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Fulfillment in As You Like It1 0 3avoiding “hot and rebellious liquors,” has made a “lusty winter” of his ageand allowed him to become a wealthy man through “the thrifty hire [he]saved” as a servant of Duke Senior, but these are incidental benefits, stemmingfrom an inner harmony which leads him to sacrifice them all for love ofOrlando (2.3.38–39, 2.3.49, 2.3.52). Shakespeare shows that self-love is transmutedinto courageous loyalty in a truly rewarding life: Adam prioritizeshis devotion to the family not only over any physical appetites which mighthave caused “weakness and debility” if given free rein, but even at this pointover his sense of self-preservation itself (2.3.51). Paradoxically, a thoroughlytemperate and vigorous life turns out to be dependent on a willingness tosacrifice that life at any point. As with the portrayal of Duke Senior, Shakespearealso touches here on the way in which Christianity can support usin overcoming our baser nature: Adam trusts to Him “that doth the ravensfeed [and] providently caters for the sparrow” (2.3.43–44). It is a measureof the gulf between Shakespeare and the classical philosophers that Adamand the duke seem to be as close to finding genuine fulfillment as the morephilosophical Touchstone.Although, as we have seen, Orlando’s pride is initially contrasted withAdam’s humble devotion, it is his gratitude to Adam rather than the thoughtof the five hundred crowns that sustains him as he is eventually persuadedto make good his escape: he praises Adam for his “constant service” with nothought of reward (2.3.57). It is striking, however, that Adam does feel he hasbeen thoroughly recompensed, in that he has been given a chance to expresshis gratitude and so to “die well, and not [his] master’s debtor” (2.3.76). Thefinancial metaphor which he uses here suggests that the rewards he hopes togain from returning his master’s love and thus consolidating their friendshipare absolutely as real as the five hundred crowns.Adam and Orlando’s relationship does indeed develop from now on intoa fulfilling friendship between equals, which, like Celia and Rosalind’s, isbased on gratitude and mutual sympathy. When they too have inevitablymade their way to the forest, Orlando refuses to take food until, “like a doe,”he “go[es] to find [his] faun,” recognizing that Adam has “limp’d” after himin “pure love” (2.7.128–31). Paradoxically, Orlando’s drive to preserve his ownlife is strengthened by his new focus on preserving Adam’s rather than hisown. His gratitude leads him to reject his earlier proud squeamishness andresolve to find food by violent means if necessary, and he initially attemptsto steal food from the exiled duke (2.6.6–8, 2.7.88–99). One can see again therole that suffering plays in strengthening the bonds of friendship, but here