King. I am not a day of season,3 For thou may'st see a sun-shine and a hail Ber. My high-repented blames,* Dear sovereign pardon to me. All is whole; Not one word more of the consumed time. Ber. Admiringly, my liege: at first I stuck my choice upon her, ere my heart myself, Since I have lost, have lov'd, was in mine The dust that did offend it. eye King. Well excus'd: That thou didst love her, strikes some scores away From the great compt: But love, that comes too late, Like a remorseful pardon slowly carried, I am not a day of season,] That is, of uninterrupted rain: one of those wet days that usually happen about the vernal equinox. My high-repented blames,] High-repented blames, are faults repented of to the height, to the utmost. To the great sender turns a sour offence, Count. Which better than the first, O dear heaven, bless! Or, ere they meet, in me, O nature, cease! name Must be digested, give a favour from you, Ber. Hers it was not. King. Now, pray you, let me see it; for mine eye, While I was speaking, oft was fasten'd to't.- Necessitied to help, that by this token. I would relieve her: Had you that craft, to reave her Of what should stead her most?. Ber. My gracious sovereign, Howe'er it pleases you to take it so, The ring was never hers. Count. Son, on my life, I have seen her wear it; and she reckon'd it Laf. I am sure, I saw her wear it. Ber. You are deceiv'd, my lord, she never saw it: In Florence was it from a casement thrown me,' Wrapp'd in a paper, which contain'd the name Of her that threw it: noble she was, and thought I stood ingag'd:" but when I had subscrib'd To mine own fortune, and inform'd her fully, I could not answer in that course of honour As she had made the overture, she ceas'd, In heavy satisfaction, and would never Receive the ring again. King. Plutus himself, That knows the tinct and multiplying medicine,' Than I have in this ring: 'twas mine, 'twas Helen's, In Florence was it from a casement thrown me,] Bertram still continues to have too little virtue to deserve Helen. He did not know indeed that it was Helen's ring, but he knew that he had it not from a window. JOHNSON. I stood ingag'd:] Ingaged, in the sense of unengaged, is a word of exactly the same formation as inhabitable, which is used by Shakspeare and the contemporary writers for uninhabitable. + Plutus himself, MALONE. That knows the tinct and multiplying medicine,] Plutus, the grand alchemist, who knows the tincture which confers the properties of gold upon base metals, and the matter by which gold is multiplied, by which a small quantity of gold is made to communicate its qualities to a large mass of base metal. 8 -Then, if you know That you are well acquainted with yourself, Confess 'twas hers,] The true meaning of this expression is, If you know that your faculties are so sound, as that you have the proper consciousness of your own actions, and are able to recollect and relate what you have done, tell me, &c. JOHNSON. You got it from her: she call'd the saints to surety, (Where you have never come,) or sent it us Ber. She never saw it. King. Thou speak'st it falsely, as I love mine. honour; And mak'st conjectural fears to come into me, Having vainly fear'd too little."-Away with him ;- Ber. If you shall prove This ring was ever hers, you shall as easy Prove that I husbanded her bed in Florence, Where yet she never was. [Exit BERTRAM, guarded. Enter a Gentleman. King. I am wrapp'd in dismal thinkings. Gracious sovereign, Gent. Whether I have been to blame, or no, I know not; Here's a petition from a Florentine, Who hath, for four or five removes, come short1 My fore-past proofs, &c.] The proofs which I have already had are sufficient to show that my fears were not vain and irrational. I have rather been hitherto more easy than I ought, and have unreasonably had too little fear. JOHNSON. 1 Who hath, for four or five removes, come short, &c.] Who hath missed the opportunity of presenting it in person to your majesty, either at Marseilles, or on the road from thence to Rou To tender it herself. I undertook it, King. [Reads.] Upon his many protestations to marry me, when his it, he won me. wife was dead, I blush to say Now is the count Rousillon a widower; his vows are forfeited to me, and my honour's paid to him. He stole from Florence, taking no leave, and I follow him to his country for justice: Grant it me, O king; in you it best lies; otherwise a seducer flourishes, and a poor maid is undone. DIANA CAPULET. Laf. I will buy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll him: for this, I'll none of him. King. The heavens have thought well on thee, To bring forth this discovery.-Seek these suitors:- [Exeunt Gentleman, and some Attendants. I am afeard, the life of Helen, lady, Was foully snatch'd. Count. Now, justice on the doers! Enter BERTRAM, guarded, King. I wonder, sir, since wives are monsters to you, sillon, in consequence of having been four or five removes behind you. MALONE. I will buy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll him:] i. e. I'll buy me a son-in-law as they buy a horse in a fair; toul him, i. e. enter him on the toul or toll-book, to prove I came honestly by him, and ascertain my title to him. |