The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.0670 Monday, 11 April 2005
From: Larry Weiss <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Sunday, 10 Apr 2005 17:04:48 -0400
Subject: Possible King Lear Emendation
In KL, III.ii.91 (the "Merlin prophecy") the Fool includes in his
catalog of improbable things "When usurers tell their gold i' th' field".
This is annotated by Riverside as "count their money openly." But I
wonder if a small emendation might make for an even more ironic and less
strained reading. If "tell" is a misprint for "till," the image
suggests the (impossible) natural increase of gold, as opposed to
"unnatural" usury. Cf, M/V.I.iii.95-96.
Has anyone suggested this possibility?
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