If with myself I hold intelligence

Or have acquaintance with mine own desires,
If that I do not dream, or be not frantic,-
As I do trust I am not--then, dear uncle,
Never so much as in a thought unborn
Did I offend your highness.

Duke F. Thus do all traitors:

Ros.

Ros.

If their purgation did consist in words,
They are as innocent as grace itself:
Let it suffice thee that I trust thee not.
Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor:
Tell me whereon the likelihood depends.

Duke F. Thou art thy father's daughter; there's enough.
So was I when your highness took his dukedom;
So was I when your highness banish'd him;
Treason is not inherited, my lord;

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15

20

25

Or, if we did derive it from our friends,

What's that to me? my father was no traitor:

Cel.

Then, good my liege, mistake me not so much
To think my poverty is treacherous.
Dear sovereign, hear me speak.

Duke F. Ay, Celia; we stay'd her for your sake,
Else had she with her father rang'd along.

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10. If with myself I hold intelligence.-This line is explained by that which follows; it may be rendered "If I know myself, or am sensible of my own wishes."

12. Frantic.-Mad, not capable of understanding.

16. Traitors.-Those who seek the downfall of their rulers.

17. Purgation.-Justification; the act of clearing one's self from some

accusation.

21. Likelihood.-The whole line may be construed "Tell me why you think me likely to prove a traitor."

25. Inherited.--Carried down from parents to children.

28. Good my liege.—Similar to my lord; subjects owe allegiance (that is, obedience) to their sovereign; the term is derived from the days when what is called the "Feudal system was general, and refers to the duty which vassals owed to their lords.

31. We stay'd her.-We allowed her to remain.

32. Rang'd along.--Wandered about as a banished person.

Cel.

I did not then entreat to have her stay;

It was your pleasure, and your own remorse;
I was too young that time to value her;

But now I know her; if she be a traitor,

Why so am I; we still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learn'd, play'd, eat together,
And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans,
Still we went coupl'd and inseparable.

Duke F. She is too subtle for thee; and her smoothness,

Her very silence and her patience

Speak to the people, and they pity her.

Thou art a fool; she robs thee of thy name;

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Cel.

And thou wilt show more bright and seem more

virtuous

When she is gone. Then open not thy lips;
Firm and irrevocable is my doom

Which I have pass'd upon her; she is banish'd.
Pronounce that sentence then on me, my liege;
I cannot live out of her company.

Duke F. You are a fool. You, niece, provide yourself;
If you outstay the time, upon mine honour,
And in the greatness of my word, you die.

Cel.

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[Exit DUKE FREDERICK. O my poor Rosalind, whither wilt thou go?

34. Remorse.-A sense of guilt; the sting of conscience. 38. Rose at an instant.-That is, at the same instant. 39. Juno's swans.-Before the spread of Christianity, the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans consisted in the belief in a large number of gods and goddesses. The numerous stories about these false gods, their wars, their marriages, their miraculous deeds, &c., are now called "mythology," the Gr. word mythos, meaning a fable, an untrue story. In this ancient mythology Juno was the wife of the god Jupiter; her chariot was drawn by two swans exactly alike.

40. Inseparable.-Firmly joined together.

41. Subtle.-Cunning; crafty.

43. Speak to the people.-Cause the people to notice her unhappiness. 47. Irrevocable.-Not to be revoked or called back.

47. Doom.-In this place the word means sentence.

Ros.

C'el.

Wilt thou change fathers? I will give thee mine.
I charge thee, be not thou more grieved than I am.
I have more cause.

Thou hast not, cousin;

Prithee, be cheerful; know'st thou not, the duke
Hath banish'd me, his daughter?

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60

Ros.

That he hath not.

Cel.

Ros.

No, hath not? Rosalind lacks then the love
Which teacheth thee that thou and I am one;
Shall we be sunder'd? shall we part, sweet girl?
No; let my father seek another heir.
Therefore devise with me how we may fly,
Whither to go, and what to bear with us;
And do not seek to take your change upon you,
To bear your griefs yourself and leave me out;
For, by this heaven, now at our sorrows pale,
Say what thou canst, I'll go along with thee.
Why, whither shall we go?

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70

Cel.

Ros.

To seek my uncle in the forest of Arden.
Alas! what danger will it be to us,

Maids as we are, to travel forth so far!

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Cel.

Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.
I'll put myself in poor and mean attire,

And with a kind of umber smirch my face;
The like do you; so shall we pass along
And never stir assailants.

59. Prithee. A shortened form of the phrase, "I pray thee." 62. Lacks.-Wants; is without; doth not possess.

64. Sunder'd.-Parted.

66. Devise.-Plan; scheme.

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70. Now at our sorrows pale.-It must be imagined that the sky was clouded at the time, and Celia says the heavens had grown "pale" in consequence of the misfortunes of these cousins.

73. Forest of Arden.-A French name spelt in English form. The forest of Ardennes is meant; it is in France, on the borders of Belgium.

78. Umber.-A brown paint.

78. Smirch.-Smear.

80. Assailants.-Enemies; people who would assail or interrupt them.

Ros.

Were it not better,

Because that I am more than common tall,
That I did suit me all points like a man?
A gallant curtle-axe upon my thigh,

A boar-spear in my hand; and—in my heart

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Lie there what hidden woman's fear there will

We'll have a swashing and a martial outside,
As many other mannish cowards have

Cel.

That do outface it with their semblances.

Ros.

What shall I call thee when thou art a man?
I'll have no worse a name than Jove's own page;
And therefore look you call me Ganymede.
But what will you be call'd?

90

Something that hath a reference to my state;
No longer Celia, but Aliena.

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Cel.

Ros. But, cousin, what if we assayed to steal

Cel.

The clownish fool out of your father's court?
Would he not be a comfort to our travel?
He'll go along o'er the wide world with me;
Leave me alone to woo him. Let's away,
And get our jewels and our wealth together,

83. Suit me.-Dress myself.

84. Curtle-axe.-A cutlass or broadsword.

85. Boar-spear.-A spear used in hunting the boar.

87. Swashing.-Dashing; proud.

87. Martial.-Warlike.

89. Semblances.-Pretences; seeming to be what they are not.

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91. Jove's own page.-In ancient mythology (explained in note 39) the chief god, and king of heaven, was Jupiter; Jove was another name for the same personage; Ganymede was Jupiter's cupbearer.

95. Aliena.-Celia chooses this name because "it hath a reference to my state;" the word meaning a stranger.

96. Assayed.-Attempted; tried.

97. Fool.-In the middle ages, when noblemen, and even kings and queens, were often unable to read, it was the custom for them

to keep a witty person as jester, or fool, to amuse them by his laughable speeches and gestures.

100. Woo him.-Persuade him ; prevail upon him to go

with us.

Devise the fittest time and safest way
To hide us from pursuit that will be made
After my flight. Now go we in content
To liberty and not to banishment.

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IV.

AS YOU LIKE IT.

ACT ii. SCENE 1.-THE DUKE IN EXILE.

[In this scene we are introduced to the banished duke (Duke Senior) spoken of in the preceding scene. He is now living in the Forest of Arden; along with him are several lords who have chosen to be his companions in banishment; he and his friends have adopted the dress, and live the life, of foresters. Of these lords, the two who are mentioned by name in this scene are Amiens and Jaques, of whom the latter is specially described as "melancholy," that is, dull, fond of wandering alone, and of talking to himself. His name, Jaques, may, in repetition be pronounced either as Jakes, or as Ja-qués, according to its position in the line.]

SCENE: The forest of Arden.

Duke S. Now, my co-mates, and brothers in exile,

Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam,

1. Co-mates. Companions.

1. Exile.-Banishment.

2. This life. This kind of life, that is, life in the woods.

5

3. Painted pomp.-Pomp is splendour, the parade and grandeur of kings. Shakespeare adds the word "painted," implying that it is not natural.

4. The envious court.-Those who reside with a king in his palace are called "the court." Shakespeare, by adding the adjective "envious," implies that such people are not happy and contented. 5. The penalty of Adam.-Penalty is strictly punishment. The whole line means that in the forest the only "penalty or suffering they endured was such as came into the world after Adam's fall; or, as the next line says, "the seasons' difference," the changes of the weather.