d. If I could find this lover,
I would give him some good counsel that would soon cure him of his
love.'

Orlando confessed that he was the fond lover of whom he spoke, and
asked Ganymede to give him the good counsel he talked of. The remedy
Ganymede proposed, and the counsel he gave him, was that Orlando should
come every day to the cottage where he and his sister Aliena dwelt:
'And then,' said Ganymede, 'I will feign myself to be Rosalind, and you
shall feign to court me in the same manner as you would do if I was
Rosalind, and then I will imitate the fantastic ways of whimsical
ladies to their lovers, till I make you ashamed of your love; and this
is the way I propose to cure you.' Orlando had no great faith in the
remedy, yet he agreed to come every day to Ganymede's cottage, and
feign a playful courtship; and every day Orlando visited Ganymede and
Aliena, and Orlando called the shepherd Ganymede his Rosalind, and
every day talked over all the fine words and flattering compliments
which young men delight to use when they court their mistresses. It
does not appear, however, that Ganymede made any progress in curing
Orlando of his love for Rosalind.

Though Orlando thought all this was but a sportive play (not dreaming
that Ganymede was his very Rosalind), yet the opportunity it gave him
of saying all the fond things he had in his heart, pleased his fancy
almost as well as it did Ganymede's, who enjoyed the secret jest in
knowing these fine love-speeches were all addressed to the right person.

In this manner many days passed pleasantly on with these young people;
and the good-natured Aliena, seeing it made Ganymede happy, let him
have his own way, and was diverted at the mock-courtship, and did not
care to remind Ganymede that the Lady Rosalind had not yet made herself
known to the duke her father, whose place of resort in the forest they
had learnt from Orlando. Ganymede met the duke one day, and had some
talk with him, and the duke asked of what parentage he came. Ganymede
answered that he came of as good parentage as he did, which made the
duke smile, for he did not suspect the pretty shepherd-boy came of
royal lineage. Then seeing the duke look well and happy, Ganymede was
content to put off all further explanation for a few days longer.

One morning, as Orlando was going to visit Ganymede, he saw a man lying
asleep on the ground, and a large green snake had twisted itself about
his neck. The snake, seeing Or