Tim.
O blessed, breeding Sun, draw from the earth
Rotten humidity: below thy sister's orb
Infect the air. Twinn'd brothers of one womb,
Whose procreation, residence, and birth
Scarce is dividant, touch with several fortunes;
The greater scorns the lesser. Not ev'n nature,

To whom all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune
But by contempt of nature.
Raise me this beggar, and denude that lord,(22) ^note

Who seeks for better of thee, sawce his palate
With thy most operant poison!—What is here?
Gold? yellow, glittering, precious gold?
No, Gods, I am no idle votarist.
Roots, you clear heav'ns! thus much of this will make
Black, white; foul, fair; wrong, right;
Base, noble; old, young; coward, valiant.
You Gods! why this? what this? you Gods! why, this
Will lug your priests and servants from your sides:
Pluck stout mens pillows from below their heads.
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions; bless th' accurs'd;
Make the hoar leprosie ador'd; place thieves,
And give them title, knee, and approbation,
With senators on the bench: this is it,
That makes the wappen'd widow wed again;
She, whom the spittle-house and ulcerous sores
Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices
To th' April day again. Come, damned earth,
Thou common whore of mankind, that putt'st odds
Among the rout of nations, I will make thee
Do thy right nature.—[March afar off.] Ha, a drum?—thou'rt quick,
But yet I'll bury thee—thou'lt go, (strong thief)
When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand.
Nay, stay thou out for earnest. [Keeping some gold. Enter Alcibiades with drum and fife in warlike manner, and Phrynia and Timandra.

Alc.
What art thou there? speak.

Tim.
A beast, as thou art. Cankers gnaw thy heart,
For shewing me again the eyes of man!

Alc.
What is thy name? is man so hateful to thee,
That art thy self a man?

Tim.
I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind.
For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
That I might love thee something.

Alc.
I know thee well:
But in thy fortunes am unlearn'd, and strange.

Tim.
I know thee too, and more than that I know thee,
I not desire to know. Follow thy drum,
With man's blood paint the ground; gules, gules;—
Religious Canons, civil Laws are cruel;
Then what should War be? this fell whore of thine
Hath in her more destruction than thy sword,
For all her cherubin look.

Phry.
Thy lips rot off!

Tim.
I will not kiss thee, then the Rot returns
To thine own lips again.

Alc.
How came the noble Timon to this change?

Tim.
As the moon does, by wanting light to give:
But then renew I could not, like the moon;
There were no Suns to borrow of.

Alc.

Noble Timon, what friendship may I do thee?

Tim.

None, but to maintain my opinion.

Alc.

What is it, Timon?

Tim.

Promise me friendship, but perform none. If thou wilt not promise, the Gods plague thee, for thou art a man: if thou dost perform, confound thee, for thou art a man!

Alc.
I've heard in some sort of thy miseries.

Tim.
Thou saw'st them when I had prosperity.

Alc.
I see them now, then was a blessed time.

Tim.
As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.

Timan.
Is this th' Athenian minion, whom the world
Voic'd so regardfully?

Tim.
Art thou Timandra?

Timan.
Yes.

Tim.
Be a whore still: they love thee not, that use thee:
Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust:
Make use of thy salt hours, season the slaves
For tubs and baths, bring down the rose-cheek'd youth

To th' Tub-fast, and the diet.(24) ^note

Timan.
Hang thee, monster!

Alc.
Pardon him, sweet Timandra, for his wits
Are drown'd and lost in his calamities.
I have but little gold of late, brave Timon,
The want whereof doth daily make revolt
In my penurious band. I heard and griev'd,
How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth,
Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states,
But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them—

Tim.
I pr'ythee, beat thy drum, and get thee gone.

Alc.
I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.

Tim.
How dost thou pity him, whom thou dost trouble?
I'ad rather be alone.

Alc.
Why, fare thee well,
Here's gold for thee.

Tim.
Keep it, I cannot eat it.

Alc.
When I have laid proud Athens on a heap—

Tim.
War'st thou 'gainst Athens?

Alc.
Ay, Timon, and have cause.

Tim.
The Gods confound them all then in thy Conquest,
And, after, Thee, when thou hast conquered!

Alc.
Why me, Timon?

Tim.
That by killing of villains
Thou wast born to conquer my Country.
Put up thy gold. Go on, here's gold, go on;
Be as a planetary plague, when Jove
Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison
In the sick air: Let not thy sword skip one,
Pity not honour'd age for his white beard,
He is an usurer. Strike me the matron,
It is her habit only that is honest,
Her self's a bawd. Let not the virgin's cheek
Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milk-paps,
That through the window-lawn bore at mens eyes,(25) ^note

Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy;
Think it a bastard, whom the oracle
Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat shall cut,
And mince it sans remorse. Swear against objects,
Put armour on thine ears, and on thine eyes;
Whose proof, nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes,
Nor sight of priest in holy vestments bleeding,
Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay thy soldiers.
Make large confusion; and thy fury spent,
Confounded be thy self! Speak not, be gone.

Alc.
Hast thou gold yet?
I'll take the gold thou giv'st me, not thy counsel.

Tim.
Dost thou, or dost thou not, heav'n's curse upon thee!

Both.
Give us some gold, good Timon: hast thou more?

Tim.
Enough to make a whore forswear her trade,
And to make whole a bawd.(26) ^note

Paint till a horse may mire upon your face;
A pox of wrinkles!

Both.
Well, more gold—what then?
Believe, that we'll do any thing for gold.

Tim.
Consumptions sow
In hollow bones of man, strike their sharp shins,
And mar mens spurring. Crack the lawyer's voice,
That he may never more false Title plead,
Nor sound his quillets shrilly. Hoar the Flamen,
That scolds against the quality of flesh,
And not believes himself. Down with the nose,
Down with it flat; take the bridge quite away
Of him, that his particular to foresee
Smells from the gen'ral weal. Make curl'd-pate ruffians bald,
And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war
Derive some pain from you. Plague all;
That your activity may defeat, and quell
The source of all erection.—There's more gold.
Do you damn others, and let this damn you,
And ditches grave you all!

Both.
More counsel with more mony, bounteous Timon.

Tim.
More whore, more mischief, first; I've given you earnest.

Alc.
Strike up the drum tow'rds Athens; farewel, Timon:
If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again.

Tim.
If I hope well, I'll never see thee more.

Alc.
I never did thee harm.

Tim.
Yes, thou spok'st well of me.

Alc.
Call'st thou that harm?

Tim.
Men daily find it. Get thee hence, away,
And take thy beagles with thee.

Alc.
We but offend him: strike. [Exeunt Alcibiad. Phryn. and Timand.

Tim.
That Nature, being sick of man's unkindness,
Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou
Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast
Teems, and feeds all; oh thou! whose self-same mettle
(Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puft)
Engenders the black toad, and adder blue,
The gilded newt, and eyeless venom'd worm;

With all th' abhorred births below crisp heav'n,
Whereon Hyperion's quickning fire doth shine;
Yield him, who all thy human sons does hate,
From forth thy plenteous bosom, one poor root!
Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb;
Let it no more bring out ingrateful man.
Go great with tygers, dragons, wolves and bears,
Teem with new monsters, whom thy upward face
Hath to the marbled mansion all above
Never presented—O, a root—dear thanks!
Dry up thy marrows, veins, and plough-torn leas,(27) ^note

Apem.
I was directed hither. Men report,
Thou dost affect my manners, and dost use them.

Tim.
'Tis then, because thou dost not keep a dog
Whom I would imitate; consumption catch thee!

Apem.
This is in thee a nature but affected,
A poor unmanly melancholy, sprung
From change of fortune. Why this spade? this place?
This slave-like habit, and these looks of care?
Thy flatt'rers yet wear silk, drink wine, lye soft;
Hug their diseas'd perfumes, and have forgot
That ever Timon was. Shame not these Weeds,(28) ^note

By putting on the cunning of a carper.
Be thou a flatt'rer now, and seek to thrive
By That which has undone thee; hinge thy knee,
And let his very breath whom thou'lt observe
Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,
And call it excellent. Thou wast told thus:
Thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters, that bid welcome
To knaves, and all approachers: 'Tis most just
That thou turn rascal: hadst thou wealth again,
Rascals should have't. Do not assume my Likeness.

Tim.
Were I like thee, I'd throw away my self.

Apem.
Thou'st cast away thy self, being like thy self,
So long a mad-man, now a fool. What, think'st thou,
That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain,
Will put thy shirt on warm? will these moist trees
That have out-liv'd the eagle, page thy heels,
And skip when thou point'st out? will the cold brook,
Candied with ice, cawdle thy morning taste
To cure thy o'er-night's surfeit? Call the creatures,
Whose naked natures live in all the spight
Of wreakful heav'n, whose bare unhoused trunks,
To the conflicting elements expos'd,
Answer meer nature; bid them flatter thee;
Oh! thou shalt find—

Tim.
A fool of thee; depart.

Apem.
I love thee better now, than e'er I did.

Tim.
I hate thee worse.

Apem.
Why?

Tim.
Thou flatt'rest misery.

Apem.
I flatter not; but say, thou art a caytiff.

Tim.
Why dost thou seek me out?

Apem.
To vex thee.

Tim.
Always a villain's office, or a fool's.
Dost please thy self in't?(29) ^note

Apem.
Ay.

Tim.
What! a knave too?

Apem.
If thou didst put this sowre cold habit on
To castigate thy pride, 'twere well; but thou
Dost it enforcedly: thou'dst Courtier be,
Wert thou not Beggar. Willing misery
Out-lives in certain pomp; is crown'd before:
The one is filling still, never compleat;
The other, at high wish: Best states, contentless,
Have a distracted and most wretched being:
Worse than the worst, content.
Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable.

Tim.
Not by his breath, that is more miserable.
Thou art a slave, whom fortune's tender arm
With favour never claspt; but bred a dog.
Hadst thou, like us, from our first swath proceeded
Through sweet degrees that this brief world affords,
To such, as may the passive drugs of it
Freely command; thou wouldst have plung'd thy self
In general riot, melted down thy youth
In different beds of lust, and never learn'd
The icy precepts of respect, but followed
The sugar'd game before thee. But my self,
Who had the world as my confectionary,

The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, the hearts of men
At duty, more than I could frame employments;
That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves
Do on the oak; have with one winter's brush
Fall'n from their boughs, and left me open, bare
For every storm that blows. I to bear this,
That never knew but better, is some burthen.
Thy nature did commence in suff'rance, time
Hath made thee hard in't. Why shouldst thou hate men?
They never flatter'd thee. What hast thou given?
If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,
Must be thy subject; who in spight put stuff
To some she-beggar, and compounded thee
Poor rogue hereditary. Hence! be gone—
If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
Thou hadst been knave and flatterer.

Apem.
Art thou proud yet?

Tim.
Ay, that I am not thee.

Apem.
I, that I was no prodigal.

Tim.
I, that I am one now.
Were all the wealth I have, shut up in thee,
I'd give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone—
That the whole life of Athens were in this!
Thus would I eat it. [Eating a root.

Apem.
Here, I will mend thy feast.

Tim.
First mend my company, take away thy self.(30) ^note

Apem.
So I shall mend my own, by th' lack of thine.

Tim.
'Tis not well mended so, it is but botcht;
If not, I would it were.

Apem.
What wouldst thou have to Athens?

Tim.
Thee thither in a whirlwind; if thou wilt,
Tell them there, I have gold; look, so I have.

Apem.
Here is no use for gold.

Tim.
The best and truest:
For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm.

Apem.
Where ly'st o'nights, Timon?

Tim.
Under that's above me.
Where feed'st thou o'days, Apemantus?

Apem.

Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather, where I eat it.

Tim.

Would poison were obedient, and knew my mind!

Apem.

Where wouldst thou send it?

Tim.

To sawce thy dishes.

Apem.

The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the extremity of both ends. When thou wast in thy gilt, and thy perfume, they mockt thee for too much curiosity; in thy rags thou knowest none, but art despis'd for the contrary. There's a medlar for thee, eat it.

Tim.

On what I hate, I feed not.

Apem.

Dost hate a medlar?

Tim.

Ay, though it look like thee.

Apem.

An th' hadst hated medlers sooner, thou shouldst have loved thy self better now. What man didst thou ever know unthrift, that was beloved after his means?

Tim.

Who, without those means thou talk'st of, didst thou ever know beloved?

Apem.

My self.

Tim.

I understand thee, thou hadst some means to keep a dog.

Apem.

What things in the world canst thou nearest compare to thy flatterers?

Tim.

Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves. What wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power?

Apem.

Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men.

Tim.

Wouldst thou have thy self fall in the confusion of men, or remain a beast with the beasts?

Apem.

Ay, Timon.

Tim.

A beastly ambition, which the Gods grant thee t'attain to! If thou wert a lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee; if thou wert the fox, the lion would suspect thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accus'd by the ass; if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee; and still thou liv'dst but as a breakfast to the wolf. If thou wert the wolf, thy

greediness would afflict thee; and oft thou shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner. Wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury. Wert thou a bear, thou wouldst be kill'd by the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life. All thy safety were remotion, and thy defence absence. What beast couldst thou be, that were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art thou already, and seest not thy loss in transformation!

Apem.

If thou couldst please me with speaking to me, thou might'st have hit upon it here. The Commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts.

Tim.

How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the city?

Apem.

Yonder comes a Poet, and a Painter.(31) ^note The Plague of Company light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way. When I know not what else to do, I'll see thee again.

Tim.

When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be welcome.

I had rather be a Beggar's dog, than Apemantus.

Apem.

Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.

Tim.
Would, thou wert clean enough to spit upon.
A plague on thee!(32) ^note

Apem.

Thou art too bad to curse.

Tim.
All villains, that do stand by thee, are pure.

Apem.
There is no leprosie but what thou speak'st.

Tim.

If I name thee.—I'll beat thee; but I should infect my hands.

Apem.

I would my tongue could rot them off!

Tim.
Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!
Choler does kill me, that thou art alive:
I swoon to see thee.

Apem.

Would thou wouldst burst!

Tim.

Away, thou tedious rogue, I am sorry I shall lose a stone by thee.

Apem.

Beast!

Tim.

Slave!

Apem.

Toad!

Tim.
Rogue! rogue! rogue! [Apem. retreats backward, as going.
I am sick of this false world, and will love nought
But ev'n the meer necessities upon it.
Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
Lye where the light foam of the sea may beat
Thy grave-stone daily; make thine epitaph;
That death in me at others lives may laugh.
O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce [Looking on the gold.
'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer,
Whose Blush doth thaw the consecrated snow,
That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible God,
That souldrest close impossibilities,
And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every tongue,
To every purpose! Oh, thou Touch of hearts!
Think, thy slave man rebels; and by thy virtue
Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
May have the world in empire.

Apem.
Would 'twere so,
But not 'till I am dead! I'll say, thou hast gold:
Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.

Tim.

Throng'd to?

Apem.

Ay.

Tim.

Thy back, I pr'ythee—

Apem.

Live, and love thy misery!

Tim.

Love live so, and so die. I am quit.

Apem.

Mo things like men—Eat, Timon, and abhor them.

1 Thief.

Where should he have this gold? It is some poor fragment, some slender ort of his remainder: the meer want of gold, and the falling off of friends, drove him into this melancholy.

2 Thief.

It is nois'd, he hath a mass of treasure.

3 Thief.

Let us make the assay upon him; if he care not for't, he will supply us easily: if he covetously reserve it, how shall's get it?

2 Thief.

True; for he bears it not about him: 'tis hid.

1 Thief.

Is not this he?

All.

Where?

2 Thief.

'Tis his description.

3 Thief.

He; I know him.

All.

Save thee, Timon.

Tim.

Now, thieves.

All.

Soldiers; not thieves.

Tim.

Both too, and womens sons.

All.
We are not thieves, but men that much do want.

Tim.
Your greatest want is, you want much of meet.(33) ^note

Within this mile break forth an hundred springs;
The oaks bear masts, the briers scarlet hips:
The bounteous huswife nature on each bush
Lays her full mess before you. Want? why want?

1 Thief.
We cannot live on grass, on berries, water,
As beasts, and birds, and fishes.

Tim.
Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds and fishes;
You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con,
That you are thieves profest; that you work not
In holier shapes; for there is boundless theft
In limited professions. Rascals, thieves,
Here's gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o'th' grape,
'Till the high fever seeth your blood to froth,
And so scape hanging. Trust not the physician,
His antidotes are poison, and he slays
More than you rob. Take wealth, and live together.
Do villany, do, since you profess to do't,
Like workmen; I'll example you with thievery.
The Sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vast Sea. The Moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the Sun.
The Sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves(34) ^note

The Mounds into salt tears. The earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stoln(35) ^note



From gen'ral excrements: each thing's a thief.
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have uncheck'd theft. Love not your selves, away,
Rob one another, there's more gold; cut throats;
All that you meet are thieves: to Athens go,
Break open shops, for nothing can you steal
But thieves do lose it: steal not less for what
I give, and gold confound you howsoever! Amen. [Exit.

3 Thief.

H'as almost charm'd me from my profession, by perswading me to it.

1 Thief.

'Tis in the malice of mankind, that he thus advises us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.

2 Thief.

I'll believe him as an enemy; and give over my trade.

1 Thief.

Let us first see peace in Athens;(36) ^note

2 Theif.

There is no time so miserable, but a man may be true.

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