in The Night Walker, or The Little Thief — Fletcher, John; Shirley, James, rev.
Metadata
Play
The Night Walker, or The Little Thief
Author
Fletcher, John; Shirley, James, rev.
Year (catalogued)
1640
First performance
1611
Decade
1640s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Lady Elizabeth's Men
Theater
Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Nur. | Nu.
Words
671
Characters
3537
Typicality
0.49 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A00966
BritDrama no.
1772
Cluster
Cluster 9 — Boon companions & bluff banter
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 9 (ralph, blastfield, bully, abram, rees, signiour…). Matches are highlighted.
Tom Thumb. I believe that will prove your stiffest story. As I am a woman I cannot blame her if she take her liberty, Would she would make thee cuckold thou old bully, A notorious cuckold for tormenting her. I'll bless her then, she does Justice, Is this old stinking dogs flesh for her diet? What a devil do you mean? Is this
likeness of a Constable, that has tempted him By this time to strange things; there have been men As rich as he, have met convenient rivers, And so forth; many trees have born strange fruits: De'e think he has not hanged himself? They are forfeited, they say. Here's Mr. Algripe and other strangers Madam. Your daughter smiles.
Full speech
The dairy maid, And sheele put that in will make him caper: Well Madam, well, you might would chosen another, A handsomer for your years. I am sure he is rotten, Would he had been hanged when he first saw her. Termagant! Alas good Gentleman, My hearts soar for thee. He is a trim youth to be tender of, hemp take him. Must my sweet new blown Rose find such a winter Before her spring be near. And dances Like a Town top: and reels, and hobbles. They had need, You had better marry her to her grave a great deal: There will be peace and rest, alas poor gentlewoman, Must she become a Nurse now in her tenderness? Well Madam well my heart bleeds. Pray heaven I be. Of Tom Thumb. I believe that will prove your stiffest story. As I am a woman I cannot blame her if she take her liberty, Would she would make thee cuckold thou old bully, A notorious cuckold for tormenting her. I'll bless her then, she does Justice, Is this old stinking dogs flesh for her diet? What a devil do you mean? Is this the sweet of Marriage, have I bred thee For this reward? O 'tis a sad time, all the burned wine is drunk Neck. And meet us in the Cellar. The March Beer's open. Why Nicholas? Hold up your candle. Drink to a sad heart's needful. Me thinks the light burns blue, I prithee snuff it There's a thief in't I think. Whats that that moves there, ith' name of — Nicholas? That thing that walks. It fell ithe frying-pan, and the Cats eat it. Traitor, thou shalt not keep it. Yes, and believe, we come not here to examine, And if you please weel fire the house. Alive weel bury thee, speak old Iniquity. Peace firra, or I'll tear your books. Go to the Judge, and what you'll have us swear — I have long time desired to see her, and I hope Your Ladyship will not be offended. I should be happy if she might be serviceable To you Madam. Why, Guennith, Guennith, du hummah Guenneth; She is course Madam, after her country guise, And were she in fine clothes — She speaks that name in Welsh, which we call Breck- Why, Gunith. You shall not need to fear me Madam, I do not love the usuring Jew so well; Beside, 'twas my trick to disguise her so. Wele withdraw. He's gone. You shall have my absence Niece. No man knows whither, And yet they talk he went forth with a Constable That told him of strange business, that would bring him Money and lands, and heaven knows what; but they Have searched, and can not find out such and Officer: And as a secret, Madam, they told your man Nicholas, whom you sent thither as a spy, They had a shrewd suspicion 'twas the devil I'th likeness of a Constable, that has tempted him By this time to strange things; there have been men As rich as he, have met convenient rivers, And so forth; many trees have born strange fruits: De'e think he has not hanged himself? They are forfeited, they say. Here's Mr. Algripe and other strangers Madam. Your daughter smiles. He's a bed, Madam, And has and ague, he says. She is gone, she is gone. I told you Madam. Fie, fly, Toby. 'Twere fit you first obtained her own consent. Very likely. They thought on that too, and searched every where. Nay, they did look among the quarters too, And mustered all the bridge-house for his nightcap. Please you entertain him a while Madam, I'll cast about for some thing with your daughter. She thinks she is a gentlewoman; And that imagination has so taken her, She scorns to speak, how handsomely she carries it, As if she were a well bred thing, her body? And I warrant you, what looks? You will see anon, 'Twas her desire, expect the issue Madam.
Plot summary
Plot — The Night Walker, or The Little Thief
The usurer Justice Algripe has seized the wastrel Lurcher’s lands to settle a mortgage; he was also amorously interested in Lurcher’s sister, who has since disappeared. The destitute Lurcher is left to steal for a living; invited to join him, his friend Wildbrain prefers womanizing, on the grounds that it will not end on the gallows. Lurcher is approached by a boy, Snap, and, after ascertaining his skills at deception, takes him into his service. Algripe marries Wildbrain’s cousin Maria, who consented out of filial obedience rather than love: she loves Hartlove. Her mother’s household opposes the match, suspecting that old Algripe is impotent, and Wildbrain arranges for Hartlove to meet her on her way to bed and cuckold Algripe on his wedding night. She refuses his advances and faints when they are found together; she is taken for dead and prepared for burial. Her mother throws Wildbrain out for his part in the incident. Lurcher burgles the house that night, frightening the servants by pretending to be a ghost; but what he supposes to be a chest of jewels is actually Maria’s coffin. Upon discovering what their swag really is, he and his accomplices attempt to bury her in secret, but have a chance encounter with Algripe in the churchyard. Snap frightens him away by impersonating Maria’s ghost, but the thieves are scared off themselves when Maria wakes up in her coffin. Wildbrain meets Hartlove in the dark; Hartlove bears him a grudge and fights him. Maria hears the commotion and pretends to be her own ghost, enjoining them not to fight. Wildbrain is already wounded, and takes refuge in the next house he finds, which belongs to Lurcher’s mistress and partner in crime. They fall for one another and he shows off her gifts to Lurcher, who recognizes them as stolen 1615 property — his own booty. Maria’s mother accuses Algripe of stealing the body; when he refuses to repay the marriage portion, she begins litigation. Lurcher cons his way into Algripe’s house posing as a bookseller, ties him up, and steals his valuables and papers, including his own mortgage. Maria returns to her mother’s household posing as her nurse’s Welsh niece. Struck by the resemblance to dead Maria, Hartlove falls in love with her. Lurcher impersonates a constable and takes Algripe to a church where, he says, the villains who robbed him are hiding out; he then drugs Algripe and stows him in the vault. When the usurer wakes up, he is visited by ‘Furies’ who want to carry him to hell, and…