On reaching home after the wrestling match, Orlando was met by the
old retainer, Adam, who implored him to fly at once. The fame of his
victory had already reached Oliver’s ears, and he was so incensed at
the praises lavished on his brother that he was quite resolved to do
away with him by some means or other. The faithful old man went on to
say he had five hundred crowns, saved during his service with his late
master, and he begged Orlando to take this money, and also to let him
go with him as his servant. He was old, he said, but still strong and
active, and could serve him as well as a younger man.
Orlando was deeply touched by the fidelity and devotion of this old
retainer, and willingly agreed to his request, saying that before the
money was spent they would doubtless have found some humble means of
support. So the outcasts departed: the young man left the home of his
father, and the old man the place where he had spent more than sixty
years of faithful service.
They started not unhopefully, but matters did not go well with them.
Scarcely knowing where to direct their steps, they plunged into the
Forest of Arden, and there, in the depths of the greenwood, they lost
their way. Worn out with fatigue, almost starving for food, they
wandered on, till at last Adam’s strength failed, and he sank to the
ground.
“Dear master, I can go no further. Oh, I die for food!” he gasped.
“Farewell, kind master!”
With the tenderest words Orlando strove to cheer the poor old man,
and, carefully placing him in a more sheltered spot, he dashed off
almost desperate in his quest for food.
Not far off in the forest a very different scene was taking place.
In the bright days of early summer the days slipped pleasantly past
with the banished Duke and his little band of faithful followers.
Clad in their foresters’ garb, and living the simple life of outlaws,
they hunted, sang, laughed, and feasted under the greenwood tree.
The most notable of the band was a certain lord called Jaques, who
had been a brilliant and reckless courtier in his early days, but
was now a cynic and philosopher, half sad, half satiric, whose moods
seemed to vary between biting humour and pensive melancholy. He had
a sharp tongue, and took no pains to make himself agreeable, but his
quaint moralisings afforded much entertainment to his companions, and
especially to the Duke.
On the day when Orlando and Adam were starving in one part of the
forest, the Duke and his band were having a merry time in another
part. One of the lords, by name Amiens, could sing very pleasingly,
and he now led a ditty in praise of their woodland life, while the
others joined in the chorus:
“Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird’s throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither.
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
“Who doth ambition shun
And loves to live in the sun,
Seeking the food he eats
And pleased with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.”
The banquet was spread, and the Duke had taken his place, when Jaques
came up, apparently much diverted with something he had just seen.
“A fool! a fool!” he cried. “I met a fool in the forest!”
The cynical lord was amused to find a fellow-philosopher under the
motley of a fool, and quoted the mangled scraps of moral wisdom he had
let fall, with much enjoyment.
“‘Good-morrow, fool,’ quoth I. ‘No, sir,’ quoth he, ‘call me not
fool till heaven hath sent me fortune.’ Then he drew a dial from his
pocket, and, looking at it with his dull eyes, said very wisely: ‘It
is ten o’clock. Thus we may see how the world wags. An hour ago it was
nine o’clock, and in another hour it will be eleven. And so from hour
to hour we ripe and ripe, and so from hour to hour we rot and rot, and
thereby hangs a tale.’”
[Illustration: “It is ten o’clock.”]
Jaques was greatly diverted at the idea of a fool in motley moralising
thus on the time, and declared that henceforth he intended to don a
fool’s dress himself, in order that he might have the privilege that
fools have, of speaking out his mind freely on all occasions.
“And those that are most hurt with my folly,” he said, “they most must
laugh. Dress me in motley, and give me leave to speak my mind, and I
will guarantee to cure the world of much evil.”
The Duke would not agree that Jaques’s plan for reforming the world
was a good one, and reminded Jaques that he himself was anything but
free from faults. Jaques still held to his opinion, and was arguing
the matter, when their discussion was interrupted by the startling
appearance of a haggard youth with a drawn sword, who demanded food
in the most peremptory fashion, and threatened to kill anyone who
attempted to eat until his wants were supplied.
“I almost die for food; let me have it!” he cried fiercely.
“Sit down and feed, and welcome to our table,” said the Duke kindly.
When Orlando saw the gentleness of the Duke, and that there was no
occasion for such violence on his part, he softened at once, asked
their pardon, and explained that he had only put on this stern manner
of command because he expected to find everything in the forest rude
and savage. He implored them, if ever they had led a gentle, civilised
life, and knew what pity was, that they would refrain from eating till
he had fetched a poor old man, who was spent with age and hunger. Till
he was first satisfied, Orlando said, he would not touch a bit.
The Duke bade Orlando go and fetch Adam, and when they returned he
made them sit down and eat before he troubled them with any questions.
To give them time to recover, he called for some music, and bade
Amiens sing.
“Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
“Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot;
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered not.”
While the song was being sung, Orlando was able to tell the Duke, in
a low voice, a little of his story, and hearing that he was the son
of his dear friend, Sir Rowland de Boys, the Duke gave him a hearty
welcome, and carried him off to his own cave to hear the rest of his
adventures. Old Adam, too, was made right welcome; and so, for the
present, he and his master contentedly stayed on with the outlaws.
* * * * *
The fool whom Jaques had met in the forest was Touchstone. Like
Orlando and Adam, the other party of wanderers were very weary before
they found a resting-place. Rosalind and Celia, attended by the Court
jester, had come in search of Rosalind’s father, but so far they had
found no trace of the banished Duke. Celia was tired and Touchstone
was cross, but Rosalind did her best to encourage her companions.
“Well, this is the Forest of Arden,” she said cheerfully.
“Ay, now I am in Arden,” grumbled Touchstone. “The more fool I! When I
was at home I was in a better place; but travellers must be content.”
“Ay, be so, good Touchstone,” counselled Rosalind. “Look you, who
comes here; a young man and an old in solemn talk.”
The newcomers were two shepherds called Corin and Silvius. The young
man, Silvius, soon went away, and then Rosalind appealed to the old
shepherd, asking if he could direct them to any place where they could
rest themselves and get something to eat.
Corin replied that he would gladly have helped them if he could, but
his fortune was very humble; he was only shepherd to another man, and
did not own the flocks he looked after. His master was very churlish
and inhospitable, and, besides, at this moment his cottage and flocks
were on sale, so there was no food at home that he could offer them.
However, if they liked to come and rest in the cottage, they were
heartily welcome.
Rosalind asked who was going to buy the flock and pasture. Corin
replied that it was the young swain who had just left him, and who
cared nothing at all about the matter.
“I pray you, if you can do so honestly, buy the cottage, pasture, and
flock,” said Rosalind, “and we will give you the money to pay for
them.”
“And we will increase your wages,” added Celia. “I like this place,
and would willingly spend some time here.”
So Celia and Rosalind, still attended by Touchstone, took up their
abode in the shepherd’s cottage; and that was how the cynical lord
Jaques happened to meet the fool in the forest.