Tim. I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns To thine own lips again. Alcib. How came the noble Timon to this change? Tim. As the moon does, by wanting light to give: But then renew I could not, like the moon; There were no suns to borrow of. Alcib. Noble Timon, what friendship may I do thee? Tim. None, but to maintain my opinion. Tim. Promise me friendship, but perform none. -If thou wilt not promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art a man!-if thou dost perform, confound thee, for thou'rt a man! Alcib. I have heard in some sort of thy miseries. Tim. Thou saw'st them when I had prosperity. Alcib.I see them now; then was a blessed time. Tim. As thine is now, held with a brace of Tim. Be a whore still! They love thee not that use thee; Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust. Make use of thy salt hours: season the slaves For tubs and baths: bring down rose-cheekéd youth To the tub-fast and the diet. Timan. Hang thee, monster! Alcib. Pardon him, sweet Timandra; for his wits Are drowned and lost in his calamities.I have but little gold of late, brave Timon, The want whereof doth daily make revolt In my penurious band: I have heard, and grieved, How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth, Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states, But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them,Tim. I pr'y thee, beat thy drum, and get thee gone. Alcib. I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon. Tim. How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble? I had rather be alone. Alcib. Ay, Timon, and have cause. Tim. The gods confound them all i'thy conquest; and thee after, when thou hast conquered! Alcib. Why me, Timon? Tim. That, by killing of villains, thou wast born to conquer my country. Put up thy gold: Go on,-here's gold,—go on ; That through the window-bars bore at men's eyes, Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy; Think it a bastard, whom the oracle Hath doubtfully pronounced thy throat shall cut, And mince it sans remorse: swear against objects; Put armour on thine ears, and on thine eyes; Whose proof, nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes, Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding, Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay thy soldiers: Make large confusion; and, thy fury spent, Confounded be thyself! Speak not; be gone! Alcib. Hast thou gold yet? I'll take the gold thou giv'st me, Not all thy counsel. Tim. Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse upon thee! Phry. Give us some gold, good Timon: hast Timan. S thou more? Tim. Enough to make a whore forswear her trade, In hollow bones of men; strike their sharp shins, And not believes himself: down with the nose, And let the unscarred braggarts of the war Phry. More counsel with more money, boun- Tim. More whore, more mischief, first; I have given you earnest. Alcib. Strike up the drum towards Athens. Farewell, Timon; If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again. Tim. If I hope well, I'll never see thee more. Tim. Men daily find it. Yield him who all thy human sons doth hate, This slave-like habit? and these looks of care? come To knaves and all approachers: 'tis most just That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again, Rascals should have 't. Do not assume my like ness. Tim. Were I like thee, I'd throw away myself. Apem. Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thyself; A madman so long, now a fool. What, think'st That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain, Will put thy shirt on warm? Will these mossed trees, That have outlived the eagle, page thy heels, And skip when thou point'st out? Will the cold brook, Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste, Tim. A fool of thee: depart. Apem. I love thee better now than e'er I did. Tim. I hate thee worse. Apem. Why? Tim. Thou flatterr'st misery. Apem. I flatter not; but say, thou art a caitiff. Tim. Always a villain's office, or a fool's. Apem. Ay. Tim. What! a knave too? Apem. If thou didst put this sour-cold habit on To castigate thy pride, 't were well but thou Dost it enforcedly; thou'dst courtier be again, Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery Outlives incertain pomp; is crowned before: The one is filling still, never complete; The other at high wish: best state, contentless, Hath a distracted and most wretched being, Worse than the worst, content. Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable. Tim. Not by his breath that is more miserable. In general riot; melted down thy youth men At duty, more than I could frame employment; They never flattered thee. What hast thou given? If thou hadst not been born the worst of men, Apem. Art thou proud yet? For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm. Tim. Would poison were obedient, and knew Apem. Where wouldst thou send it? 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. Apem. Dost hate a medlar? Tim. Ay, though it look like thee. Apem. An thou hadst hated meddlers sooner, thou shouldst 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 wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power? Apem. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men. Tim. Wouldst 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 wouldst be killed by the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst 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; and thy defence, absence. What beast couldst thou be, that were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art thou already, that see'st not thy loss in transformation ? Apem. If thou couldst please me with speaking to me, thou mightst 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. Apem. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive. Tim. 'Would thou wert clean enough to spit But even the mere necessities upon it. [Looking on the gold. "Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars! Thou ever young, fresh, loved, and delicate wooer, Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god, That solder'st close impossibilities, And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every tongue, To every purpose! O, thou touch of hearts! Apem. Within this mile break forth a hundred springs: The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips; The bounteous housewife, Nature, on each bush Lays her full mess before you. Want? why want? 1st Thief. We cannot live on grass, on berries, water, As beasts, and birds, and fishes. Tim. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes; You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con, Till the high fever seeth your blood to froth, And so 'scape hanging. Trust not the physician; His antidotes are poison, and he slays More than you rob. Take wealth and lives together; Do villany, do, since you profess to do't, The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power Have unchecked theft. Love not yourselves; away; Rob one another. There's more gold: cut throats; All that you meet are thieves. To Athens go; Break open shops: nothing can you steal But thieves do lose it. Steal not less, for this I give you; and gold confound you howsoever! Amen. [TIMON retires to his cave. 3rd Thief. He has almost charmed me from my profession, by persuading me to it, 1st Thief. 'Tis in the malice of mankind that he thus advises us; not to have us thrive in our mystery. 2nd Thief. I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over my trade. 1st Thief. Let us first see peace in Athens: there is no time so miserable but a man may be [Exeunt Thieves. true. Enter FLAVIUS. Is yon dispised and ruinous man my lord? What viler thing upon the earth than friends TIMON comes forward from his cave. |