SCENE VII.
Another part of the Forest.
Enter Duke Sen. and Lords.
[A Table set out.
Duke Sen.
I think he is transform'd into a beast,
For I can no where find him like a man.
1 Lord.
My Lord, he is but even now gone hence;
Here was he merry, hearing of a Song.
Duke Sen.
If he, compact of jars, grow musical,
We shall have shortly discord in the spheres.
Go, seek him. Tell him, I would speak with him.
Enter Jaques.
1 Lord.
He saves my labour by his own approach.
-- 39 --
Duke Sen.
Why, how now, Monsieur, what a life is this,
That your poor friends must woo your company?
What! you look merrily.
Jaq.
A fool, a fool;—I met a fool i'th' forest,
A motley fool—a miserable world—2 note
As I do live by food, I met a fool,
Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun,
And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms,
In good set terms—and yet a motley fool.
Good morrow, fool, quoth I—No, Sir, quoth he,
Call me not fool, 'till heaven hath sent me fortune;
And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
Says, very wisely, it is ten a-clock:
Thus may we see, quoth he, how the world wags:
'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine,
And after one hour more 'twill be eleven;
And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe,
And then from hour to hour we rot and rot.
And thereby hangs a tale; when I did hear
The motley fool thus moral on the time,
My lungs began to crow like chanticleer,
That fools should be so deep contemplative:
And I did laugh, sans intermission,
An hour by his dial. O noble fool,
-- 40 --
A worthy fool—motley's the only wear.
Duke Sen.
What fool is this?
Jaq.
O worthy fool! one that hath been a Courtier,
And says, if ladies be but young and fair,
They have the gift to know it: and in his brain,
Which is as dry as the remainder bisket
After a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd
With observation, the which he vents
In mangled forms. O that I were a fool!
I am ambitious for a motley coat.
Duke Sen.
Thou shalt have one.
Jaq.
It is my only suit;3 note
Provided, that you weed your better judgments
Of all opinion, that grows rank in them,
That I am wise. I must have liberty
Withal; as large a charter as the wind,
To blow on whom I please; for so fools have;
And they that are most gauled with my folly,
They most must laugh: and why, Sir, must they so?
The why is plain, as way to parish church;
4 note
He, whom a fool doth very wisely hit,
Doth very foolishly, although he smart,
Not to seem senseless of the bob. If not,* note
The wise man's folly is anatomiz'd
Even by the squandring glances of a fool.
-- 41 --
Invest me in my motley, give me leave
To speak my mind, and I will through and through
Cleanse the foul body of th' infected world,
If they will patiently receive my medicine.
Duke Sen.
Fie on thee! I can tell what thou wouldst do.
Jaq.
What, for a counter, would I do but good?
Duke Sen.
Most mischievous foul sin, in chiding sin:
For thou thyself hast been a libertine,
As sensual as the brutish sting itself;5 note
And all the embossed sores and headed evils,
That thou with licence of free foot hast caught,
Wouldst thou disgorge into the general world.
Jaq.
Why, who cries out on pride,
That can therein tax any private party?
Doth it not flow as hugely as the Sea,
'Till that the very very means do ebb?
What woman in the city do I name,
When that I say the city-woman bears
The cost of Princes on unworthy shoulders?
Who can come in, and say, that I mean her;
When such a one as she, such is her neighbour?
Or what is he of basest function,
That says, his bravery is not on my cost;
Thinking, that I mean him; but therein sutes
His folly to the metal of my speech?
There then; how then? what then? let me see wherein
My tongue hath wrong'd him; if it do him right,
Then he hath wrong'd himself; if he be free,
Why, then my taxing, like a wild goose, flies
Unclaim'd of any man—But who comes here?
-- 42 --
Samuel Johnson [1765], The plays of William Shakespeare, in eight volumes, with the corrections and illustrations of Various Commentators; To which are added notes by Sam. Johnson (Printed for J. and R. Tonson [and] C. Corbet [etc.], London) [word count] [S11001].
