Count. May the world know them?
Clo. I have been, madam, a wicked creature, as you
35and all flesh and blood are; and, indeed, I do marry that
I may repent.
Count. Thy marriage, sooner than thy wickedness.
Clo. I am [out o'] friends, madam; and I hope to have
friends for my wife's sake.
40Count. Such friends are thine enemies, knave.
Clo. [You're] shallow, [madam, in] great friends; for the
knaves come to do that for me, which I am [aweary] of. He
that ears my land spares my team, and gives me leave [to in]
the crop; if I be his cuckold, he's my drudge: he that comforts
45my wife is the cherisher of my flesh and blood; he
that [cherishes] my flesh and blood loves my flesh and blood;
he that loves my flesh and blood is my friend: ergo, he that
kisses my wife is my friend. If men could be contented to
be what they are, there were no fear in marriage; for young
50[Charbon] the puritan and old Poysam the papist, [howsome'er]
their hearts are severed in religion, their heads are both one;
they may joul horns together, like any deer i' the herd.
Count. Wilt thou ever be a foul-mouthed and calumnious
knave?
55Clo. A prophet I, madam; and I speak the truth the
next way:
[For I] the ballad will repeat,
Which men full true shall find;