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Fer. The ditty does remember my drowned father.— This is no mortal business, nor no sound

That the earth owes: -I hear it now above me.
Pro. The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,
And say, what thou seest yond'.

Mira.
What is't? a spirit?
Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,

It carries a brave form :-But 'tis a spirit.

Pro. No, wench; it eats and sleeps, and hath such

senses

As we have, such: This gallant, which thou seest, Was in the wreck; and but he's something stained With grief, that's beauty's canker, thou might'st

call him

A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows,

And strays about to find them.

Mira.

A thing divine; for nothing natural

I ever saw so noble.

Pro.

I might call him

It goes on, I see,

[Aside.

As my soul prompts it :-Spirit, fine Spirit! I'll free thee Within two days for this.

Fer. Most sure, the goddess On whom these airs attend!-Vouchsafe, my prayer May know, if you remain upon this island; And that you will some good instruction give, How I may bear me here: My prime request, Which I do last pronounce, is, O you wonder! If you be maid, or no?

Mira.

But certainly a maid.
Fer.

No wonder, sir;

My language! heavens!

I am the best of them that speak this speech,
Were I but where 'tis spoken.

Pro.

How! the best?

What wert thou, if the king of Naples heard thee?
Fer. A single thing, as I am now, that wonders
To hear thee speak of Naples; he does hear me;

1 i. e. owns.

And, that he does, I weep: myself am Naples;
Who with mine eyes, ne'er since at ebb, beheld
The king my father wrecked.

Mira.

Alack, for mercy!

Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the duke of Milan And his brave son, being twain.

[Aside.

Pro. The duke of Milan, And his more braver daughter, could control1 thee, If now 'twere fit to do't:-At the first sight They have changed eyes;-Delicate Ariel, I'll set thee free for this!-A word, good sir;

2

I fear, you have done yourself some wrong: a word.
Mira. Why speaks my father so ungently? This
Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first

That e'er I sighed for: pity move my father
To be inclined my way!

Fer.

O, if a virgin,

And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
The queen of Naples.

Pro.

Soft, sir; one word more.

They are both in either's powers: but this swift business

I must uneasy make, lest too light winning

[Aside.

Make the prize light.-One word more; I charge thee, That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp

The name thou ow'st not; and hast put thyself

Upon this island, as a spy, to win it

From me, the lord on't.

Fer.

No, as I am a man.

Mira. There's nothing ill can dwell in such a

temple:

If the ill spirit have so fair an house,

Good things will strive to dwell with 't.

Pro.

Follow me.-[To FERD.

Speak not you for him; he's a traitor.-Come.

I'll manacle thy neck and feet together;

Sea-water shalt thou drink, thy food shall be
The fresh-brook muscles, withered roots, and husks

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What, I say,

Make not too rash a trial of him, for

He's gentle, and not fearful.1

Pro.

My foot my tutor!-Put thy sword up, traitor;
Who mak'st a show, but dar'st not strike, thy con-
science

Is so possessed with guilt: come from thy ward;
For I can here disarm thee with this stick,
And make thy weapon drop.

Mira.

Pro. Hence; hang not on my garments.
Mira.

I'll be his surety.

Pro.

Beseech you, father!

Sir, have pity;

Silence: one word more

Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What! An advocate for an impostor? hush!

Thou think'st there are no more such shapes as he, Having seen but him and Caliban: Foolish wench! To the most of men this is a Caliban,

And they to him are angels.

Mira.

My affections

Are then most humble; I have no ambition

To see a goodlier man.

Pro.

Come on; obey: [To FERD.

So they are:

Thy nerves are in their infancy again;
And have no vigor in them.

Fer.

My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.

My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
The wreck of all my friends, or this man's threats,
To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,

Might I but through my prison once a day

1 Fearful was sometimes used in the sense of formidable, terrible, dreadful, like the French epouvantable. Shakspeare almost always uses it in this sense.

Behold this maid: all corners else o' the earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough

Have I in such a prison.

Pro.
Thou hast done well, fine Ariel!-Follow me.-

It works:-Come on.

[To FERD. and MIRA.

[To ARIEL.

Be of comfort;

Hark, what thou else shalt do me.
Mira.

My father's of a better nature, sir,
Than he appears by speech; this is unwonted,
Which now came from him.

Pro.

Thou shalt be as free

As mountain winds: but then exactly do

All points of my command.

Ari.

To the syllable.

[Exeunt.

Pro. Come, follow: speak not for him.

ACT II.

SCENE I. Another Part of the Island.

Enter ALONZO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and others.

Gon. 'Beseech you, sir, be merry: you have cause (So have we all) of joy; for our escape Is much beyond our loss: our hint1 of wo

Is common; every day, some sailor's wife,

The masters of some merchant,2 and the merchant,
Have just our theme of wo: but for the miracle,
I mean our preservation, few in millions

Can speak like us: then wisely, good sir, weigh
Our sorrow with our comfort.

Alon.

1 Cause or subject.

Pr'ythee, peace.

2 It was usual to call a merchant-vessel a merchant, as we now say a merchant-man.

Seb. He receives comfort like cold porridge.

Ant. The visitor1 will not give him o'er so.

Seb. Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike.

Gon. Sir,

Seb. One-Tell.

Gon. When every grief is entertained, that's offered, Comes to the entertainer

Seb.

A dollar.

Gon. Dolor comes to him, indeed; you have spoken truer than you purposed.

Seb. You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should.

Gon. Therefore, my lord,

Ant. Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue! Alon. I pr'ythee, spare.

Gon. Well, I have: But yet

Seb. He will be talking.

Ant. Which of them, he, or Adrian, for a good

wager, first begins to crow?

Seb. The old cock.

Ant. The cockerel.

Seb. Done: The wager?

Ant. A laughter.

Seb. A match.

Adr. Though this island seem to be desert,

Seb. Ha, ha, ha!

Ant. So you've payed.

Adr. Uninhabitable, and almost inaccessible,

Seb. Yet,

Adr. Yet.

Ant. He could not miss it.

Adr. It must needs be of subtle, tender, and delicate temperance."

Ant. Temperance was a delicate wench.

Seb. Ay, and a subtle; as he most learnedly delivered.

1 In allusion to the office of one who visits the sick to give advice and consolation.

2 Temperance is here used for temperature, or temperateness.

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