Speeches (Lines) for Timon in "Timon of Athens"
Total: 210
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Act, Scene, Line
(Click to see in context) |
Speech text |
1 |
I,1,119 |
Imprison'd is he, say you?
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2 |
I,1,125 |
Noble Ventidius! Well;
I am not of that feather to shake off
My friend when he must need me. I do know him
A gentleman that well deserves a help:
Which he shall have: I'll pay the debt,
and free him.
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3 |
I,1,132 |
Commend me to him: I will send his ransom;
And being enfranchised, bid him come to me.
'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,
But to support him after. Fare you well.
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4 |
I,1,140 |
Freely, good father.
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5 |
I,1,142 |
I have so: what of him?
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6 |
I,1,144 |
Attends he here, or no? Lucilius!
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7 |
I,1,151 |
Well; what further?
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8 |
I,1,160 |
The man is honest.
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9 |
I,1,164 |
Does she love him?
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10 |
I,1,168 |
[To LUCILIUS] Love you the maid?
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11 |
I,1,174 |
How shall she be endow'd,
if she be mated with an equal husband?
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12 |
I,1,177 |
This gentleman of mine hath served me long:
To build his fortune I will strain a little,
For 'tis a bond in men. Give him thy daughter:
What you bestow, in him I'll counterpoise,
And make him weigh with her.
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13 |
I,1,184 |
My hand to thee; mine honour on my promise.
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14 |
I,1,190 |
I thank you; you shall hear from me anon:
Go not away. What have you there, my friend?
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15 |
I,1,194 |
Painting is welcome.
The painting is almost the natural man;
or since dishonour traffics with man's nature,
He is but outside: these pencill'd figures are
Even such as they give out. I like your work;
And you shall find I like it: wait attendance
Till you hear further from me.
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16 |
I,1,202 |
Well fare you, gentleman: give me your hand;
We must needs dine together. Sir, your jewel
Hath suffer'd under praise.
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17 |
I,1,206 |
A more satiety of commendations.
If I should pay you for't as 'tis extoll'd,
It would unclew me quite.
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18 |
I,1,214 |
Well mock'd.
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19 |
I,1,217 |
Look, who comes here: will you be chid?
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20 |
I,1,221 |
Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus!
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21 |
I,1,224 |
Why dost thou call them knaves? thou know'st them not.
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22 |
I,1,226 |
Yes.
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23 |
I,1,230 |
Thou art proud, Apemantus.
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24 |
I,1,232 |
Whither art going?
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25 |
I,1,234 |
That's a deed thou'lt die for.
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26 |
I,1,236 |
How likest thou this picture, Apemantus?
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27 |
I,1,238 |
Wrought he not well that painted it?
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28 |
I,1,243 |
Wilt dine with me, Apemantus?
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29 |
I,1,245 |
An thou shouldst, thou 'ldst anger ladies.
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30 |
I,1,247 |
That's a lascivious apprehension.
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31 |
I,1,249 |
How dost thou like this jewel, Apemantus?
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32 |
I,1,252 |
What dost thou think 'tis worth?
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33 |
I,1,267 |
What wouldst do then, Apemantus?
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34 |
I,1,269 |
What, thyself?
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35 |
I,1,271 |
Wherefore?
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36 |
I,1,279 |
What trumpet's that?
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37 |
I,1,282 |
Pray, entertain them; give them guide to us.
[Exeunt some Attendants]
You must needs dine with me: go not you hence
Till I have thank'd you: when dinner's done,
Show me this piece. I am joyful of your sights.
[Enter ALCIBIADES, with the rest]
Most welcome, sir!
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38 |
I,1,297 |
Right welcome, sir!
Ere we depart, we'll share a bounteous time
In different pleasures. Pray you, let us in.
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39 |
I,2,345 |
O, by no means,
Honest Ventidius; you mistake my love:
I gave it freely ever; and there's none
Can truly say he gives, if he receives:
If our betters play at that game, we must not dare
To imitate them; faults that are rich are fair.
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40 |
I,2,352 |
Nay, my lords,
[They all stand ceremoniously looking on TIMON]
Ceremony was but devised at first
To set a gloss on faint deeds, hollow welcomes,
Recanting goodness, sorry ere 'tis shown;
But where there is true friendship, there needs none.
Pray, sit; more welcome are ye to my fortunes
Than my fortunes to me.
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41 |
I,2,363 |
O, Apemantus, you are welcome.
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42 |
I,2,367 |
Fie, thou'rt a churl; ye've got a humour there
Does not become a man: 'tis much to blame.
They say, my lords, 'ira furor brevis est;' but yond
man is ever angry. Go, let him have a table by
himself, for he does neither affect company, nor is
he fit for't, indeed.
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43 |
I,2,375 |
I take no heed of thee; thou'rt an Athenian,
therefore welcome: I myself would have no power;
prithee, let my meat make thee silent.
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44 |
I,2,393 |
My lord, in heart; and let the health go round.
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45 |
I,2,414 |
Captain Alcibiades, your heart's in the field now.
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46 |
I,2,416 |
You had rather be at a breakfast of enemies than a
dinner of friends.
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47 |
I,2,426 |
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
not you 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 ne'er have need of 'em? they
were the most needless creatures living, should we
ne'er have use for 'em, and would most 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 can 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 't can be born!
Mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks: to
forget their faults, I drink to you.
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48 |
I,2,454 |
What means that trump?
[Enter a Servant]
How now?
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49 |
I,2,459 |
Ladies! what are their wills?
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50 |
I,2,462 |
I pray, let them be admitted.
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51 |
I,2,470 |
They're welcome all; let 'em have kind admittance:
Music, make their welcome!
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52 |
I,2,495 |
You have done our pleasures much grace, fair ladies,
Set a fair fashion on our entertainment,
Which was not half so beautiful and kind;
You have added worth unto 't and lustre,
And entertain'd me with mine own device;
I am to thank you for 't.
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53 |
I,2,504 |
Ladies, there is an idle banquet attends you:
Please you to dispose yourselves.
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54 |
I,2,508 |
Flavius.
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55 |
I,2,510 |
The little casket bring me hither.
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56 |
I,2,523 |
O my friends,
I have one word to say to you: look you, my good lord,
I must entreat you, honour me so much
As to advance this jewel; accept it and wear it,
Kind my lord.
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57 |
I,2,533 |
They are fairly welcome.
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58 |
I,2,536 |
Near! why then, another time I'll hear thee:
I prithee, let's be provided to show them
entertainment.
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59 |
I,2,544 |
I shall accept them fairly; let the presents
Be worthily entertain'd.
[Enter a third Servant]
How now! what news?
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60 |
I,2,552 |
I'll hunt with him; and let them be received,
Not without fair reward.
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61 |
I,2,570 |
You do yourselves
Much wrong, you bate too much of your own merits:
Here, my lord, a trifle of our love.
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62 |
I,2,575 |
And now I remember, my lord, you gave
Good words the other day of a bay courser
I rode on: it is yours, because you liked it.
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63 |
I,2,579 |
You may take my word, my lord; I know, no man
Can justly praise but what he does affect:
I weigh my friend's affection with mine own;
I'll tell you true. I'll call to you.
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64 |
I,2,584 |
I take all and your several visitations
So kind to heart, 'tis not enough to give;
Methinks, I could deal kingdoms to my friends,
And ne'er be weary. Alcibiades,
Thou art a soldier, therefore seldom rich;
It comes in charity to thee: for all thy living
Is 'mongst the dead, and all the lands thou hast
Lie in a pitch'd field.
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65 |
I,2,594 |
And so
Am I to you.
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66 |
I,2,597 |
All to you. Lights, more lights!
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67 |
I,2,600 |
Ready for his friends.
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68 |
I,2,608 |
Now, Apemantus, if thou wert not sullen, I would be
good to thee.
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69 |
I,2,616 |
Nay, an you begin to rail on society once, I am
sworn not to give regard to you. Farewell; and come
with better music.
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70 |
II,2,687 |
So soon as dinner's done, we'll forth again,
My Alcibiades. With me? what is your will?
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71 |
II,2,690 |
Dues! Whence are you?
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72 |
II,2,692 |
Go to my steward.
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73 |
II,2,699 |
Mine honest friend,
I prithee, but repair to me next morning.
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74 |
II,2,702 |
Contain thyself, good friend.
He humbly prays your speedy payment.
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75 |
II,2,710 |
Give me breath.
I do beseech you, good my lords, keep on;
I'll wait upon you instantly.
[Exeunt ALCIBIADES and Lords]
[To FLAVIUS]
Come hither: pray you,
How goes the world, that I am thus encounter'd
With clamourous demands of date-broke bonds,
And the detention of long-since-due debts,
Against my honour?
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76 |
II,2,725 |
Do so, my friends. See them well entertain'd.
|
77 |
II,2,809 |
You make me marvel: wherefore ere this time
Had you not fully laid my state before me,
That I might so have rated my expense,
As I had leave of means?
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78 |
II,2,815 |
Go to:
Perchance some single vantages you took.
When my indisposition put you back:
And that unaptness made your minister,
Thus to excuse yourself.
|
79 |
II,2,834 |
Let all my land be sold.
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80 |
II,2,840 |
To Lacedaemon did my land extend.
|
81 |
II,2,844 |
You tell me true.
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82 |
II,2,854 |
Prithee, no more.
|
83 |
II,2,865 |
Come, sermon me no further:
No villanous bounty yet hath pass'd my heart;
Unwisely, not ignobly, have I given.
Why dost thou weep? Canst thou the conscience lack,
To think I shall lack friends? Secure thy heart;
If I would broach the vessels of my love,
And try the argument of hearts by borrowing,
Men and men's fortunes could I frankly use
As I can bid thee speak.
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84 |
II,2,875 |
And, in some sort, these wants of mine are crown'd,
That I account them blessings; for by these
Shall I try friends: you shall perceive how you
Mistake my fortunes; I am wealthy in my friends.
Within there! Flaminius! Servilius!
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85 |
II,2,882 |
I will dispatch you severally; you to Lord Lucius;
to Lord Lucullus you: I hunted with his honour
to-day: you, to Sempronius: commend me to their
loves, and, I am proud, say, that my occasions have
found time to use 'em toward a supply of money: let
the request be fifty talents.
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86 |
II,2,890 |
Go you, sir, to the senators—
Of whom, even to the state's best health, I have
Deserved this hearing—bid 'em send o' the instant
A thousand talents to me.
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87 |
II,2,899 |
Is't true? can't be?
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88 |
II,2,910 |
You gods, reward them!
Prithee, man, look cheerly. These old fellows
Have their ingratitude in them hereditary:
Their blood is caked, 'tis cold, it seldom flows;
'Tis lack of kindly warmth they are not kind;
And nature, as it grows again toward earth,
Is fashion'd for the journey, dull and heavy.
[To a Servant]
Go to Ventidius.
[To FLAVIUS]
Prithee, be not sad,
Thou art true and honest; ingeniously I speak.
No blame belongs to thee.
[To Servant]
Ventidius lately
Buried his father; by whose death he's stepp'd
Into a great estate: when he was poor,
Imprison'd and in scarcity of friends,
I clear'd him with five talents: greet him from me;
Bid him suppose some good necessity
Touches his friend, which craves to be remember'd
With those five talents.
[Exit Servant]
[To FLAVIUS]
That had, give't these fellows
To whom 'tis instant due. Ne'er speak, or think,
That Timon's fortunes 'mong his friends can sink.
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89 |
III,4,1257 |
What, are my doors opposed against my passage?
Have I been ever free, and must my house
Be my retentive enemy, my gaol?
The place which I have feasted, does it now,
Like all mankind, show me an iron heart?
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90 |
III,4,1269 |
Knock me down with 'em: cleave me to the girdle.
|
91 |
III,4,1271 |
Cut my heart in sums.
|
92 |
III,4,1273 |
Tell out my blood.
|
93 |
III,4,1275 |
Five thousand drops pays that.
What yours?—and yours?
|
94 |
III,4,1281 |
Tear me, take me, and the gods fall upon you!
|
95 |
III,4,1288 |
They have e'en put my breath from me, the slaves.
Creditors? devils!
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96 |
III,4,1291 |
What if it should be so?
|
97 |
III,4,1293 |
I'll have it so. My steward!
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98 |
III,4,1295 |
So fitly? Go, bid all my friends again,
Lucius, Lucullus, and Sempronius:
All, sirrah, all:
I'll once more feast the rascals.
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99 |
III,4,1303 |
Be't not in thy care; go,
I charge thee, invite them all: let in the tide
Of knaves once more; my cook and I'll provide.
|
100 |
III,6,1462 |
With all my heart, gentlemen both; and how fare you?
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101 |
III,6,1466 |
[Aside] Nor more willingly leaves winter; such
summer-birds are men. Gentlemen, our dinner will not
recompense this long stay: feast your ears with the
music awhile, if they will fare so harshly o' the
trumpet's sound; we shall to 't presently.
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102 |
III,6,1473 |
O, sir, let it not trouble you.
|
103 |
III,6,1475 |
Ah, my good friend, what cheer?
|
104 |
III,6,1479 |
Think not on 't, sir.
|
105 |
III,6,1481 |
Let it not cumber your better remembrance.
[The banquet brought in]
Come, bring in all together.
|
106 |
III,6,1494 |
My worthy friends, will you draw near?
|
107 |
III,6,1500 |
Each man to his stool, with that spur as he would to
the lip of his mistress: your diet shall be in all
places alike. Make not a city feast of it, to let
the meat cool ere we can agree upon the first place:
sit, sit. The gods require our thanks.
You great benefactors, sprinkle our society with
thankfulness. For your own gifts, make yourselves
praised: but reserve still to give, lest your
deities be despised. Lend to each man enough, that
one need not lend to another; for, were your
godheads to borrow of men, men would forsake the
gods. Make the meat be beloved more than the man
that gives it. Let no assembly of twenty be without
a score of villains: if there sit twelve women at
the table, let a dozen of them be—as they are. The
rest of your fees, O gods—the senators of Athens,
together with the common lag of people—what is
amiss in them, you gods, make suitable for
destruction. For these my present friends, as they
are to me nothing, so in nothing bless them, and to
nothing are they welcome.
Uncover, dogs, and lap.
[The dishes are uncovered and seen to be full of]
warm water]
|
108 |
III,6,1526 |
May you a better feast never behold,
You knot of mouth-friends I smoke and lukewarm water
Is your perfection. This is Timon's last;
Who, stuck and spangled with your flatteries,
Washes it off, and sprinkles in your faces
Your reeking villany.
[Throwing the water in their faces]
Live loathed and long,
Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites,
Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears,
You fools of fortune, trencher-friends, time's flies,
Cap and knee slaves, vapours, and minute-jacks!
Of man and beast the infinite malady
Crust you quite o'er! What, dost thou go?
Soft! take thy physic first—thou too—and thou;—
Stay, I will lend thee money, borrow none.
[Throws the dishes at them, and drives them out]
What, all in motion? Henceforth be no feast,
Whereat a villain's not a welcome guest.
Burn, house! sink, Athens! henceforth hated be
Of Timon man and all humanity!
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109 |
IV,1,1565 |
Let me look back upon thee. O thou wall,
That girdlest in those wolves, dive in the earth,
And fence not Athens! Matrons, turn incontinent!
Obedience fail in children! slaves and fools,
Pluck the grave wrinkled senate from the bench,
And minister in their steads! to general filths
Convert o' the instant, green virginity,
Do 't in your parents' eyes! bankrupts, hold fast;
Rather than render back, out with your knives,
And cut your trusters' throats! bound servants, steal!
Large-handed robbers your grave masters are,
And pill by law. Maid, to thy master's bed;
Thy mistress is o' the brothel! Son of sixteen,
pluck the lined crutch from thy old limping sire,
With it beat out his brains! Piety, and fear,
Religion to the gods, peace, justice, truth,
Domestic awe, night-rest, and neighbourhood,
Instruction, manners, mysteries, and trades,
Degrees, observances, customs, and laws,
Decline to your confounding contraries,
And let confusion live! Plagues, incident to men,
Your potent and infectious fevers heap
On Athens, ripe for stroke! Thou cold sciatica,
Cripple our senators, that their limbs may halt
As lamely as their manners. Lust and liberty
Creep in the minds and marrows of our youth,
That 'gainst the stream of virtue they may strive,
And drown themselves in riot! Itches, blains,
Sow all the Athenian bosoms; and their crop
Be general leprosy! Breath infect breath,
at their society, as their friendship, may
merely poison! Nothing I'll bear from thee,
But nakedness, thou detestable town!
Take thou that too, with multiplying bans!
Timon will to the woods; where he shall find
The unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
The gods confound—hear me, you good gods all—
The Athenians both within and out that wall!
And grant, as Timon grows, his hate may grow
To the whole race of mankind, high and low! Amen.
|
110 |
IV,3,1664 |
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,
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;
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,
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,
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
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.
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,
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
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.
[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, in]
warlike manner; PHRYNIA and TIMANDRA]
|
111 |
IV,3,1718 |
A beast, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy heart,
For showing me again the eyes of man!
|
112 |
IV,3,1722 |
I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind.
For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
That I might love thee something.
|
113 |
IV,3,1727 |
I know thee too; and more than that I know thee,
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,
For all her cherubim look.
|
114 |
IV,3,1735 |
I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns
To thine own lips again.
|
115 |
IV,3,1738 |
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.
|
116 |
IV,3,1743 |
None, but to
Maintain my opinion.
|
117 |
IV,3,1746 |
Promise me friendship, but perform none: if thou
wilt not promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art
a man! if thou dost perform, confound thee, for
thou art a man!
|
118 |
IV,3,1751 |
Thou saw'st them, when I had prosperity.
|
119 |
IV,3,1753 |
As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.
|
120 |
IV,3,1756 |
Art thou Timandra?
|
121 |
IV,3,1758 |
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.
|
122 |
IV,3,1772 |
I prithee, beat thy drum, and get thee gone.
|
123 |
IV,3,1774 |
How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble?
I had rather be alone.
|
124 |
IV,3,1778 |
Keep it, I cannot eat it.
|
125 |
IV,3,1780 |
Warr'st thou 'gainst Athens?
|
126 |
IV,3,1782 |
The gods confound them all in thy conquest;
And thee after, when thou hast conquer'd!
|
127 |
IV,3,1785 |
That, by killing of villains,
Thou wast born to conquer my country.
Put up thy gold: go on,—here's gold,—go on;
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;
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,
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;
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,
Confounded be thyself! Speak not, be gone.
|
128 |
IV,3,1812 |
Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse
upon thee!
|
129 |
IV,3,1815 |
Enough to make a whore forswear her trade,
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,
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,
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!
|
130 |
IV,3,1832 |
Consumptions sow
In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins,
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,
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
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!
|
131 |
IV,3,1850 |
More whore, more mischief first; I have given you earnest.
|
132 |
IV,3,1853 |
If I hope well, I'll never see thee more.
|
133 |
IV,3,1855 |
Yes, thou spokest well of me.
|
134 |
IV,3,1857 |
Men daily find it. Get thee away, and take
Thy beagles with thee.
|
135 |
IV,3,1862 |
That nature, being sick of man's unkindness,
Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou,
[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,
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,
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!—
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!
|
136 |
IV,3,1888 |
'Tis, then, because thou dost not keep a dog,
Whom I would imitate: consumption catch thee!
|
137 |
IV,3,1907 |
Were I like thee, I'ld throw away myself.
|
138 |
IV,3,1922 |
A fool of thee: depart.
|
139 |
IV,3,1924 |
I hate thee worse.
|
140 |
IV,3,1926 |
Thou flatter'st misery.
|
141 |
IV,3,1928 |
Why dost thou seek me out?
|
142 |
IV,3,1930 |
Always a villain's office or a fool's.
Dost please thyself in't?
|
143 |
IV,3,1933 |
What! a knave too?
|
144 |
IV,3,1944 |
Not by his breath that is more miserable.
Thou art a slave, whom Fortune's tender arm
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
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,
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
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?
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,
Thou hadst been a knave and flatterer.
|
145 |
IV,3,1973 |
Ay, that I am not thee.
|
146 |
IV,3,1976 |
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.
|
147 |
IV,3,1984 |
First mend my company, take away thyself.
|
148 |
IV,3,1986 |
'Tis not well mended so, it is but botch'd;
if not, I would it were.
|
149 |
IV,3,1989 |
Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt,
Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have.
|
150 |
IV,3,1992 |
The best and truest;
For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm.
|
151 |
IV,3,1995 |
Under that's above me.
Where feed'st thou o' days, Apemantus?
|
152 |
IV,3,1999 |
Would poison were obedient and knew my mind!
|
153 |
IV,3,2001 |
To sauce thy dishes.
|
154 |
IV,3,2008 |
On what I hate I feed not.
|
155 |
IV,3,2010 |
Ay, though it look like thee.
|
156 |
IV,3,2014 |
Who, without those means thou talkest of, didst thou
ever know beloved?
|
157 |
IV,3,2017 |
I understand thee; thou hadst some means to keep a
dog.
|
158 |
IV,3,2021 |
Women nearest; but men, men are the things
themselves. What wouldst thou do with the world,
Apemantus, if it lay in thy power?
|
159 |
IV,3,2025 |
Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confusion of
men, and remain a beast with the beasts?
|
160 |
IV,3,2028 |
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
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
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
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
transformation!
|
161 |
IV,3,2052 |
How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the city?
|
162 |
IV,3,2057 |
When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be
welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog than Apemantus.
|
163 |
IV,3,2060 |
Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!
|
164 |
IV,3,2062 |
All villains that do stand by thee are pure.
|
165 |
IV,3,2064 |
If I name thee.
I'll beat thee, but I should infect my hands.
|
166 |
IV,3,2067 |
Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!
Choler does kill me that thou art alive;
I swound to see thee.
|
167 |
IV,3,2071 |
Away,
Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall lose
A stone by thee.
|
168 |
IV,3,2076 |
Slave!
|
169 |
IV,3,2078 |
Rogue, rogue, rogue!
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,
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,
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,
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!
|
170 |
IV,3,2102 |
Throng'd to!
|
171 |
IV,3,2104 |
Thy back, I prithee.
|
172 |
IV,3,2106 |
Long live so, and so die.
[Exit APEMANTUS]
I am quit.
Moe things like men! Eat, Timon, and abhor them.
|
173 |
IV,3,2125 |
Now, thieves?
|
174 |
IV,3,2127 |
Both too; and women's sons.
|
175 |
IV,3,2129 |
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;
The oaks bear mast, the briers scarlet hips;
The bounteous housewife, nature, on each bush
Lays her full mess before you. Want! why want?
|
176 |
IV,3,2137 |
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,
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;
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:
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
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
I give you; and gold confound you howsoe'er! Amen.
|
177 |
IV,3,2187 |
Away! what art thou?
|
178 |
IV,3,2189 |
Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;
Then, if thou grant'st thou'rt a man, I have forgot thee.
|
179 |
IV,3,2192 |
Then I know thee not:
I never had honest man about me, I; all
I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.
|
180 |
IV,3,2198 |
What, dost thou weep? Come nearer. Then I
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!
|
181 |
IV,3,2207 |
Had I a steward
So true, so just, and now so comfortable?
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
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.
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—
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?
|
182 |
IV,3,2240 |
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;
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
blasted woods,
And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
And so farewell and thrive.
|
183 |
IV,3,2254 |
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.
|
184 |
V,1,2290 |
[Aside] Excellent workman! thou canst not paint a
man so bad as is thyself.
|
185 |
V,1,2296 |
[Aside] Must thou needs stand for a villain in
thine own work? wilt thou whip thine own faults in
other men? Do so, I have gold for thee.
|
186 |
V,1,2305 |
[Aside] I'll meet you at the turn. What a
god's gold,
That he is worshipp'd in a baser temple
Than where swine feed!
'Tis thou that rigg'st the bark and plough'st the foam,
Settlest admired reverence in a slave:
To thee be worship! and thy saints for aye
Be crown'd with plagues that thee alone obey!
Fit I meet them.
|
187 |
V,1,2317 |
Have I once lived to see two honest men?
|
188 |
V,1,2328 |
Let it go naked, men may see't the better:
You that are honest, by being what you are,
Make them best seen and known.
|
189 |
V,1,2334 |
Ay, you are honest men.
|
190 |
V,1,2336 |
Most honest men! Why, how shall I requite you?
Can you eat roots, and drink cold water? no.
|
191 |
V,1,2339 |
Ye're honest men: ye've heard that I have gold;
I am sure you have: speak truth; ye're honest men.
|
192 |
V,1,2343 |
Good honest men! Thou draw'st a counterfeit
Best in all Athens: thou'rt, indeed, the best;
Thou counterfeit'st most lively.
|
193 |
V,1,2347 |
E'en so, sir, as I say. And, for thy fiction,
Why, thy verse swells with stuff so fine and smooth
That thou art even natural in thine art.
But, for all this, my honest-natured friends,
I must needs say you have a little fault:
Marry, 'tis not monstrous in you, neither wish I
You take much pains to mend.
|
194 |
V,1,2356 |
You'll take it ill.
|
195 |
V,1,2358 |
Will you, indeed?
|
196 |
V,1,2360 |
There's never a one of you but trusts a knave,
That mightily deceives you.
|
197 |
V,1,2363 |
Ay, and you hear him cog, see him dissemble,
Know his gross patchery, love him, feed him,
Keep in your bosom: yet remain assured
That he's a made-up villain.
|
198 |
V,1,2369 |
Look you, I love you well; I'll give you gold,
Rid me these villains from your companies:
Hang them or stab them, drown them in a draught,
Confound them by some course, and come to me,
I'll give you gold enough.
|
199 |
V,1,2375 |
You that way and you this, but two in company;
Each man apart, all single and alone,
Yet an arch-villain keeps him company.
If where thou art two villains shall not be,
Come not near him. If thou wouldst not reside
But where one villain is, then him abandon.
Hence, pack! there's gold; you came for gold, ye slaves:
[To Painter]
You have work'd for me; there's payment for you: hence!
[To Poet]
You are an alchemist; make gold of that.
Out, rascal dogs!
|
200 |
V,1,2408 |
Thou sun, that comfort'st, burn! Speak, and
be hang'd:
For each true word, a blister! and each false
Be as cauterizing to the root o' the tongue,
Consuming it with speaking!
|
201 |
V,1,2414 |
Of none but such as you, and you of Timon.
|
202 |
V,1,2416 |
I thank them; and would send them back the plague,
Could I but catch it for them.
|
203 |
V,1,2437 |
You witch me in it;
Surprise me to the very brink of tears:
Lend me a fool's heart and a woman's eyes,
And I'll beweep these comforts, worthy senators.
|
204 |
V,1,2452 |
Well, sir, I will; therefore, I will, sir; thus:
If Alcibiades kill my countrymen,
Let Alcibiades know this of Timon,
That Timon cares not. But if be sack fair Athens,
And take our goodly aged men by the beards,
Giving our holy virgins to the stain
Of contumelious, beastly, mad-brain'd war,
Then let him know, and tell him Timon speaks it,
In pity of our aged and our youth,
I cannot choose but tell him, that I care not,
And let him take't at worst; for their knives care not,
While you have throats to answer: for myself,
There's not a whittle in the unruly camp
But I do prize it at my love before
The reverend'st throat in Athens. So I leave you
To the protection of the prosperous gods,
As thieves to keepers.
|
205 |
V,1,2470 |
Why, I was writing of my epitaph;
it will be seen to-morrow: my long sickness
Of health and living now begins to mend,
And nothing brings me all things. Go, live still;
Be Alcibiades your plague, you his,
And last so long enough!
|
206 |
V,1,2477 |
But yet I love my country, and am not
One that rejoices in the common wreck,
As common bruit doth put it.
|
207 |
V,1,2481 |
Commend me to my loving countrymen,—
|
208 |
V,1,2486 |
Commend me to them,
And tell them that, to ease them of their griefs,
Their fears of hostile strokes, their aches, losses,
Their pangs of love, with other incident throes
That nature's fragile vessel doth sustain
In life's uncertain voyage, I will some kindness do them:
I'll teach them to prevent wild Alcibiades' wrath.
|
209 |
V,1,2494 |
I have a tree, which grows here in my close,
That mine own use invites me to cut down,
And shortly must I fell it: tell my friends,
Tell Athens, in the sequence of degree
From high to low throughout, that whoso please
To stop affliction, let him take his haste,
Come hither, ere my tree hath felt the axe,
And hang himself. I pray you, do my greeting.
|
210 |
V,1,2503 |
Come not to me again: but say to Athens,
Timon hath made his everlasting mansion
Upon the beached verge of the salt flood;
Who once a day with his embossed froth
The turbulent surge shall cover: thither come,
And let my grave-stone be your oracle.
Lips, let sour words go by and language end:
What is amiss plague and infection mend!
Graves only be men's works and death their gain!
Sun, hide thy beams! Timon hath done his reign.
|