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Por. Then you shall be his surety: Give him this;

And bid him keep it better than the other.

Ant. Here, lord Bassanio; swear to keep this ring.

Bass. By heaven, it is the same I gave the doctor! Por. I had it of him.. You are all amaz'd: Here is a letter, read it at your leisure;

It comes from Padua, from Bellario:

There you shall find, that Portia was the doctor;
Nerissa there, her clerk: Lorenzo here

Shall witness, I set forth as soon as you,
And but even now return'd; I have not yet
Enter'd my house. Antonio, you are welcome;
And I have better news in store for

you,
Than you expect: unseal this letter soon;
There you shall find, three of your argosies
Are richly come to harbour suddenly:
You shall not know by what strange accident
I chanced on this letter.

Ant.

I am dumb.

Bass. Were you the doctor, and I knew you not? Gra. Were you the clerk, that is to make me cuckold?

Ner. Ay; but the clerk that never means to do it, Unless he live until he be a man.

Bass. Sweet doctor, you shall be

my

bedfellow

When I am absent, then lie with my wife.

Ant. Sweet lady, you have given me life, and living;

For here I read for certain, that my ships

Are safely come to road.

Por,

How now, Lorenzo?

My clerk hath some good comforts too for you.
Ner. Ay, and I'll give them him without a fee.
There do I give to you, and Jessica,

From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift,
After his death, of all he dies possess'd of.

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Lor. Fair ladies, you drop manna in the
Of starved people.
Por.
And yet, I am sure, you are not satisfied

It is almost morning,

Of these events at full: Let us go in;
And charge us there upon inter gatories,

way

And we will answer all things faithfully. [Exeunt.

AS YOU LIKE IT.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

DUKE, living in exile.

FREDERICK, brother to the Duke, and usurper of his dominions.

AMIENS, Lords attending upon the Duke in his
JAQUES, S
banishment.

LE BEAU, a courtier attending upon Frederick.
CHARLES, his wrestler.

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TOUCHSTONE, a clown.

SIR OLIVER MAR-TEXT, a Vicar.

CORIN,

SYLVIUS,

Shepherds.

WILLIAM, a country fellow, in love with Audrey. A Person representing Hymen.

ROSALIND, daughter to the banished Duke.

CELIA, daughter to Frederick.

PHEBE, a Shepherdess.

AUDREY, a country girl.

Lords belonging to the two Dukes; Pages, Foresters, and other Attendants.

The SCENE lies, first, near Oliver's House: afterwards, partly in the Usurper's Court, and partly in the Forest of Arden.

AS YOU LIKE IT.

ACT THE FIRST.

SCENE 1.

An Orchard, near Oliver's House.

Enter ORLANDO and ADAM.

Orlando. As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion bequeathed me: By will, but a poor thousand crowns; and, as thou say'st, charged my brother, on his blessing, to breed me well: and there begins my sadness. My brother Jaques he keeps at school, and report speaks goldenly of his profit: for my part, he keeps me rustically at home, or, to speak more properly, stays me here at home unkept: For call you that keeping for a gentleman of my birth, that differs not from the stalling of an ox? His horses are bred better; for, besides that they are fair with their feeding, they are taught their manage, and to that end riders dearly hired: but I, his brother, gain nothing under him but growth; for the which his animals on his dunghills

are as much bound to him as I. Besides this nothing that he so plentifully gives me, the something that nature gave me, his countenance seems to take from me: he lets me feed with his hinds, bars me the place of a brother, and, as much as in him lies, mines my gentility with my education. This is

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