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Lest death do vent her birth and her together.

(Thunder.

Assist, you spirits of infernal deeps,

Squint ey'd Erictho, midnight Incubus,

Rose, rise to aid this birth prodigious.

Enter LUCINA and the three Fates.

Thanks, Hecate; hail, sister to the Gods!

There lies your way, haste with the Fates, and help,

Give quick dispatch unto her laboring throws,

To bring this mixture of infernal seed

To humane being;

(Exit Fates.

And to beguil her pains, till back you come,

Anticks shall dance and Musick fill the room. -

(Dance.

DEVIL.

Thanks, Queen of Shades.

LUCINA.

Farewel, great servant to th'infernal King.

In honor of this child, the Fates shall bring

All their assisting powers of Knowledge, Arts,

Learning, Wisdom, all the hidden parts

Of all-admiring Prophecy, to fore-see

The event of times to come: his Art shall stand

A wall of brass to guard the Brittain Land.

Even from this minute, all his Arts appears

Manlike in Judgement, Person, State and years.

Upon his brest the Fates have fixt his name,

And since his birth palce was this forrest here,

They now have nam'd him Merlin Silvester.

DEVIL.

And Merlins name in Brittany shall live,

Whilst men inhabit here or Fates can give

Power to amazing wonder; envy shall weep,

And mischief sit and shake her ebbone wings,

Whilst all the world of Merlins magick sings.

(Exit.

Scene IV.

The Forest.)

Enter CLOWN.

CLOWN.

Well, I wonder how my poor sister does, after all this thundering;

I think she's dead, for I can hear no tidings of her. Those woods

yields small comfort for her; I could meet nothing but a swinherds wife,

keeping hogs by the Forestside, but neither she nor none of her sowes

would stir a foot to help us; indeed, I think she durst not trust

her self amongst the trees with me, for I must needs confess I offer'd

some kindness to her. Well, I would fain know what's become of my sister:

if she have brought me a yong Cousin, his face may be a picture to finde

his Father by. So oh! sister Joan, Joan Go-too't, where art thou?

(Within) JOAN.

Here, here, brother, stay but a while, I come to thee.

CLOWN.

O brave! she's alive still, I know her voice; she speaks, and speaks

cherfully, methinks. How now, what Moon-calf has she got with her?

Enter JOAN and MERLIN with a Book.

JOAN.

Come, my dear Merlin, why dost thou fix thine eye

So deeply on that book?

MERLIN.

To sound the depth

Of Arts, of Learning, Wisdom, Knowledge.

JOAN.

Oh, my dear, dear son,

Those studies fits thee when thou art a man.

MERLIN.

Why, mother, I can be but half a man at best,

And that is your mortality; the rest

In me is spirit; 'tis not meat, nor time,

That gives this growth and bigness; no, my years

Shall be more strange then yet my birth appears.

Look, mother, there's my Uncle.

JOAN.

How doest thou know him, son? thou never saw'st him.

MERLIN.

Yet I know him, and know the pains he has taken for ye, to finde

out my Father. - Give me your hand, good Uncle.

CLOWN.

Ha, ha, I'de laugh at that, yfaith. Do you know me, sir?

MERLIN.

Yes, by the same token that even now you kist the swinherds-wife

i'th'woods, and would have done more, if she would have let you, Uncle.

CLOWN.

A witch, a witch, a witch, sister: rid him out of your company,

he is either a witch or a conjurer; he could never have known this else.

JOAN.

Pray, love him, brother, he is my son.

CLOWN.

Ha, ha, this is worse than all the rest, yfaith; by my beard he is

more like your husband. Let me see, is your great belly gone?

JOAN.

Yes, and this the happy fruit.

CLOWN.

What, this Hartichoke? A Childe born with a beard on his face?

MERLIN.

Yes, and strong legs to go, and teeth to eat.

CLOWN.

You can nurse up your self, then? There's some charges sav'd for

Soap and Caudle. 'Slid, I have heard of some that have been born

with teeth, but never none with such a talking tongue before.

JOAN.

Come, come, you must use him kindly, brother;

Did you but know his worth, you would make much of him.