Clo. He seems to be the more noble in being fantastical: a great man, I'll warrant; I know, by the picking on 's teeth.4 Aut. The fardel there? what's i' the fardel? Wherefore that box? Shep. Sir, there lies such secrets in this fardel, and box, which none must know but the king; and which he shall know within this hour, if I may come to the speech of him. Aut. Age, thou hast lost thy labour. Shep. Why, sir? Aut. The king is not at the palace; he is gone aboard a new ship to purge melancholy, and air himself: For, if thou be'st capable of things serious, thou must know, the king is full of grief. Shep. So 'tis said, sir; about his son, that should have married a shepherd's daughter. Aut. If that shepherd be not in hand-fast, let him fly; the curses he shall have, the tortures he shall feel, will break the back of man, the heart of monster. Clo. Think you so, sir? Aut. Not he alone shall suffer what wit can make heavy, and vengeance bitter; but those that are germane to him, though removed fifty times, shall all come under the hangman: which though it be great pity, yet it is necessary. An old sheep-whistling rogue, a ram-tender, to offer to have his daughter come into grace! Some say, he shall be stoned; but that death is too soft for him, say I Draw our throne into a sheep-cote! all deaths are too few, the sharpest too easy. Clo. Has the old man e'er a son, sir, do you hear, an 't like you, sir? Aut. He has a son, who shall be flayed alive; then, 'nointed over with honey,5 set on the head of a wasp's 4 a great man, by the picking on's teeth.] It seems, that to pick the teeth was, at this time, a mark of some pretension to greatness or elegance. So, the Bastard, in King John, speaking of the traveller, says: 5 "He and his pick-tooth at my worship's mess.". Johnson. then, 'nointed over with honey, &c.] A punishment of this sort is recorded in a book which Shakspeare might have seen:he caused a cage of yron to be made, and set it in the sunne : and, after annointing the pore Prince over with hony, forced him nest; then stand, till he be three quarters and a dram dead: then recovered again with aqua-vitæ, or some other hot infusion: then, raw as he is, and in the hottest day prognostication proclaims, shall he be set against a brick-wall, the sun looking with a southward eye upon him; where he is to behold him, with flies blown to death. But what talk we of these traitorly rascals, whose miseries are to be smiled at, their offences being so capital? Tell me, (for you seem to be honest plain men) what you have to the king: being something gently considered, I'll bring you where he is aboard, tender your persons to his presence, whisper him in your behalfs; and, if it be in man, besides the king, to effect your suits, here is man shall do it. 7 Clo. He seems to be of great authority: close with him, give him gold; and though authority be a stubborn bear, yet he is oft led by the nose with gold: show the inside of your purse to the outside of his hand, and no more ado: Remember, stoned, and flayed alive. Shep. An 't please you, sir, to undertake the business for us, here is that gold I have: I'll make it as much more; and leave this young man in pawn, till I bring it you. Aut. After I have done what I promised? Shep. Ay, sir. naked to enter into it, where hee long time endured the greatest languor and torment in the worlde, with swarmes of flies that dayly fed on hym; and in this sorte, with paine and famine, ended his miserable life." The Stage of Popish Toyes, 1581, p. 33. Reed. 6 the hottest day prognostication proclaims,] That is, the hottest day foretold in the almanack. Johnson. Almanacks were in Shakspeare's time published under this title: "An Almanack and Prognostication made for the year of our Lord God, 1595." See Herbert's Typograph. Antiq. II, 1029. Malone. 7 being something gently considered,] Means, I having a gentlemanlike consideration given me, i. e. a bribe, will bring you, &c. So, in The Three Ladies of London, 1584: 66 sure, sir, I'll consider it hereafter if I can. "What, consider me? dost thou think that I am a bribetaker ?" Again, in The Isle of Gulls, 1633: "Thou shalt be well considered, there's twenty crowns in earnest." Steevens. Aut. Well, give me the moiety:-Are you a party in this business? Clo. In some sort, sir: but though my case be a pitiful one, I hope I shall not be flayed out of it. Aut. O, that's the case of the shepherd's son:-Hang him, he'll be made an example. Clo. Comfort, good comfort: we must to the king, and show our strange sights: he must know, 'tis none of your daughter, nor my sister; we are gone else. Sir, I will give you as much as this old man does, when the business is performed; and remain, as he says, your pawn, till it be brought you. Aut. I will trust you. Walk before toward the seaside; go on the right hand; I will but look upon the hedge, and follow you. Clo. We are blessed in this man, as I may say, even blessed. Shep. Let's before, as he bids us: he was provided to do us good. [Exeunt Shep. and Clo. Aut. If I had a mind to be honest, I see, fortune would not suffer me; she drops booties in my mouth. I am courted now with a double occasion; gold, and a means to do the prince my master good; which, who knows how that may turn back to my advancement? I will bring these two moles, these blind ones, aboard him: if he think it fit to shore them again, and that the complaint they have to the king concerns him nothing, let him call me, rogue, for being so far officious; for I am proof against that title, and what shame else belongs to 't: To him, will I present them, there may be matter in it. [Exit. ACT V..... SCENE I. Sicilia. A Room in the Palace of Leontes. Enter LEONTES, CLEOMENES, DION, PAULINA, and Others. Cleo. Sir, you have done enough, and have perform'd A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make, Which you have not redeem'd; indeed, paid down More penitence, than done trespass: At the last, Leon. Whilst I remember Her, and her virtues, I cannot forget My blemishes in them; and so still think of Paul. True, too true, my lord: Or, from the all that are, took something good,9 Leon. I think so. Kill'd! She I kill'd? I did so: but thou strik'st me Upon thy tongue, as in my thought: Now, good now, Cleo. Not at all, good lady: You might have spoken a thousand things that would Have done the time more benefit, and grac'd Your kindness better. Paul. You are one of those, Would have him wed again. If you would not so, Dion. 8 True, too true, my lord:] In former editions: Destroy'd the sweet'st companion, that e'er man, Bred his hopes out of, true. Paul. Too true, my lord: A very slight examination will convince every intelligent reader, that true, here has jumped out of its place in all the editions. Theobald. 9 Or, from the all that are, took something good,] This is a favourite thought; it was bestowed on Miranda and Rosalind beore. Johnson. What holier, than,-for royalty's repair, With a sweet fellow to 't? Paul. Respecting her that's gone. There is none worthy, Besides, the gods Is 't not the tenour of his oracle, That king Leontes shall not have an heir, [TO LEON. The crown will find an heir: Great Alexander Leon. Good Paulina,—— Who hast the memory of Hermione, I know, in honour,-O, that ever I Had squar'd me to thy counsel!-then, even now, Have taken treasure from her lips, Paul. More rich, for what they yielded. 1 And left them Thou speak'st truth. the former queen is well?] i. e. at rest, dead. In Antony and Cleopatra, this phrase is said to be peculiarly applicable to the dead: "Mess. First, madam, he is well. 66 Cleop. Why there's more gold; but sirrah, mark; "We use to say, the dead are well; bring it to that, "The gold I give thee will I melt, and pour "Down thy ill-uttering throat.” So, in Romeo and Juliet, Balthazar, speaking of Juliet, whom he imagined to be dead, says: "Then she is well, and nothing can be ill." Malone. This phrase seems to have been adopted from Scripture. See 2 Kings, iv, 26. Henley. VOL. VI. CC |