Page 3103 - Shakespeare - Vol. 3

Nor is he fit for’t, indeed.

APEMANTUS
Let me stay at thine apperil, Timon;
I come to observe: I give thee warning on’t.

TIMON
I take no heed of thee; th’art an Athenian, therefore [35] welcome. I myself
would have no power; prithee let my meat make thee silent.

APEMANTUS
I scorn thy meat; ’twould choke me, for I should ne’er flatter thee. O you

gods! What a number of men eats Timon, and he sees ’em not! It grieves me
to [40] see so many dip their meat in one man’s blood; and all the madness
is, he cheers them up too.

I wonder men dare trust themselves with men.
Methinks they should invite them without knives:
Good for their meat, and safer for their lives. [45]
There’s much example for’t; the fellow that sits next him, now parts bread
with him, pledges the breath of him in a divided draught, is the readiest man

to kill him. ’T’as been proved. If I were a huge man, I should fear to drink at
meals, [50]
Lest they should spy my windpipe’s dangerous notes,

Great men should drink with harness on their throats.

TIMON

My lord, in heart; and let the health go round.

SECOND LORD
Let it flow this way, my good lord.

APEMANTUS
Flow this way? A brave fellow. He keeps his [55] tides well. Those healths
will make thee and thy state look ill, Timon.
Here’s that which is too weak to be a sinner,

Honest water, which ne’er left man i’ th’ mire.
This and my food are equals, there’s no odds; [60]