, it has nothing in common. It is by no
means improbable, at the same time, that "Look About You," and not
Shakespeare's play, was the piece performed at Gray's Inn in December
1594.[452]

Skink, who fills the part assigned to the vice in the earlier comedies,
is a well-sustained and entertaining character, and the series of
transformations which he and the rest undergo, even while they
occasionally perplex us a little, as the plot thickens, and the figures
on the stage multiply, can hardly fail to amuse.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE[453]

HENRY II., _King of England_.
PRINCE HENRY, _the young usurped King_.
PRINCE JOHN.
PRINCE RICHARD.
EARLS OF GLOUCESTER, LANCASTER, CHESTER, LEICESTER, _and_ MORTON.
SIR RICHARD FAUCONBRIDGE.
ROBIN HOOD, _Earl of Huntington_.
SKINK, _disguised as a hermit_.
THE QUEEN.
LADY FAUCONBRIDGE.
BLOCK.
_Warden of the Fleet_.
REDCAP, _a messenger_.
_Constable and Watch_.
_A Pursuivant_.
_A Drawer_.
_Music_.

A PLEASANT COMEDY CALLED LOOK ABOUT YOU.

SCENE THE FIRST.

_Enter_ ROBERT HOOD, _a young Nobleman, a Servant with him, with
riding wands in their hands, as if they had been new-lighted_.

ROB. Go, walk the horses, wait me on the hill;
This is the hermit's cell; go out of sight.
My business with him must not be reveal'd
To any mortal creature but himself.

SERV. I'll wait your honour in the cross highway. [_Exit_.

ROB. Do so. Hermit devout and reverend,
If drowsy age keep not thy stiffened joints
On thy unrestful bed, or if the hours
Of holy orisons detain thee not,
Come forth.

_Enter_ SKINK, _like an hermit_.

SKINK. Good morrow, son,
Good morrow; and God bless thee, Huntington,
A brighter gleam of true nobility
Shines not in any youth more than in thee.
Thou shalt be rich in honour, full of speed;
Thou shalt win foes by fear, and friends by meed.

ROB. Father, I come not now to know my fate;
Important business urgeth princely Richard [_Deliver letters_.
In these terms to salute thy reverent age.
Read and be brief; I know some cause of trust
Made him employ me for his messenger.

SKINK. A cause of trust indeed, true-honoured youth.
Princes had need, in matters of import,
To make nice choice. Fair earl, if I not err,
Thou art the prince's ward?

ROB. Father, I am
His ward, his chamberlain, and bed-fellow.

SKINK. Fair fall thee, honourable Robert Hood!
Wend to Prince Richard: say, though I am loth
To use