MAR. Thou might'ft have done this without thy beard, and gown; he fees thee not. SIR TO. To him in thine own voice, and bring me word how thou find'ft him: I would, we were well rid of this knavery. If he may be conveniently deliver'd, I would he were; for I am now fo far in offence with my niece, that I cannot pursue with any fafety this fport to the upshot. Come by and by to my chamber. [Exeunt SIR TOBY and MARIA. CLO. Hey Robin, jolly Robin, Tell me how thy lady does. [Singing. A cloak for all kinds of knavery; taken from the Italian proverb, Tu hai mantillo da ogni acqua." SMITH. Nay, I am for all waters.] I can turn my hand to any thing; I can affume any character I pleafe; like a fish, I can fwim equally well in all waters. Montaigne, fpeaking of Ariftotle, fays, that "he hath an oar in every water, and meddleth with all things." Florio's tranflation, 1603. In Florio's Second Fruites, 1591, I find an expreffion more nearly resembling that of the text: "I am a knight for all faddles." The equivoque fuggested in the following note may, however, have been alfo in our author's thoughts. MALONE. The word water, as used by jewellers, denotes the colour and the luftre of diamonds, and from thence is applied, though with lefs propriety, to the colour and hue of other precious ftones. I think that Shakspeare, in this place, alludes to this fense of the word water, not to thofe adopted either by Johnson or Warburton. The Clown is complimented by fir Toby, for perfonating fir Topas fo exquifitely; to which he replies, that he can put on all colours, alluding to the word Topaz, which is the name of a jewel, and was also that of the Curate. M. MASON. Mr. Henley has adopted the fame idea; and adds,-that" the Clown in his reply plays upon the name of Topas, and intimates that he could fuftain as well the character of any other perfon, let him be called by what gem he might." STEEVENS. 9 Hey Robin, jolly Robin,] This fong fhould certainly begin : Hey, jolly Robin, tell to me "How does thy lady, do? My lady is unkind, perdy. "Alas, why is fhe fo? FARMER. This fong feems to be alluded to in the following paffage of MAL. Fool, CLO. My lady is unkind, perdy. MAL. Fool, CLO. Alas, why is she fo? MAL. Fool, I fay ; CLO. She loves another-Who calls, ha? MAL. Good fool, as ever thou wilt deferve well at my hand, help me to a candle, and pen, ink, and paper; as I am a gentleman, I will live to be thankful to thee for't. CLO. Mafter Malvolio! MAL. Ay, good fool. CLO. Alas, fir, how fell you befides your five wits? MAL. Fool, there was never man fo notoriously abused: I am as well in my wits, fool, as thou art. CLO. But as well? then you are mad, indeed, if you be no better in your wits than a fool. MAL. They have here property'd me; keep me in darkness, send minifters to me, affes, and do all they can to face me out of my wits. The Merchandifes of Popish Prieftes, 4to. 1629, Sign. F. 2. "there is no one fo lively and jolly as St. Mathurine. I can beft defcribe you this arch finger, by fuch common phrafe as we use of him whom we fee very lively and pleafantly difpofed, we fay this, His head is full of jolly Robbins." REED. 9 your five wits?] Thus the five fenfes were anciently called. So, in King Lear, Edgar fays: "Blefs thy five wits! Tom's a cold." Again, in the old morality of Every Man: "And remember, beaute, fyve wittes, ftrength, and dyfcrecyon." STEEVENS. The Wits, Dr. Johnson fome where obferves, were reckoned five in analogy to the five fenfes. From Stephen Hawes's poem called Graunde Amoure, ch. xxiv. edit. 1554, it appears that the five wits were" common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory." Wit in our author's time was the general term for the intellectual power. MALONE. -property'd me ;] They have taken poffeffion of me, as of a man unable to look to himfelf. JOHNSON. CLO. Advise you what you fay; the minifter is here.-Malvolio, Malvolio, thy wits the heavens reftore! endeavour thyself to fleep, and leave thy vain bibble babble. MAL. Sir Topas,— CLO. Maintain no words with him,' good fellow.Who, I, fir? not I, fir. God b'w'you, good fir Topas.-Marry, amen.-I will, fir, I will. MAL. Fool, fool, fool, I fay, CLO. Alas, fir, be patient. What fay you, fir? I am fhent for fpeaking to you. MAL. Good fool, help me to fome light, and fome paper; I tell thee, I am as well in my wits, as any man in Illyria. CLO. Well-a-day,-that you were, fir! MAL. By this hand, I am: Good fool, fome ink, paper, and light, and convey what I will fet down to my lady; it shall advantage thee more than ever the bearing of letter did. CLO. I will help you to't. But tell me true, are you not mad indeed? or do you but counterfeit?s 3 Maintain no words with him,] Here the Clown in the dark acts two perfons, and counterfeits, by variation of voice, a dialogue between himself and fir Topas.-I will, fir, I will, is fpoken after a pause, as if, in the mean time, fir Topas had whifpered. JOHNSON. 4 -- I am fhent, &c.] i. e. fcolded, reproved. So, in Afcham's Report and Difcourfe: "A wonderfull follie in a great man himfelfe, and fome piece of miferie in a whole commonwealth, where fooles chiefly and flatterers may fpeake freely what they will; and wife men, and good men, fhall commonly be bent if they fpeak what they fhould." See alfo note on Hamlet, A&t III. fc. ii. REED. tell me true, are you not mad indeed? or do you but counterfeit? If he was not mad, what did he counterfeit by declaring that he was not mad? The fool, who meant to infult him, I think, VOL. IV. L MAL. Believe me, I am not; I tell thee true. CLO. Nay, I'll ne'er believe a madman, till I fee his brains. I will fetch you light, and paper, and ink. MAL. Fool, I'll requite it in the highest degree: I pr'ythee, be gone. alks, are you mad, or do you but counterfeit? That is, you look like a madman, you talk like a madman: Is your madness real, or have you any fecret defign in it? This, to a man in poor Malvolio's state, was a fevere taunt. JOHNSON. The meaning of this paffage appears to me to be this. Malvolio had affured the Clown that he was as well in his fenfes as any man in Illyria; and the Clown in reply, afks him this provoking queftion: "Is it true that you are really not mad?" that is, that you are really in your right fenfes, or do you only pretend to be fo? M. MASON. " Dr. Johnson, in my apprehenfion, mifinterprets the words, do you but counterfeit?" They furely mean, "do you but counterfeit madness, or, in other words, "affume the appearance of a madman, though not one." Our author ought, I think, to have written, either, " are you mad indeed, or do you but counterfeit ?" or elfe, "are you not not mad indeed, and do you but counterfeit ?" But I do not fufpect any corruption; for the laft I have no doubt was what he meant, though he has not expreffed his meaning accurately. He is often carelefs in fuch minute matters. Mr. Mafon's interpretation removes the difficulty; but, confidering the words that immediately precede, is very harsh, and appears to be inadmiffible. MALONE. 6 Like to the old vice,] The vice was the fool of the old moralities. Some traces of this character are ftill preserved in puppetfhows, and by country mummers. JOHNSON. This character was always acted in a mask; it probably had its name from the old French word vis, for which they now ufe vifage, though they ftill retain it in vis à vis, which is, literally, face to face. STEEVENS. Who with dagger of lath, In his rage and his wrath, Pare thy nails, dad, Adieu, goodman drivel. [Exit. Adieu, goodman drivel.] This laft line has neither rhime nor meaning. I cannot but fufpect that the fool tranflates Malvolio's name, and fays: Adieu, goodman mean-evil. JOHNSON. We have here another old catch; apparently, I think, not of Shakspeare. I am therefore willing to receive the common reading of the last line: Adieu, goodman drivel. The name of Malvolio feems to have been form'd by an accfdental tranfpofition in the word, Malivolo. I know not whether a part of the preceding line should not be thrown into a question, "pare thy nails, dad ?” In Henry V. we again meet with "this roaring devil i'th' old play; every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger." FARMER. In the old tranflation of the Menaechmi, 1595, Menæchmus fays to Peniculus: " Away, filthie mad drivell, away! I will talk no longer with thee." Ás I cannot fuppofe the author of this ballad defigned that devil fhould be the corresponding rhime to devil, I read with Dr. Farmer, drivel. STEEVENS. I believe, with Johnfon, that this is an allufion to Malvolio's name, but not in his reading, which deftroys the metre. We should read Adieu, good mean-evil : that is, good Malvolio, literally tranflated. M. MASON. The laft two lines of this fong have, I think, been misunderftood. They are not addreffed in the firft inftance to Malvolio, but are quoted by the Clown, as the words, ab, ha! are, as the ufual address in the old Moralities to the Devil. I do not therefore fufpect any corruption in the words "goodman Devil." We have in The Merry Wives of Windfor:-" No man means evil but the devil;" and in Much ado about Nothing," God's a good man.” The compound, good-man, is again ufed adjectively, and as a word of contempt, in King Lear :" Part (fays Edmund to Kent and the Steward). "With you, (replies Kent,) good-man boy, if you please.' |