FLAVIUS.
’Tis all engaged, some forfeited and gone,
And what remains will hardly stop the mouth
Of present dues; the future comes apace.
What shall defend the interim? And at length
How goes our reckoning?
TIMON.
To Lacedaemon did my land extend.
FLAVIUS.
O my good lord, the world is but a word;
Were it all yours to give it in a breath,
How quickly were it gone!
TIMON.
You tell me true.
FLAVIUS.
If you suspect my husbandry or falsehood,
Call me before th’ exactest auditors
And set me on the proof. So the gods bless me,
When all our offices have been oppressed
With riotous feeders, when our vaults have wept
With drunken spilth of wine, when every room
Hath blazed with lights and brayed with minstrelsy,
I have retired me to a wasteful cock
And set mine eyes at flow.
TIMON.
Prithee, no more.
FLAVIUS.
Heavens, have I said, the bounty of this lord!
How many prodigal bits have slaves and peasants
This night englutted? Who is not Timon’s?
What heart, head, sword, force, means, but is Lord Timon’s?
Great Timon, noble, worthy, royal Timon!
Ah, when the means are gone that buy this praise,
The breath is gone whereof this praise is made.
Feast-won, fast-lost; one cloud of winter showers,
These flies are couched.
TIMON.
Come, sermon me no further.
No villainous bounty yet hath passed my heart;
Unwisely, not ignobly, have I given.
Why dost thou weep? Canst thou the conscience lack
To think I shall lack friends? Secure thy heart.
If I would broach the vessels of my love
And try the argument of hearts by borrowing,
Men and men’s fortunes could I frankly use
As I can bid thee speak.
FLAVIUS.
Assurance bless your thoughts!
TIMON.
And in some sort these wants of mine are crowned,
That I account them blessings. For by these
Shall I try friends. You shall perceive how you
Mistake my fortunes. I am wealthy in my friends.
Within there! Flaminius! Servilius!