Must be thy subject; who, in spite, put stuff I, that I am one now; Were all the wealth I have, shut up in thee, Apem. [Eating a Root. Here; I will mend thy feast. [Offering him something. 3 Tim. First mend my company, take away thyself.4 Apem. So I shall mend mine own, by the lack of thine. minated-Tag, rag, &c. So, in Fulius Cæsar: " — if the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him,—I am no true man." Malone. 2 Thou hadst been a knave, and flatterer.] Dryden has quoted two verses of Virgil to show how well he could have written satires. Shakspeare has here given a specimen of the same power by a line bitter beyond all bitterness, in which Timon tells Apemantus, that he had not virtue enough for the vices which he condemns. Dr. Warburton explains worst by lowest, which somewhat weakens the sense, and yet leaves it sufficiently vigorous. I have heard Mr. Burke commend the subtilty of discrimination with which Shakspeare distinguishes the present character of Timon from that of Apemantus, whom to vulgar eyes he would now resemble. Johnson. Knave is here to be understood of a man who endeavours to recommend himself by a hypocritical appearance of attention, and superfluity of fawning officiousness; such a one as is called in King Lear, a finical superserviceable rogue.-If he had had virtue enough to attain the profitable vices, he would have been profit. ably vicious Steevens. 3 First mend my company,] The old copy reads-mend thy com- · pany. The correction was made by Mr. Rowe. Malone. 4 take away thyself.] This thought seems to have been adopted from Plutarch's Life of Antony. It stands thus in Sir Thomas North's translation: "Apemantus said unto the other, O, here is a trimme banket, Timon. Timon aunswered againe, yea, said he, so thou wert not here." Steevens. Tim. 'Tis not well mended so, it is but botch'd; If not, I would it were. Apem. What would'st thou have to Athens? Tim. Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt, Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have. Apem. Here is no use for gold. Tim. The best and truest: For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm. Apem. Where ly'st o' nights, Timon? Under that 's above me.5 Tim. Apem. Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather, where I eat it. Tim. 'Would poison were obedient, and knew my mind! Apem. Where would'st thou send it? Tim. To sauce thy dishes. Apem. The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the extremity of both ends: When thou wast in thy gilt, and thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much curiosity; in thy rags thou knowest none, but art despised for the contrary. There's a medlar for thee, eat it. Tim. On what I hate, I feed not. 6 Apem. Dost hate a medlar? Tim. Ay, though it look like thee.* Apem. Where ly'st o' nights, Timon? Tim. Under that's above me.] So, in Coriolanus : "3 Serv. Where dwell'st thou ? "Cor. Under the canopy." Steevens. for too much curiosity;] i. e. for too much finical delicacy. The Oxford editor alters it to courtesy. Warburton. Dr. Warburton has explained the word justly. So, in Jervas Markham's English Arcadia, 1606: “— for all those eye-charming graces, of which with such curiosity she had boasted." Again, in Hobby's translation of Castiglione's Cortegiano, 1556: "A waiting gentlewoman should flee affection or curiosity." Curiosity is here inserted as a synonyme to affection, which means affectation. Curiosity likewise seems to have meant capriciousness. Thus, in Greene's Mamillia, 1593: "Pharicles hath shewn me some curtesy, and I have not altogether requitted him with curiosity he hath made some shew of love, and I have not wholly seemed to mislike." Steevens. 7 Ay, though it look like thee.] Timon here supposes that an objection against hatred, which through the whole tenor of the conversation appears an argument for it. One would have expected him to have answered Apem. An thou hadst hated medlers sooner, thou should'st have loved thyself better now. What man didst thou ever know unthrift, that was beloved after his means? Tim. Who, without those means thou talkest of, didst thou ever know beloved? Apem. Myself. Tim. I understand thee; thou hadst some means to keep a dog. Apem. What things in the world canst thou nearest compare to thy flatterers? Tim. Women nearest; but men, men are the things. themselves. What would'st thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power? Apem. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men. Tim. Would'st thou have thyself fall in the confusion of men, and remain a beast with the beasts? Apem. Ay, Timon. Tim. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee: if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee: if thou wert the fox, the lion would suspect thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accused by the ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee; and still thou livedst but as a breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner: wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury: wert thou a bear, thou would'st be killed by the horse; wert thou à 8 Yes, for it looks like thee. The old edition, which always gives the pronoun instead of the affirmative particle, has it— I, though it look like thee. Perhaps we should read: 8 I thought it look'd like thee. Johnson. the unicorn, &c.] The account given of the unicorn is this that he and the lion being enemies by nature, as soon as the lion sees the unicorn he betakes himself to a tree: the unicorn in his fury, and with all the swiftness of his course, running at him. sticks his horn fast in the tree, and then the lion fails upon him and kills him. Gesner Hist. Animal. Hanmer. See a note on Julius Cæsar, Vol. XIV, p. 41. Steevens. 9 horse, thou would'st be seized by the leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life: all thy safety were remotion;1 and thy defence, absence. What beast could'st thou be, that were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art thou already, that seest not thy loss in transformation? Apem. If thou could'st please me with speaking to me, thou might'st have hit upon it here: The commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts. Tim. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the city? Apem. Yonder comes a poet, and a painter: The plague of company light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way: When I know not what else to do, I'll see thee again. Tim. When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog, than Apemantus. 9 Apem. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.2 Tim. 'Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon. Apem. A plague on thee, thou art too bad to curse.3 Tim. All villains, that do stand by thee, are pure. thou wert german to the lion,] This seems to be an allusion to Turkish policy: "Bears, like the Turk, no brother near the throne." Pope. 1 — were remotion;] i. e. removal from place to place. So, in King Lear: "'Tis the remotion of the duke and her." Steevens. Remotion means, I apprehend, not a frequent removal from place to place, but merely remoteness, the being placed at a distance from the lion. See Vol. VIII, p. 293, n. 9. Malone. 2 Thou art the cap &c.] The top, the principal. The remaining dialogue has more malignity than wit. Johnson. Dr Johnson's explication is, I think, right; but I believe our author had also the fool's cap in his thoughts. Malone. In All's Well that Ends Well, "the cap of the time," apparently means-the foremost in the fashion. Steevens. 3 Apem. A plague on thee, thou art too bad to curse:] Thus, the old copies, and, I think, rightly. Mr Theobald, however, is of a contrary opinion; for, according to the present regulation, says he, Apemantus is "made to curse Timon, and immediately to subjoin that he was too bad to curse." He would therefore give the former part of the line to Timon. Steevens. Apem. There is no leprosy but what thou speak'st. Tim. If I name thee. I'll beat thee, but I should infect my hands. Apem. I would, my tongue could rot them off! Choler does kill me, that thou art alive; I swoon to see thee. Apem. Tim. 'Would thou would'st burst! Away, [Throws a Stone at him. Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry, I shall lose Toad! Tim. Rogue, rogue, rogue! [APEM. retreats backward, as going. I am sick of this false world; and will love nought [Looking on the Gold. 'Twixt natural son and sire!4 thou bright defiler Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars! Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer, That solder'st close impossibilities, And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every tongue, Think, thy slave man rebels; and by thy virtue May have the world in empire! Apem. 'Would 'twere so; But not till I am dead!-I'll say, thou hast gold: Tim. 4'Twixt natural son and sire!] σε Διὰ τῦτον ἐκ ἀδελφὸς Throng'd to? "AIR TUTOY & тoxйss." Anac. Johnson. |
