ACT ISCENE I. Valencia. The CourtSound. EnterMucedorusandAnselmohis friend.MUCEDORUS.Anselmo!ANSELMO.My lord and friend.MUCEDORUS.True, my Anselmo, both thy lord and friend—ANSELMO.Whose dear affections bosom with my heart,And keep their domination in one orb,Whence ne’er disloyalty shall root it forth,But faith plant firmer in your choice respect.MUCEDORUS.Much blame were mine, if I should other deem,Nor can coy Fortune contrary allow.But, my Anselmo, loth I am to say,I must estrange that friendship;Misconstrue not, ’tis from the realm, not thee:Though lands part bodies, hearts keep company.Thou knowst that I imparted often havePrivate relations with my royal sire,Had as concerning beautious Amadine,Rich Aragon’s bright jewel, whose face (some say)That blooming lilies never shone so gay,Excelling, not excell’d; yet least reportDoes mangle verity, boasting of what is not,Wing’d with desire, thither I’ll straight repair,And be my fortunes, as my thoughts are, fair!ANSELMO.Will you forsake Valencia, leave the court,Absent you from the eye of sovereignty?Do not, sweet prince, adventure on that task,Since danger lurks each where; be won from it!MUCEDORUS.Desist dissuasion,My resolution brooks no battery.Therefore, if thou retain thy wonted form,Assist what I intend.ANSELMO.Your miss will breed a blemish in the court,And throw a frosty dew upon that beard,Whose front Valencia stoops to.MUCEDORUS.If thou my welfare tender, then no more;Let love’s strong magic charm thy trivial phrase,Wasted as vainly as to gripe the sun.Augment not then more answers; lock thy lips,Unless thy wisdom suit me with disguise,According to my purpose.ANSELMO.That action craves no counsel,Since what you rightly are will more command,Than best usurped shape.MUCEDORUS.Thou still art opposite in disposition;A more obscure servile habilimentBeseems this enterprise.ANSELMO.Then like a Florentine or mountebank!MUCEDORUS.’Tis much too tedious; I dislike thy judgement,My mind is grafted on an humbler stock.ANSELMO.Within my closet there does hang a cassock,Though base the weed is, ’twas a shepherd’s once,Which I presented in Lord Julio’s masque.MUCEDORUS.That, my Anselmo, and none else but that,Mask Mucedorus from the vulgar view.That habit suits my mind; fetch me that weed.[ExitAnselmo.]Better than kings have not disdain’d that state,And much inferiour, to obtain their mate.EnterAnselmowith a Shepherd’s coat, which he gives toMucedorus.MUCEDORUS.So!Let our respect command thy secrecy,And let us take at once a brief farewell;Delay to lovers is a second hell.[ExitMucedorus.]ANSELMO.Prosperity forerun thee; awkward chanceNever be neighbour to thy wishes’ venture;Content and Fame advance thee; ever thrive,And glory thy mortality survive![Exit.]SCENE II. A Forest in AragonEnterMousewith a bottle of hay.MOUSE.O horrible, terrible! Was ever poor gentleman so scar’d out of his seven senses? A bear? Nay, sure it cannot be a bear, but some devil in a bear’s doublet; for a bear could never have had that agility to have frighted me. Well, I’ll see my father hanged before I’ll serve his horse any more. Well, I’ll carry home my bottle of hay, and for once make my father’s horse turn Puritan, and observe fasting-days, for he gets not a bit. But soft! this way she followed me; therefore I’ll take the other path, and because I’ll be sure to have an eye on her, I will shake hands with some foolish creditor, and make every step backward.[As he goes backwards, theBearcomes in, and he tumbles over her, and runs away, and leaves his bottle of hay behind him.]SCENE III. The sameEnterSegastorunning, andAmadineafter him, being pursued with a bear.SEGASTO.Oh fly, madam, fly or else we are but dead!AMADINE.Help, sweet Segasto, help, or else I die!SEGASTO.Alas, madam! there is no way but flight;Then haste and save yourself.[Segastoruns away.]AMADINE.Why then I die; ah! help me in distress!EnterMucedorus,like a Shepherd, with a sword drawn, and a Bear’s head in his hand.MUCEDORUS.Stay, lady, stay; and be no more dismay’d.That cruel beast, most merciless and fell,Which hath bereaved thousands of their lives,Affrighted many with his hard pursuits,Prying from place to place to find his prey,Prolonging thus his life by others’ death,His carcass now lies headless, void of breath.AMADINE.That foul, deformed monster, is he dead?MUCEDORUS.Assure yourself thereof—behold his head;Which, if it please you, lady, to accept,With willing heart I yield it to your majesty.AMADINE.Thanks, worthy shepherd, thanks a thousand times;This gift, assure thyself, contents me moreThan greatest bounty of a mighty prince,Although he were the monarch of the world.MUCEDORUS.Most gracious goddess, more than mortal wight—Your heavenly hue of right imports no less—Most glad am I, in that it was my chanceTo undertake this enterprise in hand,Which doth so greatly glad your princely mind.AMADINE.No goddess, shepherd, but a mortal wight,A mortal wight distressed as thou seest:My father here is King of Aragon,I, Amadine, his only daughter am,And after him sole heir unto the crown.And now, whereas it is my father’s will,To marry me unto Segasto, one,Whose wealth through’s father’s former usuryIs known to be no less than wonderful,We both of custom oftentimes did use,Leaving the court, to walk within the fieldsFor recreation, specially in spring,In that it yields great store of rare delights;And passing farther than our wonted walks,Scarce ent’red were within these luckless woods,But right before us down a steep-fall hillA monstrous ugly bear did hie him fastTo meet us both—I faint to tell the rest,Good shepherd, but suppose the ghastly looks,The hideous fears, the hundred thousand woes,Which at this instant Amadine sustained.MUCEDORUS.Yet, worthy princess, let thy sorrow cease,And let this sight your former joys revive.AMADINE.Believe me, shepherd, so it doth, no less.MUCEDORUS.Long may they last unto your heart’s content.But tell me, lady, what is become of him,Segasto call’d, what’s become of him?AMADINE.I know not, I; that know the powers divine;But God grant this, that sweet Segasto live!MUCEDORUS.Yet was hard-hearted he, in such a case,So cowardly to save himself by flight,And leave so brave a princess to the spoil.AMADINE.Well, shepherd, for thy worthy valour tried,Endangering thyself to set me free,Unrecompensed, sure, thou shalt not be.In court thy courage shall be plainly known;Throughout the kingdom will I spread thy name,To thy renown and never-dying fame;And that thy courage may be better known,Bear thou the head of this most monstrous beastIn open sight to every courtier’s view.So will the king, my father, thee reward.Come, let’s away and guard me to the court.MUCEDORUS.With all my heart.[Exeunt.]SCENE IV. Outskirts of the ForestEnterSegastosolus.SEGASTO.When heaps of harms do hover over head,’Tis time as then, some say, to look about,And of ensuing harms to choose the least.But hard, yea hapless, is that wretch’s chance,Luckless his lot, and caytiff-like accurst.At whose proceedings fortune ever frowns.Myself, I mean, most subject unto thrall;For I, the more I seek to shun the worst,The more by proof I find myself accurs’d.Erewhiles assaulted with an ugly bear,With Amadine in company all alone,Forthwith by flight I thought to save myself,Leaving my Amadine unto her shifts;For death it was for to resist the bear,And death no less of Amadine’s harms to hear.Accursed I, in ling’ring life thus long!In living thus, each minute of an hourDoth pierce my heart with darts of thousand deaths.If she by flight her fury do escape,What will she think?Will she not say, yea, flatly to my face,Accusing me of mere disloyalty:A trusty friend is tried in time of need.But I, when she in danger was of death,And needed me, and cried, Segasto, help!I turn’d my back, and quickly ran away,Unworthy I to bear this vital breath!But what, what needs these plaints?If Amadine do live, then happy I:She will in time forgive and so forget.Amadine is merciful, not Juno-like,In harmful heart to harbour hatred long.EnterMousethe Clown, running, crying, Clubs!MOUSE.Clubs, prongs, pitchforks, bills! O help! A bear, a bear, a bear, a bear!SEGASTO.Still bears, and nothing else but bears? Tell me, sirrah, where she is.MOUSE.O sir, she is run down the woods, I see her white head and her white belly.SEGASTO.Thou talkest of wonders, to tell me of white bears; but, sirrah, didst thou ever see any such?MOUSE.No, faith, I never saw any such; but I remember my father’s words, he bade me take heed I was not caught with a white bear.SEGASTO.A lamentable tale, no doubt.MOUSE.I tell you what, sir; as I was going a-field to serve my father’s great horse, and carried a bottle of hay upon my head—now, do you see, sir, I, fast hoodwinked, that I could see nothing, perceiving the bear coming, I threw my hay into the hedge and ran away.SEGASTO.What, from nothing?MOUSE.I warrant you, yes, I saw something; for there was two load of thorns besides my bottle of hay, and that made three.SEGASTO.But tell me, sirrah, the bear that thou didst see,Did she not bear a bucket on her arm?MOUSE.Ha, ha, ha! I never saw bear go a-milking in my life. But hark you, sir, I did not look so high as her arm, I saw nothing but her white head and her white belly.SEGASTO.But tell me, sirrah, where dost thou dwell?MOUSE.Why, do you not know me?SEGASTO.Why, no; how should I know thee?MOUSE.Why, then you know nobody, an you know not me. I tell you, sir, I am goodman Rat’s son, of the next parish over the hill.SEGASTO.Goodman Rat’s son; why, what’s thy name?MOUSE.Why, I am very near kin unto him.SEGASTO.I think so; but what’s thy name?MOUSE.My name? I have a very pretty name; I’ll tell you what my name is, my name is Mouse.SEGASTO.What, plain Mouse?MOUSE.Ay, plain Mouse without either welt or guard. But do you hear, sir, I am but a very young Mouse, for my tail is scarce grown out yet; look you here else.SEGASTO.But, I pray thee, who gave thee that name?MOUSE.Faith, sir, I know not that, but if you would fain know, ask my father’s great horse, for he hath been half a year longer with my father than I have.SEGASTO.[Aside.] This seems to be a merry fellow;I care not if I take him home with me.Mirth is a comfort to a troubled mind,A merry man a merry master makes.[To Mouse.] How say’st thou, sirrah, wilt thou dwell with me?MOUSE.Nay, soft, sir; two words to a bargain; pray you, what occupation are you?SEGASTO.No occupation, I live upon my lands.MOUSE.Your lands? Away, you are no master for me. Why, do you think that I am so mad to go seek my living in the lands amongst the stones, briars, and bushes, and tear my holiday-apparel? Not I, by your leave.SEGASTO.Why, I do not mean thou shalt.MOUSE.How then?SEGASTO.Why, thou shalt be my man, and wait upon me at the court.MOUSE.What’s that?SEGASTO.Where the king lies.MOUSE.What’s that same king, a man or woman?SEGASTO.A man as thou art.MOUSE.As I am? Hark you, sir, pray you, what kin is he to goodman King of our parish, the churchwarden?SEGASTO.No kin to him; he is the king of the whole land.MOUSE.King of the land? I never saw him.SEGASTO.If thou wilt dwell with me, thou shalt see him every day.MOUSE.Shall I go home again to be torn in pieces with bears? No, not I, I will go home and put on a clean shirt, and then go drown myself.SEGASTO.Thou shalt not need, if thou wilt dwell with me, thou shalt want nothing.MOUSE.Shall I not? Then here’s my hand, I’ll dwell with you. And hark you, sir! now you have entertained me, I will tell you what I can do. I can keep my tongue from picking and stealing, and my hands from lying and slandering, I warrant you, as well as ever you had man in all your life.SEGASTO.Now will I to court with sorrowful heart, rounded with doubts.If Amadine do live, then happy I:Yea happy I, if Amadine do live.[Exeunt.]
Sound. EnterMucedorusandAnselmohis friend.
MUCEDORUS.Anselmo!
ANSELMO.My lord and friend.
MUCEDORUS.True, my Anselmo, both thy lord and friend—
ANSELMO.Whose dear affections bosom with my heart,And keep their domination in one orb,Whence ne’er disloyalty shall root it forth,But faith plant firmer in your choice respect.
MUCEDORUS.Much blame were mine, if I should other deem,Nor can coy Fortune contrary allow.But, my Anselmo, loth I am to say,I must estrange that friendship;Misconstrue not, ’tis from the realm, not thee:Though lands part bodies, hearts keep company.Thou knowst that I imparted often havePrivate relations with my royal sire,Had as concerning beautious Amadine,Rich Aragon’s bright jewel, whose face (some say)That blooming lilies never shone so gay,Excelling, not excell’d; yet least reportDoes mangle verity, boasting of what is not,Wing’d with desire, thither I’ll straight repair,And be my fortunes, as my thoughts are, fair!
ANSELMO.Will you forsake Valencia, leave the court,Absent you from the eye of sovereignty?Do not, sweet prince, adventure on that task,Since danger lurks each where; be won from it!
MUCEDORUS.Desist dissuasion,My resolution brooks no battery.Therefore, if thou retain thy wonted form,Assist what I intend.
ANSELMO.Your miss will breed a blemish in the court,And throw a frosty dew upon that beard,Whose front Valencia stoops to.
MUCEDORUS.If thou my welfare tender, then no more;Let love’s strong magic charm thy trivial phrase,Wasted as vainly as to gripe the sun.Augment not then more answers; lock thy lips,Unless thy wisdom suit me with disguise,According to my purpose.
ANSELMO.That action craves no counsel,Since what you rightly are will more command,Than best usurped shape.
MUCEDORUS.Thou still art opposite in disposition;A more obscure servile habilimentBeseems this enterprise.
ANSELMO.Then like a Florentine or mountebank!
MUCEDORUS.’Tis much too tedious; I dislike thy judgement,My mind is grafted on an humbler stock.
ANSELMO.Within my closet there does hang a cassock,Though base the weed is, ’twas a shepherd’s once,Which I presented in Lord Julio’s masque.
MUCEDORUS.That, my Anselmo, and none else but that,Mask Mucedorus from the vulgar view.That habit suits my mind; fetch me that weed.
[ExitAnselmo.]
Better than kings have not disdain’d that state,And much inferiour, to obtain their mate.
EnterAnselmowith a Shepherd’s coat, which he gives toMucedorus.
MUCEDORUS.So!Let our respect command thy secrecy,And let us take at once a brief farewell;Delay to lovers is a second hell.
[ExitMucedorus.]
ANSELMO.Prosperity forerun thee; awkward chanceNever be neighbour to thy wishes’ venture;Content and Fame advance thee; ever thrive,And glory thy mortality survive!
[Exit.]
EnterMousewith a bottle of hay.
MOUSE.O horrible, terrible! Was ever poor gentleman so scar’d out of his seven senses? A bear? Nay, sure it cannot be a bear, but some devil in a bear’s doublet; for a bear could never have had that agility to have frighted me. Well, I’ll see my father hanged before I’ll serve his horse any more. Well, I’ll carry home my bottle of hay, and for once make my father’s horse turn Puritan, and observe fasting-days, for he gets not a bit. But soft! this way she followed me; therefore I’ll take the other path, and because I’ll be sure to have an eye on her, I will shake hands with some foolish creditor, and make every step backward.
[As he goes backwards, theBearcomes in, and he tumbles over her, and runs away, and leaves his bottle of hay behind him.]
EnterSegastorunning, andAmadineafter him, being pursued with a bear.
SEGASTO.Oh fly, madam, fly or else we are but dead!
AMADINE.Help, sweet Segasto, help, or else I die!
SEGASTO.Alas, madam! there is no way but flight;Then haste and save yourself.
[Segastoruns away.]
AMADINE.Why then I die; ah! help me in distress!
EnterMucedorus,like a Shepherd, with a sword drawn, and a Bear’s head in his hand.
MUCEDORUS.Stay, lady, stay; and be no more dismay’d.That cruel beast, most merciless and fell,Which hath bereaved thousands of their lives,Affrighted many with his hard pursuits,Prying from place to place to find his prey,Prolonging thus his life by others’ death,His carcass now lies headless, void of breath.
AMADINE.That foul, deformed monster, is he dead?
MUCEDORUS.Assure yourself thereof—behold his head;Which, if it please you, lady, to accept,With willing heart I yield it to your majesty.
AMADINE.Thanks, worthy shepherd, thanks a thousand times;This gift, assure thyself, contents me moreThan greatest bounty of a mighty prince,Although he were the monarch of the world.
MUCEDORUS.Most gracious goddess, more than mortal wight—Your heavenly hue of right imports no less—Most glad am I, in that it was my chanceTo undertake this enterprise in hand,Which doth so greatly glad your princely mind.
AMADINE.No goddess, shepherd, but a mortal wight,A mortal wight distressed as thou seest:My father here is King of Aragon,I, Amadine, his only daughter am,And after him sole heir unto the crown.And now, whereas it is my father’s will,To marry me unto Segasto, one,Whose wealth through’s father’s former usuryIs known to be no less than wonderful,We both of custom oftentimes did use,Leaving the court, to walk within the fieldsFor recreation, specially in spring,In that it yields great store of rare delights;And passing farther than our wonted walks,Scarce ent’red were within these luckless woods,But right before us down a steep-fall hillA monstrous ugly bear did hie him fastTo meet us both—I faint to tell the rest,Good shepherd, but suppose the ghastly looks,The hideous fears, the hundred thousand woes,Which at this instant Amadine sustained.
MUCEDORUS.Yet, worthy princess, let thy sorrow cease,And let this sight your former joys revive.
AMADINE.Believe me, shepherd, so it doth, no less.
MUCEDORUS.Long may they last unto your heart’s content.But tell me, lady, what is become of him,Segasto call’d, what’s become of him?
AMADINE.I know not, I; that know the powers divine;But God grant this, that sweet Segasto live!
MUCEDORUS.Yet was hard-hearted he, in such a case,So cowardly to save himself by flight,And leave so brave a princess to the spoil.
AMADINE.Well, shepherd, for thy worthy valour tried,Endangering thyself to set me free,Unrecompensed, sure, thou shalt not be.In court thy courage shall be plainly known;Throughout the kingdom will I spread thy name,To thy renown and never-dying fame;And that thy courage may be better known,Bear thou the head of this most monstrous beastIn open sight to every courtier’s view.So will the king, my father, thee reward.Come, let’s away and guard me to the court.
MUCEDORUS.With all my heart.
[Exeunt.]
EnterSegastosolus.
SEGASTO.When heaps of harms do hover over head,’Tis time as then, some say, to look about,And of ensuing harms to choose the least.But hard, yea hapless, is that wretch’s chance,Luckless his lot, and caytiff-like accurst.At whose proceedings fortune ever frowns.Myself, I mean, most subject unto thrall;For I, the more I seek to shun the worst,The more by proof I find myself accurs’d.Erewhiles assaulted with an ugly bear,With Amadine in company all alone,Forthwith by flight I thought to save myself,Leaving my Amadine unto her shifts;For death it was for to resist the bear,And death no less of Amadine’s harms to hear.Accursed I, in ling’ring life thus long!In living thus, each minute of an hourDoth pierce my heart with darts of thousand deaths.If she by flight her fury do escape,What will she think?Will she not say, yea, flatly to my face,Accusing me of mere disloyalty:A trusty friend is tried in time of need.But I, when she in danger was of death,And needed me, and cried, Segasto, help!I turn’d my back, and quickly ran away,Unworthy I to bear this vital breath!But what, what needs these plaints?If Amadine do live, then happy I:She will in time forgive and so forget.Amadine is merciful, not Juno-like,In harmful heart to harbour hatred long.
EnterMousethe Clown, running, crying, Clubs!
MOUSE.Clubs, prongs, pitchforks, bills! O help! A bear, a bear, a bear, a bear!
SEGASTO.Still bears, and nothing else but bears? Tell me, sirrah, where she is.
MOUSE.O sir, she is run down the woods, I see her white head and her white belly.
SEGASTO.Thou talkest of wonders, to tell me of white bears; but, sirrah, didst thou ever see any such?
MOUSE.No, faith, I never saw any such; but I remember my father’s words, he bade me take heed I was not caught with a white bear.
SEGASTO.A lamentable tale, no doubt.
MOUSE.I tell you what, sir; as I was going a-field to serve my father’s great horse, and carried a bottle of hay upon my head—now, do you see, sir, I, fast hoodwinked, that I could see nothing, perceiving the bear coming, I threw my hay into the hedge and ran away.
SEGASTO.What, from nothing?
MOUSE.I warrant you, yes, I saw something; for there was two load of thorns besides my bottle of hay, and that made three.
SEGASTO.But tell me, sirrah, the bear that thou didst see,Did she not bear a bucket on her arm?
MOUSE.Ha, ha, ha! I never saw bear go a-milking in my life. But hark you, sir, I did not look so high as her arm, I saw nothing but her white head and her white belly.
SEGASTO.But tell me, sirrah, where dost thou dwell?
MOUSE.Why, do you not know me?
SEGASTO.Why, no; how should I know thee?
MOUSE.Why, then you know nobody, an you know not me. I tell you, sir, I am goodman Rat’s son, of the next parish over the hill.
SEGASTO.Goodman Rat’s son; why, what’s thy name?
MOUSE.Why, I am very near kin unto him.
SEGASTO.I think so; but what’s thy name?
MOUSE.My name? I have a very pretty name; I’ll tell you what my name is, my name is Mouse.
SEGASTO.What, plain Mouse?
MOUSE.Ay, plain Mouse without either welt or guard. But do you hear, sir, I am but a very young Mouse, for my tail is scarce grown out yet; look you here else.
SEGASTO.But, I pray thee, who gave thee that name?
MOUSE.Faith, sir, I know not that, but if you would fain know, ask my father’s great horse, for he hath been half a year longer with my father than I have.
SEGASTO.[Aside.] This seems to be a merry fellow;I care not if I take him home with me.Mirth is a comfort to a troubled mind,A merry man a merry master makes.[To Mouse.] How say’st thou, sirrah, wilt thou dwell with me?
MOUSE.Nay, soft, sir; two words to a bargain; pray you, what occupation are you?
SEGASTO.No occupation, I live upon my lands.
MOUSE.Your lands? Away, you are no master for me. Why, do you think that I am so mad to go seek my living in the lands amongst the stones, briars, and bushes, and tear my holiday-apparel? Not I, by your leave.
SEGASTO.Why, I do not mean thou shalt.
MOUSE.How then?
SEGASTO.Why, thou shalt be my man, and wait upon me at the court.
MOUSE.What’s that?
SEGASTO.Where the king lies.
MOUSE.What’s that same king, a man or woman?
SEGASTO.A man as thou art.
MOUSE.As I am? Hark you, sir, pray you, what kin is he to goodman King of our parish, the churchwarden?
SEGASTO.No kin to him; he is the king of the whole land.
MOUSE.King of the land? I never saw him.
SEGASTO.If thou wilt dwell with me, thou shalt see him every day.
MOUSE.Shall I go home again to be torn in pieces with bears? No, not I, I will go home and put on a clean shirt, and then go drown myself.
SEGASTO.Thou shalt not need, if thou wilt dwell with me, thou shalt want nothing.
MOUSE.Shall I not? Then here’s my hand, I’ll dwell with you. And hark you, sir! now you have entertained me, I will tell you what I can do. I can keep my tongue from picking and stealing, and my hands from lying and slandering, I warrant you, as well as ever you had man in all your life.
SEGASTO.Now will I to court with sorrowful heart, rounded with doubts.If Amadine do live, then happy I:Yea happy I, if Amadine do live.
[Exeunt.]