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Father, I charge thee, by thy reverence,
Here to unfold (though lately we intended
To keep in darkness, what occasion now
Reveals before 'tis ripe) what thou dost know
Hath newly pass'd between this youth and me.
Priest. A contract of eternal bond of love,
Confirm'd by mutual joinder of your hands,
Attested by the holy close of lips,

Strengthen'd by interchangement of your rings;
And all the ceremony of this compact
Seal'd in my function, by my testimony:
Since when, my watch hath told me, toward
my grave

I have travell'd but two hours.

Duke. O, thou dissembling cub! what wilt thou be

When time hath sow'd a grizzle on thy case?
Or will not else thy craft so quickly grow,
That thine own trip shall be thine overthrow?
Farewell, and take her; but direct thy feet
Where thou and I henceforth may never meet.
Vio. My lord, I do protest,—
Oli.
O, do not swear!
Hold little faith, though thou hast too much
fear.

Enter Sir Andrew Aguecheek, with his head

broken.

Sir And. I'll help you, Sir Toby, because we'll be dressed together.

Sir To. Will you help an ass-head and a coxcomb, and a knave? a thin-faced knave, a gull! [look'd to. Oli. Get him to bed, and let his hurt be [Exeunt Clown, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew. Enter Sebastian.

Seb. I am sorry, madam, I have hurt your kinsman;

But, had it been the brother of my blood,
I must have done no less with wit and safety.
You throw a strange regard upon me, and by
I do perceive it hath offended you: [that
Pardon me, sweet one, even for the vows
We made each other but so late ago.
Duke. One face, one voice, one habit, and
two persons;

A natural perspective, that is, and is not!
Seb. Antonio! O my dear Antonio !
How have the hours rack'd and tortur'd me,
Since I have lost thee!

Ant. Sebastian are you?

Seb.
Fear'st thou that, Antonio?
Ant. How have you made division of your-
self?-

An apple, cleft in two, is not more twin

Sir And. For the love of God, a surgeon! Than these two creatures. Which is Sebastian? send one presently to Sir Toby.

Oli. What's the matter.

Sir And. He has broke my head across, and has given Sir Toby a bloody coxcomb too for the love of God, your help! I had rather than forty pound I were at home.

Oli. Who has done this, Sir Andrew? Sir And. The count's gentleman, one Cesario: we took him for a coward, but he's the very devil incardinate.

Duke. My gentleman, Cesario?

Sir And. Od's lifelings, here he is!-You broke my head for nothing; and that that I did, I was set on to do't by Sir Toby.

Vio. Why do you speak to me? I never

hurt you:

You drew your sword upon me, without cause; But I bespake you fair, and hurt you not.

Sir And. If a bloody coxcomb be a hurt, you have hurt me: I think you set nothing by a bloody coxcomb.-Here comes Sir Toby halting, Enter Sir Toby Belch, drunk, led by the Clown.—you shall hear more: but if he had not been in drink, he would have tickled you othergates than he did. [you? Duke. How now, gentleman! how is't with Sir To. That's all one: he has hurt me, and there's the end on't.-Sot, didst see Dick surgeon, sot?

Clo. O, he's drunk, Sir Toby, an hour agone; his eyes were set at eight i' the morning.

Sir To. Then he's a rogue, and a passymesures pavin: I hate a drunken rogue. Olt Away with him! Who hath made this havoc with them?

Oli. Most wonderful!

[brother; Seb. Do I stand there? I never had a Nor can there be that deity in my nature, Of here and everywhere. I had a sister, Whom the blind waves and surges have devour'd.-

[me? [To Viola.] Of charity, what kin are you to What countryman ? what name? what parentage? [father; Vio. Of Messaline: Sebastian was my Such a Sebastian was my brother too, So went he suited to his wat'ry tomb: If spirits can assume but form and suit, You come to fright us.

Seb.

A spirit I am, indeed; But am in that dimension grossly clad, Which from the womb I did participate. Were you a woman, as the rest goes even, I should my tears let fall upon your cheek, And say-Thrice welcome, drowned Viola! Vio. My father had a mole upon his brow,Seb. And so had mine. Vio. And died that day, when Viola from Had number'd thirteen years. [her birth Seb. O, that record is lively in my soul! He finished, indeed, his mortal act That day that made my sister thirteen years.

Vio. If nothing lets to make us happy both But this my masculine usurp'd attire, Do not embrace me till each circumstance Of place, time, fortune, do cohere and jump, That I am Viola: which to confirm, I'll bring you to a captain in this town, Where lie my maiden weeds; by whose gentle help

I was preserv'd, to serve this noble count.

All the occurrence of my fortune since
Hath been between this lady and this lord.
Seb. [To Olivia.] So comes it, lady, you
have been mistook :

But nature to her bias drew in that.

You would have been contracted to a maid;
Now are you, therein, by my life, deceiv'd,
You are betroth'd both to a maid and man.
Duke. Be not amaz'd; right noble is his
blood.-

If this be so, as yet the glass seems true,

I shall have share in this most happy wreck.

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To think me as well a sister as a wife,
One day shall crown the alliance on't, so please
Here at my house, and at my proper cost.
Duke. Madam, I am most apt t'embrace
your offer.-

[To Viola.] Boy, thou hast said to me a thou-[To Viola.] Your master quits you; and, for

sand times,
Thou never shouldst love woman like to me.
Vio. And all those sayings will I over-swear;
And all those swearings keep as true in soul,
As doth that orbed continent the fire
That severs day from night.

[action,

Duke.
Give me thy hand;
And let me see thee in thy woman's weeds.
Vio. The captain, that did bring me first on
shore,
Hath my maid's garments: he, upon some
Is now in durance, at Malvolio's suit,
A gentleman, and follower of my lady's.
Oli. He shall enlarge him :-fetch Malvolio
hither:-

And yet, alas, now I remember me,
They say, poor gentleman, he's much distract.
Re-enter Clown, with a letter.
A most extracting frenzy of mine own
From my remembrance clearly banish'd
How does he, sirrah?

your service done him,

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Mal. Madam, you have done me wrong, Notorious wrong.

Oli.

Have I, Malvolio? no. Mal. Lady, you have. Pray you, peruse that letter:

You must not now deny it is your hand,
Write from it, if you can, in hand, or phrase;
Or say 'tis not your seal, nor your invention:
his.-You can say none of this: well, grant it then,
And tell me, in the modesty of honour,
Why you have given me such clear lights of
favour,
[you,
Bade me come smiling and cross-garter'd to
To put on yellow stockings, and to frown
Upon Sir Toby and the lighter people;
And, acting this in an obedient hope,
Why have you suffer'd me to be imprison'd,
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geck and gull
That e'er invention play'd on? tell me why.

Clo. Truly, madam, he holds Belzebub at the stave's end, as well as a man in his case may do he has here writ a letter to you; I should have given it to you to-day morning; but as a madman's epistles are no gospels, so it skills not much when they are delivered. Oli. Open it, and read it.

Clo. Look then to be well edified, when the fool delivers the madman.-"By the Lord, madam."

Oli. How now! art thou mad?

Clo. No, madam, I do but read madness: an your ladyship will have it as it ought to be, you must allow vox.

Oli. Pr'ythee, read i' thy right wits. Clo. So I do, madonna; but to read his right wits, is to read thus: therefore perpend, my princess, and give ear.

Oli. [To Fabian.] Read it you, sirrah.

Fab. [Reads. "By the Lord, madam, you wrong me, and the world shall know it: though you have put me into darkness, and given your drunken cousin rule over me, yet have I the benefit of my senses as well as your ladyship. I have your own letter that induced me to the semblance I put on; with the which I doubt not but to do myself much right, or you much shame. Think of me as you please. I leave my duty a little unthought of, and speak out of my injury. The madly-used MALVOLIO.'

Oli. Alas, Malvolio, this is not my writing,
Though, I confess, much like the character:
But, out of question, 'tis Maria's hand.
And now I do bethink me, it was she
First told me thou wast mad; then cam'st in
smiling,
[pos'd
And in such forms which here were presup-
Upon thee in the letter. Pr'ythee, be content:
This practice hath most shrewdly pass'd upon

thee;

[of it, But when we know the grounds and authors Thou shalt be both the plaintiff and the judge Of thine own cause.

Fab.

Good madam, hear me speak ; And let no quarrel, nor no brawl to come, Taint the condition of this present hour, Which I have wonder'd at. In hope it shall

not,

Most freely I confess, myself and Toby
Set this device against Malvolio here,

Upon some stubborn and uncourteous parts
We had conceiv'd against him: Maria writ
The letter at Sir Toby's great importance:
In recompense whereof, he hath married her.
How with a sportful malice it was follow'd,
May rather pluck on laughter than revenge;
If that the injuries be justly weigh'd,
That have on both sides past.

[thee!

Oli. Alas, poor fool, how have they baffled Clo. Why, "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrown upon them." I was one, sir, in this interlude, one Sir Topas, sir; but that's all one.-" By the Lord, fool, I am not mad: but do you remember? Madam, why laugh you at such a barren rascal? an you smile not, he's gagg'd:" and thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.

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Mal. I'll be reveng'd on the whole pack of you. [Exit.

Oli. He hath been most notoriously abus'd. Duke. Pursue him, and entreat him to a peace ;

He hath not told us of the captain yet:
When that is known, and golden time convents,
A solemn combination shall be made
Of our dear souls.-Meantime, sweet sister,
We will not part from hence.-Cesario, come;
For so you shall be, while you are a man,

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When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,

For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came to man's estate,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, 'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,

For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, By swaggering could I never thrive, For the rain it raineth every day. But when I came unto my bed,

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, With toss-pots still had drunken head, For the rain it raineth every day. A great while ago the world begun, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain: But that's all one, our play is done, And we'll strive to please you every day. [Exit.

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Officers of a Court of Judicature.

Sicilian Gentlemen.

Rogero, a Sicilian Gentleman. Polixenes, King of Bohemia. Florizel, his Son.

Archidamus, a Bohemian Lord. A Mariner.

Gaoler.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

An old Shepherd, reputed Father of Perdita. Clown, his Son.

Servant to the old Shepherd.

Autolycus, a Rogue.

Time, as Chorus.

Hermione, Queen to Leontes.

Perdita, Daughter to Leontes and Hermione. Paulina, Wife to Antigonus.

Emilia, a Lady,

Other Ladies,

Mopsa,

attending the Queen.

Dorcas, Shepherdesses.

Sicilian Lords and Ladies, Attendants, Guards, Satyrs, Shepherds, Shepherdesses, &c.

SCENE,-Sometimes in Sicilia, sometimes in Bohemia.

ACT I.

SCENE 1.-Sicilia. An Antechamber in
Leontes' Palace.

Enter Camillo and Archidamus.
Arch. If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit
Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my
services are now on foot, you shall see, as I

have said, great difference betwixt our Bohemia and your Sicilia.

Cam. I think, this coming summer, the king of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes him.

Arch. Wherein our entertainment shall shame us, we will be justified in our loves; for, indeed,—

Cam. Beseech you,No sneaping winds at home, to make us say, Arch. Verily, I speak it in the freedom of "This is put forth too truly." Besides, I have my knowledge: we cannot with such magnifi-To tire your royalty. cence-in so rare-I know not what to say.- Leon. We will give you sleepy drinks, that your senses, unintelligent of our insufficience, may, though they cannot praise us, as little ac

cuse us.

Cam. You pay a great deal too dear for what's given freely.

Arch. Believe me, I speak as my understanding instructs me, and as mine honesty puts it to utterance.

Cam. Sicilia cannot show himself over-kind to Bohemia. They were trained together in their childhoods; and there rooted betwixt them then such an affection, which cannot choose but branch now. Since their more mature dignities and royal necessities made separation of their society, their encounters, though not personal, have been royally attorneyed, with interchange of gifts, letters, loving embassies; that they have seemed to be together, though absent; shook hands, as over a vast; and embraced, as it were, from the ends of opposed winds. The heavens continue their loves!

Arch. I think there is not in the world either malice or matter to alter it. You have an unspeakable comfort of your young prince Mamillius it is a gentleman of the greatest promise that ever came into my note.

Cam. I very well agree with you in the hopes of him it is a gallant child; one that, indeed, physics the subject, makes old hearts fresh: they that went on crutches ere he was born, desire yet their life to see him a man.

Arch. Would they else be content to die? Cam. Yes; if there were no other excuse why they should desire to live.

Arch. If the king had no son, they would desire to live on crutches till he had one.

[Exeunt. SCENE II.-Sicilia. A Room of State in the

Palace.

Enter Leontes, Polixenes, Hermione,
Mamillius, Camillo, and Attendants.
Pol. Nine changes of the wat'ry star have
been
[throne
The shepherd's note, since we have left our
Without a burden: time as long again
Would be fill'd up, my brother, with our thanks;
And yet we should, for perpetuity,

Go hence in debt: and therefore, like a cipher,
Yet standing in rich place, I multiply
With one we-thank-you many thousands more
That go before it.
Leon.
Stay your thanks awhile,
And pay them when you part.
Pol.

Sir, that's to-morrow. I am question'd by my fears, of what may chance,

Or breed upon our absence, that may blow

[stay'd
We are tougher, brother,
That you can put us to't.
Pol.
No longer stay.
Leon. One seven-night longer.
Pol.
Very sooth, to-morrow.
Leon. We'll part the time between's then :
I'll no gain-saying.
[and in that
Pol.
Press me not, beseech you, so.
There is no tongue that moves, none, none i'
the world,
[now,
So soon as yours could win me: so it should
Were there necessity in your request, although
"Twere needful I denied it. My affairs
Do even drag me homeward: which to hinder,
Were in your love a whip to me; my stay
To you a charge and trouble: to save both,
Farewell, our brother.

peace until

Leon. Tongue-tied our queen? speak you.
Her. I had thought, sir, to have held my
[You, sir,
You had drawn oaths from him not to stay.
Charge him too coldly. Tell him, you are sure
All in Bohemia's well; this satisfaction
The by-gone day proclaim'd say this to him,
He's beat from his best ward.
Leon.
Well said, Hermione.
Her. To tell, he longs to see his son, were
strong:

But let him say so then, and let him go;
But let him swear so, and he shall not stay,
We'll thwack him hence with distaffs.-
[To Polixenes.] Yet of your royal presence

I'll adventure

The borrow of a week. When at Bohemia
You take my lord, I'll give him my commission,
To let him there a month behind the gest
Prefix'd for his parting :-yet, good deed,
Leontes,

I love thee not a jar o' the clock behind
What lady she her lord.
You'll stay?
Pol.

Her. Nay, but you will?
Pol.

Her. Verily!

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No, madam. I may not, verily.

You put me off with limber vows; but I,
Though you would seek t'unsphere the stars
with oaths,
Should yet say, Sir, no going." Verily,
You shall not go: a lady's verily is
As potent as a lord's. Will you go yet?
Force me to keep you as a prisoner,
Not like a guest; so you shall pay your fees
When you depart, and save your thanks. How
say you?

My prisoner, or my guest? by your dread verily,
One of them you shall be.
Pol.

Your guest, then, madam:
To be your prisoner should import offending;
Which is for me less easy to commit,
Than you to punish.

Her.

Not your gaoler, then,

It is Grace indeed.

Why, lo you now, I have spoke to the purpose twice:

But your kind hostess. Come, I'll question you Her.
Of my lord's tricks and yours when you were
You were pretty lordlings then. [boys;
Pol.
We were, fair queen,
Two lads that thought there was no more be-
But such a day to-morrow as to-day, [hind,
And to be boy eternal.

Her. Was not my lord the verier wag o' the
two?
[i' the sun,
Pol. We were as twinn'd lambs that did frisk
And bleat the one at th' other: what we
chang'd,

Was innocence for innocence; we knew not
The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dream'd
That any did. Had we pursu'd that life,
And our weak spirits ne'er been higher rear'd
With stronger blood, we should have answer'd
heaven

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Her. Leon.

Never ?

Never but once. Her. What! have I twice said well? when was't before?

I pr'ythee tell me; cram us with praise, and
make us
[tongueless,
As fat as tame things: one good deed, dying
Slaughters a thousand waiting upon that.
Our praises are our wages: you may ride us
With one soft kiss a thousand furlongs, ere
With spur we heat an acre. But to the goal:-
My last good deed was to entreat his stay:
What was my first? it has an elder sister,
Or I mistake you: O, would her name were
Grace!

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

Ere I could make thee open thy white hand, And clap thyself my love: then didst thou utter, "I am yours for ever."

The one for ever earn'd a royal husband;
Th' other for some while a friend.

[Giving her hand to Polixenes. Leon. [Aside.] Too hot, too hot! 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 practis'd smiles, | As in a looking-glass; and then to sigh, as 'twere

The mort o' the deer; O, that is entertainment
My bosom likes not, nor my brows.-Mamillius,
Art thou my boy?
Mam.
Leon.

Ay, my good lord.
I' fecks?
Why, that's my bawcock. What, hast
smutch'd thy nose?—

They say, it is a copy out of mine. Come,
captain,
[tain:

We must be neat ;-not neat, but cleanly, cap-
And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf,
Are all call'd neat.—[Observing Pol. and Her.]
Still virginalling

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,

To be full like me :-yet they say we are
Almost as like as eggs; women say so,
That will say anything: but were they false
As o'er-dyed 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 true
To say this boy were like me.-Come, sir page,
Look on me with your welkin eye: sweet
villain!
[may't be?-
Most dear'st! my collop!-- Can thy dam?—
Affection, thy intention stabs the centre;
Thou dost make possible, things not so held,
Communicat'st with dreams;-(how can this
be?)-

With what's unreal thou coactive art,
And fellow'st nothing: then, 'tis very credent,
Thou mayst co-join with something; and thou

dost;

(And that beyond commission; and I find it,)
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 mov'd, my lord?
Leon.

No, in good earnest.

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