Page 264 - King Lear: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

2.4. NOTES 189
In 1. 54 the pain is climbing from below towards the
heart; in 1. 117 it is rising from the heart upward. At
both points Lear tries by force of will to suppress the
symptoms. Hysterica (F 4) Q, F I 'Historica'—a
common error.
56. element see G. 57. S.D. F 'Exit.', Q ora.
61. number (F) Q (+Camb.) 'traine'.
63. thou'dst (Fsubs.) Q (+Camb.) 'thou ha'dst'.
65. an ant... Type of wordly wisdom; see Aesop's
6
fable of the hungry Cicada and the Ants; Prov. vi. ' Go
to the ant...consider her ways and be wise, which...
provideth her meat in the summer', and Prov. xxx. 25.
He means that the retinue, smelling that Lear's fortunes
are in decay ('stinking'), have wisely left him, to make
provision for the future. For 'stinking' Mai. cites All's,
5. 2. 4-5 'I am now, sir, muddied in Fortune's mood
and smell somewhat strong of her strong displeasure'.
The knights, referred to at 2. 4. 301, reappear at
3. 7. 16 (see n.), so the Fool may be mistaken.
66. winter Cf. 2. 4. 45, n.
66-7. follow their noses Cf. Tilley, N 230.
68. twenty see G.
69-70. when...following Cf. Ham. 3. 3. 17-22
'a massy wheel', etc.
70. following (F) Q (+Camb.) 'following it'.
71. upward (F) Q (+Camb.) 'vp the hill'.
'
73. I would ha' none but knaves use it, (J.C.M.) Q I
would haue none but knaues follow it,', F I would
'
hause none but knaues follow it,'. J.C.M. explains Q's
'follow' as a memorial error (cf. 11. 66, 70) and conj.
that the F collator, wishing to alter Q's 'haue' to 'ha"
and 'follow' to 'use', stroked out 'haue' and, writing
'ha" and 'use' close together in the margin, forgot to
delete 'follow'. Thus the F compositor set up 'follow'
and thought that 'hause' was to be substituted for 'haue'.
75-82. That sir...perdy. The Fool has been ironic-