ACT IIISCENE I. Before Prospero’s cell.EnterFerdinandbearing a log.FERDINAND.There be some sports are painful, and their labourDelight in them sets off: some kinds of basenessAre nobly undergone; and most poor mattersPoint to rich ends. This my mean taskWould be as heavy to me as odious, butThe mistress which I serve quickens what’s dead,And makes my labours pleasures: O, she isTen times more gentle than her father’s crabbed,And he’s compos’d of harshness. I must removeSome thousands of these logs, and pile them up,Upon a sore injunction: my sweet mistressWeeps when she sees me work, and says such basenessHad never like executor. I forget:But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours,Most busy, least when I do it.EnterMirandaandProsperobehind.MIRANDA.Alas now, pray you,Work not so hard: I would the lightning hadBurnt up those logs that you are enjoin’d to pile!Pray, set it down and rest you. When this burns,’Twill weep for having wearied you. My fatherIs hard at study; pray, now, rest yourself:He’s safe for these three hours.FERDINAND.O most dear mistress,The sun will set, before I shall dischargeWhat I must strive to do.MIRANDA.If you’ll sit down,I’ll bear your logs the while. Pray give me that;I’ll carry it to the pile.FERDINAND.No, precious creature;I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,Than you should such dishonour undergo,While I sit lazy by.MIRANDA.It would become meAs well as it does you: and I should do itWith much more ease; for my good will is to it,And yours it is against.PROSPERO.[Aside.] Poor worm! thou art infected.This visitation shows it.MIRANDA.You look wearily.FERDINAND.No, noble mistress; ’tis fresh morning with meWhen you are by at night. I do beseech you—Chiefly that I might set it in my prayers—What is your name?MIRANDA.Miranda—O my father!I have broke your hest to say so.FERDINAND.Admir’d Miranda!Indeed, the top of admiration; worthWhat’s dearest to the world! Full many a ladyI have ey’d with best regard, and many a timeTh’ harmony of their tongues hath into bondageBrought my too diligent ear: for several virtuesHave I lik’d several women; never anyWith so full soul but some defect in herDid quarrel with the noblest grace she ow’d,And put it to the foil: but you, O you,So perfect and so peerless, are createdOf every creature’s best.MIRANDA.I do not knowOne of my sex; no woman’s face remember,Save, from my glass, mine own; nor have I seenMore that I may call men than you, good friend,And my dear father: how features are abroad,I am skilless of; but, by my modesty,The jewel in my dower, I would not wishAny companion in the world but you;Nor can imagination form a shape,Besides yourself, to like of. But I prattleSomething too wildly, and my father’s preceptsI therein do forget.FERDINAND.I am, in my condition,A prince, Miranda; I do think, a King;I would not so!—and would no more endureThis wooden slavery than to sufferThe flesh-fly blow my mouth. Hear my soul speak:The very instant that I saw you, didMy heart fly to your service; there resides,To make me slave to it; and for your sakeAm I this patient log-man.MIRANDA.Do you love me?FERDINAND.O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound,And crown what I profess with kind event,If I speak true; if hollowly, invertWhat best is boded me to mischief! I,Beyond all limit of what else i’ the world,Do love, prize, honour you.MIRANDA.I am a foolTo weep at what I am glad of.PROSPERO.[Aside.] Fair encounterOf two most rare affections! Heavens rain graceOn that which breeds between ’em!FERDINAND.Wherefore weep you?MIRANDA.At mine unworthiness, that dare not offerWhat I desire to give; and much less takeWhat I shall die to want. But this is trifling;And all the more it seeks to hide itself,The bigger bulk it shows. Hence, bashful cunning!And prompt me, plain and holy innocence!I am your wife if you will marry me;If not, I’ll die your maid: to be your fellowYou may deny me; but I’ll be your servant,Whether you will or no.FERDINAND.My mistress, dearest;And I thus humble ever.MIRANDA.My husband, then?FERDINAND.Ay, with a heart as willingAs bondage e’er of freedom: here’s my hand.MIRANDA.And mine, with my heart in ’t: and now farewellTill half an hour hence.FERDINAND.A thousand thousand![ExeuntFerdinandandMirandaseverally.]PROSPERO.So glad of this as they, I cannot be,Who are surpris’d withal; but my rejoicingAt nothing can be more. I’ll to my book;For yet, ere supper time, must I performMuch business appertaining.[Exit.]SCENE II. Another part of the island.EnterCalibanwith a bottle,StephanoandTrinculo.STEPHANO.Tell not me:—when the butt is out we will drink water; not a drop before: therefore bear up, and board ’em. Servant-monster, drink to me.TRINCULO.Servant-monster! The folly of this island! They say there’s but five upon this isle; we are three of them; if th’ other two be brained like us, the state totters.STEPHANO.Drink, servant-monster, when I bid thee: thy eyes are almost set in thy head.TRINCULO.Where should they be set else? He were a brave monster indeed, if they were set in his tail.STEPHANO.My man-monster hath drown’d his tongue in sack: for my part, the sea cannot drown me; I swam, ere I could recover the shore, five-and-thirty leagues, off and on, by this light. Thou shalt be my lieutenant, monster, or my standard.TRINCULO.Your lieutenant, if you list; he’s no standard.STEPHANO.We’ll not run, Monsieur monster.TRINCULO.Nor go neither. But you’ll lie like dogs, and yet say nothing neither.STEPHANO.Moon-calf, speak once in thy life, if thou beest a good moon-calf.CALIBAN.How does thy honour? Let me lick thy shoe. I’ll not serve him, he is not valiant.TRINCULO.Thou liest, most ignorant monster: I am in case to justle a constable. Why, thou deboshed fish thou, was there ever man a coward that hath drunk so much sack as I today? Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie, being but half a fish and half a monster?CALIBAN.Lo, how he mocks me! wilt thou let him, my lord?TRINCULO.“Lord” quoth he! That a monster should be such a natural!CALIBAN.Lo, lo again! bite him to death, I prithee.STEPHANO.Trinculo, keep a good tongue in your head: if you prove a mutineer, the next tree! The poor monster’s my subject, and he shall not suffer indignity.CALIBAN.I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleas’d to hearken once again to the suit I made to thee?STEPHANO.Marry. will I. Kneel and repeat it. I will stand, and so shall Trinculo.EnterAriel,invisible.CALIBAN.As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.ARIEL.Thou liest.CALIBAN.Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou;I would my valiant master would destroy thee;I do not lie.STEPHANO.Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in his tale, by this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth.TRINCULO.Why, I said nothing.STEPHANO.Mum, then, and no more. Proceed.CALIBAN.I say, by sorcery he got this isle;From me he got it. If thy greatness will,Revenge it on him,—for I know thou dar’st;But this thing dare not,—STEPHANO.That’s most certain.CALIBAN.Thou shalt be lord of it and I’ll serve thee.STEPHANO.How now shall this be compassed? Canst thou bring me to the party?CALIBAN.Yea, yea, my lord: I’ll yield him thee asleep,Where thou mayst knock a nail into his head.ARIEL.Thou liest. Thou canst not.CALIBAN.What a pied ninny’s this! Thou scurvy patch!I do beseech thy greatness, give him blows,And take his bottle from him: when that’s goneHe shall drink nought but brine; for I’ll not show himWhere the quick freshes are.STEPHANO.Trinculo, run into no further danger: interrupt the monster one word further, and by this hand, I’ll turn my mercy out o’ doors, and make a stock-fish of thee.TRINCULO.Why, what did I? I did nothing. I’ll go farther off.STEPHANO.Didst thou not say he lied?ARIEL.Thou liest.STEPHANO.Do I so? Take thou that.[Strikes Trinculo.]As you like this, give me the lie another time.TRINCULO.I did not give the lie. Out o’ your wits and hearing too? A pox o’ your bottle! this can sack and drinking do. A murrain on your monster, and the devil take your fingers!CALIBAN.Ha, ha, ha!STEPHANO.Now, forward with your tale.—Prithee stand further off.CALIBAN.Beat him enough: after a little time,I’ll beat him too.STEPHANO.Stand farther.—Come, proceed.CALIBAN.Why, as I told thee, ’tis a custom with himI’ th’ afternoon to sleep: there thou mayst brain him,Having first seiz’d his books; or with a logBatter his skull, or paunch him with a stake,Or cut his wezand with thy knife. RememberFirst to possess his books; for without themHe’s but a sot, as I am, nor hath notOne spirit to command: they all do hate himAs rootedly as I. Burn but his books.He has brave utensils,—for so he calls them,—Which, when he has a house, he’ll deck withal.And that most deeply to consider isThe beauty of his daughter; he himselfCalls her a nonpareil: I never saw a womanBut only Sycorax my dam and she;But she as far surpasseth SycoraxAs great’st does least.STEPHANO.Is it so brave a lass?CALIBAN.Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant,And bring thee forth brave brood.STEPHANO.Monster, I will kill this man. His daughter and I will be king and queen,—save our graces!—and Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys. Dost thou like the plot, Trinculo?TRINCULO.Excellent.STEPHANO.Give me thy hand: I am sorry I beat thee; but while thou liv’st, keep a good tongue in thy head.CALIBAN.Within this half hour will he be asleep.Wilt thou destroy him then?STEPHANO.Ay, on mine honour.ARIEL.This will I tell my master.CALIBAN.Thou mak’st me merry. I am full of pleasure.Let us be jocund: will you troll the catchYou taught me but while-ere?STEPHANO.At thy request, monster, I will do reason, any reason. Come on, Trinculo, let us sing.[Sings.]Flout ’em and cout ’em,and scout ’em and flout ’em:Thought is free.CALIBAN.That’s not the tune.[Arielplays the tune on a tabor and pipe.]STEPHANO.What is this same?TRINCULO.This is the tune of our catch, played by the picture of Nobody.STEPHANO.If thou beest a man, show thyself in thy likeness: if thou beest a devil, take ’t as thou list.TRINCULO.O, forgive me my sins!STEPHANO.He that dies pays all debts: I defy thee. Mercy upon us!CALIBAN.Art thou afeard?STEPHANO.No, monster, not I.CALIBAN.Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.Sometimes a thousand twangling instrumentsWill hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,That, if I then had wak’d after long sleep,Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,The clouds methought would open and show richesReady to drop upon me; that, when I wak’d,I cried to dream again.STEPHANO.This will prove a brave kingdom to me, where I shall have my music for nothing.CALIBAN.When Prospero is destroyed.STEPHANO.That shall be by and by: I remember the story.TRINCULO.The sound is going away. Let’s follow it, and after do our work.STEPHANO.Lead, monster: we’ll follow. I would I could see this taborer! he lays it on. Wilt come?TRINCULO.I’ll follow, Stephano.[Exeunt.]SCENE III. Another part of the island.EnterAlonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Adrian, Francisco,&c.GONZALO.By ’r lakin, I can go no further, sir;My old bones ache: here’s a maze trod, indeed,Through forth-rights and meanders! By your patience,I needs must rest me.ALONSO.Old lord, I cannot blame thee,Who am myself attach’d with wearinessTo th’ dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.Even here I will put off my hope, and keep itNo longer for my flatterer: he is drown’dWhom thus we stray to find; and the sea mocksOur frustrate search on land. Well, let him go.ANTONIO.[Aside to Sebastian.] I am right glad that he’sso out of hope.Do not, for one repulse, forgo the purposeThat you resolv’d to effect.SEBASTIAN.[Aside to Antonio.] The next advantageWill we take throughly.ANTONIO.[Aside to Sebastian.] Let it be tonight;For, now they are oppress’d with travel, theyWill not, nor cannot, use such vigilanceAs when they are fresh.SEBASTIAN.[Aside to Antonio.] I say, tonight: no more.Solemn and strange music: andProsperoabove, invisible. Enter several strange Shapes, bringing in a banquet: they dance about it with gentle actions of salutation; and inviting theKing&c., to eat, they depart.ALONSO.What harmony is this? My good friends, hark!GONZALO.Marvellous sweet music!ALONSO.Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these?SEBASTIAN.A living drollery. Now I will believeThat there are unicorns; that in ArabiaThere is one tree, the phoenix’ throne; one phoenixAt this hour reigning there.ANTONIO.I’ll believe both;And what does else want credit, come to me,And I’ll be sworn ’tis true: travellers ne’er did lie,Though fools at home condemn them.GONZALO.If in NaplesI should report this now, would they believe me?If I should say, I saw such islanders,—For, certes, these are people of the island,—Who, though, they are of monstrous shape, yet, note,Their manners are more gentle, kind, than ofOur human generation you shall findMany, nay, almost any.PROSPERO.[Aside.] Honest lord,Thou hast said well; for some of you there presentAre worse than devils.ALONSO.I cannot too much museSuch shapes, such gesture, and such sound, expressing—Although they want the use of tongue—a kindOf excellent dumb discourse.PROSPERO.[Aside.] Praise in departing.FRANCISCO.They vanish’d strangely.SEBASTIAN.No matter, sinceThey have left their viands behind; for we have stomachs.—Will’t please you taste of what is here?ALONSO.Not I.GONZALO.Faith, sir, you need not fear. When we were boys,Who would believe that there were mountaineersDewlapp’d like bulls, whose throats had hanging at ’emWallets of flesh? Or that there were such menWhose heads stood in their breasts? which now we findEach putter-out of five for one will bring usGood warrant of.ALONSO.I will stand to, and feed,Although my last, no matter, since I feelThe best is past. Brother, my lord the duke,Stand to, and do as we.Thunder and lightning. EnterAriellike a Harpy; claps his wings upon the table; and, with a quaint device, the banquet vanishes.ARIEL.You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,That hath to instrument this lower worldAnd what is in’t,—the never-surfeited seaHath caused to belch up you; and on this islandWhere man doth not inhabit; you ’mongst menBeing most unfit to live. I have made you mad;And even with such-like valour men hang and drownTheir proper selves.[SeeingAlonso, Sebastian&c., draw their swords.]You fools! I and my fellowsAre ministers of Fate: the elementsOf whom your swords are temper’d may as wellWound the loud winds, or with bemock’d-at stabsKill the still-closing waters, as diminishOne dowle that’s in my plume. My fellow-ministersAre like invulnerable. If you could hurt,Your swords are now too massy for your strengths,And will not be uplifted. But, remember—For that’s my business to you,—that you threeFrom Milan did supplant good Prospero;Expos’d unto the sea, which hath requit it,Him and his innocent child: for which foul deedThe powers, delaying, not forgetting, haveIncens’d the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,They have bereft; and do pronounce, by meLing’ring perdition,—worse than any deathCan be at once,—shall step by step attendYou and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from—Which here, in this most desolate isle, else fallsUpon your heads,—is nothing but heart-sorrow,And a clear life ensuing.[He vanishes in thunder: then, to soft music, enter the Shapes again, and dance, with mocks and mows, and carry out the table.]PROSPERO.[Aside.] Bravely the figure of this Harpy hast thouPerform’d, my Ariel; a grace it had, devouring.Of my instruction hast thou nothing batedIn what thou hadst to say: so, with good lifeAnd observation strange, my meaner ministersTheir several kinds have done. My high charms work,And these mine enemies are all knit upIn their distractions; they now are in my power;And in these fits I leave them, while I visitYoung Ferdinand,—whom they suppose is drown’d,—And his and mine lov’d darling.[Exit above.]GONZALO.I’ the name of something holy, sir, why stand youIn this strange stare?ALONSO.O, it is monstrous! monstrous!Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it;The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder,That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc’dThe name of Prosper: it did bass my trespass.Therefore my son i’ th’ ooze is bedded; andI’ll seek him deeper than e’er plummet sounded,And with him there lie mudded.[Exit.]SEBASTIAN.But one fiend at a time,I’ll fight their legions o’er.ANTONIO.I’ll be thy second.[ExeuntSebastianandAntonio.]GONZALO.All three of them are desperate: their great guilt,Like poison given to work a great time after,Now ’gins to bite the spirits. I do beseech youThat are of suppler joints, follow them swiftlyAnd hinder them from what this ecstasyMay now provoke them to.ADRIAN.Follow, I pray you.[Exeunt.]
EnterFerdinandbearing a log.
FERDINAND.There be some sports are painful, and their labourDelight in them sets off: some kinds of basenessAre nobly undergone; and most poor mattersPoint to rich ends. This my mean taskWould be as heavy to me as odious, butThe mistress which I serve quickens what’s dead,And makes my labours pleasures: O, she isTen times more gentle than her father’s crabbed,And he’s compos’d of harshness. I must removeSome thousands of these logs, and pile them up,Upon a sore injunction: my sweet mistressWeeps when she sees me work, and says such basenessHad never like executor. I forget:But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours,Most busy, least when I do it.
EnterMirandaandProsperobehind.
MIRANDA.Alas now, pray you,Work not so hard: I would the lightning hadBurnt up those logs that you are enjoin’d to pile!Pray, set it down and rest you. When this burns,’Twill weep for having wearied you. My fatherIs hard at study; pray, now, rest yourself:He’s safe for these three hours.
FERDINAND.O most dear mistress,The sun will set, before I shall dischargeWhat I must strive to do.
MIRANDA.If you’ll sit down,I’ll bear your logs the while. Pray give me that;I’ll carry it to the pile.
FERDINAND.No, precious creature;I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,Than you should such dishonour undergo,While I sit lazy by.
MIRANDA.It would become meAs well as it does you: and I should do itWith much more ease; for my good will is to it,And yours it is against.
PROSPERO.[Aside.] Poor worm! thou art infected.This visitation shows it.
MIRANDA.You look wearily.
FERDINAND.No, noble mistress; ’tis fresh morning with meWhen you are by at night. I do beseech you—Chiefly that I might set it in my prayers—What is your name?
MIRANDA.Miranda—O my father!I have broke your hest to say so.
FERDINAND.Admir’d Miranda!Indeed, the top of admiration; worthWhat’s dearest to the world! Full many a ladyI have ey’d with best regard, and many a timeTh’ harmony of their tongues hath into bondageBrought my too diligent ear: for several virtuesHave I lik’d several women; never anyWith so full soul but some defect in herDid quarrel with the noblest grace she ow’d,And put it to the foil: but you, O you,So perfect and so peerless, are createdOf every creature’s best.
MIRANDA.I do not knowOne of my sex; no woman’s face remember,Save, from my glass, mine own; nor have I seenMore that I may call men than you, good friend,And my dear father: how features are abroad,I am skilless of; but, by my modesty,The jewel in my dower, I would not wishAny companion in the world but you;Nor can imagination form a shape,Besides yourself, to like of. But I prattleSomething too wildly, and my father’s preceptsI therein do forget.
FERDINAND.I am, in my condition,A prince, Miranda; I do think, a King;I would not so!—and would no more endureThis wooden slavery than to sufferThe flesh-fly blow my mouth. Hear my soul speak:The very instant that I saw you, didMy heart fly to your service; there resides,To make me slave to it; and for your sakeAm I this patient log-man.
MIRANDA.Do you love me?
FERDINAND.O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound,And crown what I profess with kind event,If I speak true; if hollowly, invertWhat best is boded me to mischief! I,Beyond all limit of what else i’ the world,Do love, prize, honour you.
MIRANDA.I am a foolTo weep at what I am glad of.
PROSPERO.[Aside.] Fair encounterOf two most rare affections! Heavens rain graceOn that which breeds between ’em!
FERDINAND.Wherefore weep you?
MIRANDA.At mine unworthiness, that dare not offerWhat I desire to give; and much less takeWhat I shall die to want. But this is trifling;And all the more it seeks to hide itself,The bigger bulk it shows. Hence, bashful cunning!And prompt me, plain and holy innocence!I am your wife if you will marry me;If not, I’ll die your maid: to be your fellowYou may deny me; but I’ll be your servant,Whether you will or no.
FERDINAND.My mistress, dearest;And I thus humble ever.
MIRANDA.My husband, then?
FERDINAND.Ay, with a heart as willingAs bondage e’er of freedom: here’s my hand.
MIRANDA.And mine, with my heart in ’t: and now farewellTill half an hour hence.
FERDINAND.A thousand thousand!
[ExeuntFerdinandandMirandaseverally.]
PROSPERO.So glad of this as they, I cannot be,Who are surpris’d withal; but my rejoicingAt nothing can be more. I’ll to my book;For yet, ere supper time, must I performMuch business appertaining.
[Exit.]
EnterCalibanwith a bottle,StephanoandTrinculo.
STEPHANO.Tell not me:—when the butt is out we will drink water; not a drop before: therefore bear up, and board ’em. Servant-monster, drink to me.
TRINCULO.Servant-monster! The folly of this island! They say there’s but five upon this isle; we are three of them; if th’ other two be brained like us, the state totters.
STEPHANO.Drink, servant-monster, when I bid thee: thy eyes are almost set in thy head.
TRINCULO.Where should they be set else? He were a brave monster indeed, if they were set in his tail.
STEPHANO.My man-monster hath drown’d his tongue in sack: for my part, the sea cannot drown me; I swam, ere I could recover the shore, five-and-thirty leagues, off and on, by this light. Thou shalt be my lieutenant, monster, or my standard.
TRINCULO.Your lieutenant, if you list; he’s no standard.
STEPHANO.We’ll not run, Monsieur monster.
TRINCULO.Nor go neither. But you’ll lie like dogs, and yet say nothing neither.
STEPHANO.Moon-calf, speak once in thy life, if thou beest a good moon-calf.
CALIBAN.How does thy honour? Let me lick thy shoe. I’ll not serve him, he is not valiant.
TRINCULO.Thou liest, most ignorant monster: I am in case to justle a constable. Why, thou deboshed fish thou, was there ever man a coward that hath drunk so much sack as I today? Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie, being but half a fish and half a monster?
CALIBAN.Lo, how he mocks me! wilt thou let him, my lord?
TRINCULO.“Lord” quoth he! That a monster should be such a natural!
CALIBAN.Lo, lo again! bite him to death, I prithee.
STEPHANO.Trinculo, keep a good tongue in your head: if you prove a mutineer, the next tree! The poor monster’s my subject, and he shall not suffer indignity.
CALIBAN.I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleas’d to hearken once again to the suit I made to thee?
STEPHANO.Marry. will I. Kneel and repeat it. I will stand, and so shall Trinculo.
EnterAriel,invisible.
CALIBAN.As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.
ARIEL.Thou liest.
CALIBAN.Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou;I would my valiant master would destroy thee;I do not lie.
STEPHANO.Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in his tale, by this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth.
TRINCULO.Why, I said nothing.
STEPHANO.Mum, then, and no more. Proceed.
CALIBAN.I say, by sorcery he got this isle;From me he got it. If thy greatness will,Revenge it on him,—for I know thou dar’st;But this thing dare not,—
STEPHANO.That’s most certain.
CALIBAN.Thou shalt be lord of it and I’ll serve thee.
STEPHANO.How now shall this be compassed? Canst thou bring me to the party?
CALIBAN.Yea, yea, my lord: I’ll yield him thee asleep,Where thou mayst knock a nail into his head.
ARIEL.Thou liest. Thou canst not.
CALIBAN.What a pied ninny’s this! Thou scurvy patch!I do beseech thy greatness, give him blows,And take his bottle from him: when that’s goneHe shall drink nought but brine; for I’ll not show himWhere the quick freshes are.
STEPHANO.Trinculo, run into no further danger: interrupt the monster one word further, and by this hand, I’ll turn my mercy out o’ doors, and make a stock-fish of thee.
TRINCULO.Why, what did I? I did nothing. I’ll go farther off.
STEPHANO.Didst thou not say he lied?
ARIEL.Thou liest.
STEPHANO.Do I so? Take thou that.
[Strikes Trinculo.]
As you like this, give me the lie another time.
TRINCULO.I did not give the lie. Out o’ your wits and hearing too? A pox o’ your bottle! this can sack and drinking do. A murrain on your monster, and the devil take your fingers!
CALIBAN.Ha, ha, ha!
STEPHANO.Now, forward with your tale.—Prithee stand further off.
CALIBAN.Beat him enough: after a little time,I’ll beat him too.
STEPHANO.Stand farther.—Come, proceed.
CALIBAN.Why, as I told thee, ’tis a custom with himI’ th’ afternoon to sleep: there thou mayst brain him,Having first seiz’d his books; or with a logBatter his skull, or paunch him with a stake,Or cut his wezand with thy knife. RememberFirst to possess his books; for without themHe’s but a sot, as I am, nor hath notOne spirit to command: they all do hate himAs rootedly as I. Burn but his books.He has brave utensils,—for so he calls them,—Which, when he has a house, he’ll deck withal.And that most deeply to consider isThe beauty of his daughter; he himselfCalls her a nonpareil: I never saw a womanBut only Sycorax my dam and she;But she as far surpasseth SycoraxAs great’st does least.
STEPHANO.Is it so brave a lass?
CALIBAN.Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant,And bring thee forth brave brood.
STEPHANO.Monster, I will kill this man. His daughter and I will be king and queen,—save our graces!—and Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys. Dost thou like the plot, Trinculo?
TRINCULO.Excellent.
STEPHANO.Give me thy hand: I am sorry I beat thee; but while thou liv’st, keep a good tongue in thy head.
CALIBAN.Within this half hour will he be asleep.Wilt thou destroy him then?
STEPHANO.Ay, on mine honour.
ARIEL.This will I tell my master.
CALIBAN.Thou mak’st me merry. I am full of pleasure.Let us be jocund: will you troll the catchYou taught me but while-ere?
STEPHANO.At thy request, monster, I will do reason, any reason. Come on, Trinculo, let us sing.
[Sings.]
Flout ’em and cout ’em,and scout ’em and flout ’em:Thought is free.
CALIBAN.That’s not the tune.
[Arielplays the tune on a tabor and pipe.]
STEPHANO.What is this same?
TRINCULO.This is the tune of our catch, played by the picture of Nobody.
STEPHANO.If thou beest a man, show thyself in thy likeness: if thou beest a devil, take ’t as thou list.
TRINCULO.O, forgive me my sins!
STEPHANO.He that dies pays all debts: I defy thee. Mercy upon us!
CALIBAN.Art thou afeard?
STEPHANO.No, monster, not I.
CALIBAN.Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.Sometimes a thousand twangling instrumentsWill hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,That, if I then had wak’d after long sleep,Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,The clouds methought would open and show richesReady to drop upon me; that, when I wak’d,I cried to dream again.
STEPHANO.This will prove a brave kingdom to me, where I shall have my music for nothing.
CALIBAN.When Prospero is destroyed.
STEPHANO.That shall be by and by: I remember the story.
TRINCULO.The sound is going away. Let’s follow it, and after do our work.
STEPHANO.Lead, monster: we’ll follow. I would I could see this taborer! he lays it on. Wilt come?
TRINCULO.I’ll follow, Stephano.
[Exeunt.]
EnterAlonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Adrian, Francisco,&c.
GONZALO.By ’r lakin, I can go no further, sir;My old bones ache: here’s a maze trod, indeed,Through forth-rights and meanders! By your patience,I needs must rest me.
ALONSO.Old lord, I cannot blame thee,Who am myself attach’d with wearinessTo th’ dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.Even here I will put off my hope, and keep itNo longer for my flatterer: he is drown’dWhom thus we stray to find; and the sea mocksOur frustrate search on land. Well, let him go.
ANTONIO.[Aside to Sebastian.] I am right glad that he’sso out of hope.Do not, for one repulse, forgo the purposeThat you resolv’d to effect.
SEBASTIAN.[Aside to Antonio.] The next advantageWill we take throughly.
ANTONIO.[Aside to Sebastian.] Let it be tonight;For, now they are oppress’d with travel, theyWill not, nor cannot, use such vigilanceAs when they are fresh.
SEBASTIAN.[Aside to Antonio.] I say, tonight: no more.
Solemn and strange music: andProsperoabove, invisible. Enter several strange Shapes, bringing in a banquet: they dance about it with gentle actions of salutation; and inviting theKing&c., to eat, they depart.
ALONSO.What harmony is this? My good friends, hark!
GONZALO.Marvellous sweet music!
ALONSO.Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these?
SEBASTIAN.A living drollery. Now I will believeThat there are unicorns; that in ArabiaThere is one tree, the phoenix’ throne; one phoenixAt this hour reigning there.
ANTONIO.I’ll believe both;And what does else want credit, come to me,And I’ll be sworn ’tis true: travellers ne’er did lie,Though fools at home condemn them.
GONZALO.If in NaplesI should report this now, would they believe me?If I should say, I saw such islanders,—For, certes, these are people of the island,—Who, though, they are of monstrous shape, yet, note,Their manners are more gentle, kind, than ofOur human generation you shall findMany, nay, almost any.
PROSPERO.[Aside.] Honest lord,Thou hast said well; for some of you there presentAre worse than devils.
ALONSO.I cannot too much museSuch shapes, such gesture, and such sound, expressing—Although they want the use of tongue—a kindOf excellent dumb discourse.
PROSPERO.[Aside.] Praise in departing.
FRANCISCO.They vanish’d strangely.
SEBASTIAN.No matter, sinceThey have left their viands behind; for we have stomachs.—Will’t please you taste of what is here?
ALONSO.Not I.
GONZALO.Faith, sir, you need not fear. When we were boys,Who would believe that there were mountaineersDewlapp’d like bulls, whose throats had hanging at ’emWallets of flesh? Or that there were such menWhose heads stood in their breasts? which now we findEach putter-out of five for one will bring usGood warrant of.
ALONSO.I will stand to, and feed,Although my last, no matter, since I feelThe best is past. Brother, my lord the duke,Stand to, and do as we.
Thunder and lightning. EnterAriellike a Harpy; claps his wings upon the table; and, with a quaint device, the banquet vanishes.
ARIEL.You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,That hath to instrument this lower worldAnd what is in’t,—the never-surfeited seaHath caused to belch up you; and on this islandWhere man doth not inhabit; you ’mongst menBeing most unfit to live. I have made you mad;And even with such-like valour men hang and drownTheir proper selves.
[SeeingAlonso, Sebastian&c., draw their swords.]
You fools! I and my fellowsAre ministers of Fate: the elementsOf whom your swords are temper’d may as wellWound the loud winds, or with bemock’d-at stabsKill the still-closing waters, as diminishOne dowle that’s in my plume. My fellow-ministersAre like invulnerable. If you could hurt,Your swords are now too massy for your strengths,And will not be uplifted. But, remember—For that’s my business to you,—that you threeFrom Milan did supplant good Prospero;Expos’d unto the sea, which hath requit it,Him and his innocent child: for which foul deedThe powers, delaying, not forgetting, haveIncens’d the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,They have bereft; and do pronounce, by meLing’ring perdition,—worse than any deathCan be at once,—shall step by step attendYou and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from—Which here, in this most desolate isle, else fallsUpon your heads,—is nothing but heart-sorrow,And a clear life ensuing.
[He vanishes in thunder: then, to soft music, enter the Shapes again, and dance, with mocks and mows, and carry out the table.]
PROSPERO.[Aside.] Bravely the figure of this Harpy hast thouPerform’d, my Ariel; a grace it had, devouring.Of my instruction hast thou nothing batedIn what thou hadst to say: so, with good lifeAnd observation strange, my meaner ministersTheir several kinds have done. My high charms work,And these mine enemies are all knit upIn their distractions; they now are in my power;And in these fits I leave them, while I visitYoung Ferdinand,—whom they suppose is drown’d,—And his and mine lov’d darling.
[Exit above.]
GONZALO.I’ the name of something holy, sir, why stand youIn this strange stare?
ALONSO.O, it is monstrous! monstrous!Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it;The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder,That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc’dThe name of Prosper: it did bass my trespass.Therefore my son i’ th’ ooze is bedded; andI’ll seek him deeper than e’er plummet sounded,And with him there lie mudded.
[Exit.]
SEBASTIAN.But one fiend at a time,I’ll fight their legions o’er.
ANTONIO.I’ll be thy second.
[ExeuntSebastianandAntonio.]
GONZALO.All three of them are desperate: their great guilt,Like poison given to work a great time after,Now ’gins to bite the spirits. I do beseech youThat are of suppler joints, follow them swiftlyAnd hinder them from what this ecstasyMay now provoke them to.
ADRIAN.Follow, I pray you.
[Exeunt.]