Scene 3
Enter Timon in the woods , with a spade .
TIMON
O blessèd breeding sun , draw from the Earth
Rotten humidity ! Below thy sister’s orb
Infect the air ! Twinned brothers of one womb ,
Whose procreation , residence , and birth
Scarce is dividant , touch them with several fortunes ,
The greater scorns the lesser . Not nature ,
To whom all sores lay siege , can bear great fortune
But by contempt of nature .
Raise me this beggar , and deny ’t that lord ;
The Senators shall bear contempt hereditary ,
The beggar native honor .
It is the pasture lards the brother’s sides ,
The want that makes him lean . Who dares , who
dares
[123] ACT 4. SC. 3 In purity of manhood stand upright
And say ‘This man’s a flatterer’ ? If one be ,
So are they all , for every grise of fortune
Is smoothed by that below . The learnèd pate
Ducks to the golden fool . All’s obliquy .
There’s nothing level in our cursèd natures
But direct villainy . Therefore be abhorred
All feasts , societies , and throngs of men .
His semblable , yea , himself , Timon disdains .
Destruction fang mankind ! Earth , yield me roots !
Who seeks for better of thee , sauce his palate
With thy most operant poison ! ( Digging , he finds
gold . ) What is here ?
Gold ? Yellow , glittering , precious gold ?
No , gods , I am no idle votarist .
Roots , you clear heavens ! Thus much of this will
make
Black white , foul fair , wrong right ,
Base noble , old young , coward valiant .
Ha , you gods ! Why this ? What this , you gods ? Why ,
this
Will lug your priests and servants from your sides ,
Pluck stout men’s pillows from below their heads .
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions , bless th’ accursed ,
Make the hoar leprosy adored , place thieves
And give them title , knee , and approbation
With senators on the bench . This is it
That makes the wappened widow wed again ;
She whom the spital house and ulcerous sores
Would cast the gorge at , this embalms and spices
To th’ April day again . Come , damnèd earth ,
Thou common whore of mankind , that puts odds
Among the rout of nations , I will make thee
Do thy right nature . ( March afar off . ) Ha ? A drum ?
Thou ’rt quick ,
[125] ACT 4. SC. 3 But yet I’ll bury thee . Thou ’lt go , strong thief ,
When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand .
Nay , stay thou out for earnest .
He buries the gold , keeping some out .
Enter Alcibiades , with Drum and Fife , in warlike
manner , and Phrynia and Timandra .
ALCIBIADES
What art thou there ? Speak .
TIMON
A beast , as thou art . The canker gnaw thy heart
For showing me again the eyes of man !
ALCIBIADES
What is thy name ? Is man so hateful to thee
That art thyself a man ?
TIMON
I am Misanthropos and hate mankind .
For thy part , I do wish thou wert a dog ,
That I might love thee something .
ALCIBIADES
I know thee well .
But in thy fortunes am unlearned and strange .
TIMON
I know thee too , and more than that I know thee
I not desire to know . Follow thy drum .
With man’s blood paint the ground gules , gules !
Religious canons , civil laws are cruel .
Then what should war be ? This fell whore of thine
Hath in her more destruction than thy sword ,
For all her cherubin look .
PHRYNIA
Thy lips rot off !
TIMON
I will not kiss thee . Then the rot returns
To thine own lips again .
ALCIBIADES
How came the noble Timon to this change ?
TIMON
As the moon does , by wanting light to give .
[127] ACT 4. SC. 3 But then renew I could not , like the moon ;
There were no suns to borrow of .
ALCIBIADES
Noble Timon , what friendship may I do thee ?
TIMON
None , but to maintain my opinion .
ALCIBIADES
What is it , Timon ?
TIMON
Promise me friendship , but perform none . If
thou wilt not promise , the gods plague thee , for
thou art a man . If thou dost perform , confound
thee , for thou art a man .
ALCIBIADES
I have heard in some sort of thy miseries .
TIMON
Thou saw’st them when I had prosperity .
ALCIBIADES
I see them now . Then was a blessèd time .
TIMON
As thine is now , held with a brace of harlots .
TIMANDRA
Is this th’ Athenian minion whom the world
Voiced so regardfully ?
TIMON
Art thou Timandra ?
TIMANDRA
Yes .
TIMON
Be a whore still . They love thee not that use thee .
Give them diseases , leaving with thee their lust .
Make use of thy salt hours . Season the slaves
For tubs and baths . Bring down rose-cheeked youth
To the tub-fast and the diet .
TIMANDRA
Hang thee , monster !
ALCIBIADES
Pardon him , sweet Timandra , for his wits
Are drowned and lost in his calamities . —
I have but little gold of late , brave Timon ,
The want whereof doth daily make revolt
[129] ACT 4. SC. 3 In my penurious band . I have heard and grieved
How cursèd Athens , mindless of thy worth ,
Forgetting thy great deeds when neighbor states ,
But for thy sword and fortune , trod upon them —
TIMON
I prithee , beat thy drum and get thee gone .
ALCIBIADES
I am thy friend and pity thee , dear Timon .
TIMON
How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble ?
I had rather be alone .
ALCIBIADES
Why , fare thee well . Here is some gold for thee .
TIMON
Keep it . I cannot eat it .
ALCIBIADES
When I have laid proud Athens on a heap —
TIMON
Warr’st thou ’gainst Athens ?
ALCIBIADES
Ay , Timon , and have cause .
TIMON
The gods confound them all in thy conquest ,
And thee after , when thou hast conquered !
ALCIBIADES
Why me , Timon ?
TIMON
That by killing of villains
Thou wast born to conquer my country .
Put up thy gold . Go on . Here’s gold . Go on .
Be as a planetary plague when Jove
Will o’er some high-viced city hang his poison
In the sick air . Let not thy sword skip one .
Pity not honored age for his white beard ;
He is an usurer . Strike me the counterfeit matron ;
It is her habit only that is honest ,
Herself’s a bawd . Let not the virgin’s cheek
Make soft thy trenchant sword , for those milk paps ,
That through the window-bars bore at men’s eyes ,
[131] ACT 4. SC. 3 Are not within the leaf of pity writ ,
But set them down horrible traitors . Spare not the
babe ,
Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their
mercy ;
Think it a bastard whom the oracle
Hath doubtfully pronounced the throat shall cut ,
And mince it sans remorse . Swear against objects ;
Put armor on thine ears and on thine eyes ,
Whose proof nor yells of mothers , maids , nor babes ,
Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding ,
Shall pierce a jot . ( He offers gold . ) There’s gold to
pay thy soldiers .
Make large confusion and , thy fury spent ,
Confounded be thyself ! Speak not . Begone .
ALCIBIADES
Hast thou gold yet ? I’ll take the gold thou givest me ,
Not all thy counsel .
TIMON
Dost thou or dost thou not , heaven’s curse upon thee !
BOTH WOMEN
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 . ( He begins throwing gold
into their aprons . ) 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
[133] ACT 4. SC. 3 With burdens of the dead — some that were hanged ,
No matter ; wear them , betray with them . Whore
still .
Paint till a horse may mire upon your face .
A pox of wrinkles !
BOTH WOMEN
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 curled-pate
ruffians bald ,
And let the unscarred 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 !
BOTH WOMEN
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 .
[135]ACT 4. SC. 3
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
, to the Women
We but offend him . —
Strike .
The drum sounds ; all but Timon exit .
TIMON
That nature , being sick of man’s unkindness ,
Should yet be hungry !
( He digs . ) Common mother ,
thou
Whose womb unmeasurable and infinite breast
Teems and feeds all ; whose selfsame mettle —
Whereof thy proud child , arrogant man , is puffed —
Engenders the black toad and adder blue ,
The gilded newt and eyeless venomed worm ,
With all th’ abhorrèd births below crisp heaven
Whereon Hyperion’s quick’ning fire doth shine :
Yield him who all thy human sons do 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 plow-torn leas ,
Whereof ingrateful man with liquorish drafts
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 .
[137]ACT 4. SC. 3
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 future . Why this spade ? This place ?
This slavelike habit and these looks of care ?
Thy flatterers yet wear silk , drink wine , lie soft ,
Hug their diseased 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 . Had’st 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 outlived 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 unhousèd trunks ,
[139] ACT 4. SC. 3 To the conflicting elements exposed ,
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 crowned 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 shouldst desire to die , being miserable .
TIMON
Not by his breath that is more miserable .
Thou art a slave whom Fortune’s tender arm
With favor never clasped but bred a dog .
Hadst thou , like us from our first swathe , proceeded
The sweet degrees that this brief world affords
[141] ACT 4. SC. 3 To such as may the passive drugs of it
Freely command , thou wouldst have plunged
thyself
In general riot , melted down thy youth
In different beds of lust , and never learned
The icy precepts of respect , but followed
The sugared 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 flattered 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 , begone .
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 .
He gnaws a root .
APEMANTUS
, offering food
Here , I will mend thy feast .
[143]ACT 4. SC. 3
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 botched .
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
mocked thee for too much curiosity . In thy rags
thou know’st none , but art despised 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 thou ’dst hated meddlers sooner , thou
shouldst have loved thyself better now . What man
didst thou ever know unthrift that was beloved
after his means ?
[145]ACT 4. SC. 3
TIMON
Who , without those means thou talk’st of , didst
thou ever know beloved ?
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 accused by
the ass . If thou wert the ass , thy dullness would
torment thee , and still thou lived’st 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 a bear , thou wouldst be killed by the horse .
Wert thou a horse , thou wouldst be seized by the
leopard . Wert thou a leopard , thou wert germane
to the lion , and the spots of thy kindred were
jurors on thy life . All thy safety were remotion , and
thy defense absence . What beast couldst thou be
that were not subject to a beast ? And what a beast
art thou already that seest not thy loss in
transformation !
APEMANTUS
If thou couldst please me with speaking to
[147] ACT 4. SC. 3 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 .
Timon throws a stone at Apemantus .
APEMANTUS
Beast !
TIMON
Slave !
APEMANTUS
Toad !
[149]ACT 4. SC. 3
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 .
( To his 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 , loved , 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 thou ’st gold ;
Thou wilt be thronged to shortly .
TIMON
Thronged to ?
APEMANTUS
Ay .
TIMON
Thy back , I prithee .
APEMANTUS
Live and love thy misery .
TIMON
Long live so , and so die . I am quit .
Enter the Banditti .
APEMANTUS
More things like men . — Eat , Timon , and abhor
them .
Apemantus exits .
FIRST BANDIT
Where should he have this gold ? It is
[151] ACT 4. SC. 3 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 noised 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 ?
OTHERS
Where ?
SECOND BANDIT
’Tis his description .
THIRD BANDIT
He . I know him .
ALL
Save thee , Timon .
TIMON
Now , thieves ?
ALL
Soldiers , not thieves .
TIMON
Both , too , and women’s sons .
ALL
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 huswife 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 professed , that you work not
In holier shapes , for there is boundless theft
In limited professions . Rascal thieves ,
[153] ACT 4. SC. 3 Here’s gold . ( He gives them 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
More 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 unchecked theft . Love not yourselves . Away !
Rob one another . There’s more gold . ( He gives them
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 less for this I give you ,
And gold confound you howsoe’er ! Amen .
THIRD BANDIT
Has almost charmed 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 .
Thieves exit .
Enter Flavius the Steward , to Timon .
FLAVIUS
O you gods !
[155] ACT 4. SC. 3 Is yond despised and ruinous man my lord ?
Full of decay and flailing ? O , monument
And wonder of good deeds evilly bestowed !
What an alteration of honor 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 wished 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 thou ’rt 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 ,
Ne’er did poor steward wear a truer grief
For his undone lord than mine eyes for you .
He weeps .
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 .
[157] ACT 4. SC. 3 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 .
He offers money .
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 ,
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 placed too late .
You should have feared 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 unmatchèd mind ,
[159] ACT 4. SC. 3 Care of your food and living . And believe it ,
My most honored 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 . ( Timon offers gold . ) The gods out of my
misery
Has sent thee treasure . Go , live rich and happy ,
But thus conditioned : thou shalt build from men ;
Hate all , curse all , show charity to none ,
But let the famished 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 .
They exit .