Corn. Thou art a strange fellow: a tailor make a man? Kent. Ay, a tailor, sir; a stone-cutter, or a painter, could not have made him so ill, though they had been but two hours at the trade. Corn. Speak yet, how grew your quarrel? Stew. This ancient ruffian, sir, whose life I have spar'd, At suit of his grey beard, Kent. Thou whorson zed! thou unnecessary letter! -My lord, if you will give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain' into mortar, and daub the wall of a jakes with him.-Spare my grey beard, you wagtail? Corn. Peace, sirrah! You beastly knave, know you no reverence? Kent. Yes, sir; but anger has a privilege. Corn. Why art thou angry? Kent. That such a slave as this should wear a sword, Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as these, Like rats, oft bite the holy cords in twain Which are too intrinse' t'unloose: smooth every passion Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods; 9 this unbolted villain] Unbolted mortar is mortar made of unsifted lime, and therefore to break the lumps it is necessary to tread it by men in wooden shoes. This unbolted villain is therefore this coarse rascal. 1 Which are too intrinse] for intrinsecate. 2 and turn their halcyon beaks, &c.] The halcyon is the bird otherwise called the king-fisher. The vulgar opinion was, that this bird, if hung up, would vary with the wind, and by that means show from what point it blew. 3 epileptick visage !] The frighted countenance of a man ready to fall in a fit. Goose, if I had you upon Sarum plain, Glo. Say that. How fell you out? Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy, Than I and such a knave. Corn. Why dost thou call him knave? What's his offence? Kent. His countenance likes me not. Corn. No more, perchance, does mine, or his, or hers. Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain; I have seen better faces in my time, Than stands on any shoulder that I see Corn. These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness Than twenty silly ducking observants, That stretch their duties nicely. Kent. Sir, in good sooth, in sincere verity, Under the allowance of your grand aspéct, Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire On flickering Phoebus' front',- 4 Camelot.] Was the place where the romances say king Arthur kept his court in the West; so this alludes to some proverbial speech in those romances. Quite from his nature:] Forces his outside or his appearance to something totally different from his natural disposition. 7 On flickering Phoebus front. To flicker is to flutter, like the motion of a flame. Corn. What mean'st by this? Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you discommend so much. I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you, in a plain accent, was a plain knave: which, for my part, I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to it". Corn. What was the offence you gave him? It pleas'd the king his master, very late, Kent. None of these rogues, and cowards, But Ajax is their fool". Corn. Fetch forth the stocks, ho! You stubborn ancient knave, you reverend braggart, We'll teach you Kent. Sir, I am too old to learn: Call not your stocks for me: I serve the king; On whose employment I was sent to you: You shall do small respect, show too bold malice 7 though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to it.] Though I should win you, displeased as you now are, to like me so well as to entreat me to be a knave. JOHNSON. + "I never gave him any :"-MALOne. 8 -fleshment] A young soldier is said to flesh his sword, the first time he draws blood with it. Fleshment, therefore, is here metaphorically applied to the first act of service, which Kent, in his new capacity, had performed for his master. 66 キ here again."-MALONE. 9 But Ajax is their fool.] i. e. is a fool to them. Corn. Fetch forth the stocks: As I've life and honour, there shall he sit till noon. Reg. Till noon! till night, my lord; and all night too. Kent. Why, madam, if I were your father's dog, You should not use me so. Reg. Sir, being his knave, I will. [Stocks brought out. Corn. This is a fellow of the self-same colour Our sister speaks of :-Come, bring away the stocks. Glo. Let me beseech your grace not to do so: His fault is much, and the good king his master Will check him for't: your purpos'd low correction Is such, as basest and contemned'st wretches, For pilferings and most common trespasses, Are punish'd with: the king must take it ill, That he's so slightly valued in his messenger, Should have him thus restrain'd. Corn. I'll answer that. Reg. My sister may receive it much more worse, To have her gentleman abus'd, assaulted, For following her affairs.-Put in his legs.— Come, my good lord; away. [KENT is put in the Stocks'. [Exeunt REGAN and CORNWALL. Glo. I am sorry for thee, friend; 'tis the duke's plea sure, Whose disposition, all the world well knows, Will not be rubb'd, nor stopp'd: I'll entreat for thee. Kent. Pray, do not, sir: I have watch'd, and travell'd hard; Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I'll whistle. Glo. The duke's to blame in this; 'twill be ill taken. [Exit. 1 It should be remembered, that formerly in great houses, as still in some colleges, there were moveable stocks for the correction of the servants. FARMER. Kent. Good king, that must approve the common saw"! Thou out of heaven's benediction com'st To the warm sun! Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, Peruse this letter!--Nothing almost sees miracles, Losses their remedies:-All weary and o'er-watch'd, This shameful lodging. Fortune, good night; smile once more; turn thy wheel! [He sleeps. SCENE III. A Part of the Heath. Enter EDGAR. Edg. I heard myself proclaim'd; And, by the happy hollow of a tree, Escap'd the hunt. No port is free; no place, That guard, and most unusual vigilance, Does not attend my taking. While I may 'scape, To take the basest and most poorest shape, That ever penury, in contempt of man, Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth; Blanket my loins; elf all my hair in knots'; 2 Good king, that must approve the common saw! &c.] The saw alluded to, is in Heywood's Dialogues on Proverbs, 3 "In your running from him to me, ye runne "Out of God's blessing into the warme sunne.” elf all my hair in knots ;] Hair thus knotted, was vulgarly supposed to be the work of elves and fairies in the night. |