4 JULIA, a Lady of Verona, beloved by Proteus. Servants, Musicians. SCENE. Sometimes in VERONA; sometimes in MILAN; and frontiers of MANTUA. TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. ACT I. SCENE I. An open Place in Verona Enter VALENTINE and PROTEUS. Val. CEASE to persuade, my loving Proteus; But, since thou lov'st, love still, and thrive therein, Pro. Wilt thou begone? Sweet Valentine, adieu Think on thy Proteus, when thou, haply, seest Some rare note-worthy object in thy travel: Wish me partaker in thy happiness, When thou dost meet good hap; and, in thy danger, Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers, Val. And on a love-book pray for my success. 1 The allusion is to Marlow's poem of Hero and Leander. To1 Milan, let me hear from thee by letters, Pro. He after honor hunts, I after love. Enter SPEED. Speed. Sir Proteus, save you: Saw you my master? Pro. But now he parted hence, to embark for Milan. Speed. Twenty to one, then, he is shipped already; And I have played the sheep,2 in losing him. Pro. Indeed a sheep doth very often stray, An if the shepherd be awhile away. Speed. You conclude that my master is a shepherd then, and I a sheep? Pro. I do. Speed. Why then, my horns are his horns, whether I wake or sleep. Pro. A silly answer, and fitting well a sheep. Pro. True; and thy master a shepherd. Speed. Nay, that I can deny by a circumstance. Pro. It shall go hard, but I'll prove it by another. Speed. The shepherd seeks the sheep, and not the sheep the shepherd; but I seek my master, and my master seeks not me: therefore I am no sheep. 1 The construction of this passage is, "Let me hear from thee by letters to Milan." 2 In Warwickshire, and some other counties, a sheep is pronounced a ship. |