First Lord. Hang thyself!

Apem. No, I will do nothing at thy bidding: make thy requests to thy friend.

Sec. Lord. Away, unpeaceable dog, or I'll 280 spurn thee hence!

Apem. I will fly, like a dog, the heels o' the

ass.

[Exit.

First Lord. He's opposite to humanity. Come, shall we in,

And taste Lord Timon's bounty? he outgoes
The very heart of kindness.

Sec. Lord. He pours it out; Plutus, the god of gold,

Is but his steward: no meed, but he repays
Sevenfold above itself; no gift to him,
But breeds the giver a return exceeding
All use of quittance.

First Lord.

290

The noblest mind he carries

That ever govern'd man.

Sec. Lord. Long may he live in fortunes! Shall

we in?

First Lord. I'll keep you company.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II

A banqueting-room in Timon's house. Hautboys playing loud music. A great banquet served in; Flavius and others attending; and then enter Lord Timon, Alcibiades, Lords, Senators, and Ventidius. Then comes, drop

ping after all, Apemantus, discontentedly, like himself.

Ven. Most honor'd Timon,

It hath pleased the gods to remember my father's age,

And call him to long peace.

He is gone happy, and has left me rich:
Then, as in grateful virtue I am bound
To your free heart, I do return those talents,
Doubled with thanks and service, from whose
help

I derived liberty.

mistake my

my love:

I

10

gave it freely ever; and there's none Can truly says he gives, if he receives:

If our betters play at that game, we must not dare

To imitate them; faults that are rich are fair. Ven. A noble spirit!

Tim. Nay, my lords, ceremony was but devised at first

To set a gloss on faint deeds, hollow welcomes,
Recanting goodness, sorry ere 'tis shown;

But where there is true friendship, there needs

none.

Pray, sit; more welcome are ye to my fortunes

13. "faults that are rich are fair"; that is, the faults of rich men, as the world goes, are thought fair; still they are faults. Several speeches in this scene, that are commonly printed as verse, we print as prose, because they cannot possibly be made to run as verse save to the eye; neither the ear nor the mind being able to receive them as such.--H. N. H.

Than my fortunes to me.

[They sit. 20 First Lord. My lord, we always have confess'd it.

Apem. Ho, ho, confess'd it! hang'd it, have you

not?

Tim. O, Apemantus, you are welcome.

Apem.

You shall not make me welcome:

No;

I come to have thee thrust me out of doors. Tim. Fie, thou 'rt a churl; ye 've got a humor there Does not become a man; 'tis much to blame. They say, my lords, 'ira furor brevis est;' but yond man is ever angry. Go, let him have a table by himself; for he does neither 30 affect company, nor is he fit for 't indeed. Apem. Let me stay at thine apperil, Timon:

I come to observe; I give thee warning on 't.
Tim. I take no heed of thee; thou 'rt an

Athenian, therefore welcome: I myself
would have no power; prithee, let my meat
make thee silent.

Apem. I scorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for
I should ne'er flatter thee. O you gods,
what a number of men eat Timon, and he 40
sees 'em not! It grieves me to see so many
dip their meat in one man's blood; and all the
madness is, he cheers them up too.

I wonder men dare trust themselves with men:

22. “confess'd it! hang'd it"; perhaps an allusion to a common proverbial saying of Shakespeare's time, "Confess and be hanged." -H. N. H.

29. "ever angry"; the original has "very angry." The change was made by Rowe, and is clearly required by the sense. The misprint

was common.-H. N. H.

Methinks they should invite them without

knives;

Good for their meat, and safer for their lives.
There's much example for 't; the fellow that
sits next him now, parts bread with him,
pledges the breath of him in a divided
draught, is the readiest man to kill him: 50
't has been proved. If I were a huge man,
I should fear to drink at meals;

Lest they should spy my windpipe's dangerous

notes:

Great men should drink with harness on their

throats.

Tim. My lord, in heart; and let the health
go round.
Sec. Lord. Let it flow this way, my good lord.
Apem. Flow this way! A brave fellow! he

keeps his tides well. Those healths will make
thee and thy state look ill, Timon. Here's
that which is too weak to be a sinner, hon- 60
est water, which ne'er left man i̇' the mire:
This and my food are equals; there's no odds:
Feasts are too proud to give thanks to the gods.

45. Alluding to the then custom of each guest bringing his own knife to a feast.-I. G.

53. "windpipe's dangerous notes”; “the windpipe's notes" were the sounds or motions made by the throat when in the act of drinking. It should be remembered that our ancestor's throats were uncovered. Perhaps, as Steevens observes, a quibble is intended on windpipe and notes.-H. N. H.

53-54. We print this speech as it stands in the original, save that the closing couplet is there printed as prose. Modern editors commonly print it all as verse; but it is impossible to give it such a character save to the eye; and it is not pleasant to be told that we ought to read that as verse which is not so.-H. N. H.

I

Apemantus's Grace.

Immortal gods, I crave no pelf;
pray for no man but myself:
Grant I may never prove so fond,
To trust man on his oath or bond,
Or a harlot for her weeping,
Or a dog that seems a-sleeping,
Or a keeper with my freedom,

Or my friends, if I should need 'em.
Amen. So fall to 't:

Rich men sin, and I eat root.

70

[Eats and drinks.

Much good dich thy good heart, Apemantus! Tim. Captain Alcibiades, your heart's in the field now.

Alcib. My heart is ever at your service, my
lord.

Tim. You had rather be at a breakfast of
enemies than a dinner of friends.
Alcib. So they were bleeding-new, my lord,
there's no meat like 'em: I could wish my
best friend at such a feast.

Apem. Would all those flatterers were thine
enemies, then, that then thou mightst kill
'em and bid me to 'em!

First Lord. Might we but have that happiness, my lord, that you would once use our hearts, whereby we might express some part of our

80

73. "sin"; Farmer conj. "sing"; Singer conj. "dine"; Kinnear conj. “surfeit.”—I. G.

23