er
brother's death, not even the duke himself. Then Viola formed another
project in her mind, which was, in a man's habit, to serve the Duke
Orsino as a page. It was a strange fancy in a young lady to put on male
attire, and pass for a boy; but the forlorn and unprotected state of
Viola, who was young and of uncommon beauty, alone, and in a foreign
land, must plead her excuse.

She having observed a fair behaviour in the captain, and that he showed
a friendly concern for her welfare, entrusted him with her design, and
he readily engaged to assist her. Viola gave him money, and directed him
to furnish her with suitable apparel, ordering her clothes to be made of
the same colour and in the same fashion her brother Sebastian used to
wear, and when she was dressed in her manly garb, she looked so exactly
like her brother that some strange errors happened by means of their
being mistaken for each other; for, as will afterwards appear, Sebastian
was also saved.

Viola's good friend, the captain, when he had transformed this pretty
lady into a gentleman, having some interest at court, got her presented
to Orsino under the feigned name of Cesario. The duke was wonderfully
pleased with the address and graceful deportment of this handsome youth,
and made Cesario one of his pages, that being the office Viola wished to
obtain: and she so well fulfilled the duties of her new station, and
showed such a ready observance and faithful attachment to her lord, that
she soon became his most favoured attendant. To Cesario Orsino confided
the whole history of his love for the Lady Olivia. To Cesario he told
the long and unsuccessful suit he had made to one who, rejecting his
long services, and despising his person, refused to admit him to her
presence; and for the love of this lady who had so unkindly treated him,
the noble Orsino, forsaking the sports of the field and all manly
exercises in which he used to delight, passed his hours in ignoble
sloth, listening to the effeminate sounds of soft music, gentle airs,
and passionate love-songs; and neglecting the company of the wise and
learned lords with whom he used to associate, he was now all day long
conversing with young Cesario. Unmeet companion no doubt his grave
courtiers thought Cesario was for their once noble master, the great
Duke Orsino.

It is a dangerous matter for young maidens to be the confidants of
handsome young dukes; which Viola too soon found to her sorrow, for all
tha