Act 2, Scene 5: The same. A street

SCENE V. The same. A street.

    Enter SPEED and LAUNCE severally

SPEED

    Launce! by mine honesty, welcome to Milan!

LAUNCE

    Forswear not thyself, sweet youth, for I am not
    welcome. I reckon this always, that a man is never
    undone till he be hanged, nor never welcome to a
    place till some certain shot be paid and the hostess
    say 'Welcome!'

SPEED

    Come on, you madcap, I'll to the alehouse with you
    presently; where, for one shot of five pence, thou
    shalt have five thousand welcomes. But, sirrah, how
    did thy master part with Madam Julia?

LAUNCE

    Marry, after they closed in earnest, they parted very
    fairly in jest.

SPEED

    But shall she marry him?

LAUNCE

    No.

SPEED

    How then? shall he marry her?

LAUNCE

    No, neither.

SPEED

    What, are they broken?

LAUNCE

    No, they are both as whole as a fish.

SPEED

    Why, then, how stands the matter with them?

LAUNCE

    Marry, thus: when it stands well with him, it
    stands well with her.

SPEED

    What an ass art thou! I understand thee not.

LAUNCE

    What a block art thou, that thou canst not! My
    staff understands me.

SPEED

    What thou sayest?

LAUNCE

    Ay, and what I do too: look thee, I'll but lean,
    and my staff understands me.

SPEED

    It stands under thee, indeed.

LAUNCE

    Why, stand-under and under-stand is all one.

SPEED

    But tell me true, will't be a match?

LAUNCE

    Ask my dog: if he say ay, it will! if he say no,
    it will; if he shake his tail and say nothing, it will.

SPEED

    The conclusion is then that it will.

LAUNCE

    Thou shalt never get such a secret from me but by a parable.

SPEED

    'Tis well that I get it so. But, Launce, how sayest
    thou, that my master is become a notable lover?

LAUNCE

    I never knew him otherwise.

SPEED

    Than how?

LAUNCE

    A notable lubber, as thou reportest him to be.

SPEED

    Why, thou whoreson ass, thou mistakest me.

LAUNCE

    Why, fool, I meant not thee; I meant thy master.

SPEED

    I tell thee, my master is become a hot lover.

LAUNCE

    Why, I tell thee, I care not though he burn himself
    in love. If thou wilt, go with me to the alehouse;
    if not, thou art an Hebrew, a Jew, and not worth the
    name of a Christian.

SPEED

    Why?

LAUNCE

    Because thou hast not so much charity in thee as to
    go to the ale with a Christian. Wilt thou go?

SPEED

    At thy service.

    Exeunt

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