Enter Autolicus. Aut. Ha, ha, what a fool honefty is! and truft, his Sworn brother, a very fimple gentleman! I have fold all my trumpery; (29) not a counterfeit flone, not a ribbon, glafs, pomander, browch, table-book, ballad, knife, tape, glove, fhoe-tye, bracelet, horn-ring, to keep my pack from fafting: they throng who should buy first, as if my trinkets had been hollowed, and brought a benediction to the buyer; by which means, I faw whofe purfe was beft in picture; and what I faw, to my good ufe, I remember'd. My good clown (who wants but fomething to be a reasonable man) grew fo in love with the wenches fong, that he would not ftir his pettitoes 'till he had both tune and words; which fo drew the reft of the herd to me, that all their other fenfes ftuck in ears; you might have pinch'd a placket, it was fenfelefs; 'twas nothing to geld a codpiece of a purfe; I would have filed keys off, that hung in chains : no hearing, no feeling, but my Sir's fong, and admiring the nothing of it. So that in this time of lethargy, I pick'd and cut moft of their feftival purfes: and had not the old man come in with a whoo-bub against his daughter and the King's fon, and fear'd my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a purse alive in the whole army. [Camillo, Florizel, and Perdita come forward. Cam. Nay; but my letters by this means being there, So foon as you arrive, fhall clear that doubt. Flo. And those that you'll procure from King Leontes Per. Happy be you! (29) Not a counterfeit flone, not a ribbon, &c. to keep my pack from fafning. But thefe wares, all together, would not keep the packa from fafning, unless they crouded it fo, that it could not shut close. The error is as old as the second folio edition, and from thence contioued down. Mr. Pope, who pretends to have collated impreffions, might have obferv'd that the firft folio has it, as I have corrected, fafting. The metaphor is taken from those who have no provifion left. His pack, as it would hold a great deal, might be call'd a devouring pack: and being now emptied of all its food, it might figuratively be said to have nothing left to fay its fromach. All All that you speak fhews fair. Cam. Who have we here ? [Seeing Autolicus. We'll make an inftrument of this; omit Nothing may give us aid. Aut. If they have over-heard me now: why, hanging. Cam. How now, good fellow, Why fhak'st thou fo? fear not, man, Aut. I am a poor fellow, Sir. [Afide. Cam. Why, be fo ftill; here's nobody will steal that from thee; yet for the outfide of thy property, we must make an exchange; therefore difcafe thee inftantly: (thou muft think, there's a neceffity in't) and change garments with this gentleman: tho' the pennyworth, on his fide, be the worst, yet hold thee, there's fome boot. Aut. I am a poor fellow, Sir; (I know ye well enough.) Cam. Nay, pr'ythee, difpatch: the gentleman is half flead already. Aut. Are you in earnest, Sir? (I smell the trick on't.)— Flo. Difpatch I pr'ythee. 1 Aut. Indeed, I have had earneft, but I cannot with confcience take it. Cam. Unbuckle, unbuckle. Fortunate miftrcfs! (let my prophecy Come home to ye,) you must retire your felf Per. I fee, the play fo lies, That I must bear a part. Have you done there? Flo. Should I now meet my father, He would not call me fon. : Cam. Nay, you fhall have no hat Come, Lady, come: farewel, my friend. Auto Aut. Adieu, Sir. Flo. O Perdita, what have we twain forgot? Pray you, a word. Cam. What I do next, fhall be to tell the King [Afide. Of this efcape, and whither they are bound: Wherein my hope is, I fhall fo prevail To force him after; in whofe company I fhall review Sicilia; for whofe fight Flo. Fortune fpeed us! Thus we feton, Camillo, to th'fea-fide. [Exit Flo. with Per. Cam. The fwifter fpeed, the better. [Exit. Aut. I understand the bufinefs, I hear it to have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is neceffary for a cut-purfe; a good nofe is requifite alfo, to fmell out work for th' other fenfes. I fee, this is the time that the unjust man doth thrive. What an exchange had this been, without boot? what a boot is here, with this exchange? fure, the gods do this year connive at us, and we may do any thing extempore. The Prince himfelf is about a piece of iniquity; ftealing away from his father, with his clog at his heels. If I thought it were a piece of honefty to acquaint the King withal, I would not do't; I hold it the more knavery to conceal it; and therein am I conftant to my profeffion. Enter Clown and Shepherd. Afide, afide,-here's more matter for a hot brain; every lane's end, every shop, church, feffion, hanging, yields a careful man work. Clo. See, fee; what a man you are now! there is no other way, but to tell the King she's a changling, and none of your flesh and blood. Shep. Nay, but hear me. Clo. Nay, but hear me. Clo. She being none of your flesh and blood, your, flesh and blood has not offended the King; and, fo, your flesh and blood is not to be punish'd by him. 0.4 Shew Shew these things you found about her, thofe fecret things, all but what he has with her; this being done, let the law go whistle; I warrant you. Shep. I will tell the King all, every word, yea, and his fon's pranks too; who, I may fay, is no honeft man neither to his father, nor to me, to go about to make mo the King's brother-in-law. Clo. Indeed, brother-in-law was the fartheft off you could have been to him; and then your blood had been the dearer by I know how much an ounce. Aut. Very wifely, puppies! [Afide. Shep. Well, let us to the King; there is that in this farthel will make him fcratch his beard. Aut. I know not, what impediment this complaint may be to the flight of my mafter. Clo. 'Pray heartily, he be at the palace. Aut. Tho' I am not naturally honeft, I am fo sometimes by chance: let me pocket up my pedler's excrement. How now, rufticks, whither are you bound? Shep. To th' palace, and it like your worship. Aut. Your affairs there, what, with whom, the condition of that farthel, the place of your dwelling, your names, your age, of what having, breeding, and any thing that is fitting for to be known, difcover. Clo. We are but plain fellows, Sir. Aut. A lye; you are rough and hairy; let me have no lying; it becomes none but tradefmen, and they often give us foldiers the lye; but we pay them for it with flamped coin, not stabbing fteel, therefore they do not give us the lye. Clo. Your worship had like to have given us one, if you had not taken yourself with the manner. Shep. Are you a courtier, an like you, Sir? Aut. Whether it like me, or no, I am a courtier. Seeft thou not the air of the court in these enfoldings? hath not my gate in it the measure of the court? receives not thy nose court-odour from me? refle& I not, on thy bafenefs, court-contempt ? think'ft thou, for that I infinuate, or toze from thee thy business, I am therefore no courtier? I am courtier, cap-a-pe; and one one that will either push on, or pluck back thy bufinef there, whereupon I command thee to open thy affair. Shep. My business, Sir, is to the King. Aut. What advocate haft thou to him? Clo. Advocate's the court-word for a pheasant; fay, you have none. Shep. None, Sir; I have no pheasant cock, nor hen. Aut. How blefs'd are we, that are not fimple men! Yet Nature might have made me as these are, Therefore I will not disdain. Clo. This cannot be but a great courtier. Shep. His garments are rich, but he wears them not handsomely. Clo. He feems to be the more noble in being fantaftical; a great man, I'll warrant; I know, by the picking on's teeth. Aut. The farthel there? what's i'th' farthel? Wherefore that box? Shep. Sir, there lies fuch fecrets in this farthel and box, which none muft know but the King; and which he fhall know within this hour, if I may come to th❜ speech of him. Aut. Age, thou haft lost thy labour. Shep. Why, Sir? Aut. The King is not at the palace; he is gone aboard a new fhip, to purge melancholy and air himself; for if thou be'ft capable of things ferious, thou must know, the King is full of grief. Shep. So 'tis faid, Sir, about his fon that fhould have married a fhepherd's daughter. Aut. If that fhepherd be not in hand-faft, let him fly; the curfes he fhall have, the tortures he fhall feel, will break the back of man, the heart of monster. Clo. Think you fo, Sin? Aut. Not he alone fhall fuffer what wit can make heavy, and vengeance bitter; but thofe that are germane to him, tho' remov'd fifty times, fhall all come under the hangman; which tho' it be great pity, yet it is neceffary. An old sheep-whistling rogue, a ram-tender, |