PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
95 
These Fig-leaves 
Have slime upon them.— Ibid, ,, v. 2, 354. 
(5) When Pistol lies, do this ; and Fig me, like 
The bragging Spaniard.— 2 nd Henry IV , v. 3, 123. 
(6) Pistol. Die and be damned, and Figo for thy friendship. 
Fluellen. It is well. 
Pistol . The Fig of Spain.— Henry V, iii. 6, 60. 
(7) The Figo for thee, then.— Ibid., iv. 1, 60. 
(8) Virtue! a Fig!— Othello, i. 3, 322. 
(9) Blessed Fig’s end!— Ibid. , ii. 1, 256. 
(10) I'll pledge you all, and a Fig for Peter.— 2 nd Henry VI, ii. 3, 66. 
(11) “Convey,” the wise it call; “steal!” foh! a Fico for the phrase! 
Merry Wives , i. 3, 32. 
(12) O excellent! I love long life better than Figs. 
Antony mid Cleopatra, i. 2, 32, 
In some of these passages (as 5, 6, 7, and perhaps in more) 
the reference is to a grossly 
insulting and indecent gesture 
called “ making the fig.” It 
was a most unpleasant custom, 
which largely prevailed through¬ 
out Europe in Shakespeare’s 
time, and on which I need not 
dwell. It is fully described 
in Douce’s “ Illustrations of 
Shakespeare,” i. 492. 
In some of the other quota¬ 
tions the reference is simply to 
the proverbial likeness of a Fig 
to a matter of the least import¬ 
ance. 1 But in the others the 
dainty fruit, the green Fig, is 
noticed. 
1 This proverbial worthlessness of the Fig is of ancient date. Theocritus 
speaks of <tvkivoi auSpes, useless men; Horace, “ Olim truncus eram ficul- 
nus, inutile lignumand Juvenal, “ Sterilis mala robora ficus.” 
