But once before I spoke to the purpose:
Nay, let me have't; I long.
[When?
Leon.
Why, that was when
Three crabbed months had sour'd themselves
to death,

Ere I could make thee open thy white hand,
And clap thyself my love; then didst thou
I am yours for ever.
[utter,
Her.
It is Grace, indeed.
Why, lo you now, I have spoke to the purpose
twice:

Leon.

The one for ever earn'd a royal husband; The other, for some while a friend. [Giving her hand to POLIXENES. Too hot, too hot: [Aside. To mingle friendship far, is mingling bloods. I have tremor cordis on me:-my heart dances;

But not for joy,-not joy. -This entertainment May a free face put on; derive a liberty From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom, And well become the agent: it may, I grant: But to be paddling palms, and pinching fingers, As now they are; and making practised smiles, As in a looking-glass;-and then to sigh, as 'twere [ment The mort o' the deert; 0, that is entertain. My bosom likes not, nor my brows.-MamilArt thou my boy? [lius, Leon. I'fecks? Why that's my bawcockį. What, hast smutch'd thy nose?[captain, They say, it's a copy out of mine. Come, We must be neat; not neat, but cleanly, captain:

Mam.

Ay, my good lord.

And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf,.
Are all call'd, neat.-Still virginalling

Observing POLIXENES and HERMIONE.
Upon his palm-How now, you wanton calf?
Art thou my calf?
Mam.
Yes, if you will, my lord.
Leon. Thou want'st a rough pash, and the
shoots that I have,

true

To be full like me :-yet, they say, we are
Almost as like as eggs; women say so,
That will say any thing: But were they false
As o'er-died blacks, as wind, as waters; false
As dice are to be wish'd, by one that fixes
No bourn twixt his and mine; yet were it
[page,
To say this boy were like me.-Come, sir
Look on me with your welkin** eye: Sweet
[may't be?
Most dear'st! my collop!-Can thy dam?
Affection! thy intention stabs the centre:-
Thou dost make poszible, things not so held
Communicat'st with dreams;-(How can this
With what's unreal thou coactive art, [be?)
And fellow'st nothing: Then, 'tis very cre
dent tt.
[thou dost;
Thou may'st co-join with something; and

villain!

Trembling of the heart. i. ., Playing with her fingers budding horns that I have. Will you be cajoled? next claimant.

(And that beyond commission; and I find 11),
And that to the infection of my brains,
And hardening of my brows.
Pol.

What means Sicilia?

Her. He something seems unsettled.
Pol.

How, my lord?
What cheer? how is't with you, best brother?
Her.
You look,

As if you held a brow of much distraction;
Are you moved, my lord?
Leon.
No, in good earnest.-
How sometimes nature will betray its folly,
Its tenderness, and make itself a pastime
To harder bosoms! Looking on the lines
Of my boy's face, methoughts, I did recoil
Twenty-three years; and saw myself un-
breech'd,

In my green velvet coat; my dagger muzzled,
Lest it should bite its master, and so prove,
As ornaments oft do, too dangerous.
How like, methought, I then was to this kernel,
This squash, this gentleman:--Mine honest
Will you take eggs for money ÿÿ? [friend,

Mum. No, my lord, I'll fight.
Leon. You will? why, happy man be his
dole-My brother,

Pol.

Are you so fond of your young prince, as we
Do seem to be of ours?
If at home, sir,
He's all my exercise, my mirth, my matter:
Now my sworn friend, and then mine eneiny;
My parasite, my soldier, statesman, all:
He makes a July's day short as December;
And, with his varying childness, cures in me
Thoughts that would thick my blood.
Leon.
So stands this squire
Officed with me: We two will walk, my lord,
And leave you to your graver steps.-Her-
mione,
[welcome
How thou lovest us, show in our brother's
Let what is dear in Sicily, be cheap:
Next to thyself, and my young rover, he's
Apparent ¶¶ to my heart.

Her.
If you would seek us,
We are yours i'the garden: Shali's attend you
there?
[you'll be found,
Leon. To your own bents dispose you:
Be you beneath the sky :-I am angling now,
Though you perceive me not how I give line.
Go to, go to!

[Aside. Observing PoL. and HER. How she holds up the neb***, the bill to him! And arms her with the boldness of a wife To her allowing ttt husband! Gone already; Inch-thick, knee-deep; o'er head and ears a fork'd one

[Exeunt PoL. HER. and Attendants. Go, play, boy, play;-thy mother plays, and I Play too; but so disgraced a part, whose issue Will hiss me to my grave; contempt and clamour [There have been, Will be my knell.-Go, play, boy, play;—

Hearty fellow, Thou wantest a rough head, and the tr Credible. II Pea-cod. ་་ Heir appau eiit A horned one, a cuckold.

the arm,

Or I am much deceived, cuckolds ere now;
And many a man there is, even at this present,
Now, while I speak this, holds his wife by
[absence,
That little thinks she has been sluiced in his
And his pond fish'd by his next neighbour, by
Sir Smile, his neighbour: nay, there's com-
fort in't,
[open'd,
Whiles other men have gates; and those gates
As mine, against their will: Should all despair,
That have revolted wives, the tenth of mankind
Would hang theinselves. Physic for't there is

none;

It is a bawdy planet, that will strike [think it,
Where 'tis predominant; and 'tis powerful,
From east, west, north, and south: Be it con-
cluded,

No barricado for a belly; know it;
It will let in and out the enemy,
With bag and baggage: many a thousand of us
Have the disease, and feel't not.-How now,
boy?

Mam. I am like you, they say.
Leon.

man.

Why that's some comfort.

What! Camillo there?
Cum. Ay, my good lord.
Leon. Go play, Mamillins; thou'rt an honest
[Exit MAMILLIUS.
Camillo, this great sir will yet stay longer.
Cam. You had much ado to make his anchor
When you cast out, it still came home. [hold:
Leon.
Didst note it?
Cam. He would not stay at your petitions;
His business more material.
[made
Leon.
Didst perceive it?
They're here with me already; whispering,
Sicilia is a so-forth; 'l'is far gone, [rounding,
When I shall gust† it last.-How came't, Ca-
That he did stay?
[millo,
At the good queen's entreaty.
Leon. At the queen's, be't: good, should be
But so it is, it is not. Was this taken [pertinent;
By any understanding pate but thine?
For thy conceit is soaking, will draw in [is't,
More than the common blocks:-Not noted
But of the finer natures? by some severals,
Of head-piece extraordinary? lower messes
Perchance, are to this business purblind: say.
Cam. Business, my lord? I think, most un-
derstand

Cam.

Bohemia stays here longer.
Leon.
Cam.

Ha?
Stays here longer.
Leon. Ay, but why?
[treaties
Cam. To satisfy your highness, and the en-
Of our most gracious mistress.
Leon.

Satisfy

The entreaties of your mistress?— satisfy?— Let that suffice. I have trusted thee, Camillo, With all the nearest things to my heart, as well My chamber-councils: "wherein, priest-like,

thon

Hast cleansed my bosom; I from thee departed Thy penitent reform'd: but we have been Deceived in thy integrity, deceived

• To round in the ear was to tell secretly. o hox is to hamstring.

Cam.

A servant, grafted in my serious trust,
And therein negligent; or else a fool, [drawu,
That seest a game play'd home, the rich stake
And takest it all for jest.
My gracious lord,
I may be negligent, foolish, and fearful;
In every one of these no man is free,
But that his negligence, his folly, fear,
Amongst the infinite doings of the world,
Sometime puts forth in your affairs, my lord,
If ever I were wilful-negligent,
It was my folly; if industriously
I play'd the fool, it was my negligence,
Not weighing well the end; if ever fearful
To do a thing, where I the issue doubted,
Whereof the execution did cry out
Against the non-performance, 'twas a fear
Which oft affects the wisest: these, my lord,
Are such allow'd infirmities, that honesty
Is never free of. But, 'beseech your grace,
Be plainer with me; let me know my trespass
By its own visage: if I then deny it,
'Tis none of mine.

Leon.

Have not you seen, Camillo, (But that's past doubt: you have; or your eye glass

Is thicker than a cuckold's horn ;) or heard,
(For, to a vision so apparent, rumour
Cannot be mute,) or thought, (for cogitation
Resides not in that man, that does not think it,)
My wife is slippery? If thou wilt confess,
(Or else be impudently negative, [say,
To have nor eyes, nor ears, nor thought,) then
My wife's a hobby-horse; deserves a name
As rank as any flax-wench, that puts to
Before her troth-plight: say it, and justify it.

Cam. I would not be a stander by, to hear
My sovereign mistress clouded so, without
My present vengeance taken: 'shrew my heart,
You never spoke what did become you less
Than this; which to reiterate, were sin
As deep as that, though true.

Leon. Is whispering nothing? Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses? Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career Of laughter with a sigh? (a note infallible Of breaking honesty :) horsing foot on foot? Skulking in corners? wishing clocks more

swift?

[blind

Do't not, thou split'st thine own. Cum.

If this be nothing.
Cam.
Good my lord, be cured
Of this diseased opinion, and betimes;

Say, it be; 'tis true.

For 'tis most dangerous.

Leon.

Cam. No, no, my lord.
Leon.

It is; you lie, you lie:
I say, thou liest, Camillo, and I hate thee;
Pronounce thee a gross lout, a mindless slave;
Or else a hovering temporizer, that
Canst with thine eyes at once see good and evil,
Inclining to them both; were my wife's liver
Infected as her life, she would not live
The running of one glass.
Cum.
Who does infect her?
Leon. Why he, that wears her like her
medal, hanging

About his neck, Bohemia: who-if I
Had servants true about me: that bare eyes
To see alike mine honour as their profits, [that
Their own particular thrifts,-they would do
Which should undo more doing: Ay, and thou,
His cup-bearer,-whom I from meaner form
Have bench'd, and rear'd to worship; who
may'st see
[heaven,

Plainly, as heaven sees earth, and earth sees
How I am galled,-might'st bespice a cup,
To give mine enemy a lasting wink;
Which draught to me were cordial.
Cam.

Sir, my lord,
I could do this; and that with no rash + potion,
But with a ling'ring dram, that should not work
Maliciously like poison: but I cannot
Believe this crack to be in my dread mistress,
So sovereignly being honourable.
I have loved thee,

Leon. Make't thy question, and go rot! Dost think, I am so muddy, so unsettled, To appoint myself in this vexation? sully The purity and whiteness of my sheets,[spotted, Which to preserve is sleep; which being Is goads, thorns, nettles, tails of wasps? Give scandal to the blood o' the prince my son, Who, I do think is mine, and love as mine; Without ripe moving to 't? Would I do this? Could man so blench?

Cam.

I must believe you, sir;
I do; and will fetch off Bohemia for't: [ness
Provided, that when he's removed, your high-
Will take again your queen, as yours at first;
Even for your son's sake; and, thereby, for
sealing

The injury of tongues, in courts and kingdoms
Known and allied to yours.
Leon.
Thou dost advise me,
Even so as I mine own course have set down:
I'll give no blemish to her honour, none.

Cam. My lord,

Go theu; and with a countenance as clear [mia,
As friendship wears at feasts, keep with Bohe.
And with your queen: I am his cupbearer;
It from me he have wholesome beverage,
Account me not your servant.
This is all:

Leon.

Do't and thou hast the one half of my heart;

I'll do't, my lord. Leon. I will seem friendly as thou hast ad

vised me.

[Exit. Cum. O miserable lady!-But, for me, What case stand I in? I must be the poisoner Of good Polixenes: and my ground to do't Is the obedience to a inaster; one, Who, in rebellion with himself, will have All that are his, so too.-To do this deed, Promotion follows: If I could find example Of thousands, that had struck anointed kings, And flourish'd after, I'd not do't: but since [one, Nor brass nor stone, nor parchment, bears not Let villany itself furswear't. I must Forsake the court: to do't, or no, is certain To me a break-neck. Happy star, reign now! Here comes Bohemia. Enter POLIXENES.

Pol. This is strange! methinks, My favour here begins to warp. Not speak?Good-day, Camilto. Cam. Hail, most royal sir! Pol. What is the news i' the court? Cam. None rare, my lord. Pol. The king hath on him such a counte

Be intelligent to me? "Tis thereabouts;
For, to yourself, what you do know, you must;
And cannot say, you dare not. Good Camillo,
Your changed complexions are to me a mirror,
Which shows me mine changed too: for I
must be

A party in this alteration, finding
Myself thus alter'd with it.

Cam.

There is a sickness
Which puts some of us in distemper; but
I cannot name the disease; and it is caught
Of you that yet are well.

Pol.
How! caught of me?
Make me not sighted like the basilisk: [better
I have look'd on thousands, who have sped the
By my regard, but kill'd none so. Camillo,-
As you are certainly a gentleman; thereto
Clerk-like, experienced, which no less adorns
Our gentry, than our parents' noble names,
In whose success | we are gentle T,-I beseech
you,
[knowledge
If you know aught which does behove my
Thereof to be inform'd, imprison it not
In ignorant concealment.

Cam. I may not answer. Pol. A sickness caught of me, and yet I well! I must be answer'd.-Dost thou hear, Camillo,. I conjure thee, by all the parts of man,

i.e., Could any man Gentle was opposed to simple; well born.

Which honour does acknowledge,—whereof

the least

Is not this suit of mine,-that thou declare
What incidency thou dost guess of harm
Is creeping toward me; how far off, how near;
Which way to be prevented, if to be;
If not, how best to bear it.

Cam.
Sir, I'll tell you;
Since I am charged in honour, and by him
That I think honourable: Therefore, mark my
counsel;

Which must be even as swiftly follow'd, as
I mean to utter it; or both yourself and me
Cry, lost, and so good-night.
Pol.
On, good Camillo.
Cam. I am appointed Him to murder you*.
Pol. By whom, Camillo?
By the king.

Cam.
Pol.
For what?
Cam. He thinks, nay, with all confidence
he swears,

As he had seen't, or been an instrument
To vice you to't,-that you have touch'd his
Forbiddenly.
[queen

Pol.

O, then my best blood turn To an infected jelly; and my name Be yoked with his, that did betray the best! Turn then my freshest reputation to A savour, that may strike the dullest nostril Where I arrive; and my approach be shunn'd, Nay, hated too, worse than the great'st infecThat e'er was heard, or read! [tion Cam. Swear his thought over By each particular star in heaven, and By all their influences, you may as well Forbid the sea for to obey the moon, As or, by oath, remove, or counsel, shake, The fabric of his folly; whose foundation Is piled upon his faith, and will continue The standing of his body.

to

Pol. How should this grow? Cam. I know not: but, I am sure, 'tis safer [born. Avoid what's grown, than question how 'tis If therefore you dare trust my honesty,That lies enclosed in this trunk, which you Shall bear along impawn'd,-away to-night. Your followers I will whisper to the business; And will, by twos and threes,at several posterns, Clear them o' the city: For myself, I'll put My fortunes to your service, which are here By this discovery lost. Be not uncertain; For, by the honour of my parents, I Have utter'd truth: which if you seek to prove, I dare not staud by; nor shall you be safer Than one condemn'd by the king's own mouth, His execution sworn. [thereon

Pol. I do believe thee: I saw his heart in his face. Give me thy hand; Be pilot to me, and thy places shall Still neighbour mine; My ships are ready, and My people did expect my hence departure Two days ago.-This jealousy

Is for a precious creature as she's rare,
Must it be great; and, as his person's mighty,
Must it be violent; and as he does conceive
He is dishonour'd by a man which ever
Profess'd to him, why, his revenges must [me:
In that be made more bitter. Fear o'ershades
Good expedition be my friend, and comfort
The gracious queen, part of his theme, but
nothing

Of his ill-ta'en suspicion! Come, Camillo;
I will respect thee as a father, if
Thou bear'st my life off hence: Let us avoid.
Cam. It is in mine authority, to command
The keys of all the posterns: Please your
highness

To take the urgent hour: come, sir, away.
[Exeunt.

SCENE I. The same. Enter HERMIONE, MAMILLIUS, and Ladies. Her. Take the boy to you: he so troubles 'Tis past enduring. [me,

1 Lady. Come, my gracious lord, Shall I be your play-fellow? Mam. No, I'll none of you. 1 Lady. Why, my sweet lord? [as if Mam. You'll kiss me hard; and speak to me I were a baby still.-I love you better. 2 Lady. And why so, my good lord? Mam. Not for because Your brows are blacker; yet black brows, they say,

Become some women best; so that there be

I have one of sprites and goblins. Her.

best

Let's have that, sir.
Come on, sit down:-Come on, and do your
[ful at it.
To fright me with your sprites: you're power-
Mam. There was a man,
Her. Nay, come, sit down; then on.
Mam. Dwelt by a church-yard;-I will tell
Yon crickets shall not hear it. [it softly;
Her.
Come on then,

And give't me in mine ear.
Enter LEONTES, ANTIGONUS, Lords, and
Others.

Leon. Was he met there? his train? Camillo with him? [them; never 1 Lord. Behind the tuft of pines I met Saw I men scour so on their way: I eyed them Even to their ships. Leon.

How bless'd am I
In my just censure? in my true opinion?—
Alack, for lesser knowledget! How accursed,
In being so blest!-There may be in the cup
A spider steep'd, and one may drink; depart,
And yet partake no venom; for his knowledge
Is not infected: but if one present

The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known
How he hath drank, he cracks his gorge, his
sides,
[the spider.
With violent hefts :-I have drank and seen
Camillo was his help in this, his pander:-
There is a plot against my life, my crown;
All's true that is mistrusted :-that false villain,
Whom I employ'd, was pre-employ'd by him:
He has discover'd my design, and I
Remain a pinch'd thing; yea, a very trick
For them to play at will:-How came the
So easily open?
[posterns
1 Lord.
By his great authority;
Which often hath no less prevail'd than so,
On your command.
Leon.

him:

I know't too well.Give me the boy; I am glad, you did not nurse [you Thongh he does bear some signs of me, yet Have too much blood in him. Her.

What is this? sport? Leon. Bear the boy hence, he shall not

come about her;

Away with him:-and let her sport herself
With that she's big with; for 'tis Polixenes
Has made thee swell thus.

Her. But I'd say, he had not, And, I'll be sworn, you would believe my Howe'er you lean to the nayward. [saying, Leon. You, my lords, Look on her, mark her well; be but about To say, she is a goodly lady, and The justice of your hearts will thereto add, 'Tis pity she's not honest, honourable: Praise her but for this her without-door form, (Which, on my faith, deserves high speech,) and straight [brands,

Leon.

That calumny doth use:-O, I am out,
That mercy does; for calumny will sear T
Virtue itself:-these shrugs, these hums, and
ha's,
[tween,
When you have said, she's goodly, come be
Ere you can say she's honest: But be it known
From him that has most cause to grieve it
She's an adultress.
[should be,
Her.
Should a villain say so,
The most replenish'd villain in the world,
He were as much more villain: you, my lord,
Do but mistake.
You have mistook, my lady,
Polixenes for Leontes: O thou thing,
Which I'll not call a creature of thy place,
Lest barbarism, making me the precedent,
Should a like language use to all degrees,
And mannerly distinguishment leave out
Betwixt the prince and beggar!-I have said,
She's an adultress; I have said with whom :
More, she's a traitor; and Camillo is
A federary with her; and one that knows
What she should shame to know herself,
But + with her most vile principal, that she's
A bed-swerver, even as bad as those
That vulgars give bold titles; ay, and privy
To this their late escape.
Her.
No, by my life
Privy to none of this: How will this grieve
[that

you,

When you shall come to clearer knowledge, You thus have publish'd me? Gentle my lord, You scarce can right me throughly then, to say You did mistake.

seech your highness,

• Judgment.

in our author's time. Brand as infamous.

Spiders were esteemed poisonons A thing pinched out of clouts, a puppet. ++ Only. #Remotely guilty