All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
Act 4 - Scene 1
Without the Florentine camp.
Second Lord : He can come no other way but by this hedge-corner.
[p]When you sally
upon him, speak what terrible
[p]language you will: though you
understand it not
[p]yourselves, no matter; for we must not seem
to
[p]understand him, unless some one among us whom we
[p]must produce
for an interpreter.
First Soldier : Good captain, let me be the interpreter.
Second Lord : Art not acquainted with him? knows he not thy voice?
First Soldier : No, sir, I warrant you.
Second Lord : But what linsey-woolsey hast thou to speak to us again?
First Soldier : E'en such as you speak to me.
Second Lord : He must think us some band of strangers i' the
[p]adversary's
entertainment. Now he hath a smack of
[p]all neighbouring languages;
therefore we must every
[p]one be a man of his own fancy, not to know
what we
[p]speak one to another; so we seem to know, is to
[p]know
straight our purpose: choughs' language,
[p]gabble enough, and good
enough. As for you,
[p]interpreter, you must seem very politic. But
couch,
[p]ho! here he comes, to beguile two hours in a sleep,
[p]and
then to return and swear the lies he forges.
Parolles : Ten o'clock: within these three hours 'twill be
[p]time enough to go
home. What shall I say I have
[p]done? It must be a very plausive
invention that
[p]carries it: they begin to smoke me; and
disgraces
[p]have of late knocked too often at my door. I find
[p]my
tongue is too foolhardy; but my heart hath the
[p]fear of Mars before
it and of his creatures, not
[p]daring the reports of my tongue.
Second Lord : This is the first truth that e'er thine own tongue
[p]was guilty of.
Parolles : What the devil should move me to undertake the
[p]recovery of this
drum, being not ignorant of the
[p]impossibility, and knowing I had no
such purpose? I
[p]must give myself some hurts, and say I got them
in
[p]exploit: yet slight ones will not carry it; they
[p]will say,
'Came you off with so little?' and great
[p]ones I dare not give.
Wherefore, what's the
[p]instance? Tongue, I must put you into
a
[p]butter-woman's mouth and buy myself another of
[p]Bajazet's mule,
if you prattle me into these perils.
Second Lord : Is it possible he should know what he is, and be
[p]that he is?
Parolles : I would the cutting of my garments would serve the
[p]turn, or the
breaking of my Spanish sword.
Second Lord : We cannot afford you so.
Parolles : Or the baring of my beard; and to say it was in
[p]stratagem.
Second Lord : 'Twould not do.
Parolles : Or to drown my clothes, and say I was stripped.
Second Lord : Hardly serve.
Parolles : Though I swore I leaped from the window of the citadel.
Second Lord : How deep?
Parolles : Thirty fathom.
Second Lord : Three great oaths would scarce make that be believed.
Parolles : I would I had any drum of the enemy's: I would swear
[p]I recovered
it.
Second Lord : You shall hear one anon.
Parolles : A drum now of the enemy's,--
Second Lord : Throca movousus, cargo, cargo, cargo.
All : Cargo, cargo, cargo, villiando par corbo, cargo.
Parolles : O, ransom, ransom! do not hide mine eyes.
First Soldier : Boskos thromuldo boskos.
Parolles : I know you are the Muskos' regiment:
[p]And I shall lose my life for
want of language;
[p]If there be here German, or Dane, low
Dutch,
[p]Italian, or French, let him speak to me; I'll
[p]Discover
that which shall undo the Florentine.
First Soldier : Boskos vauvado: I understand thee, and can speak
[p]thy tongue. Kerely
bonto, sir, betake thee to thy
[p]faith, for seventeen poniards are at
thy bosom.
Parolles : O!
First Soldier : O, pray, pray, pray! Manka revania dulche.
Second Lord : Oscorbidulchos volivorco.
First Soldier : The general is content to spare thee yet;
[p]And, hoodwink'd as thou
art, will lead thee on
[p]To gather from thee: haply thou mayst
inform
[p]Something to save thy life.
Parolles : O, let me live!
[p]And all the secrets of our camp I'll show,
[p]Their
force, their purposes; nay, I'll speak that
[p]Which you will wonder
at.
First Soldier : But wilt thou faithfully?
Parolles : If I do not, damn me.
First Soldier : Acordo linta.
[p]Come on; thou art granted space.
Second Lord : Go, tell the Count Rousillon, and my brother,
[p]We have caught the
woodcock, and will keep him muffled
[p]Till we do hear from them.
Second Soldier : Captain, I will.
Second Lord : A' will betray us all unto ourselves:
[p]Inform on that.
Second Soldier : So I will, sir.
Second Lord : Till then I'll keep him dark and safely lock'd.
Previous: Act 3 - Scene 7
Next: Act 4 - Scene 2
