No Fear Shakespeare
King Lear
Get this No Fear to go!
Act 1, Scene 4, Page 2
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KENT
Service.
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KENT
To work as a servant.
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LEAR
Who wouldst thou serve?
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LEAR
Who do you want to work for?
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KENT
You.
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KENT
You.
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LEAR
Dost thou know me, fellow?
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LEAR
Do you know me?
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KENT
No, sir. But you have that in your countenance which I
would fain call master.
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KENT
No, sir, but there’s something about your face that makes me want to serve you.
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LEAR
What’s that?
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LEAR
What do you see in my face?
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KENT
Authority.
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KENT
Authority.
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LEAR
What services canst thou do?
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LEAR
What work can you do?
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KENT
I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, mar a curious tale in
telling it, and deliver a plain message bluntly. That which
ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in. And the best of
me is diligence.
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KENT
I can be discreet in honorable matters, ride a horse, run, tell a good story badly, and deliver a plain message bluntly. I’m good at everything that ordinary men can do. The best thing about me is that I’m hardworking.
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LEAR
How old art thou?
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LEAR
How old are you?
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KENT
Not so young, sir, to love a woman for singing, nor so old to
dote on her for anything. I have years on my back forty-
eight.
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KENT
Not young enough to fall in love with a woman because she sings well, but not old enough to dote on a woman for any reason. I’m forty-eight.
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LEAR
Follow me. Thou shalt serve me. If I like thee no worse after
dinner, I will not part from thee yet.—Dinner, ho, dinner!
Where’s my knave, my fool?—Go you, and call my fool
hither.
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LEAR
Follow me. You’ll work for me. If I still like you after dinner, I won’t send you away yet.—Hey, dinnertime! Dinner! Where’s my fool?—Go call my fool and have him come here.
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Exit attendant |
An attendant exits. |
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Enter OSWALD the steward |
OSWALD enters. |
