EnterPAROLLESguarded，andFirstSoldierBERTRAMAplagueuponhim!muffled!hecansaynothingofme：hush，hush!FirstLordHoodmancomes!PortotartarosaFirstSoldierHecallsforthetortures：whatwillyousaywithout’em？PAROLLESIwillconfesswhatIknowwithoutconstraint：
ifyepinchmelikeapasty，Icansaynomore。FirstSoldierBoskochimurcho。FirstLordBoblibindochicurmurco。FirstSoldierYouareamercifulgeneral。OurgeneralbidsyouanswertowhatIshallaskyououtofanote。PAROLLESAndtruly，asIhopetolive。FirstSoldier[Reads]’Firstdemandofhimhowmanyhorsethedukeisstrong。’Whatsayyoutothat？PAROLLESFiveorsixthousand；butveryweakandunserviceable：thetroopsareallscattered，andthecommandersverypoorrogues，uponmyreputationandcreditandasIhopetolive。FirstSoldierShallIsetdownyouranswerso？PAROLLESDo：I’lltakethesacramenton’t，howandwhichwayyouwill。BERTRAMAll’sonetohim。Whatapast—savingslaveisthis!FirstLordYou’redeceived，mylord：thisisMonsieurParolles，thegallantmilitarist，——thatwashisownphrase，——thathadthewholetheoricofwarintheknotofhisscarf，andthepractiseinthechapeofhisdagger。SecondLordIwillnevertrustamanagainforkeepinghisswordclean。norbelievehecanhaveeverythinginhimbywearinghisapparelneatly。FirstSoldierWell，that’ssetdown。PAROLLESFiveorsixthousandhorse，Isaid，——
Iwillsaytrue，——orthereabouts，setdown，forI’llspeaktruth。FirstLordHe’sverynearthetruthinthis。BERTRAMButIconhimnothanksfor’t，inthenaturehedeliversit。PAROLLESPoorrogues，Iprayyou，say。FirstSoldierWell，that’ssetdown。PAROLLESIhumblythankyou，sir：atruth’satruth，theroguesaremarvellouspoor。FirstSoldier[Reads]’Demandofhim，ofwhatstrengththeyarea—foot。’Whatsayyoutothat？PAROLLESBymytroth，sir，ifIweretolivethispresenthour，Iwilltelltrue。Letmesee：Spurio，ahundredandfifty；Sebastian，somany；Corambus，somany；Jaques，somany；Guiltian，Cosmo，Lodowick，andGratii，twohundredandfiftyeach；mineowncompany，Chitopher，Vaumond，Bentii，twohundredandfiftyeach：sothatthemuster—file，rottenandsound，uponmylife，amountsnottofifteenthousandpoll；halfofthewhichdarenotshakesnowfromofftheircassocks，lesttheyshakethemselvestopieces。BERTRAMWhatshallbedonetohim？FirstLordNothing，butlethimhavethanks。Demandofhimmycondition，andwhatcreditIhavewiththeduke。FirstSoldierWell，that’ssetdown。
Reads’Youshalldemandofhim，whetheroneCaptainDumainbei’thecamp，aFrenchman；whathisreputationiswiththeduke；whathisvalour，honesty，andexpertnessinwars；orwhetherhethinksitwerenotpossible，withwell—weighingsumsofgold，tocorrupthimtorevolt。’Whatsayyoutothis？
whatdoyouknowofit？PAROLLESIbeseechyou，letmeanswertotheparticularoftheinter’gatories：demandthemsingly。FirstSoldierDoyouknowthisCaptainDumain？PAROLLESIknowhim：a’wasabotcher’s’prenticeinParis，fromwhencehewaswhippedforgettingtheshrieve’sfoolwithchild，——adumbinnocent，thatcouldnotsayhimnay。BERTRAMNay，byyourleave，holdyourhands；