GUIDO What of that? his name? MORANZONE Do they not seem a valiant company Of honourable, honest gentlemen? GUIDO His name, milord? [_Enter the_ DUKE OF PADUA _with_ COUNT BARDI, MAFFIO, PETRUCCI, _and other gentlemen of his Court_.] MORANZONE [_quickly_] The man to whom I kneel Is he who sold your father! mark me well. GUIDO [_clutches hit dagger_] The Duke! MORANZONE Leave off that fingering of thy knife. Hast thou so soon forgotten? [_Kneels to the_ DUKE.] My noble Lord. DUKE Welcome, Count Moranzone; ’tis some time Since we have seen you here in Padua. We hunted near your castle yesterday— Call you it castle? that bleak house of yours Wherein you sit a-mumbling o’er your beads, Telling your vices like a good old man. [_Catches sight of_ GUIDO _and starts back_.] Who is that? MORANZONE My sister’s son, your Grace, Who being now of age to carry arms, Would for a season tarry at your Court DUKE [_still looking at_ GUIDO] What is his name? MORANZONE Guido Ferranti, sir. DUKE His city? MORANZONE He is Mantuan by birth. DUKE [_advancing towards_ GUIDO] You have the eyes of one I used to know, But he died childless. Are you honest, boy? Then be not spendthrift of your honesty, But keep it to yourself; in Padua Men think that honesty is ostentatious, so It is not of the fashion. Look at these lords. COUNT BARDI [_aside_] Here is some bitter arrow for us, sure. DUKE Why, every man among them has his price, Although, to do them justice, some of them Are quite expensive. COUNT BARDI [_aside_] There it comes indeed. DUKE So be not honest; eccentricity Is not a thing should ever be encouraged, Although, in this dull stupid age of ours, The most eccentric thing a man can do Is to have brains, then the mob mocks at him; And for the mob, despise it as I do, I hold its bubble praise and windy favours In such account, that popularity Is the one insult I have never suffered. MAFFIO [_aside_] He has enough of hate, if he needs that. DUKE Have prudence; in your dealings with the world Be not too hasty; act on the second thought, First impulses are generally good. GUIDO [_aside_] Surely a toad sits on his lips, and spills its venom there. DUKE See thou hast enemies, Else will the world think very little of thee; It is its test of power; yet see thou show’st A smiling mask of friendship to all men, Until thou hast them safely in thy grip, Then thou canst crush them. GUIDO [_aside_] O wise philosopher! That for thyself dost dig so deep a grave. MORANZONE [_to him_] Dost thou mark his words? GUIDO Oh, be thou sure I do. DUKE