ACT IV SCENE III

Timon of Athens

ACT IV SCENE III	Woods and cave, near the seashore.
[Enter TIMON, from the cave]
TIMON	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;	5
	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,	10
	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,	15
	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	20
	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?	25
	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	30
	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	35
	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	40
	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,	45
	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 ]
ALCIBIADES	What art thou there? speak.
TIMON	A beast, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy heart,	50
	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.
	For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,	55
	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,
	I not desire to know. Follow thy drum;	60
	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.	65
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?
TIMON	As the moon does, by wanting light to give:	70
	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?
TIMON	None, but to	75
	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
	a man! if thou dost perform, confound thee, for	80
	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.
TIMON	As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.	85
TIMANDRA	Is this the Athenian minion, whom the world
	Voiced so regardfully?
TIMON	Art thou Timandra?
TIMANDRA	Yes.
TIMON	Be a whore still: they love thee not that use thee;	90
	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.
TIMANDRA	Hang thee, monster!	95
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
	In my penurious band: I have heard, and grieved,	100
	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.
ALCIBIADES	I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.	105
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.
TIMON	Keep it, I cannot eat it.	110
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;
	And thee after, when thou hast conquer’d!	115
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;
	Be as a planetary plague, when Jove	120
	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,	125
	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,	130
	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;	135
	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.	140
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
	upon thee!	145
TIMANDRA	Give us some gold, good Timon: hast thou more?
TIMON	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	150
	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;	155
	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;	160
	Paint till a horse may mire upon your face,
	A pox of wrinkles!
TIMANDRA	Well, more gold: what then?
	Believe’t, that we’ll do any thing for gold.
TIMON	Consumptions sow	165
	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,	170
	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;	175
	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,	180
	And ditches grave you all!
TIMANDRA	More counsel with more money, bounteous Timon.
TIMON	More whore, more mischief first; I have given you earnest.
ALCIBIADES	Strike up the drum towards Athens! Farewell, Timon:
	If I thrive well, I’ll visit thee again.	185
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?
TIMON	Men daily find it. Get thee away, and take	190
	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,
[Digging]
	Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast,	195
	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	200
	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!	205
	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;	210
	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!
APEMANTUS	I was directed hither: men report	215
	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;
	A poor unmanly melancholy sprung	220
	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
	That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods,	225
	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,
	Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,	230
	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,
	Rascals should have ‘t. Do not assume my likeness.	235
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,
	Will put thy shirt on warm? will these moss’d trees,	240
	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,
	To cure thy o’er-night’s surfeit? Call the creatures	245
	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;
	O, thou shalt find–	250
TIMON	A fool of thee: depart.
APEMANTUS	I love thee better now than e’er I did.
TIMON	I hate thee worse.
APEMANTUS	Why?
TIMON	Thou flatter’st misery.	255
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.
	Dost please thyself in’t?	260
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
	Dost it enforcedly; thou’ldst courtier be again,	265
	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,
	Hath a distracted and most wretched being,	270
	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
	With favour never clasp’d; but bred a dog.	275
	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	280
	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	285
	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,	290
	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,	295
	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.	300
APEMANTUS	Art thou proud yet?
TIMON	Ay, that I am not thee.
APEMANTUS	I, that I was
	No prodigal.
TIMON	I, that I am one now:	305
	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.
[Eating a root]
APEMANTUS	Here; I will mend thy feast.	310
[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.
APEMANTUS	What wouldst thou have to Athens?	315
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;
	For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm.	320
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
	it.	325
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
	extremity of both ends: when thou wast in thy gilt	330
	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.
TIMON	On what I hate I feed not.	335
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
	ever know unthrift that was beloved after his means?	340
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
	dog.	345
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,
	Apemantus, if it lay in thy power?	350
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.
TIMON	A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t’	355
	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	360
	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	365
	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	370
	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!	375
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?
APEMANTUS	Yonder comes a poet and a painter: the plague of	380
	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
	welcome. I had rather be a beggar’s dog than Apemantus.	385
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.
APEMANTUS	There is no leprosy but what thou speak’st.	390
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!
	Choler does kill me that thou art alive;	395
	I swound to see thee.
APEMANTUS	Would thou wouldst burst!
TIMON	Away,
	Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall lose
	A stone by thee.	400
[Throws a stone at him]
APEMANTUS	Beast!
TIMON	Slave!
APEMANTUS	Toad!
TIMON	Rogue, rogue, rogue!
	I am sick of this false world, and will love nought	405
	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.	410
[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	415
	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!	420
	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!
	But not till I am dead. I’ll say thou’st gold:	425
	Thou wilt be throng’d to shortly.
TIMON	Throng’d to!
APEMANTUS	Ay.
TIMON	Thy back, I prithee.
APEMANTUS	Live, and love thy misery.	430
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
	fragment, some slender sort of his remainder: the	435
	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
	for’t, he will supply us easily; if he covetously	440
	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?
Second Bandit	‘Tis his description.	445
Third Bandit	He; I know him.
Banditti	Save thee, Timon.
TIMON	Now, thieves?
Banditti	Soldiers, not thieves.
TIMON	Both too; and women’s sons.	450
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;
	The oaks bear mast, the briers scarlet hips;	455
	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.
TIMON	Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes;	460
	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,	465
	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,	470
	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	475
	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,	480
	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.	485
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.
Second Bandit	I’ll believe him as an enemy, and give over my trade.	490
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?
	Full of decay and failing? O monument	495
	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
	Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends!	500
	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!
	Has caught me in his eye: I will present	505
	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?
TIMON	Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;	510
	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
	I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.	515
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
	love thee,	520
	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!
FLAVIUS	I beg of you to know me, good my lord,	525
	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?
	It almost turns my dangerous nature mild.	530
	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;	535
	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;	540
	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–	545
	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
	Doubt and suspect, alas, are placed too late:	550
	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,
	Care of your food and living; and, believe it,	555
	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
	To requite me, by making rich yourself.	560
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;
	Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,	565
	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,	570
	And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
	And so farewell and thrive.
FLAVIUS	O, let me stay,
	And comfort you, my master.
TIMON	If thou hatest curses,	575
	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]

Timon of Athens, Act 5, Scene 1