| The Tempest |
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of thunder and lightning heard.Master
Enter a Master and a Boatswain
Boatswain!Boatswain
Here, master: what cheer?Master
Good, speak to the mariners: fall to't, yarely,Boatswain
or we run ourselves aground: bestir, bestir.
Exit
Enter Mariners
Heigh, my hearts! cheerly, cheerly, my hearts!ALONSO
yare, yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to the
master's whistle. Blow, till thou burst thy wind,
if room enough!
Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, FERDINAND, GONZALO, and others
Good boatswain, have care. Where's the master?Boatswain
Play the men.
I pray now, keep below.ANTONIO
Where is the master, boatswain?Boatswain
Do you not hear him? You mar our labour: keep yourGONZALO
cabins: you do assist the storm.
Nay, good, be patient.Boatswain
When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarersGONZALO
for the name of king? To cabin: silence! trouble us not.
Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.Boatswain
None that I more love than myself. You are aGONZALO
counsellor; if you can command these elements to
silence, and work the peace of the present, we will
not hand a rope more; use your authority: if you
cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and make
yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance of
the hour, if it so hap. Cheerly, good hearts! Out
of our way, I say.
Exit
I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks heBoatswain
hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is
perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his
hanging: make the rope of his destiny our cable,
for our own doth little advantage. If he be not
born to be hanged, our case is miserable.
Exeunt
Re-enter Boatswain
Down with the topmast! yare! lower, lower! BringSEBASTIAN
her to try with main-course.
A cry within
A plague upon this howling! they are louder than
the weather or our office.
Re-enter SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, and GONZALO
Yet again! what do you here? Shall we give o'er
and drown? Have you a mind to sink?
A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,Boatswain
incharitable dog!
Work you then.ANTONIO
Hang, cur! hang, you whoreson, insolent noisemaker!GONZALO
We are less afraid to be drowned than thou art.
I'll warrant him for drowning; though the ship wereBoatswain
no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky as an
unstanched wench.
Lay her a-hold, a-hold! set her two courses off toMariners
sea again; lay her off.
Enter Mariners wet
All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost!Boatswain
What, must our mouths be cold?GONZALO
The king and prince at prayers! let's assist them,SEBASTIAN
For our case is as theirs.
I'm out of patience.ANTONIO
We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards:GONZALO
This wide-chapp'd rascal--would thou mightst lie drowning
The washing of ten tides!
He'll be hang'd yet,ANTONIO
Though every drop of water swear against it
And gape at widest to glut him.
A confused noise within: 'Mercy on us!'-- 'We split, we split!'--'Farewell, my wife and children!'-- 'Farewell, brother!'--'We split, we split, we split!'
Let's all sink with the king.SEBASTIAN
Let's take leave of him.GONZALO
Exeunt ANTONIO and SEBASTIAN
Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an
acre of barren ground, long heath, brown furze, any
thing. The wills above be done! but I would fain
die a dry death.
Exeunt
Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDAMIRANDA
If by your art, my dearest father, you havePROSPERO
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel,
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perish'd.
Had I been any god of power, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere
It should the good ship so have swallow'd and
The fraughting souls within her.
Be collected:MIRANDA
No more amazement: tell your piteous heart
There's no harm done.
O, woe the day!PROSPERO
No harm.MIRANDA
I have done nothing but in care of thee,
Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who
Art ignorant of what thou art, nought knowing
Of whence I am, nor that I am more better
Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell,
And thy no greater father.
More to knowPROSPERO
Did never meddle with my thoughts.
'Tis timeMIRANDA
I should inform thee farther. Lend thy hand,
And pluck my magic garment from me. So:
Lays down his mantle
Lie there, my art. Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort.
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art
So safely ordered that there is no soul--
No, not so much perdition as an hair
Betid to any creature in the vessel
Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Sit down;
For thou must now know farther.
You have oftenPROSPERO
Begun to tell me what I am, but stopp'd
And left me to a bootless inquisition,
Concluding 'Stay: not yet.'
The hour's now come;MIRANDA
The very minute bids thee ope thine ear;
Obey and be attentive. Canst thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?
I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not
Out three years old.
Certainly, sir, I can.PROSPERO
By what? by any other house or person?MIRANDA
Of any thing the image tell me that
Hath kept with thy remembrance.
'Tis far offPROSPERO
And rather like a dream than an assurance
That my remembrance warrants. Had I not
Four or five women once that tended me?
Thou hadst, and more, Miranda. But how is itMIRANDA
That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else
In the dark backward and abysm of time?
If thou remember'st aught ere thou camest here,
How thou camest here thou mayst.
But that I do not.PROSPERO
Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,MIRANDA
Thy father was the Duke of Milan and
A prince of power.
Sir, are not you my father?PROSPERO
Thy mother was a piece of virtue, andMIRANDA
She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
Was Duke of Milan; and thou his only heir
And princess no worse issued.
O the heavens!PROSPERO
What foul play had we, that we came from thence?
Or blessed was't we did?
Both, both, my girl:MIRANDA
By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heaved thence,
But blessedly holp hither.
O, my heart bleedsPROSPERO
To think o' the teen that I have turn'd you to,
Which is from my remembrance! Please you, farther.
My brother and thy uncle, call'd Antonio--MIRANDA
I pray thee, mark me--that a brother should
Be so perfidious!--he whom next thyself
Of all the world I loved and to him put
The manage of my state; as at that time
Through all the signories it was the first
And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed
In dignity, and for the liberal arts
Without a parallel; those being all my study,
The government I cast upon my brother
And to my state grew stranger, being transported
And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle--
Dost thou attend me?
Sir, most heedfully.PROSPERO
Being once perfected how to grant suits,MIRANDA
How to deny them, who to advance and who
To trash for over-topping, new created
The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed 'em,
Or else new form'd 'em; having both the key
Of officer and office, set all hearts i' the state
To what tune pleased his ear; that now he was
The ivy which had hid my princely trunk,
And suck'd my verdure out on't. Thou attend'st not.
O, good sir, I do.PROSPERO
I pray thee, mark me.MIRANDA
I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
To closeness and the bettering of my mind
With that which, but by being so retired,
O'er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother
Awaked an evil nature; and my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him
A falsehood in its contrary as great
As my trust was; which had indeed no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,
But what my power might else exact, like one
Who having into truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory,
To credit his own lie, he did believe
He was indeed the duke; out o' the substitution
And executing the outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative: hence his ambition growing--
Dost thou hear?
Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.PROSPERO
To have no screen between this part he play'dMIRANDA
And him he play'd it for, he needs will be
Absolute Milan. Me, poor man, my library
Was dukedom large enough: of temporal royalties
He thinks me now incapable; confederates--
So dry he was for sway--wi' the King of Naples
To give him annual tribute, do him homage,
Subject his coronet to his crown and bend
The dukedom yet unbow'd--alas, poor Milan!--
To most ignoble stooping.
O the heavens!PROSPERO
Mark his condition and the event; then tell meMIRANDA
If this might be a brother.
I should sinPROSPERO
To think but nobly of my grandmother:
Good wombs have borne bad sons.
Now the condition.MIRANDA
The King of Naples, being an enemy
To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit;
Which was, that he, in lieu o' the premises
Of homage and I know not how much tribute,
Should presently extirpate me and mine
Out of the dukedom and confer fair Milan
With all the honours on my brother: whereon,
A treacherous army levied, one midnight
Fated to the purpose did Antonio open
The gates of Milan, and, i' the dead of darkness,
The ministers for the purpose hurried thence
Me and thy crying self.
Alack, for pity!PROSPERO
I, not remembering how I cried out then,
Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint
That wrings mine eyes to't.
Hear a little furtherMIRANDA
And then I'll bring thee to the present business
Which now's upon's; without the which this story
Were most impertinent.
Wherefore did they notPROSPERO
That hour destroy us?
Well demanded, wench:MIRANDA
My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not,
So dear the love my people bore me, nor set
A mark so bloody on the business, but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark,
Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared
A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us,
To cry to the sea that roar'd to us, to sigh
To the winds whose pity, sighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.
Alack, what troublePROSPERO
Was I then to you!
O, a cherubimMIRANDA
Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile.
Infused with a fortitude from heaven,
When I have deck'd the sea with drops full salt,
Under my burthen groan'd; which raised in me
An undergoing stomach, to bear up
Against what should ensue.
How came we ashore?PROSPERO
By Providence divine.MIRANDA
Some food we had and some fresh water that
A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,
Out of his charity, being then appointed
Master of this design, did give us, with
Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries,
Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentleness,
Knowing I loved my books, he furnish'd me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom.
Would I mightPROSPERO
But ever see that man!
Now I arise:MIRANDA
Resumes his mantle
Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.
Here in this island we arrived; and here
Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit
Than other princesses can that have more time
For vainer hours and tutors not so careful.
Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray you, sir,PROSPERO
For still 'tis beating in my mind, your reason
For raising this sea-storm?
Know thus far forth.ARIEL
By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune,
Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies
Brought to this shore; and by my prescience
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most auspicious star, whose influence
If now I court not but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop. Here cease more questions:
Thou art inclined to sleep; 'tis a good dulness,
And give it way: I know thou canst not choose.
MIRANDA sleeps
Come away, servant, come. I am ready now.
Approach, my Ariel, come.
Enter ARIEL
All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I comePROSPERO
To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality.
Hast thou, spirit,ARIEL
Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?
To every article.PROSPERO
I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flamed amazement: sometime I'ld divide,
And burn in many places; on the topmast,
The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,
Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors
O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
And sight-outrunning were not; the fire and cracks
Of sulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune
Seem to besiege and make his bold waves tremble,
Yea, his dread trident shake.
My brave spirit!ARIEL
Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
Would not infect his reason?
Not a soulPROSPERO
But felt a fever of the mad and play'd
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners
Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,
Then all afire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring,--then like reeds, not hair,--
Was the first man that leap'd; cried, 'Hell is empty
And all the devils are here.'
Why that's my spirit!ARIEL
But was not this nigh shore?
Close by, my master.PROSPERO
But are they, Ariel, safe?ARIEL
Not a hair perish'd;PROSPERO
On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before: and, as thou badest me,
In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle.
The king's son have I landed by himself;
Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs
In an odd angle of the isle and sitting,
His arms in this sad knot.
Of the king's shipARIEL
The mariners say how thou hast disposed
And all the rest o' the fleet.
Safely in harbourPROSPERO
Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vex'd Bermoothes, there she's hid:
The mariners all under hatches stow'd;
Who, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour,
I have left asleep; and for the rest o' the fleet
Which I dispersed, they all have met again
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,
Bound sadly home for Naples,
Supposing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd
And his great person perish.
Ariel, thy chargeARIEL
Exactly is perform'd: but there's more work.
What is the time o' the day?
Past the mid season.PROSPERO
At least two glasses. The time 'twixt six and nowARIEL
Must by us both be spent most preciously.
Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,PROSPERO
Let me remember thee what thou hast promised,
Which is not yet perform'd me.
How now? moody?ARIEL
What is't thou canst demand?
My liberty.PROSPERO
Before the time be out? no more!ARIEL
I prithee,PROSPERO
Remember I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise
To bate me a full year.
Dost thou forgetARIEL
From what a torment I did free thee?
No.PROSPERO
Thou dost, and think'st it much to tread the oozeARIEL
Of the salt deep,
To run upon the sharp wind of the north,
To do me business in the veins o' the earth
When it is baked with frost.
I do not, sir.PROSPERO
Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgotARIEL
The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy
Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her?
No, sir.PROSPERO
Thou hast. Where was she born? speak; tell me.ARIEL
Sir, in Argier.PROSPERO
O, was she so? I mustARIEL
Once in a month recount what thou hast been,
Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch Sycorax,
For mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible
To enter human hearing, from Argier,
Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did
They would not take her life. Is not this true?
Ay, sir.PROSPERO
This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with childARIEL
And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave,
As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant;
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate
To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
By help of her more potent ministers
And in her most unmitigable rage,
Into a cloven pine; within which rift
Imprison'd thou didst painfully remain
A dozen years; within which space she died
And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy groans
As fast as mill-wheels strike. Then was this island--
Save for the son that she did litter here,
A freckled whelp hag-born--not honour'd with
A human shape.
Yes, Caliban her son.PROSPERO
Dull thing, I say so; he, that CalibanARIEL
Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st
What torment I did find thee in; thy groans
Did make wolves howl and penetrate the breasts
Of ever angry bears: it was a torment
To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax
Could not again undo: it was mine art,
When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
The pine and let thee out.
I thank thee, master.PROSPERO
If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oakARIEL
And peg thee in his knotty entrails till
Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.
Pardon, master;PROSPERO
I will be correspondent to command
And do my spiriting gently.
Do so, and after two daysARIEL
I will discharge thee.
That's my noble master!PROSPERO
What shall I do? say what; what shall I do?
Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subjectMIRANDA
To no sight but thine and mine, invisible
To every eyeball else. Go take this shape
And hither come in't: go, hence with diligence!
Exit ARIEL
Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well; Awake!
The strangeness of your story putPROSPERO
Heaviness in me.
Shake it off. Come on;MIRANDA
We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never
Yields us kind answer.
'Tis a villain, sir,PROSPERO
I do not love to look on.
But, as 'tis,CALIBAN
We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,
Fetch in our wood and serves in offices
That profit us. What, ho! slave! Caliban!
Thou earth, thou! speak.
[Within] There's wood enough within.PROSPERO
Come forth, I say! there's other business for thee:ARIEL
Come, thou tortoise! when?
Re-enter ARIEL like a water-nymph
Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel,
Hark in thine ear.
My lord it shall be done.PROSPERO
Exit
Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himselfCALIBAN
Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!
Enter CALIBAN
As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'dPROSPERO
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye
And blister you all o'er!
For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,CALIBAN
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins
Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,
All exercise on thee; thou shalt be pinch'd
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made 'em.
I must eat my dinner.PROSPERO
This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,
Thou strokedst me and madest much of me, wouldst give me
Water with berries in't, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee
And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle,
The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile:
Cursed be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' the island.
Thou most lying slave,CALIBAN
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honour of my child.
O ho, O ho! would't had been done!PROSPERO
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans.
Abhorred slave,CALIBAN
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in't which
good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock,
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
You taught me language; and my profit on'tPROSPERO
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!
Hag-seed, hence!CALIBAN
Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou'rt best,
To answer other business. Shrug'st thou, malice?
If thou neglect'st or dost unwillingly
What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps,
Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
No, pray thee.PROSPERO
Aside
I must obey: his art is of such power,
It would control my dam's god, Setebos,
and make a vassal of him.
So, slave; hence!FERDINAND
Exit CALIBAN
Re-enter ARIEL, invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND following
ARIEL'S song.
Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Courtsied when you have and kiss'd
The wild waves whist,
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.
Hark, hark!
Burthen [dispersedly, within
The watch-dogs bark!
Burthen Bow-wow
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.
Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth?FERDINAND
It sounds no more: and sure, it waits upon
Some god o' the island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the king my father's wreck,
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion
With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it,
Or it hath drawn me rather. But 'tis gone.
No, it begins again.
ARIEL sings
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell
Burthen Ding-dong
Hark! now I hear them,--Ding-dong, bell.
The ditty does remember my drown'd father.PROSPERO
This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes. I hear it now above me.
The fringed curtains of thine eye advanceMIRANDA
And say what thou seest yond.
What is't? a spirit?PROSPERO
Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,
It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit.
No, wench; it eats and sleeps and hath such sensesMIRANDA
As we have, such. This gallant which thou seest
Was in the wreck; and, but he's something stain'd
With grief that's beauty's canker, thou mightst call him
A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows
And strays about to find 'em.
I might call himPROSPERO
A thing divine, for nothing natural
I ever saw so noble.
[Aside] It goes on, I see,FERDINAND
As my soul prompts it. Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee
Within two days for this.
Most sure, the goddessMIRANDA
On whom these airs attend! Vouchsafe my prayer
May know if you remain upon this island;
And that you will some good instruction give
How I may bear me here: my prime request,
Which I do last pronounce, is, O you wonder!
If you be maid or no?
No wonder, sir;FERDINAND
But certainly a maid.
My language! heavens!PROSPERO
I am the best of them that speak this speech,
Were I but where 'tis spoken.
How? the best?FERDINAND
What wert thou, if the King of Naples heard thee?
A single thing, as I am now, that wondersMIRANDA
To hear thee speak of Naples. He does hear me;
And that he does I weep: myself am Naples,
Who with mine eyes, never since at ebb, beheld
The king my father wreck'd.
Alack, for mercy!FERDINAND
Yes, faith, and all his lords; the Duke of MilanPROSPERO
And his brave son being twain.
[Aside] The Duke of MilanMIRANDA
And his more braver daughter could control thee,
If now 'twere fit to do't. At the first sight
They have changed eyes. Delicate Ariel,
I'll set thee free for this.
To FERDINAND
A word, good sir;
I fear you have done yourself some wrong: a word.
Why speaks my father so ungently? ThisFERDINAND
Is the third man that e'er I saw, the first
That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father
To be inclined my way!
O, if a virgin,PROSPERO
And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
The queen of Naples.
Soft, sir! one word more.FERDINAND
Aside
They are both in either's powers; but this swift business
I must uneasy make, lest too light winning
Make the prize light.
To FERDINAND
One word more; I charge thee
That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp
The name thou owest not; and hast put thyself
Upon this island as a spy, to win it
From me, the lord on't.
No, as I am a man.MIRANDA
There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple:PROSPERO
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with't.
Follow me.FERDINAND
Speak not you for him; he's a traitor. Come;
I'll manacle thy neck and feet together:
Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be
The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots and husks
Wherein the acorn cradled. Follow.
No;MIRANDA
I will resist such entertainment till
Mine enemy has more power.
Draws, and is charmed from moving
O dear father,PROSPERO
Make not too rash a trial of him, for
He's gentle and not fearful.
What? I say,MIRANDA
My foot my tutor? Put thy sword up, traitor;
Who makest a show but darest not strike, thy conscience
Is so possess'd with guilt: come from thy ward,
For I can here disarm thee with this stick
And make thy weapon drop.
Beseech you, father.PROSPERO
Hence! hang not on my garments.MIRANDA
Sir, have pity;PROSPERO
I'll be his surety.
Silence! one word moreMIRANDA
Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What!
An advocate for an imposter! hush!
Thou think'st there is no more such shapes as he,
Having seen but him and Caliban: foolish wench!
To the most of men this is a Caliban
And they to him are angels.
My affectionsPROSPERO
Are then most humble; I have no ambition
To see a goodlier man.
Come on; obey:FERDINAND
Thy nerves are in their infancy again
And have no vigour in them.
So they are;PROSPERO
My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
The wreck of all my friends, nor this man's threats,
To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,
Might I but through my prison once a day
Behold this maid: all corners else o' the earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough
Have I in such a prison.
[Aside] It works.MIRANDA
To FERDINAND
Come on.
Thou hast done well, fine Ariel!
To FERDINAND
Follow me.
To ARIEL
Hark what thou else shalt do me.
Be of comfort;PROSPERO
My father's of a better nature, sir,
Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted
Which now came from him.
Thou shalt be freeARIEL
As mountain winds: but then exactly do
All points of my command.
To the syllable.PROSPERO
Come, follow. Speak not for him.
Exeunt
Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and othersGONZALO
Beseech you, sir, be merry; you have cause,ALONSO
So have we all, of joy; for our escape
Is much beyond our loss. Our hint of woe
Is common; every day some sailor's wife,
The masters of some merchant and the merchant
Have just our theme of woe; but for the miracle,
I mean our preservation, few in millions
Can speak like us: then wisely, good sir, weigh
Our sorrow with our comfort.
Prithee, peace.SEBASTIAN
He receives comfort like cold porridge.ANTONIO
The visitor will not give him o'er so.SEBASTIAN
Look he's winding up the watch of his wit;GONZALO
by and by it will strike.
Sir,--SEBASTIAN
One: tell.GONZALO
When every grief is entertain'd that's offer'd,SEBASTIAN
Comes to the entertainer--
A dollar.GONZALO
Dolour comes to him, indeed: youSEBASTIAN
have spoken truer than you purposed.
You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should.GONZALO
Therefore, my lord,--ANTONIO
Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue!ALONSO
I prithee, spare.GONZALO
Well, I have done: but yet,--SEBASTIAN
He will be talking.ANTONIO
Which, of he or Adrian, for a goodSEBASTIAN
wager, first begins to crow?
The old cock.ANTONIO
The cockerel.SEBASTIAN
Done. The wager?ANTONIO
A laughter.SEBASTIAN
A match!ADRIAN
Though this island seem to be desert,--SEBASTIAN
Ha, ha, ha! So, you're paid.ADRIAN
Uninhabitable and almost inaccessible,--SEBASTIAN
Yet,--ADRIAN
Yet,--ANTONIO
He could not miss't.ADRIAN
It must needs be of subtle, tender and delicateANTONIO
temperance.
Temperance was a delicate wench.SEBASTIAN
Ay, and a subtle; as he most learnedly delivered.ADRIAN
The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.SEBASTIAN
As if it had lungs and rotten ones.ANTONIO
Or as 'twere perfumed by a fen.GONZALO
Here is everything advantageous to life.ANTONIO
True; save means to live.SEBASTIAN
Of that there's none, or little.GONZALO
How lush and lusty the grass looks! how green!ANTONIO
The ground indeed is tawny.SEBASTIAN
With an eye of green in't.ANTONIO
He misses not much.SEBASTIAN
No; he doth but mistake the truth totally.GONZALO
But the rarity of it is,--which is indeed almostSEBASTIAN
beyond credit,--
As many vouched rarities are.GONZALO
That our garments, being, as they were, drenched inANTONIO
the sea, hold notwithstanding their freshness and
glosses, being rather new-dyed than stained with
salt water.
If but one of his pockets could speak, would it notSEBASTIAN
say he lies?
Ay, or very falsely pocket up his reportGONZALO
Methinks our garments are now as fresh as when weSEBASTIAN
put them on first in Afric, at the marriage of
the king's fair daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis.
'Twas a sweet marriage, and we prosper well in our return.ADRIAN
Tunis was never graced before with such a paragon toGONZALO
their queen.
Not since widow Dido's time.ANTONIO
Widow! a pox o' that! How came that widow in?SEBASTIAN
widow Dido!
What if he had said 'widower AEneas' too? Good Lord,ADRIAN
how you take it!
'Widow Dido' said you? you make me study of that:GONZALO
she was of Carthage, not of Tunis.
This Tunis, sir, was Carthage.ADRIAN
Carthage?GONZALO
I assure you, Carthage.SEBASTIAN
His word is more than the miraculous harp; he hathANTONIO
raised the wall and houses too.
What impossible matter will he make easy next?SEBASTIAN
I think he will carry this island home in his pocketANTONIO
and give it his son for an apple.
And, sowing the kernels of it in the sea, bringGONZALO
forth more islands.
Ay.ANTONIO
Why, in good time.GONZALO
Sir, we were talking that our garments seem nowANTONIO
as fresh as when we were at Tunis at the marriage
of your daughter, who is now queen.
And the rarest that e'er came there.SEBASTIAN
Bate, I beseech you, widow Dido.ANTONIO
O, widow Dido! ay, widow Dido.GONZALO
Is not, sir, my doublet as fresh as the first day IANTONIO
wore it? I mean, in a sort.
That sort was well fished for.GONZALO
When I wore it at your daughter's marriage?ALONSO
You cram these words into mine ears againstFRANCISCO
The stomach of my sense. Would I had never
Married my daughter there! for, coming thence,
My son is lost and, in my rate, she too,
Who is so far from Italy removed
I ne'er again shall see her. O thou mine heir
Of Naples and of Milan, what strange fish
Hath made his meal on thee?
Sir, he may live:ALONSO
I saw him beat the surges under him,
And ride upon their backs; he trod the water,
Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted
The surge most swoln that met him; his bold head
'Bove the contentious waves he kept, and oar'd
Himself with his good arms in lusty stroke
To the shore, that o'er his wave-worn basis bow'd,
As stooping to relieve him: I not doubt
He came alive to land.
No, no, he's gone.SEBASTIAN
Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss,ALONSO
That would not bless our Europe with your daughter,
But rather lose her to an African;
Where she at least is banish'd from your eye,
Who hath cause to wet the grief on't.
Prithee, peace.SEBASTIAN
You were kneel'd to and importuned otherwiseALONSO
By all of us, and the fair soul herself
Weigh'd between loathness and obedience, at
Which end o' the beam should bow. We have lost your
son,
I fear, for ever: Milan and Naples have
More widows in them of this business' making
Than we bring men to comfort them:
The fault's your own.
So is the dear'st o' the loss.GONZALO
My lord Sebastian,SEBASTIAN
The truth you speak doth lack some gentleness
And time to speak it in: you rub the sore,
When you should bring the plaster.
Very well.ANTONIO
And most chirurgeonly.GONZALO
It is foul weather in us all, good sir,SEBASTIAN
When you are cloudy.
Foul weather?ANTONIO
Very foul.GONZALO
Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,--ANTONIO
He'ld sow't with nettle-seed.SEBASTIAN
Or docks, or mallows.GONZALO
And were the king on't, what would I do?SEBASTIAN
'Scape being drunk for want of wine.GONZALO
I' the commonwealth I would by contrariesSEBASTIAN
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all;
And women too, but innocent and pure;
No sovereignty;--
Yet he would be king on't.ANTONIO
The latter end of his commonwealth forgets theGONZALO
beginning.
All things in common nature should produceSEBASTIAN
Without sweat or endeavour: treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine,
Would I not have; but nature should bring forth,
Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.
No marrying 'mong his subjects?ANTONIO
None, man; all idle: whores and knaves.GONZALO
I would with such perfection govern, sir,SEBASTIAN
To excel the golden age.
God save his majesty!ANTONIO
Long live Gonzalo!GONZALO
And,--do you mark me, sir?ALONSO
Prithee, no more: thou dost talk nothing to me.GONZALO
I do well believe your highness; andANTONIO
did it to minister occasion to these gentlemen,
who are of such sensible and nimble lungs that
they always use to laugh at nothing.
'Twas you we laughed at.GONZALO
Who in this kind of merry fooling am nothingANTONIO
to you: so you may continue and laugh at
nothing still.
What a blow was there given!SEBASTIAN
An it had not fallen flat-long.GONZALO
You are gentlemen of brave metal; you would liftSEBASTIAN
the moon out of her sphere, if she would continue
in it five weeks without changing.
Enter ARIEL, invisible, playing solemn music
We would so, and then go a bat-fowling.ANTONIO
Nay, good my lord, be not angry.GONZALO
No, I warrant you; I will not adventureANTONIO
my discretion so weakly. Will you laugh
me asleep, for I am very heavy?
Go sleep, and hear us.ALONSO
All sleep except ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, and ANTONIO
What, all so soon asleep! I wish mine eyesSEBASTIAN
Would, with themselves, shut up my thoughts: I find
They are inclined to do so.
Please you, sir,ANTONIO
Do not omit the heavy offer of it:
It seldom visits sorrow; when it doth,
It is a comforter.
We two, my lord,ALONSO
Will guard your person while you take your rest,
And watch your safety.
Thank you. Wondrous heavy.SEBASTIAN
ALONSO sleeps. Exit ARIEL
What a strange drowsiness possesses them!ANTONIO
It is the quality o' the climate.SEBASTIAN
WhyANTONIO
Doth it not then our eyelids sink? I find not
Myself disposed to sleep.
Nor I; my spirits are nimble.SEBASTIAN
They fell together all, as by consent;
They dropp'd, as by a thunder-stroke. What might,
Worthy Sebastian? O, what might?--No more:--
And yet me thinks I see it in thy face,
What thou shouldst be: the occasion speaks thee, and
My strong imagination sees a crown
Dropping upon thy head.
What, art thou waking?ANTONIO
Do you not hear me speak?SEBASTIAN
I do; and surelyANTONIO
It is a sleepy language and thou speak'st
Out of thy sleep. What is it thou didst say?
This is a strange repose, to be asleep
With eyes wide open; standing, speaking, moving,
And yet so fast asleep.
Noble Sebastian,SEBASTIAN
Thou let'st thy fortune sleep--die, rather; wink'st
Whiles thou art waking.
Thou dost snore distinctly;ANTONIO
There's meaning in thy snores.
I am more serious than my custom: youSEBASTIAN
Must be so too, if heed me; which to do
Trebles thee o'er.
Well, I am standing water.ANTONIO
I'll teach you how to flow.SEBASTIAN
Do so: to ebbANTONIO
Hereditary sloth instructs me.
O,SEBASTIAN
If you but knew how you the purpose cherish
Whiles thus you mock it! how, in stripping it,
You more invest it! Ebbing men, indeed,
Most often do so near the bottom run
By their own fear or sloth.
Prithee, say on:ANTONIO
The setting of thine eye and cheek proclaim
A matter from thee, and a birth indeed
Which throes thee much to yield.
Thus, sir:SEBASTIAN
Although this lord of weak remembrance, this,
Who shall be of as little memory
When he is earth'd, hath here almost persuade,--
For he's a spirit of persuasion, only
Professes to persuade,--the king his son's alive,
'Tis as impossible that he's undrown'd
And he that sleeps here swims.
I have no hopeANTONIO
That he's undrown'd.
O, out of that 'no hope'SEBASTIAN
What great hope have you! no hope that way is
Another way so high a hope that even
Ambition cannot pierce a wink beyond,
But doubt discovery there. Will you grant with me
That Ferdinand is drown'd?
He's gone.ANTONIO
Then, tell me,SEBASTIAN
Who's the next heir of Naples?
Claribel.ANTONIO
She that is queen of Tunis; she that dwellsSEBASTIAN
Ten leagues beyond man's life; she that from Naples
Can have no note, unless the sun were post--
The man i' the moon's too slow--till new-born chins
Be rough and razorable; she that--from whom?
We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again,
And by that destiny to perform an act
Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come
In yours and my discharge.
What stuff is this! how say you?ANTONIO
'Tis true, my brother's daughter's queen of Tunis;
So is she heir of Naples; 'twixt which regions
There is some space.
A space whose every cubitSEBASTIAN
Seems to cry out, 'How shall that Claribel
Measure us back to Naples? Keep in Tunis,
And let Sebastian wake.' Say, this were death
That now hath seized them; why, they were no worse
Than now they are. There be that can rule Naples
As well as he that sleeps; lords that can prate
As amply and unnecessarily
As this Gonzalo; I myself could make
A chough of as deep chat. O, that you bore
The mind that I do! what a sleep were this
For your advancement! Do you understand me?
Methinks I do.ANTONIO
And how does your contentSEBASTIAN
Tender your own good fortune?
I rememberANTONIO
You did supplant your brother Prospero.
True:SEBASTIAN
And look how well my garments sit upon me;
Much feater than before: my brother's servants
Were then my fellows; now they are my men.
But, for your conscience?ANTONIO
Ay, sir; where lies that? if 'twere a kibe,SEBASTIAN
'Twould put me to my slipper: but I feel not
This deity in my bosom: twenty consciences,
That stand 'twixt me and Milan, candied be they
And melt ere they molest! Here lies your brother,
No better than the earth he lies upon,
If he were that which now he's like, that's dead;
Whom I, with this obedient steel, three inches of it,
Can lay to bed for ever; whiles you, doing thus,
To the perpetual wink for aye might put
This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who
Should not upbraid our course. For all the rest,
They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk;
They'll tell the clock to any business that
We say befits the hour.
Thy case, dear friend,ANTONIO
Shall be my precedent; as thou got'st Milan,
I'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke
Shall free thee from the tribute which thou payest;
And I the king shall love thee.
Draw together;SEBASTIAN
And when I rear my hand, do you the like,
To fall it on Gonzalo.
O, but one word.ARIEL
They talk apart
Re-enter ARIEL, invisible
My master through his art foresees the dangerANTONIO
That you, his friend, are in; and sends me forth--
For else his project dies--to keep them living.
Sings in GONZALO's ear
While you here do snoring lie,
Open-eyed conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber, and beware:
Awake, awake!
Then let us both be sudden.GONZALO
Now, good angelsALONSO
Preserve the king.
They wake
Why, how now? ho, awake! Why are you drawn?GONZALO
Wherefore this ghastly looking?
What's the matter?SEBASTIAN
Whiles we stood here securing your repose,ALONSO
Even now, we heard a hollow burst of bellowing
Like bulls, or rather lions: did't not wake you?
It struck mine ear most terribly.
I heard nothing.ANTONIO
O, 'twas a din to fright a monster's ear,ALONSO
To make an earthquake! sure, it was the roar
Of a whole herd of lions.
Heard you this, Gonzalo?GONZALO
Upon mine honour, sir, I heard a humming,ALONSO
And that a strange one too, which did awake me:
I shaked you, sir, and cried: as mine eyes open'd,
I saw their weapons drawn: there was a noise,
That's verily. 'Tis best we stand upon our guard,
Or that we quit this place; let's draw our weapons.
Lead off this ground; and let's make further searchGONZALO
For my poor son.
Heavens keep him from these beasts!ALONSO
For he is, sure, i' the island.
Lead away.ARIEL
Prospero my lord shall know what I have done:
So, king, go safely on to seek thy son.
Exeunt
Enter CALIBAN with a burden of wood. A noise of thunder heardCALIBAN
All the infections that the sun sucks upTRINCULO
From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him
By inch-meal a disease! His spirits hear me
And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch,
Fright me with urchin--shows, pitch me i' the mire,
Nor lead me, like a firebrand, in the dark
Out of my way, unless he bid 'em; but
For every trifle are they set upon me;
Sometime like apes that mow and chatter at me
And after bite me, then like hedgehogs which
Lie tumbling in my barefoot way and mount
Their pricks at my footfall; sometime am I
All wound with adders who with cloven tongues
Do hiss me into madness.
Enter TRINCULO
Lo, now, lo!
Here comes a spirit of his, and to torment me
For bringing wood in slowly. I'll fall flat;
Perchance he will not mind me.
Here's neither bush nor shrub, to bear offSTEPHANO
any weather at all, and another storm brewing;
I hear it sing i' the wind: yond same black
cloud, yond huge one, looks like a foul
bombard that would shed his liquor. If it
should thunder as it did before, I know not
where to hide my head: yond same cloud cannot
choose but fall by pailfuls. What have we
here? a man or a fish? dead or alive? A fish:
he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-
like smell; a kind of not of the newest Poor-
John. A strange fish! Were I in England now,
as once I was, and had but this fish painted,
not a holiday fool there but would give a piece
of silver: there would this monster make a
man; any strange beast there makes a man:
when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame
beggar, they will lazy out ten to see a dead
Indian. Legged like a man and his fins like
arms! Warm o' my troth! I do now let loose
my opinion; hold it no longer: this is no fish,
but an islander, that hath lately suffered by a
thunderbolt.
Thunder
Alas, the storm is come again! my best way is to
creep under his gaberdine; there is no other
shelter hereabouts: misery acquaints a man with
strange bed-fellows. I will here shroud till the
dregs of the storm be past.
Enter STEPHANO, singing: a bottle in his hand
I shall no more to sea, to sea,CALIBAN
Here shall I die ashore--
This is a very scurvy tune to sing at a man's
funeral: well, here's my comfort.
Drinks
Sings
The master, the swabber, the boatswain and I,
The gunner and his mate
Loved Mall, Meg and Marian and Margery,
But none of us cared for Kate;
For she had a tongue with a tang,
Would cry to a sailor, Go hang!
She loved not the savour of tar nor of pitch,
Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch:
Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang!
This is a scurvy tune too: but here's my comfort.
Drinks
Do not torment me: Oh!STEPHANO
What's the matter? Have we devils here? Do you putCALIBAN
tricks upon's with savages and men of Ind, ha? I
have not scaped drowning to be afeard now of your
four legs; for it hath been said, As proper a man as
ever went on four legs cannot make him give ground;
and it shall be said so again while Stephano
breathes at's nostrils.
The spirit torments me; Oh!STEPHANO
This is some monster of the isle with four legs, whoCALIBAN
hath got, as I take it, an ague. Where the devil
should he learn our language? I will give him some
relief, if it be but for that. if I can recover him
and keep him tame and get to Naples with him, he's a
present for any emperor that ever trod on neat's leather.
Do not torment me, prithee; I'll bring my wood home faster.STEPHANO
He's in his fit now and does not talk after theCALIBAN
wisest. He shall taste of my bottle: if he have
never drunk wine afore will go near to remove his
fit. If I can recover him and keep him tame, I will
not take too much for him; he shall pay for him that
hath him, and that soundly.
Thou dost me yet but little hurt; thou wilt anon, ISTEPHANO
know it by thy trembling: now Prosper works upon thee.
Come on your ways; open your mouth; here is thatTRINCULO
which will give language to you, cat: open your
mouth; this will shake your shaking, I can tell you,
and that soundly: you cannot tell who's your friend:
open your chaps again.
I should know that voice: it should be--but he isSTEPHANO
drowned; and these are devils: O defend me!
Four legs and two voices: a most delicate monster!TRINCULO
His forward voice now is to speak well of his
friend; his backward voice is to utter foul speeches
and to detract. If all the wine in my bottle will
recover him, I will help his ague. Come. Amen! I
will pour some in thy other mouth.
Stephano!STEPHANO
Doth thy other mouth call me? Mercy, mercy! This isTRINCULO
a devil, and no monster: I will leave him; I have no
long spoon.
Stephano! If thou beest Stephano, touch me andSTEPHANO
speak to me: for I am Trinculo--be not afeard--thy
good friend Trinculo.
If thou beest Trinculo, come forth: I'll pull theeTRINCULO
by the lesser legs: if any be Trinculo's legs,
these are they. Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How
camest thou to be the siege of this moon-calf? can
he vent Trinculos?
I took him to be killed with a thunder-stroke. ButSTEPHANO
art thou not drowned, Stephano? I hope now thou art
not drowned. Is the storm overblown? I hid me
under the dead moon-calf's gaberdine for fear of
the storm. And art thou living, Stephano? O
Stephano, two Neapolitans 'scaped!
Prithee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant.CALIBAN
[Aside] These be fine things, an if they beSTEPHANO
not sprites.
That's a brave god and bears celestial liquor.
I will kneel to him.
How didst thou 'scape? How camest thou hither?CALIBAN
swear by this bottle how thou camest hither. I
escaped upon a butt of sack which the sailors
heaved o'erboard, by this bottle; which I made of
the bark of a tree with mine own hands since I was
cast ashore.
I'll swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject;STEPHANO
for the liquor is not earthly.
Here; swear then how thou escapedst.TRINCULO
Swum ashore. man, like a duck: I can swim like aSTEPHANO
duck, I'll be sworn.
Here, kiss the book. Though thou canst swim like aTRINCULO
duck, thou art made like a goose.
O Stephano. hast any more of this?STEPHANO
The whole butt, man: my cellar is in a rock by theCALIBAN
sea-side where my wine is hid. How now, moon-calf!
how does thine ague?
Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven?STEPHANO
Out o' the moon, I do assure thee: I was the man i'CALIBAN
the moon when time was.
I have seen thee in her and I do adore thee:STEPHANO
My mistress show'd me thee and thy dog and thy bush.
Come, swear to that; kiss the book: I will furnishTRINCULO
it anon with new contents swear.
By this good light, this is a very shallow monster!CALIBAN
I afeard of him! A very weak monster! The man i'
the moon! A most poor credulous monster! Well
drawn, monster, in good sooth!
I'll show thee every fertile inch o' th' island;TRINCULO
And I will kiss thy foot: I prithee, be my god.
By this light, a most perfidious and drunkenCALIBAN
monster! when 's god's asleep, he'll rob his bottle.
I'll kiss thy foot; I'll swear myself thy subject.STEPHANO
Come on then; down, and swear.TRINCULO
I shall laugh myself to death at this puppy-headedSTEPHANO
monster. A most scurvy monster! I could find in my
heart to beat him,--
Come, kiss.TRINCULO
But that the poor monster's in drink: an abominable monster!CALIBAN
I'll show thee the best springs; I'll pluck thee berries;TRINCULO
I'll fish for thee and get thee wood enough.
A plague upon the tyrant that I serve!
I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee,
Thou wondrous man.
A most ridiculous monster, to make a wonder of aCALIBAN
Poor drunkard!
I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow;STEPHANO
And I with my long nails will dig thee pignuts;
Show thee a jay's nest and instruct thee how
To snare the nimble marmoset; I'll bring thee
To clustering filberts and sometimes I'll get thee
Young scamels from the rock. Wilt thou go with me?
I prithee now, lead the way without any moreCALIBAN
talking. Trinculo, the king and all our company
else being drowned, we will inherit here: here;
bear my bottle: fellow Trinculo, we'll fill him by
and by again.
[Sings drunkenly]TRINCULO
Farewell master; farewell, farewell!
A howling monster: a drunken monster!CALIBAN
No more dams I'll make for fishSTEPHANO
Nor fetch in firing
At requiring;
Nor scrape trencher, nor wash dish
'Ban, 'Ban, Cacaliban
Has a new master: get a new man.
Freedom, hey-day! hey-day, freedom! freedom,
hey-day, freedom!
O brave monster! Lead the way.
Exeunt
Enter FERDINAND, bearing a logFERDINAND
There be some sports are painful, and their labourMIRANDA
Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone and most poor matters
Point to rich ends. This my mean task
Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead
And makes my labours pleasures: O, she is
Ten times more gentle than her father's crabbed,
And he's composed of harshness. I must remove
Some thousands of these logs and pile them up,
Upon a sore injunction: my sweet mistress
Weeps when she sees me work, and says, such baseness
Had never like executor. I forget:
But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours,
Most busy lest, when I do it.
Enter MIRANDA; and PROSPERO at a distance, unseen
Alas, now, pray you,FERDINAND
Work not so hard: I would the lightning had
Burnt up those logs that you are enjoin'd to pile!
Pray, set it down and rest you: when this burns,
'Twill weep for having wearied you. My father
Is hard at study; pray now, rest yourself;
He's safe for these three hours.
O most dear mistress,MIRANDA
The sun will set before I shall discharge
What I must strive to do.
If you'll sit down,FERDINAND
I'll bear your logs the while: pray, give me that;
I'll carry it to the pile.
No, precious creature;MIRANDA
I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,
Than you should such dishonour undergo,
While I sit lazy by.
It would become mePROSPERO
As well as it does you: and I should do it
With much more ease; for my good will is to it,
And yours it is against.
Poor worm, thou art infected!MIRANDA
This visitation shows it.
You look wearily.FERDINAND
No, noble mistress;'tis fresh morning with meMIRANDA
When you are by at night. I do beseech you--
Chiefly that I might set it in my prayers--
What is your name?
Miranda.--O my father,FERDINAND
I have broke your hest to say so!
Admired Miranda!MIRANDA
Indeed the top of admiration! worth
What's dearest to the world! Full many a lady
I have eyed with best regard and many a time
The harmony of their tongues hath into bondage
Brought my too diligent ear: for several virtues
Have I liked several women; never any
With so fun soul, but some defect in her
Did quarrel with the noblest grace she owed
And put it to the foil: but you, O you,
So perfect and so peerless, are created
Of every creature's best!
I do not knowFERDINAND
One of my sex; no woman's face remember,
Save, from my glass, mine own; nor have I seen
More that I may call men than you, good friend,
And my dear father: how features are abroad,
I am skilless of; but, by my modesty,
The jewel in my dower, I would not wish
Any companion in the world but you,
Nor can imagination form a shape,
Besides yourself, to like of. But I prattle
Something too wildly and my father's precepts
I therein do forget.
I am in my conditionMIRANDA
A prince, Miranda; I do think, a king;
I would, not so!--and would no more endure
This wooden slavery than to suffer
The flesh-fly blow my mouth. Hear my soul speak:
The very instant that I saw you, did
My heart fly to your service; there resides,
To make me slave to it; and for your sake
Am I this patient log--man.
Do you love me?FERDINAND
O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this soundMIRANDA
And crown what I profess with kind event
If I speak true! if hollowly, invert
What best is boded me to mischief! I
Beyond all limit of what else i' the world
Do love, prize, honour you.
I am a foolPROSPERO
To weep at what I am glad of.
Fair encounterFERDINAND
Of two most rare affections! Heavens rain grace
On that which breeds between 'em!
Wherefore weep you?MIRANDA
At mine unworthiness that dare not offerFERDINAND
What I desire to give, and much less take
What I shall die to want. But this is trifling;
And all the more it seeks to hide itself,
The bigger bulk it shows. Hence, bashful cunning!
And prompt me, plain and holy innocence!
I am your wife, it you will marry me;
If not, I'll die your maid: to be your fellow
You may deny me; but I'll be your servant,
Whether you will or no.
My mistress, dearest;MIRANDA
And I thus humble ever.
My husband, then?FERDINAND
Ay, with a heart as willingMIRANDA
As bondage e'er of freedom: here's my hand.
And mine, with my heart in't; and now farewellFERDINAND
Till half an hour hence.
A thousand thousand!PROSPERO
Exeunt FERDINAND and MIRANDA severally
So glad of this as they I cannot be,
Who are surprised withal; but my rejoicing
At nothing can be more. I'll to my book,
For yet ere supper-time must I perform
Much business appertaining.
Exit
Enter CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULOSTEPHANO
Tell not me; when the butt is out, we will drinkTRINCULO
water; not a drop before: therefore bear up, and
board 'em. Servant-monster, drink to me.
Servant-monster! the folly of this island! TheySTEPHANO
say there's but five upon this isle: we are three
of them; if th' other two be brained like us, the
state totters.
Drink, servant-monster, when I bid thee: thy eyesTRINCULO
are almost set in thy head.
Where should they be set else? he were a braveSTEPHANO
monster indeed, if they were set in his tail.
My man-monster hath drown'd his tongue in sack:TRINCULO
for my part, the sea cannot drown me; I swam, ere I
could recover the shore, five and thirty leagues off
and on. By this light, thou shalt be my lieutenant,
monster, or my standard.
Your lieutenant, if you list; he's no standard.STEPHANO
We'll not run, Monsieur Monster.TRINCULO
Nor go neither; but you'll lie like dogs and yet saySTEPHANO
nothing neither.
Moon-calf, speak once in thy life, if thou beest aCALIBAN
good moon-calf.
How does thy honour? Let me lick thy shoe.TRINCULO
I'll not serve him; he's not valiant.
Thou liest, most ignorant monster: I am in case toCALIBAN
justle a constable. Why, thou deboshed fish thou,
was there ever man a coward that hath drunk so much
sack as I to-day? Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie,
being but half a fish and half a monster?
Lo, how he mocks me! wilt thou let him, my lord?TRINCULO
'Lord' quoth he! That a monster should be such a natural!CALIBAN
Lo, lo, again! bite him to death, I prithee.STEPHANO
Trinculo, keep a good tongue in your head: if youCALIBAN
prove a mutineer,--the next tree! The poor monster's
my subject and he shall not suffer indignity.
I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleased toSTEPHANO
hearken once again to the suit I made to thee?
Marry, will I kneel and repeat it; I will stand,CALIBAN
and so shall Trinculo.
Enter ARIEL, invisible
As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, aARIEL
sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.
Thou liest.CALIBAN
Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou: I would mySTEPHANO
valiant master would destroy thee! I do not lie.
Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in's tale, byTRINCULO
this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth.
Why, I said nothing.STEPHANO
Mum, then, and no more. Proceed.CALIBAN
I say, by sorcery he got this isle;STEPHANO
From me he got it. if thy greatness will
Revenge it on him,--for I know thou darest,
But this thing dare not,--
That's most certain.CALIBAN
Thou shalt be lord of it and I'll serve thee.STEPHANO
How now shall this be compassed?CALIBAN
Canst thou bring me to the party?
Yea, yea, my lord: I'll yield him thee asleep,ARIEL
Where thou mayst knock a nail into his bead.
Thou liest; thou canst not.CALIBAN
What a pied ninny's this! Thou scurvy patch!STEPHANO
I do beseech thy greatness, give him blows
And take his bottle from him: when that's gone
He shall drink nought but brine; for I'll not show him
Where the quick freshes are.
Trinculo, run into no further danger:TRINCULO
interrupt the monster one word further, and,
by this hand, I'll turn my mercy out o' doors
and make a stock-fish of thee.
Why, what did I? I did nothing. I'll go fartherSTEPHANO
off.
Didst thou not say he lied?ARIEL
Thou liest.STEPHANO
Do I so? take thou that.TRINCULO
Beats TRINCULO
As you like this, give me the lie another time.
I did not give the lie. Out o' yourCALIBAN
wits and bearing too? A pox o' your bottle!
this can sack and drinking do. A murrain on
your monster, and the devil take your fingers!
Ha, ha, ha!STEPHANO
Now, forward with your tale. Prithee, stand fartherCALIBAN
off.
Beat him enough: after a little timeSTEPHANO
I'll beat him too.
Stand farther. Come, proceed.CALIBAN
Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him,STEPHANO
I' th' afternoon to sleep: there thou mayst brain him,
Having first seized his books, or with a log
Batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake,
Or cut his wezand with thy knife. Remember
First to possess his books; for without them
He's but a sot, as I am, nor hath not
One spirit to command: they all do hate him
As rootedly as I. Burn but his books.
He has brave utensils,--for so he calls them--
Which when he has a house, he'll deck withal
And that most deeply to consider is
The beauty of his daughter; he himself
Calls her a nonpareil: I never saw a woman,
But only Sycorax my dam and she;
But she as far surpasseth Sycorax
As great'st does least.
Is it so brave a lass?CALIBAN
Ay, lord; she will become thy bed, I warrant.STEPHANO
And bring thee forth brave brood.
Monster, I will kill this man: his daughter and ITRINCULO
will be king and queen--save our graces!--and
Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys. Dost thou
like the plot, Trinculo?
Excellent.STEPHANO
Give me thy hand: I am sorry I beat thee; but,CALIBAN
while thou livest, keep a good tongue in thy head.
Within this half hour will he be asleep:STEPHANO
Wilt thou destroy him then?
Ay, on mine honour.ARIEL
This will I tell my master.CALIBAN
Thou makest me merry; I am full of pleasure:STEPHANO
Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch
You taught me but while-ere?
At thy request, monster, I will do reason, anyCALIBAN
reason. Come on, Trinculo, let us sing.
Sings
Flout 'em and scout 'em
And scout 'em and flout 'em
Thought is free.
That's not the tune.STEPHANO
Ariel plays the tune on a tabour and pipe
What is this same?TRINCULO
This is the tune of our catch, played by the pictureSTEPHANO
of Nobody.
If thou beest a man, show thyself in thy likeness:TRINCULO
if thou beest a devil, take't as thou list.
O, forgive me my sins!STEPHANO
He that dies pays all debts: I defy thee. Mercy upon us!CALIBAN
Art thou afeard?STEPHANO
No, monster, not I.CALIBAN
Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,STEPHANO
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.
This will prove a brave kingdom to me, where I shallCALIBAN
have my music for nothing.
When Prospero is destroyed.STEPHANO
That shall be by and by: I remember the story.TRINCULO
The sound is going away; let's follow it, andSTEPHANO
after do our work.
Lead, monster; we'll follow. I would I could seeTRINCULO
this tabourer; he lays it on.
Wilt come? I'll follow, Stephano.
Exeunt
Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and othersGONZALO
By'r lakin, I can go no further, sir;ALONSO
My old bones ache: here's a maze trod indeed
Through forth-rights and meanders! By your patience,
I needs must rest me.
Old lord, I cannot blame thee,ANTONIO
Who am myself attach'd with weariness,
To the dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.
Even here I will put off my hope and keep it
No longer for my flatterer: he is drown'd
Whom thus we stray to find, and the sea mocks
Our frustrate search on land. Well, let him go.
[Aside to SEBASTIAN] I am right glad that he's soSEBASTIAN
out of hope.
Do not, for one repulse, forego the purpose
That you resolved to effect.
[Aside to ANTONIO] The next advantageANTONIO
Will we take throughly.
[Aside to SEBASTIAN] Let it be to-night;SEBASTIAN
For, now they are oppress'd with travel, they
Will not, nor cannot, use such vigilance
As when they are fresh.
[Aside to ANTONIO] I say, to-night: no more.ALONSO
Solemn and strange music
What harmony is this? My good friends, hark!GONZALO
Marvellous sweet music!ALONSO
Enter PROSPERO above, invisible. Enter several strange Shapes, bringing in a banquet; they dance about it with gentle actions of salutation; and, inviting the King, & c. to eat, they depart
Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these?SEBASTIAN
A living drollery. Now I will believeANTONIO
That there are unicorns, that in Arabia
There is one tree, the phoenix' throne, one phoenix
At this hour reigning there.
I'll believe both;GONZALO
And what does else want credit, come to me,
And I'll be sworn 'tis true: travellers ne'er did
lie,
Though fools at home condemn 'em.
If in NaplesPROSPERO
I should report this now, would they believe me?
If I should say, I saw such islanders--
For, certes, these are people of the island--
Who, though they are of monstrous shape, yet, note,
Their manners are more gentle-kind than of
Our human generation you shall find
Many, nay, almost any.
[Aside] Honest lord,ALONSO
Thou hast said well; for some of you there present
Are worse than devils.
I cannot too much musePROSPERO
Such shapes, such gesture and such sound, expressing,
Although they want the use of tongue, a kind
Of excellent dumb discourse.
[Aside] Praise in departing.FRANCISCO
They vanish'd strangely.SEBASTIAN
No matter, sinceALONSO
They have left their viands behind; for we have stomachs.
Will't please you taste of what is here?
Not I.GONZALO
Faith, sir, you need not fear. When we were boys,ALONSO
Who would believe that there were mountaineers
Dew-lapp'd like bulls, whose throats had hanging at 'em
Wallets of flesh? or that there were such men
Whose heads stood in their breasts? which now we find
Each putter-out of five for one will bring us
Good warrant of.
I will stand to and feed,ARIEL
Although my last: no matter, since I feel
The best is past. Brother, my lord the duke,
Stand to and do as we.
Thunder and lightning. Enter ARIEL, like a harpy; claps his wings upon the table; and, with a quaint device, the banquet vanishes
You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,
That hath to instrument this lower world
And what is in't, the never-surfeited sea
Hath caused to belch up you; and on this island
Where man doth not inhabit; you 'mongst men
Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;
And even with such-like valour men hang and drown
Their proper selves.
ALONSO, SEBASTIAN & c. draw their swords
You fools! I and my fellows
Are ministers of Fate: the elements,
Of whom your swords are temper'd, may as well
Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs
Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish
One dowle that's in my plume: my fellow-ministers
Are like invulnerable. If you could hurt,
Your swords are now too massy for your strengths
And wil