FLAVIUS.
No, my most worthy master, in whose breast
Doubt and suspect, alas, are placed too late.
You should have feared false times when you did feast,
Suspect still comes where an estate is least.
That which I show, heaven knows, is merely love,
Duty and zeal to your unmatched mind,
Care of your food and living. And believe it,
My most honoured lord,
For any benefit that points to me,
Either in hope or present, I’d exchange
For this one wish, that you had power and wealth
To requite me by making rich yourself.
TIMON.
Look thee, ’tis so! Thou singly honest man,
Here, take. The gods out of my misery
Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich and happy,
But thus conditioned: thou shalt build from men;
Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,
But let the famished flesh slide from the bone
Ere thou relieve the beggar; give to dogs
What thou deniest to men; let prisons swallow ’em,
Debts wither ’em to nothing; be men like blasted woods,
And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
And so farewell and thrive.
FLAVIUS.
O, let me stay
And comfort you, my master.
TIMON.
If thou hat’st curses,
Stay not. Fly whilst thou’rt blest and free.
Ne’er see thou man, and let me ne’er see thee.
[Exeunt severally.]
ACT V
SCENE I. The woods. Before Timon’s cave
Enter Poet and Painter.
PAINTER.
As I took note of the place, it cannot be far where he abides.
POET.
What’s to be thought of him? Does the rumour hold for true that he is so full of gold?