The Works of William Shakspere

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ACT I.

Court.

Two Gaolers.

QUEEN, wife to Cymbeline.
IMOGEN, daughter to Cymbeline
by a former queen.
HELEN, woman to Imogen.

Lords, Ladies, Roman Senators, Tribunes, Apparitions, a Soothsayer, Musicians, Officers, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants.

SCENE.- Sometimes in BRITAIN; sometimes in ROME.

SCENE I.-Britain. The Garden behind Cymbe- A glass that feated them; and to the graver,

line's Palace.

Enter Two Gentlemen.

1 Gent. You do not meet a man but frowns: our bloods

No more obey the heavens, than our courtiers
Still seem as does the king.
2 Gent.

But what's the matter?
1 Gent. His daughter, and the heir of his kingdom,
He purpos'd to his wife's sole son, (a widow [whom
That late he married,) hath referr'd herself
Unto a poor but worthy gentleman: She's wedded;
Her husband banish'd; she imprison'd: all
Is outward sorrow; though, I think, the king
Be touch'd at very heart.
2 Gent.

None but the king?

1 Gent. He that hath lost her, too: so is the queen,
That most desir'd the match: But not a courtier,
Although they wear their faces to the bent
Of the king's looks, hath a heart that is not
Glad at the thing they scowl at.

And why so?

2 Gent. 1 Gent. He that hath miss'd the princess is a thing| Too bad for bad report: and he that hath her, (I mean, that married her,-alack, good man!And therefore banish'd,) is a creature such As to seek through the regions of the earth For one his like, there would be something failing In him that should compare. I do not think So fair an outward, and such stuff within, Endows a man but he.

2 Gent.

What's his name, and birth?

1 Gent. I cannot delve him to the root: His father
Was call'd Sicilius, who did join his honour,
Against the Romans, with Cassibelan;
But had his titles by Tenantius, whom
He serv'd with glory and admir'd success:
So gain'd the sur-addition, Leonatus:
And had, besides this gentleman in question,
Two other sons, who, in the wars o' the time,
Died with their swords in hand; for which, their
father

(Then old and fond of Issue,) took such sorrow
That he quit being; and his gentle lady,
Big of this gentleman, our theme, deceas'd

As he was born. The king, he takes the babe
To his protection; calls him Posthumus Leonatus;
Breeds him, and makes him of his bed-chamber:
Puts to him all the learnings that his time

Could make him the receiver of; which he took,
As we do air, fast as 't was ministered,

And in 's spring became a harvest: Liv'd in court, (Which rare it is to do,) most prais'd, most lov'd:

A sample to the youngest; to th' more mature
A child that guided dotards: to his mistress-
For whom he now is banish'd,-her own price
Proclaims how she esteem'd him and his virtue;
By her election may be truly read
What kind of man he is. 2 Gent. I honour him
Even out of your report. But, 'pray you, tell me,
Is she sole child to the king?
I Gent.

His only child. He had two sons, (if this be worth your hearing, Mark it,) the eldest of them at three years old," I' the swathing clothes the other, from their nursery Were stolen: and to this hour no guess in knowWhich way they went. [ledge 2 Gent. How long is this ago? 1 Gent. Some twenty years. [vey'd 1

2 Gent. That a king's children should be so conSo slackly guarded! And the search so slow, That could not trace them!

Howsoe'er 't is strange,

I Gent. Or that the negligence may well be laugh'd at, Yet is it true, sir.

2 Gent.

I do well believe you.

[man,

[Exeunt.

I Gent. We must forbear: Here comes the gentleThe queen, and princess.

SCENE II.-The same.

Enter the Queen, Posthumus, and Imogen. Queen. No, be assur'd, you shall not find me, After the slander of most step-mothers, [daughter, Evil-ey'd unto you: you are my prisoner, but Your gaoler shall deliver you the keys

That lock up your restraint. For you, Posthúmus,
So soon as I can win the offended king,

I will be known your advocate: marry, yet
The fire of rage is in him; and 't were good,
You lean'd unto his sentence, with what patience
Your wisdom may inform you.
Post.

Please your highness,

I will from hence to-day.
Queen.
You know the peril :-
I'll fetch a turn about the garden, pitying
The pangs of barr'd affections; though the king
Hath charg'd you should not speak together.
Exit Queen.

Imo. O dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant
Cantickle where she wounds!-My dearest husband,
I something fear my father's wrath; but nothing
(Always reserv'd my holy duty,) what
His rage can do on me: You must be gone;
And I shall here abide the hourly shot
Of angry eyes; not comforted to live,
But that there is this jewel in the world,
That I may see again.

Post. My queen! my mistress!
O, lady, weep no more; lest I give cause
To be suspected of more tenderness
Than doth become a man! I will remain

Be brief, I pray you:
If the king come, I shall incur I know not
How much of his displeasure: Yet I'll move him
[Aside.

To walk this way: I never do him wrong,
But he does buy my injuries to be friends;
Pays dear for my offences.
Post.

[Exit.

Should we be taking leave As long a term as yet we have to live, The loathness to depart would grow: Adieu! Imo. Nay, stay a little:

Were you but riding forth to air yourself,

Such parting were too petty. Look here, love;
This diamond was my mother's: take it, heart;
But keep it till you woo another wife,
When Imogen is dead.

Post. How! how! another?—

You gentle gods, give me but this I have,
And sear up my embracements from a next
With bonds of death !-Remain thou here

[Putting on the ring.
While sense can keep it on! And sweetest, fairest,
As I my poor self did exchange for you,
To your so infinite loss; so, in our trifles
I still win of you: For my sake wear this;
It is a manacle of love; I'll place it
Upon this fairest prisoner.

Imo.

1 Lord. Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt; the [Putting a bracelet on her arm. violence of action hath made you reek as a sacrifice:

When shall we see again?

O, the gods!

Enter Cymbeline and Lords.

Post. Alack, the king! Cym. Thou basest thing, avoid! hence, from my If after this command thou fraught the court (sight! With thy unworthiness, thou diest: Away! Thou art poison to my blood. Post. The gods protect you! And bless the good remainders of the court! I am gone. Imo. There cannot be a pinch in death More sharp than this is. Cyin. O disloyal thing, That should'st repair my youth; thou heapest A year's age on me! Imo. I beseech you, sir, Harm not yourself with your vexation; I

[Exit.

Am senseless of your wrath; a touch more rare
Subdues all pangs, all fears.
Cym.
Past grace? obedience?
Imo. Past hope, and in despair; that way, past
grace.
[queen!
Cym. That might'st have had the sole son of my
Imo. O bless'd, that I might not! I chose an eagle,
And did avoid a puttock.
Cym. Thou took'st a beggar; would'st have made
A seat for baseness.
[my throne
Imo.

A lustre to it.

Imo.

No; I rather added Cym. O thou vile one!

Sir,

Where air comes out, air coines in: there 's none abroad so wholesome as that you vent.

Clo. If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Have I hurt him?

2 Lord. No, faith; not so much as his patience. [Aside. I Lord. Hurt him? his body 's a passable carcase if he be not hurt: it is a thoroughfare for steel if it be not hurt.

2 Lord. His steel was in debt: it went o' the back side the town. [Aside.

Clo. The villain would not stand me.

2 Lord. No; but he fled forward still, toward your face. [Aside.

1 Lord. Stand you! You have land enough of your own: but he added to your having; gave you some ground.

2 Lord. As many inches as you have oceans: Puppies! [Aside. Clo. I would they had not come between us. 2 Lord. So would I, till you had measured how long a fool you were upon the ground. [Aside. Clo. And that she should love this fellow, and refuse me!

2 Lord. If it be a sin to make a true election, she is damned. Aside.

1 Lord. Sir, as I told you always, her beauty and her brain go not together: She's a good sign, but I have seen small reflection of her wit.

2 Lord. She shines not upon fools, lest the reflection should hurt her. [Aside.

Clo. Come, I'll to my chamber: 'Would there had been some hurt done!

2 Lord. I wish not so; unless it had been the fall of an ass, which is no great hurt. Clo. You'll go with us?

1 Lord. I'll attend your lordship. Clo. Nay, come, let's go together. 2 Lord. Well, my lord."

[Aside.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-A Room in Cymbeline's Palace. Enter Imogen and Pisanio.

Imo. I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' the haven,

And question'dst every sail: if he should write,
And I not have it, 't were a paper lost.
As offer'd mercy is. What was the last
That he spake to thee?
Pis.

It was, 'His queen, his queen !'

Imo. Then wav'd his handkerchief?
Pis.

And kiss'd it, madam.
Imo. Senseless linen! happier therein than I!
And that was all?

Pis.
No, madam; for so long
As he could make me with his eye or ear
Distinguish him from others, he did keep
The deck, with glove or hat or handkerchief
Still waving, as the fits and stirs of his mind
Could best express how slow his soul sail'd on,
How swift his ship.
Imo.

Thou should'st have made him
As little as a crow, or less, ere left

To after-eye him.

Pis. Madam, so I did. Imo. I would have broke mine eye-strings; crack'd them, but

To look upon him; till the diminution

Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle:
Nay, follow'd him, till he had melted from
The smallness of a gnat to air; and then
Have turn'd mine eye, and wept.-But, good Pi-
When shall we hear from him?
[sanio,
Be assur'd, madam,

Pis.

With his next vantage
Imo. I did not take my leave of him, but had
Most pretty things to say: ere I could tell him
How I would think on him, at certain hours,
Such thoughts, and such; or I could make him swear
The shes of Italy should not betray

Mine interest and his honour; or have charg'd him,
At the sixth hour of morn, at noon, at midnight,
To encounter me with orisons, for then

I am in heaven for him; or ere I could
Give him that parting kiss, which I had set
Betwixt two charming words, comes in my father,
And, like the tyrannous breathing of the north,
Shakes all our buds from growing.

Enter a Lady.

Lady.
The queen, madam,
Desires your highness' company.
Imo. Those things I bid you do get them de-
I will attend the queen.
[spatch'd.
Pis.

Madam, I shall. [Exeunt.
SCENE V.-Rome. An Apartment in Philario's
House.

Enter Philario, Iachimo, and a Frenchman. lach. Believe it, sir: I have seen him in Britain: he was then of a crescent note; expected to prove so worthy as since he hath been allowed the name of: but I could then have looked on him without the help of admiration; though the catalogue of his endowments had been tabled by his side, and I to peruse him by items.

Phi. You speak of him when he was less furnished, than now he is, with that which makes him both

without and within.

French. I have seen him in France: we had very many there could behold the sun with as firm eyes as he.

Iach. This matter of marrying his king's daughter, (wherein he must be weighed rather by her value than his own,) words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the matter.

French. And then his banishmentlach. Ay, and the approbation of those that weep this lamentable divorce, under her colours, are wonderfully to extend him; be it but to fortify her judgment, which else an easy battery might lay flat, for taking a beggar without less quality. But how comes it he is to sojourn with you? How creeps acquaintance?

Phi. His father and I were soldiers together; to whom I have been often bound for no less than my life:

Post. Since when I have been debtor to you for courtesies, which I will be ever to pay, and yet pay still. French. Sir, you o'er-rate my poor kindness: I was glad I did atone my countryman and you; it had been pity you should have been put together with so mortal a purpose as then each bore, upon importance of so slight and trivial a nature.

Post. By your pardon, sir, I was then a young traveller: rather shunned to go even with what I heard, than in my every action to be guided by others' experiences: but, upon my mended judg ment, (if I offend not to say it is mended,) my quarrel was not altogether slight.

French. Faith, yes, to be put to the arbitrement of swords; and by such two that would, by all likelihood, have confounded one the other, or have fallen both.

lach. Can we, with manners, ask what was the difference?

French. Safely, I think: 't was a contention in public, which may, without contradiction, suffer the report. It was much like an argument that fell out last night, where each of us fell in praise of our country mistresses: This gentleman at that time youching, (and upon warrant of bloody affirmation.) his to be more fair, virtuous, wise, chaste, constantqualified, and less attemptible, than any the rarest of our ladies in France.

Iach. That lady is not now living: or this gentleman's opinion, by this, worn out.

Post. She holds her virtue still, and I my mind. lach. You must not so far prefer her 'fore ours of Italy.

Post. Being so far provoked as I was in France, I
would abate her nothing; though I profess myself
her adorer, not her friend.

Iach. As fair, and as good, (a kind of hand-in-hand
comparison,) had been something too fair, and too
good, for any lady in Britany. If she went before
others I have seen, as that diamond of yours out-
lustres many i have beheld, I could not but believe
she excelled many: but I have not seen the most
precious diamond that is, nor you the lady.
Post. I praised her as I rated her: so do I my
Iach. What do you esteem it at?
[stone.
Post. More than the world enjoys.
Iach. Either your unparagoned mistress is dead,
or she 's outprized by a trifle.

Post. You are mistaken: the one may be sold, or
given, if there were wealth enough for the purchase,
or merit for the gift: the other is not a thing for
sale, and only the gift of the gods.
Iach. Which the gods have given you?
Post. Which, by their graces, I will keep.
Iach. You may wear her in title yours: but you
know strange fowl light upon neighbouring ponds.
Your ring may be stolen too: so, your brace of un-
prizeable estimations, the one is but frail, and the
other casual; a cunning thief, or a that-way-accom-
plished courtier, would hazard the winning both of
first and last.

Post. Your Italy contains none so accomplished a courtier to convince the honour of my mistress; if, in the holding or the loss of that, you term her frail. I do nothing doubt you have store of thieves; notwithstanding I fear not my ring.

Phi. Let us leave here, gentlemen. Post. Sir, with all my heart. This worthy signior, thank him, makes no stranger of me; we are familiar at first. Iach. With five times so much conversation I should get ground of your fair mistress: make her go back, even to the yielding; had I admittance and opportunity to friend. Post. No, no. Iach. I dare, thereupon, pawn the moiety of my estate to your ring; which, in my opinion, o'ervalues Here comes the Briton: Let him be so entertained it something: But I make my wager rather against amongst you, as suits, with gentlemen of your your confidence than her reputation: and, to bar knowing, to a stranger of his quality.I beseech your offence herein too, I durst attempt it against you all, be better known to this gentleman, whom any lady in the world. I commend to you as a noble friend of mine: How worthy he is I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.

Enter Posthumus.

French. Sir, we have known together in Orleans.

Post. You are a great deal abused in too bold a
persuasion; and I doubt not you sustain what you're
worthy of by your attempt.
Iach. What's that?

Post. A repulse: Though your attempt, as you call it, deserve more,-a punishment too.

Phi. Gentlemen, enough of this: it came in too suddenly; let it die as it was born, and, I pray you, be better acquainted.

Shall from this practice but make hard your heart:
Besides, the seeing these effects will be
Both noisome and infectious.
Queen.

Cor.

Queen.

O, content thee.

Enter Pisanio.

lach. 'Would I had put my estate, and my neighbour's, on the approbation of what I have spoke. Post. What lady would you choose to assail? Lach. Yours; whom in constancy you think stands Will I first work: he's for his master, Here comes a flattering rascal; upon him [Aside. so safe. I will lay you ten thousand ducats to your And enemy to my son.-How now, Pisanio? ring, that, commend me to the court where your lady Doctor, your service for this time is ended; is, with no more advantage than the opportunity of Take your own way. a second conference, and I will bring from thence that honour of hers which you imagine so reserved. But you shall do no harm. I do suspect, you, madam: [Aside. Post. I will wage against your gold, gold to it: my Hark thee, a word.-[To Pisanio. ring I hold dear as my finger; 't is part of it. Tach. You are a friend, and therein the wiser. If Cor. [Aside.] I do not like her. She doth think you buy ladies' flesh at a million a dram, you cannot Strange lingering poisons: I do know her spirit, preserve it from tainting: But, I see you have some And will not trust one of her malice with religion in you, that you fear. Post. This is but a custom in your tongue; you bear A drug of such damn'd nature: Those she has Will stupify and dull the sense awhile: a graver purpose, I hope. Which first, perchance, she 'll prove on cats and Then afterward up higher; but there is [dogs; No danger in what show of death it makes, More than the locking up the spirits a time, With a most false effect; and I the truer To be more fresh, reviving. She is fool'd So to be false with her.

lach. I am the master of my speeches; and would undergo what 's spoken, I swear. Post. Will you?-1 shall but lend my diamond till your return:-Let there be covenants drawn between us: My mistress exceeds in goodness the hugeness of your unworthy thinking: I dare you to this match: here 's my ring. Phi. I will have it no lay. Lach. By the gods it is one :-If I bring you no sufficient testimony that I have enjoyed the dearest bodily part of your mistress, my ten thousand ducats are yours; so is your diamond too. If I come off, and leave her in such honour as you have trust in, she your jewel, this your jewel, and my gold are yours: ---provided I have your commendation for my more

free entertainment.

Queen.

she has

Until I send for thee.

Cor.

No further service, doctor,

I humbly take my leave. [Exit. Queen. Weeps she still, say'st thou? Dost thou She will not quench; and let instructions enter think in time Where folly now possesses? Do thou work: When thou shalt bring me word she loves my son, Post, I embrace these conditions; let us have As great as is thy master: greater; for I'll tell thee, on the instant, thou art then articles betwixt us:-only, thus far you shall answer. His fortunes all lie speechless, and his name If you make your voyage upon her, and give me Is at last gasp: Return he cannot, nor directly to understand you have prevailed, I am no Continue where he is: to shift his being further your enemy: she is not worth our debate. Is to exchange one misery with another; If she remain unseduced, (you not making it appear And every day that comes, comes to decay otherwise,) for your ill opinion, and the assault you A day's work in him: What shalt thou expect, have made to her chastity, you shall answer me with To be depender on a thing that leans,Jach. Your hand; a covenant: We will have these Who cannot be new built, nor has no friends, things set down by lawful counsel, and straight away So much as but to prop him?-Thou tak'st up [The Queen drops a box: Pisanio takes it up for Britain; lest the bargain should catch cold, and Thou know'st not what; but take it for thy labour: starve. I will fetch my gold, and have our two wagers It is a thing I made, which hath the king Post. Agreed. [recorded. [Exeunt Posthumus and Iachimo. Five times redeem'd from death: I do not know French. Will this hold, think you? Phi. Signior Iachimo will not from it.

your sword.

Pray, let us follow 'em. [Exeunt. SCENE VI.-Britain. A Room in Cymbeline's Palace.

Enter Queen, Ladies, and Cornelus.
Queen. Whiles yet the dew 's on ground, gather
those flowers;

Make haste: Who has the note of them?
1 Lady.
I, madam.
Queen. Despatch.
[Exeunt Ladies.
Now, master doctor, have you brought those drugs?
Cor. Pleaseth your highness, ay: here they are,
madam:
[Presenting a small box.
But I beseech your grace, (without offence-
My conscience bids me ask,) wherefore you have
Commanded of me these most poisonous compounds,
Which are the movers of a languishing death;
But, though slow, deadly?
Queen.
I wonder, doctor,
Thou ask'st me such a question: Have I not been
Thy pupil long? Hast thou not learn'd me how
To make perfumes? distil? preserve? yea, so,
That our great king himself doth woo me oft
For my confections? Having thus far proceeded,
(Unless thou think'st me devilish,) is 't not meet
That I did amplify my judgment in
Other conclusions? I will try the forces
Of these thy compounds on such creatures as
We count not worth the hanging, (but none human,)
To try the vigour of them, and apply
Allayments to their act; and by them gather

What is more cordial:-Nay, I prithee, take it ;
That I mean to thee. Tell thy mistress how
It is an earnest of a further good
The case stands with her; do 't, as from thyself.
Think what a chance thou changest on; but think
Thou hast thy mistress still,-to boot, my son,
Who shall take notice of thee: I'll move the king
As thou 'lt desire; and then myself, I chiefly.
To any shape of thy preferment, such
That set thee on to this desert, am bound
To load thy merit richly. Call my women:
Think on my words. [Exit Pisa.]-A sly and con
Not to be shak'd: the agent for his master;
And the remembrancer of her, to hold
The handfast to her lord.-I have given him that,
Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her
Except she bend her humour, shall be assur'd
Of liegers for her sweet; and which she, after,
Re-enter Pisanio and Ladies.

stant knave;

My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated Vexations of it! Had I been thief-stolen,

As my two brothers, happy! but most miserable
Is the desire that 's glorious: Blessed be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
Which seasons comfort.-Who may this be? Fye!
Enter Pisanio and lachimo.

Pis. Madam, a noble gentleman of Rome,
Comes from my lord with letters.
Jach.

Change you, madam?
The worthy Leonatus is in safety,
And greets your highness dearly. [Presents a letter.
Thanks, good sir:
You are kindly welcome.
Iach. All of her that is out of door, most rich!

Imo.

[Aside.

If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare,
She is alone the Arabian bird; and I
Have lost the wager. Boldness be my friend!
Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!
Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight;
Rather, directly fly.

Imo. [Reads.] 'He is one of the noblest note, to whose kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon him accordingly, as you value your trustLeonatus.' So far I read aloud:

But even the very middle of my heart
Is warm'd by the rest, and takes it thankfully.
You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I

Have words to bid you; and shall find it so
In all that I can do.

lach.

Thanks, fairest lady.What! are men mad? Hath nature given them eyes To see this vaulted arch, and the rich crop Of sea and land, which can distinguish 'twixt The fiery orbs above, and the twinn'd stones Upon the number'd beach? and can we not Partition make with spectacles so precious 'Twixt fair and foul?"

Imo.
What makes your admiration?
lach. It cannot be i'the eye; for apes and monkeys,
"Twixt two such shes, would chatter this way and
Contemn with mows the other: Nor i' the judg-
For idiots, in this case of favour, would [ment;
Be wisely definite: Nor i' the appetite;
Sluttery, to such neat excellence oppos'd,
Should make desire vomit emptiness,
Not so allur'd to feed.

Imo. What is the matter, trow?
Jach.

The cloyed will,

(That satiate yet unsatisfied desire,
That tub both fill'd and running,) ravening first
The lamb, longs after for the garbage.
Imo.

desire

What, dear sir, Thus raps you? Are you well? lach. Thanks, madam; well:-'Beseech you, sir, [To Pisanio. My man's abode where I did leave him: he Is strange and peevish. Pis. I was going, sir, To give him welcome. [Exit Pisanio. Imo. Continues well my lord? His health, 'beseech Iach. Well, madam. [you?

Imo. Is he dispos'd to mirth? I hope he is.
lach. Exceeding pleasant; none a stranger there
So merry and so gamesome: he is call'd
The Briton reveller.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

And hear him mock the Frenchman: But, heavens
Some men are much to blame.
[know,
Imo.
Not he, I hope.
lach. Not he: But yet heaven's bounty towards
him might

Be us'd more thankfully. In himself, 't is much;
In you,-which I account his, beyond all talents,-
Whilst I am bound to wonder, I am bound
To pity too.
Imo. What do you pity, sir?
Iach. Two creatures, heartily.
Imo.

Am I one, sir?
You look on me. What wreck discern you in me
Deserves your pity? lach. Lamentable! What!
To hide me from the radiant sun, and solace
I' the dungeon by a snuff? Imo. I pray you, sir,
Deliver with more openness your answers
To my demands. Why do you pity me?
Iach. That others do,

I was about to say, enjoy your-But
It is an office of the gods to venge it,
Not mine to speak on 't.
Imo.
You do seem to know
Something of me, or what concerns me. 'Pray you,
(Since doubting things go ill often hurts more
Than to be sure they do: For certainties
Either are past remedies; or, timely knowing,
The remedy then born,) discover to me
What both you spur and stop.
Iach.

Had I this cheek,
To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye,
Fixing it only here: should 1 (damn'd then)
Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
That mount the Capitol join gripes with hands
Made hard with hourly falsehood (falsehood, as
With labour;) then, by-peeping in an eye,
Base and unlustrous as the smoky light
That 's fed with stinking tallow; it were fit,
That all the plagues of hell should at one time
Encounter such revolt. Imo. My lord, I fear,
Has forgot Britain.
lach.
And himself. Not I,
Inclin'd to this intelligence, pronounce
The beggary of his change; but 't is your graces
That, from my mutest conscience, to my tongue,
Charms this report out.

Imo.
Let me hear no more.
lach. O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my
With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady [heart
So fair, and fasten'd to an empery, [partner'd
Would make the great'st king double! To be
With tomboys, hir'd with that self-exhibition
Which your own coffers yield with diseas'd ven-
That play with all infirmities for gold [tures,
Which rottenness can lend nature! such boil'd stuff,
As well might poison poison! Be reveng'd:
Or she that bore you was no queen, and you
Recoil from your great stock.
Imo.

Reveng'd!
How should I be reveng'd? If this be true,
(As I have such a heart that both mine cars
Must not in haste abuse,) if it be true,
How shall I be reveng'd?

lach.
Should he make me
Live like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets,
Whiles he is vaulting variable ramps,

In your despite, upon your purse? Revenge it.
I dedicate myself to your sweet pleasure;
More noble than that runagate to your bed;
And will continue fast to your affection,
Still close, as sure.
Imo.

What ho, Pisanio!
Iach. Let me my service tender on your lips.
Imo. Away !-I do condemn mine ears that have
So long attended thee.-If thou wert honourable,
Thou would'st have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek'st; as base, as strange,
Thou wrong'st a gentleman, who is as far
From thy report, as thou from honour; and
Solicit'st here a lady, that disdains
Thee and the devil alike.-What, ho! Pisanio!-
The king my father shall be made acquainted
Of thy assault; if he shall think it fit.

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