His going I could frame to serve my turn; And that unhappy king, my master, whom I so much thirst to see. Flo. Now, good Camillo, I am so fraught with curious business, that You have heard of my poor services, i' the love Flo. [Going. Well, my lord, If you may please to think I love the king; I'll point you where you shall have such receiving Flo. How, Camillo, May this, almost a miracle, be done? That I may call thee something more than man, And, after that, trust to thee. Cam. A place, whereto you'll go? Flo. Have you thought on Not any yet. But as the unthought-on accident is guilty To what we wildly do, so we profess Ourselves to be the slaves of chance, and flies Cam. Then list to me. This follows,-if you will not change your purpose, The partner of your bed. Methinks I see Flo. Cam. Flo. There is some sap in this. I am bound to you. A course more promising Than a wild dedication of yourselves To unpathed waters, undreamed shores; most certain, But as you shake off one, to take another: Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together Per. One of these is true. Cam. Yea, say you so? There shall not, at your father's house, these seven years, Be born another such. Flo. My good Camillo, She is as forward of her breeding, as She is i' the rear of birth. Cam. I cannot say, 'tis pity She lacks instructions; for she seems a mistress To most that teach. Per. I'll blush you thanks. Your pardon, sir, for this; Flo. My prettiest Perdita. But, O the thorns we stand upon. - Camillo,- The medicine of our house!-how shall we do? Nor shall appear in Sicilia Cam. My lord, Fear none of this. I think you know my fortunes To have you royally appointed, as if The scene you play were mine. For instance, sir, That you may know you shall not want,-one word. [They talk aside. Enter AUTOLYCUS. Aut. Ha, ha! what a fool honesty is! And trust, his sworn brother, a very simple gentleman! I have sold all my trumpery; not a counterfeit stone, not a riband, glass, pomander, brooch, table-book, ballad, knife, tape, glove, shoe-tie, bracelet, horn-ring, to keep my pack from fasting; they throng who should buy first; as if my trinkets had been hallowed, and brought a benediction to the buyer; by which means, I saw whose purse was best in picture; and what I saw, to my good use, I remembered. My clown (who wants but something to be a reasonable man) grew so in love with the wenches' song, that he would not stir his pettitoes, till he had both tune and words, which so drew the rest of the herd to me, that all their other senses stuck in ears. You might have pinched a placket, it was senseless; 'twas nothing, to geld a codpiece of a purse; I would have filed keys off, that hung in chains; no hearing, no feeling, but my sir's song, and admiring the nothing of it. So that, in this time of lethargy, I picked and cut most of their festival purses; and had not the old man come in with a whoobub against his daughter and the king's son, and scared my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a purse alive in the whole army. [CAMILLO, FLORIZEL, and PERDITA come forward. Cam. Nay, but my letters by this means being there So soon as you arrive, shall clear that doubt. Flo. And those that you'll procure from king Leontes- Per. All that you speak, shows fair. VOL. II. — 9 Cam. Who have we here? We'll make an instrument of this; omit Aut. If they have overheard me now, -why, hanging. Cam. Why, be so still; here's nobody will steal that from thee. Yet, for the outside of thy poverty, we must make an exchange: therefore, discase thee instantly, (thou must think, there's necessity in't,) and change garments with this gentleman. Though the pennyworth, on his side, be the worst, yet hold thee, there's some boot. Aut. I am a poor fellow, sir;-I know ye well enough. [Aside. Cam. Nay, pr'ythee, despatch. The gentleman is half flayed already. Aut. Are you in earnest, sir?—I smell the trick of it. [Aside. Flo. Despatch, I pr'ythee. Aut. Indeed, I have had earnest; but I cannot with conscience take it. Cam. Unbuckle, unbuckle. [FLO. and AUTOL. exchange garments. Fortunate mistress, let my prophecy Come home to you!-You must retire yourself Per. I see, the play so lies, That I must bear a part. Cam. Have you done there? Flo. No remedy.— Should I now meet my father, He would not call me son. Cam. Nay, you shall have No hat.-Come, lady, come.-Farewell, my friend. Aut. Adieu, sir. Flo. O Perdita, what have we twain forgot? Pray you, a word. [They converse apart. Cam. What I do next, shall be to tell the king [Aside. Of this escape, and whither they are bound; Flo. Fortune speed us! Thus we set on, Camillo, to the sea-side. [Exeunt FLO., PER., and CAM. Aut. I understand the business; I hear it. To have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cutpurse; a good nose is requisite also, to smell out work for the other senses. I see, this is the time that the unjust man doth thrive. What an exchange had this been, without boot! what a boot is here, with this exchange! Sure, the gods do this year connive at us, and we may do any thing extempore. The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity; stealing away from his father, with his clog at his heels. If I thought it were not a piece of honesty to acquaint the king withal, I would do't. I hold it the more knavery to conceal it; and therein am I constant to my profession. Enter Clown and Shepherd. Aside, aside; - here is more matter for a hot brain. Every lane's end, every shop, church, session, hanging, yields a careful man work. Clo. See, see; what a man you are now! There is no other way, but to tell the king she's a changeling, and none of your flesh and blood. Shep. Nay, but hear me. Clo. She being none of your flesh and blood, your flesh and blood has not offended the king; and, so, your flesh and blood is not to be punished by him. Show those things you found about her; those secret things, all but what she has with her. This being done, let the law go whistle; I warrant you. Shep. I will tell the king all, every word, yea, and his son's pranks too; who, I may say, is no honest man neither to his father, nor to me, to go about to make me the king's brother-in-law. Clo. Indeed, brother-in-law was the farthest off you could have been to him; and then your blood had been the dearer, by I know how much an ounce. Aut. Very wisely; puppies! [Aside. |