The Alchemist Ben Jonson (different e readers TXT) š
- Author: Ben Jonson
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Youāll send us shares ināt, by this rate? Dapper
By Jove, sir,
Iāll win ten thousand pound, and send you half.
Iāfacās no oath.
No, no, he did but jest.
FaceGo to. Go thank the Doctor: heās your friend,
To take it so.
I thank his worship.
FaceSo!
Another angel.
Must I?
FaceMust you! āSlight,
What else is thanks? Will you be trivial?ā āDoctor,
Dapper gives him the money.
When must he come for his familiar?
Shall I not have it with me?
SubtleO, good sir!
There must a world of ceremonies pass;
You must be bathed and fumigated first:
Besides the Queen of Fairy does not rise
Till it be noon.
Not, if she danced, tonight.
SubtleAnd she must bless it.
FaceDid you never see
Her royal Grace yet?
Whom?
FaceYour aunt of Fairy?
SubtleNot since she kissed him in the cradle, Captain;
I can resolve you that.
Well, see her Grace,
Whateāer it cost you, for a thing that I know.
It will be somewhat hard to compass; but
However, see her. You are made, believe it,
If you can see her. Her Grace is a lone woman,
And very rich; and if she take a fancy,
She will do strange things. See her, at any hand.
āSlid, she may hap to leave you all she has:
It is the Doctorās fear.
How willāt be done, then?
FaceLet me alone, take you no thought. Do you
But say to me, Captain, Iāll see her Grace.
āCaptain, Iāll see her Grace.ā
FaceEnough.
Knocking within. SubtleWhoās there?
Anon.
Aside to Face.
āConduct him forth by the back way.ā ā
Sir, against one oāclock prepare yourself;
Till when you must be fasting; only take
Three drops of vinegar in at your nose,
Two at your mouth, and one at either ear;
Then bathe your fingersā ends and wash your eyes,
To sharpen your five senses, and cry āhumā
Thrice, and then ābuzā as often; and then come.
Can you remember this?
DapperI warrant you.
FaceWell then, away. It is but your bestowing
Some twenty nobles āmong her Graceās servants,
And put on a clean shirt: you do not know
What grace her Grace may do you in clean linen.
Within. Come in! Good wives, I pray you forbear me now;
Troth I can do you no good till afternoonā ā
What is your name, say you? Abel Drugger?
DruggerYes, sir.
SubtleA seller of tobacco?
DruggerYes, sir.
SubtleUmph!
Free of the grocers?
Ay, andāt please you.
SubtleWellā ā
Your business, Abel?
This, andāt please your worship;
I am a young beginner, and am building
Of a new shop, andāt like your worship, just
At corner of a street:ā āHere is the plot onātā ā
And I would know by art, sir, of your worship,
Which way I should make my door, by necromancy,
And where my shelves; and which should be for boxes,
And which for pots. I would be glad to thrive, sir:
And I was wished to your worship by a gentleman,
One Captain Face, that says you know menās planets,
And their good angels, and their bad.
I do,
If I do see themā ā
What! My honest Abel?
Though art well met here.
Troth, sir, I was speaking,
Just as your worship came here, of your worship:
I pray you speak for me to Master Doctor.
He shall do anything.ā āDoctor, do you hear?
This is my friend, Abel, an honest fellow;
He lets me have good tobacco, and he does not
Sophisticate it with sack-lees or oil,
Nor washes it in muscadel and grains,
Nor buries it in gravel, under ground,
Wrapped up in greasy leather, or pissed clouts:
But keeps it in fine lily pots, that, opened,
Smell like conserve of roses, or French beans.
He has his maple block, his silver tongs,
Winchester pipes, and fire of Juniper:
A neat, spruce, honest fellow, and no goldsmith.
He is a fortunate fellow, that I am sure on.
FaceAlready, sir, have you found it? Lo thee, Abel!
SubtleAnd in right way toward richesā ā
FaceSir!
SubtleThis summer
He will be of the clothing of his company,
And next spring called to the scarlet; spend what he can.
What, and so little beard?
SubtleSir, you must think,
He may have a receipt to make hair come:
But heāll be wise, preserve his youth, and fine forāt;
His fortune looks for him another way.
āSlid, Doctor, how canst thou know this so soon?
I am amused at that!
By a rule, Captain,
In metoposcopy, which I do work by;
A certain star in the forehead, which you see not.
Your chestnut or your olive-coloured face
Does never fail: and your long ear doth promise.
I knewāt by certain spots, too, in his teeth,
And on the nail of his mercurial finger.
Which fingerās that?
SubtleHis little finger. Look.
You were born upon a Wednesday?
Yes, indeed, sir.
SubtleThe thumb, in chiromancy, we give Venus;
The forefinger, to Jove; the midst, to Saturn;
The ring, to Sol; the least, to Mercury,
Who was the lord, sir, of his horoscope,
His house of life being Libra; which foreshowed,
He should be a merchant, and should trade with balance.
Why, this is strange! Is it not, honest Nab?
SubtleThere is a ship now, coming from Ormus,
That shall yield him such a commodity
Of drugs
Pointing to the plan.
āThis is the west, and this the south?
Yes, sir.
SubtleAnd those are your two sides?
DruggerAy, sir.
SubtleMake me your door, then, south; your broad side, west:
And on the east side of your shop, aloft,
Write Mathlai, Tarmiel, and Baraborat;
Upon the north part, Rael, Velel, Thiel.
They are the names of those mercurial spirits,
That do fright flies from boxes.
Yes, sir.
SubtleAnd
Beneath your threshold, bury me a loadstone
To draw in gallants that wear spurs: the rest,
Theyāll seem to follow.
Thatās a secret, Nab!
SubtleAnd, on your stall, a puppet, with a vice
And a court-fucus to call city-dames:
You shall deal much with minerals.
Sir, I have.
At home, alreadyā ā
Ay, I know you have arsenic,
Vitriol, sal-tartar, argaile, alkali,
Cinoper: I know all.ā āThis fellow, Captain,
Will come, in time, to be a great distiller,
And give a sayā āI will not say directly,
But very fairā āat
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