Touchstone informs Celia that her father has requested to see her. Celia asks the Fool if he is now her father’s messenger, and Touchstone replies with the following:
No, by mine honour, but I was bid to come for you. (50-51)
Rosalind asks Touchstone where he learned that expression (“by mine honour”). What she is really asking is why he is using such an expression. During the Renaissance, aristocrats believed that only aristocrats were honorable and that commoners were incapable of such a quality. Touchstone, being a commoner, should, therefore, not being using that expression.
This is another example of social criticism in the play. In actuality there were numerous examples of dishonorable aristocrats in society, and Shakespeare is pointing out this hypocrisy to his audience.
Touchstone responds to Rosalind’s query by telling her that he learned the expression from a certain knight (that is, an aristocrat). This knight, according to Touchstone, swore “by his honour” that some pancakes that he was eating were good and that some mustard that he had was bad. Touchstone comments that it was actually the other way around: the pancakes were bad and the mustard was good. The fool then abruptly concludes that the knight was