III. ii. 207. One . . . discovery. I.e., 'Each inch of delay makes me await the impending disclosure with the eager anticipation one has for South Sea discoveries'; or, 'A moment's delay will dissolve my whole womanhood.' Commentators are in wide disagreement over the meaning of this sentence.
III. ii. 217. God's making. I.e., 'or his tailor's.' Cf. Twelfth Night, I. v. 256.
III. ii. 239. Gargantua's mouth. Gargantua was a giant who swallowed five pilgrims in a salad (Rabelais, Book I, chapter xxxviii). The story of Gargantua was known in England before any translation of Rabelais had appeared.
III. ii. 241. ay . . . catechism. Celia means that even the shortest answers to all Rosalind's questions would be a longer task than to go through the Catechism (Furness).
III. ii. 251. Jove's tree. The oak was sacred to Jupiter.
III. ii. 289. goldsmiths' wives . . . rings. Rings which were given as love tokens had engraved upon the inside 'posies' or love mottoes. Cf. Hamlet, III. ii. 163. Jaques implies that Orlando has secured permission from the goldsmiths' wives to memorize the pretty sayings in the rings they had for sale.
III. ii. 291. painted cloth. Tapestries or paintings of scenes from familiar stories, often accompanied by brief explanatory legends, whence Orlando charges Jaques with having learned his commonplace sayings. Cf. Henry IV, pt. I, IV. ii. 27, 'slaves as ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth.'
III. ii. 389. quotidian. According to Euphuistic love-making, quotidian fevers were a symptom of violent love.
III. ii. 427. dark . . . whip. This barbarous treatment was an Elizabethan method of dealing with
