Conr. Away, you are an Afs, you are an Afs. Dog. Doft thou not fufpect my Place? doft thou not fufpect my Years? O that he were here to write me down an Afs! But Mafters, remember that I am an Afs, tho' it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an Afs; no thou Villain, thou art full of Piety, as fhall be prov'd upon thee by good Witnefs, I am a wife Fellow, and which is more, an Officer; and which is more an Houfhoulder; and which is more, as pretty a Piece of Flesh as any in Melfina, and one that knows the Law, go to, and a rich Fellow enough, go to, and a Fellow that hath had Loffes, and one that hath two Gowns, and every thing handfome about him, bring him away; O that I had been writ down an [Exit. Afs. A CT V. SCENE I. Enter Leonato and Antonio. Ant. IF you go on thus, you will kill your self, And 'tis not Wisdom thus to fecond Grief, Leon. I pray thee ceafe thy Counsel, Measure his Woe the length and breadth of mine, In every Lineament, Branch, Shape, and Form; If fuch a one will fmile and ftroke his Beard, And hallow, wag, cry hem, when he should groan, And I of him will gather Patience. Bb 3 But But there is no fuch Man; for Brother, Men To be fo moral, when he fhall endure The like himself; therefore give me no Counsel, Ant. Therein do Men from Children nothing differ. Leon. I pray thee Peace, I will be Flesh and Blood, For there was never yet Philofopher, That could endure the Tooth-ach patiently; Make thofe that do offend you fuffer too. Leon. There thou speak'st Reason, nay I will do fo, My Soul doth tell me, Hero is bely'd, And that fhall Claudio know, fo fhall the Prince, Enter Don Pedro and Claudio. Ant. Here comes the Prince and Claudio hastily. Cland. Good Day to both of you. Leon. Hear you, my Lords? Pedro. We have fome hafte, Leonato. Leon. Some hafte, my Lord! well fare you well, my Lord. Are you fo hafty now? well all is one. Pedro. Nay do not quarrel with us, good old Man. Some of us would lye low. Cland. Who wrongs him? . Leon. Marry thou doft wrong me, thou Diffembler thou: Nay never lay thy hand upon thy Sword, I fear thee not. Cand. Claud. Marry befhrew my Hand, If it should give your Age fuch Cause of Fear; Leon. Tufh, tufh, Man, never fleer and jeft at me, As under Privilege of Age to brag, What I have done, being young, or what would do, I fay thou haft bely'd my innocent Child, Thy Slander hath gone through and through her Heart, O in a Tomb where never Scandal flept, Leon. Thine Claudio, thine I fay. I'll prove it on his Body if he dare; Defpight his nice Fence, and his active Practice, Ant. He fhall kill two of us, and Men indeed; Win me and wear me, let him answer me; Come, follow me Boy, come Sir Boy; come, follow me, Sir Boy, I'll whip you from your foining Fence; Nay, as I am a Gentleman, I will. Leon. Brother. Ant. Content your felf, God knows I lov'd my Neice, And she is dead, flander'd to Death by Villains That dare as well anfwer a Man indeed, As I dare take a Serpent by the Tongue. Boys, Apes, Braggarts, Jacks, Milkfops. Leon. Brother Anthony. Ant. Hold you content; what Man? I know them, yea Bb 4 And And what they weigh, even to the utmoft Scruple: Leon. But Brother Anthony: Ant. Come, 'tis no matter, Do not you meddle, let me deal in this. Pedro. Gentlemen both, we will not wake your Patience; My Heart is forry for your Daughter's Death; But on my Honour the was charg'd with nothing But what was true, and very full of Proof. Leon. My Lord, my Lord. Pedro. I will not hear you. Enter Benedick. Leon. No! come Brother away, I will be heard. Exeunt ambe. Ant. And fhall, or fome of us will fmart for it. Pedro. See, fee, here comes the Man we went to feek. Claud. Now Signior, what News? Bene. Good Day, my Lord. Fedro. Welcome Signior; you are almost come to part almoft a Fray. Cland. We had like to have had our two Nofes fnapt off with two old Men without Teeth. for Pedro. Leonato and his Brother; what thinkft thou? Had we fought, I doubt we fhould have been too young them. Bene. In a falfe Quarrel there is no true Valour: I came to feck you both. Claud. We have been up and down to feek thee, for we are high proof Melancholly, and would fain have it beaten away: Wilt thou ufe thy Wit? Bene. It is in my Scabbard; fhall I draw it? Pedro. Doft thou wear thy Wit by thy Side? Claud. Never any did fo, tho' very many have been be fide their Wit. I will bid thee draw, as we do the Minstrels draw to pleafure us. Pedro. As I am an honeft Man he looks pale: Art thou Sick, or Angry? Claud Claud. What! Courage Man: What tho' Care kill'd a Cat, thou haft Mettle enough to kill Care. Ben. Sir, I fhall meet your Wit in the Career, and you charge it against me. I pray you chufe another Subje&. Claud. Nay, then give him another Staff, this laft was broke cross. Pedro. By this Light he changes more and more: I think he be angry indeed. Claud. If he be, he knows how to turn his Girdle. Claud. God blefs me from a Challenge. Bene. You are a Villain; I jeft not, I will make it good how you dare, with what you dare, and when you dare. Do me right, or I will proteft your Cowardife. You have kill'd a fweet Lady, and her Death fhall fall heavy on you. Let me hear from you, Cland. Well I will meet you, fo I may have good Cheer. Pedro. What a Feaft? Cland. I faith I thank him, he hath bid me to a Calves Head and a Capon, the which if I do not carve most curioufly, fay my Knife's naught. Shall I not find a Wood cock too? Bene. Sir, your Wit ambles well, it goes eafily. Pedro. I'll tell thee how Beatrice prais'd thy Wit the other day: I faid thou hadft a fine Wit; right fays fhe, a fine little one; no, faid I, a great Wit; right fays fhe, a great grofs one; nay faid I, a good Wit; juft faid fhe, it hurts no body; nay faid I, the Gentleman is wife; certain faid fhe, a wife Gentleman; nay faid I, he hath the Tongues; that I believe, faid fhe, for he fwore a thing to me on Monday night which he forfwore on Tuesday morning; there's a double Tongue, there's two Tongues. Thus did fhe an hour together tranf-fhape thy particular Virtues, yet at laft The concluded with a Sigh, thou waft the propereft Man in Italy. Claud. For the which the wept heartily, and faid she car'd not. Pedro. Yea that fhe did, but yet for all that, and if she did not hate him deadly, the would love him dearly, the old Man's Daughter told us all. Claud. |