Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have.
Apem. Here is no use for gold.
Tim. The best, and truest:

For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm.
Apem. Where ly'st o' nights, Timon?
Tim. Under that's above me.
Where feed'st thou o' days, Apemantus?

Apem. Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather, where I eat it.

to me, thou might'st have hit upon it here: The commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts.

Tim. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou 5 art out of the city?

Tim. 'Would poison were obedient, and knew 10 my mind!

Apem. Where would'st thou send it ?
Tim. To sauce thy dishes.

Apem. Yonder comes a poet, and a painter: The plague of company light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way: When I know not what else to do, I'll see thee again.

Tim. When there is nothing living but thee,. thou shalt be welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog, than Apemantus.

Apem. The middle of humanity thou never
knewest, but the extremity of both ends: When 15A
thou wast in thy gilt, and thy perfume,they mock'd
thee for too much curiosity; in thy rags, thou
knowest none, but art despis'd for the contrary.
There's a medlar for thee, eat it.

Tim. On what I hate, I feed not.
Apem. Dost hate a medlar?
Tim. Ay, though it look like thee.

Apem. Thou art the cap' of all the fools alive. Tim.'Would thou wert cleanenoughto spit upon. plague on thee!

Apem. Thou art too bad to curse.

Tim. All villains, that do stand by thee, are pure.
Apem. There is noleprosy, but whatthouspeak'st.
Tim. If I name thee.-

20I'll beat thee,-but I should infect my hands.
Apem. I would my tongue could rot them off!
Tim. Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!
Choler does kill me, that thou art alive;
swoon to see thee.

Apem. An thou hadst hated medlars sooner, thou shouldst have lov'd thyself better now. What man didst thou ever know unthrift, that was be-25 lov'd after his means?

Tim. Who, without those means thou talk'st of, didst thou ever know belov'd? Apem. Myself.

Tim. I understand thee; thou had'st some means to keep a dog.

Apem. What things in the world canst thou nearest compare to thy flatterers?

30

Tim. Women nearest; but nien, men are the things themselves. What wouldst thou do with 35 the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power?

Apem. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men. Tim. Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the con-| fusion of men, and remain a beast with the beasts? Apem. Ay, Timon.

I

Apem. 'Would thou wouldst burst!
Tim. Away,

Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry, I shall lose
A stone by thee.

Apem. Beast!

Tim. Slave!

Apem. Toad!

Tim. Rogue, rogue, rogue!

it.

[Apemantus retreats backward, as going.
I am sick of this false world; and will love nought
But even the meer necessities upon
Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
Lie where the fight foam of the sea may beat
Thy grave-stone daily: make thine epitaph,
That death in me at others' lives may laugh.
400 thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce

45

Tim. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain too! If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee: if thou wert the fox, the lion would suspect thee, when,peradventure, thou wert accus'd by the ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would forment thee; and still thou liv'dst but as a breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner: wert thou 50 the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury:[ wert thou a bear, thou wouldst be kill'd by the horse: wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seiz'd by the leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert 55 german to the lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life: all thy safety were remotion2; and thy defence, absence. What beast couldst thou be, that were not subject to a beast? And what a beast art thou already, and seest not 60 thy loss in transformation?

Apem. If thou couldst please me with speaking

[Looking on the gold.

Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd,and delicate wooer,
Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god,
That solder'st close impossibilities,

And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every
tongue,

To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts!
Think, thy slave man rebels; and by that virtue
Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
May have the world in empire!
Apem. 'Would 'twere so;-

But not 'till I am dead!--I'll say, thou hast gold:
Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.
Tim. Throng'd to?

Apem. Ay.

Tim. Thy back, I pr'ythee.
Apem. Live, and love thy misery!
Tim. Long live so, and so die!--I am quit.
[Exit Apemantus.

i. e. removal from place to place.

3 G4

i. e. the top, the

More

More things like men? Eat, Timon, and abhor That you are thieves profest; that you work not them.

Enter Thieves.

1 Thief. Where should he have this gold? It is some poor fragment, some slender ort of his remainder: the meer want of gold, and the fallingfrom of his friends, drove him into this melancholy.

2 Thief. It is nois'd, he hath a mass of treasure. 3 Thief. Let us make the assay upon him; if he care not for 't, he will supply us easily; If he covetous y reserve it, how shall's get it?

2. Thief. True; for he bears it not about him, 'tis hid.

1 Thief. Is not this he?

All. Where?

2 Thief. 'Tis his description.
3 Thief. He; I know him.
All. Save thee, Timon.
Tim. Now, thieves.

All. Soldiers, not thieves.

Tim. Both too; and women's sons.

All. We arenot thieves, but men that much do want.

5

In holier shapes: for there is boundless theft
In limited professions. Rascal thieves,
Here's gold:Go suckthe subtle bloodo' the grape,.
Till the high fever seeth your blood to froth,
And so 'scape hanging; trust not the physician;
His antidotes are poison, and he slays

More than you rob: take wealth and lives together;
Do villainy, do, since you profess to do't,
10 Like workmen: I'll example you with thievery,
The sun 's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the yast sea; the moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun;
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen
From general excrement: each thing's a thief,
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves; away;
20 Rob one another. There's more gold: Cutthroats;
All that you meet are thieves: To Athens, go,
Break open shops; nothing can you steal,
But thieves do lose it: Steal not less, for this
I give you; and gold confound you howsoever!
Amen.
[Exit,
3 Thief. He has almost charm'd me from my
profession, by persuading me to it.

[meat.
Tim. Your greatest want is, you want much of 25
Why shouldyou want? Behold, the earth hath roots;
Within this mile break forth an hundred springs:
The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips;
The bounteous huswife, nature, on each bush
Lays her full mess before you. Want? why want: 30
iThief. We cannot live on grass, on berries, wa-
As beasts, and birds, and fishes.

[ter,

Tim. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds,

and fishes;

1 Thief. "Tis in the malice of mankind, that he thus advises us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.

2 Thief. I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over my trade.

1 Thief. Let us first see peace in Athens; There is no time so miserable, but a man may be [Exeunt,

You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con!,35 true,

2

To con thanks is a very common expression among our old dramatic writers. Limited, for legal. Mr. Tollett comments on this passage thus: "The moon is the governess of the floods, but cannot be resolved by the surges of the sea.' This seems incontestible, and therefore an alteration of the text appears to be necessary. I propose to read :—whose liquid surge resolves the main into salt tears;—i. e. resolves the main land, or the continent, into sea. In Bacon, and also in Shakspeare's King Lear, act III. sc. 1. main occurs in this signification. Earth melting to sea is not an uncommon idea in our poets. "Melt earth to sea, sca flow to air." I might add, that in Chaucer, mone, which is very near to the traces of the old reading, seems to mean the globe of the earth, or a map of it, from the French, monde, the world; but I think main is the true reading here, and might easily be mistaken for moon by a hasty transcriber, or a careless printer, who might have in their thoughts the moon, which is mentioned in a preceding line.” *Rarely, for fitly; not for seldom. "We should read will'd. • The sense is, "Let me rather woo or caress those that would mischief, that profess to mean me mischief, than those that really do me mischief under false professions of kindness."

Tim. Why dost ask that? I have forgot all 5
Then, if thou grant'st thou art a man, I have
Forgot thee.

Flav. An honest poor servant of yours.

Tim. Then I know thee not:

I ne'er had honest man about me, I; all

I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.
Flar. The gods are witness,

To requite me, by making rich yourself. [man,
Tim. Look thee, 'tis so!--Thou singly honest
Here, take:—the gods out of my misery
Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich, and happy:
But thus condition'd: Thou shalt build from 'men;
Hate all, curse all: shew charity to none;
But let the famish'd flesh slide from the bone,
Ere thou relieve the beggar: give to dogs
What thou deny'st to men; let prisons swallow 'em,
10 Debts wither'em to nothing: Be men like blasted
woods,

Ne'er did poor steward wear a truer grief
For his undone lord, than mine eyes for you.
Tim. What, dost thou weep-Come nearer;-15
then I love thee,

Because thou art a woman, and disclaim'st
Fiaty mankind; whose eyes do never give,
But thorough lust, and laughter. Pity's sleeping:
Strange times, that weep with laughing, not with 20
weeping!

Flav. I beg of you to know me, good my lord, To accept my grief, and, whilst this poor wealth lasts,

To entertain me as your steward still.

Tim. Had I a steward

[gifts,

If not a usuring kindness; and as rich men deal 45|
Expecting in return twenty for one? [breast

Flac. No, my most worthy master, in whose
Doubt and suspect, alas, are plac'd too late:
You should have fear'd false times, when you
feast:

did

Suspect still comes where an estate is least,
That which I shew, heaven knows, is merely love,|
Duty and zeal to your unmatched mind,
Care of your food and living: and, believe it,
My most honour'd lord,

For any benefit that points to me,

Either in hope, or present, I'd exchange it

For this one wish, That you had power and wealth

1 Knave is here used in the compound sense of a servant and a rascal. distract.-An appearance so unexpected, says Timon, almost turns my savageness to distraction. i.e. away from human habitations. The sense is, "The doing of that which we have said we would do, the accomplishment and performance of our promise, is, except among the lower classes of mankind, quite out of use." Personating for representing simply; for the subject of this projected satire was Timon's case, not his person,

Tim. Let it go naked,men may see't the better: 35
You, that are honest, by being what you are,
Make them best seen, and known.

1i.e. night which is as obscure as a dark corner. 2A portrait was called a counterfeit in our author's time. 3i.e. a hypocrite. That is, in the jakes. This passage is obscure. Dr. Johnson thinks the meaning is this: But two in company, that is, Stand apart, let only two be together; for even when each stands single there are two, he himself and a villain.-But, in the North, signi fies without.

While you have throats to answer: for myself, 10 There's not a whittle in the unruly camp,

[mon. Tim. Of none but such as you, and you of Ti-15 2 Sen. The senators of Athens greet thee, Ti[the plague,

nion.

Tim. I thank them; and would send thein back Could I but catch it for them.

1 Sen. O, forget

What we are sorry for ourselves in thee.

The senators, with one consent of love,

Intreat thee back to Athens; who have thought
On special dignities, which vacant lie

For thy best use and wearing.

2 Sen. They confess,

Toward thee, forgetfulness too general, gross:
And now the public body,-which doth seldom
Play the recanter,-feeling in itself

A lack of Timon's aid, hath sense withal
Of its own fall, restraining aid to Timon;

And sends forth us, to make their sorrowed ren-
der',

But I do prize it at my love, before

The reverend'st throat in Athens. So I leave you
To the protection of the prosperous gods,
As thieves to keepers.

Flac. Stay not, all's in vain.

Tim. Why, I was writing of my epitaph,
It will be seen to-morrow; My long sickness
Of health, and living, now begins to mend,
And nothing brings me all things. Go, live still;
20 Be Alcibiades your plague, you his,
And last so long enough!

1 Sen. We speak in vain.

Tim. But yet I love my country; and am not One that rejoices in the common wreck, 25 As common bruit doth put it.

30

Together with a recompence more fruitful
Than their offence can weigh down by the dram; 35
Ay, even such heaps and sums of love and wealth,
As shall to thee blot out what wrongs were theirs,
And write in thee the figures of their love,
Ever to read them thine.

Tim. You witch me in it;

Surprise me to the very brink of tears:
Lend me a fool's heart, and a woman's eyes,
And I'll beweep these comforts, worthy senators.

140

1 Sen. Therefore, so please thee to return with
And of our Athens (thine, and ours) to take [us, 45
The captainship, thou shalt be met with thanks,
Allow'd with absolute power, and thy good name
Live with authority:-so soon shall we drive back
Of Alcibiades the approaches wild;

Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up
His country's peace.

Against the walls of Athens.

2 Sen. And shakes his threat'ning sword

1 Sen. Therefore, Timon,

50

1 Sen. That's well spoke.

Tim. Commend me to my loving countrymen,-1 Sen. These words become your lips as they pass through them. [umphers 2 Sen. And enter in our ears, like great triIn their applauding gates.

Tim. Commend me to them;

And tell them, that, to ease them of their griefs,
Their fears of hostile strokes, their aches, losses,
Their pangs of love, with other incident throes
That nature's fragil vessel doth sustain

In life's uncertain voyage, I will some kindness
do them:-

I'll teach them to prevent wild Alcibiades' wrath.
2 Sen. I like this well, he will return again.
Tim. I have a tree, which grows here in my
close,

That mine own use invites me to cut down,
And shortly must I fell it: Tell my friends,
Tell Athens, in the sequence of degree',
From high to low throughout, that whoso please
To stop affliction, let him take his haste,
Come hither, ere my tree hath felt the axe,
And hang himself:-I pray you, do my greeting.
Flav. Trouble him no further, thus you still
shall find him.

Tim. Come not to me again: but say to Athens,
Timon hath made his everlasting mansion
Upon the beached verge of the salt flood,

Tim. Well, sir, I will; therefore I will, sir;55 Which once a day with his embossed froth

Thus,

If Alcibiades kill my countrymen,

Let Alcibiades know this of Timon,

[Athens,

That-Timon cares not.- -But if he sack fair

The turbulent surge shall cover; thither come,
And let my grave-stone be your
oracle.-
Lips, let sour words go by, and language end:
What is amiss, plague and infection mend!

i.e. from

1 The Athenians had sense, that is, felt the danger of their own fall, by the arms of Alcibiades. Render is confession. 3 Allowed is licensed, privileged, uncontrolled. + A whittle is still in the midland counties the common name for a pocket clasp knife, such as children use. highest to lowest. "We have before observed, that when a deer was run hard, and foamed at the mouth, he was said to be emboss'd.

Graves