SCENE I.
A publick place in the city.
Enter a Senator.
Sen.
And late, five thousand to Varro; and to Isidore,
He owes nine thousand;—besides my former sum,
Which makes it five and twenty.—Still in motion
Of raging waste? It cannot hold; it will not.
If I want gold, steal but a beggar's dog,
And give it Timon, why, the dog coins gold:
If I would sell my horse, and buy twenty more
Better than he, why, give my horse to Timon,
8 note
Ask nothing, give it him, it foals me, straight,
And able horses: 9 note
No porter at his gate;
-- 353 --
But rather one that smiles, and still invites
All that pass by. It cannot hold; 1 note
no reason
Can found his state in safety.—Caphis, ho!
Caphis, I say!
Enter Caphis.
Caph.
Here, sir; What is your pleasure?
Sen.
Get on your cloak, and haste you to lord Timon;
Importune him for my monies; be not ceas'd2 note
With slight denial; nor then silenc'd3 note, when—
Commend me to your master—and the cap
Plays in the right hand, thus:—but tell him, sirrah,
-- 354 --
My uses cry to me, I must serve my turn
Out of mine own; his days and times are past,
And my reliances on his fracted dates
Has smit my credit: I love, and honour him;
But must not break my back, to heal his finger:
Immediate are my needs; and my relief
Must not be tost and turn'd to me in words,
But find supply immediate. Get you gone:
Put on a most importunate aspect,
A visage of demand; for, I do fear,
When every feather sticks in his own wing,
Lord Timon will be left a naked gull4 note,
5 noteWhich flashes now a phœnix. Get you gone.
Caph.
I go, sir.
Sen.
I go, sir?—6 note
take the bonds along with you,
And have the dates in compt.
Caph.
I will, sir.
Sen.
Go.
[Exeunt.
-- 355 --
Samuel Johnson [1778], The plays of William Shakspeare. In ten volumes. With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. The second edition, Revised and Augmented (Printed for C. Bathurst [and] W. Strahan [etc.], London) [word count] [S10901].
