1 Atten. Madam, he hath not slept to-night; com manded, None should come at him. Paul. Not so hot, good sir ; I come to bring him sleep.-'Tis such as you,— Do come with words as med'cinal as true; Leo. What noise there, ho? Paul. No noise, my lord; but needful conference, About some gossips for your highness. Leo. How?. Away with that audacious lady :-Antigonus, I charg'd thee, that she should not come about me, Ant. I told her so, my lord, On your displeasure's peril, and on mine, Leo. What, canst not rule her? Paul. From all dishonesty, he can in this, (Unless he take the course that you have done, Commit me, for committing honour,) trust it, He shall not rule ine. Ant. Lo you now; you hear! When she will take the rein, I let her run ; Paul. Good my liege, I come, And, I beseech you, hear me, who profess Leo. Good queen! Paul. Good queen, my lord, good queen: I say, good queen; And would by combat make her good, so were I A man, the worst about you. [7] To comfort, in old language, is to aid and encourage. Evils here mean wicked courses. 25* MAL. VOL. III. Leo. Force her hence. Paul. Let him, that makes but trifles of his eyes, Leo. Out! [Laying down the child. A mankind witch 8 Hence with her, out o' door: Paul. Not so: I am as ignorant in that, as you In so entitling me: and no less honest Than you are mad; which is enough, I'll warrant, Leo. Traitors! Will you not push her out? give her the bastard :— Thou, dotard, [To ANTIGONUS.] thou art womantir'd, unroosted By thy dame Partiet here,-take up the bastard; Paul. For ever Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou Tak'st up the princess, by that forced baseness Which he has put upon't !2 Leo. He dreads his wife. Paul. So, I would, you did; then, 'twere past all doubt, You'd call your children yours. Leo. A nest of traitors! Ant. I am none, by this good light. Paul. Nor 1; nor any, But one, that's here; and that's himself: for he [8] A mankind woman is yet used in the midland counties, for a woman violent, ferocious, and mischievous. It has the same sense in this passage. Witches are supposed to be mankind, to put off the softness and delicacy of women; therefore Sir Hugh, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, says of a woman suspected to be a witch, "that he does not like when a woman has a beard." JOHNS. [9] Woman tir'd, is peck'd by a woman; hen-pecked. The phrase is taken from falconry, and is often employed by writers contemporary with Shakspeare. STEEV. [1] i.e. thy old worn-out woman. A croan is an old toothless sheep; thence an old woman. STEEV. [2] Leontes had ordered Antigonus to to take up the bastard; Paulina forbids him to touch the Princess under that appellation. Forced is false, atter ed with violence to truth. JOHNS. His hopeful son's, his babe's, betrays to slander, Whose sting is sharper than the sword's; and will not (For, as the case now stands, it is a curse He cannot be compell'd to't,) once remove The root of his opinion, which is rotten, Leo. A callat, Of boundless tongue; who late hath beat her husband, And now baits me !-This brat is none of mine; It is the issue of Polixenes: Hence with it; and, together with the dam, Paul. It is yours ; And, might we lay the old proverb to your charge, The trick of his frown, his forehead; nay, the valley, The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours Leo. A gross hag! And, lozel, thou art worthy to be hang'd, That wilt not stay her tongue. Ant. Hang all the husbands, That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself Leo. Once more, take her hence. Paul. A most unworthy and unnatural lord Can do no more. Leo. I'll have thee burn'd. [3] Yellow is the colour of jealousy. JOHNS. [4] In the ardour of composition Shakspeare seems here to have forgotten the difference of sexes. Unless she were herself "a bed-swerver,' " (which is not supposed.) she could have no doubt of his being the father of her children. However painful female jealousy may be to her that feels it, Paulina, therefore, certainly attributes to it in the present instance, a pang that it can never give. MAL. I regard this circumstance as a beauty, rather than a defect. The seeming absurdity in the last clause of Paulina's ardent address to Nature, was undoubtedly designed, being an extravagance characteristically preferable to languid correctness and chastized declamation. STEEV. [5] This is a term of contempt frequently used by Spenser. STEEV. Paul. I care not: It is an heretick, that makes the fire, Not she which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant ; (Not able to produce more accusation Than your own weak-hing'd fancy,) something savours Leo. On your allegiance, Out of the chamber with her. Were I a tyrant, Paul. I pray you, do not push me; I'll be gone. -Look to your babe, my lord; 'tis your's: Jove send her A better guiding spirit -What need these hands?— You, that are thus so tender o'er his follies, Will never do him good, not one of you. So, so:-Farewell; we are gone. [Exit. Leo. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.— My child? away with't!—even thou, that hast A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence, And see it instantly consum'd with fire; Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight : With what thou else call'st thine: If thou refuse, The bastard brains with these my proper hands Ant. I did not, sir: These lords, my noble fellows, if they please, 1 Lord. We can; my royal liege, He is not guilty of her coming hither. Leo. You are liars all. 1 Lord. 'Beseech your highness, give us better credit: We have always truly serv'd you; and beseech So to esteem of us: And on our knees we beg, (As recompense of our dear services, Past, and to come,) that you do change this purpose ; Leo. I am a feather for each wind that blows: Shall I live on, to see this bastard kneel But, be it; let it live: It shall not neither.—You, sir, come you hither; With lady Margery, your midwife, there, [To ANT. To save this bastard's life :-for 'tis a bastard, So sure as this beard's grey,6--what will you adventure To save this brat's life? Ant. Any thing, my lord, That my ability may undergo, And nobleness impose: at least, thus much; I'll pawn the little blood which I have left, To save the innocent: any thing possible. Leo. It shall be possible: Swear by this sword,7 Thou wilt perform my bidding. Ant. I will, my lord. Leo. Mark, and perform it; (s eest thou?) for the fail Of any point in't shall not only be Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu'd wife; Whom, for this time, we pardon. We enjoin thee, As by strange fortune Ant. I swear to do this, though a present death [6] The King must mean the beard of Antigonus, which perhaps both here and on the former occasion, (See p. 24, n. 2,) it was intended, he should lay hold of Leontes has himself told us that twenty-three years ago he was unbreech'd, in his green velvet ceat, his dagger muzzled; and of course his age at the opening of this play must be under thirty. He cannot therefore mean his own beard. MALONE. [7] It was anciently the custom to swear by the cross that was on the handle of a sword. STEEV. I remember to have seen the name of Jesus engraved upon the pummel of the sword of a Crusader in the Church at Winchelsea. DOUCE. |