Shakespeare's Romances: All Four Plays, Bilingual edition (in English with line numbers and in French translation) E-Book
William Shakespeare
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- Herausgeber: Seltzer Books
- Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
- Sprache: Französisch
Bilingual, English and French. Shakespeare's romance plays, in English with line numbers and in French translation: Cymbeline, Pericles, The Tempest, and The Winter's Tale.
Bilingue, anglais et français. La romance de Shakespeare joue, en anglais avec les numéros de ligne et dans la traduction française: Cymbeline, Pericles, The Tempest et The Winter's Tale.
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Seitenzahl: 1010
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
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SHAKESPEARE'S ROMANCES, BILINGUAL EDITION (ALL FOUR PLAYS IN ENGLISH WITH LINE NUMBERS AND IN FRENCH)
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ROMANCES IN ENGLISH
CYMBELINE
PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE
THE TEMPEST
THE WINTER'S TALE
ROMANCES IN FRENCH
CYMBELINE PAR WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, TRADUCTION DE M. GUIZOT
PÉRICLÈS PAR WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, TRADUCTION DE M. GUIZOT
LA TEMPÊTE PAR WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, TRADUCTION DE M. GUIZOT
CYMBELINE BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ACT I
SCENE I Britain. The garden of Cymbeline's palace.
SCENE II The same. A public place.
SCENE III A room in Cymbeline's palace.
SCENE IV Rome. Philario's house.
SCENE V Britain. A room in Cymbeline's palace.
SCENE VI The same. Another room in the palace.
ACT II
SCENE I Britain. Before Cymbeline's palace.
SCENE II Imogen's bedchamber in Cymbeline's palace: a trunk in one corner of it.
SCENE III An ante-chamber adjoining Imogen's apartments.
SCENE IV Rome. Philario's house.
SCENE V Another room in Philario's house.
ACT III
SCENE I Britain. A hall in Cymbeline's palace.
SCENE II Another room in the palace.
SCENE III Wales: a mountainous country with a cave.
SCENE IV Country near Milford-Haven.
SCENE V A room in Cymbeline's palace.
SCENE VI Wales. Before the cave of Belarius.
SCENE VII Rome. A public place.
ACT IV
SCENE I Wales: near the cave of Belarius.
SCENE II Before the cave of Belarius.
SCENE III A room in Cymbeline's palace.
SCENE IV Wales: before the cave of Belarius.
ACT V
SCENE I Britain. The Roman camp.
SCENE II Field of battle between the British and Roman camps.
SCENE III Another part of the field.
SCENE IV A British prison.
SCENE V Cymbeline's tent.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Cymbeline, King Of Britain.
Cloten, Son To The Queen By A Former Husband.
Posthumus Leonatus, A Gentleman, Husband To Imogen.
Belarius, A Banished Lord, Disguised Under The Name Of Morgan.
Sons To Cymbeline
Disguised Under The Names Of Polydote And Cadwal, Supposed Sons To Morgan.
Guiderius
Arviragus
Italians
Philario, Friend To Posthumus
Iachimo, Friend To Philario
Caius Lucius, General Of The Roman Forces.
Pisanio, Servant To Posthumus.
Cornelius, A Physician.
A Roman Captain. (Captain:)
Two British Captains.
(First Captain:)
(Second Captain:)
A Frenchman, friend to Philario.
(Frenchman:)
Two Lords of Cymbeline's court.
(First Lord:)
(Second Lord:)
Two Gentlemen of the same.
(First Gentleman:)
(Second Gentleman:)
Two Gaolers.
(First Gaoler:)
(Second Gaoler:)
Queen, wife to Cymbeline.
Imogen, daughter to Cymbeline by a former queen.
Helen, a lady attending on Imogen.
Lords, Ladies, Roman Senators, Tribunes, a Soothsayer, a Dutchman, a Spaniard, Musicians, Officers, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants
. (Lord:)
(Lady:)
(First Lady:)
(First Senator:)
(Second Senator:)
(First Tribune:)
(Soothsayer:)
(Messenger:)
Apparitions.
(Sicilius Leonatus:)
(Mother:)
(First Brother:)
(Second Brother:)
(Jupiter:)
SCENE. Britain; Rome.
CYMBELINE
ACT I
SCENE I Britain. The garden of Cymbeline's palace.
[Enter two GENTLEMEN]
(1) FIRST GENTLEMAN You do not meet a man but frowns: our bloods
No more obey the heavens than our courtiers
Still seem as does the king.
SECOND GENTLEMAN But what's the matter?
FIRST GENTLEMAN His daughter, and the heir of's kingdom, whom
He purposed to his wife's sole son--a widow
That late he married--hath referr'd herself
Unto a poor but worthy gentleman: she's wedded;
Her husband banish'd; she imprison'd: all
Is outward sorrow; though I think the king
Be touch'd at very heart.
(10) SECOND GENTLEMAN None but the king?
FIRST GENTLEMAN He that hath lost her too; so is the queen,
That most desired the match; but not a courtier,
Although they wear their faces to the bent
Of the king's look's, hath a heart that is not
Glad at the thing they scowl at.
SECOND GENTLEMAN And why so?
FIRST GENTLEMAN He that hath miss'd the princess is a thing
Too bad for bad report: and he that hath her--
I mean, that married her, alack, good man!
And therefore banish'd--is a creature such
(20) As, to seek through the regions of the earth
For one his like, there would be something failing
In him that should compare. I do not think
So fair an outward and such stuff within
Endows a man but he.
SECOND GENTLEMAN You speak him far.
FIRST GENTLEMAN I do extend him, sir, within himself,
Crush him together rather than unfold
His measure duly.
SECOND GENTLEMAN What's his name and birth?
FIRST GENTLEMAN I cannot delve him to the root: his father
Was call'd Sicilius, who did join his honour
(30) Against the Romans with Cassibelan,
But had his titles by Tenantius whom
He served with glory and admired success,
So gain'd the sur-addition Leonatus;
And had, besides this gentleman in question,
Two other sons, who in the wars o' the time
Died with their swords in hand; for which
their father,
Then old and fond of issue, took such sorrow
That he quit being, and his gentle lady,
Big of this gentleman our theme, deceased
(40) As he was born. The king he takes the babe
To his protection, calls him Posthumus Leonatus,
Breeds him and makes him of his bed-chamber,
Puts to him all the learnings that his time
Could make him the receiver of; which he took,
As we do air, fast as 'twas minister'd,
And in's spring became a harvest, lived in court--
Which rare it is to do--most praised, most loved,
A sample to the youngest, to the more mature
A glass that feated them, and to the graver
(50) A child that guided dotards; to his mistress,
For whom he now is banish'd, her own price
Proclaims how she esteem'd him and his virtue;
By her election may be truly read
What kind of man he is.
SECOND GENTLEMAN I honour him
Even out of your report. But, pray you, tell me,
Is she sole child to the king?
FIRST GENTLEMAN His only child.
He had two sons: if this be worth your hearing,
Mark it: the eldest of them at three years old,
I' the swathing-clothes the other, from their nursery
(60) Were stol'n, and to this hour no guess in knowledge
Which way they went.
SECOND GENTLEMAN How long is this ago?
FIRST GENTLEMAN Some twenty years.
SECOND GENTLEMAN That a king's children should be so convey'd,
So slackly guarded, and the search so slow,
That could not trace them!
FIRST GENTLEMAN Howsoe'er 'tis strange,
Or that the negligence may well be laugh'd at,
Yet is it true, sir.
SECOND GENTLEMAN I do well believe you.
FIRST GENTLEMAN We must forbear: here comes the gentleman,
The queen, and princess.
[Exeunt]
[Enter the QUEEN, POSTHUMUS LEONATUS, and IMOGEN]
(70) QUEEN No, be assured you shall not find me, daughter,
After the slander of most stepmothers,
Evil-eyed unto you: you're my prisoner, but
Your gaoler shall deliver you the keys
That lock up your restraint. For you, Posthumus,
So soon as I can win the offended king,
I will be known your advocate: marry, yet
The fire of rage is in him, and 'twere good
You lean'd unto his sentence with what patience
Your wisdom may inform you.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Please your highness,
I will from hence to-day.
(80) QUEEN You know the peril.
I'll fetch a turn about the garden, pitying
The pangs of barr'd affections, though the king
Hath charged you should not speak together.
[Exit]
IMOGEN Oh
Dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant
Can tickle where she wounds! My dearest husband,
I something fear my father's wrath; but nothing--
Always reserved my holy duty--what
His rage can do on me: you must be gone;
And I shall here abide the hourly shot
(90) Of angry eyes, not comforted to live,
But that there is this jewel in the world
That I may see again.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS My queen! my mistress!
O lady, weep no more, lest I give cause
To be suspected of more tenderness
Than doth become a man. I will remain
The loyal'st husband that did e'er plight troth:
My residence in Rome at one Philario's,
Who to my father was a friend, to me
Known but by letter: thither write, my queen,
(100) And with mine eyes I'll drink the words you send,
Though ink be made of gall.
[Re-enter QUEEN]
QUEEN Be brief, I pray you:
If the king come, I shall incur I know not
How much of his displeasure.
[Aside] Yet I'll move him
To walk this way: I never do him wrong,
But he does buy my injuries, to be friends;
Pays dear for my offences.
[Exit]
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Should we be taking leave
As long a term as yet we have to live,
The loathness to depart would grow. Adieu!
IMOGEN Nay, stay a little:
(110) Were you but riding forth to air yourself,
Such parting were too petty. Look here, love;
This diamond was my mother's: take it, heart;
But keep it till you woo another wife,
When Imogen is dead.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS How, how! another?
You gentle gods, give me but this I have,
And sear up my embracements from a next
With bonds of death!
[Putting on the ring]
Remain, remain thou here
While sense can keep it on. And, sweetest, fairest,
As I my poor self did exchange for you,
(120) To your so infinite loss, so in our trifles
I still win of you: for my sake wear this;
It is a manacle of love; I'll place it
Upon this fairest prisoner.
[Putting a bracelet upon her arm]
IMOGEN O the gods!
When shall we see again?
[Enter CYMBELINE and LORDS]
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Alack, the king!
CYMBELINE Thou basest thing, avoid! hence, from my sight!
If after this command thou fraught the court
With thy unworthiness, thou diest: away!
Thou'rt poison to my blood.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS The gods protect you!
And bless the good remainders of the court! I am gone.
[Exit]
(130) IMOGEN There cannot be a pinch in death
More sharp than this is.
CYMBELINE O disloyal thing,
That shouldst repair my youth, thou heap'st
A year's age on me.
IMOGEN I beseech you, sir,
Harm not yourself with your vexation
I am senseless of your wrath; a touch more rare
Subdues all pangs, all fears.
CYMBELINE Past grace? obedience?
IMOGEN Past hope, and in despair; that way, past grace.
CYMBELINE That mightst have had the sole son of my queen!
IMOGEN O blest, that I might not! I chose an eagle,
(140) And did avoid a puttock.
CYMBELINE Thou took'st a beggar; wouldst have made my throne
A seat for baseness.
IMOGEN No; I rather added
A lustre to it.
CYMBELINE O thou vile one!
IMOGEN Sir,
It is your fault that I have loved Posthumus:
You bred him as my playfellow, and he is
A man worth any woman, overbuys me
Almost the sum he pays.
CYMBELINE What, art thou mad?
IMOGEN Almost, sir: heaven restore me! Would I were
A neat-herd's daughter, and my Leonatus
Our neighbour shepherd's son!
(150) CYMBELINE Thou foolish thing!
[Re-enter QUEEN]
They were again together: you have done
Not after our command. Away with her,
And pen her up.
QUEEN Beseech your patience. Peace,
Dear lady daughter, peace! Sweet sovereign,
Leave us to ourselves; and make yourself some comfort
Out of your best advice.
CYMBELINE Nay, let her languish
A drop of blood a day; and, being aged,
Die of this folly!
[Exeunt CYMBELINE and LORDS]
QUEEN Fie! you must give way.
[Enter PISANIO]
Here is your servant. How now, sir! What news?
PISANIO My lord your son drew on my master.
(160) QUEEN Ha!
No harm, I trust, is done?
PISANIO There might have been,
But that my master rather play'd than fought
And had no help of anger: they were parted
By gentlemen at hand.
QUEEN I am very glad on't.
IMOGEN Your son's my father's friend; he takes his part.
To draw upon an exile! O brave sir!
I would they were in Afric both together;
Myself by with a needle, that I might prick
The goer-back. Why came you from your master?
(170) PISANIO On his command: he would not suffer me
To bring him to the haven; left these notes
Of what commands I should be subject to,
When 't pleased you to employ me.
QUEEN This hath been
Your faithful servant: I dare lay mine honour
He will remain so.
PISANIO I humbly thank your highness.
QUEEN Pray, walk awhile.
IMOGEN About some half-hour hence,
I pray you, speak with me: you shall at least
Go see my lord aboard: for this time leave me.
[Exeunt]
SCENE II The same. A public place.
[Enter CLOTEN and two LORDS]
(1) FIRST LORD Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt; the
violence of action hath made you reek as a
sacrifice: where air comes out, air comes in:
there's none abroad so wholesome as that you vent.
CLOTEN If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Have I hurt him?
SECOND LORD [Aside] No, 'faith; not so much as his patience.
(10) FIRST LORD Hurt him! his body's a passable carcass, if he be
not hurt: it is a thoroughfare for steel, if it be not hurt.
SECOND LORD [Aside] His steel was in debt; it went o' the
backside the town.
CLOTEN The villain would not stand me.
SECOND LORD [Aside] No; but he fled forward still, toward your face.
FIRST LORD Stand you! You have land enough of your own: but
(20) he added to your having; gave you some ground.
SECOND LORD [Aside] As many inches as you have oceans. Puppies!
CLOTEN I would they had not come between us.
SECOND LORD [Aside] So would I, till you had measured how long
a fool you were upon the ground.
CLOTEN And that she should love this fellow and refuse me!
(30) SECOND LORD [Aside] If it be a sin to make a true election, she
is damned.
FIRST LORD Sir, as I told you always, her beauty and her brain
go not together: she's a good sign, but I have seen
small reflection of her wit.
SECOND LORD [Aside] She shines not upon fools, lest the
reflection should hurt her.
CLOTEN Come, I'll to my chamber. Would there had been some
hurt done!
SECOND LORD [Aside] I wish not so; unless it had been the fall
of an ass, which is no great hurt.
(40) CLOTEN You'll go with us?
FIRST LORD I'll attend your lordship.
CLOTEN Nay, come, let's go together.
SECOND LORD Well, my lord.
[Exeunt]
SCENE III A room in Cymbeline's palace.
[Enter IMOGEN and PISANIO]
(1) IMOGEN I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' the haven,
And question'dst every sail: if he should write
And not have it, 'twere a paper lost,
As offer'd mercy is. What was the last
That he spake to thee?
PISANIO It was his queen, his queen!
IMOGEN Then waved his handkerchief?
PISANIO And kiss'd it, madam.
IMOGEN Senseless Linen! happier therein than I!
And that was all?
PISANIO No, madam; for so long
As he could make me with this eye or ear
(10) Distinguish him from others, he did keep
The deck, with glove, or hat, or handkerchief,
Still waving, as the fits and stirs of 's mind
Could best express how slow his soul sail'd on,
How swift his ship.
IMOGEN Thou shouldst have made him
As little as a crow, or less, ere left
To after-eye him.
PISANIO Madam, so I did.
IMOGEN I would have broke mine eye-strings; crack'd them, but
To look upon him, till the diminution
Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle,
(20) Nay, follow'd him, till he had melted from
The smallness of a gnat to air, and then
Have turn'd mine eye and wept. But, good Pisanio,
When shall we hear from him?
PISANIO Be assured, madam,
With his next vantage.
IMOGEN I did not take my leave of him, but had
Most pretty things to say: ere I could tell him
How I would think on him at certain hours
Such thoughts and such, or I could make him swear
The shes of Italy should not betray
(30) Mine interest and his honour, or have charged him,
At the sixth hour of morn, at noon, at midnight,
To encounter me with orisons, for then
I am in heaven for him; or ere I could
Give him that parting kiss which I had set
Betwixt two charming words, comes in my father
And like the tyrannous breathing of the north
Shakes all our buds from growing.
[Enter a LADY]
LADY The queen, madam,
Desires your highness' company.
IMOGEN Those things I bid you do, get them dispatch'd.
I will attend the queen.
(40) PISANIO Madam, I shall.
[Exeunt]
SCENE IV Rome. Philario's house.
[Enter PHILARIO, IACHIMO, a FRENCHMAN, a DUTCHMAN, and a SPANIARD]
(1) IACHIMO Believe it, sir, I have seen him in Britain: he was
then of a crescent note, expected to prove so worthy
as since he hath been allowed the name of; but I
could then have looked on him without the help of
admiration, though the catalogue of his endowments
had been tabled by his side and I to peruse him by items.
PHILARIO You speak of him when he was less furnished than now
(10) he is with that which makes him both without and within.
FRENCHMAN I have seen him in France: we had very many there
could behold the sun with as firm eyes as he.
IACHIMO This matter of marrying his king's daughter, wherein
he must be weighed rather by her value than his own,
words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the matter.
FRENCHMAN And then his banishment.
IACHIMO Ay, and the approbation of those that weep this
(20) lamentable divorce under her colours are wonderfully
to extend him; be it but to fortify her judgment,
which else an easy battery might lay flat, for
taking a beggar without less quality. But how comes
it he is to sojourn with you? How creeps
acquaintance?
PHILARIO His father and I were soldiers together; to whom I
have been often bound for no less than my life.
Here comes the Briton: let him be so entertained
amongst you as suits, with gentlemen of your
(30) knowing, to a stranger of his quality.
[Enter POSTHUMUS LEONATUS]
I beseech you all, be better known to this
gentleman; whom I commend to you as a noble friend
of mine: how worthy he is I will leave to appear
hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.
FRENCHMAN Sir, we have known together in Orleans.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Since when I have been debtor to you for courtesies,
(40) which I will be ever to pay and yet pay still.
FRENCHMAN Sir, you o'er-rate my poor kindness: I was glad I
did atone my countryman and you; it had been pity
you should have been put together with so mortal a
purpose as then each bore, upon importance of so
slight and trivial a nature.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS By your pardon, sir, I was then a young traveller;
rather shunned to go even with what I heard than in
my every action to be guided by others' experiences:
(50) but upon my mended judgment--if I offend not to say
it is mended--my quarrel was not altogether slight.
FRENCHMAN 'Faith, yes, to be put to the arbitrement of swords,
and by such two that would by all likelihood have
confounded one the other, or have fallen both.
IACHIMO Can we, with manners, ask what was the difference?
FRENCHMAN Safely, I think: 'twas a contention in public,
which may, without contradiction, suffer the report.
(60) It was much like an argument that fell out last
night, where each of us fell in praise of our
country mistresses; this gentleman at that time
vouching--and upon warrant of bloody
affirmation--his to be more fair, virtuous, wise,
chaste, constant-qualified and less attemptable
than any the rarest of our ladies in France.
IACHIMO That lady is not now living, or this gentleman's
opinion by this worn out.
(70) POSTHUMUS LEONATUS She holds her virtue still and I my mind.
IACHIMO You must not so far prefer her 'fore ours of Italy.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Being so far provoked as I was in France, I would
abate her nothing, though I profess myself her
adorer, not her friend.
IACHIMO As fair and as good--a kind of hand-in-hand
comparison--had been something too fair and too good
for any lady in Britain. If she went before others
I have seen, as that diamond of yours outlustres
many I have beheld. I could not but believe she
(80) excelled many: but I have not seen the most
precious diamond that is, nor you the lady.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS I praised her as I rated her: so do I my stone.
IACHIMO What do you esteem it at?
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS More than the world enjoys.
IACHIMO Either your unparagoned mistress is dead, or she's
outprized by a trifle.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS You are mistaken: the one may be sold, or given, if
(90) there were wealth enough for the purchase, or merit
for the gift: the other is not a thing for sale,
and only the gift of the gods.
IACHIMO Which the gods have given you?
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Which, by their graces, I will keep.
IACHIMO You may wear her in title yours: but, you know,
strange fowl light upon neighbouring ponds. Your
ring may be stolen too: so your brace of unprizable
estimations; the one is but frail and the other
(100) casual; a cunning thief, or a that way accomplished
courtier, would hazard the winning both of FIRST and last.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Your Italy contains none so accomplished a courtier
to convince the honour of my mistress, if, in the
holding or loss of that, you term her frail. I do
nothing doubt you have store of thieves;
notwithstanding, I fear not my ring.
PHILARIO Let us leave here, gentlemen.
(110) POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Sir, with all my heart. This worthy signior, I
thank him, makes no stranger of me; we are familiar at FIRST.
IACHIMO With five times so much conversation, I should get
ground of your fair mistress, make her go back, even
to the yielding, had I admittance and opportunity to friend.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS No, no.
IACHIMO I dare thereupon pawn the moiety of my estate to
your ring; which, in my opinion, o'ervalues it
(120) something: but I make my wager rather against your
confidence than her reputation: and, to bar your
offence herein too, I durst attempt it against any
lady in the world.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS You are a great deal abused in too bold a
persuasion; and I doubt not you sustain what you're
worthy of by your attempt.
IACHIMO What's that?
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS A repulse: though your attempt, as you call it,
deserve more; a punishment too.
(130) PHILARIO Gentlemen, enough of this: it came in too suddenly;
let it die as it was born, and, I pray you, be
better acquainted.
IACHIMO Would I had put my estate and my neighbour's on the
approbation of what I have spoke!
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS What lady would you choose to assail?
IACHIMO Yours; whom in constancy you think stands so safe.
I will lay you ten thousand ducats to your ring,
that, commend me to the court where your lady is,
(140) with no more advantage than the opportunity of a
second conference, and I will bring from thence
that honour of hers which you imagine so reserved.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS I will wage against your gold, gold to it: my ring
I hold dear as my finger; 'tis part of it.
IACHIMO You are afraid, and therein the wiser. If you buy
ladies' flesh at a million a dram, you cannot
preserve it from tainting: but I see you have some
religion in you, that you fear.
(150) POSTHUMUS LEONATUS This is but a custom in your tongue; you bear a
graver purpose, I hope.
IACHIMO I am the master of my speeches, and would undergo
what's spoken, I swear.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Will you? I shall but lend my diamond till your
return: let there be covenants drawn between's: my
mistress exceeds in goodness the hugeness of your
unworthy thinking: I dare you to this match: here's my ring.
PHILARIO I will have it no lay.
(160) IACHIMO By the gods, it is one. If I bring you no
sufficient testimony that I have enjoyed the dearest
bodily part of your mistress, my ten thousand ducats
are yours; so is your diamond too: if I come off,
and leave her in such honour as you have trust in,
she your jewel, this your jewel, and my gold are
yours: provided I have your commendation for my more
free entertainment.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS I embrace these conditions; let us have articles
betwixt us. Only, thus far you shall answer: if
(170) you make your voyage upon her and give me directly
to understand you have prevailed, I am no further
your enemy; she is not worth our debate: if she
remain unseduced, you not making it appear
otherwise, for your ill opinion and the assault you
have made to her chastity you shall answer me with
your sword.
IACHIMO Your hand; a covenant: we will have these things set
down by lawful counsel, and straight away for
Britain, lest the bargain should catch cold and
(180) starve: I will fetch my gold and have our two
wagers recorded.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Agreed.
[Exeunt POSTHUMUS LEONATUS and IACHIMO]
FRENCHMAN Will this hold, think you?
PHILARIO Signior Iachimo will not from it.
Pray, let us follow 'em.
[Exeunt]
SCENE V Britain. A room in Cymbeline's palace.
[Enter QUEEN, LADIES, and CORNELIUS]
(1) QUEEN Whiles yet the dew's on ground, gather those flowers;
Make haste: who has the note of them?
FIRST LADY I, madam.
QUEEN Dispatch.
[Exeunt LADIES]
Now, master doctor, have you brought those drugs?
CORNELIUS Pleaseth your highness, ay: here they are, madam:
[Presenting a small box]
But I beseech your grace, without offence,--
My conscience bids me ask--wherefore you have
Commanded of me those most poisonous compounds,
Which are the movers of a languishing death;
But though slow, deadly?
(10) QUEEN I wonder, doctor,
Thou ask'st me such a question. Have I not been
Thy pupil long? Hast thou not learn'd me how
To make perfumes? distil? preserve? yea, so
That our great king himself doth woo me oft
For my confections? Having thus far proceeded,--
Unless thou think'st me devilish--is't not meet
That I did amplify my judgment in
Other conclusions? I will try the forces
Of these thy compounds on such creatures as
(20) We count not worth the hanging, but none human,
To try the vigour of them and apply
Allayments to their act, and by them gather
Their several virtues and effects.
CORNELIUS Your highness
Shall from this practise but make hard your heart:
Besides, the seeing these effects will be
Both noisome and infectious.
QUEEN O, content thee.
[Enter PISANIO]
[Aside]
Here comes a flattering rascal; upon him
Will I first work: he's for his master,
An enemy to my son. How now, Pisanio!
(30) Doctor, your service for this time is ended;
Take your own way.
CORNELIUS [Aside] I do suspect you, madam;
But you shall do no harm.
QUEEN [To PISANIO] Hark thee, a word.
CORNELIUS [Aside] I do not like her. She doth think she has
Strange lingering poisons: I do know her spirit,
And will not trust one of her malice with
A drug of such damn'd nature. Those she has
Will stupefy and dull the sense awhile;
Which FIRST, perchance, she'll prove on
cats and dogs,
Then afterward up higher: but there is
(40) No danger in what show of death it makes,
More than the locking-up the spirits a time,
To be more fresh, reviving. She is fool'd
With a most false effect; and I the truer,
So to be false with her.
QUEEN No further service, doctor,
Until I send for thee.
CORNELIUS I humbly take my leave.
[Exit]
QUEEN Weeps she still, say'st thou? Dost thou think in time
She will not quench and let instructions enter
Where folly now possesses? Do thou work:
When thou shalt bring me word she loves my son,
(50) I'll tell thee on the instant thou art then
As great as is thy master, greater, for
His fortunes all lie speechless and his name
Is at last gasp: return he cannot, nor
Continue where he is: to shift his being
Is to exchange one misery with another,
And every day that comes comes to decay
A day's work in him. What shalt thou expect,
To be depender on a thing that leans,
Who cannot be new built, nor has no friends,
So much as but to prop him?
[The QUEEN drops the box: PISANIO takes it up]
(60) Thou takest up
Thou know'st not what; but take it for thy labour:
It is a thing I made, which hath the king
Five times redeem'd from death: I do not know
What is more cordial. Nay, I prethee, take it;
It is an earnest of a further good
That I mean to thee. Tell thy mistress how
The case stands with her; do't as from thyself.
Think what a chance thou changest on, but think
Thou hast thy mistress still, to boot, my son,
(70) Who shall take notice of thee: I'll move the king
To any shape of thy preferment such
As thou'lt desire; and then myself, I chiefly,
That set thee on to this desert, am bound
To load thy merit richly. Call my women:
Think on my words.
[Exit PISANIO]
A sly and constant knave,
Not to be shaked; the agent for his master
And the remembrancer of her to hold
The hand-fast to her lord. I have given him that
Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her
(80) Of liegers for her sweet, and which she after,
Except she bend her humour, shall be assured
To taste of too.
[Re-enter PISANIO and Ladies]
So, so: well done, well done:
The violets, cowslips, and the primroses,
Bear to my closet. Fare thee well, Pisanio;
Think on my words.
[Exeunt QUEEN and Ladies]
PISANIO And shall do:
But when to my good lord I prove untrue,
I'll choke myself: there's all I'll do for you.
[Exit]
SCENE VI The same. Another room in the palace.
[Enter IMOGEN]
(1) IMOGEN A father cruel, and a step-dame false;
A foolish suitor to a wedded lady,
That hath her husband banish'd;--O, that husband!
My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated
Vexations of it! Had I been thief-stol'n,
As my two brothers, happy! but most miserable
Is the desire that's glorious: blest be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
Which seasons comfort. Who may this be? Fie!
[Enter PISANIO and IACHIMO]
(10) PISANIO Madam, a noble gentleman of Rome,
Comes from my lord with letters.
IACHIMO Change you, madam?
The worthy Leonatus is in safety
And greets your highness dearly.
[Presents a letter]
IMOGEN Thanks, good sir:
You're kindly welcome.
IACHIMO [Aside] All of her that is out of door most rich!
If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare,
She is alone the Arabian bird, and I
Have lost the wager. Boldness be my friend!
Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!
(20) Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight;
Rather directly fly.
IMOGEN [Reads] 'He is one of the noblest note, to whose
kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon
him accordingly, as you value your trust--
LEONATUS.'
So far I read aloud:
But even the very middle of my heart
Is warm'd by the rest, and takes it thankfully.
You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I
(30) Have words to bid you, and shall find it so
In all that I can do.
IACHIMO Thanks, fairest lady.
What, are men mad? Hath nature given them eyes
To see this vaulted arch, and the rich crop
Of sea and land, which can distinguish 'twixt
The fiery orbs above and the twinn'd stones
Upon the number'd beach? and can we not
Partition make with spectacles so precious
'Twixt fair and foul?
IMOGEN What makes your admiration?
IACHIMO It cannot be i' the eye, for apes and monkeys
(40) 'Twixt two such shes would chatter this way and
Contemn with mows the other; nor i' the judgment,
For idiots in this case of favour would
Be wisely definite; nor i' the appetite;
Sluttery to such neat excellence opposed
Should make desire vomit emptiness,
Not so allured to feed.
IMOGEN What is the matter, trow?
IACHIMO The cloyed will,
That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, that tub
Both fill'd and running, ravening FIRST the lamb
Longs after for the garbage.
(50) IMOGEN What, dear sir,
Thus raps you? Are you well?
IACHIMO Thanks, madam; well.
[To PISANIO]
Beseech you, sir, desire
My man's abode where I did leave him: he
Is strange and peevish.
PISANIO I was going, sir,
To give him welcome.
[Exit]
IMOGEN Continues well my lord? His health, beseech you?
IACHIMO Well, madam.
IMOGEN Is he disposed to mirth? I hope he is.
IACHIMO Exceeding pleasant; none a stranger there
(60) So merry and so gamesome: he is call'd
The Briton reveller.
IMOGEN When he was here,
He did incline to sadness, and oft-times
Not knowing why.
IACHIMO I never saw him sad.
There is a Frenchman his companion, one
An eminent monsieur, that, it seems, much loves
A Gallian girl at home; he furnaces
The thick sighs from him, whiles the jolly Briton--
Your lord, I mean--laughs from's free lungs, cries 'O,
Can my sides hold, to think that man, who knows
(70) By history, report, or his own proof,
What woman is, yea, what she cannot choose
But must be, will his free hours languish for
Assured bondage?'
IMOGEN Will my lord say so?
IACHIMO Ay, madam, with his eyes in flood with laughter:
It is a recreation to be by
And hear him mock the Frenchman. But, heavens know,
Some men are much to blame.
IMOGEN Not he, I hope.
IACHIMO Not he: but yet heaven's bounty towards him might
Be used more thankfully. In himself, 'tis much;
(80) In you, which I account his beyond all talents,
Whilst I am bound to wonder, I am bound
To pity too.
IMOGEN What do you pity, sir?
IACHIMO Two creatures heartily.
IMOGEN Am I one, sir?
You look on me: what wreck discern you in me
Deserves your pity?
IACHIMO Lamentable! What,
To hide me from the radiant sun and solace
I' the dungeon by a snuff?
IMOGEN I pray you, sir,
Deliver with more openness your answers
To my demands. Why do you pity me?
(90) IACHIMO That others do--
I was about to say--enjoy your--But
It is an office of the gods to venge it,
Not mine to speak on 't.
IMOGEN You do seem to know
Something of me, or what concerns me: pray you,--
Since doubling things go ill often hurts more
Than to be sure they do; for certainties
Either are past remedies, or, timely knowing,
The remedy then born--discover to me
What both you spur and stop.
IACHIMO Had I this cheek
(100) To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye,
Fixing it only here; should I, damn'd then,
Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
That mount the Capitol; join gripes with hands
Made hard with hourly falsehood--falsehood, as
With labour; then by-peeping in an eye
Base and unlustrous as the smoky light
(110) That's fed with stinking tallow; it were fit
That all the plagues of hell should at one time
Encounter such revolt.
IMOGEN My lord, I fear,
Has forgot Britain.
IACHIMO And himself. Not I,
Inclined to this intelligence, pronounce
The beggary of his change; but 'tis your graces
That from pay mutest conscience to my tongue
Charms this report out.
IMOGEN Let me hear no more.
IACHIMO O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my heart
With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady
(120) So fair, and fasten'd to an empery,
Would make the great'st king double,--to be partner'd
With tomboys hired with that self-exhibition
Which your own coffers yield! with diseased ventures
That play with all infirmities for gold
Which rottenness can lend nature! such boil'd stuff
As well might poison poison! Be revenged;
Or she that bore you was no queen, and you
Recoil from your great stock.
IMOGEN Revenged!
How should I be revenged? If this be true,--
(130) As I have such a heart that both mine ears
Must not in haste abuse--if it be true,
How should I be revenged?
IACHIMO Should he make me
Live, like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets,
Whiles he is vaulting variable ramps,
In your despite, upon your purse? Revenge it.
I dedicate myself to your sweet pleasure,
More noble than that runagate to your bed,
And will continue fast to your affection,
Still close as sure.
IMOGEN What, ho, Pisanio!
(140) IACHIMO Let me my service tender on your lips.
IMOGEN Away! I do condemn mine ears that have
So long attended thee. If thou wert honourable,
Thou wouldst have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek'st,--as base as strange.
Thou wrong'st a gentleman, who is as far
From thy report as thou from honour, and
Solicit'st here a lady that disdains
Thee and the devil alike. What ho, Pisanio!
The king my father shall be made acquainted
(150) Of thy assault: if he shall think it fit,
A saucy stranger in his court to mart
As in a Romish stew and to expound
His beastly mind to us, he hath a court
He little cares for and a daughter who
He not respects at all. What, ho, Pisanio!
IACHIMO O happy Leonatus! I may say
The credit that thy lady hath of thee
Deserves thy trust, and thy most perfect goodness
Her assured credit. Blessed live you long!
(160) A lady to the worthiest sir that ever
Country call'd his! and you his mistress, only
For the most worthiest fit! Give me your pardon.
I have spoke this, to know if your affiance
Were deeply rooted; and shall make your lord,
That which he is, new o'er: and he is one
The truest manner'd; such a holy witch
That he enchants societies into him;
Half all men's hearts are his.
IMOGEN You make amends.
IACHIMO He sits 'mongst men like a descended god:
(170) He hath a kind of honour sets him off,
More than a mortal seeming. Be not angry,
Most mighty princess, that I have adventured
To try your taking a false report; which hath
Honour'd with confirmation your great judgment
In the election of a sir so rare,
Which you know cannot err: the love I bear him
Made me to fan you thus, but the gods made you,
Unlike all others, chaffless. Pray, your pardon.
IMOGEN All's well, sir: take my power i' the court
for yours.
(180) IACHIMO My humble thanks. I had almost forgot
To entreat your grace but in a small request,
And yet of moment to, for it concerns
Your lord; myself and other noble friends,
Are partners in the business.
IMOGEN Pray, what is't?
IACHIMO Some dozen Romans of us and your lord--
The best feather of our wing--have mingled sums
To buy a present for the emperor
Which I, the factor for the rest, have done
In France: 'tis plate of rare device, and jewels
(190) Of rich and exquisite form; their values great;
And I am something curious, being strange,
To have them in safe stowage: may it please you
To take them in protection?
IMOGEN Willingly;
And pawn mine honour for their safety: since
My lord hath interest in them, I will keep them
In my bedchamber.
IACHIMO They are in a trunk,
Attended by my men: I will make bold
To send them to you, only for this night;
I must aboard to-morrow.
IMOGEN O, no, no.
IACHIMO Yes, I beseech; or I shall short my word
(200) By lengthening my return. From Gallia
I cross'd the seas on purpose and on promise
To see your grace.
IMOGEN I thank you for your pains:
But not away to-morrow!
IACHIMO O, I must, madam:
Therefore I shall beseech you, if you please
To greet your lord with writing, do't to-night:
I have outstood my time; which is material
To the tender of our present.
IMOGEN I will write.
Send your trunk to me; it shall safe be kept,
(210) And truly yielded you. You're very welcome.
[Exeunt]
ACT II
SCENE I Britain. Before Cymbeline's palace.
[Enter CLOTEN and two LORDS]
(1) CLOTEN Was there ever man had such luck! when I kissed the
jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away! I had a
hundred pound on't: and then a whoreson jackanapes
must take me up for swearing; as if I borrowed mine
oaths of him and might not spend them at my pleasure.
FIRST LORD What got he by that? You have broke his pate with
your bowl.
SECOND LORD [Aside] If his wit had been like him that broke it,
(10) it would have run all out.
CLOTEN When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not for
any standers-by to curtail his oaths, ha?
SECOND LORD No my lord; [Aside] nor crop the ears of them.
CLOTEN Whoreson dog! I give him satisfaction?
Would he had been one of my rank!
SECOND LORD [Aside] To have smelt like a fool.
CLOTEN I am not vexed more at any thing in the earth: a
(20) pox on't! I had rather not be so noble as I am;
they dare not fight with me, because of the queen my
mother: every Jack-slave hath his bellyful of
fighting, and I must go up and down like a cock that
nobody can match.
SECOND LORD [Aside] You are cock and capon too; and you crow,
cock, with your comb on.
CLOTEN Sayest thou?
SECOND LORD It is not fit your lordship should undertake every
(30) companion that you give offence to.
CLOTEN No, I know that: but it is fit I should commit
offence to my inferiors.
SECOND LORD Ay, it is fit for your lordship only.
CLOTEN Why, so I say.
FIRST LORD Did you hear of a stranger that's come to court to-night?
CLOTEN A stranger, and I not know on't!
SECOND LORD [Aside] He's a strange fellow himself, and knows it
not.
(40) FIRST LORD There's an Italian come; and, 'tis thought, one of
Leonatus' friends.
CLOTEN Leonatus! a banished rascal; and he's another,
whatsoever he be. Who told you of this stranger?
FIRST LORD One of your lordship's pages.
CLOTEN Is it fit I went to look upon him? is there no
derogation in't?
SECOND LORD You cannot derogate, my lord.
CLOTEN Not easily, I think.
(50) SECOND LORD [Aside] You are a fool granted; therefore your
issues, being foolish, do not derogate.
CLOTEN Come, I'll go see this Italian: what I have lost
to-day at bowls I'll win to-night of him. Come, go.
SECOND LORD I'll attend your lordship.
[Exeunt CLOTEN and FIRST LORD]
That such a crafty devil as is his mother
Should yield the world this ass! a woman that
Bears all down with her brain; and this her son
(60) Cannot take two from twenty, for his heart,
And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess,
Thou divine Imogen, what thou endurest,
Betwixt a father by thy step-dame govern'd,
A mother hourly coining plots, a wooer
More hateful than the foul expulsion is
Of thy dear husband, than that horrid act
Of the divorce he'ld make! The heavens hold firm
The walls of thy dear honour, keep unshaked
That temple, thy fair mind, that thou mayst stand,
(70) To enjoy thy banish'd lord and this great land!
[Exit]
SCENE II Imogen's bedchamber in Cymbeline's palace: a trunk in one corner of it.
[IMOGEN in bed, reading; a LADY attending]
(1) IMOGEN Who's there? my woman Helen?
LADY Please you, madam
IMOGEN What hour is it?
LADY Almost midnight, madam.
IMOGEN I have read three hours then: mine eyes are weak:
Fold down the leaf where I have left: to bed:
Take not away the taper, leave it burning;
And if thou canst awake by four o' the clock,
I prithee, call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly
[Exit LADY]
To your protection I commend me, gods.
From fairies and the tempters of the night
(10) Guard me, beseech ye.
[Sleeps. IACHIMO comes from the trunk]
IACHIMO The crickets sing, and man's o'er-labour'd sense
Repairs itself by rest. Our Tarquin thus
Did softly press the rushes, ere he waken'd
The chastity he wounded. Cytherea,
How bravely thou becomest thy bed, fresh lily,
And whiter than the sheets! That I might touch!
But kiss; one kiss! Rubies unparagon'd,
How dearly they do't! 'Tis her breathing that
Perfumes the chamber thus: the flame o' the taper
(20) Bows toward her, and would under-peep her lids,
To see the enclosed lights, now canopied
Under these windows, white and azure laced
With blue of heaven's own tinct. But my design,
To note the chamber: I will write all down:
Such and such pictures; there the window; such
The adornment of her bed; the arras; figures,
Why, such and such; and the contents o' the story.
Ah, but some natural notes about her body,
Above ten thousand meaner moveables
(30) Would testify, to enrich mine inventory.
O sleep, thou ape of death, lie dull upon her!
And be her sense but as a monument,
Thus in a chapel lying! Come off, come off:
[Taking off her bracelet]
As slippery as the Gordian knot was hard!
'Tis mine; and this will witness outwardly,
As strongly as the conscience does within,
To the madding of her lord. On her left breast
A mole cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops
I' the bottom of a cowslip: here's a voucher,
(40) Stronger than ever law could make: this secret
Will force him think I have pick'd the lock and ta'en
The treasure of her honour. No more. To what end?
Why should I write this down, that's riveted,
Screw'd to my memory? She hath been reading late
The tale of Tereus; here the leaf's turn'd down
Where Philomel gave up. I have enough:
To the trunk again, and shut the spring of it.
Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning
May bare the raven's eye! I lodge in fear;
(50) Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here.
[Clock strikes]
One, two, three: time, time!
[Goes into the trunk. The scene closes]
SCENE III An ante-chamber adjoining Imogen's apartments.
[Enter CLOTEN and LORDS]
(1) FIRST LORD Your lordship is the most patient man in loss, the
most coldest that ever turned up ace.
CLOTEN It would make any man cold to lose.
FIRST LORD But not every man patient after the noble temper of
your lordship. You are most hot and furious when you win.
CLOTEN Winning will put any man into courage. If I could
get this foolish Imogen, I should have gold enough.
(10) It's almost morning, is't not?
FIRST LORD Day, my lord.
CLOTEN I would this music would come: I am advised to give
her music o' mornings; they say it will penetrate.
[Enter MUSICIANS]
Come on; tune: if you can penetrate her with your
fingering, so; we'll try with tongue too: if none
will do, let her remain; but I'll never give o'er.
FIRST, a very excellent good-conceited thing;
after, a wonderful sweet air, with admirable rich
(20) words to it: and then let her consider.
[SONG]
Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings,
And Phoebus 'gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs
On chaliced flowers that lies;
And winking Mary-buds begin
To ope their golden eyes:
With every thing that pretty is,
My lady sweet, arise:
(30) Arise, arise.
CLOTEN So, get you gone. If this penetrate, I will
consider your music the better: if it do not, it is
a vice in her ears, which horse-hairs and
calves'-guts, nor the voice of unpaved eunuch to
boot, can never amend.
[Exeunt MUSICIANS]
SECOND LORD Here comes the king.
CLOTEN I am glad I was up so late; for that's the reason I
was up so early: he cannot choose but take this
service I have done fatherly.
[Enter CYMBELINE and QUEEN]
(40) Good morrow to your majesty and to my gracious mother.
CYMBELINE Attend you here the door of our stern daughter?
Will she not forth?
CLOTEN I have assailed her with music, but she vouchsafes no notice.
CYMBELINE The exile of her minion is too new;
She hath not yet forgot him: some more time
Must wear the print of his remembrance out,
And then she's yours.
QUEEN You are most bound to the king,
(50) Who lets go by no vantages that may
Prefer you to his daughter. Frame yourself
To orderly soliciting, and be friended
With aptness of the season; make denials
Increase your services; so seem as if
You were inspired to do those duties which
You tender to her; that you in all obey her,
Save when command to your dismission tends,
And therein you are senseless.
CLOTEN Senseless! not so.
[Enter a MESSENGER]
MESSENGER So like you, sir, ambassadors from Rome;
The one is Caius Lucius.
(60) CYMBELINE A worthy fellow,
Albeit he comes on angry purpose now;
But that's no fault of his: we must receive him
According to the honour of his sender;
And towards himself, his goodness forespent on us,
We must extend our notice. Our dear son,
When you have given good morning to your mistress,
Attend the queen and us; we shall have need
To employ you towards this Roman. Come, our queen.
[Exeunt all but CLOTEN]
CLOTEN If she be up, I'll speak with her; if not,
(70) Let her lie still and dream.
[Knocks]
By your leave, ho!
I Know her women are about her: what
If I do line one of their hands? 'Tis gold
Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea, and makes
Diana's rangers false themselves, yield up
Their deer to the stand o' the stealer; and 'tis gold
Which makes the true man kill'd and saves the thief;
Nay, sometime hangs both thief and true man: what
Can it not do and undo? I will make
One of her women lawyer to me, for
(80) I yet not understand the case myself.
[Knocks]
By your leave.
[Enter a LADY]
LADY Who's there that knocks?
CLOTEN A gentleman.
LADY No more?
CLOTEN Yes, and a gentlewoman's son.
LADY That's more
Than some, whose tailors are as dear as yours,
Can justly boast of. What's your lordship's pleasure?
CLOTEN Your lady's person: is she ready?
LADY Ay,
To keep her chamber.
CLOTEN There is gold for you;
Sell me your good report.
LADY How! my good name? or to report of you
(90) What I shall think is good?--The princess!
[Enter IMOGEN]
CLOTEN Good morrow, fairest: sister, your sweet hand.
[Exit LADY]
IMOGEN Good morrow, sir. You lay out too much pains
For purchasing but trouble; the thanks I give
Is telling you that I am poor of thanks
And scarce can spare them.
CLOTEN Still, I swear I love you.
IMOGEN If you but said so, 'twere as deep with me:
If you swear still, your recompense is still
That I regard it not.
CLOTEN This is no answer.
(100) IMOGEN But that you shall not say I yield being silent,
I would not speak. I pray you, spare me: 'faith,
I shall unfold equal discourtesy
To your best kindness: one of your great knowing
Should learn, being taught, forbearance.
CLOTEN To leave you in your madness, 'twere my sin:
I will not.
IMOGEN Fools are not mad folks.
CLOTEN Do you call me fool?
IMOGEN As I am mad, I do:
If you'll be patient, I'll no more be mad;
That cures us both. I am much sorry, sir,
(110) You put me to forget a lady's manners,
By being so verbal: and learn now, for all,
That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce,
By the very truth of it, I care not for you,
And am so near the lack of charity--
To accuse myself--I hate you; which I had rather
You felt than make't my boast.
CLOTEN You sin against
Obedience, which you owe your father. For
The contract you pretend with that base wretch,
One bred of alms and foster'd with cold dishes,
(120) With scraps o' the court, it is no contract, none:
And though it be allow'd in meaner parties--
Yet who than he more mean?--to knit their souls,
On whom there is no more dependency
But brats and beggary, in self-figured knot;
Yet you are curb'd from that enlargement by
The consequence o' the crown, and must not soil
The precious note of it with a base slave.
A hilding for a livery, a squire's cloth,
A pantler, not so eminent.
IMOGEN Profane fellow
(130) Wert thou the son of Jupiter and no more
But what thou art besides, thou wert too base
To be his groom: thou wert dignified enough,
Even to the point of envy, if 'twere made
Comparative for your virtues, to be styled
The under-hangman of his kingdom, and hated
For being preferred so well.
CLOTEN The south-fog rot him!
IMOGEN He never can meet more mischance than come
To be but named of thee. His meanest garment,
That ever hath but clipp'd his body, is dearer
(140) In my respect than all the hairs above thee,
Were they all made such men. How now, Pisanio!
[Enter PISANIO]
CLOTEN 'His garment!' Now the devil--
IMOGEN To Dorothy my woman hie thee presently--
CLOTEN 'His garment!'
IMOGEN I am sprited with a fool.
Frighted, and anger'd worse: go bid my woman
Search for a jewel that too casually
Hath left mine arm: it was thy master's: 'shrew me,
If I would lose it for a revenue
Of any king's in Europe. I do think
(150) I saw't this morning: confident I am
Last night 'twas on mine arm; I kiss'd it:
I hope it be not gone to tell my lord
That I kiss aught but he.
PISANIO 'Twill not be lost.
IMOGEN I hope so: go and search.
[Exit PISANIO]
CLOTEN You have abused me:
'His meanest garment!'
IMOGEN Ay, I said so, sir:
If you will make't an action, call witness to't.
CLOTEN I will inform your father.
IMOGEN Your mother too:
She's my good lady, and will conceive, I hope,
But the worst of me. So, I leave you, sir,
To the worst of discontent.
[Exit]
(160) CLOTEN I'll be revenged:
'His meanest garment!' Well.
[Exit]
SCENE IV Rome. Philario's house.
[Enter POSTHUMUS and PHILARIO]
(1) POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Fear it not, sir: I would I were so sure
To win the king as I am bold her honour
Will remain hers.
PHILARIO What means do you make to him?
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Not any, but abide the change of time,
Quake in the present winter's state and wish
That warmer days would come: in these sear'd hopes,
I barely gratify your love; they failing,
I must die much your debtor.
PHILARIO Your very goodness and your company
(10) O'erpays all I can do. By this, your king
Hath heard of great Augustus: Caius Lucius
Will do's commission throughly: and I think
He'll grant the tribute, send the arrearages,
Or look upon our Romans, whose remembrance
Is yet fresh in their grief.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS I do believe,
Statist though I am none, nor like to be,
That this will prove a war; and you shall hear
The legions now in Gallia sooner landed
In our not-fearing Britain than have tidings
(20) Of any penny tribute paid. Our countrymen
Are men more order'd than when Julius Caesar
Smiled at their lack of skill, but found
their courage
Worthy his frowning at: their discipline,
Now mingled with their courages, will make known
To their approvers they are people such
That mend upon the world.
[Enter IACHIMO]
PHILARIO See! Iachimo!
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS The swiftest harts have posted you by land;
And winds of all the comers kiss'd your sails,
To make your vessel nimble.
PHILARIO Welcome, sir.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS I hope the briefness of your answer made
(30) The speediness of your return.
IACHIMO Your lady
Is one of the fairest that I have look'd upon.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS And therewithal the best; or let her beauty
Look through a casement to allure false hearts
And be false with them.
IACHIMO Here are letters for you.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Their tenor good, I trust.
IACHIMO 'Tis very like.
PHILARIO Was Caius Lucius in the Britain court
When you were there?
IACHIMO He was expected then,
But not approach'd.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS All is well yet.
(40) Sparkles this stone as it was wont? or is't not
Too dull for your good wearing?
IACHIMO If I had lost it,
I should have lost the worth of it in gold.
I'll make a journey twice as far, to enjoy
A second night of such sweet shortness which
Was mine in Britain, for the ring is won.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS The stone's too hard to come by.
IACHIMO Not a whit,
Your lady being so easy.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Make not, sir,
Your loss your sport: I hope you know that we
Must not continue friends.
IACHIMO Good sir, we must,
(50) If you keep covenant. Had I not brought
The knowledge of your mistress home, I grant
We were to question further: but I now
Profess myself the winner of her honour,
Together with your ring; and not the wronger
Of her or you, having proceeded but
By both your wills.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS If you can make't apparent
That you have tasted her in bed, my hand
And ring is yours; if not, the foul opinion
You had of her pure honour gains or loses
(60) Your sword or mine, or masterless leaves both
To who shall find them.
IACHIMO Sir, my circumstances,
Being so near the truth as I will make them,
Must FIRST induce you to believe: whose strength
I will confirm with oath; which, I doubt not,
You'll give me leave to spare, when you shall find
You need it not.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS Proceed.
IACHIMO First, her bedchamber,--
Where, I confess, I slept not, but profess
Had that was well worth watching--it was hang'd
With tapesty of silk and silver; the story
(70) Proud Cleopatra, when she met her Roman,
And Cydnus swell'd above the banks, or for
The press of boats or pride: a piece of work
So bravely done, so rich, that it did strive
In workmanship and value; which I wonder'd
Could be so rarely and exactly wrought,
Since the true life on't was--
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS This is true;
And this you might have heard of here, by me,
Or by some other.
IACHIMO More particulars
Must justify my knowledge.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS So they must,
Or do your honour injury.
(80) IACHIMO The chimney
Is south the chamber, and the chimney-piece
Chaste Dian bathing: never saw I figures
So likely to report themselves: the cutter
Was as another nature, dumb; outwent her,
Motion and breath left out.
