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And found it was his brother, his elder brother.

Cel. O, I have heard him speak of that same brother; And he did render him the most unnatural

That liv'd 'mongst men.

Oli.

And well he might so do,

For well I know he was unnatural.

Ros. But, to Orlando;-Did he leave him there, Food to the suck'd and hungry lioness?

Oli. Twice did he turn his back, and purpos'd so:
But kindness, nobler ever than revenge,

And nature, stronger than his just occasion,
Made him give battle to the lioness,

Who quickly fell before him; in which hurtling1
From miserable slumber I awak'd.

Cel. Are you his brother?

Ros.

Was it you he rescu'd?

Cel. Was 't you that did so oft contrive to kill him? Oli. 'Twas I; but 'tis not I: I do not shame To tell you what I was, since my conversion So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am.

Ros. But, for the bloody napkin?-
Oli.
By, and by.
When from the first to last, betwixt us two,
Tears our recountments had most kindly bath'd,
As, how I came into that desert place;2.
In brief, he led me to the gentle duke,

9 And he did render him —] i. e. describe him. Malone.

So, in Cymbeline:

"May drive us to a render where we have liv'd."

Steevens.

1— in which hurtling -] To hurtle is to move with impetuosity and tumult. So, in Fulius Cæsar:

"A noise of battle hurtled in the air."

Again, in Nash's Lenten Stuff, &c. 1591: "— hearing of the gangs of good fellows that hurtled and bustled thither," &c. Again, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, B. I, c. iv:

"All hurtlen forth, and she with princely pace," &c. Again, B. I, c. viii:

"Came hurtling in full fierce, and forc'd the knight retire.” Steevens.

2 As, how I came into that desert place;] I believe, a line following this has been lost. Malone.

As, in this place, signifies-as for instance. "As, stars with trains of fire," &c.

I suspect no omission. Steevens.

So, in Hamlet:

Who gave me fresh array, and entertainment,
Committing me unto my brother's love;
Who led me instantly unto his cave,

There stripp'd himself, and here upon his arm
The lioness had torn some flesh away,

Which all this while had bled; and now he fainted,

And cry'd, in fainting, upon Rosalind.

Brief, I recover'd him; bound up his wound;
And, after some small space, being strong at heart,
He sent me hither, stranger as I am,

To tell this story, that you might excuse
His broken promise, and to give this napkin,
Dy'd in this blood; 3 unto the shepherd youth
That he in sport doth call his Rosalind.

Cel. Why, how now, Ganymede? sweet Ganymede?
[Ros. faints.
Oli. Many will swoon when they do look on blood.
Cel. There is more in it:-Cousin-Ganymede!4
Oli. Look, he recovers.

Ros.

I would, I were at home.

Cel. We'll lead you thither:-
I pray you, will you take him by the arm?

Oli. Be of good cheer, youth: -You a man?—You lack a man's heart.

5

Ros. I do so, I confess it. Ah, sir, a body would think this was well counterfeited: I pray you, tell your brother how well I counterfeited.-Heigh ho!—

Oli. This was not counterfeit; there is too great testi

3 Dy'd in this blood;] Thus the old copy. The editor of the second folio changed this blood unnecessarily to-his blood. Oliver points to the handkerchief, when he presents it; and Rosa-` lind could not doubt whose blood it was after the account that had been before given. Malone.

Perhaps the change of this into his, is imputable only to the compositor, who casually omitted the t. Either reading may serve; and certainly that of the second folio is not the worst, because it prevents the disgusting repetition of the pronoun, this, with which the present speech is infested. Steevens.

4

Cousin-Ganymede !] Celia, in her first fright, forgets Rosalind's character and disguise, and calls out cousin, then recollects herself, and says, Ganymede. Johnson.

5 Ah, sir,] The old copy reads —Ah, sirra, &c. Correcte by the editor of the second folio. Malone.

mony in your complexion, that it was a passion of earnest. Ros. Counterfeit, I assure you.

Oli. Well then, take a good heart, and counterfeit to be a man.

Ros. So I do: but i' faith I should have been a woman by right.

Cel. Come, you look paler and paler; pray you, draw homewards:-Good sir, go with us.

Oli. That will I, for I must bear answer back How you excuse my brother, Rosalind.

Ros. I shall devise something: But, I pray you, commend my counterfeiting to him:-Will you go?

[Exeunt.

ACT V..... SCENE I.

The same.

Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY.

Touch. We shall find a time, Audrey; patience, gentle Audrey.

Aud. 'Faith, the priest was good enough, for all the old gentleman's saying.

Touch. A most wicked sir Oliver, Audrey, a most vile Mar-text. But, Audrey, there is a youth here in the forest lays claim to you.

Aud. Ay, I know who 'tis; he hath no interest in me in the world: here comes the man you mean.

Enter WILLIAM.

Touch. It is meat and drink to me to see a clown: By my troth, we that have good wits, have much to answer for; we shall be flouting; we cannot hold.

Will. Good even, Audrey.

Aud. God ye good even, William.

Will. And good even to you, sir.

Touch. Good even, gentle friend: Cover thy head, cover thy head; nay, pr'ythee, be covered. How old are you, friend?

Will. Five and twenty, sir.

Touch. A ripe age: Is thy name William?

Will. William, sir.

Touch. A fair name: Wast born i' the forest here?
Will. Ay, sir, I thank God.

Touch. Thank God;-a good answer: Art rich?
Will. 'Faith, sir, so, so.

Touch. So, so, is good, very good, good:-and yet it is not; it is but so so. Will. Ay, sir, I have a pretty wit.

very excellent Art thou wise?

Touch. Why, thou say'st well. I do now remember a saying; The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. The heathen philosopher, when he had a desire to eat a grape, would open his lips when he put it into his mouth; meaning thereby, that grapes were made to eat, and lips to open. You do love this maid?7

Will. I do, sir.

Touch. Give me your hand: Art thou learned?
Will. No, sir.

Touch. Then learn this of me; To have, is to have: For it is a figure in rhetorick, that drink, being poured out of a cup into a glass, by filling the one doth empty the other: For all your writers do consent, that ipse is he; now you are not ipse, for I am he.

Will. Which he, sir?

Touch. He, sir, that must marry this woman: Therefore, you clown, abandon,-which is in the vulgar, leave, -the society, which in the boorish is, company,-of this female, which in the common is,-woman, which together is, abandon the society of this female; or, clown

6 The heathen philosopher, when he had a desire to eat a grape, &c.] This was designed as a sneer on the several trifling and insignificant sayings and actions, recorded of the ancient philosophers, by the writers of their lives, such as Diogenes Laertius, Philostratus, Eunapius, &c. as appears from its being introduced by one of their wise sayings. Warburton.

A book called The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, was printed by Caxton in 1477. It was translated out of French into English by Lord Rivers. From this performance, or some republication of it, Shakspeare's knowledge of these philosophical trifles might be derived. Steevens.

7 meaning thereby, that grapes were made to eat, and lips to open. You do love this maid?] Part of this dialogue seems to have grown out of the novel on which the play is formed: "Phebe is no latice for your lips, and her grapes hang so hie, that gaze at them you may, but touch them you cannot." Malone.

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8

thou perishest; or, to thy better understanding, diest; to wit, I kill thee, make thee away, translate thy life into death, thy liberty into bondage: I will deal in poison with thee, or in bastinado, or in steel; I will bandy with thee in faction; I will o'er-run thee with policy; I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways; therefore tremble, and depart.

Aud. Do, good William.

Will. God rest you merry, sir.
Enter CORIN.

[Exit.

Cor. Our master and mistress seek you; come, away, away.

8

Touch. Trip, Audrey, trip, Audrey; I attend, I attend. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

The same.

Enter ORLANDO and OLIver.

9

Orl. Is 't possible, that on so little acquaintance you

to wit, I kill thee,] The old copy reads-" or, to wit, I kill thee." I have omitted the impertinent conjunction or, by the advice of Dr. Farmer. Steevens.

9 Is 't possible, &c.] Shakspeare, by putting this question into the mouth of Orlando, seems to have been aware of the impropriety which he had been guilty of by deserting his original. In Lodge's novel, the elder brother is instrumental in saving Aliena from a band of ruffians, who "thought to steal her away, and to give her to the king for a present, hoping, because the king was a great leacher, by such a gift to purchase all their pardons." Without the intervention of this circumstance, the passion of Aliena appears to be very hasty indeed.

Our author's acquaintance, however, with the manners of heroines in romances, perhaps rendered him occasionally inattentive, as in the present instance, to probability. In The Sowdon of Babyloyne, an ancient MS. often quoted by me on other occasions, I find the following very singular confession from the mouth of a Princess:

"Be ye not the duke of Burgoyne sir Gy,
"Nevewe unto king Charles so fre?

"Noe, certes lady, it is not I,

"It is yonder knight that ye may see.

"A, him have I loved many a day,

"And yet know I him noght,

"For his love I do all that I maye,

"To chere you with dede and thought." P. 47. Steevens.

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