Virtue is beauty; but the beauteous-evil Are empty trunks, o'erflourish'd by the devil. Ant. Lead me on. [Exe. Officers with ANTONIO. Vio. Methinks, his words do from such passion fly, That he believes himself; so do not I. Prove true, imagination, O, prove true, That I, dear brother, be now ta'en for you! Sir To. Come hither, knight;-come hither, Fabian; We'll whisper o'er a couplet or two of most sage saws. Vio. He nam'd Sebastian; I my brother know Yet living in my glass; even such, and so, In favour was my brother; and he went Still in this fashion, colour, ornament, For him I imitate : 0, if it prove, Tempests are kind, and salt waves fresh in love! [Exit. Sir To. A very dishonest paltry boy, and more a coward than a hare his dishonesty appears, in leaving his friend here in necessity, and denying him; and for his cowardship, ask Fabian. Fab. A coward, a most devout coward, religious in it. Sir And. 'Slid, I'll after him again, and beat him. Sir To. Do, cuff him soundly, but never draw thy sword. Sir And. An I do not,[Exit Sir ANDREW. Fab. Come, let's see the event. Sir To. I dare lay any money, 'twill be nothing yet. ACT IV. [Exeunt. SCENE I.-The Street before OLIVIA'S HOUSE. Enter SEBASTIAN and Clown. Clown. WILL you make me believe, that I am not sent for you? [4] In the time of Shakespeare, trunks, which are now deposited in lumberrooms, or other obscure places, were part of the furniture of apartments in which company was received. I have seen more than one of these, as old as the time of our poet. They were richly ornamented on the tops and sides, with scroll work, emblematical devices, &c. and were elevated on feet. STEEVENS. [5] I suppose Viola means-As often as I behold myself in my glass, I think I see my brother alive: i. e. I acknowledge that his resemblance survives in the reflection of my own figure. STEEVENS. Clo. Well held out, i' faith! No, I do not know you; nor I am not sent to you by my lady, to bid you come speak with her; nor your name is not master Cesario; nor this is not my nose neither.-Nothing, that is so, is so. Seb. I pr'ythee, vent thy folly somewhere else; Thou know'st not me. Clo. Vent my folly! He has heard that word of some great man, and now applies it to a fool. Vent my folly! I am afraid this great lubber, the world, will prove a cockney. I pr'ythee now, ungird thy strangeness, and tell me what I shall vent to my lady; Shall I vent to her, that thou art coming? Seb. I pr'ythee, foolish Greek, depart from me ; There's money for thee; if you tarry longer, I shall give worse payment. Clo. By my troth, thou hast an open hand :-These wise men, that give fools money, get themselves a good report after fourteen years' purchase.7 Enter Sir ANDREW, Sir TOBY, and FABIAN. Sir And. Now, sir, have I met you again? there's for you. [Striking SEBASTIAN. Seb. Why, there's for thee, and there, and there : Are all the people mad? [Beating Sir Andrew, Sir To. Hold, sir, or I'll throw your dagger o'er the house. Clo. This will I tell my lady straight: I would not be in some of your coats for two-pence. [Exit Clown. Sir To. Come on, sir; hold. [Holding SEB. Sir And. Nay, let him alone, I'll go another way to work with him; I'll have an action of battery against him, if there be any law in Illyria: though I struck him first, yet it's no matter for that. Seb. Let go thy hand. Come, my Sir To. Come, sir, I will not let you go. young soldier, put up your iron: you are well fleshed; come on. [6] Greek, was as much as to say bawd or pander. He understood the Clown to be acting in that office. A bawdy-house was called Corinth, and the frequenters of it Corinthians, which word occurs frequently in Shakespeare, especially in Timon of Athens and Henry IV. WARBURTON. [7] Perhaps fourteen years' purchase was, in Shakespeare's time, the highest price for land. Lord Bacon's Essay on Usury mentions sixteen years purchase. I will not give more than according to fifteen years purchase," said a dying usurer to a clergyman, who advised him to study for a purchase of the kingdom of heaven. TOLLET Seb. I will be free from thee. What wouldst thou now? If thou dar'st tempt me further, draw thy sword. [Draws. [Draws. Sir To. What, what? Nay, then I must have an ounce or two of this malapert blood from you. Enter OLIVIA. Oli. Hold, Toby; on thy life, I charge thee, hold. Oli. Will it be ever thus? Ungracious wretch, Fit for the mountains, and the barbarous caves, Rudesby, begone !-I pr'ythee, gentle friend, [Exe. Sir TOBY, Sir ANDREW, and FABIAN Let thy fair wisdom, not thy passion, sway In this uncivil and unjust extentR Against thy peace. Go with me to my house; He started one poor heart of mine in thee.' Seb. What relish is in this? how runs the stream? Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep; Oli. Nay, come, I pr'ythee: 'Would, thou'dst be rul'd by me! Seb. Madam, I will. Oli. O, say so, and so be! [Exeunt. SCENE 11. A Room in OLIVIA's House. Enter MARIA and Clown. Mar. Nay, I pr'ythee, put on this gown, and this beard; make him believe, thou art sir Topas the curate; do it quickly: I'll call sir Toby the whilst. [Exit. Clo. Well, I'll put it on, and I will dissemble myself [8] Extent is, in law, a writ of execution, whereby goods are seized for the king. It is therefore taken here for violence in general. JOHNSON. [9] A coarse expression for made up, as a bad tailor is called a botcher, and to botch is to make clumsily. JOHNSON. [1] I know not whether here be not an ambiguity intended between heart and hart. The sense however is easy enough. JOHNSON. in't; and I would I were the first that ever dissembled in such a gown. I am not fat enough to become the function well; nor lean enough to be thought a good student : but to be said, an honest man, and a good house-keeper, goes as fairly, as to say, a careful man, and a great scholar. The competitors enter. Enter Sir TOBY BELCH and MARIA. Sir To. Jove bless thee, master parson. Clo. Bonos dies, sir Toby: for as the old hermit of Prague, that never saw pen and ink, very wittily said to a niece of king Gorboduc, That, that is, is: so I, being master parson, am master parson: For what is that, but that? and is, but is? Sir To. To him, sir Topas. -Peace in this prison ! Clo. Sir Topas, the curate, who comes to visit Malvolio the lunatic. Mal. Sir Topas, sir Topas, good sir Topas, go to my lady. Clo. Out, hyperbolical fiend! how vexest thou this Inan? talkest thou nothing but of ladies? Sir To. Well said, master parson. Mal. Sir Topas, never was man thus wronged: good sir Topas, do not think I am mad; they have laid me here in hideous darkness. Clo. Fye, thou dishonest Sathan! I call thee by the most modest terms; for I am one of those gentle ones, that will use the devil himself with courtesy: Say'st thou, that house is dark? Mal. As hell, sir Topas. Clo. Why, it hath bay-windows transparent as barricadoes, and the clear stones towards the south-north are as lustrous as ebony; and yet complainest thou of obstruction? [2] That is, the confederates or associates. M. MASON. [3] This is a very humorous banter of the rules established in the schools, that all reasonings are ex præcognitis & præconcessis, which lay the foundation of every science in these maxims, "whatsoever is, is; and it is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be; with much trifling of the like kind. WARBURTON [4] A bay-window is the same as a bow-window; a window in a recess, or bay STEEVENS VOL. II. 45 Mal. I am not mad, sir Topas ; I say to house is dark. you, this Clo. Madman, thou errest: I say, there is no darkness, but ignorance; in which thou art more puzzled, than the Egyptians in their fog. Mal. I say, this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell; and I say, there was never man thus abused: I am no more mad than you are; make the trial of it in any constant question." Clo. What is the opinion of Pythagoras, concerning wild-fowl? Mal. That the soul of our grandam might haply inhabit a bird. Clo. What thinkest thou of his opinion? Mal. I think nobly of the soul, and no way approve his opinion. Clo. Fare thee well: Remain thou still in darkness: thou shalt hold the opinion of Pythagoras, ere I will allow of thy wits; and fear to kill a woodcock, lest thou dispossess the soul of thy grandam. Fare thee well. Mal. Sir Topas, sir Topas, Sir To. My most exquisite sir Topas ! Mar. Thou might'st have done this without thy beard, and gown; he sees thee not. Sir To. To him in thine own voice, and bring me word how thou findest him: I would, we were well rid of this knavery. If he may be conveniently delivered, I would he were; for I am now so far in offence with my niece, that I cannot pursue with any safety this sport to the upshot. Come by and by to my chamber. [Exe. Sir TOBY and MARIA. Clo. Hey Robin, jolly Robin, [5] A settled, a determinate, a regular question. JOHNSON. [Singing. [6] I can turn my hand to any thing; I can assume any character I please; like a fish, I can swim equally well in all waters. Montagnie, speaking of Aristotle, says, that he hath an oar in every water, and meddleth with all things. MALONE. The word water, as used by jewellers, denotes the colour and the lustre of diamonds, and from thence is applied, though with less propriety, to the colour and hue of other precious stones. I think that Shakespeare, in this place, alludes to this sense of the word water. The Clown is complimented by sir Toby, for personating sir Topas so exquisitely; to which he replies, that he can put on all colours, alluding to the word Topas, which is the name of a jewel, and was also that of the Curate. M. MASON. |