And sight-out-running were not: The fire, and cracks Of sulphurous roaring, the most mighty Neptune Seem to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble, Yea, his dread trident shake. Pro. My brave spirit! Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil 22 Ari. And all the devils are here." On their sustaining garments not a blemish, Pro. Of the king's ship, The mariners, say, how thou hast dispos'd, And all the rest o' the fleet ? 22 Coil is bustle, tumult. 23 That is, such a fever as madmen feel when the frantic fit is on them. Ari. Safely in harbour Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew From the still-vex'd Bermoothes,2 there she's hid: The mariners all under hatches stow'd; Whom, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour, I have left asleep and for the rest o' the fleet, Bound sadly home for Naples ; 25 Supposing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd, And his great person perish. Pro. Ariel, thy charge Exactly is perform'd; but there's more work: What is the time o' the day? Ari. Past the mid season.' Pro. At least two glasses: The time 'twixt six and now Must by us both be spent most preciously. Ari. Is there more toil? Since thou must give me pains, Let me remember thee what thou hast promis'd, Pro. What is't thou canst demand? Ari. How now! moody? My liberty. Pro. Before the time be out? no more. I prithee 24 The epithet here applied to the Bermudas will be best understood by those who have seen the chafing of the sea over the rugged rocks by which they are surrounded, and which renders access to them so difficult. It was then the current opinion that the Bermudas were inhabited by monsters and devils. 25 i. e. wave, or the sea. Flot, FR. Remember, I have done thee worthy service; Pro. Thou dost; and think'st it much, to tread the ooze Of the salt deep; To run upon the sharp wind of the north; Ari. I do not, sir. Pro. Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgot The foul witch, Sycorax, who, with age and envy, Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her? Once in a month, recount what thou hast been, Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did, Pro. This blue-ey'd hag was hither brought with child, And here was left by the sailors: Thou, my slave, 26 The old English name of Algiers. As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant : To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands, groans, As fast as mill-wheels strike: Then was this island, (Save for the son that she did litter here, A freckled whelp, hag-born), not honour'd with Ari. Yes; Caliban her son. Pro. Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban, Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st What torment I did find thee in: thy groans Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts Of ever-angry bears: It was a torment To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax Could not again undo: it was mine art, When I arriv'd, and heard thee, that made gape The pine, and let thee out. Ari. I thank thee, master. Pro. If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak, And peg thee in his knotty entrails, till Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters. Ari. Pardon, master : I will be correspondent to command, And do my spriting gently. Pro. I will discharge thee. Do so; and after two days 27 Behests, commands. Ari. That's my noble master!. What shall I do? say what: what shall I do? Pro. Go, make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject To no sight but thine and mine ; invisible To every eyeball else. Go, take this shape, Mira. The strangeness of your story put Heaviness in me. Pro. Shake it off: Come on: We'll visit Caliban, my slave, who never Yields us kind answer. Mira. I do not love to look on. Pro. "Tis a villain, sir, But, as 'tis, We cannot miss 28 him: he does make our fire, Cal. [Within.] There's wood enough within. Come forth, I say there's other business for thee: Pro. Come forth, thou tortoise! when? 29 Re-enter ARIEL, like a Water-nymph. Fine apparition! My quaint 30 Ariel, Ari. My lord, it shall be done. [Exit. 28 i. e. we cannot do without him. The phrase is still common in the midland counties. 29 This is a common expression of impatience. 30 Quaint here means brisk, from the French cointe. |