me kind of
conceit in the "Merry Wives of Windsor."

FALSTAFF. "My honest lads, I will tell you what I am about."
PISTOL. "Two yards or more."

Cooke has the following note: "'Quid agitur' is to be supposed to
have a single meaning as spoken by Gnatho, but Parmeno archly
renders it ambiguous by his answer. Our two first English
translations, that by Bernard and that by Hoole, make nothing of
it, nor indeed any other part of their author. Echard follows
Madame Dacier, and perceives a joke; but he does not render 'quid,
agitur' as the question ought to be translated. 'Quid agitur'
sometimes means, 'What are you doing?' Sometimes, 'How do you do?'
'How are you?' or 'How goes the world with you?'"]

[Footnote 47: _From the Piraeus_)--Ver. 290. The Piraeus was the
chief harbor of Athens, at the mouth of the Cephisus, about three
miles from the City. It was joined to the town by two walls, one
of which was built by Themistocles, and the other by Pericles. It
was the duty of the Athenian youth to watch here in turn by way of
precaution against surprise by pirates or the enemy.]

[Footnote 48: _In your little room_)--Ver. 310. Though "cellulam"
seems to be considered by some to mean "cupboard" or "larder," it
is more probable that it here signifies the little room which was
appropriated to each slave in the family for his own use.]

[Footnote 49: _Shoulders kept down and chests well girthed_)--Ver.
314. Ovid, in the Art of Love, B. iii., l. 274, alludes to the
"strophium" or "girth" here referred to: "For high shoulders,
small pads are suitable; and let the girth encircle the bosom that
is too prominent." Becker thinks that the "strophium" was
different from the "fascia" or "stomacher," mentioned in the
Remedy of Love, l. 338: "Does a swelling bosom cover all her
breast, let no stomacher conceal it." From Martial we learn that
the "strophium" was made of leather.]

[Footnote 50: _Training for a boxer_)--Ver. 315. "Pugilem." This
means "robust as a boxer," or "athlete." These persons were
naturally considered as the types of robustness, being dieted for
the purpose of increasing their flesh and muscle.]

[Footnote 51: _Complexion genuine_)--Ver. 318. "Color verns." The
same expression is used by Ovid, in the Art of Love, B. iii.,
l. 164: "Et melior vero quaeritur arte color:" "And by art a color is
sought superior to the genuine one."]