Malvolio, at several doors.
Mal.
Were not you e'en now with the Countess
Olivia?
Vio.
Even now, Sir; on a moderate pace I have
since arrived but hither.
Mal.
She returns this ring to you, Sir; you might
-- 378 --
have saved me my pains, to have taken it away your
self. She adds moreover, that you should put your
Lord into a desperate Assurance, she will none of him.
And one thing more, that you be never so hardy to
come again in his affairs, unless it be to report your
Lord's taking of this: receive it so.
Vio.
She took the ring of me, I'll none of it.
Mal.
Come, Sir, you peevishly threw it to her, and
her will is, it should be so return'd: if it be worth stooping
for, there it lyes in your eye; if not, be it his
that finds it.
[Exit.
Vio.
I left no ring with her; what means this Lady?
Fortune forbid, my outside have not charm'd her!
She made good view of me; indeed, so much,
That, sure, methought 1 note
her eyes had lost her tongue;
For she did speak in starts distractedly:
She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my Lord's ring; why, he sent her none.
I am the man—If it be so, (as, 'tis;)
Poor Lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness,
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easie is it, for the proper false2 note
-- 379 --
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we,
For such as we are made, if such we be.
How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly,
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? as I am man,
My state is desperate for my master's love;
As I am woman, (now, alas the day!)
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe?
O time, thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me t' unty.
[Exit.
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].
