Ros. Now, Hercules be thy speed, young man ! Cel. I would I were invisible, to catch the strong fellow by the leg. [CHA. and ORL. wrestle.

Ros. O excellent young man!

Cel. If I had a thunderbolt in mine eye, I can tell who should down. [CHARLES is thrown. Shout.

Duke F. No more, no more.

Orl. Yes, I beseech your grace; I am not yet well breathed.

Duke F. How dost thou, Charles?

Le Beau. He cannot speak, my lord.

Duke F. Bear him away. [CHARLES is borne out.] What is thy name, young man?

Orl. Orlando, my liege; the youngest son of sir Rowland de Bois.

Duke F. I would thou hadst been son to some man else.

The world esteemed thy father honorable,

But I did find him still mine enemy.

Thou shouldst have better pleased me with this deed,
Hadst thou descended from another house.
But fare thee well; thou art a gallant youth;
I would thou hadst told me of another father.

[Exeunt DUKE FRED., Train, and Le Beau.
Cel. Were I my father, coz, would I do this?
Orl. I am more proud to be sir Rowland's son,
His youngest son;-and would not change that calling,'
To be adopted heir to Frederick.

Ros. My father loved sir Rowland as his soul,
And all the world was of my father's mind.
Had I before known this young man his son,
I should have given him tears unto entreaties,
Ere he should thus have ventured.

Cel.

Gentle cousin,

Let us go thank him, and encourage him.

My father's rough and envious disposition

Sticks me at heart.-Sir, you have well deserved;

1 Calling here means appellation; a very unusual if not unprecedented use of the word.

If

you do keep your promises in love But justly, as you have exceeded all promise, Your mistress shall be happy.

Ros.

Gentleman,

[Giving him a chain from her neck. Wear this for me; one out of suits with fortune; That could give more, but that her hand lacks means.-Shall we go, coz?

Cel.

Ay.-Fare you well, fair gentleman. Orl. Can I not say, I thank you? My better parts Are all thrown down, and that which here stands

2

Is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block.

up,

Ros. He calls us back; my pride fell with my fortunes;

I'll ask him what he would.-Did you call, sir?—
Sir, you have wrestled well, and overthrown

More than your enemies.

Cel.

Will you go, coż?

Ros. Have with you.-Fare you well.

[Exeunt ROSALIND and CELIA. Orl. What passion hangs these weights upon my tongue?

I cannot speak to her, yet she urged conference.

Re-enter LE BEAU.

O poor Orlando!
Orlando! Thou art overthrown ;

Or Charles, or something weaker, masters thee.
Le Beau. Good sir, I do in friendship counsel you
To leave this place. Albeit you have deserved
High commendation, true applause, and love;
Yet such is now the duke's condition,3
That he misconstrues all that you have done.
The duke is humorous; what he is, indeed,
More suits you to conceive, than me to speak of.
Orl. I thank you, sir; and, pray you, tell me this:

1 Out of suits appears here to signify out of favor, discarded by fortune.

To suit with anciently signified to agree with.

2 His better parts, i. e. his spirits or senses. A quintain was a figure set up for tilters to run at in mock resemblance of a tournament.

3 i. c. temper, disposition. Humorous is capricious.

Which of the two was daughter of the duke,
That here was at the wrestling?

Le Beau. Neither his daughter, if we judge by

manners;

But yet, indeed, the smaller1 is his daughter.
The other is daughter to the banished duke,
And here detained by her usurping uncle,
To keep his daughter company; whose loves
Are dearer than the natural bond of sisters.
But I can tell you that of late this duke
Hath ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece;
Grounded upon no other argument,

But that the people praise her for her virtues,
And pity her for her good father's sake;
And on my life, his malice 'gainst the lady
Will suddenly break forth.-Sir, fare you well,
Hereafter, in a better world than this,

I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.
Orl. I rest much bounden to you; fare you well!
[Exu LE BEAU.

Thus must I from the smoke into the smother;
From tyrant duke, unto a tyrant brother.—
But heavenly Rosalind!

[Exit.

SCENE III. A Room in the Palace.

Enter CELIA and ROSALIND.

Cel. Why, cousin; why, Rosalind;-Cupid have mercy!-Not a word?

Ros. Not one to throw at a dog.

Cel. No, thy words are too precious to be cast away upon curs; throw some of them at me; come, lame me with reasons.

Ros. Then there were two cousins laid up; when the one should be lamed with reasons, and the other mad without any.

1 The old copy reads taller, which is evidently wrong. Pope altered it to shorter. The present reading is Malone's

Cel. But is all this for your father?

Ros. No, some of it for my child's father.1 O how full of briers is this working-day world!

Cel. They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery; if we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them.

Ros. I could shake them off my coat; these burs are in my heart.

Cel. Hem them away.

Ros. I would try; if I could cry hem, and have him Cel. Come, come, wrestle with thy affections.

Ros. O, they take the part of a better wrestler than myself.

Cel. O, a good wish upon you! You will try in time, in despite of a fall.-But turning these jests out of service, let us talk in good earnest. Is it possible, on such a sudden, you should fall into so strong a liking with old sir Rowland's youngest son?

Ros. The duke, my father, loved his father dearly. Cel. Doth it therefore ensue, that you should love his son dearly? By this kind of chase, I should hate him, for my father hated his father dearly; yet I hate not Orlando.

2

Ros. No, 'faith, hate him not, for my sake.
Cel. Why should I not? Doth he not deserve

well ? 3

Ros. Let me love him for that; and do you love him, because I do.-Look, here comes the duke.

Cel. With his eyes full of anger.

Enter DUKE FREDERICK, with Lords.

Duke F. Mistress, despatch you with your safest haste,

And get you from our court.

1 i. e. for him whom she hopes to marry. So Theobald explains this passage. Some of the modern editions read, "my father's child."

2 Shakspeare's apparent use of dear in a double sense, has been already illustrated.

3 Celia answers as if Rosalind had said, "love him, for my sake," which is the implied sense of her words.

Ros.

Duke F.

Me, uncle?

You, cousin;

Within these ten days if that thou be'st found
So near our public court as twenty miles,
Thou diest for it.

Ros.

I do beseech your grace,

Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me.
If with myself I hold intelligence,

Or have acquaintance with mine own desires;
If that I do not dream, or be not frantic,
(As I do trust I am not,) then, dear uncle,
Never, so much as in a thought unborn,
Did I offend your highness.

Duke F.

Thus do all traitors;

If their purgation did consist in words,
They are as innocent as grace itself.-
Let it suffice thee, that I trust thee not.

Ros. Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor • Tell me whereon the likelihood depends.

Duke F. Thou art thy father's daughter; there's enough.

Ros. So was I when your highness took his duke

dom;

So was I when your highness banished him.
Treason is not inherited, my lord;

Or, if we did derive it from our friends,
What's that to me? My father was no traitor.
Then, good my liege, mistake me not so much,
To think my poverty is treacherous.

Cel. Dear sovereign, hear me speak.

Duke F. Ay, Celia; we stayed her for your sake,

Else had she with her father ranged along.

Cel. I did not then entreat to have her stay;
It was your pleasure and your own remorse.1
I was too young that time to value her,
But now I know her; if she be a traitor,
Why so am I; we still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learned, played, ate together,

i. e. compassion.