Dear master, I can go no further. O, I die for food! Here lie I down
and measure out my grave. Farewell, kind master.
My dear master, I cannot go any further. I'm dying of hunger. Here I will lie down and measure out my own grave. Goodbye, kind master.
Master, I can't do this anymore. I'm starving. I'm just going to lie here and die. Goodbye.
can't go on starving lying down here measuring my grave goodbye
2.6 is four speeches in a forest clearing, and it does one thing: it tells us Orlando will not abandon Adam. Shakespeare needs the audience to believe in Orlando before the 2.7 feast — when Orlando bursts in with sword drawn demanding food, it needs to feel noble rather than reckless. We have to know he's not there for himself. This scene provides that. It also gives Adam a moment of grace before he effectively disappears from the play: he's carried in to the feast in 2.7, says a few grateful words, and is never heard from again. But here, he gets to say his line — 'here lie I down and measure out my grave' — with full dignity.
Why, how now, Adam? No greater heart in thee? Live a little, comfort a
little, cheer thyself a little. If this uncouth forest yield anything
savage, I will either be food for it or bring it for food to thee. Thy
conceit is nearer death than thy powers. For my sake, be comfortable.
Hold death awhile at the arm’s end. I will here be with thee presently,
and if I bring thee not something to eat, I’ll give thee leave to die.
But if thou diest before I come, thou art a mocker of my labour. Well
said, thou look’st cheerly, and I’ll be with thee quickly. Yet thou
liest in the bleak air. Come, I will bear thee to some shelter and thou
shalt not die for lack of a dinner if there live anything in this
desert. Cheerly, good Adam!
Adam, what's this? You've given up? Come on, stay alive a little longer, take heart, cheer yourself up. If this wild forest has anything wild in it to eat, I will either be its food or bring it to you. Your despair is closer to death than your body is. For my sake, be strong. Keep death at arm's length. I'll be back with you shortly, and if I don't bring something to eat, I give you permission to die. But if you die before I return, you make a mockery of my efforts. Come now, you look livelier already, and I'll be back quickly. But you're lying in the freezing air — come, I'll carry you to shelter and you won't starve while anything lives in this desert. Come on, good Adam!
Adam, come on. You've got more heart than that. Live a little longer. Cheer up. If there's anything out there to eat in this forest — anything wild — I'll either kill it for you or let it kill me trying. The thing that's killing you is in your head, not your body. For me, stay strong. Don't let death in. I'm going right now and I'm coming back with food. If I don't? Then you can die. But if you die on me before I get there, that's mocking everything I'm trying to do. Look, you're already looking better. I'll be back in a second. Now come on, you're lying out in the cold — let me carry you somewhere warm and you're not going to starve. I promise. Come on, Adam.
you're stronger than this stay alive i'm going to find food or i'll die either way i'm coming back don't die on me let me carry you
The Reckoning
Four lines and an exit, but they carry real weight. Adam has traveled as far as he can. He lies down and says what might be his last words: 'Here lie I down and measure out my grave.' Orlando's response is everything the play needs him to be: he doesn't panic, doesn't lecture, doesn't calculate. He tells Adam he'll find food or die trying, and he carries him off. This brief scene exists to confirm Orlando's character before the feast — we need to know why he deserves the grace of the Duke's table.
If this happened today…
You and your elderly mentor are crossing the desert. He sits down and says: 'I can't go on. Leave me.' You don't. You don't have food. You don't have a plan. You go find food. That's the whole scene.