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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9400-8.txt b/9400-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fead57 --- /dev/null +++ b/9400-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13456 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, +Vol. II, by Robert Dodsley +#2 in our series by Robert Dodsley + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. II + +Author: Robert Dodsley + +Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9400] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 29, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD ENGLISH PLAYS, VOL. II *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Tapio Riikonen +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +A SELECT COLLECTION OF OLD ENGLISH PLAYS, VOL. II + +Originally published by Robert Dodsley in the Year 1744. + + +FOURTH EDITION, NOW FIRST CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED, REVISED AND +ENLARGED WITH THE NOTES OF ALL THE COMMENTATORS, AND NEW NOTES + +BY + +W. CAREW HAZLITT + + + +CONTENTS: + +The Interlude of Youth +Lusty Juventus +Jack Juggler +A Pretty Interlude, called Nice Wanton +The History of Jacob and Esau +The Disobedient Child +The Marriage of Wit and Science. + + + + + +THE INTERLUDE OF YOUTH. + + + +EDITIONS. + +_See Hazlitt's "Handbook," 1867, p. 464, and Remarks_. + + + +MR. HALLIWELL'S PREFACE[1] TO THE FORMER EDITION. + +The "Interlude of Youth" is probably the most interesting early-printed +moral play that has descended to our times, and it may therefore be +considered somewhat singular that it has hitherto escaped the notice of +the publication societies. Its great rarity may, however, account for +this circumstance, only two or three copies of any edition being known +to exist. Waley's edition appeared probably about the year 1554, and +has a woodcut on the title-page of two figures, representing Charity +and Youth, two of the characters in the interlude. Another edition was +printed by Copland, and has also a woodcut on the title-page, +representing Youth between Charity, and another figure which has no +name over its head. The colophon is: "Imprented at London, in Lothbury, +over against Sainct Margarytes church, by me, Wyllyam Copland." See +Collier's "History of Dramatic Poetry," vol. ii., p. 313. "The +'Interlude of Youth,'" observes Mr Collier, "is decidedly a Roman +Catholic production, and I have therefore little doubt that it made its +appearance during the reign of Mary;" and he adds, p. 315, "on the +whole, this piece is one of the most amusing and most humorous of the +class to which it belongs." A fragment of a black-letter copy of the +interlude is preserved at Lambeth Palace,[2] and is described by Mr +Maitland in his "List of Early Printed Books," p. 311. + + + + +INTERLUDE OF YOUTH. + + +CHARITY. +Jesu that his arms did spread, +And on a tree was done to dead, +From all perils he you defend! +I desire audience till I have made an end, +For I am come from God above +To occupy his laws to your behove, +And am named Charity; +There may no man saved be +Without the help of me, +For he that Charity doth refuse, +Other virtues though he do use, +Without Charity it will not be, +For it is written in the faith: +_Qui manet in charitate in Deo manet_. +I am the gate, I tell thee, +Of heaven, that joyful city; +There may no man thither come, +But of charity he must have some, +Or ye may not come, i-wis, +Unto heaven, the city of bliss; +Therefore Charity, who will him take, +A pure soul it will him make +Before the face of God: +In the ABC, of books the least, +It is written _Deus charitas est_. +Lo! charity is a great thing, +Of all virtues it is the king: +When God in earth was here living, +Of charity he found none ending. +I was planted in his heart; +We two might not depart.[3] +Out of his heart I did spring, +Through the might of the heaven-king: +And all priests that be, +May sing no mass without charity: +And charity to them they do not take, +They may not receive him, that did them make +And all this world of nought. + +YOUTH. +Aback, fellows, and give me room, +Or I shall make you to avoid soon! +I am goodly of person; +I am peerless, wherever I come. +My name is Youth, I tell thee, +I flourish as the vine-tree: +Who may be likened unto me, +In my youth and jollity? +My hair[4] is royal and bushed thick; +My body pliant as a hazel-stick; +Mine arms be both big[5] and strong, +My fingers be both fair and long; +My chest big as a tun, +My legs be full light for to run, +To hop and dance, and make merry. +By the mass, I reck not a cherry, +Whatsoever I do! +I am the heir of all my father's land, +And it is come into my hand: +I care for no more. + +CHARITY. +Are you so disposed to do, +To follow vice, and let virtue go! + +YOUTH. +Yea, sir, even so: +For now-a-days he is not set by, +Without he be unthrifty. + +CHARITY. +You had need to ask God mercy; +Why did you so praise your body? + +YOUTH. +Why, knave, what is that to thee? +Wilt thou let[6] me to praise my body? +Why should I not praise it, and it be goodly? +I will not let for thee. + +CHARITY. +What shall it be, when thou shalt flit +Fro thy wealth into the pit? +Therefore of it be not too bold, +Lest thou forethink[7] it, when thou art old: +Ye may be likened to a tree, +In youth flourishing with royalty, +And in age it is cut down, +And to the fire is thrown: +So shalt thou, but thou amend, +Be burned in hell without end! + +YOUTH. +Ye whoreson, trowest thou so? +Beware, lest thou thither go! +Hence, caitiff, go thy way, +Or with my dagger I shall thee slay! +Hence, knave, out of this place, +Or I shall lay thee on the face! +Sayest thou that I shall go to hell, +For evermore there to dwell? +I had liever thou had evil fare.[8] + +CHARITY. +Ah, yet, sir, do by my reed, +And ask mercy for thy misdeed, +And thou shalt be an heritor of bliss, +Where all joy and mirth is; +Where thou shalt see a glorious sight +Of angels singing, with saints bright, +Before the face of God. + +YOUTH. +What, sirs, above the sky? +I had need of a ladder to climb so high! +But what, and the ladder slip? +Then I am deceived yet, +And if I fall, I catch a queck; +I may fortune to break my neck, +And that joint is ill to set: +Nay, nay, not so. + +CHARITY. +Oh, yet remember, and call to thy mind, +The mercy of God passeth all thing. +For it is written by noble clerks, +The mercy of God passeth all works; +That witnesseth Holy Scripture, saying thus: +_Miseratio domini super omnia opera ejus_: +Therefore doubt not God's grace; +Thereof is plenty in every place. + +YOUTH. +What, methink ye be clerkish, +For ye speak good gibb'rish! +Sir, I pray you, and you have any store, +Soil[9] me a question, ere ye cast any more, +Lest when your cunning is all done, +My question have no solution. +Sir, and it please you this, +Why do men eat mustard with salt fish? +Sir, I pray you soil me this question +That I have put to your discretion. + +CHARITY. +This question is but a vanity; +It longeth not to me +Such questions to assoil. + +YOUTH. +Sir, by God, that me dear bought, +I see your cunning is little or nought; +And I should follow your school, +Soon ye would make me a fool! +Therefore crake no longer here, +Lest I take you on the ear, +And make your head to ache! + +CHARITY. +Sir, it falleth not for me to fight, +Neither by day, ne by night; +Therefore do by my counsel, I say, +Then to heaven thou shalt have thy way. + +YOUTH. +No, sir, I think ye will not fight; +But to take a man's purse in the night +Ye will not say nay; +For such holy caitiffs +Were wont to be thieves, +And such would be hanged as high +As a man may see with his eye: +In faith, this same is true. + +CHARITY. +God save every Christian body +From such evil destiny, +And send us of his grace +In heaven to have a place! + +YOUTH. +Nay, nay, I warrant thee, +He hath no place for thee; +Weenest thou he will have such fools +To sit on his gay stools? +Nay, I warrant thee, nay! + +HUMILITY. +Well, sir, I put me in God's will, +Whether he will me save or spill; +And, sir, I pray you do so, +And trust in God, whatsoever ye do. + +YOUTH. +Sir, I pray thee hold thy peace, +And talk to me of no goodness; +And soon look thou go thy way, +Lest with my dagger I thee slay! +In faith, if thou move my heart, +Thou shalt be weary of thy part, +Ere thou and I have done. + +CHARITY. +Think what God suffered for thee, +His arms to be spread upon a tree; +A knight with a spear opened his side, +In his heart appeared a wound wide, +That bought both you and me! + +YOUTH. +God's fast! what is that to me? +Thou daw, wilt thou reed me +In my youth to lose my jollity? +Hence, knave, and go thy way, +Or with my dagger I shall thee slay! + +CHARITY. +O sir, hear what I you tell, +And be ruled after my counsel, +That ye might sit in heaven high +With God and his company. + +YOUTH. +Ah, yet of God thou wilt not cease +Till I fight in good earnest; +On my faith I tell thee true, +If I fight, it will thee rue +All the days of thy life. + +CHARITY. +Since[10] I see it will none otherwise be; +I will go to my brother Humility, +And take good counsel of him, +How it is best to be do therein. + +YOUTH. +Yea, marry, sir, I pray you of that; +Methink it were a good sight of your back; +I would see your heels hither, +And your brother and you together +Fettered fine fast! +I-wis, and I had the key, +Ye should sing well-away, +Ere I let you loose! + +CHARITY. +Farewell, my masters everychone! +I will come again anon, +And tell you how I have done. + +YOUTH. +And thou come hither again, +I shall send thee hence in the devil's name. +What! now I may have my space +To jet here in this place; +Before I might not stir, +When that churl Charity was here; +But now, among all this cheer, +I would I had some company here; +I wish[11] my brother Riot would help me, +For to beat Charity +And his brother too. + +RIOT. +Huffa! huffa![12] who calleth after me? +I am Riot, full of jollity. +My heart as light as the wind, +And all on riot is my mind, +Wheresoever I go. +But wot ye what I do here? +To seek Youth my compeer: +Fain of him I would have a sight, +But my lips hang in my light. +God speed, master Youth, by my fay. + +YOUTH. +Welcome, Riot, in the devil's way! +Who brought thee hitherto? + +RIOT. +That did my legs, I tell thee: +Methought thou did me call, +And I am come now here +To make royal cheer, +And tell thee how I have done. + +YOUTH. +What! I weened thou hadst been hanged, +But I see thou art escaped, +For it was told me here +You took a man on the ear, +That his purse in your bosom did fly, +And so in Newgate you did lie. + +RIOT. +So it was, I beshrew your heart: +I come lately from Newgate, +But I am as ready to make good cheer, +As he that never came there; +For, and I have spending, +I will make as merry as a king, +And care not what I do; +For I will not lie long in prison, +But will get forth soon, +For I have learned a policy +That will loose me lightly, +And soon let me go. + +YOUTH. +I love well thy discretion, +For thou art all of one condition; +Thou art stable and steadfast of mind, +And not changeable as the wind. +But, sir, I pray you at the least, +Tell me more of that jest, +That thou told me right now. + +RIOT. +Moreover, I shall tell thee, +The Mayor of London sent for me +Forth of Newgate for to come, +For to preach at Tyburn. + +YOUTH. +By our Lady! he did promote thee, +To make thee preach at the gallow-tree! +But, sir, how didst thou 'scape? + +RIOT. +Verily, sir, the rope brake, +And so I fell to the ground, +And ran away, safe and sound: +By the way I met with a courtier's lad, +And twenty nobles of gold in his purse he had: +I took the lad on the ear, +Beside his horse I felled him there: +I took his purse in my hand, +And twenty nobles therein I fand.[13] +Lord, how I was merry! + +YOUTH. +God's fate! thou didst enough there +For to be made knight of the collar. + +RIOT. +Yea, sir, I trust to God Allmight +At the next sessions to be dubbed a knight. + +YOUTH. +Now, sir, by this light! +That would I fain see, +And I plight thee, so God me save, +That a sure collar thou shalt have; +And because gold collars be so good cheap, +Unto the roper I shall speak +To make thee one of a good price, +And that shall be of warrantise. + +RIOT. +Youth, I pray thee have ado, +And to the tavern let us go, +And we will drink divers wine, +And the cost shall be mine; +Thou shalt not pay one penny, i-wis, +Yet thou shalt have a wench to kiss, +Whensoever thou wilt. + +YOUTH. +Marry, Riot, I thank thee, +That thou wilt bestow it on me, +And for thy pleasure so be it; +I would not Charity should us meet, +And turn us again, +For right now he was with me, +And said he would go to Humility, +And come to me again. + +RIOT. +Let him come, if he will; +He were better to bide still; +And he give thee crooked language, +I will lay him on the visage, +And that thou shalt see soon, +How lightly it shall be done; +And he will not be ruled with knocks, +We shall set him in the stocks, +To heal his sore shins! + +YOUTH. +I shall help thee, if I can, +To drive away that hangman; +Hark, Riot, thou shalt understand +I am heir of my father's land, +And now they be come to my hand, +Methink it were best therefore, +That I had one man more +To wait me upon. + +RIOT. +I can speed thee of a servant of price, +That will do thee good service; +I see him go here beside; +Some men call him Master Pride; +I swear by God in Trinity +I will go fetch him unto thee, +And that even anon. + +YOUTH. +Hie thee apace and come again, +And bring with thee that noble swain. + +RIOT. +Lo, Master Youth, here he is, +A pretty man and a wise; +He will be glad to do you good service +In all that ever he may. + +YOUTH. +Welcome to me, good fellow, +I pray thee, whence comest thou? +And thou wilt my servant be, +I shall give thee gold and fee. + +PRIDE. +Sir, I am content, i-wis, +To do you any service +That ever I can do. + +YOUTH. +By likelihood thou should do well enou'; +Thou art a likely fellow. + +PRIDE. +Yes, sir, I warrant you, +If ye will be ruled by me, +I shall you bring to high degree. + +YOUTH. +What shall I do, tell me, +And I will be ruled by thee. + +PRIDE. +Marry, I shall tell you: +Consider ye have good enou' +And think ye come of noble kind; +Above all men exalt thy mind; +Put down the poor, and set nought by them; +Be in company with gentlemen; +Get up and down in the way, +And your clothes look they be gay; +The pretty wenches will say then, +Yonder goeth a gentleman; +And every poor fellow that goeth you by, +Will do off his cap, and make you courtesy: +In faith, this is true. + +YOUTH. +Sir, I thank thee, by the rood, +For thy counsel that is so good; +And I commit me even now +Under the teaching of Riot and you. + +RIOT. +Lo, Youth, I told you +That he was a lusty fellow. + +YOUTH. +Marry, sir, I thank thee +That you would bring him unto me. + +PRIDE. +Sir, it were expedient that ye had a wife, +To live with her all your life. + +RIOT. +A wife? nay, nay, for God avow, +He shall have flesh enou', +For, by God that me dear bought, +Over-much of one thing is nought; +The devil said he had liever burn all his life +Than once for to take a wife; +Therefore I say, so God me save, +He shall no wife have: +Thou hast a sister fair and free, +I know well his leman she will be; +Therefore I would she were here, +That we might go and make good cheer +At the wine somewhere. + +YOUTH. +I pray you hither thou her do bring, +For she is to my liking. + +PRIDE. +Sir, I shall do my diligence +To bring her to your presence. + +YOUTH. +Hie thee apace, and come again; +To have a sight I would be fain +Of that lady free. + +RIOT. +Sir, in faith I shall tell you true, +She is fresh and fair of hue, +And very proper of body; +Men call her Lady Lechery. + +YOUTH. +My heart burneth, by God of might, +Till of that lady I have a sight. + + (_Intret Superbia cum Luxuria et dicat Superbia_.) + +PRIDE. +Sir, I have fulfilled your intent, +And have brought you in this present, +That you have sent me for. + +YOUTH. +Thou art a ready messenger; +Come hither to me, my heart so dear, +Ye be welcome to me as the heart in my body. + +LECHERY. +Sir, I thank you, and at your pleasure I am; +Ye be the same unto me. + +YOUTH. +Masters, will ye to tavern walk? +A word with you here will I talk, +And give you the wine. + +LECHERY. +Gentleman, I thank you verily, +And I am all ready +To wait you upon. + +RIOT. +What, sister Lechery? +Ye be welcome to our company. + +LECHERY. +Well, wanton, well, fie for shame! +So soon ye do express my name: +What! if no man should have known, +I-wis I shall you beat! well, wanton, well! + +RIOT. +A little pretty niset,[14] +Ye be well nice, God wot! +Ye be a little pretty pye! i-wis, ye go full gingerly. + +LECHERY. +Well, I see your false eye +Winketh on me full wantonly; +Ye be full wanton, i-wis. + +YOUTH. +Pride, I thank you of your labour +That you had to fetch this fair flow'r. + +PRIDE. +Lo, youth, I told thee +That I would bring her with me. +Sir, I pray you tell me now, +How she doth like you? + +YOUTH. +Verily, well she pleaseth me, +For she is courteous, gentle, and free. +How do you, fair lady? +How fare you, tell me. + +LECHERY. +Sir, if it please you, I do well enou', +And the better that you will wit. + +YOUTH. +Riot, I would be at the tavern fain, +Lest Charity us meet and turn us again: +Then would I be sorry, because of this fair lady. + +RIOT. +Let us go again betime, +That we may be at the wine, +Ere ever that he come. + +PRIDE. +Hie thee apace, and go we hence; +We will let for none expense. + +YOUTH. +Now we will fill the cup and make good cheer; +I trust I have a noble here. +Hark, sirs, for God Almighty, +Hearest thou not how they fight? +In faith we shall them part. +If there be any wine to sell, +They shall no longer together dwell; +No, then I beshrew my heart. + +RIOT. +No, sir, so mot I the, +Let not thy servants fight within thee; +For it is a careful life +Evermore to live in strife; +Therefore, if ye will be ruled by my tale, +We will go to the ale, +And see how we can do; +I trust to God that sitteth on high, +To lese that little company +Within an hour or two. + +PRIDE. +Now let us go, for God's sake, +And see how merry we can make. + +RIOT. +Now let us go apace; +And I be last there, I beshrew my face! + +YOUTH. +Now let us go: that we were there +To make this lady some cheer. + +LECHERY. +Verily, sir, I thank thee, +That ye will bestow it on me, +And when it please you on me to call, +My heart is yours, body and all. + +YOUTH. +Fair lady, I thank thee; +On the same wise ye shall have me, +Whatsoever you please. + +PRIDE. +Riot, we tarry very long. + +RIOT. +We will go even now with a lusty song. + +PRIDE. +In faith, I will be rector of the choir. + +YOUTH. +Go to it then hardily, and let us be agate. + +CHARITY. +Abide, fellow; a word with thee: +Whither go ye, tell me? +Abide, and hear what I shall you tell, +And be ruled by my counsel. + +PRIDE. +Nay, no fellow ne yet mate, +I trow thy fellow be in Newgate; +Shall we tell thee whither we go? +Nay, i-wis, good John-a-Peepo! +Who learned thee, thou mistaught man, +To speak so to a gentleman? +Though his clothes be never so thin, +Yet he is come of noble kin; +Though thou give him such a mock, +Yet he is come of a noble stock, +I let thee well to wit. + +RIOT. +What! Sir John,[15] what say ye! +Would you be fettered now? +Think not too long, I pray ye; +If misfortune come soon enou', +Ye shall think it a little [too] soon. + +YOUTH. +Yet, sirs, let this cease, +And let us talk of goodness. + +RIOT. +He turneth his tail, he is afeard; +But, faith, he shall be scared; +He weeneth by flattering to please us again, +But he laboureth all in vain. + +CHARITY. +Sir, I pray you me not spare, +For nothing I do care +That ye can do to me. + +RIOT. +No, whoreson? sayest thou so? +Hold him, Pride, and let me go; +I shall set a pair of rings, +That shall set to his shins, +And that even anon. + +PRIDE. +Hie thee apace and come again, +And bring with thee a good chain, +And hold him here still. + +CHARITY. +Jesus, that was born of Mary mild, +From all evil he us shield, +And send you grace to amend, +Ere our life be at an end; +For I tell you truly, +That ye live full wickedly; +I pray God it amend! + +RIOT. +Lo, sirs, look what I bring. +Is not this a jolly ringing? +By my troth, I trow it be: +I will go with Charity. +How say'st thou, Master Charity? +Doth this gear please thee? + +CHARITY. +They please me well indeed! +The more sorrow, the more meed! +For God said, while he was a man, +_Beati qui persecutionem patiuntur propter justitiam_; +Unto his apostles he said so, +To teach them how they should do. + +PRIDE. +We shall see how they can please; +Sit down, sir, and take your ease; +Methink these same were full meet +To go about your fair feet. + +YOUTH. +By my truth, I you tell +They would become him very well; +Therefore hie that they were on, +Unto the tavern that we were gone. + +RIOT. +That shall ye see anon, +How soon they shall be on; +And after we will not tarry long, +But go hence with a merry song. + +PRIDE. +Let us begin all at once. + +YOUTH. +Now have at thee, by Cock's bones, +And soon let us go! + + [_Exeunt Pride, Youth, Riot, and Lechery_.] + +CHARITY. +Lo, masters, here you may see beforne, +That the weed overgroweth the corn: +Now may ye see all in this tide, +How vice is taken, and virtue set aside. +Yonder ye may see youth is unstable, +But evermore changeable; +And the nature of men is frail, +That he wotteth not what may avail +Virtue for to make. +O good Lord, it is a pitiful case, +Sith God hath lent man wit and grace +To choose of good and evil, +That man should voluntarily +To such things himself apply, +That his soul should spill. + +HUMILITY. +Christ that was crucified, and crowned with thorn, +And of a virgin for man was born, +Some knowledge send to me +Of my brother Charity. + +CHARITY. +Dear brother Humility, +Ye be welcome unto me; +Where have ye be so long? + +HUMILITY. +I shall do you to understand, +That I have said mine evensong; +But, sir, I pray you tell me now, +How this case happened to you? + +CHARITY. +I shall tell you anon; +The fellows that I told you on, +Have me thus arrayed. + +HUMILITY. +Sir, I shall undo the bands +From your feet and your hands. +Sir, I pray you tell me anon +Whither they be gone, +And when they come again. + +CHARITY. +Sir, to the tavern they be gone, +And they will come again anon, +And that shall you see. + +HUMILITY. +Then will we them exhort +Unto virtue to resort, +And to forsake sin. + +CHARITY. +I will help you that I can +To convert that wicked man. + +YOUTH. +Aback! gallants, and look unto me, +And take me for your special, +For I am promoted to high degree, +By right I am king eternal; +Neither duke ne lord, baron ne knight, +That may be likened unto me, +They be subdued to me by right, +As servants to their masters should be. + +HUMILITY. +Ye be welcome to this place here; +We think ye labour all in vain; +Wherefore your brains we will stir, +And keel[16] you a little again. + +YOUTH. +Sayest thou my brains thou wilt stir, +I shall lay thee on the ear, +Were thou born in Trumpington,[17] +And brought up at Hogsnorton?[18] +By my faith it seemeth so; +Well, go, knave, go! + +CHARITY. +Do by our counsel and our reed, +And ask mercy for thy misdeed; +And endeavour thee, for God's sake, +For thy sins amends to make +Ere ever that thou die. + +RIOT. +Hark, Youth, for God avow, +He would have thee a saint now; +But, Youth, I shall you tell +A young saint an old devil; +Therefore I hold thee a fool, +And thou follow his school. + +YOUTH. +I warrant thee I will not do so; +I will be ruled by you two. + +PRIDE. +Then shall ye do well, +If ye be ruled by our counsel; +We will bring you to high degree, +And promote you to dignity. + +HUMILITY. +Sir, it is a pitiful case, +That ye would forsake grace, +And to vice apply. + +YOUTH. +Why, knave, doth it grieve thee! +Thou shalt not answer for me. +When my soul hangeth on the hedge once, +Then take thou, and cast stones, +As fast as thou wilt! + +CHARITY. +Sir, if it please you to do thus, +Forsake them and do after us, +The better shall you do. + +RIOT. +Sir, he shall do well enou', +Though he be ruled by neither of you; +Therefore crake no longer here, +Lest you have on the ear, +And that a good knock. + +PRIDE. +Lightly see thou avoid the place, +Or I shall give thee on the face. +Youth, I trow that he would +Make you holy, ere ye be old; +And, I swear by the rood, +It is time enough to be good, +When that ye be old. + +YOUTH. +Sir, by my truth, I thee say +I will make merry, whiles I may, +I cannot tell you how long. + +PRIDE. +Yea, sir, so mot I thrive, +Thou art not certain of thy life; +Therefore thou wert a stark fool +To leave mirth and follow their school. + +HUMILITY. +Sir, I shall him exhort +Unto us to resort, +And you to forsake. + +PRIDE. +Ask him if he will do so, +To forsake us and follow you two; +Nay, I warrant you, nay! + +HUMILITY. +That shall you see even anon; +I will unto him gone, +And see what he will say. + +RIOT. +Hardily go on thy way; +I know well he will say nay. + +YOUTH. +Yea, sir, by God that me dear bought, +Methink ye labour all for nought; +Weenest thou that I will for thee +Or thy brother Charity +Forsake this good company? +Nay, I warrant you. + +PRIDE. +No, master, I pray you of that, +For anything forsake us not, +And all our counsel rule you by; +Ye may be emperor, ere ye die. + +YOUTH. +While I have life in my body, +Shall I be ruled by Riot and thee. + +RIOT. +Sir, then, shall ye do well, +For we be true as steel; +Sir, I can teach you to play at the dice, +At the queen's game[19] and at the Irish;[20] +The treygobet[21] and the hazard[22] also, +And many other games mo; +Also at the cards I can teach you to play, +At the triump and one-and-thirty, +Post,[23] pinion,[24] and also aums-ace, +And at another they call dewce-ace; +Yet I can tell you more, and ye will con me thank, +Pink[25] and drink, and also at the blank,[26] +And many sports mo. + +YOUTH. +I thank thee, Riot, so mot I the, +For the counsel thou hast given me; +I will follow thy mind in every thing, +And guide me after thy learning. + +CHARITY. +Youth, leave that counsel, for it is nought, +And amend that thou hast miswrought, +That thou may'st save that God hath bought. + +YOUTH. +What say ye, Master Charity? +What hath God bought? +By my troth, I know not +Whether he goeth in white or black; +He came never at the stews, +Nor in no place, where I do use; +I-wis he bought not my cap, +Nor yet my jolly hat; +I wot not what he hath bought for me; +And he bought anything of mine, +I will give him a quart of wine, +The next time I him meet. + +CHARITY. +Sir, this he did for thee; +When thou wast bond, he made thee free, +And bought thee with his blood. + +YOUTH. +Sir, I pray you tell me, +How may this be: +That I know, I was never bond +Unto none in England. + +CHARITY. +Sir, I shall tell you-- +When Adam had done great trespass, +And out of Paradise exiled was; +Then all the souls, as I can you tell, +Were in the bondage of the devil of hell, +Till the Father of heaven, of his great mercy, +Sent the Second Person in Trinity +Us for to redeem, +And so with his precious blood +He bought us on the rood, +And our souls did save. + +YOUTH. +How should I save it, tell me now, +And I will be ruled after you +My soul to save. + +RIOT. +What, youth; will ye forsake me? +I will not forsake thee. + +HUMILITY. +I shall tell you shortly; +Kneel down and ask God mercy, +For that you have offended. + +PRIDE. +Youth, wilt thou do so? +Follow them, and let us go? +Marry, I trow, nay. + +YOUTH. +Here all sin I forsake, +And to God I me betake; +Good Lord, I pray thee have no indignation, +That I, a sinner, should ask salvation. + +CHARITY. +Now thou must forsake Pride, +And all Riot set aside. + +PRIDE. +I will not him forsake, +Neither early ne late; +I ween'd he would not forsake me; +But if it will none otherwise be, +I will go my way. + +YOUTH. +Sir, I pray God be your speed, +And help you at your need. + +RIOT. +I am sure thou wilt not forsake me, +Nor I will not forsake thee. + +YOUTH. +I forsake you also, +And will not have with you to do. + +RIOT. +And I forsake thee utterly: +Fie on thee, caitiff, fie! +Once a promise thou did me make, +That thou would me never forsake, +But now I see it is hard +For to trust the wretched world; +Farewell, masters, everychone. + +HUMILITY. +For your sin look ye mourn, +And evil creatures look ye turn; +For your name, who maketh inquisition, +Say it is Good Contrition +That for sin doth mourn. + +CHARITY. +Here is a new array, +For to walk by the way, +Your prayer for to say. + +HUMILITY. +Here be beads[27] for your devotion, +And keep you from all temptation; +Let not vice devour. +When you see misdoing men, +Good counsel give them, +And teach them to amend. + +YOUTH. +For my sin I will mourn, +All creatures I will turn; +And when I see misdoing men, +Good counsel I shall give them, +And exhort them to amend. + +CHARITY. +Then shall ye be an heritor of bliss, +Where all joy and mirth is. + +YOUTH. +To the which eternal +God bring the persons all +Here being, amen! + +HUMILITY. +Thus have we brought our matter to an end +Before the persons here present; +Would every man be content, +Lest another day we be shent. + +CHARITY. +We thank all this presence +Of their meek audience. + +HUMILITY. +Jesu that sitteth in heaven so high, +Save all this fair company:[28] +Men and women that here be, +Amen, amen, for Charity.[29] + + + + + + +LUSTY JUVENTUS. + +A MORALITY. + + + +_An Enterlude called Lusty Juuentus, lyuely describing the frailtie of +youth: of natur prone to vyce: by grace and good counsayll traynable to +vertue. + +The parsonages that speake. + +Messenger, +Lusty Juuentus, +Good Counsaill, +Knowledge, +Sathan the deuyll, +Hypocrisie, +Felowship, +Abhominable Lyuyng, +Gods mercifull promises. + +Foure maye playe it easely, takyng such partes as they thinke best: so +that any one take of those partes that be not in place at once. + +[Col.] Imprynted at London, in Lothbury, ouer agaynst Sainct Margarits +Church, by Wyllyam Copland. 4°, black-letter_.[30] + + + +HAWKINS'S PREFACE. + + +The editor has been favoured with two copies of this moral interlude; +one of which is preserved in the library belonging to Lincoln +Cathedral,[31] the other is in the possession of Mr. Garrick. It was +written in the reign of Edward the Sixth by one R. Wever, of whom the +editor can give the reader no further information. The former was +printed at London by Abraham Vele. The latter is a very different copy +from the other. A more obsolete spelling runs through the whole, and it +contains great variations besides, which the reader will find at the +bottom of each page. The conclusion being imperfect, the printer's +colophon is wanting, so that it cannot be known where this edition was +printed. According to Dr Percy's tables, it was printed by Richard +Pinson.[32] + +The design of this interlude was to expose the superstitions of the +Romish Church, and to promote the Reformation. The stage (as the +learned Dr Percy observes) in those days literally was what wise men +have always wished it--a supplement to the pulpit: chapter and verse +are as formally quoted as in a sermon. See "Prologue of the Messenger," +&c. From this play we learn that most of the young people were new +gospellers, or friends to the Reformation; and that the old were +tenacious of the doctrines imbibed in their youth, for thus the Devil +is introduced lamenting the downfall of superstition-- + + The old people would believe still in my laws, + But the younger sort lead them a contrary way; + They will not believe, they plainly say, + In old traditions and made by men, + But they will live as the scripture teacheth them, &c. + +And in another place Hypocrisy urges-- + + The world was never merry, + Since children were so bold; + Now every boy will be a teacher, + The father a fool, and the child a preacher. + +[This is certainly a piece of rather heavy and tedious morality, +replete with good instruction, but didactic to a fault. It is deficient +in the curious allusions, which abound in other productions of the same +kind; and even that mysterious character, _Abominable Living_, whose +introduction promises some amusement and illustration, moves off the +scene almost immediately after her first appearance, while _Little +Bess_, whose entrance might have been a vehicle for some diverting or +sentimental situation, does not "come on" at all.] + + + + +LUSTY JUVENTUS. + + +THE PROLOGUE OF THE MESSENGER. + +For as much as man is naturally prone +To evil from his youth, as Scripture doth recite,[33] +It is necessary that he be speedily withdrawn +From concupiscence of sin, his natural appetite: +An[34] order to bring up youth Ecclesiasticus doth write,-- +An untamed horse will be hard, saith he, +And a wanton child wilful will be. + +Give him no liberty in youth, nor his folly excuse, +Bow down his neck, and keep him in good awe, +Lest he be stubborn: no labour refuse +To train him to wisdom and teach him God's law, +For youth is frail and easy to draw +By grace to goodness, by nature to ill: +That nature hath ingrafted, is hard to kill. + +Nevertheless, in youth men may be best +Trained to virtue by godly mean; +Vice may be so mortified and so supprest, +That it shall not break forth, yet the root will remain; +As in this interlude by youth you shall see plain, +From his lust by Good Counsel brought to godly conversation, +And shortly after to frail nature's inclination. +The enemy of mankind, Satan, through Hypocrisy +Feigned or chosen holiness of man's blind intent, +Forsaking[35] God's word, that leadeth right way, +Is brought to Fellowship and ungracious company, +To Abhominable Living till he be wholly bent, +And so to desperation, if good counsel were not sent +From God, that in trouble doth no man forsake +That doth call, and trust in him for Christ's sake. + +Finally, youth by God's special grace +Doth earnestly repent his abhominable living +By the doctrine of good counsel, and to his solace +God's mercy entereth to him reciting +God's merciful promises, as they be in writing: +He believeth and followeth, to his great consolation.[36] +And these parts ye shall see briefly played in their fashion. + +_Here entereth_ LUSTY JUVENTUS, _or_ YOUTH, _singing as followeth_: + +In a herber[37] green, asleep[38] where as I lay, +The birds sang sweet in the middes of the day; +I dreamed fast of mirth and play: + In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure. + +Methought I walked still to and fro, +And from her company I could not go; +But when I waked, it was not so: + In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure. + +Therefore my heart is surely pight[39] +Of her alone to have a sight, +Which is my joy and heart's delight: + In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure. + + Finis. + +LUSTY JUVENTUS, _or_ YOUTH, _speaketh_. + +What, ho? Are they not here? +I am disappointed, by the blessed mass! +I had thought to have found them making good cheer; +But now they are gone to some secret place. +Well, seeing they are gone, I do not greatly pass;[40] +Another time I will hold them as much, +Seeing they break[41] promise, and keep not the tweche.[42] + +What shall I do now to pass away the day? +Is there any man here that will go to game? +At whatsoever he[43] will play, +To make one I am ready to the same: +Youth full of pleasure is my proper name. +To be alone is not my appetite,[44] +For of all things in the world I love merry company. + +Who knoweth where is e'er a minstrel? +By the mass, I would fain go dance a fit[45] +My companions[46] are at it, I know right well; +They do not all this while in a corner sit: +Against another time they have taught me[47] wit: +I beshrew their hearts for serving me this,[48] +I will go seek them, whether I hit or miss. + + _Here entereth_ GOOD COUNSEL, _to whom_ YOUTH _yet speaketh_. + +Well i-met, father, well i-met: +Did you hear any minstrels play, +As you came hitherward upon your way? +And if you did, I pray you wish[49] me thither, +For I am going to seek them, and, in faith, I know not whither. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Sir, I will ask you a question by your favour: +What would you with the minstrel do? + +JUVENTUS. +Nothing but have a dance or two, +To pass the time away in pleasure. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +If that be the matter, I promise you sure, +I am the more sorrier that it should so be; +For there is no such passing the time appointed in the Scripture, +Nor yet thereunto it doth not agree! +I wish that ye would so use your liberty, +To walk as you are bound to do, +According to the vocation which God hath called you to. + +JUVENTUS. +Why, sir, are you angry, because I have spoken so? +By the mass, it is alone for my appetite. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Show me your name, I pray you heartily, +And then I will my mind express. + +JUVENTUS. +My name is called Juventus, doubtless: +Say what you will, I will give you the hearing. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +For as much as God hath created you of nothing, +Unto his own likeness by spiritual illumination, +It is unmeet that ye should lead your living +Contrary to his godly determination. +Saint Paul unto the Ephesians giveth good exhortation, +Saying, walk circumspectly, redeeming the time; +That is, to spend it well, and not to wickedness incline. + +JUVENTUS. +No, no, hardily none of mine; +If I would live so strait, you might count me a fool; +Let them keep those rules, which are doctors divine, +And have be brought up all their days in school. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Moses in the law exhorteth his people, +As in the book of Deuteronomy he doth plainly write, +That they should live obedient and thankful; +For in effect[50] these words he doth recite: +All ye this day stand before the Lord's sight, +Both princes, rulers, elders, and parents, +Children, wives, young, and old; therefore obey his commandments. + +JUVENTUS. +I am too young to understand his documents;[51] +Wherefore did all they stand before his presence? + +GOOD COUNSEL. +To enter with God peace and alliance, +Promising that they would him honour, fear, and serve: +All kind of people were bound in those covenants, +That from his law they should never swerve; +For God useth no partiality. + +JUVENTUS. +What, am I bound, as well as the clergy, +To learn and follow his precepts and law? + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Yea, surely, or else God will withdraw +His mercy from you, promised in his covenant; +For, except you live under his obedience and awe, +How can you receive the benefits of his Testament? +For he that[52] submitteth himself to be a servant, +And his master's commandment will not fulfil nor regard, +According as he hath done, is worthy his reward. + +JUVENTUS. +It is as true a saying as ever I heard; +Therefore your name, I pray you[53] now tell, +For, by my truth, your communication I like wonders well. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +My name is called Good Counsel. + +JUVENTUS. +Good Counsel? +Now, in faith, I cry you mercy: +I am sorry that I have you thus offended; +But, I pray you, bear with me patiently, +And my misbehaviour shall be amended: +I know my time I have rudely spended, +Following my own lust, being led by ignorance; +But now I hope of better knowledge through your acquaintance. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +I pray God guide you with his gracious assistance +Unto the knowledge of his truth, your ignorance to undo, +That you may be one of those numbered Christians, +Which followeth the lamb whither he doth go: +The lamb Jesus Christ my meaning is so, +By sure faith and confidence in his bitter death and passion, +The only price of our health and salvation. + +JUVENTUS. +Sir, I thank you for your hearty oration: +And now, I pray you, show me your advisement, +How I may live in this my vocation, +According to God's will and commandment. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +First of all, it is most expedient, +That you exercise yourself in continual prayer, +That it might please the Lord omnipotent +To send unto you his holy spirit and comforter, +Which will lead you every day and hour +Unto the knowledge of his word and verity, +Wherein you may learn to live most christianly. + +JUVENTUS. +O Lord, grant me of thy infinite[54] mercy + [_He kneeleth_. +The true knowledge of thy[55] law and will, +And illumine my heart with spirit continually, +That I may[56] be apt thy holy precepts to fulfil; +Strengthen me, that I may persever still +Thy commandments to obey: +And then shall I never slip nor fall away. + [_He riseth_. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Full true be these words, which Christ himself did say, +He that seeketh shall surely find. + +KNOWLEDGE _entereth_. +Behold, Youth, now rejoice we may, +For I see Knowledge of God['s][57] Verity stand here behind: +He is come now to satisfy your mind +In those things which you will desire; +Therefore together let us approach him near. + +JUVENTUS. +Ah, Good Counsel, now[58] it doth appear, +That God never rejecteth the humbles[t] petition. + +KNOWLEDGE. +Now the Lord bless you all with his heavenly benediction, +And with his fiery love your hearts inflame, +That of his merciful promises you may have the fruition, +The subtlety of the devil utterly to defame. +Now, good Christian audience, I will express my name, +The True Knowledge of God's Verity, this[59] my name doth hight, +Whom God hath appointed to give the blind their sight. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +All praise be given to that Lord of might, +Which hath appointed you hither at this present hour; +For I trust you will so instruct youth aright, +That he shall live according to God's pleasure. + +JUVENTUS. +And I thank Jesus Christ my Saviour, +That he is come to my company. + +KNOWLEDGE. + +I thank you, my friends, most heartily +For your gentle salutation. + +JUVENTUS. +Sir, I will be so bold, by your deliberation, +To open my mind unto you now, +Trusting that, by your good exhortation, +I shall learn those things which I never knew: +This one thing chiefly I would learn of you, +How I may my life in this my vocation lead, +According as God hath ordained and decreed. + +KNOWLEDGE. +The prophet David saith, that the man is blessed, +Which doth exercise himself in the law of the Lord, +And doth not follow the way of the wicked; +As the first psalm doth plainly record:[60] +The fourscore and thirteenth psalm thereunto doth accord; +Blessed is the man whom thou teachest, O Lord, saith he, +To learn thy[61] law, precepts, word, or verity. +And Christ in the gospel saith manifestly: +Blessed is he which heareth the Word of God and keepeth it; +That is, to believe his word and live accordingly, +Declaring the faith by the fruits of the spirit, +Whose fruits are these, as St. Paul to the Galathi doth write, +Love, joy, peace, long suffering, and faithfulness, +Meekness, goodness, temperance, and gentleness. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +By[62] these words, which unto you he doth express, +He teacheth that you ought to have a steadfast faith; +Without the which[63] it is impossible doubtless +To please God, as Saint Paul saith: +Where faith is not, godly living decayeth; +For whatsoever is not of faith, saith St. Paul, is sin, +But where a perfect faith is, there is good working. + +JUVENTUS. +It seemeth to me, that this is[64] your meaning, +That, when I observe God's commandments and the works of charity, +They shall prevail unto me nothing, +Except I believe to be saved thereby. + +KNOWLEDGE. +No, no, you are deceived very blindly; +For faith in Christ's merits doth only justify, +And make us righteous in God's sight. + +JUVENTUS. +Why should I then in good[65] works delight, +Seeing I shall not be saved by them? + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Because they are required of all Christian men, +As the necessary fruits of true repentance. + +KNOWLEDGE. +But the reward of the heavenly inheritance +Is given us through faith, for Christ's deservings; +As St. Paul declareth in the fourth chapter to the Romans, +Therefore we ought not to work as hirelings: +Seeing Christ hath purged us once from all our wicked living, +Let us no more wallow therein, +But persever, like good branches, bearing fruit in Him. + +JUVENTUS. +Now I know where about you have been: +My elders never taught me so before. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Though your elders were blind, doubt not you therefore; +For Saint Peter saith, vain is the conversations +Which ye receive by your elders' traditions. + +JUVENTUS. +I will gladly receive your godly admonitions: +But yet, I pray you, show me the cause +That they, being men of great discretions, +Did not instruct me in God's laws, +According to His will and ordinance. + +KNOWLEDGE. +Because they themselves were wrapped in ignorance, +Being deceived by false preachers. + +JUVENTUS. +O Lord, deliver me from wicked teachers, +That I be not deceived with their false doctrine. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +To God's word you must only incline; +All other doctrine clean set apart. + +JUVENTUS. +Surely that I will from the bottom of my heart; +And I thank the living God which hath given me the knowledge +To know His doctrine from the false and pervart,[66] +I being yet young and full tender of age; +And that He hath made me partaker of the heavenly inheritage, +Of his own[67] mercy, and not of my deserving, +For hell I have deserved by my sinful working. +I know right well, my elders and parents +Have of a long time deceived be +With blind hypocrisy and superstitious intents, +Trusting in their own works, which is nothing but vanity; +Their steps shall not be followed for me: +Therefore, I pray you, show me a brief conclusion, +How I ought to live in Christian religion. + +KNOWLEDGE. +The first beginning of wisdom, as saith the wise Solomon, +Is to fear God with all thy[68] heart and power; +And then thou must believe all his promises without any exception, +And that He will perform them both constant and sure: +And then, because He is thy only Saviour, +Thou must love Him with all thy soul and mind, +And thy neighbour as thyself, because he hath so assigned. + +JUVENTUS. +To love my neighbour as myself? I cannot be so[69] kind: +I pray you tell me, what mean you? + +KNOWLEDGE. +My meaning is, as Christ saith in the sixth chapter of Matthew,[70] +To do to Him as you would be done to. + +JUVENTUS. +I pray God give me grace so for to do, +That unto His will I may be obedient. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Here you shall receive Christ's testament +To comfort your conscience, when need shall require, +To learn the contents thereof, see that you be diligent; +The which all Christian men ought to desire, +For it is the well or fountain most clear, +Out of the which doth spring sweet consolation +To all those that[71] thirst after eternal salvation. + +KNOWLEDGE. +Therein shall you find most wholesome preservation +Both in troubles, persecutions, sickness, and adversity, +And a sure defence in the time of temptation, +Against whom the devil cannot prevail with all his army: +And, if you persever therein unfeignedly, +It will set your heart at such quietness and rest, +Which cannot[72] never be turned with storms nor tempest. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +With this thing you must neither flatter nor jest, +But stedfastly believe it every day and hour, +And let your conversation openly protest, +That of your heart it is the most precious treasure: +And then your godly example shall other men procure +To learn and exercise the same also: +I pray God strengthen you so for to do. + +JUVENTUS. +Now for this godly knowledge which you have brought me to, +I beseech the living God reward[73] you again: +From your company I will never depart nor go, +So long as in this life I do remain; +For in this book I see manifest and plain, +That he that followeth his own lusts and imagination, +Keepeth the ready path to everlasting damnation: +And he that leadeth[74] a godly conversation +Shall be brought[75] to such quietness, joy, and peace, +Which in comparison passeth all worldly gloriation, +Which cannot endure, but shortly cease. +Both the time and hour I may now bless, +That I met with you, father Good Counsel, +To bring me to the knowledge of this[76] heavenly gospel. + +KNOWLEDGE. +This your profession I like very well, +So that you intend to live according; +I pray God, your living do not rebel, +But ever agree unto your saying, +That, when ye shall make accounts or reckoning, +Of this talent which you have received, +You may be one of those, with whom the Lord shall be pleased. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +For this conversation of Youth the Lord's name be praised: +Let us now depart for a season. + [_Exit_.] + +KNOWLEDGE. +To give God the glory it is convenient and reason: +If you will depart, I will not tarry. + [_Exit_.] + +JUVENTUS. +And I will never forsake your company, +While I live in this world. + [_Exit_.[77] + +_Here entereth the_ DEVIL. + +O, O, all too late! +I trow this gear will come to naught; +For I perceive my power doth abate, +For all the policy that ever I have wrought: +Many and sundry ways I have fought, +To have the Word of God deluded utterly; +O for sorrow! yet it will not be. +I have done the best that I can, +And my mistress also in every place, +To root it clean from the heart of man; +And yet for all that it flourisheth apace; +I am sore in dread to show my face, +My auctority and works are so greatly despised, +My inventions, and all that ever I have devised. +O, O, full well I know the cause, +That my estimation doth thus decay; +The old people would believe still in my laws, +But the younger sort lead them a contrary way; +They will not believe, they plainly say, +In old traditions and made by men, +But they will live, as the Scripture teacheth them. +Out, I cry, upon them, they do me open wrong, +To bring up their children thus in knowledge; +For, if they will not follow my ways, when, they are young, +It is hard turning them when they come to age: +I must needs find some means this matter to 'suage; +I mean, to turn their hearts from the Scripture quite, +That in carnal pleasures they may have more delight. +Well, I will go haste[78] to infect this youth +Through the enticement of my son Hypocrisy, +And work some proper feat to stop his mouth, +That he may lead his life carnally: +I had never more need my matters to apply. +O my child Hypocrisy, where art thou? +I charge thee of my blessing appear before me now. + + [_Here entereth_ HYPOCRISY. + +HYPOCRISY. +O, O, quoth he, keep again the sow; +I come as fast as I can, I warrant you: +Where is he that hath the sow to sell? +I will give him money, if I like her well; +Whether it be sow or hog, I do not greatly care, +For by my occupation I am a butcher. + +DEVIL. +O my child, how dost thou fare? + +HYPOCRISY. +_Sancti amen_, who have we there? +By the mass, I will buy none of thy ware; +Thou art a chapman for the devil. + +DEVIL. +What, my son, canst thou not tell, +Who is here, and what I am? +I am thine own father Satan. + +HYPOCRISY. +Be you so, sir? I cry you mercy then; +You may say I am homely, and lack learning, +To liken my father's voice unto a sow's groaning: +But, I pray you, show me the cause and why, +That you called me hither so hastily? + +DEVIL. +Ah, Hypocrisy, I am undone utterly. + +HYPOCRISY. +Utterly undone! nay, stop there hardily; +For I myself do know the contrary +By daily experience: +Do not I yet reign abroad? +And as long as I am in the world, +You have some treasure and substance. +I suppose I have been the flower +In setting forth thy laws and power +Without any delay: +By the mass, if I had not been, +Thou haddest not been worth a Flander's pin +At this present day. +The time were too long now to declare, +How many and great the number are, +Which have deceived be; +And brought clean from God's law +Unto thy yoke and awe, +Through the enticement of me. +I have been busied since the world began, +To graff thy laws in the heart of man, +Where they ought to be refused: +And I have so mingled God's commandments +With vain zeals and blind intents, +That they be greatly abused. +I set up great idolatry +With all[79] kind of filthy sodometry, +To give mankind a fall: +And I [have] brought up such superstition, +Under the name of holiness and religion. +That deceived almost all. +As holy cardinals, holy popes, +Holy vestments, holy copes, +Holy hermits and friars, +Holy priests, holy bishops, +Holy monks, holy abbots, +Yea, and all obstinate[80] liars: +Holy pardons, holy beads, +Holy saints, holy images, +With holy, holy blood, +Holy stocks, holy stones, +Holy clouts, holy[81] bones; +Yea, and holy holy wood. +Holy skins, holy bulls, +Holy rochets and cowls, +Holy crouches and staves, +Holy hoods, holy caps, +Holy mitres, holy hats; +Ah good holy holy knaves. +Holy days, holy fastings, +Holy twitching, holy tastings, +Holy visions and sights, +Holy wax, holy lead, +Holy water, holy bread, +To drive away spirits. +Holy fire, holy palm, +Holy oil, holy cream, +And holy ashes also; +Holy brooches, holy rings, +Holy kneeling, holy censings, +And a hundred trim-trams mo. +Holy crosses, holy bells, +Holy relics, holy jewels, +Of mine own invention; +Holy candles, holy tapers, +Holy parchments, holy papers: +Had not you a holy son? + +DEVIL. +All these things, which thou hast done, +My honour and laws hath maintained; +But now, O alas! one thing is begun,[82] +By the which my kingdom is greatly decayed; +I shall lese all, I am sore afraid: +Except thy help, I know right plain, +I shall never be able to recover it again. +God's Word is so greatly sprung up in youth, +That he little regardeth my laws or me; +He telleth his parents that is very truth, +That they of long time have deceived be: +He saith according to Christ's verity +All his doings he will order and frame, +Mortifying the flesh with the lusts of the same. + +HYPOCRISY. +Ah, sirrah, there beginneth the game: +What, is Juventus become so tame, +To be a New Gospeller? + +DEVIL. +As fast as I do make, he doth mar; +He hath[83] followed so long the steps of Good Counsel, +That Knowledge and he together doth dwell; +For who is so busy in every place as youth, +To read and declare the manifest truth? +But, O Hypocrisy, if thou could stop his mouth, +Thou shouldst win my heart for ever. + +HYPOCRISY. +What would you have me to do in the matter? +Show me therein your advisement. + +DEVIL. +I would have thee go incontinent, +And work some crafty[84] feat or policy, +To set Knowledge and him at controversy; +And his company thyself greatly use, +That God's Word he may clean abuse. + +HYPOCRISY. +At your request I will not refuse +To do that thing, which in me doth lie: +Doubt ye not, but I will excuse +Those things, which he doth plainly deny; +And I will handle my matters so craftily, +That, ere he cometh to man's state, +God's Word and his living shall be clean at the bate. + +DEVIL. +Thou shalt have my blessing both early and late; +And, because thou shalt all my counsel keep, +Thou shalt call thy[85] name Friendship. + +HYPOCRISY. +By the mass, it is a name full meet +For my proper and amiable person. + +DEVIL. +O, farewell, farewell, my son; +Speed thy business, for I must be gone. [_Exit_.[86] + +HYPOCRISY. +I warrant you, let me alone. +I will be with Juventus anon, +And that, ere he be ware; +And, i-wis, if he walk not straight, +I will use such a sleight, +That shall trap him in a snare. +How shall I bring this gear to pass? +I can tell now, by the mass, +Without any more advisement: +I will infect him with wicked company, +Whose conversation shall be so fleshly, +Yea, able to overcome an innocent. +This wicked Fellowship +Shall him company keep +For a while: +And then I will bring in +Abhominable[87] Living, +Him to beguile. +With words fair I will him 'tice, +Telling him of a girl nice, +Which shall him somewhat move; +Abhominable Living though she be, +Yet he shall no other ways see, +But she is for to love. +She shall him procure +To live in pleasure, +After his own phantasy; +And my matter to frame, +I will call her name +Unknowen Honesty. +This[88] will I convey +My matter, I say, +Somewhat handsomely; +That, through wicked Fellowship +And false pretended Friendship, +Youth shall live carnally. +Trudge, Hypocrisy, trudge! +Thou art a good drudge, +To serve the devil: +If thou shouldest lie and lurk, +And not intend thy work, +Thy master should do full evil. + + _Here entereth YOUTH, to whom HYPOCRISY yet speaketh_. + +What, Master Youth? +Well i-met, by my truth; +And whither away? +You are the last man, +Which I talked[89] on, +I swear, by this day. +Methought by your face, +Ere you came in place, +It should be you: +Therefore I did abide +Here in this tide[90] +For your coming, this is true. + +JUVENTUS. +For your gentleness, sir, most heartily I thank you, +But yet you must hold me somewhat excused; +For to my simple knowledge I never knew, +That you and I together were acquainted: +But nevertheless, if you do it renew, +Old acquaintance will soon[91] be remembered. + +HYPOCRISY. +Ah, now I see well, Youth is feathered, +And his crumbs he hath well gathered, +Since I spake with him last; +A poor man's tale cannot now be heard, +As in times past. +I cry you mercy, I was somewhat bold, +Thinking that you mastership would +Not have been so strange; +But now I perceive, that promotion +Causeth[92] both man, manners, and fashion +Greatly for to change. + +JUVENTUS. +You are to blame this[93] me to challenge; +For I think I am not he, which you take me for. + +HYPOCRISY. +Yes, I have known you ever since you were bore; +Your age is yet under a score, +Which I can well remember: +I-wis, i-wis, you and I +Many a time have been full merry, +When you were young and tender. + +JUVENTUS. +Then, I pray you,[94] let us reason no lenger; +But first show your nomination. + +HYPOCRISY. +Of my name to make declaration +Without any dissimulation, +I am called Friendship: +Although I be simple and rude of fashion, +Yet by lineage and generation +I am nigh kin to your mastership. + +JUVENTUS. +What, Friendship? +I am glad to see that you be merry; +By my truth, I had almost you forgot, +By long absence brought out of memory. + +HYPOCRISY. +By the mass, I love you so heartily, +That there is none so welcome to my company: +I pray you, tell me whither are you going? + +JUVENTUS. +My intention is, to go hear a preaching. + +HYPOCRISY. +A preaching, quod-a? ah, good little one! +By Christ, she will make you cry out of the winning, +If you follow her instruction so early in the morning. + +JUVENTUS. +Full great[95] I do abhor this your wicked saying; +For, no doubt, they increase much sin and vice: +Therefore I pray you, show not your meaning, +For I delight not in such foolish fantasies. + +HYPOCRISY. +Surely, then you are the more unwise: +You may have a spurt amongst them now and then; +Why should not you, as well as other men? + +JUVENTUS. +As for those filthy doings[96] I utterly detest them; +I will hear no more of your wicked communication. + +HYPOCRISY. +If I may be so bold by your deliberation, +What will you do at a preaching? + +JUVENTUS. +Learn some wholesome and godly teaching +Of the true minister of Christ's gospel. + +HYPOCRISY. +Tush, what he will say, I know right well; +He will say that God is a good man,[97] +He can make him no better, and say the best he can. + +JUVENTUS. +I know that, but what then? +The more that God's Word is preached and taught, +The greater the occasion is to all Christian men +To forsake their sinful livings, both wicked, vile and naught: +And to repent their former evils, which they have wrought, +Trusting by Christ's death to be redeemed: +And he that this doth shall never be deceived. + +HYPOCRISY. +Well said, master doctor, well said! +By the mass, we must have you into the pulpit: +I pray you be remembered, and cover your head; +For indeed you have need to keep in your wit: +Ah, sirrah, who would have thought it, +That youth had been such a well-learned man! +Let me see your portous,[98] gentle Sir John! + +JUVENTUS. +No, it is not a book for you[99] to look on, +You ought not to jest with God's Testament. + +HYPOCRISY. +What, man? I pray you be content; +For I do nothing else, but say my phantasy: +But yet, if you would do after my advisement, +In that matter you should not be so busy; +Was not your father as well-learned as ye? +And if he had said then as you have now done, +I-wis he had been like to make a burn. + +JUVENTUS. +It were much better for me than to return +From my faith in Christ and the profession of his word. + +HYPOCRISY. +Whether is better a halter or a cord, +I cannot tell, I swear by God's mother: +But I think[100] you will have the one or the other: +Will you lose all your friends' good will, +To continue in that opinion still? +Was there not as well-learned men before as now? +Yea, and better too, I may say to you? +And they taught[101] the younger sort of people +By the elders to take an example: +And if I did not love you, as nature doth me bind, +You should not know so much of my mind. + +JUVENTUS. +Whether were[102] I better to be ignorant and blind, +And to be damned in hell for infidelity; +Or to learn godly knowledge, wherein I shall find +The right path-way to eternal felicity? + +HYPOCRISY. +Can you deny, but it is your duty +Unto your elders to be obedient? + +JUVENTUS. +I grant I am bound to obey my parents +In all things honest and lawful. + +HYPOCRISY. +Lawful, quod-a? ah, fool, fool! +Wilt[103] thou set men to school, +When they be old? +I may say to you secretly, +The world was never merry, +Since children were so bold: +Now every boy will be a teacher, +The father a fool, and the child a preacher; +This is pretty gear: +The foul presumption[104] of youth +Will turn shortly to great ruth, +I fear, I fear, I fear. + +JUVENTUS. +The sermon will be done, ere I can come there: +I care not greatly whether I go or no; +And yet for my promise, by God I swear, +There is no remedy but I must needs go: +Of my companions there will be mo, +And I promised them, by God's grace, +To meet them there as the sermon was. + +HYPOCRISY. +For once breaking promise do not you pass; +Make some excuse the matter to cease, +What have they to do? +And you and I were, I wot[105] where, +We would be as merry as there, +Yea, and merrier too. + +JUVENTUS. +I would gladly in your company go; +But, if my companions should chance to see, +They would report full evil by me: +And peradventure, if I should[106] it use, +My company they would clean refuse. + +HYPOCRISY. +What, are those fellows so curious, +That yourself you cannot excuse? +I will teach you the matter to convey; +Do what your own lust, and say as they say; +And if you be reproved with your own affinity, +Bid them pluck the beam out of their own eye: +The old popish priests mock and despise, +And the ignorant people, that believe their lies, +Call them papists, hypocrites, and joining of the plough; +Face[107] out the matter, and then good enough! +Let your book at your girdle be tied, +Or else in your bosom that he may be spied; +And then it will be said both with youth and age, +Yonder fellow hath an excellent knowledge. +Tush, tush! +I could so beat[108] the bush, +That all should be flush, +That ever I did. + +JUVENTUS. +Now, by my truth, you are merrily disposed; +Let us go thither as you think best. + +HYPOCRISY. +How say you? shall we go to breakfast? +Will you go to the pie-feast? +Or, by the mass, if thou wilt be my guest, +It shall cost thee nothing; +I have a furny card in a place, +That will bear a turn besides the ace, +She purveys now apace +For my coming: +And if thou wilt sibber[109] as well as I, +We shall have merry company: +And I warrant thee, if we have not a pie, +We shall have a pudding. + +JUVENTUS. +By the mass, that meat I love above all thing; +You may draw me about the town with a pudding.[110] + +HYPOCRISY. +Then you shall see my cunning: +A poor shift for a living +Amongest poor men used is; +The kind heart of hers +Hath eased my purse, +Many a time ere this. + + [_Here entereth_ FELLOWSHIP. + +FELLOWSHIP. +I marvel greatly where Friendship is; +He promised to meet me here ere this time: +I beshrew his heart, that his[111] promise doth miss; +And then be ye sure, it shall not be mine. + +HYPOCRISY. +Yes, Fellowship, that it shall be thine, +For I have tarried here this hour or twain; +And this honest gentleman in my company hath been, +To abide your coming, this thing is plain. + +FELLOWSHIP. +By the mass, if you chide, I will[112] be gone again; +For in faith, Friendship, I may say to thee, +I love not to be there, where chiders be. + +HYPOCRISY. +No, God it knoweth, you are so full of honesty, +As a mary-bone is full of honey: +But, sirrah, I pray you, bid this gentleman welcome, +For he is desirous in your company to come: +I tell you he is a man of the right making; +And one that hath excellent learning; +At his girdle he hath such a book, +That the Popish priests dare not in him look: +This is a fellow for the nonce. + +FELLOWSHIP. +I love him the better, by God's[113] precious bones: +You are heartily welcome, as I may say, +I shall desire you of better acquaintance;[114] +That of your company be bold I may, +You may be sure, if in me it lie +To do you pleasure, you should it find: +For, by the mass, I love you both with heart and mind. + +JUVENTUS. +To say the same to you your gentleness doth me bind; +And I thank you heartily for your kindness. + +HYPOCRISY. +Well[115] you see this gentleman fines[116] +Your gentleness and your kindness, +I thank him, and I thank you; +And I think, if the truth were sought,[117] +The one bad and the other naught, +Never a good, I make God a vow! +But yet, Fellowship, tell me one thing, +Did you see little Bess this morning? +We should have our breakfast yesternight, she said, +But she hath forgotten it now, I am afraid. + +FELLOWSHIP. +Her promise shall be performed and paid; +For I spake with her, since the time I rose, +And then she told me how the matter goeth: +We must be with her between eight and nine, +And then her master and mistress will be at the preaching. + +JUVENTUS. +I purposed myself there to have been; +But this man provoked me to the contrary, +And told me that we should have merry company. + +FELLOWSHIP. +Merry, quod-a? we cannot choose but be merry; +For there is such a girl where as we go, +Which will make us to[118] be merry, whether we will or no. + +HYPOCRISY. +The ground is the better on the which she doth go; +For she will make better cheer with that[119] little, which she can get, +Than many a[120] one can with a great banket of meat. + +JUVENTUS. +To be in her company my heart is set; +Therefore, I pray you, let us be gone. + +FELLOWSHIP. +She will come for us[121] herself anon; +For I told her before, where we would stand, +And then, she said, she would beck us with her hand. + +JUVENTUS. +Now, by the mass, I perceive that she is a gallant: +What, will she take pains to come for us hither? + +HYPOCRISY. +Yea, I warrant you; therefore you must be familiar with her: +When she cometh in place, +You must her embrace +Somewhat handsomely; +Lest she think it[122] danger, +Because you are a stranger, +To come in your company. + +JUVENTUS. +Yea,[123] by God's foot, that I will be busy, +And I may say to you, I can play the knave secretly. + + [_Here entereth_ ABHOMINABLE LIVING.[124] + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +Hem! come away quickly, +The back door is open;[125] I dare not tarry: +Come, Fellowship, come on away! + +HYPOCRISY. +What, Unknown Honesty? a word! + [_Draws_ A. L. _aside_.[126] +You shall not go yet, by God I swear; +Here is none but your friends, you need not to fray, +Although, this strange young gentleman be here. + +JUVENTUS. +I trust, in me she will think no danger; +For I love well the company of fair women. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +Who, you? nay, ye are such a holy man, +That to touch one ye dare not be bold; +I think,[127] you would not kiss a young woman, +If one would give you twenty pound in gold. + +JUVENTUS. +Yes, by the mass, that I would; +I could find in my heart to kiss you in your smock. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +My back is broad enough to bear away that mock +For one hath told me many a time, +That you[128] have said you would use no such wanton company as mine. + +JUVENTUS. +By dog's[129] precious wounds, that was some whoreson[130] villain; +I will never eat meat that shall do me good, +Till I have cut his flesh, by God's precious blood: +Tell me, I pray you, who it was, +And I will trim the knave, by the blessed mass. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +Tush! as for that, do not you pass; +That which I told you was but for love. + +HYPOCRISY. +She did nothing else but prove, +Whether a little[131] thing would you move +To be angry and fret; +What, and if one had said so? +Let such trifling matters go, +And be good to men's flesh for all that. + +JUVENTUS [_He kisseth_ ABHOMINABLE LIVING.] +To kiss her since she came, I had clean forgot: +You are welcome to my company. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +Sir, I thank you most heartily; +By your kindness it doth appear. + +HYPOCRISY. +What a hurly-burly is here! +Smick smack, and all this gear! +You will to tick-tack,[132] I fear, +If you[133] had time: +Well, wanton, well; +I-wis, I can tell, +That such smock-smell +Will set your nose out of tune. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +What, man? you need not to fume, +Seeing he is come into my company now; +He is as well welcome as the best of you: +And if it lie in me to do him pleasure, +He shall have it, you may ye sure. + +FELLOWSHIP. +Then old acquaintance is clean out of favour: +Lo, Friendship, this gear goeth with a sleight;[134] +He hath driven us twain out of conceit. + +HYPOCRISY. +Out of conceit, quod-a? no, no; +I dare well say, she thinketh not so: +How say you, Unknown Honesty? +Do not you love Fellowship and me? + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +Yea, by the mass, I love you all three; +But yet indeed, if I should say the truth, +Amongst all other, welcome Master Youth. + +JUVENTUS. +Full greatly I do delight to kiss your pleasant mouth. + [_He kisseth_ ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +I am not able your kindness to recompence; +I long to talk with you secretly, therefore let us go hence. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +I agree to that; for I would not for twenty pence,[135] +That it were known where I have been. + +HYPOCRISY. +What, and it were known? it is no deadly[136] sin: +As for my part, I do not greatly care, +So that they find not your proper buttocks bare. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +Now much fie upon you! how bawdy[137] you are! +I-wis, Friendship, it mought[138] have been spoken at twice: +What think you, for your saying that the people will surmise? + +JUVENTUS. +Who dare be so bold us to despise? +And if I may hear a knave speak one word, +I will run thorough his cheeks with my sword. + +FELLOWSHIP. +This is an earnest fellow, of God's Word! +See, I pray you, how he is disposed to fight! + +JUVENTUS. +Why should I not, and if my cause be right? +What, and if a knave do me beguile, +Shall I stand crouching like an owl? +No, no; then you might count me a very cow; +I know what belongeth to God's law as well as you. + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +Your wit therein greatly I do allow; +For, and if I were a man, as you are, +I would not stick to give a blow, +To teach other knaves to beware, +I beshrew you twice, and if you do spare, +But lay load on the flesh, whatsoever befall, +You have strength enough to do it with all. + +FELLOWSHIP. +Let us depart, and if that we shall; +Come on, masters, we twain will go before. + +JUVENTUS. +Nay, nay, my friend, stop there; +It is not you, that shall have her away, +She shall go with me, and if she go to-day-- + +HYPOCRISY. +She shall go with none of you, I dare well say; + +ABHOMINABLE LIVING. +To forsake any of your company I would be very loth; +Therefore I will follow you all three. + +HYPOCRISY. +Now I beshrew his heart, that to that will not agree; +But yet because the time shall not seem very long, +Ere we depart, let us have a merry song. + + _They sing as followeth_: + + Why should not youth fulfil his own mind, + As the course of nature doth him bind? + Is not everything ordained to do his kind? + _Report me to you, report me to you_. + + Do not the flowers spring fresh and gay, + Pleasant and sweet in the month of[139] May? + And when their time cometh, they fade away. + _Report me to you, report me to you_. + + Be not the trees in winter bare? + Like unto their kind, such they are; + And when they spring, their fruits declare. + _Report me to you, report me to you_. + + What should youth do with the fruits of age, + But live in pleasure in his[140] passage? + For when age cometh, his lusts will suage. + _Report me to you, report me to you_. + + Why should not youth fulfil his own mind, + As the course of nature doth him bind? &c. + [_They go forth_. + +_Here entereth_ GOOD COUNSEL. + +O merciful Lord, who can cease to lament, +Or keep his heart from continual mourning, +To see how Youth is fallen from thy word and testament,[141] +And wholly inclined to Abhominable Living? +He liveth nothing according to his professing;[142] +But, alas! his life is to thy word['s] abusion, +Except thy great mercy, to his utter confusion. +O, where is now[143] the godly conversation, +Which should be among the professors[144] of thy word! +O, where may a man find now one faithful congregation,[145] +That is not infected with dissension or discord? +Or amongst whom are all vices utterly abhorred![146] +O, where is the brotherly love between man and man! +We may lament the time our vice began. +O, where is the peace and meekness, long suffering and temperance, +Which are the fruits of God's holy spirit? +With whom is the flesh brought under obedience, +Or who readeth the scripture with intent to follow it? +Who useth not now covetousness and deceit? +Who giveth unto the poor that which is due? +I think, in this world few that live now. +O, where is the godly example, that parents should give +Unto their young family by godly and virtuous living? +Alas! how wickedly[147] do they themselves live, +Without any fear of God or his righteous threatening! +They have no respect unto the dreadful reckoning, +Which shall be required of us, when the Lord shall come, +As a rightful judge at the day of doom. +O, what a joyful sight was it for to see, +When Youth began God's word to embrace? +Then he promised Godly Knowledge and me, +That from our instruction he would never turn his face; +But now he walketh, alas! in the ungodly's chase! +Heaping sin upon sin, vice upon vice: + [_Here entereth_ JUVENTUS. +He that liveth most ungodly is counted most wise-- + +JUVENTUS. +Who is here playing at the dice? +I heard one speak of cinque[148] and sice[149]; +His words did me entice +Hither to come. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Ah, Youth, Youth, whither dost thou run? +Greatly I do bewail thy miserable estate; +The terrible plagues, which in God's law are written, +Hang over thy head both early and late: +O fleshly Capernite, stubborn and obstinate, +Thou hadst liever forsake Christ, thy Saviour and King, +Than thy fleshly swinish lusts and abhominable living. + +JUVENTUS. +What, old whoreson, art thou a-chiding? +I will play a spurt, why should I not? +I set not[150] a mite by thy checking: +What hast thou to do, and if I lose my coat? +I will trill the bones, while I have one groat; +And, when there is no more ink in the pen,[151] +I will make a shift,[152] as well as other men. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Then I perceive you have forgotten clean +The promise, that you made unto Knowledge and me: +You said such fleshly fruits should not be seen; +But to God's word your life should agree. +Full true be the words of the prophet Hosè, +No verity nor knowledge of God is now in the land, +But abhominable vices hath gotten the upper hand. + +JUVENTUS. +Your mind therein I do well understand: +You go about my living to despise, +But you will not see the beams in your own eyes. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +The devil hath you deceived, which is the author of lies, +And trapped[153] you in his snare of wicked Hypocrisy; +Therefore all that ever you do devise, +Is to maintain your fleshly liberty. + +JUVENTUS. +I marvel, why you do this[154] reprove me; +Wherein do I my life abuse? + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Your whole conversation I may well accuse, +As in my conscience just occasion I find; +Therefore be not offended, although I express my mind. + +JUVENTUS. +By the mass, if thou tell not truth, I will not be behind +To touch you as well again. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +For this thing most chiefly I do complain:[155] +Have you not professed the knowledge of Christ's gospel? +And yet, I think, no more ungodliness doth reign +In any wicked heathen, Turk, or infidel; +Who can devise that sin or evil, +That you practise not from day to day? +Yea, and count it nothing but a jest or a play. +Alas! what wantonness remaineth in your flesh! +How desirous are you to accomplish your own will! +What pleasure and delight have you in wickedness! +How diligent are you your lusts to fulfil! +St Paul saith, that you ought your fleshly lusts to kill: +But unto his teaching your life ye will not frame; +Therefore in vain you bear a Christian name. +Read the Five to the Galatians, and there you shall see, +That the flesh rebelleth against the spirit, +And that your own flesh is your[156] most utter[157] enemy, +If in your soul's health you do delight: +The time were too long now to recite, +What whoredom, uncleanness, and filthy communication +Is dispersed with youth in every congregation. +To speak of pride, envy, and abhominable oaths, +They are the common practices of youth, +To avance your flesh, you cut and jag your clothes, +And yet ye are a great gospeller in the mouth: +What shall I say for this blaspheming[158] the truth? +I will show you what St Paul doth declare +In his Epistle to the Hebrews and the tenth chapter. +For him, saith he, which doth willingly sin or consent, +After he hath received the knowledge of the verity, +Remaineth no more sacrifice, but a fearful looking for judgment, +And a terrible[159] fire, which shall consume the adversary; +And Christ saith that this blasphemy +Shall never be pardoned nor forgiven +In this world, nor in the world to come. + +JUVENTUS [_He lieth down_]. +Alas, alas! what have I wrought and done! +Here in this place I will fall down desperate; +To ask for mercy now, I know, it is too late. +Alas, alas! that ever I was begat! +I would to God I had never been born! +All faithful men, that behold this[160] wretched state, +May very justly laugh me to scorn; +They may say, my time I have evil-spent and worn, +Thus in my first age to work my own destruction: +In the eternal pains is my part and portion. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Why, Youth, art thou fallen into desperation? +What, man, pluck up thine heart, and rise, +Although thou see nothing now but thy condemnation, +Yet it may please God again to open thy eyes: +Ah, wretched creature, what doest thou surmise? +Thinkest not that God's mercy doth exceed thy sin? +Remember his Merciful Promises, and comfort thyself in him. + +JUVENTUS. +O sir, this state is so miserable, the which I lie in, +That my comfort and hope from me is separated: +I would to God I had never been! +Woe worth the time, that ever I was created! + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Ah, frail[161] vessel, unfaithful and faint-hearted, +Doest thou think that God is so merciless, +That when the sinner doth repent, and is converted, +That he will not fulfil his merciful promises? + +JUVENTUS. +Alas, sir! I am in such heaviness, +That his promises I cannot remember. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +In thy wickedness continue no lenger; +But trust in the Lord without any fear, +And his Merciful Promises shall shortly appear. + +JUVENTUS. +I would believe, if I might them hear, +With all my heart, power and mind. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +The living God hath him hither assigned: +Lo, where he cometh even here by, +Therefore mark his sayings diligently. + +[_Here entereth_ GOD'S MERCIFUL PROMISES. + +The Lord, by his prophet Ezekiel, saith in this wise plainly, +As in the thirty-third chapter it doth appear: +Be converted, O ye children, and turn unto me, +And I shall remedy the cause of your departure; +And also he saith in the eighteenth chapter, +I do not delight in a sinner's death, +But that he should convert and live: thus the Lord saith. + +JUVENTUS. +Then must I give neither credit nor faith +Unto St Paul's saying, which this man did allege. + +GOD'S MERCIFUL PROMISES. +Yes, you must credit them, according unto knowledge; +For St Paul speaketh of those which resist the truth by violence, +And so end their lives without repentance. +Thus[162] Saint Augustine[163] doth them define, +If unto the Lord's word you do your ears incline, +And observe these things which he hath commanded, +This sinful state, in the which you have lain, +Shall be forgotten and never more remembered: +And Christ himself in the gospel hath promised, +That he, which in him unfeignedly doth believe, +Although he were dead, yet shall he live. + +JUVENTUS [_He riseth_]. +These comfortable sayings doth me greatly move +To arise from this wretched place. + +GOD'S MERCIFUL PROMISES. +For me his mercy sake thou shalt obtain his grace, +And not for thine own desertes, this must thou know; +For my sake alone, ye shall receive solace; +For my sake alone, he will thee mercy show: +Therefore to him, as it is most due, +Give most hearty thanks with heart unfeigned, +Whose name for evermore be praised. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +The prodigal son, as in Luke we read, +Which in vicious living his good doth waste, +As soon as his living he had remembered, +To confess his wretchedness he was not aghast; +Wherefore his father lovingly him embrac'd, +And was[164] right joyful, the text saith plain, +Because his son was returnen[165] again. + +JUVENTUS. +O sinful flesh, thy pleasures are but vain: +Now I find it true, as the scripture doth say, +Broad[166] and pleasant is the path which leadeth unto pain, +But unto eternal life full narrow is the way.[167] +He that is not led by God's spirit surely goeth astray; +And all that ever he doth shall be clean abhorred; +Although he brag and boast never so much of God's word. +O subtle Satan, full deceitful is thy snare; +Who is able thy falsehood to disclose? +What is the man, that thou doest favour or spare, +And doest not[168] tempt him eternal joys to lose? +Not one in the world, surely I suppose. +Therefore happy is the man, which doth truly wait, +Always to refuse thy deceitful and crafty bait. +When I had thought to live most christianly, +And followed the steps of Knowledge and Good Counsel, +Ere I was aware, thou haddest deceived me, +And brought me into the path, which leadeth unto hell: +And of an earnest professor of Christ's gospel +Thou madest me an hypocrite, blind and pervert, +And from virtue unto vice thou hadst clean turned my heart. +First, by hypocrisy thou didest me move, +The mortification of the flesh clean to forsake, +And wanton desires to embrace and love; +Alas! to think on it my heart doth yet quake: +Under the title of Friendship to me ye spake, +And so to wicked Fellowship did me bring, +Which brought me clean to Abhominable Living. +Thus, I say, Satan did me deceive, +And wrapped me in sin many a fold; +The steps of Good Counsel I did forsake and leave, +And forgot the words which before to me he told: +The fruits of a true Christian in me waxed cold; +I followed mine own lusts, the flesh I did not tame, +And had them in derision which would not do the same. +Yet it hath pleased God of his endless mercy +To give me respite my life to amend; +From the bottom of my heart I repent my iniquity, +I will walk in his laws unto my life's end: +From his holy ordinance I will never descend, +But my whole delight shall be to live therein, +Utterly abhorring all filthiness and sin.[169] +_All Christian_ people which be here present, +_May learn_ by me hypocrisy to know, +_With_ which the devil, as with a poison most pestilent, +Daily seeketh all men to overthrow: +Credit not all things unto the outward show, +But try them with God's word, that squire[170] and rule most just, +Which never deceiveth them, that in him put their trust. +Let no flattering friendship, nor yet wicked company, +Persuade you in no wise God's word to abuse; +But see that you stand steadfastly unto the verity, +And according to the rule thereof your doings frame and use, +Neither kindred nor fellowship shall you excuse, +When you shall appear before the judgment seat, +But your own secret conscience shall then give an audit. +All you that be young, whom I do now represent, +Set your delight both day and night on Christ's Testament: +If pleasure you tickle, be not fickle, and suddenly slide, +But in God's fear everywhere see that you abide: +In your tender age seek for knowledge, and after wisdom run, +And in your old age teach your family to do as you have done: +Your bodies subdue unto virtue, delight not in vanity; +Say not, I am young, I shall live long, lest your days shortened be: +Do not incline to spend your time in wanton toys and nice, +For idleness doth increase much wickedness and vice: +Do not delay the time, and say, my end is not near; +For with short warning the Lord coming shall suddenly appear. +God give us grace, his word to embrace, and to live thereafter, +That by the same his holy name may be praised ever. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Now let us make our supplications together +For the prosperous estate of our noble and virtuous king,[171] +That in his godly proceedings he may still persevere, +Which seeketh the glory of God above all other thing: +O Lord, endue his heart with true understanding, +And give him a prosperous life long over us to reign, +To govern and rule his people as a worthy captain. + +JUVENTUS. +Also let us pray for all the nobility of this realm; +And, namely, for those whom his[172] grace hath authorised +To maintain the public wealth over us and them, +That they may see his gracious acts published; +And that they, being truly admonished +By the complaint of them which are wrongfully oppressed, +May seek reformation, and see it redressed. + +GOOD COUNSEL. +Then shall this land enjoy great quietness and rest: +And give unto God most hearty thanks therefore, +To whom be honour, praise, and glory for evermore.[173] + + + + + + +JACK JUGGLER. + + + +EDITION. + +_A new Enterlued for Chyldren to playe named Iacke Iugeler both wytte +and very playsent. Newly Imprented. + + +The Players' Names. + +Mayster Boungrace, A Galant. +Dame Coye, A Gentlewoman. +Iacke Iugeler, The vyce. +Ienkin Careway, A Lackey. +Ales trype and go, A Mayd. + +[Colophon.] Imprinted at London in Lothbury by me Wyllyam Copland. 4to, +black letter_. + +Beneath the players' names occurs a woodcut, of which we annex a +facsimile. + +[Illustration] + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +[Some account of this piece may be found in Haslewood's Preface, which +precedes our text of "Thersites." It may be added, that whatever +shortcomings may be apparent in these productions from a literary and +dramatic point of view, they are by no means devoid of a fair share of +shrewd humour and pointed vivacity, and are, moreover, not unimportant +contributions, especially when their early date is considered, to the +illustration of manners. The low-comic view predominates in most of +them, and we meet with occasional grossnesses which, so far as "Jack +Juggler" itself is concerned, are the more remarkable when it is +recollected that the performance was presented by youths. In none of +these ruder specimens of the drama is any distribution to be found into +acts and scenes; nor is it invariably clear how the entrances and exits +were introduced. + +As to the groundwork of this interlude, Mr Child observes:--[174]] + +"Plautus's tragi-comedy of 'Amphitryon' has been perhaps more popular +on the modern stage than any other ancient play. It is the groundwork +of one of the best comedies of the great Molière, and of a once +favourite English drama, which Sir Walter Scott, in an introduction not +everywhere distinguished by his usual judgment, styles 'one of the +happiest effusions of Dryden's comic muse.' It has been several times +translated into our tongue, and by Bonnell Thornton, with an elegance, +spirit, and correctness that leave nothing to be desired. + +"This is not the place to expatiate on the merits of the Latin play; +but the assertion may be hazarded without much risk, that both the +original and Thornton's version are, taken as wholes, considerably +superior to any of the imitations. Indeed, the character of Alcmena, as +drawn by Plautus, so truly innocent, simple, and loving, her distress +on being suspected by her husband, and his agony at finding her, as he +believes, dishonest, immediately suggest, as the accomplished +translator has observed, a not discreditable comparison with our +'Othello.' We may add, too, that the conclusion of the fourth act, +where Amphitryon, 'perplexed in the extreme,' and defying the gods in +the intensity of his despair, rushes to the house to wreak his +vengeance on his family, and is struck down by lightning, rises to +grandeur, almost to sublimity, and must produce immense dramatic effect +in the representation. Very little of this sort of thing appears in the +modern play. What Dryden has made of Alcmena will be understood, when +we observe that he adapted her to the standard of contemporary taste. +Yet Scott has strangely said, that, 'in the scenes of a higher cast, +Dryden far outstrips both the French and Roman poet!' + +"The reader will not find any such important characters as gods and +generals in the drama before him. 'Jack Juggler' can hardly be called +an imitation of the comedy of Plautus. It is the play of 'Amphitryon' +without the part of Amphitryon, and resembles more than anything else +one of those pieces made up of the comic portions of plays, which used +to be called 'drolls.' In fact, 'Jack Juggler' is a caricature even of +the comic parts. All dignity is stripped from the characters, every +ridiculous feature is much exaggerated, and the language and incidents +are ingeniously vulgarized to reduce everything to the grotesque, the +quaintness of the expressions greatly heightening the effect to a +modern reader. The amiable Alcmena becomes a 'verie cursed shrew.' +General Amphitryon sinks into Master Boungrace, a commonplace +'gentilman,' somewhat subject, we suspect, to being imposed upon by his +wife and servants. Bromia, the insignificant and well-conducted +attendant, is changed into the smart and malicious Aulsoon tripe and +goo. + +"There is no proper plot to the piece, the whole action consisting in +getting Jenkin Careawaie into as much trouble as possible, when he is +left to go to bed with aching bones, and wishing bad luck to his second +self. He does not get off with a beating from Jack and his master. The +servant-maid lends her tongue, and her mistress both tongue and hand, +for the amusement of the spectators and the revenge of Jack Juggler. +Those who are acquainted with the tedious performances of those times +will recognise with pleasure an uncommon raciness and spirit in this +little interlude. The lines are rude, but sharp and bold, and Dame Coye +may even be called a well-drawn and original character. + +"In Mr Wright's 'Early Mysteries, and other Latin Poems of the Twelfth +and Thirteenth Centuries,' will be found a rather clever and once very +popular poem, founded on 'Amphitryon,' the 'Geta' of Vital of Blois. +Amphitryon in this is a student of Greek learning, and the awkwardness +of Alcmena's situation, after Jupiter's visit is got over, by her +assuring her confiding husband that she thinks the whole affair must +have been a dream." + + + + +JACK JUGGLER. + + +THE PROLOGUE. + +_Interpone tuis interdum gaudia curis, +Vt possis animo quemvis sufferre laborem_. +Do any of you know what Latin is this? +Or else would you have an Expositorem +To declare it in English _per sensum planiorem?_ +It is best I speak English, or else within a while +I may percase mine own self with my Latin beguile. + +The two verses, which I rehearsed before, +I find written in the Book of Cato the wise +Among good precepts of living a thousand more, +Which to follow there he doth all men avise +And they may be Englished briefly in this wise: +Among thy careful business use sometime mirth and joy, +That no bodily work thy wits break or 'noy. + +For the mind (saith he), in serious matters occupied, +If it have not some quiet mirth and recreation +Interchangeable admixed, must needs be soon wearied, +And (as who should say) tried through continual operation +Of labour and business without relaxation. +Therefore intermix honest mirth in such wise +That your strength may be refreshed, and to labours suffice. + +For as meat and drink, natural rest and sleep, +For the conservation and health of the body, +Must needs be had, so the mind and wits to keep +Pregnant, fresh, industrious, quick and lusty, +Honest mirth and pastime is requisite and necessary; +For, _Quod caret alterna requie durabile non est_: +Nothing may endure (saith Ouid) without some rest. + +Example proof hereof in earth is well found, +Manifest, open, and very evident; +For except the husbandman suffer his ground +Sometimes to rest, it woll bear no fruit verament; +Therefore they let the field lie every second year +To the end that, after rest, it may the better corn bear. + +Thus then (as I have said) it is a thing natural, +And naturally belonging to all living creatures, +And unto man especially above others all, +To have at times convenient pastance, mirth and pleasures, +So they be joined with honesty, and kept within due measures; +And the same well allowed not only the said Cato, +But also the Philosophers, Plutarch, Socrates, and Plato. + +And Cicero Tullius, a man sapient and wise, +Willeth the same, in that his first book, +Which he wrote and entituled of an honest man's office: +Who so is disposed thereupon to look, +Where to define and affirm he boldly on him took, +That to hear interludes is pastime convenient +For all manner men, and a thing congruent. + +He reckoneth that namely as a very honest disport, +And above all other things commendeth the old comedy, +The hearing of which may do the mind comfort; +For they be replenished with precepts of philosophy: +They contain much wisdom, and teach prudent policy; +And though they be all writers of matters of none importance, +Yet they show great wit, and much pretty conveyance. + +And in this manner of making Plautus did excel, +As recordeth the same Tullius, commending him by name: +Wherefore this maker delighteth passingly well +To follow his arguments, and draw out the same, +For to make at seasons convenient pastimes, mirth and game: +As now he hath done this matter, not worth an oyster shell, +Except percase it shall fortune to make you laugh well. + +And for that purpose only this maker did it write, +Taking the ground thereof out of Plautus first comedy +And the first sentence of the same; for higher things indite +In no wise he would, for yet the time is so queasy, +That he that speaketh best, is least thank-worthy. +Therefore, sith nothing but trifles may be had, +You shall hear a thing that only shall make you merry and glad. + +And such a trifling matter, as when it shall be done, +Ye may report and say ye have heard nothing at all. +Therefore I tell you all, before it be begun, +That no man look to hear of matters substantial, +Nor matters of any gravity either great or small +For this maker showed us that such manner things +Do never well beseem little boys' handlings. + +Wherefore, if ye will not sourly your brows bend +At such a fantastical conceit as this, +But can be content to hear and see the end, +I woll go show the Players what your pleasure is; +Which to wait upon you I know be ready ere this. +I woll go send them hither into your presence, +Desiring that they may have quiet audience. + + * * * * * + +JACK JUGGLER. +Our Lord of heaven and sweet Saint John +Rest you merry, my masters everychone; +And I pray to Christ and sweet Saint Stephen +Send you all many a good even! +And you too, sir, and you, and you also, +Good even to you an hundred times and a thousand mo. +Now by all these crosses of flesh, bone, and blood, +I reckon my chance right marvellous good, +Here now to find all this company, +Which in my mind I wished for heartily; +For I have laboured all day, till I am weary, +And now am disposed to pass the time, and be merry. +And I think none of you, but he would do the same, +For who woll be sad, and needeth not, is foul to blame; +And as for me, of my mother I have been taught +To be merry when I may, and take no thought. +Which lesson I bare so well away, +That I use to make merry once a day. +And now, if all things happen right, +You shall see as mad a pastime this night, +As you saw this seven years, and as proper a toy +As ever you saw played of a boy. +I am called Jack Juggler of many an one, +And in faith I woll play a juggling cast anon. +I woll conjure the nowl,[175] and God before! +Or else let me lese my name for evermore. +I have it devised, and compassed how, +And what ways I woll tell and show to you. +You all know well Master Bongrace,[176] +The gentleman that dwelleth here in this place? +And Jenkin Careaway his page, as cursed a lad, +And as ungracious as ever man had, +An unhappy wage, and as foolish a knave withal, +As any is now within London wall. +This Jenkin and I been fallen at great debate +For a matter, that fell between us a-late; +And hitherto of him I could never revenged be, +For his master maintaineth him, and loveth not me; +Albeit, the very truth to tell, +Nother of them both knoweth me not very well. +But against all other boys the said gentleman +Maintaineth him all that he can. +But I shall set little by my wit, +If I do not Jenkin this night requite. +Ere I sleep, Jenkin shall be met, +And I trust to come partly out of his debt; +And when we meet again, if this do not suffice, +I shall pay Jenkin the residue in my best wise. +It chanced me right now in the other end of the next street +With Jenkin and his master in the face to meet. +I abode there a while, playing for to see +At the bucklers, as well became me. +It was not long time; but at the last +Back cometh my cousin Careaway homeward full fast: +Pricking, prancing, and springing in his short coat, +And pleasantly singing with a merry note. +Whither away so fast? tarry a while, said one. +I cannot now, said Jenkin, I must needs be gone. +My master suppeth hereby at a gentleman's place, +And I must thither fetch my dame, Mistress Bongrace. +But yet, ere I go, I care not much +At the bucklers to play with thee one fair touch. +To it they went, and played so long, +Till Jenkin thought he had wrong. +By Cock's precious podstick, I will not home this night, +Quod he, but as good a stripe on thy head light! +Within half an hour, or somewhat less, +Jenkin left playing, and went to fetch his mistress; +But by the way he met with a fruiterer's wife: +There Jenkin and she fell at such strife +For snatching of an apple, that down he cast +Her basket, and gathered up the apples fast, +And put them in his sleeve, then came he his way +By another lane, as fast as he may; +Till he came at a corner by a shop's stall, +Where boys were at dice, faring at all; +When Careaway with that good company met, +He fell to faring withouten let, +Forgetting his message, and so did he fare, +That when I came by, he gan swear and stare, +And full bitterly began to curse, +As one that had lost almost all in his purse. +For I know his old guise and condition, +Never to leave, till all his money be gone. +For he hath no money but what he doth steal, +And that woll he play away every deal. +I passed by, and then called unto my mind +Certain old reckonings, that were behind +Between Jenkin and me, whom partly to recompense +I trust by God's grace, ere I go hence. +This garments, cape, and all other gear, +That now you see upon me here, +I have done on all like unto his +For the nonce; and my purpose is +To make Jenkin believe, if I can, +That he is not himself, but another man. +For except he hath better luck than he had, +He woll come hither stark staring mad. +When he shall come, I woll handle my captive so, +That he shall not well wot whither to go. +His mistress, I know, she woll him blame, +And his master also will do the same; +Because that she of her supper deceived is, +For I am sure they have all supped by this. +But, and if Jenkin would hither resort, +I trust he and I should make some sport, +If I had sooner spoken, he would have sooner been here, +For me seemeth I do his voice hear. + +CAREAWAY. +All, sir, I may say I have been at a feast: +I have lost two shillings and sixpence at the least. +Marry, sir, of this gains I need make no boast; +But, the devil go with all, more have I lost! +My name is Careaway, let all sorrow pass! +I woll ere to-morrow night be as rich as ever I was; +Or at the furthest within a day or twain: +My master's purse shall pay me again. +Therefore ho! Careaway, now woll I sing _hei, hei_! +But, by the Lord, now I remember another thing: +By my faith, Jenkin, my mistress and thou +Are like to agree--God knoweth how-- +That thou comest not for her incontinent, +To bring her to supper, when thou were sent? +And now they have all supped, thou wolt surely abi', +Except thou imagine some pretty and crafty lie. +For she is, as all other women be, +A very cursed shrew, by the blessed Trinity, +And a very devil, for if she once begin +To fight or chide, in a week she woll not lin; +And a great pleasure she hath specially now of late +To get poor me now and then by the pate; +For she is an angry piece of flesh, and soon displeased, +Quickly moved, but not lightly appeased. +We use to call her at home Dame Coy, +A pretty gingerly piece, God save her and St Loy! +As dainty and nice as an halfpenny-worth of silver spoons, +But vengeable melancholy in the afternoons. +She useth for her bodily health and safeguard +To chide daily one fit to supperward; +And my master himself is worse than she, +If he once thoroughly angered be. +And a maid we have at home, Alison Trip-and-go: +Not all London can show such other two: +She simpereth, she pranketh, and jetteth without fail, +As a peacock that hath spread and showeth her gay tail: +She minceth, she bridleth, she swimmeth to and fro: +She treadeth not one hair awry, she trippeth like a doe +Abroad in the street, going or coming homeward: +She quavereth and warbleth, like one in a galliard, +Every joint in her body and every part: +O, it is a jolly wench to mince and divide a fart. +She talketh, she chatteth like a pie all day, +And speaketh like a parrot popinjay, +And that as fine as a small silken thread, +Yea, and as high as an eagle can fly for a need. +But it is a spiteful lying girl, and never well, +But when she may some ill tale by me tell; +She woll, I warrant you, anon at the first +Of me imagine and say the worst, +And whatsoever she to my mistress doth say, +It is written in the gospel of the same day. +Therefore I woll here with myself devise +What I may best say, and in what wise +I may excuse this my long tarrying, +That she of my negligence may suspect nothing. +For if the fault of this be found in me, +I may give my life for halfpennies three. + [_Hic cogitabundo similis sedeat_.] +Let me study this month, and I shall not find +A better device than now is come to my mind. +Mistress, woll I say, I am bound by my duty +To see that your womanhood have no injury; +For I hear and see more than you now and then, +And yourself partly know the wanton wiles of men. +When we came yonder, there did I see +My master kiss gentlewomen two or three, +And to come among others me-thought I see,[177] +He had a marvellous great phantasy: +Anon he commanded me to run thence for you, +To come sup there, if you would; but (I wot not how) +My heart grudged, mistrusting lest that I, being away, +My master would some light cast play; +Whereupon, mistress, to see the end, +I tarried half supper-time, so God me mend! +And, besides that there was such other company +As I know your mistress-ship setteth nothing by; +Gorgeous dames of the court and gallants also, +With doctors and other rufflers mo: +At last when I thought it time and season, +I came to certify you, as it was reason; +And by the way whom should I meet +But that most honest gentleman in the street, +Which the last week was with you here, +And made you a banket and bouncing cheer? +Ah, Jenkin, quod he, good speed! how farest thou? +Marry, well, God yield it you, master, quod I: how do you? +How doth thy mistress? is she at home? +Yea, sir, quod I, and suppeth all alone; +And but she hath no manner good cheer, +I am sure she would gladly have you there. +I cannot come now, said he, I have business; +But thou shalt carry a token from me to thy mistress. +Go with me to my chamber at yon lane-end, +And I woll a dish of costards unto her send. +I followed him, and was bold, by your leave, +To receive and bring them here in my sleeve. +But I would not for all England, by Jesus Christ, +That my master Bongrace hereof wist, +Or knew that I should any such gear to you bring, +Lest he misdeem us both in some worse thing; +Nor show him nothing of that I before said, +For then indeed, sir, I am arrayed:[178] +If you do, I may nothing hereafter unto you tell, +Whether I see my master do ill or well. +But[179] if you now this counsel keep, +I woll ease you perchance twice in a week; +You may say you were sick, and your head did ache: +That you lusted not this night any supper make, +Specially without the doors; but thought it best +To abide at home and take your rest; +And I will to my master to bring him home, +For you know he woll be angry, if he come alone. +This woll I say and face it so well, +That she shall believe it every deal. +How say you, friends, by the arms of Robin Hood, +Woll not this excuse be reasonable good? +To muse for any better great folly it is; +For I may make sure reckoning of this +That, and if I would sit stewing this seven year, +I shall not else find how to save me all clear. +And, as you see, for the most part our wits be best, +When we be taken most unreadiest. +But I woll not give for that boy a fly, +That hath not all times in store one good lie, +And cannot set a good face upon the same: +Therefore Saint George thee borrow, as it woll let him frame. +I woll jeopard a joint, be as be may, +I have had many like chances before this day; +But I promise you I do curstly fear; +For I feel a vengeable burning in my left ear; +And it hath been a saying of time long, +That sweet meat woll have sour sauce among; +And surely I shall have some ill hap, +For my hair standeth up under my cap. +I would knock, but I dare not, by our lady, +I fear hanging, whereunto no man is hasty. +But seeing there is no nother remedy, +Thus to stand any longer it is but folly. + [_Hic pulset ostium_. +They be so far within, they cannot hear-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +Soft thy knocking, saucy knave, what makest thou there? + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +What knave is that? he speaketh not to me, I trow, +And we meet, the one of us is like to have a blow! +For now that I am well chafed, and somewhat hot, +Twenty such could I hew as small as flesh to pot; +And surely, if I had a knife, +This knave should escape hardly with his life: +To teach him to ask of me any more, +What I make at my own master's door. + +JACK JUGGLER. +But if thou come from that gate, thou knave, +I well fet thee by the sweet locks,[180] so God me save! + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Woll the whoreson fight indeed, by mine honesty? +I know no quarrel he hath to me; +But I would I were within the house, +And then I would not set by him a louse; +For I fear and mistrust such quarreling thieves: +See, how he beginneth to strike up his sleeves! + +JACK JUGGLER. +His arse maketh buttons now, and who lusteth to feel, +Shall find his heart creeping out at his heel, +Or else lying hidden in some corner of his hose, +If it be not already dropped out of his nose. +For, as I doubt not but you have heard beforne, +A more dastard coward knave was never born. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +The devil set the house a-fire! I trow it is accurst; +When a man hath most haste, he speedeth worst; +If I be robbed or slain, or any harm get, +The fault is in them, that doth not me in let. +And I durst jeopard an hundred pound, +That some bawdry might now within be found; +But except some of them come the sooner, +I shall knock such a peal, that all England shall wonder. + +JACK JUGGLER. +Knock at the gate hardily again, if thou dare; +And seeing thou wolt not by fair words beware, +Now, fists, me-thinketh, yesterday seven past, +That four men asleep at my feet you cast, +And this same day you did no manner good, +Nor were not washen in warm blood. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +What whoreson is this that washeth in warm blood? +Some devil broken loose out of hell for wood! +Four hath he slain, and now well I see, +That it must be my chance the fifth to be! +But rather than thus shamefully to be slain, +Would Christ my friends had hanged me, being but years twain! +And yet, if I take good heart and be bold, +Percase he woll be more sober and cold. + +JACK JUGGLER. +Now, hands, bestir you about his lips and face, +And strike out all his teeth without any grace! +Gentleman, are you disposed to eat any fist-meat? + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +I have supped, I thank you, sir, and list not to eat: +Give it to them that are hungry, if you be wise. + +JACK JUGGLER. +It[181] shall do a man of your diet no harm to sup twice: +This shall be your cheese to make your meat digest, +For I tell you these hands weigheth of the best. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +I shall never escape: see, how he waggeth his hands! + +JACK JUGGLER. +With a stroke they will lay a knave in our Lady-bonds,[182] +And this day yet they have done no good at all. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Ere thou essay them on me, I pray thee lame them on the wall-- +But speak you all this in earnest or in game?-- +If you be angry with me, truly you are to blame; +For have you any just quarrel to me? + +JACK JUGGLER. +Ere thou and I part, that woll I show thee-- + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Or have I done you any manner displeasure?-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +Ere thou and I part, thou shalt know, thou mayest be sure-- + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +By my faith, if you be angry without a cause, +You shall have amends made with a couple of straws; +By thee I set whatsoever thou art; +But for thy displeasure I care not a fart. +May a man demand whose servant you be? + +JACK JUGGLER. +My master's servant I am, for verity! + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +What business have you at this place now? + +JACK JUGGLER. +Nay, marry, tell me what business hast thou? +For I am commanded for to watch and give diligence +That, in my good Master Bongrace's absence, +No misfortune may happen to his house, certain. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Well now I am come, you may go hence again, +And thank them that so much for my master hath done: +Showing them that the servants of the house be come home, +For I am of the house, and now in woll I go. + +JACK JUGGLER. +I cannot tell whether thou be of the house or no; +But go no near,[183] lest I handle thee like a stranger; +Thank no man but thyself, if thou be in any danger. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Marry, I defy thee, and plainly unto thee tell, +That I am a servant of this house, and here I dwell. + +JACK JUGGLER. +Now, so God me snatch, but thou go thy ways, +While thou mayest, for this forty days +I shall make thee not able to go nor ride +But in a dung-cart or wheelbarrow lying on one side. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +I am a servant of this house, by these ten bones--[184] + +JACK JUGGLER. +No more prating, but get thee hence at once! + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Why, my master hath sent me home in[185] his message-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +Pick and walk, a knave, here away is no passage-- + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +What, wilt thou let me from mine own master's house? + +JACK JUGGLER. +Be tredging, or in faith you bear me a souse.[186] +Here my master and I have our habitation, +And hath continually dwelled in this mansion, +At the least this dozen years and odd; +And here woll we end our lives, by the grace of God. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Why, then, where shall my master and I dwell? + +JACK JUGGLER. +At the devil, if you lust: I cannot tell. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +_In nomine patris_, now this gear doth pass: +For a little before supper here our house was; +And this day in the morning I woll on a book swear, +That my master and I both dwelled here. + +JACK JUGGLER. +Who is thy master? tell me without lie, +And thine own name also let me know shortly; +For, my masters all, let me have the blame, +If this knave know his master or his own name. + +CAREAWAY. +My master's name is Master Bongrace: +I have dwelled with him a long space; +And I am Jenkin Careaway his page-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +What, ye drunken knave, begin you to rage! +Take that: art thou Master Bongrace's page? + [_Strikes him_. + +CAREAWAY. +It I be not, I have made a very good voyage-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +Barest thou to my face say thou art I? + +CAREAWAY. +I would it were true and no lie; +For then thou shouldest smart, and I should bet,[187] +Where as now I do all the blows get. + +JACK JUGGLER. +And is Master Bongrace thy master, doest you then say? + +CAREAWAY. +I woll swear on a book, he was once this day-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +And for that thou shalt somewhat have, +Because thou presumest, like a saucy lying knave, +To say my master is thine. Who is thy master now? + [_Strikes him again_. + +CAREAWAY. +By my troth, sir, whosoever please you: +I am your own, for you beat me so, +As no man but my master should do. + +JACK JUGGLER. +I woll handle thee better, if fault be not in fist-- + [_Prepares to strike him_. + +CAREAWAY. +Help! save my life, masters, for the passion of Christ! + +JACK JUGGLER. +Why, thou lousy thief, dost thou cry and roar?-- + +CAREAWAY. +No, faith, I woll not cry one whit more: +Save my life, help, or I am slain-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +Yea, dost thou make a rumouring yet again? +Did not I bid thee hold thy peace?-- + +CAREAWAY. +In faith, now I leave crying; now I cease: help, help! + +JACK JUGGLER. +Who is thy master? + +CAREAWAY. + Master Bongrace-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +I woll make thee change that song, ere we pass this place; +For he is my master, and again to thee I say, +That I am his Jenkin Careaway. +Who art thou? now tell me plain. + +CAREAWAY. +Nobody but whom please you, certain-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +Thou saidest even now thy name was Careaway? + +CAREAWAY. +I cry you mercy, sir, and forgiveness pray: +I said amiss, because it was so to-day; +And thought it should have continued alway, +Like a fool as I am and a drunken knave. +But in faith, sir, ye see all the wit I have, +Therefore I beseech you do me no more blame, +But give me a new master and another name. +For it would grieve my heart, so help me God, +To run about the streets like a masterless nod.[188] + +JACK JUGGLER. +I am he that thou saidest thou were, +And Master Bongrace is my master, that dwelleth here; +Thou art no point, Careaway; thy wits do thee fail. + +CAREAWAY. +Yea, marry, sir, you have beaten them down into my tail; +But, sir, might I be bold to say one thing +Without any blows and without any beating? + +JACK JUGGLER. +Truce for a while; say on what thee lust: + +CAREAWAY. +May a man to your honesty by your word trust? +I pray you swear by the mass you woll do me no ill-- + +JACK JUGGLER. +By my faith, I promise pardon thee I will-- + +CAREAWAY. +What, and you keep no promise? + +JACK JUGGLER. + Then upon Careaway[189] +I pray God light as much or more as hath on thee to-day. + +CAREAWAY. +Now dare I speak, so mote I the, +Master Bongrace is my master, and the name of me +Is Jenkin Careaway! + +JACK JUGGLER. + What, sayest thou so? + +CAREAWAY. +And if thou wilt strike me, and break thy promise, do, +And beat on me, till I stink, and till I die; +And yet woll I still say that I am I! + +JACK JUGGLER. +This Bedlam knave without doubt is mad-- + +CAREAWAY. +No, by God, for all that I am a wise lad, +And can call to remembrance every thing +That I did this day sith my uprising; +For went not I with my master to-day +Early in the morning to the tennis-play? +At noon, while my master at his dinner sat, +Played not I at dice at the gentleman's gate? +Did not I wait on my master to supper-ward? +And I think I was not changed the way homeward! +Or else, if thou think I lie, +Ask in the street of them that I came by; +And sith that I came hither into your presence, +What man living could carry me hence? +I remember I was sent to fetch my mistress, +And what I devised to save me harmless; +Do not I speak now? [is] not this my hand? +Be not these my feet that on this ground stand? +Did not this other knave here knock me about the head? +And beat me, till I was almost dead? +How may it then be, that he should be I? +Or I not myself?--it is a shameful lie. +I woll home to our house, whosoever say nay, +For surely my name is Jenkin Careaway. + +JACK JUGGLER. +I woll make thee say otherwise, ere we depart, if we can-- + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Nay that woll I not in faith for no man, +Except thou tell me what thou hast done[190] +Ever sith five of the clock this afternoon: +Rehearse me all that without any lie, +And then I woll confess that thou art I. + +JACK JUGGLER. +When my master came to the gentleman's place, +He commanded me to run home a great pace, +To fet thither my mistress; and by the way +I did a good while at the bucklers play; +Then came I by a wife, that did costards sell, +And cast down her basket fair and well, +And gathered as many as I could get, +And put them in my sleeve: here they be yet! + +CAREAWAY. +How the devil should they come there, +For I did them all in my own sleeve bear? +He lieth not a word in all this, +Nor doth in any one point miss. +For ought I see yet between earnest and game +I must go seek me another name; +But thou mightest see all this:--tell the rest that is behind, +And there I know I shall thee a liar find. + +JACK JUGGLER. +I ran thence homeward a contrary way, +And whether I stopped there or nay, +I could tell, if me lusteth, a good token; +But it may not very well be spoken. + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +Now, may I pray thee, let no man that hear, +But tell it me privily in mine ear. + +JACK JUGGLER. +Ay, thou lost all thy money at dice, Christ give it his curse, +Well and truly picked before out of another man's purse! + +JENKIN CAREAWAY. +God's body, whoreson thief, who told thee that same? +Some cunning devil is within thee, pain of shame! +_In nomine patris_, God and our blessed lady, +Now and evermore save me from thy company! + +JACK JUGGLER. +How now, art thou Careaway or not? + +CAREAWAY. +By the Lord, I doubt, but sayest thou nay to that? + +JACK JUGGLER. +Yea, marry, I tell thee, Care-away is my name. + +CAREAWAY. +And, by these ten bones, mine is the same! +Or else tell me, if I be not he, +What my name from henceforth shall be? + +JACK JUGGLER. +By my faith, the same that it was before, +When I lust to be Careaway no more: +Look well upon me, and thou shalt see as now, +That I am Jenkin Careaway, and not thou: +Look well upon me, and by every thing +Thou shalt well know that I am not lesing. + +CAREAWAY. +I see it is so without any doubt; +But how the devil came it about? +Whoso in England looketh on him steadily, +Shall perceive plainly that he is I: +I have seen myself a thousand times in a glass; +But so like myself, as he is, never was; +He hath in every point my clothing and my gear; +My head, my cap, my shirt, and knotted hair, +And of the same colour: my eyes, nose, and lips: +My cheeks, chin, neck, feet, legs, and hips: +Of the same stature, and height, and age: +And is in every point Master Bongrace page, +That if he have a hole in his tail, +He is even I mine own self without any fail! +And yet when I remember, I wot not how, +The same man that I have ever been me thinketh I am now: +I know my master and his house, and my five wits I have: +Why then should I give credence to this foolish knave, +That nothing intendeth but me delude and mock? +For whom should I fear at my master's gate to knock? + +JACK JUGGLER. +Thinkest thou I have said all this in game? +Go, or I shall send thee hence in the devil's name! +Avoid, thou lousy lurden and precious stinking slave, +That neither thy name knowest nor canst any master have! +Wine-shaken pillory-peeper,[191] of lice not without a peck, +Hence, or by Gods precious,[192] I shall break thy neck! + +CAREAWAY. +Then, master, I beseech you heartily take the pain, +If I be found in any place, to bring me to me again. +Now is not this a wonderful case, +That no man shall lese himself so in any place? +Have any of you heard of such a thing heretofore? +No, nor never shall, I daresay, from henceforth any more. + +JACK JUGGLER [_Aside_.] +While he museth and judgeth himself upon, +I will steal away for a while, and let him alone. + [_Exit Jack Juggler_. + +CAREAWAY. +Good Lord of heaven, where did I myself leave? +Or who did me of my name by the way bereave? +For I am sure of this in my mind, +That I did in no place leave myself behind. +If I had my name played away at dice, +Or had sold myself to any man at a price, +Or had made a fray, and had lost it in fighting, +Or it had been stolen from me sleeping, +It had been a matter, and I would have kept patience; +But it spiteth my heart to have lost it by such open negligence. +Ah, thou whoreson, drowsy, drunken sot! +It were an alms-deed to walk[193] thy coat, +And I shrew him that would for thee be sorry, +To see thee well curried by and by; +And, by Christ, if any man would it do, +I myself would help thereto. +For a man may see, thou whoreson goose, +Thou wouldest lese thine arse, if it were loose! +Albeit I would never the deed believe, +But that the thing itself doth show and preve.[194] +There was never ape so like unto an ape, +As he is to me in feature and shape; +But what woll my master say, trow ye, +When he shall this gear hear and see? +Will he know me, think you, when he shall see me? +If he do not, another woll as good as he. +But where is that other I? whither is he gone? +To my master, by Cock's precious passion: +Either to put me out of my place, +Or to accuse me to my master Bongrace! +But I woll after, as fast as I can flee: +I trust to be there as soon as he. +That if my master be not ready home to come, +I woll be here again as fast as I can run. +In any wise to speak with my mistress, +Or else I shall never escape hanging doubtless. + +DAME COY. +I shall not sup this night, full well I see; +For as yet nobody cometh for to fet me. +But good enough, let me alone: +I woll be even with them every-chone. +I say nothing, but I think somewhat, i-wis: +Some there be that shall hear of this! +Of all unkind and churlish husbands this is the cast, +To let their wives sit at home and fast; +While they be forth, and make good cheer: +Pastime and sport, as now he doth there. +But if I were a wise woman, as I am a mome, +I should make myself, as good cheer at home. +But if he have thus unkindly served me, +I woll not forget it this months three; +And if I wist the fault were in him, I pray God I be dead, +But he should have such a curry,[195] ere he went to bed, +As he never had before in all his life, +Nor any man else have had of his wife! +I would rate him and shake him after such a sort, +As should be to him a corrosive full little to his comfort! + +ALLISON TRIP-AND-GO. +If I may be so bold, by your mistress-ship's license, +As to speak and show my mind and sentence, +I think of this you may the boy thank; +For I know that he playeth you many a like prank, +And that would you say, if you knew as much as we, +That his daily conversation and behaviour see; +For if you command him to go speak with some one, +It is an hour, ere he woll be gone; +Then woll he run forth, and play in the street, +And come again, and say that he cannot with him meet. + +DAME COY. +Nay, nay, it is his master's play: +He serveth me so almost every third day; +But I woll be even with him, as God give me joy, +And yet the fault may be in the boy-- +As ungracious a graft, so mot I thrive, +As any goeth on God's ground alive! + +CAREAWAY. +My wit is breeched in such a brake, +That I cannot devise what way is best to take. +I was almost as far as my master is; +But then I began to remember this, +And to cast the worst, as one in fear: +If he chance to see me and keep me there, +Till he come himself, and speak with my mistress, +Then am I like to be in shrewd distress: +Yet were I better, thought I, to turn home again. +And first speak with her, certain-- +Cock's body, yonder she standeth at the door! +Now is it worse than it was before. +Would Christ I could get again out of her sight: +For I see by her look she is disposed to fight. +By the Lord, she hath there an angry shrew's look-- + +DAME COY. +Lo, yonder cometh that unhappy hook! + +CAREAWAY. +God save me, mistress, do you know me well? + +DAME COY. +Come near[196] hither unto me, and I shall thee tell +Why, thou naughty villain, is that thy guise, +To jest with thy mistress in such wise? +Take that to begin with, and God before! +When thy master cometh home, thou shalt have more: +For he told me, when he forth went, +That thou shouldest come back again incontinent +To bring me to supper where he now is, +And thou hast played by the way, and they have done by this. +But no force I shall, thou mayest trust me, +Teach all naughty knaves to beware by thee. + +CAREAWAY. +Forsooth, mistress, if ye knew as much as I, +Ye would not be with me half so angry; +For the fault is neither in my master, nor in me, nor you, +But in another knave that was here even now, +And his name was Jenkin Careaway-- + +DAME COY. +What, I see my man is disposed to play! +I ween he be drunken or mad, I make God a vow! + +CAREAWAY. +Nay, I have been made sober and tame, I, now:-- +I was never so handled before in all my life: +I would every man in England had so beaten[197] his wife! +I have forgotten with tousing by the hair, +What I devised to say a little ere. + +DAME COY. +Have I lost my supper this night through thy negligence? + +CAREAWAY. +Nay then were I a knave, mistress, saving your reverence. + +DAME COY. +Why, I am sure that by this time it is done-- + +CAREAWAY. +Yea, that it is more than an hour agone-- + +DAME COY. +And was not thou sent to fetch me thither? + +CAREAWAY. +Yea, and had come right quickly hither, +But that by the way I had a great fall, +And my name, body, shape, legs, and all: +And met with one, that from me did it steal; +But, by God, he and I some blows did deal! +I would he were now before your gate, +For you would pummel him jollily about the pate. + +DAME COY. +Truly this wage-pasty[198] is either drunken or mad. + +CAREAWAY. +Never man suffered so much wrong as I had; +But, mistress, I should say a thing to you: +Tarry, it woll come to my remembrance even now +I must needs use a substantial premeditation; +For the matter lieth greatly me upon. +I beseech your mistress-ship of pardon and forgiveness, +Desiring you to impute it to my simple and rude dulness: +I have forgotten what I had[199] thought to have said +And am thereof full ill-afraid; +But when I lost myself, I knew very well, +I lost also that I should you tell. + +DAME COY. +Why, thou wretched villain, doest thou me scorn and mock, +To make me to these folk a laughing-stock? +Ere thou go out of my hands, thou shalt have something; +And I woll reckon better in the morning. + +CAREAWAY. +And if you beat me, mistress, avise you; +For I am none of your servants now. +That other I is now your page, +And I am no longer in your bondage. + +DAME COY. +Now walk, precious thief, get thee out of my sight! +And I charge thee come in my presence no more this night: +Get thee hence, and wait on thy master at once. + +CAREAWAY. +Marry, sir, this is handling for the nonce: +I would I had been hanged, before that I was lost; +I was never this[200] canvassed and tossed: +That if my master, on his part also, +Handle me, as my mistress and the other I[201] do, +I shall surely be killed between them three, +And all the devils in hell shall not save me. +But yet, if the other I might have with me part, +All this would never grieve my heart. + + [_Enter Jack Juggler_. + +JACK JUGGLER. +How say you, masters, I pray you tell, +Have not I requited my merchant well? +Have not I handled him after a good sort? +Had it not been pity to have lost this sport? +Anon his master, on his behalf, +You shall see how he woll handle the calf! +If he throughly angered be, +He woll make him smart, so mot I the. +I would not for a price of a new pair of shone, +That any part of this had been undone; +But now I have revenged my quarrel, +I woll go do off this mine apparel, +And now let Careaway be Careaway again; +I have done with that name now, certain, +Except peraventure I shall take the self-same weed +Some other time again for a like cause and need. + + [_Enter Bongrace and Careaway_. + +BONGRACE. +Why, then, darest thou to presume to tell me, +That I know is no wise possible for to be? + +CAREAWAY. +Now, by my truth, master, I have told you no lie; +And all these folks knoweth as well as I, +I had no sooner knocked at the gate, +But straightway he had me by the pate; +Therefore, if you beat me, till I fart and shit again, +You shall not cause me for any pain; +But I woll affirm, as I said before, +That when I came near, another stood at the door. + +BONGRACE. +Why, thou naughty villain, darest thou affirm to me +That which was never seen nor hereafter shall be? +That one man may have two bodies and two faces, +And that one man at one time may be in two places? +Tell me, drankest thou anywhere by the way? + +CAREAWAY. +I shrew me, if I drank any more than twice to-day, +Till I met even now with that other I, +And with him I supped and drank truly; +But as for you, if you gave me drink and meat, +As oftentimes as you do me beat, +I were the best-fed page in all this city. +But, as touching that, you have on me no pity, +And not only I, but all that do you serve, +For meat and drink may rather starve. + +BONGRACE. +What, you saucy malapert knave, +Begin you with your master to prate and rave? +Your tongue is liberal and all out of frame: +I must needs conjure it, and make it tame. +Where is that other Careaway that thou said was here? + +CAREAWAY. +Now, by my Christendom, sir, I wot ne'er? + +BONGRACE. +Why, canst thou find no man to mock but me? + +CAREAWAY. +I mock you not, master, so mot I the, +Every word was true that I you told. + +BONGRACE. +Nay I know toys and pranks of old, +And now thou art not satisfied nor content, +Without regard of my biddings and commandment, +To have played by the way as a lewd knave and negligent, +When I thee on my message home sent, +But also wouldest willingly me delude and mock, +And make me to all wise men a laughing-stock: +Showing me such things as in no wise be may, +To the intent thy lewdness may turn to jest and play; +Therefore if thou speak any such thing to me again, +I promise it shall be unto thy pain. + +CAREAWAY. +Lo, is not he in miserable case, +That serveth such a master in any place? +That with force woll compel him that thing to deny, +That he knoweth true, and hath seen with his eye? + +BONGRACE. +Was it not, trowest thou, thine own shadow? + +CAREAWAY. +My shadow could never have beaten me so! + +BONGRACE. +Why, by what reason possible may such a thing be? + +CAREAWAY. +Nay, I marvel and wonder at it more than ye; +And at the first it did me curstly meve[202] +Nor I would mine own eyes in no wise believe, +Until that other I beat me so, +That he made me believe it, whether I would or no. +And if he had yourself now within his reach, +He would make you say so too, or else beshit your breech. + +MASTER BONGRACE. +I durst a good meed and a wager lay, +That thou layest down and slepst by the way, +And dreamed all this, that thou hast me told. + +CAREAWAY. +Nay, there you lie, master, if I might be so bold; +But we rise so early that, if I had, +I had done well, and a wise lad. +Yet, master, I would you understood, +That I have always been trusty and good, +And fly as fast as a bear in a cage, +Whensoever you send me in your message; +In faith, as for this that I have told you, +I saw and felt it as waking as I am now: +For I had no sooner knocked at the gate, +But the other I knave had me by the pate; +And I durst to you on a book swear, +That he had been watching for me there, +Long ere I came, hidden in some privy place, +Even for the nonce to have me by the face. + +MASTER BONGRACE. +Why, then, thou spakest not with my wife? + +CAREAWAY. +No, that I did not, master, by my life, +Until that other I was gone, +And then my mistress sent me after anon, +To wait on you home in the devil's name: +I ween the devil never so beat his dame! + +MASTER BONGRACE. +And where became that other Careaway? + +CAREAWAY. +By mine honesty, sir, I cannot say; +But I warrant he is now not far hence; +He is here among this company, for forty pence. + +MASTER BONGRACE. +Hence, at once seek and smell him out; +I shall rap thee on the lying knave's snout: +I woll not be deluded with such a glossing lie, +Nor give credence, till I see it with my own eye. + +CAREAWAY. +Truly, good sir, by your mastership's favour, +I cannot well find a knave by the savour; +Many here smell strong, but none so rank as he: +A stronger-scented knave than he was cannot be. +But, sir, if he be haply found anon, +What amends shall I have for that you have me done? + +MASTER BONGRACE. +If he may be found, I shall walk his coat. + +CAREAWAY. +Yea, for our lady's sake, sir, I beseech you spare him not, +For it is some false knave withouten doubt. +I had rather than forty pence we could find him out; +For, if a man may believe a glass, +Even my very own self it was. +And here he was but even right now, +And stepped away suddenly, I wot not how. +Of such another thing I have neither heard ne seen, +By our blessed lady, heaven queen! + +MASTER BONGRACE. +Plainly it was thy shadow, that thou didst see; +For, in faith, the other thing is not possible to be. + +CAREAWAY. +Yes, in good faith, sir, by your leave, +I know it was I by my apples in my sleeve, +And speaketh as like me as ever you heard:[203] +Such hair, such a cap, such hose and coat, +And in everything as just as fourpence to a groat. +That if he were here, you should well see, +That you could not discern nor know him from me; +For think you, that I do not myself know? +I am not so foolish a knave, I trow. +Let who woll look him by and by, +And he woll depose upon a book that he is I; +And I dare well say you woll say the same; +For he called himself by my own name. +And he told me all that I have done, +Sith five of the clock this afternoon, +He could tell when you were to supper set +[When] you send me home my mistress to fet, +And showed me all things that I did by the way-- + +BONGRACE. +What was that? + +CAREAWAY. How I did at the bucklers play; +And when I scattered a basket of apples from a stall, +And gathered them into my sleeve all, +And how I played after that also-- + +BONGRACE. +Thou shalt have, boy, therefore,[204] so mote I go; +Is that the guise of a trusty page, +To play, when he is sent on his master's message? + +DAME COY. +Lay on and spare not, for the love of Christ, +Joll his head to a post,[205] and favour your fist! +Now for my sake, sweetheart, spare and favour your hand, +And lay him about the ribs with this wand. + +CAREAWAY. +Now mercy that I ask of you both twain: +Save my life, and let me not be slain. +I have had beating enough for one day: +That a mischief take the other-me Careaway! +That if ever he come to my hands again, +I-wis it shall be to his pain. +But I marvel greatly, by our Lord Jesus, +How he-I escaped, I-me beat me thus. +And is not he-I an unkind knave, +That woll no more pity on myself have? +Here may you see evidently, i-wis, +That in him-me no drop of honesty is. +Now a vengeance light on such a churlish knave +That no more love toward myself have! + +DAME COY. +I knew very,[206] sweet-heart, and said right now, +That no fault thereof should be in you. + +BONGRACE. +No, truly, good bedfellow, I were then much unkind, +If you at any time should be out of my mind. + +DAME COY. +Surely, I have of you a great treasure, +For you do all things which may be to my pleasure. + +BONGRACE. +I am sorry that your chance hath now been so ill: +I would gladly been unsupped, so you had your fill; +But go we in, pigsnie, that you may sup; +You have cause now to thank this same hang-up; +For had not he been, you had fared very well. + +DAME COY. +I bequeath him with a hot vengeance to the devil of hell, +And heartily I beseech him that hanged on the rood, +That he never eat nor drink that may do him good, +And that he die a shameful death, saving my charity! + +CAREAWAY. +I pray God send him such prosperity, +That hath caused me to have all this business. +But yet, sirs, you see the charity of my mistress: +She liveth after a wonderful charitable fashion; +For I assure you she is always in this passion, +And scarcely one day throughout the whole year +She woll wish any man better cheer, +And some time, if she well-angered be, +I pray God (woll she say) the house may sink under me! +But, masters, if you happen to see that other I, +As that you shall, it is not very likely, +Nor I woll not desire you for him purposely to look, +For it is an uncomparable unhappy hook; +And if it be I, you might happen to seek, +And not find me out in an whole week. +For when I was wont to run away, +I used not to come again in less than a month or tway: +Howbeit, for all this I think it be not I; +For, to show the matter indeed truly, +I never use to run away in winter nor in vere,[207] +But always in such time and season of the year, +When honey lieth in the hives of bees, +And all manner fruit falleth from the trees: +As apples, nuts, pears, and plums also, +Whereby a boy may live abroad a month or two. +This cast do I use, I woll not with you feign; +Therefore I wonder if he be I, certain. +But, and if he be, and you meet me abroad by chance, +Send me home to my master with a vengeance! +And show him, if he come not here to-morrow night, +I woll never receive him again, if I might; +And in the meantime I woll give him a groat, +That woll well and thriftily walk his coat; +For a more ungracious knave is not even now +Between this place and Calicow.[208] +Nor a more frantic-mad knave in Bedlam, +Nor a more fool hence to Jerusalem. +That if to come again percase he shall refuse, +I woll continue as I am, and let him choose; +And but he come the sooner, by our lady bright, +He shall lie without the doors all night. +For I woll shit[209] up the gate, and get me to-bed, +For I promise you I have a very giddy head. +I need no supper for this night, +Nor would eat no meat, though I might; +And for you also, master, I think it[210] best +You go to-bed, and take your rest. +For who of you had been handled as I have been, +Would not be long out of his bed, I ween; +No more woll I, but steal out of sight: +I pray God give you all good night! +And send you better hap and fortune, +Than to lese yourself homeward as I have done. + + [_Exit Careaway_. + +Somewhat it was, saith the proverb old, +That the cat winked when her eye was out, +That is to say, no tale can be told, +But that some English may be picked thereof out +If so to search the Latin and ground of it men will go about, +As this trifling enterlude that before you hath been rehearsed, +May signify some further meaning, if it be well searched. + +Such is the fashion of the world now-a-days, +That the simple innocents are deluded, +And an hundred thousand divers ways +By subtle and crafty means shamefully abused, +And by strength, force, and violence ofttimes compelled +To believe and say the moon is made of a green cheese +Or else have great harm, and percase their life lese. + +And an old saying it is, that most times might, +Force, strength, power, and colourable subtlety +Doth oppress, debar, overcome, and defeat right, +Though the cause stand never so greatly against equity, +And the truth thereof be knowen for never so perfit certainty: +Yea, and the poor simple innocent that hath had wrong and injury, +Must call the other his good master for showing him such mercy. + +And as it is daily seen, for fear of further disprofit, +He must that man his best friend and master call, +Of whom he never received any manner benefit, +And at whose hand he never han any good at all; +And must grant, affirm, or deny, whatsoever he shall +He must say the crow is white, if he be so commanded, +Yea, and that he himself is into another body changed. + +He must say he did amiss, though he never did offend; +He must ask forgiveness, where he did no trespass, +Or else be in trouble, care, and misery without end, +And be cast in some arrearage without any grace; +And that thing he saw done before his own face +He must by compulsion stiffly deny, +And for fear, whether he woll or not, say _tongue, you lie_! + +And in every faculty this thing is put in ure, +And is so universal that I need no one to name, +And, as I fear, is like evermore to endure; +For it is in all faculties a common sport and game, +The weaker to say as the stronger biddeth, or to have blame, +As a cunning sophist woll by argument bring to pass, +That the rude shall confess, and grant himself an ass. + +And this is the daily exercise and practise of their schools, +And not among them only, but also among all others: +The stronger to compel, and make poor simple fools +To say as they command them in all manner matters. +I woll name none particular, but set them all together +Without any exception; for I pray you show me one +Amongst all in the world that seeth not such fashion. + +He that is stronger and more of power and might, +If he be disposed to revenge his cause, +Woll soon pick a quarrel, be it wrong or right, +To the inferior and weaker for a couple of straws, +And woll against him so extremely lay the laws, +That he woll put him to the worse, either by false injury, +Or by some craft and subtlety, or else by plain tyranny. + +As you saw right now by example plain +Another fellow, being a counterfeit page, +Brought the gentleman's servant out of his brain, +And made him grant that himself was fallen in dotage +Bearing himself in hand that he did rage, +And when he could not bring that to pass by reason, +He made him grant it, and say by compulsion. + +Therefore happy are they, that can beware +Into whose hands they fall by any such chance; +Which if they do, they hardly escape care, +Trouble, misery, and woeful grievance, +And thus I make an end, committing you to his guidance, +That made and redeemed us all, and to you that be now here +I pray God grant and send many a good new year! + +FINIS.[211] + + + + + + +A PRETTY INTERLUDE CALLED NICE WANTON. + + + +[Of this interlude only two copies have hitherto been discovered, one +in the Devonshire collection, the second in the King's Library, British +Museum, from the Roxburghe sale. An account of the piece, which has +never been reprinted before, is given by Collier ("History of Dramatic +Poetry," ii. 381-3). Considering its rarity, early date, and curiosity, +it is remarkable that "Nice Wanton" should have escaped Dodsley and his +editors.] + + + +A PRETTY INTERLUDE, CALLED NICE WANTON. + + +Wherein ye may see +Three branches of an ill tree: +The mother and her children three, +Two naught, and one godly. + +Early sharp, that will be thorn, +Soon ill, that will be naught: +To be naught, better unborn, +Better unfed than naughtily taught. + +_Ut magnum magnos, pueros puerilia doctus_. + + * * * * * + +PERSONAGES. + + _The Messenger. +Barnabas. Iniquity. +Ismael. Baily errand. +Dalilah. Xantippe. +Eulalia. Worldly Shame. + Daniel the Judge_. + +Anno Domini, M.D.LX. + + + +THE PROLOGUE. + + +THE MESSENGER. The prudent Prince Solomon doth say, +He that spareth the rod, the child doth hate, +He would youth should be kept in awe alway +By correction in time at reasonable rate: + +To be taught to fear God, and their parents obey, +To get learning and qualities, thereby to maintain +An honest quiet life, correspondent alway +To God's law and the king's, for it is certain, + +If children be noseled[212] in idleness and ill, +And brought up therein, it is hard to restrain, +And draw them from natural wont evil, +As here in this interlude ye shall see plain: + +By two children brought up wantonly in play, +Whom the mother doth excuse, when she should chastise; +They delight in dalliance and mischief alway, +At last they end their lives in miserable wise. + +The mother persuaded by worldly shame, +That she was the cause of their wretched life, +So pensive, so sorrowful, for their death she became, +That in despair she would sle herself with a knife. + +Then her son Barnabas (by interpretation +The son of comfort), her ill-purpose do[th] stay, +By the scriptures he giveth her godly consolation, +And so concludeth; all these parts will we play. + + BARNABAS _cometh_. + +BARNABAS. My master, in my lesson yesterday, +Did recite this text of Ecclesiasticus: +Man is prone to evil from his youth, did he say, +Which sentence may well be verified in us. +Myself, my brother, and sister Dalilah, +Whom our parents to their cost to school do find. +I tarry for them here, time passeth away, +I lose my learning, they ever loiter behind. + +If I go before, they do me threat +To complain to my mother: she for their sake, +Being her tender tidlings,[213] will me beat: +Lord, in this perplexity, what way shall I take? +What will become of them? grace God them send +To apply their learning, and their manners amend! + +ISMAEL _and_ DALILAH _come in singing_. + + _Here we comen, and here we lonen_,[214] + _And here we will abide abide-a_. + +BARNABAS. Fye, brother, fye, and specially you, sister Dalilah, +Soberness becometh maids alway. + +DALILAH. What, ye dolt, ye be ever in one song! + +ISMAEL. Yea, sir, it shall cost you blows, ere it be long. + +BARNABAS. Be ye not ashamed the truands to play, +Losing your time and learning, and that every day? +Learning bringeth knowledge of God and honest living to get. + +DALILAH. Yea, marry, I warrant you, master hoddypeak. + +BARNABAS. Learn apace, sister, and after to spin and sew, +And other honest housewifely points to know. + +ISMAEL. Spin, quod-a? yea, by the mass, and with your heels up-wind, +For a good mouse-hunt is cat after Saint Kind.[215] + +BARNABAS. Lewd speaking corrupteth good manners, Saint Paul doth say; +Come, let us go, if ye will, to school this day; +I shall be shent for tarrying so long, + [_Barnabas goeth out_. + +ISMAEL. Go, get thee hence, thy mouth full of horse-dung! +Now, pretty sister, what sport shall we devise? +Thus palting[216] to school, I think us unwise: +In summer die for thrist,[217] in winter for cold, +And still to live in fear of a churl who would? + +DALILAH. Not I, by the mass, I had rather he hanged were, +Than I would sit quaking like a mome for fear. +I am sun-burned in summer, in winter the cold +Maketh my limbs gross, and my beauty decay; +If I should use it, as they would I should, +I should never be fair woman, I dare say. + +ISMAEL. No, sister, no, but I can tell, +Where we shall have good cheer, +Lusty companions two or three, +At good wine, ale, and beer. + +DALILAH. O good brother, let us go, +I will never go more to-to[218] school. +Shall I never know, +What pastime meaneth? +Yes, I will not be such a fool. + +ISMAEL. Have with thee, Dalilah: +Farewell our school! +Away with books and all, + [_They cast away their books_. +I will set my heart +On a merry pin, +Whatever shall befall. + +EULALIA. Lord, what folly is in youth! +How unhappy be children now-a-days? +And the more pity, to say the truth, +Their parents maintain them in evil ways: +Which is a great cause that the world decays, +For children, brought up in idleness and play, +Unthrifty and disobedient continue alway. + +A neighbour of mine hath children hereby, +Idle, disobedient, proud, wanton, and nice. +As they come by, they do shrewd turns daily; +Their parents so to suffer them surely be not wise. +They laugh me to scorn, when I tell them mine advice; +I will speak with their elders and warn them neighbourly: +Never in better time, their mother is hereby. + + [_Enter Xantippe_. + +God save you, gossip, I am very fain, +That you chance now to come this way; +I long to talk with you a word or twain, +I pray you take it friendly that I shall say: +Ismael your son and your daughter Dalilah +Do me shrewd turns daily more and more, +Chide and beat my children, it grieveth me sore. +They swear, curse, and scold, as they go by the way, +Giving other ill ensample to do the same, +To God's displeasure and their hurt another day, +Chastise them for it, or else ye be to blame. + +XANTIPPE. Tush, tush, if ye have no more than that to say, +Ye may hold your tongue and get ye away, +Alas, poor souls, they sit a-school all day +In fear of a churl; and if a little they play, +He beateth them like a devil; when they come home, +Your mistress-ship would have me lay on. +If I should beat them, so oft as men complain, +By the mass, within this month I should make them lame. + +EULALIA. Be not offended, I pray you, I must say more, +Your son is suspect light-fingered to be: +Your daughter hath nice tricks three or four; +See to it in time, lest worse ye do see; +He that spareth the rod, hateth the child truly. +Yet Salomon sober correction doth mean, +Not to beat and bounce them, to make them lame. + +XANTIPPE. God thank you, mistress, I am well at ease: +Such a fool to teach me, preaching as she please! +Dame, ye belie them deadly, I know plain; +Because they go handsomely, ye disdain.[219] + +EULALIA. Then on the other[220] as well would I complain, +But your other son is good, and no thanks to you! +These will ye make nought, by sweet Jesu. + +XANTIPPE. Gup, liar,[221] my children nought ye lie: +By your malice they shall not set a fly; +I have but one mome in comparison of his brother: +Him the fool praiseth, and despiseth the other. + +EULALIA. Well, Xantippe, better in time than too late, +Seeing ye take it so, here my leave I take. + [_Exit_. + +XANTIPPE. Marry, good leave have ye, the great God be with you! +My children or I be cursed, I think; +They be complained on, wherever they go, +That for their pleasure they might drink. +Nay, by this the poor souls be come from school weary; +I will go get them meat to make them merry. + + INIQUITY, ISMAEL, _and_ DALILAH _come in together_. + +INIQUITY. _Lo, lo, here I bring-a_. + +ISMAEL. _What is she, now ye have her?_ + +DALILAH. _A lusty minion loner_.[222] + +INIQUITY. _For no gold will I give her_-- + +ALL TOGETHER. _Welcome, my honey-a!_ + +INIQUITY. O my heart! [_Here he speaketh_. +This wench can sing, +And play her part. + +DALILAH. I am yours, and you mine, with all my heart. + +INIQUITY. By the mass, it is well sung; +Were ye not sorry ye were a maid so long? + +DALILAH. Fie, master Iniquity, fie, I am a maid yet. + +ISMAEL. No, sister, no, your maidenhead is sick. + +INIQUITY. That knave your brother will be a blab still, +I-wis, Dalilah, ye can say as much by him, if ye will. + +DALILAH. By him, quod-a? he hath whores two or three, +But ich tell your minion doll,[223] by Gog's body: +It skilleth not she doth hold you as much. + +ISMAEL. Ye lie falsely, she will play me no such touch. + +DALILAH. Not she? Yes, to do your heart good, +I could tell you who putteth a bone in your hood! + +ISMAEL. Peace, whore, or ye bear me a box on[224] there-- + +DALILAH. Here is mine ear, knave; strike, and thou dare! +To suffer him thus ye be no man, +If ye will not revenge me, I will find one; +To set so little by me ye were not wont-- +Well, it is no matter; +Though ye do, _ceteri nolunt_. + +INIQUITY. Peace, Dalilah; speak ye Latin, poor fool? + +DALILAH. No, no, but a proverb I learned at school-- + +ISMAEL. Yea, sister, you went to school, till ye were past grace;-- + +DALILAH. Yea, so didst thou, by thy knave's face! + +INIQUITY. Well, no more a-do, let all this go, +We kinsfolk must be friends, it must be so. +Come on, come on, come on, + [_He casteth dice on the board_. +Here they be that will do us all good. + +ISMAEL. If ye use it long, your hair will grow through your hood. + +INIQUITY. Come on, knave, with Christ's curse, +I must have some of the money +Thou hast picked out of thy father's purse! + +DALILAH. He, by the mass, if he can get his purse, +Now and then he maketh it by half the worse. + +ISMAEL. I defy you both, whore and knave-- + +INIQUITY. What, ye princocks, begin ye to rave? Come on-- + +DALILAH. Master Iniquity, by your leave, +I will play a crown or two here by your sleeve. + +ISMAEL. Then be ye servant to a worshipful man, +Master Iniquity--a right name, by Saint John! + +DALILAH. What can ye say by Master Iniquity? +I love him and his name most heartily. + +INIQUITY. God-a-mercy, Dalilah, good luck, I warrant thee, +I will shrive you both by and by. + [_He kisseth her_. + +ISMAEL. Come on, but first let us have a song. + +DALILAH. I am content, so that it be not long. + + [_Iniquity and Dalilah sing_: + + INIQUITY. _Gold locks, + She must have knocks, + Or else I do her wrong_. + + DALILAH. _When ye have your will + Ye were best lie still, + The winter nights be long_. + + INIQUITY. _When I ne may, + Another assay; + I will take it for no wrong_: + + DALILAH. _Then, by the rood, + A bone in your hood + I shall put, ere it be long_. + +ISMAEL. She matcheth you, sirrah! + +INIQUITY. By Gog's blood, she is the best whore in England. + +DALILAH. It is knavishly praised; give me your hand. + +INIQUITY. I would thou hadst such another. + +ISMAEL. By the mass, rather than forty pound, brother. + +INIQUITY. Here, sirs, come on; seven--[_They set him_. +Eleven[225] at all[226]-- + +ISMAEL. Do ye nick us?[227] beknave your noly!-- + +INIQUITY. Ten mine-- + +ISMAEL (_casteth dice_). Six mine, +Have at it, and it were for all my father's kine. +It is lost by his wounds,[228] and ten to one! + +INIQUITY. Take the dice, Dalilah, cast on-- + [_She casteth, and they set_. + +DALILAH. Come on; five! +Thrive at fairest-- + +ISMAEL. Gup, whore, and I at rest [_he loseth_]. +By Gog's blood, I ween God and the devil be against me-- + +INIQUITY. If th' one forsake thee, th' other will take thee! + +ISMAEL. Then is he a good fellow; I would not pass,[229] +So that I might bear a rule in hell, by the mass: +To toss firebrands at these pennyfathers'[230] pates; +I would be porter, and receive them at the gates. +In boiling lead and brimstone I would seeth them each one: +The knaves have all the money, good fellows have none. + +DALILAH. Play, brother, have ye lost all your money now? + +ISMAEL. Yea, I thank that knave and such a whore as thou. +'Tis no matter, I will have money, or I will sweat; +By Gog's blood, I will rob the next I meet-- +Yea, and it be my father. + [_He goeth out_. + +INIQUITY. Thou boy, by the mass, ye will climb the ladder, +Ah, sirrah, I love a wench that can be wily, +She perceived my mind with a twink of mine eye, +If we two play boody on any man, +We will make him as bare as Job anon, +Well, Dalilah, let see what ye have won. + [_They tell_. + +DALILAH. Sir, I had ten shillings when I begon, +And here is all--every farthing. + +INIQUITY. Ye lie like a whore, ye have won a pound! + +DALILAH. Then the devil strike me to the ground! + +INIQUITY. I will feel your pocket, by your leave, mistress-- + +DALILAH. Away, knave, not mine, by the mass-- + +INIQUITY. Yes, by God, and give you this to boot-- + [_He giveth her a box_. + +DALILAH. Out, whoreson knave, I beshrew thy heart-root! +Wilt thou rob me and beat me too? + +INIQUITY. In the way of correction, but a blow or two! + +DALILAH. Correct thy dogs, thou shalt not beat me, +I will make your knave's flesh cut, I warrant thee. +Ye think I have no friends; yes, I have in store +A good fellow or two, perchance more. +Yea, by the mass, they shall box you for this gear, +A knave I found thee, a knave I leave thee here. + [_She goeth out_. + +INIQUITY. Gup, whore; do ye hear this jade? +Loving, when she is pleased: +When she is angry, thus shrewd: +Thief, brother: sister, whore; +Two graffs of an ill tree, +I will tarry no longer here, +Farewell, God be with ye! + [_He goeth out_. + +DALILAH _cometh in ragged, her face hid, or disfigured, halting +on a staff_. + +Alas, wretched wretch that I am, +Most miserable caitiff that ever was born, +Full of pain and sorrow, crooked and lorn: +Stuff'd with diseases, in this world forlorn. +My sinews be shrunken, my flesh eaten with pox: +My bones full of ache and great pain: +My head is bald, that bare yellow locks; +Crooked I creep to the earth again. +Mine eyesight is dim, my hands tremble and shake: +My stomach abhorreth all kind of meat: +For lack of clothes great cold I take, +When appetite serveth, I can get no meat +Where I was fair and amiable of face, +Now am I foul and horrible to see; +All this I have deserved for lack of grace; +Justly for my sins God doth plague me. + +My parents did tiddle[231] me: they were to blame; +Instead of correction, in ill did me maintain: +I fell to[232] naught, and shall die with shame; +Yet all this is not half of my grief and pain. + +The worm of my conscience, that shall never die, +Accuseth me daily more and more: +So oft have I sinned wilfully, +That I fear to be damned evermore. + + _Enter_ BARNABAS. + +BARNABAS. What woful wight art thou, tell me, +That here most grievously dost lament? +Confess the truth, and I will comfort thee, +By the word of God omnipotent: +Although your time ye have misspent, +Repent and amend, while ye have space, +And God will restore you to health and grace. + +DALILAH. To tell you who I am, I dare not for shame; +But my filthy living hath brought me in this case, +Full oft for my wantonness you did me blame; +Yet to take your counsel I had not the grace. +To be restored to health, alas, it is past; +Disease hath brought me into such decay, +Help me with your alms, while my life doth last, +That, like a wretch as I am, I may go my way. + +BARNABAS, Show me your name, sister, I you pray, +And I will help you now at your need; +Both body and soul will I feed. + +DALILAH. You[233] have named me already, if I durst be so bold: +Your[234] sister Dalilah, that wretch I am; +My wanton nice toys ye knew of old. +Alas, brother, they have brought me to this shame. + +When you went to school, my brother and I would play, +Swear, chide, and scold with man and woman; +To do shrewd turns our delight was alway, +Yet were we tiddled, and you beaten now and then. + +Thus our parents let us do what we would, +And you by correction they kept thee under awe: +When we grew big, we were sturdy and bold; +By father and mother we set not a straw, + +Small matter for me; I am past; +But your brother and mine is in great jeopardy: +In danger to come to shame at the last, +He frameth his living so wickedly. + +BARNABAS. Well, sister,[235] I ever feared ye would be nought, +Your lewd behaviours sore grieve[d] my heart: +To train you to goodness all means have I sought, +But in vain; yet will I play a brotherly part. + +For the soul is more precious, most dearly bought +With the blood of Christ, dying therefore: +To save it first a mean must be sought +At God's hand by Christ, man's only Saviour. + +Consider, Dalilah, God's fatherly goodness, +Which for your good hath brought you in this case. +Scourged you with his rod of pure love doubtless, +That, once knowing yourself, ye might call for grace. + +Ye seem to repent, but I doubt whether[236] +For your sins or for the misery ye be in: +Earnestly repent for your sin rather, +For these plagues be but the reward of sin. + +But so repent that ye sin no more, +And then believe with steadfast faith, +That God will forgive you for evermore, +For Christ's sake, as the scripture saith. + +As for your body, if it be curable, +I will cause to be healed, and[237] during your life +I will clothe you and feed you, as I am able. +Come, sister, go with me, ye have need of relief. + [_They go out_. + +DANIEL (_the judge_). As a judge of the country, here am I come, +Sent by the king's majesty, justice to do: +Chiefly to proceed in judgment of a felon: +I tarry for the verdict of the quest,[238] ere I go. + + [_Iniquity, Baily errand, comes in; the judge sitteth down_. + +Go, Baily, know whether they be all agreed, or no; +If they be so, bid them come away, +And bring their prisoner; I would hear what they say. + +[BAILY]. I go, my Lord, I go, too soon for one: +He is like to play a cast will break his neck-bone. +I beseech your lor'ship be good to him: +The man is come of good kin. +If your lordship would be so good to me, + [_He telleth him in his ear the rest may not hear_. +As for my sake to set him free, +I could have twenty pound in a purse, +Yea, and your lordship a right fair horse, +Well worth ten pound-- + +DANIEL (_the judge_). Get thee away, thou hell-hound! +If ye were well examined and tried, +Perchance a false knave ye would be spied. + [_Iniquity goeth out; the judge speaketh still_. +Bribes (saith Salomon) blind the wise man's sight, +That he cannot see to give judgment right. +Should I be a briber?[239] nay, he shall have the law, +As I owe to God and the king obedience and awe. + + [_They bring Ismael in, bound like a prisoner_. + +INIQUITY (_aside_). Ye be tied fair enough for running away! +If ye do not after me, ye will be hanged, I dare say; +If thou tell no tales, but hold thy tongue, +I will set thee at liberty, ere it be long, +Though thou be judged to die anon. + +JUDGE (_to the jury_). Come on, sirs, I pray you, come on, +Be you all agreed in one? + +QU. Yea, my lord, everychone. + [_One of them speaketh for the quest_. + +JUDGE. Where Ismael was indicted[240] by twelve men +Of felony, burglary, and murder, +As the indictment declareth how, where, and when, +Ye heard it read to you lately in order: +You, with the rest, I trust all true men, +Be charged upon your oaths to give verdit directly, +Whether Ismael thereof be guilty or not guilty. + +QU. Guilty, my lord, and most guilty. + [_One for the rest_. + +INIQUITY. Wilt thou hang, my lord, [this] whoreson noddy? + +JUDGE (_to Iniquity_). Tush, hold thy tongue, and I warrant thee[241]-- + +JUDGE (_to Ismael_). The Lord have mercy upon thee! +Thou shalt go to the place thou cam'st fro +Till to-morrow, nine of the clock, there to remain: +To the place of execution then shalt thou go, +There be hanged to death, and after again, +Being dead, for ensample to be hanged in a chain. +Take him away, and see it be done, +At your peril that may fall thereupon. + +ISMAEL. Though I be judged to die, I require respite, +For the king's advantage some[242] things I can recite. + +INIQUITY. Away with him, he will speak but of spite-- + +JUDGE. Well, we will hear you say what you can, +But see that ye wrongfully accuse no man. + +ISMAEL. I will belie no man, but this I may say, +Here standeth he that brought me to this way: + +INIQUITY. My lord, he lieth like a damned knave, +The fear of death doth make him rave-- + +ISMAEL. His naughty company and play at dice +Did me first to stealing entice: +He was with me at robberies, I say it to his face; +Yet can I say more in time and space. + +INIQUITY. Thou hast said too much, I beshrew thy whoreson's face. + [_Aside_. +Hang him, my lord, out of the way, +The thief careth not what he doth say. +Let me be hangman, I will teach him a sleight; +For fear of talking, I will strangle him straight; +Tarry here that list, for I will go-- + [_He would go_. + +JUDGE. No, no, my friend, not so; +I thought always ye should not be good, +And now it will prove, I see, by the rood. + [_They take him in a halter; he fighteth with them_. +Take him, and lay him in irons strong, +We will talk with you more, ere it be long. + +INIQUITY. He that layeth hands on me in this place, +Ich lay my brawling iron on his face! +By Gog's blood, I defy thy worst; +If thou shouldest hang me, I were accurst. +I have been at as low an ebb as this, +And quickly aloft again, by Gis! +I have mo friends than ye think I have; +I am entertained of all men like no slave: +Yea, within this moneth, I may say to you, +I will be your servant and your master too. +Yea, creep into your breast, will ye have it so? + +JUDGE. Away with them both, lead them away +At his death tell me what he doth say, +For then belike he will not lie. + +INIQUITY, I care not for you both, no, not a fly! + [_They lead them out_. + +JUDGE. If no man have here more matter to say, +I must go hence some other way. + [_He goeth out_. + + _Enter_ WORLDLY SHAME. + +WORLDLY SHAME. Ha, ha! though I come in rudely, be not aghast, +I must work a feat in all the haste; +I have caught two birds, I will set for the dame, +If I catch her in my clutch, I will her tame. + +Of all this while know ye not my name? +I am right worshipful master Worldly Shame; +The matter that I come now about +Is even this, I put you out of doubt-- + +There is one[243] Xantippe, a curst shrew, +I think all the world doth her know, +Such a jade she is, and so curst a quean, +She would out-scold the devil's dame, I ween. + +Sirs, this fine woman had babes three, +Twain the dearest darlings that might be, +Ismael and fair Dalilah these two: +With the lout Barnabas I have nothing to do. + +All was good, that these tiddlings do might: +Swear, lie, steal, scold, or fight: +Cards, dice, kiss, clip, and so forth: +All this our mammy would take in good worth. + +Now, sir, Dalilah my daughter is dead of the pox, +And my son hang'th[244] in chains, and waveth his locks. +These news will I tell her, and the matter so frame, +That she shall be thine own, master Worldly Shame! +Ha, ha, ha!-- + +XANTIPPE. Peace, peace, she cometh hereby, +I spoke no word of her, no, not I. + +WORLDLY SHAME. O Mistress Xantippe, I can tell you news:[245] +The fair wench, your dear daughter Dalilah, +Is dead of the pox taken at the stews; +And thy son Ismael, that pretty boy, +Whom I dare say you loved very well, +Is hanged in chains, every[246] man can tell. +Every man saith thy daughter was a strong whore, +And thy son a strong thief and a murderer. +It must needs grieve you wonderous, +That they died so shamefully both two: +Men will taunt you and mock you, for they say now +The cause of their death was even very you. + +XANTIPPE. I the cause of their death? + [_She would sowne_.[247] + +WORLDLY SHAME. Will ye sowne, the devil stop thy breath? +Thou shalt die (I trow) with more shame; +I will get me hence out of the way, +If the whore should die, men would me blame; +That I killed her, knaves should say. + [_Exit_. + +XANTIPPE. Alas, alas, and well-away! +I may curse the time that I was born, +Never woman had such fortune, I dare say; +Alas, two of my children be forlorn. + +My fair daughter Dalilah is dead of the pox: +My dear son Ismael hanged up in chains. +Alas, the wind waveth his yellow locks,[248] +It slayeth my heart, and breaketh my brains. + +Why should God punish and plague me so sore? +To see my children die so shamefully! +I will never eat bread in this world more, +With this knife will I slay myself by and by. + [_She would stick herself with a knife_. + + _Enter_ BARNABAS. + +BARNABAS. Beware what ye do; fye, mother, fye! +Will ye spill yourself for your own offence, +And seem for ever to exclude God's mercy? +God doth punish you for your negligence: +Wherefore take his correction with patience, +And thank him heartily, that of his goodness +He bringeth you in knowledge of your trespass. + +For when my brother and sister were of young age, +You saw they were given to idleness and play, +Would apply no learning, but live in outrage. + +And men complained on them every day. +Ye winked at their faults, and tiddled them alway; +By maintenance they grew to mischief and ill, +So at last God's justice did[249] them both spill. + +In that God preserved me, small thank to you: +If God had not given me special grace, +To avoid evil and do good, this is true, +I had lived and died in as wretched case, +As they did, for I had both suffrance and space; +But it is an old proverb, you have heard it, I think: +That God will have see, shall not wink. + +Yet in this we may all take comfort: +They took great repentance, I heard say, +And as for my sister, I am able to report, +She lamented for her sins to her dying day: +To repent and believe I exhorted her alway; +Before her death she believed, that God of his mercy, +For Christ's sake would save her eternally. +If you do even so, ye need not despair, +For God will freely remit your sins all, +Christ hath paid the ransom, why should ye fear? +To believe this and do well, to God for grace call. +All worldly cares let pass and fall, +And thus comfort my father I pray you heartily, + [_Xantippe goeth out_. +I have a little to say, I will come by and by. + +Right gentle audience, by this interlude ye may see, +How dangerous it is for the frailty of youth, +Without good governance, to live at liberty, +Such chances as these oft happen of truth: +Many miscarry, it is the more ruth, +By negligence of their elders and not taking pain, +In time good learning and qualities to attain. + +Therefore exhort[250] I all parents to be diligent +In bringing up their children aye[251] to be circumspect; +Lest they fall to evil, be not negligent; +But chastise them, before they be sore infect: +Accept their well-doing, in ill them reject. +A young plant ye may plant and bow as ye will; +Where it groweth strong, there will it abide still. + +Even so by children: in their tender age +Ye may work them, like wax, to your own intent; +But if ye suffer them long to live in outrage, +They will be sturdy and stiff, and will not relent. +O ye children, let your time be well-spent, +Apply your learning, and your elders obey; +It will be your profit another day. + +Now, for the Queen's royal majesty let us pray, + [_He kneeleth down_. +That God (in whose hands is the heart of all queens), +May endue her highness with godly puissance alway: +That her grace may long reign and prosper in all things, +In God's word and justice may give light to all queens. +Let us pray for the honourable council and nobility, +That they may always counsel us[252] wisdom with tranquillity, +God save the Queen, the realm, and commonalty! + + [_He maketh courtesy and goeth out_. + +FINIS. + + * * * * * + +A SONG. + + _It is good to be merry + But who can be merry?[253] + He that hath a pure conscience, + He may well be merry.[254] + + Who hath a pure conscience, tell me? + No man of himself, I ensure thee, + Then must it follow of necessity, + That no man can be merry. + + Purity itself may pureness give; + You must ask it of God in true belief; + Then will he give it, and none repreve:[255] + And so we may be merry. + + What is the practice of a conscience pure? + To love and fear God, and other allure, + And for his sake to help his neighbour: + Then may he well be merry. + + What shall we have, that can and will do this? + After this life everlasting bliss, + Yet not by desert, but by gift, i-wis: + There God make us all merry!_ + +FINIS.[256] + + + + + + +THE HISTORY OF JACOB AND ESAU. + + + +EDITION. + + +_A newe mery and wittie Comedie or Enterlude, newely imprinted, +treating upon the Historie of Iacob and Esau, taken out of the xxvij. +Chap. of the first booke of Moses entituled Genesis. Imprinted at +London by Henrie Bynneman, dwelling in Knight-rider Streate, at the +signe of the Mermayde. Anno Domini. 1568. 4to_. + +This piece is placed earlier in the series than the mere date of +publication given above would warrant, because the interlude was +licensed in 1557-8, and probably published in pursuance of its +registration at Stationers' Hall. The 4to of 1568 is, however, the only +impression hitherto recovered, and it is of the greatest rarity. An +account of this dramatic curiosity will be found in Collier's "History +of English Dramatic Poetry," 1831. It is now for the first time +reprinted. + + + +THE PARTS AND NAMES OF THE PLAYERS WHO ARE TO BE CONSIDERED TO BE +HEBREWS, AND SO SHOULD BE APPARELLED WITH ATTIRE. + + 1. THE PROLOGUE, _a Poet_. + 2. ISAAC, _an old man, father to Jacob and Esau_. + 3. REBECCA, _an old woman, wife to Isaac_. + 4. ESAU, _a young man and a hunter_. + 5. JACOB, _a young man of godly conversation_. + 6. ZETHAR, _a neighbour_. + 7. HANAN, _a neighbour to Isaac also_. + 8. RAGAN, _servant unto Esau_. + 9. MIDO, _a little boy, leading Isaac_. +10. DEBORAH, _the nurse of Isaac's tent_. +11. ABRA, _a little wench, servant to Rebecca_. + + + +PROLOGUE OF THE PLAY. + + +In the book of Genesis it is expressed, + That when God to Abraham made sure promise, +That in his seed all nations should be blessed: + To send him a son by Sarah he did not miss. + Then to Isaac (as there recorded it is) +By Rebecca his wife, who had long time been barren, +When pleased him, at one birth he sent sons twain. + +But before Jacob and Esau yet born were, + Or had either done good, or ill perpetrate: +As the prophet Malachi and Paul witness bear, + Jacob was chosen, and Esau reprobate: + Jacob I love (saith God) and Esau I hate. +For it is not (saith Paul) in man's renewing or will, +But in God's mercy, who chooseth whom he will. + +But now for our coming we shall exhibit here, + Of Jacob and Esau how the story was; +Whereby God's adoption may plainly appear: + And also that, whatever God's ordinance was, + Nothing might defeat, but that it must come to pass. +That, if this story may your eyes or ears delight, +We pray you of patience, while we it recite. + + + + +THE HISTORY OF JACOB AND ESAU. + + + +ACTUS PRIMA. SCAENA PRIMA. + + RAGAN, _the servant_. + ESAU, _a young man, his master_. + + + [_Ragan entereth with his horn at his back and his + hunting staff in his hand, and leadeth three + greyhounds, or one, as may be gotten_. + +Now let me see what time it is by the starlight? +God's for his grace, man, why it is not yet midnight! +We might have slept these four hours yet, I dare well say; +But this is our good Esau his common play: + + [_Here he counterfeiteth how his master calleth + him up in the mornings, and of his answers_. + +What the devil aileth him? now truly, I think plain, +He hath either some worms or botts in his brain. +He scarcely sleepeth twelve good hours in two weeks. +I wot well his watching maketh me have lean cheeks, +For there is none other life with him day by day, +But, up, Ragan! up, drowsy hogshead! I say! +Why, when? up, will it not be? up. I come anon. +Up, or I shall raise you in faith, ye drowsy whoreson. +Why, when? shall I fet you? I come, sir, by and by. +Up, with a wild wanion! how long wilt thou lie? +Up, I say, up, at once! up, up, let us go hence: +It is time we were in the forest an hour since. +Now the devil stop that same yalling throat (think I) +Somewhiles: for from the call[257] farewell all wink of eye! +Begin he once to call, I sleep no more that stound, +Though half an hour's sleep were worth ten thousand pound. +Anon, when I come in, and bid him good morrow: +Ah sir, up at last? the devil give thee sorrow! +Now the devil break thy neck (think I by and by), +That hast no wit to sleep, nor in thy bed to lie. +Then come on at once; take my quiver and my bow, +Fet Lovel my hound, and my horn to blow. +Then forth go we fasting an hour or two ere day, +Before we may well see either our hands or way, +And there range we the wild forest, no crumb of bread +From morning to stark night coming within our head; +Sometimes Esau's self will faint for drink and meat, +So that he would be glad of a dead horse to eat. +Yet of fresh the next morrow forth he will again, +And sometime not come home in a whole night or twain: +Nor no delight he hath, no appetite nor mind. +But to the wild forest, to hunt the hart or hind, +The roebuck, the wild boar, the fallow-deer, or hare: +But how poor Ragan shall dine, he hath no care. +Poor I must eat acorns or berries from the tree. +But if I be found slack in the suit following, +Or if I do fail in blowing or hallooing; +Or if I lack my staff or my horn by my side: +He will be quick enough to fume, chafe, and chide. +Am I not well at ease such a master to serve, +As must have such service, and yet will let me starve? +But, in faith, his fashions displease mo than me, +And will have but a mad end one day, we shall see. +He passeth nothing on Rebecca his mother, +And much less passeth he on Jacob his brother. +But peace, mum, no more: I see master Esau. + + [_Here Esau appeareth in sight, and bloweth his horn, ere he enter_. + +ESAU. How now, are we all ready, servant Ragan? +Art thou up for all day, man? art thou ready now? + +RAGAN. I have been here this half-hour, sir, waiting for you, + +ESAU. And is all thing ready, as I bad, to my mind? + +RAGAN. Ye have no cause, that I know, any fault to find: +Except that we disease our tent and neighbours all +With rising over early each day, when ye call. + +ESAU. Ah, thou drowsy draffsack, wouldest thou rise at noon? +Nay, I trow the sixth hour with thee were over-soon. + +RAGAN. Nay, I speak of your neighbours, being men honest, +That labour all the day, and would fain be at rest: +Whom with blowing your horn ye disease all-abouts. + +ESAU. What care I for waking a sort of clubbish louts? + +RAGAN. And I speak of Rebecca your mother, our dame. + +ESAU. Tut, I pass not, whether she do me praise or blame. + +RAGAN. And I speak of your good father, old Isaac. + +ESAU. Peace, foolish knave: as for my father Isaac, +In case he be asleep, I do him not disease, +And if he be waking, I know I do him please, +For he loveth me well from mine nativity, + [_Here Esau bloweth his horn again_. +And never so as now for mine activity. +Therefore have at it: once more will I blow my horn +To give my neighbour louts an hail-peal in a morn. + [_Here he speaketh to his dogs_. +Now, my master Lightfoot, how say you to this gear, +Will you do your duty to red or fallow deer? +And, Swan, mine own good cur, I do think in my mind +The game shall run apace, if thou come far behind: +And ha, Takepart, come, Takepart, here: how say you, child, +Wilt not thou do thy part? yes, else I am beguil'd. +But I shrew your cheeks, they have had too much meat. + +RAGAN. I blame not dogs to take it, if they may it get: +But as for my part, they could have, pardè, +A small remnant of that that ye give me. +They may run light enough for ought of me they got, +I had not a good meal's-meat this week, that I wot. + +ESAU. If we have luck this day to kill hare, teg,[258] or doe, +Thou shalt eat thy bellyful, till thou criest ho. + +RAGAN. I thank you, when I have it, Master Esau. + +ESAU. Well, come on, let us go now, servant Ragan. +Is there anything more, that I should say or do? +For perhaps we come not again this day or two. + +RAGAN. I know nothing, master, to God I make a vow, +Except you would take your brother Jacob with you: +I never yet saw him with you an hunting go, +Shall we prove him once, whether he will go or no? + +ESAU. No, no, that were in vain, alas, good simple mome: +Nay, he must tarry and suck mother's dug at home: +Jacob must keep home, I trow, under mother's wing; +To be from the tents he loveth not of all thing. +Jacob loveth no hunting in the wild forest: +And would fear, if he should there see any wild beast. +Yea, to see the game run, Jacob would be in fear. + +RAGAN. In good sooth, I ween he would think each hare a bear. + +ESAU. What, brother mine, what a word call ye that? + +RAGAN. Sir, I am scarce waked: I spake, ere I wist what. + +ESAU. Come on your ways, my child, take the law of the game. +I will wake you, I trow, and set your tongue in frame. + +RAGAN. O, what have you done, Master Esau, God's apes? + +ESAU. Why can ye not yet refrain from letting such scapes? +Come on, ye must have three jerts[259] for the nonce. +One-- + [_Beats him_. + +RAGAN. O, for God's love, sir, have done, dispatch at once. + +ESAU. Nay there is no remedy but bide it--there is twain. + [_Gives him another jerk_. + +RAGAN. O, ye rent my cheverel; let me be past my pain. + +ESAU. Take heed of hunting terms fro henceforth!--there is three. + [_Jerks him again_. + +RAGAN. Whoop! now a mischief on all moping fools for me! +Jacob shall keep the tents ten year for Ragan, +Ere I move again that he hunt with Esau. + +ESAU. Come on, now let us go. God send us game and luck, +And if my hand serve me well-- + +RAGAN (_aside_). Ye will kill a duck. + + [_Exeant ambo_. + + + +ACTUS PRIMI, SCAENA SECUNDA. + +HANAN, ZETHAR, _two of Isaac's neighbours_. + + +HANAN. Ah, sir, I see I am an early man this morn, +I am once more beguil'd with Esau his horn. +But there is no such stirrer as Esau is: +He is up day by day, before the crow piss: +Then maketh he with his horn such toohing and blowing, +And with his wide throat such shouting and hallooing, +That no neighbour shall in his tent take any rest, +From Esau addresseth him to the forest. +So that he maketh us, whether we will or no, +Better husbands than we would be, abroad to go +Each of us about our business and our wark. +But whom do I see yonder coming in the dark? +It is my neighbour Zethar, I perceive him now. + +ZETHAR. What, neighbour Hanan, well met, good morrow to you. +I see well now I am not beguiled alone: +But what boot to lie still? for rest we can take none; +That I marvel much of old father Isaac, +Being so godly a man, why he is so slack +To bring his son Esau to a better stay. + +HANAN. What should he do in the matter, I you pray? + +ZETHAR. O, it is no small charge to fathers, afore God, +So to train their children in youth under the rod +That, when they come to age, they may virtue ensue, +Wicked pranks abhor, and all lewdness eschew, +And me-thinketh Isaac, being a man as he is-- +A chosen man of God, should not be slack in this. + +HANAN. Alack, good man, what should he do more than he hath done? +I dare say no father hath better taught his son, +Nor no two have given better example of life +Unto their children than both he and his wife: +As by their younger son Jacob it doth appear. +He liveth no loose life: he doth God love and fear. +He keepeth here in the tents, like a quiet man: +He giveth not himself to wildness any when. +But Esau evermore from his young childhood +Hath been like to prove ill, and never to be good. +Young it pricketh (folks do say), that will be a thorn, +Esau hath been naught, ever since he was born. +And whereof cometh this? of education? +Nay, it is of his own ill inclination. +They were brought up both under one tuition; +But they be not both of one disposition. +Esau is given to loose and lewd living. + +ZETHAR. In faith, I warrant him [to] have but shrewd thriving. + +HANAN. Neither see I any hope, that he will amend. + +ZETHAR. Then let him even look to come to an ill end. +For youth that will follow none but their own bridle, +That leadeth a dissolute life and an idle: +Youth, that refuseth wholesome documents, +Or to take example of their godly parents: +Youth, that is retchless, and taketh no regard, +What become of themself, nor which end go forward: +It is great marvel and a special grace, +If ever they come to goodness all their life space. +But why do we consume this whole morning in talk +Of one that hath no reck ne care, what way he walk, +We had been as good to have kept our bed still. + +HANAN. O, it is our part to lament them that do ill. +Like as very nature a godly heart doth move +Others' good proceedings to tender and to love: +So such as in no wise to goodness will be brought, +What good man but will mourn, since God us all hath wrought, +But ye have some business, and so have I. + +ZETHAR. And we have been long; farewell, neighbour, heartily. + + + +ACTUS PRIMI, SCAENA TERTIA. + +REBECCA, _the mother_. JACOB, _the son_. + + +REBECCA. Come forth, son Jacob, why tarriest thou behind? + +JACOB. Forsooth, mother, I thought ye had said all your mind. + +REBECCA. Nay, come, I have yet a word or two more to say. + +JACOB. Whatsoever pleaseth you, speak to me ye may. + +REBECCA. Seeing thy brother Esau is such an one, +Why rebukest thou him not, when ye are alone? +Why dost thou not give him some good sad wise counsel? + +JACOB. He lacketh not that, mother, if it would avail. +But when I do him any thing of his fault[s] tell, +He calleth me foolish proud boy, with him to mell. +He will sometime demand, by what authority +I presume to teach them which mine elders be? +He will sometime ask, if I learn of my mother +To take on me teaching of mine elder brother? +Sometime, when I tell him of his lewd behaviour, +He will lend me a mock or twain for my labour: +And sometime for anger he will out with his purse, +And call me, as please him, and swear he will do worse. + +REBECCA. O Lord, that to bear such a son it was my chance. + +JACOB. Mother, we must be content with God's ordinance. + +REBECCA. Or, if I should need have Esau to my son, +Would God thou, Jacob, haddest the eldership won. + +JACOB. Mother, it is too late to wish; for that is pass'd; +It will not be done now, wish ye never so fast. +And I would not have you to wish against God's will: +For both it is in vain, and also it is ill. + +REBECCA. Why did it not please God, that thou shouldest as well +Tread upon his crown, as hold him fast by the heel? + +JACOB. Whatsoever mystery the Lord therein meant, +Must be referred to his unsearched judgment. +And whatsoever he hath 'ppointed me unto, +I am his own vessel, his will with me to do. + +REBECCA. Well, some strange thing therein of God intended was. + +JACOB. And what he hath decreed, must sure come to pass. + +REBECCA. I remember, when I had you both conceived, +A voice thus saying from the Lord I received: +Rebecca, in thy womb are now two nations +Of unlike natures and contrary fashions. +The one shall be a mightier people elect: +And the elder to the younger shall be subject. +I know this voice came not to me of nothing: +Therefore thou shalt follow my counsel in one thing. + +JACOB. So it be not displeasing to the Lord, I must. + +REBECCA. I fear the Lorde eke, who is merciful and just: +And loth would I be his majesty to offend; +But by me (I doubt not) to work he doth intend. +Assay, if thou canst at some one time or other, +To buy the right of eldership from thy brother: +Do thou buy the birthright, that to him doth belong, +So may'st thou have the blessing, and do him no wrong. +What thou hast once bought, is thine own of due right. + +JACOB. Mother Rebecca, if withouten fraud I might, +I would your advice put in ure with all my heart, +But I may not attempt any such guileful part. +To buy my brother's eldership and his birthright, +I fear, would be a great offence in God's sight. +Which thing, if I wist to redeem, I ne would, +Though I might get thereby ten millions of gold. + +REBECCA. God who, by his word and almightiful decree, +Hath appointed thee Esau his lord to be, +Hath appointed some way to have it brought about; +And that is this way, my sprite doth not doubt. + +JACOB. Upon your word, mother, I will assay ere long; +Yet it grudgeth my heart to do my brother wrong. + +REBECCA. Thou shalt do no wrong, son Jacob, on my peril. + +JACOB. Then, by God's leave, once assay I will. + +REBECCA. Then farewell, dear son, God's blessing and mine with thee. + +JACOB. I will again to the tent. Well you be! + + [_Exeat Jacob_. + +REBECCA. Ah, my sweet son Jacob, good fortune God thee send! +The most gentle young man alive, as God me mend! +And the most natural to father and mother: +O, that such a meek spirit were in thy brother; +Or thy sire loved thee, as thou hast merited, +And then should Esau soon be disinherited. + + + +ACTUS PRIMI, SCAENA QUARTA. + +ISAAC, _the husband_. REBECCA, _the wife_. MIDO, _the lad +that leadeth blind Isaac_. + + +ISAAC. Where art thou, my boy Mido, when I do thee lack? + +MIDO. Who calleth Mido? here, good master Isaac. + +ISAAC. Come, lead me forth of doors a little, I thee pray. + +MIDO. Lay your hand on my shoulder, and come on this way. + +REBECCA. Now, O Lord of heaven, the fountain of all grace, +If it be thy good will, that my will shall take place: +Send success to Jacob, according to thy word, +That his elder brother may serve him as his lord. + +MIDO. Sir, whither would ye go, now that abroad ye be? + +ISAAC. To wife Rebecca. + +MIDO. Yonder I do her see. + +REBECCA. Lord, thou knowest Jacob to be thy servant true, +And Esau all froward thy ways to ensue. + +MIDO. Yonder she is speaking, whatever she doth say: +By holding up her hands, it seemeth she doth pray. + +ISAAC. Where be ye, wife Rebecca? where be ye, woman? + +REBECCA. Who is that calleth? Isaac, my good man? + +ISAAC. Where be ye, wife Rebecca, let me understand? + +MIDO. She cometh to you apace. + +REBECCA. Here, my lord, at hand. + +ISAAC. Saving that whatsoever God doth is all right, +No small grief it were for a man to lack his sight. +But what the Lord doth send or work by his high will-- + +REBECCA. Cannot but be the best, no such thing can be ill. + +ISAAC. All bodily punishment or infirmity, +With all maims of nature, whatever they be, +Yea, and all other afflictions temporal: +As loss, persecution, or troubles mortal, +Are nothing but a trial or probation. +And what is he that firmly trusteth in the Lord, +Or steadfastly believeth his promise and word, +And knoweth him to be the God omnipotent, +That feedeth and governeth all that he hath sent: +Protecting his faithful in every degree, +And them to relieve in all their necessity? +What creature (I say) that doth this understand, +Will not take all thing in good heart at God's hand? +Shall we at God's hand receive prosperity, +And not be content likewise with adversity? +We ought to be thankful whatever God doth send, +And ourselves wholly to his will to commend. + +REBECCA. So should it be, and I thank my lord Isaac, +Such daily lessons at your hand I do not lack. + +ISAAC. Why, then, should not I thank the Lord, if it please him, +That I shall now be blind, and my sight wax all dim. +For whoso to old age will here live and endure, +Must of force abide all such defaults of nature. + +MIDO. Why, must I be blind too, if I be an old man? +How shall I grope the way, or who shall lead me then? + +ISAAC. If the Lord have appointed thee such old days to see, +He will also provide that shall be meet for thee. + +MIDO. I trow, if I were blind, I could go well enou', +I could grope the way thus, and go as I do now. +I have done so ere now both by day and by night, +As I see you grope the way, and have hit it right. + +REBECCA. Yea, sir boy, will ye play any such childish knack +As to counterfeit your blind master Isaac? +That is but to mock him for his impediment. + +MIDO. Nay, I never did it in any such intent. + +REBECCA. Nay, it is to tempt God, before thou have need, +Whereby thou may'st provoke him, in very deed, +With some great misfortune or plague to punish thee. + +MIDO. Then will I never more do so, while I may see: +But against I be blind, I will be so perfit +That, though no man lead me, I will go at midnight. + +ISAAC. Now, wife, touching the purpose that I sought for you. + +REBECCA, What say'th my lord Isaac to his handmaid now? + +ISAAC. Ye have oft in covert words been right earnest +To have me grant unto you a boon and request: +But ye never told me yet plainly what it was; +Therefore I have ever yet let the matter pass. +And now of late, by oft being from me absent, +I have half suspected you to be scarce content. +But, wife Rebecca, I would not have you to mourn, +As though I did your honest petition scorn.[260] +For I never meant to deny in all my life +Any lawful or honest request to my wife. +But in case it be a thing unreasonable, +Then must I needs be to you untractable. +Now therefore say on, and tell me what is your case. + +REBECCA. I would, if I were sure in your heart to find grace; +Else, sir, I would be loth. + +ISAAC. To speak do not refrain, +And if it be reasonable, ye shall obtain: +Otherwise, ye must pardon me, gentle sweet wife. + +REBECCA. Sir, ye know your son Esau, and see his life, +How loose it is, and how stiff he is and stubborn, +How retchlessly he doth himself misgovern: +He giveth himself to hunting out of reason, +And serveth the Lord and us at no time or season. +These conditions cannot be acceptable +In the sight of God, nor to men allowable. +Now his brother Jacob, your younger son and mine, +Doth more apply his heart to seek the ways divine. +He liveth here quietly at home in the tent, +There is no man nor child but is with him content. + +ISAAC. O wife, I perceive ye speak of affection; +To Jacob ye bear love, and to his brother none. + +REBECCA. Indeed, sir, I cannot love Esau so well +As I do Jacob, the plain truth to you to tell. +For I have no comfort of Esau, God wot: +I scarce know whe'r I have a son of him or not. +He goeth abroad so early before daylight, +And retumeth home again so late in the night; +And unneth I set eye on him in the whole week: +No, sometime not in twain, though I do for him seek. +And all the neighbours see him as seldom as I; +But when they would take rest, they hear him blow and cry. +Some see him so seldom, they ask if he be sick: +Sometimes some demand, whether he be dead or quick. +But, to make short tale, such his conditions be, +That I wish of God he had ne'er been born of me. + +ISAAC. Well, wife, I love Esau, and must for causes twain. + +REBECCA. Surely your love is bestowed on him in vain? + +ISAAC. First, active he is, as any young man can be, +And many a good morsel he bringeth home to me. +Then he is mine eldest and first-begotten son. + +REBECCA. If God were so pleased, I would that were foredone. [_Aside_. + +ISAAC. And the eldest son is called the father's might. + +REBECCA. If yours rest in Esau, God give us good night! + +ISAAC. A prerogative he hath in every thing. + +REBECCA. More pity he should have it without deserving. + +ISAAC. Of all the goods his portion is greater. + +REBECCA. That the worthy should have it, I think much better. + +ISAAC. Among his brethren he hath the pre-eminence. + +REBECCA. Where Esau is chief, there is a gay presence! + +ISAAC. Over his brethren he is sovereign and lord. + +REBECCA. Such dignity in Esau doth ill accord. + +ISAAC. He is the head of the father's succession. + +REBECCA, I would Esau had lost that possession. + +ISAAC. And he hath the chief title of inheritance. + +REBECCA. Wisdom would in Esau change that ordinance. + +ISAAC. To the eldest son is due the father's blessing. + +REBECCA. That should be Jacob's, if I might have my wishing. [_Aside_. + +ISAAC. And the chief endowment of the father's substance. + +REBECCA. Which will thrive well in Esau his governance. + +ISAAC. By title of eldership he hath his birthright. + +REBECCA. And that would I remove to Jacob, if I might. [_Aside_. + +ISAAC. He must have double portion to another. + +REBECCA. That were more fit for Jacob his younger brother. + +ISAAC. In all manner of things divided by a rate. + +REBECCA. Well given goods to him, that the Lord doth hate! + +ISAAC. Why say ye so of Esau, mine eldest son? + +REBECCA. I say true, if he proceed, as he hath begun. + +ISAAC. Is he not your son too, as well as he is mine? +Wherefore do ye then against him thus sore repine? + +REBECCA. Because that in my spirit verily I know, +God will set up Jacob, and Esau down throw. +I have showed you many a time ere this day, +What the Lord of them being in my womb did say. +I use not for to lie, and I believe certain, +That the Lord spake not these words to me in vain. +And Jacob it is (I know), in whom the Lord will +His promises to you made and to your seed fulfil. + +ISAAC. I doubt not his promise made to me and my seed, +Leaving to his conveyance how it shall proceed. +The Lord after his way may change th'inheritance; +But I may not wittingly break our ordinance. + +REBECCA. Now would God I could persuade my lord Isaac +Jacob to prefer, and Esau to put back. + +ISAAC. I may not do it, wife, I pray you be content: +The title of birthright, that cometh by descent, +Or the place of eldership coming by due course, +I may not change nor shift for better nor for worse. +Nature's law it is, the eldest son to knowledge, +And in no wise to bar him of his heritage: +And ye shall of Esau one day have comfort. + +REBECCA. Set a good long day then, or else we shall come short. + +ISAAC. I warrant you, he will do well enough at length. + +REBECCA. You must needs commend him, being your might and strength. + +ISAAC. Well, now go we hence; little Mido, where art thou? + +MIDO. I have stood here all this while, list'ning, how you +And my dame Rebecca have been laying the law; +But she hath as quick answers as ever I saw. +Ye could not speak anything unto her so thick, +But she had her answer as ready and as quick. + +ISAAC. Yea, women's answers are but few times to seek. + +MIDO. But I did not see Esau neither all this same week. +Nor do I love your son Esau so well, +As I do love your son Jacob by a great deal. + +ISAAC. No, doest thou, Mido? and tell me the cause why. + +MIDO. Why? for I do not: And none other cause know I. +But everybody, as well one as other, +Do wish that Jacob had been the elder brother. + +ISAAC. Well, come on, let us go. + +MIDO. And who shall lead you? I? + +REBECCA. No, it is my office as long as I am by. +And I would all wives, as the world this day is, +Would unto their husbands likewise do their office. + +MIDO. Why, dame Rebecca, then all wedded men should be blind. + +REBECCA. What, thou foolish lad, no such thing was in my mind. + + + +ACTUS SECUNDI, SCAENA PRIMA. + +RAGAN, _the servant of Esau_. + + +RAGAN. I have heard it oft, but now I feel a wonder, +In what grievous pain they die, that die for hunger. +O my greedy stomach, how it doth bite and gnaw? +If I were at a rack, I could eat hay or straw. +Mine empty guts do fret, my maw doth even tear, +Would God I had a piece of some horsebread here. +Yet is master Esau in worse case than I. +If he have not some meat, the sooner he will die: +He hath sunk for faintness twice or thrice by the way, +And not one seely bit we got since yesterday. +All that ever he hath, he would have given to-day +To have had but three morsels his hunger to allay. +Or in the field to have met with some hogs; +I could scarcely keep him from eating of these dogs. +He hath sent me afore some meat for to provide, +And cometh creeping after, scarce able to stride. +But if I know where to get of any man, +For to ease mine own self, as hungry as I am, +I pray God I stink; but if any come to me, +Die who die will; for sure I will first served be. +I will see, if any be ready here at home, +Or whether Jacob have any, that peakish mome. +But first I must put all my dogs up, +And lay up this gear, and then God send us the cup. + + + +ACTUS SECUNDI, SCAENA SECUNDA. + +ESAU, _the master_. RAGAN, _the servant_. + + + [_Esau cometh in so faint, that he can scarce go_. + +ESAU. O, what a grievous pain is hunger to a man? +Take all that I have for meat, help who that can. +O Lord, some good body, for God's sake, give me meat. +I force not what it were, so that I had to eat. +Meat or drink, save my life--or bread, I reck not what: +If there be nothing else, some man give me a cat. +If any good body on me will do so much cost, +I will tear and eat her raw, she shall ne'er be rost; +I promise of honesty I will eat her raw. +And what a noddy was I, and a whoreson daw, +To let Ragan go with all my dogs at once: +A shoulder of a dog were now meat for the nonce. +O, what shall I do? my teeth I can scarcely charm +From gnawing away the brawn of my very arm. +I can no longer stand for faint, I must needs lie. +And except meat come soon, remediless I die. +And where art thou, Ragan, whom I sent before? +Unless thou come at once, I never see thee more. +Where art thou, Ragan; I hear not of thee yet? + +RAGAN. Here, as fast as I can, but no meat can I get. +Not one draught of drink, not one poor morsel of bread. +Not one bit or crumb, though I should straightway be dead. +Therefore ye may now see, how much ye are to blame, +That will thus starve yourself for following your game. + +ESAU. Ah, thou villain, tellest thou me this now? +If [I] had thee, I would eat thee, to God I vow. +Ah, meat, thou whoreson, why hast thou not brought me meat? + +RAGAN. Would you have me bring you that, I can nowhere get? + +ESAU. Come hither, let me tell thee a word in thine ear. + +RAGAN. Nay, speak out aloud: I will not come a foot near. +Fall ye to snatching at folks? adieu, I am gone. + +ESAU. Nay, for God's love, Ragan, leave me not alone: +I will not eat thee, Ragan, so God me help. + +RAGAN. No, I shall desire you to choose some other whelp. +Being in your best lust, I would topple with ye, +And pluck a good crow, ere ye brake your fast with me. +What? are you mankin[261] now? I reckon it best, I, +To bind your hands behind you, even as ye lie. + +ESAU. Nay, have mercy on me, and let me not perish. + +RAGAN. In faith, nought could I get, wherewith you to cherish. + +ESAU. Was there nothing to be had among so many? + +RAGAN. I could not find one but Jacob that had any, +And no grant would he make for ought that I could say, +Yet no man alive with fairer words could him pray. +But the best red pottage he hath, that ever was. + +ESAU. Go, pray him, I may speak with him once, ere I pass. + +RAGAN. That message, by God's grace, shall not long be undone. + +ESAU. Hie thee, go apace, and return again soon. +If Jacob have due brotherly compassion, +He will not see me faint after this fashion; +But I daresay, the wretch had rather see me throst, +Than he would find in his heart to do so much cost. +For where is, between one fremman[262] and another, +Less love found than now between brother and brother? +Will Jacob come forth to shew comfort unto me? +The whoreson hypocrite will as soon hanged be. +Yet, peace, methinketh Jacob is coming indeed: +And my mind giveth me at his hand I shall speed, +For he is as gentle and loving as can be, +As full of compassion and pity. +But let me see, doth he come? no, I warrant you. +He come, quod I? tush, he come? then hang Esau! +For there is not this day in all the world round +Such another hodypeak wretch to be found, +And Ragan my man, is not that a fine knave? +Have any mo masters such a man as I have? +So idle, so loit'ring, so trifling, so toying? +So prattling, so trattling, so chiding, so boying? +So jesting, so wresting, so mocking, so mowing? +So nipping, so tripping, so cocking, so crowing? +So knappish, so snappish, so elvish, so froward? +So crabbed, so wrabbed, so stiff, so untoward? +In play or in pastime so jocund, so merry? +In work or in labour so dead or so weary? +O, that I had his ear between my teeth now, +I should shake him, even as a dog that lulleth a sow. +But in faith, if ever I recover myself, +There was never none trounced, as I shall trounce that elf. +He and Jacob are agreed, I daresay, I, +Not to come at all, but to suffer me here to die. +Which if they do, they shall find this same word true +That, after I am dead, my soul shall them pursue. +I will be avenged on all foes, till I die: +Yea, and take vengeance, when I am dead too, I. +For, I mistrust, against me agreed they have: +For thone is but a fool, and thother a stark knave. + + _Enter_ RAGAN _and_ JACOB _behind, conversing_. + +RAGAN. I assure you, Jacob, the man is very weak. + +ESAU. But hark once again, methink I hear them speak! + +RAGAN. I promise you, I fear his life be already pass'd. + +JACOB. May God forbid! + +ESAU. Lo, now they come at last. + +RAGAN. If ye believe not me, see yourself, where he is. + +JACOB. Fie, brother Esau, what a folly is this? +About vain pastime to wander abroad and peak, +Till with hunger you make yourself thus faint and weak. + +ESAU. Brother Jacob, I pray you chide now no longer, +But give me somewhat, wherewith to slake mine hunger. + +JACOB. Alack, brother, I have in my little cottage +Nothing but a mess of gross and homely pottage. + +ESAU. Refresh me therewithall, and boldly ask of me +The best thing that I have, whatsoever it be. +I were a very beast, when thou my life dost save, +If I should stick with thee for the best thing I have. + +JACOB. Can ye be content to sell your birthright to me? + +ESAU. Hold, here is my hand, I do sell it here to thee. +With all the profits thereof henceforth to be thine, +As free, as full, as large, as ever it was mine. + +JACOB. Then swear thou hand in hand before the living Lord +This bargain to fulfil, and to stand by thy word. + +ESAU. Before the Lord I swear, to whom each heart is known, +That my birthright that was from henceforth is thine own. + +JACOB. Thou shalt also with me by this promise indent, +With this bargain and sale to hold thyself content. + +ESAU. If each penny thereof might be worth twenty pound, +I willingly to thee surrender it this stound. +And if each cicle might be worth a whole talent, +I promise with this sale to hold me content. + +JACOB. Come, let us set him on foot, that he may go sup. + +RAGAN. Nay, first I will know a thing, ere I help him up, +Sirrah, will ye eat folk, when ye are long fasting? + +ESAU. No, I pray thee help me up, and leave thy jesting. + +RAGAN. No, trow, eat your brother Jacob now, if you lust; +For you shall not eat me, I tell you, that is just. + +JACOB. Come, that with my pottage thou may'st refreshed be. + +ESAU. There is no meat on earth, that so well liketh me. + +RAGAN. Yet I may tell you, it is pottage dearly bought. + +ESAU. No, not a whit, for my bargain take thou no thought. +I defy that birthright that should be of more price +Than helping of one's self: I am not so unwise. + +RAGAN. And how then, sir, shall poor Ragan have no meat? + +ESAU. Yes, and if thou canst my brother Jacob intreat. + +JACOB. God grant I have enough for Esau alone. + +RAGAN. Why then I perceive poor Ragan shall have none. + + [_Esau, entering into Jacob's tent, shaketh Ragan off_. + +Well, much good do it you with your pottage of rice: +I would fast and fare ill, ere I ate of that price. +Would I sell my birthright, being an eldest son? +Forsooth then were it a fair thread that I had spun. +And then to let it go for a mess of pottage! +What is that but both unthriftiness and dotage? +Alack, alack, good blessed father Isaac, +That ever son of thine should play such a lewd knack! +And yet I do not think but God this thing hath wrought, +For Jacob is as good, as Esau is nought. +But forth cometh Mido, as fast as he can trot: +For a cicle, whether to call me in or not? + + + +ACTUS SECUNDI, SCAENA TERTIA. + +MIDO, _the boy_. RAGAN. + + +[_Mido cometh in clapping his hands and laughing_. + +Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, +Now who saw e'er such another as Esau? +By my truth, I will not lie to thee, Ragan, +Since I was born, I never see any man +So greedily eat rice out of a pot or pan. +He would not have a dish, but take the pot and sup. +Ye never saw hungry dog so stab[263] potage up. + +RAGAN. Why, how did he sup it? I pray thee, tell me, how? + +MIDO. Marry, even thus, as thou shalt see me do now. + [_Here he counterfeiteth supping out of the pot_. +O, I thank you, Jacob: with all my heart, Jacob. +Gently done, Jacob: a friendly part, Jacob! +I can sup so, Jacob! +Yea, then will I sup too, Jacob. +Here is good meat, Jacob! + +RAGAN. As ere was eat, Jacob! + +MIDO. As e'er I saw, Jacob! + +RAGAN. Esau a daw, Jacob! + +MIDO. Sweet rice pottage, Jacob! + +RAGAN. By Esau's dotage, Jacob. + +MIDO. Jolly good cheer, Jacob! + +RAGAN. But bought full dear, Jacob! + +MIDO. I was hungry, Jacob. + +RAGAN. I was an unthrift, Jacob. + +MIDO. Ye will none now, Jacob. + +RAGAN. I cannot for you, Jacob. + +MIDO. I will eat all, Jacob. + +RAGAN. The devil go with all, Jacob. + +MIDO. Thou art a good son, Jacob. + +RAGAN. And would he never have done, Jacob? + +MIDO. No, but still coggl'd[264] in, like Jackdaw that cries _ka bob_! +That to be kill'd I could not laughing forbear: +And therefore I came out, I durst not abide there. + +RAGAN. Is there any pottage left for me, that thou wot? + +MIDO. No, I left Esau about to lick the pot. + +RAGAN. Lick, quod thou? now a shame take him that can all lick. + +MIDO. The pot shall need no washing, he will it so lick; +And by this he is sitting down to bread and drink. + +RAGAN. And shall I have no part with him, dost thou think? + +MIDO. No, for he pray'd Jacob, ere he did begin, +To shut the tent fast, that no mo guests come in. + +RAGAN. And made he no mention of me his servant? + +MIDO. He said thou were a knave, and bad thee hence avaunt: +Go shift, where thou couldest, thou gottest nothing there. + +RAGAN. God yield you, Esau, with all my stomach cheer![265] + +MIDO. I must in again, lest perhaps I be shent, +For I asked noboby licence, when I went. [_Exeat_. + +RAGAN. Nay, it is his nature, do what ye can for him, +No thank at his hand; but choose you, sink or swim. +Then reason it with him in a meet time and place, +And he shall be ready to flee straight in your face. +This proverb in Esau may be understand: +Claw a churl by the tail, and he will file[266] your hand. +Well i-wis, Esau, ye did know well enou', +That I had as much need to be meated as you. +Have I trotted and trudged all night and all day, +And now leave me without door, and so go your way? +Have I spent so much labour for you to provide, +And you nothing regard what of me may betide? +Have I run with you while I was able to go, +And now you purchase food for yourself and no mo? +Have I taken so long pain you truly to serve, +And can ye be content, that I famish and starve? +I must lacquey and come lugging greyhound and hound, +And carry the weight, I dare say, of twenty pound, +And to help his hunger purchase grace and favour, +And now to be shut out fasting for my labour! +By my faith, I may say I serve a good master, +Nay, nay, I serve an ill husband and a waster. +That neither profit regardeth nor honesty, +What marvel I then, if he pass so light on me? +But, Esau, now that ye have sold your birthright, +I commend me to you, and God give you good night. +And let a friend tell him his fau't at any time, +Ye shall hear him chafe beyond all reason or rhyme. +Except it were a friend or a very hell-hound, +Ye never saw the match of him in any ground. +When I shew him of good-will, what others do say, +He will fall out with me, and offer me a fray. +And what can there be a worser condition, +Than to do ill, and refuse admonition? +Can such a one prosper, or come to a good end? +Then I care not how many children God me send. +Once Esau shall not beguile me, I can tell: +Except he shall fortune to amend, or do well. +Therefore why do I about him waste thus much talk, +Whom no man can induce ordinately to walk? +But some man perchance doth not a little wonder, +How I, who but right now did roar out for hunger, +Have now so much vacant and void time of leisure, +To walk and to talk, and discourse all of pleasure. +I told you at the first, I would provide for one: +My mother taught me that lesson a good while agone. +When I came to Jacob, his friendship to require, +I drew near and near till I came to the fire: +There hard beside me stood the pottage-pot, +Even as God would have it, neither cold nor hot; +Good simple Jacob could not turn his back so thick, +But I at the ladle got a gulp or a lick; +So that, ere I went, I made a very good meal, +And din'd better cheap than Esau a good deal. +But here cometh now master Esau forth. + + + +ACTUS SECUNDI, SCAENA QUARTA. + +ESAU _and_ RAGAN. + + +RAGAN. Ah, sir, when one is hungry, good meat is much worth. +And well fare a good brother yet in time of need, + + [_Esau cometh forth, wiping his mouth_. + +The world is now meetly well amended indeed, + +ESAU. By my truth, if I had bidden[267] from meat any longer, +I think my very maw would have fret asunder. +Then had I been dead and gone, I make God a vow. + +RAGAN. Surely then the world had had a great loss of you; +For where should we have had your fellow in your place? + [_Aside_. + +ESAU. What should I have done with my birthright in this case? + +RAGAN. Kept it still, and you had not been a very ass. [_Aside_. + +ESAU. But the best pottage it was yet, that ever was. +It were sin not to sell one's soul for such gear. + +RAGAN. Ye have done no less in my conscience, I fear. [_Aside_. + +ESAU. Who is this that standeth clattering at my back? + +RAGAN. A poor man of yours, sir, that doth his dinner lack. + +ESAU. Dinner, whoreson knave? dinner at this time a' day? +Nothing with thee but dinner and munching alway. +Why, thy whoreson villain slave, who is hungry now? + +RAGAN. Indeed, sir (as seemeth by your words) not you. + +ESAU. A man were better fill the bellies of some twelfe, +Than to fill the gut of one such whoreson elf; +That doth none other good but eat, and drink, and sleep. + +RAGAN. He shall do something else, whom ye shall have to keep. [_Aside_. + +ESAU. And that maketh thee so slothful and so lither, +I dare say he was six hours coming hither, +When I sent him to make provision afore, +Not passing a mile hence or very little more. +And yet being so far pass'd the hour of dining, +See, and the knave be not for his dinner whining! +Fast a while, fast with a mischief, greedy slave, +Must I provide meat for every glutton knave? + +RAGAN. I may fast, for any meat that of you I have. [_Aside_. + +ESAU. Or deserve thy dinner, before thou do't crave. + +RAGAN. If I have not deserved it at this season, +I shall never deserve it in mine own reason. +Ye promised I should eat, till I cried ho. + +ESAU. Yea, that was, if we took either hare, teg, or doe. + +RAGAN. But when yourself were hungry, ye said, I wot what---- + +ESAU. What, thou villain slave, tellest thou me now of that? + +RAGAN. Then, help, run apace, Ragan, my good servant. + +ESAU. Yea then was then, now is it otherwise: avaunt! +Have I nothing to do but provide meat for you? + +RAGAN. Ye might have given me some part, when ye had enough. + +ESAU. What, of the red rice pottage with Jacob I had? +Why, the crow would not give it her bird--thou art mad, +Is that meat for you? nay, it would make you too rank. +Nay, soft, brother mine, I must keep you more lank. +It hath made me ever[268] since so lusty and[269] fresh, +As though I had eaten all delicates of flesh. +I feel no manner faintness whereof to complain. + +RAGAN. Yet to-morrow ye must be as hungry again, +Then must ye and will ye wish again for good cheer: +And repent you, that ever ye bought this so dear. + +ESAU. Repent me? wherefore? then the Lord give me sorrow; +If it were to do, I would do it to-morrow. +For, thou foolish knave, what hath Jacob of me bought? + +RAGAN. But a matter of a straw and a thing of nought! + +ESAU. My birthright and whole title of mine eldership, +Marry, sir, I pray God much good do it his maship, +If I die to-morrow, what good would it do me? +If he die to-morrow, what benefit hath he? +And for a thing hanging on such casuality, +Better a mess of pottage than nothing, pardy! +If my father live long, when should I it enjoy? +If my father die soon, then it is but a toy. +For if the time were come, thinkest thou that Jacob +Should find Esau such a lout or such a lob +To suffer him to enjoy my birthright in rest? +Nay, I will first toss him and trounce him of the best; +I think to find it a matter of conscience, +And Jacob first to have a fart, sir reverence. +When my father Isaac shall the matter know, +He will not let Jacob have my birthright, I trow. +Or if he should keep it as his own, I pray you, +Might not I live without it, and do well enou'? +Do none but men's eldest sons prosper well? +How live younger brethren then, I beseech you, tell? +Once, if anything be by the sword to be got, +This falchion and I will have part to our lot. +But now come on, go we abroad awhile and walk, +Let my birthright go, and of other matters talk. + +RAGAN. Who--I, walk? nay, I trow not, till I have better din'd. +It is more time to seek, where I may some meat find. + +ESAU. What say'st thou, drawlatch? come forth, with a mischief! +Wilt thou not go with me? on, forward, whoreson thief? +Shall it be as pleaseth you, or as pleaseth me? + +RAGAN. Nay, as pleaseth you, sir, methink it must be. + +ESAU. And where be my dogs and my hound? be they all well? + +RAGAN. Better than your man, for they be in their kennel. + +ESAU. Then go see all be well in my part of the tent. + +RAGAN. With a right good will, sir, I go incontinent. + +ESAU. And I will to my field, the which I cleansed last, +To see what hope there is, that it will yield fruit fast. + + + +ACTUS SECUNDI, SCAENA QUINTA. + +JACOB. MIDO. REBECCA. ABRA, _the handmaid_. + + +JACOB. Thou knowest, little Mido, where my mother is. + +MIDO. I can go to her as straight as a thread, and not miss. + +JACOB. Go call her, and come again with her thine own self. + +MIDO. Yes, ye shall see me scud like a little elf. + +JACOB. Where I have, by the enticement of my mother, +Bargained and bought the birthright of my brother. +Turn it all to good, O Lord, if it be thy will: +Thou knowest my heart, Lord, I did it for no ill. +And whatever shall please thee to work or to do, +Thou shalt find me prest and obedient thereto. +But here is my mother Rebecca now in place. + +MIDO. How say you, master Jacob, ran not I apace? + +JACOB. Yes, and a good son to go quick on your errand. + +REBECCA. Son, how goeth the matter? let me understand. + +JACOB. Forsooth, mother, I did so, as ye me bad, +Esau to sell me all his birthright persuade. + +REBECCA. Hast thou bought it indeed, and he therewith content? + +JACOB. Yea, and have his promise, that he will never repent. + +REBECCA. Is the bargain through? hast thou paid him his price? + +JACOB. Yea, that I have, a mess of red pottage of rice, +And he ate it up every whit, well I wot. + +MIDO. When he had supp'd up all, I saw him lick the pot; +Thus he licked, and thus he licked, and this way: +I thought to have lick'd the pot myself once to-day; +But Esau beguil'd me, I shrew him for that, +And left not so much as a lick for puss our cat. + +REBECCA. Son Jacob, forasmuch as thou hast so well sped, +With an hymn or psalm let the Lord be praised. +Sing we all together, and give thanks to the Lord, +Whose promise and performance do so well accord. + +MIDO. Shall we sing the same hymn, that all our house doth sing? +For Abraham and his seed to give God praising. + +REBECCA, Yea, the very same. + +MIDO. Then must we all kneel down thus, +And Abra, our maid, here must also sing with us, +Kneel down, Abra; what, I say, will ye not kneel down? +Kneel, when I bid you, the slackest wench in this town! + + [_Here they kneel down to sing all four, saving that + Abra is slackest, and Mido is quickest_.] + +THE FIRST SONG. + + _Blessed be thou, O the God of Abraham, + For thou art the Lord our God, and none but thou: + What thou workest to the glory of thy name, + Passeth man's reason to search what way or how. + Thy promise it was Abraham should have seed + More than the stars of the sky to be told; + He believed, and had Isaac indeed, + When both he and Sara seemed very old. + Isaac many years longed for a son, + Rebecca, thy handmaid, long time was barren, + By prayer in thy sight such favour he won, + That at one birth she brought him forth sons twain, + Wherefore, O Lord, we do confess and believe, + That both thou canst and wilt thy promise fulfil: + But how it shall come, we can no reason give, + Save all to be wrought according to thy will. + Blessed be thou, O God of Abraham, &c_. + +REBECCA. Now, doubt not, Jacob, but God hath appointed thee +As the eldest son unto Isaac to be: +And now have no doubt, but thou art sure elected, +And that unthrift Esau of God is rejected. +And to sell thee his birthright since he was so mad, +I warrant thee the blessing that he should have had. + +JACOB. Yea? how may that be wrought? + +REBECCA. Yes, yes, let me alone. +Our[270] good old Isaac is blind, and cannot see, +So that by policy he may beguiled be, +I shall devise how for no ill intent ne thought, +But to bring to pass that I know God will have wrought, +And I charge you twain, Abra and little Mido. + +MIDO. Nay, ye should have set Mido before Abra, I trow, +For I am a man toward, and so is not she. + +ABRA. No, but yet I am more woman toward than ye. + +REBECCA. I charge you both that, whatever hath been spoken, +Ye do not to any living body open. + +ABRA. For my part it shall to no body uttered be. + +MIDO. And slit my tongue, if ever it come out for me: +But if any tell, Abra here will be prattling. +For they say, women will ever be clattering. + +ABRA. There is none here that prattleth so much as you. + +REBECCA. No mo words, but hence we altogether now. + + [_Exeunt omnes_. + + + +ACTUS TERTIJ, SCAENA PRIMA. + +ESAU. ISAAC. MIDO. + + +ESAU. Now, since I last saw mine old father Isaac, +Both I do think it long, and he will judge me slack, +But he cometh forth; I will here listen and see, +Whether he shall chance to speak any word of me. + [_Steps aside_. + +ISAAC. On, lead me forth, Mido, to the bench on this hand, +That I may sit me down, for I cannot long stand. + +MIDO. Here, sir, this same way, and ye be at the bench now, +Where ye may sit down in God's name, if please you. + +ISAAC. I marvel, where Esau my son doth become, +That he doth now of days visit me so seldom. +But it is oft seen, whom fathers do best favour, +Of them they have least love again for their labour. +I think, since I saw him, it is a whole week. +In faith, little Mido, I would thou wouldest him seek. + +MIDO. Forsooth, Master Isaac, and I knew it where, +It should not be very long ere I would be there. +But shall I at adventure go seek where he is? + +ESAU. Seek no farther, Mido: already here he is. + +ISAAC. Methinketh, I have Esau his voice perceived. + +ESAU. Ye guess truly, father, ye are not deceived. + +MIDO. Here he is come now invisible, by my soul: +For I saw him not, till he spake hard at my poll! + +ISAAC. Now, go thou in, Mido, let us two here alone. + +MIDO. Sir, if ye command me, full quickly I am gone. + +ISAAC. Yet, and if I call thee, see thou be not slack. + +MIDO. I come at the first call, good Master Isaac. + +ISAAC. Son Esau. + +ESAU. Here, father. + +ISAAC. Is none here but we? + +ESAU. None to harken our talk, father, that I do see. + + [_Rebecca entereth behind unseen, and listens_. + +ISAAC. Son Esau, why hast thou been from me so long? + +ESAU. I cry you mercy, father, if I have done wrong. +But I am both to trouble you, having nothing +To present you withal, nor venison to bring. + +ISAAC. Son Esau, thou knowest that I do thee love. + +ESAU. I thank you for it, father, as doth me behove. + +ISAAC. And now thou seest my days draw towards an end. + +ESAU. That is to me great ruth, if I could it amend. + +ISAAC. I must go the way of all mortal flesh, +Therefore, while my memory and wit is yet fresh, +I would thee endow mine heritage to succeed: +And bless thee, as I ought, to multiply my seed. +The God of my father Abraham and of me +Hath promised, that our seed as the sand shall be. +He is a God of truth, and in his words just. +Therefore in my working shall be no fault, I trust. +Now, therefore, son Esau, get thee forth to hunt, +With thy bow and quiver, as erst thou hast been wont; +[And] bring me of thy venison that is good. + +ESAU. Ye shall have of the best that runneth in the wood. + +ISAAC. When thou comest home, to dress it it shall behove, +And to make for mine own tooth such meat as I love. +Thus do, mine own dear son, and then I shall thee kiss +With the kiss of peace, and thee for ever bless. + +ESAU. Your will t'accomplish, most dear father Isaac, +With all good haste and speed I shall not be found slack. + +ISAAC. Then help lead me home, in my tent that I were set, +And then go, when thou wilt. + +ESAU. I shall withouten let. + + + +ACTUS TERTIJ, SCAENA SECUNDA. + +REBECCA. + + +REBECCA. This talk of Isaac in secret have I heard, +And what end it should come to, my heart is afeard, +Ne'er had I so much ado to forbear to speak. +But the Lord, I trust, will Isaac's purpose break. + [_Here she kneeleth down, and prayeth_. +O God of Abraham, make it of none effect: +Let Jacob have the blessing, whom thou hast elect. +I for my part shall work what may be wrought, +That it may to Jacob from Esau be brought, +And in will I go to see what I can devise, +That Isaac's intent may fail in any wise. + + + +ACTUS TERTIJ, SCAENA TERTIA. + +RAGAN. ESAU. + + +RAGAN. Nay, we must on hunting go yet once more again, + + [_Here he cometh forth with his hunting staff + and other things, and a bag of victuals_. + +And never come home now, except we speed certain, +But I trow for hunger I have provided here: +That whatever befal, I, Ragan, shall have cheer. +I have no time to tell what delicates here be, +But (think this to be true) they're fit for better men than me. +And what? shall Esau hereof have any part? +Nay, I trust to convey it by such pretty art +That, till the bag be clear, he shall it never see. +I shall, and if he faint, feed him as he fed me: +I shall requite his shutting me out of the door +That, if he bid me run to get him meat afore, +I shall run as fast as my feet were made of lead, +And tell him there is none, though I may well be sped. +I will be even with him for my fare last day, +When he was with Jacob. + + [_Esau enters suddenly behind him_. + +ESAU. What is it that thou dost say? + +RAGAN. Sir, on your behalf I earnestly wish and pray +That, if like need chance, ye may fare as last day, +When ye were with Jacob. + +ESAU. Well, come on, let us go. + +RAGAN. Even when ye will, is there let in me or no? + + [_Exeunt ambo_. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA PRIMA. + +REBECCA. JACOB. + + +REBECCA. Son Jacob, even now is come the very hour +That, if thou have any grace, or heart, or power, +To play thy part well, and stick unto it throughout +Esau his blessing will be thine without doubt. + +JACOB. Mother, I know your good-will to be unfeigned; +But I see not which way the thing may be attained. + +REBECCA. I have it contrived, how all things shall be done, +Do thou as I shall bid thee, and it will be won. + +JACOB. Mother, in me shall be no fault or negligence. + +REBECCA. Then harken very well unto this my sentence. +I heard old Isaac, in a long, solemn talk, +Bid thy brother Esau to the field to walk, +And there with his bow to kill him some venison, +Which brought and dressed, he is to have his benison. +For I am aged (said Isaac truly), +And would bless thee, dear son, before that I die. +Now is Esau gone to do it even so; +But while he is away, I would have thee to go +Abroad unto the flock, and fetch me kids twain, +Of which I shall with a trice make such meat certain, +As shall say, _Come, eat me_, and shall make old Isaac +Lick his lips thereat, so toothsome shall it smack. +I shall make him thereof such as he doth love, +Which in thy brother's stead to bless thee shall him move. + +JACOB. O sweet and dear mother, this device is but vain, +For Esau is rough, and I am smooth certain. +And so, when I shall to my father bring this meat, +Perchance he will feel me, before that he will eat. +Old men be mistrustful: he shall the matter take, +That I went about my father a fool to make. +Mother, by such a prank the matter will be worse: +And I instead of blessing shall purchase me his curse. + +REBECCA. On me be thy curse, my son, let it light on me: +Only fetch thou the kids hither, as I bid thee, +Do thou thy true devoir, and let God work therein. + +JACOB. Upon your word, mother, I will the thing begin, +Send me little Mido to help me bear a kid. + +REBECCA. He shall come by and by, for so I shall him bid. +Now, Lord, and if thou please that this thing shall take place, +Further this our enterprise, helping with thy grace. + + [_Exit_. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA SECUNDA. + +JACOB _and_ MIDO. + + +MIDO. Are ye here, master Jacob? I came you to look, +And here dame Rebecca hath sent you your sheep-crook; +And hath commanded me to wait on you this day, +But wherefore or why, she would nothing to me say. + +JACOB. Come on then, follow me, Mido, a little ways. + +MIDO. Whither ye shall lead me; I am at all assays. + +JACOB. And art thou able to bear a kid on thy back? + +MIDO. I am able, I trow, to bear a quarter-sack. +How say you to this corpse? is it not fat and round? +How say ye to these legs? come they not to the ground? +And be not here arms able your matter to speed? +Be not here likely shoulders to do such a deed? +Therefore come, master Jacob, if this your doubt be +For bringing home of kids, lay the biggest on me, +So that if we make a feast, I may have some part. + +JACOB. Yes, that shalt thou, Mido; right worthy thou art. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA TERTIA. + +REBECCA. ABRA. + + +REBECCA. I come to see, if Jacob be gone a-field yet; +A little slacking may all our purpose let. +But now that he is gone, he will be here at once, +Therefore I will call my maid Abra for the nonce, +That all thing within may be in a readiness. +Abra, where be ye, Abra? + +ABRA. Here within, mistress. + +REBECCA. Come forth: when, Abra? what, Abra, I say! + +ABRA. Anon. + +REBECCA. Must I call so oft? why come ye not by and by? + +ABRA. I was washing my vessel forsooth, mistress, I. + +REBECCA. And in very deed, look that all your vessels be clean. + +ABRA. There is not one foul piece in all our tent, I ween. + +REBECCA. Then make a great fire, and make ready your pot, +And see there be plenty of water, cold and hot; +And see the spit be scoured as clean as any pearl. + +ABRA. If this be not quickly done, call me naughty girl. + +REBECCA. Nay, soft, whither away? I have not yet all done. + +ABRA. I thought ye would have had me as quick to be gone, +As when ye call Abra, ye would have me to come. + +REBECCA. Then see ye have made ready cloves, mace, and cinnamon: +Pepper and saffron; then fet herbs for the pot; + +ABRA. We will have the best that by me can be got. + +REBECCA. And let no foul corner be about all the tent. + +ABRA. If ye find any fault, hardly let me be shent. +Is there anything else but that I may go now? + +REBECCA. Nought but that, when I come, I find no fault in you. + +ABRA. No, I warrant you, I will not let my matters sleep. + +REBECCA. Any good wench will at her dame's bidding take keep. +Now, God of Abraham, as I trust in thy grace, +Send Jacob the blessing in Esau his place. +As thou hast ordained, right so must all thing be: +Perform thine own words, Lord, which thou spakest to me. +Now will I go in to see, that mine old husband +May of my secret working nothing understand. +Or in case he smell what we have thus far begun, +He may think it all for Esau to be done. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA QUARTA. + +ABRA, _the maid_, DEBORAH, _the nurse_. + + +ABRA. He, that were now within, should find all thing, I ween, +As trim as a trencher, as trick, as sweet, as clean. +And seeing that my dame prepareth such a feast, +I will not, I trow, be found such a sluttish beast, +That there shall any filth about our tent be kept, +But that both within and without it shall be swept. + + [_Then let her sweep with a broom, and while she doth it, + sing this song, and when she hath sung, let her say thus_:[271] + +THE SECOND SONG. + + _It hath been a proverb, before I was born, + Young doth it prick, that will be a thorn. + Who will be evil, or who will be good; + Who given to truth, or who to falsehood. + Each body's youth showeth a great likelihood. + For young doth it prick, that will be a thorn. + + Who so in youth will no goodness embrace, + But follow pleasure, and not virtue's trace, + Great marvel it is, if such come to grace. + For young doth it prick, that will be a thorn. + + Such as in youth will refuse to be taught, + Or will be slack to work, as he ought, + When they come to age, their proof will be nought. + For young doth it prick, that will be a thorn. + + If a child have been given to any vice, + Except he be guided by such as be wise, + He will thereof all his life have a spice. + For young doth it prick, that will be a thorn. + + It hath been a proverb, &c_. + +ABRA. Now have I done, and, as it should be for the nonce, +My sweeping and my song are ended both at once. +Now but for fetting mine herbs I might go play. +Deborah, nurse Deborah, a word, I you pray. + + _Enter_ DEBORAH. + +DEBORAH. What is the matter? who calleth me Deborah? + +ABRA. Forsooth, gentle nurse, even I, little Abra, +I pray you, sweet Deborah, take in this same broom, +And look well to all thing, till I return home: +I must to the garden as fast as I can trot, +As I was commanded, to fet herbs for the pot. +But, in the meantime, I pray you, nurse, look about, +And see well to the fire, that it go not out; +I will amble so fast, that I will soon be there, +And here again, I trow, ere an horse lick his ear. + [_Exit_. + +DEBORAH. There is not a prettier girl within this mile, +Than this Abra will be within this little while. +As true as any steel, ye may trust her with gold. +Though it were a bushel, and not a penny told. +As quick about her work, that must be quickly sped +As any wench in twenty mile about her tread. +As fine a piece it is, as I know but a few, +Yet perchance her husband of her may have a shrew. +Cat after kind (say'th the proverb) sweet milk will lap; +If the mother be a shrew, the daughter cannot 'scape. +One sure[272] mark she hath: I marvel, if she slip: +For her nose is growing above her over lip. +But it is time, that I into the tent be gone, +Lest she come and chide me; she will come now anon. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA QUINTA. + +ABRA. + + +ABRA. How say ye? have not I despatched me quickly? +A straw for that wench that doth not somewhat likely, +I have brought here good herbs, and of them plenty, +To make both broth and farcing,[273] and that full dainty, +I trust to make such broth that, when all things are in, +God Almighty self may wet his finger therein. +Here is thyme and parsley, spinach and rosemary. +Endive, succory, lacture, violet, clary, +Liverwort, marigold, sorrel, hart's-tongue, and sage: +Pennyroyal, purslane, bugloss, and boràge, +With many very good herbs, mo than I do name. +But to tarry here thus long, I am much to blame. +For if Jacob should come, I not in readiness, +I must of covenant be shent of our mistress. +And I would not for twenty pound, I tell ye, +That any point of default should be found in me. + + [_Exit_. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA SEXTA. + +REBECCA. MIDO. JACOB. + + +REBECCA. I come to see, if Jacob do not return yet, +I cannot marvel enough what should be his let, +And greatly wonder he is away thus long. +I fear much of his absence, lest something be wrong. +As well as heart can wish, all thing is ready here; +And now to me each moment seemeth a whole year. +But hark, methinketh I hear a young kid blea! +It is so indeed; I see Jacob; well is me! + +MIDO. Hark, master Jacob, heard ye ever kid blea so? +I ween she knoweth aforehand, whereto she shall go. + +JACOB. I would not my father Isaac should hear; + +MIDO. Nay, she will scarcely be still when she is dead, I do fear. + +JACOB. But lo, I see my mother stand before the tent. + +_Enter_ JACOB _and_ MIDO. + +REBECCA. O Lord, methinketh long, son Jacob, since thou went. + +JACOB. And methinketh, mother, we have hied us well. + +MIDO. I have made many feet to follow, I can tell. + +REBECCA. Give me thy kid, my son, and now let me alone, +Bring thou in thine, Mido, and see thou be a stone. + +MIDO. A stone? how should that be, mistress? I am a lad, +And a boy alive, as good as e'er ye had: +And now, in bringing home this kid, I have, I trow, +Tried myself a man and a pretty fellow. + +REBECCA. I meant thou shouldest nothing say. + +MIDO. One warning is enough; ye bad us so last day. + +REBECCA. Well, let me go in, and venison hereof make: + +JACOB. And hearest thou, Mido? see that good heed thou take +In any wise to come in my father's sight. + +MIDO. Why, he seeth no better at noon than at midnight. +Is he not blind long since, and doth his eyes lack? +Therefore go in, dame, I bear an heavy pack. + +REBECCA. I leave you here, Jacob, and heartily you pray +That, when need shall require, you be not far away. + +JACOB. I shall be ready, mother, whensoe'er you call. + + [_Exit Rebecca_. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA SEPTIMA. + +JACOB. MIDO. + + +JACOB. O, how happy is that same daughter or that son, +Whom the parents love with hearty affection! +And among all others how fortunate am I, +Whom my mother Rebecca tend'reth so greatly? +If it lay in her to do any good, ye see, +She would do her earnest devoir to prefer me. +But as for this matter, which she doth now intend, +Without thy aid, O Lord, how should it come to end? +Nevertheless, forasmuch as my said mother +Worketh upon thy word, O Lord, and none other, +It shall become me to show mine obedience, +And to thy promise, O Lord, to give due credence. +For what is so impossible to man's judgment, +Which thou canst not with a beck perform incontinent? +Therefore thy will, O Lord, be done for evermore. + +MIDO. O Jacob, I was never so afeard afore. + +JACOB. Why, what new thing is chanced, Mido, I pray thee? + +MIDO. Old Isaac, your father, heard your young kid blea. +He asked what it was: I said, a kid. +Who brought it from the fold? I said you did. +For what purpose? forsooth, sir, said I, +There is some matter that Jacob would remedy. +And where has thou been so long, little Mido, quod he, +That all this whole hour thou wert not once with me? +Forsooth (quod I), when I went from you last of all, +You bad me be no more, but be ready at your call. + +JACOB. But of the kid's bleaing he did speak no more? + +MIDO. No; but, and if he had called me afore, +I must have told him all, or else I must have made a lie, +Which would not have been a good boy's part truly. +But I will to him, and no longer here remain, +Lest he should happen to call for Mido again. + + [_Exit Mido_. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA OCTAVA. + +JACOB. REBECCA. DEBORAH. + + +JACOB. I were best also to get me into the tent +That, if my mother need me, I may be present. +But I see her come forth, and nurse Deborah also, +And bring the gear with them, whatsoe'er it shall do. + +REBECCA. Where is my son Jacob? I do him now espy. +Come apace, Deborah, I pray thee let us hie, +That all thing were dispatched somewhat to my mind. + +DEBORAH. It is happy, that Jacob ready here ye find. + +JACOB. Mother, what have ye brought, and what things are those? + +REBECCA. Gear that I have prepared to serve our purpose; +And because that Esau is so rough with hair, +I have brought sleeves of kid next to thy skin to wear. +They be made glovelike, and for each finger a stall: +So that thy father's feeling soon beguile they shall. +Then have I brought a collar of rough kid's hair, +Fast unto the skin round about thy neck to wear. +Come, let me do it on, and if Isaac feel, +He shall therewith be beguiled wondrous well. + [_Here she doth the sleeves upon Jacob's arms_. + +JACOB. And what shall this gear do, that ye have brought? + +REBECCA. It shall serve anon, I warrant you, take no thought. +Now, thoroughly to ravish thy father Isaac, +Thou shalt here incontinent put upon thy back +Esau his best apparel, whose fragrant flavour +Shall conjure Isaac to bear thee his favour. + +DEBORAH. Marry, sir, now is master Jacob trim indeed, +That is all tricksy and gallant, so God me speed! +Now I see apparel setteth out a man. +Doth it become Esau so? nay, beshrew me then. + +REBECCA. Ye may now go in, nurse, and leave looking on him. + +DEBORAH. I go; marry, sir, Jacob is now gay and trim. + + [_Jacob standeth looking on himself_. + +JACOB. No, forsooth, mother, this raiment liketh not me. +I could with mine own gear better contented be. +And, but for satisfying of your mind and will, +I would not wear it, to have it for mine own still. +I love not to wear another bird's feathers: +Mine own poor homely gear will serve for all weathers. + +REBECCA. Well, content thyself, and follow my mind this day. +Now the meat by this time is ready, I dare say. +Before that with too much _enough_ it be all spilt, +Take thy time, and assail thy father, when thou wilt. + +JACOB. Yea, but have ye provided, mother, I you pray, +That nobody within may your counsel bewray? + +REBECCA. I warrant the matter all safe from uttering, +I have stopped all mouths fro once muttering. +Therefore, while the time serveth, I thee warn; +To slack, when all things are ready, may do harm. + +JACOB. Go before, and I follow: but my cheeks will blush red, +To be seen among our folk thus appareled. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA NONA. + +ISAAC. MIDO. JACOB. + + +ISAAC. Come, Mido, for without thee I can nothing do. + +MIDO. What is it, sir, that ye would have my help unto? + +ISAAC. Nothing but to sit abroad, and take th' open air. + +MIDO. That shall be well done; the weather is very fair. + +ISAAC. Praised be the God of my father Abraham, +Who sendeth all thing needful for the use of man, +And most tenderly provideth he for me Isaac, +Better than I can feel or perceive what I lack. + +_Enter_ JACOB _disguised_. + +JACOB. Where is my most dear father? as I would have it; +Taking the open air, here I see him sit. +O my most dear father Isaac, well thou be! + +ISAAC. Here I am, my sweet son, and who art thou, tell me? + +JACOB. Dear father, I am Esau, thine eldest son, +According as thou badest me, so have I done. +Come in, dear father, and eat of my venison, +That thy soul may give unto me thy benison. + +ISAAC. But how hast thou sped so soon? let me understand. + +JACOB. The Lord thy God at the first brought it to my hand, + +ISAAC. And art thou Esau, mine elder son indeed? + +JACOB. To ask that question, father, what doth it need? + +ISAAC. Come near, that I may feel, whether thou be he or not, +For Esau is rough of hair as any goat. +Let me feel thy hand; right! Esau, by the hair: +And yet the voice of Jacob soconeth in mine ear. +God bless thee, my son, and so will I do anon, +As soon as I have tasted of thy venison. +Come on, lead me in; I will eat a pittance: +A little thing, God wot, to me is suffisance. + [_They go in_. + +MIDO. I may now go play; Jacob leadeth Isaac. +But I never saw such a pretty knack, +How Jacob beguiled his father, how sleightly: +Now I see it true, the blind eat many a fly! +I quaked once for fear, that Jacob would be caught, +But, as hap was, he had his lesson well taught. +But what will Esau say, when he cometh home? +Choose him; but for me to go in it is wisdom. + + [_Exit_. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA DECIMA. + +REBECCA. ABRA. + + +REBECCA. Now I beseech the Lord prosper Jacob my son +In our hardy enterprise, which we have begun. +Isaac is eating such meat as he doth love, +Which thing to bless Jacob, I doubt not, will him move: +If he obtain the blessing, as I trust he shall, +Then shall my soul give to God laud perpetual. +But I will in to harken, how the thing doth frame. + +ABRA.[274] Come in, dame Rebecca. + +REBECCA. Who is it, that doth me name? + +ABRA. My master Isaac is coming forth straightway. + +REBECCA. He shall not find me here in no wise, if I may. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA VNDECIMA. + +ISAAC. JACOB. + + +ISAAC. Set me down on the bench, where thou didst me first find: +Now forsooth I have ate meat even to my mind. +It hath refreshed my soul wonderfully well. +Nor never drank I better wine that I can tell. + +JACOB. If it were to your liking, I am very glad. + +ISAAC. It was the best meat and wine that ever I had. +Come kiss me, son Esau, with the kiss of peace, + + [_Jacob kisseth Isaac; and then kneeleth down to have his blessing_. + +That my love towards thee may the more increase. +I bless thee here for ever, my son, in this place, +The Lord my God of might endue thee with his grace. +What sweet flavour my son's raiment doth yield! +Even the fragrant smell that cometh from a field, +Which the Lord hath blessed, and the same Lord bless thee +With the dew of heaven! the Lord thy ground increase, +That the fatness of the earth may never cease! +The Lord send thee abundance of corn and wine, +And prosper continually all thing that is thine! +The Lord make great people servants unto thee: +And nations to do homage and fealty! +And here, to succeed my place, mine heir I thee make, +Of all things that I have possession to take. +Lord and ruler be thou over thy brethren all, +And bow to thee as head thy mother's children shall! +Cursed be that man, that shall thee curse or mis-say, +And who that blesseth thee, blessed be he for aye! +Thus here have I made my last will and testament, +Which the Lord God ratify never to repent. +Serve the Lord our God, and then well shalt thou speed, +And he shall keep promise to multiply thy seed. +My day draweth on, for old and feeble I am. +When I die, put me to my father Abraham. +Now kiss me once again, my son, and then depart, +And enter upon all, whereof now lord thou art. + +JACOB. The Lord God reward your fatherly tenderness, +Which ye have here showed me of your mere goodness. + +ISAAC. Go in peace, my dear son, leaving me here alone: +And send little Mido to lead me in anon. + [_Exeat Jacob_. + +Lord God, when thou shalt see time, as thou thinkest best, +Dissolve this feeble carcase, and take me to thy rest. + + _Enter_ MIDO. + +MIDO. How do ye, master Isaac? I am here now. +For my master Jacob did bid me come to you. + +ISAAC. Nay, boy, it was not Jacob, I dare well say so. + +MIDO. Forsooth, it was Jacob, if my name be Mido. + +ISAAC. If that be a true tale, somebody is come slack, +But, Lord, that I have done I will not now call back. +But yet I will go see, if I be deceived: +For indeed methought Jacob's voice I perceived. + + [_Exeunt_. + + + +ACTUS QUARTI, SCAENA DUODECIMA. + +REBECCA. + + + [_Then she speaketh kneeling, and holding up her hands_. + +REBECCA. O Lord, the God of Isaac and Abraham, +I render thanks to thee, though a sinful woman, +Because of thy word and promise true art thou, +In sending Jacob the blessing of Esau; +And for thus regarding a sinner, as I am, +I eftsoons thank thee, O Lord God of Abraham. +Thy mercy and wisdom shall I sing evermore: +And magnify thy name, for God's there is no more. +But I will to my husband Isaac, and see, +That for this matter he take no grief at me. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA PRIMA. + +RAGAN. + + + [_Ragan bringeth venison at his back_. + +Nay, now at last we have well sped, I warrant you: +Good luck is not evermore against Esau. +He coursed and coursed again with his dogs here: +But they could at no time take either hare or deer. +At last he killed this with his bow, as God would. +And to say that it is fat venison I be bold. +But dressed it must be at once in all the haste, +That old father Isaac may have his repast. +Then without delay Esau shall blessed be, +Then, faith, cock-on-hoop, all is ours! then, who but he? +But I must in, that it may be dressed in time likely, +And I trow ye shall see it made ready quickly. + [_Exit_. + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA SECUNDA. + +MIDO. + + +MIDO. Nay now, old master Isaac (I warrant you) +Hath blessed Jacob in the place of Esau. +At home here with us it is judged no small change, +But a case wonderful, and also very strange. +The younger brother is made elder: and again +The elder must now serve the younger as his swain.[275] +And from henceforth we must all make courtesy and bow, +Unto master Jacob, and not to Esau now: +And Esau himself must under Jacob be, +At his commandment, even as well as we. +But I care not, I warrant you: for our household +Love Jacob better than Esau twentyfold. +None loveth Esau but for his father's sake: +But all good folks are glad Jacob's part to take. +And now by Esau no man will set a pin, +But yonder he cometh now; I will get me in. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA TERTIA. + +ESAU. + + +ESAU. I trow I have now won my spurs for ever; +For once better venison killed I never, +And though it were somewhat long, ere I could it take, +Yet the goodness thereof doth some recompense make. +My father Isaac shall thereof have such meat, +As in all his life he hath not the better eat. +Whereupon, I doubt not, after tender kissing, +To be straight endowed with his godly blessing: +As his full and true heir in his place to succeed, +And t'enjoy the promise that God made to his seed, +And when I am once in my place of succession, +And have all manner things in full possession: +I shall wring all louts and make them stoop (I trow); +I shall make the slaves couch as low as dog, and bow. +I shall ruffle among them of another sort +Than Isaac hath done, and with another port. +But now will go see, what haste within they make, +That part of my hunting my old father may take. + + [_Exit_. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA QUARTA. + +ISAAC. MIDO. ESAU. + + +ISAAC. Mido, come, Mido, where art thou, little Mido? + +MIDO. Here ready, master Isaac, what shall I do? + +ISAAC. Come, lead me to mine old place, that I may sit down. + +MIDO. That can I as well as any boy in this town. + +ISAAC. O Lord my God, how deep and unsearchable +Are all thy judgments, and how immutable? +Of thy justice, whom it pleaseth thee, thou dost reject; +Of thy mercy, whom it pleaseth thee, thou dost elect +In my two sons, O Lord, thou hast wrought thy will, +And as thy pleasure hath wrought, so shall it stand still. +Since thou hast set Jacob in Esau his place, +I commit him to the governance of thy grace. + + _Enter_ ESAU. + +ESAU. Now where is Isaac, that he may come and eat? +Lo, where he is sitting abroad upon his seat. +Dear father Isaac, the Lord thy God thee save. + +ISAAC. Who art thou, my son? what thing wouldest thou have? + +ESAU. I am your eldest son, Esau by my name, +New come home from hunting, where I had joyly[276] game, +I have made meat thereof for your own appetite, +Meat for your own tooth, wherein you will much delight. +Come, eat your part, dear father, that, when ye have done, +Your soul may bless me as your heir and eldest son. + +ISAAC. Ah Esau, Esau, thou comest too late, +Another to thy blessing was predestinate, +And clean gone it is from thee, Esau. + +ESAU. Alas! +Then am I the unhappiest that ever was, +I would the savage beasts had my body torn. + +ISAAC. The blessing that thou shouldest have had, another hath. + +ESAU. Alas, what wretched villain hath done me such scath? + +ISAAC. Thy brother Jacob came to me by subtlety, +And brought me venison, and so prevented[277] thee. +I ate with him, ere thou cam'st, and with my good-will +Blessed him I have, and blessed he shall be still. + +ESAU. Ah Jacob, Jacob, well may he be called so: +For he hath undermined me times two. +For first mine heritage he took away me fro, +And see, now hath he away my blessing also. +Ah father, father, though Jacob hath done this thing: +Yet let me Esau also have thy blessing. +Shall all my good huntings for thee be in vain? + +ISAAC. That is done and passed, cannot be called again. +Mine act must now stand in force of necessity. + +ESAU. And hast thou never a blessing then left for me? + +ISAAC. Behold, I have made thy brother Jacob thy lord. + +ESAU. A most poignant sword unto my heart is that word. + +ISAAC. All his mother's children his servants have I made. + +ESAU. That word is to me sharper than a razor's blade. + +ISAAC. I have also 'stablished him with wine and corn. + +ESAU. Woe be the day and hour that ever I was born! + +ISAAC. What am I able to do for thee, my son? + +ESAU. Ah Jacob, Jacob, that thou hast me thus undone! +O unhappy hap: O misfortune! well away! +That ever I should live to see this woful day. +But hast thou one blessing and no mo, my father? +Let me also have some blessing, good sweet father. + +ISAAC. Well, nature pricketh me some remorse on thee to have. +Behold, thy dwelling-place the earth's fatness shall have, +And the dew of heaven, which down from above shall fall: +And with dint of sword thy living get thou shall, +And to thy brother Jacob thou shalt be servant. + +ESAU. O, to my younger brother must I be servant? +O, that ever a man should be so oppressed! + +ISAAC. Thine own fault it is, that thou art dispossessed. + +ESAU. Father, change that piece of thy sentence and judgment. + +ISAAC. Things done cannot be undone; therefore be content, +Let me be in quiet, and trouble me no more. +Come, Mido, in God's name, lead me in at the door. + [_Exeunt Isaac and Mido_. + +ESAU. O, would not this chafe a man, and fret his guts out, +To live as an underling under such a lout? +Ah hypocrite, Ah hedgecreeper, Ah 'sembling wretch! +I will be even with thee for this subtle fetch. +O God of Abraham, what reason is herein, +That to sle one's enemy it should be made sin? +Were not one as good his part of heaven forego, +As not to be revenged on his deadly foe? +God was angry with Cain for killing Abel: +Else might I kill Jacob marvellously well. +I may fortune one day him to dispatch and rid: +The Lord will not see all things; something may be hid. +But as for these misers[278] within my father's tent, +Which to the supplanting of me put their consent, +Not one, but I shall coil them, till they stink for pain, +And then for their stinking coil them off fresh again. +I will take no days[279]; but, while the matter is hot, +Not one of them shall 'scape, but they shall to the pot. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA QUINTA. + + +RAGAN. + +Where are we now become? marry, sir, here is array! +With Esau, my master, this is a black day. +I told you Esau one day would shit a rag, +Have we not well hunted, of blessing to come lag?[280] +Nay, I thought ever it would come to such a pass, +Since he sold his heritage like a very ass. +But, in faith, some of them, I dare jeopard a groat, +If he may reach them, will have on the petticoat.[281] + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA SEXTA. + +ESAU. RAGAN. ABRA. MIDO. DEBORAH. + + +ESAU. Come out, whores and thieves; come out, come out, I say! + +RAGAN.[282] I told you, did I not, that there would be a fray? [_Aside_. + +ESAU. Come out, little whoreson ape, come out of thy den. + +MIDO. Take my life for a penny, whither shall I ren?[283] + +ESAU. Come out, thou little fiend, come out, thou skittish gill. + +ABRA. Out, alas, alas! Esau will us all kill. + +ESAU. And come out, thou mother Mab;[284] out, old rotten witch! +As white as midnight's arsehole or virgin pitch. +Where be ye? come together in a cluster. + +RAGAN. In faith, and these three will make a noble muster. + +ESAU. Ere ye escape my fingers, ye shall all be taught, +For these be they which have all this against me wrought. + +MIDO. I wrought not a stroke this day, but led Isaac: +If I wrought one stroke to-day, lay me on the jack. + +ESAU. Hence then, get thee in, and do against me no more. + +MIDO. I care as much for you now, as I did before. [_Aside_. + +ESAU. What sayest thou, little thief? if I may thee catch. + +MIDO. Ye shall run apace then, I ween, so God me snatch. + +RAGAN. Now to go, Mido, ere thou art caught in a trip. + + [_Exit_ MIDO. + +ESAU. Nay, for his sake, Abra, ye shall drink of the whip. + +ABRA. Nay, for God's love, good sweet master Esau, +Hurt not me for Mido: speak for me, Ragan. + +RAGAN. Sir, spare little Abra, she hath done none evil. + +ESAU. A little fiend it is, and will be a right devil, +And she is one of them that love not me a deal. + +ABRA. If ye let me go, I will love you very well. + +ESAU. And never any more ado against me make? + +ABRA. Ragan shall be surety. + +RAGAN. Sir, I undertake. + +ESAU. Then hence, out of my sight at once, and get thee in. + +ABRA. Adieu, I set not a straw by you nor a pin. + +ESAU. What sayest thou, thou fib? once ye shall have a rap. + +RAGAN. The best end of suretyship is to get a clap. [_Aside_. + +ESAU. Now, come on, thou old hag, what shall I say to thee? + +DEBORAH. Say what ye lust, so ye do not touch me. + +ESAU. Yes, and make powder of thee, for I dare say thou +Hast been the cause of all this feast to Esau. + +DEBORAH. No, it was Jacob's feast that I did help to dress. + +ESAU. Nay, I thought such a witch would do such business. + +DEBORAH.[285] But, by my truth, if I should die incontinent, +I knew not of the purpose, wherefore it was meant. + +ESAU. But wilt thou tell me truth, if I do forgive thee? + +DEBORAH. Yea, if I can, Master Esau, believe me. + +ESAU. Is it true that, when I and my brother were first born, +And I by God's ordinance came forth him beforne, +Jacob came forthwith, holding me fast by the heel? + +DEBORAH. It is true; I was there, and saw it very well. + +ESAU. Is it true? well, Jacob, I pray God I be dead, +But for my heel's sake, I will have thee by the head. +What devil was in me, that I had not the grace, +With kicking back my heel, to mar his mopish face? +But my father Isaac will not long live now; +If he were gone, Jacob, I would soon meet with you. +For my soul hateth Jacob even to the death, +And I will ne'er but hate him, while I shall have breath. +I may well dissemble, until I see a day, +But trust me, Jacob, I will pay thee when I may. +But if ever I hear that thou speak word of this, +I shall cut out thy tongue, I will not miss. + [_This he speaketh to Deborah_. +But come on, Ragan, with me: so mote I thrive, +I will get a good sword, for thereby must I live. + +RAGAN. Live, quod you? we are like to live, God knoweth how. + +ESAU. What, ye saucy merchant,[286] are ye a prater now? + + [_Exeunt_ ESAU _and_ RAGAN. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA SEPTIMA. + +DEBORAH. REBECCA. + + +DEBORAH. I am glad that Esau is now gone, certès. +For an evil-disposed man he is, doubtless. +Yet am I no gladder of his departure hence, +Than I am that Rebecca is come in presence. + + _Enter_ REBECCA. + +REBECCA. Deborah, what doest thou, tarrying here so long? +I came full ill afeard, lest something had been wrong; +For Mido and Abra told me of Esau. + +DEBORAH. Indeed here he was, and departed hence but now: +And one thing I tell you, dame: let Jacob beware, +For Esau to mischief Jacob doth prepare. + +REBECCA. Call Jacob hither, that I may show him my mind. +Send him hither quickly, and tarry ye behind, +That he give place awhile, it is expedient, +And how he may be sure, I will the way invent. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA OCTAVA. + +JACOB. REBECCA. + + +JACOB. Mother Rebecca, did ye send for me hither? + +REBECCA. Yea, and the cause is this, thou must go somewhither, +To hide thee from thy brother Esau a space. + +JACOB. Indeed, to men's malice we must sometime give place. + +REBECCA. He lieth in await to sle thee, if he can: +Thou shalt therefore, by my reed, fle hence to Haran: +And lie with my brother Laban, a man aged, +Till Esau's wrath be somewhat assuaged. +When all things are forgotten, and his fury passed, +I shall send for thee again in all goodly haste. + +JACOB. Yea, but, how will my father herewith be content? + +REBECCA. Thou shalt see me win him thereto incontinent. +And here he cometh happily: Jacob, hear me; +Make a sign to Mido, that he do not name thee, +Then get thee in privily, till I do thee call. + +JACOB. As ye command me, mother Rebecca, I shall. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA NONA. + +ISAAC. MIDO. REBECCA. JACOB. + + +ISAAC. Where be ye, good wife? + +MIDO. My dame Rebecca is here. + +REBECCA. I am glad, sweet husband, that I see you appear, +For[287] I have a word or two unto you to say. + +ISAAC. Whatsoever it be, tell it me, I you pray. + +REBECCA. Sir, ye know that now our life-days are but short, +And we had never so great need of comfort. +Now Esau his wives being Hittites both, +Ye know, to please us are much unwilling and both. +That if Jacob eke would take any Hittite to wife, +Small joy should we both have or comfort of our life. + +ISAAC. Wife, ye speak this well, and I will provide therefore, +Call Jacob quickly, that he appear me before. + +MIDO. I can run apace for him, if ye bid me go. + +REBECCA. Go, hie thee at once then, like a good son, Mido. + + [_Exit Mido, but returns directly with Jacob_. + +ISAAC. O Lord, save thou my son from mis-carrying. + +MIDO. Come, master Jacob, ye must make no tarrying, +For I it is that shall be shent, if you be slack, +Here is your son Jacob now, master Isaac. + +ISAAC. Son Jacob, make thee ready, as fast [as] thou can, +And in all haste possible get thee unto Laban. +He is thine own uncle, and a right godly man, +Marry of his daughters, and not of Canaan. +In Mesopotamia shalt thou lead thy life. +The Lord prosper thee here without debate or strife; +And the God of Abraham prosper thee in peace; +He multiply thy seed, and make it to increase! +Now kiss me, dear son Jacob, and so go thy way. + +REBECCA. Kiss me also, sweet son, and hence without delay. + +JACOB. Now, most tender parents, as well with heart and word +I bid you well to fare, and leave you to the Lord. + +MIDO. Nay, master Jacob, let me have an hand also. + +JACOB. Even with all my heart: farewell, little Mido. + [_Exit Jacob_. + +ISAAC. Now will I depart hence into the tent again. + +REBECCA. As pleaseth God and you, but I will here remain. + + + +ACTUS QUINTI, SCAENA DECIMA. + +ESAU. RAGAN. REBECCA. ISAAC. MIDO. + + +ESAU. And is he gone indeed to mine uncle Laban, +In Mesopotamia at the town of Haran? +And is Jacob gone to the house of Bethuel? +The whirlwind with him, and flinging fiend of hell! +But I shall meet with him yet one day well enough. +And who is this? my mother? whom I see here now. + +RAGAN. She stood here all this while, sir, did ye not her see? + +ESAU. Didst thou see her stand here, and wouldest not warn me? + +REBECCA. Son Esau, afore God, thou art much to blame, +And to do, as I hear of thee, is a foul shame. + +ESAU. Mother, what is it ye heard of me of late? + +REBECCA. That thou dost thy brother Jacob deadly hate. + +ESAU. Hate Jacob? I hate him, and will do, till I die, +For he hath done me both great wrong and villainy; +And that shall he well know, if the Lord give me life. + +REBECCA. Fie upon thee, to speak so, like a lewd caitiff! + +RAGAN. My master Esau is of nature much hot, +But he will be better than he saith, fear not. + +ESAU. My birthright to sell did he not make me consent? + +REBECCA. But the same to do wert not thyself content? +There is no man to blame for it but thine own self. + +ESAU. Yea, mother, I see that ye hold with that mopish elf. +It is your dainty darling, your prinkox, your golpol; +He can never be praised enough of your soul; +He must ever be extolled above the moon: +It is never amiss that he hath said or done. +I would he were rocked or dandled in your lap; +Or I would with this falchion I might give him pap. +I marvel why ye should so love him, and me not? +Ye groaned as well for the one as thother, I wot. +But Jacob must be advanced in any wise: +But I shall one day handle him of the new guise.[288] + +REBECCA. Both on thy father's blessing and mine, I charge thee, +That thy soul intend never such iniquity; +Beware by the example of Cain, I thee reed, +That thou bring not the Lord's curse upon thy head. + +ESAU. And what, should I take all this wrong at Jacob's hand? + +REBECCA. Forgive, and the Lord shall prosper thee in the land. +My son Esau, hear me; I am thy mother: +For my sake, let pass this grudge against thy brother. + +RAGAN. Sir, your mother's request is but reasonable, +Which for you to grant shall be much commendable. + +ESAU. Mother, though it be a great thing that ye require: +Yet must all malice pass at your desire; +And for your cause, mother, this mine anger shall slake. + +REBECCA. I thank thee, my son, that thou dost it for my sake. + +ESAU. For your sake, with Jacob I will be at accord. + +REBECCA. And shall I call thy father to be as record? + +ESAU. As pleaseth you, mother, I can be well content. + +REBECCA. Then will I go call him hither incontinent. +And where he doth already love thee very well, +This will make him to love thee better a great deal. + +RAGAN. Truly, sir, this is of you a right gentle part: +At least, if it come from the bottom of your heart. + +ESAU. It must now be thus; but when I shall Jacob find, +I shall then do as God shall put into my mind. + + __Enter_ ISAAC _and_ MIDO _with_ REBECCA. + +REBECCA. He hath at my word remitted all his quarrel. + +ISAAC. Forsooth! love him the better a great deal. +And if he be here, I would commend his doing. + +ESAU.[289] All prest here, father, to tarry on your coming. + +ISAAC. Son Esau, thou hast thyself well acquitted, +That all quarrel to Jacob thou hast remitted. +It was the Lord's pleasure that it should thus be, +Against whose ordinance to stand is not for thee: +But now, to the intent it may please the Lord, +To knit your hearts one day in a perfect concord, +We shall first in a song give laud unto His name, +And then with all gladness within confirm the same. + +REBECCA. As ye think best, dear husband, I agree thereto. + +ESAU. Me ye may command to what ye will have me to do: +And so may ye do also Ragan my man. + +ISAAC. I see none; but praise we the Lord the best we can, +Call forth all our household, that with one accord +We may all with one voice sing unto the Lord. + + [_Ragan calleth all to sing_. + +_This song must be sung after the prayer. + + O Lord, the God of our father Abraham, + How deep and unsearchable are thy judgments! + Thy almightiful hand did create and frame + Both heaven and earth, and all the elements. + Man of the earth thou hast formed and create; + Some do thee worship, and some stray awry, + Whom pleaseth thee, thou dost choose or reprobate, + And no flesh can ask thee wherefore or why? + Of thine own will thou didst Abraham elect, + Promising him seed as stars of the sky, + And them as thy chosen people to protect, + That they might thy mercies praise and magnify. + Perform thou, O Lord, thine eternal decree + To me and my seed, the sons of Abraham; + And whom thou hast chosen thine own people to be, + Guide and defend to the glory of thy name_. + +FINIS. + + [_Then entereth the Poet, and the rest stand + still till he have done_. + +THE POET. When Adam, for breaking God's commandment, +Had sentence of death, and all his posterity: +Yet the Lord our God, who is omnipotent, +Had in his own self by his eternal decree +Appointed to restore man, and to make him free. +He purposed to save mankind by his mercy, +Whom he once had created unto his glory. +Yet not all flesh did he then predestinate, +But only the adopted children of promise: +For he foreknew that many would degenerate, +And wilfully give cause to be put from that bliss, +So on God's behalf no manner default there is; +But where he chooseth, he showeth his great mercy: +And where he refuseth, he doth none injury, +But thus far surmounteth man's intellection,[290] +To attain or conceive, and (much more) to discuss: +All must be referred to God's election +And to his sacred judgment. It is meet for us, +With Paul the apostle, to confess, and say thus: +O, the deepness of the riches of God's wisdom! +How unsearchable are his ways to man's reason? +Our part therefore is first to believe God's word, +Not doubting but that he will his elected save: +Then to put full trust in the goodness of the Lord, +That we be of the number, which shall mercy have: +Thirdly, so to live, as we may his promise crave. +Thus if we do, we shall Abraham's children be, +And come with Jacob to endless felicity. + + [_All the rest of the actors answer, Amen_. + +_Then followeth the prayer_. + +ISAAC. Now unto God let us pray for all the whole clergy, +To give them grace to advance God's honour and glory. + +REBECCA. Then for the Queen's majesty let us pray +Unto God to keep her in health and wealth night and day, +And that, of his mere mercy and great benignity, +He will defend and maintain her estate and dignity; +That she, being grieved with any outward hostility, +May against her enemies always have victory. + +JACOB. God save the Queen's councillors most noble and true, +And with all godliness their noble hearts endue. + +ESAU. Lord save the nobility and preserve them all: +And prosper the Queen's subjects universal. + +AMEN. + +_Thus endeth this Comedy or Enterlude of Jacob and Esau_. + + + + + + +THE DISOBEDIENT CHILD. + + + +THE PLAYER'S NAMES. + +THE PROLOGUE SPEAKER. THE YOUNG WOMAN. +THE RICH MAN. THE SERVINGMAN. +THE RICH MAN'S SON. THE PRIEST. +THE MAN COOK. THE DEVIL. +THE WOMAN COOK. THE PERORATOR. + + + +MR HALLIWELL'S PREFACE TO THE FORMER EDITION.[291] + + +So little is known respecting the history of the following tract, that +it is rather from an unwillingness to depart from the usual custom of +affixing introductions to our reprints, than from any expectation of +satisfying the slightest curiosity, that a few lines are here prefixed. +The interlude of "The Disobedient Child" was written about the middle +of the sixteenth century, by Thomas Ingelend, who is described in the +early printed copy as "late student in Cambridge," and his fame seems +to rest entirely on that production, for he is not to be traced in any +other early literary record.[292] It has been supposed by some writers, +from a few indistinct allusions in the play to Catholic customs, that +it was composed in the reign of Henry VIII.; but if this be the case, +the notice of Queen Elizabeth, introduced towards the close of the +drama, must be an interpolation, a supposition not unlikely to be +correct, for the audience are elsewhere reminded to "serve the king." +The printed edition by Colwell is without date, but it was published +about the year 1560. Two copies of this work which I have collated +differ in some slight particulars from each other, but there is not +sufficient reason for thinking that there were two editions, for it was +formerly a very common practice to correct and alter the press whilst +the impression was being taken.[293] + +[It is observable that the present interlude marks a considerable +advance, in point of literary merit, on those which precede it in this +collection. The author was evidently a man of taste and judgment, and +many passages might be pointed out which possess no mean share of +picturesqueness, elegance, and dramatic propriety. Contrary to the +usual practice, in old as well as modern pieces, "The Disobedient +Child" concludes unhappily, though without any attempt at a highly +wrought tragical catastrophe; the Rich man persists in his unrelenting +conduct, and we are left to imagine that his son returns to live and +die in misery with his termagant wife.] + + + + +THE DISOBEDIENT CHILD.[294] + + + +THE PROLOGUE. + + +THE PROLOGUE SPEAKER. + +Now, forasmuch as in these latter days, +Throughout the whole world in every land, +Vice doth encrease, and virtue decays, +Iniquity having the upper hand; +We therefore intend, good gentle audience, +A pretty short interlude to play at this present: +Desiring your leave and quiet silence +To show the same, as is meet and expedient.[295] +The sum whereof, matter and argument, +In two or three verses briefly to declare, +Since that it is for an honest intent, +I will somewhat bestow my care. +In the city of London there was a rich man +Who, loving his son most tenderly, +Moved him earnestly now and then, +That he would give his mind to study, +Saying that by knowledge, science and learning, +Is at the last gotten a pleasant life, +But through the want and lack of this thing +Is purchased poverty, sorrow and strife. +His son, notwithstanding this gentle monition, +As one that was clean devoid of grace, +Did turn to a mock and open derision +Most wickedly with an unshamefast[296] face; +Insomuch that, contrary to his father's will, +Unto a young woman he did consent, +Whereby of lust he might have his fill, +And married the same incontinent.[297] +Not long after that, the child began +To feel his wife's great frowardness, +And called himself unhappy man, +Oppressed with pains and heaviness: +Who, before that time, did live blessedly, +Whilst he was under his father's wing; +But now, being wedded, mourning and misery +Did him torment without ending. +But now it is time for me to be going, +And hence to depart for a certain space, +For I do hear the Rich Man coming +With the wanton boy into this place. + + [_Here the Prologue Speaker goeth out, and in + cometh the Rich Man and his son_. + +SON. Father, I beseech you, father, show me the way, +What thing I were best to take in hand, +Whereby this short life so spend I may, +That all grief and trouble I might withstand. + +FATHER. What is the meaning, my child, I thee pray, +This question to demand of me? +For that thing to do I am glad alway, +Which should not be grievous to thee. + +SON. Marry, but therefore of you counsel I take, +Seeing now my childhood I am clean past, +That unto me ye plainly do make +What to a young man is best for to taste. + +FATHER. I see nothing truly, my son, so meet, +And to prove so profitable for thee, +As unto the school to move thy feet, +With studious lads there for to be. + +SON. What, the school! nay, father, nay! +Go to the school is not the best way. + +FATHER. Say what thou list, for I cannot invent +A way more commodious to my judgment.[298] + +SON. It is well known how that ye have loved +Me heretofore at all times most tenderly; +But now (me-think) ye have plainly showed +Certain tokens of hatred; +For if I should go to my book after your advice, +Which have spent my childhood so pleasantly, +I may then seem driven out of paradise, +To take pain and woe, grief and misery. +All things I had rather sustain and abide, +The business of the school once cast aside; +Therefore, though ye cry, till ye reve[299] asunder, +I will not meddle with such a matter. + +FATHER. Why, cannot I thee thus much persuade? +For that in my mind is the best trade. + +SON. When all is said and all is done, +Concerning all things, both more and less, +Yet like to the school none under the sun +Bringeth to children so much heaviness. + +FATHER. What, though it be painful, what, though it be grievous, +For so be all things at the first learning, +Yet marvellous pleasure it bringeth unto us, +As a reward for such painstaking. +Wherefore come off, and be of good cheer, +And go to thy book without any fear, +For a man without knowledge (as I have read) +May well be compared to one that is dead. + +SON. No more of the school; no more of the book; +That woful work is not for my purpose, +For upon those books I may not look: +If so I did, my labour I should lose. + +FATHER. Why then to me thy fancy [doth] express, +That the school matters to thee are counted weariness. + +SON. Even as to a great man, wealthy and rich, +Service and bondage is a hard thing, +So to a boy, both dainty and nice,[300] +Learning and study is greatly displeasing. + +FATHER. What, my child, displeasing, I pray thee, +That maketh a man live so happily? + +SON. Yea, by my troth, such kind of wisdom +Is to my heart, I tell you, very loathsome. + +FATHER. What trial thereof hast thou taken, +That the school of thee is so ill bespoken? + +SON. What trial thereof would ye fain know? +Nothing more easy than this to show: +At other boys' hands I have it learned, +And that of those truly, most of all other, +Which for a certain time have remained +In the house and prison of a schoolmaster. + +FATHER. I dare well say that there is no misery, +But rather joy, pastime and pleasure +Always with scholars keeping company: +No life to this, I thee well assure. + +SON. It is not true, father, which you do say; +The contrary thereof is proved alway, +For as the bruit goeth by many a one, +Their tender bodies both night and day +Are whipped and scourged, and beat[301] like a stone, +That from top to toe the skin is away. + +FATHER. Is there not (say they) for them in this case +Given other while for pardon some place? + +SON. None, truly, none; but that alas, alas, +Diseases among them do grow apace; +For out of their back and side doth flow +Of very gore-blood marvellous abundance; +And yet for all that is not suffered to go, +Till death be almost seen in their countenance. +Should I be content thither then to run, +Where the blood from my breech thus should spun,[302] +So long as my wits shall be mine own, +The schoolhouse for me shall stand alone.[303] + +FATHER. But I am sure that this kind of fashion +Is not showed to children of honest condition. + +SON. Of truth, with these masters is no difference, +For alike towards all is their wrath and violence. + +FATHER. Son, in this point thou art quite deceived, +And without doubt falsely persuaded, +For it is not to be judged that any schoolmaster +Is of so great fierceness and cruelty, +And of young infants so sore a tormentor, +That the breath should be about to leave the body. + +SON. Father, this thing I could not have believed, +But of late days I did behold +An honest man's son hereby buried, +Which through many stripes was dead and cold. + +FATHER. Peraventure, the child of some disease did labour, +Which was the cause of his sepulture.[304] + +SON. With no disease, surely, was he disquieted, +As unto me it was then reported. + +FATHER. If that with no such thing he were infected, +What was the cause that he departed? + +SON. Men say that of[305] this man, his bloody master, +Who like a lion most commonly frowned, +Being hanged up by the heels together, +Was belly and buttocks grievously whipped; +And last of all (which to speak I tremble),[306] +That his head to the wall he had often crushed.[307] + +FATHER. Thus to think, son, thou art beguiled verily, +And I would wish thee to suppose the contrary, +And not for such tales my counsel to forsake, +Which only do covet thee learned to make. + +SON. If Demosthenes and Tully were present truly, +They could not print[308] it within my head [more] deeply. + +FATHER. Yet, by thy father's will and intercession, +Thou shalt be content that thing to pardon. + +SON. Command what ye list, that only excepted, +And I will be ready your mind to fulfil, +But whereas I should to the school have resorted, +My hand to the palmer[309] submitting still, +I will not obey ye therein, to be plain, +Though with a thousand strokes I be slain. + +FATHER. Woe is me, my son, woe is me! +This heavy and doleful day to see. + +SON. I grant indeed I am your son; +But you my father shall not be, +If that you will cast me into that prison, +Where torn in pieces ye might me see. + +FATHER. Where I might see thee torn and rent? +O Lord, I could not such a deed invent! + +SON. Nay, by the mass, I hold[310] ye a groat, +Those cruel tyrants cut not my throat: +Better it were myself did slay, +Than they with the rod my flesh should flay. +Well, I would we did this talk omit, +For it is loathsome to me every whit. + +FATHER. What trade then, I pray thee, shall I devise, +Whereof thy living at length may arise? +Wilt thou follow warfare, and a soldier be 'ppointed, +And so among Troyans and Romans be numbered? + +SON. See ye not, masters, my father's advice? +Have ye the like at any time heard? +To will me thereto he is not wise, +If my years and strength he did regard; +Ye speak worse and worse, whatsoever ye say; +This manner of life is not a good way, +For no kind of office can me please, +Which is subject to wounds and strokes always. + +FATHER. Somewhat to do it is meet and convenient; +Wilt thou then give thy diligent endeavour +To let thy youth unhonestly be spent, +And do as poor knaves, which jaxes[311] do scour? +For I do not see that any good art, +Or else any honest science or occupation, +Thou wilt be content to have a part, +After thy father's mind and exhortation. + +SON. Ha, ha, ha, ha, labour in very deed! +God send him that life which stands in need: +There be many fathers that children have, +And yet not make the worst of them a slave, +Might not you of yourself be well ashamed. +Which would have your son thither constrained? + +FATHER. I would not have thee driven to that succour, +Yet for because the scriptures declare, +That he should not eat, which will not labour, +Some work to do it must be thy care. + +SON. Father, it is but a folly with you to strive, +But yet notwithstanding I hope to thrive. + +FATHER. That this thine intent may take good success, +I pray God heartily of his goodness. + +SON. Well, well, shall I in few words rehearse +What thing doth most my conscience pierce. + +FATHER. Therewith I am, son, very well contented. + +SON. Yea, but I think that ye will not be pleased. + +FATHER. Indeed, peradventure it may so chance. + +SON. Nay, but I pray ye, without any perchance, +Shall not my request turn to your grievance? + +FATHER. If it be just and lawful, which thou dost require. + +SON. Both just and lawful, have ye no fear. + +FATHER. Now therefore ask; what is thy petition? + +SON. Lo, this it is, without further dilation;[312] +For so much as all young men for this my beauty, +As the moon the stars, I do far excel, +Therefore out of hand[313] with all speed possibly +To have a wife, methink, would do well, +For now I am young, lively, and lusty, +And welcome besides to all men's company. + +FATHER. Good Lord, good Lord, what do I hear? + +SON. Is this your beginning to perform my desire? + +FATHER. Alas! my child, what meaneth thy doting? +Why dost thou covet thy own undoing? + +SON (_Aside_). I know not in the world how to do the thing, +That to his stomach may be delighting. + +FATHER. Why, foolish idiot, thou goest about a wife, +Which is a burthen and yoke all thy life. + +SON. Admit she shall as a burthen with me remain, +Yet will I take one, if your good-will I attain. + +FATHER. Son, it shall not be thus, by my counsel. + +SON. I trust ye will not me otherwise compel. + +FATHER. If thou were as wise as I have judged thee, +Thou wouldest in this case be ruled by me. + +SON. To follow the contrary I cannot be turned; +My heart thereon is stifly fixed. + +FATHER. What, I say, about thine own destruction? + +SON. No, no, but about mine own salvation: +For if I be helped, I swear by the mass, +It is only marriage that brings it to pass. +It is not the school, it is not the book: +It is not science or occupation, +It is not to be a barber or cook, +Wherein is now set my consolation; +And since it is thus, be, father, content; +For to marry a wife I am full bent. + +FATHER. Well, if thou wilt not, my son, be ruled, +But needs will follow thine own foolishness, +Take heed hereafter, if thou be troubled, +At me thou never seek redress; +For I am certain thou canst not abide +Any pain at all, grief or vexation. +Thy childhood with me so easily did slide, +Full of all pastime and delectation; +And if thou wouldest follow the book and learning, +And with thyself also take a wise way, +Then thou mayst get a gentleman's living, +And with many other bear a great sway:[314] +Besides this, I would in time to come, +After my power and small hability, +Help thee and further thee, as my wisdom +Should me most counsel for thy commodity. +And such a wife I would prepare for thee +As should be virtuous, wise, and honest, +And give thee with her after my degree, +Whereby thou mightest always live in rest. + +SON. I cannot, I tell ye again, so much of my life +Consume at my book without a wife. + +FATHER. I perceive therefore I have done too well, +And showed overmuch favour to thee, +That now against me thou dost rebel, +And for thine own furtherance wilt not agree; +Wherefore of my goods thou gettest not a penny, +Nor any succour else at my hands, +For such a child is most unworthy +To have any part of his father's lands. + +SON. I do not esteem, father, your goods or lands, +Or any part of all your treasure; +For I judge it enough to be out of bands, +And from this day forward to take my pleasure. + +FATHER. Well, if it shall chance thee thy folly to repent, +As thou art like within short space, +Think none but thyself worthy to be shent,[315] +Letting my counsel to take no place. + +SON. As touching that matter, I will no man blame: +Now, farewell, father, most heartily for the same. + +FATHER. Farewell, my son, depart in God's name! + +SON. Room,[316] I say; room, let me be gone: +My father, if he list, shall tarry alone. + + [_Here the Son goeth out, and the Rich Man tarrieth behind alone_. + +THE FATHER. +Now at the last I do myself consider, +How great grief it is and heaviness +To every man that is a father, +To suffer his child to follow wantonness: +If I might live a hundred years longer, +And should have sons and daughters many, +Yet for this boy's sake I will not suffer +One of them all at home with me to tarry; +They should not be kept thus under my wing, +And have all that which they desire; +For why it is but their only undoing, +And, after the proverb, we put oil to the fire.[317] +Wherefore we parents must have a regard +Our children in time for to subdue, +Or else we shall have them ever untoward, +Yea, spiteful, disdainful, naught and untrue. +And let us them thrust alway to the school, +Whereby at their books they may be kept under: +And so we shall shortly their courage cool, +And bring them to honesty, virtue and nurture. +But, alas, now-a-days (the more is the pity), +Science and learning is so little regarded, +That none of us doth muse or study +To see our children well taught and instructed. +We deck them, we trim them with gorgeous array, +We pamper and feed them, and keep them so gay, +That in the end of all this they be our foes. +We bass them, [we] kiss them, we look round about; +We marvel and wonder to see them so lean; +We ever anon do invent and seek out +To make them go tricksy,[318] gallant, and clean: +Which is nothing else but the very provoking +To all unthriftiness, vice, and iniquity; +It puffeth them up, it is an alluring +Their fathers and mothers at length to defy. +Which thing mine own son doth plainly declare, +Whom I always entirely have loved; +He was so my joy, he was so my care, +That now of the same I am despised. +And how he is hence from me departed, +He hath no delight with me to dwell; +He is not merry, until he be married, +He hath of knavery took such a smell.[319] +But yet seeing that he is my son, +He doth me constrain bitterly to weep, +I am not (methink) well till I be gone; +For this place I can no longer keep. + + [_Here the Rich Man goeth out, and the two Cooks + cometh in; first the one, and then the other_. + +THE MAN-COOK. +Make haste, Blanche, blab it out, and come away, +For we have enough to do all this whole day; +Why, Blanche, blab it out, wilt thou not come, +And knowest what business there is to be done? +If thou may be set with the pot at thy nose, +Thou carest not how other matters goes; +Come away, I bid thee, and tarry no longer, +To trust to thy help I am much the better! + +THE MAID-COOK. +What a murrain, I say, what a noise dost thou make! +I think that thou be not well in thy wits! +I never heard man on this sort to take, +With such angry words and hasty fits. + +MAN. Why, dost thou remember what is to be bought +For the great bridal against to-morrow? +The market must be in every place sought +For all kinds of meats, God give thee sorrow! + +MAID. What banging, what cursing, Long-tongue, is with thee! +I made as much speed as I could possibly; +I-wis thou mightest have tarried for me, +Until in all points I had been ready; +I have for thee looked full oft heretofore, +And yet for all that said never the more. + +MAN. Well, for this once I am with thee content, +So that hereafter thou make more haste; +Or else, I tell thee, thou wilt it repent, +To loiter so long, till the market be past. +For there must be bought beef, veal and mutton, +And that even such as is good and fat, +With pig, geese, conies, and capon; +How sayest thou, Blanche? blab it out unto that? + +MAID. I cannot tell, Long-tongue, what I should say; +Of such good cheer I am so glad, +That if I would not eat at all that day, +My belly to fill I were very mad! + +MAN. There must be also pheasant and swan; +There must be heronsew, partridge, and quail; +And therefore I must do what I can, +That none of all these the gentleman fail. +I dare say he looks for many things mo, +To be prepared against to-morn; +Wherefore, I say, hence let us go: +My feet do stand upon a thorn. + +MAID. Nay, good Long-tongue, I pray once again +To hear yet of my mind a word or twain. + +MAN. Come off, then: dispatch, and speak it quickly, +For what thing it is thou causest me tarry. + +MAID. Of whence is this gentleman that to-morrow is married? +Where doth his father and his mother dwell? +Above forty miles he hath travelled, +As yesternight his servant did tell. + +MAN. In very deed he comes a great way, +With my master he may not long abide; +It hath cost him so much on costly array, +That money out of his purse apace doth slide. +They say that his friends be rich and wealthy, +And in the city of London have their dwelling, +But yet of them all he hath no penny +To spend and bestow here at his wedding. +And if it be true that his servant did say, +He hath utterly lost his friends' good-will, +Because he would not their counsel obey, +And in his own country[320] tarry still; +As for this woman, which he shall marry, +At Saint Albans always hath spent her life; +I think she be a shrew, I tell thee plainly, +And full of debate, malice and strife. + +MAID. Though I never saw this woman before, +Which hither with him this gentleman brought, +Yet nevertheless I have tokens in store, +To judge of a woman that is forward and naught. +The tip of her nose is as sharp as mine, +Her tongue and her tune[321] is very shrill; +I warrant her she comes of an ungracious kin, +And loveth too much her pleasure and will: +What though she be now so neat and so nice, +And speaketh as gentle as ever I heard: +Yet young men, which be both witty and wise, +Such looks and such words should not regard. + +MAN. Blanche, blab it out; thou sayest very true; +I think thou beginnest at length to preach: +This thing to me is strange and new, +To hear such a fool young men to teach. + +MAID. A fool! mine own Long-tongue! why, call'st thou me fool! +Though now in the kitchen I waste the day, +Yet in times past I went to school, +And of my Latin primer I took assay. + +MAN. Masters, this woman did take such assay, +And then in those days so applied her book, +That one word thereof she carried not away, +But then of a scholar was made a cook. +I dare say she knoweth not how her primer began, +Which of her master she learned then. + +MAID. I trow it began with _Domine labia, aperies_. + +MAN. What, did it begin with _butter de peas_? + +MAID. I tell thee again, with _Domine, labia aperies_, +If now to hear it be thine ease. + +MAN. How, how, with, _my madam lay in the pease_? + +MAID. I think thou art mad! with _Domine, labia aperies_. + +MAN. Yea, marry, I judged it went such ways; +It began with, _Dorothy, lay up the keys!_ + +MAID. Nay then, good night; I perceive by this gear, +That none is so deaf as who will not hear; +I spake as plainly as I could devise, +Yet me understand thou canst in no wise! + +MAN. Why, yet once again, and I will better listen, +And look upon thee how thy lips do open. + +MAID. Well, mark then, and hearken once for all, +Or else hear it again thou never shall; +My book, I say, began with _Domine, labia aperies_. + +MAN. Fie, fie, how slow am I of understanding! +Was it all this while, _Domine, labia aperies?_ +Belike I have lost my sense of hearing, +With broiling and burning in the kitchen o' days.[322] + +MAID. I promise thee thou seemest to have done little better, +For that I wot in my life I never saw +One like to thyself in so easy a matter, +Unless he were deaf, thus play the daw.[323] + +MAN. Come on, come on, we have almost forgotten +Such plenty of victuals as we should buy; +It were alms,[324] by my troth, thou were well beaten, +Because so long thou hast made me tarry. + +MAID. Tush, tush, we shall come in very good season, +If so be thou goest as fast as I; +Take up thy basket, and quickly have done, +We will be both there by and by. + +MAN. I for my part will never leave running, +Until that I come to the sign of the Whiting. + + [_Here the two Cooks run out, and in cometh the + Young Man and the Young Woman his lover_. + +THE YOUNG WOMAN. +Where is my sweeting,[325] whom I do seek? +He promised me to have met me here: +Till I speak with him I think it a week, +For he is my joy, he is my cheer! +There is no night, there is no day, +But that my thoughts be all of him; +I have no delight, if he be away: +Such toys in my head do ever swim. +But behold at the last, where he doth come. +For whom my heart desired long; +Now shall I know, all and some,[326] +Or else I would say I had great wrong. + +THE YOUNG MAN. +My darling, my coney,[327] my bird so bright of ble:[328] +Sweetheart, I say, all hail to thee! +How do our loves? be they fast asleep? +Or the old liveliness do they still keep? + +YOUNG WOMAN. Do ye ask, and[329] my love be fast asleep? +O, if a woman may utter her mind, +My love had almost made me to weep, +Because that even now I did not you find; +I thought it surely a whole hundred year,[330] +Till in this place I saw you here. + +YOUNG MAN. Alack, alack, I am sorry for this! +I had such business, I might not come; +But ye may perceive what my wit is, +How small regard I have and wisdom. + +YOUNG WOMAN. Whereas ye ask me concerning my love, +I well assure you it doth daily augment; +Nothing can make me start or move; +You only to love is mine intent. + +YOUNG MAN. And as for my love it doth never relent, +For of you I do dream, of you I do think; +To dinner and supper I never went, +But of beer and wine to you I did drink. +Now of such thinks[331] therefore to make an end, +Which pitiful lovers do cruelly torment, +To marriage, in God's name, let us descend, +As unto this hour we have been bent. + +YOUNG WOMAN. Your will to accomplish I am as ready +As any woman, believe me truly. + +YOUNG MAN. This ring then I give you as a token sure, +Whereby our love shall always endure. + +YOUNG WOMAN. With a pure pretence your pledge I take gladly, +For a sign of our love, faith, and fidelity. + +YOUNG MAN. Now I am safe, now I am glad, +Now I do live, now I do reign; +Methought till now I was too sad, +Wherefore, sadness, fly hence again! +Away with those words which my father brought out! +Away with his sageness and exhortation! +He could not make me his fool or his lout, +And put me besides this delectation. +Did he judge that I would go to the school, +And might my time spend after this sort? +I am not his calf,[332] nor yet his fool; +This virgin I kiss is my comfort! + +YOUNG WOMAN. Well then, I pray you, let us be married, +For methink from it we have long tarried. + +YOUNG MAN. Agreed, my sweeting, it shall be then done, +Since that thy good-will I have gotten and won. + +YOUNG WOMAN. There would this day be very good cheer, +That every one his belly may fill, +And three or four minstrels would be here, +That none in the house sit idle or still. + +YOUNG MAN. Take ye no thought for abundance of meat, +That should be spent at our bridal, +For there shall be enough for all men to eat, +And minstrels besides thereto shall not fail. +The cooks, I dare say, a good while agone, +With such kind of flesh as I did them tell, +Are from the market both come home, +Or else, my own coney, they do not well. +I knew, before that I come to this place, +We should be married together this day, +Which caused me then forthwith in this case +To send for victuals, ere I came away. + +YOUNG WOMAN. Wherefore then (I pray ye) shall we go to our inn, +And look that everything be made ready? +Or else all is not worth a brass pin,[333] +Such haste is required in matrimony. + +YOUNG MAN. I think six o'clock it is not much past, +But yet to the priest we will make haste, +That according to custom we may be both coupled, +And with a strong knot for ever bound fast: +Yet, ere I depart, some song I will sing, +To the intent to declare my joy without fear, +And in the meantime you may, my sweeting, +Rest yourself in this little chair. + + +THE SONG. + + _Spite of his spite, which that in vain + Doth seek to force my fantasy, + I am professed for loss or gain, + To be thine own assuredly; + Wherefore let my father spite[334] and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + Although my father of busy wit + Doth babble still, I care not tho; + I have no fear, nor yet will flit, + As doth the water to and fro; + Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + For I am set and will not swerve, + Whom spiteful speech removeth nought; + And since that I thy grace deserve, + I count it is not dearly bought; + Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + Who is afraid, let you him fly, + For I shall well abide the brunt; + Maugre to his lips that listeth to lie, + Of busy brains as is the wont; + Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + Who listeth thereat to laugh or lour,[335] + I am not he that ought doth rech;[336] + There is no pain that hath the power + Out of my breast your love to fetch; + Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + For whereas he moved me to the school, + And only to follow my book and learning: + He could never make me such a fool, + With all his soft words and fair speaking; + Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + This minion here, this mincing[337] trull,[338] + Doth please me more a thousandfold, + Than all the earth that is so full + Of precious stones, silver and gold; + Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + Whatsoever I did it was for her sake, + It was for her love and only pleasure; + I count it no labour such labour to take, + In getting to me so high a treasure; + Wherefore, let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn! + + This day I intended for to be merry, + Although my hard father be far hence, + I know no cause for to be heavy, + For all this cost and great expense; + Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, + My fantasy will never turn!_ + + +YOUNG MAN. How like ye this song, my own sweet rose? +Is it well made for our purpose? + +YOUNG WOMAN. I never heard in all my life a better, +More pleasant, more meet for the matter; +Now let us go then, the morning is nigh gone, +We cannot any longer here remain: +Farewell, good masters every one, +Till from the church we come again. + + [_Here they go out, and in cometh the Priest alone_. + +PRIEST. Sirs, by my troth it is a world to see[339] +The exceeding negligence of every one, +Even from the highest to the lowest degree +Both goodness and conscience is clean gone. +There is a young gentleman in this town, +Who this same day now must be married: +Yet though I would bestow a crown, +That knave the clerk cannot be spied; +For he is safe, if that in the alehouse +He may sit tippling of nut-brown ale, +That oft he comes forth as drunk as a mouse, +With a nose of his own not greatly pale; +And this is not once, but every day +Almost, of my faith, throughout the whole year, +That he these tricks doth use to play, +Without all shame, dread and fear. +He knoweth himself, that yesternight +The said young gentleman came to me, +And then desired that he might +This morning betimes married be; +But now I doubt it will be high noon, +Ere that his business be quite ended, +Unless the knavish fool come very soon, +That this same thing may be despatched; +And therefore, since that this naughty pack +Hath at this present me thus served, +He is like henceforward my good-will to lack, +Or else unwise I might be judged. +I am taught hereafter how such a one to trust +In any matter concerning the church; +For, if I should, I perceive that I must +Of mine own honesty lose very much. +And yet for all this, from week to week, +For his stipend and wages he ever[340] crieth, +And for the same continually doth seek, +As from time to time plainly appeareth; +But whether his wages he hath deserved, +Unto you all I do me report, +Since that his duty he hath not fulfilled, +Nor to the church will scant resort; +That many a time and oft[341] I am fain +To play the priest, clerk, and all, +Though thus to do it is great pain, +And my reward but very small. +Wherefore (God willing) I will such order take, +Before that I be many days elder, +That he shall be glad this town to forsake, +And learn evermore to please his better, +And in such wise all they shall be used, +Which in this parish intend to be clerks; +Great pity it were the church should be disordered, +Because that such swillbowls[342] do not their works. +And to say truth, in many a place, +And other great towns beside this same, +The priests and parishioners be in the like case, +Which to the churchwardens may be a shame. +How should the priest his office fulfil, +Accordingly as indeed he ought, +When that the clerk will have a self-will, +And always in service-time must be sought? +Notwithstanding at this present there is no remedy, +But to take time, as it doth fall, +Wherefore I will go hence and make me ready, +For it helpeth not to chafe or brawl. + + [_Here the Priest goeth out, and in cometh the Rich Man_. + +THE RICH MAN. +Coming this day forth of my chamber, +Even as for water to wash I did call, +By chance I espied a certain stranger, +Standing beneath within my hall; +Who in very deed came from the innholder, +Whereas for a time my son did lie, +And said that his master had sent me a letter, +And bad him to bring it with all speed possible; +Wherein he did write that as this day +That unthrift,[343] my son, to a certain maid +Should then be wedded without further delay, +And hath borrowed more than will be paid; +And since that he heard he was my son +By a gentleman or two this other day, +He thought that it should be very well done +To let me have knowledge thereof by the way; +And willed me, if that I would any thing +Of him to be done of me in this matter, +That then he his servant such word should bring, +As at his coming he might do hereafter: +I bad him thank his master most heartily, +And sent him by him a piece of venison, +For that he vouchsafed to write so gently, +Touching the marrying and state of my son; +But notwithstanding I sent him no money +To pay such debts as my son did owe, +Because he had me forsaken utterly, +And me for his good father would not know; +And said that with him I would not make +From that day forward during my life, +But as he had brewed, that so he should bake, +Since of his own choosing he gat him a wife. +Thus, when his servant from me departed, +Into my chamber I went again, +And there a great while I bitterly weeped: +This news to me was so great pain. +And thus with these words I began to moan, +Lamenting and mourning myself all alone: +O madness, O doting of those young folk! +O minds without wit, advice and discretion, +With whom their parents can bear no stroke +In their first matrimonial conjunction: +They know not what misery, grief and unquietness +Will hereafter ensue of their extreme foolishness; +Of all such labours they be clean ignorant, +Which, in the nourishing and keeping of children, +To their great charges it is convenient +Either of them henceforth to sustain: +Concerning expenses bestowed in a house, +They perceive as little as doth the mouse. +On the one side the wife will brawl and scold, +On the other side the infant will cry in the cradle: +Anon, when the child waxeth somewhat old, +For meat and drink he begins to babble: +Hereupon cometh it that at markets and fairs +A husband is forced to buy many wares. +Yet for all this hath my foolish son, +As wise [as] a woodcock,[344] without any wit, +Despising his father's mind and opinion, +Married a wife for him most unfit, +Supposing that mirth to be everlasting, +Which then at the first was greatly pleasing. +How they two will live, I cannot tell; +Whereto they may trust, they have nothing. +My mind giveth me, that they will come dwell +At length by their father for want of living; +But my son doubtless, for anything that I know, +Shall reap in such wise as he did sow; +True he shall find, that Hipponax did write, +Who said with a wife are two days of pleasure; +The first is the joy of the marriage-day and night, +The second to be at the wife's sepulture: +And this by experience he shall prove true, +That of his bridal great evils do ensue. +And (as I suppose) it will prove in his life, +When he shall wish that to him it may chance, +Which unto Eupolis and also his wife, +The night they were wedded, fell for a vengeance; +Who with the heavy ruin of the bed were slain, +As the Poet Ovid in these two verses make plain: + + _Sit tibi conjugii nox prima novissimi vitae, + Eupolis hoc periit et nova nupta modo_. + +Ovidius, writing against one Ibis his enemy, +That the first night of his marriage did wish +The last of his life might be certainly, +For so (quoth he) did Eupolis and his wife perish. +Yet to my son I pray God to send, +Because thereunto me nature doth bind, +Though he hath offended, a better end +Than Eupolis and his wife did find. +And now I shall long ever anon, +Till some of those quarters come riding hither, +Unto the which my son is gone, +To know how they do live together. +But I am fasting, and it is almost noon, +And more than time that I had dined: +Wherefore from hence I will go soon; +I think by this time my meat is burned. + + [_Here the Rich Man goeth out, and in cometh the Young + Man his son with the Young Woman, being both married_. + +THE HUSBAND. +O my sweet wife, my pretty coney! + +THE WIFE. +O my husband, as pleasant as honey. + +HUSBAND. O Lord, what pleasures and great commodity +Are heaped together in matrimony! + +WIFE. How vehement, how strong a thing love is! +How many smirks and dulsome[345] kisses! + +HUSBAND. What smiling, what laughing! +What sport, pastime, and playing! + +WIFE. What tickling, what toying! +What dallying, what joying! + +HUSBAND. The man with the wife is wholly delighted, +And with many causes to laughter enforced. + +WIFE. When they two drink, they drink together; +They never eat but one with another. + +HUSBAND. Sometimes to their garden forth they walk, +And into the fields sometimes they go, +With merry tricks and gestures they talk, +As they do move their feet to and fro. + +WIFE. Sometimes they ride into the country, +Passing the time with mirth and sport; +And when with their friends they have been merry, +Home to their own house they do resort. + +HUSBAND. Sometimes abroad they go to see plays, +And other trim sights for to behold: +When often they meet in the highways +Much of their acquaintance they knew of old. + +WIFE. Sometimes to the church they do repair, +To hear the sermon that shall be made, +Though it to remember they shall have small care; +For why they be now but few of that trade. + +HUSBAND. Sometimes at home at cards they play, +Sometimes at this game, sometimes at that; +They need not with sadness to pass the day, +Nor yet to sit still, or stand in one plat. + +WIFE. And as for us wives, occasions do move +Sometimes with our gossips to make good cheer, +Or else we did not, as did us behove, +For certain days and weeks in the year. + +HUSBAND. I think that a man might spend a whole day, +Declaring the joys and endless bliss, +Which married persons receive alway, +If they love faithfully, as meet it is. + +WIFE. Wives cannot choose but love earnestly, +If that their husbands do all things well; +Or else, my sweetheart, we shall espy, +That in quietness they cannot dwell. + +HUSBAND. If they do not, it may be a shame, +For I love you heartily, I you assure: +Or else I were truly greatly to blame, +Ye are so loving, so kind and demure. + +WIFE. I trust that with neither hand or foot +Ye shall see any occasion by me: +But that I love you even from the heart-root, +And during my life so intend to be. + +HUSBAND. Who then merry marriage can discommend, +And will not with Aristotle in his Ethics[346] agree? +But will say, that misery is the end, +When otherwise I find it to be: +A politic man will marry a wife, +As the philosopher makes declaration, +Not only to have children by his life, +But also for living, help, and sustentation. + +WIFE. Who will not with H'erocles plainly confess, +That mankind to society is wholly adjoining, +And in this society nevertheless +Of worthy wedlock took the beginning: +Without the which no city can stand, +Nor household be perfect in any land? + +HUSBAND. Pythagoras, Socrates, and Crates also, +Which truly were men of very small substance, +As I heard my father tell long ago, +Did take them wives with a safe conscience; +And dwelled together, supposing that they +Were unto philosophy nother stop nor stay. + +WIFE. Yea, what can be more according to kind, +Than a man to a woman himself to bind? + +HUSBAND. Away with those therefore, that marriage despise, +And of dangers thereof invent many lies! + +WIFE. But what is he that cometh yonder? +Do ye not think it is our man? +Somewhat there is that he hasteth hither, +For he makes as much speed as he can. + + [_Here the servant of the Rich Man's Son + cometh in, with an errand to his master_. + +SERVANT. +Master, there is a stranger at home, +He would very fain with you talk: +For until that to him ye do come, +Forth of the doors he will not walk. + +HUSBAND. Come on then, my wife, if it be so, +Let us depart hence for a season: +For I am not well, till I do know +Of that man's coming the very reason. + + [_Here they both go out, and their Servant doth + tarry behind alone_. + +SERVANT. +Let them go both, and do what they will, +And with communication fill their belly: +For I, by Saint George, will tarry here still, +In all my life I was never so weary! +I have this day filled so many pots +With all manner wine, ale, and beer, +That I wished their bellies full of bots,[347] +Long of whom[348] was made such cheer. +What kinds of meat, both flesh and fish, +Have I, poor knave, to the table carried +From time to time, dish after dish; +My legs from going never ceased! +What running had I for apples and nuts! +What calling for biscuits, comfits, and caraways![349] +A vengeance, said I, light on their guts, +That makes me to turn so many ways! +What crying was there for cards and dice! +What roisting,[350] what ruffling made they within! +I counted them all not greatly wise, +For my head did almost ache with din. +What babbling, what jangling[351] was in the house! +What quaffing, what bibbing with many a cup! +That some lay along as drunk as a mouse, +Not able so much as their heads to hold up! +What dancing, what leaping, what jumping about, +From bench to bench, and stool to stool, +That I wondered their brains did not fall out, +When they so outrageously played the fool! +What juggling was there upon the boards! +What thrusting of knives through many a nose! +What bearing of forms, what holding of swords, +And putting of botkins[352] through leg and hose! +Yet for all that they called for drink, +And said they could not play for dry, +That many at me did nod and wink, +Because I should bring it by and by. +Howsoever they sported, the pot did still walk: +If that were away, then all was lost, +For ever anon the jug was their talk, +They passed[353] not who bare such charge and cost. +Therefore let him look his purse be right good, +That it may discharge all that is spent, +Or else it will make his hair grow through his hood,[354] +There was such havoc made at this present; +But I am afeard my master be angry, +That I did abide thus long behind: +Yet for his anger I pass[355] not greatly, +His words they be but only wind! +Now that I have rested so long in this place, +Homeward again I will hie me apace. + + [_Here the Servant goeth out, and in cometh + first the Wife, and shortly after the Husband_. + +THE WIFE. +Where is my husband? was he not here? +I marvel much whither he is gone! +Then I perceive I am [not] much the near:[356] +But lo, where he cometh hither alone! +Wot ye what, husband, from day to day +With dainty dishes our bodies have been filled? +What meat to-morrow next shall we assay, +Whereby we may then be both refreshed? + +HUSBAND. Do ye now provide and give a regard +For victuals hereafter to be prepared? + +WIFE. But that I know, husband, it lieth us in hand +Of things to come to have a consideration, +I would not once will you to understand +About such business my careful provision: +It is needful therefore to work we make haste, +That to get both our livings we may know the cast. + +HUSBAND. To trouble me now, and make me vexed, +This mischievous means hast thou invented. + +WIFE. What trouble for thee, what kind of vexation, +Have I to disquiet thee caused at this present? +My only mind is thou make expedition +To seek for our profit, as is convenient.[357] +Wherefore to thee I say once again, +Because to take pains thou art so loth, +By Christ, it were best with might and main +To fall to some work, I swear a great oath! + +HUSBAND. Yet, for a time, if it may thee please, +Let me be quiet, and take mine ease. + +WIFE. Wilt thou have us then through hunger be starved? + +HUSBAND. I would not we should for hunger be killed. + +WIFE. Then, I say then, this gear[358] go about, +And look that thou labour diligently, +Or else thou shalt shortly prove without doubt, +Thy sluggishness will not please me greatly. + +HUSBAND. Beginnest thou even now to be painful and grievous, +And to thy husband a woman so troublous? + +WIFE. What words have we here, thou misbegotten: +Is there not already enough to be spoken? + +HUSBAND. O mirth, O joy, O pastime and pleasure, +How little a space do you endure! + +WIFE. I see my commandment can take no place; +Thou shalt aby therefore, I swear by the mass! + + [_Here the Wife must strike her Husband handsomely + about the shoulders with something_. + +HUSBAND. Alas, good wife! good wife, alas, alas! +Strike not so hard, I pray thee heartily! +Whatsoever thou wilt have brought to pass, +It shall be done with all speed possible. + +WIFE. Lay these faggots, man, upon thy shoulder, +And carry this wood from street to street, +To sell the same, that we both together +Our living may get, as is most meet. +Hence, nidiot, hence without more delay! +What meanest thou thus to stagger and stay? + +HUSBAND. O Lord! what, how miserable men be those, +Which to their wives as wretches be wedded, +And have them continually their mortal foes, +Serving them thus, as slaves that be hired! +Now by experience true I do find, +Which oftentimes unto me heretofore +My father did say, declaring his mind, +That in matrimony was pain evermore; +What shall I do, most pitiful creature? +Just cause I have, alas, to lament: +That frantic woman my death will procure, +If so be this day without gain be spent: +For unless for my wood some money be taken, +Like a dog with a cudgel I shall be beaten! +Ho, thou good fellow, which standest so nigh, +Of these heavy bundles ease my sore back, +And somewhat therefore give me by and by, +Or else I die, for silver I do lack. +Now that I have some money received +For this my burthen, home I will go, +And lest that my wife be discontented, +What I have take, I will her show. +Wife, I am come: I went a long way, +And here is the profit and gains of this day! + +WIFE. Why, thou lout, thou fool, thou whoreson folt,[359] +Is this thy wood money, thou peevish[360] dolt? +Thou shalt smart for this gear, I make God a vow! +Thou knowest no more to sell wood than doth the sow! + +HUSBAND. By God's precious, I will not unwisely suffer +To do as I have done any longer. + +WIFE. Why, dost thou rise against me, villain? +Take heed I scratch not out thy eyes twain! + +HUSBAND. Scratch, and thou dare, for I have a knife: +Perchance I will rid thee of thy life! + +WIFE. Slay me with thy knife, thou shitten dastard! +Dost thou think to find me such a dissard? +By Cock's bones, I will make thy skin to rattle, +And the brains in thy skull more deeply to settle. + + [_Here the Wife must lay on load upon her Husband_. + +HUSBAND. Good wife, be content! forgive me this fault! +I will never again do that which is naught. + +WIFE. Go to, foolish calf, go to, and uprise, +And put up thy knife, I thee advise. + +HUSBAND. I will do your commandments whatsoever. + +WIFE. Hence away, then, and fill this with water. + +HUSBAND. O merciful God, in what lamentable state +Is he, of whom the wife is the master? +Would God I had been predestinate +On my marriage day to have died with a fever! +O wretched creature, what may I do? +My grievous wife shall I return unto? +Lo, wife, behold! without further delay +The water ye sent for here I do bring. + +WIFE. What, I say? what meaneth this weeping? +What aileth thee to make all this crying? + +HUSBAND. I weep not, forsooth, nor cry not as yet. + +WIFE. No, nor thou wilt not, if thou hast any wit; +It is not thy weeping that can ought avail, +And therefore this matter no longer bewail. +Come off, I say, and run by the river, +And wash these clothes in the water. + +HUSBAND. Wife, I will thither hie me fast. + +WIFE. Yet I advise thee, thou cullon,[361] make haste. + +HUSBAND. O, how unhappy and eke unfortunate +Is the most part of married men's condition! +I would to death I had been agate,[362] +When my mother in bearing me made lamentation. +What shall I do? whither shall I turn? +Most careful man now under the sky! +In the flaming fire I had rather burn, +Than with extreme pain live so heavily. +There is no shift; to my wife I must go, +Whom that I did wed; I am full wo! +Where are ye, wife? your clothes are washed clean, +As white as a lily,[363] without spot or stain. + +WIFE. Thou thief, thou caitiff, why is not this lace +Washed as fair as all the rest? +Thou shalt for this gear now smoke apace! +By Jis,[364] I swear, thou brutish beast! + + [_Here she must knock her Husband_. + +HUSBAND. Alas, alas! I am almost quite dead! +My wife so pitifully hath broken my head! + + [_Here her Husband must lie along on the ground, + as though he were sore beaten and wounded_. + +WIFE. Well, I perceive the time will away, +And into the country to go I have promised; +Look therefore thou go not from hence to-day, +Till home again I am returned. +Take heed, I say, this house thee retain, +And stir not for any thing out of my door, +Until that I come hither again, +As thou wilt be rewarded therefore. + + [_Here his Wife goeth out, and the Husband + tarrieth behind alone_. + +HUSBAND. The flying fiend[365] go with my wife, +And in her journey ill may she speed! +I pray God Almighty to shorten her life! +The earth at no time doth bear such a weed! +Although that I be a gentleman born, +And come by my ancètors of a good blood, +Yet am I like to wear a coat torn, +And hither and thither go carry wood! +But rather than I this life will abide, +To-morrow morning I do intend +Home to my father again to ride, +If some man to me his horse will lend. +She is to her gossips gone to make merry, +And there she will be for three or four days: +She cares not, though I do now miscarry, +And suffer such pain and sorrow always. +She leaveth to me neither bread nor drink, +But such, as I judge, no body would eat: +I might by the walls lie dead and stink, +For any great wholesomeness in my meat. +She walketh abroad, and taketh her pleasure: +Herself to cherish is all her care: +She passeth not what grief I endure, +Or how I can live with noughty[366] fare: +And since it is so, without further delay +To my father to-morrow I will away. + + [_Here he goeth out, and in cometh the Devil_.[367] + +SATAN THE DEVIL. +Ho, ho, ho, what a fellow am I! +Give room, I say, both more and less: +My strength and power, hence to the sky, +No earthly tongue can well express! +O, what inventions, crafts and wiles +Is there contained within this head! +I know that he is within few miles, +Which of the same is throughly sped. +O, it was all my study day and night +Cunningly to bring this matter to pass: +In all the earth there is no wight, +But I can make to cry alas. +This man and wife, that not long ago +Fell in this place together by the ears: +It was only I that this strife did sow, +And have been about it certain years. +For after that I had taken a smell +Of their good will and fervent love, +Me-thought I should not tarry in hell, +But unto debate them shortly move: +O, it was I that made him to despise +All wisdom, goodness, virtue, and learning, +That he afterward could in no wise +Once in his heart fancy teaching: +O, it was I that made him refuse +The wholesome monition of his father dear, +And caused him still of a wife to muse, +As though she should be his joy and cheer! +O, it was I that made him go hence, +And suppose that his father was very unkind; +It was I that did drive him to such expense, +And made him as bare as an ape is behind. +And now that I have this business ended, +And joined him and his wife together, +I think that I have my part well played: +None of you all would do it better. +Ho, ho, ho! this well-favoured head of mine, +What thing soever it hath in hand, +Is never troubled with ale or wine, +Neither by sea, nor yet by land. +I tell you I am a marvellous body, +As any is at this day living: +My head doth devise each thing so trimly, +That all men may wonder of the ending. +O, I have such fetches,[368] such toys in this head, +Such crafty devices and subtle train, +That whomsoever of you I do wed, +Ye are like at my hands to take small gain. +There is no gentleman, knight, or lord: +There is no duke, earl, or king, +But, if I list, I can with one word +Shortly send unto their lodging. +Some I disquiet with covetousness: +Some with wrath, pride and lechery; +And some I do thrust into such distress, +That he feeleth only pain and misery. +Some I allure to have their delight +Always in gluttony, envy and murder, +And those things to practise with all their might, +Either by land or else by water. +Ho, ho, ho! there is none to be compared +To me, I tell you, in any point: +With a great sort[369] myself I have tried, +That boldly ventured many a joint, +And when for a long time we had wrestled, +And showed our strength on either side, +Yet oftentimes a fall they received, +When through my policy their feet did slide. +Wherefore (my dear children) I warn ye all: +Take heed, take heed of my temptation, +For commonly at the last ye have the fall, +And also [be] brought to desperation. +O! it is a folly for many to strive, +And think of me to get the upper hand, +For unless that God make them to thrive, +They cannot against me stick or stand: +And though that God on high have his dominion, +And ruleth the world everywhere, +Yet by your leave I have a portion +Of this same earth that standeth here. +The kingdom of God is above in heaven, +And mine is, I tell you, beneath in hell; +But yet a greater place, if he had dealt even, +He should have given me and mine to dwell: +For to my palace of every nation, +Of what degree or birth soever they be, +Come running in with such festination,[370] +That otherwhiles they amazed me. +O, all the Jews and all the Turks, +Yea, and a great part of Christendom, +When they have done my will and my works, +In the end they fly hither all and some:[371] +There is no minute of the day, +There is no minute of the night, +But that in my palace there is alway +Crowding together a marvellous sight; +They come on thicker than swarms of bees, +And make such a noise and crying out, +That many a one lieth on his knees, +With thousands kept under and closed about: +Not so much as my parlours, halls, and every chamber: +My porches, my galleries, and my court: +My entries, my kitchen, and my larder, +But with all manner people be filled throughout! +What shall I say more, I cannot tell, +But of this (my children) I am certain, +There comes more in one hour unto hell, +Than unto heaven in a month or twain. +And yet for all this my nature is such, +That I am not pleased with this company, +But out of my kingdom I must walk much, +That one or other I may take tardy. +Ho, ho, ho! I am never once afraid +With these my claws you for to touch, +For I will not leave, till you be paid +Such treasure as is within my pouch. +The world is my son, and I am his father, +And also the flesh is a daughter of mine; +It is I alone that taught them to gather +Both gold and silver that is so fine; +Wherefore I suppose that they love me well, +And my commandments gladly obey, +That at the last then unto hell +They may come all the ready way. +But now (I know), since I came hither, +There is such a multitude at my gate, +That I must again repair down thither +After mine old manner and rate. + + [_Here the Devil goeth out, and in cometh the Rich Man's Son alone_. + +THE SON. +How glad am I that my journey is ended, +Which I was about this whole day! +My horse to stand still I never suffered, +Because I would come to the end of my way: +But yet I am sorry that I cannot find +My loving father at home at his place, +That unto him I may break my mind, +And let him know my miserable case. + + [_Here he confesseth his naughtiness, uttering the + same with a pitiful voice_. + +I have been wild, I have been wanton, +I have ever followed my fancy and will: +I have been to my father a froward son, +And from day to day continued still. +I have always proudly disdained those +That in my madness gave me good counsel: +I counted them most my mortal foes, +And stoutly against them did rebel. +The thing that was good I greatly hated, +As one which lacked both wit and reason; +The thing that was evil I ever loved, +Which now I see is my confusion. +I could not abide of the school to hear; +Masters and teachers my heart abhorred; +Methought the book was not fit gear +For my tender fingers to have handled; +I counted it a pleasure to be daintily fed, +And to be clothed in costly array: +I would most commonly slug in my bed, +Until it were very far-forth day. +And (to be short) anon after this, +There came such fancies in my brain, +That to have a wife, whom I might kiss, +I reckoned to be the greatest gain. +But yet, alas, I was quite deceived; +The thing itself doth easily appear; +I would, alas, I had been buried, +When to my father I gave not ear! +That which I had I have clean spent, +And kept so much riot with the same, +That now I am fain a coat that is rent, +Alas, to wear for very shame. +I have not a cross left in my purse +To help myself now in my need, +That well I am worthy of God's curse, +And of my father to have small meed. + + [_Here the Rich Man must be as it were coming in_. + +But except mine eyes do me beguile, +That man is my father, whom I do see: +And now that he comes, without craft or wile, +To him I will bend on either knee. +Ah, father, father, my father most dear! + +FATHER. Ah! mine own child, with thee what cheer? + +SON. All such sayings as in my mind +At the first time ye studied to settle, +Most true, alas, I do them find, +As though they were written in the Gospel. + +FATHER. Those words, my son, I have almost forgotten; +Stand up, therefore, and kneel no longer, +And what it was I spake so often, +At two or three words recite to thy father. + +SON. If that ye be, father, well remembered, +As the same I believe ye cannot forget, +You said that, so soon as I were married, +Much pain and trouble thereby I should get. + +FATHER. Hast thou by proof, son, this thing tried? + +SON. Yea, alas, too much I have experienced: +My wife I did wed all full of frenzy. +My seely poor shoulders hath now so bruised, +That like to a cripple I move me weakly, +Being full often with the staff thwacked: +She spareth no more my flesh and bone, +Than if my body were made of stone! +Her will, her mind, and her commandment +From that day hither I have fulfilled, +Which if I did not, I was bitterly shent, +And with many strokes grievously punished: +That would God, the hour when I was married, +In the midst of the church I might have sinked. +I think there is no man under the sun, +That here on the earth beareth life, +Which would do such drudgery as I have done, +At the unkind words of such a wife; +For how I was used, and in what wise, +A day to declare will not suffice. +If this be not true, as I have spoken, +To my good neighbours I me report, +Who other whiles, when I was smitten, +My wife to be gentle did then exhort: +For glad I was to abide all labour, +Whereby the less might be my dolour.[372] +Wherefore, good father, I you humbly desire +To have pity of me and some compassion, +Or else I am like to lie fast in the mire, +Without any succour or consolation: +For at this hour I have not a penny, +Myself to help in this great misery. + +FATHER. For so much as by my advice and counsel +In no manner wise thou wouldest be ruled. +Therefore to thee I cannot do well, +But let thee still suffer as thou hast deserved, +For that thou hast suffered is yet nothing +To that tribulation which is behind coming. + +SON. Alas, father, what shall I do? +My wits of themselves cannot devise +What thing I were best go unto, +Whereof an honest living may arise: +Wherefore, gentle father, in this distress, +Somewhat assuage mine heaviness. + +FATHER. What should I do, I cannot tell, +For now that thou hast taken a wife, +With me thy father thou mayest not dwell, +But always with her spend thy life. +Thou mayest not again thy wife forsake, +Which during life to thee thou didst take. + +SON. Alas, I am not able thus to endure, +Though thereunto I were never so willing; +For my wife is of such a crooked nature, +As no woman else in this day living, +And if the very truth I shall confess, +She is to me an evil that is endless. + +FATHER. If that thou thinkest thyself alone +Only to lead this irksome life, +Thou may'st learn what grief, sorrow and moan, +Socrates had with Xantippe his wife[373]; +Her husband full oft she taunted and checked, +And, as the book saith, unhonestly mocked. + +SON. I cannot tell what was Socrates wife, +But mine I do know, alas, too well; +She is one that is evermore full of strife, +And of all scolders beareth the bell. +When she speaketh best, then brawleth her tongue; +When she is still, she fighteth apace; +She is an old witch, though she be young: +No mirth with her, no joy or solace! + +FATHER. I cannot, my son, thy state redress; +Me thy father thou didst refuse; +Wherefore now help thy own foolishness, +And of thy wife no longer muse. + +SON. My wife went forth into the country +With certain gossips to make good cheer, +And bad me at home still to be, +That at her return she might find me there: +And if that she do take me from home,[374] +My bones, alas, she will make to crackle, +And me her husband, as a stark mome,[375] +With knocking and mocking she will handle; +And, therefore, if I may not here remain, +Yet, loving father, give me your reward, +That I may with speed ride home again, +That to my wife's words have some regard. + +FATHER. If that at the first thou wouldest have been ordered, +And done as thy father counselled thee, +So wretched a life had never chanced, +Whereof at this present thou complainest to me; +But yet come on, to my house we will be going, +And there thou shalt see what I will give:-- +A little to help thy need living, +Since that in such penury thou dost live; +And that once done, thou must hence again, +For I am not he that will thee retain. + + [_Here the Rich Man and his Son go out, and in + cometh the Perorator_.[376] + +THE PERORATOR. + +This Interlude here, good gentle audience, +Which presently before you we have played, +Was set forth with such care and diligence, +As by us truly might well be shewed. +Short it is, I deny not, and full of brevity, +But if ye mark thereof the matter, +Then choose ye cannot but see plainly, +How pain and pleasure be knit together. +By this little play the father is taught +After what manner his child to use, +Lest that through cockering[377] at length he be brought +His father's commandment to refuse; +Here he may learn a witty[378] lesson +Betimes to correct his son being tender, +And not let him be lost and undone +With wantonness, of mischief the mother; +For as long as the twig is gentle and pliant +(Every man knoweth this by experience), +With small force and strength it may be bent, +Putting thereto but little diligence; +But after that it waxeth somewhat bigger, +And to cast his branches largely beginneth, +It is scant the might of all thy power, +That one bough thereof easily bendeth: +This twig to a child may well be applied, +Which, in his childhood and age of infancy, +With small correction may be amended, +Embracing the school with heart and body, +Who afterward, with overmuch liberty, +And ranging abroad with the bridle of will, +Despiseth all virtue, learning, and honesty, +And also his father's mind to fulfil: +Whereby at the length it so falleth out +That this the young stripling, after that day +Runs into confusion without any doubt, +And like for evermore quite to decay. +Wherefore take heed, all ye that be parents, +And follow a part after my counsel; +Instruct your children and make them students, +That unto all goodness they do not rebel; +Remember what writeth Solomon the wise: +_Qui parcit virgae, odit filium_. +Therefore for as much as ye can devise, +Spare not the rod, but follow wisdom: +Further, ye young men and children also, +Listen to me and hearken a while, +What in few words for you I will show +Without any flattery, fraud, or guile. +This rich man's son whom we did set forth +Here evidently before our eyes, +Was (as it chanced) nothing worth: +Given to all noughtiness, vice, and lies. +The cause whereof was this for a truth: +His time full idly he did spend, +And would not study in his youth, +Which might have brought him to a good end; +His father's commandment he would not obey, +But wantonly followed his fantasy, +For nothing that he could do or say +Would bring this child to honesty. +And at the last (as here ye might see) +Upon a wife he fixed his mind, +Thinking the same to be felicity, +When indeed misery came behind; +For by this wife he carefully[379] lived, +Who under his father did want nothing, +And in such sort was hereby tormented, +That ever anon he went lamenting. +His father did will him lightness[380] to leave, +And only to give himself unto study, +But yet unto virtue he would not cleave, +Which is commodious for soul and body. +You heard that by sentences ancient and old, +He stirred his son as he best thought; +But he, as an unthrift stout and bold, +His wholesome counsel did set at nought; +And since that he despised his father, +God unto him did suddenly then send +Such poverty with a wife and grief together, +That shame and sorrow was his end. +Wherefore to conclude, I warn you all +By your loving parents always be ruled, +Or else be well assured of such a fall, +As unto this young man worthily chanced. +Worship God daily, which is the chief thing, +And his holy laws do not offend: +Look that ye truly serve the king, +And all your faults be glad to amend: +Moreover, be true of hand and tongue, +And learn to do all things that be honest, +For no time so fit, as when ye be young, +Because that age only is the aptest. +I have no more to speak at this season, +For very good will these things I did say, +Because I do see that virtue is geason[381] +With most men and children at this day. + + [_Here the rest of the Players come in, and kneel down + all together, each of them saying one of these verses_: + +And last of all to make an end, +O God, to thee we most humbly pray, +That to Queen Elizabeth thou do send +Thy lively path and perfect way! +Grant her in health to reign +With us many years most prosperously, +And after this life for to attain +The eternal bliss, joy, and felicity! +Our bishops, pastors, and ministers also, +The true understanding of thy word, +Both night and day, now mercifully show, +That their life and preaching may godly accord. +The lords of the council and the nobility, +Most heavenly father, we thee desire +With grace, wisdom, and godly policy +Their hearts and minds always inspire. +And that we thy people, duly considering +The power of our queen and great auctority, +May please thee and serve her without feigning, +Living in peace, rest, and tranquillity. + +GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. + + +A SONG. + + _Why doth the world study vain glory to attain, + The prosperity whereof is short and transitory, + Whose mighty power doth fall down again, + Like earthen pots, that breaketh suddenly? + Believe rather words that be written in ice, + Than the wretched world with his subtlety, + Deceitful in gifts, men only to entice, + Destitute of all sure credence and fidelity. + Give credit more to men of true judgments + Than to the worldly renown and joys, + Replenished with dreams and vain intents, + Abounding in wicked and naughty toys. + Where is now Salomon, in wisdom so excellent? + Where is now Samson, in battle so strong? + Where is now Absalom, in beauty resplendent? + Where is now good Jonathas, hid so long? + Where is now Caesar, in victory triumphing? + Where is now Dives, in dishes so dainty? + Where is now Tully, in eloquence exceeding? + Where is now Aristotle, learned so deeply? + What emperors, kings, and dukes in times past, + What earls and lords, and captains of war, + What popes and bishops, all at the last + In the twinkling of an eye are fled so far? + How short a feast is this worldly joying? + Even as a shadow it passeth away, + Depriving a man of gifts everlasting, + Leading to darkness and not to day! + O meat of worms, O heap of dust, + O like to dew, climb not too high! + To live to-morrow thou canst not trust, + Therefore now betime help the needy. + The fleshly beauty, whereat thou dost wonder, + In holy Scripture is likened to hay, + And as a leaf in a stormy weather, + So is man's life blowen clean away. + Call nothing thine that may be lost: + The world doth give and take again, + But set thy mind on the Holy Ghost; + Despite the world that is so vain!_ + + +FINIS. + + + + + + +THE MARRIAGE OF WIT AND SCIENCE. + + + +[The title of the old copy is: _A new and Pleasaunt_ enterlude +intituled the mariage of Witte and Science. Imprinted at London in +Flete Streete, neare vnto sainct Dunstones churche by Thomas Marshe. +4°, black letter. + +There is no date, but the size is a small 4to, and it probably appeared +in 1570, having been licensed in 1569-70 to Marsh. Some further +particulars of the play, now first reprinted from the only known copy +in the Malone collection at Oxford, may be found in Hazlitt's +"Handbook," 1867, p. 465; Collier's "Extr. from the Stat. Reg.," +i. 204; and Collier's "Hist. Engl. Dram. Poetry," ii. 341-7, where +there is a somewhat long review of the piece, with extracts. Mr +Collier, who bestows considerable praise on this interlude, observes: +--"The moral play of 'The Marriage of Wit and Science' contains a +remarkable external feature not belonging to any other piece of this +class that I remember to have met with: it is regularly divided into +five acts, and each of the scenes is also marked." The anonymous author +appears to have borrowed to some extent from the older performance by +John Redford, printed from a MS. by the Shakespeare Society in 1848; +but the two productions must, nevertheless, be regarded as distinct and +independent.] + + + +THE PLAYERS' NAMES. + +NATURE. +WIT. +WILL. +STUDY. +DILIGENCE, _with three other women singers_. +SCIENCE. +REASON. +EXPERIENCE. +RECREATION. +SHAME. +IDLENESS. +IGNORANCE. +TEDIOUSNESS. +INSTRUCTION. + + + +THE MARRIAGE OF WIT AND SCIENCE. + + + + +[ACT I.] + +NATURE, WIT, _and_ WILL. + + +Grand lady, mother of every mortal thing: +Nurse of the world, conservative of kind: +Cause of increase, of life and soul the spring; +At whose instinct the noble heaven doth wind, +To whose award all creatures are assigned, +I come in place to treat with this my son, +For his avail how he the path may find, +Whereby his race in honour he may run: +Come, tender child, unripe and green for age, +In whom the parent sets her chief delight, +Wit is thy name, but far from wisdom sage, +Till tract of time shall work and frame aright, +This peerless brain, not yet in perfect plight: +But when it shall be wrought, methinks I see, +As in a glass beforehand with my sight, +A certain perfect piece of work in thee, +And now so far as I [can] guess by signs, +Some great attempt is fixed in thy breast: +Speak on, my son, whereto thy heart inclines, +And let me deal to set thy heart at rest. +He salves the sore, that knows the patient best: +As I do thee, my son, my chiefest care, +In whom my special praise and joy doth rest; +To me therefore these thoughts of thine declare. + +WIT. +Nature, my sovereign queen and parent passing dear, +Whose force I am enforced to know and 'knowledge everywhere, +This care of mine, though it be bred within my breast, +Yet it is not so ripe as yet to breed me great unrest, +So run I to and fro with hap luck as I find, +Now fast, now loose: now hot, now cold: inconstant as the wind, +I feel myself in love, yet not inflamed so, +But causes move me now and then to let such fancies go, +Which causes prevailing sets each thing else in doubt +Much like the nail, that last came in, and drives the former out. +Wherefore my suit is this: that it would please your grace +To settle this unsettled head in some assured place: +To lead me through the thick, to guide me all the way, +To point me where I may achieve my most desired pray, +For now again of late I kindle in desire, +And pleasure pricketh forth my youth to feel a greater fire. +What though I be too young to show her sport in bed, +Yet are there many in this land that at my years do wed, +And though I wed not yet, yet am I old enou' +To serve my lady to my power, and to begin to woo. + +NATURE. +What is that lady, son, which thus thy heart doth move? + +WIT. +A lady, whom it might beseem high Jove himself to love. + +NATURE. +Who taught thee her to love, or hast thou seen her face? + +WIT. +Nor this nor that, but I heard men talk of her apace. + +NATURE. +What is her name? + +WIT. +Reason is her sire, Experience her dame, +The lady now is in her flower, and Science is her name. +Lo, where she dwells; lo, where my heart is all possest; +Lo, where my body would abide; lo, where my soul doth rest. +Her have I borne good-will these many years tofore, +But now she lodgeth in my thought a hundred parts the more, +And since I do persuade myself that this is she, +Which ought above all earthly wights to be most dear to me; +And since I wot not how to compass my desire, +And since for shame I cannot now nor mind not to retire, +Help on, I you beseech, and bring this thing about +Without your hurt to my great ease, and set all out of doubt. + +NATURE. +Thou askest more than is in me to give, +More than thy cause, more than thy state, will bear, +They are two things to able thee to live, +And to live so, that none should be thy peer, +The first from me proceedeth everywhere; +But this by toil and practice of the mind, +Is set full far, God wot, and bought full dear, +By those that seek the fruit thereof to find, +To match thee then with Science in degree, +To knit that knot that few may reach unto, +I tell thee plain, it lieth not in me. +Why should I challenge that I cannot do? +But thou must take another way to woo, +And beat thy brain, and bend thy curious head, +Both ride and run, and travel to and fro, +If thou intend that famous dame to wed. + +WIT. +You name yourself the lady of this world. + +NATURE. +It is true. + +WIT. +And can there be within this world a thing too hard for you? + +NATURE. +My power it is not absolute in jurisdiction, +For I cognise another lord above, +That hath received unto his disposition +The soul of man, which he of special love +To gifts of grace and learning eke doth move. +A work so far beyond my reach and call, +That into part of praise with him myself to show +Might soon procure my well-deserved fall: +He makes the frame, and [I] receive it so, +No jot therein altered for my head; +And as I it receive, I let it go, +Causing therein such sparkles to be bred, +As he commits to me, by whom I must be led: +Who guides me first, and in me guides the rest, +All which in their due course and kind are spread +Of gifts from me such as may serve them best, +To thee, son Wit, he will'd me to inspire, +The love of knowledge and certain seeds divine, +Which ground might be a mean to bring thee here, +If thereunto thyself thou wilt incline: +The massy gold the cunning hand makes fine: +Good grounds are till'd, as well as are the worst, +The rankest flower will ask a springing time; +So is man's wit unperfit at the first. + +WIT. +If cunning be the key and well of wordly[382] bliss +Me-thinketh God might at the first as well endue all with this. + +NATURE. +As cunning is the key of bliss, so it is worthy praise: +The worthiest things are won with pain in tract of time always. + +WIT. +And yet right worthy things there are, you will confess, I trow, +Which notwithstanding at our birth God doth on us bestow. + +NATURE. +There are; but such as unto you, that have the great to name, +I rather that bestow, than win thereby immortal fame. + +WIT. +Fain would I learn what harm or detriment ensued, +If any man were at his birth with these good gifts endued. + +NATURE. +There should be nothing left, wherein men might excel, +No blame for sin, no praise to them that had designed well: +Virtue should lose her price, and learning would abound; +And as man would admire the thing, that each-where might be found. +The great [e]state, that have of me and fortune what they will, +Should have no need to look to those, whose heads are fraught with skill. +The meaner sort, that now excels in virtues of the mind, +Should not be once accepted there, where now they succour find. +For great men should be sped of all, and would have need of none, +And he that were not born to land should lack to live upon. +These and five thousand causes mo, which I forbear to tell, +The noble virtue of the mind have caused there to dwell, +Where none may have access, but such as can get in +Through many double doors: through heat, through cold, through +thick and thin. + +WIT. +Suppose I would address myself to seek her out, +And to refuse no pain that lieth thereabout; +Should I be sure to speed? + +NATURE. +Trust me, and have no doubt, +Thou canst not choose but speed with travail and with time: +These two are they that must direct thee how to climb. + +WIT. +With travail and with time? must they needs join in one? + +NATURE. +Nor that nor this can do thee good, if they be took alone. + +WIT. +Time worketh all with ease, and gives the greatest dint: +In him soft water drops can hollow hardest flint. +Again with labour by itself great matters compass'd be, +Even at a gird, in very little time or none we see. +Wherefore in my conceit good reason it is, +Either this without that to look, or that without this. + +NATURE. +Set case thou didst attempt to climb Parnassus hill: +Take time five hundred thousand years and longer, if thou will, +Trowest thou to touch the top thereof by standing still? +Again work out thy heart, and spend thyself with toil: +Take time withal, or else I dare assure thee of the foil. + +WIT. +Madam, I trust I have your licence and your leave, +With your good-will and so much help as you to me can give; +With further aid also, when you shall spy your time, +To make a proof to give attempt this famous hill to climb; +And now I here request your blessing and your prayer; +For sure, before I sleep, I will to yonder fort repair. + +NATURE. +I bless thee here with all such gifts as nature can bestow, +And for thy sake I would they were as many hundred mo. +Take there withal this child, to wait upon thee still: +A bird of mine, some kin to thee: his name is Will. + +WIT. +Welcome to me, my Will, what service canst thou do? + +WILL. +All things forsooth, sir, when me list, and more too. + +WIT. +But whether[383] wilt thou list, when I shall list, I trow? + +WILL. +Trust not to that; peradventure yea, peradventure no. + +WIT. +When I have need of thee, thou wilt not serve me so. + +WILL. +If ye bid me run, perhaps I will go. + +WIT. +Cock's soul, this is a boy for the nonce amongst twenty mo! + +WILL. +I am plain, I tell you, at a word and a blow. + +WIT. +Then must I prick you, child, if you be drown'd in sloth. + +NATURE. +Agree, you twain, for I must leave you both; +Farewell, my son: farewell, mine own good Will, +Be ruled by Wit, and be obedient still; +Force thee I cannot, but as far as lies in me, +I will help thy master to make a good servant of thee. +Farewell-- + [_Exit_. + +WIT. +Adieu, lady mother, with thanks for all your pain; +And now let me bethink myself again and eke again, +To match with Science is the thing that I have took in hand: +A matter of more weight, I see, than I did understand. +Will must be won to this, or else it will be hard; +Will must go break the matter first, or else my game[384] is marr'd, +Sir boy, are you content to take such part for me, +As God shall send, and help it forth as much as lies in thee? + +WILL. +Yea, master, by his wounds, or else cut off his head. + +WIT. +Come then, and let us two devise what trace were best to tread; +Nature is on my side, and Will my boy is fast. +There is no doubt I shall obtain my joys at last. + + [_Exeunt_. + + + + +ACT II, SCAENA 1. + +WIT _and_ WILL. + + +WIT. +What, Will, I say, Will boy, come again, foolish elf! + +WILL. +I cry you mercy, sir, you are a tall man yourself. + +WIT. +Such a crackbrain as thou art, I never saw the like to it. + +WILL. +Truth, in respect of you, that are nothing else but Wit! + +WIT. +Canst thou tell me thy errand, because thou art gone so soon? + +WILL. +I can remember a long tale of a man in the moon, +With such a circumstance and such flim-flam? +I will tell, at a word, whose servant I am: +Wherefore I come, and what I have to say, +And call for her answer, before I come away. +What, should I make a broad tree of every little shrub, +And keep her a great while with a tale of a tub? + +WIT. +Yet thou must commend me to be rich, lusty, pleasant, and wise. + +WILL. +I cannot commend you, but I must make twenty lies. +Rich, quoth you? that appeareth by the port that you keep: +Even as rich as a new-shorn sheep! +Of pleasant conceits, ten bushels to the peck, +Lusty like a herring, with a bell about his neck, +Wise as a woodcock: as brag as a bodylouse, +A man of your hands, to match with a mouse! +How say you, are not these proper qualities to praise you with? + +WIT. +Leave these mad toys of thine, and come to the pith: +One part of the errand should have been +To give her this picture of mine to be seen, +And to request her the same to accept, +Safely until my coming to be kept, +Which I suspend till thy return, and then, +If it like her ladyship to appoint me where and when, +I will wait upon her gladly out of hand. + +WILL. +Sir, let me alone: your mind I understand. +I will handle the matter, so that you shall owe me thanks, +But what, if she find fault with these spindle-shanks, +Or else with these black spots on your nose? + +WIT. +In faith, sir boy, this talk deserveth blows. + +WILL. +You will not misuse your best servant, I suppose? +For, by his nails and by his fingers too, +I will mar your marriage, if you do so.[385] + +WIT. +I pray thee go thy ways, and leave this clatter. + +WILL. +First shall I be so bold to break to you a matter. + +WIT. +Tush, thou art disposed to spend words in waste, +And yet thou knowest this business asketh haste. + +WILL. +But even two words, and then I am gone. + +WIT. +If it be worth the hearing, say on. + +WILL. +I would not have you think that I, for my part, +From my promise or from your service will depart, +But yet now and then it goeth to my heart, +When I think how this marriage may be to my smart. + +WIT. +Why so? + +WILL. +I would tell you the cause, if I durst for shame. + +WIT. +Speak hardily what thou wilt without any blame. + +WILL. +I am not disposed as yet to be tame, +And therefore I am loth to be under a dame, +Now you are a bachelor, a man may soon win you, +Me-thinks there is some good fellowship in you; +We may laugh and be merry at board and at bed, +You are not so testy as those that be wed. +Mild in behaviour and loth to fall out, +You may run, you may ride and rove round about, +With wealth at your will and all thing at ease, +Free, frank and lusty: easy to please. +But when you be clogged and tied by the toe, +So fast that you shall not have pow'r to let go, +You will tell me another lesson soon after. +And cry _peccavi_ too, except your luck be the better. +Then farewell good fellowship! then come at a call! +Then wait at an inch, you idle knaves all: +Then sparing and pinching, and nothing of gift: +No talk with our master, but all for his thrift! +Solemn and sour, and angry as a wasp, +All things must be kept under lock and hasp; +All[386] that which will make me to fare full ill. +All your care shall be to hamper poor Will. + +WIT. +I warrant thee, for that take thou no thought, +Thou shalt be made of, whosoever be set at nought: +As dear to me, as mine own dear brother, +Whosoever be one, thou shalt be another. + +WILL. +Yea, but your wife will play the shrew; perdè, it is she that I fear. + +WIT. +The message will cause her some favour to bear, +For my sake and thy sake, and for her own likewise, +If thou use thyself discreetly in this enterprise. + +WILL. +She hath a father, a testy, sour old man: +I doubt lest he and I shall fall out now and then. + +WIT. +Give him fair words, forbear him for his age; +Thou must consider him to be ancient and sage. +Shew thyself officious and serviceable still, +And then shall Reason make very much of Will. + +WILL. +If your wife be ever complaining, how then? + +WIT. +My wife will have nothing to do with my men. + +WILL. +If she do, believe her not in any wise. +And when you once perceive her stomach to arise, +Then cut her short at the first, and you shall see +A marvellous virtue in that medicine to be. +Give her not the bridle for a year or twain, +And you shall see her bridle it without a rein, +Break her betimes, and bring her under by force, +Or else the grey mare will be the better horse. + +WIT. +If thou have done, begone, and spend no time in vain. + +WILL. +Where shall I find you, when I come again? + +WIT. +At home. + +WILL. +Good, enough, take your ease: let me alone with this. + [_Exit Wit_. +Surely a treasure of all treasures it is +To serve such a master, as I hope him to be, +And to have such a servant as he hath of me; +For I am quick, nimble, proper and nice; +He is full good, gentle, sober and wise. +He is full both to chide or to check, +And I am as willing to serve at a beck, +He orders me well, and speaks me so fair, +That for his sake no travail I must spare. +But now am I come to the gate of this lady, +I will pause a while to frame mine errant finely. +And lo, where she cometh; yet will I not come nigh her; +But among these fellows will I stand to eye her. + + + + +ACT II., SCAENA 2. + +REASON, EXPERIENCE, SCIENCE, _and_ WILL. + + +SCIENCE. +My parents, ye know, how many fall and lapse,[387] +That do ascribe to me the cause of their mishaps? +How many seek, that come too short of their desire: +How many do attempt, that daily do retire. +How many rove about the mark on every side: +How many think to hit, when they are much too wide: +How many run too far, how many light too low: +How few to good effect their travail do bestow! +And how all these impute their losses unto me: +Should I have joy to think of marriage now, trow ye? +What saith[388] the world? my love alone, say they, +Is bought so dear, that life and goods for it must pay +Strong youth must spend itself, and yet, when all is done, +We hear of few or none, that have this lady won. +On me they make outcries, and charge me with the blood +Of those, that for my sake adventure life and good. +This grief doth wound my heart so, that suitors more as yet +I see no cause nor reason why I should admit. + +REASON. +Ah, daughter, say not so; there is great cause and skill, +For which you should mislike to live unmarried thus alone, +What comfort can you have remaining thus unknown? +How shall the commonwealth by you advanced be, +If you abide inclosed here, where no man may you see? +It is not for your state yourself to take the pain: +All strangers shall resort to you to entertain. +To suffer free access of all that come and go: +To be at each man's call: to travel to and fro. +What then, since God hath plac'd such treasure in your breast, +Wherewith so many thousand think by you to be refresh'd, +Needs must you have some one of high and secret trust, +By whom these things may be well-order'd and discuss'd. +To him you must disclose the depth of all your thought; +By him, as time shall serve, all matters must be wrought: +To him alone you must content yourself to be at call; +Ye must be his, he must be yours, he must be all in all. + +EXPERIENCE. +My lord, your father tells you truth, perdè, +And that in time yourself shall find and try. + +SCIENCE. +I could allege more than as yet I have said, +But I must yield, and you must be obey'd. +Fall out, as it will: there is no help, I see; +Some one or other in time must marry me. + +WILL. +In time? nay, out of hand, madam, if it please you; +In faith, I know a younker that will ease you, +A lively young gentleman, as fresh as any flower, +That will not stick to marry you within this hour. + +SCIENCE. +Such haste might haply turn to waste to some; +But I pray thee, my pretty boy, whence art thou come? + +WILL. +If it please your good ladyship to accept me so, +I have a solemn message to tell, ere I go; +Not anything in secret your honour to stain, +But in the presence and hearing of you twain. + +REASON. +Speak. + +WILL. +The lady of this world, which lady Nature hight, +Hath one a peerless son, in whom she taketh delight, +On him she chargeth men to be attendant still, +Both kin[389] to her: his name is Wit, my name is Will. +The noble child doth feel the force of Cupid's flame, +And seeketh[390] now for ease, by counsel of his dame. +His mother taught him first to love, while he was young: +Which love with age increaseth sore, and waxeth wondrous strong; +For very fame displays your bounty more and more, +And at this pinch he burneth so as never heretofore. +Not fantasies forsooth,[391] not vain and idle toys of love; +Not hope of that which commonly doth other suitors move; +But fixed fast good-will that never shall relent, +And virtue's force, that shines in you, bad him give this attempt. +He hath no need of wealth, he wooes not for your good; +His kindred is such he need not to seek to match with noble blood, +Such store of friends that, where he list, he may command, +And none so hardy to presume his pleasure to withstand. +Yourself it is, [madam,] your virtue and your grace, +Your noble gifts, your endless praise in every place: +You alone, I say, the mark that he would hit, +The hoped joy, the dearest prey, that can befal to Wit. + +EXPERIENCE. +I have not heard a message more trimly done. + +SCIENCE. +Nor I; what age art thou of, my good son? + +WILL. +Between eleven and twelve, madam, more or less. + +REASON. +He hath been instructed this errand, as I guess. + +SCIENCE. +How old is the gentleman thy master, canst thou tell? + +WILL. +Seventeen or thereabout, I wot not very well. + +SCIENCE. +What stature, of what making, what kind of port bears he? + +WILL. +Such as your ladyship cannot mislike, trust me. +Well-grown, well-made, a stripling clean and tall: +Well-favoured, somewhat black, and manly therewithal; +And that you may conceive his personage the better, +Lo, here of him the very shape and lively picture! +This hath he sent to you to view and to behold: +I dare advouch no joint therein, no jot, to be controll'd. + +SCIENCE. +In good faith, I thank thy master with my heart; +I perceive that nature in him hath done her part. + +WILL. +Farther, if it please your honour to know: +My master would be glad to run, ride, or go, +At your commandment to any place far or near, +To have but a sight of your ladyship there. +I beseech you appoint him the place and the hour, +You shall see, how readily to you he will scour. + +REASON. +Do so. + +EXPERIENCE. +Yea, in any wise, daughter; for, hear you me, +He seemeth a right worthy and trim young man to be. + +SCIENCE. +Commend me then to Wit, and let him understand, +That I accept with all my heart this present at his hand, +And that I would be glad, when he doth see his time, +To hear and see him face to face within this house of mine. +Then may he break his mind, and talk with me his fill; +Till then, adieu, both he and thou, mine own sweet little Will. + + [_Exeunt Science, Reason, Experience_. + + + +ACT II, SCAENA 3. + + +WILL. +Ah flattering quean, how neatly she can talk, +How minionly she trips, how sadly she can walk! +Well, wanton, yet beware that ye be sound and sure, +Fair words are wont ofttimes fair women to allure, +Now must I get me home, and make report of this +To him, that thinks it long till my return, i-wis. + + [_Exit_. + + + + +ACT III., SCAENA 1. + +WIT _and_ WILL. + + +WIT. +Say'st thou me so, boy? will she have me indeed? + +WILL. +Be of good cheer, sir; I warrant you to speed. + +WIT. +Did both her parents speak well to her of me? + +WILL. +As heart can think; go on, and you shall see. + +WIT. +How took she the picture? How liketh she my person? + +WILL. +She never had done toting[392] and looking thereon. + +WIT. +And when must I come to talk with her my fill? + +WILL. +Whensoever you please, and as oft as you will. + +WIT. +O my sweet boy, how shall I recompense +Thy faithful heart and painful diligence? +My hope, my stay, my wealth, the key of all my joy! + +WILL. +I pray you, sir, call me your man, and not your boy. + +WIT. +Thou shalt be what thou wilt, all in all. + +WILL. +Promise me faithfully that, if your wife brawl, +Or set her father to check me out of measure, +You will not see me abused to their pleasure. + +WIT. +Give me thy hand, take here my faith and troth, +I will maintain thee, howsoever the world goeth. + + + +ACT III., SCAENA 2. + +_The house of_ SCIENCE. WILL, WIT; _also_ REASON _and_ SCIENCE _behind_. + + +WIT. +What shall we do? Shall we stand lingering here? + +WILL. +If you be a man, press in and go near. + +WIT. +What, if there be some other suitor there? + +WILL. +And if there be, yet need you not to fear; +Until I bring his head to you upon a spear. +I will not look you in the face, nor in your sight appear. + +REASON. +Nay, Wit, advise yourself, and pause a while, +Or else this haste of yours will you beguile. + +SCIENCE. +No haste but good, take time and learn to fight, +Learn to assault, learn to defend a right: +Your match[393] is monstrous to behold and full of might, +Whom you must vanquish, not by force, but by sleight. + +WIT. +Madam, stand to your promise; if I win, I am sped, +Am I not? + +SCIENCE. + Yea, truly. + +WILL. +Good enough, if we fight not, I would we were dead, +No man shall stay us, that bears a head. + +EXPERIENCE. +Young man, a word or twain, and then adieu: +Your years are few, your practice green and new; +Mark what I say, and ye shall find it true: +You are the first that shall this rashness rue. +Be ruled here: our counsel do thereafter. +Lay good ground, your work shall be the faster. +This headlong haste may sooner miss than hit; +Take heed both of witless[394] Will and wilful Wit. +We have within a gentleman, our retainer and our friend, +With servants twain, that do on him attend-- +Instruction, Study, Diligence: these three +At your commandment in this attempt shall be. +Hear them instead of us, and as they shall devise, +So hardily cast your[395] cards in this enterprise. +I will send them to you, and leave you for now. + +WIT. +The more company the merrier; boy, what say'st thou? + +WILL. +It is a good fault to have more than enou': +I care not, so as we may put the knaves down, +I would we were at it, I pass not how soon. + +WIT. +If it shall please you to send those three hither, +We will follow your counsel, and go together. + +WILL. +I warrant her a shrew, whosoever be another, +God make the daughter good, I like not the mother. [_Aside_. + +WIT.[396] +Yet would not I for no good to have forgone her. [_Aside_. + +WILL. +Marry, sir, indeed she talks and takes on her, +Like a dame, nay, like a duchess or a queen, +With such a solemnity as I have not seen. + +REASON. +She is a queen, I tell thee, in her degree. + +WILL. +Let her be what she list, with a vengeance, for me! +I will keep me out of her reach, if I can. [_Aside_. + +REASON. +If this marriage go forward, thou must be her man. + +WILL. +Marriage or marriage not, beshrew me then, +I have but one master, and I will serve no mo, +And if he anger me, I will forsake him too. + +REASON. +She shall not hurt thee, unless her cause be juster. + +WILL. +By the faith of my body, sir, I intend not to trust her. + +REASON. +Why? + +WILL. +Take[397] me this woman, that talks so roundly, +That be so wise, that reason so soundly: +That look so narrow, that speak so shrill: +Their words are not so cursed, but their deeds are ill. + +REASON. +It is but thy fancy, I see no such thing in her. + +WILL. +Perhaps you had never occasion to try her? + +REASON. +That were great marvel in so many years. + +WILL. +She hath won the mastery of you, it appears. + +WIT. +Well, quiet yourself; thou shalt take no wrong, +Methink our three companions tarry very long. + + + +ACT III, SCAENA 3. + +INSTRUCTION, STUDY, DILIGENCE, REASON, WIT, WILL. + + +INSTRUCTION. +Sir, we are come to know your pleasure. + +REASON. +You are come in good time, Instruction, our treasure; +This gentleman craveth your acquaintance and aid. +What you may do for him, let him not be denay'd. + +WIT. +Welcome, good fellows, will ye dwell with me? + +DILIGENCE. +If all parties be pleased, content are we. + +WIT. +Welcome, Instruction, with all my heart. + +WILL. +What, three new servants! then, farewell, my part. [_Aside_. + +INSTRUCTION. +I heartily thank you, and look what I can do; +I[398] shall be always ready to pleasure you. + +REASON. +Consider and talk together with these, +And you shall find in your travail great ease. +Take here of me, before I take my leave, +This glass of crystal clear, which I you give, +Accept it, and reserve it for my sake most sure, +Much good to you in time it may procure. +Behold yourself therein, and view and pry: +Mark what defects it will discover and descry; +And so with judgment ripe and curious eye, +What is amiss endeavour to supply, +Farewell-- + +WIT. +Farewell to you, right honourable sir: +And commend me to my love, my heart's desire, +Let her think on me, when she sees me not, and wish me well. + +WILL. +Farewell, master Reason, think upon us, when you see us not, +And in any wise let not Will be forgot. + +WIT. +Since I must take advice and counsel of you three, +I must intreat you all to dwell in house with me, +And look what order you shall prescribe as needful, +To keep the same you shall find me as heedful: +Come. + +INSTRUCTION. +[I] come. + +WIT. +[I] go. + + [_Exeunt_. + + + + +ACT IV., SCAENA 1. + +WIT, WILL, INSTRUCTION, STUDY, DILIGENCE. + + +WILL. +Tush, tush, Instruction, your talk is of no force: +You tell us a tale of a roasted horse, +Which, by his wounds, except we set to it, +As fast as we make, these[399] fellows will undo it, +Their talk is nothing but soft, and fair, and tarry; +If you follow their counsel, you shall never marry. + +INSTRUCTION. +To follow our counsel your charge and promise was. + +WIT. +I would I had never known you, by the mass. +Must I look so long, and spend my life with toil? +Nay, sure, I will either win it, or take the foil. + +STUDY. +The surer is your ground, the better you shall bear it. + +WILL. +Ground us no ground; let him win it, and wear it. + +INSTRUCTION. +Good sir, be ruled, and leave this peevish elf. + +WIT. +I had even as lief ye bad me hang myself; +Leave him? no, no, I would you all knew, +You be but loiterers to him, my Will tells me true. +I could be content with a week, yea a month or twain, +But three or four years! marry, that were a pain. +So long to keep me, and lie like a hog. + +WILL. +A life, with all my heart, I would not wish a dog. + +WIT. +Will a week serve? + +STUDY. + No. + +WIT. +A month? + +STUDY. + Neither. + +WIT. +No? + +STUDY. +Not so. + +INSTRUCTION. +No, nor so many mo. + +WIT. +Then, farewell all, for, as I hope to thrive, +I will prove him, ere I sleep, if I be alive, +And if ye be mine, and good fellows all three, +Go thither out of hand, and take your chance with me. + +INSTRUCTION. +For my part, I know I can do you no good. + +WILL. +You are a proper man of your hands, by the rood! +Yet well fare him, that never his master forsaketh. + +WIT. +What say'st thou, Study? + +STUDY. + My head acheth. + +WIT. +Out upon thee, coward! speak, Diligence. + +DILIGENCE. +Against Instruction's mind, I am loth to go hence, +Yet I will make one, rather than you should lack. + +WIT. +Perhaps we may find them at this time in bed. + +WILL. +So much the rather look you to be sped, +Care for no more, but once to come within her, +And when you have done, then let another win her. + +WIT. +To come within her, child? what meanest thou by that? + +WILL. +One mass for a penny, you know what is what! + +WIT. +Heard you ever such a counsel of such a Jack sprat? + +WILL. +Why, sir, do ye think to do any good, +If ye stand in a corner like Robin Hood? +Nay, you must stout it, and face it out with the best: +Set on a good countenance, make the most of the least, +Whosoever skip in, look to your part, +And while you live, beware of a false heart. + +WIT. +Both blame and shame rash boldness doth breed. + +WILL. +You must adventure both: spare to speak, spare to speed. +What tell you me of shame? it is shame to steal a horse. + +WIT. +More haste than good speed makes many fare the worse. + +WILL. +But he that takes not such time, while he may, +Shall leap at a whiting, when time is away. + +WIT. +But he that leaps, before he look, good son, +May leap in the mire, and miss when he hath done. + + [_Enter Science, Season, and Experience_. + +SCIENCE. +Methink I hear the voice of Will, Wit's boy. + +WIT. +I see her come, her sorrow and my joy, +My salve and yet my sore, my comfort and my care, +The causer of my wound, and yet the well of my welfare; +O happy wight, that have the saint of your request, +O hopeless hope, that holdeth me from that which likes me best! +Twixt hope and fear I stand, to mar or else to make, +This day to be relieved quite, or else my death-wound to take. + +REASON. +Here let us rest awhile, and pause all three: + +EXPERIENCE. +Daughter, sit down, belike this same is he. + +WILL. +Be of good cheer, sir; be ruled by me. +Women are best pleased, till they be used homely, +Look her in the face, and tell your tale stoutly. + +WIT. +O pearl of passing price, sent down from God on high, +The sweetest beauty to entice, that hath been seen with eye: +The well of wealth to all, that no man doth annoy: +The key of kingdoms and the seal of everlasting joy. +The treasure and the store, whom all good things began, +The nurse of lady Wisdom's love, the link of man and man. +What words shall me suffice to utter my desire? +What heat of talk shall I devise, for to express my fire? +I burn and yet I freeze, I flame and cool as fast, +In hope to win and for to lese, my pensiveness doth last; +Why should my dull spirit appal my courage so? +O, salve my sore, or sle me quite, by saying yea or no! +You are the mark at whom I shoot to hit or miss, +My life it stays on you alone, to you my suit it is, +A suit[400] not much unmeet with you some grace[401] to find, +Dame Nature's son, my name is Wit, that fancieth you by kind, +And here I come this day to wait and to attend, +In hope to have my hoped prey,[402] or else my life to end. + +SCIENCE. +Good cause there is, wherefore I should embrace, +This loving heart which you have borne to me, +And glad I am, that we be both in place, +Each one of us each other's looks to see. +Your picture and your person doth agree, +Your prince-like port and eke your noble face; +Wherein so many signs of virtue be: +That I must needs be moved in your case. + +REASON. +Friend Wit, are you the man indeed, which you intend?[403] +Can you be well content, until your life doth end, +To join and knit most sure with this my daughter here, +And unto her alone your fixed faith to bear? + +WIT. +As I am bent to this, so let my suit be sped, +If I do fail, ten thousand plagues and more light on my head! + +EXPERIENCE. +There are, that promise fair, and mean as well, +As any heart[404] can think, or tongue can tell: +Which at the first are hot, and kindle in desire, +But in one month or twain quite quenched is the fire. +Such is the train[405] of youth, whom fancy's force doth lead, +Whose love is only at the plunge, and cannot long proceed. + +WIT. +Credit my words, and ye shall find me true. + +EXPERIENCE. +Suppose you keep not touch, who should this bargain rue? + +WIT. +I will be sworn here solemnly before you both. + +EXPERIENCE. +Who breaketh promise, will not stick likewise to break his oath. + +WIT. +I will be bound in all that ever I can make. + +EXPERIENCE. +What good were that to us, if we th'advantage take? + +WIT. +Will neither promise serve, nor oath, nor bands?[406] +What other assurance will ye ask at my hands? + +WILL. +My master is a gentleman, I tell you, and his word, +I would you knew it, shall with his deeds accord. + +REASON. +We know not whom to trust, the world is so ill. + +WILL. +Indeed, sir, as you say, you may mend, when ye will; +But in good earnest, madam, speak--off or on? +Shall we speed at your hand, or shall we be gone? +I love not these delays; say so, if we shall have you, +If not, say no; and let another crave you. + +WIT. +Soft and fair, sir boy, you talk, you wot not what. [_Aside_. + +WILL. +Can you abide to be driven off with this and that, +Can they ask any more than good assurance at your hands? [_Aside_. + +EXPERIENCE. +All is now too little, son, as the matter stands. + +WILL. +If all be too little, both goods and lands, +I know not what will please you, except Darby's bands.[407] + +SCIENCE. +I have an enemy, my friend Wit, a mortal foe to me; +And therewithal the greatest plague that can befal to thee. + +WIT. +Must I fight with him? + +REASON. +Can you fight, if need be? + +WILL. +If any such thing fall, count the charge to me, +Trouble not yourself. + +WIT. +Hold thy peace, elf. + +SCIENCE. +Hear out my tale; I have a mortal foe, +That lurketh in the wood hereby, as you come and go; +This monstrous giant bears a grudge to me and mine, +And will attempt to keep thee back from this desire of thine. +The bane of youth, the root of ruin and distress:[408] +Devouring those that sue to me, his name is Tediousness. +No sooner he espies the noble Wit begin: +To stir and pain itself the love of me to win. +But forth he steps, and with strong hands by might and main. +He beats and buffets down the force and liveliness of brain. +That done, in deep despair he drowns him villainously: +Ten thousand suitors in a year are cast away thereby. +Now, if your mind be surely fixed so, +That for no toil nor cost my love you will forego, +Bethink you well, and of this monster take good heed, +Then may you have with me the greater hope to speed. +Herein use good advice, to make you strong and stout, +To feud and keep him off a while, until his rage be out. +Then when you feel yourself well able to prevail, +Bid you the battle, and that so courageously assail. +If you can win the field, present me with his head, +I ask no more, and I forthwith shall be your own to bed. + +WIT. +Ill might I thrive, and lack that likes me best, +If I be not a scourge to him, that breedeth[409] your unrest. +Madam, assure yourself, he lives not in the land, +With whom I would not in your cause encounter hand to hand. +And as for Tediousness that wretch, your common foe, +Let me alone, we twain shall cope, before I sleep, I trow. + +WILL. +Lustily spoken, let me claw thee by the back: +How say you now sir, here are three against twain! + +STUDY. +Go, that go list, I will at home remain, +I have more need to take a nap in my bed. + +WILL. +Do so, and, hear you, couch a cod's-head! [_Aside_. + +INSTRUCTION. +Well, since it will none otherwise frame, +Let us twain, Study, return[410] from whence we came. + +STUDY. +Agreed. + [_Exit_. + +WIT. +And let us three bestir ourselves like men; +Unlikely things are brought to pass by courage now and then. +My Will, be always prest, and ready at an inch, +To save thyself, to succour me, to help at every pinch. +Both twain on either side assault him, if ye can, +And you shall see me in the middes, how I will play the man; +This is the deadly den, as far as I perceive, +Approach we near, and valiantly let us the onset give. +Come forth, thou monster fell, in drowsy darkness hid, +For here is Wit, Dame Nature's son, that doth thee battle bid. + + + +ACT IV., SCAENA 2. + +TEDIOUSNESS, WIT, WILL, DILIGENCE. + + +TEDIOUSNESS. +What princox have we here, that dares me to assail? +Alas, poor boy, and weenest thou against me to prevail? +Full small was he thy friend, whoever sent thee hither, +For I must drive thee back with shame, or slay thee altogether. + +WIT. +Great boast, small roast: I warrant thee, do thy best, +Thy head must serve my turn this day to set my heart at rest. + +WILL. +And I must have a leg of thee, if I can catch it. + +TEDIOUSNESS. +First I must quite this brain of thine, if I can reach it. + [_Fight, strike at Will_. +WIT. +Well shifted, Will; now have at thee, sir knave. + +TEDIOUSNESS. +These friscols shall not serve your turn for all your vaunts so brave; +Ho, ho! did I not tell thee thou cam'st to thy pain! + +DILIGENCE. +Help, help, help, our master is slain. + +WILL. +Help, help, help, &c. + +TEDIOUSNESS. +Where are these lusty bloods, that make their match with me? +Here lies a pattern for them all, to look at and to see. +To teach them to conspire against my force and might; +To promise, for their woman's love, to vanquish me in fight: +Now let them go and crake, how wisely they have sped, +Such is the end of those, that seek this curious dame to wed. + + [_Exit_ TED. + + + +ACT IV., SCAENA 3. + +WILL, RECREATION, WIT. + + +WILL. +Rub and chafe him: +For God's love, haste; see, lo, where he doth lie. + +RECREATION. +He is not cold, I warrant him, I. + + +SING. + + _Give a leg, give an arm; arise, arise. + Hold up[411] thy head, lift us thy eyes, + +1 A leg to stand upright: + +2 An arm to fight amain, + +1 The head to hold thy brains in plight, + +2 The eyes to look again. + Awake, ye drowned powers. + Ye sprites, for-dull with toil: + Resign to me this care of yours, + And from dead sleep recoil. + Think not upon your loathsome luck, + But arise, and dance with us a-pluck. + + [Both sing, Give a leg, as is before. + +2 What, though thou hast not hit + The top of thy desire, + Time is not so far spent as yet + To cause thee to retire. + Arise, and ease thyself of pain, + And make thee strong to fight again_. + +SING BOTH. + + _Let not thy foes rejoice; + Let not thy friends lament; + Let not thy lady's rueful voice + In sobs and sighs be spent; + Thy faith is plight, forget it not, + Twixt her and thee to knit the knot_. + +SING. + + _Give a leg, &c. + This is no deadly wound: + It may be cured well. + See here what physic we have found + Thy sorrows to expel. + + [Wit lifting himself up, sitting on the ground. + + The way is plain, the mark is fair, + Lodge not thyself in deep despair_. + + +WIT.[412] +What noise is this, that ringeth in my ears, +Her noise that grieveth my mishap with tears? +Ah, my mishap, my desperate mishap, +On[413] whom ill-fortune poureth down all mishap at a clap, +What shall become of me, where shall I hide my head? +O, what a death is it to live for him that would be dead? +But since it chanceth so, whatever wight thou be, +That findeth me here in heavy plight, go, tell her this from me. +Causeless I perish here, and cause to curse I have. +The time that erst I lived to love, and now must die her slave, +The match was over-much for me, she understood, +Alas, why hath she this delight to lap in guiltless blood? +How did I give her cause to show me this despite, +To match me where she wist full well I should be slain in fight? +But go, and tell her plain, although too late for me, +Accursed be the time and hour, which first I did her see. +Accursed be the wight, that will'd me first thereto, +And cursed be they all at once, that had therewith to do. +Now get thee hence in haste, and suffer me to die. +Whom scornful chance and lawless love have slain most traitorously. + +RECREATION. +O noble Wit, the miracle of God and eke of Nature: +Why cursest thou thyself and every other creature? +What causeth thee thine innocent dear lady to accuse? +Who would lament it more than she to hear this woful news? +Why wilt thou die, whereas thou may'st be sure of health? +Whereas thou seest a plain pathway to worship and to wealth. +Not every foil doth make a fall, nor every soil doth slay; +Comfort thyself: be sure thy luck will mend from day to day. + +WILL. +These gentlewomen of good skill are[414] come to make you sound, +They know which way to salve your sore, and how to cure your wound. +Good sir, be ruled by her then, and pluck your spirit to you: +There is no doubt, but you shall find your loving lady true. + +WIT. +Ah, Will, art thou alive that doth my heart some ease, +The sight of thee, sweet boy, my sorrows doth appease: +How hast thou 'scap'd? what fortune thee befel? + +WILL. +It was no trusting to my hands, my heels did serve me well, +I ran with open mouth to cry for help amain, +And, as good fortune would, I hit upon these twain. + +WIT. +I thank both thee and them; what will ye have me do? + +RECREATION. +To rise and dance a little space with us two. + +WIT. +What then? + +RECREATION. +That done, repair again to Study and Instruction; +Take better hold by their advice, your foe to set upon. + +WIT. +Can any recompense recover this my fall? + +RECREATION. +My life to yours, it may be mended all. + +WIT. +Speak, Will. + +WILL. +I have no doubt, sir, it shall be, as you would wish. + +WIT. +But yet this repulse of mine they will lay in my dish. + +RECREATION. +No man shall let them know thereof, unless yourself do it. + +WIT. +On that condition, a God's name, fall we to it. + +WILL. +Nay, stand we to it, and let us fall no more. + +WIT. +Will dancing serve, and I will dance, until my bones be sore, +Pipe us up a galliard, minstrel, to begin. + + [_Let Will call for dances, one after another_. + +WILL. +Come, damsel, in good faith, and let me have you in, +Let him practise in dancing all things to make himself breathless.[415] + +RECREATION. +Enough at once, now leave, and let us part. + +WIT. +This exercise hath done me good, even to the very heart. +Let us be bold with you more acquaintance to take, +And dance a round yet once more for my sake, +Enough is enough; farewell, and at your need +Use my acquaintance, if it may stand you in stead. +Right worthy damsels both, I know you seek no gains +In recompense of this desert your undeserved pains. +But look what other thing my service may devise, +To show my thankful heart in any enterprise. +Be ye as bold therewith, as I am bold on you, +And thus with hearty thanks I take my leave as now. + +RECREATION. +Farewell, friend Wit, and since you are relieved, +Think not upon your foil, whereat you were so griev'd, +But take your heart to you, and give attempt once more: +I warrant you to speed much better than before. + + [_Exeunt_. + + + +ACT IV., SCAENA 4. + +WIT, WILL, IDLENESS, IGNORANCE. + + +WIT. +One dance for thee and me; my boy, come on. + +WILL. +Dance you, sir, if you please, and I will look upon. + +WIT. +This gear doth make me sweat, and breathe apace. + +IDLENESS. +Sir, ease yourself awhile; here is a resting-place. + +WIT. +Home, Will, and make my bed, for I will take a nap. + +IGNORANCE. +Sure, and it please your mastership, here in my dame's lap. + +IDLENESS _singeth_. + + _Come, come, lie down, and thou shall see, + None like to me to entertain + Thy bones and thee oppressed with pain. + Come, come, and ease thee in my lap, + And if it please thee, take a nap; + A nap, that shall delight thee so, + That fancies all will thee forego. + By musing still, what canst thou find, + But wants of will and restless mind? + A mind that mars and mangles all, + And breedeth jars to work thy fall! + Come, gentle Wit, I thee require, + And thou shalt hit thy chief desire: + Thy chief desire, thy hoped prey; + First ease thee here, and then away_. + +WIT. [_Falls down into her lap_. +My bones are stiff, and I am wearied sore, +And still me-think I faint and feeble more and more; +Wake me again in time, for I have things to do, +And as you will me for mine ease, I do assent thereto. + +IDLENESS. [_Lulls him_. +Welcome, with all my heart: sir boy, hold here this fan, +And softly cool his face; sleep soundly, gentleman. +This char is char'd[416] well now, Ignorance, my son, +Thou seest all this, how featly[417] it is done; +But wot'st thou why? + +IGNORANCE. +Nay, bumfay,[418] mother, not I. +Well, I wot 'tis a gay worched trick and trim: +Chould rejouce my heart to chance coots[419] with him. + +IDLENESS. +Dost thou remember how many I have served in the like sort? + +IGNORANCE. +It doth my heart good to think on this sport. + +IDLENESS. +Wilt thou see this proper fellow served so? + +IGNORANCE. +Chould give tway pence to see it and tway pence mo. + +IDLENESS. +Come off, then, let me see thee in his doublet and his[420] hose. + +IGNORANCE. +You shall see a tall fellow, mother, I suppose. + +IDLENESS. +Help off with this sleeve softly for fear of waking, +We shall leave the gentleman in a pretty taking. +Give me thy coat, hold this in thy hand: +This fellow would be married to Science, I understand. +But, ere we leave him, tell me another tale! +Now let us make him look somewhat stale. +There lie, and there be: the proverb is verified, +I am neither idle, nor yet well-occupied. + +IGNORANCE. +Mother, must I have his coat? now, mother, I must. +Chalt be a lively lad with hey tisty-tust. + +IDLENESS. +Sleep sound, and have no care to occupy thy head, +As near unto thy body now, as if thou had'st been dead. +For Idleness hath won, and wholly thee possess'd, +And utterly disabled thee from having thy request. +Come on with me, my son, let us go couch again, +And let this lusty ruffling Wit here like a fool remain. + + [_Exeunt_. + + + + +ACT V., SCAENA 1. + +WIT, SCIENCE, REASON. + + +WIT. +Up and to go, why sleep I here so sound? +How falls it out that I am left upon the naked ground? +God grant that all be well, whilst I lay dreaming here: +Me-thinks all is not as it was, nor as I would it were. +And yet I wot not why, but so my fancies gives me, +That some one thing or other in my tire[421] that grieves me, +They are but fancies, let them go: to Science now will I; +My suit and business yet once again to labour and apply. + + [_Enter Science and Reason_. + +SCIENCE. +What is become, trow ye, of Wit, our spouse that would be? + +REASON. +Daughter, I fear all is not as it should be. + +WIT. +Yes, yes, have ye no doubt, all is and shall be well. + +REASON. +What one art thou? thereof how canst thou tell? + +WIT. +Reason, most noble sir, and you, my lady dear: +How have you done in all this time, since first I saw you here? + +SCIENCE. +The fool is mad, I ween; stand back, and touch me not. + +WIT. +You speak not as you think, or have you me forgot? + +SCIENCE. +I never saw thee in my life until this time, I wot; +Thou art some mad-brain or some fool, or some disguised sot.[422] + +WIT. +God's fish-hooks?[423] and know you not me? + +SCIENCE. +I had been well at ease indeed to be acquainted with thee! + +WIT. +Hop haliday![424] marry, this is pretty cheer, +I have lost myself, I cannot tell where! +An old-said saw it is, and too true, I find, +Soon hot, soon cold: out of sight, out of mind. +What, madam, what meaneth this sudden change? +What means this scornful look, this countenance so strange? +Is it[425] your fashion so to use your lovers at the first: +Or have all women this delight to scold and to be curs'd? + +REASON. +Good fellow, whence art thou? what is thy name? + +WIT. +I ween ye are disposed to make at me some game. +I am the son of lady Nature; my name is Wit. + +REASON. +Thou shalt say so long enough, ere we believe it. + +SCIENCE. +Thou Wit? nay, thou art some mad-brain out of thy wit. + +WIT. +Unto yourselves this trial I remit. +Look on me better, and mark my person well. + +SCIENCE. +Thy look is like to one, that came out of hell. + +REASON. +If thou be Wit, let see, what tokens thou canst tell. +How cam'st thou first acquainted here? what said we? +How did we like thy suit, what entertainment made we? + +WIT. +What tokens? + +SCIENCE. +Yea, what tokens? speak, and let us know. + +WIT. +Tokens good store I can rehearse a-row: +First, as I was advised by my mother Nature, +My lackey Will presented you with my picture. + +SCIENCE. +Stay there, now look, how these two faces agree! + +WIT. +This is the very same that you received from me. + +SCIENCE. +From thee? why look, they are no more like, +Than chalk to cheese, than black to white. + +REASON. +To put thee out of doubt, if thou think we say not true, +It were good for thee in a glass thy face to view. + +WIT. +Well-remembered, and a glass I have indeed, +Which glass you gave me to use at need. + +REASON. +Hast thou the glass, which I to Wit did give? + +WIT. +I have it in my purse, and will keep it, while I live. + +REASON. +This makes[426] me muse how should he come thereby? + +WIT. +Sir, muse no more, for it is even I, +To whom you gave the glass, and here it is. + +REASON. +We are content thou try thy case by this. + +WIT. [_Looking in the glass_. +Either my glass is wonderfully spotted, +Or else my face is wonderfully blotted. +This is not my coat; why, where had I this weed? +By the mass, I look like a very fool indeed. +O haps of haps, O rueful chance to me! +O Idleness, woe-worth the time, that I was ruled by thee! +Why did I lay my head within thy lap to rest? +Why was I not advis'd by her, that wish'd and will'd[427] me best? +O ten times treble[428] blessed wights, whose corps in grave do lie: +That are not driven to behold these wretched cares which I[429]! +On me you[430] furies all, on me, have poured out your spite, +Come now and slay me at the last, and rid my sorrows quite. +What coast shall me receive? where shall I show my head? +The world will say this same is he that, if he list, had sped. +This same is he, that took an enterprise in hand; +This same is he that scarce one blow his enemy did withstand. +This same is he, that fought and fell in open field: +This same is he that in the song of Idleness did yield. +This same is he that was in way to win the game: +To join himself whereby he should have won immortal fame; +And now is wrapp'd in woe, and buried in despair. +O happy case for thee, if death would rid thee quite of care! + + + +ACT V., SCAENA 2. + +SHAME, REASON, SCIENCE, WIT. + + +REASON. +Shame. + +SHAME. +Who calls for Shame? + +REASON. +Here is a merchant,[431] Shame, for thee to tame. + +SHAME. +A shame come to you all, for I am almost lame +With trudging up and down to them that lose their game. + +REASON. +And here is one, whom thou must rightly blame, +That hath preferr'd his folly to his fame. + +SHAME. +Who? this good fellow? what call you his name? + +REASON. +Wit, that on wooing to lady Science came. + +SHAME. +Come aloft, child, let me see, what friscols you can fet;[432] + +REASON. +[If] he hath deserved it, let him be well-bet. + +WIT. +O, spare me with the whip, and sle me with thy knife: +Ten thousand times more dear to me were present death than life. + +SHAME. +Nay, nay, my friend, thou shalt not die as yet. + +REASON. +Remember in what case dame Nature left thee, Wit; +And how thou hast abus'd the same-- +Thou hast deceived all our hope, as all the world may see. + +SHAME. + A shame +Come to it!-- + +REASON. +Remember, what fair words and promises thou diddest make, +That for my daughter's love no pains thou wouldest forsake. +Remember in what sort we had a care of thee: +Thou hast deceived all our hope, as all the world may see. + +SHAME. +A shame come to it. + +REASON. +Remember, how Instruction should have been followed still, +And how thou wouldest be ruled by none but by Will +How Idleness hath crept, and reigneth in thy breast, +How Ignorance her son hath wholly thee possess'd. + +SHAME. +A shame come to it. + +WIT. +O woful wretch, to whom shall I complain? +What salve may serve to salve my sore, or to redress my pain? + +REASON. +Nay, I can tell thee more: remember, how +Thou was subdued of Tediousness right now. +Remember with what crakes thou went unto his den, +Against the good advice and counsel of thy men, +What Recreation did for thee in these thy rueful haps, +And how the second time thou fell into the lap.[433] + +SHAME. +A shame come to thee! + +WIT. +O, let me breathe a while, and hold thy heavy hand, +My grievous faults with Shame enough I understand. +Take ruth and pity on my plaint, or else I am forlorn; +Let not the world continue thus in laughing me to scorn. +Madam, if I be he, to whom you once were bent, +With whom to spend your time sometime you were content: +If any hope be left, if any recompense +Be able to recover this forepassed negligence, +O, help me now poor wretch in this most heavy plight, +And furnish me yet once again with Tediousness to fight. + +SCIENCE. +Father, be good to these young tender years, +See, how he doth bewail his folly past with tears! + +REASON. +Hold, slave, take thou his coat for thy labour, +We are content, at her request, to take you to our favour. +Come in, and dwell with us, till time shall serve: +And from Instruction['s] rule look that thou never swerve. +Within we shall provide to set you up once more, +This scourge hath taught you, what default was in you heretofore. + + + +ACT V., SCAENA 3. + + +WILL. +Once in my life I have an odd half-hour to spare, +To ease myself of all my travail and my care. +I stood not still so long this twenty days, I ween, +But ever more sent forth on messages I have been. +Such trudging and such toil, by the mass, was never seen; +My body is worn out, and spent with labour clean. +And this it is that makes me look so lean. +That lets my growth, and makes me seem a squall;[434] +What then, although my stature be not tall, +Yet I am as proper as you, so neat and cleanly, +And have my joints at commandment full of activity. +What should a servant do with all this flesh and bones, +That, makes them run with leaden heels, and stir themself like stones? +Give me a proper squire much after my pitch, +And mark how he from place to place will squich;[435] +Fair or foul, thick or thin, mire or dusty; +Cloud or rain, light or dark, clear or misty: +Ride or run, to or fro, bad or good: +A neat little fellow on his business will scud. +These great lubbers[436] are neither active nor wise, +That feed till they sleep, and sleep out their eyes. +So heavy, so dull, so untoward in their doing, +That it is a good sight to see them leave working. +But all this while, while I stand prating here, +I see not my master; I left him snorting here. + + [_Exit_. + + +ACT V., SCAENA 4. + +SCIENCE, WIT, WILL; [_to them_] INSTRUCTION, STUDY, DILIGENCE, +TEDIOUSNESS. + + +SCIENCE. +Mine own dear Wit, the hope of mine avail, +My care, my comfort, my treasure and my trust, +Take heart of grace our enemy to assail, +Lay up these things, which you have heard discuss'd; +So doing, undoubtingly you cannot fail +To win the field, to 'scape all these unhappy shewers;[437] +To glad your friends, to cause your foes to wail; +To match with us, and then the gain is yours. +Here in this closet ourself will sit and see +Your manly feats and your success in fight: +Strike home courageously for you and me; +Learn where and how to fend, and how to smite. +In any wise, be ruled by these three; +They shall direct both you and Will aright. +Farewell, and let our loving counsel be +At every hand before you in your fight. + +WIT. +Here in my sight, good madam, sit and view: +That, when I list, I may look upon you. +This face, this noble face, this lively hue, +Shall harden me, shall make our enemy rue. +O faithful mates, that have this care of me, +How shall I ever recompense your pains with gold or fee? +Come now, and, as you please, enjoin me how to do it, +And you shall see me prest and serviceable to it. + +WILL. +Why, master, whither [a]way? what haste? am I no body? + +INSTRUCTION. +What, Will, we may not miss thee for no money. + +WIT. +Welcome, good Will, and do as thou art bid; +This day or never must Tediousness be rid. + +WILL. +God speed us well, I will make one at all assays. + +INSTRUCTION. +Thou shalt watch to take him at certain bays, +Come not in the throng, but save thyself always. +You twain on either side first with your sword and buckler; +After the first conflict, fight with your sword and daggers; +You, sir, with a javelin and your target in your hand, +See how ye can his deadly strokes withstand. +Keep at the foin;[438] come not within his reach, +Until you see, what good advantage you may catch. +Then hardily leave him not, till time you strike him dead, +And, of all other parts, especially save your head. + +WIT. +Is this all, for I would fain have done? + +WILL. +I would we were at it, I care not how soon. + +INSTRUCTION. +Now, when ye please; I have no more to tell, +But heartily to pray for you, and wish you well. + +WIT. +I thank you; go thou, and bid the battle, Will. + +WILL. +Come out, thou monster fell, that hast desire to spill +The knot and linked love of Science and of Wit, +Come, try the quarrel in the field, and fight with us a fit. + + + +ACT V., SCAENA 5. + +TEDIOUSNESS, WIT, WILL, INSTRUCTION, STUDY, DILIGENCE. + + +TEDIOUSNESS. +A doughty dust[439] these four boys will do: +I will eat them by morsels, two and two! +Thou fightest for a wife! a rod, a rod! +Had I wist this, I would have laid on load, +And beat thy brain and this my club together, +And made thee safe enough for returning hither. + +WILL. +A foul whoreson! what a sturdy thief it is! +But we will pelt thee, knave, until for woe thou piss. + +TEDIOUSNESS. +Let me come to that elf. + +WIT. +Nay, nay, thou shalt have work enough to save thyself. + + [_Fight_. + +INSTRUCTION. +Take breath, and change your weapons; play the men. + +TEDIOUSNESS. +Somewhat it was that made thee come again. +Thou stickest somewhat better to thy tackling, I see, +But what, no force; ye are but Jack-Sprat to me. + +WIT. +Have hold, here is a morsel for thee to eat. [_Strikes_. + +STUDY, INSTRUCTION. +Here is a pelt to make your knave's heart fret. + +DILIGENCE. +There is a blow able to fell a hog. + +WIT. +And here is a foin behind for a mad dog! + + [_Let Will trip you[440] down_. + +Hold, hold, hold, the lubber is down! + +TEDIOUSNESS. +O! + +WILL. +Strike off his head, while I hold him by the crown. + +WIT. +Thou monstrous wretch, thou mortal foe to me and mine, +Which evermore at my good luck and fortune did'st repine, +Take here thy just desert and payment for thy hire. +Thy head this day shall me prefer unto my heart's desire. + +INSTRUCTION. +O noble Wit, the praise, the game is thine. + +STUDY. +Hove up his head upon your spear, lo, here a joyful sign! + +DILIGENCE. + +O valiant knight, O conquest full of praise! + +WILL. +O bliss[441] of God to see these happy days! + +WIT. +You, you, my faithful squires, deserve no less, +Whose tried trust, well-known to me in my distress. +And certain hope of your fix'd faith and fast good-will, +Made me attempt this famous fact, most needful to fulfil: +To you I yield great thanks, to me redounds the gain, +Now home apace, and ring it out, that Tediousness is slain. +Say all at once, _Tediousness is slain_. + + + +ACT V., SCAENA 6. + +SCIENCE, WIT. + + +SCIENCE. +I hear and see the joyful news, wherein I take delight, +That Tediousness, our mortal foe, is overcome in fight: +I see the sign of victory, the sign of manliness: +The heap of happy haps: the joy that tongue cannot express. +Our[442] welcome fame from day to day for ever shall arise. + +WIT. +Avaunt, ye griping cares, and lodge no more in me, +For you have lost, and I have won continual joys and fee. +Now let me freely touch, and freely you embrace, +And let my friends with open mouth proclaim my blissful case. + +SCIENCE. +The world shall know, doubt not, and shall blow out your fame, +Then true report shall send abroad your everlasting name. +Now let our parents dear be certified of this, +So that our marriage may forthwith proceed, as meet it is. +Come after me, all five, and I will lead you in. + +WIT. +My pain is pass'd, my gladness to begin, +My task is done, my heart is set at rest; +My foe subdued, my lady's love possess'd. +I thank my friends, whose help I had[443] at need, +And thus you see, how Wit and Science are agreed, +We twain henceforth one soul in bodies twain must dwell: +Rejoice, I pray you all with me, my friends, and fare ye well. + +FINIS. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] The "Interlude of Youth." From the rare black-letter edition, +printed by Waley about the year 1554. Edited by James Orchard +Halliwell, Esq. ... Brixton Hill, 1849, 4to. 75 copies privately +printed. + +[2] Apparently of an otherwise undescribed edition. See Hazlitt's +"Handbook," p. 464. + +[3] Part asunder. + +[4] _hearte_, Waley's ed. + +[5] [Waley's and Copland's eds., _fair_.] + +[6] Hinder. + +[7] Regret. + +[8] A line, rhyming with this, seems to have dropped out. + +[9] Solve. + +[10] [Old copies, _Sir_.] + +[11] [Old copies, _i-wis_.] + +[12] See Hazlitt's "Popular Poetry," iv., 239. + +[13] Found. + +[14] [Vele's ed. _nilet_.] + +[15] [Intended as a sneer at Charity's pious sentiments. _Sir John_ is +the common term in old plays, and literature generally, for a parson.] + +[16] Cool. + +[17] [Trumpington is in Essex, a county proverbial, rightly or wrongly, +for the stupidity of its inhabitants.] + +[18] [Equivalent to calling him a churl. See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, +pp. 315-316 and 489; and Halliwell's "Dictionary," _v_. Hogsnorton. But +in none of the instances cited there do we find Trumpington mentioned.] + +[19] See "Popular Antiquities of Great Britain," ii. 286. + +[20] "Popular Antiquities of Great Britain," ii. 315. + +[21] Should we not read _Hey-go-bet_? + +[22] See Hazlitt's "Popular Poetry," iii. 73-4. + +[23] _Post and pair_. + +[24] [We do not find this mentioned elsewhere. The same remark applies +to _aums-ace_.] + +[25] [Halliwell, in his "Dict." v. Pink, says:--"A game, the same as +post and pair." Surely this is not so. It seems rather to be used, here +at least, in the sense of _gamble_. But _pink_, after all, may signify +something very different, viz., _lechery_.] + +[26] The target or butts. + +[27] [Copland's ed. _books_.] + +[28] [This line is omitted in Waley's ed.] + +[29] [The colophon of Waley's ed. is: Imprinted at London by John Waley, +dwellyng in foster lane.] + +[30] [The colophon of Vele's ed. is at the end _infrâ_.] + +[31] [Afterwards parted with to Dr Dibdin. A second copy is in the +Bodleian.] + +[32] [An error. No edition by Pinson is known, or is likely to have ever +existed. The impression referred to is Copland's. _See_ Hazlitt's +"Handbook," p. 649-50.] + +[33] Gen. viii.; Jer. xvii.; Eccles. xxx. + +[34] _And_, Copland's edition. + +[35] _Forsakyn_, Copland's edition. + +[36] _Consolaion_, Vele's edition. + +[37] _Arbour_, Copland's edition. + +[38] _Aslope_, Copland's edition. + +[39] _Surel i-pight_, Copland's edition. + +[40] Care. + +[41] _Brake_, Copland's edition. + +[42] Touch. + +[43] _Ye_, Copland's edition. + +[44] _Appetyte_, Vele's edition. + +[45] The word _fitte_ sometimes signified a part or division of a +song; but in its original acceptation a poetic strain, verse, or poem: +from being applied to music, the word was easily transferred to +dancing, as in the above passages. See Dr. Percy's "Relics of Anc. Eng. +Poetry," vol. ii., p. 297 [edit. 1765].--_Hawkins_. + +[46] _Compacions_, Copland's edition. + +[47] _My_, Copland's edition. + +[48] Thus. + +[49] _Wyse_, Vele's edition. + +[50] _For infecte_, Copland's edition. + +[51] Teachings. + +[52] _That_, omitted in Copland's edition. + +[53] _You_, omitted in Copland's edition. + +[54] _Infinitie_, Vele's edition. + +[55] _The_, Copland's edition. + +[56] _Way_, Copland's edition. + +[57] Both the copies read _God_. + +[58] _New_, Copland's edition. + +[59] _Thus_, Copland's edition; but the sense is the same. + +[60] _Accorde_, Copland's edition. + +[61] _The_, Copland's edition. + +[62] _Be_, Copland's edition. + +[63] _The which_, omitted in Copland's edition. + +[64] _Is_, omitted, Copland's edition. + +[65] _God_, Vele's edition. + +[66] _Pervarce_, Copland's edition. + +[67] _One_, Copland's edition. + +[68] _They_, Copland's edition. + +[69] _To_, Copland's edition. + +[70] _Chap. Math_., Copland's edition. + +[71] _Which_, Vele's edition. + +[72] _Not_, omitted in Vele's edition. + +[73] _To reward_, Vele's edition. + +[74] _Leadete_, Copland's edition. + +[75] _Borught_, Copland's edition. + +[76] _His_, Copland's edition. + +[77] _Exit_, omitted in Copland's edition. + +[78] Copland's edit, _taste_. + +[79] _A_, Copland's edition. + +[80] _Abstinate_, Copland's edition. + +[81] _Hole_, Copland's edition. + +[82] _Begone_, Copland's edition. + +[83] _That_, Copland's edition. + +[84] _Craft_, Vele's edition. + +[85] _My_, Copland's edition. + +[86] _Exit_ omitted in Copland's edition. + +[87] Abhominable. So the word is constantly spelt. It is worth +remarking, in order to fix the adjustment of a passage in Shakespeare's +"Love's Labour's Lost," A. 4, S. I: This is abhominable which he would +call abominable. Capell's edition, nearly agreeable to the quartos, or, +this is abominable which we would call abhominable. So Theobald and +Hanmer, according to the folios. The two great and learned editors, +Warburton and Johnson, read _vice versa_: This is abominable which he +would call abhominable, which destroys the poet's humour, such as it +is, who is laughing at such fanatical phantasms and rackers of +orthography as affect to speak fine.--_Hawkins_. + +[88] Thus. + +[89] _Called_, Copland's edition. + +[90] _Here in this tide_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[91] _Some_, Copland's edition. + +[92] _Canseth_, Copland's edition. + +[93] Thus. + +[94] _You_, omitted in Copland's edition. + +[95] Greatly. + +[96] _As for al those fylthe doinges_, Copland's edition. + +[97] Shakespeare puts these words, with great humour, into the mouth of +Dogberry, in "Much Ado about Nothing," A. 3, S. 8. Though the quartos +and folios concur in this reading, the moderns uniformly read, _He's a +good man_. N.B.--The old reading is restored by Mr Capell. + +The author seems here to ridicule the blasphemous questions discussed +by the schoolmen among the Papists in his time, as, Whether the Pope be +God or man, or a mean betwixt both? &c. See Archbishop Whitgift's +"Sermon before Queen Elizabeth." 1574. Sig. B 2.--_Hawkins_. [In +Germany they have a similar saying at present, and it seems to be used +in this sense: God is a good person, he lets things take their course.] + +[98] Portous, the ancient name for a Breviary. _Blount_. Here it +signifies the Bible.--_Hawkins_. + +[99] _You_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[100] _Thynge_, Copland's edition. + +[101] _Thought_, Copland's edition. + +[102] _Where_, Vele's edition. + +[103] _Wil_, Copland's edition. + +[104] _The foole presumptious_, Copland's edition. + +[105] _I wote wote where_, Copland's edition. + +[106] _Would_, Copland's edition. + +[107] _Fare_, Copland's edition. + +[108] _Beare_, Copland's edition. + +[109] _Jybben_, Vele's edition. + +[110] This passage will receive illustration from the following +quotation out of Bishop Latimer's Sermon, preached before King Edward +the Sixth, about the year 1550: "A good fellow on a tyme bad another of +hys frendes to a breakefast, and sayed, Yf you wyl come, you shal be +welcome; but I tell you afore hande, you shal haue but sclender fare, +one dysh and that is al. What is that, said he? A puddynge and nothynge +els. Mary, sayed he, you cannot please me better; of all meates that is +for myne owne toth: you may draw me round about the town with a +pudding." Sig. G. vii.--_Hawkins_. + +[111] _Thys_, Copland's edition. + +[112] _Wylt_, Vele's edition. + +[113] _Dogs_, Copland's edition. + +[114] This mode of expression occurs in Shakespeare's "Midsummer +Night's Dream," A. 3, S. 3, needlessly altered by some to, I shall +desire of you more acquaintance.--_Hawkins_. + +[115] Original, _wyl_. + +[116] Query, _defines_. + +[117] _Wer ysought_, Copland's edition. + +[118] _To_ omitted. Copland's edition. + +[119] _A_, Copland's edition. + +[120] _A_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[121] _For us_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[122] _She thinketh danger_, Copland's edition. + +[123] These two lines I have given to Juventus against the authority of +the copies.--_Hawkins_. + +[124] The entrance of Abhominable Living is not marked in the copies.-- +_Hawkins_. + +[125] _Opned_, Copland's edition. + +[126] [This is not marked in the copies.] + +[127] _Thyng_, Copland's edition. + +[128] _Iou_, Copland's edition. + +[129] Both the copies concur in this reading.--_Hawkins_. [A common +corruption of the Divine name.] + +[130] _Horson_, Copland's edition. + +[131] _Lile_, Vele's edition. + +[132] _Take_, Copland's edition. + +[133] _Thou_, Copland's edition. + +[134] _Afsleight_, Copland's edition. + +[135] This and the following line is given to Juventus in Copland's +edition.--_Hawkins_. + +[136] _It were no daly_, Copland's edition. + +[137] _Badi_, Copland's edition. + +[138] _Mouth_, Copland's edition. + +[139] _Of_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[140] _Thys_, Copland's edition. + +[141] _And testament_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[142] _Profession_, Copland's edition. + +[143] _Now_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[144] Both the copies read _professour.--Hawkins_. + +[145] _Congregation_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[146] _Abhord utterly_, Copland's edition. + +[147] _Wicked_, Copland's edition. + +[148] Juventus, coming in and hearing imperfectly the words _sin_ and +_vice_, very naturally mistakes them for terms used at dice: we may +presume, therefore, that the genuine reading should be _cinque and +sice.--Hawkins_. + +[149] _Cyce_, Copland's edition. + +[150] _Not_ omitted, Copland's edition. + +[151] [An indelicate figure, which occurs in jest-books and +other early literature.] + +[152] _Shyfe_, Copland's edition. + +[153] _Trape_, Copland's edition. + +[154] Thus. + +[155] _Complaye_, Copland's edition. + +[156] _Our_, Copland's edition. + +[157] _Veter_, Copland's edition. + +[158] _Plasphemyng_, Copland's edition. + +[159] _Trrible_, Copland's edition. + +[160] _His_, Vele's edition. + +[161] _Fair_, Copland's ed. + +[162] _This_, Vele's edition. + +[163] _Austine_, Copland's edition. + +[164] _As_, Copland's edition. + +[165] _Returned_, Vele's edition. + +[166] _Borde_, Vele's edition. + +[167] Mr Garrick's copy is imperfect, and ends at this mark.--_Hawkins_. + +[168] _Mot_, Vele's edition. + +[169] The following lines being torn are filled up by conjecture with +the words printed in _italics.--Hawkins_. + +[170] Square. + +[171] Edward VI. + +[172] _Is_, Vele's edition. + +[173] [The colophon of Vele's edition is: "Finis, quod R. Wever. +Imprinted at London in Paules churche yeard, by Abraham Vele, at the +sygne of the Lambe." Of Copland's edition, besides the Garrick copy, +there is a second, formerly Heber's, in the Devonshire collection.] + +[174] "Four Old Plays," 1848, 9-12. + +[175] [Mr Child printed _moull_.] + +[176] A fanciful name. See Halliwell's _Dict., v. Bonegrace_. + +[177] Old copy, _bysye_. + +[178] Disconcerted, put out in my plans. See Halliwell, _v. aray_. + +[179] Original reads _that_. + +[180] Original has _swet lookes_. Compare the "Pardoner and the Friar" +(i. 281)-- + + "Or by Jis I'sh lug thee _by the sweet ears_," + +and a passage in the present piece-- + + "I have forgotten _with tousing by the hair_." + +[181] Original reads _yet_. + +[182] Original has _boons_. The sense appears to be that "Jack Juggler" +will, by killing Careaway, leave him to the mercy of the Virgin. + +[183] i.e., Nearer. + +[184] Finger-bones. + +[185] i.e., On. + +[186] Blow. + +[187] Should do better. + +[188] i.e., Noddy. + +[189] Original reads, _vpo=n cai_. + +[190] Original reads, _I thou hast_. + +[191] Original reads, _pilorye peepours_. + +[192] [A common abbreviation, leaving its substantive to be supplied at +pleasure.] + +[193] [Perhaps in our modern sense of _to walk into_.] + +[194] Prove. + +[195] [Orig. _kyrie_.] + +[196] Nearer. + +[197] Original reads, _beat me_. + +[198] [A term of contempt, perhaps of no very definite or clear +signification; but it does not seem to be glossed.] + +[199] Original has _haue_. + +[200] Thus. + +[201] i.e., JACK JUGGLER. + +[202] Move. + +[203] [A line seems to have dropped out here.] + +[204] [Original reads _have by therefore_.] + +[205] [Beat his head against a post.] + +[206] Verily. + +[207] Spring. + +[208] Calicow or Calicut, i.e., Calcutta. + +[209] Shut. + +[210] Original has _I_. + +[211] [The colophon is: Imprinted at London in Lothbury by me Wyllyam +Copland. The only copy known, formerly Inglis's and Heber's, is now in +the Devonshire collection. + +The piece is undated, but it was licensed for the press in 1562-3.] + +[212] Nursled. + +[213] [Pets. See Halliwell's "Dictionary," _v. Tiddle_.] + +[214] [I do not find this word in any other glossaries; but it occurs +again below.] + +[215] Old copy, _Kynge_. + +[216] Trudging. + +[217] Thirst. + +[218] So in old copy, which is perhaps right. _To-to_, as an +intensitive, is a common form. + +[219] Are jealous of them. + +[220] Barnabas. + +[221] Old copy, _Gupliade_. + +[222] This word, as a verb, has occurred above. It is evidently used in +a bad sense, to signify an idle, _loafing_ person. + +[223] Mistress. + +[224] Old copy, _an_. + +[225] Old copy, _a leaven_. + +[226] Altogether. + +[227] i.e., Do ye nick a cast! See Halliwell, _v. Nick_, No. 6. + +[228] i.e., By God's wounds, a common phrase. + +[229] Care. + +[230] A term of contempt. A skinflint, a curmudgeon. + +[231] Pet, spoil. + +[232] Old copy, _no_. + +[233] Old copy, _your_. + +[234] Old copy, _you_. + +[235] Old copy, _siker_, i.e., certainly, securely. + +[236] Old copy, _whaler_. + +[237] Old copy, _or_. + +[238] Jury. Compare Hazlitt's "Popular Poetry," ii. 149. + +[239] Here probably the word means literally _briber_; but _bribour_ +also means _a thief_. See Way's edition of the "Promptorium," p. 50, +and Halliwell in _v. Brybe_ and _brybour_. + +[240] Old copy, _intided_. + +[241] In the old copy, this and the following line are transposed, and +some of the speeches are wrongly addressed. + +[242] Old copy, _in_. + +[243] Old copy, _none_. + +[244] Old copy, _hanged_. + +[245] Old copy, _neder_. + +[246] Old copy, _ever_. + +[247] Swoon. + +[248] See Hazlitt's "Popular Poetry," iv. 239. The term _goldylocks_, +curiously enough, seems to have been in early use in a contemptuous or +bad sense. + +[249] Old copy, _bid_. + +[250] Old copy, _exhorting_. + +[251] Old copy, _yea_. + +[252] Old copy, _is_. + +[253] Old copy, _cam me mery?_ + +[254] This marginal note has partly been cut off by the binder:-- + + resyng, + _answer- + ing other + t always_ + staff, + , ysing to + _other_. + +[255] Reprove. + +[256] The colophon is: Imprinted at London, in Paules Churche yearde at +the Sygne of the Swane by John Kyng. + +[257] From the time he calls. + +[258] A young deer. "_Tegge or pricket, saillant_"--Palsgrave's +_Eclaircissement_, 1530 (edit. 1852, p. 279). + +[259] Jerks with the whip. + +[260] Old copy, _wourne_. + +[261] i.e., Mankind, masculine, furious. + +[262] Stranger. A more usual form is _fremed_. + +[263] The meaning seems to be obvious enough; but the word +is not to be found in our glossaries. + +[264] Halliwell mentions this word; but none of his interpretations +suits the present context. + +[265] Old copy, _stomachere_. + +[266] Defile. + +[267] Abided. + +[268] Old copy, _even_. + +[269] Old copy, _as_. + +[270] Old copy, _once_. + +[271] Referring to the speech below. In the old copy this direction is +printed in the margin, and such is, no doubt, its most suitable +position. + +[272] Old copy, _once our_. Perhaps we ought to read _sour_. + +[273] Staffing or forcing, the same kind of thing as we now know under +the name of _forced_ meat. + +[274] Old copy, _Mido_. + +[275] Servant. + +[276] Jolly, Fr. _joli_. + +[277] Forestalled. + +[278] Wretches. + +[279] Lose no time. + +[280] Late. + +[281] _To have on the petticoat_ is a phrase of very unusual +occurrence, of which the sense may, without much difficulty or risk of +error, be collected from the context. + +[282] Ragan and the others must be supposed to be at the back of the +stage, out of Esau's sight; but they come forward severally, and plead +for themselves. + +[283] Run. + +[284] i.e., Old witch. But compare Halliwell, _v. Mab_. + +[285] Old copy, _Rebecca_. + +[286] A word of contempt often used in our old comedies, as we now +employ _chap_. + +[287] _In the old copy this line is improperly given to Isaac_. + +[288] The _new guise_ is a term often met with in old plays, but the +application of it here is not very clear, although the meaning of the +writer--in a way that he (Jacob) little expected--is sufficiently +intelligible. + +[289] In the old copy this word is improperly placed opposite the line, +_That all quarrel, &c_. + +[290] Understanding. + +[291] [The interlude of "The Disobedient Child," edited by J.O. +Halliwell. Percy Society, 1848.] + +[292] [But see Cooper's "Cambridge Athenae," i., 554.] + +[293] [The Bridgewater copy of the original edition was most obligingly +collated for the present writer by Mr Alexander Smith, of Glasgow. It +affords numerous corrections of the Percy Society's text.] + +[294] [The full title is: _A pretie and mery new Enterlude, called The +Disobedient Child, compiled by Thomas Ingelend, late Student in +Cambridge. Imprinted at London, in Flete strete, beneath the Conduit, +by Thomas Colwell_. 4°.] + +[295] These first eight lines are also found in the interlude +introduced into the play of _Sir Thomas More_, printed by the +Shakespeare Society, p. 60.--_Halliwell_. + +[296] Without shame--shameless. + +[297] Immediately. See "Othello," Act. iv. sc. 3. + +[298] That is, according to my judgment. See "Lear," Act i. sc. 4.-- +_Halliwell_. + +[299] To split, or burst. Generally spelt _rive_. + +[300] Both tender and delicate. [Here, as pointed out in a note to +Heywood's "Four P.P." _supra_, the word _nice_ is to be pronounced +_nich_.] + +[301] Beaten. + +[302] [Query same as _spwyn_, to burst or break out. See Way's edit, of +the "Promptorium," v. _Spwyn_.] + +[303] Compare "Troilus and Cressida," i. 2. + +[304] Burial. From the Latin. + +[305] i.e., By. + +[306] [Original reads _trembled_.] + +[307] [This account, if founded on fact, is a curious illustration of +the scholastic discipline of that period. We know that Udall the +dramatist was remarkable for his severity to his pupils at Eton.] + +[308] Impress. Compare "Much Ado about Nothing," iv. 1.--Halliwell. + +[309] [Query, the schoolmaster, so called from inflicting on the pupil +with a cane _cuts_ on the hand.] + +[310] Bet. See "Taming of the Shrew"-- + + "Now, by Saint Jamy, + I _hold_ you a penny."--_Halliwell_. + +[311] Jakes. Compare "Lear," ii. 2.--_Halliwell_. + +[312] [Detail, or circumlocution.] + +[313] At once. + +[314] Compare "Comedy of Errors," Act ii, sc. 1.--Halliwell. + +[315] Blamed, scolded. See "Merry Wives of Windsor," i. 4. The older +meaning of the term is _ruined_, but Elizabethan writers generally +employ it in the sense here mentioned.--_Halliwell_. [I do not agree. +The older sense is, I think, the only one admissible; yet, Nares cites +a passage from Shakespeare which may shake this position. See _v. +Shend_, No. 1, second quotation.] + +[316] Compare the "Midsummer Night's Dream," ii, 1.--_Halliwell_. + +[317] "Bring oil to fire" (_King Lear_, ii. 2). Compare also "All's +Well that ends Well," v. 3.--_Halliwell_. + +[318] "My tricksy spirit" (_Tempest_, v. 1).--_Halliwell_. + +[319] "Smell of calumny" (Measure for Measure, ii. 4).--_Halliwell_. + +[320] Often used formerly for county.--_Halliwell_. + +[321] Voice. + +[322] In the daytime.--_Halliwell_. [Simply _o' days_, as printed +here.] + +[323] The simpleton. See 1, "Henry VI."--_Halliwell_. + +[324] A common phrase, equivalent to, it were a good thing. See "Much +Ado about Nothing," ii. 3.--_Halliwell_. [Not a good thing, but _a +charity_.] + +[325] "What, sweeting, all amort" (_Taming of the Shrew_).--_Halliwell_. + +[326] Altogether, entirely. + +[327] Rabbit. A term of endearment. + +[328] My lady so fair in countenance. The expression is common in our +early romances.--_Halliwell_. + +[329] If. + +[330] "Twelve years since" (_Tempest_).--_Halliwell_. + +[331] A provincialism.--_Halliwell_. [Rather, perhaps, a Cockneyism.] + +[332] A term of contempt for a fool. See "Much Ado about Nothing," +iii. 3.--_Halliwell_. + +[333] "At a pin's fee" (_Hamlet_).--_Halliwell_. + +[334] Anger. "And that which spites me more than all these wants" +(_Taming of the Shrew_).--_Halliwell_. + +[335] To look sad. This term is often incorrectly explained. "Fye, how +impatience lowreth in your face" (_Com. Err_.), i.e., makes your face +look sad, opposed to the "merry look."--_Halliwell_. [_Lour_ is simply +a contracted form of _lower_.] + +[336] Care. + +[337] Compare "Merchant of Venice," iii. 4.--_Halliwell_. + +[338] Not a term of reproach.--Compare "1 Henry VI."--_Halliwell_. + +[339] Compare "Taming of the Shrew," ii. 1.--_Halliwell_. + +[340] _Never_ in the original copy.--Halliwell. + +[341] Compare "The Merchant of Venice," i. 3.--_Halliwell_. + +[342] Drunkards. + +[343] "Upstart unthrifts" (_Richard II_.)--_Halliwell_. + +[344] Compare "Taming of the Shrew," i. 2: "O this woodcock, what an +ass it is!"--_Halliwell_. + +[345] [Rather, perhaps, _dulsum_, i.e., sweet.] + +[346] This confirms in some measure a reading in the "Taming of the +Shrew"--"Or so devote to Aristotle's Ethics."--_Halliwell_. [See Dyce's +2d edit. iii. 114, and the note.] + +[347] "Begnaw with the bots" (_Taming of the Shrew_).--_Halliwell_. + +[348] Owing to whom. + +[349] Caraway comfits. See "2 Henry IV." and the blunders of the +commentators corrected in my "Dictionary of Archaisms," p. 231.-- +_Halliwell_. + +[350] Compare "Troilus and Cressida," ii. 2.--_Halliwell_. + +[351] "Good wits will be jangling" (_Love's Labour's Lost_).-- +_Halliwell_. + +[352] A dagger. See "Hamlet," iii. 1.--_Halliwell_. + +[353] Cared. + +[354] [A rather common phrase. See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, p. 205.] + +[355] Care. + +[356] [Nearer.] + +[357] Necessary, fit. + +[358] Business. + +[359] _Fool. "Folte, _stolidus_" (_Vocab. MS_.)--_Halliwell_. + +[360] Foolish--"Our peevish opposition" (_Hamlet_).--_Halliwell_. + +[361] Compare "Taming of the Shrew," iv. 2.--_Halliwell_. + +[362] [A-going, bound.] + +[363] A common phrase. See "Two Gentlemen of Verona," ii. 3.-- +_Halliwell_. + +[364] Compare the song in "Hamlet," iv. 5.--_Halliwell_. + +[365] [Orig. has _flying and fiend_.] + +[366] Bad. "This is a noughty night" (_Lear_).--_Halliwell_. + +[367] The devil was generally attended by the Vice, but he is here +introduced by himself, and the exact meaning of his part in this plot +is somewhat a mystery.--_Halliwell_. + +[368] Tricks. See "King Lear."--_Halliwell_. + +[369] Company. + +[370] Haste. _Lat_. + +[371] Every one. + +[372] Grief. "My endless dolou" (_Two Gentlemen of Verona_).-- +_Halliwell_. + +[373] Compare "Taming of the Shrew," i. 2.--_Halliwell_. + +[374] [Catch me gone from home.] + +[375] Fool.--See "Comedy of Errors, iii. 1."--_Halliwell_. + +[376] The person who spoke the Epilogue (Lat). + +[377] Indulgence. + +[378] Clever.--See "Taming of the Shrew."--_Halliwell_. + +[379] With care or sorrow. + +[380] Levity.--Cf. "Taming of Shrew," iv. 2--_Halliwell_. + +[381] Scarce. + +[382] Worldly. + +[383] Old copy, _when_. + +[384] Old copy, _gain_. + +[385] Old copy, _clitter_ (for _clatter_), which the compositor's eye +most have caught from the next line. _So_ is agreeable to the metre and +the sense. + +[386] Old copy, _at that_. + +[387] Old copy, _in laps_. + +[388] Old copy, _doth_. + +[389] Old copy, _kind_. + +[390] Old copy, _sendeth_. + +[391] Old copy, _force_. + +[392] Peeping. + +[393] Rival. + +[394] Old copy, _wit's_. + +[395] Old copy, _our_. + +[396] Old copy, _Reason_. + +[397] i.e., Take away from me. + +[398] Old copy, _It_. + +[399] Old copy, _this_. + +[400] Old copy, _Amity_. + +[401] Old copy, _grief_. + +[402] Prize. + +[403] Pretend. + +[404] Old copy, _heare_. + +[405] Old copy, _trade_. + +[406] Bonds. + +[407] A proverbial expression not found in the collections. It may +signify the hangman's cord. + +[408] Old copy, _desire_. + +[409] Old copy, _breeds_. + +[410] Old copy, _and return_. + +[411] Old copy, _by_. + +[412] Old copy, _Will_. + +[413] Old copy, _In_. + +[414] Old copy, _This gentle news of good Will are_. The gentlewomen +referred to are _Recreation_ and _Idleness_. + +[415] A line seems to have dropped out here. + +[416] i.e., That business is despatched. See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," +1869, p. 352. + +[417] Old copy, _fitly_. + +[418] By my faith. + +[419] i.e., "It would rejoice my heart to change coats with him." + +[420] Old copy, _thy--thy_; but Ignorance is to change clothes with Wit, +while the latter sleeps in the lap of Idleness. + +[421] Old copy, _is my tryer_. He has indistinct misgivings that his +clothes are not all right. + +[422] Old copy, _scot_. + +[423] Old copy, fish-hosts. + +[424] A colloquialism, of which the exact import must be matter of +guess. Old copy, _Hope haliday_. Perhaps a corruption of _upon my +haliday_. + +[425] Old copy, _It is_. + +[426] Old copy, _These marks_. + +[427] Old copy, _will_. + +[428] Old copy, _troble_. + +[429] Old copy, _die_. The same appears to be, "That are not driven to +behold those wretched cares, which I _am driven_, &c." + +[430] Old copy, _your_. + +[431] Fellow. The word is frequently used, as we now use the word +_chap_, which is in fact the same, being an abbreviation of _chapman_. + +[432] _Fet_ (or _feat_) seeing to be here employed in the sense of +_play_ or _perform_. _Friscols_ has occurred before in this play. + +[433] So old copy; but perhaps we ought to read _this hap_ in the line +preceding. + +[434] See Halliwell's _Dict_, in _v_. + +[435] _Squich_, a word of most uncommon occurrence and of dubious +meaning. From the immediate context we should infer that it signified +_skip, move lightly and quickly_. + +[436] Old copy, _labores_. + +[437] Query, _examples_. + +[438] _Push_, i.e., do not close. + +[439] Old copy, _durte_ (dirt); We still say, _to make a dust_. + +[440] A direction to _Tediousness_, that he is to be tripped up by +_Will_. + +[441] Old copy, _blest_. + +[442] Old copy, _O_. + +[443] Old copy, _have_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Select Collection of Old English +Plays, Vol. II, by Robert Dodsley + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD ENGLISH PLAYS, VOL. II *** + +This file should be named 9400-8.txt or 9400-8.zip + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Tapio Riikonen +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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