ACT I. Court. Two Gaolers. QUEEN, wife to Cymbeline. Lords, Ladies, Roman Senators, Tribunes, Apparitions, a Soothsayer, Musicians, Officers, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants. SCENE.- Sometimes in BRITAIN; sometimes in ROME. SCENE I.-Britain. The Garden behind Cymbe- A glass that feated them; and to the graver, line's Palace. Enter Two Gentlemen. 1 Gent. You do not meet a man but frowns: our bloods No more obey the heavens, than our courtiers But what's the matter? None but the king? 1 Gent. He that hath lost her, too: so is the queen, And why so? 2 Gent. 1 Gent. 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. 2 Gent. What's his name, and birth? 1 Gent. I cannot delve him to the root: His father (Then old and fond of Issue,) took such sorrow As he was born. The king, he takes the babe Could make him the receiver of; which he took, And in 's spring became a harvest: Liv'd in court, (Which rare it is to do,) most prais'd, most lov'd: A sample to the youngest; to th' more mature 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 stolen: and to this hour no guess in knowWhich way they went. [ledge 2 Gent. How long is this ago? 1 Gent. Some twenty years. [vey'd 1 2 Gent. That a king's children should be so conSo slackly guarded! And the search so slow, That could not trace them! Howsoe'er 't is strange, I Gent. Or that the negligence may well be laugh'd at, Yet is it true, sir. 2 Gent. I do well believe you. [man, [Exeunt. I Gent. We must forbear: Here comes the gentleThe queen, and princess. SCENE II.-The same. Enter the Queen, Posthumus, and Imogen. Queen. No, be assur'd, you shall not find me, After the slander of most step-mothers, [daughter, Evil-ey'd unto you: you are my prisoner, but Your gaoler shall deliver you the keys That lock up your restraint. For you, Posthúmus, I will be known your advocate: marry, yet Please your highness, I will from hence to-day. Imo. O dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant Post. My queen! my mistress! Be brief, I pray you: To walk this way: I never do him wrong, [Exit. Should we be taking leave As long a term as yet we have to live, The loathness to depart would grow: Adieu! Imo. Nay, stay a little: Were you but riding forth to air yourself, Such parting were too petty. Look here, love; Post. How! how! another?— You gentle gods, give me but this I have, [Putting on the ring. Imo. 1 Lord. Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt; the [Putting a bracelet on her arm. violence of action hath made you reek as a sacrifice: When shall we see again? O, the gods! Enter Cymbeline and Lords. Post. Alack, the king! Cym. Thou basest thing, avoid! hence, from my If after this command thou fraught the court (sight! With thy unworthiness, thou diest: Away! Thou art poison to my blood. Post. The gods protect you! And bless the good remainders of the court! I am gone. Imo. There cannot be a pinch in death More sharp than this is. Cyin. O disloyal thing, That should'st repair my youth; thou heapest A year's age on me! Imo. I beseech you, sir, Harm not yourself with your vexation; I [Exit. Am senseless of your wrath; a touch more rare A lustre to it. Imo. No; I rather added Cym. O thou vile one! Sir, Where air comes out, air coines in: there 's none abroad so wholesome as that you vent. Clo. If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Have I hurt him? 2 Lord. No, faith; not so much as his patience. [Aside. I Lord. Hurt him? his body 's a passable carcase if he be not hurt: it is a thoroughfare for steel if it be not hurt. 2 Lord. His steel was in debt: it went o' the back side the town. [Aside. Clo. The villain would not stand me. 2 Lord. No; but he fled forward still, toward your face. [Aside. 1 Lord. Stand you! You have land enough of your own: but he added to your having; gave you some ground. 2 Lord. As many inches as you have oceans: Puppies! [Aside. Clo. I would they had not come between us. 2 Lord. So would I, till you had measured how long a fool you were upon the ground. [Aside. Clo. And that she should love this fellow, and refuse me! 2 Lord. If it be a sin to make a true election, she is damned. Aside. 1 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. 2 Lord. She shines not upon fools, lest the reflection should hurt her. [Aside. Clo. Come, I'll to my chamber: 'Would there had been some hurt done! 2 Lord. I wish not so; unless it had been the fall of an ass, which is no great hurt. Clo. You'll go with us? 1 Lord. I'll attend your lordship. Clo. Nay, come, let's go together. 2 Lord. Well, my lord." [Aside. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-A Room in Cymbeline's Palace. Enter Imogen and Pisanio. Imo. I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' the haven, And question'dst every sail: if he should write, It was, 'His queen, his queen !' Imo. Then wav'd his handkerchief? And kiss'd it, madam. Pis. Thou should'st have made him To after-eye him. Pis. Madam, so I did. Imo. 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: Pis. With his next vantage Mine interest and his honour; or have charg'd him, I am in heaven for him; or ere I could Enter a Lady. Lady. Madam, I shall. [Exeunt. Enter Philario, Iachimo, and a Frenchman. lach. 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. Phi. You speak of him when he was less furnished, than now he is, with that which makes him both without and within. French. I have seen him in France: we had very many there could behold the sun with as firm eyes as he. Iach. 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. French. And then his banishmentlach. 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? Phi. His father and I were soldiers together; to whom I have been often bound for no less than my life: Post. Since when I have been debtor to you for courtesies, which I will be ever to pay, and yet pay still. French. 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. Post. 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 judg ment, (if I offend not to say it is mended,) my quarrel was not altogether slight. French. 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. lach. Can we, with manners, ask what was the difference? French. Safely, I think: 't was 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 youching, (and upon warrant of bloody affirmation.) his to be more fair, virtuous, wise, chaste, constantqualified, and less attemptible, than any the rarest of our ladies in France. Iach. That lady is not now living: or this gentleman's opinion, by this, worn out. Post. She holds her virtue still, and I my mind. lach. You must not so far prefer her 'fore ours of Italy. Post. Being so far provoked as I was in France, I Iach. As fair, and as good, (a kind of hand-in-hand Post. You are mistaken: the one may be sold, or Post. Your Italy contains none so accomplished a courtier to convince the honour of my mistress; if, in the holding or the loss of that, you term her frail. I do nothing doubt you have store of thieves; notwithstanding I fear not my ring. I Phi. Let us leave here, gentlemen. Post. Sir, with all my heart. This worthy signior, thank him, makes no stranger of me; we are familiar at first. Iach. 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. Post. No, no. Iach. I dare, thereupon, pawn the moiety of my estate to your ring; which, in my opinion, o'ervalues Here comes the Briton: Let him be so entertained it something: But I make my wager rather against amongst you, as suits, with gentlemen of your your confidence than her reputation: and, to bar knowing, to a stranger of his quality.I beseech your offence herein too, I durst attempt it against you all, be better known to this gentleman, whom any lady in the world. 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. Enter Posthumus. French. Sir, we have known together in Orleans. Post. You are a great deal abused in too bold a Post. A repulse: Though your attempt, as you call it, deserve more,-a punishment too. Phi. Gentlemen, enough of this: it came in too suddenly; let it die as it was born, and, I pray you, be better acquainted. Shall from this practice but make hard your heart: Cor. Queen. O, content thee. Enter Pisanio. lach. 'Would I had put my estate, and my neighbour's, on the approbation of what I have spoke. Post. What lady would you choose to assail? Lach. Yours; whom in constancy you think stands Will I first work: he's for his master, Here comes a flattering rascal; upon him [Aside. so safe. I will lay you ten thousand ducats to your And enemy to my son.-How now, Pisanio? ring, that, commend me to the court where your lady Doctor, your service for this time is ended; is, with no more advantage than the opportunity of Take your own way. a second conference, and I will bring from thence that honour of hers which you imagine so reserved. But you shall do no harm. I do suspect, you, madam: [Aside. Post. I will wage against your gold, gold to it: my Hark thee, a word.-[To Pisanio. ring I hold dear as my finger; 't is part of it. Tach. You are a friend, and therein the wiser. If Cor. [Aside.] I do not like her. She doth think you buy ladies' flesh at a million a dram, you cannot Strange lingering poisons: I do know her spirit, preserve it from tainting: But, I see you have some And will not trust one of her malice with religion in you, that you fear. Post. This is but a custom in your tongue; you bear A drug of such damn'd nature: Those she has Will stupify and dull the sense awhile: a graver purpose, I hope. Which first, perchance, she 'll prove on cats and Then afterward up higher; but there is [dogs; No danger in what show of death it makes, More than the locking up the spirits a time, With a most false effect; and I the truer To be more fresh, reviving. She is fool'd So to be false with her. lach. I am the master of my speeches; and would undergo what 's spoken, I swear. Post. Will you?-1 shall but lend my diamond till your return:-Let there be covenants drawn between us: My mistress exceeds in goodness the hugeness of your unworthy thinking: I dare you to this match: here 's my ring. Phi. I will have it no lay. Lach. 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. Queen. she has Until I send for thee. Cor. No further service, doctor, I humbly take my leave. [Exit. Queen. Weeps she still, say'st thou? Dost thou She will not quench; and let instructions enter think in time Where folly now possesses? Do thou work: When thou shalt bring me word she loves my son, Post, I embrace these conditions; let us have As great as is thy master: greater; for I'll tell thee, on the instant, thou art then articles betwixt us:-only, thus far you shall answer. His fortunes all lie speechless, and his name If you make your voyage upon her, and give me Is at last gasp: Return he cannot, nor directly to understand you have prevailed, I am no Continue where he is: to shift his being further your enemy: she is not worth our debate. Is to exchange one misery with another; If she remain unseduced, (you not making it appear And every day that comes, comes to decay otherwise,) for your ill opinion, and the assault you A day's work in him: What shalt thou expect, have made to her chastity, you shall answer me with To be depender on a thing that leans,Jach. Your hand; a covenant: We will have these Who cannot be new built, nor has no friends, things set down by lawful counsel, and straight away So much as but to prop him?-Thou tak'st up [The Queen drops a box: Pisanio takes it up for Britain; lest the bargain should catch cold, and Thou know'st not what; but take it for thy labour: starve. I will fetch my gold, and have our two wagers It is a thing I made, which hath the king Post. Agreed. [recorded. [Exeunt Posthumus and Iachimo. Five times redeem'd from death: I do not know French. Will this hold, think you? Phi. Signior Iachimo will not from it. your sword. Pray, let us follow 'em. [Exeunt. SCENE VI.-Britain. A Room in Cymbeline's Palace. Enter Queen, Ladies, and Cornelus. Make haste: Who has the note of them? What is more cordial:-Nay, I prithee, take it ; stant knave; My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated Vexations of it! Had I been thief-stolen, As my two brothers, happy! but most miserable Pis. Madam, a noble gentleman of Rome, Change you, madam? Imo. [Aside. If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare, Imo. [Reads.] 'He is one of the noblest note, to whose kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon him accordingly, as you value your trustLeonatus.' So far I read aloud: But even the very middle of my heart Have words to bid you; and shall find it so lach. 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?" Imo. Imo. What is the matter, trow? The cloyed will, (That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, desire What, dear sir, Thus raps you? Are you well? lach. Thanks, madam; well:-'Beseech you, sir, [To Pisanio. My man's abode where I did leave him: he Is strange and peevish. Pis. I was going, sir, To give him welcome. [Exit Pisanio. Imo. Continues well my lord? His health, 'beseech Iach. Well, madam. [you? Imo. Is he dispos'd to mirth? I hope he is. And hear him mock the Frenchman: But, heavens Be us'd more thankfully. In himself, 't is much; Am I one, sir? I was about to say, enjoy your-But Had I this cheek, Imo. Reveng'd! lach. In your despite, upon your purse? Revenge it. What ho, Pisanio! |