Tim. O, Apemantus!-you are welcome. Apem. You shall not make me welcome: I come to have thee thrust me out of doors. No, Tim. Fy, thou art a churl; you have got a humour there Does not become a man, 'tis much to blame : They say, my lords, that3 ira furor brevis est, Go, let him have a table by himself; For he does neither affect company, 5 Apem. Let me stay at thine own peril, Timon; I come to observe; I give thee warning on 't. Tim. I take no heed of thee; thou art an Athenian; therefore welcome: I myself would have no power: pr'ythee, let my meat make thee silent. 3 They say, my lords, that-] That was inserted by Sir T. Han mer, for the sake of metre. Steevens. 4 But yond' man's ever angry.] The old copy has-very angry; which can hardly be right. The emendation now adopted was made by Mr. Rowe. Malone. Perhaps we should read-But yon man 's very anger; i. e. anger itself, which always maintains its violence. Steevens. 5 at thine own peril,] The old copy reads-at thine apperil. I have not been able to find such a word in any Dictionary, nor is it reconcileable to etymology. I have therefore adopted an emendation made by Mr. Steevens. Malone. Apperil, the reading of the old editions, may be right, though no other instance of it has been, or possibly can be produced. It is, however, in actual use in the metropolis, at this day. Ritson. 6 I myself would have no power:] If this be the true reading, the sense is,-all Athenians are welcome to share my fortune: I would myself have no exclusive right or power in this house. Perhaps we might read,—I myself would have no poor. I would have every Athenian consider himself as joint possessor of my fortune. Johnson. I understand Timon's meaning to be: I myself would have no power to make thee silent, but I wish thou would'st let my meat make thee silent. Timon like a polite landlord, disclaims all power over the meanest or most troublesome of his guests. Tyrwhitt. These words refer to what follows, not to that which precedes. I claim no extraordinary power in right of my being master of the house: I wish not by my commands to impose silence on any one: but though I myself do not enjoin you to silence, let my meat stop your mouth. Malones Apem. I scorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for I should It grieves me, to see so many dip their meat I wonder, men dare trust themselves with men: Is the readiest man to kill him: it has been prov❜d. Were a huge man, I should fear to drink at meals; 7 I scorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for 1 should Ne'er flatter thee.] The meaning is,-I could not swallow thy meat, for I could not pay for it with flattery; and what was given me with an ill will would stick in my throat. Johnson. For has here perhaps the signification of because. So, in Othello: 66 Haply, for I am black." Malone. 8 so many dip their meat In one man's blood;] The allusion is to a pack of hounds trained to pursuit by being gratified with the blood of an animal which they kill, and the wonder is that the animal on which they are feeding cheers them to the chase. Johnson. 9 Methinks, they should invite them without knives;] It was the custom in our author's time for every guest to bring his own knife, which he occasionally whetted on a stone that hung hehind the door. One of these whetstones may be seen in Parkinson's Museum. They were strangers, at that period, to the use of forks. Ritson. -windpipe's dangerous notes:] The notes of the windpipe seem to be only the indications which show where the windpipe is. Johnson. Shakspeare is very fond of making use of musical terms, when he is speaking of the human body, and windpipe and notes savour strongly of a quibble. Steevens. 2- - with harness —] i. e. armour. See Vol. VII, p, 234, n. 3. Steevens. 3 My lord, in heart;] That is, my lord's health with sincerity. An emendation has been proposed thus: Flow this way! 2 Lord. Let it flow this way, my good lord. Immortal gods, I crave no pelf; Rich men sin, and I eat root. My love in heart; [Eats and drinks. but it is not necessary. Johnson. So, in Chaucer's Knightes Tales, 2685: "And was all his in chere, as his in herte." Again, in Sir Amyas Poulet's letter to Sir Francis Walsingham, refusing to have any hand in the assassination of Mary Queen of Scots: " he [Sir Drue Drury] forbeareth to make any particular answer, but subscribeth in heart to my opinon." Again, in King Henry IV, Part I, Act IV, sc. i: 66 in heart desiring still "You may behold," &c. Again, in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, sc. ii: Dost thou not wish in heart, "The chain were longer, and the letter short?" Steevens. Timon Those healths] This speech, except the concluding couplet, is printed as prose in the old copy; nor could it be exhibited as verse but by transferring the word Timon, which follows-look ill, to its present place. The transposition was made by Mr. Capell. The word might have been an interlineation, and so have been misplaced. Yet, after all, I suspect many of the speeches in this play, which the modern editors have exhibited in a loose kind of metre, were intended by the author as prose; in which form they appear in the old copy. Malone. 5 Rich men sin,] Dr. Farmer proposes to read-sing. Reed. Much good dich thy good heart, Apemantus! Tim. Captain Alcibiades, your heart's in the field now. Alcib. My heart is ever at your service, my lord. Tim. You had rather be at a breakfast of enemies, than a dinner of friends. Alcib. So they were bleeding-new, my lord, there's no meat like them; I could wish my best friend at such a feast. Apem. 'Would all those flatterers were thine enemies then; that then thou might'st kill 'em, and bid me to 'em. 1 Lord. Might we but have that happiness, my lord, that you would once use our hearts, whereby we might express some part of our zeals, we should think ourselves for ever perfect." Tim. O, no doubt, my good friends, but the gods themselves have provided that I shall have much help from you: How had you been my friends else? why have you that charitable title from thousands, did you not chiefly belong to my heart? I have told more of you to myself, than you can with modesty speak in your own behalf; and thus far I confirm you. O, you gods, think I, what need we have any friends, if we should never have need of them? they were the most needless creatures living, should we ne'er have use for them: and would most - for ever perfect.] That is, arrived at the perfection of happiness. Johnson. So, in Macbeth: “Then comes my fit again; I had else been perfect; Steevens. 7 How had you been my friends else? why have you that charitable title from thousands, did you not chiefly belong to my heart?] Charitable signifies, dear, endearing. So, Milton: "Relations dear, and all the charities "Of father, son, and brother. -" Alms, in English, are called charities, and from thence we may collect that our ancestors knew well in what the virtue of almsgiving consisted; not in the act, but in the disposition. Warburton. The meaning is probably this:-Why are you distinguished from thousands by that title of endearment, was there not a particular connection and intercourse of tenderness between you and me! Johnson. 9 & I confirm you.] I fix your characters firmly in my own mind. Johnson. they were the most needless creatures living, should we ne'er have use for them: and-] This passage I have restored from the old copy. Steevens. resemble sweet instruments hung up in cases, that keep their sounds to themselves. Why, I have often wished myself poorer, that I might come nearer to you. We are born to do benefits: and what better or properer can we call our own, than the riches of our friends? O, what a precious comfort 'tis, to have so many, like brothers, commanding one another's fortunes! O joy, e'en made away ere it can be born! Mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks: 2 to forget their faults, I drink to you. Apem. Thou weepest to make them drink,3 Timon. 2 Lord. Joy had the like conception in our eyes, And, at that instant, like a babe sprung up. 10 joy, e'en made away ere it can be born!] Tears being the effect both of joy and grief, supplied our author with an opportunity of conceit, which he seldom fails to indulge. Timon, weeping with a kind of tender pleasure, cries out, O joy, e'en made away, destroyed, turned to tears, before it can be born, before it can be fully possessed. Johnson. So, in Romeo and Juliet: "These violent delights have violent ends, The old copy has-joys. It was corrected by Mr. Rowe. Malone. 2 Mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks:] In the original edition the words stand thus: Mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks. To forget their faults I drink to you. Perhaps the true reading is this: Mine eyes cannot hold out; they water. Methinks, to forget their faults, I will drink to you. Or it may be explained without any change. Mine eyes cannot hold out water, that is, cannot keep water from breaking in upon them. Johnson. 3 to make them drink,] Sir T. Hanmer reads-to make them drink thee; and is followed by Dr. Warburton, I think, without sufficient reason. The covert sense of Apemantus is, what thou losest, they get. Johnson. 4 like a babe-] That is, a weeping babe. Johnson. I question if Shakspeare meant the propriety of allusion to be carried quite so far. To look for babies in the eyes of another, is no uncommon expression. Thus, among the anonymous pieces in Lord Surrey's Poems, 1557: "In eche of her two cristall eyes Again, in Love's Mistress, by Heywood, 1636: "Joy'd in his looks, look'd babies in his eyes." Again, in The Christian turn'd Turk, 1612: "She makes him sing songs to her, looks fortunes in his fists, and babies in his eyes." |