Page:Romeo and Juliet (Dowden).djvu/128

Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away.

Nurse.

Peter, stay at the gate.[Exit Peter.[C 1]20

Jul.	Now, good sweet nurse, O Lord, why look'st thou sad? Though news be sad, yet tell them[E 1] merrily; If good, thou sham'st the music of sweet news By playing it to me with so sour a face.

Nurse.

I am aweary; give me leave[C 2] awhile:25 Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunt[C 3][E 2] have I had![C 4]

Jul.	I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news. Nay, come, I pray thee, speak ; good, good nurse, speak.

Nurse.

Jesu, what haste? can you not stay awhile? Do you not see that I am out of breath?30

Jul.

How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath To say to me that thou art out of breath? The excuse that thou dost make in this delay Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse. Is thy news good, or bad? answer to that;35 Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance;[E 3] Let me be satisfied, is't good or bad?

Nurse.

Well,[C 5] you have made a simple[E 4] choice; you know not how to choose a man. Romeo! no,

1. 20. Exit Peter] Theobald; omitted Q, F.
2. 25. give me leave] Q, F; let me rest Q 1.
3. 26. jaunt] Q 1, Q 4, F; iaunce Q;
4. had] F, omitted Q.
5. 38–47.] verse Capell.

1. 22. them] Rolfe: "Shakespeare makes news both singular and plural"; for the latter, compare Much Ado, I. ii. 4–6.
2. 26. jaunt] The variant jaunce appears in Q again in line 54. Compare Richard II. V. v. 94. Q 1 reads: "Lord how my bones ake. Oh where's my men? Give me some aqua vitæ."
3. 36. circumstance] I'll wait for details; compare v. iii. 180.
4. 38. simple] silly, as often in Shakespeare.