2 Hunt. It would seem strange unto him when he waked. Lord. Even as a flattering dream, or worthless fancy. Then take him up, and manage well the jest:- And hang it round with all my wanton pictures: hands? Some one be ready with a costly suit, This do and do it kindly,' gentle sirs; It will be pastime passing excellent, If it be husbanded with modesty." your 1 Hunt. My lord, I warrant you, we'll play our part, As he shall think, by our true diligence, He is no less than what we say he is. Lord. Take him up gently, and to bed with him, And each one to his office when he wakes. [Some bear out SLY. A trumpet sounds. Sirrah, go see what trumpet 'tis that sounds: [Exit Servant Belike, some noble gentleman, that means, Re-enter a Servant. How now? who is it? Serv. An it please your honor, Players that offer service to your lordship. Enter Players. Now, fellows, you are welcome. 1 Play. We thank your honor. Lord. Do you intend to stay with me to-night? Since once he played a farmer's eldest son ;- 1 Play. I think 'twas Soto that your honor means. If 2 1 It was in old times customary for players to travel in companies, and offer their service at great houses, 2 The old copy prefixes the name of Sincklo to this line, who was an actor in the same company with Shakspeare. Soto is a character in Beaumont and Fletcher's, Woman Pleased; he is a farmer's eldest son, but he does not woo any gentlewoman. 1 Play. Fear not, my lord; we can contain ourselves, Were he the veriest antic in the world.1 1 Lord. Go, sirrah, take them to the buttery, [Exeunt Servants and Players. Sirrah, go you to Bartholomew my page, [To a Servant. May show her duty, and make known her love? Bid him shed tears, as being overjoyed To see her noble lord restored to health, Who, for twice seven years, hath esteemed him1 And if the boy have not a woman's gift, 1 In the old play the dialogue is thus continued: "San. [To the other.] Go get a dishclout to make cleyne your shooes, and Ile speak for the properties. [Exit Player.] My lord, we must have a shoulder of mutton for a property, and a little vinegre to make our divell roar." 2 Pope remarks, in his preface to Shakspeare, that "the top of the profession were then mere players, not gentlemen of the stage; they were led into the buttery, not placed at the lord's table, or the lady's toilet." 3 The old copy reads this. The emendation is Theobald's. 4 Him is used for himself, as in Chapman's Banquet of Sense, 1595:"The sense wherewith he feels him deified." Shall in despite enforce a watery eye. [Exit Servant. I know the boy will well usurp the grace, Which otherwise would grow into extremes. [Exeunt. SCENE II. A Bedchamber in the Lord's House. SLY is discovered in a rich night-gown, with Attendants; some with apparel, others with basin, ewer, and other appurtenances. Enter Lord, dressed like a Servant.1 Sly. For God's sake, a pot of small ale. 1 Serv. Will't please your lordship drink a cup of sack? 2 Serv. Will't please your honor taste of these conserves? 3 Serv. What raiment will your honor wear to-day? Sly. I am Christophero Sly; call not me-honor, nor lordship; I never drank sack in my life; and if you give me any conserves, give me conserves of beef. Ne'er ask me what raiment I'll wear; for I have no more doublets than backs, no more stockings than legs, nor no more shoes than feet; nay, sometimes, more feet than shoes, or such shoes as my toes look through the over-leather. Lord. Heaven cease this idle humor in your honor! 1 From the original stage direction in the first folio, it appears that Sly and the other persons mentioned in the Induction were intended to be exhibited here, and during the representation of the comedy, in a balcony above the stage. O, that a mighty man of such descent, Sly. What, would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher Sly, old Sly's son of Burton-heath; by birth a pedler, by education a card-maker, by transmutation a bear-herd, and now by present profession a tinker? Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of Wincot,' if she know me not: if she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lyingest knave in Christendom. What, I am not bestraught. Here's 3 2 1 Serv. O, this it is that makes your lady mourn. 2 Serv. O, this it is that makes your servants droop. Lord. Hence comes it that your kindred shun your house, As beaten hence by your strange lunacy. O noble lord, bethink thee of thy birth; Call home thy ancient thoughts from banishment, Wilt thou have music? Hark! Apollo plays, [Music. And twenty caged nightingales do sing. Say, thou wilt walk? we will bestrew the ground. 1 Wilnecotte, says Warton, is a village in Warwickshire, with which Shakspeare was well acquainted, near Stratford. The house kept by our genial hostess still remains, but is at present a mill. There is a village also called Barton on the heath in Warwickshire. 2 Sheer ale has puzzled the commentators; but none of the conjectures offered appear satisfactory. Sheer ale may mean nothing more than ale unmixed, mere ale, or pure ale. The word sheer is still used for mere, pure. 3 i. e. distraught, distracted. VOL. II. 58 |