Colu. Here's a persimmon, love. You always liked them.
Pier. I am become a critic; there is nothing I can enjoy.... However, set it aside;
I'll eat it between meals.
Colu. Pierrot, do you know,
Sometimes I think you're making fun of me.
Pier. My love, by yon black moon, you wrong us both.
Colu. There isn't a sign of a moon, Pierrot.
Pier. Of course not.
There never was. "Moon's" just a word to swear by,
"Mutton!"—now there's a thing you can lay the hands on,
And set the tooth in! Listen, Columbine:
I always lied about the moon and you.
Food is my only lust.
Colu. Well, eat it, then,
For heaven's sake, and stop your silly noise!
I haven't heard the clock tick for an hour.
Pier. It's ticking all the same. If you were a fly,
You would be dead by now. And if I were a parrot,
I could be talking for a thousand years!
[Enters Cothurnus.]
Pier. Hello, what's this, for God's sake?—What's the matter?
Say, whadda you mean?—get off the stage, my friend,
And pinch yourself,—you're walking in your sleep!