The Winter's Tale E-Book

William Shakespeare

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 125

Beschreibung

CAMILLO I think this coming summer the King of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes him. ARCHIDAMUS Wherein our entertainment shall shame us we will be justified in our loves; for indeed,- CAMILLO Beseech you,- ARCHIDAMUS Verily, I speak it in the freedom of my knowledge: we cannot with such magnificence-in so rare-I know not what to say.-We will give you sleepy drinks, that your senses, unintelligent of our insufficience, may, though they cannot praise us, as little accuse us. CAMILLO You pay a great deal too dear for what's given freely. ARCHIDAMUS Believe me, I speak as my understanding instructs me and as mine honesty puts it to utterance.

Leseprobe

The Winter's Tale

The Winter's TaleDramatis PersonaeACT I.ACT II.ACT III.ACT IV.ACT V.Copyright

The Winter's Tale

William Shakespeare

Dramatis Personae

LEONTES, King of SiciliaMAMILLIUS, his sonCAMILLO, Sicilian LordANTIGONUS, Sicilian LordCLEOMENES, Sicilian LordDION, Sicilian LordPOLIXENES, King of BohemiaFLORIZEL, his sonARCHIDAMUS, a Bohemian LordAn Old Shepherd, reputed father of PerditaCLOWN, his sonAUTOLYCUS, a rogueA MarinerGaolerServant to the Old ShepherdOther Sicilian LordsSicilian GentlemenOfficers of a Court of JudicatureHERMIONE, Queen to LeontesPERDITA, daughter to Leontes and HermionePAULINA, wife to AntigonusEMILIA, a lady attending on the QueenMOPSA, shepherdessDORCAS, shepherdessOther Ladies, attending on the QueenLords, Ladies, and Attendants; Satyrsfor a Dance; Shepherds,Shepherdesses, Guards, &c.TIME, as ChorusScene:Sometimes in Sicilia; sometimes in Bohemia.

ACT I.

SCENE I.  Sicilia.  An Antechamber in LEONTES' Palace.[Enter CAMILLO and ARCHIDAMUS]ARCHIDAMUSIf you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my services are now on foot, you shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixt our Bohemia and your Sicilia.CAMILLOI think this coming summer the King of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes him.ARCHIDAMUSWherein our entertainment shall shame us we will be justified in our loves; for indeed,—CAMILLOBeseech you,—ARCHIDAMUSVerily, I speak it in the freedom of my knowledge: we cannot with such magnificence—in so rare—I know not what to say.—We will give you sleepy drinks, that your senses, unintelligent of our insufficience, may, though they cannot praise us, as little accuse us.CAMILLOYou pay a great deal too dear for what's given freely.ARCHIDAMUSBelieve me, I speak as my understanding instructs me and as mine honesty puts it to utterance.CAMILLOSicilia cannot show himself overkind to Bohemia. They were trained together in their childhoods; and there rooted betwixt them then such an affection which cannot choose but branch now. Since their more mature dignities and royal necessities made separation of their society, their encounters, though not personal, have been royally attorneyed with interchange of gifts, letters, loving embassies; that they have seemed to be together, though absent; shook hands, as over a vast; and embraced as it were from the ends of opposed winds. The heavens continue their loves!ARCHIDAMUSI think there is not in the world either malice or matter to alter it. You have an unspeakable comfort of your young Prince Mamillius: it is a gentleman of the greatest promise that ever came into my note.CAMILLOI very well agree with you in the hopes of him. It is a gallant child; one that indeed physics the subject, makes old hearts fresh: they that went on crutches ere he was born desire yet their life to see him a man.ARCHIDAMUSWould they else be content to die?CAMILLOYes, if there were no other excuse why they should desire to live.ARCHIDAMUSIf the king had no son, they would desire to live on crutches till he had one.[Exeunt.]SCENE II.  The same.  A Room of State in the Palace.[Enter LEONTES, POLIXENES, HERMIONE, MAMILLIUS, CAMILLO, and Attendants.]POLIXENESNine changes of the watery star hath beenThe shepherd's note since we have left our throneWithout a burden: time as long againWould be fill'd up, my brother, with our thanks;And yet we should, for perpetuity,Go hence in debt: and therefore, like a cipher,Yet standing in rich place, I multiplyWith one we-thank-you many thousands moreThat go before it.LEONTESStay your thanks a while,And pay them when you part.POLIXENESSir, that's to-morrow.I am question'd by my fears, of what may chanceOr breed upon our absence; that may blowNo sneaping winds at home, to make us say,'This is put forth too truly.' Besides, I have stay'dTo tire your royalty.LEONTESWe are tougher, brother,Than you can put us to't.POLIXENESNo longer stay.LEONTESOne seven-night longer.POLIXENESVery sooth, to-morrow.LEONTESWe'll part the time between 's then: and in thatI'll no gainsaying.POLIXENESPress me not, beseech you, so,There is no tongue that moves, none, none i' the world,So soon as yours, could win me: so it should now,Were there necessity in your request, although'Twere needful I denied it. My affairsDo even drag me homeward: which to hinder,Were, in your love a whip to me; my stayTo you a charge and trouble: to save both,Farewell, our brother.LEONTESTongue-tied, our queen? Speak you.HERMIONEI had thought, sir, to have held my peace untilYou had drawn oaths from him not to stay. You, sir,Charge him too coldly. Tell him you are sureAll in Bohemia's well: this satisfactionThe by-gone day proclaimed: say this to him,He's beat from his best ward.LEONTESWell said, Hermione.HERMIONETo tell he longs to see his son were strong:But let him say so then, and let him go;But let him swear so, and he shall not stay,We'll thwack him hence with distaffs.—[To POLIXENES]Yet of your royal presence I'll adventureThe borrow of a week. When at BohemiaYou take my lord, I'll give him my commissionTo let him there a month behind the gestPrefix'd for's parting:—yet, good deed, Leontes,I love thee not a jar of the clock behindWhat lady she her lord.—You'll stay?POLIXENESNo, madam.HERMIONENay, but you will?POLIXENESI may not, verily.HERMIONEVerily!You put me off with limber vows; but I,Though you would seek to unsphere the stars with oaths,Should yet say 'Sir, no going.' Verily,You shall not go; a lady's verily isAs potent as a lord's. Will go yet?Force me to keep you as a prisoner,Not like a guest: so you shall pay your feesWhen you depart, and save your thanks. How say you?My prisoner or my guest? by your dread 'verily,'One of them you shall be.POLIXENESYour guest, then, madam:To be your prisoner should import offending;Which is for me less easy to commitThan you to punish.HERMIONENot your gaoler then,But your kind hostess. Come, I'll question youOf my lord's tricks and yours when you were boys.You were pretty lordings then.POLIXENESWe were, fair queen,Two lads that thought there was no more behindBut such a day to-morrow as to-day,And to be boy eternal.HERMIONEWas not my lord the verier wag o' the two?POLIXENESWe were as twinn'd lambs that did frisk i' the sunAnd bleat the one at th' other. What we chang'dWas innocence for innocence; we knew notThe doctrine of ill-doing, nor dream'dThat any did. Had we pursu'd that life,And our weak spirits ne'er been higher rear'dWith stronger blood, we should have answer'd heavenBoldly 'Not guilty,' the imposition clear'dHereditary ours.HERMIONEBy this we gatherYou have tripp'd since.POLIXENESO my most sacred lady,Temptations have since then been born to 's! forIn those unfledg'd days was my wife a girl;Your precious self had then not cross'd the eyesOf my young play-fellow.HERMIONEGrace to boot!Of this make no conclusion, lest you sayYour queen and I are devils: yet, go on;The offences we have made you do we'll answer;If you first sinn'd with us, and that with usYou did continue fault, and that you slipp'd notWith any but with us.LEONTESIs he won yet?HERMIONEHe'll stay, my lord.LEONTESAt my request he would not.Hermione, my dearest, thou never spok'stTo better purpose.HERMIONENever?LEONTESNever but once.HERMIONEWhat! have I twice said well? when was't before?I pr'ythee tell me; cram 's with praise, and make 'sAs fat as tame things: one good deed dying tonguelessSlaughters a thousand waiting upon that.Our praises are our wages; you may ride 'sWith one soft kiss a thousand furlongs ereWith spur we heat an acre. But to the goal:—My last good deed was to entreat his stay;What was my first? it has an elder sister,Or I mistake you: O, would her name were Grace!But once before I spoke to the purpose—when?Nay, let me have't; I long.LEONTESWhy, that was whenThree crabbèd months had sour'd themselves to death,Ere I could make thee open thy white handAnd clap thyself my love; then didst thou utter'I am yours for ever.'HERMIONEIt is Grace indeed.Why, lo you now, I have spoke to the purpose twice;The one for ever earn'd a royal husband;Th' other for some while a friend.[Giving her hand to POLIXENES.]LEONTES[Aside.]                                         Too hot, too hot!To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods.I havetremor cordison me;—my heart dances;But not for joy,—not joy.—This entertainmentMay a free face put on; derive a libertyFrom heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom,And well become the agent: 't may, I grant:But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers,As now they are; and making practis'd smilesAs in a looking-glass; and then to sigh, as 'twereThe mort o' the deer: O, that is entertainmentMy bosom likes not, nor my brows,—Mamillius,Art thou my boy?MAMILLIUSAy, my good lord.LEONTESI' fecks!Why, that's my bawcock. What! hast smutch'd thy nose?—They say it is a copy out of mine. Come, captain,We must be neat;—not neat, but cleanly, captain:And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf,Are all call'd neat.—[Observing POLIXENES and HERMIONE]Still virginallingUpon his palm?—How now, you wanton calf!Art thou my calf?MAMILLIUSYes, if you will, my lord.LEONTESThou want'st a rough pash, and the shoots that I have,To be full like me:—yet they say we areAlmost as like as eggs; women say so,That will say anything: but were they falseAs o'er-dy'd blacks, as wind, as waters,—falseAs dice are to be wish'd by one that fixesNo bourn 'twixt his and mine; yet were it trueTo say this boy were like me.—Come, sir page,Look on me with your welkin eye: sweet villain!Most dear'st! my collop!—Can thy dam?—may't be?Affection! thy intention stabs the centre:Thou dost make possible things not so held,Communicat'st with dreams;—how can this be?—With what's unreal thou co-active art,And fellow'st nothing: then 'tis very credentThou mayst co-join with something; and thou dost,—And that beyond commission; and I find it,—And that to the infection of my brainsAnd hardening of my brows.POLIXENESWhat means Sicilia?HERMIONEHe something seems unsettled.POLIXENESHow! my lord!What cheer? How is't with you, best brother?HERMIONEYou lookAs if you held a brow of much distraction:Are you mov'd, my lord?LEONTESNo, in good earnest.—How sometimes nature will betray its folly,Its tenderness, and make itself a pastimeTo harder bosoms! Looking on the linesOf my boy's face, methoughts I did recoilTwenty-three years; and saw myself unbreech'd,In my green velvet coat; my dagger muzzled,Lest it should bite its master, and so prove,As ornaments oft do, too dangerous.How like, methought, I then was to this kernel,This squash, this gentleman.—Mine honest friend,Will you take eggs for money?MAMILLIUSNo, my lord, I'll fight.LEONTESYou will? Why, happy man be 's dole!—My brother,Are you so fond of your young prince as weDo seem to be of ours?POLIXENESIf at home, sir,He's all my exercise, my mirth, my matter:Now my sworn friend, and then mine enemy;My parasite, my soldier, statesman, all:He makes a July's day short as December;And with his varying childness cures in meThoughts that would thick my blood.LEONTESSo stands this squireOffic'd with me. We two will walk, my lord,And leave you to your graver steps.—Hermione,How thou lov'st us show in our brother's welcome;Let what is dear in Sicily be cheap:Next to thyself and my young rover, he'sApparent to my heart.HERMIONEIf you would seek us,We are yours i' the garden. Shall 's attend you there?LEONTESTo your own bents dispose you: you'll be found,Be you beneath the sky. [Aside] I am angling now.Though you perceive me not how I give line.Go to, go to![Observing POLIXENES and HERMIONE]How she holds up the neb, the bill to him!And arms her with the boldness of a wifeTo her allowing husband![Exeunt POLIXENES, HERMIONE, and Attendants.]Gone already!Inch-thick, knee-deep, o'er head and ears a fork'd one!—Go, play, boy, play:—thy mother plays, and IPlay too; but so disgrac'd a part, whose issueWill hiss me to my grave: contempt and clamourWill be my knell.—Go, play, boy, play.—There have been,Or I am much deceiv'd, cuckolds ere now;And many a man there is, even at this present,Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the armThat little thinks she has been sluic'd in his absence,And his pond fish'd by his next neighbour, bySir Smile, his neighbour; nay, there's comfort in't,Whiles other men have gates, and those gates open'd,As mine, against their will: should all despairThat hath revolted wives, the tenth of mankindWould hang themselves. Physic for't there's none;It is a bawdy planet, that will strikeWhere 'tis predominant; and 'tis powerful, think it,From east, west, north, and south: be it concluded,No barricado for a belly: know't;It will let in and out the enemyWith bag and baggage. Many thousand of usHave the disease, and feel't not.—How now, boy!MAMILLIUSI am like you, they say.LEONTESWhy, that's some comfort.—What! Camillo there?CAMILLOAy, my good lord.LEONTESGo play, Mamillius; thou'rt an honest man.—[Exit MAMILLIUS.]Camillo, this great sir will yet stay longer.CAMILLOYou had much ado to make his anchor hold:When you cast out, it still came home.LEONTESDidst note it?CAMILLOHe would not stay at your petitions; madeHis business more material.LEONTESDidst perceive it?—[Aside.] They're here with me already; whispering, rounding,'Sicilia is a so-forth.' 'Tis far goneWhen I shall gust it last.—How came't, Camillo,That he did stay?CAMILLOAt the good queen's entreaty.LEONTESAt the queen's be't: 'good' should be pertinent;But so it is, it is not. Was this takenBy any understanding pate but thine?For thy conceit is soaking, will draw inMore than the common blocks:—not noted, is't,But of the finer natures? by some severalsOf head-piece extraordinary? lower messesPerchance are to this business purblind? say.CAMILLOBusiness, my lord! I think most understandBohemia stays here longer.LEONTESHa!CAMILLOStays here longer.LEONTESAy, but why?CAMILLOTo satisfy your highness, and the entreatiesOf our most gracious mistress.LEONTESSatisfyTh' entreaties of your mistress!—satisfy!—Let that suffice. I have trusted thee, Camillo,With all the nearest things to my heart, as wellMy chamber-councils, wherein, priest-like, thouHast cleans'd my bosom; I from thee departedThy penitent reform'd: but we have beenDeceiv'd in thy integrity, deceiv'dIn that which seems so.CAMILLOBe it forbid, my lord!LEONTESTo bide upon't,—thou art not honest; or,If thou inclin'st that way, thou art a coward,Which hoxes honesty behind, restrainingFrom course requir'd; or else thou must be countedA servant grafted in my serious trust,And therein negligent; or else a foolThat seest a game play'd home, the rich stake drawn,And tak'st it all for jest.CAMILLO