Refuses, on account of this amour,

To take a wife, such obstinate denial

Must be considered as his first offense.

Wherefore I now, from this mock-nuptial,

Endeavor to draw real cause to chide:

And that same rascal Davus, if he’s plotting,

That he may let his counsel run to waste,

Now, when his knaveries can do no harm:

Who, I believe, with all his might and main

Will strive to cross my purposes; and that