As You Like It: Act 2, Scene 5
Enter AMIENS, JAQUES, and others.
Song.
[AMIENS]
1
Under the greenwood tree 2
Who loves to lie with me,3-4. And turn his merry note / Unto the sweet bird's throat: i.e., And sing like a bird.
3
And turn his merry note 4
Unto the sweet bird's throat, 5
Come hither, come hither, come hither: 6
Here shall he see 7
No enemy 8
But winter and rough weather.
JAQUES
9
More, more, I prithee, more.
AMIENS
10
It will make you melancholy, Monsieur 11
Jaques.
JAQUES
12
I thank it. More, I prithee, more. I can suck 13
melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks 14
eggs. More, I prithee, more.
AMIENS
15. ragged: raspy.
15
My voice is ragged: I know I cannot please 16
you.
JAQUES
17
I do not desire you to please me; I do desire 18. stanzo: Jaques may be mocking the musicians by pretending not to remember the word "stanza."
18
you to sing. Come, more; another stanzo: call 19
you 'em stanzos?
AMIENS
20
What you will, Monsieur Jaques.
JAQUES
21-22. Nay, I care not for their names; they / owe me nothing: Jaques' sarcastic point is that names are only important when they are the names of debtors who have signed a contract.
21
Nay, I care not for their names; they 22
owe me nothing. Will you sing?
AMIENS
23
More at your request than to please 24
myself.
JAQUES
25
Well then, if ever I thank any man, I'll thank26-27. compliment: courtesy, good manners. dog-apes: baboons. Jaques is being a jerk . . . 27-29. when a man / thanks me heartily, methinks I have given him / a penny and he renders me the beggarly thanks: Jaques continues his abuse of Amiens . . .
26
you; but that they call compliment is like the 27
encounter of two dog-apes, and when a man 28
thanks me heartily, methinks I have given him 29
a penny and he renders me the beggarly thanks. 30
Come, sing; and you that will not, hold your tongues.
AMIENS
31. cover the while: i.e., set the table while the song is being sung. 32-33. He hath been all / this day to look you: He's been looking for you all day.
31
Well, I'll end the song. Sirs, cover the while; the 32
duke will drink under this tree. He hath been all 33
this day to look you.
JAQUES
34-35. He is / too disputable for my company: He is too fond of argument for me. Ironically, it is Jaques who is "disputable"; he makes one contrary remark after another. He doesn't, however, like having a worthy opponent.
34
And I have been all this day to avoid him. He is 35
too disputable for my company: I think of as many 36
matters as he, but I give heaven thanks and make 37
no boast of them. Come, warble, come.Song. [All together here.]
38
Who doth ambition shun39. live i' the sun: i.e., live a free, open-air life.
39
And loves to live i' the sun, 40
Seeking the food he eats 41
And pleased with what he gets, 42
Come hither, come hither, come hither: 43
Here shall he see 44
No enemy 45
But winter and rough weather.
JAQUES
46. note: tune.
46
I'll give you a verse to this note that I made47. in despite of my invention: in spite of my lack of imagination.
47
yesterday in despite of my invention.
AMIENS
48
And I'll sing it.
JAQUES
49
Thus it goes: 50
If it do come to pass 51
That any man turn ass, 52
Leaving his wealth and ease, 53
A stubborn will to please,54. Ducdame: The most persuasive explanation of this unique word is that it's simply something Jaques made up to, as he says, "call fools into a circle," and thus show that he's smarter than everyone else. 57. An if: if only.
54
Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame! 55
Here shall he see 56
Gross fools as he, 57
An if he will come to me.
AMIENS
58
What's that 'ducdame'?
JAQUES
59. Greek: i.e., gobbledeygook.
59
'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a 60
circle. I'll go sleep, if I can; if I cannot, I'll61. first-born of Egypt: For the cruel story of how God killed all the first-born of Egypt in an attempt to persuade the Pharaoh to release the Israelites from captivity . . .
61
rail against all the first-born of Egypt.
AMIENS
62. banquet: i.e., light repast of fruit, sweetmeats, and wine.
62
And I'll go seek the duke: his banquet is 63
prepared.
Exeunt.