Iach. O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my heart With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady So fair, and fasten'd to an empery, Would make the great'st king double! to be partner'd With tomboys, hir'd with that self-exhibition" Which your own coffers yield! with diseas'd ventures, Which rottenness can lend nature! such boil'd stuff, Imo. Reveng'd! How should I be reveng'd? If this be true, How should I be reveng'd? Iach. Should he make me Live like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets; In your despite, upon your purse? Revenge it. Imo. What ho, Pisanio! Iach. Let me my service tender on your lips. 4 to an empery,] Empery is a word signifying sovereign command; now obsolete. 5 With tomboys,] We still call a masculine, a forward girl, tomboy. 6 hir'd with that self-exhibition, &c.] Gross strumpets, hired with the very pension which you allow your husband. Solicit'st here a lady, that disdains Thee and the devil alike.-What ho, Pisanio!- A lady to the worthiest sir, that ever Country call'd his! and you his mistress, only I have spoke this, to know if your affiance You make amends. Imo. Which, you know, cannot err: The love I bear him Imo. All's well, sir: Take my power i'the court for yours. Iach. My humble thanks. I had almost forgot To entreat your grace but in a small request, +"of a false report;"-MALONE. And yet of moment too, for it concerns Your lord; myself, and other noble friends, Imo. Pray, what is't? Iach. Some dozen Romans of us, and your lord, (The best feather of our wing) have mingled sums, To buy a present for the emperor; Which I, the factor for the rest, have done In France: 'Tis plate, of rare device; and jewels, Imo. Willingly; And pawn mine honour for their safety: since Iach. They are in a trunk, Attended by my men: I will make bold To send them to you, only for this night; I must aboard to-morrow. Iach. Yes, I beseech; or I shall short my word, By length'ning my return. From Gallia I cross'd the seas on purpose, and on promise To see your grace. Imo. I thank you for your pains; But not away to-morrow? Iach. I will write. Imo. [Exeunt. 7 being strange,] i. e. being a stranger. ACT II. SCENE I-Court before Cymbeline's Palace. Enter CLOTEN and Two Lords. Clo. Was there ever man had such luck! when I kissed the jack upon an up-cast, to be hit away! I had a hundred pound on't: And then a whoreson jackanapes must take me up for swearing; as if I borrowed mine oaths of him, and might not spend them at my pleasure. 1 Lord. What got he by that? You have broke his pate with your bowl. 2 Lord. If his wit had been like him that broke it, it would have ran all out. [Aside. Clo. When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not for any standers-by to curtail his oaths: Ha? 2 Lord. No, my lord; nor [aside.] crop the ears of them. Clo. Whoreson dog! I give him satisfaction? 'Would, he had been one of my rank! [A side. 2 Lord. To have smelt like a fool. Clo. I am not more vexed at any thing in the earth, -A pox on't! I had rather not be so noble as I am; they dare not fight with me, because of the queen my mother: every jack-slave hath his belly full of fighting, and I must go up and down like a cock that no body can match. 2 Lord. You are a cock and capon too; and you crow, cock, with your comb on. 8 [Aside. kissed the jack upon an up-cast,] He is describing his fate at bowls. The jack is the small bowl at which the others are aimed. He who is nearest to it wins. To kiss the jack is a state of great advantage. Clo. Sayest thou? 1 Lord. It is not fit, your lordship should undertake every companion' that you give offence to. Clo. No, I know that: but it is fit, I should commit offence to my inferiors. 2 Lord. Ay, it is fit for your lordship only. Clo. Why, so I say. 1 Lord. Did you hear of a stranger, that's come to court to-night? Clo. A stranger! and I not know on't! 2 Lord. He's a strange fellow himself, and knows it not. [Aside. 1 Lord. There's an Italian come; and, 'tis thought, one of Leonatus' friends. Clo. Leonatus! a banished rascal; and, he's another, whatsoever he be. Who told you of this stranger? 1 Lord. One of your lordship's pages. Clo. Is it fit, I went to look upon him? Is there no derogation in't? 1 Lord. You cannot derogate, my lord. Clo. Not easily, I think. 2 Lord. You are a fool granted; therefore your issues being foolish, do not derogate. [Aside. Clo. Come, I'll go see this Italian: What I have lost to-day at bowls, I'll win to-night of him. Come, go. 2 Lord. I'll attend your lordship. [Exeunt CLOTEN and first Lord. That such a crafty devil as is his mother Should yield the world this ass! a woman, that Bears all down with her brain; and this her son Cannot take two from twenty for his heart, And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess, Thou divine Imogen, what thou endur'st! Betwixt a father by thy step-dame govern'd; A mother hourly coining plots; a wooer, 9 every companion] The use of companion was the same as of fellow now. It was a word of contempt. |