Ant. I have no hope O, out of that no hope, They'll tell the clock to any business that We say befits the hour. Seb. Thy case, dear friend, Shall be my precedent; as thou got'st Milan, Draw together: And when I rear my hand, do you the like, What great hope have you! no hope, that way, is To fall it on Gonzalo. Another way so high in hope, that even Ambition cannot pierce a wink beyond,1 But doubts discovery there. Will you grant, with me, That Ferdinand is drown'd? Seb. O, but one word. [They converse apart. Music. Re-enter ARIEL, invisible. Ari. My master through his art foresees the Who's the next heir of Naples ? danger Seb. Claribel. That you, his friend, are in; and sends me forth For else his projects die, to keep them living. [Sings in GONZALO's ear. Ant. She that is queen of Tunis; she that dwells Ten leagues beyond man's life; she that from Naples Can have no note, unless the sun wero post, chins (The man i' the moon's too slow,) till new-born Be rough and razorable: she, from whom We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again; Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come, Seb. 3 What stuff is this?-How say you? "Tis true, my brother's daughter's queen of Tunis; So is she heir of Naples; 'twixt which regions There is some space. Ant. A space whose every cubit Seems to cry out, How shall that Claribel That now hath seiz'd them; why they were no And, look, how well my garments sit upon me; Much feater than before: My brother's servants Were then my fellows, now they are my men. Seb. But, for your conscience- If he were that which now he's like, that's dead; 1 i. e. The utmost extent of the prospect of ambition, the point where the eye can pass no farther. 2 The commentators have treated this as a remark able instance of Shakspeare's ignorance of geography; but though the real distance between Naples and Tunis is not so immeasurable, the intercourse in early times between the Neapolitans and the Tunisians was not so frequent as to make it popularly considered less than a formidable voyage; Shakspeare may however be countenanced in his poetical exaggeration, when we remember that Æschylus has placed the river Eridanus in Spain; and that Appolonius Rhodius describes the Bhone and the Po as meeting in one and discharging themselves into the Gulf of Venice. While you here do snoring lie, His time doth take: Ant. Then let us both be sudden. [They wake. Alon. Why, how now, ho! awake! Why are you drawn ? Wherefore this ghastly looking? Gon. What's the matter? Seb. Whiles we stood here securing your repose, Even now, we heard a hollow burst of bellowing Like bulls, or rather lions; did it not wake you? It struck mine ear most terribly. Alon. I heard nothing. Ant. O, 'twas a din to fright a monster's ear; To make an earthquake; sure it was the roar Of a whole herd of lions. Alon. Heard you this, Gonzalo? Gon. Upon mine honour, sir, I heard a humming, And that a strange one too, which did awake me: I shak'd you, sir, and cried; as mine eyes open'd, I saw their weapons drawn:-there was a noise, That's verity: 'Best stand upon our guard; Or that we quit this place: let's draw our weapons. Alon. Lead off this ground; and let's make fur So, king, go safely on to seek thy son. SCENE II. Another part of the Island. Enter CALIBAN, with a burden of Wood. A noise of Thunder heard. Cal. All the infections that the sun sucks up From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall, and make him By inch-meal a disease! His spirits hear me, And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch, Fright me with urchin shows, pitch me i' the mire, Nor lead me, like a fire-brand, in the dark, 3 What is past is the prologue to events which are to come; that depends on who you and I are to perform. 4 A chough is a bird of the jackdaw kind. 5 Suggestion is frequently used in the sense of temp. tation, or seduction, by Shakspeare and his contemporaries. The sense here is, that they will adopt and bear witness to any tale that may be dictated to them. 6 The old copies read "For else his project dies." By the transposition of a letter, this passage, which has much puzzled the editors, is rendered more intelligible. -"-to keep them living," relates to projects, and not to Alonzo and Gonzalo, as Steevens and Johnson erroneously supposed |