Pro. Bravely, my diligence, thou shalt be free. Alon. This is as ftrange a maze as e'er men trod, And there is in this business more than nature Was ever conduct of; fome oracle Muft rectify our knowledge. Do not infeft your mind with beating on Untie the fpell. How fares my gracious Sir? Some few odd lads, that you remember not. Enter Ariel, driving in Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo, in their ftolen Apparel. Ste. Every man fhift for all the reft, and let no man take care for himself; for all is but fortune; Coragio, bully-monster, Coragio! Trin. If these be true fpies, which I wear in my head, here's a goodly fight. Cal. O Setebos, these be brave spirits, indeed! How fine my mafter is! I am afraid, He will chastise me. Seb. Ha, ha; What things are thefe, my lord Anthonio! Will money buy 'em? Ant. Very like; one of them Is a plain fish, and no doubt marketable, 3-fingle I'll refolve you.] Because the confpiracy, against him, of his Brother Sebaftian and his own Brother Anthonio, would make part of the relation. G 3 Pro. Pro. Mark but the badges of these men, my lords, Then fay, if they be true: this mis-shap'd knave, His mother was a witch, and one so strong That could controul the moon, make flows and ebbs, Cal. I fhall be pincht to death. Alon. Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler? Find this grand 'lixir, that hath gilded 'em? 4 And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where should they Find this grand LIQUOR, that hath gilded 'em.] ShakeSpear, to be fure, wrote grand 'LIXIR, alluding to the grand Elixir of the alchymifts, which they pretend would reftore youth, and confer immortality. This, as they faid, being a preparation of Gold, they called Aurum potabile; which Shakespear alluded to in the word gilded; as he does again in Anthony and Cleopatra. How much art thou unlike Mark Anthony? Yet coming from him, that great med'cine bath, But the joke here is to infinuate that, notwithstanding all the Old reverend Sack, which, for ought that I can read yet, Was that Philofopher's flone the wife King Ptolomeus Did all his wonders by. The phrase too of being gilded was a trite one on this occafion. Fletcher in his Chances Duke. Is he not drunk too? Whore. A little gilded o'er, Sir; Old Sack, Old Sack, Boys! Trin. I have been in fuch a pickle, fince I faw you last, that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I fhall not fear fly-blowing. Seb. Why, how now, Stephano? [cramp. Cal. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wife hereafter, Was I, to take this drunkard for a God?, And worship this dull fool? Pro. Go to, away! Alon. Hence, and beftow your luggage where you found it. Seb. Or ftole it rather. 50, touch me not: I am not Stephano, but a cramp.] In reading this play, I all along fufpected that Shakespear had taken it from fome Italian writer; the Unities being all fo regularly observed, which no dramatic writers but the Italian obferved fo early as our Author's time; and which Shakespear has obferved no where but in this Play. Besides, the Perfons of the Drama are all Italians. I was much confirmed in my Sufpicion when I came to this place. It is plain a joke was intended; but where it lies is hard to fay. I fufpect there was a quibble in the Original that would not bear to be tranflated, which ran thus, I am not Stephano but Staffilato. Staffilato fignifying, in Italian, a man well lashed or flayed, which was the real cafe of thefe varlets. Tooth'd briars, harp furzes, pricking gofs and thorns Which enter'd their frail Skins. And the touching a raw part being very painful, he might well cry out Touch me not, &c. In Riccoboni's Catalogue of Italian plays are thefe, Il Negromante di L. Ariofio, prosa e verfo, & Il Negromante Palliato di Gio-Angelo Petrucci, profa. But whether the Tempeft be borrowed from either of these, not having feen them, I cannot fay. Pro. Sir, I invite your highness, and your train, Of these our dear beloved folemniz'd; To hear the ftory of your life, which must Pro. I'll deliver all; And promise you calm feas, aufpicious gales, [Exeunt omnes. EPILOGUE, Spoken by Profpero. Now my charms are all o'er-thrown, And what strength I have's mine own; Or fent to Naples. Let me not, 6 And my ending is defpair, Unless I be reliev'd by prayer; Which pierces fo, that it assaults As you from crimes would pardon'd be, 6 And my ending is defpair, Unless I be reliev'd by prayer ;] This alludes to the old Stories told of the defpair of Necromancers in their last moments; and of the efficacy of the prayers of their friends for them. |