Ste. Four legs, and two voices; a most delicate monster His forward voice now is to speak well of his friend; his backward voice is to utter foul speeches, and to detract. If all the wine in my bottle will recover him, I will help his ague: Come,-Amen! I will pour some in thy other mouth. Tri. Stephano, Ste. Doth thy other mouth call me? Mercy! mercy ! This is a devil, and no monster: I will leave him; I have no long spoon. 15 Tri. Stephano!-if thou beest Stephano, touch me, and speak to me; for I am Trinculo;-be not afeard,―thy good friend Trinculo. Ste. If thou beest Trinculo, come forth; I'll pull thee by the lesser legs: if any be Trinculo's legs, these are they. Thou art very Trinculo, indeed: How cam'st thou to be the siege of this moonn-calf ?17 Tri. I took him to be kill'd with a thunder-stroke :But art thou not drown'd, Stephano? I hope now, thou art not drown'd. Is the storm over-blown? I hid me under the dead moon's-calf's gaberdine, for fear of the storm And art thou living, Stephano? O Stephano, two Neapolitans 'scap'd! Ste. Prythee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant. Cal. These be fine things, an if they be not sprites. Ste. How did'st thou 'scape? How cam'st thou hither? swear by this bottle, how thou cam'st hither. I escap'd upon a butt of sack, which the sailors heav'd over-board, by this bottle! Here; swear then how thou escap'dst. Tri. Swam a-shore, man, like a duck; I can swim like a duck, I'll be sworn. Ste. Here, kiss the book: Though thou canst swim like a duck, thou art made like a goose. 14 Amen!] Means, stop your draught-come to a conclusion. 15 I have no long spoon.] Alluding to the proverb, a long spoon to eat with the devil. It may be found in Chaucer. 16 Siege] Stool. 17 Moon caly. An inanimate shapeless mass." Tri. O Stephano, hast any more of this? Ste. The whole butt, man; my cellar is in a rock by the sea-side, where my wine is hid. How now, moon-calf? how does thine ague? Cal. Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven ?18 Ste. Out o' the moon, I do assure thee: I was the nan in the moon (A) when time was. Cal. I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee. Ste. Come, swear to that: kiss the book: I will furnish it anon with new contents; swear. Tri. By this good light, this is a very shallow monster: I afeard of him?-a very weak monster:-The man i̇' the moon? -a most poor credulous monster:-Well drawn, monster, in good sooth.19 Cal. I'll shew thee every fertile inch o' the island; And kiss thy foot: I pr'ythee, be my god. Tri. By this light, a most perfidious and drunken monster; when his god's asleep, he'll rob his bottle. Cal. I'll kiss thy foot: I'll swear myself thy subject. Tri. I shall laugh myself to death at this puppy-headed monster: A most scurvy monster! I could find in my heart to beat him, Ste. Come, kiss, Tri. but that the poor monster's in drink: An abominable monster! Cal. I'll shew thee the best springs; I'll pluck thee berries; I'll fish for thee, and get thee wood enough. A plague upon the tyrant that I serve! I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee, 18 Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven?] The newly-discovered Indians of the island of St. Salvador, asked, by signs, whether Columbus and his companions were not come down from heaven. 19 Well drawn, monster, in good sooth.] Caliban has just had another draught from Stephano's bottle of "celestial liquor," and Trinculo compliments him upon having taken so capital a 'pull," or "draw." Tri. A most ridiculous monster; to make a wonder of a poor drunkard. with me ? Cal. I pr'ythee, let me bring thee where crabs grow; And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts; Shew thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how To snare the nimble marmozet; I'll bring thee To clust'ring filberds, and sometimes I'll get thee Young sea-mells?" from the rock: Wilt thou go Ste. I pr'ythee now, lead the way, without any more talking. Trinculo, the king and all our company else being drown'd, we will inherit here.-Here; bear my bottle. Fellow Trinculo, we'll fill him by and by again. Cal. Farewell, master; farewell, farewell. [Sings drunkenly. Tri. A howling monster; a drunken monster. At requiring, Nor scrape trencher, nor wash dish: Has a new master-Get a new man.2 Ste. O brave monster! lead the way. 20 Sea-mells.] A species of sea-gulls. 21 21 [Exeunt. Get a new man.] In allusion to Prospero, who must now find a new servant, as he (Caliban) is about to serve a new master. END OF ACT SECOND. HISTORICAL NOTES TO ACT SECOND. (A) I was the man in the moon.] This is a very old superstition, founded, as Mr. Ritson has observed, on Numbers xv. 32. See Ancient songs, p. 34. So far the tradition is still preserved amongst nurses and schoolboys; but how the culprit came to be imprisoned in the moon, has not yet been accounted for. It should seem that he had not merely gathered sticks on the sabbath, but that he had stolen what he gathered, as appears from the following lines in Chaucer's Testament of Creseid, where the poet, describing the moon, informs us that she had "On her brest a chorle painted ful even Which for his theft might climb no ner the heven." We are to suppose that he was doomed to perpetual confinement in this planet, and precluded from every possibility of inhabiting the mansions of the just. With the Italians, Cain appears to have been the offender, and he is alluded to in a very extraordinary manner by Dante, in the twentieth canto of the Inferno, where the moon is described by the periphrasis Caino e le spine. One of the commentators on that poet says, that this alludes to the popular opinion of Cain loaded with the bundle of faggots; but how he procured them we are not informed. The Jews have some Talmudical story that Jacob is in the moon, and they believe that his face is visible. The natives of Ceylon instead of a man, have placed a hare in the moon; and it is said to have got there in the following manner :-Their great Deity, Buddha, when a hermit on earth, lost himself one day in the forest. After wandering about in great distress he met a hare, who thus addressed him: "It is in my power to extricate you from your difficulty; take the path on your right hand, and it will lead you out of the forest.' "I am greatly obliged to you, Mr. Hare," said Buddha, "but I am unfortunately very poor and very hungry, and have nothing to offer you in reward for your kindness." "If you are hungry," returned the hare, "I am again at your service; make a fire, kill me, roast me, and eat me." Buddha made the fire, and the hare instantly jumped into it. Buddha now exerted his miraculous powers, snatched the animal from the flames, and threw him into the moon, where he has ever since remained. This is from the information of a learned and intelligent French gentleman, recently arrived from Ceylon, who adds that the Cingalese would often request of him to permit them to look for the hare through his telescope, and exclaim in raptures that they saw it. It is remarkable that the Chinese represent the moon by a rabbit pounding rice in a mortar. Their mythological moon Jut-ho is figured by a beautiful young woman with a double sphere behind her head, and a rabbit at her feet. The period of this animal's gestation is thirty days; may it not therefore typify the moon's revolution round the earth?-Douce. |