| 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. |
| GUIDERIUS
ARVIRAGUS | | sons to Cymbeline, disguised under the names
| of Polydote and Cadwal, supposed sons to | Morgan. |
| PHILARIO friend to Posthumus,
IACHIMO friend to Philario, | |
| Italians. | |
| 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:) |
| [Enter two Gentlemen] | |
| 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. |
| 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 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 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 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 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 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] | |
| 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. |
| 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 | O
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 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, 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:
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, 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] | |
| 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,
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! |
| 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. |
| 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? |
| 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] |
| [Enter CLOTEN and two Lords] | |
| 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. |
| 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
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! |
| 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. |
| 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] |
| [Enter IMOGEN and PISANIO] | |
| 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 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, 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 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. |
| PISANIO | Madam, I shall. |
| [Exeunt] |
| [Enter PHILARIO, IACHIMO, a Frenchman, a
Dutchman, and a Spaniard] | |
| 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
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
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 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,
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: 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. 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. |
| 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 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
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 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 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, 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. |
| 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. |
| 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 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 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] |
| [Enter QUEEN, Ladies, and CORNELIUS] | |
| 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? | |
| 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 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! 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 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, 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] | |
| 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, 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 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] |
| [Enter IMOGEN] | |
| 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] | |
| 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! 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 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
'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. |
| 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
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 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; 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? |
| 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
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 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 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,-- 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! |
| 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 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! 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:
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. |
| 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 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
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, And truly yielded you. You're very welcome. |
| [Exeunt] |