hid me under the dead moon-calf's gaberdine for fear of the storm. And art thou living, Stephano? O Stephano, two Neapolitans 'scap'd! 113 Ste. Prithee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant. Cal. [Aside.] These be fine things, an if they be not sprites. That's a brave god and bears celestial liquor. Ste. How didst thou 'scape? How cam'st thou hither? swear by this bottle how thou cam'st hither. I escap'd upon a butt of sack which the sailors heav'd o'erboard, by this bottle, which I made of the bark of a tree with mine own hands since I was cast ashore. Cal. I'll swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject; for the liquor is not earthly. Ste. Here; swear then how thou escap'dst. Trin. Swum ashore, man, like a duck: I can swim like a duck, I'll be sworn. Ste. Here, kiss the book. Though thou canst swim like a duck, thou art made like a goose. Trin. O Stephano, hast any more of this? 130 Ste. The whole butt, man: my cellar is in a rock by the sea-side where my wine is hid. How now, moon-calf how does thine ague? Cal. Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven? 111. moon-calf = a monstrous, false conception, supposed to be caused by the influence of the moon. W. 113. Like the rest, they supposed themselves the only ones saved. 116. sprites or spirits. 118. him emphatic, i. e. not to Prospero or Trinculo. Ste. Out o' th' moon, I do assure thee: I was the man i' th' moon when time was. Cal. I have seen thee in her and I do adore thee: My mistress show'd me thee and thy dog and thy bush. Ste. Come, swear to that; kiss the book: I will furnish it anon with new contents: swear. 141 Trin. By this good light, this is a very shallow monster! I afeard of him! A very weak monster ! The man i̇' th' moon! A most poor credulous monster! Well drawn, monster, in good sooth! Cal. I'll show thee every fertile inch o' th' island; And I will kiss thy foot: I prithee, be my god. Trin. By this light, a most perfidious and drunken monster! when 's god's asleep, he 'll rob his bottle. Cal. I'll kiss thy foot; I'll swear myself thy subject. Ste. Come on then; down, and swear. 150 Trin. I shall laugh myself to death at this puppyheaded monster. A most scurvy monster! I could find in my heart to beat him, Ste. Come, kiss. Trin. But that the poor monster's in drink: an abominable monster! Cal. I'll show thee the best springs; I'll pluck thee berries; I'll fish for thee and get thee wood enough. 138. Note the natural simplicity with which Caliban receives everything. After all, it was as natural that Stephano should be the man in the moon as anybody else. 145. well drawn: Caliban has taken a long pull at the bottle. 158. These lines and several of the following give us an idea of the island as poetical as anything by Prospero, although more close to the earth, as one might say, or homely. Keats liked them. A plague upon the tyrant that I serve! I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee, 160 Trin. A most ridiculous monster, to make a wonder of a poor drunkard! Cal. I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts; 170 Ste. I prithee now, lead the way without any more talking. Trinculo, the king and all our company else being drown'd, we will inherit here: here! bear my 164. Trinculo could not see anything but foolishness in the ready devotion of Caliban to one who seemed to have something that made life worth living. It was of course foolish in Caliban to think that the secret of a happy life could lie in a bottle, but the devotion was something that might have been turned to finer ends had the intellectual Prospero known how to do it. 165. crabs = wild apples. Browning, who understood Caliban pretty thoroughly, seems to have had the other kind of crab in mind. In Caliban upon Setebos he writes,— "Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs That march now from the mountain to the sea." But the word grow seems more appropriate to the tree. Shakespeare does use the word, however, in the other sense in Hamlet, Act II. Sc. ii. 1. 206. 170. scamels. What these were has not yet been discovered. (So Mr. White in 1858, nor has near half a century of devoted Shakespearean toil unveiled the mystery which is so charming. This whole passage was a favorite with Keats, whose text unfortunately read "sea-mells.") bottle fellow Trinculo, we'll fill him by and by again. Cal. [Sings drunkenly.] Farewell, master; farewell, farewell! Trin. A howling monster; a drunken monster! Cal. No more dams I'll make for fish; At requiring: Nor scrape trenchering, nor wash dish: Has a new master: get a new man. 180 Freedom, hey-day! hey-day, freedom! freedom hey day, freedom! Ste. O brave monster! Lead the way. [Exeunt. ACT III. SCENE I. Before PROSPERO's cell. Enter FERDINAND, bearing a log. Fer. There be some sports are painful, and their labour 174. by and by: we have had this expression, with its Elizabethan meaning, before. 181. trenchering. So the old text. Caliban is drunk, and his tongue is entangled with the fag-ends of firing and requiring. W. 184. freedom, hey-day. There is satire here on popular liberalism, although too much is not to be made of it. Cf. Act III. Se. ii. 1. 125. Shakespeare was a conservative, and had not much confidence in what are now called "the masses." Act III. Bearing a log. This action connects the scene with that just before. It will be remembered that there was no curtain on the Elizabethan stage, and little pause between the acts; so this noble bearing of toil follows directly upon the silly freedom of the previous scene. No sooner does Caliban's drunkenness emancipate him for the moment from bringing in firing, than we see Ferdinand carrying logs for love of Miranda. Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness ness Had never like executor. I forget: 10 But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours, Most busy lest, when I do it. Enter MIRANDA; and PROSPERO at a distance, unseen. Mir. Alas, now, pray you, Work not so hard: I would the lightning had Burnt up those logs that you are enjoin'd to pile! Pray, set it down and rest you: when this burns, 'T will weep for having wearied you. My father Is hard at study; pray now, rest yourself; He's safe for these three hours. Fer. 20 O most dear mistress, The sun will set before I shall discharge 9. composed, the emphatic word. 12. such baseness, such low, ignoble work. 15. Most busy lest, one of the most difficult readings in Shakespeare. It is evidently wrong, but no very satisfactory conjecture is offered. Mr. White says, "possibly, most busiest ; that is, his thoughts of Miranda were most busy when he was working to obtain her.” |