As You Like It: Act 1, Scene 1
2. bequeathed: —Orlando is talking about his dead father. poor a: a poor. Enter ORLANDO and ADAM.
ORLANDO
1 As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion 2 bequeathed me by will but poor a thousand crowns,3. as thou sayest: 3-4 charg'd my brother, on his blessing: commanded my brother, on pain of losing his blessing. 4. breed me: bring me up. 5. keeps at school: maintains at the university. 6. report speaks goldenly of his profit: Sources commend his progress. 8. more . . . unkept: i.e., more accurately, he detains me here at home only to neglect me. 9. gentleman of my birth: gentleman born into a [high-ranking] family such as mine.
11-12. besides . . . manage: i.e., besides being well-fed, they are instructed and put through their paces.
13. dearly: at great expense.
11-12. besides . . . manage: i.e., besides being well-fed, they are instructed and put through their paces.
13. dearly: at great expense.
3 and, as thou sayest, charg'd my brother, on his 4 blessing, to breed me well: and there begins my 5 sadness. My brother Jaques he keeps at school, and 6 report speaks goldenly of his profit: for my part, 7 he keeps me rustically at home, or, to speak more 8 properly, stays me here at home unkept; for call you 9 that keeping for a gentleman of my birth, that 10 differs not from the stalling of an ox? His horses 11 are bred better; for, besides that they are fair 12 with their feeding, they are taught their manage, 13 and to that end riders dearly hired: but I, his 14 brother, gain nothing under him but growth; for the 15 which his animals on his dunghills are as much16. bound: indebted.
16 bound to him as I. Besides this nothing that he so 17 plentifully gives me, the something that nature gave 18 me his countenance seems to take from me: he lets19-20. hinds: farm laborers. bars: excludes. as much as in him lies: as much as he can. mines: undermines.
21. with my education: by the way I am brought up.
21. with my education: by the way I am brought up.
19 me feed with his hinds, bars me the place of a 20 brother, and, as much as in him lies, mines my 21 gentility with my education. This is it, Adam, that 22 grieves me; and the spirit of my father, which I 23 think is within me, begins to mutiny against this 24 servitude: I will no longer endure it, though yet I 25 know no wise remedy how to avoid it.
ADAM
26 Yonder comes my master, your brother.
ORLANDO
27 Go apart, Adam, and thou shalt hear how he28. shake me up: harass me.
28 will shake me up.
Enter OLIVER.
OLIVER
29. what make you here?: what are you doing here? —In the next line Orlando answers this insulting question with an answer that mocks the question by using the word "make" in a different sense: to do something useful, as in "make a living."
29 Now, sir! what make you here?
ORLANDO
30 Nothing: I am not taught to make any thing.
OLIVER
31. mar: deface, ruin. —"Mar" is the opposite of "make."
31 What mar you then, sir?
ORLANDO
32. Marry: Indeed!
32 Marry, sir, I am helping you to mar that which33. a poor unworthy brother of yours: —Orlando is ironically speaking of himself.
33 God made, a poor unworthy brother of yours, 34 with idleness. OLIVER
35. be naught: a dismissive insult, like "forget you."
35 Marry, sir, be better employed, and be naught 36 awhile.
ORLANDO
37-39. Shall I . . . penury?: — An allusion to the parable of the prodigal son. 37 Shall I keep your hogs and eat husks with them? 38 What prodigal portion have I spent, that I should 39 come to such penury?
OLIVER
40. where: i.e., in whose presence. —Arrogant Oliver is responding to Orlando's protest by reminding him that he is in the presence of his older brother, who is due respect and deference, speaking of himself, of course. Orlando, however, mocks his brother by pretending to think that Oliver's "where" question is only geographical: "here in your orchard" (garden).
40 Know you where your are, sir?
ORLANDO
41 O, sir, very well; here in your orchard.
OLIVER
42 Know you before whom, sir?
ORLANDO
43 Ay, better than him I am before knows me. I know44-45. in the gentle / . . . know me: i.e., because you are a gentleman and a blood relative, you should . . . 46. courtesy of nations: generally accepted convention of the custom of primogeniture . . . allows you my better: acknowledges you to be my social superior.
44 you are my eldest brother; and, in the gentle 45 condition of blood, you should so know me. The 46 courtesy of nations allows you my better, in that 47 you are the first-born; but the same tradition takes 48 not away my blood, were there twenty brothers 49 betwixt us: I have as much of my father in me as50-51. your coming before me is / nearer to his reverence: i.e., your being the first-born gives you a better claim to the respect which was due our father.
50 you; albeit, I confess, your coming before me is 51 nearer to his reverence.
OLIVER
52 What, boy!
[Oliver tries to rough up Orlando, but Orlando gets the upper hand.]: —Many plays . . . 53-54. young in this: i.e., inexperienced in fighting.
[Oliver tries to rough up Orlando,
but Orlando gets the upper hand.]
ORLANDO
53 Come, come, elder brother, you are too young 54 in this. OLIVER
55. villain: villain, thug. —In his answer to this, Orlando uses the word "villain" to mean "person of lowly birth."
55 Wilt thou lay hands on me, villain?
ORLANDO
56 I am no villain; I am the youngest son of Sir 57 Rowland de Boys; he was my father, and he 58 is thrice a villain that says such a father begot 59 villains. Wert thou not my brother, I would not 60 take this hand from thy throat till this other had 61-62. thou hast / railed on thyself: i.e., disrespected your own blood (by accusing your father of being the father of a villain).
61 pulled out thy tongue for saying so: thou hast 62 railed on thyself.
ADAM
63. be patient: i.e., control your temper.
63 Sweet masters, be patient: for your father's 64 remembrance, be at accord.
OLIVER
65 Let me go, I say.
ORLANDO
66 I will not, till I please: you shall hear me. My 67 father charged you in his will to give me good 68 education: you have trained me like a peasant,69. obscuring: i.e., obscuring in me.
69 obscuring and hiding from me all gentleman-like70. qualities: accomplishments.
70 qualities. The spirit of my father grows strong in 71 me, and I will no longer endure it: therefore allow72. exercises: lessons, training.
72 me such exercises as may become a gentleman, or73-74. the poor . . . testament: the small portion left me by father's will [i.e., the "thousand crowns" in line 2]. 74. with that . . . fortunes: i.e., with the thousand crowns I was willed by our father, and no other support, I will make my own way in the world.
73 give me the poor allottery my father left me by 74 testament; with that I will go buy my fortunes.
OLIVER
75 And what wilt thou do? beg, when that is spent?76. get you in:
77. your will: what you want.
77. your will: what you want.
76 Well, sir, get you in: I will not long be troubled 77 with you; you shall have some part of your will: 78 I pray you, leave me. ORLANDO
79-80. I will no further offend you than becomes me for / my good: —Orlando does not want to offend his brother out of spite or anger; he is just doing what he thinks he must in order to get an education and his inheritance.
79 I will no further offend you than becomes me for 80 my good.
OLIVER
81 Get you with him, you old dog.
ADAM
82 Is 'old dog' my reward? Most true, I have lost my83. my old master: i.e., the deceased father of Orlando and Oliver.
83 teeth in your service. God be with my old master! 84 he would not have spoke such a word.
Exeunt ORLANDO and ADAM.
OLIVER
85. grow upon me: i.e., get so big that you crowd me. 86. physic your rankness: give you a dose of medicine that will cure your overgrowth. —To "physic" a disease usually meant to induce some kind of evacuation, like vomiting or profuse defecation.
85 Is it even so? begin you to grow upon me? I will 86 physic your rankness, and yet give no thousand 87 crowns neither. Holla, Dennis!
Enter DENNIS.
DENNIS
88 Calls your worship?
OLIVER
89 Was not Charles, the Duke's wrestler, here to speak 90 with me?
DENNIS
91 So please you, he is here at the door and importunes 92 access to you.
OLIVER
93 Call him in.
Exit DENNIS.
94 'Twill be a good way; and tomorrow the wrestling is.
Enter CHARLES.
CHARLES
95. morrow: morning.
95 Good morrow to your worship.
OLIVER
96 Good Monsieur Charles, what's the new news at 97 the new court?
CHARLES
98 There's no news at the court, sir, but the old news: 99 that is, the old Duke is banished by his younger100 brother the new Duke; and three or four loving 101 lords have put themselves into voluntary exile 102 with him, whose lands and revenues enrich the 103. leave: permission.
103 new Duke; therefore he gives them good leave 104 to wander.
OLIVER
105 Can you tell if Rosalind, the Duke's daughter, be106 banished with her father?
CHARLES
107 O, no; for the Duke's daughter, her cousin, so loves108 her, being ever from their cradles bred together,109-110. have died to stay behind: i.e., would have died if she had been forced to stay behind when Rosalind went to join her father.
109 that she would have followed her exile, or have 110 died to stay behind her. She is at the court, and no111 less beloved of her uncle than his own daughter;112 and never two ladies loved as they do.
OLIVER
113 Where will the old Duke live? CHARLES
114. forest of Arden: Shakespeare's primary source for this play is a prose romance by Thomas Lodge, titled Rosalynde, Euphues Golden Legacie. . . . 118. fleet: pass. carelessly: free from care. 119. golden world: i.e., the world of the Golden Age, a time in the distant past when all people lived in innocence and ease.114 They say he is already in the forest of Arden, 115 and a many merry men with him; and there they 116 live like the old Robin Hood of England: they say 117 many young gentlemen flock to him every day, 118 and fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the 119 golden world.
OLIVER
120 What, you wrestle tomorrow before the new 121 Duke?
CHARLES122. Marry: Indeed.
122 Marry, do I, sir; and I came to acquaint you 123 with a matter. I am given, sir, secretly to under-124-125. hath a disposition to: has a desire to, has a plan to.
124 stand that your younger brother Orlando hath 125 a disposition to come in disguised against me 126. try a fall: wrestle to the first fall.
126 to try a fall. Tomorrow, sir, I wrestle for my 127. credit: professional reputation.
127 credit; and he that escapes me without some 128 broken limb shall acquit him well. Your brother 
129. for your love: i.e., out of respect for you . . . 130. foil: defeat. 133. withal: with all, the whole matter.
133-134. stay him from his intendment: keep him from carrying out his intention. brook: endure. 136. search: seeking.
129 is but young and tender; and, for your love, I 130 would be loath to foil him, as I must, for my 131 own honour, if he come in. Therefore, out of 132 my love to you, I came hither to acquaint you 133 withal, that either you might stay him from his 134 intendment or brook such disgrace well as he 135 shall run into, in that it is a thing of his own 136 search and altogether against my will.
OLIVER
137 Charles, I thank thee for thy love to me, which138-139. I had / myself notice of: I was aware of.
138 thou shalt find I will most kindly requite. I had139 myself notice of my brother's purpose herein 140. underhand: [1] indirect, [2] underhanded. —Ironically, Oliver is being underhanded [the second definition sense], and is lying about dissuading Orlando from wrestling Charles.
140 and have by underhand means laboured to 141 dissuade him from it, but he is resolute. I'll 142 tell thee, Charles: it is the stubbornest young 143 fellow of France, full of ambition, an envious 144. emulator: rival. good parts: good qualities. 145. contriver: schemer. 145-146. natural brother: own brother and kindly brother. 147. lief: willingly. 148. thou wert best look to't: you had better watch out.
144 emulator of every man's good parts, a secret 145 and villainous contriver against me his natural 146 brother; therefore use thy discretion; I had as 147 lief thou didst break his neck as his finger. And 148 thou wert best look to't; for if thou dost him any 149-150. grace himself on thee: gain honor at your expense. 150. practice against thee: i.e., do something underhanded to harm you.
149 slight disgrace or if he do not mightily grace 150 himself on thee, he will practice against thee by 151 poison, entrap thee by some treacherous device 152 and never leave thee till he hath ta'en thy life by 153 some indirect means or other; for, I assure thee, 154 and almost with tears I speak it, there is not one 155-156. I speak but brotherly of him: 156-157. should I anatomize him to thee as he is: i.e., if I were to describe in detail what he really is.
155 so young and so villainous this day living. I speak 156 but brotherly of him; but should I anatomize him 157 to thee as he is, I must blush and weep and thou158 must look pale and wonder.
CHARLES
159 I am heartily glad I came hither to you. If he come160. give him his payment: i.e., pay him back for being a treacherous rat. 160-161. go alone: walk without help.
160 tomorrow, I'll give him his payment: if ever he go161 alone again, I'll never wrestle for prize more: and162 so God keep your worship!
OLIVER
163 Farewell, good Charles.
Exit CHARLES.
164. stir this gamester: stir up my brother Orlando [who likes to play games] to wrestle Charles. 166. gentle: of gentlemanly character.
167-168. noble device: idealistic plans.
168. of all sorts enchantingly beloved: beloved by all, as if by enchantment.
167-168. noble device: idealistic plans.
168. of all sorts enchantingly beloved: beloved by all, as if by enchantment.
164 Now will I stir this gamester: I hope I shall see165 an end of him; for my soul, yet I know not why,166 hates nothing more than he. Yet he's gentle, never167 schooled and yet learned, full of noble device, of168 all sorts enchantingly beloved, and indeed so much169 in the heart of the world, and especially of my own170 people, who best know him, that I am altogether171. mispris'd: despised.
171 mispris'd: but it shall not be so long; this172. clear: settle.
172 wrestler shall clear all: nothing remains but that173. kindle the boy thither: i.e., fire up the punk to go to court and challenge Charles in wrestling. go about: get busy on.
173 I kindle the boy thither; which now I'll go about.
Exit.