FOR.  It liketh me.

PROD.  None better.

TEN.  Well, though my singing be but homely,
Chill sing and spring[390] too, ere chud loose money.

VAN.  Well, to it, a God’s name; let saying go than;[391]
And each sing for himself the best he can.

      The Song.

PROD. The princely heart, that freely spends,
      Relieves full many a thousand more,
      He getteth praise, he gaineth friends,
      And people’s love procures therefore. 
      But pinching fist, that spareth all,
      Of due relief the needy robs: 
      Nought can be caught, where nought doth fall,
      There comes no good of greedy cobs. 
          This issue therefore do I make: 
          The best deserver draw the stake.

TEN.  Whilst thou dost spend with friend and foe,
      At home che hold the plough by th’ tail: 
      Che dig, che delve, che zet, che zow,
      Che mow, che reap, che ply my flail. 
      A pair of dice is thy delight,
      Thou liv’st for most part by the spoil: 
      I truly labour day and night
      To get my living by my toil. 
          Chill therefore sure this issue make: 
          The best deserver draw the stake_.

VAN.  Hallo! satis disputatum.

TEN.  Nay, by my father’s soul, friend, now chave once begun,
Let him to’t, che pass not when che done.

PROD.  Lo, Lady, you have heard our reasons both express’d,
And thereby are resolv’d, I hope, who merits best.

FOR.  Dame Fortune dealeth not by merit, but by chance: 
He hath it but by hap, whom Fortune doth advance;
And of his hap as he hath small assurance: 
So in his hap likewise is small continuance. 
Therefore at a venture, my dear son Money,
I do commit you unto Prodigality.

TEN.  To Prodigality?  Ah, poor Money, I pity thee;
Continual unrest must be thy destiny: 
Each day, each hour, yea, every minute tost,
Like to a tennis-ball, from pillar to post.

MONEY.  I am, where I like.

TEN. [To VAN.] And is there, then, no other remedy? 
Must poor Tenacity put up the injury?

VAN.  Your time is not yet come.

TEN.  When will it come, trow ye?

VAN.  At the next turning water, happily.

TEN.  And che wist that, chud the more quietly depart,
And keep therewhile a hungry hoping heart. 
How sayest thou, vriend Fanity?

VAN.  No doubt, but ’tis best.

TEN.  Then varewell to all at once. [Exit.

PROD.  Good night and good rest. 
And now will I likewise with my sweet Money
Go hunt abroad for some good company. 
Vanity, for thy pains I will not grease thy fist
Peltingly[392] with two or three crowns; but, when thou list,
Come boldly unto Prodigality’s chest,
And take what thou wilt; it’s ever open.