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King. But wilt thou not speak all thou know'st? Par. Yes, so please your majesty! I did go between them, as I said; but more than that, he loved her, for, indeed, he was mad for her, and talk'd of Satan and of limbo, and of furies, and I 5 know not what: yet I was in that credit with them at that time, that I knew of their going to bed ;| and of other motions, as promising her marriage, and things that would derive me ill will to speak of, therefore I will not speak what I know.

King. Thou hast spoken already, unless thou canst say they are marry'd: But thou art too fine' in thy evidence; therefore stand aside.-This ring, you say, was yours?

Dia. Ay, my good lord.

King. Where did you buy it? or who gave it you?

Dia. It was not given me, nor did I buy it.
King. Who lent it you?

Dia. It was not lent me neither.

King. Where did you find it then?

Dia. I found it not.

King. If it were yours by none of all these ways, How could you give it him?

Dia. I never gave it him.

Laf. This woman's an easy glove, my lord; she goes off and on at pleasure.

King. The ring was mine, I gave it his first wife. Dia. It might be yours,or hers, for aught I know. King. Take her away, I do not like her now; To prison with her: and away with him.Unless thou tell'st me where thou hadst this ring, Thou diest within this hour.

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Dia. Because he's guilty, and he is not guilty;
He knows, I am no maid, and he'll swear to't:
I'll swear, I am a maid, and he knows not.
Great king, I am no strumpet, by my life;
I am either maid, or else this old man's wife.
[Pointing to Lafeu.
King. She does abuse our ears; to prison with her.
Dia. Good mother, fetch my bail.-Stay, royal
sir:
[Exit Widow.

The jeweller, that owes the ring, is sent for,
And he shall surety me. But for this lord, [ToBert.
Who hath abus'd ine, as he knows himself,

Though yet he never harm'd me, here I quit him:
He knows himself, my bed he hath defil'd;
And at that time he got his wife with child:
Dead though she be, she feels her young one kick.
So there's my riddle, One, that's dead, is quick.
And now behold the meaning.

Re-enter Widow, with Helena.
King. Is there no exorcist +
Beguiles the truer office of mine eyes?
10Is't real, that I see?

15

Hel. No, my good lord;
Tis but a shadow of a wife you see,
The name, and not the thing.

Ber. Both, both; oh, pardon !
[maid,
Hel. Oh, my good lord, when I was like this
I found you wond'rous kind. There is your ring,
And, look you, here's your letter; This it says,
When from my finger you can get this ring,
And are by me with child, &c.-This is done:
20 Will you be mine, now you are doubly won?
Ber. If she, my liege, can make me know this
clearly,

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30

I'll love her dearly, ever, ever dearly.

Hel. If it appear not plain, and prove untrue,
Deadly divorce step between me and you!
O, my dear mother, do I see you living?

[To the Countess.

Laf. Mine eyes smell onions, I shall weep anon. -Good Tom Drum, lend me a handkerchief; [to Parolles.] So, I thank thee: wait on me home, I'll make sport with thee: Let thy courtesies alone, they are scurvy ones.

King. Let us from point to point this story know,
To make the even truth in pleasure flow:-
35 If thou be'st yet a fresh uncropped flower,

[To Diana.
Chuse thou thy husband, and I'll pay thy dower;
For I can guess, that by thy honest aid,
Thou kept'st a wife herself, thyself a maid.-
40 Of that, and all the progress, more and less,
Resolvedly more leisure shall express ;
All yet seems well; and, if it end so meet,
The bitter past, more welcome is the sweet.
Advancing:

145

The king's a beggar, now the play is done:
All is well ended, if this suit be won,
That you express content; which we will pay,
With strife to please you, day exceeding day:
50 Ours be your patience then, and yours our j arts;
Your gentle hands lend us, and take our hearts.

'Too fine, here means full of finesse; too artful. This word is used not very properly for enchanter,

? i, e. a common woman.

[Exeunt.

3i. e. owns.

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Enter the Duke, Curio, and Lords.

Duke. F musick be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting,

no more;

The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again ;-it had a dying tall :
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing, and giving odour.-Enough;
"Tis not so sweet now, as it was before.
O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou:
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soever,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute! so full of shapes is fancy',
That it alone is high-fantastical.

Cur. Will you go hunt, my lord?
Duke. What, Curio?

Cur. The hart.

Duke. Why, so I do, the noblest that I have: O, when my eyes did see Olivia first, Methought she purg'd the air of pestilence:

1 That is, value. 2 i. e. love.

5

That instant I was turn'd into a hart;

And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, E'er since pursue me.-How now? what news from her?

Enter Valentine.

Val. So please my lord, I might not be admitted, But from her hand-maid do return this answer; The element itself, till seven years hence, 10 Shall not behold her face at ample view; But, like a cloistress, she will veiled walk, And water once a day her chamber round With eye-offending brine: all this, to season A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh, 15 And lasting, in her sad remembrance.

Duke. O, she that hath a heart of that fine frame, To pay this debt of love but to a brother, How will she love, when the rich golden shaft Hath kill'd the flock of all affections else

20 That live in her! when liver, brain, and heart, These sovereign thrones, are all supply'd, and fill'd, (Her sweet perfections) with one self-same king! Away before me to sweet beds of flowers; Love-thoughtslie rich, when canopy'd with bowers, [Exeunt,

[251

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pray thee, and I'll pay thee bounteously,
Conceal me what I am; and be my aid
For such disguise as, haply, shall become
The form of my intent. I'll serve this duke;
5 Thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him,
It may be worth thy pains; for I can sing,
And speak to him in many sorts of musick,
That will allow me very worth his service.
What else may hap, to time I will commit:
Only shape thou thy silence to my wit.

10

Cap. True, madam: and, to comfort you with chance,

15

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Assure yourself, after our ship did split,

Most provident in peril, bind himself

Cap. Be you his eunuch, and your mute I'll be: When my tongue blabs, then let mine eyes not see! Vio. I'thank thee: lead me on.

SCENE III.

Olivia's House.

Enter Sir Toby, and Maria.

Sir To. What a plague means my niece, to take

(Courage and hope both teaching him the practice) 20 the death of her brother thus? I am sure, Care's

To a strong mast that liv'd upon the sea;
Where, like Arion on the dolphin's back,

I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves,
So long as I could see.

Vio. For saying so, there's gold:

Mine own escape unfoldeth to my hope,
Whereto thy speech serves for authority,
The like of him. Know'st thou this country?

Cap. Ay, madam, well; for I was bred and born
Not three hours travel from this very place.
Vio. Who governs here?

Cap. A noble duke in nature as in name.
Vio. What is his name?

Cap. Orsino.

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Jan enemy to life.

Mar. By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier o'nights; your cousin, my lady, takes great exceptions to your ill hours.

Sir To. Why, let her except, before excepted. Mar. Ay, but you must confine yourself within the modest limits of order.

SirTo. Confine? I'll confine myself no finer than I am: these cloaths are good enough to drink in, 30 and so be these boots too; an they be not, let them hang themselves in their own straps.

Mar. That quaffing and drinking will undo you: I heard my lady talk of it yesterday; and of a foolish knight that you brought in one night here

Vio. Orsino; I have heard my father name him. 35 to be her wooer.
He was a batchelor then.

Cup. And so is now, or was so very late:
For but a month ago I went from hence;
And then 'twas fresh in murmur, (as, you know,
What great ones do, the less will prattle of)
That he did seek the love of fair Olivia.

Vio. What's she?

Sir To. Who? Sir Andrew Ague-cheek?
Mar. Ay, he.

Sir To. He's as tall' a man as any's in Illyria.
Mar. What's that to the purpose?

40 SirTo. Why, he has three thousand ducats a year.
Mar. Ay, but he'll have but a year in all these
ducats; he's a very fool, and a prodigal.

Cap. A virtuous maid, the daughter of a count
That dy'd some twelve-month since; then leaving
In the protection of his son, her brother, [her 45
Who shortly also dy'd: for whose dear love,
They say, she hath abjur'd the sight
And company of men.

Vio. O, that I serv'd that lady;
And might not be deliver'd' to the world,
'Till I had made mine own occasion mellow,
What my estate is!

Cap. That were hard to compass;
Because she will admit no kind of suit,
No, not the duke's.

Vio. There is a fair behaviour in thee, captain;
And though that nature with a beauteous wall
Doth o't close in pollution, yet of thee
I will believe, thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character.

Sir To. Fie, that you'll say so! he plays o' th' viol-de-gambo, and speaks three or four languages word for word without book, and hath all the good gifts of nature.

Mar. He hath, indeed,--almost natural: for, besides that he's a fool, he's a great quarreller; and, but that he hath the gift of a coward to allay the 50 gust he hath in quarrelling, 'tis thought among the prudent, he would quickly have the gift of a grave.

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Sir To. By this hand, they are scoundrels, and subtractors that say so of him. Who are they? Mar. They that add, moreover, he's drunk nightly in your company.

Sir To. With drinking healths to my niece; I'll drink to her, as long as there's a passage in my throat, and drink in Illyria. He's a coward, and a 60 coystril, that will not drink to my niece, till his

2 i. e. approve.

3 Tall means stout, courageous.

Mr.

That is, made public to the world. Steevens explains coystril to mean a coward cock, or a bastard hawk; while Mr. Tollet says, it implies a paltry groom, one only fit to carry arms, but not to use them.

brains

brains turn o' the toe like a parish-top'. What, wench? Castiliano volgo'; for here comes Sir Andrew Ague-face.

Enter Sir Andrew.

man has: but I am a great eater of beef, and, I
believe, that does harm to my wit.
Sir To. No question.

Sir And. An I thought that, I'd forswear it. I'll

Sir And. Sir Toby Belch! how now, Sir Toby ride home to-morrow, Sir Toby.

Belch?

Sir To. Sweet sir Andrew !

Sir And. Bless

you,

fair shrew.

Mar. And you too, sir.

Sir To. Accost, sir Andrew, accost.

Sir And. What's that?

Sir To. My niece's chamber-maid.

Sir And. Good mistress Accost, I desire better acquaintance.

Mar. My name is Mary, sir.

Sir And. Good Mrs. Mary Accost,

Sir To. You mistake, knight: accost, is, front her, board her, woo her, assail her.

Sir And. By my troth, I would not undertake her in this company. Is that the meaning of accost Mar. Fare you well, gentlemen.

Sir To. An thou let part so, sir Andrew, would thou might'st never draw sword again.

Sir To. Pourquoy, my dear knight?

Sir And. What is pourquoy? do, or not do? I would I had bestowed that time in the tongues, that I have in fencing, dancing, and bear-baiting: 100, had I but follow'd the arts!

Sir To. Then hadst thou had an excellent head lof hair.

Sir And. Why, would that have mended my hair? Sir To. Past question; for thou seest, it will not 15 curl by nature.

Sir And. But it becomes me well enough, does't not?

Sir To. Excellent! it hangs like flax on a distaff; and I hope to see a housewife take thee between 20 her legs, and spin it off.

Sir And. An you part so, mistress I would I might never draw sword again! Fair lady, do you 25 think you have fools in hand?

Mar. Sir, I have not you by the hand.

Sir And. Marry, but you shall have; and here's my hand.

Mar. Now, sir, thought is free: I pray you, 30 bring your hand to the buttery-bar, and let it drink. Sir And. Wherefore, sweet-heart? what's your metaphor?

Mur. It's dry, sir'.

Sir And. Why, I think so; I am not such ar 35 ass, but I can keep my hand dry. But what's your jest?

Mar. A dry jest, sir.

Sir And. Are you full of them?

Mar. Ay, sir; I have them at my fingers' ends: 40| marry, now I let go your hand, I am barren. [Exit Maria. Sir To. O knight, thou lack'st a cup of canary; When did I see thee so put down?

Sir And. Never in your life, I think; unless 45 you see canary put me down: Methinks, sometimes I have no more wit than a christian, or an ordinary!

Sir And. 'Faith, I'll home to-morrow, Sir Toby: your niece will not be seen; or, if she be, it's four to one she'll none of me; the count hunself, here hard by, wooes her.

Sir To. She'll none o' the count; she'll not match Jabove her degree, neither in estate, years, nor wit; I have heard her swear it. Tut, there's life in't, man. Sir And. I'll stay a month longer. I am a fellow o' the strangest mind i' the world; I delight in masques and revels sometimes altogether.

Sir To. Art thou good at these kick-shaws, knight?

Sir And. As any man in Illyria, whatsoever he be, under the degree of my betters: and yet I will not compare with an old man.

Sir To. What, is thy excellence in a galliard, knight?

Sir And. 'Faith, I can cut a caper.

Sir To. And I can cut the mutton to't. Sir And. And, I think, I have the back-trick, simply as strong as any man in Illyria.

Sir To. Wherefore are these things hid? wherefore have these gifts a curtain before them? Are they like to take dust, like mistress Mall's picture? why dost thou not go to church in a galliard, and come home in a coranto? My very walk Jshould be a jig; I would not so much as make

'It was anciently the custom to keep a large top in every village, to be whipped in frosty weather, as well to warm the peasants by exercise, as to keep them out of mischief, while they could not work. 2 Dr. Warburton thinks we should read volto; the meaning will then be in English, Put on your Castilian countenance; that is, your grave solemn looks. Mr. Malone observes, that Castilian seems to have been a cant term for a finical affected courtier. 3 That is, not a lover's hand; a moist hand being vulgarly deemed a sign of an amorous constitution. *Shakspeare is here supposed to allude to one Mary Frith, more generally known by the appellation of Mall Cut-purse; and of whom Mr. Grainger gives the following account in his Biographical History of England: "She was commonly supposed to have been an hermaphrodite, and practised, or was instrumental to, almost every crime and wild frolic which is notorious in the most abandoned and eccentric of both sexes. She was infamous as a prostitute and a procuress, a fortune-teller, a pick-pocket, a thief, and a receiver of stolen goods. Her most signal exploit was robbing General Fairfax upon Hounslow Heath, for which she was sent to Newgate, but was, by the proper application of a large sum of money, soon set at liberty. She died of the dropsy, in the 75th year of her age, but would probably have died sooner, if she had not sinoaked tobacco, in the frequent use of which she had long indulged herself.”

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