ACT THIRD

SCENE I

Olivia's garden.

Enter Viola, and Clown with a tabor.

Vio. Save thee, friend, and thy music: dost thou live by thy tabor?

Clo. No, sir, I live by the church.

Vio. Art thou a churchman?

Clo. No such matter, sir: I do live by the church; for I do live at my house, and my house doth stand by the church.

Vio. So thou mayst say, the king lies by a beggar, if a beggar dwell near him; or, the church stands by thy tabor, if thy tabor 10 stand by the church.

Clo. You have said, sir. To see this age! A sentence is but a cheveril glove to a good wit: how quickly the wrong side may be

turned outward!

Vio. Nay, that's certain; they that dally nicely with words may quickly make them wanton. Clo. I would, therefore, my sister had had no

name, sir.

4. "churchman"; clergyman.-C. H. H.

Vio. Why, man?
Clo. Why, sir, her name 's a word; and to dally
with that word might make my sister wan-
ton. But indeed words are very rascals
since bonds disgraced them.

Vio. Thy reason, man?

Clo. Troth, sir, I can yield you none without words; and words are grown so false, I am loath to prove reason with them.

Vio. I warrant thou art a merry fellow and carest for nothing.

Clo. Not so, sir, I do care for something; but in my conscience, sir, I do not care for you: if that be to care for nothing, sir, I would it would make you invisible.

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30

Vio. Art not thou the Lady Olivia's fool?
Clo. No, indeed, sir; the Lady Olivia has no
folly: she will keep no fool, sir, till she be
married; and fools are as like husbands as
pilchards are to herrings; the husband's the
bigger: I am indeed not her fool, but her 40
corrupter of words.

Vio. I saw thee late at the Count Orsino's.
Clo. Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like

the sun, it shines every where. I would be
sorry, sir, but the fool should be as oft with
your master as with my mistress: I think
I saw your wisdom there.

Vio. Nay, an thou pass upon me, I'll no more
with thee. Hold, there's expenses for thee.

24. "bonds"; used in a double sense, (1) confinement; (2) money bonds.-C. H. H.

Clo. Now Jove, in his next commodity of hair, 50

send thee a beard!

Vio. By my troth, I'll tell thee, I am almost

sick for one; [Aside] though I would not
have it grow on my chin. Is thy lady
within?

Clo. Would not a pair of these have bred, sir?
Vio. Yes, being kept together and put to use.
Clo. I would play Lord Pandarus of Phrygia,

sir, to bring a Cressida to this Troilus.
Vio. I understand you, sir; 'tis well begged.
Clo. The matter, I hope, is not great, sir, beg-
ging but a beggar: Cressida was a beggar.
My lady is within, sir. I will construe to
them whence you come; who you are and
what you would are out of my welkin, I
might say 'element,' but the word is over-

worn.

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[Exit. Vio. This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit: He must observe their mood on whom he jests, The quality of persons, and the time, And, like the haggard, check at every feather That comes before his eye. This is a practice

50. "commodity"; parcel.-C. H. H.

71

56. "these”; i. e. these coins which Viola has given him.-I. G. 62. "Cressida was a beggar"; "according to the story Cressida finally became a leper and wegged by the roadside."-I. G.

69. "craves"; requires.-C. H. H.

72. "And, like the haggard, check at every feather"; so the Folios; Johnson proposed "not" for ‘and,” and this reading has reasonably been adopted by most editors; "to check" is "a term in falconry, applied to a hawk when she forsakes her proper game, and follows some other of Inferior kind. that crosses her in her flight"; the meaning therefore of the Folio reading would be "that he must

As full of labor as a wise man's art:

For folly that he wisely shows is fit;

But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.

Enter Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew.

Sir To. Save you, gentleman.

Vio. And you, sir.

Sir And. Dieu vous garde, monsieur.
Vio. Et vous aussi; votre serviteur.

Sir And. I hope, sir, you are; and I am yours.
Sir To. Will you encounter the house? my niece

is desirous you should enter, if your trade be
to her.

Vio. I am bound to your niece, sir; I mean, she
is the list of my voyage.

Sir To. Taste your legs, sir; put them to motion.

Vio. My legs do better understand me, sir, than

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I understand what you mean by bidding me 90 taste my legs.

Sir To. I mean, to go, sir, to enter.

Vio. I will answer you with gait and entrance.
But we are prevented.

Enter Olivia and Maria.

Most excellent accomplished lady, the
heavens rain odors on you!

catch at every opportunity," but this does not suit the context: the
wise Clown must be discriminative; hence Johnson's "not.”—I. G.
76. "wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit"; Folio 1, "wise-
mens folly falne"; Hanmer and Warburton, "wise men's folly
shown"; the text is Theobald's, and is generally adopted.-I. G.
93. "gait"; going.-C. H. H.

Sir And. That youth's a rare courtier: 'Rain odors;' well.

Vio. My matter hath no voice, lady, but to your

own most pregnant and vouchsafed ear. Sir And. 'Odors,' 'pregnant,' and 'vouchsafed:' I'll get 'em all three all ready.

Oli. Let the garden door be shut, and leave me
to my hearing. [Exeunt Sir Toby, Sir

Andrew, and Maria.] Give me your hand,
sir.

Vio. My duty, madam, and most humble serv-
ice.

Oli. What is your name?

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Vio. Cesario is your servant's name, fair prin- 110

cess.

Oli. My servant, sir! 'Twas never merry world
Since lowly feigning was call'd compliment:
You 're servant to the Count Orsino, youth.
Vio. And he is yours, and his must needs be yours:
Your servant's servant is your servant, madam.
Oli. For him, I think not on him: for his thoughts,
Would they were blanks, rather than fill'd with
me!

Vio. Madam, I come to whet your gentle thoughts
On his behalf.

Oli.
O, by your leave, I pray you; 120
I bade you never speak again of him:
But, would you undertake another suit,
I had rather hear you to solicit that
Than music from the spheres.

Vio.

Dear lady,Oli. Give me leave, beseech you. I did send,