Ther. If to-morrow be a fair day, by eleven o'clock it will go one way or other; howsoever, he shall pay for me ere he has me. Patr. Your answer, sir.

Ther. Fare you well, with all my heart.

Achil. Why, but he is not in this tune, is he?

Ther. No, but he 's out o' tune thus. What music will be in him when Hector has knocked out his brains, I know not; but, I am sure, none unless the fiddler Apollo get his sinews to

make catlings on.

Achil. Come, thou shalt bear a letter to him straight.

Ther. Let me bear another to his horse; for that's the more capable creature.

Achil. My mind is troubled, like a fountain stirred;

And I myself see not the bottom of it.

Ther. Would the fountain of your mind were clear again, that I might water an ass at it! I had rather be a tick in a sheep, than such a valiant ignorance.

SHAKSPEARE

Kent.

BANISHMENT OF THE DUKE OF KENT.

LEAR KENT.

Royal Lear,

Whom I have ever honored as my king,

Loved as my father, as my master followed,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers,

Lear. The bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft.
Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade

The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly

When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?
Think'st thou, that duty shall have dread to speak,

When power to flattery bows? To plainness honor's bound,
When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom;
And, in thy best consideration, check

This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment;
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least;
Nor are those empty-hearted, whose low sound
Reverbs no hollowness.

Lear.

Kent, on thy life, no more.

Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage against thine enemies; nor fear to lose it,

Thy safety being the motive.

Lear.

Out of my sight Inalt

Kent. See better, Lear, and let me still remain

The true blank of thine eye.

Lear. Now, by Apollo,

Kent.

Now, by Apollo, king,

Thou swear'st thy gods in vain.

Lear. (Laying his hand on his sword.) O vassal! miscreant!
Kent. Do;

Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow

Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy gift;

Or, whilst I can vent clamor from my throat,
I'll tell thee, thou dost evil.

Lear.

Hear me, recreant!
On thine allegiance hear me !--

Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,
(Which we durst never yet,) and, with strained prido,
To come betwixt our sentence and our power;
(Which nor our nature nor our place can bear;)
Our potency make good, take thy reward.
Five days we do allot thee, for provision
To shield thee from diseases of the world;
And, on the sixth, to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following,
Thy banished trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! by Jupiter,
This shall not be revoked.

Kent. Fare thee well, king: since thus thou wilt appear, Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.

The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid, (To Cordelia.) That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said

And your large speeches may your deeds approve,

(To Regan and Goneril.) That good effects may spring from deeds of love. Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu; He 'll shape his old course in a country new.

SHAKSPEARE.

Lear. Go you before to Gloster with these letters: acquaint my daughter no further with anything you know, than comes from her demand out of the letter. If your diligence be not speedy, I shall be there before you.

Kent. I will not sleep, my lord, till I have delivered your letter.

(Exit.)

Fool. If a man's brains were in his heels, were 't not in danger of kibes?

Lear. Ay, boy.

Fool. Then, I pr'y thee, be merry; thy wit shall not go slipshod.

Lear. Ha, ha, ha!

Fool. Shalt see, thy other daughter will use thee kindly; for though she's as like this as a crab is like an apple, yet I can tell what I can tell.

Lear. Why, what canst thou tell, my boy?

· Fool. She will taste as like this, as a crab does to a crab. Thou canst tell why one's nose stands i' the middle of his face? Lear. No.

Fool. Why, to keep his eyes on either side his nose; that what a man cannot smell out, he may spy into.

Lear. I did her wrong:

Fool. Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell?

Lear. No.

Fool. Nor I neither; but I can tell why a snail has a house. Lear. Why?

Fool. Why, to put his head in; not to give it away to his daughters, and leave his horns without a case.

Lear. I will forget my nature. So kind a father! horses ready?

Be my

Fool. Thy asses are gone about 'em. The reason why the seven stars are no more than seven, is a pretty reason.

Lear. Because they are not eight?

Fool. Yes, indeed; thou wouldst make a good fool.

Lear. To take it again perforce !-Monster ingratitude!

Fool. If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I'd have thee beaten for

being old before thy time.

Lear. How's that?

Fool. Thou shouldst not have been old, before thou hadst been wise.

Lear. O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! Keep me in temper; I would not be mad!

(Enter Gentleman.)

How now! Are the horses ready?

Gent. Ready, my lord.

Lear. Come, boy.

Fool. She that is maid now, and laughs at my departure, Shall not be a maid long, unless things be cut shorter.

SHAKSPEARP.

THE LOYAL FOLLOWER.

LEAR KENT.

(Enter Kent, disguised.)

Kent. If but as well I other accents borrow,
That can my speech diffuse, my good intent
May carry through itself to that full issue

For which I razed my likeness. Now, banished Kent,
If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemned,
(So may it come !) thy master, whom thou lovest,.
Shall find thee full of labors.

(Horns within. Enter Lear, Knights, and Attendants.) Lear. Let me not stay a jot for dinner; go, get it ready. (Exit an Attendant.) How now, what art thou?

Kent. A man, sir.

Lear. What dost thou profess? What wouldst thou with us? Kent. I do profess to be no less than I seem; to serve him truly, that will put me in trust; to love him that is honest; to converse with him that is wise, and says little; to fear judgment; to fight, when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish.

Lear. What art thou?

Kent. A very honest-hearted fellow, and as poor as the king. Lear. If thou be as poor for a subject, as he is for a king, thou art poor enough. What wouldst thou?

Kent. Service.

Lear. Who wouldst thou serve?

Kent. You.

Lear. Dost thou know me, fellow?

Kent. No, sir; but you have that in your countenance, which I would fain call master.

Lear. What's that?

Kent. Authority.

Lear. What services canst thou do?

Kent. I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, mar a curious tale in telling it, and deliver a plain message bluntly: that which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is diligence.

Lear. How old art thou?

Kent. Not so young, sir, to love a woman for singing; nor so old, to dote on her for anything. I have years on my back, forty-eight.

Lear. Follow me; thou shalt serve me; if I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part from thee yet.

SHAKSPEARE

Stew. Pr'y thee, if thou love me, tell me.

Kent. I love thee not.

Stew. Why, then I care not for thee.

Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury pinfold, I would make thee care for me.

Stew. Why dost thou use me thus? I know thee not.

Kent. Fellow, I know thee.

Stew. What dost thou know me for?

Kent. A knave; a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave; a glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition.

Stew. Why, what a monstrous fellow art thou, thus to rail on one, that is neither known of thee, nor knows thee?

Kent. What a brazen-faced varlet art thou, to deny thou knowest me? Is it two days ago, since I tripped up thy heels, and beat thee, before the king? Draw, you rogue: for, though it be night, the moon shines; I'll make a sop o' the moonshine of you. Draw, you culionly barber-monger, draw.

(Drawing his sword.)

Stew. Away; I have nothing to do with thee.

Kent. Draw, you rascal: you come with letters against the king; and take vanity the puppet's part, against the royalty of her father. Draw, you rogue, or I'll so carbonado your shanks draw, you rascal; come your ways.

Stew. Help, ho! murder! help!

Kent. Strike, you slave; stand, rogue, stand; you neat slave, strike.

Stew. Help, ho! murder! murder !

(Beating him.)

(Enter Edmund, Cornwall, Regan, Gloster, and Servants.) Edm. How now? What's the matter? Part.