SCENE I. Without the Florentine camp. All's Well That Ends Well  Shakespeare homepage  |  All's Well That Ends Well  | Act 4, Scene 1 

 Previous scene  |  Next scene  SCENE I. Without the Florentine camp. 

 Enter Second French Lord, with five or six other Soldiers in ambush  Second Lord  He can come no other way but by this hedge-corner. 

 When you sally upon him, speak what terrible 

 language you will: though you understand it not 

 yourselves, no matter; for we must not seem to 

 understand him, unless some one among us whom we 

 must produce for an interpreter. 

 First Soldier  Good captain, let me be the interpreter. 

 Second Lord  Art not acquainted with him? knows he not thy voice? 

 First Soldier  No, sir, I warrant you. 

 Second Lord  But what linsey-woolsey hast thou to speak to us again? 

 First Soldier  E'en such as you speak to me. 

 Second Lord  He must think us some band of strangers i' the 

 adversary's entertainment. Now he hath a smack of 

 all neighbouring languages; therefore we must every 

 one be a man of his own fancy, not to know what we 

 speak one to another; so we seem to know, is to 

 know straight our purpose: choughs' language, 

 gabble enough, and good enough. As for you, 

 interpreter, you must seem very politic. But couch, 

 ho! here he comes, to beguile two hours in a sleep, 

 and then to return and swear the lies he forges. 



 Enter PAROLLES  PAROLLES  Ten o'clock: within these three hours 'twill be 

 time enough to go home. What shall I say I have 

 done? It must be a very plausive invention that 

 carries it: they begin to smoke me; and disgraces 

 have of late knocked too often at my door. I find 

 my tongue is too foolhardy; but my heart hath the 

 fear of Mars before it and of his creatures, not 

 daring the reports of my tongue. 

 Second Lord  This is the first truth that e'er thine own tongue 

 was guilty of. 

 PAROLLES  What the devil should move me to undertake the 

 recovery of this drum, being not ignorant of the 

 impossibility, and knowing I had no such purpose? I 

 must give myself some hurts, and say I got them in 

 exploit: yet slight ones will not carry it; they 

 will say, 'Came you off with so little?' and great 

 ones I dare not give. Wherefore, what's the 

 instance? Tongue, I must put you into a 

 butter-woman's mouth and buy myself another of 

 Bajazet's mule, if you prattle me into these perils. 

 Second Lord  Is it possible he should know what he is, and be 

 that he is? 

 PAROLLES  I would the cutting of my garments would serve the 

 turn, or the breaking of my Spanish sword. 

 Second Lord  We cannot afford you so. 

 PAROLLES  Or the baring of my beard; and to say it was in 

 stratagem. 

 Second Lord  'Twould not do. 

 PAROLLES  Or to drown my clothes, and say I was stripped. 

 Second Lord  Hardly serve. 

 PAROLLES  Though I swore I leaped from the window of the citadel. 

 Second Lord  How deep? 

 PAROLLES  Thirty fathom. 

 Second Lord  Three great oaths would scarce make that be believed. 

 PAROLLES  I would I had any drum of the enemy's: I would swear 

 I recovered it. 

 Second Lord  You shall hear one anon. 

 PAROLLES  A drum now of the enemy's,-- 



 Alarum within  Second Lord  Throca movousus, cargo, cargo, cargo. 

 All  Cargo, cargo, cargo, villiando par corbo, cargo. 

 PAROLLES  O, ransom, ransom! do not hide mine eyes. 



 They seize and blindfold him  First Soldier  Boskos thromuldo boskos. 

 PAROLLES  I know you are the Muskos' regiment: 

 And I shall lose my life for want of language; 

 If there be here German, or Dane, low Dutch, 

 Italian, or French, let him speak to me; I'll 

 Discover that which shall undo the Florentine. 

 First Soldier  Boskos vauvado: I understand thee, and can speak 

 thy tongue. Kerely bonto, sir, betake thee to thy 

 faith, for seventeen poniards are at thy bosom. 

 PAROLLES  O! 

 First Soldier  O, pray, pray, pray! Manka revania dulche. 

 Second Lord  Oscorbidulchos volivorco. 

 First Soldier  The general is content to spare thee yet; 

 And, hoodwink'd as thou art, will lead thee on 

 To gather from thee: haply thou mayst inform 

 Something to save thy life. 

 PAROLLES  O, let me live! 

 And all the secrets of our camp I'll show, 

 Their force, their purposes; nay, I'll speak that 

 Which you will wonder at. 

 First Soldier  But wilt thou faithfully? 

 PAROLLES  If I do not, damn me. 

 First Soldier  Acordo linta. 

 Come on; thou art granted space. 



 Exit, with PAROLLES guarded. A short alarum within  Second Lord  Go, tell the Count Rousillon, and my brother, 

 We have caught the woodcock, and will keep him muffled 

 Till we do hear from them. 

 Second Soldier  Captain, I will. 

 Second Lord  A' will betray us all unto ourselves: 

 Inform on that. 

 Second Soldier  So I will, sir. 

 Second Lord  Till then I'll keep him dark and safely lock'd. 



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