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- TWELFTH NIGHT
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- Act 1 Scene 3
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- (Enter Sir Toby Belch and Maria)
- l1l Sir Toby What a plague means my niece to take the death
- l2l of her brother thus? I am sure careÆs an enemy to life.
- l3l Maria By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier
- l4l oÆ nights. Your cousin, my lady, takes great exceptions
- l5l to your ill hours.
- l6l Sir Toby Why, let her except, before excepted.
- l7l Maria Ay, but you must confine yourself within the
- l8l modest limits of order.
- l9l Sir Toby Confine? IÆll confine myself no finer than I am.
- l10l These clothes are good enough to drink in, and so be
- l11l these boots too; an they be not, let them hang
- l12l themselves in their own straps.
- l13l Maria That quaffing and drinking will undo you. I heard
- l14l my lady talk of it yesterday, and of a foolish knight
- l15l that you brought in one night here to be her wooer.
- l16l Sir Toby Who, Sir Andrew Aguecheek?
- l17l Maria Ay, he.
- l18l Sir Toby HeÆs as tall a man as anyÆs in Illyria.
- l19l Maria WhatÆs that to thÆ purpose?
- l20l Sir Toby Why, he has three thousand ducats a year.
- l21l Maria Ay, but heÆll have but a year in all these ducats.
- l22l HeÆs a very fool, and a prodigal.
- l23l Sir Toby Fie that youÆll say so! He plays oÆ thÆ viol-de-
- l24l gamboys, and speaks three or four languages word for
- l25l word without book, and hath all the good gifts of
- l26l nature.
- l27l Maria He hath indeed, almost natural, for besides that
- l28l heÆs a fool, heÆs a great quarreller, and but that he
- l29l hath the gift of a coward to allay the gust he hath in
- l30l quarrelling, Ætis thought among the prudent he would
- l31l quickly have the gift of a grave.
- l32l Sir Toby By this hand, they are scoundrels and substractors
- l33l that say so of him. Who are they?
- l34l Maria They that add, moreover, heÆs drunk nightly in
- l35l your company.
- l36l Sir Toby With drinking healths to my niece. IÆll drink to
- l37l her as long as there is a passage in my throat and
- l38l drink in Illyria. HeÆs a coward and a coistrel that will
- l39l not drink to my niece till his brains turn oÆ thÆ toe, like
- l40l a parish top. What wench, Castiliano, vulgo, for here
- l41l comes Sir Andrew Agueface.
- (Enter Sir Andrew Aguecheek)
- l42l Sir Andrew Sir Toby Belch! How now, Sir Toby Belch?
- l43l Sir Toby Sweet Sir Andrew.
- l44l Sir Andrew (to Maria) Bless you, fair shrew.
- l45l Maria And you too, sir.
- l46l Sir Toby Accost, Sir Andrew, accost.
- l47l Sir Andrew WhatÆs that?
- l48l Sir Toby My nieceÆs chambermaid.
- l49l Sir Andrew Good Mistress Accost, I desire better
- l50l acquaintance.
- l51l Maria My name is Mary, sir.
- l52l Sir Andrew Good Mistress Mary Accost.
- l53l Sir Toby You mistake, knight. ôAccostö is front her, board
- l54l her, woo her, assail her.
- l55l Sir Andrew By my troth, I would not undertake her in
- l56l this company. Is that the meaning of ôaccostö?
- l57l Maria Fare you well, gentlemen.
- l58l Sir Toby An thou let part so, Sir Andrew, would thou
- l59l mightst never draw sword again.
- l60l Sir Andrew An you part so, mistress, I would I might
- l61l never draw sword again. Fair lady, do you think you
- l62l have fools in hand?
- l63l Maria Sir, I have not you by thÆ hand.
- l64l Sir Andrew Marry, but you shall have, and hereÆs my
- l65l hand.
- l66l Maria (taking his hand) Now sir, thought is free. I pray
- l67l you, bring your hand to thÆ buttery-bar, and let it
- l68l drink.
- l69l Sir Andrew Wherefore, sweetheart? WhatÆs your
- l70 metaphor?
- l71 Maria ItÆs dry, sir.
- l72l Sir Andrew Why, I think so. I am not such an ass but I
- l73l can keep my hand dry. But whatÆs your jest?
- l74l Maria A dry jest, sir.
- l75l Sir Andrew Are you full of them?
- l76l Maria Ay, sir, I have them at my fingersÆ ends. Marry,
- l77l now I let go your hand I am barren.
- (Exit)
- l78l Sir Toby O knight, thou lackest a cup of canary. When
- l79l did I see thee so put down?
- l80l Sir Andrew Never in your life, I think, unless you see
- l81l canary put me down. Methinks sometimes I have no
- l82l more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has;
- l83l but I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does
- l84l harm to my wit.
- l85l Sir Toby No question.
- l86l Sir Andrew An I thought that, IÆd forswear it. IÆll ride
- l87l home tomorrow, Sir Toby.
- l88l Sir Toby Pourquoi, my dear knight?
- l89l Sir Andrew What is ôPourquoiö? Do, or not do? I would
- l90l I had bestowed that time in the tongues that I have
- l91l in fencing, dancing, and bear-baiting. O, had I but
- l92l followed the arts!
- l93l Sir Toby Then hadst thou had an excellent head of hair.
- l94l Sir Andrew Why, would that have mended my hair?
- l95l Sir Toby Past question, for thou seest it will not curl by
- l96l nature.
- l97l Sir Andrew But it becomes me well enough, does Æt not?
- l98l Sir Toby Excellent, it hangs like flax on a distaff, and I
- l99l hope to see a housewife take thee between her legs and
- l100l spin it off.
- l101l Sir Andrew Faith, IÆll home tomorrow, Sir Toby. Your
- l102l niece will not be seen, or if she be, itÆs four to one
- l103l sheÆll none of me. The Count himself here hard by woos
- l104l her.
- l105l Sir Toby SheÆll none oÆ thÆ Count. SheÆll not match above
- l106l her degree, neither in estate, years, nor wit, I have
- l107l heard her swear Æt. Tut, thereÆs life in Æt, man.
- l108l Sir Andrew IÆll stay a month longer. I am a fellow oÆ thÆ
- l109l strangest mind iÆ thÆ world. I delight in masques and
- l110l revels sometimes altogether.
- l111l Sir Toby Art thou good at these kickshawses, knight?
- l112l Sir Andrew As any man in Illyria, whatsoever he be,
- l113l under the degree of my betters; and yet I will not
- l114l compare with an old man.
- l115l Sir Toby What is thy excellence in a galliard, knight?
- l116l Sir Andrew Faith, I can cut a caper.
- l117l Sir Toby And I can cut the mutton to Æt.
- l118l Sir Andrew And I think I have the back-trick simply as
- l119l strong as any man in Illyria.
- l120l Sir Toby Wherefore are these things hid? Wherefore have
- l121l these gifts a curtain before Æem? Are they like to take
- l122l dust, like Mistress MallÆs picture? Why dost thou not
- l123l go to church in a galliard, and come home in a coranto?
- l124l My very walk should be a jig. I would not so much as
- l125l make water but in a cinquepace. What dost thou mean?
- l126l Is it a world to hide virtues in? I did think by the
- l127l excellent constitution of thy leg it was formed under
- l128l the star of a galliard.
- l129l Sir Andrew Ay, Ætis strong, and it does indifferent well
- l130l in a divers-coloured stock. Shall we set about some
- l131l revels?
- l132l Sir Toby What shall we do elseùwere we not born under
- l133l Taurus?
- l134l Sir Andrew Taurus? ThatÆs sides and heart.
- l135l Sir Toby No, sir, it is legs and thighs: let me see thee
- l136l caper.
- (Sir Andrew capers)
- l137l Ha, higher! Ha ha, excellent.
- (Exeunt)
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