Sir And. 'Slid, I'll after him again and beat him.

Sir To. Do; cuff him soundly, but never draw thy sword.

Sir And. An I do not,

Fab. Come, let's see the event.

[Exit.

Sir To. I dare lay any money 'twill be nothing

yet.

440

[Exeunt.

ACT FOURTH

SCENE I

Before Olivia's house.

Enter Sebastian and Clown.

Clo. Will you make me believe that I am not sent for you?

Seb. Go to, go to, thou art a foolish fellow:

Let me be clear of thee.

Clo. Well held out, i' faith! No, I do not

know you; nor I am not sent to you by my
lady, to bid you come speak with her; nor
your name is not Master Cesario; nor this is
not my nose neither. Nothing that is so

is so.

Seb. I prithee, vent thy folly somewhere else:
Thou know'st not me.

Clo. Vent my folly! he has heard that word of

some great man and now applies it to a fool.
Vent my folly! I am afraid this great lub-

10

15, 16. "I am afraid this great lubber, the world, will prove a cockney"; so the Folios; the lines evidently mean "I am afraid affectation and foppery will overspread the world" (Johnson); it has been proposed to change "world" into "word" (i. e. with reference to "vent"): others read "this great lubberly world"; Knight explains that the words are spoken aside, and mean, "I am afraid the world will prove this great lubber (Sebastian) a cockney." This seems very strained, and probably the simplest reading of the passage is the best.-I. G.

ber, the world, will prove a cockney. I
prithee now, ungird thy strangeness and tell
me what I shall vent to my lady: shall I vent
to her that thou art coming?

Seb. I prithee, foolish Greek, depart from me: 20
There's money for thee: if you tarry longer,
I shall give worse payment.

Clo. By my troth, thou hast an open hand.
These wise men that give fools money get
themselves a good report-after fourteen
years' purchase.

Enter Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, and Fabian. Sir And. Now, sir, have I met you again? there's for you.

Seb. Why, there's for thee, and there, and there. Are all the people mad?

Sir To. Hold, sir, or I'll throw your dagger o'er the house.

Clo. This will I tell my lady straight: I would not be in some of your coats for two pence.

30

[Exit.

Sir To. Come on, sir; hold.
Sir And. Nay, let him alone: I'll go another
way to work with him; I'll have an action of
battery against him, if there be any law in
Illyria: though I struck him first, yet it's
no matter for that.

Seb. Let go thy hand.

Sir To. Come, sir, I will not let you go. Come,

my young soldier, put up your iron: you are
well fleshed; come on.

40

Seb. I will be free from thee. What wouldst thou

now?

If thou darest tempt me further, draw thy sword.

Sir To. What, what? Nay, then I must have an ounce or two of this malapert blood from you.

Enter Olivia.

Oli. Hold, Toby; on thy life, I charge thee, hold! Sir To. Madam!

Oli. Will it be ever thus? Ungracious wretch,

51

Fit for the mountains and the barbarous caves, Where manners ne'er were preach'd! out of my sight!

Be not offended, dear Cesario.

Rudesby, be gone!

[Exeunt Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Fabian.
I prithee, gentle friend,

Let thy fair wisdom, not thy passion, sway
In this uncivil and unjust extent

Against thy peace. Go with me to my house;
And hear thou there how many fruitless pranks
This ruffian hath botch'd up, that thou there-
by

61

Mayst smile at this: thou shalt not choose but go:

Do not deny. Beshrew his soul for me,

He started one poor heart of mine in thee.

61. "botch'd up"; brought about.-C. H. H.

64. "one poor heart of mine"; an equivoque is here intended between hart and heart, which were formerly written alike.-H. N. H.

Seb. What relish is in this? how runs the stream?

Or I am mad, or else this is a dream:

Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep;

If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!

Oli. Nay, come, I prithee: would thou 'ldst be ruled by me!.

Seb. Madam, I will.

Oli.

69

O, say so, and so be! [Exeunt.

SCENE II

Olivia's house.

Enter Maria and Clown.

Mar. Nay, I prithee, put on this gown and this beard; make him believe thou art Sir Topas the curate: do it quickly; I 'll call Sir Toby

the whilst. [Exit. Clo. Well, I'll put it on, and I will dissemble myself in 't; and I would I were the first that ever dissembled in such a gown. I am not tall enough to become the function well, nor lean enough to be thought a good student; but to be said an honest man and a 10 good housekeeper goes as fairly as to say a careful man and a great scholar. The competitors enter.

70. "and so be!"; sc. ruled by me.-C. H. H.

4. "the whilst"; meanwhile.-C. H. H.

8. "I am not tall enough"; the modern editors have changed this to fat without any apparent reason; tall being sometimes used in the sense of lusty, and thus making a good antithesis to lean.-H. N. H.