More man? plague, plague![2478] 195
Apem. I was directed hither: men report
Thou dost affect my manners, and dost use them.
Tim. 'Tis then because thou dost not keep a dog,
Whom I would imitate: consumption catch thee!
Apem. This is in thee a nature but infected;[2479] 200
A poor unmanly melancholy sprung
From change of fortune. Why this spade? this place?[2480]
This slave-like habit? and these looks of care?
Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft,
Hug their diseased perfumes and have forgot[2481] 205
That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods[2482]
By putting on the cunning of a carper.
Be thou a flatterer now and seek to thrive
By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee
And let his very breath whom thou'lt observe 210
Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain[2483]
And call it excellent: thou wast told thus;
Thou gavest thine ears like tapsters that bade welcome[2484]
To knaves and all approachers: 'tis most just
That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again, 215
Rascals should have't. Do not assume my likeness.
Tim. Were I like thee, I'ld throw away myself.[2485]
Apem. Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thyself,[2486]
A madman so long, now a fool. What, think'st[2487]
That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain, 220
Will put thy shirt on warm? will these moss'd trees,[2488]
That have outlived the eagle, page thy heels,
And skip when thou point'st out? will the cold brook,[2489]
Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste,
To cure thy o'er-night's surfeit? Call the creatures 225
Whose naked natures live in all the spite
Of wreakful heaven, whose bare unhoused trunks,
To the conflicting elements exposed,
Answer mere nature; bid them flatter thee;
O, thou shalt find—
Tim. A fool of thee: depart.[2490] 230
Apem. I love thee better now than e'er I did.[2491]
Tim. I hate thee worse.
Tim. Thou flatter'st misery.
Apem. I flatter not, but say thou art a caitiff.
Tim. Why dost thou seek me out?
Tim. Always a villain's office or a fool's. 235
Dost please thyself in't?[2494]
Apem. Ay.
Tim. What! a knave too?
Apem. If thou didst put this sour-cold habit on[2495]
To castigate thy pride, 'twere well: but thou
Dost it enforcedly; thou'ldst courtier be again,[2496]
Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery 240
Outlives incertain pomp, is crown'd before:[2497]
The one is filling still, never complete,
The other at high wish: best state, contentless,[2498]
Hath a distracted and most wretched being,[2498]
Worse than the worst, content. 245
Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable.
Tim. Not by his breath that is more miserable.
Thou art a slave, whom Fortune's tender arm
With favour never clasp'd, but bred a dog.[2499]
Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded 250
The sweet degrees that this brief world affords[2500]
To such as may the passive drugs of it[2501]
Freely command, thou wouldst have plunged thyself[2502]
In general riot, melted down thy youth
In different beds of lust, and never learn'd 255
The icy precepts of respect, but follow'd[2503]
The sugar'd game before thee. But myself,
Who had the world as my confectionary,
The mouths, the tongues, the eyes and hearts of men[2504]
At duty, more than I could frame employment;[2505] 260
That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves[2506]
Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush[2507]
Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare[2507][2508]
For every storm that blows: I, to bear this,
That never knew but better, is some burthen:[2509] 265
Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time
Hath made thee hard in 't. Why shouldst thou hate men?[2491]
They never flatter'd thee: what hast thou given?
If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,[2510]
Must be thy subject, who in spite put stuff 270
To some she beggar and compounded thee
Poor rogue hereditary. Hence, be gone![2511]
If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
Thou hadst been a knave and flatterer.[2512]
Apem. Art thou proud yet?
Tim. Ay, that I am not thee.
Tim. I, that I am one now:
Were all the wealth I have shut up in thee,
I'ld give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.
That the whole life of Athens were in this![2491]
Thus would I eat it.[2514] [Eating a root.
Apem. So I shall mend mine own, by the lack of thine.[2515][2518]
Tim. 'Tis not well mended so, it is but botch'd;[2515]
If not, I would it were.[2515]
Apem. What wouldst thou have to Athens? 285
Tim. Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt,
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 liest o' nights, Timon?[2519] 290
Tim. Under that's above me. Where feed'st thou o'[2520]
days, Apemantus?[2520]
Apem. Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather, where[2521]
I eat it.
Tim. Would poison were obedient and knew my mind![2522] 295
Apem. Where wouldst thou send it?[2523]
Tim. To sauce thy dishes.
Apem. The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but
the extremity of both ends: when thou wast in thy gilt and
thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much curiosity; in[2524] 300
thy rags thou know'st none, but art despised for the contrary.
There's a medlar for thee; eat it.[2525]
Tim. On what I hate I feed not.[2525]
Apem. Dost hate a medlar?[2525]
Apem. An thou hadst hated meddlers sooner, thou[2525][2527]
shouldst have loved thyself better now. What man didst[2525]
thou ever know unthrift that was beloved after his means?[2525]
Tim. Who, without those means thou talk'st of, didst[2525]
thou ever know beloved?[2525] 310
Tim. I understand thee; thou hadst some means to[2525]
keep a dog.[2525]
Apem. What things in the world canst thou nearest
compare to thy flatterers? 315
Tim. Women nearest; but men, men are the things
themselves. What wouldst thou do with 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 confusion of 320
men, and remain a beast with the beasts?[2528]
Apem. Ay, Timon.
Tim. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t'
attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee:[2529]
if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee: if thou 325
wert the fox, the lion would suspect thee when peradventure
thou wert accused by the ass: if thou wert the ass,
thy dulness would torment thee, and still thou livedst but[2530]
as a breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy greediness
would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst hazard thy 330
life for thy dinner: wert thou 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 killed by
the horse: wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by
the leopard: wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the 335
lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life:
all thy safety were remotion, and thy defence absence.[2531]
What beast couldst thou be that were not subject to a
beast? and what a beast art thou already, that seest not[2532]
thy loss in transformation! 340
Apem. If thou couldst please me with speaking to me,[2533]
thou mightst have hit upon it here: the commonwealth of[2533]
Athens is become a forest of beasts.[2533]
Tim. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out
of the city?[2534] 345
Apem. Yonder comes a poet and a painter: the plague[2535][2536]
of company light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and[2535]
give way: when I know not what else to do, I'll see thee[2535]
again.[2535]
Tim. When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt[2535]350
be welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog than Apemantus.[2535]
Apem. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.[2537]
Tim. Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon![2537]
Apem. A plague on thee! thou art too bad to curse.[2537][2538]355
Tim. All villains that do stand by thee are pure.[2537]
Apem. There is no leprosy but what thou speak'st.[2537]
Apem. I would my tongue could rot them off![2542] 360
Tim. Away, thou issue of a mangy dog![2543]
Choler does kill me that thou art alive;
I swoon to see thee.[2543][2544]
Tim. Away, thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall[2546] 365
lose a stone by thee.[2546] [Throws a stone at him.[2547]
Tim. Rogue, rogue, rogue![2546][2548] 370
I am sick of this false world, and will love nought
But even the mere necessities upon't.[2549]
Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat
Thy grave-stone daily: make thine epitaph, 375
That death in me at others' lives may laugh.[2550]
[To the gold] O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce[2551]
'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler[2552]
Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
Thou ever young, fresh, loved, and delicate wooer,[2553] 380
Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god,[2554]
That solder'st close impossibilities,
And makest them kiss! that speak'st with every tongue,
To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts! 385
Think thy slave man rebels; and by thy virtue[2555]
Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
May have the world in empire!
Apem. Would 'twere so![2556]
But not till I am dead. I'll say thou hast gold:[2557]
Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.
Apem. Ay. 390
Tim. Thy back, I prithee.
Apem. Live, and love thy misery![2559]
Tim. Long live so, and so die! [Exit Apemantus.] I am quit.[2560]
Moe things like men? Eat, Timon, and abhor them.[2561]
First Ban. Where should he have this gold? It is some[2562]
poor fragment, some slender ort of his remainder: the mere 395
want of gold, and the falling-from of his friends, drove him[2563]
into this melancholy.
Sec. Ban. It is noised he hath a mass of treasure.[2564]
Third Ban. Let us make the assay upon him: if he
care not for't, he will supply us easily; if he covetously 400
reserve it, how shall's get it?
Sec. Ban. True; for he bears it not about him; 'tis hid.[2565]
First Ban. Is not this he?
Sec. Ban. 'Tis his description. 405
Third Ban. He; I know him.[2567]
Banditti. Save thee, Timon.[2566]
Banditti. Soldiers, not thieves.[2566]
Tim. Both too; and women's sons.[2569] 410
Banditti. We are not thieves, but men that much do want.[2566][2570]
Tim. Your greatest want is, you want much of meat.[2571][2572][2573]
Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots;[2572]
Within this mile break forth a hundred springs;[2574]
The oaks bear mast, the briers scarlet hips;[2575] 415
The bounteous housewife, nature, on each bush
Lays her full mess before you. Want! why want?
First Ban. We cannot live on grass, on berries, water,
As beasts and birds and fishes.
Tim. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds and fishes; 420
You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con
That you are thieves profess'd, that you work not
In holier shapes: for there is boundless theft
In limited professions. Rascal thieves,[2576]
Here's gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o' the grape, 425
Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth,[2577]
And so 'scape hanging: trust not the physician;
His antidotes are poison, and he slays
Moe than you rob: take wealth and lives together;[2578]
Do villany, do, since you protest to do't,[2579][2580] 430
Like workmen. I'll example you with thievery:[2580]
The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief,[2581]
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun:
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves 435
The moon into salt tears: the earth's a thief,[2582]
That feeds and breeds by a composture stol'n[2583]
From general excrement: each thing's a thief:[2584]
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves; away,[2585] 440
Rob one another. There's more gold. Cut throats:[2586]
All that you meet are thieves: to Athens go,
Break open shops; nothing can you steal,[2587]
But thieves do lose it: steal not less for this[2588][2589][2590]
I give you; and gold confound you howsoe'er![2588][2590][2591] 445
Amen.[2588][2592]
Third Ban. Has almost charmed me from my profession[2593]
by persuading me to it.
First Ban. 'Tis in the malice of mankind that he thus[2594]
advises us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.[2595] 450
Sec. Ban. I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over[2596]
my trade.[2596]
First Ban. Let us first see peace in Athens: there is no[2597]
time so miserable but a man may be true.[2597][2598] [Exeunt Banditti.