Ros.

Were it not better,

Because that I am more than common tall,
That I did suit me all points like a man?

A gallant curtle-axe upon my thigh,

A boar-spear in my hand; and—in my heart

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Lie there what hidden woman's fear there will

We'll have a swashing and a martial outside,
As many other mannish cowards have

Cel.

That do outface it with their semblances.

Ros.

What shall I call thee when thou art a man?
I'll have no worse a name than Jove's own page;
And therefore look you call me Ganymede.

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But what will you be call'd?

Cel.

Ros.

Something that hath a reference to my state;
No longer Celia, but Aliena.

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Cel.

But, cousin, what if we assayed to steal
The clownish fool out of your father's court?
Would he not be a comfort to our travel?
He'll go along o'er the wide world with me;
Leave me alone to woo him. Let's away,

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And get our jewels and our wealth together,

83. Suit me.-Dress myself.

84. Curtle-axe.-A cutlass or broadsword.

85. Boar-spear.-A spear used in hunting the boar.

87. Swashing.-Dashing; proud.

87. Martial.-Warlike.

89. Semblances.-Pretences; seeming to be what they are not. 91. Jove's own page.-In ancient mythology (explained in note 39) the chief god, and king of heaven, was Jupiter; Jove was another name for the same personage; Ganymede was Jupiter's cupbearer.

95. Aliena.-Celia chooses this name because "it hath a reference to my state;" the word meaning a stranger.

96. Assayed.-Attempted; tried.

97. Fool.-In the middle ages, when noblemen, and even kings and

queens, were often unable to read, it was the custom for them

to keep a witty person as jester, or fool, to amuse them by his laughable speeches and gestures.

100. Woo him.-Persuade him; prevail upon him to go with us.

Devise the fittest time and safest way
To hide us from pursuit that will be made
After my flight. Now go we in content
To liberty and not to banishment.

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IV.

AS YOU LIKE IT.

ACT ii. SCENE 1.-THE DUKE IN EXILE.

[In this scene we are introduced to the banished duke (Duke Senior) spoken of in the preceding scene. He is now living in the Forest of Arden; along with him are several lords who have chosen to be his companions in banishment; he and his friends have adopted the dress, and live the life, of foresters. Of these lords, the two who are mentioned by name in this scene are Amiens and Jaques, of whom the latter is specially described as "melancholy," that is, dull, fond of wandering alone, and of talking to himself. His name, Jaques, may, in repetition be pronounced either as Jakes, or as Ja-qués, according to its position in the line.]

SCENE: The forest of Arden.

Duke S. Now, my co-mates, and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam,

1. Co-mates. Companions.

1. Exile.-Banishment.

2. This life. This kind of life, that is, life in the woods.

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3. Painted pomp.-Pomp is splendour, the parade and grandeur of kings. Shakespeare adds the word "painted," implying that it is not natural.

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4. The envious court.-Those who reside with a king in his palace are called "the court." Shakespeare, by adding the adjective 'envious," implies that such people are not happy and contented. 5. The penalty of Adam.-Penalty is strictly punishment. The whole line means that in the forest the only "penalty" or suffering they endured was such as came into the world after Adam's fall; or, as the next line says, "the seasons' difference," the changes of the weather.

The seasons' difference, as the icy fang

And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,

Ami.

Which, when it bites and blows upon my body,
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
"This is no flattery; these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am.”
Sweet are the uses of adversity,

Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,

Wears yet a precious jewel in his head:

And this our life, exempt from public haunt,

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.

I would not change it.

Happy is your grace,

That can translate the stubbornness of fortune
Into so quiet and so sweet a style.

Duke S. Come, shall we go and kill us venison?

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6. The seasons' difference. The change from the warmth of summer to the cold of winter.

6. Fang. Toth. The "tooth of the winter's wind" may sound strange; but do we not often speak of a "biting wind?"

7. Churlish.-Rude; rough.

11. Persuade.--Advise; put me in mind.

12. Adversity.-Trouble; misfortune.

13. Venomous.-Containing poison.

14. A precious jewel in his head.-There was anciently a belief that in the head of an old toad was to be found a precious stone, which had the power of healing various diseases.

15. Exempt.-Free.

16. Tongues in trees, &c.-Notice in this line and the next that tongues and trees begin with the same letter, books and brooks are similarly situated, and so also are sermons and stones. This method of choosing words of similar sound is called alliteration, and was much used by the old poets. You will find numerous examples of the same kind throughout Shakespeare's works. 20. Translate. To change from one kind to another. In this place the phrase "translate the stubbornness of fortune," would mean, "to make misfortune seem different from what it is usually felt to be." 22. Venison. The flesh of deer. "Kill us venison," here means "kill deer," which, when killed, would be venison.

And yet it irks me the poor dappl'd fools,
Being native burghers of this desert city,

Should in their own confines with forkèd heads
Have their round haunches gored.
Indeed, my lord,

First Lord.

The melancholy Jaques grieves at that,
And, in that kind, swears you do more usurp
Than doth your brother that hath banish'd you.
To-day my lord of Amiens and myself
Did steal behind him as he lay along

Under an oak whose antique root peeps out
Upon the brook that brawls along this wood;
To the which place a poor sequester'd stag,
That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt,
Did come to languish, and indeed, my lord,
The wretched animal heaved forth such groans,
That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat
Almost to bursting, and the big round tears
Cours'd one another down his innocent nose
In piteous chase; and thus the hairy fool,
Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,

Stood on the extremest verge of the swift brook,

23. Irks me.-Gives me pain.

23. Dappl'd.-Streaked or spotted.

24. Burghers.-Citizens; or, more strictly, persons having the same position in a town or borough, as citizens have in a city.

24. This desert city.-The forest.

25. Confines.-Bounds.

25. Forked heads.-Make two syllables of the word forked. The phrase refers to the arrows which had their points barbed, or double-pointed like a fish-hook.

26. Gored.-Pierced; stabbed; torn.

29. Usurp.-To claim authority or power that is not yours by right. 33. Antique.-Old.

34. Brawls.-Runs noisily.

35. Sequester'd.-Separated from his friends.

39. His leathern coat.-His skin.

41. Coursed.-Followed. It was an ancient belief that deer wept when put to death by hunters.

11. The extremest verge.-The very edge; the brink.

Augmenting it with tears.

Duke S.

But what said Jaques?

Did he not moralize this spectacle?

First Lord. O, yes, into a thousand similes.

First, for his weeping into the needless stream;

"Poor deer," quoth he, "thou mak'st a testament
As worldlings do, giving thy sum of more

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To that which had too much;" then, being there alone
Left and abandon'd of his velvet friends,

""Tis right," quoth he, "thus misery doth part
The flux of company;" anon, a careless herd,
Full of the pasture, jumps along by him

And never stays to greet him; "Ay," quoth Jaques,

'Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens;

'Tis just the fashion; wherefore do you look

45. Augmenting.—Adding to; making fuller.

47. Moralize.-To draw a lesson from.

47. Spectacle.-Sight.

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48. Similes. This word has three syllables. It means comparisons; similar things; or more particularly here, lessons drawn from the sight just described.

49. The needless stream.-The stream needed not the tears of the deer, to add to its water.

50. Quoth.-An old verb corresponding to the present English said; used in 1st and 3d per. sing. only.

50. Testament.-Will.

51. Worldlings.-People whose thoughts and actions are concerned only with this world.

53. Of. In modern English the preposition in this place would be by. 53. His. When referring to nouns of neuter gender, or to the lower animals, the possessive pronoun its is now used. In Shakespeare's time the word its had only been lately introduced, and was not considered good English. The word his was used as both masculine and neuter.

55. Flux.-Literally "flow;" here the word is equivalent to agreement, friendship, sympathy.

55. Anon.-Soon; quickly.

58. Fat and greasy citizens.-This refers directly to the herd which had

left the dying animal in its misery; but indirectly, Jaques is reproving the same kind of conduct, so common amongst mankind.

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