Page:As You Like It (1919) Yale.djvu/133

121  undone three tailors. I.e., 'like a true courtier, I have ruined three tailors by not paying my bills.'

 desire like. I.e., 'I desire this "like" of yours.' With a quibble on 'like' as an adjective.

 book. There were several books on fencing and the proper methods to follow in challenging an opponent. Possibly Shakespeare is here ridiculing a treatise by Vincentio Saviolo (Second Book 1594; First Book 1595). Cf. also Mercutio's mockery, in Romeo and Juliet, of the elaborate terms used in Italian fencing. Shakespeare probably had in mind the type and not a particular book.

 stalking-horse. A real or artificial horse behind which a fowler hid when pursuing his game.

 Hymen. The Greek and Roman god of marriage, represented as a young man carrying a torch and veil. As Rosalind's appearance is supposed to be caused by magic, she has carried out her plan as an allegorical masque in which she has some shepherd swain take the part of Hymen.

 In the First Folio the pronoun throughout these two lines is 'his.' The alteration of 'his' to 'her' where this occurs in the present text was suggested by Malone. A case can, however, by casuistry be made for the reading of the Folio.

 sight and shape. I.e., if all this is not magic and Phebe may trust the evidence of her eyesight, 'why then, etc.'

 Even daughter. I.e., 'you are welcome both as niece and daughter.'

 the lady. It was rare in Shakespeare's day for a female character to speak the epilogue, as these rôles were taken by boy actors who were, usually, not the most important actors in the company.