Online Book Reader

Home Category

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [1187]

By Root 20361 0

FERDINAND.

So they are;

My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.

My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,

The wreck of all my friends, nor this man's threats

To whom I am subdu'd, are but light to me,

Might I but through my prison once a day

Behold this maid. All corners else o' th' earth

Let liberty make use of; space enough

Have I in such a prison.

PROSPERO.

[Aside] It works. [To FERDINAND] Come on.-

Thou hast done well, fine Ariel! [To FERDINAND] Follow me.

[To ARIEL] Hark what thou else shalt do me.

MIRANDA.

Be of comfort;

My father's of a better nature, sir,

Than he appears by speech; this is unwonted

Which now came from him.

PROSPERO.

[To ARIEL] Thou shalt be as free

As mountain winds; but then exactly do

All points of my command.

ARIEL.

To th' syllable.

PROSPERO.

[To FERDINAND] Come, follow. [To MIRANDA]

Speak not for him. Exeunt

ACT II. SCENE 1

Another part of the island

Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and

OTHERS

GONZALO.

Beseech you, sir, be merry; you have cause,

So have we all, of joy; for our escape

Is much beyond our loss. Our hint of woe

Is common; every day, some sailor's wife,

The masters of some merchant, and the merchant,

Have just our theme of woe; but for the miracle,

I mean our preservation, few in millions

Can speak like us. Then wisely, good sir, weigh

Our sorrow with our comfort.

ALONSO.

Prithee, peace.

SEBASTIAN.

He receives comfort like cold porridge.

ANTONIO.

The visitor will not give him o'er so.

SEBASTIAN.

Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by

and by it will strike.

GONZALO.

Sir-

SEBASTIAN.

One-Tell.

GONZALO.

When every grief is entertain'd that's offer'd,

Comes to th' entertainer-

SEBASTIAN.

A dollar.

GONZALO.

Dolour comes to him, indeed; you have spoken

truer than you purpos'd.

SEBASTIAN.

You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should.

GONZALO.

Therefore, my lord-

ANTONIO.

Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue!

ALONSO.

I prithee, spare.

GONZALO.

Well, I have done; but yet-

SEBASTIAN.

He will be talking.

ANTONIO.

Which, of he or Adrian, for a good wager, first begins to crow?

SEBASTIAN.

The old cock.

ANTONIO.

The cock'rel.

SEBASTIAN.

Done. The wager?

ANTONIO.

A laughter.

SEBASTIAN.

A match!

ADRIAN.

Though this island seem to be desert-

ANTONIO.

Ha, ha, ha!

SEBASTIAN.

So, you're paid.

ADRIAN.

Uninhabitable, and almost inaccessible-

SEBASTIAN.

Yet-

ADRIAN.

Yet-

ANTONIO.

He could not miss't.

ADRIAN.

It must needs be of subtle, tender, and delicate temperance.

ANTONIO.

Temperance was a delicate wench.

SEBASTIAN.

Ay, and a subtle; as he most learnedly deliver'd.

ADRIAN.

The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.

SEBASTIAN.

As if it had lungs, and rotten ones.

ANTONIO.

Or, as 'twere perfum'd by a fen.

GONZALO.

Here is everything advantageous to life.

ANTONIO.

True; save means to live.

SEBASTIAN.

Of that there's none, or little.

GONZALO.

How lush and lusty the grass looks! how green!

ANTONIO.

The ground indeed is tawny.

SEBASTIAN.

With an eye of green in't.

ANTONIO.

He misses not much.

SEBASTIAN.

No; he doth but mistake the truth totally.

GONZALO.

But the rarity of it is, which is indeed almost

beyond credit-

SEBASTIAN.

As many vouch'd rarities are.

GONZALO.

That our garments, being, as they were, drench'd

in the sea, hold, notwithstanding, their freshness and

glosses, being rather new-dy'd, than stain'd with salt water.

ANTONIO.

If but one of his pockets could speak, would it not say he lies?

SEBASTIAN.

Ay, or very falsely pocket up his report.

GONZALO.

Methinks our garments are now as fresh as when

we put them on first in Afric, at the marriage of the

King's fair daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis.

SEBASTIAN.

'Twas a sweet marriage, and we prosper well in our return.

ADRIAN.

Tunis was never grac'd before with such a paragon to their queen.

GONZALO.

Not since widow

Return Main Page Previous Page Next Page

®Online Book Reader