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She shall be dignified with this high honor,一
To bear my lady's train; lest the base earth
Should from her vesture chance to steal a kiss,
And, of so great a favor growing proud,
Disdain to root the summer-swelling flower,
And make rough winter everlastingly.

Pro. Why, Valentine, what braggardism is this? Val. Pardon me, Proteus; all I can, is nothing To her, whose worth makes other worthies nothing; She is alone.

Pro. Then let her alone.

Val. Not for the world: why, man, she is mine

own;

And I as rich in having such a jewel,
As twenty seas, if all their sand were pearl,

The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold.
Forgive me, that I do not dream on thee,
Because thou seest me dote upon my love.
My foolish rival, that her father likes,
Only for his possessions are so huge,
Is gone with her along; and I must after,
For love, thou know'st, is full of jealousy.

Pro. But she loves you ?

Val. Ay, and we are betrothed; nay, more, our

marriage hour,

With all the cunning manner of our flight,
Determined of: how I must climb her window;
The ladder made of cords; and all the means
Plotted, and 'greed on, for my happiness.
Good Proteus, go with me to my chamber,
In these affairs to aid me with thy counsel.

1

Pro. Go on before; I shall inquire you forth:

I must unto the road,1 to disembark

Some necessaries that I needs must use;

And then I'll presently attend you.

Val. Will you make haste? Pro. I will.

Even as one heat another heat expels,

So the remembrance of my former love

[Exit Val.

Or as one nail by strength drives out another,

Is by a newer object quite forgotten.

Is it her mien, or Valentinus' praise,

Her true perfection, or my false transgression,
That makes me, reasonless, to reason thus?

She is fair; and so is Julia, that I love;
That I did love, for now my love is thaw'd;
Which, like a waxen image 'gainst a fire,
Bears no impression of the thing it was.
Methinks, my zeal to Valentine is cold;
And that I love him not, as I was wont:
O! but I love his lady too, too much;
And that's the reason I love him so little.
How shall I dote on her with more advice, 3
That thus without advice begin to love her?
'Tis but her picture + I have yet beheld,
And that hath dazzled my reason's light;
But when I look on her perfections,

1 The haven where ships ride at anchor.
2 Alluding to the figures made by witches, as representatives

of those whom they designed to torment or destroy.
• On farther knowlege.
• Her outside form.

There is no reason but I shall be blind.
If I can check my erring love, I will;
If not, to compass her I'll use my skill.

[Exit.

SCENE V.

A street.

Enter SPEED and LAUNCE.

Speed. Launce! by mine honesty, welcome to Milan.

Launce. Forswear not thyself, sweet youth; for I am not welcome. I reckon this always that a man is never undone, till he be hanged; nor never welcome to a place, till some certain shot 1 be paid, and the hostess say, welcome.

Speed. Come on, you mad-cap, I'll to the alehouse with you presently; where, for one shot of five pence, thou shalt have five thousand welcomes. But, sirrah, how did thy master part with madam Julia?

Launce. Marry, after they closed in earnest, they parted very fairly in jest.

Speed. But shall she marry him?
Launce. No.

Speed. How then? Shall he marry her?
Launce. No, neither.

Speed. What, are they broken ?

Launce. No, they are both as whole as a fish.

1 Score, reckoning.

Speed. Why then, how stands the matter with them?

Launce. Marry, thus; when it stands well with him, it stands well with her.

Speed. What an ass art thou! I understand thee

not.

Launce. What a block art thou, that thou canst not! My staff understands me.

Speed. What thou say'st?

Launce. Ay, and what I do too: look thee, I'll

but lean, and my staff understands me.

Speed. It stands under thee, indeed.

Launce. Why, stand under and understand is all

one.

Speed. But tell me true, will 't be a match?

Launce. Ask my dog: if he say, ay, it will; if he say, no, it will; if he shake his tail, and say nothing, it will.

Speed. The conclusion is then, that it will. Launce. Thou shalt never get such a secret from me, but by a parable.

Speed. 'Tis well that I get it so. But, Launce, how say'st thou, that my master is become a notable lover?

Launce. I never knew him otherwise.

Speed. Than how?

Launce. A notable lubber, as thou reportest him to be.

1 What say'st thou to this circumstance?

Speed. Why, thou whoreson ass, thou mistakest

me.

Launce. Why, fool, I meant not thee; I meant thy master.

Speed. I tell thee, my master is become a hot lover.

Launce. Why, I tell thee, I care not though he burn himself in love. If thou wilt go with me to the alehouse, so; if not, thou art an Hebrew, a Jew, and not worth the name of a Christian.

Speed. Why?

Launce. Because thou hast not so much charity in thee, as to go to the ale1 with a Christian. Wilt thou

go?

Speed. At thy service.

SCENE VI.

[Exeunt.

The same. A room in the palace.
Enter PROTEUS.

Pro. To leave my Julia, shall I be forsworn ;
To love fair Silvia, shall I be forsworn;
To wrong my friend, I shall be much forsworn ;
And even that power, which gave me first my oath,
Provokes me to this threefold perjury.
Love bade me swear, and love bids me forswear :
O sweet-suggesting love, if thou hast sinn'd,

Ales were merry-meetings instituted in country places. 2 Sweet-tempting.

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