The Winter's Tale
Page 7
When I have said212, cry woe! The queen, the queen,
The sweet'st, dear'st creature's dead, and vengeance for't
Not dropped down214 yet.
A LORD The higher powers forbid!
PAULINA I say she's dead. I'll swear't. If word nor oath
Prevail not, go and see. If you can bring
Tincture or lustre218 in her lip, her eye,
Heat outwardly or breath within, I'll serve you
As I would do the gods. But, O thou tyrant,
Do not repent these things, for they are heavier
Than all thy woes can stir221: therefore betake thee
To222 nothing but despair. A thousand knees
Ten thousand years together, naked, fasting,
Upon a barren mountain and still225 winter
In storm perpetual, could not move the gods
To look that way thou wert227.
LEONTES Go on, go on.
Thou canst not speak too much. I have deserved
All tongues to talk their bitt'rest.
To Paulina
A LORD Say no more.
Howe'er the business goes, you have made fault
I'th'boldness of your speech232.
PAULINA I am sorry for't;
All faults I make, when I shall come to know them,
I do repent. Alas, I have showed too much
The rashness of a woman. He is touched
To th'noble heart. What's gone and what's past help
Should be past grief. Do not receive affliction
At my petition240; I beseech you, rather
Let me be punished, that have minded241 you
Of what you should forget. Now, good my liege,
Sir, royal sir, forgive a foolish woman.
The love I bore your queen -- lo, fool again! --
I'll speak of her no more, nor of your children.
I'll not remember246 you of my own lord,
Who is lost too. Take your patience247 to you,
And I'll say nothing.
LEONTES Thou didst speak but well
When most the truth249, which I receive much better
Than to be pitied of251 thee. Prithee bring me
To the dead bodies of my queen and son.
One grave shall be for both: upon them253 shall
The causes of their death appear, unto
Our shame perpetual. Once a day I'll visit
The chapel where they lie, and tears shed there
Shall be my recreation. So long as nature
Will bear up with this exercise257, so long
I daily vow to use259 it. Come and lead me
To these sorrows.
Exeunt
Act 3 Scene 3 running scene 7
Location: Bohemia (coast)
* * *
Enter Antigonus [carrying the] babe, [and] a Mariner
ANTIGONUS Thou art1 perfect then, our ship hath touched upon
The deserts2 of Bohemia?
MARINER Ay, my lord, and fear
We have landed in ill time. The skies look grimly
And threaten present blusters5. In my conscience,
The heavens with that we have in hand6 are angry
And frown upon's.
ANTIGONUS Their sacred wills be done! Go, get aboard.
Look to thy bark9. I'll not be long before
I call upon thee.
MARINER Make your best haste, and go not
Too far i'th'land: 'tis like to be loud12 weather.
Besides, this place is famous for the creatures
Of prey that keep upon't.
ANTIGONUS Go thou away. I'll follow instantly.
MARINER I am glad at heart
To be so rid o'th'business.
Exit
ANTIGONUS Come, poor babe.
I have heard, but not believed, the spirits o'th'dead
May walk again. If such thing be, thy mother
Appeared to me last night, for ne'er was dream
So like a waking. To me comes a creature22,
Sometimes her head on one side, some another23.
I never saw a vessel24 of like sorrow,
So filled and so becoming25. In pure white robes,
Like very sanctity26, she did approach
My cabin where I lay, thrice bowed before me,
And, gasping to begin some speech, her eyes
Became two spouts; the fury29 spent, anon
Did this break from her: 'Good Antigonus,
Since fate, against thy better disposition,
Hath made thy person for the thrower-out
Of my poor babe, according to thine oath,
Places remote enough are in Bohemia.
There weep and leave it crying. And, for35 the babe
Is counted lost forever, Perdita36,
I prithee call't. For this ungentle37 business
Put on thee by my lord, thou ne'er shalt see
Thy wife Paulina more.' And so, with shrieks39
She melted into air. Affrighted much,
I did in time collect myself and thought
This was so and no slumber. Dreams are toys42,
Yet for this once, yea superstitiously,
I will be squared44 by this. I do believe
Hermione hath suffered death, and that
Apollo would, this being indeed the issue
Of King Polixenes, it should here be laid,
Either for life or death, upon the earth
Of its right father. Blossom, speed49 thee well.
Lays down the baby
There lie, and there thy character50: there these,
Which may, if fortune please, both breed thee, pretty,
And still rest thine51. The storm begins. Poor wretch,
Thunder
That for thy mother's fault53 art thus exposed
To loss and what may follow! Weep I cannot,
But my heart bleeds. And most accursed am I
To be by oath enjoined56 to this. Farewell!
The day frowns more and more: thou'rt like to have
A lullaby too rough. I never saw
The heavens so dim by day. A savage clamour59!
Well may I get aboard. This is the chase60!
I am gone forever.
Exit, pursued by a bear
[Enter a Shepherd]
SHEPHERD I would there were no age between ten and three-
and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest, for there
is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child,
wronging the ancientry65, stealing, fighting -- Hark you now!
Would any but these boiled-brains66 of nineteen and two-and-twenty
hunt this67 weather? They have scared away two of my
best sheep, which I fear the wolf will sooner find than the
master. If anywhere I have them, 'tis by the seaside,
browsing of70 ivy. Good luck, an't be thy will. What have we here?
Mercy on's, a bairn71? A very pretty bairn!
Sees the baby
A boy or a child72, I wonder? A pretty one, a very pretty one.
Sure, some scape73. Though I am not bookish, yet I can read
waiting-gentlewoman in the scape. This has been some stair-work,
some trunk-work, some behind-door-work74: they were
warmer76 that got this than the poor thing is here. I'll take it
up for pity -- yet I'll tarry77 till my son come. He hallooed but
even now. Whoa, ho, hoa!
Enter Clown78
CLOWN Hilloa, loa!
SHEPHERD What? Art so near? If thou'lt see a thing to talk on80
when thou art dead and rotten, come hither. What ailest81
thou, man?
CLOWN I have seen two such sights, by sea and by land! But
I am not to say it is a sea, for it is now the sky: betwixt the
firmament85 and it you cannot thrust a bodkin point.
SHEPHER
D Why, boy, how is it?
CLOWN I would you did but see how it chafes87, how it rages,
how it takes up88 the shore! But that's not to the point. O, the
most piteous cry of the poor souls! Sometimes to see 'em,
and not to see 'em. Now the ship boring90 the moon with her
main-mast, and anon91 swallowed with yeast and froth, as
you'd thrust a cork into a hogshead92. And then for the land-service,
to see how the bear tore out his shoulder-bone. How
he cried to me for help and said his name was Antigonus, a
nobleman. But to make an end of the ship95, to see how the sea
flap-dragoned96 it. But first, how the poor souls roared, and
the sea mocked them. And how the poor gentleman roared
and the bear mocked him, both roaring louder than the sea
or weather.
SHEPHERD Name of mercy, when was this, boy?
CLOWN Now, now. I have not winked101 since I saw these
sights. The men are not yet cold under water, nor the bear
half dined on the gentleman. He's at it now.
SHEPHERD Would I had been by104, to have helped the old man!
CLOWN I would you had been by the ship side, to have
helped her; there your charity would have lacked footing106.
SHEPHERD Heavy107 matters, heavy matters! But look thee here,
boy. Now bless thyself. Thou met'st108 with things dying, I with
things newborn. Here's a sight for thee: look thee, a bearing-cloth109
for a squire's110 child. Look thee here. Take up, take up,
boy. Open't. So, let's see -- it was told me I should be rich by
the fairies -- this is some changeling112. Open't. What's within,
boy?
CLOWN You're a made old man. If the sins of
Opens the box
your youth are forgiven you, you're well to live115. Gold, all gold!
SHEPHERD This is fairy gold116, boy, and 'twill prove so. Up with't,
keep it close117. Home, home, the next way. We are lucky, boy,
and to be so still118 requires nothing but secrecy. Let my sheep
go. Come, good boy, the next way home.
CLOWN Go you the next way with your findings. I'll go see if
the bear be gone from the gentleman and how much he hath
eaten. They are never curst122 but when they are hungry. If
there be any of him left, I'll bury it.
SHEPHERD That's a good deed. If thou mayst discern by that
which is left of him what125 he is, fetch me to th'sight of him.
CLOWN Marry126, will I. And you shall help to put him
i'th'ground.
SHEPHERD 'Tis a lucky day, boy, and we'll do good deeds on't.
Exeunt
Act 4 Scene 1 running scene 8
Location: the theater
* * *
Enter Time, the Chorus
TIME I, that please some, try1 all, both joy and terror
Of good and bad, that makes and unfolds2 error,
Now take upon me, in the name of Time,
To use my wings4. Impute it not a crime
To me or my swift passage, that I slide
O'er sixteen years and leave the growth untried6
Of that wide gap, since it is in my power
To o'erthrow law and in one self-born8 hour
To plant and o'erwhelm9 custom. Let me pass
The same I am, ere ancient'st order was
Or what is now received10. I witness11 to
The times that brought them12 in, so shall I do
To th'freshest things now reigning and make stale
The glistering of this present13, as my tale
Now seems to it15. Your patience this allowing,
I turn my glass16 and give my scene such growing
As17 you had slept between. Leontes leaving --
Th'effects of his fond jealousies so grieving
That he shuts up himself -- imagine me,
Gentle20 spectators, that I now may be
In fair Bohemia, and remember well,
I mentioned a son o'th'king's22, which Florizel
I now name to you, and with speed so pace23
To speak of Perdita, now grown in grace
Equal with wond'ring25. What of her ensues
I list not prophesy26, but let Time's news
Be known when 'tis brought forth. A shepherd's daughter
And what to her adheres28, which follows after,
Is th'argument29 of Time. Of this allow,
If ever you have spent time worse ere now.
If never, yet31 that Time himself doth say
He wishes earnestly you never may.
Exit
Act 4 Scene 2 running scene 9
Location: Bohemia (court)
* * *
Enter Polixenes and Camillo
POLIXENES I pray thee, good Camillo, be no more importunate1:
'Tis a sickness denying2 thee anything, a death to grant this.
CAMILLO It is fifteen3 years since I saw my country. Though I
have for the most part been aired4 abroad, I desire to lay my
bones there. Besides, the penitent king, my master, hath sent
for me, to whose feeling6 sorrows I might be some allay, or I
o'erween7 to think so, which is another spur to my departure.
POLIXENES As thou lovest me, Camillo, wipe not out the rest of
thy services by leaving me now: the need I have of thee thine
own goodness hath made: better not to have had thee than
thus to want11 thee. Thou, having made me businesses which
none without thee can sufficiently manage, must either stay
to execute them thyself or take away with thee the very
services thou hast done, which if I have not enough
considered15, as too much I cannot, to be more thankful to
thee shall be my study, and my profit therein the heaping
friendships16. Of that fatal17 country, Sicilia, prithee speak
no more, whose very naming punishes me with the
remembrance of that penitent, as thou call'st him, and
reconciled20 king, my brother, whose loss of his most precious
queen and children are even now to be afresh lamented. Say
to me, when sawest thou the Prince Florizel, my son? Kings
are no less unhappy23, their issue not being gracious, than
they are in losing them when they have approved24 their
virtues.
CAMILLO Sir, it is three days since I saw the prince. What his
happier affairs may be, are to me unknown. But I have
missingly noted28, he is of late much retired from court and is
less frequent to his princely exercises29 than formerly he hath
appeared.
POLIXENES I have considered so much, Camillo, and with some
care -- so far that I have eyes under my service32 which look
upon his removedness33, from whom I have this intelligence,
that he is seldom from the house of a most homely shepherd:
a man, they say, that from very nothing, and beyond
the imagination of his neighbours, is grown into an
unspeakable estate37.
CAMILLO I have heard, sir, of such a man, who hath a
daughter of most rare note39. The report of her is extended
more than can be thought to begin40 from such a cottage.
POLIXENES That's likewise part of my intelligence: but, I fear,
the angle42 that plucks our son thither. Thou shalt accompany
us to the place where we will, not appearing what we are,
have some question44 with the shepherd, from whose
simplicity I think it not uneasy45 to get the cause of my son's
resort thither. Prithee be
my present46 partner in this business,
and lay aside the thoughts of Sicilia.
CAMILLO I willingly obey your command.
POLIXENES My best Camillo, we must disguise ourselves.
Exeunt
Act 4 Scene 3 running scene 10
Location: Bohemia (rural)
* * *
Enter Autolycus singing
AUTOLYCUS When daffodils begin to peer1,
With hey, the doxy2 over the dale,
Why then comes in the sweet o'3 the year,
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale4.
The white sheet bleaching on the hedge5,
With hey, the sweet birds, O, how they sing!
Doth set my pugging tooth an edge7.
For a quart of ale is a dish for a king.
The lark, that tirra-lirra chants,
With hey, the thrush and the jay,
Are summer songs for me and my aunts11,
While we lie tumbling12 in the hay.
I have served Prince Florizel and in my time wore three-pile13,
but now I am out of service14.
But shall I go mourn for that, my dear?
The pale moon shines by night,
And when I wander here and there,
I then do most go right.
If tinkers19 may have leave to live,
And bear the sow-skin budget20,
Then my account I well may give,
And in the stocks avouch it22.
My traffic23 is sheets. When the kite builds, look to lesser linen.
My father named me Autolycus, who being, as I am, littered
under24 Mercury25, was likewise a snapper-up of unconsidered
trifles. With die26 and drab I purchased this caparison, and my
revenue is the silly cheat27. Gallows and knock are too
powerful on the highway. Beating and hanging are terrors to
me. For the life to come29, I sleep out the thought of it. A prize,
a prize!
He sees the Clown approaching
Enter Clown
CLOWN Let me see, every 'leven wether tods31, every tod yields
pound and odd32 shilling. Fifteen hundred shorn, what comes
the wool to?
AUTOLYCUS If the springe34 hold, the cock's mine.
Aside
CLOWN I cannot do't without counters35. Let me see, what am
I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast36? Three pound of sugar,
five pound of currants, rice -- what will this sister of mine
do with rice? But my father hath made her mistress of the
feast, and she lays it on39. She hath made me four-and-twenty
nosegays40 for the shearers -- three-man-song-men all, and
very good ones -- but they are most of them means41 and
basses; but one puritan42 amongst them, and he sings psalms
to hornpipes43. I must have saffron to colour the warden pies.
Mace44, dates? -- none, that's out of my note. Nutmegs,
seven; a race45 or two of ginger, but that I may beg. Four
pound of prunes, and as many of raisins o'th'sun46.
AUTOLYCUS O, that ever I was born!
Grovels on
CLOWN I'th'name of me48.