M. MERRY. Then needs it no mending?
R. ROISTER. No, no.
M. MERRY. No, I know your wit.
R. ROISTER. I warrant it well.
M. MUMBL. It shall be delivered;
But, if ye speed, shall I be considered?
M. MERRY. Whough! dost thou doubt of that?
M. MUMBL. What shall I have?
M. MERRY. An hundred times more than thou canst devise to crave.
M. MUMBL. Shall I have some new gear, for my old is all spent?
M. MERRY. The worst kitchen wench shall go in ladies' raiment.
M. MUMBL. Yea?
M. MERRY. And the worst drudge in the house shall go better
Than your mistress doth now.
M. MUMBL. Then I trudge with your letter.
R. ROISTER. Now may I repose me: Custance is mine own.
Let us sing and play homeward, that it may be known.
M. MERRY. But are you sure that your letter is well enough?
R. ROISTER. I wrote it myself.
M. MERRY. Then sing we to dinner.
[_Here they sing, and go out singing._
ACTUS I., SCÆNA 5.
CHRISTIAN CUSTANCE, MARGERY MUMBLECRUST.
C. CUSTANCE. Who took thee this letter, Margery Mumblecrust?
M. MUMBL. A lusty gay bachelor took it me of trust,
And if ye seek to him, he will love your doing.
C. CUSTANCE. Yea, but where learned he that manner of wooing?
M. MUMBL. If to sue to him you will any pains take,
He will have you to his wife (he saith) for my sake.
C. CUSTANCE. Some wise gentleman belike: I am bespoken.
And I thought verily this had been some token
From my dear spouse,[86] Gawin Goodluck, whom when him please,
God luckily send home to both our hearts' ease!
M. MUMBL. A jolly man it is, I wot well by report,
And would have you to him for marriage resort.
Best open the writing, and see what it doth speak.
C. CUSTANCE. At this time, nurse, I will neither read ne break.
M. MUMBL. He promised to give you a whole peck of gold.
C. CUSTANCE. Perchance, [t'will] lack of a pint, when it shall be
all told.
M. MUMBL. I would take a gay rich husband, and I were you.
C. CUSTANCE. In good sooth, Madge, e'en so would I, if I were thou.[87]
But no more of this fond talk now; let us go in,
And see thou no more move me folly to begin;
Nor bring me no mo letters for no man's pleasure,
But thou know from whom.
M. MUMBL. I warrant, ye shall be sure.
FOOTNOTES:
[38] One of the names of the devil in old morals.
--_W. D. Cooper._
[39] [Sheet-anchor.]
[40] Impudently vaunting and boasting.
"You preserve
A race of idle people here about you,
_Facers_ and talkers.--_Maids Tragedy_, Act iv., sc. 2.
--_W. D. Cooper._
[41] In all probability an alteration to mean Elizabeth, in whose
reign the play was printed; for in act iii., sc. 4, M. Merrygreek
talks of the "arms of Calais"; and so does R. Roister, act iv., sc. 7.
Calais was lost in 5th Mary, and the play was quoted by Wilson in
1551, when Edward was on the throne.--_W. D. Cooper._
[42] [Affirm, agree to it.]
[43] [_i.e._, His own white son.] _White boy_ is a common expression
of endearment in old plays, and to this day white-headed boy is an
expression of fondness in Ireland, though the locks of the individual
to whom it is applied may be "black as the raven's plume."--_W. D.
Cooper._
[44] [Or glombing, _i.e._, louring. See Halliwell _v. Glombe_.]
[45] Voice.
"I syng not musycall,
For my _brest_ is decayd."
--_Armonye of Byrdes._
Halliwell's "Archaic and Provincial Words."--_W. D. Cooper._
[46] [In danger of debt, _i.e._ in the power of any man on account of
debt.]
[47] [_i.e._ Let _them_ consider how, &c.]
[48] [_i.e._ By God's arms.]
[49] [I warrant you, as far as madness is concerned. Mr Cooper
proposed to read _from mad_; but the alteration appears to me
unnecessary.]
[50] [Fortunes are always exaggerated.]
[51] [Nearer.]
[52] This was a proverbial expression. See Heywood's "Proverbs" and
"Taming of the Shrew," act ii., sc. I. _Backare_ probably means _Back
there!_ or _Go back!_--_Cooper._ [The meaning is, clearly enough, that
Gawin Goodluck must retreat from his courtship.]
[53] Your mastership.--_Cooper._
[54] Quotha.
[55] Some of these are the heroes of romances.--_Cooper._
[56] [A creature of the same country. _Aly_ seems here to be the same
as _alyche_. See Halliwell, _v. v. alyche_ and _alye_.]
[57] _Tertius e coelo cecidit Cato._ Juv., _Sat._ ii.,
40.--_Cooper._
[58] [Kindred, parentages.]
[59] I give thee thanks.--_Cooper._
[60] Feats or deeds, from the Latin _factum_, "And rattle forth his
_facts_ of war and blood."--Marlowe's "Tamburlaine the Great," Part
I., 1590.--_Cooper._
[61] [This word has escaped Nares and others. But it is merely a
colloquialism for _love_, and is in that sense still in familiar use.]
[62] [Guessed.]
[63] The word "here," which is not in the original, seems necessary to
complete the metre and rhyme.--_Cooper._
[64] Jack Mumblecrust is the name of one of the beggars who dine with
Sir Owen Meredith: "Peace! hear my lady. Jack Mumblecrust steal no
more penny loaves."--_Patient Grissel_, act iv., sc. 3. It is also a
name given to the widow Minever by Captain Tucca in Dekker's
"Satiromastix." Madge Mumblecrust is mentioned in the MS. comedy of
"Misogonus," 1577.--_Cooper._
[65] Scolding. "_Whur_, to snarl like a dog."--_Bailey._
[66] "Soft fier makes swet malt"; see "The Marriage of Wit and
Wisdom," edited by Halliwell, p. 13.--_Cooper._
[67] [The throat, which we still familiarly term _red lane_.]
[68] Songs introduced in our old plays are often not found in the
printed copies. Some of those in this piece, are, however, given at
the end, and others are introduced in the body of the play. In the
above instance, perhaps, only an air was to be hummed.--_Cooper._
[69] The terms _Sirrah_ and _Sir_ appear to have been frequently
applied indifferently both to male and female. In Whetstone's "Promos
and Cassandra," 1578, Grymball says to his mistress--
"Ah, _syr_, you woulde belike let my cocke-sparrowes go."--_Cooper._
[70] A corruption of the sacred name.
[71] Scolded. It sometimes means _ruined_ or _destroyed_.--_Cooper._
[72] [This song is quoted in "A Pore Helpe," probably printed many
years before "Ralph Roister Doister." See Hazlitt's "Popular Poetry,"
ii., 260. It therefore seems likely that in this, as in other cases,
Udall introduced a song popular at the time, and the composition of
some one else.]
[73] _i.e._, "I had not so much, I wot not when: never since I was
born, I ween." She here speaks a rustic dialect.--_Cooper._
[74] Her re-entrance is not marked.--_Cooper._
[75] [Orig. reads, _what_.]
[76] Joke.--_Borde_, _bourd_, or _boord_, as the word is spelled by
Spenser, means a jest or sport; from the French _Bourde_--
"Of old adventures that fell white,
And some of _bourdes_ and ribaudry."
--_Lay le Freine._ See _Toone's Glossary_.--_Cooper._
[77] Seriously whispering--
"And in his ear him _rounded_ close behind."
--_Faerie Queene_, Book iii., Canto 10.--_Cooper._
[78] [Apparently intentional nonsense for _nobis miscebetur
miserere_.]
[79] [For _make_.]
[80] God's wounds.
[81] _Music._ So often used of old.--_Cooper._
[82] A copse or bush. See "Tempest," act iv., sc. 1.
"And every _bosky_ bourn from side to side."--_Milton._
--_Cooper._
[83] [Appearance, _quasi_ semblety, semblance.]
[84] [Should we not read _fute_? See Halliwell in _v_.]
[85] See the second song at the end of the play.--_Cooper._
[86] The word _spouse_ is here used for _betrothed lover_.--_Cooper._
ACTUS II., SCÆNA I.[88]
DOBINET DOUGHTY.
D. DOUGH. Where is the house I go to, before or behind?
I know not where nor when, nor how I shall it find.
If I had ten men's bodies and legs, and strength,
This trotting that I have must needs lame me at length.
And now that my master is new-set on wooing,
I trust there shall none of us find lack of doing:
Two pair of shoes a day will now be too little
To serve me, I must trot to and fro so mickle.
"Go bear me this token;" "carry me this letter;"
Now this is the best way; now that way is better.
"Up before day, sirs, I charge you, an hour or twain;
Trudge, do me this message, and bring word quick again."
If one miss but a minute, then, "His arms and wounds,
I would not have slacked for ten thousand pounds!
Nay see, I beseech you, if my most trusty page
Go not now about to hinder my marriage."
So fervent hot wooing, and so far from wiving,
I trow, never was any creature living;
With every woman is he in some love's-pang;
Then up to our lute at midnight, _twangledom twang_.
Then twang with our sonnets, and twang with our dumps,[89]
And heigho from our heart, as heavy as lead-lumps.
Then to our recorder[90] with _toodleloodle poop_,
As the howlet out of an ivy bush should hoop.
Anon to our gittern,[91] _thrumpledum thrumpledum thrum,
Thrumpledum, thrumpledum, thrumpledum, thrumpledum, thrum_.
Of songs and ballads also he is a maker,
And that can he as finely do as Jack Raker;[92]
Yea, and extempore will he ditties compose;
Foolish Marsias ne'er made the like, I suppose;
Yet must we sing them, as good stuff, I undertake,
As for such a pen-man is well fitting to make.
"Ah, for these long nights! heigho! when will it be day?
I fear, ere I come, she will be wooed away."
Then, when answer is made, that it may not be,
"O death, why comest thou not?" by and by saith he.
But then from his heart to put away sorrow,
He is as far in with some new love next morrow.
But, in the mean season, we trudge and we trot:
From dayspring to midnight I sit not nor rest not.
And now am I sent to dame Christian Custance;
But I fear it will end with a mock for pastance.[93]
I bring her a ring with a token in a clout,
And by all guess this same is her house out of doubt.
I know it now perfect, I am in my right way;
And lo! yond the old nurse that was with us last day.
ACTUS II., SCÆNA 2.
MADGE MUMBLECRUST, DOBINET DOUGHTY.
M. MUMBL. I was ne'er so shoke[94] up afore, since I was born:
That our mistress could not have had chid, I would have sworn.
And I pray God I die, if I meant any harm;
But for my lifetime this shall be to me a charm.
D. DOUGH. God you save and see, nurse! and how is it with you?
M. MUMBL. Marry, a great deal the worse it is for such as thou.
D. DOUGH. For me? Why so?
M. MUMBL. Why, were not thou one of them, say,
That sang and played here with the gentleman last day?
D. DOUGH. Yes, and he would know, if you have for him spoken,
And prays you to deliver this ring and token.
M. MUMBL. Now, by the token that God tokened, brother,
I will deliver no token, one nor other.
I have once been so shent for your master's pleasure,
As I will not be again for all his treasure.
D. DOUGH. He will thank you, woman.
M. MUMBL. I will none of his thank. [_Exit M. Mumbl._[95]
D. DOUGH. I ween I am a prophet; this gear will prove blank.
But what, should I home again without answer go?
It were better go to Rome on my head than so[96].
I will tarry here this month, but some of the house
Shall take it of me, and then I care not a louse.
But yonder cometh forth a wench or a lad:
If he have not one Lombard's touch[97], my luck is bad.
ACTUS II., SCÆNA 3.
TRUEPENNY, D. DOUGH., TIBET T., ANNOT AL.
TRUEPENNY. I am clean lost for lack of merry company;
We 'gree not half well within, our wenches and I:
They will command like mistresses, they will forbid;
If they be not served, Truepenny must be chid.
Let them be as merry now, as ye can desire:
With turning of a hand our mirth lieth in the mire.
I cannot skill of such changeable mettle,
There is nothing with them but, In dock, out nettle.[98]
D. DOUGH. Whether is it better that I speak to him first,
Or he first to me? It is good to cast the worst.
If I begin first, he will smell all my purpose:
Otherwise I shall not need anything to disclose. [_Aside._
TRUEPENNY. What boy have we yonder? I will see what he is.
D. DOUGH. He cometh to me. It is hereabout, i-wis. [_Aside._
TRUEPENNY. Wouldest thou ought, friend, that thou lookest so about?
D. DOUGH. Yea; but whether ye can help me or no, I doubt.
I seek to one Mistress Custance house here dwelling.
TRUEPENNY. It is my mistress ye seek to, by your telling.
D. DOUGH. Is there any of that name here but she?
TRUEPENNY. Not one in all the whole town that I know, pardè.
D. DOUGH. A widow she is, I trow.
TRUEPENNY. And what, and she be?
D. DOUGH. But ensured to an husband?
TRUEPENNY. Yea, so think we.
D. DOUGH. And I dwell with her husband that trusteth to be.
TRUEPENNY. In faith, then must thou needs be welcome to me.
Let us, for acquaintance, shake hands together,
And, whate'er thou be, heartily welcome hither.
TIB. TALK.[99] Well, Truepenny, never but flinging?
AN. ALYFACE. And frisking?
TRUEPENNY. Well, Tibet and Annot, still swinging and whisking?
TIB. TALK. But ye roil abroad.
AN. ALYFACE. In the street everywhere.
TRUEPENNY. Where are ye twain? in chambers, when ye meet me there?
But come hither, fools: I have one now by the hand,
Servant to him that must be our mistress' husband;
Bid him welcome.
AN. ALYFACE. To me truly he is welcome.
TIB. TALK. Forsooth and, as I may say, heartily welcome.
D. DOUGH. I thank you, mistress maids.
AN. ALYFACE. I hope we shall better know.
TIB. TALK. And when will our new master come?
D. DOUGH. Shortly, I trow.
TIB. TALK. I would it were to-morrow; for, till he resort,
Our mistress, being a widow, hath small comfort:
And I heard our nurse speak of an husband to-day,
Ready for our mistress; a rich man and a gay.
And we shall go in our French hoods every day:
In our silk cassocks (I warrant you) fresh and gay;
In our trick ferdegews and billiments of gold;
Brave in our suits of change, seven double fold.
Then shall ye see Tibet, sirs, tread the moss so trim;
Nay, why said I tread? ye shall see her glide and swim;
Not lumperdy-clumperdy, like our spaniel Rig.
TRUEPENNY. Marry, then, prick-me-dainty; come, toast me a fig.
Who shall then know our Tib Talkapace, trow ye?
AN. ALYFACE. And why not Annot Alyface as fine as she?
TRUEPENNY. And what, had Tom Truepenny a father or none?
AN. ALYFACE. Then our pretty new-come-man will look to be one.
TRUEPENNY. We four, I trust, shall be a jolly merry knot.
Shall we sing a fit[100] to welcome our friend, Annot?
AN. ALYFACE. Perchance, he cannot sing.
D. DOUGH. I am at all assays.
TIB. TALK. By Cock, and the better welcome to us always.
_Here they sing:_
_A thing very fit_
_For them that have wit,_
_And are fellows knit,_
_Servants in one house to be;_
_As fast for to sit,_
_And not oft to flit,_
_Nor vary a whit,_
_But lovingly to agree._
_No man complaining,_
_No other disdaining,_
_For loss or for gaining._
_But fellows or friends to be;_
_No grudge remaining,_
_No work refraining,_
_Nor help restraining,_
_But lovingly to agree._
_No man for despite,_
_By word or by write,_
_His fellow to twite,_
_But further in honesty;_
_No good turns entwite,_
_Nor old sores recite,_
_But let all go quite,_
_And lovingly to agree._
_After drudgery,_
_When they be weary,_
_Then to be merry,_
_To laugh and sing they be free;_
_With chip and cherry,_
_Heigh derry derry,_
_Trill on the bery,_
_And lovingly to agree_.
TIB. TALK. Will you now in with us unto our mistress go?
D. DOUGH. I have first for my master an errand or two.
But I have here from him a token and a ring;
They shall have most thank of her, that first doth it bring.
TIB. TALK. Marry, that will I.
TRUEPENNY. See, and Tibet snatch not now!
TIB. TALK. And why may not I, sir, get thanks as well as you?
[_Exit._
AN. ALYFACE. Yet get ye not all, we will go with you both,
And have part of your thanks, be ye never so loth.
[_Exit omnes._
D. DOUGH. So my hands are rid of it, I care for no more.
I may now return home: so durst I not afore.
[_Exit._
ACTUS II., SCÆNA 4.
C. CUSTANCE, TIBET, ANNOT ALYFACE, TRUEPENNY.
C. CUSTANCE. Nay, come forth all three; and come hither, pretty maid:
Will not so many forewarnings make you afraid?
TIB. TALK. Yes, forsooth.
C. CUSTANCE. But still be a runner up and down?
Still be a bringer of tidings and tokens to town?
TIB. TALK. No, forsooth, mistress.
C. CUSTANCE. Is all your delight and joy
In whisking and ramping abroad, like a Tom-boy?
TIB. TALK. Forsooth, these were there too, Annot and Truepenny.
TRUEPENNY. Yea, but ye alone took it, ye cannot deny.
AN. ALYFACE. Yea, that ye did.
TIB. TALK. But, if I had not, ye twain would.
C. CUSTANCE. You great calf, ye should have more wit, so ye should.
[_To Truep._
But why should any of you take such things in hand?
TIB. TALK. Because it came from him that must be your husband.
C. CUSTANCE. How do ye know that?
TIB. TALK. Forsooth, the boy did say so.
C. CUSTANCE. What was his name?
AN. ALYFACE. We asked not.
C. CUSTANCE. No, did [ye not?]
AN. ALYFACE. He is not far gone, of likelihood.
TRUEPENNY. I will see.
C. CUSTANCE. If thou canst find him in the street, bring him to me.
TRUEPENNY. Yes. [_Exeat._
C. CUSTANCE. Well, ye naughty girls, if ever I perceive
That henceforth you do letters or tokens receive,
To bring unto me from any person or place,
Except ye first show me the party face to face,
Either thou, or thou, full truly abi'[101] thou shalt.
TIB. TALK. Pardon this, and the next time powder me in salt.
C. CUSTANCE. I shall make all girls by you twain to beware.
TIB. TALK. If I ever offend again, do not me spare.
But if ever I see that false boy any more,
By your mistresship's licence, I tell you afore,
I will rather have my coat twenty times swinged,
Than on the naughty wag not to be avenged.
C. CUSTANCE. Good wenches would not so ramp abroad idly,
But keep within doors, and ply their work earnestly.
If one would speak with me, that is a man likely,
Ye shall have right good thank to bring me word quickly;
But otherwise with messages to come in post,
From henceforth I promise you shall be to your cost.
Get you into your work.
TIB. AND ANNOT. Yes, forsooth.
C. CUSTANCE. Hence, both twain.
And let me see you play me such a part again!
[_Ex. Tib. and Annot._
TRUEPENNY (_re-entering_). Mistress, I have run past the far end of
the street,
Yet can I not yonder crafty boy see nor meet.
C. CUSTANCE. No!
TRUEPENNY. Yet I looked as far beyond the people
As one may see out of the top of Paul's steeple.
C. CUSTANCE. Hence, in at doors, and let me no more be vext!
TRUEPENNY. Forgive me this one fault, and lay on for the next.[102]
C. CUSTANCE. Now will I in too, for I think, so God me mend,
This will prove some foolish matter in the end. [_Exeat._
FOOTNOTES:
[87] The idea is borrowed from Alexander's celebrated reply to
Parmenio.--_Cooper._
[88] A night has passed between the first and second acts.--_Cooper._
[89] A tune: generally a mournful one.
[90] A flageolet.
[91] A lute, or guitar.
[92]
"What have ye of the Lord Dakers?
He maketh vs _Jacke Rakers_;
He says we are but crakers."
--Skelton's _Why come ye not to Court?_
See also the same author's "Speke Parrot."--_Cooper._
[93] _Passe-temps_, pastime, sport. So in act iv., sc. vi.--
"Do ye think, Dame Custance,
That in this wooing I have meant ought but _pastance_?"
Again, act v., scene 2--
"Truly, most dear spouse, nought was done but for _pastance_."
--_Cooper._
[94] [Shaken.]
[95] [In the original, D. Doughty is made to go out.]
[96] [Perhaps a sort of allusion to the proverb, To go to Rome with a
mortar on one's head.]
[97] A Lombard's touchstone, to try gold and silver. See "Richard
III.," act iv., sc. 2.--_Cooper._
[98] A proverbial expression, relating to a still common
practice.--_Cooper._
[99] Tib and Annot would seem to enter here.--_Cooper._
[100] A fit usually means the division of a ballad, but here it is to
be understood as a song.--_Cooper._
[101] _i.e._, _Abide_ the consequences, rue, or suffer for. See "A
Midsummer Night's Dream," act iii., sc. 2.--_Cooper._
ACTUS III., SCÆNA 1.
MATTHEW MERRYGREEK.
M. MERRY. Now say this again: he hath somewhat to doing
Which followeth the trace of one that is wooing;
Specially that hath no more wit in his head,
Than my cousin Roister Doister withal is led.
I am sent in all haste to espy and to mark,
How our letters and tokens are likely to wark.
Master Roister Doister must have answer in haste,
For he loveth not to spend much labour in waste.
Now as for Christian Custance, by this light,
Though she had not her troth to Gawin Goodluck plight,
Yet rather than with such a loutish dolt to marry,
I daresay would live a poor life solitary.
But fain would I speak with Custance, if I wist how,
To laugh at the matter. Yond cometh one forth now.
ACTUS III., SCÆNA 2.
TIBET. M. MERRYGREEK (_aside_).
TIB. TALK. Ah! that I might but once in my life have a sight
Of him who made us all so ill-shent! By this light,
He should never escape, if I had him by the ear,
But even from his head I would it bite or tear.
Yea, and if one of them were not enou',
I would bite them both off, I make God avow.
M. MERRY. What is he, whom this little mouse doth so threaten?
[_Aside._
TIB. TALK. I would teach him, I trow, to make girls shent or beaten.
M. MERRY. I will call her. Maid, with whom are ye so hasty?
TIB. TALK. Not with you, sir, but with a little wage-pasty;
A deceiver of folks by subtle craft and guile.
M. MERRY. I know where she is: Dobinet hath wrought some wile.
TIB. TALK. He brought a ring and token, which he said was sent
From our dame's husband, but I wot well I was shent;
For it liked her as well (to tell you no lies)
As water in a[103] ship, or salt cast in her eyes:
And yet, whence it came, neither we nor she can tell.
M. MERRY. We shall have sport anon: I like this very well.
[_Aside._
And dwell ye here with mistress Custance, fair maid?
TIB. TALK. Yea, marry do I, sir: what would ye have said?
M. MERRY. A little message unto her, by word of mouth.
TIB. TALK. No messages, by your leave, nor tokens forsooth.
M. MERRY. Then help me to speak with her.
TIB. TALK. With a good will that.
Here she cometh forth. Now speak--ye know best what.
C. CUSTANCE. None other life with you, maid, but abroad to skip?
TIB. TALK. Forsooth, here is one would speak with your mistresship.
C. CUSTANCE. Ah, have ye been learning of mo messages now?
TIB. TALK. I would not hear his mind, but bad him show it to you.
C. CUSTANCE. In at doors!
TIB. TALK. I am gone. [_Exit._
M. MERRY. Dame Custance, God ye save!
C. CUSTANCE. Welcome, friend Merrygreek; and what thing would ye have?
M. MERRY. I am come to you a little matter to break.
C. CUSTANCE. But see it be honest, else better not to speak.
M. MERRY. How feel ye yourself affected here of late?
C. CUSTANCE. I feel no manner change, but after the old rate.
But whereby do ye mean?
M. MERRY. Concerning marriage.
Doth not love lade you?
C. CUSTANCE. I feel no such carriage.
M. MERRY. Do ye feel no pangs of dotage? Answer me right.
C. CUSTANCE. I doat so, that I make but one sleep all the night.
But what need all these words?
M. MERRY. O Jesus! will ye see
What dissembling creatures these same women be? [_Aside._
The gentleman ye wot of, whom ye do so love,
That ye would fain marry him, if he durst it move,
Among other rich widows which are of him glad,
Lest ye for lesing of him perchance might run mad,
Is now contented that, upon your suit making,
Ye be as one in election of taking.
C. CUSTANCE. What a tale is this! That I wot of! Whom I love!
M. MERRY. Yea, and he is as loving a worm again as a dove.
E'en of very pity he is willing you to take,
Because ye shall not destroy yourself for his sake.
C. CUSTANCE. Marry, God 'ield[104] his maship! whatever he be,
It is gentmanly spoken.
M. MERRY. Is it not, trow ye?
If ye have the grace now to offer yourself, ye speed.
C. CUSTANCE. As much as though I did; this time it shall not need.
But what gentleman is it, I pray you tell me plain,
That wooeth so finely?
M. MERRY. Lo, where ye be again!
As though ye knew him not!
C. CUSTANCE. Tush! ye speak in jest.
M. MERRY. Nay, sure the party is in good knacking earnest,
And have you he will (he saith) and have you he must.
C. CUSTANCE. I am promised during my life, that is just.
M. MERRY. Marry, so thinketh he--unto him alone.
C. CUSTANCE. No creature hath my faith and troth but one,
That is Gawin Goodluck: and if it be not he,
He hath no title this way, whatever he be,
For I know none to whom I have such words spoken.
M. MERRY. Ye know him not, you, by his letter and token?
C. CUSTANCE. Indeed true it is, that a letter I have,
But I never read it yet, as God me save.
M. MERRY. Ye a woman? and your letter so long unread!
C. CUSTANCE. Ye may thereby know what haste I have to wed.
But now, who is it for my hand? I know by guess.
M. MERRY. Ah! well, I say--
C. CUSTANCE. It is Roister Doister, doubtless.
M. MERRY. Will ye never leave this dissimulation?
Ye know him not?