THIRD OUTLAW        What sayst thou? Wilt thou be of our consort?

Say ‘Ay’, and be the captain of us all.

We’ll do thee homage and be ruled by thee,

Love thee as our commander and our king.

FIRST OUTLAW         But if thou scorn our courtesy, thou diest.

SECOND OUTLAW     Thou shalt not live to brag what we have offered.

VALENTINE   I take your offer and will live with you,

Provided that you do no outrages

On silly women or poor passengers.

THIRD OUTLAW No, we detest such vile, base practices.

Come, go with us. We’ll bring thee to our crew,

And show thee all the treasure we have got,

Which, with ourselves, all rest at thy dispose.

Exeunt.            (4.1.61-73)

 

Please please please, says the third outlaw, c’mon, what sayst thou? Wilt thou be of our consort? Do you want to be in our gang? (please say yes, it’d be SO cool). Say ‘Ay’, and be the captain of us all. If you say yes, you can be the leader! We’ll do thee homage and be ruled by thee, love thee as our commander and our king. We’ll do everything you say, give you proper respect, yeah? And we’ll really care about you, you know? How can Valentine refuse, having just lost his greatest friend, although he doesn’t know it yet. (What’s Speed doing, while these negotiations are being conducted? Scope for comedy.) The first outlaw strikes a slightly different note, which might be somewhat perfunctory, and so comic, or delivered in a slightly going through the motions, ironic way: but if thou scorn our courtesy, thou diest. If you say no to being our leader, if you disrespect this very generous offer, I’m afraid we’ll have to kill you. Yeah, adds the second outlaw, thou shalt not live to brag what we have offered. We’re not going to just let you go, to mock us, and scorn the mercy and the aid we’ve offered you.

Valentine has no choice, really. I take your offer and will live with you—third outlaw punches the air in excitement, Speed looks resigned—provided that you do no outrages on silly women or poor passengers. My only condition is that you are indeed the nice, gentlemanly outlaws you’re promising to be—that you’re not going to assault women (silly is innocent, harmless, defenceless) or travellers who have no money. The third outlaw eagerly disavows anything like this: no, we detest such vile, base practices. We told you, we’re the nice outlaws! We’re gentlemen! (he couches his disavowal in the language of class; vile and base suggest common, lowly). Come, go with us. We’ll bring thee to our crew—there are more of them!—and show thee all the treasures we have got (a bit of boasting, a bit of genuine enthusiasm: come and see our STASH!) which, with ourselves, all rest at thy dispose. You’re in charge of everything now, us and our treasure too.

So off Valentine goes, with a perhaps somewhat reluctant Speed (who might, alternatively, be revelling in this turn of events and already making new friends) to his new life, as he thinks, among the outlaws in the forest. And that’s the end of the scene.