Val.
How use doth breed a habit in a man!
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopl'd towns:
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And, to the nightingale's complaining notes,
Tune my distresses, and record my woes.
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless;
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,
And leave no memory of what it was!

Repair me with thy presence, Silvia;
Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy fórlorn swain!
What hallowing, and what stir, is this to-day?
These are my mates, that make their wills their law,
Have some unhappy passenger in chace:
They love me well; yet I have much to do,
To keep them from uncivil outrages.
Withdraw thee, Valentine; who's this comes here? Enter Protheus, Silvia, and Julia.

Pro.
Madam, this service I have done for you,
(Though you respect not ought ^note your servant doth)
To hazard life, and rescue you from him,
That would have forc'd your honour, and your love:
Vouchsafe me, for my meed, but one fair look;
A smaller boon than this I cannot beg,
And less than this, I am sure, you cannot give.

&clquo;Val.
&clquo;How like a dream is this, I see, and hear!&crquo;
&clquo;Love, lend me patience to forbear a while.&crquo;

Sil.
O miserable, unhappy, that I am!

Pro.
Unhappy were you, madam, ere I came;
But, by my coming, I have made you happy.

Sil.
By thy approach thou mak'st me most unhappy.

&clquo;Jul.
&clquo;And me, when he approacheth to your presence.&crquo;

Sil.
Had I been seized by a hungry lion,
I would have been a breakfast to the beast,
Rather than have false Protheus rescue me.
O, heaven be judge, how I love Valentine,
Whose life's as tender to me as my soul;
And full as much (for more there cannot be)
I do detest false perjur'd Protheus:
Therefore be gone, solicit me no more.

Pro.
What dangerous action, stood it next to death,

Would I not undergo for one calm look?
O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approv'd,
When women cannot love where they're belov'd!

Sil.
When Protheus cannot love where he's belov'd:
Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love,
For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy faith
Into a thousand oaths; and all those oaths
Descended into perjury, to love me ^note.
Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou'dst two,
And that's far worse than none; better have none
Than plural faith, which is too much by one:
Thou counterfeit to thy true friend!

Pro.
In love,
Who respects friend?

Sil.
All men but Protheus.

Pro.
Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words
Can no way change you to a milder form,
I'll woo you ^note like a soldier, at arm's end;
And love you 'gainst the nature of love, force you.

Sil.
O heaven!

Pro.
I'll force thee yield to my desire.

Val.
Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch;
Thou friend of an ill fashion.

Pro.
Valentine!

Val.
Thou common friend, that's without faith, or love;
(For such is a friend now) treacherous ^note man,
Thou hast beguil'd my hopes; nought but mine eye
Could have persuaded me: Now I dare not say,
I have one friend alive; thou would'st disprove me:
Who should be trusted now, ^note when one's right hand
Is perjur'd to the bosom? Protheus,
I am sorry, I must never trust thee more,

But count the world a stranger for thy sake.
The private wound is deepest: O time accurst ^note!
'Mongst all foes, that a friend should be the worst!

Pro.
My shame, and guilt, confounds ^note me.—
Forgive me, Valentine: if hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offence,
I tender't here; I do as truly suffer,
As e'er I did commit.

Val.
Then I am pay'd;
And once again I do receive thee honest:—
Who by repentance is not satisfy'd,
Is nor of heaven, nor earth; for these are pleas'd;
By penitence th' Eternal's wrath's appeas'd:—
And, that my love may appear plain and free,
All, that was mine in Silvia, I give thee.

Jul.
O me unhappy! [faints.

Pro.
Look to the boy.

Val.
Why, boy! why, wag! how now? what is the matter?
Look up; speak.

Jul.
O good sir, my master charg'd me
To deliver a ring to madam Silvia;
Which, out of my neglect, was never done.

Pro.
Where is that ring, boy?

Jul.
Here 'tis; this &dagger2; is it.

Pro.
How! let me see:
Why, this ^note is the ring I gave to Julia.

Jul.
O, cry you mercy, sir, I have mistook;
This † is the ring you sent to Silvia.

Pro.
But, how ^note cam'st thou by this ring? at my depart,
I gave this unto Julia.

Jul.
And Julia herself did give it me;
And Julia herself hath brought it hither.

Pro.
How! Julia?

Jul.
Behold † her that gave aim to all thy oaths,
And entertain'd them deeply in her heart:
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root?
O Protheus, let this habit make thee blush;
Be thou asham'd, that I have took upon me
Such an immodest rayment; if shame live
In a disguise of love:
It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,
Women to change their shapes, than men their minds.

Pro.
Than men their minds! 'tis true: O heaven! were man
But constant, he were perfect: that one error
Fills him with faults; makes him run through all sins ^note:
Inconstancy falls off, ere it begins:
What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy
More fresh in Julia's, with a constant eye?

Val.
Come, come, a hand from either:
Let me be blest to make this happy close;
'Twere pity, two such friends should be long ^note foes.

Jul.
Bear witness, heaven, I have my wish for ever.

Pro.
And I mine. [embracing. Shouts; and Enter Outlaws, with Duke, and Thurio.

Out.
A prize, a prize, a prize!

Val.
Forbear, I say; it is my lord the duke:—
Your grace is welcome to a man disgrac'd,
The banish'd Valentine.

Duk.
Sir Valentine!

Thu.
Yonder is Silvia; and Silvia's mine.

Val.
Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy death;
Come not within the measure of my wrath:

Do not name Silvia thine; if once again,
Milan shall not behold ^note thee: Here she stands,
Take but possession of her with a touch;
I dare thee but to breath upon my love.

Thu.
Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I:
I hold him but a fool, that will endanger
His body for a girl that loves him not:
I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.

Duk.
The more degenerate and base art thou,
To make such means for her as thou hast done,
And leave her on such slight conditions.—
Now, by the honour of my ancestry,
I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,
And think thee worthy of an empress' love:
Know then, I here forget all former griefs,
Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again;
Plead a new state in thy unrival'd ^note merit,
To which I thus subscribe,—Sir Valentine,
Thou art a gentleman, and well deriv'd;
Take thou thy † Silvia, for thou hast deserv'd her.

Val.
I thank your grace; the gift hath made me happy.
I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,
To grant one boon that I shall ask of you.

Duk.
I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be.

Val.
These banish'd men, that I have kept withal,
Are men endu'd with worthy qualities;
Forgive them what they have committed here,
And let them be recall'd from their exíle:
They are reformed, civil, full of good,
And fit for great employment, worthy lord.

Duk.
Thou hast prevail'd; I pardon them, and thee:
Dispose of them, as thou know'st their deserts.

Come, let us go; we will include ^note all jars
With triumphs, mirth, and rare solemnity ^note.

Val.
And, as we walk along, I dare be bold
With our discourse to make your grace to smile:
What think you of this page, my lord?

Duk.
I think, the boy hath grace in him; he blushes.

Val.
I warrant you, my lord; more grace than boy.

Duk.
What mean you by that saying?

Val.
'Please you, I'll tell you as we pass along,
That you will wonder, what hath fortuned.—
Come, Protheus; 'tis your penance, but to hear
The story of your loves discovered:
That done, our day of marriage shall be yours;
One feast, one house, one mutual happiness. [Exeunt.

The MERRY WIVES of

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