D. Pedro. Ha? no, no; faith, thou singest well enough for a shift. Bene. [Aside.] An he had been a dog that should have howled thus, they would have hang'd him; and, I pray God, his bad voice bode no mischief! I had as lief have heard the night-raven", come what plague could have come after it. D. Pedro. Yea, marry; dost thou hear, Balthazar? I pray thee, get us some excellent music, for to-morrow night we would have it at the lady Hero's chamber-window. Balth. The best I can, my lord. D. Pedro. Do so: farewell. [Exeunt BALTHAZAR and musicians.] Come hither, Leonato: what was it you told me of to-day that your niece Beatrice was in love with signior Benedick? Claud. [Aside to PEDRO.] O, ay:-stalk on, stalk on; the fowl sits'. [Aloud.] I did never think that lady would have loved any man. Leon. No, nor I neither; but most wonderful, that she should so dote on signior Benedick, whom she hath in all outward behaviours seemed ever to abhor. Bene. [Aside.] Is't possible? Sits the wind in that corner? Leon. By my troth, my lord, I cannot tell what to think of it, but that she loves him with an enraged affection: it is past the infinite of thought. D. Pedro. May be, she doth but counterfeit. Claud. 'Faith, like enough. Leon. O God! counterfeit! There was never counterfeit of passion came so near the life of passion, as she discovers it. D. Pedro. Why, what effects of passion shows she? Claud. [Aside.] Bait the hook well: this fish will bite. Leon. What effects, my lord? She will sit you,-you heard my daughter tell you how. Claud. She did, indeed. D. Pedro. How, how, I pray you? You amaze me: I would have thought her spirit had been invincible against all assaults of affection. Leon. I would have sworn it had, my lord; especially against Benedick. Bene. [Aside.] I should think this a gull, but that the 11 the night-raven,] By "night-raven meant different birds, commonly the owl. different authors seem to have 1 - stalk on, stalk on; the fowl sits.] An allusion to the stalking-horse, by which the fowler anciently concealed himself from the sight of the game. white-bearded fellow speaks it: knavery cannot, sure, hide himself in such reverence. Claud. [Aside.] He hath ta'en the infection: hold it up. D. Pedro. Hath she made her affection known to Benedick? Leon. No, and swears she never will: that's her torment. Claud. 'Tis true, indeed; so your daughter says: "Shall I," says she, "that have so oft encountered him with scorn, write to him that I love him ?" Leon. This says she, now, when she is beginning to write to him; for she'll be up twenty times a night, and there will she sit in her smock, till she have writ a sheet of paper full3. -My daughter tells us all. Claud. Now you talk of a sheet of paper, I remember a pretty jest your daughter told us of‘. Leon. O-when she had writ it, and was reading it over, she found Benedick and Beatrice between the sheet? Claud. That. Leon. O she tore the letter into a thousand half-pence; railed at herself, that she should be so immodest to write to one that she knew would flout her:-"I measure him,” says she, "by my own spirit; for I should flout him, if he writ to me; yea, though I love him, I should." Claud. Then down upon her knees she falls, weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, cries',—“O sweet Benedick! God give me patience!" Leon. She doth indeed: my daughter says so; and the ecstasy hath so much overborne her, that my daughter is sometimes afeard she will do a desperate outrage to herself. It is very true. D. Pedro. It were good, that Benedick knew of it by some other, if she will not discover it. Claud. To what end? He would but make a sport of it, and torment the poor lady worse. D. Pedro. An he should, it were an alms-deed to hang 2 - knavery cannot, sure, hide HIMSELF in such reverence.] Hitherto "himself" has been printed itself in the modern editions; but Shakespeare meant to personify knavery. 3 till she have writ a sheet of paper FULL.] So the corr. fo. 1632: “full” adds to the force of the passage, and probably escaped accidentally. 4 3 your daughter told us or.] In the 4to, 1600, us or is transposed. - tears her hair, prays, CRIES;] Curses in the old copies; but must have been the poet's word, and it is obtained from the corr. fo. 1632. cries" - it were an alms-DEED] "Deed" is from the corr. fo. 1632, and though not absolutely necessary, is a most plausible addition. him. She's an excellent sweet lady, and out of all suspicion she is virtuous. Claud. And she is exceeding wise. D. Pedro. In every thing, but in loving Benedick. Leon. O! my lord, wisdom and blood combating in so tender a body, we have ten proofs to one, that blood hath the victory. I am sorry for her, as I have just cause, being her uncle and her guardian. D. Pedro. I would, she had bestowed this dotage on me ; I would have daff'd' all other respects, and made her half myself. I pray you, tell Benedick of it, and hear what a' will say. Leon. Were it good, think you? Claud. Hero thinks surely, she will die; for she says, she will die if he love her not, and she will die ere she make her love known, and she will die if he woo her, rather than she will 'bate one breath of her accustomed crossness. D. Pedro. She doth well: if she should make tender of her love, 'tis very possible he'll scorn it; for the man, as you know all, hath a contemptible spirit. Claud. He is a very proper man. D. Pedro. He hath, indeed, a good outward happiness. D. Pedro. He doth, indeed, show some sparks that are like wit. D. Pedro. As Hector, I assure you: and in the managing of quarrels you may say he is wise; for either he avoids them with great discretion, or undertakes them with a most Christian-like fear. Leon. If he do fear God, he must necessarily keep peace: if he break the peace, he ought to enter into a quarrel with fear and trembling. D. Pedro. And so will he do; for the man doth fear God, howsoever it seems not in him by some large jests he will make. Well, I am sorry for your niece. Shall we go seek Benedick, and tell him of her love? Claud. Never tell him, my lord: let her wear it out with good counsel. 7 have DAFF'D] To daff is to doff, to do off, or put away. 8 - a CONTEMPTIBLE spirit.] i. e. A contemptuous or scornful spirit. The word was used in this way by many writers in the time of Shakespeare. Shall we go SEEK Benedick,] See, folio, 1623, for "seek" of the 4to. In a preceding speech, the folio has "you may see he is wise," instead of "say." Leon. Nay, that's impossible; she may wear her heart out first. D. Pedro. Well, we will hear farther of it by your daughter: let it cool the while. I love Benedick well, and I could wish he would modestly examine himself, to see how much he is unworthy so good a lady'. Leon. My lord, will you walk? dinner is ready. Claud. [Aside.] If he do not dote on her upon this, I will never trust my expectation. D. Pedro. [Aside.] Let there be the same net spread for her; and that must your daughter and her gentlewomen carry'. The sport will be, when they hold one an opinion of another's dotage, and no such matter: that's the scene that I would see, which will be merely a dumb show. Let us send her to call him in to dinner. [Exeunt Don PEDRO, CLAUDIO, and LEONATO. Bene. [advancing from the Arbour.] This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne'.-They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it seems, her affections have their full bent. Love me! why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured: they say, I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive the love come from her: they say, too, that she will rather die than give any sign of affection. I did never think to marry.-I must not seem proud. Happy are they that hear their detractions, and can put them to mending. They say, the lady is fair; 'tis a truth, I can bear them witness: and virtuous; 'tis so, I cannot reprove it and wise, but for loving me; by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her. I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage; but doth not the appetite alter? A man loves the meat in his youth, that he cannot endure in his age'. Shall quips, and sentences, and these paper bullets of the brain, awe a man from the career of his 1 lady: unworthy so good a lady.] The folio reads-" unwor.hy to have so good a the 4to, more tersely, as in our text. 2 her GENTLEWOMEN carry.] So the 4to: the folio gentlewoman; but Margaret and Ursula were both employed. the conference was SADLY borne.] i. e. Seriously conducted. "sadly" are often used for serious and seriously, grave and gravely. "Sad" and he cannot endure in his age.] The corr. fo. 1632 makes the words "youth" and "age" change places, but it is hardly called for. humour? No; the world must be peopled. When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married. Here comes Beatrice. By this day, she's a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in her. Enter BEATRICE. Beat. Against my will, I am sent to bid you come in to dinner. Bene. Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains. Beat. I took no more pains for those thanks, than you take pains to thank me: if it had been painful, I would not have come. Bene. You take pleasure, then, in the message? Beat. Yea, just so much as you may take upon a knife's point, and choke a daw withal'.-You have no stomach, signior: fare you well. [Exit. Bene. Ha! "Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner"-there's a double meaning in that. "I took no more pains for those thanks, than you took pains to thank me"-that's as much as to say, any pains that I take for you is as easy as thanks.—If I do not take pity of her, I am a villain: if I do not love her, I am a Jew. I will go get her picture. [Exit. ACT III. SCENE I. LEONATO'S Garden. Enter HERO, MARGARET, and URSULA. Hero. Good Margaret, run thee to the parlour; and choke a daw withal.] "And not choke a daw withal," corr. fo. 1632, which seems to add some force to the speech, implying that Beatrice did not take so much pleasure as would lie upon a knife's point, and was insufficient to choke a daw. Still, the emendation is by no means necessary. 6- to bid you come IN to dinner] This is in accordance with the old copies, and with what Beatrice has already said; yet modern editors omit "in." |