Page images
PDF
EPUB

Oli. Did he write this?
Clo. Ay, Madam.

Duke. This savours not much of distraction.

Oli. See him delivered, Fabian; bring him hither.

[Exit FABIAN.

My lord, so please you, these things further thought on,
To think me as well a sister as a wife,
One day shall crown the alliance on't, so please you,
Here, at my house, and at my proper cost.

Duke. Madam, I am most apt to embrace your offer.

Your master quits you [to VIOLA); and, for your service done

him,

So much against the mettle* of your sex,

So far beneath your soft and tender breeding,

And since you call'd me master for so long,

Here is my hand; you shall from this time be

Your master's mistress.

Oli. A sister?-you are she.

Re-enter FABIAN with MALVOLIO.

Duke. Is this the madman?

Oli. Ay, my lord, this same:

How now, Malvolio?

Mal. Madam, you have done me wrong,

Notorious wrong.

Oli. Have I, Malvolio? no.

Mal. Lady, you have. Pray you, peruse that letter:

You must not now deny it is your hand,
Write from it, if you can, in hand, or phrase;
Or say, 'tis not your seal, nor your invention:
You can say none of this; Well, grant it then,
And tell me, in the modesty of honour,
Why you have given me such clear lights of favour;
Bade me come smiling, and cross-garter'd to you,
To put on yellow stockings, and to frown
Upon Sir Toby, and the lightert people:
And, acting this in an obedient hope,
Why have you suffer'd me to be imprison'd,
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geck‡ and gull,
That e'er invention play'd on? tell me why.

Oli. Alas, Malvolio, this is not my writing,
Though, I confess, much like the character:
But, out of question, 'tis Maria's hand.
And now I do bethink me, it was she
First told me thou wast mad; then cam'st in smiling,
And in such forms which here were presupposed
Upon thee in the letter. Prythee, be content:
This practice hath most shrewdly pass'd upon thee;
But when we know the grounds and authors of it,

* Frame and constitution.

+ Inferior.

+ Fool.

Thou shalt be both the plaintiff and the judge
Of thine own cause.

Fab. Good Madam, hear me speak;
And let no quarrel, nor no brawl to come,
Taint the condition of this present hour,
Which I have wonder'd at. In hope it shall not,
Most freely I confess, myself, and Toby,
Set this device against Malvolio here,
Upon some stubborn and uncourteous parts
We had conceived against him: Maria writ
The letter, at Sir Toby's great importance;*
In recompense whereof, he hath married her.
How with a sportful malice it was follow'd,
May rather pluck on laughter than revenge;
If that the injuries be justly weigh'd,
That have on both sides pass'd.

Oli. Alas, poor fool, how have they baffledt thee!

Clo. Why, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrown upon them. I was one, Sir, in this interlude; one Sir Topas, Sir; but that's all one:-By the Lord, fool, I am not mad;-But do you remember? Madam, why laugh you at such a barren rascal? an you smile not, he's gagg'd: And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.

Mal. I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you.
Oli. He hath been most notoriously abused.
Duke. Pursue him, and entreat him to a peace :-

He hath not told us of the captain yet;
When that is known and golden time convents,‡
A solemn combination shall be made
Of our dear souls-Meantime, sweet sister,
We will not part from hence. Cesario, come;
For so you shall be, while you are a man;
But, when in other habits you are seen,
Orsino's mistress, and his fancy's queen.

SONG.

Clo. When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came to man's estate,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
'Gainst knave and thief men shut their gate
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain it raineth every day.

[blocks in formation]

[Exit.

[Exeunt.

+ Shall serve.

1

But when I came unto my bed,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken head,
For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that's all one, our play is done,
And we'll strive to please you every day.

[Exit.

THE TEMPEST.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

ALONSO, King of Naples.

SEBASTIAN, his brother.

PROSPERO, the rightful Duke of

Milan.

MASTER of a SHIP, BOATSWAIN, and MARINERS.

ANTONIO, his brother, the usurping MIRANDA, Daughter to Prospero.

Duke of Milan.

FERDINAND, son to the King of

Naples.

GONZALO, an honest old Counsellor

of Naples.

ADRIAN,

FRANCISCO, } Lords.

[blocks in formation]

CALIBAN, a savage and deformed REAPERS,

Slave.

TRINCULO, a Jester.

STEPHANO, a drunken Butler.

}

Spirits.

OTHER SPIRITS attending on PROS

PERO.

SCENE.-The Sea, with a ship; afterwards, an uninhabited Island.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-On a Ship at Sea.

A Storm, with Thunder and Lightning.

Enter a SHIP-MASTER and a BOATSWAIN.

Mast. Boatswain,

Boats. Here, master: what cheer?

Mast. Good: Speak to the mariners: fall to't yarely, or we

run ourselves aground: bestir, bestir.

Enter MARINERS.

[Exit.

Boats. Heigh, my hearts; cheerly, cheerly, my hearts; 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.

Alon. Good boatswain, have care. Where's the master? Play

the men.

Boats. I pray now, keep below.

* Readily.

Ant. Where is the master, boatswain ?
Boats. Do you not hear him? You mar our labour! keep

your cabins: you do assist the storm.

Gon. Nay, good, be patient.

Boats. When the sea is. Hence! What care these roarers

for the name of king? To cabin: silence: trouble us not. Gon. Good; yet remember whom thou hast aboard.

Boats. None that I more love than myself. You are a 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. Gon. I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks he 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.

Boats. Down with the topmast; yare; lower, lower; bring 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?

Seb. A pox o' your throat! you bawling, blasphemous, uncharitable dog!

Boats. Work you, then.

Ant. Hang, cur, hang! you whoreson, insolent noise-maker, we are less afraid to be drowned than thou art.

Gon. I'll warrant him from drowning; though the ship were no stronger than a nut-shell, and as leaky as an unstanched† wench.

Boats. Lay her a-hold, a-hold; set her two courses; off to sea

again, lay her off.

Enter MARINERS wet.

Mar. All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost!

Boats. What, must our mouths be cold ?

[Exeunt.

Gon. The king and prince at prayers! let us assist them,

For our case is as theirs.

Seb. I am out of patience.

Ant. We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards.This wide-chapp'd rascal;-'Would, thou mightst lie drowning,

The washing of ten tides!

Gon. He'll be hanged yet;

Though every drop of water swear against it,

And gape at wid'st to glut him.

[A confused noise within.

* Present instant.

† Incontinent.

* Absolutely.

« PreviousContinue »