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I told her so, my lord,

What, canst not rule her?

On your displeasure's peril, and on mine,
She should not visit you.

Leon.
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 me.

Ant. Lo you now; you hear! When she will take the rein, I let her run; But she'll not stumble.

Paul. Good my liege, I come, And, I beseech you, hear me, who profess Myself your loyal servant, your physician, Your most obedient counsellor; yet that dare Less appear so, in comforting your evils, Than such as most seem yours: From your good queen.

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I say, I come

Good queen!

Leon.
Paul. Good queen, my lord, good queen :

good queen;

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And would by combat make her good, so were I A man, the worst about you.

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Thou, dotard, [to ANTIGONUS.] thou art womantir'd, unroosted

-

By thy dame Partlet here, take up the bastard;
Take't up, I say; give't to thy crone.
For ever

Paul.

Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou
Tak'st up the princess, by that forced baseness
Which he has put upon't!

Leon.

He dreads his wife.

Paul. So, I would, you did; then 'twere past all

doubt,

You'd call your children yours. Leon.

A nest of traitors!

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Once more, take her hence. Paul. A most unworthy and unnatural lord Can do no more.

Leon. Paul.

I'll have thee burn'd.

I care not,

I'll not call you

It is an heretick, that makes the fire, Not she, which burn's in't.

tyrant;

But this most cruel usage of your queen

(Not able to produce more accusation Than your own weak-hing'd fancy,) something

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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,

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As thou art liegeman to us, that thou carry
This female bastard hence; and that thou bear it
To some remote and desert place, quite out
Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it,
Without more mercy, to its own protection,
And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune
It came to us, I do in justice charge thee,
On thy soul's peril, and thy body's torture,
That thou commend it strangely to some place,
Where chance may nurse, or end it: Take up.
Ant. I swear to do this, though a present death
Had been more merciful. - Come on, poor babe :
Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens,
To be thy nurses! Wolves, and bears, they say,
Casting their savageness aside, have done
Like offices of pity. Sir, be prosperous
In more than this deed doth require! and blessing,
Against this cruelty, fight on thy side,
Poor thing, condemn'd to loss!

Leon.

Another's issue.

1 Atten.

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[Exit, with the Child.

No, I'll not rear

Please your highness, posts,

From those you sent to the oracle, are come

An hour since: Cleomenes and Dion,

Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed, Hasting to the court.

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ACT III.

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Her.
That's true enough;
Though 'tis a saying, sir, not due to me.

Leon. You will not own it.
Her.

More than mistress of,
Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not
At all acknowledge. For Polixenes,
(With whom I am accus'd,) I do confess,
Ì lov'd him, as in honour he requir'd;
With such a kind of love, as might become
A lady like me; with a love, even such,
So, and no other, as yourself commanded:
Which not to have done, I think, had been in me
Both disobedience and ingratitude,

To you, and toward your friend; whose love had
spoke,
Even since it could
That it was yours.

speak, from an infant, freely,
Now, for conspiracy,

I know not how it tastes; though it be dish'd
For me to try how: all I know of it,
Is, that Camillo was an honest man;

HERMIONE is brought in, guarded; PAULINA and And, why he left your court, the gods themselves,

Ladies, attending.

Leon. Read the indictment.

Offi. Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes, king of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high treason, in committing adultery with Polixenes, king of Bohemia; and conspiring with Camillo to take away the life of our sovereign lord the king, thy royal husband: the pretence whereof being by circumstances partly laid open, thou, Hermione, contrary to the faith and allegiance of a true subject, didst counsel and aid them, for their better safety, to fly away by night.

Her. Since what I am to say, must be but that Which contradicts my accusation; and The testimony on my part, no other

But what comes from myself; it shall scarce boot mne
To say, Not guilty; mine integrity,

Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it,
Be so receiv'd. But thus,- If powers divine
Behold our human actions, (as they do,)
I doubt not then, but innocence shall make
False accusation blush, and tyranny

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Tremble at patience. You, my lord, best know,
(Who least will seem to do so,) my past life
Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true,
As I am now unhappy; which is more
Than history can pattern, though devis'd,
And play'd, to take spectators: For behold me,
A fellow of the royal bed, which owe

A moiety of the throne, a great king's daughter,
The mother to a hopeful prince, here standing,
To prate and talk for life, and honour 'fore
Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it,
As I weigh grief, which I would spare: for honour,
'Tis a derivative from me to mine,
And only that I stand for. I appeal
To your own conscience, sir, before Polixenes
Came to your court, how I was in your grace,
How merited to be so; since he came,
With what encounter so uncurrent I

Have strain'd, to appear thus: if one jot beyond
The bound of honour; or, in act, or will,
That way inclining; harden'd be the hearts
Of all that hear me, and my near'st of kin
Cry, Fye upon my grave!

Leon.

I ne'er heard yet, That any of these bolder vices wanted Less impudence to gainsay what they did, Than to perform it first.

Wotting no more than I, are ignorant.

Leon. You knew of his departure, as you know What you have underta'en to do in his absence. Her. Sir,

You speak a language that I understand not :
My life stands in the level of your dreams,
Which I'll lay down.

Leon.

Your actions are my dreams;
You had a bastard by Polixenes,
And I but dream'd it: - - As you were past all shame,
(Those of your fact are so,) so past all truth:
Which to deny, concerns more than avails :
For as

Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself,
No father owning it, (which is, indeed,
More criminal in thee, than it,) so thou
Shalt feel our justice; in whose easiest passage,
Look for no less than death.

Her.
Sir, spare your threats;
The bug, which you would fright me with, I seek.
To me can life be no commodity :

The crown and comfort of my life, your favour,
I do give lost; for I do feel it gone,

But know not how it went: My second joy,
And first-fruits of my body, from his presence,

I am barr'd, like one infectious: My third comfort,
Starr'd most unluckily, is from my breast,

The innocent milk in its most innocent mouth,
Haled out to murder: Myself on every post
Proclaim'd a strumpet; with immodest hatred,
The child-bed privilege denied, which 'longs
To women of all fashion :
- Lastly, hurried
Here to this place, i' the open air, before
I have got strength of limit. Now, my liege,
Tell me what blessings I have here alive,
That I should fear to die? Therefore, proceed.
But yet hear this; mistake me not; -
No! life,

I prize it not a straw :— but for mine honour,
(Which I would free,) if I shall be condemn'd
Upon surmises; all proofs sleeping else,
But what your jealousies awake; I tell you
'Tis rigour, and not law. Your honours all,
I do refer me to the oracle?
Apollo be my judge.

1 Lord.

This your request Is altogether just therefore, bring forth, And in Apollo's name, his oracle.

[Exeunt certain Officers.

Her. The emperor of Russia was my father:

O, that he were alive, and here beholding
His daughter's trial! that he did but see
The flatness of my misery; yet with eyes
Of pity, not revenge!

Re-enter Officers, with CLEOMENES and DION.

Offi. You here shall swear upon this sword of justice,

That you, Cleomenes and Dion, have

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O, cut my lace; lest my heart, cracking it,
Break too!

1 Lord. What fit is this, good lady?

Paul. What studied torments, tyrant, hast for me? What wheels? racks? fires? What flaying? boiling, In leads, or oils? what old, or newer torture

Been both at Delphos; and from thence have Must I receive; whose every word deserves

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Leon. Apollo's angry; and the heavens themselves

Do strike at my injustice. [HERMIONE faints.] How now there?

Paul. This news is mortal to the queen :- -Look down,

And see what death is doing.

Leon.
Take her hence:
Her heart is but o'ercharg'd; she will recover.
I have too much believ'd mine own suspicion :
'Beseech you, tenderly apply to her
Some remedies for life. Apollo, pardon

[Exeunt PAULINA and Ladies, with HERM. My great profaneness 'gainst thine oracle! I'll reconcile me to Polixenes;

New woo my queen; recal the good Camillo;
Whom I proclaim a man of truth, of mercy:
For, being transported by my jealousies
To bloody thoughts and to revenge, I chose
Camillo for the minister, to poison

My friend Polixenes: which had been done,
But that the good mind of Camillo tardied
My swift command, though I with death, and with
Reward, did threaten and encourage him,
Not doing it, and being done: he, most humane,
And fill'd with honour, to my kingly guest
Unclasp'd my practice; quit his fortunes here,
Which you knew great; and to the certain hazard
Of all incertainties himself commended,
No richer than his honour: - How he glisters
Thorough my rust! and how his piety
Does my deeds make the blacker!

To taste of thy most worst? Thy tyranny
Together working with thy jealousies, ·
Fancies too weak for boys, too green and idle
For girls of nine! — O, think, what they have done,
And then run mad, indeed; stark mad! for all
Thy by-gone fooleries were but spices of it.
That thou betray'dst Polixenes, 'twas nothing;
That did but show thee, of a fool, inconstant,
And damnable ungrateful: nor was't much,
Thou would'st have poison'd good Camillo's honour,
To have him kill a king; poor trespasses,
More monstrous standing by: whereof I reckon
The casting forth to crows thy baby daughter,
To be or none, or little; though a devil
Would have shed water out of fire, ere don't :
Nor is't directly laid to thee, the death
Of the young prince; whose honourable thoughts
(Thoughts high for one so tender,) cleft the heart
That could conceive, a gross and foolish sire
Blemish'd his gracious dam: this is not, no,
Laid to thy answer: But the last, - O, lords,
When I have said, cry, woe! — the queen, the

queen,

The sweetest, dearest, creature's dead; and ven-
geance for't
Not dropp'd down yet.
1 Lord.
The higher powers forbid '
Paul. I say, she's dead: I'll swear't: if word,
nor oath,

Prevail not, go and see if you can bring
Tincture, or lustre, in her lip, her eye,
Heat outwardly, or breath within, I'll serve you
As I would do the gods, But, O thou tyrant!
Do not repent these things; for they are heavier
Than all thy woes can stir: therefore betake thee
To nothing but despair. A thousand knees
Ten thousand years together, naked, fasting,
Upon a barren mountain, and still winter
In storm perpetual, could not move the gods
To look that way thou wert.

Leon.
Go on, go on :
Thou canst not speak too much; I have deserv'd
All tongues to talk their bitterest.

1 Lord. Say no more; Howe'er the business goes, you have made fault I'the boldness of your speech.

Paul. I am sorry for't; All faults I make, when I shall come to know them, I do repent: Alas, I have show'd too much The rashness of a woman he is touch'd To the noble heart.

help,

What's gone, and what's past

Should be past grief: Do not receive affliction
At my petition, I beseech you; rather
Let me be punish'd, that have minded you
Of what you should forget. Now, good my liege
Sir, royal sir, forgive a foolish woman:
The love I bore your queen,
lo, fool, again!
I'll speak of her no more, nor of your children;
I'll not remeraber you of my own lord,

Who is lost too: Take your patience to you,
And I'll say nothing.
Leon.
Thou didst speak but well,
When most the truth; which I receive much better
Than to be pitied of thee. Pr'ythee, bring me
To the dead bodies of my queen, and son :
One grave shall be for both; upon them shall
The causes of their death appear, unto
Our shame perpetual: Once a day I'll visit

The chapel where they lie; and tears, shed there,
Shall be my recreation: So long as
Nature will bear up with this exercise,

So long I daily vow to use it. And lead me to these sorrows.

Come,

[Exeunt.

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upon

The deserts of Bohemia ?

Mar.

Ay, my lord; and fear We have landed in ill time: the skies look grimly, And threaten present blusters. In my conscience, The heavens with that we have in hand are angry, And frown upon us.

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Shep. I would, there were no age between ten and three-and-twenty; or that youth would sleep out the rest for there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting. Hark you now! Would any but these boiled brains of nineteen, and two-and-twenty, hunt this weather? They have

Ant. Their sacred wills be done! Go, get scared away two of my best sheep; which, I fear,

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I have heard, (but not believ'd,) the spirits of the dead

May walk again: if such thing be, thy mother
Appear'd to me last night; for ne'er was dream
So like a waking. To me comes a creature,
Sometimes her head on one side, some another;
I never saw a vessel of like sorrow,
So fill'd, and so becoming in pure white robes,
Like very sanctity, she did, approach
My cabin where I lay thrice bow'd before me ;
And, gasping to begin some speech, her eyes
Became two spouts: the fury spent, anon
Did this break from her: Good Antigonus,
Since fute, against thy better disposition,
Hath made thy person for the thrower-out
Of my poor babe, according to thine oath,-
Places remote enough are in Bohemia,
There weep, and leave it crying; and, for the babe
Is counted lost for ever, Perdita,

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I pr'ythee, call't: for this ungentle business,
Put on thee by my Lord, thou ne'er shalt see
Thy wife Paulina more: -- - and so, with shrieks,
She melted into air. Affrighted much,
I did in time collect myself; and thought
This was so, and no slumber. Dreams are toys
Yet, for this once, yea, superstitiously,
I will be squar'd by this. I do believe,
Hermione hath suffer'd death; and that
Apollo would, this being indeed the issue
Of King Polixenes, it should here be laid,

the wolf will sooner find, than the master; if any where I have them, 'tis by the sea-side, browzing on ivy Good luck, an't be thy will! what have we here? [Taking up the Child.] Mercy on's, a barne; a very pretty barne! A boy, or a child, I wonder? A pretty one; a very pretty one: Sure, some scape though I am not bookish, yet I can read waiting-gentlewoman in the scape. This has been some stair-work, some trunk-work, some behind-door-work: they were warmer that got this, than the poor thing is here. I'll take it up for pity: yet I'll tarry till my son come; he hollaed but even Whoa, họ hoa

now.

Clo. Hilloa, loa!

Enter Clown.

Shep. What, art so near? If thou'lt see a thing to talk on when thou art dead and rotten, come hither. What ailest thou, man?

Clo. I have seen two such sights, by sea, and by land; but I am not to say, it is a sea, for it is now the sky; betwixt the firmament and it, you cannot thrust a bodkin's point.

Shep. Why, boy, how is it?

Clo. I would, you did but see how it chafes, how it rages, how it takes up the shore! but that's not to the point! O, the most piteous cry of the poor souls! sometimes to see 'em, and not to see 'em now the ship boring the moon with her mainmast; and anon swallowed with yest and froth, as you'd thrust a cork into a hogshead. And then for the land service,-To see how the bear tore out his shoulder-bone; how he cried to me for help, and said, his name was Antigonus, a nobleman :-But to make an end of the ship: ;- to see how the sea flap-dragoned it: but, first, how the poor souls roared, and the sea mocked them; - and how the poor gentleman roared, and the bear mocked him, both roaring louder than the sea, or weather.

Shep. Name of mercy, when was this, boy? Clo. Now, now; I have not winked since I saw these sights: the men are not yet cold under water,

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