> SCENE: Athens and the neighbouring woods
ACT I. SCENE I.
Athens. TIMON"S house
Enter POET, PAINTER, JEWELLER, MERCHANT, and MERCER, at several doors
POET. Good day, sir.
PAINTER. I am glad y"are well.
POET. I have not seen you long; how goes the world?
PAINTER. It wears, sir, as it grows.
POET. Ay, that"s well known.
But what particular rarity? What strange, Which manifold record not matches? See, Magic of bounty, all these spirits thy power Hath conjur"d to attend! I know the merchant.
PAINTER. I know them both; th" other"s a jeweller.
MERCHANT. O, "tis a worthy lord!
JEWELLER. Nay, that"s most fix"d.
MERCHANT. A most incomparable man; breath"d, as it were, To an untirable and continuate goodness.
He pa.s.ses.
JEWELLER. I have a jewel here- MERCHANT. O, pray let"s see"t. For the Lord Timon, sir?
JEWELLER. If he will touch the estimate. But for that- POET. When we for recompense have prais"d the vile, It stains the glory in that happy verse Which aptly sings the good.
MERCHANT. [Looking at the jewel] "Tis a good form.
JEWELLER. And rich. Here is a water, look ye.
PAINTER. You are rapt, sir, in some work, some dedication To the great lord.
POET. A thing slipp"d idly from me.
Our poesy is as a gum, which oozes From whence "tis nourish"d. The fire i" th" flint Shows not till it be struck: our gentle flame Provokes itself, and like the current flies Each bound it chafes. What have you there?
PAINTER. A picture, sir. When comes your book forth?
POET. Upon the heels of my presentment, sir.
Let"s see your piece.
PAINTER. "Tis a good piece.
POET. So "tis; this comes off well and excellent.
PAINTER. Indifferent.
POET. Admirable. How this grace Speaks his own standing! What a mental power This eye shoots forth! How big imagination Moves in this lip! To th" dumbness of the gesture One might interpret.
PAINTER. It is a pretty mocking of the life.
Here is a touch; is"t good?
POET. I will say of it It tutors nature. Artificial strife Lives in these touches, livelier than life.
Enter certain SENATORS, and pa.s.s over
PAINTER. How this lord is followed!
POET. The senators of Athens- happy man!
PAINTER. Look, moe!
POET. You see this confluence, this great flood of visitors.
I have in this rough work shap"d out a man Whom this beneath world doth embrace and hug With amplest entertainment. My free drift Halts not particularly, but moves itself In a wide sea of tax. No levell"d malice Infects one comma in the course I hold, But flies an eagle flight, bold and forth on, Leaving no tract behind.
PAINTER. How shall I understand you?
POET. I will unbolt to you.
You see how all conditions, how all minds- As well of glib and slipp"ry creatures as Of grave and austere quality, tender down Their services to Lord Timon. His large fortune, Upon his good and gracious nature hanging, Subdues and properties to his love and tendance All sorts of hearts; yea, from the gla.s.s-fac"d flatterer To Apemantus, that few things loves better Than to abhor himself; even he drops down The knee before him, and returns in peace Most rich in Timon"s nod.
PAINTER. I saw them speak together.
POET. Sir, I have upon a high and pleasant hill Feign"d Fortune to be thron"d. The base o" th" mount Is rank"d with all deserts, all kind of natures That labour on the bosom of this sphere To propagate their states. Amongst them all Whose eyes are on this sovereign lady fix"d One do I personate of Lord Timon"s frame, Whom Fortune with her ivory hand wafts to her; Whose present grace to present slaves and servants Translates his rivals.
PAINTER. "Tis conceiv"d to scope.
This throne, this Fortune, and this hill, methinks, With one man beckon"d from the rest below, Bowing his head against the steepy mount To climb his happiness, would be well express"d In our condition.
POET. Nay, sir, but hear me on.
All those which were his fellows but of late- Some better than his value- on the moment Follow his strides, his lobbies fill with tendance, Rain sacrificial whisperings in his ear, Make sacred even his stirrup, and through him Drink the free air.
PAINTER. Ay, marry, what of these?
POET. When Fortune in her shift and change of mood Spurns down her late beloved, all his dependants, Which labour"d after him to the mountain"s top Even on their knees and hands, let him slip down, Not one accompanying his declining foot.
PAINTER. "Tis common.
A thousand moral paintings I can show That shall demonstrate these quick blows of Fortune"s More pregnantly than words. Yet you do well To show Lord Timon that mean eyes have seen The foot above the head.
Trumpets sound. Enter TIMON, addressing himself courteously to every suitor, a MESSENGER from VENTIDIUS talking with him; LUCILIUS and other servants following
TIMON. Imprison"d is he, say you?
MESSENGER. Ay, my good lord. Five talents is his debt; His means most short, his creditors most strait.
Your honourable letter he desires To those have shut him up; which failing, Periods his comfort.
TIMON. n.o.ble Ventidius! Well.
I am not of that feather to shake of My friend when he must need me. I do know him A gentleman that well deserves a help, Which he shall have. I"ll pay the debt, and free him.
MESSENGER. Your lordship ever binds him.
TIMON. Commend me to him; I will send his ransom; And being enfranchis"d, bid him come to me.
"Tis not enough to help the feeble up, But to support him after. Fare you well.
MESSENGER. All happiness to your honour! Exit
Enter an OLD ATHENIAN
OLD ATHENIAN. Lord Timon, hear me speak.
TIMON. Freely, good father.
OLD ATHENIAN. Thou hast a servant nam"d Lucilius.
TIMON. I have so; what of him?
OLD ATHENIAN. Most n.o.ble Timon, call the man before thee.
TIMON. Attends he here, or no? Lucilius!
LUCILIUS. Here, at your lordship"s service.
OLD ATHENIAN. This fellow here, Lord Timon, this thy creature, By night frequents my house. I am a man That from my first have been inclin"d to thrift, And my estate deserves an heir more rais"d Than one which holds a trencher.
TIMON. Well; what further?
OLD ATHENIAN. One only daughter have I, no kin else, On whom I may confer what I have got.
The maid is fair, o" th" youngest for a bride, And I have bred her at my dearest cost In qualities of the best. This man of thine Attempts her love; I prithee, n.o.ble lord, Join with me to forbid him her resort; Myself have spoke in vain.
TIMON. The man is honest.
OLD ATHENIAN. Therefore he will be, Timon.
His honesty rewards him in itself; It must not bear my daughter.
TIMON. Does she love him?
OLD ATHENIAN. She is young and apt: Our own precedent pa.s.sions do instruct us What levity"s in youth.