Trumpets sound. Enter TIMON, attended; the Servant of VENTIDIUS talking with him.

Tim.

Imprison'd is he, say you? Ven. Serv. Ay, my good lord: five talents is his debt;

His means most short, his creditors most strait:
Your honourable letter he desires

To those have shut him up; which failing to him,
Periods 26 his comfort.

Tim.

Noble Ventidius! Well;

I am not of that feather, to shake off

My friend when he must need me27. I do know him A gentleman, that well deserves a help,

Which he shall have: I'll pay the debt, and free him. Ven. Serv. Your lordship ever binds him.

Tim. Commend me to him: I will send his ran

some;

And, being enfranchis'd, bid him come to me:'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,

But to support him after28.-Fare you well.
Ven. Serv. All happiness to your honour29!

Enter an old Athenian.

Old Ath. Lord Timon, hear me speak.
Tim.

[Exit.

Freely, good father. Old Ath. Thou hast a servant nam'd Lucilius. Tim. I have so: What of him?

A

26 To period is perhaps a verb of Shakspeare's coinage. It is used by Heywood, after him, in A Maidenhead Well Lost, 1634:How easy could 1 period all my care."

And in The Country Girl, by T. B. 1647:

To period our vain grieving."

27 Should we not read When he most needs me?'

28 Johnson says this thought is better expressed by Dr. Madden in his Elegy on Archbishop Boulter :

More than they ask'd he gave; and deem'd it mean

Only to help the poor-to beg again.'

It is said that Dr. Madden gave Johnson ten guineas for correcting this poem.

29 See note on King Richard III. Act iii. Sc. 2, note 3, p. 72.

Old Ath. Most noble Timon, call the man be

fore thee.

Tim. Attends he here, or no?—Lucilius!

Enter LUCILIUS.

Luc. Here, at your lordship's service.

Old Ath. This fellow here, Lord Timon, this thy creature,

By night frequents my house. I am a man
That from my first have been inclin'd to thrift;
And my estate deserves an heir more rais'd,
Than one which holds a trencher.

Tim.

Well; what further?

Old Ath. One only daughter have I, no kin else,
On whom I may confer what I have got:
The maid is fair, o'the youngest for a bride,
And I have bred her at my dearest cost,
In qualities of the best. This man of thine
Attempts her love: I pr'ythee, noble lord,
Join with me to forbid him her resort;
Myself have spoke in vain.

Tim.
The man is honest.
Old Ath. Therefore he will be, Timon30:
His honesty rewards him in itself,

It must not bear my daughter.

Tim.

Does she love him?

Old Ath. She is young, and apt:

30 It appears to me that a word is omitted in this line. Perhaps we should read:

Therefore he will be [rewarded], Timon;

His honesty rewards him in itself,

It must not bear my daughter.

It is true that Shakspeare often uses elliptical phrases, and this has been thought to mean: You say the man is honest; therefore he will continue to be so, and is sure of being sufficiently, rewarded by the consciousness of virtue; he does not need the additional blessing of a beautiful and accomplished wife.' But it must not bear my daughter' means His honesty is its own reward, it must not carry my daughter.' A similar expression

occurs in Othello:

What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe
If he can carry her thus.'

Our own precedent passions do instruct us
What levity's in youth.

Tim. [To LUCILIUS.] Love you the maid?

Luc. Ay, my good lord, and she accepts of it. Old Ath. If in her marriage my consent be missing,

I call the gods to witness, I will choose

Mine heir from forth the beggars of the world,
And dispossess her all.

Tim.

How shall she be endow'd,

If she be mated with an equal husband?

Old Ath. Three talents, on the present; in future, all.

Tim. This gentleman of mine hath serv'd me long; To build his fortune, I will strain a little, For 'tis a bond in men. Give him thy daughter: What you bestow, in him I'll counterpoise, And make him weigh with her.

Old Ath. Most noble lord, Pawn me to this your honour, she is his.

Tim. My hand to thee; mine honour on my promise.

Luc. Humbly I thank your lordship: Never may That state or fortune fall into my keeping,

Which is not ow'd to you31 !

[Exeunt LUCILIUS and old Athenian. Poet. Vouchsafe my labour, and long live your lordship!

Tim. I thank you; you shall hear from me anon; Go not away.-What have you there, my friend? Pain. A piece of painting, which I do beseech Your lordship to accept.

Tim.

Painting is welcome.

31 Let me never henceforth consider any thing that I possess but as owed or due to you; held for your service, and at your disposal. So Lady Macbeth says to Duncan :—

• Your servants ever

Have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs in compt,
To make their audit at your highness' pleasure,

Still to return your own."

mere

The painting is almost the natural man;

For since dishonour traffics with man's nature,
He is but outside: These pencil'd figures are
Even such as they give out32. I like your work;
And you shall find, I like it: wait attendance
Till you hear further from me.

Pain.

The gods preserve you! Tim. Well fare you, gentlemen: Give me your

hand;

We must needs dine together.-Sir, your jewel
Hath suffer'd under praise.

Jew.

What, my lord? dispraise?

Tim. A meer satiety of commendations.
If I should pay you for't as 'tis extoll'd,
It would unclew33 me quite.

Jew.
My lord, 'tis rated
As those, which sell, would give: But you well know,
Things of like value, differing in the owners,
Are prized by their masters34: believ't, dear lord,
You mend the jewel by wearing it.

Tim.

Well mock'd. Mer. No, my good lord; he speaks the common

tongue,

Which all men speak with him.

Tim. Look, who comes here. Will you be chid?

Enter APEMANTUS35,

Jew. We will bear, with your lordship.

Mer.
He'll spare none.
Tim. Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus!
Apem. Till I be gentle, stay thou for thy good

morrow;

32 Pictures have no hypocrisy; they are what they profess to be. 33 To unclew a man is to draw out the whole mass of his fortunes. To unclew being to unwind a ball of thread.

34 Are rated according to the esteem in which their possessor is held.

35 See this character of a cynic finely drawn by Lucian, in his Auction of the Philosophers; and how well Shakspeare has copied it.

When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves

honest36.

Tim. Why dost thou call them

know'st them not.

knaves? thou

Apem. Are they not Athenians?
Tim. Yes.

Apem. Then I repent not.

Jew. You know me, Apemantus.

Apem. Thou knowest, I do; I call'd thee by thy name. Tim. Thou art proud, Apemantus.

Apem. Of nothing so much, as that I am not like Timon.

Tim. Whither art going?

Apem. To knock out an honest Athenian's brains. Tim. That's a deed thou'lt die for.

Apem. Right, if doing nothing be death by the law. Tim. How likest thou this picture, Apemantus? Apem. The best for the innocence.

Tim. Wrought he not well, that painted it? Apem. He wrought better, that made the painter; and yet he's but a filthy piece of work.

Pain. You are a dog.

Apem. Thy mother's of my generation; What's she, if I be a dog?

Tim. Wilt dine with me, Apemantus ?

Apem. No; I eat not lords.

Tim. An thon shouldst, thou'dst anger ladies. Apem. O, they eat lords; so they come by great bellies.

Tim. That's a lascivious apprehension.

Apem. So thou apprehend'st it: Take it for thy labour.

Tim. How dost thou like this jewel, Apemantus? Apem. Not so well as plain dealing37, which will not cost a man a doit.

เ

36 Stay for thy good morrow till I be gentle, which will happen at the same time when thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest. i. e. never.

37 Alluding to the proverb: Plain dealing is a jewel, but they who use it die beggars.