A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 15Dodsley, Robert
General
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 15
Dodsley, Robert
English drama
+Phil.+ S'death! he runs
Like a duke. [_He runs round, and sometimes goes out to untruss._
+Mir.+ His stools come very quickly upon
Him, one after another.
+Ping.+ I must run
With my breeches in my hand, my purge visits
My bum-gut so intolerably often.
+Doctor.+ Now, sir, for a cheerful loose.
+Ping.+ By my heart,
Master Doctor, I wonder at your cruelty,
To ask a cheerful loose of me; am not
I loos'd sufficiently by
Your furious purgations?
_Enter +Lean-man+ and his +Tailor+._
+Mir.+ O, here comes
My lean lover.
+Lean.+ Tailor, do I look gross
Enough now?
+Tailor.+ Yes, I'll assure you, you seem
Very corpulent.
+Lean.+ Well, I am sure if thou
Hast not made me large enough, thou wilt thy bill.
Now have at Mistress Mirida! sure, my
Person will take her. Why, how now, cousin, [_To +Ping+._
What makes you running a heat?
+Ping.+ I must not stop
To speak with you, but come run by me,
And I will tell you. Why, I see
You know nothing. Mistress Mirida has a
Great kindness for me, but cannot marry me
Before I am leaner.
+Lean.+ She fools him; her kindness is for me,
And bids me make myself fatter, before
We marry. [_Aside._
+Ping.+ But pray, coz, what makes you stuff yourself so
To appear big?
+Lean.+ Yes, I do it to please
Mistress Mirida's eye; she bid me.
+Ping.+ So she makes
An ass of him. [_Aside._
+Lean.+ Well, I won't hinder you
In your exercise,
Farewell. Now I'll to Mistress Mirida. [_Exit._
+Ping.+ Good bye, good bye.
God's fish, my purge again! O, O!
_Enter +Clown+ with a cudgel, and beats him in again._
+Clown.+ A nasty rogue, when a man's asleep,
To come and do it just in his mouth! I'll swinge ye.
+Ping.+ O, hold, good sir, 'twas the violence of my physic;
Would my paunch were out, if I saw you!
+Phil.+ Hold,
What do ye mean to beat a
Gentleman thus?
+Clown.+ Let
Him learn more manners, then, against next time.
+Ping.+ O Mistress Mirida, I have been purg'd
And beaten most extremely for your sake;
Sure, I'm lean enough now to marry you.
+Mir.+ That I cannot tell; but I have the measure
In my pocket of what compass you were
About when you first were in love with me,
And also the measure to that you must
Fall before I marry you. Here was your full
Bigness, which was three yards about: let me see;
You are fallen a yard.
+Ping.+ Well, and won't you marry me then?
+Mir.+ That you'll see presently; for here's the measure
Must compass you about before I do.
This wants a yard yet.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account