A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 09
General
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 09
English drama
AMIN. _Qui, quae, quod_!
Hence, boist'rous bill! come, gentle rod!
Had not grimalkin stamp'd and star'd,
Aminadab had little car'd;
Or if, instead of this brown bill,
I had kept my Mistress Virga still,
And he upon another's back,
His points untruss'd, his breeches slack;
My countenance he should not dash,
For I am expert in the lash.
But my sweet lass my love doth fly,
Which shall make me by poison die.
_Per fidem_, I will rid my life
Either by poison, sword, or knife.
[_Exit_.
ACT III., SCENE I.
_A Room in Young Arthur's House_.
_Enter_ MISTRESS ARTHUR _and_ PIPKIN.
MRS ART. Sirrah! when saw you your master?
PIP. Faith, mistress, when I last look'd upon him.
MRS ART. And when was that?
PIP. When I beheld him.
MRS ART. And when was that?
PIP. Marry, when he was in my sight, and that was yesterday; since when
I saw not my master, nor looked on my master, nor beheld my master, nor
had any sight of my master.
MRS ART. Was he not at my father-in-law's?
PIP. Yes, marry, was he.
MRS ART. Didst thou not entreat him to come home?
PIP. How should I, mistress? he came not there to-day.
MRS ART. Didst thou not say he was there?
PIP. True, mistress, he was there? but I did not tell ye when; he hath
been there divers times, but not of late.
MRS ART. About your business! here I'll sit and wait
His coming home, though it be ne'er so late.
Now once again go look him at the 'Change,
Or at the church with Sir Aminadab.
'Tis told me they use often conference;
When that is done, get you to school again.
PIP. I had rather play the truant at home, than go seek my master at
school: let me see, what age am I? some four and twenty, and how have
I profited? I was five years learning to crish cross[16] from great A,
and five years longer coming to F; there I stuck some three years,
before I could come to Q; and so, in process of time, I came to e per
se e, and com per se, and tittle; then I got to a, e, i, o, u; after,
to Our Father; and, in the sixteenth year of my age, and the fifteenth
of my going to school,
I am in good time gotten to a noun,
By the same token there my hose went down;
Then I got to a verb,
There I began first to have a beard;
Then I came to _iste, ista, istud_,
There my master whipped me till he fetched the blood,
And so forth: so that now I am become the greatest scholar in the
school, for I am bigger than two or three of them. But I am gone;
farewell, mistress!
[_Exit_.
SCENE II.
_The Street_.
_Enter_ ANSELM _and_ FULLER.
FUL. Love none at all! They will forswear themselves,
And when you urge them with it, their replies
Are, that Jove laughs at lovers' perjuries.
ANS. You told me of a jest concerning that;
I prythee, let me hear it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account