ISAAC. To speak do not refrain,
And if it be reasonable, ye shall obtain:
Otherwise, ye must pardon me, gentle sweet wife.
REBECCA. Sir, ye know your son Esau, and see his life,
How loose it is, and how stiff he is and stubborn,
How retchlessly he doth himself misgovern:
He giveth himself to hunting out of reason,
And serveth the Lord and us at no time or season.
These conditions cannot be acceptable
In the sight of God, nor to men allowable.
Now his brother Jacob, your younger son and mine,
Doth more apply his heart to seek the ways divine.
He liveth here quietly at home in the tent,
There is no man nor child but is with him content.
ISAAC. O wife, I perceive ye speak of affection;
To Jacob ye bear love, and to his brother none.
REBECCA. Indeed, sir, I cannot love Esau so well
As I do Jacob, the plain truth to you to tell.
For I have no comfort of Esau, God wot:
I scarce know whe'r I have a son of him or not.
He goeth abroad so early before daylight,
And retumeth home again so late in the night;
And unneth I set eye on him in the whole week:
No, sometime not in twain, though I do for him seek.
And all the neighbours see him as seldom as I;
But when they would take rest, they hear him blow and cry.
Some see him so seldom, they ask if he be sick:
Sometimes some demand, whether he be dead or quick.
But, to make short tale, such his conditions be,
That I wish of God he had ne'er been born of me.
ISAAC. Well, wife, I love Esau, and must for causes twain.
REBECCA. Surely your love is bestowed on him in vain?
ISAAC. First, active he is, as any young man can be,
And many a good morsel he bringeth home to me.
Then he is mine eldest and first-begotten son.
REBECCA. If God were so pleased, I would that were foredone. [Aside.
ISAAC. And the eldest son is called the father's might.
REBECCA. If yours rest in Esau, God give us good night!