are feeble. 3i. e. Alcibiades' companions, or such as he consorts with and sets on a level with himself. 2 Lord. Away, unpeaceable dog, or I'll spurn thee hence. Apem. I will fly, like a dog, the heels of the ass. [Exit. 1 Lord. He's opposite to humanity. Come, shall And taste Lord Timon's bounty? he outgoes 2 Lord. He pours it out; Plutus, the god of gold, The noblest mind he carries, That ever govern'd man. 2 Lord. Long may he live in fortunes! Shall we in? 1 Lord. I'll keep you company. My father's age, and call him to long peace. [They all stand ceremoniously looking on 4 Man is degenerated; his strain or lineage is worn down into a monkey. 5 It has been before observed that to depart and to part The more accursed thou." 8 i. e. all the customary returns made in discharge of obligations. 9 The faults of rich persons, and which contribute to the increase of riches, wear a plausible appearance, and as the world goes are thought fair; but they are faults notwithstanding.' I come to have thee thrust me out of doors. Does not become a man, 'tis much to blame :- Go, let him have a table by himself; 3 Apem. Let me stay at thine apperil, Timon; I come to observe; I give thee warning on't. Tim. I take no heed of thee; thou art an Athenian ; therefore welcome: I myself would have no power: pr'ythee, let my meat make thee silent.* Apem. I scorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for I should Ne'er flatter thee.-O you gods! what a number I wonder, men dare trust themselves with men : Is the readiest man to kill him: it has been prov'd If I round. 2 Lord. Let it flow this way, my good lord. Apem. Flow this way! A brave fellow!-he keeps his tides well. Timon,11 Those healths will make thee, and thy state, look ill. Here's that, which is too weak to be a sinner, Honest water, which ne'er left man i' the mire: This, and my food, are equals; there's no odds. Feasts are too proud to give thanks to the gods. 1 There seems to be some allusion to a common proverbial saying of Shakspeare's time, Confess and be hanged. See Othello, Act iv. Sc. 1. 2 The old copy reads Yond' man's very angry.' 3 Steevens and Malone dismissed apperil from the text, and inserted own peril: but Mr. Gifford has shown that the word occurs several times in Ben Jonson:'Sir, I will bail you at mine own upperil. Devil is an Ass. 4 'I myself would have no power to make thee silent, but I wish thou wouldst let my meat stop your mouth.' 5 For in the sense of cause or because. 6 It grieves me to see so many feed luxuriously, or sauce their meat at the expense of one man, whose very blood (means of living) must at length be exhausted by them; and yet he preposterously encourages them to proceed in his destruction.' 7 It was the custom in old times for every guest to bring his own knife, which he occasionally whetted on a stone that hung behind the door. One of these whetstones was formerly to be seen in Parkinson's Museum. It is scarcely necessary to observe that they were strangers to the use of forks. 8 The windpipe's notes' were the indications in the throat of its situation when in the act of drinking; it should be remembered that our ancestors' throats were uncovered. Perhaps, as Steevens observes, a quibble is intended on windpipe and notes. Z APEMANTUS'S GRACE. Immortal gods, I crave no pelf; I pray for no man, but myself: Grant I may never prove so fond, 19 To trust man on his oath or bond Or a harlot, for her weeping; Or a dog, that seems a sleeping: Or a keeper, with my freedom Or my friends, if I should need 'em. Amen. So fall to't: Rich men sin, and I eat root. [Eats and drinks. Much good dich thy good heart, Apemantus! Tim. Captain Alcibiades, your heart's in the field now. Alcib. My heart is ever at your service, my lord. Tim. You had rather be at a breakfast of enemies, than a dinner of friends. Alcib. So they were bleeding new, my lord, there's no meat like them; I could wish my best friend at such a feast. Apem. 'Would all those flatterers were thine enemies then; that then thou might'st kill 'em, and bid me to 'em. 1 Lord. Might we but have that happiness, my lord, that you would once use our hearts, whereby we might express some part of our zeals, we should think ourselves for ever perfect." Tim. O, no doubt, my good friends, but the gods themselves have provided that I shall have much help from you: How had you been my friends else? why have you that charitable' title from thousands, did you not chiefly belong to my heart? I have told more of you to myself, than you can with moconfirm you. O, you gods, think I, what need we desty speak in your own behalf; and thus far I have any friends, if we should never have need of should we ne'er have use for them: and would most them? they were the most needless creatures living, resemble sweet instruments hung up in cases, that keep their sounds to themselves. Why, I have often wished myself poorer, that I might come nearer to you. We are born to do benefits: and what better or properer can we call our own, than the riches of our friends? O, what a precious comfort 'tis to have so many, like brothers, commanding one anobe born!15 Mine eyes cannot hold out water, ther's fortunes! O joy, e'en made away ere it can methinks to forget their faults, I drink to you. Apem. Thou weepest to make them drink, Timon. 2 Lord. Joy had the like conception in our eyes, And, at that instant, like a babe sprung up. Apem. Ho, ho! I laugh to think that babe a bastard. 3 Lord. I promise you, my lord, you mov'd me much. Apem. Much!16 [Tucket sounded Tim. What means that trump?-How now? 9 i. e. armour. 10 My lord's health in sincerity. So in Chaucer's Knightes Tale: 'And was all his in chere, as his in herte." 11 This speech, except the concluding couplet, is printed as prose in the old copy, nor could it be exhibited as verse without transposing the word Timon, which fol lows look ill, to its present place. Ithink with Malone that many of the speeches in this play, which are now exhibited in a loose and imperfect kind of metre, were intended by Shakspeare for prose, in which form they are exhibited in the old copy. 12 Foolish. not Depraved, or depraves? who dies, that bears fair ladies, Set a fair fashion on our entertainment, 1 Lady. My lord, you take us even at the best. Apem. 'Faith, for the worst is filthy; and would not hold taking, I doubt me. Tim. Ladies, there is an idle banquet* Attends you: Please you to dispose yourselves. All Lad. Most thankfully, my lord. [Exeunt CUPID and Ladies. Tim. Flavius,Flav. My lord. Tim. The little casket bring me hither. Flav. Yes, my lord.-More jewels yet! There is no crossing him in his humour Else I should tell him,-Well,-i'faith, Í should, [Aside. 1 Shakspeare probably borrowed this idea from the puritanical writers of his time. Thus Stubbes, in his Anatomie of Abuses, 8vo. 1583, Dauncers thought to be madmen. And as in all feasts and pastimes dauncing is the last, so it is the extream of all other vice.' And again, There were (saith Ludovicus Vives) from far countries certain men brought into our parts of the world, who when they saw men daunce, ran away marvellously afraid, crying out and thinking them mad,' &c. Perhaps the thought originated from the following passage in Cicero, Pro Murena 6, Nemo enim fere sal tat sobrius, nisi forte insanit, 2 The glory of this life is like [or just such] madness, in the eye of reason, as this pomp appears when opposed to the frugal repast of a philosopher feeding on oil and roots.' 3 i. e. you have conceived the fairest of us,' or 'you think favourably of our performance, and make the best of it.' 2 Serv. May it please your honour, the Lord Lucius, Out of his free love, hath presented to you Tim. I shall accept them fairly: let the presents Be worthily entertain'd.-How now, what news? 3 Serv. Please you, my lord, that honourable gentleman, Lord Lucullus, entreats your company to-morrow to hunt with him; and has sent your honour two brace of greyhounds. Tim. I'll hunt with him; And let them be receiv'd, Not without fair reward. Flav. [Aside.] What will this come to? He commands us to provide, and give Great gifts, and all out of an empty coffer. That what he speaks is all in debt, he owes Happier is he that has no friend to feed, Tim. [Exit. You do yourselves Much wrong, you bate too much of your own merits :Here, my lord, a trifle of our love. 2 Lord. With more than common thanks I will receive it. 3 Lord. O, he is the very soul of bounty! Tim. And now I remember, my lord, you gave 4 So in Romeo and Juliet: 'We have a foolish trifling supper towards.' 5 An equivoque is here intended, in which cross'd means have his hand crossed with money, or have money in his possession, and to be cross'd or thwarted. So in As You Like It, Yet I should bear no cross if I did bear you.' Many coins being marked with a cross on the reverse. 6Tis pity bounty [i. e. profusion] has not eyes behind [to see the miseries that follow it]; that man might not become wretched for his nobleness of soul." 7 i. e. prefer it, raise it to honour by wearing it. Jeweller says to Timon in the preceding scene, 'You mend the jewel by wearing it.' The 8 Steevens, to complete the measure, proposed to read :'I pr'ythee, let us be provided straight? All Lords. None so welcome. Thou art a soldier, therefore seldom rich, Ay, defiled land, my lord. Am I to you. 2 Lord. So infinitely endeared Tim. All to you.2-Lights, more lights. Apem. No, I'll nothing: for, if I should be brib'd too, there would be none left to rail upon thee; and then thou would'st sin the faster. Thou givest so long, Timon, I fear me, thou wilt give away thyself in paper shortly: What need these feasts, pomps, and vain glories? Tim. Nay, an you begin to rail on society once, I am sworn, not to give regard to you. Farewell; and come with better music. [Exit. Apem. So;-thou'lt not hear me now,-thou shalt not then, I'll lock thy heaven from thee. O, that men's ears should be To counsel deaf, but not to flattery! [Exit. He owes nine thousand; besides my former sum, Caph. Enter CAPHIS. Here, sir; what is your pleasure? Importune him for my moneys; be not ceas'd1o Sen. I go, sir?-take the bonds along with you, Go. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. A Hall in Timon's House, 1 i. e. could dispense them on every side with an un-That he will neither know how to maintain it, grudging distribution. 2 That is, all good wishes to you,' or 'all happi-Nor cease his flow of riot: Takes no account ness attend you.' 3 A beck is a nod or salutation with the head. Steevens says that beck has four distinct significations,' but they will resolve themselves into two. Beck, a rivulet, or little river; and beck, a motion or sign with the head; signa capitis voluntatem ostendens. This last may be either a nod of salutation, of assent or dissent, or finally of command. 4 He plays upon the word leg, as it signifies a limb, and a bow or act of obeisance. 5 Warburton explained this, be ruined by his securities entered into.' Dr. Farmer would read proper, i. e. I suppose, in propria persona. Steevens supports this reading by a quotation from Roy's Satire on Cardinal Wolsey : their order Is to have nothing in proper, 6 By his heaven he means good advice; the only thing by which he could be saved. How things go from him ; nor resumes no care 9 Johnson altered this to found his state in safety.' But the reading of the folio is evidently sound, which I think will bear explanation thus:- No reason can proclaim his state in safety, or not dangerous.' So in King Henry VIII. Act v. Sc. 2: 'Pray heaven he sound not my disgrace! Why should Tiberius' liberty be ceased 7 The commentators have made difficulties about able horses.' 8 Sternness was the characteristic of a porter. There appeared at Kenilworth Castle, [1575] a porter tall of parson, big of lim, and stearn of countinauns.' The word one, in the second line, does not refer to porter, but means a person. He has no stern forbidding porter at his gate to keep people out, but a person who smiles and invites them in 12 Which for who. The pronoun relative applied to things is frequently used for the pronoun relative ap plied to persons, by old writers, and does not seem to have been thought a grammatical error. It is still pre served in the Lord's prayer. 13 This is elliptically expressed :— Was [made] to be so unwise [in order] to be so kind,ꞌ Conversation, as Johnson observes, affords many examples of similar lax expression |