THEOld Wiues Tale.A pleasant conceited Comedieplayed by the Queenes MaiestiesplayersWritten byG. P.VIGNETTEPrinted at London byIohn Danter, and are tobe sold byRaph Hancocke, andIohnHardie,1595.[The Persons of the Play[1017]Sacrapant.First Brother, namedCalypha.Second Brother, namedThelea.Eumenides.Erestus.Lampriscus.Huanebango.Corebus.Wiggen.Churchwarden.Sexton.Ghost ofJack.Friar, Harvest-men, Furies, Fiddlers, etc.Delia,sister toCalyphaandThelea.Venelia,betrothed toErestus.Zantippa, }daughters toLampriscus.Celanta, }Hostess.Antic.Frolic.Fantastic.Clunch,a smith.Madge,his wife.]FOOTNOTES:[1017]Not in Q.; inserted by Dy. On the history of the characters see AppendixA.The Old Wives Tale.EnterAnticke,Frolicke,andFantasticke.Anticke.HOW nowe fellowe Franticke,[1018]what, all a mort?[1019]Doth this sadnes become thy madnes? What though wee have lost our way in the woodes, yet never hang the head, as though thou hadst no hope to live till to morrow: for Fantasticke and I will warrant thy life to night for twenty5in the hundred.Frolicke.Anticke and Fantasticke, as I am frollicke franion,[1020]never in all my life was I so dead slaine. What? to loose our way in the woode, without either fire or candle so uncomfortable?O caelum! O terra! O maria! O Neptune![1021]10Fantas.Why makes thou it so strange, seeing Cupid hath led our yong master to the faire Lady and she is the only saint that he hath sworne to serve?Frollicke.What resteth then but wee commit him to his wench, and each of us take his stand up in a tree, and sing out our ill15fortune to the tune ofO man in desperation.[1022]Ant.Desperately spoken, fellow Frollicke in the darke: but seeing it falles out thus, let us rehearse the old proverb.[1023]Three merrie men, and three merrie men,And three merrie men be wee.20I in the wood, and thou on the ground.And Jacke sleepes in the tree.Fan.Hush! a dogge in the wood, or a wooden dogge.[1024]O comfortable hearing! I had even as live the chamberlaine of the White Horse had called me up to bed.25Frol.Eyther hath this trotting cur gone out of his cyrcuit, or els are we nere some village, which should not be farre off, for IEnter aSmithwith a lanthorne & candle.perceive the glymring of a gloworme, a candle, or a cats eye, my life for a halfe pennie. In the name of my own father, be thou oxe or asse that appearest, tell us what thou art.30Smith.What am I? Why I am Clunch the Smith; what are you, what make you in my territories at this time of the night?Ant.What doe we make, dost thou aske? Why we make faces for feare: such as if thy mortall eyes could behold, would make thee water the long seames of thy side slops,[1025]Smith.35Frol.And in faith, sir, unlesse your hospitalitie doe releeve us, wee are like to wander with a sorrowfull hey ho, among the owlets, & hobgoblins of the forrest: good Vulcan, for Cupids sake that hath cousned us all, befriend us as thou maiest, and commaund us howsoever, wheresoever, whensoever, in whatsoever, for ever and ever.[1026]40Smith.Well, masters, it seemes to mee you have lost your waie in the wood: in consideration whereof, if you will goe with Clunch[1027]to his cottage, you shall have house roome, and a good fire to sit by, althogh we have no bedding to put you in.All.O blessed Smith, O bountifull Clunch.45Smith.For your further intertainment, it shall be as it may be, so and so.Heare a dogge barke.Hearke![1028]this is Ball my dogge that bids you all welcome in his own language; come, take heed for[1029]stumbling on the threshold. Open dore, Madge, take in guests.Enter old woman.50Cl.Welcome Clunch & good fellowes al that come with my good man; for my good mans sake come on, sit downe; here is a peece of cheese & a pudding of my owne making.Anticke.Thanks, Gammer; a good example for the wives of our towne.55Frolicke.Gammer, thou and thy good man sit lovingly together; we come to chat and not to eate.Smith.Well, masters, if you will eate nothing, take away. Come, what doo we to passe away the time? Lay a crab[1030]in the fire to rost for lambes-wooll. What, shall wee have a game at trumpe or60ruffe[1031]to drive away the time, how say you?Fantasticke.This Smith leads a life as merrie as a king[1032]with Madge his wife. Syrrha Frolicke, I am sure thou art not without some round or other; no doubt but Clunch can beare his part.Frolicke.Els thinke you mee ill brought up;[1033]so set to it when65you will.They sing.Song.When as the Rie reach to the chin,And chopcherrie,[1034]chopcherrie ripe within,Strawberries swimming in the creame,And schoole boyes playing in the streame:70Then O, then O, then O my true love said,Till that time come againe,Shee could not live a maid.Ant.This sport dooes well: but me thinkes, Gammer, a merry winters tale would drive away the time trimly. Come, I am sure75you are not without a score.Fantast.I faith, Gammer, a tale of an howre long were as good as an howres sleepe.Frol.Looke you, Gammer, of the Gyant and the Kings Daughter,[1035]and I know not what. I have seene the day when I was a little one,80you might have drawne mee a mile after you with such a discourse.Old woman.Well, since you be so importunate, my good man shall fill the pot and get him to bed; they that ply their worke must keepe good howres. One of you goe lye with him; he is a cleane skind man, I tell you, without either spavin or windgall; so I am85content to drive away the time with an old wives winters tale.Fantast.No better hay in Devonshire,[1036]a my word, Gammer, Ile be one of your audience.Frolicke.And I another: thats flat.Anticke.Then must I to bed with the good man.Bona nox90Gammer; God night, Frolicke.Smith.Come on, my lad, thou shalt take thy unnaturall[1037]rest with me.ExeuntAntickeand theSmith.Frollicke.Yet this vantage shall we have of them in the morning, to bee ready at the sight thereof extempore.[1038]95Old wom.Nowe this bargaine, my masters, must I make with you, that you will sayhum&hato my tale, so shall I know you are awake.Both.Content, Gammer, that will we doo.Old wom.Once uppon a time there was a King or a Lord, or a Duke, that had a faire daughter, the fairest that ever was; as white100as snowe, and as redd as bloud: and once uppon a time his daughter was stollen away, and hee sent all his men to seeke out his daughter, and hee sent so long, that he sent all his men out of his land.Frol.Who drest his dinner then?Old woman.Nay, either heare my tale, or kisse my taile.105Fan.Well sed, on with your tale, Gammer.Old woman.O Lord, I quite forgot, there was a Conjurer, and this Conjurer could doo any thing, and hee turned himselfe into a great Dragon, and carried the Kinges Daughter away in his mouth to a Castle that hee made of stone, and there he kept hir I know110not how long, till at last all the Kinges men went out so long, that hir two Brothers went to seeke hir.[1039]O, I forget: she (he I would say) turned a proper[1040]yong man to a Beare in the night, and a man in the day, and keeps[1041]by a crosse that parts three severall waies, & he[1042]made his Lady run mad ... Gods me bones, who115comes here?Enter the two Brothers.Frol.Soft, Gammer, here some come to tell your tale for you.[1043]Fant.Let them alone, let us heare what they will say.1Brother.Upon these chalkie cliffs of Albion[1044]We are arived now with tedious toile,120And compassing the wide world round aboutTo seeke our sister, to[1045]seeke faire Delya forth,Yet cannot we so much as heare of hir.2 Brother.O fortune cruell, cruell & unkind,Unkind in that we cannot find our sister;125Our sister haples in hir cruell chance!Soft, who have we here?EnterSenexat the Crosse, stooping to gather.1 Brother.Now, father, God be your speed,What doo you gather there?Old man.Hips and hawes, and stickes and straws, and thinges130that I gather on the ground, my sonne.[1046]1 Brother.Hips and hawes, and stickes and strawes! Why, is that all your foode, father?Old man.Yea, sonne.2 Brother.Father, here is an almes pennie for mee, and if I135speede in that I goe for, I will give thee as good a gowne of gray[1047]as ever thou diddest weare.1 Brother.And, father, here is another almes pennie for me, and if I speede in my journey, I will give thee a palmers staffe of yvorie, and a scallop shell of beaten gold.[1048]140Old man.Was shee fayre?[1049]2 Brother.I, the fairest for white, and the purest for redd, as the blood of the deare, or the driven snow.Old m.Then harke well and marke well, my old spell:Be not afraid of every stranger,145Start not aside at every danger:Things that seeme are not the same,Blow a blast at every flame:For when one flame of fire goes out,Then comes your wishes well about:150If any aske who told you this good,Say the White Beare of Englands wood.1 Brother.Brother, heard you not what the old man said?Be not afraid of every stranger,Start not aside for every danger:155Things that seeme are not the same,Blow a blast at every flame:If any aske who told you this good,Say the White Beare of Englands wood.[1050]2 Brother.Well, if this doo us any good,160Wel fare the White Bear of Englands wood.Ex.Old man.Now sit thee here & tel a heavy tale.Sad in thy moode, and sober in thy cheere,Here sit thee now and to thy selfe relate,The hard mishap of thy most wretched state.165In Thessalie I liv'd in sweete content,Untill that Fortune wrought my overthrow;For there I wedded was unto a dame,That liv'd in honor, vertue, love, and fame:But Sacrapant, that cursed sorcerer,170Being besotted with my beauteous love,My deerest love, my true betrothed wife,Did seeke the meanes to rid me of my life.But worse than this, he with his chanting[1051]spels,Did turne me straight unto an ugly Beare;175And when the sunne doth settle in the west,Then I begin to don my ugly hide:And all the day I sit, as now you see,And speake in riddles all inspirde with rage,Seeming an olde and miserable man:180And yet I am in Aprill of my age.EnterVeneliahis Lady mad; and goes in againe.See where Venelya, my betrothed love,Runs madding all inrag'd about the woods,All by his curssed and inchanting spels.EnterLampriscuswith a pot of honny.But here comes Lampriscus, my discontented neighbour. How185now, neighbour, you looke towarde the ground as well as I; you muse on something.Lamp.Neighbour on nothing, but on the matter I so often mooved to you: if you do any thing for charity, helpe me; if for neighborhood or brotherhood, helpe me: never was one so combered as is190poore Lampryscus: and to begin, I pray receive this potte of honny to mend[1052]your fare.Old man.Thankes, neighbor, set it downe; Honny is alwaies welcome to the Beare. And now, neighbour, let me heere the cause of your comming.195Lampriscus.I am (as you knowe, neighbour) a man unmaried, and lived so unquietly with my two wives, that I keepe every yeare holy the day wherein I buried themboth: the first was on Saint Andrewes day, the other on Saint Lukes.[1053]Old man.And now, neighbour, you of this country say, your200custome is out: but on with your tale, neighbour.Lamp.By my first wife, whose tongue wearied me alive, and sounded in my eares like the clapper of a great bell, whose talke was a continuall torment to all that dwelt by her, or lived nigh her, you have heard me say I had a handsome daughter.205Old man.True, neighbour.Lampr.Shee it is that afflictes me with her continuall clamoures, and hangs on me like a burre: poore shee is, and proude shee is; as poore as a sheepe new shorne, and as proude of her hopes, as a peacock of her taile well growne.210Old man.Well said, Lampryscus, you speake it like an Englishman.Lampr.As curst as a waspe, and as frowarde as a childe new taken from the mothers teate; shee is to my age, as smoake to the eyes, or as vinegar to the teeth.215Old man.Holily praised, neighbour, as much for the next.Lampr.By my other wife I had a daughter, so hard favoured, so foule and ill faced, that I thinke a grove full of golden trees, and the leaves of rubies and dyamonds, would not bee a dowrie annswerable to her deformitie.220Old man.Well, neighbour, nowe you have spoke, heere me speake; send them to the well for the water of life:[1054]there shall they finde their fortunes unlooked for. Neighbour, farewell.Exit.Lampr.Farewell and a thousand;[1055]and now goeth poore Lampryscus to put in execution this excellent counsell.225Exeunt.Frol.Why this goes rounde without a fidling stick. But doo you heare, Gammer, was this the man that was a beare in the night, and a man in the day?Old woman.I, this is hee; and this man that came to him was a beggar, and dwelt uppon a greene. But soft, who comes here? O230these are the harvest men; ten to one they sing a song of mowing.Enter the harvest men a singing, with thisSongdouble repeated.[1056]All yee that lovely lovers be, pray you for me.Loe here we come a sowing, a sowing,And sowe sweete fruites of love:In your sweete hearts well may it proove.235Exeunt.EnterHuanebango[1057]with his two hand sword, andBooby[1058]the Clowne.Fant.Gammer, what is he?Old woman.O this is one that is going to the Conjurer; let him alone; here what he sayes.Huan.Now by Mars and Mercury, Jupiter and Janus, Sol and Saturnus, Venus and Vesta, Pallas and Proserpina, and by the honor240of my house Polimackeroeplacydus,[1059]it is a wonder to see what this love will make silly fellowes adventure, even in the wane of their wits and infansie of their discretion. Alas, my friend, what fortune calles thee foorth to seeke thy fortune among brasen gates, inchanted towers, fire and brimstone, thunder and lightning? Beautie, I tell245thee, is peerelesse, and she precious whom thou affectest: do off these desires, good countriman, good friend, runne away from thy selfe, and so soone as thou canst, forget her; whom none must inherit but he that can monsters tame, laboures atchive, riddles absolve, loose inchantments, murther magicke, and kill conjuring: and that is the250great and mighty Huanebango.Booby.Harke you sir, harke you. First know I have here the flurting feather, and have given the parish the start for the long stocke.[1060]Nowe sir, if it bee no more but running through a little lightning and thunder, and riddle me, riddle me, what's this,[1061]Ile255have the wench from the Conjurer if he were ten Conjurers.Huan.I have abandoned the court and honourable company, to doo my devoyre against this sore sorcerer and mighty magitian: if this Ladie be so faire as she is said to bee, she is mine, she is mine.Meus, mea, meum, in contemptum omnium grammaticorum.260Booby.O falsum Latinum!the faire maide isminum, cum apurtinantibus gibletesand all.Huan.If shee bee mine, as I assure my selfe the heavens will doo somewhat to reward my worthines, shee shall bee allied to none of the meanest gods, but bee invested in the most famous265stocke of Huanebango Polimackeroeplacidus, my grandfather, my father Pergopolyneo, my mother Dyonora de Sardynya, famouslie descended.Booby.Doo you heare, sir, had not you a cosen, that was called Gustecerydis?270Huan.Indeede I had a cosen, that sometime followed the court infortunately, and his name Bustegustecerydis.Booby.O Lord I know him well; hee is the[1062]knight of the neates feete.Huan.O he lov'd no capon better. He hath oftentimes deceived275his boy of his dinner; that was his fault, good Bustegustecerydis.Booby.Come, shall we goe along?[1063]Soft, here is an olde man at the Crosse; let us aske him the way thither. Ho, you Gaffer, I pray you tell where the wise man the Conjurer dwells.Huan.Where that earthly Goddesse keepeth hir abode, the280commander of my thougts, and faire Mistres of my heart.Old man.Faire inough, and farre inough from thy fingering, sonne.Huan.I will followe my fortune after mine owne fancie, and doo according to mine owne discretion.285Old man.Yet give some thing to an old man before you goe.Huan.Father, mee thinkes a peece of this cake might serve your turne.Old man.Yea, sonne.Huan.Huanebango giveth no cakes for almes; aske of them290that give giftes for poore beggars. Faire Lady, if thou wert once shrined in this bosome, I would buckler thee hara-tantara.Exit.Booby.Father, doo you see this man? You litle thinke heele run a mile or two for such a cake, or passe for[1064]a pudding. I tell you, Father, hee has kept such a begging of mee for a peece of this cake!295Whoo, he comes uppon me with a superfantiall substance, and the foyson[1065]of the earth, that I know not what he meanes. Iff hee came to me thus, and said, 'my friend Booby,' or so, why I could spare him a peece with all my heart; but when he tells me how God hath enriched mee above other fellowes with a cake, why hee makes300me blinde and deafe at once. Yet, father, heere is a peece of cake for you,[1066]as harde as the world goes.[1067]Old man.Thanks, sonne, but list to mee:He shall be deafe when thou shalt not see.Farewell, my sonne; things may so hit,305Thou maist have wealth to mend thy wit.Booby.Farewell, father, farewell; for I must make hast after my two-hand sword that is gone before.Exeunt omnes.EnterSacrapantin his studie.Sacrapant.The day is cleare, the welkin bright and gray,The larke is merrie, and records[1068]hir notes;310Each thing rejoyseth underneath the skie,But onely I whom heaven hath in hate,Wretched and miserable Sacrapant.In Thessalie was I borne and brought up.[1069]My mother Meroe hight, a famous witch,315And by hir cunning I of hir did learne,To change and alter shapes of mortall men.There did I turne my selfe into a dragon,And stole away the daughter to the king,Faire Delya, the mistres of my heart,320And brought hir hither to revive the manThat seemeth yong and pleasant to behold,And yet is aged, crooked, weake and numbe.Thus by inchaunting spells I doo deceiveThose that behold and looke upon my face;325But well may I bid youthfull yeares adue.EnterDelyawith a pot in hir hand.See where she coms from whence my sorrows grow.How now, faire Delya, where have you bin?Delya.At the foote of the rocke for running water, and gathering rootes for your dinner, sir.330Sacr.Ah, Delya, fairer art thou than the running water, yet harder farre than steele or adamant.Delya.Will it please you to sit downe, sir?Sacr.I, Delya, sit & aske me what thou wilt; thou shalt have it brought into thy lappe.335Delya.Then I pray you, sir, let mee have the best meate from the king of Englands table, and the best wine in all France, brought in by the veriest knave in all Spaine.[1070]Sacr.Delya, I am glad to see you so pleasant.Well, sit thee downe.340Spred, table, spred; meat, drinke & bred;Ever may I have what I ever crave,When I am spred, for[1071]meate for my black cock,And meate for my red.Enter aFrierwith a chine of beefe and a pot of wine.Sacr.Heere, Delya, will yee fall to?345Del.Is this the best meate in England?Sacr.Yea.Del.What is it?Sacr.A chine of English beefe, meate for a kingAnd a king's followers.350Del.Is this the best wine in France?Sacr.Yea.Del.What wine is it?Sacr.A cup of neate wine of Orleance,That never came neer the brewers in England.[1072]355Del.Is this the veriest knave in all Spaine?Sacr.Yea.Del.What, is he a fryer?Sacr.Yea, a frier indefinit, & a knave infinit.Del.Then I pray ye, sir Frier, tell me before you goe, which is360the most greediest Englishman?Fryer.The miserable and most covetous usurer.Sacr.Holde thee there, Friar.Exit Friar.But soft, who have we heere? Delia, away, begon.[1073]Enter the two Brothers.Delya, away, for beset are we;365But heaven or hell shall rescue her for me.[1074]1. Br.Brother, was not that Delya did appeare?Or was it but her shadow that was here?2. Bro.Sister, where art thou? Delya, come again;He calles, that of thy absence doth complaine.370Call out, Calypha, that she may heare,And crie aloud, for Delya is neere.Eccho.Neere.[1075]1. Br.Neere? O where, hast thou any tidings?Eccho.Tidings.3752. Br.Which way is Delya then,—or that, or this?Eccho.This.1. Br.And may we safely come where Delia is?Eccho.Yes.2. Bro.Brother, remember you the white380Beare of Englands wood:Start not aside for every danger;Be not afeard of every stranger;Things that seeme, are not the same.
THEOld Wiues Tale.A pleasant conceited Comedieplayed by the Queenes MaiestiesplayersWritten byG. P.VIGNETTEPrinted at London byIohn Danter, and are tobe sold byRaph Hancocke, andIohnHardie,1595.
A pleasant conceited Comedieplayed by the Queenes Maiestiesplayers
Written byG. P.
VIGNETTE
VIGNETTE
Printed at London byIohn Danter, and are tobe sold byRaph Hancocke, andIohnHardie,1595.
FOOTNOTES:[1017]Not in Q.; inserted by Dy. On the history of the characters see AppendixA.
[1017]Not in Q.; inserted by Dy. On the history of the characters see AppendixA.
[1017]Not in Q.; inserted by Dy. On the history of the characters see AppendixA.
The Old Wives Tale.
EnterAnticke,Frolicke,andFantasticke.
Anticke.
HOW nowe fellowe Franticke,[1018]what, all a mort?[1019]Doth this sadnes become thy madnes? What though wee have lost our way in the woodes, yet never hang the head, as though thou hadst no hope to live till to morrow: for Fantasticke and I will warrant thy life to night for twenty5in the hundred.
Frolicke.Anticke and Fantasticke, as I am frollicke franion,[1020]never in all my life was I so dead slaine. What? to loose our way in the woode, without either fire or candle so uncomfortable?O caelum! O terra! O maria! O Neptune![1021]10
Fantas.Why makes thou it so strange, seeing Cupid hath led our yong master to the faire Lady and she is the only saint that he hath sworne to serve?
Frollicke.What resteth then but wee commit him to his wench, and each of us take his stand up in a tree, and sing out our ill15fortune to the tune ofO man in desperation.[1022]
Ant.Desperately spoken, fellow Frollicke in the darke: but seeing it falles out thus, let us rehearse the old proverb.[1023]
Three merrie men, and three merrie men,And three merrie men be wee.20I in the wood, and thou on the ground.And Jacke sleepes in the tree.
Three merrie men, and three merrie men,And three merrie men be wee.20I in the wood, and thou on the ground.And Jacke sleepes in the tree.
Three merrie men, and three merrie men,And three merrie men be wee.20I in the wood, and thou on the ground.And Jacke sleepes in the tree.
Three merrie men, and three merrie men,
And three merrie men be wee.20
I in the wood, and thou on the ground.
And Jacke sleepes in the tree.
Fan.Hush! a dogge in the wood, or a wooden dogge.[1024]O comfortable hearing! I had even as live the chamberlaine of the White Horse had called me up to bed.25
Frol.Eyther hath this trotting cur gone out of his cyrcuit, or els are we nere some village, which should not be farre off, for I
Enter aSmithwith a lanthorne & candle.
perceive the glymring of a gloworme, a candle, or a cats eye, my life for a halfe pennie. In the name of my own father, be thou oxe or asse that appearest, tell us what thou art.30
Smith.What am I? Why I am Clunch the Smith; what are you, what make you in my territories at this time of the night?
Ant.What doe we make, dost thou aske? Why we make faces for feare: such as if thy mortall eyes could behold, would make thee water the long seames of thy side slops,[1025]Smith.35
Frol.And in faith, sir, unlesse your hospitalitie doe releeve us, wee are like to wander with a sorrowfull hey ho, among the owlets, & hobgoblins of the forrest: good Vulcan, for Cupids sake that hath cousned us all, befriend us as thou maiest, and commaund us howsoever, wheresoever, whensoever, in whatsoever, for ever and ever.[1026]40
Smith.Well, masters, it seemes to mee you have lost your waie in the wood: in consideration whereof, if you will goe with Clunch[1027]to his cottage, you shall have house roome, and a good fire to sit by, althogh we have no bedding to put you in.
All.O blessed Smith, O bountifull Clunch.45
Smith.For your further intertainment, it shall be as it may be, so and so.
Heare a dogge barke.
Hearke![1028]this is Ball my dogge that bids you all welcome in his own language; come, take heed for[1029]stumbling on the threshold. Open dore, Madge, take in guests.
Enter old woman.50
Cl.Welcome Clunch & good fellowes al that come with my good man; for my good mans sake come on, sit downe; here is a peece of cheese & a pudding of my owne making.
Anticke.Thanks, Gammer; a good example for the wives of our towne.55
Frolicke.Gammer, thou and thy good man sit lovingly together; we come to chat and not to eate.
Smith.Well, masters, if you will eate nothing, take away. Come, what doo we to passe away the time? Lay a crab[1030]in the fire to rost for lambes-wooll. What, shall wee have a game at trumpe or60ruffe[1031]to drive away the time, how say you?
Fantasticke.This Smith leads a life as merrie as a king[1032]with Madge his wife. Syrrha Frolicke, I am sure thou art not without some round or other; no doubt but Clunch can beare his part.
Frolicke.Els thinke you mee ill brought up;[1033]so set to it when65you will.
They sing.
Song.
When as the Rie reach to the chin,And chopcherrie,[1034]chopcherrie ripe within,Strawberries swimming in the creame,And schoole boyes playing in the streame:70Then O, then O, then O my true love said,Till that time come againe,Shee could not live a maid.
When as the Rie reach to the chin,And chopcherrie,[1034]chopcherrie ripe within,Strawberries swimming in the creame,And schoole boyes playing in the streame:70Then O, then O, then O my true love said,Till that time come againe,Shee could not live a maid.
When as the Rie reach to the chin,And chopcherrie,[1034]chopcherrie ripe within,Strawberries swimming in the creame,And schoole boyes playing in the streame:70Then O, then O, then O my true love said,Till that time come againe,Shee could not live a maid.
When as the Rie reach to the chin,
And chopcherrie,[1034]chopcherrie ripe within,
Strawberries swimming in the creame,
And schoole boyes playing in the streame:70
Then O, then O, then O my true love said,
Till that time come againe,
Shee could not live a maid.
Ant.This sport dooes well: but me thinkes, Gammer, a merry winters tale would drive away the time trimly. Come, I am sure75you are not without a score.
Fantast.I faith, Gammer, a tale of an howre long were as good as an howres sleepe.
Frol.Looke you, Gammer, of the Gyant and the Kings Daughter,[1035]and I know not what. I have seene the day when I was a little one,80you might have drawne mee a mile after you with such a discourse.
Old woman.Well, since you be so importunate, my good man shall fill the pot and get him to bed; they that ply their worke must keepe good howres. One of you goe lye with him; he is a cleane skind man, I tell you, without either spavin or windgall; so I am85content to drive away the time with an old wives winters tale.
Fantast.No better hay in Devonshire,[1036]a my word, Gammer, Ile be one of your audience.
Frolicke.And I another: thats flat.
Anticke.Then must I to bed with the good man.Bona nox90Gammer; God night, Frolicke.
Smith.Come on, my lad, thou shalt take thy unnaturall[1037]rest with me.
ExeuntAntickeand theSmith.
Frollicke.Yet this vantage shall we have of them in the morning, to bee ready at the sight thereof extempore.[1038]95
Old wom.Nowe this bargaine, my masters, must I make with you, that you will sayhum&hato my tale, so shall I know you are awake.
Both.Content, Gammer, that will we doo.
Old wom.Once uppon a time there was a King or a Lord, or a Duke, that had a faire daughter, the fairest that ever was; as white100as snowe, and as redd as bloud: and once uppon a time his daughter was stollen away, and hee sent all his men to seeke out his daughter, and hee sent so long, that he sent all his men out of his land.
Frol.Who drest his dinner then?
Old woman.Nay, either heare my tale, or kisse my taile.105
Fan.Well sed, on with your tale, Gammer.
Old woman.O Lord, I quite forgot, there was a Conjurer, and this Conjurer could doo any thing, and hee turned himselfe into a great Dragon, and carried the Kinges Daughter away in his mouth to a Castle that hee made of stone, and there he kept hir I know110not how long, till at last all the Kinges men went out so long, that hir two Brothers went to seeke hir.[1039]O, I forget: she (he I would say) turned a proper[1040]yong man to a Beare in the night, and a man in the day, and keeps[1041]by a crosse that parts three severall waies, & he[1042]made his Lady run mad ... Gods me bones, who115comes here?
Enter the two Brothers.
Frol.Soft, Gammer, here some come to tell your tale for you.[1043]
Fant.Let them alone, let us heare what they will say.
1Brother.Upon these chalkie cliffs of Albion[1044]We are arived now with tedious toile,120And compassing the wide world round aboutTo seeke our sister, to[1045]seeke faire Delya forth,Yet cannot we so much as heare of hir.2 Brother.O fortune cruell, cruell & unkind,Unkind in that we cannot find our sister;125Our sister haples in hir cruell chance!Soft, who have we here?
1Brother.Upon these chalkie cliffs of Albion[1044]We are arived now with tedious toile,120And compassing the wide world round aboutTo seeke our sister, to[1045]seeke faire Delya forth,Yet cannot we so much as heare of hir.
1Brother.Upon these chalkie cliffs of Albion[1044]
We are arived now with tedious toile,120
And compassing the wide world round about
To seeke our sister, to[1045]seeke faire Delya forth,
Yet cannot we so much as heare of hir.
2 Brother.O fortune cruell, cruell & unkind,Unkind in that we cannot find our sister;125Our sister haples in hir cruell chance!Soft, who have we here?
2 Brother.O fortune cruell, cruell & unkind,
Unkind in that we cannot find our sister;125
Our sister haples in hir cruell chance!
Soft, who have we here?
EnterSenexat the Crosse, stooping to gather.
1 Brother.Now, father, God be your speed,What doo you gather there?
1 Brother.Now, father, God be your speed,What doo you gather there?
1 Brother.Now, father, God be your speed,
What doo you gather there?
Old man.Hips and hawes, and stickes and straws, and thinges130that I gather on the ground, my sonne.[1046]
1 Brother.Hips and hawes, and stickes and strawes! Why, is that all your foode, father?
Old man.Yea, sonne.
2 Brother.Father, here is an almes pennie for mee, and if I135speede in that I goe for, I will give thee as good a gowne of gray[1047]as ever thou diddest weare.
1 Brother.And, father, here is another almes pennie for me, and if I speede in my journey, I will give thee a palmers staffe of yvorie, and a scallop shell of beaten gold.[1048]140
Old man.Was shee fayre?[1049]
2 Brother.I, the fairest for white, and the purest for redd, as the blood of the deare, or the driven snow.
Old m.Then harke well and marke well, my old spell:Be not afraid of every stranger,145Start not aside at every danger:Things that seeme are not the same,Blow a blast at every flame:For when one flame of fire goes out,Then comes your wishes well about:150If any aske who told you this good,Say the White Beare of Englands wood.1 Brother.Brother, heard you not what the old man said?Be not afraid of every stranger,Start not aside for every danger:155Things that seeme are not the same,Blow a blast at every flame:If any aske who told you this good,Say the White Beare of Englands wood.[1050]2 Brother.Well, if this doo us any good,160Wel fare the White Bear of Englands wood.Ex.Old man.Now sit thee here & tel a heavy tale.Sad in thy moode, and sober in thy cheere,Here sit thee now and to thy selfe relate,The hard mishap of thy most wretched state.165In Thessalie I liv'd in sweete content,Untill that Fortune wrought my overthrow;For there I wedded was unto a dame,That liv'd in honor, vertue, love, and fame:But Sacrapant, that cursed sorcerer,170Being besotted with my beauteous love,My deerest love, my true betrothed wife,Did seeke the meanes to rid me of my life.But worse than this, he with his chanting[1051]spels,Did turne me straight unto an ugly Beare;175And when the sunne doth settle in the west,Then I begin to don my ugly hide:And all the day I sit, as now you see,And speake in riddles all inspirde with rage,Seeming an olde and miserable man:180And yet I am in Aprill of my age.
Old m.Then harke well and marke well, my old spell:Be not afraid of every stranger,145Start not aside at every danger:Things that seeme are not the same,Blow a blast at every flame:For when one flame of fire goes out,Then comes your wishes well about:150If any aske who told you this good,Say the White Beare of Englands wood.
Old m.Then harke well and marke well, my old spell:
Be not afraid of every stranger,145
Start not aside at every danger:
Things that seeme are not the same,
Blow a blast at every flame:
For when one flame of fire goes out,
Then comes your wishes well about:150
If any aske who told you this good,
Say the White Beare of Englands wood.
1 Brother.Brother, heard you not what the old man said?Be not afraid of every stranger,Start not aside for every danger:155Things that seeme are not the same,Blow a blast at every flame:If any aske who told you this good,Say the White Beare of Englands wood.[1050]
1 Brother.Brother, heard you not what the old man said?
Be not afraid of every stranger,
Start not aside for every danger:155
Things that seeme are not the same,
Blow a blast at every flame:
If any aske who told you this good,
Say the White Beare of Englands wood.[1050]
2 Brother.Well, if this doo us any good,160Wel fare the White Bear of Englands wood.Ex.
2 Brother.Well, if this doo us any good,160
Wel fare the White Bear of Englands wood.
Ex.
Old man.Now sit thee here & tel a heavy tale.Sad in thy moode, and sober in thy cheere,Here sit thee now and to thy selfe relate,The hard mishap of thy most wretched state.165In Thessalie I liv'd in sweete content,Untill that Fortune wrought my overthrow;For there I wedded was unto a dame,That liv'd in honor, vertue, love, and fame:But Sacrapant, that cursed sorcerer,170Being besotted with my beauteous love,My deerest love, my true betrothed wife,Did seeke the meanes to rid me of my life.But worse than this, he with his chanting[1051]spels,Did turne me straight unto an ugly Beare;175And when the sunne doth settle in the west,Then I begin to don my ugly hide:And all the day I sit, as now you see,And speake in riddles all inspirde with rage,Seeming an olde and miserable man:180And yet I am in Aprill of my age.
Old man.Now sit thee here & tel a heavy tale.
Sad in thy moode, and sober in thy cheere,
Here sit thee now and to thy selfe relate,
The hard mishap of thy most wretched state.165
In Thessalie I liv'd in sweete content,
Untill that Fortune wrought my overthrow;
For there I wedded was unto a dame,
That liv'd in honor, vertue, love, and fame:
But Sacrapant, that cursed sorcerer,170
Being besotted with my beauteous love,
My deerest love, my true betrothed wife,
Did seeke the meanes to rid me of my life.
But worse than this, he with his chanting[1051]spels,
Did turne me straight unto an ugly Beare;175
And when the sunne doth settle in the west,
Then I begin to don my ugly hide:
And all the day I sit, as now you see,
And speake in riddles all inspirde with rage,
Seeming an olde and miserable man:180
And yet I am in Aprill of my age.
EnterVeneliahis Lady mad; and goes in againe.
See where Venelya, my betrothed love,Runs madding all inrag'd about the woods,All by his curssed and inchanting spels.
See where Venelya, my betrothed love,Runs madding all inrag'd about the woods,All by his curssed and inchanting spels.
See where Venelya, my betrothed love,
Runs madding all inrag'd about the woods,
All by his curssed and inchanting spels.
EnterLampriscuswith a pot of honny.
But here comes Lampriscus, my discontented neighbour. How185now, neighbour, you looke towarde the ground as well as I; you muse on something.
Lamp.Neighbour on nothing, but on the matter I so often mooved to you: if you do any thing for charity, helpe me; if for neighborhood or brotherhood, helpe me: never was one so combered as is190poore Lampryscus: and to begin, I pray receive this potte of honny to mend[1052]your fare.
Old man.Thankes, neighbor, set it downe; Honny is alwaies welcome to the Beare. And now, neighbour, let me heere the cause of your comming.195
Lampriscus.I am (as you knowe, neighbour) a man unmaried, and lived so unquietly with my two wives, that I keepe every yeare holy the day wherein I buried themboth: the first was on Saint Andrewes day, the other on Saint Lukes.[1053]
Old man.And now, neighbour, you of this country say, your200custome is out: but on with your tale, neighbour.
Lamp.By my first wife, whose tongue wearied me alive, and sounded in my eares like the clapper of a great bell, whose talke was a continuall torment to all that dwelt by her, or lived nigh her, you have heard me say I had a handsome daughter.205
Old man.True, neighbour.
Lampr.Shee it is that afflictes me with her continuall clamoures, and hangs on me like a burre: poore shee is, and proude shee is; as poore as a sheepe new shorne, and as proude of her hopes, as a peacock of her taile well growne.210
Old man.Well said, Lampryscus, you speake it like an Englishman.
Lampr.As curst as a waspe, and as frowarde as a childe new taken from the mothers teate; shee is to my age, as smoake to the eyes, or as vinegar to the teeth.215
Old man.Holily praised, neighbour, as much for the next.
Lampr.By my other wife I had a daughter, so hard favoured, so foule and ill faced, that I thinke a grove full of golden trees, and the leaves of rubies and dyamonds, would not bee a dowrie annswerable to her deformitie.220
Old man.Well, neighbour, nowe you have spoke, heere me speake; send them to the well for the water of life:[1054]there shall they finde their fortunes unlooked for. Neighbour, farewell.
Exit.
Lampr.Farewell and a thousand;[1055]and now goeth poore Lampryscus to put in execution this excellent counsell.225
Exeunt.
Frol.Why this goes rounde without a fidling stick. But doo you heare, Gammer, was this the man that was a beare in the night, and a man in the day?
Old woman.I, this is hee; and this man that came to him was a beggar, and dwelt uppon a greene. But soft, who comes here? O230these are the harvest men; ten to one they sing a song of mowing.
Enter the harvest men a singing, with this
Songdouble repeated.[1056]
All yee that lovely lovers be, pray you for me.Loe here we come a sowing, a sowing,And sowe sweete fruites of love:In your sweete hearts well may it proove.235Exeunt.
All yee that lovely lovers be, pray you for me.Loe here we come a sowing, a sowing,And sowe sweete fruites of love:In your sweete hearts well may it proove.235Exeunt.
All yee that lovely lovers be, pray you for me.Loe here we come a sowing, a sowing,And sowe sweete fruites of love:In your sweete hearts well may it proove.235Exeunt.
All yee that lovely lovers be, pray you for me.
Loe here we come a sowing, a sowing,
And sowe sweete fruites of love:
In your sweete hearts well may it proove.235
Exeunt.
EnterHuanebango[1057]with his two hand sword, andBooby[1058]the Clowne.
Fant.Gammer, what is he?
Old woman.O this is one that is going to the Conjurer; let him alone; here what he sayes.
Huan.Now by Mars and Mercury, Jupiter and Janus, Sol and Saturnus, Venus and Vesta, Pallas and Proserpina, and by the honor240of my house Polimackeroeplacydus,[1059]it is a wonder to see what this love will make silly fellowes adventure, even in the wane of their wits and infansie of their discretion. Alas, my friend, what fortune calles thee foorth to seeke thy fortune among brasen gates, inchanted towers, fire and brimstone, thunder and lightning? Beautie, I tell245thee, is peerelesse, and she precious whom thou affectest: do off these desires, good countriman, good friend, runne away from thy selfe, and so soone as thou canst, forget her; whom none must inherit but he that can monsters tame, laboures atchive, riddles absolve, loose inchantments, murther magicke, and kill conjuring: and that is the250great and mighty Huanebango.
Booby.Harke you sir, harke you. First know I have here the flurting feather, and have given the parish the start for the long stocke.[1060]Nowe sir, if it bee no more but running through a little lightning and thunder, and riddle me, riddle me, what's this,[1061]Ile255have the wench from the Conjurer if he were ten Conjurers.
Huan.I have abandoned the court and honourable company, to doo my devoyre against this sore sorcerer and mighty magitian: if this Ladie be so faire as she is said to bee, she is mine, she is mine.Meus, mea, meum, in contemptum omnium grammaticorum.260
Booby.O falsum Latinum!the faire maide isminum, cum apurtinantibus gibletesand all.
Huan.If shee bee mine, as I assure my selfe the heavens will doo somewhat to reward my worthines, shee shall bee allied to none of the meanest gods, but bee invested in the most famous265stocke of Huanebango Polimackeroeplacidus, my grandfather, my father Pergopolyneo, my mother Dyonora de Sardynya, famouslie descended.
Booby.Doo you heare, sir, had not you a cosen, that was called Gustecerydis?270
Huan.Indeede I had a cosen, that sometime followed the court infortunately, and his name Bustegustecerydis.
Booby.O Lord I know him well; hee is the[1062]knight of the neates feete.
Huan.O he lov'd no capon better. He hath oftentimes deceived275his boy of his dinner; that was his fault, good Bustegustecerydis.
Booby.Come, shall we goe along?[1063]Soft, here is an olde man at the Crosse; let us aske him the way thither. Ho, you Gaffer, I pray you tell where the wise man the Conjurer dwells.
Huan.Where that earthly Goddesse keepeth hir abode, the280commander of my thougts, and faire Mistres of my heart.
Old man.Faire inough, and farre inough from thy fingering, sonne.
Huan.I will followe my fortune after mine owne fancie, and doo according to mine owne discretion.285
Old man.Yet give some thing to an old man before you goe.
Huan.Father, mee thinkes a peece of this cake might serve your turne.
Old man.Yea, sonne.
Huan.Huanebango giveth no cakes for almes; aske of them290that give giftes for poore beggars. Faire Lady, if thou wert once shrined in this bosome, I would buckler thee hara-tantara.
Exit.
Booby.Father, doo you see this man? You litle thinke heele run a mile or two for such a cake, or passe for[1064]a pudding. I tell you, Father, hee has kept such a begging of mee for a peece of this cake!295Whoo, he comes uppon me with a superfantiall substance, and the foyson[1065]of the earth, that I know not what he meanes. Iff hee came to me thus, and said, 'my friend Booby,' or so, why I could spare him a peece with all my heart; but when he tells me how God hath enriched mee above other fellowes with a cake, why hee makes300me blinde and deafe at once. Yet, father, heere is a peece of cake for you,[1066]as harde as the world goes.[1067]
Old man.Thanks, sonne, but list to mee:He shall be deafe when thou shalt not see.Farewell, my sonne; things may so hit,305Thou maist have wealth to mend thy wit.
Old man.Thanks, sonne, but list to mee:He shall be deafe when thou shalt not see.Farewell, my sonne; things may so hit,305Thou maist have wealth to mend thy wit.
Old man.Thanks, sonne, but list to mee:
He shall be deafe when thou shalt not see.
Farewell, my sonne; things may so hit,305
Thou maist have wealth to mend thy wit.
Booby.Farewell, father, farewell; for I must make hast after my two-hand sword that is gone before.
Exeunt omnes.
EnterSacrapantin his studie.
Sacrapant.The day is cleare, the welkin bright and gray,The larke is merrie, and records[1068]hir notes;310Each thing rejoyseth underneath the skie,But onely I whom heaven hath in hate,Wretched and miserable Sacrapant.In Thessalie was I borne and brought up.[1069]My mother Meroe hight, a famous witch,315And by hir cunning I of hir did learne,To change and alter shapes of mortall men.There did I turne my selfe into a dragon,And stole away the daughter to the king,Faire Delya, the mistres of my heart,320And brought hir hither to revive the manThat seemeth yong and pleasant to behold,And yet is aged, crooked, weake and numbe.Thus by inchaunting spells I doo deceiveThose that behold and looke upon my face;325But well may I bid youthfull yeares adue.
Sacrapant.The day is cleare, the welkin bright and gray,The larke is merrie, and records[1068]hir notes;310Each thing rejoyseth underneath the skie,But onely I whom heaven hath in hate,Wretched and miserable Sacrapant.In Thessalie was I borne and brought up.[1069]My mother Meroe hight, a famous witch,315And by hir cunning I of hir did learne,To change and alter shapes of mortall men.There did I turne my selfe into a dragon,And stole away the daughter to the king,Faire Delya, the mistres of my heart,320And brought hir hither to revive the manThat seemeth yong and pleasant to behold,And yet is aged, crooked, weake and numbe.Thus by inchaunting spells I doo deceiveThose that behold and looke upon my face;325But well may I bid youthfull yeares adue.
Sacrapant.The day is cleare, the welkin bright and gray,
The larke is merrie, and records[1068]hir notes;310
Each thing rejoyseth underneath the skie,
But onely I whom heaven hath in hate,
Wretched and miserable Sacrapant.
In Thessalie was I borne and brought up.[1069]
My mother Meroe hight, a famous witch,315
And by hir cunning I of hir did learne,
To change and alter shapes of mortall men.
There did I turne my selfe into a dragon,
And stole away the daughter to the king,
Faire Delya, the mistres of my heart,320
And brought hir hither to revive the man
That seemeth yong and pleasant to behold,
And yet is aged, crooked, weake and numbe.
Thus by inchaunting spells I doo deceive
Those that behold and looke upon my face;325
But well may I bid youthfull yeares adue.
EnterDelyawith a pot in hir hand.
See where she coms from whence my sorrows grow.How now, faire Delya, where have you bin?
See where she coms from whence my sorrows grow.How now, faire Delya, where have you bin?
See where she coms from whence my sorrows grow.
How now, faire Delya, where have you bin?
Delya.At the foote of the rocke for running water, and gathering rootes for your dinner, sir.330
Sacr.Ah, Delya, fairer art thou than the running water, yet harder farre than steele or adamant.
Delya.Will it please you to sit downe, sir?
Sacr.I, Delya, sit & aske me what thou wilt; thou shalt have it brought into thy lappe.335
Delya.Then I pray you, sir, let mee have the best meate from the king of Englands table, and the best wine in all France, brought in by the veriest knave in all Spaine.[1070]
Sacr.Delya, I am glad to see you so pleasant.Well, sit thee downe.340Spred, table, spred; meat, drinke & bred;Ever may I have what I ever crave,When I am spred, for[1071]meate for my black cock,And meate for my red.
Sacr.Delya, I am glad to see you so pleasant.Well, sit thee downe.340Spred, table, spred; meat, drinke & bred;Ever may I have what I ever crave,When I am spred, for[1071]meate for my black cock,And meate for my red.
Sacr.Delya, I am glad to see you so pleasant.
Well, sit thee downe.340
Spred, table, spred; meat, drinke & bred;
Ever may I have what I ever crave,
When I am spred, for[1071]meate for my black cock,
And meate for my red.
Enter aFrierwith a chine of beefe and a pot of wine.
Sacr.Heere, Delya, will yee fall to?345
Del.Is this the best meate in England?
Sacr.Yea.
Del.What is it?
Sacr.A chine of English beefe, meate for a kingAnd a king's followers.350
Sacr.A chine of English beefe, meate for a kingAnd a king's followers.350
Sacr.A chine of English beefe, meate for a king
And a king's followers.350
Del.Is this the best wine in France?
Sacr.Yea.
Del.What wine is it?
Sacr.A cup of neate wine of Orleance,That never came neer the brewers in England.[1072]355
Sacr.A cup of neate wine of Orleance,That never came neer the brewers in England.[1072]355
Sacr.A cup of neate wine of Orleance,
That never came neer the brewers in England.[1072]355
Del.Is this the veriest knave in all Spaine?
Sacr.Yea.
Del.What, is he a fryer?
Sacr.Yea, a frier indefinit, & a knave infinit.
Del.Then I pray ye, sir Frier, tell me before you goe, which is360the most greediest Englishman?
Fryer.The miserable and most covetous usurer.
Sacr.Holde thee there, Friar.Exit Friar.But soft, who have we heere? Delia, away, begon.[1073]
Sacr.Holde thee there, Friar.Exit Friar.But soft, who have we heere? Delia, away, begon.[1073]
Sacr.Holde thee there, Friar.
Exit Friar.
But soft, who have we heere? Delia, away, begon.[1073]
Enter the two Brothers.
Delya, away, for beset are we;365But heaven or hell shall rescue her for me.[1074]1. Br.Brother, was not that Delya did appeare?Or was it but her shadow that was here?2. Bro.Sister, where art thou? Delya, come again;He calles, that of thy absence doth complaine.370Call out, Calypha, that she may heare,And crie aloud, for Delya is neere.
Delya, away, for beset are we;365But heaven or hell shall rescue her for me.[1074]
Delya, away, for beset are we;365
But heaven or hell shall rescue her for me.[1074]
1. Br.Brother, was not that Delya did appeare?Or was it but her shadow that was here?
1. Br.Brother, was not that Delya did appeare?
Or was it but her shadow that was here?
2. Bro.Sister, where art thou? Delya, come again;He calles, that of thy absence doth complaine.370Call out, Calypha, that she may heare,And crie aloud, for Delya is neere.
2. Bro.Sister, where art thou? Delya, come again;
He calles, that of thy absence doth complaine.370
Call out, Calypha, that she may heare,
And crie aloud, for Delya is neere.
Eccho.Neere.[1075]
1. Br.Neere? O where, hast thou any tidings?
Eccho.Tidings.375
2. Br.Which way is Delya then,—or that, or this?
Eccho.This.
1. Br.And may we safely come where Delia is?
Eccho.Yes.
2. Bro.Brother, remember you the white380Beare of Englands wood:Start not aside for every danger;Be not afeard of every stranger;Things that seeme, are not the same.
2. Bro.Brother, remember you the white380Beare of Englands wood:Start not aside for every danger;Be not afeard of every stranger;Things that seeme, are not the same.
2. Bro.Brother, remember you the white380
Beare of Englands wood:
Start not aside for every danger;
Be not afeard of every stranger;
Things that seeme, are not the same.