Exit
SCENE V
Enter Corbaccio and Corvino;—Mosca passes before them
CORB. See, in our habit! see the impudent varlet!
CORV. That I could shoot mine eyes at him like gunstones!
Enter Volpone
VOLP. But is this true, sir, of the parasite?
CORB. Again, to afflict us! monster!
VOLP. In good faith, sir,
I’m heartily grieved, a beard of your grave length
Should be so over-reached. I never brooked
That parasite’s hair; methought his nose should cozen:
There still was somewhat in his look, did promise
The bane of a clarissimo.
CORB. Knave—
VOLP. Methinks
Yet you, that are so traded in the world,
A witty merchant, the fine bird, Corvino,
That have such moral emblems on your name,
Should not have sung your shame, and dropped your cheese,
To let the Fox laugh at your emptiness.
CORV. Sirrah, you think the privilege of the place,
And your red saucy cap, that seems to me
Nailed to your jolt-head with those two sequins,
Can warrant your abuses; come you hither:
You shall perceive, sir, I dare beat you; approach.
VOLP. No haste, sir, I do know your valor well,
Since you durst publish what you are, sir.
CORV. Tarry,
I’d speak with you.
VOLP. Sir, sir, another time—
CORV. Nay, now.
VOLP. O lord, sir! I were a wise man,
Would stand the fury of a distracted cuckold.
Enter Mosca
CORB. What, come again!
VOLP. Upon ’em, Mosca; save me.
CORB. The air’s infected where he breathes.
CORV. Let’s fly him.
Exeunt Corvino and Corbaccio
VOLP. Excellent basilisk!160 turn upon the vulture.
Enter Voltore
VOLT. Well, flesh-fly, it is summer with you now;
Your winter will come on.
MOS. Good advocate,
Prithee not rail, nor threaten out of place thus;
Thou’lt make a solecism, as madam says.
Get you a biggin161 more, your brain breaks loose.
Exit
VOLT. Well, sir.
VOLP. Would you have me beat the insolent slave,
Throw dirt upon his first good clothes?
VOLT. This same
Is doubtless some familiar.
VOLP. Sir, the court,
In troth, stays for you. I am mad, a mule
That never read Justinian,162 should get up,
And ride an advocate. Had you no quirk
To avoid gullage, sir, by such a creature?
I hope you do but jest; he has not done it.
’Tis but confederacy, to blind the rest.
You are the heir.
VOLT. A strange, officious,
Troublesome knave! thou dost torment me.
VOLP. I know—
It cannot be, sir, that you should be cozened;
’Tis not within with the wit of man to do it;
You are so wise, so prudent; and ’tis fit
That wealth and wisdom still should go together.
Exeunt
SCENE VI
Enter Avocatori, Notario, Bonario, Celia, Corbaccio, Corvino, Commandadori, Saffi, etc.
1 AVOC. Are all the parties here?
NOT. All but the advocate.
2 AVOC. And here he comes.
Enter Voltore and Volpone
1 AVOC. Then bring them forth to sentence.
VOLT. O, my most honored fathers, let your mercy
Once win upon your justice, to forgive—
I am distracted—
VOLP. [Aside] What will he do now?
VOLT. O,
I know not which to address myself to first;
Whether your fatherhoods, or these innocents—
CORV. [Aside] Will he betray himself?
VOLT. Whom equally
I have abused, out of most covetous ends—
CORV. The man is mad!
CORB. What’s that?
CORV. He is possessed.
VOLT. For which, now struck in conscience, here, I prostrate
Myself at your offended feet, for pardon.
1, 2 AVOC. Arise.
CEL. O heaven, how just thou art!
VOLP. [Aside] I am caught
In mine own noose—
CORV. [To Corbaccio] Be constant, sir: nought now
Can help, but impudence.
1 AVOC. Speak forward.
COM. Silence!
VOLT. It is not passion in me, reverend fathers,
But only conscience, conscience, my good sires,
That makes me now tell truth. That parasite,
That knave, hath been the instrument of all.
1 AVOC. Where is that knave? fetch him.
VOLP. I go.
Exit
CORV. Grave fathers,
This man’s distracted; he confessed it now:
For, hoping to be old Volpone’s heir,
Who now is dead—
3 AVOC. HOW!
2 AVOC. IS Volpone dead?
CORV. Dead since, grave fathers.
BON. O sure vengeance!
1 AVOC. Stay,
Then he was no deceiver.
VOLT. O no, none:
The parasite, grave fathers.
CORV. He does speak
Out of mere envy, ’cause the servant’s made
The thing he gaped for: please your fatherhoods,
This is the truth, though I’ll not justify
The other, but he may be some-deal faulty.
VOLT. Ay, to your hopes, as well as mine, Corvino:
But I’ll use modesty. Pleaseth your wisdoms,
To view these certain notes, and but confer them;
As I hope favor, they shall speak clear truth.
CORV. The devil has entered him!
BON. Or bides in you.
4 AVOC. We have done ill, by a public officer
To send for him, if he be heir.
2 AVOC. For whom?
4 AVOC. Him that they call the parasite.
3 AVOC. ’Tis true,
He is a man of great estate, now left.
4 AVOC. Go you, and learn his name, and say, the court
Entreats his presence here, but to the clearing
Of some few doubts.
Exit Notary
2 AVOC. This same’s a labyrinth!
1 AVOC. Stand you unto your first report?
CORV. My state,
My life, my fame—
BON. Where is it?
CORV. Are at the stake.
1 AVOC. Is yours so too?
CORB. The advocate’s a knave,
And has a forked tongue—
2 AVOC. Speak to the point.
CORB. So is the parasite too.
1 AVOC. This is confusion.
VOLT. I do beseech your fatherhoods, read but those—
[Giving them papers]
CORV. And credit nothing the false spirit hath writ:
It cannot be, but he’s possessed, grave fathers.
The scene closes
SCENE VII
Enter Volpone
VOLP. To make a snare for mine own neck! and run
My head into it, wilfully! with laughter!
When I had newly ’scaped, was free, and clear,
Out of mere wantonness! O, the dull devil
Was in this brain of mine, when I devised it,
And Mosca gave it second; he must now
Help to sear up this vein, or we bleed dead.—
Enter Nano, Androgyno, and Castrone
How now! who let you loose? whither go you now?
What, to buy gingerbread, or to drown kitlin
gs?
NAN. Sir, master Mosca called us out of doors,
And bid us all go play, and took the keys.
NAN. Yes.
VOLP. Did master Mosca take the keys? why so!
I’m farther in. These are my fine conceits!
I must be merry, with a mischief to me!
What a vile wretch was I, that could not bear
My fortune soberly? I must have my crotchets,
And my conundrums! Well, go you, and seek him:
His meaning may be truer than my fear.
Bid him, he straight come to me to the court;
Thither will I, and, if’t be possible,
Unscrew my advocate, upon new hopes:
When I provoked him, then I lost myself.
Exeunt
SCENE VIII
Avocatori, Bonario, Celia, Corbaccio, Corvino, Commandadori, Saffi, etc., as before
1 AVOC. These things can ne’er be reconciled. He, here,
[Showing the papers]
Professeth, that the gentleman was wronged,
And that the gentlewoman was brought thither,
Forced by her husband, and there left.
VOLT. Most true.
CEL. How ready is heaven to those that pray!
1 AVOC. But that
Volpone would have ravished her, he holds
Utterly false, knowing his impotence.
CORV. Grave fathers, he’s possessed; again, I say,
Possessed: nay, if there be possession, and
Obsession, he has both.
3 AVOC. Here comes our officer.
Enter Volpone
VOLP. The parasite will straight be here, grave fathers.
4 AVOC. You might invent some other name, sir varlet.
3 AVOC. Did not the notary meet him?
VOLP. Not that I know.
4 AVOC. His coming will clear all.
2 AVOC. Yet, it is misty.
VOLT. May’t please your fatherhoods—
VOLP. [Whispers to Voltore] Sir, the parasite
Willed me to tell you, that his master lives;
That you are still the man; your hopes the same;
And this was only a jest—
VOLT. How?
VOLP. Sir, to try
If you were firm, and how you stood affected.
VOLT. Art sure he lives?
VOLP. Do I live, sir?
VOLT. O me!
I was too violent.
VOLP. Sir, you may redeem it.
They said, you were possessed; fall down, and seem so:
I’ll help to make it good. [Voltore falls]—God bless the man!—
Stop your wind hard, and swell—See, see, see, see!
He vomits crooked pins! his eyes are set,
Like a dead hare’s hung in a poulter’s shop!
His mouth’s running away! Do you see, signior?
Now it is in his belly.
CORV. Ay, the devil!
VOLP. Now in his throat.
CORV. Ay, I perceive it plain.
VOLP. ’Twill out, ’twill out! stand clear. See where it flies,
In shape of a blue toad, with a bat’s wings!
Do you not see it, sir?
CORB. What? I think I do.
CORV. ’Tis too manifest.
VOLP. Look! he comes to himself!
VOLT. Where am I?
VOLP. Take good heart, the worst is past, sir.
You are dispossessed.
1 AVOC. What accident is this!
2 AVOC. Sudden, and full of wonder!
3 AVOC. If he were
Possessed, as it appears, all this is nothing.
CORV. He has been often subject to these fits.
1 AVOC. Show him that writing:—do you know it, sir?
VOLP. [Whispers to Voltore] Deny it, sir, forswear it; know it not.
VOLT. Yes, I do know it well, it is my hand;
But all that it contains is false.
BON. O practice!163
2 AVOC. What maze is this!
1 AVOC. Is he not guilty then,
Whom you there name the parasite?
VOLT. Grave fathers,
No more than his good patron, old Volpone.
4 AVOC. Why, he is dead.
VOLT. O no, my honored fathers,
He lives—
1 AVOC. How! lives?
VOLT. Lives.
2 AVOC. This is subtler yet!
3 AVOC. You said he was dead.
VOLT. Never.
3 AVOC. You said so.
CORV. I heard so.
4 AVOC. Here comes the gentleman; make him way.
Enter Mosca
3 AVOC. A stool.
4 Avoc. [Aside] A proper man; and, were Volpone dead,
A fit match for my daughter.
3 AVOC. Give him way.
VOLP. [Aside to Mosca] Mosca, I was almost lost; the advocate
Had betrayed all; but now it is recovered;
All’s on the hinge again—Say, I am living.
MOS. What busy knave is this!—Most reverend fathers,
I sooner had attended your grave pleasures,
But that my order for the funeral
Of my dear patron, did require me—
VOLP. [Aside] Mosca!
MOS. Whom I intend to bury like a gentleman.
VOLP. [Aside] Ay, quick,164 and cozen me of all.
2 AVOC. Still stranger!
More intricate!
1 AVOC. And come about again!
4 Avoc. [Aside] It is a match, my daughter is bestowed.
MOS. [Aside to Volpone] Will you give me half?
VOLP. First, I’ll be hanged.
MOS. I know
Your voice is good, cry not so loud.
1 AVOC. Demand
The advocate.—Sir, did you not affirm
Volpone was alive?
VOLP. Yes, and he is;
This gentleman told me so. [Aside to Mosca]—Thou shalt have half.—
MOS. Whose drunkard is this same? speak, some that know him:
I never saw his face. [Aside to Volpone]—I cannot now
Afford it you so cheap.
VOLP. No!
1 AVOC. What say you?
VOLT. The officer told me.
VOLP. I did, grave fathers,
And will maintain he lives, with mine own life,
And that this creature [points to Mosca] told me. [Aside]—I was born
With all good stars my enemies.
MOS. Most grave fathers,
If such an insolence as this must pass
Upon me, I am silent: ’twas not this
For which you sent, I hope.
2 AVOC. Take him away.
VOLP. Mosca!
3 AVOC. Let him be whipped.
VOLP. Wilt thou betray me?
Cozen me?
3 AVOC. And taught to bear himself
Toward a person of his rank.
4 AVOC. Away.
[The Officers seize Volpone]
MOS. I humbly thank your fatherhoods.
VOLP. [Aside] Soft, soft: Whipped!
And lose all that I have! If I confess,
It cannot be much more.
4 AVOC. Sir, are you married?
VOLP. They’ll be allied anon; I must be resolute:
The Fox shall here uncase.
[Puts off his disguise]
MOS. Patron!
VOLP. Nay, now
My ruins shall not come alone: your match
I’ll hinder sure: my substance shall not glue you,
Nor screw you into a family.
MOS. Why, patron!
VOLP. I am Volpone, and this is my knave;
[Pointing to Mosca]
This, [to Voltore] his own knave; this, [to Corbaccio] avarice’s fool;
This, [to Corvino] a chimera of wittol, fool, and knave:
And, reverend fathers, since we all can hope
Nought but a sentence, let’s not now despair it.
You hear me brief.
CORV. May it please your fatherhoods—
COM. Silence!
1 AVOC. The knot is now undone by miracle.
2 AVOC. Nothing can be more clear.
3 AVOC. Or can more prove
These innocent.
1 AVOC. Give them their liberty.
BON. Heaven could not long let such gross crimes be hid.
2 AVOC. If this be held the high-way to get riches,
May I be poor!
3 AVOC. This is not the gain, but torment.
1 AVOC. These possess wealth, as sick men possess fevers,
Which trulier may be said to possess them.
2 AVOC. Disrobe that parasite.
CORV. AND MOS. Most honored fathers!—
1 AVOC. Can you plead aught to stay the course of justice?
If you can, speak.
CORV. AND VOLT. We beg favor.
CEL. And mercy.
1 AVOC. You hurt your innocence, suing for the guilty.
Stand forth; and first the parasite: You appear
T’have been the chiefest minister, if not plotter,
In all these lewd impostures; and now, lastly,
Have with your impudence abused the court,
And habit of a gentleman of Venice,
Being a fellow of no birth or blood:
For which our sentence is, first, thou be whipped;
Then live perpetual prisoner in our galleys.
VOLP. I thank you for him.
MOS. Bane to thy wolvish nature!
1 AVOC. Deliver him to the saffi.
Mosca is carried out
—Thou, Volpone,
By blood and rank a gentleman, canst not fall
Under like censure; but our judgment on thee
Is, that thy substance all be straight confiscate
To the hospital of the Incurabili:
And, since the most was gotten by imposture,
By feigning lame, gout, palsy, and such diseases,
Thou art to lie in prison, cramped with irons,
Till thou be’st sick and lame indeed.—Remove him.
[He is taken from the Bar.]
VOLP. This is called mortifying of a Fox.
1 AVOC. Thou, Voltore, to take away the scandal
Thou hast given all worthy men of thy profession,
Art banished from their fellowship, and our state.
Corbaccio!—bring him near—We here possess
Thy son of all thy state, and confine thee
To the monastery of San Spirito;
Where, since thou knewest not how to live well here,
Thou shalt be learned to die well.
CORB. Ah! what said he?
COM. You shall know anon, sir.
1 AVOC. Thou, Corvino, shalt
Be straight embarked from thine own house, and rowed
Round about Venice, through the Grand Canal
Wearing a cap, with fair long ass’s ears,
Instead of horns; and so to mount, a paper
The Duchess of Malfi Page 21