A banqueting hall in TIMON'S house
Music. Tables set out; servants attending. Enter divers LORDS,
friends of TIMON, at several doors
FIRST LORD. The good time of day to you, sir.
SECOND LORD. I also wish it to you. I think this honourable
lord
did but try us this other day.
FIRST LORD. Upon that were my thoughts tiring when we
encount'red.
I hope it is not so low with him as he made it seem in the
trial
of his several friends.
SECOND LORD. It should not be, by the persuasion of his new
feasting.
FIRST LORD. I should think so. He hath sent me an earnest
inviting,
which many my near occasions did urge me to put off; but he
hath
conjur'd me beyond them, and I must needs appear.
SECOND LORD. In like manner was I in debt to my importunate
business, but he would not hear my excuse. I am sorry, when
he
sent to borrow of me, that my provision was out.
FIRST LORD. I am sick of that grief too, as I understand how
all
things go.
SECOND LORD. Every man here's so. What would he have borrowed
of
you?
FIRST LORD. A thousand pieces.
SECOND LORD. A thousand pieces!
FIRST LORD. What of you?
SECOND LORD. He sent to me, sir- here he comes.
Enter TIMON and attendants
TIMON. With all my heart, gentlemen both! And how fare you?
FIRST LORD. Ever at the best, hearing well of your lordship.
SECOND LORD. The swallow follows not summer more willing than
we
your lordship.
TIMON. [Aside] Nor more willingly leaves winter; such
summer-birds
are men- Gentlemen, our dinner will not recompense this long
stay; feast your ears with the music awhile, if they will
fare so
harshly o' th' trumpet's sound; we shall to't presently.
FIRST LORD. I hope it remains not unkindly with your lordship
that
I return'd you an empty messenger.
TIMON. O sir, let it not trouble you.
SECOND LORD. My noble lord-
TIMON. Ah, my good friend, what cheer?
SECOND LORD. My most honourable lord, I am e'en sick of shame
that,
when your lordship this other day sent to me, I was so
unfortunate a beggar.
TIMON. Think not on't, sir.
SECOND LORD. If you had sent but two hours before-
TIMON. Let it not cumber your better remembrance. [The banquet
brought in] Come, bring in all together.
SECOND LORD. All cover'd dishes!
FIRST LORD. Royal cheer, I warrant you.
THIRD LORD. Doubt not that, if money and the season can yield
it.
FIRST LORD. How do you? What's the news?
THIRD LORD. Alcibiades is banish'd. Hear you of it?
FIRST AND SECOND LORDS. Alcibiades banish'd!
THIRD LORD. 'Tis so, be sure of it.
FIRST LORD. How? how?
SECOND LORD. I pray you, upon what?
TIMON. My worthy friends, will you draw near?
THIRD LORD. I'll tell you more anon. Here's a noble feast
toward.
SECOND LORD. This is the old man still.
THIRD LORD. Will't hold? Will't hold?
SECOND LORD. It does; but time will- and so-
THIRD LORD. I do conceive.
TIMON. Each man to his stool with that spur as he would to the
lip
of his mistress; your diet shall be in all places alike. Make
not
a city feast of it, to let the meat cool ere we can agree
upon
the first place. Sit, sit. The gods require our thanks:
You great benefactors, sprinkle our society with
thankfulness.
For your own gifts make yourselves prais'd; but reserve still
to
give, lest your deities be despised. Lend to each man enough,
that one need not lend to another; for were your god-heads to
borrow of men, men would forsake the gods. Make the meat be
beloved more than the man that gives it. Let no assembly of
twenty be without a score of villains. If there sit twelve
women
at the table, let a dozen of them be- as they are. The rest
of
your foes, O gods, the senators of Athens, together with the
common lag of people, what is amiss in them, you gods, make
suitable for destruction. For these my present friends, as
they
are to me nothing, so in nothing bless them, and to nothing
are
they welcome.
Uncover, dogs, and lap. [The dishes are uncovered and
seen to he full of warm water]
SOME SPEAK. What does his lordship mean?
SOME OTHER. I know not.
TIMON. May you a better feast never behold,
You knot of mouth-friends! Smoke and lukewarm water
Is your perfection. This is Timon's last;
Who, stuck and spangled with your flatteries,
Washes it off, and sprinkles in your faces
[Throwing the water in their faces]
Your reeking villainy. Live loath'd and long,
Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites,
Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears,
You fools of fortune, trencher friends, time's flies,
Cap and knee slaves, vapours, and minute-lacks!
Of man and beast the infinite malady
Crust you quite o'er! What, dost thou go?
Soft, take thy physic first; thou too, and thou.
Stay, I will lend thee money, borrow none. [Throws the
dishes at them, and drives them out]
What, all in motion? Henceforth be no feast
Whereat a villain's not a welcome guest.
Burn house! Sink Athens! Henceforth hated be
Of Timon man and all humanity! Exit
Re-enter the LORDS
FIRST LORD. How now, my lords!
SECOND LORD. Know you the quality of Lord Timon's fury?
THIRD LORD. Push! Did you see my cap?
FOURTH LORD. I have lost my gown.
FIRST LORD. He's but a mad lord, and nought but humours sways
him.
He gave me a jewel th' other day, and now he has beat it out
of
my hat. Did you see my jewel?
THIRD LORD. Did you see my cap?
SECOND LORD. Here 'tis.
FOURTH LORD. Here lies my gown.
FIRST LORD. Let's make no stay.
SECOND LORD. Lord Timon's mad.
THIRD LORD. I feel't upon my bones.
FOURTH LORD. One day he gives us diamonds, next day stones.
Exeunt
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ACT IV. SCENE I.
Without the walls of Athens
Enter TIMON
TIMON. Let me look back upon thee. O thou wall
That girdles in those wolves, dive in the earth
And fence not Athens! Matrons, turn incontinent.
Obedience, fail in children! Slaves and fools,
Pluck the grave wrinkled Senate from the bench
And minister in their steads. To general filths
Convert, o' th' instant, green virginity.
Do't in your parents' eyes. Bankrupts, hold fast;
Rather than render back, out with your knives
And cut your trusters' throats. Bound servants, steal:
Large-handed robbers your grave masters are,
And pill by law. Maid, to thy master's bed:
Thy mistress is o' th' brothel. Son of sixteen,
Pluck the lin'd crutch from thy old limping sire,
With it beat out his brains. Piety and fear,
Religion to the gods, peace, justice, truth,
Domestic awe, night-rest, and neighbourhood,
Instruction, manners, mysteries, and trades,
Degrees, observances, customs and laws,
Decline to your confounding contraries
And let confusion live. Plagues incident to men,
Your potent and infectious fevers heap
On Athens, ripe for stroke. Thou cold sciatica,
Cripple our senators, that their limbs may halt
As lamely as their manners. Lust and liberty,
Creep in the minds and marrows of our youth,
That 'gainst the stream of virtue they may strive
And drown themselves in riot. Itches, blains,
Sow all th' Athenian bosoms, and their crop
Be general leprosy! Breath infect breath,
That their society, as their friendship, may
Be merely poison! Nothing I'll bear from thee
But nakedness, thou detestable town!
Take thou that too, with multiplying bans.
Timon will to the woods, where he shall find
Th' unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
The gods confound- hear me, you good gods all-
The Athenians both within and out that wall!
And grant, as Timon grows, his hate may grow
To the whole race of mankind, high and low!
Amen. Exit
SCENE II.
Athens. TIMON's house
Enter FLAVIUS, with two or three SERVANTS
FIRST SERVANT. Hear you, Master Steward, where's our master?
Are we undone, cast off, nothing remaining?
FLAVIUS. Alack, my fellows, what should I say to you?
Let me be recorded by the righteous gods,
I am as poor as you.
FIRST SERVANT. Such a house broke!
So noble a master fall'n! All gone, and not
One friend to take his fortune by the arm
And go along with him?
SECOND SERVANT. As we do turn our backs
From our companion, thrown into his grave,
So his familiars to his buried fortunes
Slink all away; leave their false vows with him,
Like empty purses pick'd; and his poor self,
A dedicated beggar to the air,
With his disease of all-shunn'd poverty,
Walks, like contempt, alone. More of our fellows.
Enter other SERVANTS
FLAVIUS. All broken implements of a ruin'd house.
THIRD SERVANT. Yet do our hearts wear Timon's livery;
That see I by our faces. We are fellows still,
Serving alike in sorrow. Leak'd is our bark;
And we, poor mates, stand on the dying deck,
Hearing the surges threat. We must all part
Into this sea of air.
FLAVIUS. Good fellows all,
The latest of my wealth I'll share amongst you.
Wherever we shall meet, for Timon's sake,
Let's yet be fellows; let's shake our heads and say,
As 'twere a knell unto our master's fortune,
'We have seen better days.' Let each take some.
[Giving them money]
Nay, put out all your hands. Not one word more!
Thus part we rich in sorrow, parting poor.
[Embrace, and part several ways]
O the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us!
Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt,
Since riches point to misery and contempt?
Who would be so mock'd with glory, or to live
But in a dream of friendship,
To have his pomp, and all what state compounds,
But only painted, like his varnish'd friends?
Poor honest lord, brought low by his own heart,
Undone by goodness! Strange, unusual blood,
When man's worst sin is he does too much good!
Who then dares to be half so kind again?
For bounty, that makes gods, does still mar men.
My dearest lord- blest to be most accurst,
Rich only to be wretched- thy great fortunes
Are made thy chief afflictions. Alas, kind lord!
He's flung in rage from this ingrateful seat
Of monstrous friends; nor has he with him to
Supply his life, or that which can command it.
I'll follow and enquire him out.
I'll ever serve his mind with my best will;
Whilst I have gold, I'll be his steward still. Exit
SCENE III.
The woods near the sea-shore. Before TIMON'S cave
Enter TIMON in the woods
TIMON. O blessed breeding sun, draw from the earth
Rotten humidity; below thy sister's orb
Infect the air! Twinn'd brothers of one womb-
Whose procreation, residence, and birth,
Scarce is dividant- touch them with several fortunes:
The greater scorns the lesser. Not nature,
To whom all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune
But by contempt of nature.
Raise me this beggar and deny't that lord:
The senator shall bear contempt hereditary,
The beggar native honour.
It is the pasture lards the rother's sides,
The want that makes him lean. Who dares, who dares,
In purity of manhood stand upright,
And say 'This man's a flatterer'? If one be,
So are they all; for every grise of fortune
Is smooth'd by that below. The learned pate
Ducks to the golden fool. All's oblique;
There's nothing level in our cursed natures
But direct villainy. Therefore be abhorr'd
All feasts, societies, and throngs of men!
His semblable, yea, himself, Timon disdains.
Destruction fang mankind! Earth, yield me roots.
[Digging]
Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate
With thy most operant poison. What is here?
Gold? Yellow, glittering, precious gold? No, gods,
I am no idle votarist. Roots, you clear heavens!
Thus much of this will make black white, foul fair,
Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.
Ha, you gods! why this? What, this, you gods? Why, this
Will lug your priests and servants from your sides,
Pluck stout men's pillows from below their heads-
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions, bless th' accurs'd,
Make the hoar leprosy ador'd, place thieves
And give them title, knee, and approbation,
With senators on the bench. This is it
That makes the wappen'd widow wed again-
She whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores
Would cast the gorge at this embalms and spices
To th 'April day again. Come, damn'd earth,
Thou common whore of mankind, that puts odds
Among the rout of nations, I will make thee
Do thy right nature. [March afar off]
Ha! a drum? Th'art quick,
But yet I'll bury thee. Thou't go, strong thief,
When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand.
Nay, stay thou out for earnest. [Keeping some gold]
Enter ALCIBIADES, with drum and fife, in warlike
manner; and PHRYNIA and TIMANDRA
ALCIBIADES. What art thou there? Speak.
TIMON. A beast, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy heart
For showing me again the eyes of man!
ALCIBIADES. What is thy name? Is man so hateful to thee
That art thyself a man?
TIMON. I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind.
For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
That I might love thee something.
ALCIBIADES. I know thee well;
But in thy fortunes am unlearn'd and strange.
TIMON. I know thee too; and more than that I know thee
I not desire to know. Follow thy drum;
With man's blood paint the ground, gules, gules.
Religious canons, civil laws, are cruel;
Then what should war be? This fell whore of thine
Hath in her more destruction than thy sword
For all her cherubin look.
PHRYNIA. Thy lips rot off!
TIMON. I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns
To thine own lips again.
ALCIBIADES. How came the noble Timon to this change?
TIMON. As the moon does, by wanting light to give.
But then renew I could not, like the moon;
There were no suns to borrow of.
ALCIBIADES. Noble Timon,
What friendship may I do thee?
TIMON. None, but to
Maintain my opinion.
ALCIBIADES. What is it, Timon?
TIMON. Promise me friendship, but perform none. If thou wilt
not
promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art man! If thou dost
perform, confound thee, for thou art a man!
ALCIBIADES. I have heard in some sort of thy miseries.
TIMON. Thou saw'st them when I had prosperity.
ALCIBIADES. I see them now; then was a blessed time.
TIMON. As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.
TIMANDRA. Is this th' Athenian minion whom the world
Voic'd so regardfully?
TIMON. Art thou Timandra?
TIMANDRA. Yes.
TIMON. Be a whore still; they love thee not that use thee.
Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.
Make use of thy salt hours. Season the slaves
For tubs and baths; bring down rose-cheek'd youth
To the tub-fast and the diet.
TIMANDRA. Hang thee, monster!
ALCIBIADES. Pardon him, sweet Timandra, for his wits
Are drown'd and lost in his calamities.
I have but little gold of late, brave Timon,
The want whereof doth daily make revolt
In my penurious band. I have heard, and griev'd,
How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth,
Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states,
But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them-
TIMON. I prithee beat thy drum and get thee gone.
ALCIBIADES. I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.
TIMON. How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble?
I had rather be alone.
ALCIBIADES. Why, fare thee well;
Here is some gold for thee.
TIMON. Keep it: I cannot eat it.
ALCIBIADES. When I have laid proud Athens on a heap-
TIMON. War'st thou 'gainst Athens?
ALCIBIADES. Ay, Timon, and have cause.
TIMON. The gods confound them all in thy conquest;
And thee after, when thou hast conquer'd!
ALCIBIADES. Why me, Timon?
TIMON. That by killing of villains
Thou wast born to conquer my country.
Put up thy gold. Go on. Here's gold. Go on.
Be as a planetary plague, when Jove
Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison
In the sick air; let not thy sword skip one.
Pity not honour'd age for his white beard:
He is an usurer. Strike me the counterfeit matron:
It is her habit only that is honest,
Herself's a bawd. Let not the virgin's cheek
Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milk paps
That through the window bars bore at men's eyes
Are not within the leaf of pity writ,
But set them down horrible traitors. Spare not the babe
Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy;
Think it a bastard whom the oracle
Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat shall cut,
And mince it sans remorse. Swear against abjects;
Put armour on thine ears and on thine eyes,
Whose proof nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes,
Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding,
Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay thy soldiers.
Make large confusion; and, thy fury spent,
Confounded be thyself! Speak not, be gone.
ALCIBIADES. Hast thou gold yet? I'll take the gold thou givest
me,
Not all thy counsel.
TIMON. Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse upon thee!
PHRYNIA AND TIMANDRA. Give us some gold, good Timon.
Hast thou more?
TIMON. Enough to make a whore forswear her trade,
And to make whores a bawd. Hold up, you sluts,
Your aprons mountant; you are not oathable,
Although I know you'll swear, terribly swear,
Into strong shudders and to heavenly agues,
Th' immortal gods that hear you. Spare your oaths;
I'll trust to your conditions. Be whores still;
And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you-
Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up;
Let your close fire predominate his smoke,
And be no turncoats. Yet may your pains six months
Be quite contrary! And thatch your poor thin roofs
With burdens of the dead- some that were hang'd,
No matter. Wear them, betray with them. Whore still;
Paint till a horse may mire upon your face.
A pox of wrinkles!
PHRYNIA AND TIMANDRA. Well, more gold. What then?
Believe't that we'll do anything for gold.
TIMON. Consumptions sow
In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins,
And mar men's spurring. Crack the lawyer's voice,
That he may never more false title plead,
Nor sound his quillets shrilly. Hoar the flamen,
That scolds against the quality of flesh
And not believes himself. Down with the nose,
Down with it flat, take the bridge quite away
Of him that, his particular to foresee,
Smells from the general weal. Make curl'd-pate ruffians bald,
And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war
Derive some pain from you. Plague all,
That your activity may defeat and quell
The source of all erection. There's more gold.
Do you damn others, and let this damn you,
And ditches grave you all!
PHRYNIA AND TIMANDRA. More counsel with more money, bounteous
Timon.
TIMON. More whore, more mischief first; I have given you
earnest.
ALCIBIADES. Strike up the drum towards Athens. Farewell, Timon;
If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again.
TIMON. If I hope well, I'll never see thee more.
ALCIBIADES. I never did thee harm.
TIMON. Yes, thou spok'st well of me.
ALCIBIADES. Call'st thou that harm?
TIMON. Men daily find it. Get thee away, and take
Thy beagles with thee.
ALCIBIADES. We but offend him. Strike.
Drum beats. Exeunt all but TIMON
TIMON. That nature, being sick of man's unkindness,
Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou, [Digging]
Whose womb unmeasurable and infinite breast
Teems and feeds all; whose self-same mettle,
Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puff'd,
Engenders the black toad and adder blue,
The gilded newt and eyeless venom'd worm,
With all th' abhorred births below crisp heaven
Whereon Hyperion's quick'ning fire doth shine-
Yield him, who all thy human sons doth hate,
From forth thy plenteous bosom, one poor root!
Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb,
Let it no more bring out ingrateful man!
Go great with tigers, dragons, wolves, and bears;
Teem with new monsters whom thy upward face
Hath to the marbled mansion all above
Never presented!- O, a root! Dear thanks!-
Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough-torn leas,
Whereof ingrateful man, with liquorish draughts
And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind,
That from it all consideration slips-
Enter APEMANTUS
More man? Plague, plague!
APEMANTUS. I was directed hither. Men report
Thou dost affect my manners and dost use them.
TIMON. 'Tis, then, because thou dost not keep a dog,
Whom I would imitate. Consumption catch thee!
APEMANTUS. This is in thee a nature but infected,
A poor unmanly melancholy sprung
From change of fortune. Why this spade, this place?
This slave-like habit and these looks of care?
Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft,
Hug their diseas'd perfumes, and have forgot
That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods
By putting on the cunning of a carper.
Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive
By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,
And let his very breath whom thou'lt observe
Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,
And call it excellent. Thou wast told thus;
Thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters that bade welcome,
To knaves and all approachers. 'Tis most just
That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again
Rascals should have't. Do not assume my likeness.
TIMON. Were I like thee, I'd throw away myself.
APEMANTUS. Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thyself;
A madman so long, now a fool. What, think'st
That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain,
Will put thy shirt on warm? Will these moist trees,
That have outliv'd the eagle, page thy heels
And skip when thou point'st out? Will the cold brook,
Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste
To cure thy o'ernight's surfeit? Call the creatures
Whose naked natures live in all the spite
Of wreakful heaven, whose bare unhoused trunks,
To the conflicting elements expos'd,
Answer mere nature- bid them flatter thee.
O, thou shalt find-
TIMON. A fool of thee. Depart.
APEMANTUS. I love thee better now than e'er I did.
TIMON. I hate thee worse.
APEMANTUS. Why?
TIMON. Thou flatter'st misery.
APEMANTUS. I flatter not, but say thou art a caitiff.
TIMON. Why dost thou seek me out?
APEMANTUS. To vex thee.
TIMON. Always a villain's office or a fool's.
Dost please thyself in't?
APEMANTUS. Ay.
TIMON. What, a knave too?
APEMANTUS. If thou didst put this sour-cold habit on
To castigate thy pride, 'twere well; but thou
Dost it enforcedly. Thou'dst courtier be again
Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery
Outlives incertain pomp, is crown'd before.
The one is filling still, never complete;
The other, at high wish. Best state, contentless,
Hath a distracted and most wretched being,
Worse than the worst, content.
Thou should'st desire to die, being miserable.
TIMON. Not by his breath that is more miserable.
Thou art a slave whom Fortune's tender arm
With favour never clasp'd, but bred a dog.
Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded
The sweet degrees that this brief world affords
To such as may the passive drugs of it
Freely command, thou wouldst have plung'd thyself
In general riot, melted down thy youth
In different beds of lust, and never learn'd
The icy precepts of respect, but followed
The sug'red game before thee. But myself,
Who had the world as my confectionary;
The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men
At duty, more than I could frame employment;
That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves
Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush
Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare
For every storm that blows- I to bear this,
That never knew but better, is some burden.
Thy nature did commence in sufferance; time
Hath made thee hard in't. Why shouldst thou hate men?
They never flatter'd thee. What hast thou given?
If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,
Must be thy subject; who, in spite, put stuff
To some she-beggar and compounded thee
Poor rogue hereditary. Hence, be gone.
If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
Thou hadst been a knave and flatterer.
APEMANTUS. Art thou proud yet?
TIMON. Ay, that I am not thee.
APEMANTUS. I, that I was
No prodigal.
TIMON. I, that I am one now.
Were all the wealth I have shut up in thee,
I'd give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.
That the whole life of Athens were in this!
Thus would I eat it. [Eating a root]
APEMANTUS. Here! I will mend thy feast.
[Offering him food]
TIMON. First mend my company: take away thyself.
APEMANTUS. So I shall mend mine own by th' lack of thine.
TIMON. 'Tis not well mended so; it is but botch'd.
If not, I would it were.
APEMANTUS. What wouldst thou have to Athens?
TIMON. Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt,
Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have.
APEMANTUS. Here is no use for gold.
TIMON. The best and truest;
For here it sleeps and does no hired harm.
APEMANTUS. Where liest a nights, Timon?
TIMON. Under that's above me.
Where feed'st thou a days, Apemantus?
APEMANTUS. Where my stomach. finds meat; or rather, where I eat
it.
TIMON. Would poison were obedient, and knew my mind!
APEMANTUS. Where wouldst thou send it?
TIMON. To sauce thy dishes.
APEMANTUS. The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the
extremity of both ends. When thou wast in thy gilt and thy
perfume, they mock'd thee for too much curiosity; in thy rags
thou know'st none, but art despis'd for the contrary. There's
a
medlar for thee; eat it.
TIMON. On what I hate I feed not.
APEMANTUS. Dost hate a medlar?
TIMON. Ay, though it look like thee.
APEMANTUS. An th' hadst hated medlars sooner, thou shouldst
have
loved thyself better now. What man didst thou ever know
unthrift
that was beloved after his means?
TIMON. Who, without those means thou talk'st of, didst thou
ever
know belov'd?
APEMANTUS. Myself.
TIMON. I understand thee: thou hadst some means to keep a dog.
APEMANTUS. What things in the world canst thou nearest compare
to
thy flatterers?
TIMON. Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves.
What
wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy
power?
APEMANTUS. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men.
TIMON. Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confusion of men,
and
remain a beast with the beasts?
APEMANTUS. Ay, Timon.
TIMON. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t' attain
to!
If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou
wert
the lamb, the fox would eat thee; if thou wert the fox, the
lion
would suspect thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accus'd by
the
ass. If thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee;
and
still thou liv'dst but as a breakfast to the wolf. If thou
wert
the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou
shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner. Wert thou the
unicorn,
pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own self
the
conquest of thy fury. Wert thou bear, thou wouldst be kill'd
by
the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seiz'd by the
leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion,
and
the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life. All thy
safety
were remotion, and thy defence absence. What beast couldst
thou
be that were not subject to a beast? And what beast art thou
already, that seest not thy loss in transformation!
APEMANTUS. If thou couldst please me with speaking to me, thou
mightst have hit upon it here. The commonwealth of Athens is
become a forest of beasts.
TIMON. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the
city?
APEMANTUS. Yonder comes a poet and a painter. The plague of
company
light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way. When
I
know not what else to do, I'll see thee again.
TIMON. When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be
welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog than Apemantus.
APEMANTUS. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.
TIMON. Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!
APEMANTUS. A plague on thee! thou art too bad to curse.
TIMON. All villains that do stand by thee are pure.
APEMANTUS. There is no leprosy but what thou speak'st.
TIMON. If I name thee.
I'll beat thee- but I should infect my hands.
APEMANTUS. I would my tongue could rot them off!
TIMON. Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!
Choler does kill me that thou art alive;
I swoon to see thee.
APEMANTUS. Would thou wouldst burst!
TIMON. Away,
Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall lose
A stone by thee. [Throws a stone at him]
APEMANTUS. Beast!
TIMON. Slave!
APEMANTUS. Toad!
TIMON. Rogue, rogue, rogue!
I am sick of this false world, and will love nought
But even the mere necessities upon't.
Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat
Thy gravestone daily; make thine epitaph,
That death in me at others' lives may laugh.
[Looks at the gold] O thou sweet king-killer, and dear
divorce
'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer,
Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god,
That sold'rest close impossibilities,
And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every tongue
To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts!
Think thy slave man rebels, and by thy virtue
Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
May have the world in empire!
APEMANTUS. Would 'twere so!
But not till I am dead. I'll say th' hast gold.
Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.
TIMON. Throng'd to?
APEMANTUS. Ay.
TIMON. Thy back, I prithee.
APEMANTUS. Live, and love thy misery!
TIMON. Long live so, and so die! [Exit APEMANTUS] I am quit.
More
things like men? Eat, Timon, and abhor them.
Enter the BANDITTI
FIRST BANDIT. Where should he have this gold? It is some poor
fragment, some slender ort of his remainder. The mere want of
gold and the falling-from of his friends drove him into this
melancholy.
SECOND BANDIT. It is nois'd he hath a mass of treasure.
THIRD BANDIT. Let us make the assay upon him; if he care not
for't,
he will supply us easily; if he covetously reserve it, how
shall's get it?
SECOND BANDIT. True; for he bears it not about him. 'Tis hid.
FIRST BANDIT. Is not this he?
BANDITTI. Where?
SECOND BANDIT. 'Tis his description.
THIRD BANDIT. He; I know him.
BANDITTI. Save thee, Timon!
TIMON. Now, thieves?
BANDITTI. Soldiers, not thieves.
TIMON. Both too, and women's sons.
BANDITTI. We are not thieves, but men that much do want.
TIMON. Your greatest want is, you want much of meat.
Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots;
Within this mile break forth a hundred springs;
The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips;
The bounteous housewife Nature on each bush
Lays her full mess before you. Want! Why want?
FIRST BANDIT. We cannot live on grass, on berries, water,
As beasts and birds and fishes.
TIMON. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes;
You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con
That you are thieves profess'd, that you work not
In holier shapes; for there is boundless theft
In limited professions. Rascal thieves,
Here's gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o' th' grape
Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth,
And so scape hanging. Trust not the physician;
His antidotes are poison, and he slays
more than you rob. Take wealth and lives together;
Do villainy, do, since you protest to do't,
Like workmen. I'll example you with thievery:
The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vast sea; the moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun;
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stol'n
From gen'ral excrement- each thing's a thief.
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Has uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves; away,
Rob one another. There's more gold. Cut throats;
All that you meet are thieves. To Athens go,
Break open shops; nothing can you steal
But thieves do lose it. Steal not less for this
I give you; and gold confound you howsoe'er!
Amen.
THIRD BANDIT. Has almost charm'd me from my profession by
persuading me to it.
FIRST BANDIT. 'Tis in the malice of mankind that he thus
advises
us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.
SECOND BANDIT. I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over my
trade.
FIRST BANDIT. Let us first see peace in Athens. There is no
time so
miserable but a man may be true. Exeunt THIEVES
Enter FLAVIUS, to TIMON
FLAVIUS. O you gods!
Is yond despis'd and ruinous man my lord?
Full of decay and failing? O monument
And wonder of good deeds evilly bestow'd!
What an alteration of honour
Has desp'rate want made!
What viler thing upon the earth than friends,
Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends!
How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
When man was wish'd to love his enemies!
Grant I may ever love, and rather woo
Those that would mischief me than those that do!
Has caught me in his eye; I will present
My honest grief unto him, and as my lord
Still serve him with my life. My dearest master!
TIMON. Away! What art thou?
FLAVIUS. Have you forgot me, sir?
TIMON. Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;
Then, if thou grant'st th'art a man, I have forgot thee.
FLAVIUS. An honest poor servant of yours.
TIMON. Then I know thee not.
I never had honest man about me, I.
All I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.
FLAVIUS. The gods are witness,
Nev'r did poor steward wear a truer grief
For his undone lord than mine eyes for you.
TIMON. What, dost thou weep? Come nearer. Then I love thee
Because thou art a woman and disclaim'st
Flinty mankind, whose eyes do never give
But thorough lust and laughter. Pity's sleeping.
Strange times, that weep with laughing, not with weeping!
FLAVIUS. I beg of you to know me, good my lord,
T' accept my grief, and whilst this poor wealth lasts
To entertain me as your steward still.
TIMON. Had I a steward
So true, so just, and now so comfortable?
It almost turns my dangerous nature mild.
Let me behold thy face. Surely, this man
Was born of woman.
Forgive my general and exceptless rashness,
You perpetual-sober gods! I do proclaim
One honest man- mistake me not, but one;
No more, I pray- and he's a steward.
How fain would I have hated all mankind!
And thou redeem'st thyself. But all, save thee,
I fell with curses.
Methinks thou art more honest now than wise;
For by oppressing and betraying me
Thou mightst have sooner got another service;
For many so arrive at second masters
Upon their first lord's neck. But tell me true,
For I must ever doubt though ne'er so sure,
Is not thy kindness subtle, covetous,
If not a usuring kindness, and as rich men deal gifts,
Expecting in return twenty for one?
FLAVIUS. No, my most worthy master, in whose breast
Doubt and suspect, alas, are plac'd too late!
You should have fear'd false times when you did feast:
Suspect still comes where an estate is least.
That which I show, heaven knows, is merely love,
Duty, and zeal, to your unmatched mind,
Care of your food and living; and believe it,
My most honour'd lord,
For any benefit that points to me,
Either in hope or present, I'd exchange
For this one wish, that you had power and wealth
To requite me by making rich yourself.
TIMON. Look thee, 'tis so! Thou singly honest man,
Here, take. The gods, out of my misery,
Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich and happy,
But thus condition'd; thou shalt build from men;
Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,
But let the famish'd flesh slide from the bone
Ere thou relieve the beggar. Give to dogs
What thou deniest to men; let prisons swallow 'em,
Debts wither 'em to nothing. Be men like blasted woods,
And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
And so, farewell and thrive.
FLAVIUS. O, let me stay
And comfort you, my master.
TIMON. If thou hat'st curses,
Stay not; fly whilst thou art blest and free.
Ne'er see thou man, and let me ne'er see thee.
Exeunt severally
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ACT V. SCENE I.
The woods. Before TIMON's cave
Enter POET and PAINTER
PAINTER. As I took note of the place, it cannot be far where he
abides.
POET. to be thought of him? Does the rumour hold for true that
he's
so full of gold?
PAINTER. Certain. Alcibiades reports it; Phrynia and Timandra
had
gold of him. He likewise enrich'd poor straggling soldiers
with
great quantity. 'Tis said he gave unto his steward a mighty
sum.
POET. Then this breaking of his has been but a try for his
friends?
PAINTER. Nothing else. You shall see him a palm in Athens
again,
and flourish with the highest. Therefore 'tis not amiss we
tender
our loves to him in this suppos'd distress of his; it will
show
honestly in us, and is very likely to load our purposes with
what
they travail for, if it be just and true report that goes of
his
having.
POET. What have you now to present unto him?
PAINTER. Nothing at this time but my visitation; only I will
promise him an excellent piece.
POET. I must serve him so too, tell him of an intent that's
coming
toward him.
PAINTER. Good as the best. Promising is the very air o' th'
time;
it opens the eyes of expectation. Performance is ever the
duller
for his act, and but in the plainer and simpler kind of
people
the deed of saying is quite out of use. To promise is most
courtly and fashionable; performance is a kind of will or
testament which argues a great sickness in his judgment that
makes it.
Enter TIMON from his cave
TIMON. [Aside] Excellent workman! Thou canst not paint a man so
bad
as is thyself.
POET. I am thinking what I shall say I have provided for him.
It
must be a personating of himself; a satire against the
softness
of prosperity, with a discovery of the infinite flatteries
that
follow youth and opulency.
TIMON. [Aside] Must thou needs stand for a villain in thine own
work? Wilt thou whip thine own faults in other men? Do so, I
have
gold for thee.
POET. Nay, let's seek him;
Then do we sin against our own estate
When we may profit meet and come too late.
PAINTER. True;
When the day serves, before black-corner'd night,
Find what thou want'st by free and offer'd light.
Come.
TIMON. [Aside] I'll meet you at the turn. What a god's gold,
That he is worshipp'd in a baser temple
Than where swine feed!
'Tis thou that rig'st the bark and plough'st the foam,
Settlest admired reverence in a slave.
To thee be worship! and thy saints for aye
Be crown'd with plagues, that thee alone obey!
Fit I meet them. [Advancing from his cave]
POET. Hail, worthy Timon!
PAINTER. Our late noble master!
TIMON. Have I once liv'd to see two honest men?
POET. Sir,
Having often of your open bounty tasted,
Hearing you were retir'd, your friends fall'n off,
Whose thankless natures- O abhorred spirits!-
Not all the whips of heaven are large enough-
What! to you,
Whose star-like nobleness gave life and influence
To their whole being! I am rapt, and cannot cover
The monstrous bulk of this ingratitude
With any size of words.
TIMON. Let it go naked: men may see't the better.
You that are honest, by being what you are,
Make them best seen and known.
PAINTER. He and myself
Have travail'd in the great show'r of your gifts,
And sweetly felt it.
TIMON. Ay, you are honest men.
PAINTER. We are hither come to offer you our service.
TIMON. Most honest men! Why, how shall I requite you?
Can you eat roots, and drink cold water- No?
BOTH. What we can do, we'll do, to do you service.
TIMON. Y'are honest men. Y'have heard that I have gold;
I am sure you have. Speak truth; y'are honest men.
PAINTER. So it is said, my noble lord; but therefore
Came not my friend nor I.
TIMON. Good honest men! Thou draw'st a counterfeit
Best in all Athens. Th'art indeed the best;
Thou counterfeit'st most lively.
PAINTER. So, so, my lord.
TIMON. E'en so, sir, as I say. [To POET] And for thy
fiction,
Why, thy verse swells with stuff so fine and smooth
That thou art even natural in thine art.
But for all this, my honest-natur'd friends,
I must needs say you have a little fault.
Marry, 'tis not monstrous in you; neither wish I
You take much pains to mend.
BOTH. Beseech your honour
To make it known to us.
TIMON. You'll take it ill.
BOTH. Most thankfully, my lord.
TIMON. Will you indeed?
BOTH. Doubt it not, worthy lord.
TIMON. There's never a one of you but trusts a knave
That mightily deceives you.
BOTH. Do we, my lord?
TIMON. Ay, and you hear him cog, see him dissemble,
Know his gross patchery, love him, feed him,
Keep in your bosom; yet remain assur'd
That he's a made-up villain.
PAINTER. I know not such, my lord.
POET. Nor I.
TIMON. Look you, I love you well; I'll give you gold,
Rid me these villains from your companies.
Hang them or stab them, drown them in a draught,
Confound them by some course, and come to me,
I'll give you gold enough.
BOTH. Name them, my lord; let's know them.
TIMON. You that way, and you this- but two in company;
Each man apart, all single and alone,
Yet an arch-villain keeps him company.
[To the PAINTER] If, where thou art, two villians shall not
be,
Come not near him. [To the POET] If thou wouldst not reside
But where one villain is, then him abandon.-
Hence, pack! there's gold; you came for gold, ye slaves.
[To the PAINTER] You have work for me; there's payment;
hence!
[To the POET] You are an alchemist; make gold of that.-
Out, rascal dogs! [Beats and drives them out]
Enter FLAVIUS and two SENATORS
FLAVIUS. It is vain that you would speak with Timon;
For he is set so only to himself
That nothing but himself which looks like man
Is friendly with him.
FIRST SENATOR. Bring us to his cave.
It is our part and promise to th' Athenians
To speak with Timon.
SECOND SENATOR. At all times alike
Men are not still the same; 'twas time and griefs
That fram'd him thus. Time, with his fairer hand,
Offering the fortunes of his former days,
The former man may make him. Bring us to him,
And chance it as it may.
FLAVIUS. Here is his cave.
Peace and content be here! Lord Timon! Timon!
Look out, and speak to friends. Th' Athenians
By two of their most reverend Senate greet thee.
Speak to them, noble Timon.
Enter TIMON out of his cave
TIMON. Thou sun that comforts, burn. Speak and be hang'd!
For each true word a blister, and each false
Be as a cauterizing to the root o' th' tongue,
Consuming it with speaking!
FIRST SENATOR. Worthy Timon-
TIMON. Of none but such as you, and you of Timon.
FIRST SENATOR. The senators of Athens greet thee, Timon.
TIMON. I thank them; and would send them back the plague,
Could I but catch it for them.
FIRST SENATOR. O, forget
What we are sorry for ourselves in thee.
The senators with one consent of love
Entreat thee back to Athens, who have thought
On special dignities, which vacant lie
For thy best use and wearing.
SECOND SENATOR. They confess
Toward thee forgetfulness too general, gross;
Which now the public body, which doth seldom
Play the recanter, feeling in itself
A lack of Timon's aid, hath sense withal
Of it own fail, restraining aid to Timon,
And send forth us to make their sorrowed render,
Together with a recompense more fruitful
Than their offence can weigh down by the dram;
Ay, even such heaps and sums of love and wealth
As shall to thee blot out what wrongs were theirs
And write in thee the figures of their love,
Ever to read them thine.
TIMON. You witch me in it;
Surprise me to the very brink of tears.
Lend me a fool's heart and a woman's eyes,
And I'll beweep these comforts, worthy senators.
FIRST SENATOR. Therefore so please thee to return with us,
And of our Athens, thine and ours, to take
The captainship, thou shalt be met with thanks,
Allow'd with absolute power, and thy good name
Live with authority. So soon we shall drive back
Of Alcibiades th' approaches wild,
Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up
His country's peace.
SECOND SENATOR. And shakes his threat'ning sword
Against the walls of Athens.
FIRST SENATOR. Therefore, Timon-
TIMON. Well, sir, I will. Therefore I will, sir, thus:
If Alcibiades kill my countrymen,
Let Alcibiades know this of Timon,
That Timon cares not. But if he sack fair Athens,
And take our goodly aged men by th' beards,
Giving our holy virgins to the stain
Of contumelious, beastly, mad-brain'd war,
Then let him know- and tell him Timon speaks it
In pity of our aged and our youth-
I cannot choose but tell him that I care not,
And let him take't at worst; for their knives care not,
While you have throats to answer. For myself,
There's not a whittle in th' unruly camp
But I do prize it at my love before
The reverend'st throat in Athens. So I leave you
To the protection of the prosperous gods,
As thieves to keepers.
FLAVIUS. Stay not, all's in vain.
TIMON. Why, I was writing of my epitaph;
It will be seen to-morrow. My long sickness
Of health and living now begins to mend,
And nothing brings me all things. Go, live still;
Be Alcibiades your plague, you his,
And last so long enough!
FIRST SENATOR. We speak in vain.
TIMON. But yet I love my country, and am not
One that rejoices in the common wreck,
As common bruit doth put it.
FIRST SENATOR. That's well spoke.
TIMON. Commend me to my loving countrymen-
FIRST SENATOR. These words become your lips as they pass
through
them.
SECOND SENATOR. And enter in our ears like great triumphers
In their applauding gates.
TIMON. Commend me to them,
And tell them that, to ease them of their griefs,
Their fears of hostile strokes, their aches, losses,
Their pangs of love, with other incident throes
That nature's fragile vessel doth sustain
In life's uncertain voyage, I will some kindness do them-
I'll teach them to prevent wild Alcibiades' wrath.
FIRST SENATOR. I like this well; he will return again.
TIMON. I have a tree, which grows here in my close,
That mine own use invites me to cut down,
And shortly must I fell it. Tell my friends,
Tell Athens, in the sequence of degree
From high to low throughout, that whoso please
To stop affliction, let him take his haste,
Come hither, ere my tree hath felt the axe,
And hang himself. I pray you do my greeting.
FLAVIUS. Trouble him no further; thus you still shall find him.
TIMON. Come not to me again; but say to Athens
Timon hath made his everlasting mansion
Upon the beached verge of the salt flood,
Who once a day with his embossed froth
The turbulent surge shall cover. Thither come,
And let my gravestone be your oracle.
Lips, let sour words go by and language end:
What is amiss, plague and infection mend!
Graves only be men's works and death their gain!
Sun, hide thy beams. Timon hath done his reign.
Exit TIMON into his cave
FIRST SENATOR. His discontents are unremovably
Coupled to nature.
SECOND SENATOR. Our hope in him is dead. Let us return
And strain what other means is left unto us
In our dear peril.
FIRST SENATOR. It requires swift foot. Exeunt
SCENE II.
Before the walls of Athens
Enter two other SENATORS with a MESSENGER
FIRST SENATOR. Thou hast painfully discover'd; are his files
As full as thy report?
MESSENGER. I have spoke the least.
Besides, his expedition promises
Present approach.
SECOND SENATOR. We stand much hazard if they bring not Timon.
MESSENGER. I met a courier, one mine ancient friend,
Whom, though in general part we were oppos'd,
Yet our old love had a particular force,
And made us speak like friends. This man was riding
From Alcibiades to Timon's cave
With letters of entreaty, which imported
His fellowship i' th' cause against your city,
In part for his sake mov'd.
Enter the other SENATORS, from TIMON
FIRST SENATOR. Here come our brothers.
THIRD SENATOR. No talk of Timon, nothing of him expect.
The enemies' drum is heard, and fearful scouring
Doth choke the air with dust. In, and prepare.
Ours is the fall, I fear; our foes the snare. Exeunt
SCENE III.
The TIMON's cave, and a rude tomb seen
Enter a SOLDIER in the woods, seeking TIMON
SOLDIER. By all description this should be the place.
Who's here? Speak, ho! No answer? What is this?
Timon is dead, who hath outstretch'd his span.
Some beast rear'd this; here does not live a man.
Dead, sure; and this his grave. What's on this tomb
I cannot read; the character I'll take with wax.
Our captain hath in every figure skill,
An ag'd interpreter, though young in days;
Before proud Athens he's set down by this,
Whose fall the mark of his ambition is. Exit
SCENE IV.
Before the walls of Athens
Trumpets sound. Enter ALCIBIADES with his powers before Athens
ALCIBIADES. Sound to this coward and lascivious town
Our terrible approach.
Sound a parley. The SENATORS appear upon the walls
Till now you have gone on and fill'd the time
With all licentious measure, making your wills
The scope of justice; till now, myself, and such
As slept within the shadow of your power,
Have wander'd with our travers'd arms, and breath'd
Our sufferance vainly. Now the time is flush,
When crouching marrow, in the bearer strong,
Cries of itself 'No more!' Now breathless wrong
Shall sit and pant in your great chairs of ease,
And pursy insolence shall break his wind
With fear and horrid flight.
FIRST SENATOR. Noble and young,
When thy first griefs were but a mere conceit,
Ere thou hadst power or we had cause of fear,
We sent to thee, to give thy rages balm,
To wipe out our ingratitude with loves
Above their quantity.
SECOND SENATOR. So did we woo
Transformed Timon to our city's love
By humble message and by promis'd means.
We were not all unkind, nor all deserve
The common stroke of war.
FIRST SENATOR. These walls of ours
Were not erected by their hands from whom
You have receiv'd your griefs; nor are they such
That these great tow'rs, trophies, and schools, should fall
For private faults in them.
SECOND SENATOR. Nor are they living
Who were the motives that you first went out;
Shame, that they wanted cunning, in excess
Hath broke their hearts. March, noble lord,
Into our city with thy banners spread.
By decimation and a tithed death-
If thy revenges hunger for that food
Which nature loathes- take thou the destin'd tenth,
And by the hazard of the spotted die
Let die the spotted.
FIRST SENATOR. All have not offended;
For those that were, it is not square to take,
On those that are, revenge: crimes, like lands,
Are not inherited. Then, dear countryman,
Bring in thy ranks, but leave without thy rage;
Spare thy Athenian cradle, and those kin
Which, in the bluster of thy wrath, must fall
With those that have offended. Like a shepherd
Approach the fold and cull th' infected forth,
But kill not all together.
SECOND SENATOR. What thou wilt,
Thou rather shalt enforce it with thy smile
Than hew to't with thy sword.
FIRST SENATOR. Set but thy foot
Against our rampir'd gates and they shall ope,
So thou wilt send thy gentle heart before
To say thou't enter friendly.
SECOND SENATOR. Throw thy glove,
Or any token of thine honour else,
That thou wilt use the wars as thy redress
And not as our confusion, all thy powers
Shall make their harbour in our town till we
Have seal'd thy full desire.
ALCIBIADES. Then there's my glove;
Descend, and open your uncharged ports.
Those enemies of Timon's and mine own,
Whom you yourselves shall set out for reproof,
Fall, and no more. And, to atone your fears
With my more noble meaning, not a man
Shall pass his quarter or offend the stream
Of regular justice in your city's bounds,
But shall be render'd to your public laws
At heaviest answer.
BOTH. 'Tis most nobly spoken.
ALCIBIADES. Descend, and keep your words.
[The SENATORS descend and open the gates]
Enter a SOLDIER as a Messenger
SOLDIER. My noble General, Timon is dead;
Entomb'd upon the very hem o' th' sea;
And on his grave-stone this insculpture, which
With wax I brought away, whose soft impression
Interprets for my poor ignorance.
ALCIBIADES reads the Epitaph
'Here lies a wretched corse, of wretched soul bereft;
Seek not my name. A plague consume you wicked caitiffs left!
Here lie I, Timon, who alive all living men did hate.
Pass by, and curse thy fill; but pass, and stay not here thy
gait.'
These well express in thee thy latter spirits.
Though thou abhorr'dst in us our human griefs,
Scorn'dst our brain's flow, and those our droplets which
From niggard nature fall, yet rich conceit
Taught thee to make vast Neptune weep for aye
On thy low grave, on faults forgiven. Dead
Is noble Timon, of whose memory
Hereafter more. Bring me into your city,
And I will use the olive, with my sword;
Make war breed peace, make peace stint war, make each
Prescribe to other, as each other's leech.
Let our drums strike. Exeunt
THE END
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End of this Etext of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, The Life of
Timon of Athens
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