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Enter VALENTINE and PROTEUS

VALENTINE

Cease to persuade, my loving Proteus;
Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits.
Were ’t not affection chains thy tender days
To the sweet glances of thy honored love,
5 I rather would entreat thy company
To see the wonders of the world abroad
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.
But since thou lov’st, love still and thrive therein,
10 Even as I would when I to love begin.

VALENTINE

Stop trying to persuade me, Proteus. Young homebodies have dull minds. If you weren’t so tied to the girl you love, I’d ask you to come with me to see the distant wonders of the world rather than waste your youth living aimlessly as a sluggard at home. But, since you’re in love, love constantly and thrive in your love. I would do the same were I in love.

PROTEUS

Wilt thou be gone? Sweet Valentine, adieu!
Think on thy Proteus when thou haply seest
Some rare noteworthy object in thy travel.
Wish me partaker in thy happiness
15 When thou dost meet good hap; and in thy danger,
If ever danger do environ thee,
Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers,
For I will be thy beadsman, Valentine.

PROTEUS

Are you going now? Goodbye, Valentine, my dear friend! Think of me when you happen to see some rare and noteworthy object in your travels. Wish me happiness, too, when you have good fortune. And if you’re ever in danger, trust that my prayers will protect you, for I will pray for you, Valentine.

VALENTINE

And on a love book pray for my success?

VALENTINE

PROTEUS

20 Upon some book I love I’ll pray for thee.

PROTEUS

I’ll pray for you on a book I love.

VALENTINE

That’s on some shallow story of deep love,
How young Leander crossed the Hellespont.

VALENTINE

PROTEUS

That’s a deep story of a deeper love,
For he was more than over shoes in love.

PROTEUS

That’s a deep story of a deeper love—the love was so deep it covered his shoes.

VALENTINE

25 ’Tis true; for you are over boots in love,
And yet you never swam the Hellespont.

VALENTINE

It’s true. And your love is so deep it covers your boots, and yet you never swam across the Hellespont.

PROTEUS

Over the boots? Nay, give me not the boots.

PROTEUS

Covers my boots? Don’t make fun of me.

VALENTINE

No, I will not, for it boots thee not.

VALENTINE

No, I won’t, for it doesn’t profit you any.

PROTEUS

What?

PROTEUS

What?

VALENTINE

30 To be in love, where scorn is bought with groans,
Coy looks with heartsore sighs, one fading moment’s mirth
With twenty watchful, weary, tedious nights.
If haply won, perhaps a hapless gain;
If lost, why then a grievous labour won;
35 However, but a folly bought with wit,
Or else a wit by folly vanquishèd.

VALENTINE

When you’re in love, your love-sick groans only earn her scorn, your brokenhearted sighs just get you flirtatious glances, and twenty tedious, sleepless nights spent pining for your sweetheart only yield you a brief moment of happiness. If by chance you succeed, it may turn out to be an unlucky win. And if you don’t, then you’ve only managed to waste your time. Either way, you win foolishness by being clever, or your cleverness is killed by foolishness.

PROTEUS

So, by your circumstance, you call me fool.

PROTEUS

So, by your logic, I’m a fool.

VALENTINE

So, by your circumstance, I fear you’ll prove.

VALENTINE

Because of your logic, I fear you’ll become a fool.

PROTEUS

’Tis love you cavil at. I am not Love.

PROTEUS

It’s love you have a problem with. But don’t blame me—I’m not Love.

VALENTINE

40 Love is your master, for he masters you;
And he that is so yokèd by a fool
Methinks, should not be chronicled for wise.

VALENTINE

Love is your master, because he’s got the better of you. And in my opinion, anyone who’s been taken in by a fool shouldn’t be considered very wise himself.

PROTEUS

Yet writers say, as in the sweetest bud
The eating canker dwells, so eating love
45 Inhabits in the finest wits of all.

PROTEUS

Yet writers say that just as the destructive caterpillar dwells within the sweetest flower buds, love inhabits the cleverest minds.

VALENTINE

And writers say, as the most forward bud
Is eaten by the canker ere it blow,
Even so by love the young and tender wit
Is turned to folly, blasting in the bud,
50 Losing his verdure even in the prime,
And all the fair effects of future hopes.
But wherefore waste I time to counsel thee
That art a votary to fond desire?
Once more adieu! My father at the road
55 Expects my coming, there to see me shipped.

VALENTINE

And writers also say that just as the caterpillar eats the greatest flower bud before it blooms, so too does love make young and fragile minds foolish. It destroys the young lover, who loses his youth while still in his prime, and takes away all his future hopes. But why am I wasting my time giving advice to you, a man who is devoted to foolish love? So, once again, farewell! My father expects to meet me at the harbor to see my ship off.

PROTEUS

And thither will I bring thee, Valentine.

PROTEUS

I’ll go with you, Valentine.

VALENTINE

Sweet Proteus, no. Now let us take our leave.
To Milan let me hear from thee by letters
Of thy success in love, and what news else
60 Betideth here in absence of thy friend;
And I likewise will visit thee with mine.

VALENTINE

My dear Proteus, no. We should say goodbye to each other now. Write to me in Milan, and tell me of your luck with love and whatever other news happens while I’m away. I’ll likewise write to you.

PROTEUS

All happiness bechance to thee in Milan!

PROTEUS

May you find happiness in Milan!

VALENTINE

As much to you at home! And so, farewell!

VALENTINE

And the same to you here at home! Farewell!
Exit VALENTINE
VALENTINE exits.

PROTEUS

He after honor hunts, I after love.
65 He leaves his friends to dignify them more;
I leave myself, my friends, and all, for love.
Thou, Julia, thou hast metamorphosed me,
Made me neglect my studies, lose my time,
War with good counsel, set the world at naught;
70 Made wit with musing weak, heart sick with thought.

PROTEUS

He hunts for honor, while I hunt for love. He leaves his friends to bring them more honor, but I neglect myself, my friends, and everything else for love. Oh, Julia, you’ve transformed me. You’ve made me neglect my studies, waste my time, argue against all reasonable advice, and set myself against the world. You’ve made my brain weak from thinking about you so much, and my heart sick with melancholy.
Enter SPEED
SPEED enters.

SPEED

Sir Proteus, save you! Saw you my master?

SPEED

God save you, Sir Proteus! Have you seen my master?

PROTEUS

But now he parted hence, to embark for Milan.

PROTEUS

He just left here a minute ago on his way to Milan.

SPEED

Twenty to one, then, he is shipped already,
And I have played the sheep in losing him.

SPEED

I’d wager twenty to one, then, that his ship has already left. I’m foolish for having lost him.

PROTEUS

75 Indeed, a sheep doth very often stray,
An if the shepherd be a while away.

PROTEUS

Indeed, sheep often go astray when the shepherd has gone away.

SPEED

You conclude that my master is a shepherd, then, and I a sheep?

SPEED

You’re saying that my master is a shepherd, then, and I’m a sheep?

PROTEUS

I do.

PROTEUS

Yes.

SPEED

Why then, my horns are his horns, whether I wake or sleep.

SPEED

Well then, my horns are his horns, whether I’m awake or asleep.

PROTEUS

80 A silly answer, and fitting well a sheep.

PROTEUS

What a silly answer—very fitting for a sheep.

SPEED

This proves me still a sheep.

SPEED

This means you think I’m still a sheep.

PROTEUS

True; and thy master a shepherd.

PROTEUS

Yes, and your master a shepherd.

SPEED

Nay, that I can deny by a circumstance.

SPEED

No, I can disprove that with an example.

PROTEUS

It shall go hard but I’ll prove it by another.

PROTEUS

It’ll be a challenge, but I’ll prove it with another example.

SPEED

85 The shepherd seeks the sheep, and not the sheep the shepherd; but I seek my master, and my master seeks not me. Therefore I am no sheep.

SPEED

The shepherd looks for the sheep, but the sheep doesn’t look for the shepherd. I’m looking for my master, but my master isn’t looking for me. Therefore, I’m not a sheep.

PROTEUS

The sheep for fodder follow the shepherd; the shepherd for food follows not the sheep. Thou for wages followest thy master; thy master for wages follows not thee. Therefore thou art a sheep.

PROTEUS

The sheep follows the shepherd because it wants food, but the shepherd doesn’t follow the sheep for food. You follow your master for your pay, but your master doesn’t follow you for pay. Therefore, you’re a sheep.

SPEED

Such another proof will make me cry “Baa.”

SPEED

Another bad example like that and I’ll say, “Baa.”

PROTEUS

But dost thou hear? Gav’st thou my letter to Julia?

PROTEUS

But anyway, what happened? Did you give my letter to Julia?

SPEED

Ay, sir. I, a lost mutton, gave your letter to her, a laced mutton, and she, a laced mutton, gave me, a lost mutton, nothing for my labor.

SPEED

Yes, sir. I, a lost sheep, gave your letter to her, a

prostitute

The term “mutton” used in Shakespeare’s original was slang for “prostitute.”

prostitute
. And she, the prostitute, gave me, a lost sheep, nothing for all my hard work.

PROTEUS

90 Here’s too small a pasture for such store of muttons.

PROTEUS

The world isn’t big enough for all these darn sheep.

SPEED

If the ground be overcharged, you were best stick her.

SPEED

If it’s too crowded for you, then you should stick her.

PROTEUS

Nay, in that you are astray: ’twere best pound you.

PROTEUS

No, now you’ve really gone astray. I ought to pound you.

SPEED

Nay, sir, less than a pound shall serve me for carrying your letter.

SPEED

No, sir, less than a pound will suffice for delivering your letter.

PROTEUS

You mistake. I mean the pound—a pinfold.

PROTEUS

You misunderstood. I meant give you a pounding, pinhead.

SPEED

95 From a pound to a pin? Fold it over and over,
’Tis threefold too little for carrying a letter to your lover.

SPEED

You’ve gone from a pound down to a pinhead? No, I want more than that—that’s far too little payment for delivering a letter to your lover.

PROTEUS

But what said she?

PROTEUS

So what did she say?

SPEED

[Nodding] Ay.

SPEED

(nodding) Ay.

PROTEUS

Nod-ay—why, that’s “noddy.”

PROTEUS

Nod-ay? Well, that’s “naughty.”

SPEED

100 You mistook, sir. I say she did nod, and you ask me if she did nod, and I say, “Ay.”

SPEED

You misunderstood, sir. I said she nodded, and you asked me if she nodded, and I said, “Ay.”

PROTEUS

And that set together is “noddy.”

PROTEUS

And all that put together is “naughty.”

SPEED

Now you have taken the pains to set it together, take it for your pains.

SPEED

Now that you’ve taken the trouble to figure it out, take that for your trouble and consider it your answer.

PROTEUS

No, no, you shall have it for bearing the letter.

PROTEUS

No, no, you shall have it for delivering the letter.

SPEED

Well, I perceive I must be fain to bear with you.

SPEED

Well, I guess I must be willing to put up with you.

PROTEUS

105 Why, sir, how do you bear with me?

PROTEUS

Why, sir, what do you mean, “put up with me”?

SPEED

Marry, sir, the letter, very orderly, having nothing but the word “noddy” for my pains.

SPEED

Geez, sir, I mean getting nothing but the word “naughty” as payment for my delivery.

PROTEUS

Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit.

PROTEUS

Damn, you have a quick wit.

SPEED

And yet it cannot overtake your slow purse.

SPEED

And yet I can’t speed past your slowness in paying me.

PROTEUS

Come, come, open the matter in brief. What said she?

PROTEUS

Come on, come on, tell me briefly. What did she say?

SPEED

110 Open your purse, that the money and the matter may be both at once delivered.

SPEED

Open your wallet, and the money and her response will both be delivered.

PROTEUS

[Giving him money] Well, sir, here is for your pains. What said she?

PROTEUS

(giving him money) Well, sir, here’s something for your trouble. What did she say?

SPEED

Truly, sir, I think you’ll hardly win her.

SPEED

Honestly, sir, I think you’ll have a hard time winning her.

PROTEUS

Why, couldst thou perceive so much from her?

PROTEUS

Why? Did you get that from speaking with her?

SPEED

Sir, I could perceive nothing at all from her, no, not so much as a ducat for delivering your letter. And being so hard to me that brought your mind, I fear she’ll prove as hard to you in telling your mind. Give her no token but stones, for she’s as hard as steel.

SPEED

Sir, I couldn’t get anything at all out of her, not even so much as a tip for delivering your letter. And since she was so stingy to me for having delivered your thoughts, I fear she’ll prove just as stingy with you. Don’t give her any little gifts except stones, because she’s as hard as steel.

PROTEUS

115 What said she? Nothing?

PROTEUS

What did she say? Nothing?

SPEED

No, not so much as “Take this for thy pains.” To testify your bounty, I thank you, you have testerned me; in requital whereof, henceforth carry your letters yourself. And so, sir, I’ll commend you to my master.

SPEED

No, not even so much as “Take this for your trouble.” I can attest to your generosity since you’ve given me a small tip. In return, you can deliver your own letters from now on. And so, sir, I’ll say hello to my master for you.

PROTEUS

Go, go, begone, to save your ship from wreck,
Which cannot perish having thee aboard,
Being destined to a drier death on shore.

PROTEUS

Exit SPEED
SPEED exits.
120 I must go send some better messenger.
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines,
Receiving them from such a worthless post.
I must send a letter with a better messenger. I’m afraid my Julia wouldn’t accept my letter because she received it from such a worthless postman.
Exit
PROTEUS exits.

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Original Text

Modern Text

Enter VALENTINE and PROTEUS

VALENTINE

Cease to persuade, my loving Proteus;
Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits.
Were ’t not affection chains thy tender days
To the sweet glances of thy honored love,
5 I rather would entreat thy company
To see the wonders of the world abroad
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.
But since thou lov’st, love still and thrive therein,
10 Even as I would when I to love begin.

VALENTINE

Stop trying to persuade me, Proteus. Young homebodies have dull minds. If you weren’t so tied to the girl you love, I’d ask you to come with me to see the distant wonders of the world rather than waste your youth living aimlessly as a sluggard at home. But, since you’re in love, love constantly and thrive in your love. I would do the same were I in love.

PROTEUS

Wilt thou be gone? Sweet Valentine, adieu!
Think on thy Proteus when thou haply seest
Some rare noteworthy object in thy travel.
Wish me partaker in thy happiness
15 When thou dost meet good hap; and in thy danger,
If ever danger do environ thee,
Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers,
For I will be thy beadsman, Valentine.

PROTEUS

Are you going now? Goodbye, Valentine, my dear friend! Think of me when you happen to see some rare and noteworthy object in your travels. Wish me happiness, too, when you have good fortune. And if you’re ever in danger, trust that my prayers will protect you, for I will pray for you, Valentine.

VALENTINE

And on a love book pray for my success?

VALENTINE

PROTEUS

20 Upon some book I love I’ll pray for thee.

PROTEUS

I’ll pray for you on a book I love.

VALENTINE

That’s on some shallow story of deep love,
How young Leander crossed the Hellespont.

VALENTINE

PROTEUS

That’s a deep story of a deeper love,
For he was more than over shoes in love.

PROTEUS

That’s a deep story of a deeper love—the love was so deep it covered his shoes.

VALENTINE

25 ’Tis true; for you are over boots in love,
And yet you never swam the Hellespont.

VALENTINE

It’s true. And your love is so deep it covers your boots, and yet you never swam across the Hellespont.

PROTEUS

Over the boots? Nay, give me not the boots.

PROTEUS

Covers my boots? Don’t make fun of me.

VALENTINE

No, I will not, for it boots thee not.

VALENTINE

No, I won’t, for it doesn’t profit you any.

PROTEUS

What?

PROTEUS

What?

VALENTINE

30 To be in love, where scorn is bought with groans,
Coy looks with heartsore sighs, one fading moment’s mirth
With twenty watchful, weary, tedious nights.
If haply won, perhaps a hapless gain;
If lost, why then a grievous labour won;
35 However, but a folly bought with wit,
Or else a wit by folly vanquishèd.

VALENTINE

When you’re in love, your love-sick groans only earn her scorn, your brokenhearted sighs just get you flirtatious glances, and twenty tedious, sleepless nights spent pining for your sweetheart only yield you a brief moment of happiness. If by chance you succeed, it may turn out to be an unlucky win. And if you don’t, then you’ve only managed to waste your time. Either way, you win foolishness by being clever, or your cleverness is killed by foolishness.

PROTEUS

So, by your circumstance, you call me fool.

PROTEUS

So, by your logic, I’m a fool.

VALENTINE

So, by your circumstance, I fear you’ll prove.

VALENTINE

Because of your logic, I fear you’ll become a fool.

PROTEUS

’Tis love you cavil at. I am not Love.

PROTEUS

It’s love you have a problem with. But don’t blame me—I’m not Love.

VALENTINE

40 Love is your master, for he masters you;
And he that is so yokèd by a fool
Methinks, should not be chronicled for wise.

VALENTINE

Love is your master, because he’s got the better of you. And in my opinion, anyone who’s been taken in by a fool shouldn’t be considered very wise himself.

PROTEUS

Yet writers say, as in the sweetest bud
The eating canker dwells, so eating love
45 Inhabits in the finest wits of all.

PROTEUS

Yet writers say that just as the destructive caterpillar dwells within the sweetest flower buds, love inhabits the cleverest minds.

VALENTINE

And writers say, as the most forward bud
Is eaten by the canker ere it blow,
Even so by love the young and tender wit
Is turned to folly, blasting in the bud,
50 Losing his verdure even in the prime,
And all the fair effects of future hopes.
But wherefore waste I time to counsel thee
That art a votary to fond desire?
Once more adieu! My father at the road
55 Expects my coming, there to see me shipped.

VALENTINE

And writers also say that just as the caterpillar eats the greatest flower bud before it blooms, so too does love make young and fragile minds foolish. It destroys the young lover, who loses his youth while still in his prime, and takes away all his future hopes. But why am I wasting my time giving advice to you, a man who is devoted to foolish love? So, once again, farewell! My father expects to meet me at the harbor to see my ship off.

PROTEUS

And thither will I bring thee, Valentine.

PROTEUS

I’ll go with you, Valentine.

VALENTINE

Sweet Proteus, no. Now let us take our leave.
To Milan let me hear from thee by letters
Of thy success in love, and what news else
60 Betideth here in absence of thy friend;
And I likewise will visit thee with mine.

VALENTINE

My dear Proteus, no. We should say goodbye to each other now. Write to me in Milan, and tell me of your luck with love and whatever other news happens while I’m away. I’ll likewise write to you.

PROTEUS

All happiness bechance to thee in Milan!

PROTEUS

May you find happiness in Milan!

VALENTINE

As much to you at home! And so, farewell!

VALENTINE

And the same to you here at home! Farewell!
Exit VALENTINE
VALENTINE exits.

PROTEUS

He after honor hunts, I after love.
65 He leaves his friends to dignify them more;
I leave myself, my friends, and all, for love.
Thou, Julia, thou hast metamorphosed me,
Made me neglect my studies, lose my time,
War with good counsel, set the world at naught;
70 Made wit with musing weak, heart sick with thought.

PROTEUS

He hunts for honor, while I hunt for love. He leaves his friends to bring them more honor, but I neglect myself, my friends, and everything else for love. Oh, Julia, you’ve transformed me. You’ve made me neglect my studies, waste my time, argue against all reasonable advice, and set myself against the world. You’ve made my brain weak from thinking about you so much, and my heart sick with melancholy.
Enter SPEED
SPEED enters.

SPEED

Sir Proteus, save you! Saw you my master?

SPEED

God save you, Sir Proteus! Have you seen my master?

PROTEUS

But now he parted hence, to embark for Milan.

PROTEUS

He just left here a minute ago on his way to Milan.

SPEED

Twenty to one, then, he is shipped already,
And I have played the sheep in losing him.

SPEED

I’d wager twenty to one, then, that his ship has already left. I’m foolish for having lost him.

PROTEUS

75 Indeed, a sheep doth very often stray,
An if the shepherd be a while away.

PROTEUS

Indeed, sheep often go astray when the shepherd has gone away.

SPEED

You conclude that my master is a shepherd, then, and I a sheep?

SPEED

You’re saying that my master is a shepherd, then, and I’m a sheep?

PROTEUS

I do.

PROTEUS

Yes.

SPEED

Why then, my horns are his horns, whether I wake or sleep.

SPEED

Well then, my horns are his horns, whether I’m awake or asleep.

PROTEUS

80 A silly answer, and fitting well a sheep.

PROTEUS

What a silly answer—very fitting for a sheep.

SPEED

This proves me still a sheep.

SPEED

This means you think I’m still a sheep.

PROTEUS

True; and thy master a shepherd.

PROTEUS

Yes, and your master a shepherd.

SPEED

Nay, that I can deny by a circumstance.

SPEED

No, I can disprove that with an example.

PROTEUS

It shall go hard but I’ll prove it by another.

PROTEUS

It’ll be a challenge, but I’ll prove it with another example.

SPEED

85 The shepherd seeks the sheep, and not the sheep the shepherd; but I seek my master, and my master seeks not me. Therefore I am no sheep.

SPEED

The shepherd looks for the sheep, but the sheep doesn’t look for the shepherd. I’m looking for my master, but my master isn’t looking for me. Therefore, I’m not a sheep.

PROTEUS

The sheep for fodder follow the shepherd; the shepherd for food follows not the sheep. Thou for wages followest thy master; thy master for wages follows not thee. Therefore thou art a sheep.

PROTEUS

The sheep follows the shepherd because it wants food, but the shepherd doesn’t follow the sheep for food. You follow your master for your pay, but your master doesn’t follow you for pay. Therefore, you’re a sheep.

SPEED

Such another proof will make me cry “Baa.”

SPEED

Another bad example like that and I’ll say, “Baa.”

PROTEUS

But dost thou hear? Gav’st thou my letter to Julia?

PROTEUS

But anyway, what happened? Did you give my letter to Julia?

SPEED

Ay, sir. I, a lost mutton, gave your letter to her, a laced mutton, and she, a laced mutton, gave me, a lost mutton, nothing for my labor.

SPEED

Yes, sir. I, a lost sheep, gave your letter to her, a

prostitute

The term “mutton” used in Shakespeare’s original was slang for “prostitute.”

prostitute
. And she, the prostitute, gave me, a lost sheep, nothing for all my hard work.

PROTEUS

90 Here’s too small a pasture for such store of muttons.

PROTEUS

The world isn’t big enough for all these darn sheep.

SPEED

If the ground be overcharged, you were best stick her.

SPEED

If it’s too crowded for you, then you should stick her.

PROTEUS

Nay, in that you are astray: ’twere best pound you.

PROTEUS

No, now you’ve really gone astray. I ought to pound you.

SPEED

Nay, sir, less than a pound shall serve me for carrying your letter.

SPEED

No, sir, less than a pound will suffice for delivering your letter.

PROTEUS

You mistake. I mean the pound—a pinfold.

PROTEUS

You misunderstood. I meant give you a pounding, pinhead.

SPEED

95 From a pound to a pin? Fold it over and over,
’Tis threefold too little for carrying a letter to your lover.

SPEED

You’ve gone from a pound down to a pinhead? No, I want more than that—that’s far too little payment for delivering a letter to your lover.

PROTEUS

But what said she?

PROTEUS

So what did she say?

SPEED

[Nodding] Ay.

SPEED

(nodding) Ay.

PROTEUS

Nod-ay—why, that’s “noddy.”

PROTEUS

Nod-ay? Well, that’s “naughty.”

SPEED

100 You mistook, sir. I say she did nod, and you ask me if she did nod, and I say, “Ay.”

SPEED

You misunderstood, sir. I said she nodded, and you asked me if she nodded, and I said, “Ay.”

PROTEUS

And that set together is “noddy.”

PROTEUS

And all that put together is “naughty.”

SPEED

Now you have taken the pains to set it together, take it for your pains.

SPEED

Now that you’ve taken the trouble to figure it out, take that for your trouble and consider it your answer.

PROTEUS

No, no, you shall have it for bearing the letter.

PROTEUS

No, no, you shall have it for delivering the letter.

SPEED

Well, I perceive I must be fain to bear with you.

SPEED

Well, I guess I must be willing to put up with you.

PROTEUS

105 Why, sir, how do you bear with me?

PROTEUS

Why, sir, what do you mean, “put up with me”?

SPEED

Marry, sir, the letter, very orderly, having nothing but the word “noddy” for my pains.

SPEED

Geez, sir, I mean getting nothing but the word “naughty” as payment for my delivery.

PROTEUS

Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit.

PROTEUS

Damn, you have a quick wit.

SPEED

And yet it cannot overtake your slow purse.

SPEED

And yet I can’t speed past your slowness in paying me.

PROTEUS

Come, come, open the matter in brief. What said she?

PROTEUS

Come on, come on, tell me briefly. What did she say?

SPEED

110 Open your purse, that the money and the matter may be both at once delivered.

SPEED

Open your wallet, and the money and her response will both be delivered.

PROTEUS

[Giving him money] Well, sir, here is for your pains. What said she?

PROTEUS

(giving him money) Well, sir, here’s something for your trouble. What did she say?

SPEED

Truly, sir, I think you’ll hardly win her.

SPEED

Honestly, sir, I think you’ll have a hard time winning her.

PROTEUS

Why, couldst thou perceive so much from her?

PROTEUS

Why? Did you get that from speaking with her?

SPEED

Sir, I could perceive nothing at all from her, no, not so much as a ducat for delivering your letter. And being so hard to me that brought your mind, I fear she’ll prove as hard to you in telling your mind. Give her no token but stones, for she’s as hard as steel.

SPEED

Sir, I couldn’t get anything at all out of her, not even so much as a tip for delivering your letter. And since she was so stingy to me for having delivered your thoughts, I fear she’ll prove just as stingy with you. Don’t give her any little gifts except stones, because she’s as hard as steel.

PROTEUS

115 What said she? Nothing?

PROTEUS

What did she say? Nothing?

SPEED

No, not so much as “Take this for thy pains.” To testify your bounty, I thank you, you have testerned me; in requital whereof, henceforth carry your letters yourself. And so, sir, I’ll commend you to my master.

SPEED

No, not even so much as “Take this for your trouble.” I can attest to your generosity since you’ve given me a small tip. In return, you can deliver your own letters from now on. And so, sir, I’ll say hello to my master for you.

PROTEUS

Go, go, begone, to save your ship from wreck,
Which cannot perish having thee aboard,
Being destined to a drier death on shore.

PROTEUS

Exit SPEED
SPEED exits.
120 I must go send some better messenger.
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines,
Receiving them from such a worthless post.
I must send a letter with a better messenger. I’m afraid my Julia wouldn’t accept my letter because she received it from such a worthless postman.
Exit
PROTEUS exits.

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