Read the full text of The Life of Timon of Athens Act 3 Scene 2 with a side-by-side translation HERE.
- Lucius and a couple of strangers are kickin' it when the topic of Timon comes up. It's going around the rumor mill that Timon needs money, and his friends are refusing him.
- The men all agree that it sucks. How come no one is helping a friend out? Lucius says he's horrified that his fellow noblemen are snubbing poor Timon.
- Poor, indeed.
- Who should enter at that very moment but Servilius, Timon's servant: he's come to find Lucius.
- Lucius, too, misreads the signs: he thinks Timon has sent another gift basket his way.
- Nope, says Servilius. Timon needs Lucius's help.
- Aw, shucks. That's too bad, replies Lucius, because he can't actually give any money away at the moment.
- Once Servilius leaves, Lucius tells the other men that Timon is finished. He's spent (pun intended).
- Lucius exits and gives the two strangers an opportunity to discuss the dramatic turn of events. The strangers are hyper-critical of these men Timon called his friends. They can't believe that all of them are turning him down.
- One of the strangers points out that for those men, self-interest comes before their consciences.