Unless I prove false traitor to myself. Yet I will woo for him: but yet so coldly, Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you be my mean Jul. From my master, Sir Proteus, madam. Sil. Ursula, bring my picture there. [Picture brought Jul. Madam, please you peruse this letter.- Sil. I pray thee let me look on that again. I will not look upon your master's lines: I know they are stuffed with protestations, And full of new-found oaths; which he will break Jul. Madam, he sends your ladyship this ring. For, I have heard him say a thousand times, His Julia gave it him at his departure: Though his false finger hath profaned the ring, Jul. She thanks you. Sil. What say'st thou? Jul. I thank you, madam, that you tender her: Poor gentlewoman! my master wrongs her much. Sil. Dost thou know her? Jul. Almost as well as I do know myself: To think upon her woes, I do protest, That I have wept a hundred several times. Sil. Belike, she thinks that Proteus hath forsook her. Jul. I think she doth, and that's her cause of sorrow. Jul. She hath been fairer, madam, than she is: Jul. About my stature: for, at Pentecost, Sil. She is beholden to thee, gentle youth! Alas, poor lady! desolate and left! I weep myself, to think upon thy words. Here, youth, there is my purse; I give thee this For thy sweet mistress' sake, because thou lov'st her. Farewell. 1 i. e. in good earnest, tout de bon. [Exit SILVIA. Jul. And she shall thank you for't, if e'er her. A virtuous gentlewoman, mild, and beautiful. Her eyes are gray as glass; and so are mine: Thou shalt be worshipped, kissed, loved, and adored; My substance should be statue in thy stead. I should have scratched out your unseeing eyes, To make my master out of love with thee. 1 Regardful. V. Merchant of Venice, Act V. Sc. I. [Exit. 2 The word statue was formerly used to express a portrait, and sometimes a statue was called a picture. Egl. The sun begins to gild the western sky; That Silvia, at friar Patrick's cell, should meet me. Enter SILVIA. See where she comes; Lady, a happy evening! I fear I am attended by some spies. Egl. Fear not: the forest is not three leagues off: If we recover that, we are sure enough. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. A Room in the Duke's Palace. Enter THURIO, PROTEUS, and JULIA. Thu. Sir Proteus, what says Silvia to my suit? Pro. No; that it is too little. Thu. I'll wear a boot, to make it somewhat rounder. Pro. But love will not be spurred to what it loathes. Thu. What says she to my face? Pro. She says it is a fair one. Thu. Nay, then the wanton lies; my face is black. Pro. But pearls are fair; and the old saying is, Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes. Jul. Tis true: such pearls as put out ladies' eyes; For I had rather wink than look on them. Thu How likes she my discourse? [Aside. Thu. But weil when I discourse of love and peace? Jul. But better indeed, when you hold your peace. Thu. What says she to my valor? [Aside. Pro. O. sir, she makes no doubt of that. Jul. She needs not, when she knows it cowardice. [Aside. Thu. What says she to my birth? Pro. That you are well derived. Jul. True, from a gentleman to a fool. [Aside. Thu. Considers she my possessions? Pro. O. ay; and pities them. Thu. Wherefore? Jul. That such an ass should owe them. [Aside. Pro. That they are out by lease. Jul. Here comes the duke. Enter DUKE. Duke. How now, Sir Proteus? how now, Thurio? Which of you saw Sir Eglamour of late? Thu. Not I. Pro. Nor I. Duke. Why, then she's fled unto that peasant Val entine; And Eglamour is in her company. 'Tis true; for friar Laurence met them both, 1 i. e. possess them, own them. 2 By Thurio's possessions he himself understands his lands. But Proteus chooses to take the word likewise in a figurative sense, as signifying his mental endowments, and when he says they are out by lease, he means, that they are no longer enjoyed by their master (who is a fool), but are leased out to another. |