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And consciences, that will not die in debt,
Pay him the due of honey-tongued Boyet.

King. A blister on his sweet tongue with my heart,
That put
Armado's page out of his part!

Enter the PRINCESS, ushered by BOYET; ROSALINE,
MARIA, KATHARINE, and Attendants.

Bir. See where it comes !

wert thou,

Behaviour, what

Till this man show'd thee? and what art thou now?
King. All hail, sweet madam, and fair time of
day!

Prin. Fair, in all hail, is foul, as I conceive.

King. Construe my speeches better, if you may.
Prin. Then wish me better: I will give you leave.
King. We came to visit you, and purpose now
To lead you to our court: vouchsafe it, then.
Prin. This field shall hold me; and so hold your

VOW:

Nor God, nor I, delight in perjur'd men.

King. Rebuke me not for that which you pro-
voke;

The virtue of your eye must break my oath.

Prin. You nick-name virtue: vice you should
have spoke;

For virtue's office never breaks men's troth.
Now, by my maiden honour, yet as pure
As the unsullied lily, I protest,

A world of torments though I should endure,
I would not yield to be your house's guest:
So much I hate a breaking-cause to be
Of heavenly oaths, vow'd with integrity.

King. O! you have liv'd in desolation here,
Unseen, unvisited, much to our shame.

Prin. Not so, my lord; it is not so, I swear ·

We have had pastimes here, and pleasant game : A mess of Russians left us but of late.

King. How, madam! Russians?

Prin.

Ay, in truth, my lord,

Trim gallants, full of courtship, and of state.

Ros. Madam, speak true: -It is not so, my lord:

My lady (to the manner of the days)

In courtesy gives undeserving praise.

We four, indeed, confronted here with four
In Russian habit: here they stay'd an hour,
And talk'd apace; and in that hour, my lord,
They did not bless us with one happy word.
I dare not call them fools; but this I think,
When they are thirsty, fools would fain have drink
Bir. This jest is dry to me. - Fair, gentle sweet
Your wit makes wise things foolish: when we greet,
With eyes best seeing, heaven's fiery eye,

By light we lose light: Your capacity

Is of that nature, that to your huge store

Wise things seem foolish, and rich things but poor. Ros. This proves you wise and rich; for in my

eye,

Bir. I am a fool, and full of poverty.

Ros. But that you take what doth to you belong, It were a fault to snatch words from my tongue. Bir. O! I am yours, and all that I possess. Ros. All the fool mine?

Bir.

I cannot give you less. Ros. Which of the visors was it, that you wore ? Bir. Where? when? what visor? why demand you this?

Ros. There, then, that visor; that superfluous

case,

That hid the worse, and show'd the better face.

King. We are descried: they'll mock us now downright.

Dum. Let us confess, and turn it to a jest.
Prin. Amaz'd, my lord? Why looks your high-
ness sad?

Ros. Help, hold his brows! he'll swoon! Why
look you pale? -

Sea-sick, I think, coming from Muscovy.

Bir. Thus pour the stars down plagues for perjury.

Can any face of brass hold longer out?

Here stand I, lady; dart thy skill at me;

Bruise me with scorn, confound me with a flout;
Thrust thy sharp wit quite through my ignorance;
Cut me to pieces with thy keen conceit;
And I will wish thee never more to dance,
Nor never more in Russian habit wait.

O! never will I trust to speeches penn'd,
Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue;
Nor never come in visor to my friend;
Nor woo in rhyme, like a blind harper's song:
Taffata phrases, silken terms precise,
Three-pil'd 22 hyperboles, spruce affectation,
Figures pedantical; these summer-flies
Have blown me full of maggot ostentation:
I do forswear them; and I here protest,

By this white glove, (how white the hand, God knows!)

Henceforth my wooing mind shall be express'd
In russet yeas, and honest kersey noes:

And, to begin, wench,

- so God help me, la!My love to thee is sound, sans crack or flaw.

Ros. Sans sans, I pray you.23

Bir.

Yet I have a trick

22 A metaphor from the pile of velvet. See Measure for Meas ure, Act i. sc. 2, note 3.

23 That is, without French words I pray you

Of the old rage : —
I'll leave it by degrees.

bear with me,

I am sick;

Soft! let us see:

99 24 on those three;

Write, "Lord, have mercy on us,”

They are infected, in their hearts it lies;

They have the plague, and caught it of your eyes: These lords are visited; you are not free,

For the Lord's tokens on you do I see.

Prin. No, they are free, that gave these tokens

to us.

25

Bir. Our states are forfeit: seek not to undo us. Ros. It is not so; for how can this be true, That you stand forfeit, being those that sue? Bir. Peace! for I will not have to do with you. Ros. Nor shall not, if I do as I intend.

Bir. Speak for yourselves: my wit is at an end. King. Teach us, sweet madam, for our rude transgression

Some fair excuse.

Prin.

The fairest is confession.

Were you not here, but even now, disguis'd?

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What did you whisper in your lady's ear?

King. That more than all the world I did respect her.

Prin. When she shall challenge this, you will reject her.

King. Upon mine honour, no.

24 This was the inscription put upon the doors of houses infected with the plague. The tokens of the plague were the first spots of discolorations of the skin.

25 That is, how can those be liable to forfeiture that begin the process? The quibble lies in the ambiguity of the word sue. which signifies to proceed to law, and to petition.

Prin.

Peace, peace! forbear:

Your oath once broke, you force 26 not to forswear. King. Despise me, when I break this oath of mine.

Prin. I will; and therefore keep it: Rosaline, What did the Russian whisper in your ear?

Ros. Madam, he swore that he did hold me dear As precious eye-sight, and did value me

Above this world; adding thereto, moreover,
That he would wed me, or else die my lover.

Prin. God give thee joy of him! the noble lord Most honourably doth uphold his word.

King. What mean you, madam? by my life, my troth,

I never swore this lady such an oath.

Ros. By Heaven, you did; and to confirm it plain,

You gave me this: but take it, sir, again.

King. My faith, and this, the princess I did give: I knew her by this jewel on her sleeve.

Prin. Pardon me, sir, this jewel did she wear; And lord Biron, I thank him, is my dear: What! will you have me, or your pearl again? Bir. Neither of either; I remit both twain. I see the trick on't:-Here was a consent, Knowing aforehand of our merriment, To dash it like a Christmas comedy:

Some carry-tale, some please-man, some slight zany, Some mumble-news, some trencher-knight, some

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That smiles his cheek in years,27 and knows the trick To make my lady laugh, when she's dispos'd,Told our intents before: which once disclos'd,

26 That is, you care not, or do not regard forswearing.
27 That is, makes his cheek look old by smiling.

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