vy, and vengeance bitter; but those that are germain to him, tho' remov'd fifty times, shall all come under the hangman; which tho' it be great pity, yet it is necessary; an old sheep-whistling rogue, a ram tender, to offer to have his daughter come into grace!-Some say he shall be ston'd; but that death is too soft for him, say I: draw our throne into a sheep-cot! all death's are too few, the sharpest too easy. Clown. Has the ‹ld man e'er a son, Sir; do you hear an't like you, Sir? Autol. He has a son, who shall be flay'd alive, then 'nointed over with money, set on the head of a wasp's nest ; then stand till he be three quarters and a dram dead; then recover'd again with aqua-vita, or some other hot infusion; then (raw as he is, and in the hottest day prognostication proclaims) shall he be set against a brick wall, the sun looking with a southward eye upon him, where he is to behold him with flies, blown to death: but what talk we of these traitorly rascals, whose miseries are to be smil'dat, their of fences being so capital? Tell me, (for you seem to be h●nest, plain men) what you have to the king; being something gently consider'd I'll bring you where he is, tender your persons to his presence, whisper him in your behalf, and if it be in man, besides the king, to effect your suits, here is a man shall do it, Clown. He seems to be of great authority, close with him, give him gold; tho' authority be a stubborn bear, yet he is often led by the nose with gold; shew the inside of your purse to the outside of his hand, and no more ado; remeinber ston'd and flay'd alive. [Aside to Old Shepherd. Old Shep. And't please you, Sir, undertake the business for us, here is that gold I have; I'll make it as much more, and leave this young man in pawn, 'till I bring it you. Autol. After I have done what I promis'd Clown. Ay, Sir. Autol. Well, give.me the moiety-are you a party in this business? Clown. In some sort, Sir: but tho' my case be a pitiful one, I hope I shall not be flay'd out of it. Autol. O, that's the case of the shepherd's son; hang him, he'll be made an example. Clown. (to Shep.) Comfort! good comfort! we must to the king, and shew our strange sights; he must know 'tis none none of your daughter, nor my sister; we are gone else— Sir, I will give you as much as this old man does, when the business is perform'd, and remain, as he says, your pawn, 'till it be brought you. Autol. I will trust you; walk before toward the sea-side ; go on the right hand, I will but look upon the hedge, and follow it. Clown. We are blest in this man, as I may say, ev'n blest Old Shep. Let's before as he bids us; he was provided to do us good. [Exeunt. Shepherd und Clown. Autol. If I had a mind to be honest, I see fortune wou'd not suffer me; she drops booties in my mouth—I anicourted now, with a double occasion: gold, and a means to do the king good; which, who knows how that may turn to my advancement! I will bring these two moles, these blind ones before him; if that the complaint they have to the king concerns him nothing, let him call me rogue for being so far officious; I am proof against that title, and what shame else belongs to it: to him will I present them; there may be better in it. [Exit. SCENE, PAULINA'S House. Enter PAULINA and a GENTLEMAN. Paul. Beseech you, Sir, now that my first burst of joy is over, and my ebbing spirits no longer bear down my atten tion, give my ear again the circumstances of this strange story: Leontes arriv'd! escap'd from the fury of the sea! vail'd in the sembiance of a poor shepherd! and has now thrown himself into the arms of Polixenes! 'tis a chain of wonders! Gent. Yet the tale is not more wonderful than true; I was present at the interview. Paul. Speak, Sir, speak; tell me all. Gent. Sogn as our king return'd from the palace, he retir'd with the good Camillo, to lament the unhappy and illplac'd affection of his son: yet, as gleams of sunshine oft break in upon a storin, so, thro' all his indignation, there burst out by intervals paternal love and sorrow ; 'twas brought him that a person of no great seeming intreated admittance; a refusal was return'd to his bold request; but the stranger, unaw'd by this discouragement, advanc'd to the king's presence; his boldness had met with an equal punishment M.3 nishment, had he not on the sudden assum'd a majesty of mien and feature, that threw a kind of radiance over his peasant garb, and fixt all who saw him with silent wonder and adiniration. Paul. Well, but Polixenes ! Gent. He stept forth to the stranger; but 'ere he cou'd enquire the reasons of his presumption-behold, said Leontes bursting into grief, behold unhappy king, that much hath wrong'd you-behold Leontes!- On this the king started from him-true, I have wrong'd you, cry'd Leontes; but if penitence can atone for guilt, behold these eyes, wept dry with honest sorrow; this breast, rent with honest anguish ; and if you can suspect that my heart yet harbours these passions which once infested it here, I offer it to your sword; lay it upon to the day! Paul. O, the force, the charm, of returning virtue; Gent. Its charm was felt, indeed, by the generous king; for at once forgetting that fatal enmity that had so long divided them, he embrac'd the penitent Leontes, with the unfeign'd warmth of one who had found a long lost friend return'd beyond hope from banishment or death; while Leontes, overwhelm'd with such unlook'd for goodness, fell on his neck, and wept: thus they stood embracing and embrac'd, in dumb and noble sorrow! Their old friendship being thus renew'd, Leontes began his intercession for prince Florizel: but Polixenes-break we off-here comes the good Camillo; speak, thou bear'st thy tidings in thy looks. Enter CAMILLO. Cam. Nothing but bonfires-the oracle is fulfill'd, O, Paulina the beatings of my heart, will scarce Permit my tongue to tell thee what it bears. Paul. I know it all, my friend; the king of Sicily is ar◄ riv'd. Cum. Not only the king of Sicily is arriv'd, but his daughter; his long-lost daughter is found. Paul. Gracious God support me! his daughter found! can it be? how was she sav'd? and where has she been conceal'd? Cam. That shepherdess, our prince has so long and so secretly affected, proves Sicilia's heiress: the old shepherd, her suppos'd father, deliver'd the manner how he found her her upon the coast, produced a fardel, in which are incontested proofs of every circumstance. Paul. Can this be true? Cam. Most true, if ever the truth were pregnant by cir cumstance that which you hear, you'll swear you see, there is such unity in the proofs. The mantle of queen Hermione, her jewel about the neck of it, the letters (pardon me the mention of them) of our lord Antigonus, found with it which I know to be his characters: the majesty of the creature in resemblance of the mother; the affection of nobleness, which nature shews above her breeding, and inany other evidences, proclaim her with all certainty to be the king's daughter. Paul. Praised be the God's wou'd I had beheld the behaviour of the two kings at the unravelling of this story. Cam, Ay, Paulina, for you have lost a sight, which was to be seen-cannot be spoken of. There might you have beheld one joy crown another, so, and in such a manner, that it seem'd sorrow wept to take leave of 'em for their joy waded in tears: there was casting up of eyes, holding up of hands, with countenance of such distraction, that they were to be known by garment, not by favour. Sicily, being ready to leap out of himself for joy of his found daughter, lifted the princess from the earth, and so lock'd her in embracing, as if he would pin her to his heart, that she might no more be in danger of losing: then, as if that joy had now become a loss, cries-Oh, thy mother thy mother! now he thanks the Old Shepherd, who stands by like a weather-beaten conduit of many kings reigns; then asks Bohemia forgiveness; then embraces his son-in-law; then again worries his daughter with chipping her.I never heard of such another encounter, which lames report to follow it, and undoes description to draw it. Paul. The dignity of this act was worth the audience o kings and princes, for by such was it acted. Cam. One of the prettiest touches of all, and that which angled for my eyes, was, at the relation of the queen's death, with the manner how she came by it (bravely confess'd and lamented by the king;) how attentiveness wound ed his daughter, 'till from one sign of dolor to another, shewith an, Alas! I wou'd fain say, blend tears- -I am sure my heart wept blood. Who was most marble, there chang'd colour; M 4 colour; some swooned, all sorrow'd; if the world cou'd have seen't, the woe had been universal. Paul. Are they return'd to court? Cam. Not yet. They were proceeding with due ceremony, and the clamorous joy of the multitude, when I took advantage of their delay, to recount to you this rhapsody of wonders. [Trumpets. Paul. Camillo, haste thee; this royal assembly is entering now the city. Haste thee, with Paulina's greeting to the double majesty, and our new found princess; give them to know I have in my keeping a statue of Hermione, perform'd by the most rare master in Italy; who, had he himself eternity, and cou'd put breath into his work, wou'd beguile mature of her custom, so perfectly he is her ape. He, so near to Hermione, has done Hermione, that they will speak to her, and stand' in hope of answer. Invite them to the sight of it, put thy message into what circumstance of compliment the time and sudden occasion may adınit, and return with best speed to prepare for their unprovided entertainment. [Exit. [Exeunt severally, Cam. I obey you, madam, SCENE, the Court. Enter AUTOLICUS. Now had I not the dash of my former life in me, wou'd preferment fall upon my head. I brought the old man and his son to the king's and told them, I heard them talk of a fardel, and I know not what-but 'tis all one to me; for had I been the finder out of his secret, it wou'd not have relish'd among my other discredits-here come those I have done good to against my will, and already appearing in the blossoms of their fortune. Enter OLD SHEPHERD and CLOWN, fantastically dress'ð. Old Shep. Cone, boy; I am past more children; but thy ons and daugh ers will be all gentlemen born. Clown. (to Autolicus.) You are all well met, Sir; you denied that I was a gentleman born: see these cloath's! say you see them not, and think me still no gentleman borngive me the lye, do--and try whether I am now no gentle man born. Autol. I know you are now, Sir, a gentleman born. Clown |