The Plays of Philip Massinger, Vol. IMassinger, Philip
General
The Plays of Philip Massinger, Vol. I
Massinger, Philip
English drama -- 17th century
_Cam._ You are in a wrong account still. Though the king may
Dispose of my life and goods, my mind's mine own,
And never shall be yours. The king, heaven bless him!
Is good and gracious, and will not compel
His subjects against their wills. I believe,
Forgetting it when he wash'd his hands, you stole it,
With an intent to awe me. But you are cozen'd;
I am still myself, and will be.
_Ful._ A proud haggard[152],
And not to be reclaim'd! which of your grooms,
Your coachman, fool, or footman, is the lover
Preferr'd before me?
_Cam._ You are foul-mouth'd.
_Ful._ Much fairer
Than thy black soul; and so I will proclaim thee.
_Cam._ Were I a man, thou durst not speak this.
_Ful._ Heaven
So prosper me, as I resolve to do it
To all men, and in every place: scorn'd by
A tit of ten-pence! [_Exeunt_ FULGENTIO _and Page_.
_Syl._ Now I begin to be valiant:
Nay, I will draw my sword. O for a brother[153]!
Do a friend's part; pray you, carry him the length of 't.
I give him three years and a day to match my Toledo,
And then we'll fight like dragons.
_Ador._ Pray, have patience.
_Cam._ I may live to have vengeance: my Bertoldo
Would not have heard this.
_Ador._ Madam,----
_Cam._ Pray you, spare
Your language. Prithee fool[154], and make me merry. [_To_ SYLLI.
_Syl._ That is my office ever.
_Ador._ I must do,
Not talk; this glorious gallant shall hear from me.
[_Exeunt._
FOOTNOTES:
[147] _The whole field wide._] This expression, however signior Sylli
picked it up, is a Latinism: _Erras, tota via aberras._--GIFFORD.
[148] _A cat-stick._] This, I believe, is what is now called a
_buck-stick_, used by children in the game of tip-cat, or
kit-cat.--GIFFORD.
[149] _Fewterer_,] i. e. _a dog-keeper_, or one who lets the dogs
loose in the chase. The word is a corruption of the French
_vautrier_, or _vaultier_.
[150] _Tamberlane in little!
Am I turned Turk!_] _Tamberlane_ was a proverbial term for a
_bully_. _To turn Turk_, in our old dramatists, is generally used
for a change of situation, occupation, mode of thought or action.
The allusion, perhaps, is to the story of Tamberlane, who is said
to have mounted his horse from the back of Bajazet, the Turkish
emperor.--GIFFORD.
[151] _Peat_,] i. e. _a delicate person_. The modern word pet is
supposed to be the same, probably from the French _petit_.
[152] _Haggard_,] i. e. _a wild hawk_.
[153] _O for a brother_,] i. e. _a brother in arms_, to do what he
immediately requests Adorni to do for him: the expression was
common at the time, and well understood by Massinger's
audience.--GIFFORD.
[154] _Fool_,] i. e. _play the fool_.
SCENE III.
_The Siennese. A Camp before the Walls of Sienna._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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