PANTINO       For any or for all these exercises

He said that Proteus your son was meet,

And did request me to importune you

To let him spend his time no more at home,

Which would be great impeachment to his age

In having known no travel in his youth.

ANTONIO       Nor need’st thou much importune me to that

Whereon this month I have been hammering.

I have considered well his loss of time,

And how he cannot be a perfect man,

Not being tried and tutored in the world.

Experience is by industry achieved,

And perfected by the swift course of time. (1.3.11-23)

So—to sum up—your brother, Proteus’s uncle, thinks that it would be a great idea to dispatch Proteus on any or indeed all of these exercises, into the army, on an overseas expedition, or to university. He said that Proteus your son was meet for such activities: he’s more than ready, it’d do him good. And he asked me to have this conversation with you: he did request me to importune you, to let him spend his time no more at home—he begged me to put it to you in the strongest possible terms—because it’s actually damaging Proteus’s chances, stunting his growth; it’s holding him back, damaging him, and he’ll feel the effects of such a limitation for the rest of his life. Simply being at home, here in Verona, would be great impeachment to his age in having known no travel in his youth. Now’s the time.

Oh, no need to apologise, says Antonio, and indeed no need to raise this in the first place, I’ve been thinking of little else for the last month, going over and over it: nor need’st thou much importune me that whereon this month I have been hammering. I have considered well his loss of time—he’s just hanging around, wasting time, doing nothing—and I keep thinking how he cannot be a perfect man, a proper grown-up and properly sophisticated into the bargain, not being tried and tutored in the world. He needs to get out there, spread his wings, try his luck, overcome some obstacles, and learn how the world really works. Because experience is by industry achieved, and perfected by the swift course of time. You have to work at it, be proactive; you have to put in the hours. If Proteus doesn’t get out into the real world soon, there’ll always be something missing in him.