1

He commands us to provide, and give great gifts,
And all out of an empty coffer.-

Nor will he know his purse; or yield me this,
To show him what a beggar his heart is,
Being of no power to make his wishes good;
His promises fly so beyond his state,

That what he speaks is all in debt, he owes
For every word; He is so kind, that he now
Pays interest for't: his land's put to their books.
Well, 'would I were gently put out of office,
Before I were forc'd out!

Happier is he that has no friend to feed,
Than such as do even enemies exceed.

I bleed inwardly for my lord.

Tim. You do yourselves

[Exit.

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 me, my lord, you gave Good words the other day of a bay courser

I rode on it is yours, because you lik'd it.

2 Lord. I beseech you, pardon me, my lord, in that. Tim. You may take my word, my lord; I know, no man Can justly praise, but what he does affect:

I weigh my friend's affection with mine own;

I'll tell you true. I'll call on you.

All Lords. None so welcome..

Tim. I take all and your several visitations So kind to heart, 'tis not enough to give ; Methinks, I could deal kingdoms to my friends, And ne'er be weary.-Alcibiades,

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, my lord.5

1 Lord. We are so virtuously bound,Tim. And so

Am I to you.

2 Lord. So infinitely endear'd,

-

Tim. All to you.-Lights, more lights.

1 Lord. The best of happiness,

[5] Alcibiades is told that his estate lies in a pitch'd field.' Now "pitch (as Falstaff says) doth defile." Alcibiades therefore replies, that

his estate lies in defiled land.' JOHNS.

[6] All good wishes, or all happiness to you.

STEEV.

Honour, and fortunes, keep with you, lord Timon!
Tim. Ready for his friends. [Exe.ALCIB. Lords, &c.
Apem. What a coil's here!

Serving of becks,7 and jutting out of bums!

I doubt whether their legs 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 court'sies.
Tim. Now, Apemantus, if thou wert not sullen,
I'd be good to thee.

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 wouldst sin the faster.
Thou giv'st so long, Timon, I fear me, thou

Wilt give away thyself in paper shortly :9

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.

Apem. So ;

[Exit.

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.

ACT II.

SCENE L-The same. A Room in a Senator's House.

Senator, with Papers in his hand.

Enter a

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 twenty more Better than he, why, give my horse to Timon,

[7] Beck means a salutation with the head. So Milton, "Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles."

JOHNS.

To serve a beck-means, to pay a courtly obedience to a nod. STEEV. [8] He plays upon the word leg, as it signifies a limb, and a bow or act of obedience. JOHNS.

[9] Be ruined by securities entered into. WARB. [By his heaven he means good advice.

M. MASON.

Ask nothing, give it him, it foals me, straight,
And able horses: No porter at his gate;
But rather one that smiles, and still invites
All that pass by. It cannot hold; no reason
Can found his state in safety. Caphis, ho!
Caphis, I say!

Enter CAPHIS.

Caph. Here, sir; What is your pleasure?

Sen. Get on your cloak, and haste you to lord Timon; Impórtune him for my monies; be not ceas'd

With slight denial; nor then silenc'd, 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

Has 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 importunate 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,

Which flashes now a phoenix.2 Get you gone.
Caph. I go, sir.

Sen. I go, sir?-Take the bonds along with you,
And have the dates in compt.

Caph. I will, sir.

Sen. Go.

The same.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

A Hall in TIMON's House. Enter FLAVIUS, with
many bills in his hand.

Flav. No care, no stop! so senseless of expence,
That he will neither know how to maintain it,
Nor cease his flow of riot: Takes no account
How things go from him; nor resumes no care
Of what is to continue; Never mind

Was to be so unwise, to be so kind. 3

[2] A gull is a bird as remarkable for the poverty of its feathers, as a phoenix is supposed to be for the richness of its plumage.

STEEV.

[3] To make this line sense and grammar, it should be supplied thus: Was [made] to be so unw ise, [in order] to be so kind;

e. Nature, in order to make a profuse mind, never before endowed any Lean with so large a share of folly. WARB.

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

I must be round with him, now he comes from hunting. Fye, fye, fye, fye!

Enter CAPHIS, and the Servants of ISI DORE and VARRO.

Caph. Good even, Varro :4 What,

You come for money?

Var. Serv. Is't not your business too?
Caph. It is;-And yours too, Isidore?
Isid. Serv. It is so.

Caph. 'Would we were all discharg'd!
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's your will?
Caph. My lord, here is a note of certain dues.
Tim. Dues? Whence are you ?

Caph. Of Athens here, my lord.
Tim. Go to my steward.

Caph. Please it your lordship, he hath put me off
To the succession of new days this month:

My master is awak'd by great occasion,

To call upon his own; and humbly prays you,
That with your other noble parts you'll suit, 5
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. From Isidore.;

He humbly prays your speedy payment,

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 :-

[4] Good even, or as it is sometimes less accurately written, good den, was the usual salutation from noon, the moment that good morrow became improper. STEEV.

Whether servants in our author's time took the names of their master, I know not. Perhaps it is a slip of negligence. JOHNS.

[5] That you will behave on this occasion in a manner consistent with your other noble qualities. STEEV.

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

[Exe. ALCIBIADES and Lords. I'll wait upon you instantly.-Come hither, pray you. [TO FLAVIUS,

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?

Flav. Please you, gentlemen,

The time is unagreeable to this business:
Your importunacy cease, till after dinner;
That I may make his lordship understand
Wherefore you are not paid.

Tim. Do so, my friends:
See them well entertain'd.

Flav. I pray, draw near.

[Exit TIMON. [Exit FLAVIUS.

Enter APEMANTUS and a Fool.6

Caph. Stay, stay, here comes the fool with Apemantus; let's have some sport with 'em.

Var. Serv. Hang him, he'll abuse us.
Isid. Serv. A plague upon him, dog!
Var. Serv. How dost, fool?

Apem. Dost dialogue with thy shadow?
Var. Serv. I speak not to thee.

Apem. No; 'tis to thyself,-Come away. [To the Fool. Isid. Serv. [To Var. Serv.] There's the fool hangs on your back already.

Apem. No, thou stand'st single, thou art not on him yet. Caph. Where's the fool now?

Apem. He last asked the question.-Poor rogues, and usurers' men! bawds between gold and want! All Serv. What are we, Apemantus?

Apem. Asses.

All Serv. Why?

Apem. That you ask me what you are, and do not know yourselves.--Speak to 'em, fool.

Fool. How do you, gentlemen?

All Ser. Gramercies,good fool: How does your mistress? Fool. She's e'en setting on water to scald such chickens as you are. 'Would, we could see you at Corinth.7

[6] I suspect some scene to be lost, in which the entrance of the fool, and the page that follows him, was prepared by some introductory dialogue, in which the audience was informed that they were the fool and page of Phry. nia, Timandra, or some other courtezan, upon the knowledge of which depends the greater part of the ensuing jocularity. JOHNS. [7] A cant term for a bawdy-house. WARB.