Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

To build his fortune, I will ftrain a little,
For 'tis a bond in men. Give him thy daughter:
What you beftow, in bim I'll counterpoife,
And make him weigh with her.

Old Ath. Moft noble lord,

Pawn me to this your honour, he is his.

Tim. My hand to thee; mine honour on my promise. Luc. Humbly I thank your lordship: Never may That ftate or fortune fall into my keeping,

Which is not ow'd to you! [Exeunt Luc. and old Ath.
Poet. Vouchfafe my labour, and long live your lordship!
Tim. I thank you; you fhall hear from me anon:
Go not away. What have you there, my friend?
Pain. A piece of painting; which I do befeech
Your lordship to accept.

[ocr errors]

Tim. Painting is welcome.

The painting is almost the natural man;
For fince difhonour trafficks with man's nature,
He is but outfide: Thefe pencil'd figures are
Even fuch as they give out. I like your work;
And you fhall find, I like it: wait attendance
Till you hear further from me.

Pain. The gods preserve you!

Tim. Well fare you, gentleman:

Give me your hand;

We muft needs dine together.-Sir, your jewel

Hath fuffer'd under praise.

Jew. What, my lord? difpraife?

5 - never may

That ftate or fortune fall into my keeping,

Which is not ow'd to you!] The meaning is, let me never henceforth confider any thing that I poffefs, but as owed or due to you; held for your service, and at your difpofal. JOHNSON.

So Lady Macbeth fays to Duncan :

Your fervants ever

"Have theirs, themfelves, and what is theirs, in compt,
"To make their audit at your highnefs' pleasure,

"Still to return your own." MALONE.

-pencil'd figures are

Even fuch as they give out.] Pictures have no hypocrify; they are

what they profefs to be. JOHNSON.

Tim. A meer fatiety of commendations. If I fhould pay you for't as 'tis extoll'd, It would unclew me quite 7.

Jew. My lord, 'tis rated

As thofe, which fell, would give: But you well know,
Things of like value, differing in the owners,

Are prized by their mafters: believe it, dear lord,
You mend the jewel by the wearing it.

Tim. Well mock'd.

Mer. No, my good lord; he speaks the common tongue, Which all men speak with him.

Tim. Look, who comes here. Will you be chid?

Enter APEMANTUS.

Jew. We will bear, with your lordship.
Mer. He'll fpare none.

Tim. Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus!
Apem. Till I be gentle, ftay thou for thy good morrow;
When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest.

7-unclew me quite.] To unclew, is to unwind a ball of thread. To unclew a man, is to draw out the whole mafs of his fortunes. JOHNSON.

8 Are prized by their mafters:] Are rated according to the esteem in which their poffeffor is held. JOHNSON.

9 Enter Apemantus.] See this character of a cynic finely drawn by Lucian, in his Auction of the Philofophers; and how well Shakspeare has copied it. WARBURTON.

When thou art Timon's dog,] When thou hast gotten a better character, and instead of being Timon, as thou art, fhalt be changed to Timon's dog, and become worthy of kindness and falutation. JOHNSON.

Apemantus, I think, means to say, that Timon is not to receive a gentle good morrow from him till that fhall happen which never will happen; till Timon is transformed to the fhape of his dog, and his knavish followers become honeft men. Stay for thy good morrow, fays he, till I be gentle, which will happen at the fame time when thou art Timon's dog, &c. i. e. never. MALONE.

When thou art Timon's dog,] This is spoken deixтix, as Mr. Upton fays fomewhere:-striking his hand on his breaft.

Wot you who named me first the kinge's dogge?" fays Ariftippus

in Damon and Pythias. FARMER.

Tim. Why doft thou call them knaves? thou know'st

[blocks in formation]

Apem. Then I repent not.

Jer. You know me, Apemantus.

Apem. Thou know'ft, I do; I call'd thee by thy name. Tim. Thou art proud, Apemantus.

Apem. Of nothing fo much, as that I am not like Timon.
Tim. Whither art going?

Apem. To knock out an honeft Athenian's brains.
Tim. That's a deed thou'lt die for.

Apem. Right, if doing nothing be death by the law.
Tim. How likeft thou this picture, Apemantus?

Apem. The beft, for the innocence.

Tim. Wrought he not well, that painted it?

Apem. He wrought better, that made the painter; and yet he's but a filthy piece of work.

Poet. You are a dog.

Apem. Thy mother's of my generation; What's fhe, if I be a dog?

.Tim. Wilt dine with me, Apemantus!

Apem. No; I eat not lords.

Tim. An thou should'st, thou'dft anger ladies.

Apem. O, they eat lords; fo they come by great bellies. Tim. That's a lafcivious apprehenfion.

Apem. So thou apprehend't it: Take it for thy labour. Tim. How doft thou like this jewel, Apemantus ? Apem. Not fo well as plain-dealing, which will not coft a man a doit.

Tim. What doft thou think 'tis worth?

Apem. Not worth my thinking.-How now, poet?
Poet. How now, philofopher?

Apem. Thou lieft.

Poet. Art not one?

Apem. Yes.

2 Not fo well as plain-dealing,] Alluding to the proverb: "Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars," "STEVENS.

VOL, VIII.

C

Poet

Poet. Then I lie not.

Apem. Art not a poet?

Poet. Yes.

Apem. Then thou lieft: look in thy laft work, where thou haft feign'd him a worthy fellow.

Poet. That's not feign'd, he is fo.

Apem. Yes, he is worthy of thee, and to pay thee for thy labour: He, that loves to be flatter'd, is worthy o'the flatterer. Heavens, that I were a lord!

Tim. What would't do then, Apemantus?

Apem. Even as Apemantus does now, hate a lord with my heart.

Tim. What, thyself?

Apem. Ay.

Tim. Wherefore?

Apem. That I had no angry wit to be a lord 3.-Art thou not a merchant?

3 That I bad no angry wit, to be a lord.] The meaning may be, I fhould hate myself for patiently enduring to be a lord. This is ill enough expreffed. Perhaps fome happy change may fet it right. I have tried, and can do nothing. JOHNSON.

If I hazard one conjecture, it is with the smallest degree of confidence. By an angry wit Apemantus may mean the poet, who has been provoking him. The fenfe will then be this: I bould bate myself, because I could prevail on no captious wit (like him) to take the title in my ftead. The Revifal reads:

That I bad fo wrong'd my wit to be a lord. STEEVENS.

I believe Shakspeare was thinking of the common expreffion-be bas it in bis anger; and that the difficulty arifes here, as in many other places, from the original editor's paying no attention to abrupt fenOur author, I fuppofe, wrote:

tences.

That I had no angry wit.-To be a lord !

Art thou, &c.

Apemantus is afked, why after having wished to be a lord, he fhould hate himself. He replies, For this reafon; that I had no wit (or difcretion] in my anger, but was abfurd enough to with myself one of that fet of men, whom I defpife. He then exclaims with indignationTo be a lord! Such is my conjecture, in which however I have not fo much confidence as to depart from the mode in which this paffage has been hitherto exhibited.

Wit, in the fenfe of a witty or ingenious perfon, was not, I fufpect, the language of Shakspeare's time. MALONE.

Mer.

Mer. Ay, Apemantus.

Apem. Traffick confound thee, if the gods will not!
Mer. If traffick do it, the gods do it.

Apem. Traffick's thy god, and thy god confound thee!
Trumpets found. Enter a Servant.

Tim. What trumpet's that?

Serv. 'Tis Alcibiades, and fome twenty horse, All of companionship.

Tim. Pray, entertain them; give them guide to us.— Exeunt fome Attendants. You must needs dine with me :-Go not you hence, Till I have thank'd you; when dinner is done, Shew me this piece.—I am joyful of your fights.-— Enter ALCIBIADES, with his company.

Most welcome, fir!

Apem. So, fo; there!

Aches contract and starve your fupple joints !

That there should be small love amongst these sweet knaves,

And all this courtesy! The ftrain of man's bred out

Into baboon and monkeys.

Ale. Sir, you have fav'd my longing, and I feed Moft hungrily on your fight.

Tim. Right welcome, fir:

Ere we depart, we'll share a bounteous time
In different pleasures. Pray you, let us in.

[Exeunt all but Apemantus.

4 All of companionship.] This expreffion does not mean barely that they all belong to one company, but that they are all fuch as Alcibiades bonours with bis acquaintance, and sets on a level with himself. STELVENS.

5 —The ftrain of man's bred out

Into babcon and monkey.] Man is exhausted and degenerated; his frain or lineage is worn down into monkey. JOHNSON. 6 Ere we depart,-] Depart and part have the fame meaning. "Hath willingly departed with a part." King John. i. e. Hath willingly parted with a part of the thing in question. STEEVENS,

See Vol. II. p. 332, n. 3, and Vol. IV. p.488, n. 2. MALONE.

C 2

Enter

« ZurückWeiter »