I, not rememb'ring how I cried out then,
it o'er again; it is a hint,

ery

Will
That wrings mine eyes.

Pro.

Hear a little further,
And then I'll bring thee to the present business
Which now's upon us; without the which, this story

Were most impertinent.

Wherefore did they not

Mir.
That hour destroy us?
Pro.

Well demanded, wench;
My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not
(So dear the love my people bore me) nor set
A mark so bloody on the business; but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark;
Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepar'd
A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us,
To cry to the sea that roar'd to us; to sigh
To the winds, whose pity, sighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.

Mir.

Alack! what trouble

Was I then to you!

Pro.

O! a cherubim

Thou wast, that did preserve me! Thou didst smile,
Infused with a fortitude from heaven,

When I have deck'd the sea with drops full salt;
Under my burden groan'd; which rais'd in me
An undergoing stomach, to bear up
Against what should ensue.

Mir.

How came we ashore?

Pro. By Providence divine.
Some food we had, and some fresh water,
A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Out of his charity, (who being then appointed
Master of this design,) did give us; with

that

Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries, Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentleness, Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish`d me, From my own library, with volumes that I prize above my dukedom.

Mir.

'Would I might

But ever see that man!

Pro.

Now I arise :-

Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.
Here in this island we arriv'd; and here
Have I, thy school-master, made thee more profit
Than other princes can, that have more time
For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.

Mir. Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray you, sir,

(For still 'tis beating in my mind,) your reason For raising this sea-storm?

Pro. Know thus far forth. By accident most strange, bountiful fortune, Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies Brought to this shore: and by my prescience I find my zenith doth depend upon A most auspicious star; whose influence If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes Will ever after droop.-Here cease more questions; Thou art inclin'd to sleep; 'tis a good dulness, And give it way;-I know thou canst not choose. [Miranda sleeps.

Come away, servant, come: I am ready now;
Approach, my Ariel come.

Enter Ariel.

Ari. All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come

To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,

To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride

On the curl'd clouds; to thy strong bidding, task
Ariel, and all his quality.

Pro.

Hast thou, spirit,

2

1

Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?
Ari. To every article.

I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flam'd amazement: Sometimes, I'd divide,
And burn in many places; on the top-mast,
The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,
Then meet, and join: Jove's lightnings, the precursors
O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
And sight-out-running were not: The fire, and cracks
Of sulphurous roaring, the most mighty Neptune
Seem'd 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
Would not infect his reason?

Ari.

Not a soul

But felt a fever of the mad, and play'd

Some tricks of desperation: All, but mariners,
Plung'd in the foaming brine, and quit the vessel,
Then all a-fire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring (then like reeds, not hair,)
Was the first man that leap'd; cried, Hell is empty,

And all the devils are here.
Pro.

Why, that's my spirit

Close by, my master.

But was not this nigh shore?
Ari.
Pro. But are they, Ariel, safe?
Ari.

Not a hair perish'd:

On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before: and, as thou bad'st me,
In troops I have dispers'd them 'bout the isle :
The king's son have I landed by himself;
Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs,
In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting,
His arms in this sad knot.

Pro.

Of the king's ship,

The mariners, say, how thou hast dispos'd,

And all the rest o' the fleet?

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, 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, Which I dispers'd, they all have met again; And are upon the Mediterranean flote, Bound sadly home for Naples ; 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 dost give me pains,

Let me remember thee what thou hast promis'd,
Which is not yet perform'd me.

Pro.

How now ? moody?

What is't thou canst demand?

Ari. My liberty. Pro. Before the time be out? no more. Ari. I pray thee Remember, I have done thee worthy service; Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, serv'd Without or grudge, or grumblings: thou didst promise To bate me a full year.

Pro.
Dost thou forget
From what a torment I did free thee?

Ari.

No.

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;
To do me business in the veins o' the earth,
When it is bak'd with frost.

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?

Ari. No, sir.

Pro.

Thou hast: Where was she born? speak;

tell me.

Ari, Sir, in Argier.

Pro.

O, was she so? I must,
Once in a month, recount what thou hast been,
Which thou forgett'st. This damn'd witch, Sycorax,
For mischiefs manifold, and sorceries terrible
To enter human hearing, from Argier,

Thou know'st, was banish'd; for one thing she did,
They would not take her life: Is not this true?

Ari. Ay, sir.

Pro. This blue-ey'd hag was hither brought with child,

And here was left by the sailors: Thou, my slave,
As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant :
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate
To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
By help of her more potent ministers,
And in her most unmitigable rage,
Into a cloven pine; within which rift
Imprison'd, thou didst painfully remain

A dozen years; within which space she died,
And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy 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