marks this friendship between us two
Shall judge of the worldly friendship without any more ado.
It may be a right pattern[28] thereof; but true friendship indeed
Of nought but of virtue doth truly proceed.
But why do I now enter into philosophy,
Which do profess the fine kind of courtesy?
I will hence to the court with all haste I may;
I think the king be stirring, it is now bright day.
To wait at a pinch still in sight I mean,
For wot ye what? a new broom sweeps clean[29]
As to high honour I mind not to climb,
So I mean in the court to lose no time:
Wherein, happy man be his dole,[30] I trust that I
Shall not speed worst, and that very quickly.
[Exit.
Here entereth Damon and Pithias like mariners.
Damon. O Neptune, immortal be thy praise,
For that so safe from Greece we have pass’d the seas
To this noble city Syracuse, where we
The ancient reign of the Romans may see.
Whose force Greece also heretofore hath known,
Whose virtue the shrill trump of fame so far hath blown.
Pithias. My Damon, of right high praise we ought to give
To Neptune and all the gods, that we safely did arrive:
The seas, I think, with contrary winds never raged so;
I am even yet so seasick, that I faint as I go;
Therefore let us get some lodging quickly.
But where is Stephano?
Here entereth Stephano.
Stephano. Not far hence: a pox take these mariner-knaves,
Not one would help me to carry this stuff, such drunken slaves
I think be accursed of the gods’ own mouths.
Damon. Stephano, leave thy raging, and let us enter Syracuse,
We will provide lodging, and thou shalt be eased of thy burden by and by.
Stephano. Good master, make haste, for I tell you plain,
This heavy burden puts poor Stephano to much pain.
Pithias. Come on thy ways, thou shalt be eased, and that anon.
[Exeunt.
Here entereth Carisophus.
Carisophus. It is a true saying, that oft hath been spoken,
The pitcher goeth so long to the water, that it[31] cometh home broken.
My own proof this hath taught me, for truly, sith I
In the city have used to walk very slyly,
Not with one can I meet, that will in talk join with me,
And to creep into men’s bosoms,[32] some talk for to snatch,
But which, into one trip or other, I might trimly them catch,
And so accuse them—now, not with one can I meet,
That will join in talk with me, I am shunn’d like a devil in the street.
My credit is crack’d, where I am known; but I hear say,
Certain strangers are arrived: they were a good prey;
If happily I might meet with them, I fear not, I,
But in talk I should trip them, and that very finely.
Which thing, I assure you, I do for mine own gain,
Or else I would not plod thus up and down, I tell you plain.
Well, I will for a while to the court, to see
What Aristippus doth; I would be loth in favour he should overrun me;
He is a subtle child, he flattereth so finely, that I fear me
He will lick the fat from my lips, and so outwear[33] me:
Therefore I will not be long absent, but at hand,
That all his fine drifts I may understand.
[Exit.
Here entereth Will and Jack.
Will. I wonder what my master Aristippus means now-a-days,
That he leaveth philosophy, and seeks[34] to please
King Dionysius with such merry toys:
In Dionysius’ court now he only joys,
As trim a courtier as the best,
Ready to answer, quick in taunts, pleasant to jest;
A lusty companion to devise with fine dames,
Whose humour to feed his wily wit he frames.
Jack. By Cock, as you say, your master is a minion:
A foul coil he keeps in this court; Aristippus alone
Now rules the roost with his pleasant devices,
That I fear he will put out of conceit my master Carisophus.
Will. Fear not that, Jack; for, like brother and brother,
They are knit in true friendship the one with the other;
They are fellows, you know, and honest men both,
Therefore the one to hinder the other they will be loth.
Jack. Yea, but I have heard say there is falsehood in fellowship,
In the court sometimes one gives another finely the slip:
Which when it is spied, it is laugh’d out with a scoff,[35]
And
