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CAMILLO Nay, you shall have no hat.
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CAMILLO No, you won’t have a hat.
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Giving it to PERDITA
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He gives it to Perdita.
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750Come, lady, come. Farewell, my friend.
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Come along, lady, come. Farewell, my friend.
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AUTOLYCUS Adieu, sir.
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AUTOLYCUS Goodbye, sir.
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FLORIZEL O Perdita, what have we twain forgot!
Pray you, a word.
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FLORIZEL Oh, Perdita, we’ve forgotten something now! Please, let’s have a word.
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CAMILLO [Aside] What I do next, shall be to tell the king
755Of this escape and whither they are bound;
Wherein my hope is I shall so prevail
To force him after: in whose company
I shall review Sicilia, for whose sight
I have a woman’s longing.
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CAMILLO (aside) Next I’ll tell the king that they’ve escaped and where they are going. Then I hope I can persuade him to follow after them, and in his company I’ll then return to Sicilia, which I’ve longed to see again.
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FLORIZEL
760Fortune speed us!
Thus we set on, Camillo, to the sea-side.
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FLORIZEL May fortune speed us! So we set forth to sea, Camillo.
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CAMILLO The swifter speed the better.
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CAMILLO The faster the better.
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Exeunt FLORIZEL, PERDITA, and CAMILLO
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FLORIZEL, PERDITA, and CAMILLO exit.
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AUTOLYCUS I understand the business, I hear it: to have an
open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is
765necessary for a cut-purse; a good nose is requisite
also, to smell out work for the other senses. I see
this is the time that the unjust man doth thrive.
What an exchange had this been without boot! What
a boot is here with this exchange! Sure the gods do
770this year connive at us, and we may do any thing
extempore. The prince himself is about a piece of
iniquity, stealing away from his father with his
clog at his heels: if I thought it were a piece of
honesty to acquaint the king withal, I would not
775do’t: I hold it the more knavery to conceal it;
and therein am I constant to my profession.
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AUTOLYCUS I think I understand this matter and am hearing it right. It’s necessary for a thief to have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand. A good nose is needed, too, to find work for the other senses. I see that this is a time when the unfair man thrives. What an exchange this would have been even without payment! What a profit I got through this exchange! Surely the gods are indulging us, and we can do whatever we want on a whim. The prince himself is doing wrong, sneaking away from his father with his girlfriend. If I thought it were an honest deed to tell the king, I wouldn’t do it. I think it is more dishonest to conceal it, so I’ll remain true to my profession and say nothing.
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