Ami. What's that 'ducdame'?
Jaq. 'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a
circle. I'll go sleep, if I can; if I can-
not, I'll rail against all the first-born of
Egypt.

Ami. And I'll go seek the Duke: his banquet is prepared. [Exeunt severally.

SCENE VI

The forest.

Enter Orlando and Adam.

Adam. Dear master, I can go no further; 0, I
die for food! Here lie I down, and measure
out my grave. Farewell, kind master.
Orl. Why, how now, Adam! no greater heart
in thee? Live a little; comfort a little; cheer
thyself a little. If this uncouth forest yield
anything savage, I will either be food for it

63. "I'll rail against all the first-born of Egypt." According to Johnson "the first-born of Egypt" was a proverbial expression for high-born persons, but it has not been found elsewhere. Nares suggests that perhaps Jaques is only intended to say that, if he cannot sleep, he will, like other discontented persons, rail against his betters. There is no doubt some subtler meaning in the words, and the following is possibly worthy of consideration:- Jaques says if he cannot sleep he'll rail again all first-borns, for it is the question of birthright which has caused him "leave his wealth and ease," merely as he had previously put it "to please a stubborn will"; this idea has perhaps suggested Pharaoh's stubbornness, and by some such association "all first-borns" became "all the first-born of Egypt"; or, by mere association, the meaningless tag "of Egypt" is added by Jaques to round off the phrase, and to give it some sort of color.-I. G.

or bring it for food to thee. Thy conceit is
nearer death than thy powers. For my
sake be comfortable; hold death awhile at the 10
arm's end: I will here be with thee presently;
and if I bring thee not something to eat, I
will give thee leave to die: but if thou diest
before I come, thou art a mocker of my
labor. Well said! thou lookest cheerly,
and I'll be with thee quickly. Yet thou
liest in the bleak air: come, I will bear thee
to some shelter; and thou shalt not die for
lack of a dinner, if there live any thing in 19
this desert. Cheerly, good Adam! [Exeunt.

SCENE VII

The forest.

A table set out. Enter Duke senior, Amiens, and
Lords like outlaws.

Duke S. I think he be transform'd into a beast;
For I can no where find him like a man.
First Lord. My lord, he is but even now gone
hence:

Here was he merry, hearing of a song.

Duke S. If he, compact of jars, grow musical,
We shall have shortly discord in the spheres.
Go, seek him: tell him I would speak with
him.

10. "comfortable"; of good cheer.-C. H. H.

15. "well said"; a phrase of the time, meaning the same as our well done!-H. N. H.

Enter Jaques.

First Lord. He saves my labor by his own approach. Duke S. Why, how now, monsieur! what a life is this,

That your poor friends must woo your company?

What, you look merrily!

Jaq. A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' the forest,
A motley fool; a miserable world!

As I do live by food, I met a fool;

Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun
And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms,
In good set terms, and yet a motley fool.
'Good morrow, fool,' quoth I. 'No sir,' quoth
he,

'Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me
fortune:'

And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And, looking on it with lack-luster eye,
Says very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock:

Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world

wags:

'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine;

And after one hour more 'twill be eleven;
And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,

And then, from hour to hour, we rot and

rot;

19. Touchstone of course alludes to the common saying "Fortune favours fools," cp. Every Man out of His Humour, I. i.:

Sogliardo. "Why, who am I, sir?

Macilente. One of those that fortune favours.

Carlo. [Aside] The periphrasis of a fool."-I. G.

And thereby hangs a tale.' When I did
hear

The motley fool thus moral on the time,
My lungs began to crow like chanticleer,
That fools should be so deep-contemplative;
And I did laugh sans intermission

An hour by his dial. O noble fool!

30

costume of

A worthy fool! Motley's the only wear.

Duke S. What fool is this?

count

Jaq. O worthy fool! One that hath been a courtier,

And says, if ladies be but young and fair,

They have the gift to know it: and in his
brain,

Which is as dry as the remainder biscuit

After a voyage, he hath strange places
cramm'd

With observation, the which he vents

40

fool pester

In mangled forms. O that I were a fool!
I am ambitious for a motley coat.
Duke S. Thou shalt have one.

Jaq.

It is my only suit;
Provided that you weed your better judg-

ments

Of all opinion that grows rank in them
That I am wise. I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the wind,

34, 36. "A worthy fool"
"O worthy fool": the "A" and
"O" should probably change places, according to an anonymous con-
jecture noted in the Cambridge Edition.-I. G.

39. "dry"; slow, dull. In Elizabethan physiology intellect was conceived as a kind of moisture in the brain; a "dry jest" was a dull one. A trace of this survives in our "humour."-C. H. H.

jester

To blow on whom I please; for so fools
have;

And they that are most galled with my

folly,

50

They most must laugh. And why, sir, must
they so?

The 'why' is plain as way to parish church:
He that a fool doth very wisely hit

Doth very foolishly, although he smart,
Not to seem senseless of the bob: if not,
The wise man's folly is anatomized

Even by the squandering glances of the fool.
Invest me in my motley; give me leave

To speak my mind, and I will through and
through

Cleanse the foul body of the infected world, 60
If they will patiently receive my medicine.

Duke S. Fie on thee! I can tell what thou wouldst

do.

Jaq. What, for a counter, would I do but good? Duke S. Most mischievous foul sin, in chiding

sin:

For thou thyself hast been a libertine,

55. "Not to seem"; the words "not to" were first added by Theobald: the Folios read "seem"; Collier, following his MS. corrections, proposed "but to seem"; the meaning is the same in both cases. Mr. Furness follows Ingleby in maintaining the correctness of the text, and paraphrases thus: "He who is hit the hardest by me must laugh the hardest, and that he must do so is plain; because if he is a wise man he must seem foolishly senseless of the bob by laughing it off. Unless he does this, viz., shows his insensibility by laughing it off, any chance hit of the fool will expose every nerve and fibre of his folly."-I. G.