IV.iii.119 (356,8) exhaust their mercy] For _exhaust_, sir T. Hanmer,
and after him Dr. Warburton, read _extort_; but _exhaust_ here signifies
literally to _draw forth_.
IV.iii.120 (356,7)
Think it a bastard, whom the oracle
Hath doubtfully prunounc'd thy throat shall cut]
An allusion to the tale of OEdipus.
IV.iii.134 (357,8) And to make whores a bawd] [W: make whole] The old
edition reads,
_And to make whores a bawd._
That is, _enough to make a whore leave whoring, and a bawd leave making
whores_.
IV.iii.139 (357,9) I'll trust to your conditions] You need not swear to
continue whores, I will trust to your inclinations.
IV.iii.140 (358,1) Yet may your pains, six months,/Be quite contrary]
The explanation [Warburton's] is ingenious, but I think it very remote,
and would willingly bring the author and his readers to meet on easier
terms. We may read,
--_Yet may your pains six months
Be quite_ contraried.--
Timon is wishing ill to mankind, but is afraid lest the whores should
imagine that he wishes well to them; to obviate which he lets them know,
that he imprecates upon them influence enough to plague others, and
disappointments enough to plague themselves. He wishes that they may do
all possible mischief, and yet take _pains six months_ of the year in
vain.
In this sense there is a connection of this line with the next. Finding
_your pains contraried_, try new expedients, _thatch your thin roofs_,
and _paint_.
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