I, what need we have any friends, if we should never have need of them? they were the most needless creatures living, should we ne'er have use for them; and would most 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 bruefits; and what better or properer can we call our own, than the riches of our friends? Oh! what a precious comfort 'tis, to have so many, like brothers, commanding one another's fortunes! O joy, e'en made away ere it can be born! Mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks: to forget their faults, I drink to you.

Apem. Thou weepest to make them drink,

Timon.

Enter a SERVANT.

I 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.

Tim. Flavius,Flav. My lord.

[Exeunt CUPID, and LADIES.

Tim. The little casket bring me hither. Flav. Yes, my lord.-More jewels yet! There is no crossing him in his humour ;

[Aside. Else I should tell him,-Well,-i'faith, I should When all's spent, he'd be cross'd then, an he could.

'Tis pity, bounty had not eyes behind'; t That

man might ne'er be wretched for his mind. I

[Exit, and returns with the casket. 1 Lord. Where be our men?

Serv. Here, my lord, in readiness.

2 Lord. Our horses.

Tim. O my friends, I have one word

To say to you:-Look you, my good lord, I

must

Enter CUPID.

Cup. Hail to thee, worthy Timon;-and to

all

That of his bounties taste !-The five best senses Acknowledge thee their patron; and come freely

To gratulate thy plenteous bosom: The ear, Taste touch, smell, all pleas'd from thy table rise;

They only now come but to feast thine eyes. Tim. They are welcome all; let them have kind admittance.

Music, make their welcome.

[Exit CUPID. 1 Lord. You see, my lord, how ample you are belov'd.

Music.-Re-enter CUPID, with a masque of LADIES as Amazons, with lutes in their hands, dancing, and playing.

Apem. Hey day, what a sweep of vanity comes this way!

They dance! they are mad women.
Like madness is the glory of this life,

As this pomp shows to a little oil, and root.
We make ourselves fools, to disport ourselves;
And spend our flatteries, to drink those men,
Upon whose age we void it up again,
With poisonous spite and envy. Who lives,

that's not

Depraved, or depraves? who dies, that bears Not one spurn to their graves of their friends' gift?

I should fear, those that dance before me now, Would one day stamp upon me. It has been done;

Men shut their doors against a setting sun. The LORDS rise from table, with much adoring of TIMON; and, to shew their loves, each singles out an Amazon, and all dance, men with women, a lofty strain or two to the hautboys, and cease.

Tim. You have done our pleasures much grace,

fair ladies,

Set a fair fashion on our entertainment,
Which was not half so beautiful and kind;
You have added worth unto't, and lively lustre,
And entertain'd me with mine own device;
I am to thank you for it.

Accept and wear it, kind my lord.

1 Lord. I am so far already in your gifts,All. So are we all.

Enter a SERVANT.

Serv. My lord, there are certain nobles of the

2 Serv. May it please your honour, the lord Lucius,

Out of his free love, hath presented to you
Four milk-white horses, trapp'd in silver.
Tim. I shall accept them fairly let the pre-
sents

Enter a third SERVANT. 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.-

Nor will he know his purse; or yield me this,
To shew 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.
Before I were forc'd out !
Well 'would I were gently put out of office,

Happier is he that has no friend to feed,
Than such as do even enemies exceed,
bleed inwardly for my lord.

[Exit.

Tim. 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. Oh! 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 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;
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, Aud 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.

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,

Honour, and fortunes, keep with you, Timon!

Tim. Ready for his friends.

lord

[Exeunt ALCIBIADES, LORDS, &c. Apem. What a coil's here! Serving of becks, and jutting out of bums! I doubt whether their legs be worth the sums That are given for 'em. Friendship's full of dregs : [legs. Methinks, false hearts should never have sound Thus honest fools lay out their wealth on court'sies.

Tm. Now Apemantus if thou wert not sullen, I'd be good to thee.

Apem. No, I'll nothing: for,

[left If I should be brib'd too, there would be none To rail upon thee: and then thou wouldest sin

the faster.

SCENE 1.-The same.-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 twenty more
Better than he, why, give my horse to Timon,
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
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 importunate aspect,

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. 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.

[Exeunt

SCENE 11.-The same.-A Hall in TIMON'S House.

Enter FLAVIUS, with many bills in his hand. Flav. 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; nor resumes no care
Of what is to continue; Never mind
Was to be so unwise, to be so kind.
What shall be done? He will not hear, till feel?
I must be round with him now he comes from
hunting.
Fie, fie, fie, fie !

Enter CAPHIS, and the SERVANTS of ISIDORE and VARRO,

Caph. Good even, Varro: What,
You come for money?

Var. Serv. Is't not your business too?
Caph. It is -And yours too, Isidore 1
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,
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,

By no argument can he be proved in a solvent state. + Repulsed.

Caph. If you did know, my lord, my master's wants,

Var. Serv. 'Twas due on forfeiture, my lord,

six weeks,

And past,-

Apem. So would I,-as good a trick as ever hangman served thief.

Fool. Are you three usurers' men ?
All Serv. Ay, fool.

Fool. I think, no usurer but has a fool to his

lord;

And I am sent expressly to your lordship.

Tim. Give me breath:

I do beseech you, good my lords, keep on; [Exeunt ALCIBIADES and LORDS. I'll wait upon you instantly.-Come hither, pray [To FLAVIUS.

When men come to borrow of your masters, they approach sadly, and go away merry; but they enter my mistress' house merrily, and go away sadly: The reason of this?

Var. Serv. I could render one.

you.

Enter APEMANTUS and a Fool.

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?

Var. Serv. What is a whoremaster, fool? Fool. A fool in good clothes, and something like thee. 'Tis a spirit: sometime, it appears like a lord: sometime, like a lawyer; sometime, like a philosopher, with two stones more than his artificial one: He is very often like a knight; and, generally in all shapes, that man goes up and down in, from fourscore to thirteen, this spirit walks in.

Var. Serv. Thou art not altogether a fool.

Fool. Nor thou altogether a wise man ; as much foolery as I have, so much wit thou lackest.

Apem. That answer might have become Ape

mantus.

All Serv. Aside, aside; here comes lord Ti

mon.

Re-enter TIMON and FLAVIUS.

Apem. Come with me, fool, come. Fool. I do not always follow lover, elder bro ther, and woman; sometime, the philosopher. [Exeunt APEMANTUS and FOOL. Flav. 'Pray you, walk near; I'll speak with you anon. [Exeunt SERV. Tim. You make me marvel: Wherefore, ere this time,

Had you not fully laid my state before me;
That I might so have rated my expense,
As I had leave of means?

Flav. You would not hear me,

At many leisures I propos'd.
Tim. Go to:

Perchance, some single vantages you took
When any indisposition put you back;

Apem. Canst not read? Page. No.

Apem. There will little learning die then, that day thou art hanged. This is to lord Timon; this to Alcibiades. Go; thou wast born a bastard, and thou'lt die a bawd.

Page. Thou wast whelped a dog; and thou shalt famish, a dog's death. Answer not, I am gone. [Exit PAGE.

Apem. Even so thou out-run'st grace. Fool, I will go with you to lord Timon's. Fool. Will you leave me there? Apem. If Timon stay at home.-You three serve three usarers?

All Serv. Ay, 'would they served us !

Thus to excuse yourself.

Flav. O my good lord!

At many times I brought in my accounts,

Laid them before you; you would throw them off,

And say, you found them in mine honesty. When, for some trifling present, you have bid

me

Return so much, I have shook my head, and wept :

Yea, 'gainst the authority of manners, pray'd

you

To hold your hand more close; I did endure
Not seldom, nor so slight checks; when I have
Prompted you, in the ebb of your estate,
And your great flow of debts. My dear-lov'd lord,
Though you hear now, (too late!) yet now's a
time,

The greatest of your having lacks a half
To pay your present debts.

Tim. Let all my land be sold.

Flav. 'Tis all engag'd, some forfeited and gone;

And what remains will hardly stop the mouth
Of present dues: the future comes apace:
What shall defend the interim? and at length
How goes our reckoning?

Tim. To Lacedæmon did my land extend. Flav. O my good lord, the world is but word;

Were it all your's, to give it in a breath,
How quickly were it gone?

Tim. You tell me true.

I. e. a certain sum.

Flav. If you suspect my husbandry, or falseCall me before the exactest auditors, [hood, And set me on the proof. So the gods bless me, When all our offices have been oppress'd

With riotous feeders; when our vaults have wept

With drunken spilth of wine; when every room Hath blaz'd with lights, and bray'd with minstrelsy;

I have retir'd me to a wasteful cock, t
And set mine eyes at flow.

Tim. Pr'ythee, no more.

Flav. Heavens, have I said, the bounty of this lord! [sants, How many prodigal bits have slaves and peaThis night englutted! Who is not Timon's? What heart, head, sword, force, means, but is lord Timon's?

Great Timon, noble, worthy, royal Timon? Ah! when the means are gone, that buy this praise,

The breath is gone whereof this praise is made: Feast-won, fast-lost; one cloud of winter showers,

These flies are couch'd

Tim. Come, sermon me no further:

No villanous bounty yet hath pass'd my heart; Unwisely, not ignobly, have I given.

Why dost thou weep? Canst thou the conscience lack,

To think I shall lack friends? Secure thy heart:
If I would broach the vessels of my love,
And try the argument of hearts by borrow-
ing,

Men, and men's fortunes, could I frankly use,
As I can bid thee speak.

Flav. Assurance bless your thoughts!

Tim. And, in some sort, these wants of mine

are crown'd

That I account them blessings; for by these Shall I try friends: You shall perceive, how

you

Something hath been amiss-a noble nature May catch a wrench-would all were well-'tis pity

And so intending other serious matters, After distasteful looks, and these hard fractions, t

With certain half-caps, and cold moving nods, They froze me into silence.

Tim. You gods, reward them!

I pr'ythee man, look cheerly; These old fel-
lows
Have their ingratitude in them hereditary:
Their blood is cak'd, 'tis cold, it seldom flows;
'Tis lack of kindly warmth, they are not kind;
And nature as it grows again toward earth,
Is fashion'd for the journey, dull, and heavy.—
Go to Ventidius,-[To a SERV.] Pr'ythee, [To
FLAVIUS, be not sad,

Thou art true, and honest; ingeniously I speak, No blame belongs to thee:-[To SERV.] Ventidius lately

Buried his father by whose death, he's stepp'd
Into a great estate when he was poor,
Imprison'd, and in scarcity of friends,

I clear'd him with five talents; Greet him from
Bid him suppose, some good necessity {me;
Touches his friend, which crave to be re-
member'd

With those five talents:-that had,-[76 FLAV.] give it these fellows

To whom 'tis instant due. Ne'er speak, or think, [sink. That Timon's fortunes 'mong his friends can Flav. I would, I could not think it; That thought is bounty's foe;

|Being free itself, it thinks all others so.

ACT III.

[Exeunt.

humph!

[Aside.

Tim. Go you, Sir, [To another SERV.] to the senators,

(Of whom, even to the state's best health, I have

Deserv'd this hearing,) bid 'em send o'the instant A thousand talents to me.

Flav. I have been bold,

(For that I knew it the most general way,) To them to use your signet, and your name: But they do shake their heads, and I am here No richer in return.

Tim. Is't true? can it be?

Flav. They answer, in a joint and corporate voice,

That now they are at fall, want treasure, can

House.

Lucul. [Aside. One of Lord Timon's men ? a gift, I warrant. Why, this hits right; I dreamt of a silver basin and ewer to-night. Flaminius, honest Flaminius; you are very respectively welcome, Sir.-Fill me some wine.-[Exit SERVANT.] And how does that honourable, complete, free-hearted gentleman of Athens, thy very bountiful good lord and master?

Flam. His health is well, Sir.

Lucul. I am right glad that his health is well, Sir: And what hast thou there under thy cloak, pretty Flaminius ?

Flam. 'Faith, nothing but an empty box, Sir; which in my lord's behalf, I come to entreat your honour to supply; who, having great and instant occasion to use fifty talents, hath sent to your lordship to furnish him; nothing doubting your present assistance therein.

Lucul. La, la, la, la,-nothing doubting, says he? alas, good lord! a noble gentleman 'tis, if he would not keep so good a house. Many a time and often I have dined with him, and told him on't: and come again to supper to him, of purpose to have him spend less; and yet he would embrace no counsel, take no warning by my coming. Every man has his fault, and ho nesty is his; I have told him on't, but I could never get him from it.

• Regarding. + Abrupt remarks. A cap slightly moved, not put off. For ingenuously. Liberal. For respectfully. Honesty meaning liberaluy.