Timon of Athens

Timon of Athens

ACT IV SCENE III	Woods and cave, near the seashore.
	Enter TIMON, from the cave
	O blessed breeding sun, draw from the earth
	Rotten humidity; below thy sister's orb
	Infect the air! Twinn'd brothers of one womb,
	Whose procreation, residence, and birth,	5
	Scarce is dividant, touch them with several fortunes;
	The greater scorns the lesser: not nature,
	To whom all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune,
	But by contempt of nature.
	Raise me this beggar, and deny 't that lord;	10
	The senator shall bear contempt hereditary,
	The beggar native honour.
	It is the pasture lards the rother's sides,
	The want that makes him lean. Who dares, who dares,
	In purity of manhood stand upright,	15
	And say 'This man's a flatterer?' if one be,
	So are they all; for every grise of fortune
	Is smooth'd by that below: the learned pate
	Ducks to the golden fool: all is oblique;
	There's nothing level in our cursed natures,	20
	But direct villany. Therefore, be abhorr'd
	All feasts, societies, and throngs of men!
	His semblable, yea, himself, Timon disdains:
	Destruction fang mankind! Earth, yield me roots!
	Digging
	Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate	25
	With thy most operant poison! What is here?
	Gold? yellow, glittering, precious gold? No, gods,
	I am no idle votarist: roots, you clear heavens!
	Thus much of this will make black white, foul fair,
	Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.	30
	Ha, you gods! why this? what this, you gods? Why, this
	Will lug your priests and servants from your sides,
	Pluck stout men's pillows from below their heads:
	This yellow slave
	Will knit and break religions, bless the accursed,	35
	Make the hoar leprosy adored, place thieves
	And give them title, knee and approbation
	With senators on the bench: this is it
	That makes the wappen'd widow wed again;
	She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores	40
	Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices
	To the April day again. Come, damned earth,
	Thou common whore of mankind, that put'st odds
	Among the route of nations, I will make thee
	Do thy right nature.	45
	March afar off
	Ha! a drum? Thou'rt quick,
	But yet I'll bury thee: thou'lt go, strong thief,
	When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand.
	Nay, stay thou out for earnest.
	Keeping some gold
	Enter ALCIBIADES, with drum and fife, inwarlike manner; PHRYNIA and TIMANDRA
ALCIBIADES	What art thou there? speak.	50
TIMON	A beast, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy heart,
	For showing me again the eyes of man!
ALCIBIADES	What is thy name? Is man so hateful to thee,
	That art thyself a man?
TIMON	I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind.	55
	For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
	That I might love thee something.
ALCIBIADES	I know thee well;
	But in thy fortunes am unlearn'd and strange.
TIMON	I know thee too; and more than that I know thee,	60
	I not desire to know. Follow thy drum;
	With man's blood paint the ground, gules, gules:
	Religious canons, civil laws are cruel;
	Then what should war be? This fell whore of thine
	Hath in her more destruction than thy sword,	65
	For all her cherubim look.
PHRYNIA	Thy lips rot off!
TIMON	I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns
	To thine own lips again.
ALCIBIADES	How came the noble Timon to this change?	70
TIMON	As the moon does, by wanting light to give:
	But then renew I could not, like the moon;
	There were no suns to borrow of.
ALCIBIADES	Noble Timon,
	What friendship may I do thee?	75
TIMON	None, but to
	Maintain my opinion.
ALCIBIADES	What is it, Timon?
TIMON	Promise me friendship, but perform none: if thou
	wilt not promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art	80
	a man! if thou dost perform, confound thee, for
	thou art a man!
ALCIBIADES	I have heard in some sort of thy miseries.
TIMON	Thou saw'st them, when I had prosperity.
ALCIBIADES	I see them now; then was a blessed time.	85
TIMON	As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.
TIMANDRA	Is this the Athenian minion, whom the world
	Voiced so regardfully?
TIMON	Art thou Timandra?
TIMANDRA	Yes.	90
TIMON	Be a whore still: they love thee not that use thee;
	Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.
	Make use of thy salt hours: season the slaves
	For tubs and baths; bring down rose-cheeked youth
	To the tub-fast and the diet.	95
TIMANDRA	Hang thee, monster!
ALCIBIADES	Pardon him, sweet Timandra; for his wits
	Are drown'd and lost in his calamities.
	I have but little gold of late, brave Timon,
	The want whereof doth daily make revolt	100
	In my penurious band: I have heard, and grieved,
	How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth,
	Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states,
	But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them,--
TIMON	I prithee, beat thy drum, and get thee gone.	105
ALCIBIADES	I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.
TIMON	How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble?
	I had rather be alone.
ALCIBIADES	Why, fare thee well:
	Here is some gold for thee.	110
TIMON	Keep it, I cannot eat it.
ALCIBIADES	When I have laid proud Athens on a heap,--
TIMON	Warr'st thou 'gainst Athens?
ALCIBIADES	Ay, Timon, and have cause.
TIMON	The gods confound them all in thy conquest;	115
	And thee after, when thou hast conquer'd!
ALCIBIADES	Why me, Timon?
TIMON	That, by killing of villains,
	Thou wast born to conquer my country.
	Put up thy gold: go on,--here's gold,--go on;	120
	Be as a planetary plague, when Jove
	Will o'er some high-viced city hang his poison
	In the sick air: let not thy sword skip one:
	Pity not honour'd age for his white beard;
	He is an usurer: strike me the counterfeit matron;	125
	It is her habit only that is honest,
	Herself's a bawd: let not the virgin's cheek
	Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milk-paps,
	That through the window-bars bore at men's eyes,
	Are not within the leaf of pity writ,	130
	But set them down horrible traitors: spare not the babe,
	Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy;
	Think it a bastard, whom the oracle
	Hath doubtfully pronounced thy throat shall cut,
	And mince it sans remorse: swear against objects;	135
	Put armour on thine ears and on thine eyes;
	Whose proof, nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes,
	Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding,
	Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay soldiers:
	Make large confusion; and, thy fury spent,	140
	Confounded be thyself! Speak not, be gone.
ALCIBIADES	Hast thou gold yet? I'll take the gold thou
	givest me,
	Not all thy counsel.
TIMON	Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse	145
	upon thee!
PHRYNIA	\|
	\| Give us some gold, good Timon: hast thou more?
TIMANDRA	\|
TIMON	Enough to make a whore forswear her trade,	150
	And to make whores, a bawd. Hold up, you sluts,
	Your aprons mountant: you are not oathable,
	Although, I know, you 'll swear, terribly swear
	Into strong shudders and to heavenly agues
	The immortal gods that hear you,--spare your oaths,	155
	I'll trust to your conditions: be whores still;
	And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you,
	Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up;
	Let your close fire predominate his smoke,
	And be no turncoats: yet may your pains, six months,	160
	Be quite contrary: and thatch your poor thin roofs
	With burthens of the dead;--some that were hang'd,
	No matter:--wear them, betray with them: whore still;
	Paint till a horse may mire upon your face,
	A pox of wrinkles!	165
PHRYNIA	\|
	\| Well, more gold: what then?
TIMANDRA	\| Believe't, that we'll do any thing for gold.
TIMON	Consumptions sow
	In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins,	170
	And mar men's spurring. Crack the lawyer's voice,
	That he may never more false title plead,
	Nor sound his quillets shrilly: hoar the flamen,
	That scolds against the quality of flesh,
	And not believes himself: down with the nose,	175
	Down with it flat; take the bridge quite away
	Of him that, his particular to foresee,
	Smells from the general weal: make curl'd-pate
	ruffians bald;
	And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war	180
	Derive some pain from you: plague all;
	That your activity may defeat and quell
	The source of all erection. There's more gold:
	Do you damn others, and let this damn you,
	And ditches grave you all!	185
PHRYNIA	\|
	\| More counsel with more money, bounteous Timon.
TIMANDRA	\|
TIMON	More whore, more mischief first; I have given you earnest.
ALCIBIADES	Strike up the drum towards Athens! Farewell, Timon:	190
	If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again.
TIMON	If I hope well, I'll never see thee more.
ALCIBIADES	I never did thee harm.
TIMON	Yes, thou spokest well of me.
ALCIBIADES	Call'st thou that harm?	195
TIMON	Men daily find it. Get thee away, and take
	Thy beagles with thee.
ALCIBIADES	We but offend him. Strike!
	Drum beats. Exeunt ALCIBIADES, PHRYNIA,and TIMANDRA
TIMON	That nature, being sick of man's unkindness,
	Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou,	200
	Digging
	Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast,
	Teems, and feeds all; whose self-same mettle,
	Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puff'd,
	Engenders the black toad and adder blue,
	The gilded newt and eyeless venom'd worm,	205
	With all the abhorred births below crisp heaven
	Whereon Hyperion's quickening fire doth shine;
	Yield him, who all thy human sons doth hate,
	From forth thy plenteous bosom, one poor root!
	Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb,	210
	Let it no more bring out ingrateful man!
	Go great with tigers, dragons, wolves, and bears;
	Teem with new monsters, whom thy upward face
	Hath to the marbled mansion all above
	Never presented!--O, a root,--dear thanks!--	215
	Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough-torn leas;
	Whereof ungrateful man, with liquorish draughts
	And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind,
	That from it all consideration slips!
	Enter APEMANTUS
	More man? plague, plague!	220
APEMANTUS	I was directed hither: men report
	Thou dost affect my manners, and dost use them.
TIMON	'Tis, then, because thou dost not keep a dog,
	Whom I would imitate: consumption catch thee!
APEMANTUS	This is in thee a nature but infected;	225
	A poor unmanly melancholy sprung
	From change of fortune. Why this spade? this place?
	This slave-like habit? and these looks of care?
	Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft;
	Hug their diseased perfumes, and have forgot	230
	That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods,
	By putting on the cunning of a carper.
	Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive
	By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,
	And let his very breath, whom thou'lt observe,	235
	Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,
	And call it excellent: thou wast told thus;
	Thou gavest thine ears like tapsters that bid welcome
	To knaves and all approachers: 'tis most just
	That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again,	240
	Rascals should have 't. Do not assume my likeness.
TIMON	Were I like thee, I'ld throw away myself.
APEMANTUS	Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thyself;
	A madman so long, now a fool. What, think'st
	That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain,	245
	Will put thy shirt on warm? will these moss'd trees,
	That have outlived the eagle, page thy heels,
	And skip where thou point'st out? will the
	cold brook,
	Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste,	250
	To cure thy o'er-night's surfeit? Call the creatures
	Whose naked natures live in an the spite
	Of wreakful heaven, whose bare unhoused trunks,
	To the conflicting elements exposed,
	Answer mere nature; bid them flatter thee;	255
	O, thou shalt find--
TIMON	A fool of thee: depart.
APEMANTUS	I love thee better now than e'er I did.
TIMON	I hate thee worse.
APEMANTUS	Why?	260
TIMON	Thou flatter'st misery.
APEMANTUS	I flatter not; but say thou art a caitiff.
TIMON	Why dost thou seek me out?
APEMANTUS	To vex thee.
TIMON	Always a villain's office or a fool's.	265
	Dost please thyself in't?
APEMANTUS	Ay.
TIMON	What! a knave too?
APEMANTUS	If thou didst put this sour-cold habit on
	To castigate thy pride, 'twere well: but thou	270
	Dost it enforcedly; thou'ldst courtier be again,
	Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery
	Outlives encertain pomp, is crown'd before:
	The one is filling still, never complete;
	The other, at high wish: best state, contentless,	275
	Hath a distracted and most wretched being,
	Worse than the worst, content.
	Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable.
TIMON	Not by his breath that is more miserable.
	Thou art a slave, whom Fortune's tender arm	280
	With favour never clasp'd; but bred a dog.
	Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded
	The sweet degrees that this brief world affords
	To such as may the passive drugs of it
	Freely command, thou wouldst have plunged thyself	285
	In general riot; melted down thy youth
	In different beds of lust; and never learn'd
	The icy precepts of respect, but follow'd
	The sugar'd game before thee. But myself,
	Who had the world as my confectionary,	290
	The mouths, the tongues, the eyes and hearts of men
	At duty, more than I could frame employment,
	That numberless upon me stuck as leaves
	Do on the oak, hive with one winter's brush
	Fell from their boughs and left me open, bare	295
	For every storm that blows: I, to bear this,
	That never knew but better, is some burden:
	Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time
	Hath made thee hard in't. Why shouldst thou hate men?
	They never flatter'd thee: what hast thou given?	300
	If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,
	Must be thy subject, who in spite put stuff
	To some she beggar and compounded thee
	Poor rogue hereditary. Hence, be gone!
	If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,	305
	Thou hadst been a knave and flatterer.
APEMANTUS	Art thou proud yet?
TIMON	Ay, that I am not thee.
APEMANTUS	I, that I was
	No prodigal.	310
TIMON	I, that I am one now:
	Were all the wealth I have shut up in thee,
	I'ld give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.
	That the whole life of Athens were in this!
	Thus would I eat it.	315
	Eating a root
APEMANTUS	Here; I will mend thy feast.
	Offering him a root
TIMON	First mend my company, take away thyself.
APEMANTUS	So I shall mend mine own, by the lack of thine.
TIMON	'Tis not well mended so, it is but botch'd;
	if not, I would it were.	320
APEMANTUS	What wouldst thou have to Athens?
TIMON	Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt,
	Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have.
APEMANTUS	Here is no use for gold.
TIMON	The best and truest;	325
	For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm.
APEMANTUS	Where liest o' nights, Timon?
TIMON	Under that's above me.
	Where feed'st thou o' days, Apemantus?
APEMANTUS	Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather, where I eat	330
	it.
TIMON	Would poison were obedient and knew my mind!
APEMANTUS	Where wouldst thou send it?
TIMON	To sauce thy dishes.
APEMANTUS	The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the	335
	extremity of both ends: when thou wast in thy gilt
	and thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much
	curiosity; in thy rags thou knowest none, but art
	despised for the contrary. There's a medlar for
	thee, eat it.	340
TIMON	On what I hate I feed not.
APEMANTUS	Dost hate a medlar?
TIMON	Ay, though it look like thee.
APEMANTUS	An thou hadst hated meddlers sooner, thou shouldst
	have loved thyself better now. What man didst thou	345
	ever know unthrift that was beloved after his means?
TIMON	Who, without those means thou talkest of, didst thou
	ever know beloved?
APEMANTUS	Myself.
TIMON	I understand thee; thou hadst some means to keep a	350
	dog.
APEMANTUS	What things in the world canst thou nearest compare
	to thy flatterers?
TIMON	Women nearest; but men, men are the things
	themselves. What wouldst thou do with the world,	355
	Apemantus, if it lay in thy power?
APEMANTUS	Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men.
TIMON	Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confusion of
	men, and remain a beast with the beasts?
APEMANTUS	Ay, Timon.	360
TIMON	A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t'
	attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would
	beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would
	eat three: if thou wert the fox, the lion would
	suspect thee, when peradventure thou wert accused by	365
	the ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would
	torment thee, and still thou livedst but as a
	breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy
	greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst
	hazard thy life for thy dinner: wert thou the	370
	unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee and
	make thine own self the conquest of thy fury: wert
	thou a bear, thou wouldst be killed by the horse:
	wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the
	leopard: wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to	375
	the lion and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on
	thy life: all thy safety were remotion and thy
	defence absence. What beast couldst thou be, that
	were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art
	thou already, that seest not thy loss in	380
	transformation!
APEMANTUS	If thou couldst please me with speaking to me, thou
	mightst have hit upon it here: the commonwealth of
	Athens is become a forest of beasts.
TIMON	How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the city?	385
APEMANTUS	Yonder comes a poet and a painter: the plague of
	company light upon thee! I will fear to catch it
	and give way: when I know not what else to do, I'll
	see thee again.
TIMON	When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be	390
	welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog than Apemantus.
APEMANTUS	Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.
TIMON	Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!
APEMANTUS	A plague on thee! thou art too bad to curse.
TIMON	All villains that do stand by thee are pure.	395
APEMANTUS	There is no leprosy but what thou speak'st.
TIMON	If I name thee.
	I'll beat thee, but I should infect my hands.
APEMANTUS	I would my tongue could rot them off!
TIMON	Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!	400
	Choler does kill me that thou art alive;
	I swound to see thee.
APEMANTUS	Would thou wouldst burst!
TIMON	Away,
	Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall lose	405
	A stone by thee.
	Throws a stone at him
APEMANTUS	Beast!
TIMON	Slave!
APEMANTUS	Toad!
TIMON	Rogue, rogue, rogue!	410
	I am sick of this false world, and will love nought
	But even the mere necessities upon 't.
	Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
	Lie where the light foam the sea may beat
	Thy grave-stone daily: make thine epitaph,	415
	That death in me at others' lives may laugh.
	To the gold
	O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce
	'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
	Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
	Thou ever young, fresh, loved and delicate wooer,	420
	Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
	That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god,
	That solder'st close impossibilities,
	And makest them kiss! that speak'st with
	every tongue,	425
	To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts!
	Think, thy slave man rebels, and by thy virtue
	Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
	May have the world in empire!
APEMANTUS	Would 'twere so!	430
	But not till I am dead. I'll say thou'st gold:
	Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.
TIMON	Throng'd to!
APEMANTUS	Ay.
TIMON	Thy back, I prithee.	435
APEMANTUS	Live, and love thy misery.
TIMON	Long live so, and so die.
	Exit APEMANTUS
	I am quit.
	Moe things like men! Eat, Timon, and abhor them.
	Enter Banditti
First Bandit	Where should he have this gold? It is some poor	440
	fragment, some slender sort of his remainder: the
	mere want of gold, and the falling-from of his
	friends, drove him into this melancholy.
Second Bandit	It is noised he hath a mass of treasure.
Third Bandit	Let us make the assay upon him: if he care not	445
	for't, he will supply us easily; if he covetously
	reserve it, how shall's get it?
Second Bandit	True; for he bears it not about him, 'tis hid.
First Bandit	Is not this he?
Banditti	Where?	450
Second Bandit	'Tis his description.
Third Bandit	He; I know him.
Banditti	Save thee, Timon.
TIMON	Now, thieves?
Banditti	Soldiers, not thieves.	455
TIMON	Both too; and women's sons.
Banditti	We are not thieves, but men that much do want.
TIMON	Your greatest want is, you want much of meat.
	Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots;
	Within this mile break forth a hundred springs;	460
	The oaks bear mast, the briers scarlet hips;
	The bounteous housewife, nature, on each bush
	Lays her full mess before you. Want! why want?
First Bandit	We cannot live on grass, on berries, water,
	As beasts and birds and fishes.	465
TIMON	Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes;
	You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con
	That you are thieves profess'd, that you work not
	In holier shapes: for there is boundless theft
	In limited professions. Rascal thieves,	470
	Here's gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o' the grape,
	Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth,
	And so 'scape hanging: trust not the physician;
	His antidotes are poison, and he slays
	Moe than you rob: take wealth and lives together;	475
	Do villany, do, since you protest to do't,
	Like workmen. I'll example you with thievery.
	The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
	Robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief,
	And her pale fire she snatches from the sun:	480
	The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
	The moon into salt tears: the earth's a thief,
	That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen
	From general excrement: each thing's a thief:
	The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power	485
	Have uncheque'd theft. Love not yourselves: away,
	Rob one another. There's more gold. Cut throats:
	All that you meet are thieves: to Athens go,
	Break open shops; nothing can you steal,
	But thieves do lose it: steal no less for this	490
	I give you; and gold confound you howsoe'er! Amen.
Third Bandit	Has almost charmed me from my profession, by
	persuading me to it.
First Bandit	'Tis in the malice of mankind that he thus advises
	us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.	495
Second Bandit	I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over my trade.
First Bandit	Let us first see peace in Athens: there is no time
	so miserable but a man may be true.
	Exeunt Banditti
	Enter FLAVIUS
FLAVIUS	O you gods!
	Is yond despised and ruinous man my lord?	500
	Full of decay and failing? O monument
	And wonder of good deeds evilly bestow'd!
	What an alteration of honour
	Has desperate want made!
	What viler thing upon the earth than friends	505
	Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends!
	How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
	When man was wish'd to love his enemies!
	Grant I may ever love, and rather woo
	Those that would mischief me than those that do!	510
	Has caught me in his eye: I will present
	My honest grief unto him; and, as my lord,
	Still serve him with my life. My dearest master!
TIMON	Away! what art thou?
FLAVIUS	Have you forgot me, sir?	515
TIMON	Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;
	Then, if thou grant'st thou'rt a man, I have forgot thee.
FLAVIUS	An honest poor servant of yours.
TIMON	Then I know thee not:
	I never had honest man about me, I; all	520
	I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.
FLAVIUS	The gods are witness,
	Ne'er did poor steward wear a truer grief
	For his undone lord than mine eyes for you.
TIMON	What, dost thou weep? Come nearer. Then I	525
	love thee,
	Because thou art a woman, and disclaim'st
	Flinty mankind; whose eyes do never give
	But thorough lust and laughter. Pity's sleeping:
	Strange times, that weep with laughing, not with weeping!	530
FLAVIUS	I beg of you to know me, good my lord,
	To accept my grief and whilst this poor wealth lasts
	To entertain me as your steward still.
TIMON	Had I a steward
	So true, so just, and now so comfortable?	535
	It almost turns my dangerous nature mild.
	Let me behold thy face. Surely, this man
	Was born of woman.
	Forgive my general and exceptless rashness,
	You perpetual-sober gods! I do proclaim	540
	One honest man--mistake me not--but one;
	No more, I pray,--and he's a steward.
	How fain would I have hated all mankind!
	And thou redeem'st thyself: but all, save thee,
	I fell with curses.	545
	Methinks thou art more honest now than wise;
	For, by oppressing and betraying me,
	Thou mightst have sooner got another service:
	For many so arrive at second masters,
	Upon their first lord's neck. But tell me true--	550
	For I must ever doubt, though ne'er so sure--
	Is not thy kindness subtle, covetous,
	If not a usuring kindness, and, as rich men deal gifts,
	Expecting in return twenty for one?
FLAVIUS	No, my most worthy master; in whose breast	555
	Doubt and suspect, alas, are placed too late:
	You should have fear'd false times when you did feast:
	Suspect still comes where an estate is least.
	That which I show, heaven knows, is merely love,
	Duty and zeal to your unmatched mind,	560
	Care of your food and living; and, believe it,
	My most honour'd lord,
	For any benefit that points to me,
	Either in hope or present, I'ld exchange
	For this one wish, that you had power and wealth	565
	To requite me, by making rich yourself.
TIMON	Look thee, 'tis so! Thou singly honest man,
	Here, take: the gods out of my misery
	Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich and happy;
	But thus condition'd: thou shalt build from men;	570
	Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,
	But let the famish'd flesh slide from the bone,
	Ere thou relieve the beggar; give to dogs
	What thou deny'st to men; let prisons swallow 'em,
	Debts wither 'em to nothing; be men like	575
	blasted woods,
	And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
	And so farewell and thrive.
FLAVIUS	O, let me stay,
	And comfort you, my master.	580
TIMON	If thou hatest curses,
	Stay not; fly, whilst thou art blest and free:
	Ne'er see thou man, and let me ne'er see thee.
	Exit FLAVIUS. TIMON retires to his cave