Earth. Well, I'll go in: I feel myself half sleepy
After the drink I took. [Exit.
Theo. 'Twill do you good, sir.
Work sweetly, gentle cordial! and restore
Those spirits again which pining avarice
Has 'reft him of. Ah me! how wondrous thin,
How lean and wan he looks! How much, alas!
Has he defrauded his poor genius
In raking wealth, while the pale, grisly sighs
Of famine dwell upon his aged cheeks.
O avarice! than thee a greater plague
Did ne'er infest the life of wretched man!
Heaven aid my work! That rare extraction
Which he has drunk, beside the nourishment,
Will cast him in a safe and gentle sleep,
While I have liberty to work my ends;
And with his body's cure a means I'll find
To cure his fame, and (which is more) his mind.
Jasper!
Enter Jasper.
Jas. Sir!
Theo. Are those disguises ready,
Which I bespoke?
Jas. They are all fitted, sir.
Theo. Then at the hour, which I appointed thee,
Invite those people, Jasper; but be true
And secret to me.
Jas. As your own heart, sir.
Theo. Take this: I will reward thy service better,
As soon as these occasions are dispatch'd.