en'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 Moe 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 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 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