ACT II. SCENE I.
A SENATOR'S house

Enter A SENATOR, with papers in his hand

  SENATOR. And late, five thousand. To Varro and to Isidore
    He owes nine thousand; besides my former sum,
    Which makes it five and twenty. Still in motion
    Of raging waste? It cannot hold; it will not.
    If I want gold, steal but a beggar's dog
    And give it Timon, why, the dog coins gold.
    If I would sell my horse and buy twenty more
    Better than he, why, give my horse to Timon,
    Ask nothing, give it him, it foals me straight,
    And able horses. No porter at his gate,
    But rather one that smiles and still invites
    All that pass by. It cannot hold; no reason
    Can sound his state in safety. Caphis, ho!
    Caphis, I say!

                         Enter CAPHIS

  CAPHIS. Here, sir; what is your pleasure?
  SENATOR. Get on your cloak and haste you to Lord Timon;
    Importune him for my moneys; be not ceas'd
    With slight denial, nor then silenc'd when
    'Commend me to your master' and the cap
    Plays in the right hand, thus; but tell him
    My uses cry to me, I must serve my turn
    Out of mine own; his days and times are past,
    And my reliances on his fracted dates
    Have smit my credit. I love and honour him,
    But must not break my back to heal his finger.
    Immediate are my needs, and my relief
    Must not be toss'd and turn'd to me in words,
    But find supply immediate. Get you gone;
    Put on a most importunate aspect,
    A visage of demand; for I do fear,
    When every feather sticks in his own wing,
    Lord Timon will be left a naked gull,
    Which flashes now a phoenix. Get you gone.
  CAPHIS. I go, sir.
  SENATOR. Take the bonds along with you,
    And have the dates in compt.
  CAPHIS. I will, sir.
  SENATOR. Go.                                            Exeunt

The scene is laid in a Senators house in the city of Athens. As the scene opens, one notices that, a Senator is in conversation with his servant, Caphis. The Senator orders Caphis to fetch the money that Timon owes him and which amounts to about twenty five thousand. The Senator can foresee Timons future due to his involvement in ceaseless extravagance. The Senator points out that Timon would offer gold even if a beggars dog were presented to him. The wealth that Timon gives away in exchange for the gift is several times the price of the gift. The Senator can sense how unsafe Timons estate is, for there is no one to stop the flow of guests. And Timon will continue to give away his wealth as long as people will come to his house. He commands Caphis to get the money back immediately and to hurry before it is too late.

Notes Act II is completely different from the previous one. There is a total change in the atmosphere. In the former Act there was enjoyment and merry making, but now the whole situation is reversed. The ruin of Timon begins. The readers can see the change in the behaviors of the creditors towards Timon since Timon has nothing to offer them now. This scene throws light on the character of the Senator. He is portrayed as a selfish, greedy, and shrewd character. This contributes to the building up of the action. The Senator gives his servant all the instructions needed to make sure he gets his money back. He claims to love and honor Timon, but at the same time he is not ready to break his back to heal Timons finger meaning that he will not help Timon at his own cost. He orders his servant to hasten for he fears that all the property will go to the hands of the rightful owner and Timon will not have anything. The Senator here is representative of all the others, who will now demand an absolute clearance of their debts.


SCENE II.
Before TIMON'S house

Enter FLAVIUS, TIMON'S Steward, with many bills in his hand

  FLAVIUS. No care, no stop! So senseless of expense
    That he will neither know how to maintain it
    Nor cease his flow of riot; takes no account
    How things go from him, nor resumes no care
    Of what is to continue. Never mind
    Was to be so unwise to be so kind.
    What shall be done? He will not hear till feel.
    I must be round with him. Now he comes from hunting.
    Fie, fie, fie, fie!

       Enter CAPHIS, and the SERVANTS Of ISIDORE and VARRO

  CAPHIS. Good even, Varro. What, you come for money?
  VARRO'S SERVANT. Is't not your business too?
  CAPHIS. It is. And yours too, Isidore?
  ISIDORE'S SERVANT. It is so.
  CAPHIS. Would we were all discharg'd!
  VARRO'S SERVANT. I fear it.
  CAPHIS. Here comes the lord.

            Enter TIMON and his train, with ALCIBIADES

  TIMON. So soon as dinner's done we'll forth again,
    My Alcibiades.- With me? What is your will?
  CAPHIS. My lord, here is a note of certain dues.
  TIMON. Dues! Whence are you?
  CAPHIS. Of Athens here, my lord.
  TIMON. Go to my steward.
  CAPHIS. Please it your lordship, he hath put me off
    To the succession of new days this month.
    My master is awak'd by great occasion
    To call upon his own, and humbly prays you
    That with your other noble parts you'll suit
    In giving him his right.
  TIMON. Mine honest friend,
    I prithee but repair to me next morning.
  CAPHIS. Nay, good my lord-
  TIMON. Contain thyself, good friend.
  VARRO'S SERVANT. One Varro's servant, my good lord-
  ISIDORE'S SERVANT. From Isidore: he humbly prays your speedy
    payment-
  CAPHIS. If you did know, my lord, my master's wants-
  VARRO'S SERVANT. 'Twas due on forfeiture, my lord, six weeks
and
    past.
  ISIDORE'S SERVANT. Your steward puts me off, my lord; and
    I am sent expressly to your lordship.
  TIMON. Give me breath.
    I do beseech you, good my lords, keep on;
    I'll wait upon you instantly.
                                     Exeunt ALCIBIADES and LORDS
    [To FLAVIUS] Come hither. Pray you,
    How goes the world that I am thus encount'red
    With clamorous demands of date-broke bonds
    And the detention of long-since-due debts,
    Against my honour?
  FLAVIUS. Please you, gentlemen,
    The time is unagreeable to this business.
    Your importunacy cease till after dinner,
    That I may make his lordship understand
    Wherefore you are not paid.
  TIMON. Do so, my friends.
    See them well entertain'd.                              Exit
  FLAVIUS. Pray draw near.                                  Exit

                      Enter APEMANTUS and FOOL

  CAPHIS. Stay, stay, here comes the fool with Apemantus.
    Let's ha' some sport with 'em.
  VARRO'S SERVANT. Hang him, he'll abuse us!
  ISIDORE'S SERVANT. A plague upon him, dog!
  VARRO'S SERVANT. How dost, fool?
  APEMANTUS. Dost dialogue with thy shadow?
  VARRO'S SERVANT. I speak not to thee.
  APEMANTUS. No, 'tis to thyself. [To the FOOL] Come away.
  ISIDORE'S SERVANT. [To VARRO'S SERVANT] There's the fool hangs
on
    your back already.
  APEMANTUS. No, thou stand'st single; th'art not on him yet.
  CAPHIS. Where's the fool now?
  APEMANTUS. He last ask'd the question. Poor rogues and usurers'
    men! Bawds between gold and want!
  ALL SERVANTS. What are we, Apemantus?
  APEMANTUS. Asses.
  ALL SERVANTS. Why?
  APEMANTUS. That you ask me what you are, and do not know
    yourselves. Speak to 'em, fool.
  FOOL. How do you, gentlemen?
  ALL SERVANTS. Gramercies, good fool. How does your mistress?
  FOOL. She's e'en setting on water to scald such chickens as you
    are. Would we could see you at Corinth!
  APEMANTUS. Good! gramercy.

                           Enter PAGE

  FOOL. Look you, here comes my mistress' page.
  PAGE. [To the FOOL] Why, how now, Captain? What do you in this
wise
    company? How dost thou, Apemantus?
  APEMANTUS. Would I had a rod in my mouth, that I might answer
thee
    profitably!
  PAGE. Prithee, Apemantus, read me the superscription of these
    letters; I know not which is which.
  APEMANTUS. Canst not read?
  PAGE. No.
  APEMANTUS. There will little learning die, then, that day thou
art
    hang'd. This is to Lord Timon; this to Alcibiades. Go; thou
wast
    born a bastard, and thou't die a bawd.
  PAGE. Thou wast whelp'd a dog, and thou shalt famish dog's
death.
    Answer not: I am gone.                             Exit PAGE
  APEMANTUS. E'en so thou outrun'st grace.
    Fool, I will go with you to Lord Timon's.
  FOOL. Will you leave me there?
  APEMANTUS. If Timon stay at home. You three serve three
usurers?
  ALL SERVANTS. Ay; would they serv'd us!
  APEMANTUS. So would I- as good a trick as ever hangman serv'd
    thief.
  FOOL. Are you three usurers' men?
  ALL SERVANTS. Ay, fool.
  FOOL. I think no usurer but has a fool to his servant. My
mistress
    is one, and I am her fool. When men come to borrow of your
    masters, they approach sadly and go away merry; but they
enter my
    mistress' house merrily and go away sadly. The reason of
this?
  VARRO'S SERVANT. I could render one.
  APEMANTUS. Do it then, that we may account thee a whoremaster
and a
    knave; which notwithstanding, thou shalt be no less esteemed.
  VARRO'S SERVANT. What is a whoremaster, fool?
  FOOL. A fool in good clothes, and something like thee. 'Tis a
    spirit. Sometime 't appears like a lord; sometime like a
lawyer;
    sometime like a philosopher, with two stones more than's
    artificial one. He is very often like a knight; and,
generally,
    in all shapes that man goes up and down in from fourscore to
    thirteen, this spirit walks in.
  VARRO'S SERVANT. Thou art not altogether a fool.
  FOOL. Nor thou altogether a wise man.
    As much foolery as I have, so much wit thou lack'st.
  APEMANTUS. That answer might have become Apemantus.
  VARRO'S SERVANT. Aside, aside; here comes Lord Timon.

                    Re-enter TIMON and FLAVIUS

  APEMANTUS. Come with me, fool, come.
  FOOL. I do not always follow lover, elder brother, and woman;
    sometime the philosopher.
                                       Exeunt APEMANTUS and FOOL
  FLAVIUS. Pray you walk near; I'll speak with you anon.
                                                 Exeunt SERVANTS
  TIMON. You make me marvel wherefore ere this time
    Had you not fully laid my state before me,
    That I might so have rated my expense
    As I had leave of means.
  FLAVIUS. You would not hear me
    At many leisures I propos'd.
  TIMON. Go to;
    Perchance some single vantages you took
    When my indisposition put you back,
    And that unaptness made your minister
    Thus to excuse yourself.
  FLAVIUS. O my good lord,
    At many times I brought in my accounts,
    Laid them before you; you would throw them off
    And say you found them in mine honesty.
    When, for some trifling present, you have bid me
    Return so much, I have shook my head and wept;
    Yea, 'gainst th' authority of manners, pray'd you
    To hold your hand more close. I did endure
    Not seldom, nor no slight checks, when I have
    Prompted you in the ebb of your estate
    And your great flow of debts. My lov'd lord,
    Though you hear now- too late!- yet now's a time:
    The greatest of your having lacks a half
    To pay your present debts.
  TIMON. Let all my land be sold.
  FLAVIUS. 'Tis all engag'd, 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 reck'ning?
  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 oppress'd
    With riotous feeders, when our vaults have wept
    With drunken spilth of wine, when every room
    Hath blaz'd with lights and bray'd with minstrelsy,
    I have retir'd 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 Lord 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 show'rs,
    These flies are couch'd.
  TIMON. Come, sermon me no further.
    No villainous bounty yet hath pass'd 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 crown'd
    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!

           Enter FLAMINIUS, SERVILIUS, and another SERVANT

  SERVANTS. My lord! my lord!
  TIMON. I will dispatch you severally- you to Lord Lucius; to
Lord
    Lucullus you; I hunted with his honour to-day. You to
Sempronius.
    Commend me to their loves; and I am proud, say, that my
occasions
    have found time to use 'em toward a supply of money. Let the
    request be fifty talents.
  FLAMINIUS. As you have said, my lord.          Exeunt SERVANTS
  FLAVIUS. [Aside] Lord Lucius and Lucullus? Humh!
  TIMON. Go you, sir, to the senators,
    Of whom, even to the state's best health, I have
    Deserv'd this hearing. Bid 'em send o' th' instant
    A thousand talents to me.
  FLAVIUS. I have been bold,
    For that I knew it the most general way,
    To them to use your signet and your name;
    But they do shake their heads, and I am here
    No richer in return.
  TIMON. Is't true? Can't be?
  FLAVIUS. They answer, in a joint and corporate voice,
    That now they are at fall, want treasure, cannot
    Do what they would, are sorry- you are honourable-
    But yet they could have wish'd- they know not-
    Something hath been amiss- a noble nature
    May catch a wrench- would all were well!- 'tis pity-
    And so, intending other serious matters,
    After distasteful looks, and these hard fractions,
    With certain half-caps and cold-moving nods,
    They froze me into silence.
  TIMON. You gods, reward them!
    Prithee, man, look cheerly. These old fellows
    Have their ingratitude in them hereditary.
    Their blood is cak'd, 'tis cold, it seldom flows;
    'Tis lack of kindly warmth they are not kind;
    And nature, as it grows again toward earth,
    Is fashion'd for the journey dull and heavy.
    Go to Ventidius. Prithee be not sad,
    Thou art true and honest; ingeniously I speak,
    No blame belongs to thee. Ventidius lately
    Buried his father, by whose death he's stepp'd
    Into a great estate. When he was poor,
    Imprison'd, and in scarcity of friends,
    I clear'd him with five talents. Greet him from me,
    Bid him suppose some good necessity
    Touches his friend, which craves to be rememb'red
    With those five talents. That had, give't these fellows
    To whom 'tis instant due. Nev'r speak or think
    That Timon's fortunes 'mong his friends can sink.
  FLAVIUS. I would I could not think it.
    That thought is bounty's foe;
    Being free itself, it thinks all others so.           Exeunt

Flavius, the steward, enters with bills complaining about Timons expenditure. He wonders what action should be taken as Timon does not listen to His warnings about his dwindling wealth. In the meanwhile, Caphis meets the servants of Isidore and Varro and realizes that their masters too have sent them for the collection of the debt from Timon. The servants meet Timon as soon as he returns from hunting. They tell him that they have often been sent away by his steward Flavius. They demand their due but Timon does not take them seriously and leaves them with the steward. Flavius asks the servants to wait and give him time to speak to his master. Apemantus and the fool enter the stage. Caphis wants to have some fun with Apemantus, that is, deliberately provoke him. The other servants are disinterested for they are aware of Apemantus harshness and rudeness. Caphis and Apemantus talk but as expected, the conversation between them is not pleasant. Later a page comes in. He seems illiterate and asks Apemantus for help in finding the superscription of the letters. Apemantus however abuses him. Timon reenters along with the steward and accuses Flavius for not making him aware of his present financial situation earlier. Flavius replies that he has tried in vain but Timon would throw them off. Timon had complete faith in his steward. Flavius further informs him that, now the situation is such that some of the land is mortgaged, others sold, and the remaining fortune will scarcely pay half the debt. Timon now completely understands his present situation. Timon however has full faith in his friends and assures his steward not to worry since he is wealthy in terms of his friends. Flavius tells Timon that he had sent people to the Senators, asking for their help, but the Senators have refused. Timon however is not bothered, as he believes that old men are usually not generous. Timon now sends his servants to Lord Lucius, Lord Lucullus and Sempronius. He also sends a servant to Ventidius and is sure that he will help him in his need, just as he had helped Ventidius by clearing off his debts.

Notes From this act onwards, the readers watch the ruin of Timon. Premonition seems to turn into reality. The steward is aware of Timons condition before Timon himself is. He is sure that Timon will not listen to or pay heed to his warnings, until he himself realizes the result of his mistake. Timon is seen returning from his hunting spree accompanied by Alcibiades and is least aware of the critical situation. The creditors hover around Timon like vultures do over their prey. His excessive indulgence in generous acts has resulted in debt. Timon is an optimist; he has full faith in his so-called friends and has the least sense of reality. His lack of understanding can be seen where in he replies he was well aware of his actions. The dialogue between Apemantus and the fool is thought to be uncharacteristic of Shakespeare, not because of the style but due to its irrelevance. The fool does not appear anywhere else in the play. The purpose of this scene is mainly to provide comic relief and also to give the steward, Flavius, time to explain the situation to Timon. According to Flavius, the steward, Timons wrong belief is his enemy because it means he gives away to those who will not respond. In a way Timon sees the situation as a blessing in disguise as it gives him the opportunity to test his friends. Flavius hopes that Timons trust in his friends will prove to be true, because if this does not happen then people will no longer be generous towards anybody.


ACT III. SCENE I.
LUCULLUS' house

FLAMINIUS waiting to speak with LUCULLUS. Enter SERVANT to him

  SERVANT. I have told my lord of you; he is coming down to you.
  FLAMINIUS. I thank you, sir.

                           Enter LUCULLUS

  SERVANT. Here's my lord.
  LUCULLUS. [Aside] One of Lord Timon's men? A gift, I warrant.
Why,
    this hits right; I dreamt of a silver basin and ewer
to-night-
    Flaminius, honest Flaminius, you are very respectively
welcome,
    sir. Fill me some wine. [Exit SERVANT] And how does that
    honourable, complete, freehearted gentleman of Athens, thy
very
    bountiful good lord and master?
  FLAMINIUS. His health is well, sir.
  LUCULLUS. I am right glad that his health is well, sir. And
what
    hast thou there under thy cloak, pretty Flaminius?
  FLAMINIUS. Faith, nothing but an empty box, sir, which in my
lord's
    behalf I come to entreat your honour to supply;  who, having
    great and instant occasion to use fifty talents, hath sent to
    your lordship to furnish him, nothing doubting your present
    assistance therein.
  LUCULLIUS. La, la, la, la! 'Nothing doubting' says he? Alas,
good
    lord! a noble gentleman 'tis, if he would not keep so good a
    house. Many a time and often I ha' din'd with him and told
him
    on't; and come again to supper to him of purpose to have him
    spend less; and yet he would embrace no counsel, take no
warning
    by my coming. Every man has his fault, and honesty is his. I
ha'
    told him on't, but I could ne'er get him from't.

                    Re-enter SERVANT, with wine

  SERVANT. Please your lordship, here is the wine.
  LUCULLUS. Flaminius, I have noted thee always wise. Here's to
thee.
  FLAMINIUS. Your lordship speaks your pleasure.
  LUCULLUS. I have observed thee always for a towardly prompt
spirit,
    give thee thy due, and one that knows what belongs to reason,
and
    canst use the time well, if the time use thee well. Good
parts in
    thee. [To SERVANT] Get you gone, sirrah. [Exit SERVANT] Draw
    nearer, honest Flaminius. Thy lord's a bountiful gentleman;
but
    thou art wise, and thou know'st well enough, although thou
com'st
    to me, that this is no time to lend money, especially upon
bare
    friendship without security. Here's three solidares for thee.
    Good boy, wink at me, and say thou saw'st me not. Fare thee
well.
  FLAMINIUS. Is't possible the world should so much differ,
    And we alive that liv'd? Fly, damned baseness,
    To him that worships thee.         [Throwing the money back]
  LUCULLUS. Ha! Now I see thou art a fool, and fit for thy
master.
 Exit
  FLAMINIUS. May these add to the number that may scald thee!
    Let molten coin be thy damnation,
    Thou disease of a friend and not himself!
    Has friendship such a faint and milky heart
    It turns in less than two nights? O you gods,
    I feel my master's passion! This slave
    Unto his honour has my lord's meat in him;
    Why should it thrive and turn to nutriment
    When he is turn'd to poison?
    O, may diseases only work upon't!
    And when he's sick to death, let not that part of nature
    Which my lord paid for be of any power
    To expel sickness, but prolong his hour!                Exit

Timons servant, Flaminius, arrives at Lord Lucullus house. Lucullus is glad to meet Timons men, since he expects a gift from Timon. He therefore gives the servant a warm welcome and inquires on Timons health. Flaminius reports his masters condition and the need for fifty talents. Lucullus now says that many times, while dining with Timon, he had cautioned him against overspending. Lucullus then tries to bribe Flaminius, so that he tells Timon that to tell a lie that he did not find him. Flaminius refuses to be bribed and Lucullus calls him a fool.

Notes The third act is not surprising for the audience or the readers. This scene shows how Timons friend Lucullus reacts to his state and his request for help. Lucullus calls Timon free-hearted gentleman of Athens. Lucullus, as usual, expects gifts and wonders what lies under the servants cloak. He is disappointed to known that it is an empty box and that Timons servant has sent for. He hastily draws back saying that it is not the time to lend without security. He tries to show how concerned he was about the way Timon spent and had tried to warn him several times. But Timon would not listen to him. The cunning Lucullus therefore refuses to help Timon, whose friend he claims to be. Therefore, it is Timons generous nature that attracts friends. They take advantage of Timons behavior and the trust that he has placed on them. Timons servants seem to be loyal to his master. Flaminius is not only angry at Lucullus refusal to help but also does not accept the bribe offered to him. Although he is a mere servant he till keeps his dignity and loyalty. As he leaves he curses Lucullus, which Lucullus rightly deserves.


SCENE II.
A public place

Enter Lucius, with three STRANGERS

  LUCIUS. Who, the Lord Timon? He is my very good friend, and an
    honourable gentleman.
  FIRST STRANGER. We know him for no less, though we are but
    strangers to him. But I can tell you one thing, my lord, and
    which I hear from common rumours: now Lord Timon's happy
hours
    are done and past, and his estate shrinks from him.
  LUCIUS. Fie, no: do not believe it; he cannot want for money.
  SECOND STRANGER. But believe you this, my lord, that not long
ago
     one of his men was with the Lord Lucullus to borrow so many
    talents; nay, urg'd extremely for't, and showed what
necessity
    belong'd to't, and yet was denied.
  LUCIUS. How?
  SECOND STRANGER. I tell you, denied, my lord.
  LUCIUS. What a strange case was that! Now, before the gods, I
am
    asham'd on't. Denied that honourable man! There was very
little
    honour show'd in't. For my own part, I must needs confess I
have
    received some small kindnesses from him, as money, plate,
jewels,
    and such-like trifles, nothing comparing to his; yet, had he
    mistook him and sent to me, I should ne'er have denied his
    occasion so many talents.

                             Enter SERVILIUS

  SERVILIUS. See, by good hap, yonder's my lord; I have sweat to
see
    his honour.- My honour'd lord!
  LUCIUS. Servilius? You are kindly met, sir. Fare thee well;
commend
    me to thy honourable virtuous lord, my very exquisite friend.
  SERVILIUS. May it please your honour, my lord hath sent-
  LUCIUS. Ha! What has he sent? I am so much endeared to that
lord:
    he's ever sending. How shall I thank him, think'st thou? And
what
    has he sent now?
  SERVILIUS. Has only sent his present occasion now, my lord,
    requesting your lordship to supply his instant use with so
many
    talents.
  LUCIUS. I know his lordship is but merry with me;
    He cannot want fifty-five hundred talents.
  SERVILIUS. But in the mean time he wants less, my lord.
    If his occasion were not virtuous
    I should not urge it half so faithfully.
  LUCIUS. Dost thou speak seriously, Servilius?
  SERVILIUS. Upon my soul, 'tis true, sir.
  LUCIUS. What a wicked beast was I to disfurnish myself against
such
    a good time, when I might ha' shown myself honourable! How
    unluckily it happ'ned that I should purchase the day before
for a
    little part and undo a great deal of honour! Servilius, now
    before the gods, I am not able to do- the more beast, I say!
I
    was sending to use Lord Timon myself, these gentlemen can
    witness; but I would not for the wealth of Athens I had
done't
    now. Commend me bountifully to his good lordship, and I hope
his
    honour will conceive the fairest of me, because I have no
power
    to be kind. And tell him this from me: I count it one of my
    greatest afflictions, say, that I cannot pleasure such an
    honourable gentleman. Good Servilius, will you befriend me so
far
    as to use mine own words to him?
  SERVILIUS. Yes, sir, I shall.
  LUCIUS. I'll look you out a good turn, Servilius.
                                                  Exit SERVILIUS
    True, as you said, Timon is shrunk indeed;
    And he that's once denied will hardly speed.            Exit
  FIRST STRANGER. Do you observe this, Hostilius?
  SECOND STRANGER. Ay, too well.
  FIRST STRANGER. Why, this is the world's soul; and just of the
same
      piece
    Is every flatterer's spirit. Who can call him his friend
    That dips in the same dish? For, in my knowing,
    Timon has been this lord's father,
    And kept his credit with his purse;
    Supported his estate; nay, Timon's money
    Has paid his men their wages. He ne'er drinks
    But Timon's silver treads upon his lip;
    And yet- O, see the monstrousness of man
    When he looks out in an ungrateful shape!-
    He does deny him, in respect of his,
    What charitable men afford to beggars.
  THIRD STRANGER. Religion groans at it.
  FIRST STRANGER. For mine own part,
    I never tasted Timon in my life,
    Nor came any of his bounties over me
    To mark me for his friend; yet I protest,
    For his right noble mind, illustrious virtue,
    And honourable carriage,
    Had his necessity made use of me,
    I would have put my wealth into donation,
    And the best half should have return'd to him,
    So much I love his heart. But I perceive
    Men must learn now with pity to dispense;
    For policy sits above conscience.                     Exeunt

As the curtain rises Lord Lucius is seen in conversation with three strangers. The first stranger informs Lucius about Timons poor financial condition. He also informs Lucius about how Lord Lucullus refused to help Timon by giving him the much-needed talents. This surprises Lucius and he declares that although he has received fewer gifts from Timon than Lord Lucullus has he would not have refused if Timon had asked for his help. Timons servant Servilius enters and declares that his master has sent him for financial help. Lucius at first finds it difficult to believe that Timon is in debt. Like Lucullus, Lucius too expects that the servant is carrying a gift from Timon. Lucius refuses to help Timon but he is more refined in his excuse. He claims to have spent it on purchases just the day before. After the servant leaves he says he that once denied will hardly speed, which means if a person is denied once he will think twice before approaching again. This shows his ungrateful and selfish nature. The conversation between the strangers and Hostilius is worth noting. The stranger is aware of the good Timon had done for Lucius. Timon has supported Lucius by giving him money to keep his estates and also to pay the wages of his servants. The first stranger says I would have put my wealth into donation and the best half should have returned to him is worth noting as it shows the strangers generosity towards Timon. However, his next remark that, in todays world self-interest is more important than listening to ones conscience, is a contradiction of this remark.


SCENE III.
SEMPRONIUS' house

Enter SEMPRONIUS and a SERVANT of TIMON'S

  SEMPRONIUS. Must he needs trouble me in't? Hum! 'Bove all
others?
    He might have tried Lord Lucius or Lucullus;
    And now Ventidius is wealthy too,
    Whom he redeem'd from prison. All these
    Owe their estates unto him.
  SERVANT. My lord,
    They have all been touch'd and found base metal, for
    They have all denied him.
  SEMPRONIUS. How! Have they denied him?
    Has Ventidius and Lucullus denied him?
    And does he send to me? Three? Humh!
    It shows but little love or judgment in him.
    Must I be his last refuge? His friends, like physicians,
    Thrice give him over. Must I take th' cure upon me?
    Has much disgrac'd me in't; I'm angry at him,
    That might have known my place. I see no sense for't,
    But his occasions might have woo'd me first;
    For, in my conscience, I was the first man
    That e'er received gift from him.
    And does he think so backwardly of me now
    That I'll requite it last? No;
    So it may prove an argument of laughter
    To th' rest, and I 'mongst lords be thought a fool.
    I'd rather than the worth of thrice the sum
    Had sent to me first, but for my mind's sake;
    I'd such a courage to do him good. But now return,
    And with their faint reply this answer join:
    Who bates mine honour shall not know my coin.           Exit
  SERVANT. Excellent! Your lordship's a goodly villain. The devil
    knew not what he did when he made man politic- he cross'd
himself
    by't; and I cannot think but, in the end, the villainies of
man
    will set him clear. How fairly this lord strives to appear
foul!
    Takes virtuous copies to be wicked, like those that under hot
    ardent zeal would set whole realms on fire.
    Of such a nature is his politic love.
    This was my lord's best hope; now all are fled,
    Save only the gods. Now his friends are dead,
    Doors that were ne'er acquainted with their wards
    Many a bounteous year must be employ'd
    Now to guard sure their master.
    And this is all a liberal course allows:
    Who cannot keep his wealth must keep his house.         Exit

Another servant of Timon visits Lord Sempronius and tells him that his master has asked for his help. Sempronius like the others has no intention of helping Timon. He therefore comes up with a fantastic excuse. He pretends to be displeased for the fact that Lucius, Lucullus, and Ventidius have been approached before him. He sees no logical reason why Timon did not seek his help first. He doesnt want to be considered as a fool by other lords and therefore sends him back empty handed. While returning back to Timons house, the servant muses that now that all his friends have betrayed Timon, all that he can do is trust the Gods to come to his assistance. He also realizes that Timon now has to remain indoors all the time so that he is not arrested for not paying his debts.

Notes At first Sempronius points out how the other lords were enriched by Timon and hence Timon should have asked help from them. When the servant informs how they have refused him, he immediately changes his statement and says that his honor is touched by Timons behavior. The hypocritical Sempronius pretends that he is hurt by this treatment by Timon and refuses to help Timon. He contradicts his earlier statement by saying Id rather than the worth of thrice the sum Had sent to me first, meaning that he would have given thrice the sum needed if Timon would have asked him before asking the others. Horrified at the ingratitude of Sempronius, the servant calls him a "goodly villain." He feels pity for his master. There is a quibble in the last sentence where Timons servant says who can not keep his wealth must keep his house which means that Timon must remain indoors for the fear of being arrested. Timon servant calls Sempronius a villain for he rightly deserves it. He is not only ungrateful but cunning as well.


SCENE IV.
A hall in TIMON'S house

Enter two Of VARRO'S MEN, meeting LUCIUS' SERVANT, and others,
all being servants of TIMON's creditors, to wait for his coming
out.
Then enter TITUS and HORTENSIUS

  FIRST VARRO'S SERVANT. Well met; good morrow, Titus and
Hortensius.
  TITUS. The like to you, kind Varro.
  HORTENSIUS. Lucius! What, do we meet together?
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Ay, and I think one business does command us
all;
    for mine is money.
  TITUS. So is theirs and ours.

                          Enter PHILOTUS

  LUCIUS' SERVANT. And Sir Philotus too!
  PHILOTUS. Good day at once.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. welcome, good brother, what do you think the
hour?
  PHILOTUS. Labouring for nine.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. So much?
  PHILOTUS. Is not my lord seen yet?
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Not yet.
  PHILOTUS. I wonder on't; he was wont to shine at seven.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Ay, but the days are wax'd shorter with him;
    You must consider that a prodigal course
    Is like the sun's, but not like his recoverable.
    I fear
    'Tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse;
    That is, one may reach deep enough and yet
    Find little.
  PHILOTUS. I am of your fear for that.
  TITUS. I'll show you how t' observe a strange event.
    Your lord sends now for money.
  HORTENSIUS. Most true, he does.
  TITUS. And he wears jewels now of Timon's gift,
    For which I wait for money.
  HORTENSIUS. It is against my heart.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Mark how strange it shows
    Timon in this should pay more than he owes;
    And e'en as if your lord should wear rich jewels
    And send for money for 'em.
  HORTENSIUS. I'm weary of this charge, the gods can witness;
    I know my lord hath spent of Timon's wealth,
    And now ingratitude makes it worse than stealth.
  FIRST VARRO'S SERVANT. Yes, mine's three thousand crowns;
what's
    yours?
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Five thousand mine.
  FIRST VARRO'S SERVANT. 'Tis much deep; and it should seem by
th'
      sum
    Your master's confidence was above mine,
    Else surely his had equall'd.

                           Enter FLAMINIUS

  TITUS. One of Lord Timon's men.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Flaminius! Sir, a word. Pray, is my lord ready
to
    come forth?
  FLAMINIUS. No, indeed, he is not.
  TITUS. We attend his lordship; pray signify so much.
  FLAMINIUS. I need not tell him that; he knows you are to
diligent.
 Exit

                 Enter FLAVIUS, in a cloak, muffled

  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Ha! Is not that his steward muffled so?
    He goes away in a cloud. Call him, call him.
  TITUS. Do you hear, sir?
  SECOND VARRO'S SERVANT. By your leave, sir.
  FLAVIUS. What do ye ask of me, my friend?
  TITUS. We wait for certain money here, sir.
  FLAVIUS. Ay,
    If money were as certain as your waiting,
    'Twere sure enough.
    Why then preferr'd you not your sums and bills
    When your false masters eat of my lord's meat?
    Then they could smile, and fawn upon his debts,
    And take down th' int'rest into their glutt'nous maws.
    You do yourselves but wrong to stir me up;
    Let me pass quietly.
    Believe't, my lord and I have made an end:
    I have no more to reckon, he to spend.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Ay, but this answer will not serve.
  FLAVIUS. If 'twill not serve, 'tis not so base as you,
    For you serve knaves.                                   Exit
  FIRST VARRO'S SERVANT. How! What does his cashier'd worship
mutter?
  SECOND VARRO'S SERVANT. No matter what; he's poor, and that's
    revenge enough. Who can speak broader than he that has no
house
    to put his head in? Such may rail against great buildings.

                          Enter SERVILIUS

  TITUS. O, here's Servilius; now we shall know some answer.
  SERVILIUS. If I might beseech you, gentlemen, to repair some
other
    hour, I should derive much from't; for take't of my soul, my
lord
    leans wondrously to discontent. His comfortable temper has
    forsook him; he's much out of health and keeps his chamber.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Many do keep their chambers are not sick;
    And if it be so far beyond his health,
    Methinks he should the sooner pay his debts,
    And make a clear way to the gods.
  SERVILIUS. Good gods!
  TITUS. We cannot take this for answer, sir.
  FLAMINIUS. [Within] Servilius, help! My lord! my lord!

           Enter TIMON, in a rage, FLAMINIUS following

  TIMON. What, are my doors oppos'd against my passage?
    Have I been ever free, and must my house
    Be my retentive enemy, my gaol?
    The place which I have feasted, does it now,
    Like all mankind, show me an iron heart?
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Put in now, Titus.
  TITUS. My lord, here is my bill.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Here's mine.
  HORTENSIUS. And mine, my lord.
  BOTH VARRO'S SERVANTS. And ours, my lord.
  PHILOTUS. All our bills.
  TIMON. Knock me down with 'em; cleave me to the girdle.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Alas, my lord-
  TIMON. Cut my heart in sums.
  TITUS. Mine, fifty talents.
  TIMON. Tell out my blood.
  LUCIUS' SERVANT. Five thousand crowns, my lord.
  TIMON. Five thousand drops pays that. What yours? and yours?
  FIRST VARRO'S SERVANT. My lord-
  SECOND VARRO'S SERVANT. My lord-
  TIMON. Tear me, take me, and the gods fall upon you!      Exit
  HORTENSIUS. Faith, I perceive our masters may throw their caps
at
    their money. These debts may well be call'd desperate ones,
for a
    madman owes 'em.                                      Exeunt

                    Re-enter TIMON and FLAVIUS

  TIMON. They have e'en put my breath from me, the slaves.
    Creditors? Devils!
  FLAVIUS. My dear lord-
  TIMON. What if it should be so?
  FLAMINIUS. My lord-
  TIMON. I'll have it so. My steward!
  FLAVIUS. Here, my lord.
  TIMON. So fitly? Go, bid all my friends again:
    Lucius, Lucullus, and Sempronius- all.
    I'll once more feast the rascals.
  FLAVIUS. O my lord,
    You only speak from your distracted soul;
    There is not so much left to furnish out
    A moderate table.
  TIMON. Be it not in thy care.
    Go, I charge thee, invite them all; let in the tide
    Of knaves once more; my cook and I'll provide.        Exeunt

Varros servant and the servants of other creditors are waiting for Timon. Titus and Hortensius, Luciuss servants, are also present. All of them have gathered for the same reason, that is, to collect the money, which Timon owes their masters. Flaminius, a servant of Timon, enters the scene and they inquire whether Timon is available. They get a negative reply. A little while later they see Flavius the steward and call him to complain about the money. The steward answers that the food Timon was providing for them was equivalent to the interest on the money he owed the creditors. They have no chance of getting their money now that Timon is broke. Flavius argues that they should have approached him when he had the money. They approach Servilius, another servant of Timon, but to their disappointment Servilius informs them that Timon is ill and is therefore confined to his room. Lucius servant rudely says that in such a case he should clear his debts before he dies, so that his path to heaven is clear. Timon begins to get irritated. He recalls how the house used to be full of guests who enjoyed feasting on his expense. But now, now he is in financial trouble they have all disappeared. Seeing Timon, all the servants hand them the bills from their masters. The angry Timon snatches them not as bills but as weapons. Then the servants leave. Timon decides to take revenge against the creditors. He commands his steward to invite Lucius, Lucullus, Sampronius, and the others for another feast. The steward is shocked because he knows that they do not have enough money to have even a small feast. Timon tells Flavius that he and the cook will make all the arrangements for the feast.

Notes Like vultures, the servants of the creditors hover around Timon. All have come for a single purpose, that is, to get the money, which Timon owes their masters. Hoetensius master compels him, hence he comes against his own wishes. Hortensius remark, that ingratitude is worse than stealing, is worth noting. This shows that the servants are not as unfeeling as their masters are and have sympathy for Timon. Here one feels that mankind is not all that corrupted. The conversations between the servants expose the ingratitude of their masters. The servants however are helpless, as they have to obey the orders of their masters. Here the readers see the changes in Timons behavior, which is much different from the earlier Timon. He had trusted his friends implicitly and had expected them to come to his assistance in his time of need. The friends however refuse to help him on some pretext or the other. He is very hurt, as his dream of human fellowship is destroyed. He is also very angry and therefore when the bustle of servants clamor for their money, he cries out cut my heart in sums, tell out my blood. When Timon tells the steward to invite the lords again for a feast, the steward is very surprised. The steward knows that they have nothing to offer to the guests and wonders whether Timon is setting himself up for another fall. But Timon is a different man now. He now understands the true character of his so called friends. He is organizing the feast for having his revenge on these ungrateful people. He wants to take this opportunity to give these people exactly what they deserve.


SCENE V.
The Senate House

Enter three SENATORS at one door, ALCIBIADES meeting them, with
attendants

  FIRST SENATOR. My lord, you have my voice to't: the fault's
bloody.
    'Tis necessary he should die:
    Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.
  SECOND SENATOR. Most true; the law shall bruise him.
  ALCIBIADES. Honour, health, and compassion, to the Senate!
  FIRST SENATOR. Now, Captain?
  ALCIBIADES. I am an humble suitor to your virtues;
    For pity is the virtue of the law,
    And none but tyrants use it cruelly.
    It pleases time and fortune to lie heavy
    Upon a friend of mine, who in hot blood
    Hath stepp'd into the law, which is past depth
    To those that without heed do plunge into't.
    He is a man, setting his fate aside,
    Of comely virtues;
    Nor did he soil the fact with cowardice-
    An honour in him which buys out his fault-
    But with a noble fury and fair spirit,
    Seeing his reputation touch'd to death,
    He did oppose his foe;
    And with such sober and unnoted passion
    He did behove his anger ere 'twas spent,
    As if he had but prov'd an argument.
  FIRST SENATOR. You undergo too strict a paradox,
    Striving to make an ugly deed look fair;
    Your words have took such pains as if they labour'd
    To bring manslaughter into form and set
    Quarrelling upon the head of valour; which, indeed,
    Is valour misbegot, and came into the world
    When sects and factions were newly born.
    He's truly valiant that can wisely suffer
    The worst that man can breathe,
    And make his wrongs his outsides,
    To wear them like his raiment, carelessly,
    And ne'er prefer his injuries to his heart,
    To bring it into danger.
    If wrongs be evils, and enforce us kill,
    What folly 'tis to hazard life for ill!
  ALCIBIADES. My lord-
  FIRST SENATOR. You cannot make gross sins look clear:
    To revenge is no valour, but to bear.
  ALCIBIADES. My lords, then, under favour, pardon me
    If I speak like a captain:
    Why do fond men expose themselves to battle,
    And not endure all threats? Sleep upon't,
    And let the foes quietly cut their throats,
    Without repugnancy? If there be
    Such valour in the bearing, what make we
    Abroad? Why, then, women are more valiant,
    That stay at home, if bearing carry it;
    And the ass more captain than the lion; the fellow
    Loaden with irons wiser than the judge,
    If wisdom be in suffering. O my lords,
    As you are great, be pitifully good.
    Who cannot condemn rashness in cold blood?
    To kill, I grant, is sin's extremest gust;
    But, in defence, by mercy, 'tis most just.
    To be in anger is impiety;
    But who is man that is not angry?
    Weigh but the crime with this.
  SECOND SENATOR. You breathe in vain.
  ALCIBIADES. In vain! His service done
    At Lacedaemon and Byzantium
    Were a sufficient briber for his life.
  FIRST SENATOR. What's that?
  ALCIBIADES. Why, I say, my lords, has done fair service,
    And slain in fight many of your enemies;
    How full of valour did he bear himself
    In the last conflict, and made plenteous wounds!
  SECOND SENATOR. He has made too much plenty with 'em.
    He's a sworn rioter; he has a sin that often
    Drowns him and takes his valour prisoner.
    If there were no foes, that were enough
    To overcome him. In that beastly fury
    He has been known to commit outrages
    And cherish factions. 'Tis inferr'd to us
    His days are foul and his drink dangerous.
  FIRST SENATOR. He dies.
  ALCIBIADES. Hard fate! He might have died in war.
    My lords, if not for any parts in him-
    Though his right arm might purchase his own time,
    And be in debt to none- yet, more to move you,
    Take my deserts to his, and join 'em both;
    And, for I know your reverend ages love
    Security, I'll pawn my victories, all
    My honours to you, upon his good returns.
    If by this crime he owes the law his life,
    Why, let the war receive't in valiant gore;
    For law is strict, and war is nothing more.
  FIRST SENATOR. We are for law: he dies. Urge it no more
    On height of our displeasure. Friend or brother,
    He forfeits his own blood that spills another.
  ALCIBIADES. Must it be so? It must not be. My lords,
    I do beseech you, know me.
  SECOND SENATOR. How!
  ALCIBIADES. Call me to your remembrances.
  THIRD SENATOR. What!
  ALCIBIADES. I cannot think but your age has forgot me;
    It could not else be I should prove so base
    To sue, and be denied such common grace.
    My wounds ache at you.
  FIRST SENATOR. Do you dare our anger?
    'Tis in few words, but spacious in effect:
    We banish thee for ever.
  ALCIBIADES. Banish me!
    Banish your dotage! Banish usury
    That makes the Senate ugly.
  FIRST SENATOR. If after two days' shine Athens contain thee,
    Attend our weightier judgment. And, not to swell our spirit,
    He shall be executed presently.              Exeunt SENATORS
  ALCIBIADES. Now the gods keep you old enough that you may live
    Only in bone, that none may look on you!
    I'm worse than mad; I have kept back their foes,
    While they have told their money and let out
    Their coin upon large interest, I myself
    Rich only in large hurts. All those for this?
    Is this the balsam that the usuring Senate
    Pours into captains' wounds? Banishment!
    It comes not ill; I hate not to be banish'd;
    It is a cause worthy my spleen and fury,
    That I may strike at Athens. I'll cheer up
    My discontented troops, and lay for hearts.
    'Tis honour with most lands to be at odds;
    Soldiers should brook as little wrongs as gods.         Exit

The scene opens with the conversation between the Senator and Alcibiades. Alcibiades friend had killed an enemy. The Senators are discussing what punishment should be given for the crime. The Senators feel he should be sentenced to death, for nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy, and he who kills his own blood cannot be spared. Alcibiades pleads for his friends life. The Senators disagree with Alcibiades saying that he is trying to make a crime look noble. The Senators finally come to a very unjust decision. They not only feel that the Alcibiades friend should be punished for his crime but that Alcibiades should be sent on a exile for supporting a wrong cause. When left alone Alcibiades curses Athens and the Senators. Alcibiades decides to take revenge on the Senators.

Notes This scene is a contrast between the ways in which Alcibiades and Timon, both men of honor, face the wrongs done to them. Some critics claim that there is no clear link between the story of the two. Alcibiades, like Timon, faces the ingratitude of man. He pleads with the Senators to have pity on his friend who is a virtuous man. He tells the Senators that his friend has done something against the law and killed the man because the man had touched his reputation. Alcibiades tries to convince the Senators that his friend was not carried away by his passion. His action was not quite reasonable and anyone in his place would have done the same. The Senators seem to have no pity and are ready to brutally exercise their powers against Alcibiades. The reader finds that there exists a conflict between rigid control and passionate action between the young and the old. The young generation is seen as hot blooded and revengeful whereas the elders condemn it. The dramatist has given each of them, that is, Timon and Alcibiades, justifiable reason for resentment against a state, which is ungrateful and corrupt.


SCENE VI.
A banqueting hall in TIMON'S house

Music. Tables set out; servants attending. Enter divers LORDS,
friends of TIMON, at several doors

  FIRST LORD. The good time of day to you, sir.
  SECOND LORD. I also wish it to you. I think this honourable
lord
    did but try us this other day.
  FIRST LORD. Upon that were my thoughts tiring when we
encount'red.
    I hope it is not so low with him as he made it seem in the
trial
    of his several friends.
  SECOND LORD. It should not be, by the persuasion of his new
    feasting.
  FIRST LORD. I should think so. He hath sent me an earnest
inviting,
    which many my near occasions did urge me to put off; but he
hath
    conjur'd me beyond them, and I must needs appear.
  SECOND LORD. In like manner was I in debt to my importunate
    business, but he would not hear my excuse. I am sorry, when
he
    sent to borrow of me, that my provision was out.
  FIRST LORD. I am sick of that grief too, as I understand how
all
    things go.
  SECOND LORD. Every man here's so. What would he have borrowed
of
    you?
  FIRST LORD. A thousand pieces.
  SECOND LORD. A thousand pieces!
  FIRST LORD. What of you?
  SECOND LORD. He sent to me, sir- here he comes.

                   Enter TIMON and attendants

  TIMON. With all my heart, gentlemen both! And how fare you?
  FIRST LORD. Ever at the best, hearing well of your lordship.
  SECOND LORD. The swallow follows not summer more willing than
we
    your lordship.
  TIMON. [Aside] Nor more willingly leaves winter; such
summer-birds
    are men- Gentlemen, our dinner will not recompense this long
    stay; feast your ears with the music awhile, if they will
fare so
    harshly o' th' trumpet's sound; we shall to't presently.
  FIRST LORD. I hope it remains not unkindly with your lordship
that
    I return'd you an empty messenger.
  TIMON. O sir, let it not trouble you.
  SECOND LORD. My noble lord-
  TIMON. Ah, my good friend, what cheer?
  SECOND LORD. My most honourable lord, I am e'en sick of shame
that,
    when your lordship this other day sent to me, I was so
    unfortunate a beggar.
  TIMON. Think not on't, sir.
  SECOND LORD. If you had sent but two hours before-
  TIMON. Let it not cumber your better remembrance. [The banquet
    brought in] Come, bring in all together.
  SECOND LORD. All cover'd dishes!
  FIRST LORD. Royal cheer, I warrant you.
  THIRD LORD. Doubt not that, if money and the season can yield
it.
  FIRST LORD. How do you? What's the news?
  THIRD LORD. Alcibiades is banish'd. Hear you of it?
  FIRST AND SECOND LORDS. Alcibiades banish'd!
  THIRD LORD. 'Tis so, be sure of it.
  FIRST LORD. How? how?
  SECOND LORD. I pray you, upon what?
  TIMON. My worthy friends, will you draw near?
  THIRD LORD. I'll tell you more anon. Here's a noble feast
toward.
  SECOND LORD. This is the old man still.
  THIRD LORD. Will't hold? Will't hold?
  SECOND LORD. It does; but time will- and so-
  THIRD LORD. I do conceive.
  TIMON. Each man to his stool with that spur as he would to the
lip
    of his mistress; your diet shall be in all places alike. Make
not
    a city feast of it, to let the meat cool ere we can agree
upon
    the first place. Sit, sit. The gods require our thanks:

    You great benefactors, sprinkle our society with
thankfulness.
    For your own gifts make yourselves prais'd; but reserve still
to
    give, lest your deities be despised. Lend to each man enough,
    that one need not lend to another; for were your god-heads to
    borrow of men, men would forsake the gods. Make the meat be
    beloved more than the man that gives it. Let no assembly of
    twenty be without a score of villains. If there sit twelve
women
    at the table, let a dozen of them be- as they are. The rest
of
    your foes, O gods, the senators of Athens, together with the
    common lag of people, what is amiss in them, you gods, make
    suitable for destruction. For these my present friends, as
they
    are to me nothing, so in nothing bless them, and to nothing
are
    they welcome.

    Uncover, dogs, and lap.        [The dishes are uncovered and
                                  seen to he full of warm water]
  SOME SPEAK. What does his lordship mean?
  SOME OTHER. I know not.
  TIMON. May you a better feast never behold,
    You knot of mouth-friends! Smoke and lukewarm water
    Is your perfection. This is Timon's last;
    Who, stuck and spangled with your flatteries,
    Washes it off, and sprinkles in your faces
                             [Throwing the water in their faces]
    Your reeking villainy. Live loath'd and long,
    Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites,
    Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears,
    You fools of fortune, trencher friends, time's flies,
    Cap and knee slaves, vapours, and minute-lacks!
    Of man and beast the infinite malady
    Crust you quite o'er! What, dost thou go?
    Soft, take thy physic first; thou too, and thou.
    Stay, I will lend thee money, borrow none.       [Throws the
                            dishes at them, and drives them out]
    What, all in motion? Henceforth be no feast
    Whereat a villain's not a welcome guest.
    Burn house! Sink Athens! Henceforth hated be
    Of Timon man and all humanity!                          Exit

                           Re-enter the LORDS

  FIRST LORD. How now, my lords!
  SECOND LORD. Know you the quality of Lord Timon's fury?
  THIRD LORD. Push! Did you see my cap?
  FOURTH LORD. I have lost my gown.
  FIRST LORD. He's but a mad lord, and nought but humours sways
him.
    He gave me a jewel th' other day, and now he has beat it out
of
    my hat. Did you see my jewel?
  THIRD LORD. Did you see my cap?
  SECOND LORD. Here 'tis.
  FOURTH LORD. Here lies my gown.
  FIRST LORD. Let's make no stay.
  SECOND LORD. Lord Timon's mad.
  THIRD LORD. I feel't upon my bones.
  FOURTH LORD. One day he gives us diamonds, next day stones.
                                                          Exeunt

This scene opens in Timons house. The lords have gathered here for the banquet. One of the Lords remarks that Timon is not really broke. Timon enters along with his attendants. He greets his guest and bids them to take their place. Timon pretends that he has not been affected by their refusal. Timon then says a prayer and in the prayer he asks God to give men enough so that they dont have to borrow from others. But at the same time, he also asks the Gods to keep enough to give men in the future otherwise men will also scorn them. The servants then uncover the dishes and to everyones surprise the dishes are full of warm water. Timon tells the lords that this is what they are worthy of and then throws the water on them and curses them. The guests are shocked. Timon then informs them that henceforth there will be no feasting. The Lords are terrified to see Timons anger. They start to leave in a hurry and in the confusion that follows, one lord loses his cap and another, his gown. This change in Timons behavior surprises the lords and they feel that Timon has gone mad.

Notes This scene has been deliberately placed in the center of the whole action. Critics identify the unnamed four lords as Lucullus, Lucius, Sempronius and Ventidius. Timon feels hurt to realize that his former friends have deteriorated to the level of the beast. He thanks God for opening his eyes and helping him face reality and the inhuman nature of mankind. Timon gives a mock banquet to take revenge on his ungrateful friends. When the guests arrive, Timon talks to them very pleasantly. Therefore they do not suspect anything. Timon compares them to swallows who fly away when winter approaches. Just as swallows fly away when winter approaches in the same way his friends have flown away from him now that he is bankrupt. The lords give excuses for not being able to help Timon. One of the lords says that he was so unfortunate a beggar and hence he was in no state to help. Timon brushes aside their excuses telling them not to let their guilt remain as a load on them. Timons remark that, there are even better things to think of than this, makes the lords comfortable. They are relieved to know that he is the same person that he was before. Therefore Timons curses and his throwing warm water on them comes as a big surprise for the lords. Timon calls them mouth friends, which means friends who can be won by feeding them, times flies-insects who appear in good times or summer. The readers here notice the drastic change that has come about in Timon because of the betrayal by the friends, who he trusted immensely. The man who always gave away gifts and never let his guests return empty-handed, now throws warm water on them, curses them and practically chases them away. Looking at Timons behavior, the lords wonder whether he has gone insane.


ACT IV. SCENE I.
Without the walls of Athens

Enter TIMON

  TIMON. Let me look back upon thee. O thou wall
    That girdles in those wolves, dive in the earth
    And fence not Athens! Matrons, turn incontinent.
    Obedience, fail in children! Slaves and fools,
    Pluck the grave wrinkled Senate from the bench
    And minister in their steads. To general filths
    Convert, o' th' instant, green virginity.
    Do't in your parents' eyes. Bankrupts, hold fast;
    Rather than render back, out with your knives
    And cut your trusters' throats. Bound servants, steal:
    Large-handed robbers your grave masters are,
    And pill by law. Maid, to thy master's bed:
    Thy mistress is o' th' brothel. Son of sixteen,
    Pluck the lin'd crutch from thy old limping sire,
    With it beat out his brains. Piety and fear,
    Religion to the gods, peace, justice, truth,
    Domestic awe, night-rest, and neighbourhood,
    Instruction, manners, mysteries, and trades,
    Degrees, observances, customs and laws,
    Decline to your confounding contraries
    And let confusion live. Plagues incident to men,
    Your potent and infectious fevers heap
    On Athens, ripe for stroke. Thou cold sciatica,
    Cripple our senators, that their limbs may halt
    As lamely as their manners. Lust and liberty,
    Creep in the minds and marrows of our youth,
    That 'gainst the stream of virtue they may strive
    And drown themselves in riot. Itches, blains,
    Sow all th' Athenian bosoms, and their crop
    Be general leprosy! Breath infect breath,
    That their society, as their friendship, may
    Be merely poison! Nothing I'll bear from thee
    But nakedness, thou detestable town!
    Take thou that too, with multiplying bans.
    Timon will to the woods, where he shall find
    Th' unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
    The gods confound- hear me, you good gods all-
    The Athenians both within and out that wall!
    And grant, as Timon grows, his hate may grow
    To the whole race of mankind, high and low!
    Amen.                                                   Exit

Timon leaves his home in Athens and moves to his self imposed solitary exile in the woods. While leaving the city, he looks back and curses the people of Athens. He compares them to wolves. He curses the city and hopes that the city will be destroyed by; corruption, sickness, crop failures, chaos due to the failure of the government etc. He advises all the slaves and fools to remove the Senators from their position and cripple them. He tells the bondservants, who have to serve for a number of years, to steal. He tells the robbers to rob their masters grave. After saying this he starts giving good advice which will benefit the society. He advises man to give respect to God and not to go against peace justice, truth etc. as this will bring ruin. He calls Athens a cold sciatica which is a venereal disease. He curses that like the friendship of his friends, the society too should become poisonous. Hatred must increase both in an around the city. Saying all these, Timon moves towards the woods. He hopes that the beasts in the woods will be kinder to him than mankind has been.

Notes This act puts an end to Timons connection with the society. Timon leaves the city of Athens. The betrayal by the people, who he had trusted so much, comes as a great shock to him. It changes his attitude towards mankind and he becomes a misanthrope. In this scene, the readers notice the echoes of Lears explosion of revulsion against mankind. While leaving Athens, he curses the city and hopes that it will be completely destroyed. The theme of beastliness is seen repeated, when Timon says that, the unkindest beast appears kinder than human beings. Timon does not learn much from his experience and faults. He could have taken revenge or shrewdly taken the money from them. Instead, he is torturing himself by preferring exile to his home and society. This shows his lack of understanding of the ways of life.


SCENE II.
Athens. TIMON's house

Enter FLAVIUS, with two or three SERVANTS

  FIRST SERVANT. Hear you, Master Steward, where's our master?
    Are we undone, cast off, nothing remaining?
  FLAVIUS. Alack, my fellows, what should I say to you?
    Let me be recorded by the righteous gods,
    I am as poor as you.
  FIRST SERVANT. Such a house broke!
    So noble a master fall'n! All gone, and not
    One friend to take his fortune by the arm
    And go along with him?
  SECOND SERVANT. As we do turn our backs
    From our companion, thrown into his grave,
    So his familiars to his buried fortunes
    Slink all away; leave their false vows with him,
    Like empty purses pick'd; and his poor self,
    A dedicated beggar to the air,
    With his disease of all-shunn'd poverty,
    Walks, like contempt, alone. More of our fellows.

                     Enter other SERVANTS

  FLAVIUS. All broken implements of a ruin'd house.
  THIRD SERVANT. Yet do our hearts wear Timon's livery;
    That see I by our faces. We are fellows still,
    Serving alike in sorrow. Leak'd is our bark;
    And we, poor mates, stand on the dying deck,
    Hearing the surges threat. We must all part
    Into this sea of air.
  FLAVIUS. Good fellows all,
    The latest of my wealth I'll share amongst you.
    Wherever we shall meet, for Timon's sake,
    Let's yet be fellows; let's shake our heads and say,
    As 'twere a knell unto our master's fortune,
    'We have seen better days.' Let each take some.
                                             [Giving them money]
    Nay, put out all your hands. Not one word more!
    Thus part we rich in sorrow, parting poor.
                                [Embrace, and part several ways]
    O the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us!
    Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt,
    Since riches point to misery and contempt?
    Who would be so mock'd with glory, or to live
    But in a dream of friendship,
    To have his pomp, and all what state compounds,
    But only painted, like his varnish'd friends?
    Poor honest lord, brought low by his own heart,
    Undone by goodness! Strange, unusual blood,
    When man's worst sin is he does too much good!
    Who then dares to be half so kind again?
    For bounty, that makes gods, does still mar men.
    My dearest lord- blest to be most accurst,
    Rich only to be wretched- thy great fortunes
    Are made thy chief afflictions. Alas, kind lord!
    He's flung in rage from this ingrateful seat
    Of monstrous friends; nor has he with him to
    Supply his life, or that which can command it.
    I'll follow and enquire him out.
    I'll ever serve his mind with my best will;
    Whilst I have gold, I'll be his steward still.          Exit

When the scene opens, Flavius is in conversation with two other servants of Timon. The first servant wonders about their insecure future. The steward informs them that he is as poor and helpless as they are. The servants pity their noble masters condition, for all his friends have left him in his ill fortune. The second servant points out that just as men forget those who are dead, Timons friends treat him as if he does not exist anymore. They were always with him in his good days, but now that he is no longer wealthy, they have left him. Few other servants also join in the conversation. The steward volunteers to share his wealth among his comrades. He is well aware of the misery that riches bring. He doesnt want to be foolish enough to be deceived by false glory or live in an illusion of friendship. Flavius decides to follow his master into the woods and be with him as long as he needs him.

Notes One does not have to pity Timon for his faithful steward follows his master just as Kent had followed Lear, thus asserting their loyalty. A similarity is found in the nature of the servants of Lear and Timon. Both are morally sensitive. They have a true feeling for human situation. Flavius salutes his companions as fellows and a fellow feeling is established among them. Flavius also takes this opportunity to express his views about the wretchedness of riches. Even Flavius companions are faithful to their master. Their hearts still wear the uniform of Timons servant. They still feel that they are working for him. Flavius statement that mans worst sin is that he does too much good contrasts the law of the Bible, yet the statement is true. This can be seen in the case of Timon, who had always come to the assistance of his friends when they were in need. These very friends however desert him when he is in trouble. Flavius is aware of Timons present state of mind and also that he does not have any supply of food. He decides to follow Timon and help him out as long as he can afford to do so. This shows that not all of mankind is corrupt. There are some, who think not only of themselves but of others. These people not only give their wealth but also their service.


SCENE III.
The woods near the sea-shore. Before TIMON'S cave

Enter TIMON in the woods

  TIMON. O blessed breeding sun, draw from the earth
    Rotten humidity; below thy sister's orb
    Infect the air! Twinn'd brothers of one womb-
    Whose procreation, residence, and birth,
    Scarce is dividant- touch them with several fortunes:
    The greater scorns the lesser. Not nature,
    To whom all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune
    But by contempt of nature.
    Raise me this beggar and deny't that lord:
    The senator shall bear contempt hereditary,
    The beggar native honour.
    It is the pasture lards the rother's sides,
    The want that makes him lean. Who dares, who dares,
    In purity of manhood stand upright,
    And say 'This man's a flatterer'? If one be,
    So are they all; for every grise of fortune
    Is smooth'd by that below. The learned pate
    Ducks to the golden fool. All's oblique;
    There's nothing level in our cursed natures
    But direct villainy. Therefore be abhorr'd
    All feasts, societies, and throngs of men!
    His semblable, yea, himself, Timon disdains.
    Destruction fang mankind! Earth, yield me roots.
                                                       [Digging]
    Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate
    With thy most operant poison. What is here?
    Gold? Yellow, glittering, precious gold? No, gods,
    I am no idle votarist. Roots, you clear heavens!
    Thus much of this will make black white, foul fair,
    Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.
    Ha, you gods! why this? What, this, you gods? Why, this
    Will lug your priests and servants from your sides,
    Pluck stout men's pillows from below their heads-
    This yellow slave
    Will knit and break religions, bless th' accurs'd,
    Make the hoar leprosy ador'd, place thieves
    And give them title, knee, and approbation,
    With senators on the bench. This is it
    That makes the wappen'd widow wed again-
    She whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores
    Would cast the gorge at this embalms and spices
    To th 'April day again. Come, damn'd earth,
    Thou common whore of mankind, that puts odds
    Among the rout of nations, I will make thee
    Do thy right nature.                        [March afar off]
    Ha! a drum? Th'art quick,
    But yet I'll bury thee. Thou't go, strong thief,
    When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand.
    Nay, stay thou out for earnest.          [Keeping some gold]

          Enter ALCIBIADES, with drum and fife, in warlike
                  manner; and PHRYNIA and TIMANDRA

  ALCIBIADES. What art thou there? Speak.
  TIMON. A beast, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy heart
    For showing me again the eyes of man!
  ALCIBIADES. What is thy name? Is man so hateful to thee
    That art thyself a man?
  TIMON. I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind.
    For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
    That I might love thee something.
  ALCIBIADES. I know thee well;
    But in thy fortunes am unlearn'd and strange.
  TIMON. I know thee too; and more than that I know thee
    I not desire to know. Follow thy drum;
    With man's blood paint the ground, gules, gules.
    Religious canons, civil laws, are cruel;
    Then what should war be? This fell whore of thine
    Hath in her more destruction than thy sword
    For all her cherubin look.
  PHRYNIA. Thy lips rot off!
  TIMON. I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns
    To thine own lips again.
  ALCIBIADES. How came the noble Timon to this change?
  TIMON. As the moon does, by wanting light to give.
    But then renew I could not, like the moon;
    There were no suns to borrow of.
  ALCIBIADES. Noble Timon,
    What friendship may I do thee?
  TIMON. None, but to
    Maintain my opinion.
  ALCIBIADES. What is it, Timon?
  TIMON. Promise me friendship, but perform none. If thou wilt
not
    promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art man! If thou dost
    perform, confound thee, for thou art a man!
  ALCIBIADES. I have heard in some sort of thy miseries.
  TIMON. Thou saw'st them when I had prosperity.
  ALCIBIADES. I see them now; then was a blessed time.
  TIMON. As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.
  TIMANDRA. Is this th' Athenian minion whom the world
    Voic'd so regardfully?
  TIMON. Art thou Timandra?
  TIMANDRA. Yes.
  TIMON. Be a whore still; they love thee not that use thee.
    Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.
    Make use of thy salt hours. Season the slaves
    For tubs and baths; bring down rose-cheek'd youth
    To the tub-fast and the diet.
  TIMANDRA. Hang thee, monster!
  ALCIBIADES. Pardon him, sweet Timandra, for his wits
    Are drown'd and lost in his calamities.
    I have but little gold of late, brave Timon,
    The want whereof doth daily make revolt
    In my penurious band. I have heard, and griev'd,
    How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth,
    Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states,
    But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them-
  TIMON. I prithee beat thy drum and get thee gone.
  ALCIBIADES. I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.
  TIMON. How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble?
    I had rather be alone.
  ALCIBIADES. Why, fare thee well;
    Here is some gold for thee.
  TIMON. Keep it: I cannot eat it.
  ALCIBIADES. When I have laid proud Athens on a heap-
  TIMON. War'st thou 'gainst Athens?
  ALCIBIADES. Ay, Timon, and have cause.
  TIMON. The gods confound them all in thy conquest;
    And thee after, when thou hast conquer'd!
  ALCIBIADES. Why me, Timon?
  TIMON. That by killing of villains
    Thou wast born to conquer my country.
    Put up thy gold. Go on. Here's gold. Go on.
    Be as a planetary plague, when Jove
    Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison
    In the sick air; let not thy sword skip one.
    Pity not honour'd age for his white beard:
    He is an usurer. Strike me the counterfeit matron:
    It is her habit only that is honest,
    Herself's a bawd. Let not the virgin's cheek
    Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milk paps
    That through the window bars bore at men's eyes
    Are not within the leaf of pity writ,
    But set them down horrible traitors. Spare not the babe
    Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy;
    Think it a bastard whom the oracle
    Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat shall cut,
    And mince it sans remorse. Swear against abjects;
    Put armour on thine ears and on thine eyes,
    Whose proof nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes,
    Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding,
    Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay thy soldiers.
    Make large confusion; and, thy fury spent,
    Confounded be thyself! Speak not, be gone.
  ALCIBIADES. Hast thou gold yet? I'll take the gold thou givest
me,
    Not all thy counsel.
  TIMON. Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse upon thee!
  PHRYNIA AND TIMANDRA. Give us some gold, good Timon.
    Hast thou more?
  TIMON. Enough to make a whore forswear her trade,
    And to make whores a bawd. Hold up, you sluts,
    Your aprons mountant; you are not oathable,
    Although I know you'll swear, terribly swear,
    Into strong shudders and to heavenly agues,
    Th' immortal gods that hear you. Spare your oaths;
    I'll trust to your conditions. Be whores still;
    And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you-
    Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up;
    Let your close fire predominate his smoke,
    And be no turncoats. Yet may your pains six months
    Be quite contrary! And thatch your poor thin roofs
    With burdens of the dead- some that were hang'd,
    No matter. Wear them, betray with them. Whore still;
    Paint till a horse may mire upon your face.
    A pox of wrinkles!
  PHRYNIA AND TIMANDRA. Well, more gold. What then?
    Believe't that we'll do anything for gold.
  TIMON. Consumptions sow
    In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins,
    And mar men's spurring. Crack the lawyer's voice,
    That he may never more false title plead,
    Nor sound his quillets shrilly. Hoar the flamen,
    That scolds against the quality of flesh
    And not believes himself. Down with the nose,
    Down with it flat, take the bridge quite away
    Of him that, his particular to foresee,
    Smells from the general weal. Make curl'd-pate ruffians bald,
    And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war
    Derive some pain from you. Plague all,
    That your activity may defeat and quell
    The source of all erection. There's more gold.
    Do you damn others, and let this damn you,
    And ditches grave you all!
  PHRYNIA AND TIMANDRA. More counsel with more money, bounteous
    Timon.
  TIMON. More whore, more mischief first; I have given you
earnest.
  ALCIBIADES. Strike up the drum towards Athens. Farewell, Timon;
    If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again.
  TIMON. If I hope well, I'll never see thee more.
  ALCIBIADES. I never did thee harm.
  TIMON. Yes, thou spok'st well of me.
  ALCIBIADES. Call'st thou that harm?
  TIMON. Men daily find it. Get thee away, and take
    Thy beagles with thee.
  ALCIBIADES. We but offend him. Strike.
                                Drum beats. Exeunt all but TIMON
  TIMON. That nature, being sick of man's unkindness,
    Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou,         [Digging]
    Whose womb unmeasurable and infinite breast
    Teems and feeds all; whose self-same mettle,
    Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puff'd,
    Engenders the black toad and adder blue,
    The gilded newt and eyeless venom'd worm,
    With all th' abhorred births below crisp heaven
    Whereon Hyperion's quick'ning fire doth shine-
    Yield him, who all thy human sons doth hate,
    From forth thy plenteous bosom, one poor root!
    Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb,
    Let it no more bring out ingrateful man!
    Go great with tigers, dragons, wolves, and bears;
    Teem with new monsters whom thy upward face
    Hath to the marbled mansion all above
    Never presented!- O, a root! Dear thanks!-
    Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough-torn leas,
    Whereof ingrateful man, with liquorish draughts
    And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind,
    That from it all consideration slips-

                        Enter APEMANTUS

    More man? Plague, plague!
  APEMANTUS. I was directed hither. Men report
    Thou dost affect my manners and dost use them.
  TIMON. 'Tis, then, because thou dost not keep a dog,
    Whom I would imitate. Consumption catch thee!
  APEMANTUS. This is in thee a nature but infected,
    A poor unmanly melancholy sprung
    From change of fortune. Why this spade, this place?
    This slave-like habit and these looks of care?
    Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft,
    Hug their diseas'd perfumes, and have forgot
    That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods
    By putting on the cunning of a carper.
    Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive
    By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,
    And let his very breath whom thou'lt observe
    Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,
    And call it excellent. Thou wast told thus;
    Thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters that bade welcome,
    To knaves and all approachers. 'Tis most just
    That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again
    Rascals should have't. Do not assume my likeness.
  TIMON. Were I like thee, I'd throw away myself.
  APEMANTUS. Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thyself;
    A madman so long, now a fool. What, think'st
    That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain,
    Will put thy shirt on warm? Will these moist trees,
    That have outliv'd the eagle, page thy heels
    And skip when thou point'st out? Will the cold brook,
    Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste
    To cure thy o'ernight's surfeit? Call the creatures
    Whose naked natures live in all the spite
    Of wreakful heaven, whose bare unhoused trunks,
    To the conflicting elements expos'd,
    Answer mere nature- bid them flatter thee.
    O, thou shalt find-
  TIMON. A fool of thee. Depart.
  APEMANTUS. I love thee better now than e'er I did.
  TIMON. I hate thee worse.
  APEMANTUS. Why?
  TIMON. Thou flatter'st misery.
  APEMANTUS. I flatter not, but say thou art a caitiff.
  TIMON. Why dost thou seek me out?
  APEMANTUS. To vex thee.
  TIMON. Always a villain's office or a fool's.
    Dost please thyself in't?
  APEMANTUS. Ay.
  TIMON. What, a knave too?
  APEMANTUS. If thou didst put this sour-cold habit on
    To castigate thy pride, 'twere well; but thou
    Dost it enforcedly. Thou'dst courtier be again
    Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery
    Outlives incertain pomp, is crown'd before.
    The one is filling still, never complete;
    The other, at high wish. Best state, contentless,
    Hath a distracted and most wretched being,
    Worse than the worst, content.
    Thou should'st desire to die, being miserable.
  TIMON. Not by his breath that is more miserable.
    Thou art a slave whom Fortune's tender arm
    With favour never clasp'd, but bred a dog.
    Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded
    The sweet degrees that this brief world affords
    To such as may the passive drugs of it
    Freely command, thou wouldst have plung'd thyself
    In general riot, melted down thy youth
    In different beds of lust, and never learn'd
    The icy precepts of respect, but followed
    The sug'red game before thee. But myself,
    Who had the world as my confectionary;
    The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men
    At duty, more than I could frame employment;
    That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves
    Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush
    Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare
    For every storm that blows- I to bear this,
    That never knew but better, is some burden.
    Thy nature did commence in sufferance; time
    Hath made thee hard in't. Why shouldst thou hate men?
    They never flatter'd thee. What hast thou given?
    If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,
    Must be thy subject; who, in spite, put stuff
    To some she-beggar and compounded thee
    Poor rogue hereditary. Hence, be gone.
    If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
    Thou hadst been a knave and flatterer.
  APEMANTUS. Art thou proud yet?
  TIMON. Ay, that I am not thee.
  APEMANTUS. I, that I was
    No prodigal.
  TIMON. I, that I am one now.
    Were all the wealth I have shut up in thee,
    I'd give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.
    That the whole life of Athens were in this!
    Thus would I eat it.                         [Eating a root]
  APEMANTUS. Here! I will mend thy feast.
                                             [Offering him food]
  TIMON. First mend my company: take away thyself.
  APEMANTUS. So I shall mend mine own by th' lack of thine.
  TIMON. 'Tis not well mended so; it is but botch'd.
    If not, I would it were.
  APEMANTUS. What wouldst thou have to Athens?
  TIMON. Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt,
    Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have.
  APEMANTUS. Here is no use for gold.
  TIMON. The best and truest;
    For here it sleeps and does no hired harm.
  APEMANTUS. Where liest a nights, Timon?
  TIMON. Under that's above me.
    Where feed'st thou a days, Apemantus?
  APEMANTUS. Where my stomach. finds meat; or rather, where I eat
it.
  TIMON. Would poison were obedient, and knew my mind!
  APEMANTUS. Where wouldst thou send it?
  TIMON. To sauce thy dishes.
  APEMANTUS. The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the
    extremity of both ends. When thou wast in thy gilt and thy
    perfume, they mock'd thee for too much curiosity; in thy rags

    thou know'st none, but art despis'd for the contrary. There's
a
    medlar for thee; eat it.
  TIMON. On what I hate I feed not.
  APEMANTUS. Dost hate a medlar?
  TIMON. Ay, though it look like thee.
  APEMANTUS. An th' hadst hated medlars sooner, thou shouldst
have
    loved thyself better now. What man didst thou ever know
unthrift
    that was beloved after his means?
  TIMON. Who, without those means thou talk'st of, didst thou
ever
    know belov'd?
  APEMANTUS. Myself.
  TIMON. I understand thee: thou hadst some means to keep a dog.
  APEMANTUS. What things in the world canst thou nearest compare
to
    thy flatterers?
  TIMON. Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves.
What
    wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy
    power?
  APEMANTUS. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men.
  TIMON. Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confusion of men,
and
    remain a beast with the beasts?
  APEMANTUS. Ay, Timon.
  TIMON. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t' attain
to!
    If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou
wert
    the lamb, the fox would eat thee; if thou wert the fox, the
lion
    would suspect thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accus'd by
the
    ass. If thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee;
and
    still thou liv'dst but as a breakfast to the wolf. If thou
wert
    the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou
    shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner. Wert thou the
unicorn,
    pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own self
the
    conquest of thy fury. Wert thou bear, thou wouldst be kill'd
by
    the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seiz'd by the
    leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion,
and
    the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life. All thy
safety
    were remotion, and thy defence absence. What beast couldst
thou
    be that were not subject to a beast? And what beast art thou
    already, that seest not thy loss in transformation!
  APEMANTUS. If thou couldst please me with speaking to me, thou
    mightst have hit upon it here. The commonwealth of Athens is
    become a forest of beasts.
  TIMON. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the
    city?
  APEMANTUS. Yonder comes a poet and a painter. The plague of
company
    light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way. When
I
    know not what else to do, I'll see thee again.
  TIMON. When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be
    welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog than Apemantus.
  APEMANTUS. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.
  TIMON. Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!
  APEMANTUS. A plague on thee! thou art too bad to curse.
  TIMON. All villains that do stand by thee are pure.
  APEMANTUS. There is no leprosy but what thou speak'st.
  TIMON. If I name thee.
    I'll beat thee- but I should infect my hands.
  APEMANTUS. I would my tongue could rot them off!
  TIMON. Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!
    Choler does kill me that thou art alive;
    I swoon to see thee.
  APEMANTUS. Would thou wouldst burst!
  TIMON. Away,
    Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall lose
    A stone by thee.                     [Throws a stone at him]
  APEMANTUS. Beast!
  TIMON. Slave!
  APEMANTUS. Toad!
  TIMON. Rogue, rogue, rogue!
    I am sick of this false world, and will love nought
    But even the mere necessities upon't.
    Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
    Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat
    Thy gravestone daily; make thine epitaph,
    That death in me at others' lives may laugh.
    [Looks at the gold] O thou sweet king-killer, and dear
divorce
    'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
    Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
    Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer,
    Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
    That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god,
    That sold'rest close impossibilities,
    And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every tongue
    To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts!
    Think thy slave man rebels, and by thy virtue
    Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
    May have the world in empire!
  APEMANTUS. Would 'twere so!
    But not till I am dead. I'll say th' hast gold.
    Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.
  TIMON. Throng'd to?
  APEMANTUS. Ay.
  TIMON. Thy back, I prithee.
  APEMANTUS. Live, and love thy misery!
  TIMON. Long live so, and so die! [Exit APEMANTUS] I am quit.
More
    things like men? Eat, Timon, and abhor them.

                       Enter the BANDITTI

  FIRST BANDIT. Where should he have this gold? It is some poor
    fragment, some slender ort of his remainder. The mere want of
    gold and the falling-from of his friends drove him into this
    melancholy.
  SECOND BANDIT. It is nois'd he hath a mass of treasure.
  THIRD BANDIT. Let us make the assay upon him; if he care not
for't,
    he will supply us easily; if he covetously reserve it, how
    shall's get it?
  SECOND BANDIT. True; for he bears it not about him. 'Tis hid.
  FIRST BANDIT. Is not this he?
  BANDITTI. Where?
  SECOND BANDIT. 'Tis his description.
  THIRD BANDIT. He; I know him.
  BANDITTI. Save thee, Timon!
  TIMON. Now, thieves?
  BANDITTI. Soldiers, not thieves.
  TIMON. Both too, and women's sons.
  BANDITTI. We are not thieves, but men that much do want.
  TIMON. Your greatest want is, you want much of meat.
    Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots;
    Within this mile break forth a hundred springs;
    The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips;
    The bounteous housewife Nature on each bush
    Lays her full mess before you. Want! Why want?
  FIRST BANDIT. We cannot live on grass, on berries, water,
    As beasts and birds and fishes.
  TIMON. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes;
    You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con
    That you are thieves profess'd, that you work not
    In holier shapes; for there is boundless theft
    In limited professions. Rascal thieves,
    Here's gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o' th' grape
    Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth,
    And so scape hanging. Trust not the physician;
    His antidotes are poison, and he slays
    more than you rob. Take wealth and lives together;
    Do villainy, do, since you protest to do't,
    Like workmen. I'll example you with thievery:
    The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
    Robs the vast sea; the moon's an arrant thief,
    And her pale fire she snatches from the sun;
    The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
    The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief,
    That feeds and breeds by a composture stol'n
    From gen'ral excrement- each thing's a thief.
    The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
    Has uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves; away,
    Rob one another. There's more gold. Cut throats;
    All that you meet are thieves. To Athens go,
    Break open shops; nothing can you steal
    But thieves do lose it. Steal not less for this
    I give you; and gold confound you howsoe'er!
    Amen.
  THIRD BANDIT. Has almost charm'd me from my profession by
    persuading me to it.
  FIRST BANDIT. 'Tis in the malice of mankind that he thus
advises
    us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.
  SECOND BANDIT. I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over my
    trade.
  FIRST BANDIT. Let us first see peace in Athens. There is no
time so
    miserable but a man may be true.              Exeunt THIEVES

                         Enter FLAVIUS, to TIMON

  FLAVIUS. O you gods!
    Is yond despis'd and ruinous man my lord?
    Full of decay and failing? O monument
    And wonder of good deeds evilly bestow'd!
    What an alteration of honour
    Has desp'rate want made!
    What viler thing upon the earth than friends,
    Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends!
    How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
    When man was wish'd to love his enemies!
    Grant I may ever love, and rather woo
    Those that would mischief me than those that do!
    Has caught me in his eye; I will present
    My honest grief unto him, and as my lord
    Still serve him with my life. My dearest master!
  TIMON. Away! What art thou?
  FLAVIUS. Have you forgot me, sir?
  TIMON. Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;
    Then, if thou grant'st th'art a man, I have forgot thee.
  FLAVIUS. An honest poor servant of yours.
  TIMON. Then I know thee not.
    I never had honest man about me, I.
    All I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.
  FLAVIUS. The gods are witness,
    Nev'r did poor steward wear a truer grief
    For his undone lord than mine eyes for you.
  TIMON. What, dost thou weep? Come nearer. Then I love thee
    Because thou art a woman and disclaim'st
    Flinty mankind, whose eyes do never give
    But thorough lust and laughter. Pity's sleeping.
    Strange times, that weep with laughing, not with weeping!
  FLAVIUS. I beg of you to know me, good my lord,
    T' accept my grief, and whilst this poor wealth lasts
    To entertain me as your steward still.
  TIMON. Had I a steward
    So true, so just, and now so comfortable?
    It almost turns my dangerous nature mild.
    Let me behold thy face. Surely, this man
    Was born of woman.
    Forgive my general and exceptless rashness,
    You perpetual-sober gods! I do proclaim
    One honest man- mistake me not, but one;
    No more, I pray- and he's a steward.
    How fain would I have hated all mankind!
    And thou redeem'st thyself. But all, save thee,
    I fell with curses.
    Methinks thou art more honest now than wise;
    For by oppressing and betraying me
    Thou mightst have sooner got another service;
    For many so arrive at second masters
    Upon their first lord's neck. But tell me true,
    For I must ever doubt though ne'er so sure,
    Is not thy kindness subtle, covetous,
    If not a usuring kindness, and as rich men deal gifts,
    Expecting in return twenty for one?
  FLAVIUS. No, my most worthy master, in whose breast
    Doubt and suspect, alas, are plac'd too late!
    You should have fear'd 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 honour'd 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 condition'd; thou shalt build from men;
    Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,
    But let the famish'd 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 art blest and free.
    Ne'er see thou man, and let me ne'er see thee.
                                                Exeunt severally

Timon dwells in a cave in the forest and decides that he will never go back to the society. His still continues to curse mankind. While digging for roots for his meal, he unearths a hoard of gold. He decides to make proper use of it. He suddenly hears the beats of drums and hides it. Alcibiades enters along with his two mistresses, Phrynia and Timandra. Alcibiades at first does not recognize Timon. Later when he recognizes Timon, he is shocked to see Timons state and confesses that he was unaware of Timons misfortune. Timon, who is bitter about his experience with his friends gives Alcibiades the option that he too can betray him. Alcibiades is sympathetic towards his dear friend and offers him some gold. Timon refuses for he has lost interest in it. Timon instructs the prostitutes to spread disease among men, to which Timandra gets angry, but Alcibiades understands Timons state of mind. Timon is happy to hear that Alcibiades is marching against Athens. He gives back the gold Alcibiades offers him and also gives him some gold and tells him to not even spare the virgins the babes or the priest. Alcibiades gets fed up listening to Timon. The mistresses beg Timon to give them gold. He heaps it on their apron and instructs them to continue with their profession. Alcibiades before leaving informs Timon that he would visit him again if he lived. Apemantus is the next to enter the scene. He is upset to see Timon behaving in an affected way. Timon does not entertain him. In fact, Timon is quite rude to Apemantus. Apemantus comments on Timons melancholy, which he feels Timon is overacting. It is a result of change of fortune. He advises Timon to become a flatterer and woo the Senators back. Timon commands him to leave. Apemantus inquires if Timon has anything for Athens to which Timon replies that he now has gold, which is more valuable than anything else for the materialistic citizens of Athens. Apemantus keeps irritating Timon and Timon finally he drives him away by throwing stones at him. The scene now shifts to another part of the forest, where some bandits are discussing how Timon has suddenly acquired gold and how to get it under their possession. They attack him and later on reveal how they were once soldiers and how circumstances have forced them to become bandits. Timon gives them gold and commands them to rob and kill. He gives examples from the nature and how nature herself is a robber. Flavius comes looking for Timon. He feels pity for his master and decides to serve him all his life. At first, Timon refuses to recognize the steward. But when the steward is ready to share his wealth, Timon is relieved to see a true human being and declares that Flavius is the only honest man in the world. Even then he asks Flavius whether there is a hidden motive behind his being kind to him. Flavius muses that if his master had this suspicious nature earlier, then he would have understood the true nature of his friends. Flavius wishes that his master would get rich and powerful once again. Timon gives him some of his gold and advises him to leave him alone and tells him to stay away from all mankind and never give any charity.