and company of men." Viola, who
was herself in such a sad affliction for her brother's loss, wished
she could live with this lady, who so tenderly mourned a brother's
death. She asked the captain if he could introduce her to Olivia,
saying she would willingly serve this lady. But he replied, this would
be a hard thing to accomplish, because the lady Olivia would admit no
person into her house since her brother's death, not even the duke
himself. Then Viola formed another project in her mind, which was, in
a man's habit to serve the duke Orsino as a page. It was a strange
fancy in a young lady to put on male attire, and pass for a boy;
but the forlorn and unprotected state of Viola, who was young and of
uncommon beauty, alone, and in a foreign land, must plead her excuse.

She having observed a fair behaviour in the captain, and that he
shewed a friendly concern for her welfare, intrusted him with her
design, and he readily engaged to assist her. Viola gave him money,
and directed him to furnish her with suitable apparel, ordering her
clothes to be made of the same colour and in the same fashion her
brother Sebastian used to wear, and when she was dressed in her manly
garb, she looked so exactly like her brother, that some strange errors
happened by means of their being mistaken for each other; for, as will
afterwards appear, Sebastian was also saved.

Viola's good friend, the captain, when he had transformed this
pretty lady into a gentleman, having some interest at court, got her
presented to Orsino under the feigned name of Cesario. The duke was
wonderfully pleased with the address and graceful deportment of this
handsome youth, and made Cesario one of his pages, that being the
office Viola wished to obtain: and she so well fulfilled the duties
of her new station, and shewed such a ready observance and faithful
attachment to her lord, that she soon became his most favoured
attendant. To Cesario Orsino confided the whole history of his love
for the lady Olivia. To Cesario he told the long and unsuccessful suit
he had made to one, who, rejecting his long services, and despising
his person, refused to admit him to her presence; and for the love
of this lady who had so unkindly treated him, the noble Orsino,
forsaking the sports of the field, and all manly exercises in which
he used to delight, passed his hours in ignoble sloth, listening to
the effeminate sounds of soft music, gentle airs, and passionate
love-songs; an