I had not quoted him."
32. [Beetle-brows.] Prominent or overhanging brows. Cf. the verb beetle in Ham. i. 4. 71.
36. [Rushes.] Before the introduction of carpets floors were strewn with rushes. Cf. 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 214: "on the wanton rushes lay you down;" Cymb. ii. 2. 13:—
"Our Tarquin thus
Did softly press the rushes," etc.
See also R. of L. 318, T. of S. iv. 1. 48, and 2 Hen. IV. v. 5. 1. The stage was likewise strewn with rushes. Steevens quotes Dekker, Guls Hornbook: "on the very rushes where the comedy is to daunce."
37. [I am proverb'd,] etc. The old proverb fits my case, etc. To hold the candle is a very common phrase for being an idle spectator. Among Ray's proverbs is "A good candle-holder proves a good gamester" (Steevens).
39. [The game,] etc. An old proverbial saying advises to give over when the game is at the fairest; and Romeo also alludes to this.
40. [Dun's the mouse.] Apparently = keep still; but no one has satisfactorily explained the origin of the phrase. Malone quotes Patient Grissel, 1603: "yet don is the mouse, lie still;" and Steevens adds The Two Merry Milkmaids, 1620: "Why then 'tis done, and dun's the mouse and undone all the courtiers."