As You Like It: Act 3, Scene 2
Enter ORLANDO, with a paper. ORLANDO
1 Hang there, my verse, in witness of my love:
2. thrice-crowned queen of night: i.e., the goddess associated with the moon . . . 4. Thy huntress: i.e., Rosalind. —Diana . . . that . . . sway: that controls my whole life. 6. character: inscribe, carve.
8. virtue: excellence.
2 And thou, thrice-crowned queen of night, survey 3 With thy chaste eye, from thy pale sphere above, 4 Thy huntress' name that my full life doth sway. 5 O Rosalind! These trees shall be my books, 6 And in their barks my thoughts I'll character, 7 That every eye which in this forest looks 8 Shall see thy virtue witness'd every where. 9 Run, run, Orlando; carve on every tree10. unexpressive: inexpressible. —Orlando feels that Rosalind's beauty and virtue cannot be expressed in words, so he writes poetry and pins it to trees.
10 The fair, the chaste and unexpressive she. Exit.
Jeff Keogh as CorinAaron Krohn as Touchstone.
Enter CORIN and [TOUCHSTONE the] Clown. CORIN
11 And how like you this shepherd's life, Master 12 Touchstone? TOUCHSTONE
13 Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself, it is a good 14 life, but in respect that it is a shepherd's life, it15. naught: nothing, worthless. 15-16. solitary . . . private: —Solitary and private don't mean exactly the same thing, but they're close enough that we get the idea that Touchstone is humorously contradicting himself.
15 is naught. In respect that it is solitary, I like it 16 very well; but in respect that it is private, it is 17 a very vile life. Now, in respect it is in the 18 fields, it pleaseth me well; but in respect it is19. spare life: frugal life, a life not filled with luxuries or extras; an unplentiful life. 20. humour: temperament.
19 not in the court, it is tedious. As is it a spare life, 20 look you, it fits my humour well; but as there is 21 no more plenty in it, it goes much against my22. stomach: 1) inclination. 2) stomach. —Touchstone uses an appropriate pun to cap the contradiction between the spare life and the life of plenty.
22 stomach. Hast any philosophy in thee, shepherd? CORIN
23 No more but that I know the more one sickens the 24 worse at ease he is; and that he that wants money, 25 means and content is without three good friends; 26 that the property of rain is to wet and fire to 27 burn; that good pasture makes fat sheep, and that a 28 great cause of the night is lack of the sun; that29. wit: knowledge, understanding, mental acuity. art: study. 30. complain of good breeding: lament the lack of a good upbringing and education.
29 he that hath learned no wit by nature nor art may 30 complain of good breeding or comes of a very dull 31 kindred. TOUCHSTONE
32. natural philosopher: 1) born philosopher. 2) foolish philosopher.
32 Such a one is a natural philosopher. Wast ever in 33 court, shepherd? CORIN
34 No, truly. TOUCHSTONE
35 Then thou art damned. CORIN
36 Nay, I hope. TOUCHSTONE
37-38. thou art damned like an ill-roasted egg, / all on one side: i.e., you are ruined, like an egg that is cooked hard on one side and still raw and runny on the other. —Apparently, Touchstone's ideal is a person who is well-balanced—familiar with both the court and the country life.
37 Truly, thou art damned like an ill-roasted egg, 38 all on one side. CORIN
39 For not being at court? Your reason. TOUCHSTONE
40 Why, if thou never wast at court, thou never 41. good manners: (1) proper deportment; (2) sound morals.
41 sawest good manners; if thou never sawest 42 good manners, then thy manners must be 43 wicked; and wickedness is sin, and sin is 44. parlous: perilous.
44 damnation. Thou art in a parlous state, shepherd. CORIN
45 Not a whit, Touchstone: those that are good 46 manners at the court are as ridiculous in the 47 country as the behavior of the country is most 
48-49. you salute / not at the court, but you kiss your hands: i.e., at court you never greet anyone without kissing hands. . . .
48 mockable at the court. You told me you salute 49 not at the court, but you kiss your hands: that 50 courtesy would be uncleanly, if courtiers were 51 shepherds. TOUCHSTONE
52. Instance, briefly; come, instance: Give an example, proof and do it quickly.
52 Instance, briefly; come, instance. CORIN
53. still: always.
53 Why, we are still handling our ewes, and their54. fells: skins.
54 fells, you know, are greasy. TOUCHSTONE
55 Why, do not your courtier's hands sweat? and 56 is not the grease of a mutton as wholesome 57 as the sweat of a man? Shallow, shallow. A better 58 instance, I say; come. CORIN
59 Besides, our hands are hard. TOUCHSTONE
60 Your lips will feel them the sooner. Shallow again.61. more sounder: —In Shakespeare's time it was common to use double comparatives (like more commoner for common and more stronger for stronger) in order to make stronger statements. 62. tarred over with the surgery: —Tar was applied to the sores and cuts of sheep during medical care.
61 A more sounder instance, come. CORIN
62 And they are often tarred over with the surgery 63 of our sheep: and would you have us kiss tar? 
64. civet: perfume derived from the musk of the civet.65-66. thou worm's-meat . . . flesh: you food for worms (like a corpse). 67. perpend: consider.
68. very uncleanly flux of a cat: —Touchstone knows what he is talking about: civet, the musk . . . Mend the instance: improve the example.
64 The courtier's hands are perfumed with civet. TOUCHSTONE
65 Most shallow man! thou worm's-meat, in respect 66 of a good piece of flesh indeed! Learn of the wise, 67 and perpend: civet is of a baser birth than tar, the 68 very uncleanly flux of a cat. Mend the instance, 69 shepherd. CORIN
70. I'll rest: —Corin means that he will argue no further, as an attorney does when she says "I rest my case"; however, Touchstone responds by humorously asking Corin if he will rest damned: remain damned [so also, perhaps, die damned]. 72. God make incision in thee!: i.e., God cure you! —A common medical procedure was bleeding . . . raw: untutored; simple, with a play on the sense "sore" (hence requiring surgery). 73. that: what.
74. that: what.
75-76. content / with my harm: patient in any misfortune that I have to endure.
74. that: what.
75-76. content / with my harm: patient in any misfortune that I have to endure.
70 You have too courtly a wit for me: I'll rest. TOUCHSTONE
71 Wilt thou rest damned? God help thee, shallow 72 man! God make incision in thee! thou art raw. CORIN
73 Sir, I am a true labourer: I earn that I eat, get 74 that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man's 75 happiness, glad of other men's good, content 76 with my harm, and the greatest of my pride is 77 to see my ewes graze and my lambs suck. TOUCHSTONE
78. simple sin: 1) sin of a simpleton; 2) utter sin.
79. offer: undertake.
80-81. bawd to a / bell-wether: procurer for a bell-wether. —A bawd is a whorehouse madam . . .
79. offer: undertake.
80-81. bawd to a / bell-wether: procurer for a bell-wether. —A bawd is a whorehouse madam . . .
78 That is another simple sin in you, to bring the ewes 79 and the rams together and to offer to get your 80 living by the copulation of cattle; to be bawd to a 81 bell-wether, and to betray a she-lamb of a
82. crooked-pated: i.e., horned. cuckoldly: —A cuckold is a man whose wife has sex with . . . 83. out of all reasonable match: contrary to any . . . 83-84. If . . . shepherds: if you aren't damned . . . 85. scape: escape.
82 twelvemonth to a crooked-pated, old, cuckoldly ram, 83 out of all reasonable match. If thou beest not damned 84 for this, the devil himself will have no shepherds; 85 I cannot see else how thou shouldst scape. CORIN
86 Here comes young Master Ganymede, my new 87 mistress's brother. Enter ROSALIND [with a paper, reading]. ROSALIND
88. From the east to western Ind: From the eastern to western Indies, i.e., all over the world, to its farthest corners.
88 "From the east to western Ind, 89 No jewel is like Rosalind. 90 Her worth, being mounted on the wind, 91 Through all the world bears Rosalind.92-93. All the pictures fairest lined / Are but black to Rosalind: i.e., all beautifully drawn pictures [of beautiful women] are ugly when compared to Rosalind's beauty.
92 All the pictures fairest lined 93 Are but black to Rosalind. 94 Let no fair be kept in mind 95 But the fair of Rosalind." TOUCHSTONE
96. together: without intermission.
96 I'll rhyme you so eight years together, dinners 97-98. it is the right butter-women's rank to market; i.e., it [the rhyming of the poem] is just like a row of dairy women jogging along to market.
97 and suppers and sleeping-hours excepted: it 98 is the right butter-women's rank to market. ROSALIND
99 Out, fool! TOUCHSTONE
100. taste: sample.
100 For a taste:101. hart . . . hind: 1) stag . . . doe; 2) man . . . woman.
101 "If a hart do lack a hind,102 Let him seek out Rosalind.103. the cat will after kind: i.e., the cat will always do what a cat will do.
103 If the cat will after kind,104 So be sure will Rosalind.105. Wint'red: readied for winter use.
105 Wint'red garments must be lined,106 So must slender Rosalind.107-108. They that reap must sheaf and bind; / Then to cart with Rosalind: —In harvesting grain the stalks are first cut, then sheafed and bound . . .
107 They that reap must sheaf and bind;108 Then to cart with Rosalind.109 Sweetest nut hath sourest rind,110 Such a nut is Rosalind.111-112. He that sweetest rose will find / Must find love's prick and Rosalind: —Touchstone is having a lot of fun playing with words and ideas . . . 113. very false gallop: i.e., canter. —Apparently Touchstone's point is that the sound of the verse is a predictable sing-song. He may also be alluding to the three-beat rhythm of both the verse and the horse's canter.
111 He that sweetest rose will find112 Must find love's prick and Rosalind."113 This is the very false gallop of verses:114 why do you infect yourself with them? ROSALIND
115 Peace, you dull fool! I found them on a tree. TOUCHSTONE
116 Truly, the tree yields bad fruit. ROSALIND
117-118. graff: graft. then I shall graff it with a medlar: —Rosalind is punning on medlar/meddler. The medlar is a fruit which isn't edible until . . . 120. right virtue: characteristic quality.117 I'll graff it with you, and then I shall graff it118 with a medlar: then it will be the earliest fruit119 i' the country; for you'll be rotten ere you be half120 ripe, and that's the right virtue of the medlar. TOUCHSTONE
121. wisely: —"Wise" also meant "witty," as in "wisecrack" and "wiseacre."
121 You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the122 forest judge. Enter CELIA, with a writing. ROSALIND
123 Peace!124 Here comes my sister, reading: stand aside. CELIA [Reads.]
125 "Why should this a desert be?126. For: Because.
126 For it is unpeopled? No:127 Tongues I'll hang on every tree,128. civil sayings: solemn maxims. —Maybe the idea is that the "civil sayings" which Orlando is posting on trees will make the "desert" more civilized. 130. his erring: its wandering. 131-132. the stretching of a span / Buckles in his sum of age: i.e., [human life is so short that] one hand can hold a whole lifetime in the span of a spread hand. 133-134. Some, of violated vows / 'Twixt the souls of friend and friend: some [of my "civil sayings" will tell of] violated vows between true lovers. —A lover's vow can be "violated" by outside forces, as happens in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
128 That shall civil sayings show:129 Some, how brief the life of man130 Runs his erring pilgrimage,131 That the stretching of a span132 Buckles in his sum of age;133 Some, of violated vows134 'Twixt the souls of friend and friend:135 But upon the fairest boughs,136 Or at every sentence end,137 Will I Rosalinda write,138 Teaching all that read to know139. quintessence: ultimate essence; highest perfection. sprite: spirit. 140. Heaven . . . show: [when Rosalind was created] Heaven intended to show in a smaller shape. 141-142. Heaven Nature charged / That . . . : Heaven charged nature with the task that . . . 143. wide-enlarg'd: fully developed. 
144. Nature presently distill'd: i.e., as soon as . . . 145. Helen's . . . heart: i.e., Helen of Troy's beauty but not her falseness in love. 147. Atalanta's better part: — is her . . . 148. Sad Lucretia's modesty: i.e., serious Lucretia's heroic chastity. . .
150. synod: religious assembly.
152. the touches dearest prized: the most highly prized traits. 153. would: desired.
144. Nature presently distill'd: i.e., as soon as . . . 145. Helen's . . . heart: i.e., Helen of Troy's beauty but not her falseness in love. 147. Atalanta's better part: — is her . . . 148. Sad Lucretia's modesty: i.e., serious Lucretia's heroic chastity. . . 150. synod: religious assembly.
152. the touches dearest prized: the most highly prized traits. 153. would: desired.
139 The quintessence of every sprite140 Heaven would in little show.141 Therefore Heaven Nature charged142 That one body should be fill'd143 With all graces wide-enlarged:144 Nature presently distill'd145 Helen's cheek, but not her heart,146 Cleopatra's majesty,147 Atalanta's better part,148 Sad Lucretia's modesty.149 Thus Rosalind of many parts150 By heavenly synod was devised,151 Of many faces, eyes and hearts,152 To have the touches dearest prized.153 Heaven would that she these gifts should have,154 And I to live and die her slave." ROSALIND
155. pulpiter: preacher. —The original text . . . homily: sermon full of commonplaces. 156. withal: with.
155 O most gentle pulpiter! what tedious homily of 156 love have you wearied your parishioners withal, 157 and never cried 'Have patience, good people!' CELIA
158 How now! back, friends! Shepherd, go off a little.159. sirrah: —a form of address to inferiors; Celia uses sirrah to address Touchstone.
159 Go with him, sirrah. TOUCHSTONE
160 Come, shepherd, let us make an honourable 161. bag and baggage: i.e., the great amount of equipment carried by a retreating army. 162. scrip and scrippage: a pouch and its contents. —Touchstone is making a joking reference to the scripts (i.e., bad poetry) that they have just heard.
161 retreat; though not with bag and baggage, 162 yet with scrip and scrippage. Exit [Touchstone with Corin]. CELIA
163 Didst thou hear these verses? ROSALIND
164 O, yes, I heard them all, and more too; 165-166. some of them had in them more feet / than the verses would bear: some had more feet in them than their verse-form could carry. Different kinds of feet cause . . .
165 for some of them had in them more feet 166 than the verses would bear. CELIA
167-168. the feet might bear the verses: —Celia means that the feet of the poetry might be so good that they may make up for the bad versification.
167 That's no matter: the feet might bear the168 verses. ROSALIND
169 Ay, but the feet were lame and could not bear170. without: 1) without the help of; 2) outside [of the bounds of the verse-form].
170 themselves without the verse and therefore stood171 lamely in the verse. CELIA
172 But didst thou hear without wondering how thy name173. should be: came to be.
173 should be hanged and carved upon these trees? ROSALIND
174. I was seven of the nine days out of the wonder: i.e., I was about to get bored with the wonder. Nine days' wonder—a novelty that loses its appeal after a few days. 176. palm-tree: —Shakespeare's primary source for 177. Pythagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat: During Pythagoras' life I was a rat who lived in Ireland . . .
174 I was seven of the nine days out of the wonder175 before you came; for look here what I found on a176 palm-tree. I was never so be-rhymed since177 Pythagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat, which I178 can hardly remember. CELIA
179. Trow you: have you any idea.
179 Trow you who hath done this? ROSALIND
180 Is it a man? CELIA
181. And a chain, that you once wore, about his neck: i.e., yes, it is a man, and one wearing a chain which you used to wear. —Celia is obviously talking about Orlando, but she hasn't actually said his name, and she then proceeds to tease Rosalind at length by purposely not coming out and saying that the man is indeed Orlando.
181 And a chain, that you once wore, about his neck.182 Change you colour? ROSALIND
183 I prithee, who? CELIA
184. it is a hard matter for friends: it is a hard matter for lovers. —How difficult this world is for lovers and the cruelty of the fate which keeps them apart are regular themes in romantic stories, as in Romeo and Juliet.
184 O Lord, Lord! it is a hard matter for friends to185 meet; but mountains may be removed with 186 earthquakes and so encounter. ROSALIND
187 Nay, but who is it? CELIA
188 Is it possible? ROSALIND
189. petitionary vehemence: urgent entreaty.
189 Nay, I prithee now with most petitionary vehemence,190 tell me who it is. CELIA
191. wonderful: amazing, full of wonder.
191 O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful192 wonderful! and yet again wonderful, and after that,193. out of all hooping: beyond whooping or hollering, so beyond the strength of both voice and word.
193 out of all hooping! ROSALIND
194. Good my complexion: have mercy on my temperament, i.e., on my woman's impatient curiosity. 195. caparisoned: decked out. 
doublet and hose —characteristically male . . . 196-197. One inch of delay more is a South-sea of discovery: i.e., one more second of delay will seem like an eternity. —The south seas, all the seas below the equator, were thought of as being extremely distant because they were, as voyages of discovery [to parts unknown] into the south seas usually took many months, and sometimes years.
doublet and hose —characteristically male . . . 196-197. One inch of delay more is a South-sea of discovery: i.e., one more second of delay will seem like an eternity. —The south seas, all the seas below the equator, were thought of as being extremely distant because they were, as voyages of discovery [to parts unknown] into the south seas usually took many months, and sometimes years.194 Good my complexion! dost thou think, though I am195 caparisoned like a man, I have a doublet and hose in196 my disposition? One inch of delay more is a197 South-sea of discovery; I prithee, tell me who is it198 quickly, and speak apace. I would thou couldst199 stammer, that thou mightst pour this concealed man200 out of thy mouth, as wine comes out of a narrow-201 mouthed bottle, either too much at once, or none at202 all. I prithee, take the cork out of thy mouth that203 I may drink thy tidings. CELIA
204 So you may put a man in your belly. ROSALIND
205 Is he of God's making? What manner of man? 206 Is his head worth a hat, or his chin worth a 207 beard? CELIA
208 Nay, he hath but a little beard. ROSALIND
209 Why, God will send more, if the man will be210. stay: await.
210 thankful: let me stay the growth of his beard, if211 thou delay me not the knowledge of his chin. CELIA
212 It is young Orlando, that tripped up the wrestler's213 heels and your heart both in an instant. ROSALIND
214-215. speak sad brow / and true maid: speak seriously and truly.
214 Nay, but the devil take mocking: speak, sad brow 215 and true maid. CELIA
216 I' faith, coz, 'tis he. ROSALIND
217 Orlando? CELIA
218 Orlando. ROSALIND
219 Alas the day! what shall I do with my doublet and220 hose? What did he when thou sawest him? What said221-222. Wherein went he?: What was he wearing? What makes him here?: What is he doing in the Forest of Arden? Where remains he?: Where is he staying?
221 he? How looked he? Wherein went he? What makes222 him here? Did he ask for me? Where remains he?223 How parted he with thee? and when shalt thou see224 him again? Answer me in one word. CELIA
225. Gargantua's mouth: —Gargantua is a giant in Rabelais' famous The Life of Gargantua . . . 227. these particulars: i.e., Rosalind's questions.225 You must borrow me Gargantua's mouth first: 'tis a226 word too great for any mouth of this age's size. To227 say ay and no to these particulars is more than to228 answer in a catechism. ROSALIND
229 But doth he know that I am in this forest and in230. freshly: fresh, youthfully vigorous.
230 man's apparel? Looks he as freshly as he did the231 day he wrestled? CELIA
232. atomies: atoms, tiny specks.
232 It is as easy to count atomies as to resolve the233. propositions: questions.
233 propositions of a lover; but take a taste of my234. relish it: enhance its flavor. good observance: close attention.
234 finding him, and relish it with good observance.235 I found him under a tree, like a dropped acorn. ROSALIND
236. Jove's tree: i.e., the oak, the king of trees.
236 It may well be called Jove's tree, when it drops237 forth such fruit. CELIA
238. audience: hearing, attention.
238 Give me audience, good madam. ROSALIND
239 Proceed. CELIA
240. along: full length.
240 There lay he, stretched along, like a wounded241 knight. ROSALIND
242 Though it be pity to see such a sight, it well243 becomes the ground. CELIA
244-245. holla: stop. curvets / unseasonably: frisks about at the wrong time. 245. furnished: dressed, equipped.
244 Cry 'holla' to thy tongue, I prithee; it curvets245 unseasonably. He was furnished like a hunter. ROSALIND
246. he comes to kill my heart: —Rosalind is punning on "hart," the male deer or stag, a hunter's prey.
246 O, ominous! he comes to kill my heart. CELIA
247. burden: accompaniment, chorus.
247 I would sing my song without a burden: 248. bringest me out of tune: puts me out of tune, i.e., confuses me, and makes me forget what I was about to say.
248 thou bringest me out of tune. ROSALIND
249 Do you not know I am a woman? when250 I think, I must speak. Sweet, say on. CELIA
251 You bring me out. Soft! comes he not here? Enter ORLANDO and JAQUES. ROSALIND
252 'Tis he: slink by, and note him. JAQUES
253 I thank you for your company; but, good faith, 254. I had as lief have been myself alone: I would gladly have been alone.
254 I had as lief have been myself alone. ORLANDO
255 And so had I; but yet, for fashion sake, I thank 256. society: company.
256 you too for your society. JAQUES
257. God buy you: God be with you; goodbye.
257 God buy you: let's meet as little as we can. ORLANDO
258 I do desire we may be better strangers. JAQUES
259 I pray you, mar no more trees with writing260 love-songs in their barks. ORLANDO
261. moe: more.
261 I pray you, mar no moe of my verses with 262. ill-favoredly: in an unattractive way, badly.
262 reading them ill-favouredly. JAQUES
263 Rosalind is your love's name? ORLANDO
264. just: exactly so.
264 Yes, just. JAQUES
265 I do not like her name. ORLANDO
266 There was no thought of pleasing you 267 when she was christened. JAQUES
268 What stature is she of? ORLANDO
269 Just as high as my heart. JAQUES
270 You are full of pretty answers. Have you 271 not been acquainted with goldsmiths' 272. conned them out of rings: i.e., memorized the sayings engraved on rings. . . .
272 wives, and conned them out of rings? ORLANDO
273-274. but I answer you right painted / cloth: i.e., back at you with a typical painted cloth. —A painted cloth was a cheap wall-hanging, decorated with sentimental scenes and sayings. . . . 273 Not so; but I answer you right painted 274 cloth, from whence you have studied275 your questions. JAQUES
276 You have a nimble wit: I think 'twas made 277 of Atalanta's heels. Will you sit down with 278 me? And we two will rail against our mistress 279 the world and all our misery. ORLANDO
280. breather: living person.
280 I will chide no breather in the world but myself,281 against whom I know most faults. JAQUES
282 The worst fault you have is to be in love. ORLANDO
283 'Tis a fault I will not change for your best virtue.284 I am weary of you. JAQUES
285 By my troth, I was seeking for a fool when I 286 found you. ORLANDO
287 He is drowned in the brook: look but in, 288 and you shall see him. JAQUES
289 There I shall see mine own figure. ORLANDO
290. cipher: zero. —Jaques just said "There I shall see mine own figure," meaning self, and Orlando puns on "figure" meaning number.
290 Which I take to be either a fool or a cipher. JAQUES
291 I'll tarry no longer with you: farewell, good292 Signior Love. ORLANDO
293 I am glad of your departure: adieu, good 294 Monsieur Melancholy. [Exit JAQUES.] ROSALIND [Aside to Celia.]
295. lackey: male servant or toady.
295 I will speak to him like a saucy lackey 296. habit: garb.
296 and under that habit play the knave 297 with him. —Do you hear, forester? ORLANDO
298 Very well: what would you? ROSALIND
299 I pray you, what is't o'clock? ORLANDO
300 You should ask me what time o' day: 301 there's no clock in the forest. ROSALIND
302 Then there is no true lover in the forest; 303 else sighing every minute and groaning 304. detect: reveal.
304 every hour would detect the lazy foot of 305 Time as well as a clock. ORLANDO
306 And why not the swift foot of Time? had 307. proper: appropriate.
307 not that been as proper? ROSALIND
308 By no means, sir: Time travels in divers paces 309 with divers persons. I'll tell you who Time 310. withal: with.
310 ambles withal, who Time trots withal, who Time 311 gallops withal and who he stands still withal. ORLANDO
312 I prithee, who doth he trot withal? ROSALIND
313 Marry, he trots hard with a young maid between 314 the contract of her marriage and the day it is315. se'nnight: seven-night, week.
315 solemnized: if the interim be but a se'nnight,316 Time's pace is so hard that it seems the length 317 of seven year. ORLANDO
318 Who ambles Time withal? ROSALIND
319-320. a rich man / that hath not the gout: —Gout, an extremely painful joint disease, was traditionally thought to be caused by a rich diet, which only a rich man could afford.
319 With a priest that lacks Latin and a rich man 320 that hath not the gout, for the one sleeps easily 321 because he cannot study, and the other lives 322 merrily because he feels no pain, the one lacking 323. wasteful: wasting, as in "a wasting disease."
323 the burden of lean and wasteful learning, the 324 other knowing no burden of heavy tedious 325 penury; these Time ambles withal. ORLANDO
326 Who doth he gallop withal? ROSALIND
327-328. go as / softly: walk as slowly.
327 With a thief to the gallows, for though he go as328 softly as foot can fall, he thinks himself too soon329 there. ORLANDO
330. stays: stands still.
330 Who stays it still withal? ROSALIND
331 With lawyers in the vacation, for they sleep 332. term: session. —In Shakespeare's time, courts were often held only four times a year, for sessions of a few weeks.
332 between term and term and then they perceive 333 not how Time moves. ORLANDO
334 Where dwell you, pretty youth? ROSALIND
335 With this shepherdess, my sister; here in 336 the skirts of the forest, like fringe upon a 337 petticoat. ORLANDO
338 Are you native of this place? ROSALIND
339. cony: rabbit.
339 As the cony that you see dwell where she is340. kindled: born.
340 kindled. ORLANDO
341 Your accent is something finer than you could342. purchase: acquire. removed: remote.
342 purchase in so removed a dwelling. ROSALIND
343 I have been told so of many: but indeed an old344. religious: belonging to a religious order.
344 religious uncle of mine taught me to speak, who 345. an inland man: i.e., a sophisticated, urban man who lives out in the country. 346. courtship: 1) the ways of court life; 2) flirting, wooing, etc. 347. read many lectures against it: deliver many sermons against it. 348. touch'd: tainted. 349. generally: universally.
345 was in his youth an inland man; one that knew 346 courtship too well, for there he fell in love. I have 347 heard him read many lectures against it, and I 348 thank God I am not a woman, to be touch'd with 349 so many giddy offences as he hath generally taxed 350 their whole sex withal. ORLANDO
351 Can you remember any of the principal evils 352 that he laid to the charge of women? ROSALIND
353 There were none principal; they were all like 354 one another as half-pence are, every one fault 355 seeming monstrous till his fellow fault came to 356 match it. ORLANDO
357 I prithee, recount some of them. ROSALIND
358. physic: knowledge of medicine.
358 No, I will not cast away my physic but on those 359 that are sick. There is a man haunts the forest, 360 that abuses our young plants with carving 361 'Rosalind' on their barks; hangs odes upon 362 hawthorns and elegies on brambles, all, forsooth, 363 deifying the name of Rosalind: if I could meet 364-365. fancy-monger: dealer in love. good / counsel: good advice (about how to deal with the disease of love). 365. quotidian: an ague with daily attacks of chills and fever; also something which reoccurs about the same time daily.
364 that fancy-monger I would give him some good 365 counsel, for he seems to have the quotidian of love 366 upon him. ORLANDO
367 I am he that is so love-shaked: I pray you tell me368 your remedy. ROSALIND
369. my uncle's marks: i.e., the signs of love that my uncle spoke of.
369 There is none of my uncle's marks upon you: he370 taught me how to know a man in love; in which 371. cage of rushes: i.e., a prison that is easy to break out of.
371 cage of rushes I am sure you are not prisoner. ORLANDO
372 What were his marks? ROSALIND
373-374. a blue eye and / sunken: i.e., eyes with dark circles caused by weeping and sleeplessness over lost love. 374-375. an unquestionable / spirit: a lack of interest in engaging in conversation.
373 A lean cheek, which you have not, a blue eye and374 sunken, which you have not, an unquestionable375 spirit, which you have not, a beard neglected,376 which you have not; but I pardon you for that, 377-378. your having in beard is a younger / brother's revenue: Your [scanty] beard is . . . 378-379. hose . . . ungartered: socks hanging down . . . 379. bonnet unbanded: hat without a band around the crown.
377 for simply your having in beard is a younger 378 brother's revenue: then your hose should be 379 ungartered, your bonnet unbanded, your sleeve 380 unbuttoned, your shoe untied and every thing 381. careless: i.e., heedless of appearance.
381 about you demonstrating a careless desolation; 382 but you are no such man; you are rather 383-384. point-device: very correct. as loving / yourself than seeming the lover of any other: [the care reflected in your appearance seems to indicate] you love yourself more than you seem to be a lover of anyone else.
383 point-device in your accoutrements as loving 384 yourself than seeming the lover of any other. ORLANDO
385 Fair youth, I would I could make thee believe386 I love. ROSALIND
387 Me believe it! you may as soon make her that 388 you love believe it; which, I warrant, she is 389. apter: readier.
389 apter to do than to confess she does: that is 390. still: regularly.
390 one of the points in the which women still 391-392. consciences: inmost thoughts and feelings. in good / sooth: i.e., really, truly.
391 give the lie to their consciences. But, in good 392 sooth, are you he that hangs the verses on 393 the trees, wherein Rosalind is so admired? ORLANDO
394 I swear to thee, youth, by the white hand of395 Rosalind, I am that he, that unfortunate he. ROSALIND
396 But are you so much in love as your rhymes 397 speak? ORLANDO
398 Neither rhyme nor reason can express how399 much. ROSALIND
400. merely: simply.
400 Love is merely a madness, and, I tell you, 401. a dark house and a whip: —Common treatment for the insane was confinement in a dark room, to keep them calm, and whipping, to beat the devil out of them.
401 deserves as well a dark house and a whip 402 as madmen do: and the reason why they 403 are not so punished and cured is, that the 404 lunacy is so ordinary that the whippers are 405. I profess curing it by counsel: i.e., I assert that I know how to cure love by giving good advice.
405 in love too. Yet I profess curing it by counsel. ORLANDO
406 Did you ever cure any so? ROSALIND
407 Yes, one, and in this manner. He was to imagine408 me his love, his mistress; and I set him every day 409 to woo me: at which time would I, being but a410. moonish: changeable as the moon. be effeminate: act like a typical, silly woman. 411. fantastical: fanciful, capricious. apish: affected, trendy.
410 moonish youth, grieve, be effeminate, changeable, 411 longing and liking, proud, fantastical, apish, 412 shallow, inconstant, full of tears, full of smiles, for 413 every passion something and for no passion truly 414 any thing, as boys and women are for the most 415 part cattle of this colour; would now like him, 416. entertain him: welcome him, flirt with him.
416 now loathe him; then entertain him, then forswear417 him; now weep for him, then spit at him; that I 418. drave: drove. mad humour: crazy whim.
418 drave my suitor from his mad humour of love to a 419-421. living . . . monastic: actual state of madness, which led him to retreat from worldly activities and live in a small, out-of-the-way place exactly like a hermit.
419 living humour of madness; which was, to forswear 420 the full stream of the world, and to live in a nook 421 merely monastic. And thus I cured him; and this 422-424. liver . . . spot: The liver was thought to be the source and controller of emotions. A mentally healthy person would have a clean liver, and a crazy person would have a diseased, spotted, liver.
422 way will I take upon me to wash your liver as 423 clean as a sound sheep's heart, that there shall not424 be one spot of love in't. ORLANDO
425. would not be cured: do not wish to be cured. —To keep things going, Rosalind deliberately interprets "would not be cured" to mean "cannot be cured."
425 I would not be cured, youth. ROSALIND
426 I would cure you, if you would but call me Rosalind427. cote: cottage.
427 and come every day to my cote and woo me. ORLANDO
428 Now, by the faith of my love, I will: tell me429 where it is. ROSALIND
430 Go with me to it and I'll show it you and by the 431 way you shall tell me where in the forest you live.432 Will you go? ORLANDO
433 With all my heart, good youth. ROSALIND
434 Nay, you must call me Rosalind. Come, sister,435 will you go? Exeunt.