dint of the deadly Dragons no doubt Iupiter himselfe would eyther haue made the flaggering bridge more strong considering that no hope of wealth no desire of riches no gréedinesse of gaine no loue of luere but beauty her selfe was the victorie I meant to vaunt off or else if I had sowled in the roaring Seas hee would haue prouided som happy Dolphin that Arion like I might arriue at the desired Rock and then my daungers should haue béene turned into delight my perils into pleasures my hazarding into happinesse yea I should haue possessed that heauenly paragon and enioyed the loue of that louely Venus whose onely sight were a sufficient salue against all forepassed sorrowes Stay there Master Gwydonius quoth the Lady Melytta for I sée to graunt one false proposition is to open a doore to innumerable absurdities and that by suffring you too long of these supposed premises you will inferre some cauilling conclusion to your former reasons thus I reply That I confesse necessity to haue no law but I grant not the same of Loue for if it be lawlesse it is lewde if without limits lasciuious if contained within no boundes beastly if obserued with no order odious so that lawlesse Loue without reason is the very Load stone to ruth and ruine Sith then Master Gwydonius as your selfe affirme this was the pricke that pusht you into perill how can the effect be good when the cause was naught or how can you clarkely defend your desperate motion proceeding of such a fond and foolish occasion But it was the perfection of her comely person her exquisite feature and rare beautie that so kindled thy desire and so bewitched thy senses for who is so fearefull that beautie will not make bolde who so doubtfull that beauty will not make desperat yea what so hard that a man will not hazard to obtaine so diuine a thing as beauty Oh Gwydonius hast thou not heard that the Fish Remor◠listening to the sound of a Trumpet is caught of the Fishers that while the Porcupine standeth staring at the glimmering of the starres hée is ouertaken with dogges that the Deere gazing at the bowe is striken with the bolt that the Leopard looking at the Panthers painted skinne is taken as a praie and that hee which taketh too much delight to gaze vpon beauty is oftentimes galled with griefe and misery Yea his pleasure shall inferre such profit and his good will such gain as if he reapt the beautifull apples of Tantalus which are no sooner toucht but they turne to ashes Beauty Gwydonius no sooner flourisheth but it fadeth and it is not fully ripe before it begin to rot it no sooner blossometh but it withereth and scarcely being toucht it staineth like to the Guyacum leafe that hath the one halfe parched before the other halfe be perfect to the bird Acanthis which hatched white yet turneth blacke at the first storm or like to the stone Astites that chaungeth colour with the onely breath of a man If then Gwydonius beautie bée so fading so fickle so momentary so mouing so withering so waning so soone passed and so soone parched is this the Iewell which you count more deare than life and the Gemme which you think worthy to bée purchased with the danger of death No doubt Gwydonius if you won the victory you might vaunt of a great conquest and if your long hope were repayed with a great hap it should be much like to his which thinking to embrace Iuno caught nothing but a vanishing cloude You do well Madame quoth Castania to put an If in it because he that vaunteth of victory before he hath wonne fielde may proue himselfe a foole hee that brags of gaines before the accounts be cast may perhappes put his winnings in his eies and he that bloweth the Mort before the fall of the Buck may verie well misse of his sées so he that countes himselfe a spéeder before hee be a wooer sheweth himselfe a vaine person or a vaunting patch Might it not be I pray you Master Gwydonius that passing the bridge scaping the dangerous seas and happily arriuing at the desired Rocke yet you might misse of your purpose Yes forsooth for many a man bendeth his bowe that neuer killeth his game layeth the strap that neuer catcheth the fowle pitcheth the Net that neuer getteth the fish and long time are heauie wooers that neuer proue happie spéeders So perhaps Gwydonius you might be crossed with a chip of the same mischance and the gorgious Dame whom you adore for a Goddesse might repaie your liking with loathing your loue with hate your good will with despite and your fixed fancie with small affection either that shee liked you too little or loued another too much All these doubtes Gwydonius are carefully to be cast wisedome it is to feare the worst and finde the best but you sir like a lustie champion thinke a Ladie wonne at the first looke and the good wil of women gained at the first glance thinking the Gods themselues are to be accused of iniustice if they be not ayders to your enterprise insomuch that if in ventring ouer the perillous passage you had by disaster Fortune fallen into the dangerous Seas you doubtes not but that Iupiter would haue sent a Dolphin that Arion like you might escape the fearefull surges but Gwydonius be not so ventrous least though you harpe verie long you get not the like hap These premisses considered if my censure might stande for a sentence I déeme it better to be counted a dastardly coward than a desperate caitife better to forsake your Goddesse than your God better to liue pinched with a fewe momentarie passions than with desperate death to destroy both soule and bodie for there is no sore such which in time may not be salued no care such which cannot be cured no fire so great which may not be quenched no loue liking fancie or affection which in time may not either be repressed or redressed Valericus hearing this rough reply of Castania supposed that although she leuelied at Gwydonius yet she shot at him and scaring the fort should be too much shaken with this fierce assault hee stifly desended the walles with this fresh alarum Madame quoth he I sée you will sit nigh the walles creyou be thrust out for a wrangler and that you will speake against your owne conscience but you will haue the conquest for my owne part Madame howsoeuer I séeme to like it I will not saie I mislike it but I am sorie you Madame Melytta should so blasphemously imblaze the armes of beautie and so recklesly raile against the sacred lawes of loue take héed for crossing Cupid so crabbedly for thogh he forgiue and forget Venus is a woman and will seeke reuenge Valericus quoth shée take no care what daunger I incurre for speaking the trueth If I chaunce to bee harmed it is mine owne mishappe and for Venus reuenge I care for it the lesse because I feare it not
rather far the more inflamed my desire was not diminished but augmented and my liking no lesse but rather inlarged so that to liue in loue without hope was loathsome to séek redresse was losse of life to want my wish was horror to inioy my wil was hel◠to liue in care without cōfort was calamity to séek for cure was more than misery not to possesse the pray was hellish danger to venture for the prize was haples death Thus crossed with cares daūted with such diuers doubts desperate hope so repulsed direful feare that encouraged by ventrous desire I had either obtained my wish or wanted of my wil if your Ladiship had not so sodainly wakened me out of my slūber Thus Madame Castania you haue heard my dreame now the doubt is whether it had been better to haue ventured vppon the brittle bridge and so either desperately to haue ended cares with death or else valtantly to haue enioyed desire with renowne or still like a fearefull dastard to haue ended my dayes in lingering loue with misery Castania hearing the surmized dreame of Gwydonius both smelled the fetch and smiled at the folly of this young youth knowing that these fantasticall visions and presupposed passions would in time if hée tooke not héed proue but too true to preuent therfore such imminent perils shée nipt her yong nouice on the pate with this parle GGydoniu◠quoth shee I haue listened to thy drousie dream with déep deuotion by so much the more desirous atttentiuely to heare it by how much the more I find it strange and wonderfull yea so strange as if I my selfe had not wakened thee out of thy slumber I would eyther haue thought it a fained vision or a fantasticall inuention but sith these Gentlemen here present and mine owne eyes are witnesses and thine owne tongue a testimony of thy talk suffice I beléeue it though I cannot diuine it to giue a verdite where the euidence is not vnderstood is vanity to yéeld a reason of an vnknowne case is meere folly and to interpret so strange a dreame without great practice is but to skip beyond my skill and to lie fast in the mire Yet least I might séeme to promise much perform nothing I wil decide your doubt if you please to take my doom for a censure It is a saying Gwydonius not so common as true that the hasty man neuer wants woe and that hee which is rash without reason seldome or neuer sloepeth without repentance To venture amidst the Pikes when perilles cannot bée eschewed is not fortitude but folly to hazarde in daungers when death insueth is not to bee worthily minded but wilfully mooued Vertue alwaies consisteth betwéen extreamities that as too much fearefulnesse is the signe of a quaking coward so too much rashnes be tokeneth a desperate Ruffian Manhood Gwydonius consisteth in measure worthinesse in fearing to hazard without hope But to giue a verdit by thine owne voyce I perceiue thou art guilty of the same crime for when the brittlenesse of the bridge portended and the surging seas inferred losse of life yet desire draue thée to aduenture so desperate a danger Better it is Gwydonius to liue in griefe then to dye desperately without grace better to choose a lingering life in misery then a spéedy death without mercie better to be tormented with haplesse fancy then with hellish fiends for in life it is possible to represse calamity but after death neuer to redresse misery Tully Gwydonius in his Tusculans questions discoursing of the happinesse of life and heauinesse of death sayth that to liue we obtaine it of the louing gods but to dye of the vnlucky destinies meaning hereby that life though neuer so loathsome is better then death though neuer so welcome whereby I conclude Gwydonius that to liue earefully is better then to die desperately Gwydonius perceiuing that Castanias parle was nothing to the purpose and that shée toucht not that point wherof he desired most to be absolued but meant to shake him off with a sléeuelesse answere began to drawe her to the Trap with this traine MAdame Castania quoth hée I confesse that rashnesse neuer raigneth without repentance nor hastie hazarding without haplesse harmes that hée which aduentureth desperate dangers is a foole and he that passeth ineuitable perils is worse then an Asse yet from these so generall rules Madame I exempt these particular exceptions namely Loue and Necessitie which two are tyed within no bounds nor limited within no law for whom the diuell driues hée must néedes runne be the passage neuer so perillous and whom Loue or Necessity forceth hee must venture bee the daunger neuer so desperate for as there is no enterprise so easie which to an vnwilling man seemeth not very hard to be atchieued so there is no encounter so cumbersome where will wisheth that séemeth not passing easie to bee performed now this will is with nothing sooner pricked forward than eyther with the force of loue or sting of necessity So that whosoeuer aduentureth in a daunger though neuer so desperate is not to be blamed if inforced by fancy or incouraged by affection and especially where the perill is in possibility to bee passed without death and in the performance thereof the possession of such a prize as the passionate person more estéemeth than lands limbs or life it selfe be it neuer so swéet In which case Madame my cause consisteth For the Lady who was an heauenly obiect to my gazing eyes was so beautified with the giftes of nature and so perfectly polished with more than naturall perfection that with the onelie view of such diuine beautie my senses were so besotted my wit and will so inueigled my affection so inflamed and my fréedome so fettered yea loue alreadie hath made so great a breach into the bulwarke of my breast that to obtaine so gorgious a Goddesse I thought death no daunger though neuer so direfull nor losse of life no torment though neuer so terrible Indéed Gwydonius quoth Thersandro I agrée with thée in this point that there is no carpet Knight so cowardly that would not passe more perillous pikes to possesse so liuely a Dame as thou doest decipher nor no dastarde so daunted with dreade which woulde not greatly indanger himselfe to enioy so louely a damsell in the fruition of whome consisteth nothing but ioy blisse rest contentation of minde delight happinesse yea all earchly felicity And yet Sir quoth Gwydonius your Sister Castania condemnes me of folly in venturing for so precious a prize when as hope perswaded me that no hazard could be haplesse and assured me that Loue and Fortune fauoureth them that are bolde that the gods themselues seeing my perplexed passions wold of pitty defend me from those perilous daungers For if Theseus by Diuine power were ayded against the force of the monstrous Minotaure or if Iason who constrayned with a couetous desire to obtaine the golden Fléece arriuing at Colchos was preserued by the gods from the
one of her maids a friendly Letter to this effect Disdained Gwydonius to his desired Castania health WHoso tasteth Madam Castania of the riuer Licos in India féeleth such a continual flame to frie fret his entrailes as it is more torture than to bée tormented with the hellish furies and this griefe can neuer bee redressed but with drinking the bloud of his déerest friend And as he that is venomed with the Phalanga féeleth such painful passions as he runneth mad and is onely cured by means of most harmonious Musicke So Madame the furious heate of fancy doth so scorch and scalde my haplesse heart and doth perplexe me wish such hellish pangues as death it selfe were thrice more desired than thus to driue my dayes in dolour And I haue so gréedily swallowed vp the sugred poyson of yourdinine beautie as through the extremity of pinching griefe which so direfully distresseth mee I rest as one distract from his senses not possible to obtain a cure for this my calamitie vnlesse with the deawe of mutuall affection you mitigate my maladie or with the pleasant harmonie of your musicall consent you appease my misery Sith then Madam my care procéedeth from your beautie let my sore be cared by your bounty sith the perfection of your person hath wrought my bane let the effect of your courteste procure my blisse and reiect him not so rigorously which respecteth you so reuerently loath him not so hatefully which loueth you so heartily nor repay not his dutifull amity with such deadly enmitie The pike fatally prosecuteth the fish Maâ—gra as his mortall foe and yet séeing him snared on the fishers hooke he spéedily shreddeth the line in sunder to deliuer him the Snake most deadly detesteth the field mouse and yet she heapeth vp in her hole store of prouision to preuent her enemies penurie and shall then Madame your crueltie so farre excéede these senselesse creatures shall your rigour be so voyd of reason as to requite your friend with paine when they repaie their foes with pleasure to driue your friends into distresse when they redéeme their foes from danger no Madame I hope you will not counteruaile my constancy with such discurtesie nor so recklesly regarde your poore Gwydonius whose loue and loyalty is so great that as the stones which are found in the Riuer Lyncestis the lowder the winde bloweth and the déeper they are drencht in the water the more they burne and blaze so the more you séek to coole my fancy with disdaine the more my affection is kindled with desire the more you loath the more I like the greater despayre you driue me into by denials that greater hope incouraged by constancie I haue to obtain my request in which feruent affection I meane to remayne without chaunge crauing in liewe of this my loyaltie that you will spéedily fend the messenger of present consolation to him which pineth away and is yours onely and euer Still in hope Gwydonius CAstania hauing receiued this Letter from her assured friend Gwydonius although she perceiued by the coÌ„tents that his loue was not counterfait but constant not light but loyall not floting but faithfull and that shee should not finde him immutable in prosperitie which was so permanent in aduersity Yet whether it were for coynesse in consent or charinesse of choyse I know not shee once againe thought to sound him more déeper to kéep out still the flagge of destance and to spend one Vollee of shot in the face of her enemy to see if a hot skirmish woulde make him flie the fielde And if like a valiant souldier hee did manfully march on and not refuse the brunt of the battaile she would then resigne the fort of her freedome into his hands and yéeld vp the bulwarke of her breast which so long he had battered that triumphantly he might set vp Trophees in signe of most victorious conquest To put therefore the matter in question shee returned him this answere Castania to Gwydonius which hopeth in vaine health MAster Gwydonius you Letter being more hastily receiued then heartily read I perceiue by the contents that you are still perplexed with your pen-sicke passions and that your disease is incurable for if your paines may bes appeased or your maladie mitigated by no medicine but by my means you are like either to pay your due vnto death or stil to linger in distresse My cunning is too small to enterprise the composition of any secret simples and my calling too great to become a Physition to such a paltering patient so that I neyther can nor wil cure another mans harm by mine owne mishap To loue him whom I cannot like were but to wrestle against mine owne will to flatter him whom I mean not to fancie is but a méere tricke of extream folly What the cause is Gwydonius that thy good will reaps so small gain and that so rigorously I repaie thy loue with hate I know not vnlesse the constellation of the Starres by some secret influence haue so appointed it in the calculation of our natiuety But this I am sure that as no Serpent can abide the smell of a Harts horne as the Panther escheweth the companie of the Ownce as the Vulture is mortall enemy to the Eele and as it is impossible to hatch vp a Swan in an Eagles neast to temper Oyle and Pitch together in one vessell to mixe the bloud of a Lyon and a Woolfe in one bowle and to procure amitie betwéene the Fawlcon called Tilo and the Foxe so hard is it to procure mee by ruthfull request to be thy friend which am by instinct of nature thy professed foe and as hard to winne me to thy Wife who so little likes of thy loue that the verie remembrance of thy person makes me fall into most hatefull passions Cease then Gwydonius to condemne me of crueltie and leaue off at last to appeale to my curtesie for thou shalt alwaies be sure to féele the one and neuer to finde the other Yet least thou shouldest accuse me of ingratitude though I caÌ„not inwardly mitigate thy miserie yet I will outwardly teach thee to apply such plaisters as if the experience of them proue true shall greatly appease thy paine Plinie Gwydonius reporteth that he which drinketh of the riuer Aucrna cooleth and mortifieth his affections but if the water be toucht by any meanes before it be drunke the vertue thereof is of no value He that weareth the feathers of the bird Ezalon about him shall euer be fortunate in his loue but if they be not puld when the Sunne is eclipsed they are of no forer and to conclude there is nothing that sooner driueth away amorous conceites then to rub the temples of thy head with the sweat of an asse which if you can performe if as no doubt you may put it in practice I hope you shal be redressed from your intolerable griefe and I released from such an importunate sute Forced by the destinies still to denie thee Castania
my deniall was onely for thy better tryall and those rigorous repulses were either to rip vp thy fained fancie or seruent affection for if thou hadst retired at the first foyle I woulde haue thought thy fancie but a flash ready to be quenched with the least misling deaw of misfortune But since thou hast kept thy course so rightly by thy compasse amidst most daungerous rockes and hast stoode to thy tackling against all the blustering blastes of Fortune Assure thy selfe in lieu of this thy loue thou hast not héeretofore found mée so disdainfull as hèereafter thou shalt finde me dutifull neither did I euer reiect thée so currishly as I will accept thée curteously béeing ready to restore the iniury I haue offered thée with any curtesie that thou mayest either honestly require or I iustly affoord But alasse Gwydonius what curtesie shall I euer be able to shew thée that may counteruaile thy kindnesse How entirely shall I loue thée to requite thy loyaltie What duetie can bee a due recompence to this thy good will yea if by any meanes I can quit this thy loue I neuer doubt to bee déemed ingratefull while I liue Thy worthy constancie Gvvidonius hath won the castle which many haue besieged and thou hast obteined that which diuerse haue sought to gaine yet it is not the shape of thy beautie but the hope of thy loyaltie which entiseth me not thy faire face but thy faithfull heart not thy comly countenance but thy modest curtesie not thy wordes but thy vertues not thy wealth but thy wit for she that builds her fancy vpon such fading subiects tieth her loue to the incōstant whéele of Fortune And what though the duke my father bee incensed against me for making in his mind so carelesse a choise What care I for his friendship so I haue thy fauour let him fret let my friends frowne let liuings be lost hap what hap will no misling showers of mischāce no baysterous blasts of aduersitie no terrible tempest of disaster fortune shall make my constant minde in any respect to mooue no torments no trauaile no care no calamitie no penurie no pouertie no onely the losse of life shal diminish my loue in lieu wherof remaine thou but constant and in pledge of my protested good wil haue héere my heart and hand to be thine in dust and ashes Thine though the Gods say no Castania THis Letter béeing most luckily deliuered into the hands of Gwydonius I leaue you to iudge Gentlemen into what a quandarie this yong youth was brought to sée such a sodaine change and so happie a chaunce as to haue his hellish bale requited with heauenly blisse his despightfull annoy with delightfull ioy his heauinesse with happinesse and doubtfull despaire turned to assured hope to sée Fortune which of late deffed him as a foe nowe to imbrace him as a friend and to will that hee did wish to sée his mistresse crueltie turned to curtesie her disdaine to desire her bitter pilles to sugered potions her stormie repulses to calme consent and her contemptuous protestations to most constant promises For if the carefull captiue who by the doome of the Iudge expecteth each houre to die reioyceth when he heareth his pardon pronoūced no doubt Gwydonius ioy could be no lesse sith denial was his death and consent the conserue to heale his woundes the greater care the greater ioy the more paine the greater pleasure the more hellish miserie the more heauenly felicitie Yea Gwydonius was driuen into such an extasie for ioy that he was in doubt whether this Letter was preferred to him indéede or presented to him in a vision whether he were rapt into a traunce or rauished with some drowsie slumber but at last perceiuing it to be no fained fantasie such a déep desire inforced his affection as he thought euerie moment a moneth euerie houre a yeare euerie day a thousand vntill he might fréely enioy the presence sight of his loue and Ladie Castania Fortune meaning to aduance him to the toppe of her inconstant whéele brought it so to passe that before the wéeke was ended he spied Castania walking alone in the garden which sodain sight so reuiued his senses that without any dread or doubt he māfully marcht on towards her and was as hastily and hartily incountred by Castania who embracing Gwydonius in her armes welcommed him with this salutation As the Whale Gwydonius maketh alwaies signe of great ioy at the sight of the fish called Talpa Marina as that Hinde greatly delighteth to sée the Leopard as the Lyon fawneth at the view of the Vnicorne as he which drinketh of the Fountaine Hipenis in Scythia féeleth his mind so drowned in delight that no griefe thogh neuer so great is able to asswage it so Gwydonius I conceiue such surpassing pleasure in thy presence and such heauenly felicitie in the sight of thy perfection that no miserie though neuer so monstrous is able to amaze mée no dolour though neuer so direfull is able to daunt mée nor no mishappe though neuer so perillous is able to make me sinke in sorrow as long as I enioy thy presence which I count a soueraine preseruatiue against all carefull calamities That as he which tasteth of the hearb Hyacinthus is neuer combred with care and as he that weareth the stone Agathes about him is surely defenced against all ensuing sorrows so enioying the sight of thy séemely selfe and féeding mine eyes with the forme of thy feature I thinke my selfe sufficiently shrowded against all the tempestuous showers of sinister fortune And to proue these my promises to bee no fained vanities but faithfull veritie I commit my selfe my staie and state into thy handes to dispose of me at thy pleasure wishing rather to liue with thee in most distressed penurie than to linger héere in most fortunate prospeperitie Gwydonius listening attentiuely to this sugred harmonie was so rauished with the sight of her swéete face and so rapt into a traunce with the contemplation of her beauty that as the Lyon tasting of the gumme Arabicke becommeth senselesse as the Bull by browsing on the barke of a Iuniper trée falleth asléepe as the Camell standeth astonished at y◠sight of a Rat so Gwydonius séeing in his armes the Saint whome in heart he did honour and imbracing y◠Goddesse whom with most déep deuotion he did adore was so amazed that he was not able to vtter one word as witnesse of his happinesse vntill at last gathering his wits together he began thus to reply CAstania quoth he it is an axiome in Philosophie that the colour ioyned hard to the sight hindreth the sense the flower put into the nosethrill stoppeth the smelling the Wine vessell being full lett es passe no Wine though neuer so well vented the waterpot being filled to the brim yéeldes forth no licour though hauing a thousand holes so where the minde is surcharged with ouermuch ioy or too much pleasure there the tongue is both tyed and the senses so
I owe to my father makes mée faint for feare but once to imagine so brutish a fact the loue I owe to Castania constrayneth me to defend the combat if Iupiter himselfe made the challenge And is not fond foole necessitie aboue nature is not the lawe of loue aboue King or Keyzar Father or Friends God or the diuell Yes And so I mean to take it for either I will valiantly winne the conquest and my Castania or lose the victory and so by death end my miseries With that the Trumpets sound and Gwydoniu lustily leaping into the lists fell presently into furious fight with his Father driuing not onely Fernandus and Orlanio but also both the armies into a great doubt For although Clerophontes most cruelly prosecuted him yet he alwaies receiued the strokes but neuer so much as once returned one blow til at last looking aloft spying Castania his courage increased that all feare set aside he carelesly slang away his sword and shield and ran vpon his Father not only tearing from him his Target but violently casting him vpon the ground and spéedily vnlacing his helmet offered to cut off his head with his owne sword but Clerophontes crying out confessed himselfe captiue and graunted his enemy the conquest Wherupon they of Alexandria gaue a mighty showt and Fernandus and Orlanio came downe ready to carrie Clerophontes captiue to the Cittie But Gwydonius first demaunded of Orlanio if he was content to perform that which he promised by proclamation to whō Fernandus answered that both hee would and should or else as he was his friend so he would be his fo Gwydonius hearing this faithfull assertion of the King pulling downe his heauer began to speak in this manner I Let thee Orlanio quoth hée and the worthy king of Bohemia to know that I am Gwydonius sonne and heire to this conquered Clerophontes who for the loue of thy Daughter Castania haue not spared contrary to the law of nature to fight with mine owne Father hoping the destinies by my meanes haue decréed not onely of fatall foes to make you faithfull friends but to finish vp your loue which otherwise could not haue béen performed I haue wonne Orlanio my Fathers Dukedome by victory and thy daughter by conquest the one I had before by inheritance and the other by loue yet I would willingly haue thy good will which if thou grant I hope my father wil both pardon my offence and think well of my proffer Clerophontes kissing and embracing Gwydonius told him his care whas half cured in that such a good captain had wonne the conquest Fernandus and Orlanio stoode astonished at this strange Tragedy doubting whether they dreamt of such a rare deuise or saw it in effect At last Orlanio as one wakened out of a trance with trickling tears imbraced Clerophontes honoring him as his soueraigne and promising not onely to giue Castania to Gwydonius bus also halfe his Dukedome in dowrie Clerophontes thanking him for his curtesie consented most willingly to this motion so that before Fernandus departed the marriage betwéen Gwydonius and Castania Thersandro and Lewcippa was most sumptuously solemnlzed FINIS The Debate betweene Follie and Loue translated out of French by ROBERT GREEN Maister of Artes. The ARGVMENT IVpiter made a great Feast at the which all the gods were commanded to be present Loue and Folly arriue at one instant at the gate of the palace which was shut hauing nothing open but the wicket Folly seeing Loue readie to enter in passeth before which repulse driueth Loue into choler Folly auoucheth that of right she ought to be the foremost Whereupon they enter into disputation of their power dignity and superioritie But Loue not able to get the conquest by words taketh his bowe in hand and shooteth at hir but in vaine for Folly became inuisible and in despight pulleth out Cupids eyes And for to couer this deformity shadoweth his face with a vaile so framed by the Destinies that is was not possible to take it away Venus complayneth of Folly vnto Iupiter who appointeth Apollo Mercury to pleade the case of these two Clients whose discourse being heard hee pronounceth his sentence FOLLIE I Fear greatly that I shal be the last at that feast of Iupiter where all the gods no doubt do attend me And yet me think I sée the sonne of Venus which is as late as I. I will passe before him least they call me sluggish and slothfull Loue. VVHat soole is this that repulseth mee so rudely Take héede least haste make waste and that thy rashnesse cause thée not to cry Peccaui Folly Oh sir blame me not though I make haste for I go before to tell the gods that you come at leisure Loue. Nay that which is easily begun is not alwaies lightly ended for before you escape me I wil reuenge this thy iniurious iesting Follie. Let mee goe fond Loue and state mée not for as it is a shame to quarrell with a woman so it is more discredit to take the foile Loue. The foile What boasting brags be these Who hath euer aduentured to despise me much lesse to defie me But doest thou know what I am Folly Thou art Cupid the Sonne of Venus Loue. How darest thou then vaunt thy selfe against mée which how little so euer I bee am the most redoubted of all the gods Folly Thy words are great whatsoeuer thy works be but tell me what or wherein lieth this thy great power Loue. The heauens and the earth fond foole are witnesses of my words there is no place where I haue not left Trophées in signe of triumph Looke into heauen and demand if anie of the gods haue escaped my hands Begin with olde Saturne Iupiter Mars Apollo and end with the demi gods Satyres Fawnes and Syluans Nay the goddesses themselues will not shame to confesse somewhat Looke vpon the earth and sée if thou canst finde one which hath not béene foyled by my meanes Behold in the furious Seas how Neptune his Tritons doe pield me obeisance Yea and lastly looke into Hell it selfe if I haue not forced Pluto that infernall Prince to steale away Proserpina the daughter of Ceres And to that end thou doubt not with what engines I haue atchieued these victories behold this bowe and these arrowes only which haue wonne me these worthie conquests I haue no néede that Vulcan do temper my tooles I am not accompanied with the Furies Harpies to cause me to bée feared before the combat I haue not to do with Chariots Souldiours Captaines men of armes nor great troupes of Horsmen without the which mortall men cannot triumph No I haue no other counsaile munition nor aide but my selfe When I sée mine enemies in the fielde I present my selfe with my bowe and let flie my boltes and the victorie is alwaies gotten at the first stroke Folly I excuse thy youthfull yéeres poore Cupide or else I woulde blaze thée for the most presumptuous patch in the world It séemeth by
stead of some braue Gentleman I strike some filthie lurden And it shall happen I doubt that they shal be most fortunate in their loue so that by patrimony presence or wealth they shall soonest winne the fauour of women and by this meanes my kingdome shall come to ruine when men sée in it such disorder and cuill gouernment Venus hauing long sought Cupid now meeteth him I Haue carefully long sought thée my déere sonne maruelling what the cause should bee that thou hast not béene present at the banket of Iupiter Who is greatly incensed against thée not only for thy absence but for the coÌ„plaints which are powred out against thée by sundrie poore artificers laboring men peasants slaues hand-maids old men and toothlesse aged women crying all vnto Iupiter that they loue thinking themselues greatly iniured in this respect that the passion which is proper to worthy and Noble men should be inflicted vpon them which are of the base and vilest sort Loue. Had not the great misfortune which is chaunced vnto me happened I had neither béen absent from the banquet nor their gréeuous complaints had not béene inserred against me Venus Why And art thou hurt Who hath thus vailed thine eyes Loue. Folly hath not onely pulled them out but also hath put this band before mine eyes which can neuer be taken away Venus O cursed enemy of all wisedome O haplesse wretch vniustly called a goddesse and more vnrightly tearmed immortal hast thou depriued me of my chiefest delight and felicity O disaster loue O dissolute mother O wofull Venus who séest thy sonne thy ioy and only care thus cruelly depriued of his sight Well since thy mishappe is so great I vowe that euery one that shall loue what fauour or happy successe soeuer he shall haue shall not be without some care trouble or calamitie that he vaunt not himselfe to be more happie than the sonne of Venus Loue. Cease off good mother from these sorrowful complaints and redouble not my griefe by these dolorous discourses suffer mee to beare mine owne misfortune and wish not euill vnto them which shall be my subiects Venus Well let vs then go to Iupiter and complaine of this cursed inchantresse The third Discourse Venus It euer thou haddest pittie of my plaintes most iust Iupiter when thou sawest me labour to saue my sonne Aeneas from the furie of the raging seas and to defend him from other dangers in the which hée was present at the siege of Troy If my teares for the death of my deare Adonis moued thee to compassion The surpassing sorrow that I doe conceiue for the great iniurie offered to Cupid I hope shall mooue thée to pittie If teares wold suffer me I would bewray the cause of my sorrow but behold my son in what plight hee is and thou shalt easily perceiue the cause of my complaint Iupiter Alasse my béere daughter what doe these teares preuaile knowest thou not what fatherly affection I haue alwaies borne thee what doest thou distrust that I will not succour thee or that I cannot Venus No I neither doubt the one nor distrust the other only demaund iustice against Follie the most outragious Furie in the worlde which hath thus grieuously abuted Cupid Folly Most mightie and soueraigne Iupiter behold I am here ready to answere to Venus complaints and to debate my right against Cupid Iupiter Folly I will neither accuse nor excuse thée vntill I haue heard the defence of the one as well as the plaint of the other least I should be thought partiall neither for the more auoiding of iniustice in the matter will I suffer you to pleade your owne causes but Venus choose you one of the Gods and Folly take you another Venus I choose Apollo to defend my cause Follie. And I Mercurie to maintaine my right Iupiter Then Apollo Mercurie prepare your selues to plead well in your clientes cases and Apollo since you take the plaintifes part let vs heare what you can say Apollo THe common people right soueraign Iupiter although their minds be sotted and almost senselesse yet they haue alway had loue in such sacred estimation that they haue carefully rewarded them with the titles of honor and dignitie which haue excelled in that holy affection estéeming this onely vertue if so rightly it may bee tearmed sufficient of a man to make one a God The Scythians for this cause canonized Pilades and Orestes erecting temples vnto them and calling them the Gods of amitie Castor and Pollux were made immortall by this meanes not in that they were brothers but in that which is rare their loue was inuiolable How hath same blazed abroad the loue of Dauid and Ionathan the amitie of Pythias and Damon and of Titus and Gisippus But the better to make manifest the force of loue and amitie I will alledge the saying of Darius who opening a Pomgranate being demanded whereof hee would haue as manie as there were graines wtin answered of Zopyres this Zopyrus was his faithful friend by the meanes of whom he conquered Babylon I remember also a certaine Syrian demaunding a mayd in mariage being willed to shewe of what wealth hee was said that he had no other riches but two friendes esteeming himselfe rich inough with such possessions to craue the daughter of a great Lord in marriage Did not loue cause Ariadne saue Theseus life Hyperminestra redéeme Linceus froÌ„ danger and Medea frée Iason from perill Haue not many poore soldiers béen aduanced to high dignities by the meanes of loue Yea doth not all pleasure and profit procéed to man by loue causing him to looke with an amiable countenance to speake pleasantly and to bee curious in his gestures although by nature he be dull sottish and of a fierce looke What causeth a man to go braue and fine in his apparell seeking euerie day new fashions but loue What procureth Gentlewomen to haue their haire frizled crisped embrodered with gold to be dressed after the Spanish French or Italian fashion but Loue Painting their faces if they be foule with liuely colours But if they be faire they so carefully kéepe their beautie from the parching heate of summer from the chilling cold of Winâ—ter from the winde raine and aire as they remaine almost euer young not so much as forgetting to haue theirshooes made fine and neate because the curiousnesse of men is such as they leaue not to looke from the crowne of the head to the sole of the foote to haue their gemmes iewels ouches rings perfumed gloues what not In fine what beautie or brauerie is in the apparell either of man or woman all procéedeth of Loue. Shall I say that Musicke was onely inuented by loue yea truly for either it mitigateth the passions wherewith men are perplexed or else augmenteth their pleasure so that daily they inuent diuerse kindes of instruments as Lutes Citrons Violls Flutes Cornets Banderas wheron they play Madrigalls Sonnetts Pauins Measures Galliardes and all these in remembrance of Loue