Act II, Scene v:
Another part of the forest.

[Enter AMIENS, JAQUES, and others.]

AMIENS:

SONG

Under the greenwood tree,

Who loves to lie with me,

And turn his merry note

Unto the sweet bird's throat,

Come hither, come hither, come hither;

Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

JAQUES:

More, more, I pr'ythee, more.

AMIENS:

It will make you melancholy, Monsieur Jaques.

JAQUES:

I thank it. More, I pr'ythee, more. I can suck melancholy

out of a song, as a weasel sucks eggs. More, I pr'ythee, more.

AMIENS:

My voice is ragged; I know I cannot please you.

JAQUES:

I do not desire you to please me; I do desire you to sing.

Come, more: another stanza. Call you them stanzas?

AMIENS:

What you will, Monsieur Jaques.

JAQUES:

Nay, I care not for their names; they owe me nothing.

Will you sing?

AMIENS:

More at your request than to please myself.

JAQUES:

Well then, if ever I thank any man, I'll thank you: but

that they call compliment is like the encounter of two dog-apes;

and when a man thanks me heartily, methinks have given him a

penny, and he renders me the beggarly thanks. Come, sing; and

you that will not, hold your tongues.

AMIENS:

Well, I'll end the song.—Sirs, cover the while: the duke will

drink under this tree:—he hath been all this day to look you.

JAQUES:

And I have been all this day to avoid him. He is too

disputable for my company: I think of as many matters as he;

but I give heaven thanks, and make no boast of them. Come,

warble, come.

SONG

[All together here.]

Who doth ambition shun,

And loves to live i' the sun,

Seeking the food he eats,

And pleas'd with what he gets,

Come hither, come hither, come hither.

Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

JAQUES:

I'll give you a verse to this note that I made

yesterday in despite of my invention.

AMIENS:

And I'll sing it.

JAQUES:

Thus it goes:

If it do come to pass

That any man turn ass,

Leaving his wealth and ease

A stubborn will to please,

Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame;

Here shall he see

Gross fools as he,

An if he will come to Ami.

AMIENS:

What's that 'ducdame'?

JAQUES:

'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a circle. I'll

go sleep, if I can; if I cannot, I'll rail against all the

first-born of Egypt.

AMIENS:

And I'll go seek the duke; his banquet is prepared.

[Exeunt severally.]