Lafeu, all in Mourning.‡ note
Countess.
In delivering my son from me, I bury a second husband.
Ber.
And I, in going, madam, weep o'er my father's
death anew; but I must attend his majesty's command,
to whom I am now in ward,§ note evermore in subjection.
Laf.
You shall find of the king a husband, madam;
you, sir, a father. He, that so generally is at all
-- 238 --
times good, must of necessity hold his virtue to you,
whose worthiness would stir it up, were it wanted,
rather than slack it where there is such abundance.&verbar2; note
Count.
What hope is there of his majesty's amendment?
Laf.
He hath abandon'd his physicians, madam, under
whose practices he hath persecuted time with hope;
and finds no other advantage in the process, but only
the losing of hope by time.
Count.
This young gentlewoman had a father, (O,
that had! how sad a passage 'tis!) whose skill was
almost as great as his honesty; had it stretch'd so far,
it would have made nature immortal. 'Would, for
the king's sake, he were living!
Laf.
How call'd you the man you speak of, madam?
Count.
He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it
was his great right to be so: Gerard de Narbon.
Laf.
He was excellent, indeed, madam. Was this
gentlewoman the daughter of Gerard de Narbon?
Count.
His sole child, my lord, and bequeathed to
my overlooking. I have those hopes of her good,
that her education promises her.
Laf.
Your commendations, madam, get from her
tears.* note
Count.
'Tis the best brine a maiden can season her
praise in. The remembrance of her father never approaches
her heart, but the tyranny of her sorrows
takes all livelihood from her cheek. No more of this,
Helena. Go to; no more; lest it be rather thought
you affect a sorrow, than to have it.
Hel.
I do affect a sorrow, indeed, but I have it too.
Laf.
Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead;
excessive grief the enemy to the living.† note
Ber.
Madam, I desire your holy wishes.
-- 239 --
Count.
Be thou blest, Bertram, and succeed thy father,
In manners, as in shape! thy blood and virtue
Contend for empire in thee, and thy goodness
Share with thy birthright! Love all; trust a few;
Do wrong to none; be able for thine enemy,
Rather in power than use; and keep thy friend
Under thy own life's key: be check'd for silence,
But never tax'd for speech. What heav'n more will,
That thee may furnish, and my prayers pluck down,
Fall on thy head! Farewel, my lord;‡ note
'Tis an unseason'd courtier; good my lord,
Advise him.
Laf.
He cannot want the best,
That shall attend his love.
Count.
Heav'n bless him! Farewell, Bertram.
[Exit Countess.
Ber.
[to Hel,]
The best wishes that can be forg'd
in your thoughts, be servants to you! Be comfortable
to my mother, your mistress, and make much of her.
Laf.
Farewell, pretty lady; you must hold the credit
of your father.
[Exeunt Ber. and Laf.
Hel.
Oh, were that all!—I think not on my father;
My imagination
Carries no favour in it, but my Bertram's.§ note
'Twas pretty, tho' a plague,
To see him ev'ry hour; to sit and draw
His arched brows, his hawking eye, his curls,
-- 240 --
In our heart's table: heart, too capable
Of every line and trick of his sweet favour!—
But now he's gone, and my idolatrous fancy
Must sanctify his relicks. Who comes here?
Enter Parolles.&verbar2; note
One, that goes with him: I love him for his sake,
And yet I know him a notorious liar;
Think him a great way fool, solely a coward;
Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly.
Par.
Save you, fair queen.
Are you meditating on virginity?
Hel.
Ay: you have some stain of soldier in you:
let me ask you a question. Man is enemy to virginity;
how may we barricado against him?* note
Par.
Keep him out. Man, setting down before
you, will undermine you, and blow you up: but it
is not politick in the commonwealth of nature, to preserve
virginity. Loss of virginity is rational increase;
and there was never virgin got, 'till virginity
was first lost. Virginity, by being once lost, may be
ten times found: by being ever kept, it is ever lost;
'tis too cold a companion: away with't.
Hel.
I will stand for't a little, though therefore I
die a virgin.
Par.
There's little can be said in't; 'tis against the
rule of nature. To speak on the part of virginity, is
to accuse your mother; which is most infallible disobedience.
Besides, virginity is peevish, proud, idle,
made of self-love, which is the most prohibited sin in
the canon. Keep it not, you cannot chuse but lose
by't. Out with't; within ten years it will make itself
two, which is goodly increase, and the principal
-- 241 --
itself not much the worse. Away with't. 'Tis a
commodity will lose the gloss with lying. The longer
kept, the less worth. Off with't, while 'tis vendible.
Answer the time of request. Virginity, like an old
courtier, wears her cap out of fashion; richly suited,
but unsuitable. Your date is better in your pye and
your porridge, than in your cheek; and your virginity,
your old virginity, is like one of our French
wither'd pears; it looks ill, it eats dryly.
Enter Page.
Page.
Monsieur Parolles,
My lord calls for you.
[Exit Page.
Par.
Little Helen, farewell; if I can remember thee,
I will think of thee at court.
Hel.
Monsieur Parolles, you were born under a
charitable star.
Par.
Under Mars, I;
When he was predominant.
Hel.
When he was retrograde, I think, rather.
Par.
Why think you so? eh, child.
Hel.
You go so much backward, when you fight.
Par.
That's for advantage, my dear.
Hel.
So is running away, when fear proposes safety.
Par.
I am so full of business, as I cannot answer
thee acutely. Farewel. When thou hast leisure, say
thy prayers; when thou hast none, remember thy
friends. Get thee a good husband, and use him as
he uses thee. So farewel.
[Exeunt.
John Bell [1774], Bell's Edition of Shakespeare's Plays, As they are now performed at the Theatres Royal in London; Regulated from the Prompt Books of each House By Permission; with Notes Critical and Illustrative; By the Authors of the Dramatic Censor (Printed for John Bell... and C. Etherington [etc.], York) [word count] [S10401].
