Tales from Shakespeare

PREFACE

The following Tales are meant to be submitted to the young reader

as an introduction to the study of Shakespeare, for which purpose

his words are used whenever it seemed possible to bring them in;

and in whatever has been added to give them the regular form of a

connected story, diligent care has been taken to select such

words as might least interrupt the effect of the beautiful

English tongue in which he wrote: therefore, words introduced

into our language since his time have been as far as possible

avoided.

In those Tales which have been taken from the Tragedies, the

young readers will perceive, when they come to see the source

from which these stories are derived, that Shakespeare’s own

words, with little alteration, recur very frequently in the

narrative as well as in the dialogue; but in those made from the

Comedies the writers found themselves scarcely ever able to turn

his words into the narrative form: therefore it is feared that,

in them, dialogue has been made use of too frequently for young

people not accustomed to the dramatic form of writing. But this

fault, if it be a fault, has been caused by an earnest wish to

give as much of Shakespeare’s own words as possible: and if the

“He said” and “She said,” the question and the reply, should

sometimes seem tedious to their young ears, they must pardon it,

because it was the only way in which could be given to them a few

hints and little foretastes of the great pleasure which awaits

them in their elder years, when they come to the rich treasures

from which these small and valueless coins are extracted;

pretending to no other merit than as faint and imperfect stamps

of Shakespeare’s matchless image. Faint and imperfect images they

must be called, because the beauty of his language is too

frequently destroyed by the necessity of changing many of his

excellent words into words far less expressive of his true sense,

to make it read something like prose; and even in some few

places, where his blank verse is given unaltered, as hoping from

its simple plainness to cheat the young readers into the belief

that they are reading prose, yet still his language being

transplanted from its own natural soil and wild poetic garden, it

must want much of its native beauty.

It has been wished to make these Tales easy reading for very

young children. To the utmost of their ability the writers have

constantly kept this in mind; but the subjects of most of them

made this a very difficult task. It was no easy matter to give

the histories of men and women in terms familiar to the

apprehension of a very young mind. For young ladies, too, it has

been the intention chiefly to write; because boys being generally

permitted the use of their fathers’ libraries at a much earlier

age than girls are, they frequently have the best scenes of

Shakespeare by heart, before their sisters are permitted to look

into this manly book; and, therefore, instead of recommending

these Tales to the perusal, of young gentlemen who can read them

so much better in the originals, their kind assistance is rather

requested in explaining to their sisters such parts as are

hardest for them to understand: and when they have helped them to

get over the difficulties, then perhaps they will read to them

(carefully selecting what is proper for a young sister’s ear)

some passage which has pleased them in one of these stories, in

the very words of the scene from which it is taken; and it is

hoped they will find that the beautiful extracts, the select

passages, they may choose to give their sisters in this way will

be much better relished and understood from their having some

notion of the general story from one of these imperfect

abridgments;--which if they be fortunately so done as to prove

delight to any of the young readers, it is hoped that no worse

effect will result than to make them wish themselves a little

older, that they may be allowed to read the Plays at full length

(such a wish will be neither peevish nor irrational). When time

and leave of judicious friends shall put them into their hands,

they will discover in such of them as are here abridged (not to

mention almost as many more, which are left untouched) many

surprising events and turns of fortune, which for their infinite

variety could not be contained in this little book, besides a

world of sprightly and cheerful characters, both men and women,

the humor of which it was feared would be lost if it were

attempted to reduce the length of them.

What these Tales shall have been to the YOUNG readers, that and

much more it is the writers’ wish that the true Plays of

Shakespeare may prove to them in older years--enrichers of the

fancy, strengtheners of virtue, a withdrawing from all selfish

and mercenary thoughts, a lesson of all sweet and honorable

thoughts d actions, to teach courtesy, benignity, generosity,

humanity: for of examples, teaching these virtues, his pages are

full.

THE TEMPEST

There was a certain island in the sea, the only inhabitants of

which were an old man, whose name was Prospero, and his daughter

Miranda, a very beautiful young lady. She came to this island so

young that she had no memory of having seen any other human face

than her father’s.

They lived in a cave or cell, made out of a rock; it was divided

into several apartments, one of which Prospero called his study;

there he kept his books, which chiefly treated of magic, a study

at that time much affected by all learned men: and the knowledge

of this art he found very useful to him; for being thrown by a

strange chance upon this island, which had been enchanted by a

witch called Sycorax, who died there a short time before his

arrival, Prospero, by virtue of his art, released many good

spirits that Sycorax had imprisoned in the bodies of large trees,

because they had refused to execute her wicked commands. These

gentle spirits were ever after obedient to the will of Prospero.

Of these Ariel was the chief.

The lively little sprite Ariel had nothing mischievous in his

nature, except that he took rather too much pleasure in

tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban, for be owed him a

grudge because he was the son of his old enemy Sycorax. This

Caliban, Prospero found in the woods, a strange misshapen thing,

far less human in form than an ape: he took him home to his cell,

and taught him to speak; and Prospero would have been very kind

to him, but the bad nature which Caliban inherited from his

mother, Sycorax, would not let him learn anything good or useful:

therefore he was employed like a slave, to fetch wood and do the

most laborious offices; and Ariel had the charge of compelling

him to these services.

When Caliban was lazy and neglected his work, Ariel (who was

invisible to all eyes but Prospero’s) would come slyly and pinch

him, and sometimes tumble him down in the mire; and then Ariel,

in the likeness of an ape, would make mouths at him. Then swiftly

changing his shape, in the likeness of a hedgehog, he would lie

tumbling in Caliban’s way, who feared the hedgehog’s sharp quills

would prick his bare feet. With a variety of such-like vexatious

tricks Ariel would often torment him, whenever Caliban neglected

the work which Prospero commanded him to do.

Having these powerful spirits obedient to his will, Prospero

could by their means command the winds, and the waves of the sea.

By his orders they raised a violent storm, in the midst of which,

and struggling with the wild sea-waves that every

moment,threatened to swallow it up, he showed his daughter a fine

large ship, which he told her was full of living beings like

themselves. “O my dear father,” said she, “if by your art you

have raised this dreadful storm, have pity on their sad distress.

See! the vessel will be dashed to pieces. Poor souls! they will

all perish. If I had power I would sink the sea beneath the

earth, rather than the good ship should be destroyed, with all

the precious souls within her.”

“Be not amazed, daughter Miranda,” said Prospero; “there. is no

harm done. I have so ordered it, that no person in the ship shall

receive any hurt. What I have done has been in care of you, my

dear child. You are ignorant who you are, or where you came from,

and you know no more of me, but that I am your father and live in

this poor cave. Can you remember a time before you came to this

cell? I think you cannot, for you were not then three years of

age.”

“Certainly I can, sir,” replied Miranda.

“By what?” asked Prospero; “by any other house or person? Tell me

what you can remember, my child.”

Miranda said: “It seems to me like the recollection of a dream.

But had I not once four or five women who attended upon me?”

Prospero answered: “You had, and more. How is it that this still

lives in your mind? Do you remember how you came here?” “No,

sir,” said Miranda, “I remember nothing more.”

“Twelve years ago, Miranda,” continued Prospero, “I was Duke of

Milan, and you were a princess, and my only heir. had a younger

brother, whose name was Antonio, to whom I trusted everything;

and as I was fond of retirement and deep study I commonly left

the management of my state affairs to your uncle, my false

brother (for so indeed he proved). 1, neglecting all worldly

ends, buried among my books, did dedicate whole time to the

bettering of my mind. My brother Antonio, being thus in

possession of my power, began to think himself the duke indeed.

The opportunity I gave him of making himself popular among my

subjects awakened in his bad nature a proud ambition to deprive

me of my dukedom; this he soon effected with the aid of the King

of Naples, a powerful prince, who was my enemy.”

“Wherefore,” said Miranda, “did they not that hour destroy us?”

“My child,” answered her father, “they durst not, so dear was the

love that my people bore me. Antonio carried us on board a ship,

and when we were some leagues out at sea, he forced us into a

small boat, without either tackle, sail, or mast; there he left

us, as he thought, to perish. But a kind lord of my court, one

Gonzalo, who loved me, had privately placed in the boat water,

provisions, apparel, and some books which I prize above my

dukedom.”

“O my father,” said Miranda, “what a trouble must I have been to

you then!”

“No, my love,”’ said Prospero, “you were a little cherub that did

preserve me.Your innocent smiles made me bear up against my

misfortunes. Our food lasted till we landed on this desert

island, since when my chief delight has been in teaching you,

Miranda, and well have you profited by my instructions.”

“Heaven thank you, my dear father,” said Miranda. “Now pray tell

me, sir, your reason for raising this sea-storm?”

“Know then,” said her father, “"that by means of this storm, my

enemies, the King of Naples and my cruel brother, are cast ashore

upon this island.”

Having so said, Prospero gently touched his daughter with his

magic wand, and she fell fast asleep; for the spirit Ariel just

then presented himself before his master., to give an account of

the tempest, and how he had disposed of the ship’s company, and

though the spirits were always invisible to Miranda, Prospero did

not choose she should hear him holding converse (as would seem to

her) with the empty air.

“Well, my brave spirit,” said Prospero to Ariel, “how have you

performed your task?”

Ariel gave a lively description of the storm, and of the terrors

of the mariners, and how the king’s son, Ferdinand, was the first

who leaped into the sea; and his father thought he saw his dear

son swallowed up by the waves and lost. “But he is safe,” said

Ariel, “in a corner of the isle, sitting with his arms folded,

sadly lamenting the loss of the king, his father, whom he

concludes drowned. Not a hair of his head is injured, and his

princely garments, though drenched in the sea-waves, look fresher

than before.”

“That’s my delicate Ariel,” said Prospero. “Bring him hither: my

daughter must see this young prince. Where is the king, and my

brother?”

“I left them,” answered Ariel, “searching for Ferdinand, whom

they have little hopes of finding, thinking they saw him perish.

Of the ship’s crew not one is missing; though each one thinks

himself the only one saved; and the ship, though invisible to

them, is safe in the harbor.”

“Ariel,” said Prospero, “thy charge is faithfully performed; but

there is more work yet.”

“Is there more work?” said Ariel. “Let me remind you, master, you

have promised me my liberty. I pray, remember, , I have done you

worthy service, told you no lies, made no mistakes, served you

without grudge or grumbling.”

“How now!” said Prospero. “You do not recollect what a torment I

freed you from. Have you forgot the wicked witch Sycorax, who

with age and envy was almost bent double? Where was she born?

Speak; tell me.”

“Sir, in Algiers,” said Ariel.

“Oh, was she so?” said Prospero. “I must recount what you have

been, which I find you do not remember. This bad witch, Sycorax,

for her witchcrafts, too terrible to enter human hearing, was

banished from Algiers, and here left by the sailors-; and because

you were a spirit too delicate to execute her wicked commands,

she shut you up in a tree, where I found you howling. This

torment, remember, I did free you from.”

“Pardon me, dear master,” said Ariel, ashamed to seem ungrateful;

“I will obey your commands.”

“Do so,” said Prospero, “and I will set you free.” He then gave

orders what further he would have him do; and away went Ariel,

first to where he had left Ferdinand, and found him still sitting

on the grass in the same melancholy posture.

“Oh, my young gentleman,” said Ariel, when he saw him, ‘I will

soon move you. You must be brought, I find, for the Lady Miranda

to have a sight of your pretty person. Come. sir,, follow me.” He

then began singing:

“Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:

Hark! now I hear them--Ding-dong, bell.”

This strange news of his lost father soon roused the prince from

the stupid fit into which he had fallen. He followed in amazement

the sound of Ariel’s voice, till it led him to Prospero and

Miranda, who were sitting under the shade of a large tree. Now

Miranda had never seen a man before, except her own father.

“Miranda,” said Prospero, “tell me what you are looking at

yonder.”

“Oh, father,” said Miranda, in a strange surprise, “surely that

is a spirit. Lord! how it looks about! Believe me, sir, it is a

beautiful creature. Is it not a spirit?”

“No, girl,” answered her father; “it eats, and sleeps, and has

senses such as we have. This young man you see was in the ship.

He is somewhat altered by grief, or you might call him a handsome

person. He has lost his companions, and is wandering about to

find them.”

Miranda, who thought all men had grave faces and gray beards like

her father, was delighted with the appearance of this beautiful

young prince; and Ferdinand, seeing such a lovely lady in this

desert place, and from the strange sounds he had heard, expecting

nothing but wonders, thought be was upon an enchanted island, and

that Miranda was the goddess of the place, and as such he began

to address her.

She timidly answered, she was no goddess, but a simple maid and

was going to give him an account of herself, when Prospero

interrupted her. He was well pleased to find they admired each

other, for he plainly perceived they had (as we say) fallen in

love at first sight: but to try Ferdinand’s constancy, he

resolved to throw some difficulties in their way: therefore,

advancing forward, be addressed the prince with a stern air,

telling him, he came to the island as a spy, to take it from him

who was the lord of it. “Follow me,” said be. “I will tie your

neck and feet together. You shall drink sea-water; shell-fish,

withered roots, and husks of acorns shall be your food.”

“No,” said Ferdinand, “I will resist such entertainment till I

see a more powerful enemy,” and drew his sword; but Prospero,

waving his magic wand, fixed him to the spot where he stood, so

that he had no power to move.

Miranda hung upon her father, saying: “Why are you so ungentle?

Have pity, I will be his surety. This is the second man I ever

saw, and to me he seems a true one.”

“Silence!” said the father. “One word more will make me chide

you, girl! What! an advocate for an impostor! You think there are

no more such fine men, having seen only him and Caliban. I tell

you, foolish girl, most men as far excel this as he does

Calliban.” This he said to prove his daughter’s constancy; and

she replied:

“My affections are most humble. I have no wish to see a goodlier

man.”

“Come on, young man,” said Prospero to the prince; “you have no

power to disobey -me.”

“I have not indeed,” answered Ferdinand; and not knowing that it was by

magic he was deprived of all power of resistance, he was astonished to

kind himself so strangely compelled to follow Prospero: looking back on

Miranda as long as he could see her, he said, as he went after Prospero

into the cave: “My spirits are all bound up as if I were in a dream; but

this man’s threats, and the weakness which I feel, would seem light to

me if from my prison I might once a day behold this fair maid.”

Prospero kept Ferdinand not long confined within the cell: he soon

brought out his prisoner, and set him a severe task to perform, taking

care to let his daughter know the hard labour he had imposed on him, and

then pretending to go into his study, he secretly watched them both.

Prospero had commanded Ferdinand to pile up some heavy logs of wood.

Kings’ sons not being much used to laborious work, Miranda soon after

found her lover almost dying with fatigue. “Alas!” said she, “do not

work so hard; my father is at his studies, he is safe for these three

hours; pray rest yourself.”

“O my dear lady,” said Ferdinand, “I dare not. I must finish my task

before I take my rest.”

“If you will sit down,” said Miranda, “I will carry your logs the

while.” But this Ferdinand would by no means agree to. Instead of a help

Miranda became a hindrance, for they began a long conversation, so that

the business of log-carrying went on very slowly.

Prospero, who had enjoined Ferdinand this task merely as a trial of his

love, was not at his books, as his daughter supposed, but was standing

by them invisible, to overhear what they said.

Ferdinand inquired her name, which she told, saying it was against her

father’s express command she did so.

Prospero only smiled at this first instance of his daughter’s

disobedience, for having by his magic art caused his daughter to fall in

love so suddenly, he was not angry that she showed her love by

forgetting to obey his commands. And he listened well pleased to a long

speech of Ferdinand’s, in which he professed to love her above all the

ladies he ever saw.

In answer to his praises of her beauty, which he said exceeded all the

women in the world, she replied: “I do not remember the face of any

woman, nor have I seen any more men than you, my good friend, and my

dear father. How features are abroad, I know not: but, believe me, sir,

I would not wish any companion in the world but you, nor can my

imagination form any shape but yours that I could like. But, sir, I fear

I talk to you too freely, and my father’s precepts I forget.”

At this Prospero smiled, and nodded his head, as much as to say: “This

goes on exactly as I could wish; my girl will be queen of Naples.”

And then Ferdinand, in another fine long speech (for young princes speak

in courtly phrases), told the innocent Miranda he was heir to the crown

of Naples, and that she should be his queen.

“Ah! sir,” said she, “I am a fool to weep at what I am glad of. I will

answer you in plain and holy innocence. I am your wife if you will marry

me.”

Prospero prevented Ferdinand’s thanks by appearing visible before them.

“Fear nothing, my child,” said he; “I have overheard, and approve of all

you have said. And, Ferdinand, if I have too severely used you, I will

make you rich amends, by giving you my daughter. All your vexations were

but trials of your love, and you have nobly stood the test. Then as my

gift, which your true love has worthily purchased, take my daughter, and

do not smile that I boast she is above all praise.” He then, telling

them that he had business which required his presence, desired they

would sit down and talk together till he returned; and this command

Miranda seemed not at all disposed to disobey.

When Prospero left them, he called his spirit Ariel, who quickly

appeared before him, eager to relate what he had done with Prospero’s

brother and the king of Naples. Ariel said he had left them almost out

of their senses with fear, at the strange things he had caused them to

see and hear. When fatigued with wandering about, and famished for want

of food, he had suddenly set before them a delicious banquet, and then,

just as,they were going to eat, he appeared visible before them in the

shape of a harpy, a voracious monster with wings, and the feast vanished

away. Then, to their utter amazement, this seeming harpy spoke to them,

reminding them of their cruelty in driving Prospero from his dukedom,

and leaving him and his infant daughter to perish in the sea, saying,

that for this cause these terrors were suffered to afflict them.

The King of Naples, and Antonio the false brother, repented the

injustice they had done to Prospero; and Ariel told his master he

was certain their penitence was sincere, and that he, though a

spirit, could not but pity them.

“Then bring them hither, Ariel,” said Prospero: “if you, who are

but a spirit, feel for their distress, shall not I, who am a

human being like themselves, have compassion on them? Bring them

quickly, my dainty Ariel.”

Ariel soon returned with the king, Antonio, and old Gonzalo in

their train, who had followed him, wondering at the wild music he

played in the air to draw them on to his master’s presence. This

Gonzalo was the same who had so kindly provided Prospero formerly

with books and provisions, when his wicked brother left him, as

he thought, to perish in an open boat in the sea.

Grief and terror had so stupefied their senses that they did not

know Prospero. He first discovered himself to the good old

Gonzalo, calling him the preserver of his life; and then his

brother and the king knew that he was the injured Prospero.

Antonio, with tears and sad words of sorrow and true repentance,

implored his brother’s forgiveness, and the king expressed his

sincere remorse for having assisted Antonio to depose his

brother: and Prospero forgave them; and, upon their engaging to

restore his dukedom, he said to the King of Naples, “I have a

gift in store for you, too”; and, opening a door, showed him his

son Ferdinand playing at chess with Miranda.

Nothing could exceed the joy of the father and the son at this

unexpected meeting, for they each thought the other drowned in

the storm.

“Oh wonder!” said Miranda, “what noble creatures these are! It

must surely be a brave world that has such people in it.”

The King of Naples was almost as much astonished at the beauty

and excellent graces of the young Miranda as his son had been.

“Who is this maid?” said he; “she seems the goddess that has

parted us, and brought us thus together.”

“No, sir,” answered Ferdinand, smiling to find his father had

fallen into the same mistake that he had done when he first saw

Miranda, “she is a mortal, but by immortal Providence she is

mine; I chose her when I could not ask you, my father, for your

consent, not thinking you were alive. She is the daughter this

Prospero, who is the famous Duke of Milan, of whose renown I have

heard so much, but never saw him till now: of him I have received

a new life: he has made himself to me a second father, giving me

this dear lady.”

“Then I must be her father,” said the king; “but, oh, how oddly

will it sound, that I must ask my child forgiveness.”

“No more of that,” said Prospero: “let us not remember our

troubles past, since they so happily have ended.” And then

Prospero embraced his brother, and again assured him of his

forgiveness; and said that a wise overruling Providence had

permitted that he should be driven from his poor dukedom of

Milan, that his daughter might inherit the crown of Naples, for

that by their meeting in this desert island it had happened that

the king’s son had loved Miranda.

These kind words which Prospero spoke, meaning to comfort his

brother, so filled Antonio with shame and remorse that be wept

and was unable to speak; and the kind old Gonzalo wept to see

this joyful reconciliation, and prayed for blessings on the young

couple.

Prospero now told them that their ship was safe in the harbor,

and the sailors all on board her, and that he and his daughter

would accompany them home the next morning. “In the mean time,”

says he, “partake of such refreshments as my poor cave affords;

and for your evening’s entertainment I will relate the history of

my life from my first landing in this desert island.” He then

called for Caliban to prepare some food, and set the cave in

order; and the company were astonished at the uncouth form and

savage appearance of this ugly monster, who (Prospero said) was

the only attendant he had to wait upon him.

Before Prospero left the island he dismissed Ariel from service,

to the great joy of that lively little spirit, who, though he had

been a faithful servant to his master, was always longing to

enjoy his free liberty, to wander uncontrolled in the air, like a

wild bird, under green trees, among pleasant fruits, and

sweet-smelling flowers.

“My quaint Ariel,” said Prospero to the little sprite when he

made him free, “I shall miss you; yet you shall have your

freedom.”

“Thank you, my dear master,” said Ariel; “but give me leave to

attend your ship home with prosperous gales, before you bid

farewell to the assistance of your faithful spirit; and then,

master, when I am free, how merrily I shall live!” Here Ariel

sang this pretty song:

“Where the bee sucks, there suck !;

In a cowslip’s bell I lie:

There I crouch when owls do cry.

On the bat’s back I do fly

After summer merrily.

Merrily, merrily shall I live now

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.”

Prospero then buried deep in the earth his magical books and

wand, for he was resolved never more to make use of the magic

art. And having thus overcome his enemies, and being reconciled

to his brother and the King of Naples, nothing now remained to

complete his happiness but to revisit his native land, to take

possession of his dukedom, and to witness the happy nuptials of

his daughter and Prince Ferdinand, which the king said should be

instantly celebrated with great splendor on their return to

Naples. At which place, under the safe convoy of the spirit Ariel

they, after a pleasant voyage, soon arrived.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

There was a law in the city of Athens which gave to its citizens

the power of compelling their daughters to marry whomsoever they

pleased; for upon a daughter’s refusing to marry the man her

father had chosen to be her husband, the father was empowered by

this law to cause her to be put to death; but as fathers do not

often desire the death of their own daughters, even though they

do happen to prove a little refractory, this law was seldom or

never put in execution, though perhaps the young ladies of that

city were not unfrequently threatened by their parents with the

terrors of it.

There was one instance, however, of an old man, whose name was

Egeus, who actually did come before Theseus (at that time the

reigning Duke of Athens), to complain that his daughter whom he

had commanded to marry Demetrius, a young man of a noble Athenian

family, refused to obey him, because she loved another young

Athenian, named Lysander. Egeus demanded justice of Theseus, and

desired that this cruel law might be put in force against his

daughter.

Hermia pleaded in excuse for her disobedience that Demetrius had

formerly professed love for her dear friend Helena, and that

Helena loved Demetrius to distraction; but this honorable reason,

which Hermia gave for not obeying her father’s command, moved not

the stern Egeus.

Theseus, though a great and merciful prince, had no power to

alter the laws of his country; therefore he could only give

Hermia four days to consider of it: and at the end of that time,

if she still refused to marry Demetrius, she was to be put to

death.

When Hermia was dismissed from the presence of the duke, she went

to her lover Lysander and told him the peril she was in, and that

she must either give him up and marry Demetrius or lose her life

in four days.

Lysander was in great affliction at hearing these evil tidings;

but, recollecting that be had an aunt who lived at some distance

from Athens, and that at the place where she lived the cruel law

could not be put in force against Hermia (this law not extending

beyond the boundaries of the city), he proposed to Hermia that

she should steal out of her father’s house that night, and go

with him to his aunt’s house, where he would marry her. “I will

meet you,” said Lysander, “in the wood a few miles without the

city; in that delightful wood where we have so often walked with

Helena in the pleasant month of May.”

To this proposal Hermia joyfully agreed; and she told no one of

her intended flight but her friend Helena. Helena (as maidens

will do foolish things for love) very ungenerously resolved to go

and tell this to Demetrius, though she could hope no benefit from

betraying her friend’s secret but the poor pleasure of following

her faithless lover to the wood; for she well knew that Demetrius

would go thither in pursuit of Hermia.

The wood in which Lysander and Hermia proposed to meet was the

favorite haunt of those little beings known by the name of

“fairies.”

Oberon the king, and Titania the queen of the fairies, with all

their tiny train of followers, in this wood held their midnight

revels.

Between this little king and queen of sprites there happened, at

this time, a sad disagreement; they never met by moonlight in the

shady walk of this pleasant wood but they were quarreling, till

all their fairy elves would creep into acorn-cups and hide

themselves for fear.

The cause of this unhappy disagreement was Titania’s refusing

give Oberon a little changeling boy, whose mother had been

Titania’s friend; and upon her death the fairy queen stole the

child from its nurse and brought him up in the woods.

The night on which the lovers were to meet in this wood, as

Titania was walking with some of her maids of honor, she met

Oberon attended by his train of fairy courtiers.

“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania,” said the fairy king.

The queen replied: “What, jealous Oberon, is it you? Fairies,

skip hence; I have forsworn his company.”

“Tarry, rash fairy,” said Oberon. “Am I not thy lord? Why does

Titania cross her Oberon? Give me your little changeling boy to

be my page.”

“Set your heart at rest,” answered the queen; “your whole fairy

kingdom buys not the boy of me.” She then left her lord in great

anger.

“Well, go your way,” said Oberon; “before the morning dawns I

will torment you for this injury.”

Oberon then sent for Puck, his chief favorite and privy

counselor.

Puck (or, as he was sometimes called, Robin Goodfellow) was a

shrewd and knavish sprite, that used to play comical pranks in

the neighboring villages; sometimes getting into the dairies and

skimming the milk, sometimes plunging his light and airy form

into the butter-churn, and while he was dancing his fantastic

shape in the churn, in vain the dairymaid would labor to change

her cream into butter. Nor had the village swains any better

success; whenever Puck chose to play his freaks in the brewing

copper, the ale was sure to be spoiled. When a few good neighbors

were met to drink some comfortable ale together, Puck would jump

into the bowl of ale in the likeness of a roasted crab, and when

some old goody was going to drink he would bob against her lips,

and spill the ale over her withered chin; and presently after,

when the same old dame was gravely seating herself to tell her

neighbors a sad and melancholy story, Puck would slip her

three-legged stool from under her, and down toppled the poor old

woman, and then the old gossips would hold their sides and laugh

at her, and swear they never wasted a merrier hour.

“Come hither, Puck,” said Oberon to this little merry wanderer of

the night; “fetch me the flower which maids call ‘Love in,

Idleness’; the juice of that little purple flower laid on the

eyelids of those who sleep will make them, when they awake, dote

on the first thing they see. Some of the juice of that flower I

will drop on the eyelids of my Titania when she is asleep; and

the first thing she looks upon when she opens her eyes she will

fall in love with, even though it be a lion or a bear, a meddling

monkey or a busy ape; and before I will take this charm from off

her sight, which I can do with another charm I know of, I will

make her give me that boy to be my page.”

Puck, who loved mischief to his heart, was highly diverted with

this intended frolic of his master, and ran to seek the flower;

and while Oberon was waiting the return of Puck he observed

Demetrius and Helena enter the wood: he overheard Demetrius

reproaching Helena for following him, and after many unkind words

on his part, and gentle expostulations from Helena, reminding him

of his former love and professions of true faith to her, he left

her (as he said) to the mercy of the wild beasts, and she ran

after him as swiftly as she could.

The fairy king, who was always friendly to true lovers, felt

great compassion for Helena; and perhaps, as Lysander said they

used to walk by moonlight in this pleasant wood, Oberon might

have seen Helena in those happy times when she was beloved by

Demetrius. However that might be, when Puck returned with the

little purple flower, Oberon said to his favorite: “Take a part

of this flower; there has been a sweet Athenian lady here, who is

in love with a disdainful youth; if you find him sleeping, drop

some of the love-juice in his eyes, but contrive to do it when

she is near him, that the first thing he sees when he awakes may

be this despised lady. You will know the man ]by the Athenian

garments which be wears.”

Puck promised to manage this matter very dexterously: and then

Oberon went, unperceived by Titania, to her bower, where she was

preparing to go to rest. Her fairy bower was a bank, where grew

wild thyme, cowslips, and sweet violets, under a canopy of

woodbine, musk-roses, and eglantine. There Titania always slept

some part of the night; her coverlet the enameled skin of a

snake, which, though a small mantle, was wide enough to wrap a

fairy in.

He found Titania giving orders to her fairies, how they were to

employ themselves while she slept. “Some of you,” said her

Majesty, “must kill cankers in the musk-rose buds, and some wage

war with the bats for their leathern wings, to make my small

elves coats; and some of you keep watch that the clamorous owl,

that nightly boots, come not near me: but first sing me to

sleep.” Then they began to sing this song:

“You spotted snakes, with double tongue,

Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;

Newts and blind-worms do no wrong;

Come not near our fairy queen:

“Philomel, with melody,

Sing in our sweet lullaby;

Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby;

Never harm, nor spell, nor charm,

Come our lovely lady nigh;

So, good night, with lullaby.”

When the fairies had sung their queen asleep with this pretty

lullaby, they left her to perform the important services she had

enjoined them. Oberon then softly drew near his Titania and

dropped some of the love-juice on her eyelids, saying:

“What thou seest when thou dost wake,

Do it for thy true-love take.”

But to return to Hermia, who made her escape out of her father’s

house that night, to avoid the death she was doomed to for

refusing to marry Demetrius. When she entered the wood, she found

her dear Lysander waiting for her, to conduct her to his aunt’s

house; but before they had passed half through the wood Hermia

was so much fatigued that Lysander, who was very careful of this

dear lady, who had proved her affection for him even by hazarding

her life for his sake, persuaded her to rest till morning on a

bank of soft moss, and, lying down himself on the ground at some

little distance, they soon fell fast asleep. Here they were found

by Puck, who, seeing a handsome young man asleep, and perceiving

that his clothes were made in the Athenian fashion, and that a

pretty lady was sleeping near him, concluded that this must be

the Athenian maid and her disdainful lover whom Oberon had sent

him to seek; and he naturally enough conjectured that, as they

were alone together, she must be the first thing he would see

when he awoke; so, without more ado, he proceeded to pour some of

the juice of the little purple flower into his eyes. But it so

fell out that Helena came that way, and, instead of Hermia, was

the first object Lysander beheld when he opened his eyes; and

strange to relate, so powerful was the love-charm, all his love

for Hermia vanished away and Lysander fell in love with Helena.

Had he first seen Hermia when he awoke, the blunder Puck

committed would have been of no consequence, for he could not

love that faithful lady too well; but for poor Lysander to be

forced by a fairy love-charm to forget his own true Hernia, and

to run after another lady, and leave Hermia asleep quite alone in

a wood at midnight, was a sad chance indeed.

Thus this misfortune happened. Helena, as has been before

related, endeavored to keep pace with Demetrius when he ran away

so rudely from her; but she could not continue this unequal race

long, men being always better runners in a long race than ladies.

Helena soon lost sight of Demetrius; and as she was wandering

about, dejected and forlorn, she arrived at the place where

Lysander was sleeping. “Ah!” said she, “this is Lysander lying on

the ground. Is he dead or asleep?” Then, gently touching him, she

said, “Good sir, if you are alive, awake.” Upon this Lysander

opened his eyes, and, the love-charm beginning to work,

immediately addressed her in terms of extravagant love and

admiration, telling her she as much excelled Hermia in beauty as

a dove does a raven, and that be would run through fire for her

sweet sake; and many more such lover-like speeches. Helena,

knowing Lysander was her friend Hermia’s lover, and that he was

solemnly engaged to marry her, was in the utmost rage when she

heard herself addressed in this manner; for she thought (as well

she might) that Lysander was making a jest of her. “Oh!” said

she, “why was I born to be mocked and scorned by every one? Is it

not enough, is it not enough, young man, that I can never get a

sweet look or a kind word from Demetrius; but you, sir, must

pretend in this disdainful manner to court me? I thought,

Lysander, you were a lord of more true gentleness.” Saying these

words in great anger, she ran away; and Lysander followed her,

quite forgetful of his own Hermia, who was still asleep.

When Hermia awoke she was in a sad fright at finding herself

alone. She wandered about the wood, not knowing what was become

of Lysander, or which way to go to seek for him. In the mean time

Demetrius, not being able to find Hermia and his rival Lysander,

and fatigued with his fruitless search, was observed by Oberon

fast asleep. Oberon had learned by some questions he had asked of

Puck that he had applied the lovecharm to the wrong person’s

eyes; and now, having found the person first intended, he touched

the eyelids of the sleeping Demetrius with the love-juice, and he

instantly awoke; and the first thing he saw being Helena, he, as

Lysander had done before, began to address love-speeches to her;

and just at that moment Lysander, followed by Hermia (for through

Puck’s unlucky mistake it was now become Hermia’s turn to run

after her lover), made his appearance; and then Lysander and

Demetrius, both speaking together, made love to Helena, they

being each one under the influence of the same potent charm.

The astonished Helena thought that Demetrius, Lysander, and her

once dear friend Hermia were all in a plot together to make a

jest of her.

Hermia was as much surprised as Helena; she knew not why Lysander

and Demetrius, who both before loved her, were now become the

lovers of Helena, and to Hermia the matter seemed to be no jest.

The ladies, who before bad always been the dearest of friends,

now fell to high words together.

“Unkind. Hermia,” said Helena, “it is you have set Lysander on

to vex me with mock praises; and your other lover, Demetrius, who

used almost to spurn me with his foot, have you not bid him call

me goddess, nymph, rare, precious, and celestial? He would not

speak thus to me, whom he hates, if you did not set him on to

make a jest of me. Unkind Hermia, to join with men in scorning

your poor friend. Have you forgot our schoolday friendship? How

often, Hermia, have we two, sitting on one cushion, both singing

one song, with our needles working the same flower, both on the

same sampler wrought; growing up together in fashion of a double

cherry, scarcely seeming parted! Hermia, it is not friendly in

you, it is not maidenly to join with men in scorning your poor

friend.”

“I am amazed at your passionate words,” said Hermia: “I scorn you

not; it seems you scorn me.”

“Aye, do,” returned Helena, “persevere, counterfeit serious

looks, and make mouths at me when I turn my back; then wink at

each other, and hold the sweet jest up. If you had any pity,

grace, or manners, you would not use me thus.”

While Helena and Hermia were speaking these angry words to each

other, Demetrius and Lysander left them, to fight together in the

wood for the love of Helena.

When they found the gentlemen had left them, they departed, and

once more wandered weary in the wood in search of their lovers.

As soon as they were gone the fairy king, who with little Puck

had been listening to their quarrels, said to him, “This is your

negligence, Puck; or did you do this wilfully?”

“Believe me, king of shadows,” answered Puck, “it was a mistake.

Did not you tell me I should know the man by his Athenian

garments? However, I am not sorry this has happened, for I think

their jangling makes excellent sport.”

“You heard,” said Oberon, “that Demetrius and Lysander are gone

to seek a convenient place to fight in. I command you to overhang

the night with a thick fog, and lead these quarrelsome lovers so

astray in’ the dark that they shall not be able to find each

other. Counterfeit each of their voices to the other, and with

bitter taunts provoke them to follow you, while they think it is

their rival’s tongue they hear. See you do this, till they are so

weary they can go no farther; and when you find they are asleep,

drop the juice of this other flower into Lysander’s eyes, and

when he awakes he will forget his new love for Helena, and return

to his old passion for Hermia; and then the two fair ladies may

each one be happy with the man she loves and they will think all

that has passed a vexatious dream. About this quickly, Puck, and

I will go and see what sweet love my Titania has found.”

Titania was still sleeping, and Oberon, seeing a clown near her

who had lost his way in the wood and was likewise asleep, “This

fellow,” said he, “shall be my Titania’s true love”; and clapping

an ass’s head over the clown’s, it seemed to fit him as well as

if it had grown upon his own shoulders. Though Oberon fixed the

ass’s head on very gently, it awakened him, and, rising up,

unconscious of what Oberon had done to him, he went toward the

bower where the fairy queen slept.

“Ah I what angel is that I see?” said Titania, opening her eyes,

and the juice of the little purple flower beginning to take

effect. “Are you as wise as you are beautiful?”

“Why, mistress,” said the foolish clown, “if I have wit enough to

find the way out of this wood, I have enough to serve my turn.”

“Out of the wood do not desire to go,” said the enamoured queen.

“I am a spirit of no common rate. I love you. Go with me, and I

will give you fairies to attend upon you.”

She then called four of her fairies. Their names were

Peas-blossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustard-seed.

“Attend,” said the queen, “upon this sweet gentleman. Hop in his

walks and gambol in his sight; feed him with grapes and apricots,

and steal for him the honey-bags from the bees. Come, sit with

me,” said she to the clown., “and let me play with your amiable

hairy cheeks, my beautiful ass! and kiss your fair large ears, my

gentle joy.”

“Where is Peas-blossom?” said the ass-headed clown, not much

regarding the fairy queen’s courtship, but very proud of his new

attendants.

“Here, sir,” said little Peas-blossom.

“Scratch my head,” said the clown. “Where is Cobweb?”

“Here, sir,” said Cobweb.

“Good Mr. Cobweb,” said the foolish clown, “kill me the red

humblebee on the top of that thistle yonder; and, good Mr.

Cobweb, bring me the honey-bag. Do not fret yourself too much in

the action, Mr. Cobweb, and take care the honey-bag break not; I

should be sorry to have you overflown with a honey-bag. Where is

Mustard-seed?”

“Here, sir, “ said Mustard-seed. “What is your will?”

“Nothing,” said the clown, “good Mr. Mustard-seed, but to help

Mr. Peas-blossom to scratch; I must go to a barber’s, Mr.

Mustard-seed, for methinks I am marvelous hairy about the face.”

“My sweet love,” said the queen, “what will you have to eat? I

have a venturous fairy shall seek the squirrel’s hoard, and fetch

you some new nuts.”

“I had rather have a handful of dried peas,”’ said the clown, who

with his ass’s head had got an ass’s appetite. “But, I pray, let

none of your people disturb me, for I have a mind to sleep.”

“Sleep, then,” said the queen, “and I will wind you in my arms.

Oh, how I love you! how I dote upon you!”

When the fairy king saw the clown sleeping in the arms of his

queen, he advanced within her sight, and reproached her with

having lavished her favors upon an ass.

This she could not deny, as the clown was then sleeping within

her arms, with his ass’s head crowned by her with flowers.

When Oberon had teased her for some time, he again demanded the

changeling boy; which she, ashamed of being discovered by her

lord with her new favorite, did not dare to refuse him.

Oberon, having thus obtained the little boy he had so long wished

for to be his page, took pity on the disgraceful situation into

which, by his merry contrivance, he had brought his Titania, and

threw some of the juice of the other flower into her eyes; and

the fairy queen immediately recovered her senses, and wondered at

her late dotage, saying how she now loathed the sight of the

strange monster.

Oberon likewise took the ass’s head from off the clown, and left

him to finish his nap with his own fool’s head upon his

shoulders.

Oberon and his Titania being now perfectly reconciled, he related

to her the history of the lovers and their midnight quarrels, and

she agreed to go with him and see the end of their adventures.

The fairy king and queen found the lovers and their fair ladies,

at no great distance from one another, sleeping on a grass-plot;

for Puck, to make amends for his former mistake, had contrived

with the utmost diligence to bring them all to the same spot,

unknown to one another; and he bad carefully removed the charm

from off the eyes of Lysander with the antidote the fairy king

gave to him.

Hermia first awoke, and, finding her lost Lysander asleep so near

her, was looking at him and wondering at his strange inconstancy.

Lysander presently opening his eyes, and seeing his dear Hermia,

recovered his reason which the fairy charm had before clouded,

and with his reason his love for Hermia; and they began to talk

over the adventures of the night, doubting if these things had

really happened, or if they bad both been dreaming the same

bewildering dream.

Helena and Demetrius were by this time awake; and a sweet sleep

having quieted Helena’s disturbed and angry spirits, she listened

with delight to the professions of love which Demetrius still

made to her, and which, to her surprise as well as pleasure, she

began to perceive were sincere.

These fair night-wandering ladies, now no longer rivals, became

once more true friends; all the unkind words which had passed

were forgiven, and they calmly consulted together what was best

to be done in their present situation. It was soon agreed that,

as Demetrius bad given up his pretensions to Hermia, he should

endeavor to prevail upon her father to revoke the cruel sentence

of death which had been passed against her. Demetrius was

preparing to return to Athens for this friendly purpose, when

they were surprised with the sight of Egeus, Hermia’s father, who

came to the wood in pursuit of his runaway daughter.

When Egeus understood that Demetrius would not now marry his

daughter, he no longer opposed her marriage with Lysander, but

gave his consent that they should be wedded on the fourth day

from that time, being the same day on which Hermia had been

condemned to lose her life; and on that same day Helena joyfully

agreed to marry her beloved and now faithful Demetrius.

The fairy king and queen, who were invisible spectators of this

reconciliation, and now saw the happy ending of the lovers’

history, brought about through the good offices of Oberon,

received so much pleasure that these kind spirits resolved to

celebrate the approaching nuptials with sports and revels

throughout their fairy kingdom.

And now, if any are offended with this story of fairies and their

pranks, as judging it incredible and strange, they have only to

think that they have been asleep and dreaming, and that all these

adventures were visions which they saw in their sleep. And I hope

none of my readers will be so unreasonable as to be offended with

a pretty, harmless Midsummer Night’s Dream.

THE WINTER’S TALE

Leontes, King of Sicily, and his queen, the beautiful and

virtuous Hermione, once lived in the greatest harmony together.

So happy was Leontes in the love of this excellent lady that he

had no wish ungratified, except that he some times desired to

see again and to present to his queen his old companion and

schoolfellow, Polixenes, King of Bohemia. Leontes and Polixenes

were brought up together from their infancy, but being, by the

death of their fathers, called to reign over their respective

kingdoms, they had not met for many years, though they frequently

interchanged gifts, letters, and loving embassies.

At length, after repeated invitations, Polixenes came from

Bohemia to the Sicilian court, to make his friend Leontes a

visit.

At first this visit gave nothing but pleasure to Leontes. He

recommended the friend of his youth to the queen’s particular

attention, and seemed in the presence of his dear friend and old

companion to have his felicity quite completed. They talked over

old times; their school-days and their youthful pranks were

remembered, and recounted to Hermione, who always took a cheerful

part in these conversations.

When, after a long stay, Polixenes was preparing to depart,

Hermione, at the desire of her husband, joined her entreaties to

his that Polixenes would prolong his visit.

And now began this good queen’s sorrow; for Polixenes, refusing

to stay at the request of Leontes, was won over by Hermione’s

gentle and persuasive words to put off his departure for some

weeks longer. Upon this, although Leontes had so long known the

integrity and honorable principles of his friend Polixenes, as

well as the excellent disposition of his virtuous queen, he was

seized with an ungovernable jealousy. Every attention Hermione

showed to Polixenes, though by her husband’s particular desire

and merely to please him, increased the unfortunate king’s

jealousy; and from being a loving and a true friend, and the best

and fondest of husbands, Leontes became suddenly a savage and

inhuman monster. Sending for Camillo, one of the lords of his

court, and telling him of the suspicion he entertained, he

commanded him to poison Polixenes.

Camillo was a good man, and he, well knowing that the jealousy of

Leontes had not the slightest foundation in truth, instead of

poisoning Polixenes, acquainted him with the king his master’s

orders, and agreed to escape with him out of the Sicilian

dominions; and Polixenes, with the assistance of Camillo,

arrived safe in his own kingdom of Bohemia, where Camillo lived

from that time in the king’s court and became the chief friend

and favorite of Polixenes.

The flight of Polixenes enraged the jealous Leontes still more;

he went to the queen’s apartment, where the good lady was sitting

with her little son Mamillius, who was just beginning to tell one

of his best stories to amuse his mother, when the king entered

and, taking the child away, sent Hermione to prison.

Mamillius, though but a very young child, loved his mother

tenderly; and when he saw her so dishonored, and found she was

taken from him to be put into a prison, he took it deeply to

heart and drooped and pined away by slow degrees, losing his

appetite and his sleep, till it was thought his grief would kill

him.

The king, when he had sent his queen to prison, commanded

Cleomenes and Dion, two Sicilian lords, to go to Delphos, there

to inquire of the oracle at the temple of Apollo if his queen had

been unfaithful to him.

When Hermione had been a short time in prison she was brought to

bed of a daughter; and the poor lady received much comfort from

the sight of her pretty baby, and she said to it, “My poor little

prisoner, I am as innocent as you are.”

Hermione had a kind friend in the noble-spirited Paulina, who was

the wife of Antigonus, a Sicilian lord; and when the lady Paulina

heard her royal mistress was brought to bed she went to the

prison where Hermione was confined; and she said to Emilia, a

lady who attended upon Hermione, “I pray you, Emilia, tell the

good queen, if her Majesty dare trust me with her little babe, I

will carry it to the king, its father: we do not know how he may

soften at the sight of his innocent child.”

“Most worthy madam,” replied Emilia, “I will acquaint the queen

with your noble offer. She was wishing to-day that she had any

friend who would venture to present the child to the king.”

“And tell her,” said Paulina. “that I will speak boldly to

Leontes in her defense.”

“May you be forever blessed,” said Emilia, “for your kindness to

our gracious queen!”

Emilia then went to Hermione, who joyfully gave up her baby to

the care of Paulina, for she had feared that no one would dare

venture to present the child to its father.

Paulina took the new-born infant and, forcing herself into the

king’s presence, notwithstanding her husband, fearing the king’s

anger, endeavored to prevent her, she laid the babe at its

father’s feet; and Paulina made a noble speech to the king in

defense of Hermione, and she reproached him severely for his

inhumanity and implored him to have mercy on his innocent wife

and child. But Paulina’s spirited remonstrances only aggravated

Leontes’s displeasure, and he ordered her husband Antigonus to

take her from his presence.

When Paulina went away she left the little baby at its father’s

feet, thinking when he was alone with it he would look upon it

and have pity on its helpless innocence.

The good Paulina was mistaken, for no sooner was she gone than

the merciless father ordered Antigonus, Paulina’s husband,

to take the child and carry it out to sea and leave it upon some

desert shore to perish.

Antigonus, unlike the good Camillo, too well obeyed the orders of

Leontes; for he immediately carried the child on shipboard, and

put out to sea, intending to leave it on the first desert coast

he could find.

So firmly was the king persuaded of the guilt of Hermione that he

would not wait for the return of Cleomenes and Dion; whom he had

sent to consult the oracle of Apollo at Delphos, but before the

queen was recovered from her lying-in, and from the grief for the

loss of her precious baby, he had her brought to a public trial

before all the lords and nobles of his court. And when all the

great lords, the judges, and all the nobility of the land were

assembled together to try Hermione, and that unhappy queen was

standing as a prisoner before her subjects to receive their

judgment, Cleomenes and Dion entered the assembly and presented

to the king the answer of the oracle, sealed up; and Leontes

commanded the seal to be broken, and the words of the oracle to

be read aloud, and these were the words:

“Hermione is innocent, Polixenes blameless, Camillo a true

subject, Leontes a jealous tyrant, and the king shall live

without an heir if that which is lost be not found.”

The king would give no credit to the words of the oracle. He said

it was a falsehood invented by the queen’s friends, and be

desired the judge to proceed in the trial of the queen; but while

Leontes was speaking a man entered and told him that the Prince

Mamillius, hearing his mother was to be tried for her life,

struck with grief and shame, had suddenly died.

Hermione, upon hearing of the death of this dear, affectionate

child, who had lost his life in sorrowing for her misfortune,

fainted; and Leontes, pierced to the heart by the news, began to

feel pity for his unhappy queen, and he ordered Paulina, and the

ladies who were her attendants, to take her away and use means

for her recovery. Paulina soon returned and told the king that

Hermione was dead.

When Leontes heard that the queen was dead he repented of his

cruelty to her; and now that he thought his ill-usage had broken

Hermione’s heart, he believed her innocent; and now he thought

the words of the oracle were true, as he knew “if that which was

lost was not found,” which he concluded was his young daughter,

he should be without an heir, the young Prince Mamillius being

dead; and he would give his kingdom now to recover his lost

daughter. And Leontes gave himself up to remorse and passed many

years in mournful thoughts and repentant grief.

The ship in which Antigonus carried the infant princess out to

sea was driven by a storm upon the coast of Bohemia, the very

kingdom of the good King Polixenes. Here Antigonus landed and

here he left the little baby.

Antigonus never returned to Sicily to tell Leontes where he had

left his daughter, for, as he was going back to the ship, a bear

came out of the woods and tore him to pieces; a just punishment

on him for obeying the wicked order Leontes.

The child was dressed in rich clothes and jewels; for Hermione

had made it very fine when she sent it to Leontes, and Antigonus

had pinned a paper to its mantle, and the name of “Perdita”

written thereon, and words obscurely intimating its high birth

and untoward fate.

This poor, deserted baby was found by a shepherd. He was a humane

man, and so he carried the little Perdita home to his wife, who

nursed it tenderly. But poverty tempted the shepherd to conceal

the rich prize be had found; therefore he left that part of the

country, that no one might know where he got his riches, and with

part of Perdita’s jewels be bought herds of sheep and became a

wealthy shepherd. He brought up Perdita as his own child, and she

knew not she was any other than a shepherd’s daughter.

The little Perdita grew up a lovely maiden; and though she had no

better education than that of a shepherd’s daughter, yet so did

the natural graces she inherited from her royal mother shine

forth in her untutored mind that no one, from her behavior, would

have known she had not been brought up in her father’s court.

Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, had an only son, whose name was

Florizel. As this young prince was hunting near the shepherd’s

dwelling he saw the old man’s supposed daughter; and the beauty,

modesty, and queenlike deportment of Perdita caused him instantly

to fall in love with her. He soon, under the name of Doricles,

and in the disguise of a private gentleman, became a constant

visitor at the old shepherd’s house. Florizel’s frequent absences

from court alarmed Polixenes; and setting people to watch his

son, he discovered his love for the shepherd’s fair daughter.

Polixenes then called for Camillo, the faithful Camillo, who had

preserved his life from the fury of Leontes, and desired that he

would accompany him to the house of the shepherd, the supposed

father of Perdita. Polixenes and Camillo, both in disguise,

arrived at the old shepherd’s dwelling while they were

celebrating the feast of sheep-shearing; and though they were

strangers, yet at the sheep-shearing, every guest being made

welcome, they were invited to walk in and join in the general

festivity.

Nothing but mirth and jollity was going forward. Tables were

spread and fit great preparations were making for the rustic

feast. Some lads and lasses were dancing on the green before the

house, while others of the young men were buying ribands, gloves,

and such toys of a peddler at the door.

While this busy scene was going forward Florizel and Perdita sat

quietly in a retired corner, seemingly more pleased with the

conversation of each other than desirous of engaging in the

sports and silly amusements of those around them.

The king was so disguised that it was impossible his son could

know him. He therefore advanced near enough to hear the

conversation. The simple yet elegant manner in which Perdita

conversed with his son did not a little surprise Polixenes. He

said to Camillo:

“This is the prettiest low-born lass I ever saw; nothing she does

or says but looks like something greater than herself, too noble

for this place.”

Camillo replied, “Indeed she is the very queen of curds and

cream.”

“Pray, my good friend,” said the king to the old shepherd, “what

fair swain is that talking with your daughter?”

“They call him Doricles,” replied the shepherd. “He says he loves

my daughter; and, to speak truth, there is not a kiss to choose

which loves the other best. If young Doricles can get her, she

shall bring him that he little dreams of,” meaning the remainder

of Perdita’s jewels; which, after he had bought herds of sheep

with part of them, he had carefully hoarded up for her marriage

portion.

Polixenes then addressed his son. “How now, young man!” said he.

“Your heart seems full of something that takes off your mind from

feasting. When I was young I used to load my love with presents;

but you have let the peddler go and have bought your lass no

toy.”

The young prince, who little thought he was talking to the king

his father, replied, “Old sir, she prizes not such trifles; the

gifts which Perdita expects from me are locked up in my heart.”

Then turning to Perdita, he said to her, “Oh, hear me, Perdita,

before this ancient gentleman, who it seems was once himself a

lover; he shall hear what I profess.” Florizel then called upon

the old stranger to be a witness to a solemn promise of marriage

which be made to Perdita, saying to Polixenes, “I pray you, mark

our contract.”

“Mark your divorce, young sir,” said the king, discovering

himself. Polixenes then reproached his son for daring to contract

himself to this low-born maiden, calling Perdita “shepherd’s

brat, sheep-hook,” and other disrespectful names, and threatening

if ever she suffered his son to see her again, he would put her,

and the old shepherd her father, to a cruel death.

The king then left them in great wrath, and ordered Camillo to

follow him with Prince Florizel.

When the king had departed, Perdita, whose royal nature was

roused by Polixenes’s reproaches, said, “Though we are all

undone, I was not much afraid; and once or twice I was about to

speak and tell him plainly that the selfsame sun which shines

upon his palace hides not his face from our cottage, but looks on

both alike.” Then sorrowfully she said, “But now I am awakened

from this dream, I will queen it no further. Leave me, sir. I

will go milk my ewes and weep.”

The kind-hearted Camillo was charmed with the spirit and

propriety of Perdita’s behavior; and, perceiving that the young

prince was too deeply in love to give up his mistress at the

command of his royal father, he thought of a way to befriend the

lovers and at the same time to execute a favorite scheme he had

in his mind.

Camillo had long known that Leontes, the King of Sicily, was

become a true penitent; and though Camillo was now the favored

friend of King Polixenes, he could not help wishing once more to

see his late royal master and his native home. He therefore

proposed to Florizel and Perdita that they should accompany him

to the Sicilian court, where he would engage Leontes should

protect them till, through his mediation, they could obtain

pardon from Polixenes and his consent to their marriage.

To this proposal they joyfully agreed; and Camillo, who conducted

everything relative to their flight, allowed the old shepherd to

go along with them.

The shepherd took with him the remainder of Perdita’s jewels, her

baby clothes, and the paper which he had found pinned to her

mantle.

After a prosperous voyage, Florizel and Perdita, Camillo and the

old shepherd, arrived in safety at the court of Leontes. Leontes,

who still mourned his dead Hermione and his lost child, received

Camillo with great kindness and gave a cordial welcome to Prince

Florizel. But Perdita, whom Florizel introduced as his princess,

seemed to engross all Leontes’s attention. Perceiving a

resemblance between her and his dead queen Hermione, his grief

broke out afresh, and he said such a lovely creature might his

own daughter have been if he had not so cruelly destroyed her.

“And then, too,” said he to Florizel, “I lost the society and

friendship of your brave father, whom I now desire more than my

life once again to look upon.”

When the old shepherd heard how much notice the king had taken of

Perdita, and that he had lost a daughter who was exposed in

infancy, he fell to comparing the time when he found the little

Perdita with the manner of its exposure, the jewels and other

tokens of its high birth; from all which it was impossible for

him not to conclude that Perdita and the king’s lost daughter

were the same.

Florizel and Perdita, Camillo and the faithful Paulina, were

present when the old shepherd related to the king the manner in

which he had found the child, and also the circumstance of

Antigonus’s death, he having seen the bear seize upon him. He

showed the rich mantle in which Paulina remembered Hermione had

wrapped the child; and he produced a jewel which she remembered

Hermione had tied about Perdita’s neck; and he gave up the paper

which Paulina knew to be the writing of her husband. It could not

be doubted that Perdita was Leontes’s own daughter. But, oh, the

noble struggles of Paulina, between sorrow for her husband’s

death and joy that the oracle was fulfilled, in the king’s heir,

his long-lost daughter being found! When Leontes heard that

Perdita was his daughter, the great sorrow that he felt that

Hermione was not living to behold her child made him that he

could say nothing for a long time but “Oh, thy mother, thy

mother!”

Paulina interrupted this joyful yet distressful scene with saying

to Leontes that she had a statue newly finished by that rare

Italian master, Julio Romano, which was such a perfect

resemblance of the queen that would his Majesty be pleased to go

to her house and look upon it, be would be almost ready to think

it was Hermione herself. Thither then they all went; the king,

anxious to see the semblance of his Hermione, and Perdita longing

to behold what the mother she never saw did look like.

When Paulina drew back the curtain which concealed this famous

statue, so perfectly did it resemble Hermione that all the king’s

sorrow was renewed at the sight; for a long time he had no power

to speak or move.

“I like your silence, my liege,” said Paulina; “it the more shows

your wonder. Is not this statue very like your queen?”

At length the king said: “Oh, thus she stood, even with such

majesty, when I first wooed her. But yet, Paulina, Hermione was

not so aged as this statue looks.”

Paulina replied: “So much the more the carver’s excellence, who

has made the statue as Hermione would have looked had she been

living now. But let me draw the curtain, sire, lest presently you

think it moves.”

The king then said: “Do not draw the curtain. Would I were dead!

See, Carmillo, would you not think it breathed? Her eye seems to

have motion in it.”

“I must draw the curtain, my liege,” said Paulina. “You are so

transported, you will persuade yourself the statue lives.”

“Oh, sweet Pauline,” said Leontes, “make me think so twenty years

together! Still methinks there is an air comes from her. What

fine chisel could ever yet cut breath? Let no man mock me, for I

will kiss her.”

“Good my lord, forbear!” said Paulina. “The ruddiness upon her

lip is wet; you will stain your own with oily painting. Shall I

draw the curtain?”

“No, not these twenty years,” said Leontes.

Perdita, who all this time bad been kneeling and beholding in

silent admiration the statue of her matchless mother, said now,

“And so long could I stay here, looking upon my dear mother.”

“Either forbear this transport,” said Paulina to Leontes, “and

let me draw the curtain or prepare yourself for more amazement. I

can make the statue move indeed; aye, and descend from off the

pedestal and take you by the hand. But then you will think, which

I protest I am not, that I am assisted by some wicked powers.”

“What you can make her do,” said the astonished king, “I am

content to look upon. What you can make her speak I am content to

hear; for it is as easy to make her speak as move.”

Paulina then ordered some slow and solemn music, which she had

prepared for the purpose, to strike up; and, to the amazement of

all the beholders, the statue came down from off the pedestal and

threw its arms around Leontes’s neck. The statue then began to

speak, praying for blessings on her husband and on her child, the

newly found Perdita.

No wonder that the statue hung upon Leontes’s neck and blessed

her husband and her child. No wonder; for the statue was indeed

Hermione herself, the real, the living queen.

Paulina had falsely reported to the king the death of Hermione’

thinking that the only means to preserve her royal mistress’s

life; and with the good Paulina Hermione had lived ever since,

never choosing Leontes should know she was living till she heard

Perdita was found; for though she had long forgiven the injuries

which Leontes had done to herself, she could not pardon his

cruelty to his infant daughter.

His dead queen thus restored to life, his lost daughter found,

the long-sorrowing Leontes could scarcely support the excess of

his own happiness.

Nothing but congratulations and affectionate speeches were heard

on all sides. Now the delighted parents thanked Prince Florizel

for loving their lowly seeming daughter; and now they blessed the

good old shepherd for preserving their child. Greatly did Camillo

and Paulina rejoice that they had lived to see so good an end of

all their faithful services.

And as if nothing should be wanting to complete this strange and

unlooked-for joy, King Polixenes himself now entered the palace.

When Polixenes first missed his son and Camillo, knowing that

Camillo had long wished to return to Sicily, he conjectured he

should find the fugitives here; and, following them with all

speed, he happened to just arrive at this the happiest moment of

Leontes’s life.

Polixenes took a part in the general joy; he forgave his friend

Leontes the unjust jealousy he had conceived against him, and

they once more loved each other with all the warmth of their

first boyish friendship. And there was no fear that Polixenes

would now oppose his son’s marriage with Perdita. She was no

“sheep-hook” now, but the heiress of the crown of Sicily.

Thus have we seen the patient virtues of the long-suffering

Hermione rewarded. That excellent lady lived many years with her

Leontes and her Perdita, the happiest of mothers and of queens.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

There lived in the palace at Messina two ladies, whose names were

Hero and Beatrice. Hero was the daughter, and Beatrice the

niece, of Leonato, the governor of Messina.

Beatrice was of a lively temper and loved to divert her cousin

Hero, who was of a more serious disposition, with her sprightly

sallies. Whatever was going forward was sure to make matter of

mirth for the light-hearted Beatrice.

At the time the history of these ladies commences some young men

of high rank in the army, as they were passing through Messina on

their return from a war that was just ended, in which they bad

distinguished themselves by their great bravery, came to visit

Leonato. Among these were Don Pedro, the Prince of Arragon, and

his friend Claudio, who was a lord of Florence; and with them

came the wild and witty Benedick, and he was a lord of Padua.

These strangers had been at Messina before, and the hospitable

governor introduced them to his daughter and his niece as their

old friends and acquaintance.

Benedick, the moment he entered the room, began a lively

conversation with Leonato and the prince. Beatrice, who liked not

to be left out of any discourse, interrupted Benedick with

saying:

“I wonder that you will still be talking, Signor Benedick. Nobody

marks you.”

Benedick was just such another rattlebrain as Beatrice, yet he

was not pleased at this free salutation; he thought it did not

become a well-bred lady to be so flippant with her tongue; and he

remembered, when he was last at Messina, that Beatrice used to

select him to make her merry jests upon. And as there is no one

who so little likes to be made a jest of as those who are apt to

take the same liberty themselves, so it was with Benedick and

Beatrice; these two sharp wits never met in former times but a

perfect war of raillery was kept up between them, and they always

parted mutually displeased with each other. Therefore, when

Beatrice stopped him in the middle of his discourse with telling

him nobody marked what he was saying, Benedick, affecting not to

have observed before that she was present, said:

“What, my dear Lady Disdain, are you yet living?” And now war

broke out afresh between them, and a long jangling argument

ensued, during which Beatrice, although she knew be had so well

approved his valor in the late war, said that she would eat all

he had killed there; and observing the prince take delight in

Benedick’s conversation, she called him “the prince’s jester.”

This sarcasm sank deeper into the mind of Benedick than all

Beatrice had said before. The hint she gave him that he was a

coward, by saying she would eat all he bad killed, he did not

regard, knowing himself to be a brave man; but there is nothing

that great wits so much dread as the imputation of buffoonery,

because the charge comes sometimes a little too near the truth;

therefore Benedick perfectly hated Beatrice when she called him

“the prince’s jester.”

The modest lady Hero was silent before the noble guests; and

while Claudio was attentively observing the improvement which

time had made in her beauty, and was contemplating the exquisite

graces of her fine figure (for she was an admirable young lady),

the prince was highly amused with listening to the humorous

dialogue between Benedick and Beatrice; and he said in a whisper

to Leonato:

“This is a pleasant-spirited young lady. She were an excellent

wife for Benedick.”

Leonato replied to this suggestion, “O my lord, my lord, if they

were but a week married, they would talk themselves mad!”

But though Leonato thought they would make a discordant pair, the

prince did not give up the idea of matching these two keen wits

together.

When the prince returned with Claudio from the palace he found

that the marriage he had devised between Benedick and Beatrice

was not the only one projected in that good company, for Claudio

spoke in such terms of Hero as made the prince guess at what was

passing in his heart; and he liked it well, and he said to

Claudio:

“Do you affect Hero?”

To this question Claudio replied, “O my lord, when I was last at

Messina I looked upon her with a soldier’s eye, that liked, but

had no leisure for loving; but now, in this happy time of peace,

thoughts of war have left their places vacant in my mind, and in

their room come thronging soft and delicate thoughts, all

prompting me how fair young Hero is, reminding me that I liked

her before I went to the wars.”

Claudio’s confession of his love for Hero so wrought upon the

prince that be lost no time in soliciting the consent of Leonato

to accept of Claudio for a son-in-law. Leonato agreed to this

proposal, and the prince found no great difficulty in persuading

the gentle Hero herself to listen to the suit of the noble

Claudio who was a lord of rare endowments and highly

accomplished, and Claudio, assisted by his kind prince, soon

prevailed upon Leonato to fix an early day for the celebration of

his marriage with Hero.

Claudio was to wait but a few days before he was to be married to

his fair lady; yet he complained of the interval being tedious,

as indeed most young men are impatient when they are waiting for

the accomplishment of any event they have set their hearts upon.

The prince, therefore, to make the time seem short to him,

proposed as a kind of merry pastime that they should invent some

artful scheme to make Benedick and Beatrice fall in love with

each other. Claudio entered with great satisfaction into this

whim of the prince, and Leonato promised them his assistance, and

even Hero said she would do any modest office to help her cousin

to a good husband.

The device the prince invented was that the gentlemen should make

Benedick believe that Beatrice was in love with him, and that

Hero should make Beatrice believe that Benedick was in love with

her.

The prince, Leonato, and Claudio began their operations first;

and watching upon an opportunity when Benedick was quietly seated

reading in an arbor, the prince and his assistants took their

station among the trees behind the arbor, so near that Benedick

could not choose but hear all they said; and after some careless

talk the prince said:

“Come hither, Leonato. What was it you told me the other

day--that your niece Beatrice was in love with Signor Benedick? I

did never think that lady would have loved any man.”

“No, nor I neither, my lord,” answered Leonato. “It is most

wonderful that she should so dote on Benedick, whom she in all

outward behavior seemed ever to dislike.”

Claudio confirmed all this with saying that Hero bad told him

Beatrice was so in love with Benedick that she would certainly

die of grief if he could not be brought to love her; which

Leonato and Claudio seemed to agree was impossible, he having

always been such a railer against all fair ladies, and in

particular against Beatrice.

The prince affected to harken to all this with great compassion

for Beatrice, and he said, “It were good that Benedick were told

of this.”

“To what end?” said Claudio. “He would but make sport of it, and

torment the poor lady worse.”

“And if he should,” said the prince, “it were a good deed to hang

him; for Beatrice is an excellent sweet lady, and exceeding wise

in everything but in loving Benedick.”

Then the prince motioned to his companions that they should walk

on and leave Benedick to meditate upon what he had overheard.

Benedick had been listening with great eagerness to this

conversation; and he said to himself, when be heard Beatrice

loved him: “Is it possible? Sits the wind in that corner?” And

when they were gone, he began to reason in this manner with

himself: “This can be no trick! They were very serious, and they

have the truth from Hero, and seem to pity the lady. Love me!

Why, it must be requited! I did never think to marry. But when I

said I should die a bachelor, I did not think I should live to

be married. They say the lady is virtuous and fair. She is so.

And wise in everything but loving me. Why, that is no great

argument of her folly! But here comes Beatrice. By this day, she

is a fair lady. I do spy some marks of love in her.”

Beatrice now approached him and said, with her usual tartness,

“Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.”

Benedick, who never felt himself disposed to speak so politely to

her before, replied, “Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.”

And when Beatrice, after two or three more rude speeches, left

him, Benedick thought he observed a concealed meaning of kindness

under the uncivil words she uttered, and he said aloud: “If I do

not take pity on her, I am a villain. If I do not love her, I am

a Jew. I will go get her picture.”

The gentleman being thus caught in the net they had spread for

him, it was now Hero’s turn to play her part with Beatrice; and

for this purpose she sent for Ursula and Margaret, two

gentlewomen who attended upon her, and she said to Margaret:

“Good Margaret, run to the parlor; there you will find my cousin

Beatrice talking with the prince and Claudio. Whisper in her ear

that I and Ursula are walking in the orchard and that our

discourse is all of her. Bid her steal into that pleasant arbor,

where honeysuckles, ripened by the sun, like ungrateful minions,

forbid the sun to enter.”

This arbor into which Hero desired Margaret to entice Beatrice

was the very same pleasant arbor where Benedick had so lately

been an attentive listener.

“I will make her come, I warrant, presently,” said Margaret.

Hero, then taking Ursula with her into the orchard, said to her:

“Now, Ursula, when Beatrice comes, we will walk up and down this

alley, and our talk must be only of Benedick, and when I name

him, let it be your part to praise him more than ever man did

merit. My talk to you must be how Benedick is in love with

Beatrice. Now begin; for look where Beatrice like a lapwing runs

close by the ground, to hear our conference.”

They then began, Hero saying’, as if in answer to something which

Ursula had said: “No, truly, Ursula. She is too disdainful; her

spirits are as coy as wild birds of the rock.”

“But are you sure,” said Ursula, “that Benedick loves Beatrice so

entirely?”

Hero replied, “So says the prince and my lord Claudio, and they

entreated me to acquaint her with it; but I persuaded them, if

they loved Benedick, never to let Beatrice know of it.”

“Certainly,” replied Ursula, “it were not good she knew his love,

lest she made sport of it.”

“Why, to say truth,” said Hero, never yet saw a man, how wise

soever, or noble, young,@ or rarely featured, but she would

dispraise him.”

“Sure@ sure, such carping is not commendable,” said Ursula.

“No,” replied Hero, “but who dare tell her so? If I should speak,

she would mock me into air.”

“Oh, you wrong your cousin!” said Ursula. “She cannot be so much

without true judgment as to refuse so rare a gentleman as Signor

Benedick.”

“He hath an excellent good name,” said Hero. “Indeed, he is the

first man in Italy, always excepting my dear Claudio.”

And now, Hero giving her attendant a hint that it was time to

change the discourse, Ursula said, “And when are you to be

married, madam?”

Hero then told her that she was to be married to Claudio the next

day, and desired she would go in with her and look at some new

attire, as she wished to consult with her on what she would wear

on the morrow.

Beatrice, who had been listening with breathless eagerness to

this dialogue, when they went away exclaimed: “What fire is in

mine ears? Can this be true? Farewell, contempt and scorn, and

maiden pride, adieu! Benedick, love on! I will requite you,

taming my wild heart to your loving hand.”

It must have been a pleasant sight to see these old enemies

converted into new and loving friends, and to behold their first

meeting after being cheated into mutual liking by the merry

artifice of the good-humored prince. But a sad reverse in the

fortunes of Hero must now be thought of. The morrow, which was to

have been her wedding-day, brought sorrow on the heart of Hero

and her good father, Leonato.

The prince had a half-brother, who came from the wars along with

him to Messina. This brother (his name was Don John) was a

melancholy, discontented man, whose spirits seemed to labor in

the contriving of villainies. He hated the prince his brother,

and he hated Claudio because he was the prince’s friend, and

determined to prevent Claudio’s marriage with Hero, only for the

malicious pleasure of making Claudio and the prince unhappy, for

he knew the prince had set his heart upon this marriage almost as

much as Claudio himself; and to effect this wicked purpose he

employed one Borachio, a man as bad as himself, whom he

encouraged with the offer of a great reward. This Borachio paid

his court to Margaret, Hero’s attendant; and Don John, knowing

this, prevailed upon him to make Margaret promise to talk with

him from her lady’s chamber window that night, after Hero was

asleep, and also to dress herself in Hero’s clothes, the better

to deceive Claudio into the belief that it was Hero; for that was

the end he meant to compass by this wicked plot.

Don John then went to the prince and Claudio and told them that

Hero was an imprudent lady, and that she talked with men from her

chamber window at midnight. Now this was the evening before the

wedding, and he offered to take them that night where they should

themselves hear Hero discoursing with a man from her window; and

they consented to go along with him, and Claudio said:

“If I see anything to-night why I should not marry her, to-morrow

in the congregation, where I intended to wed her, there will I

shame her.”

The prince also said, “And as I assisted you to obtain her, I

will join with you to disgrace her.”

When Don John brought them near Hero’s chamber that night, they

saw Borachio standing under the window, and they saw Margaret

looking out of Hero’s window and heard her talking with Borachio;

and Margaret being dressed in the same clothes they had seen Hero

wear, the prince and Claudio believed it was the lady Hero

herself.

Nothing could equal the anger of Claudio when he had made (as be

thought) this discovery. All his love for the innocent Hero was

at once converted into hatred, and he resolved to expose her in

the church, as he had said he would, the next day; and the

prince agreed to this, thinking no punishment could be too severe

for the naughty lady who talked with a man from her window the

very night before she was going to be married to the noble

Claudio.

The next day, when they were all met to celebrate the marriage,

and Claudio and Hero were standing before the priest, and the

priest, or friar, as he was called, was proceeding to pronounce

the marriage ceremony, Claudio, in the most passionate language,

proclaimed the guilt of the blameless Hero, who, amazed at the

strange words he uttered, said, meekly:

“Is my lord well, that he does speak so wide?”

Leonato, in the utmost horror, said to the prince, “My lord, why

speak not you?”

“What should I speak?” said the prince. “I stand dishonored that

have gone about to link my dear friend to an unworthy woman.

Leonato, upon my honor, myself, my brother, and this grieved

Claudio did see and bear her last night at midnight talk with a

man at her chamber window.”

Benedick, in astonishment at what he heard, said, “This looks not

like a nuptial.”

“True, O God!” replied the heart-struck Hero; and then this

hapless lady sank down in a fainting fit, to all appearance dead.

The prince and Claudio left the church without staying to see if

Hero would recover, or at all regarding the distress into which

they had thrown Leonato. So hard-hearted had their anger made

them.

Benedick remained and assisted Beatrice to recover Hero from her

swoon, saying, “How does the lady?”

“Dead, I think,” replied Beatrice, in great agony, for she loved

her cousin; and, knowing her virtuous principles, she believed

nothing of what she had heard spoken against her.

Not so the poor old father. He believed the story of his child’s

shame, and it was piteous to hear him lamenting over her, as she

lay like one dead before him, wishing she might never more open

her eyes.

But the ancient friar was a wise man and full of observation on

human nature, and he had attentively marked the lady’s

countenance when she heard herself accused and noted a thousand

blushing shames to start into her face, and then he saw an

angel-like whiteness bear away those blushes, and in her eye be

saw a fire that did belie the error that the prince did speak

against her maiden truth, and he said to the sorrowing father:

“Call me a fool; trust not my reading nor my observation; trust

not my age, my reverence, nor my calling, if this sweet lady lie

not guiltless here under some biting error.”

When Hero had recovered from the swoon into which she had fallen,

the friar said to her, “Lady, what man is he you are accused of?”

Hero replied, “They know that do accuse me; I know of none.” Then

turning to Leonato, she said, “O my father, if you can prove that

any man has ever conversed with me at hours unmeet, or that I

yesternight changed words with any creature, refuse me, hate me,

torture me to death.”

“There is,” said the friar, “some strange misunderstanding in the

prince and Claudio.” And then he counseled Leonato that he should

report that Hero was dead; and he said that the deathlike swoon

in which they had left Hero would make this easy of belief; and

he also advised him that he should put on mourning, and erect a

monument for her, and do all rites that appertain to a burial.

“What shall become of this?” said Leonato. “What will this do?”

The friar replied: “This report of her death shall change slander

into pity; that is some good. But that is not all the good 1 hope

for. When Claudio shall hear she died upon hearing his words, the

idea of her life shall sweetly creep into his imagination. Then

shall he mourn, if ever love had interest in his heart, and wish

that be had not so accused her; yea, though he thought his

accusation true.”

Benedick now said, “Leonato, let the friar advise you; and though

you know how well I love the prince and Claudio, yet on my honor

I will not reveal this secret to them.”

Leonato, thus persuaded, yielded; and he said, sorrowfully, “I am

so grieved that the smallest twine may lead me.”

The kind friar then led Leonato and Hero away to comfort and

console them, and Beatrice and Benedick remained alone; and this

was the meeting from which their friends, who contrived the merry

plot against them, expected so much diversion; those friends who

were now overwhelmed with affliction and from whose minds all

thoughts of merriment seemed forever banished.

Benedick was the first who spoke, and he said, “Lady Beatrice,

have you wept all this while?”

“Yea, and I will weep awhile longer,” said Beatrice.

“Surely,” said. Benedick, “I do believe your fair cousin is

wronged.”

“Ah,” said Beatrice, “how much might that man deserve of me who

would right her!”

Benedick then said: “Is there any way to show such friendship? I

do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that

strange?”

“It were as possible,” said Beatrice, “for me to say I loved

nothing in the world so well as you; but believe me not, and yet

I lie not. I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. I am sorry for

my cousin.”

“By my sword,” said Benedick, “you love me, and I protest I love

you. Come, bid me do anything for you.”

“Kill Claudio,” said Beatrice.

“Ha! not for the world,” said Benedick; for he loved his friend

Claudio and he believed he had been imposed upon.

“Is not Claudio a villain that has slandered, scorned, and

dishonored my cousin?” said Beatrice. “Oh, that I were a man!”

“Hear me, Beatrice!” said Benedick.

But Beatrice would hear nothing in Claudio’s defense, and she

continued to urge on Benedick to revenge her cousin’s wrongs; and

she said: “Talk with a man out of the window? a proper saying!

Sweet Hero! she is wronged; she is slandered; she is undone. Oh,

that I were a man for Claudio’s sake! or that I had any friend

who would be a man for my sake! But valor is melted into

courtesies and compliments. I cannot be a man with wishing,

therefore I will die a woman with grieving.”

“Tarry, good Beatrice,” said Benedick. “By this hand I love you.”

“Use it for my love some other way than swearing by it,” said

Beatrice.

“Think you on your soul that Claudio has wronged Hero?” asked

Benedick.

“Yea,” answered Beatrice; CC as sure as I have a thought or a

soul.”

“Enough,” said Benedick. “I am engaged; I will challenge him. I

will kiss your hand, and so leave you. By this hand Claudio shall

render me a dear account! As you hear from me, so think of me.

Go, comfort your cousin.”

While Beatrice was thus powerfully pleading with Benedick, and

working his gallant temper, by the spirit of her angry words, to

engage in the cause of Hero and fight even with his dear friend

Claudio, Leonato was challenging the prince and Claudio to answer

with their swords the injury they had done his child, who, be

affirmed, had died for grief. But they respected his age and his

sorrow, and they said:

“Nay, do not quarrel with us, good old man.”

And now came Benedick, and be also challenged Claudio to answer

with his sword the injury be had done to Hero; and Claudio and

the prince said to each other:

“Beatrice has set him on to do this.”

Claudio, nevertheless, must have accepted this challenge of

Benedick had not the justice of Heaven at the moment brought to

pass a better proof of the innocence of Hero than the uncertain

fortune of a duel.

While the prince and Claudio were yet talking of the challenge of

Benedick a magistrate brought Borachio as a prisoner before the

prince. Borachio had been overheard talking with one of his

companions of the mischief he had been employed by Don John to

do.

Borachio made a full confession to the prince in Claudio’s

bearing that it was Margaret dressed in her lady’s clothes that

he had talked with from the window, whom they had mistaken for

the lady Hero herself. and no doubt continued on the minds of

Claudio and the prince of the innocence of Hero. If a suspicion

had remained it must have been removed by the flight of Don John,

who, finding his villainies were detected, fled from Messina to

avoid the just anger of his brother.

The heart of Claudio was sorely grieved when he found he bad

falsely accused Hero, who, he thought, died upon bearing his

cruel words; and the memory of his beloved Hero’s image came over

him in the rare semblance that he loved it first; and the prince,

asking him if what he heard did not run like iron through his

soul, he answered that he felt as if he had taken poison while

Borachio was speaking.

And the repentant Claudio implored forgiveness of the old man

Leonato for the injury he had done his child; and promised that,

whatever penance Leonato would lay upon him for his fault in

believing the false accusation against his betrothed wife, for

her dear sake he would endure it.

The penance Leonato enjoined him was to marry the next morning a

cousin of Hero’s, who, he said, was now his heir, and in person

very like Hero. Claudio, regarding the solemn promise he made to

Leonato, said he would marry this unknown lady, even though she

were an Ethiop. But his heart was very sorrowful, and he passed

that night in tears and in remorseful grief at the tomb which

Leonato had erected for Hero.

When the morning came the prince accompanied Claudio to the

church, where the good friar and Leonato and his niece were

already assembled, to celebrate a second nuptial; and Leonato

presented to Claudio his promised bride. And she wore a mask,

that Claudio might not discover her face. And Claudio said to the

lady in the mask:

“Give me your hand, before this holy friar. I am your husband, if

you will marry me.”

“And when I lived I was your other wife,” said this unknown

lady; and, taking off her mask, she proved to be no niece (as was

pretended), but Leonato’s very daughter, the lady Hero herself.

We may be sure that this proved a most agreeable surprise to

Claudio, who thought her dead, so that be could scarcely for joy

believe his eyes; and the prince, who was equally amazed at what

he saw, exclaimed:

“Is not this Hero, Hero that was dead?”’

Leonato replied, “She died, my lord, but while her slander

lived.”

The friar promised them an explanation of this seeming miracle,

after the ceremony was ended, and was proceeding to marry them

when he was interrupted by Benedick, who desired to be married at

the same time to Beatrice. Beatrice making some demur to this

match, and Benedick challenging her with her love for him, which

he had learned from Hero, a pleasant explanation took place; and

they found they had both been tricked into a belief of love,

which had never existed, and had become lovers in truth by the

power of a false jest. But the affection which a merry invention

had cheated them into was grown too powerful to be shaken by a

serious explanation; and since Benedick proposed to marry, he was

resolved to think nothing to the purpose that the world could say

against it; and he merrily kept up the jest and swore to Beatrice

that he took her but for pity, and because he heard she was dying

of love for him; and Beatrice protested that she yielded but upon

great persuasion, and partly to save his life, for she heard he

was in a consumption. So these two mad wits were reconciled and

made a match of it, after Claudio and Hero were married; and to

complete the history, Don John, the contriver of the villainy,

was taken in his flight and brought back to Messina; and a

@@brave

punishment it was to this gloomy, discontented man to see the joy

and feastings which, by the disappointment of his plots, took

place in the palace in Messina.

AS YOU LIKE IT

During the time that France was divided into provinces (or

dukedoms, as they were called) there reigned in one of these

provinces a usurper who had deposed and banished his elder

brother, the lawful duke.

The duke who was thus driven from his dominions retired with a

few faithful followers to the forest of Arden; and here the good

duke lived with his loving friends, who had put themselves into a

voluntary exile for his sake, while their land and revenues

enriched the false usurper; and custom soon made the life of

careless ease they led here more sweet to them than the pomp and

uneasy splendor of a courtier’s life. Here they lived like the

old Robin Hood of England, and to this forest many noble youths

daily resorted from the court, and did fleet the time carelessly,

as they did who lived in the golden age. In the summer they lay

along under the fine shade of the large forest trees, marking the

playful sports of the wild deer; and so fond were they of these

poor dappled fools, who seemed to be the native inhabitants of

the forest, that it grieved them to be forced to kill them to

supply themselves with venison for their food. When the cold

winds of winter made the duke feel the change of his adverse

fortune, he would endure it patiently, and say:

“These chilling winds which blow upon my body are true

counselors; they do not flatter, but represent truly to me my

condition; and though they bite sharply, their tooth is nothing

like so keen as that of unkindness and ingratitude. I find that

howsoever men speak against adversity, yet some sweet uses are to

be extracted from it; like the jewel, precious for medicine,

which is taken from the head of the venomous and despised toad.”

In this manner did the patient duke draw a useful moral from

everything that he saw; and by the help of this moralizing turn,

in that life of his, remote from public haunts, he could find

tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones,

and good in everything.

The banished duke had an only daughter, named Rosalind, whom the

usurper, Duke Frederick, when he banished her father, still

retained in his court as a companion for his own daughter, Celia.

A strict friendship subsisted between these ladies, which the

disagreement between their fathers did not in the least

interrupt, Celia striving by every kindness in her power to make

amends to Rosalind for the injustice of her own father in

deposing the father of Rosalind; and whenever the thoughts of her

father’s banishment, and her own dependence on the false usurper,

made Rosalind melancholy, Celia’s whole care was to comfort and

console her.

One day, when Celia was talking in her usual kind manner to

Rosalind, saying, “I pray you, Rosalind, my sweet cousin, be

merry,” a messenger entered from the duke, to tell them that if

they wished to see a wrestling-match, which was just going to

begin, they must come instantly to the court before the palace;

and Celia, thinking it would amuse Rosalind, agreed to go and see

it.

In those times wrestling, which is only practised now by country

clowns, was a favorite sport even in the courts of princes, and

before fair ladies and princesses. To this wrestling-match,

therefore, Celia and Rosalind went. They found that it was likely

to prove a very tragical sight; for a large and powerful man, who

had been long practised in the art of wrestling and had slain

many men in contests of this kind, was just going to wrestle with

a very young man, who, from his extreme youth and inexperience in

the art, the beholders all thought would certainly be killed.

When the duke saw Celia and Rosalind he said: “How now, daughter

and niece, are you crept hither to see the wrestling? You will

take little delight in it, there is such odds in the men. In pity

to this young man, I would wish to persuade him from wrestling.

Speak to him, ladies, and see if you can move him.”

The ladies were well pleased to perform this humane office, and

first Celia entreated the young stranger that he would desist

from the attempt; and then Rosalind spoke so kindly to him, and

with such feeling consideration for the danger he was about to

undergo, that, instead of being persuaded by her gentle words to

forego his purpose, all his thoughts were bent to distinguish

himself by his courage in this lovely lady’s eyes. He refused the

request of Celia and Rosalind in such graceful and modest words

that they felt still more concern for him; he concluded his

refusal with saying:

“I am sorry to deny such fair and excellent ladies anything. But

let your fair eyes and gentle wishes go with me to my trial,

wherein if I be conquered there is one shamed that was never

gracious; if I am killed, there is one dead that is willing to

die. I shall do my friends no wrong, for I have none to lament

me; the world no injury, for in it I have nothing; for I only

fill up a place in the world which may be better supplied when I

have made it empty.”

And now the wrestling-match began. Celia wished the young

stranger might not be hurt; but Rosalind felt most for him. The

friendless state which he said he was in, and that he wished to

die, made Rosalind think that he was, like herself, unfortunate;

and she pitied him so much, and so deep an interest she took in

his danger while he was wrestling, that she might almost be said

at that moment to have fallen in love with him.

The kindness shown this unknown youth by these fair and noble

ladies gave him courage and strength, so that he performed

wonders; and in the end completely conquered his antagonist, who

was so much hurt that for a while he was unable to speak or move.

The Duke Frederick was much pleased with the courage and skill

shown by this young stranger; and desired to know his name and

parentage, meaning to take him under his protection.

The stranger said his name was Orlando, and that he was the

youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys.

Sir Rowland de Boys, the father of Orlando, had been dead some

years; but when he was living he had been a true subject and dear

friend of the banished duke; therefore, when Frederick heard

Orlando was the son of his banished brother’s friend, all his

liking for this brave young man was changed into displeasure and

he left the place in very ill humor. Hating to bear the very name

of any of his brother’s friends, and yet still admiring the valor

of the youth, he said, as he went out, that he wished Orlando had

been the son of any other man.

Rosalind was delighted to hear that her new favorite was the son

of her father’s old friend; and she said to Celia, “My father

loved Sir Rowland de Boys, and if I had known this young man was

his son I would have added tears to my entreaties before he

should have ventured.”

The ladies then went up to him and, seeing him abashed by the

sudden displeasure shown by the duke, they spoke kind and

encouraging words to him; and Rosalind, when they were going

away, turned back to speak some more civil things to the brave

young son of her father’s old friend, and taking a chain from off

her neck, she said:

“Gentleman, wear this for me. I am out of suits with fortune, or

I would give you a more valuable present.”

When the ladies were alone, Rosalind’s talk being still of

Orlando, Celia began to perceive her cousin had fallen in love

with the handsome young wrestler, and she said to Rosalind:

“Is it possible you should fall in love so suddenly?”

Rosalind replied, “The duke, my father, loved his father dearly.”

“But,” said Celia, “does it therefore follow that you should love

his son dearly?. For then I ought to hate him, for my father

hated his father; yet do not hate Orlando.”

Frederick, being enraged at the sight of Sir Rowland de Boys’s

son, which reminded him of the many friends the banished duke had

among the nobility, and having been for some time displeased with

his niece because the people praised her for her virtues and

pitied her for her good father’s sake, his malice suddenly broke

out against her; and while Celia and Rosalind were talking of

Orlando, Frederick entered the room and with looks full of anger

ordered Rosalind instantly to leave the palace and follow her

father into banishment, telling Celia, who in vain pleaded for

her, that he had only suffered Rosalind to stay upon her account.

“I did not then,” said Celia, “entreat you to let her stay, for I

was too young at that time to value her; but now that I know her

worth, and that we so long have slept together, rose at the same

instant, learned, played, and eat together, I cannot live out of

her company.”

Frederick replied: “She is too subtle for you; her smoothness,

her very silence, and her patience speak to the people, and they

pity her. You are a fool to plead for her, for you will seem more

bright and virtuous when she is gone; therefore open not your

lips in her favor, for the doom which I have passed upon her is

irrevocable.”

When Celia found she could not prevail upon her father to let

Rosalind remain with her, she generously resolved to accompany

her; and, leaving her father’s palace that night, she went along

with her friend to seek Rosalind’s father, the banished duke, in

the forest of Arden.

Before they set out Celia considered that it would be unsafe for

two young ladies to travel in the rich clothes they then wore;

she therefore proposed that they should disguise their rank by

dressing themselves like country maids. Rosalind said it would be

a still greater protection if one of them was to be dressed like

a man. And so it was quickly agreed on between them that, as

Rosalind was the tallest, she should wear the dress of a young

countryman, and Celia should be habited like a country lass, and

that they should say they were brother and sister; and Rosalind

said she would be called Ganymede, and Celia chose the name of

Aliena.

In this disguise, and taking their money and jewels to defray

their expenses, these fair princesses set out on their long

travel; for the forest of Arden was a long way off, beyond the

boundaries of the duke’s dominions.

The lady Rosalind (or Ganymede, as she must now be called) with

her manly garb seemed to have put on a manly courage. The

faithful friendship Celia had shown in accompanying Rosalind so

many weary miles made the new brother, in recompense for this

true love, exert a cheerful spirit, as if he were indeed

Ganymede, the rustic and stout-hearted brother of the gentle

village maiden, Aliena.

When at last they came to the forest of Arden they no longer

found the convenient inns and good accommodations they had met

with on the road, and, being in want of food and rest, Ganymede,

who had so merrily cheered his sister with pleasant speeches and

happy remarks all the way, now owned to Aliena that he was so

weary he could find in his heart to disgrace his man’s apparel

and cry like a woman; and Aliena declared she could go no

farther; and then again Ganymede tried to recollect that it was a

man’s duty to comfort and console a woman, as the weaker vessel;

and to seem courageous to his new sister, he said:

“Come, have a good heart, my sister Aliena. We are now at the end

of our travel, in the forest of Arden.”

But feigned manliness and forced courage would no longer support

them; for, though they were in the forest of Arden, they knew not

where to find the duke. And here the travel of these weary ladies

might have come to a sad conclusion, for they might have lost

themselves and perished for want of food, but, providentially, as

they were sitting on the grass, almost dying with fatigue and

hopeless of any relief, a countryman chanced to pass that way,

and Ganymede once more tried to speak with a manly boldness,

saying:

“Shepherd, if love or gold can in this desert place procure us

entertainment, I pray you bring us where we may rest ourselves;

for this young maid, my sister, is much fatigued with traveling,

and faints for want of food.”

The man replied that he was only a servant to a shepherd, and

that his master’s house was just going to be sold, and therefore

they would find but poor entertainment; but that if they would go

with him they should be welcome to what there was. They followed

the man, the near prospect of relief giving them fresh strength,

and bought the house and sheep of the shepherd, and took the man

who conducted them to the shepherd’s house to wait on them; and

being by this means so fortunately provided with a neat cottage,

and well supplied with provisions, they agreed to stay here till

they could learn in what part of the forest the duke dwelt.

When they were rested after the fatigue of their journey, they

began to like their new way of life, and almost fancied

themselves the shepherd and shepherdess they feigned to be. Yet

sometimes Ganymede remembered be had once been the same Lady

Rosalind who had so dearly loved the brave Orlando because be was

the son of old Sir Rowland, her father’s friend; and though

Ganymede thought that Orlando was many miles distant, even so

many weary miles as they had traveled, yet it soon appeared that

Orlando was also in the forest of Arden. And in this manner this

strange event came to pass.

Orlando was the youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys, who, when he

died, left him (Orlando being then very young) to the care of his

eldest brother, Oliver, charging Oliver on his blessing to give

his brother a good education and provide for him as became the

dignity of their ancient house. Oliver proved an unworthy

brother, and, disregarding the commands of his dying father, he

never put his brother to school, but kept him at home untaught

and entirely neglected. But in his nature and in the noble

qualities of his mind Orlando so much resembled his excellent

father that, without any advantages of education, he seemed like

a youth who had been bred with the utmost care; and Oliver so

envied the fine person and dignified manners of his untutored

brother that at last he wished to destroy him, and to effect this

be set on people to persuade him to wrestle with the famous

wrestler who, as has been before related, had killed so many men.

Now it was this cruel brother’s neglect of him which made Orlando

say he wished to die, being so friendless.

When, contrary to the wicked hopes he had formed, his brother

proved victorious, his envy and malice knew no bounds, and he

swore he would burn the chamber where Orlando slept. He was

overheard making his vow by one that had been an old and faithful

servant to their father, and that loved Orlando because he

resembled Sir Rowland. This old man went out to meet him when he

returned from the duke’s palace, and when he saw Orlando the

peril his dear young master was in made him break out into these

passionate exclamations:

“O my gentle master, my sweet master! O you memory of Old Sir

Rowland! Why are you virtuous? Why are you gentle, strong, and

valiant? And why would you be so fond to overcome the famous

wrestler? Your praise is come too swiftly home before you.”

Orlando, wondering what all this meant, asked him what was the

matter. And then the old man told him how his wicked brother,

envying the love all people bore him, and now hearing the fame he

had gained by his victory in the duke’s palace, intended to

destroy him by setting fire to his chamber that night, and in

conclusion advised him to escape the danger he was in by

instant flight; and knowing Orlando had no money, Adam (for that

was the good old man’s name) had brought out with him his own

little hoard, and he said:

“I have five hundred crowns, the thrifty hire I saved under your

father and laid by to be provision for me when my old limbs

should become unfit for service. Take that, and He that doth the

ravens feed be comfort to my age! Here is the gold. All this I

give to you. Let me be your servant; though I look old I will do

the service of a younger man in all your business and

necessities.”

“O good old man!” said Orlando, “how well appears in you the

constant service of the old world! You are not for the fashion of

these times. We will go along together, and before your youthful

wages are spent I shall light upon some means for both our

maintenance.”

Together, then, this faithful servant and his loved master set

out; and Orlando and Adam traveled on, uncertain what course to

pursue, till they came to the forest of Arden, and there they

found themselves in the same distress for want of food that

Ganymede and Aliena had been. They wandered on, seeking some

human habitation, till they were almost spent with hunger and

fatigue.

Adam at last said: “O my dear master, I die for want of food. I

can go no farther!” He then laid himself down, thinking to make

that place his grave, and bade his dear master farewell.

Orlando, seeing him in this weak state, took his old servant up

in his arms and carried him under the shelter of some pleasant

trees; and he said to him: “Cheerly, old Adam. Rest your weary

limbs here awhile, and do not talk of dying!”

Orlando then searched about to find some food, and he happened to

arrive at that part of the forest where the duke was; and he and

his friends were just going to eat their dinner, this royal duke

being seated on the grass, under no other canopy than the shady

covert of some large trees.

Orlando, whom hunger had made desperate, drew his sword,

intending to take their meat by force, and said: “Forbear and eat

no more. I must have your food!”

The duke asked him if distress had made him so bold or if he were

a rude despiser of good manners. On this Orlando said he was

dying with hunger; and then the duke told him he was welcome to

sit down and eat with them. Orlando, hearing him speak so gently,

put up his sword and blushed with shame at the rude manner in

which he had demanded their food.

“Pardon me, I pray you,” said he. “I thought that all things had

been savage here, and therefore I put on the countenance of stern

command; but whatever men you are that in this desert, under the

shade of melancholy boughs, lose and neglect the creeping hours

of time, if ever you have looked on better days, if ever you have

been where bells have knolled to church, if you have ever sat at

any good man’s feast, if ever from your eyelids you have wiped a

tear and know what it is to pity or be pitied, may gentle

speeches now move you to do me human courtesy!”

The duke replied: “True it is that we are men (as you say) who

have seen better days, and though we have now our habitation in

this wild forest, we have lived in towns and cities and have with

holy bell been knolled to church, have sat at good men’s feasts,

and from our eyes have wiped the drops which sacred pity has

engendered; therefore sit you down and take of our refreshment as

much as will minister to your wants.”

“There is an old poor man,” answered Orlando, “who has limped

after me many a weary step in pure love, oppressed at once with

two sad infirmities, age and hunger; till he be satisfied I must

not touch a bit.”

“Go, find him out and bring him hither,” said the duke. “We will

forbear to eat till you return.”

Then Orlando went like a doe to find its fawn and give it food;

and presently returned, bringing Adam in his arms.

And the duke said, “Set down your venerable burthen; you are both

welcome.”

And they fed the old man and cheered his heart, and he revived

and recovered his health and strength again.

The duke inquired who Orlando was; and when he found that he was

the son of his old friend, Sir Rowland de Boys, be took him under

his protection, and Orlando and his old servant lived with the

duke in the forest.

Orlando arrived in the forest not many days after Ganymede and

Aliena came there and (as has been before related) bought the

shepherd’s cottage.

Ganymede and Aliena were strangely surprised to find the name of

Rosalind carved on the trees, and love-sonnets fastened to them,

all addressed to Rosalind; and while they were wondering how this

could be they met Orlando and they perceived the chain which

Rosalind had given him about his neck.

Orlando little thought that Ganymede was the fair Princess

Rosalind who, by her noble condescension and favor, had so won

his heart that he passed his whole time in carving her name upon

the trees and writing sonnets in praise of her beauty; but being

much pleased with the graceful air of this pretty shepherd-youth,

he entered into conversation with him, and be thought he saw a

likeness in Ganymede to his beloved Rosalind, but that he had

none of the dignified deportment of that noble lady; for Ganymede

assumed the forward manners often seen in youths when they are

between boys and men, -and with much archness and humor talked to

Orlando of a certain lover, “who,” said she, “haunts our forest,

and spoils our young trees with carving Rosalind upon their

barks; and he hangs odes upon hawthorns, and elegies on brambles,

all praising this same Rosalind. If I could find this lover, I

would give him some good counsel that would soon cure him of his

love.”

Orlando confessed that he was the fond lover of whom he spoke,,

and asked Ganymede to give him the good counsel he talked Of. The

remedy Ganymede proposed, and the counsel he gave him was that

Orlando should come every day to the cottage where he and his

sister Aliena dwelt.

“And then,” said Ganymede, “I will feign myself to be Rosalind,

and you shall feign to court me in the same manner as you would

do if I was Rosalind, and then I will imitate the fantastic ways

of whimsical ladies to their lovers, till I make you ashamed of

your love; and this is the way I propose to cure you.”

Orlando had no great faith in the remedy, yet he agreed to come

every day to Ganymede’s cottage and feign a playful courtship;

and every day Orlando visited Ganymede and Aliena, and Orlando

called the shepherd Ganymede his Rosalind, and every day talked

over all the fine words and flattering compliments which young

men delight to use when they court their mistresses. It does not

appear, however, that Ganymede made any progress in curing

Orlando of his love for Rosalind.

Though Orlando thought all this was but a sportive play (not

dreaming that Ganymede was his very Rosalind), yet the

opportunity it gave him of saying all the fond things he had in

his heart pleased his fancy almost as well as it did Ganymede’s,

who enjoyed the secret jest in knowing these fine love-speeches

were all addressed to the right person.

In this manner many days passed pleasantly on with these young

people; and the good-natured Aliena, seeing it made Ganymede

happy, let him have his own way and was diverted at the

mock-courtship, and did not care to remind Ganymede that the Lady

Rosalind had not yet made herself known to the duke her father,

whose place of resort in the forest they had learned from

Orlando. Ganymede met the duke one day, and had some talk with

him, and the duke asked of what parentage he came. Ganymede

answered that he came of as good parentage as he did, which made

the duke smile, for he did not suspect the pretty shepherd-boy

came of royal lineage. Then seeing the duke look well and happy,

Ganymede was content to put off all further explanation for a few

days longer.

One morning, as Orlando was going to visit Ganymede, he saw a man

lying asleep on the ground, and a large green snake had twisted

itself about his neck. The snake, seeing Orlando approach, glided

away among the bushes. Orlando went nearer, and then he

discovered a lioness lie crouching, with her head on the ground,

with a catlike watch, waiting until the sleeping man awaked (for

it is said that lions will prey on nothing that is dead or

sleeping). It seemed as if Orlando was sent by Providence to free

the man from the danger of the snake and lioness; but when

Orlando looked in the man’s face he perceived that the sleeper

who was exposed to this double peril was his own brother Oliver,

who had so cruelly used him and had threatened to destroy him by

fire, and he was almost tempted to leave him a prey to the hungry

lioness; but brotherly affection and the gentleness of his nature

soon overcame his first anger against his brother; and he drew

his sword and attacked the lioness and slew her, and thus

preserved his brother’s life both from the venomous snake and

from the furious lioness; but before Orlando could conquer the

lioness she had torn one of his arms with her sharp claws.

While Orlando was engaged with the lioness, Oliver awaked, and,

perceiving that his brother Orlando, whom he had so cruelly

treated, was saving him from the fury of a wild beast at the risk

of his own life, shame and remorse at once seized him, and he

repented of his unworthy conduct and besought with many tears his

brother’s pardon for the injuries he had done him. Orlando

rejoiced to see him so penitent, and readily forgave him. They

embraced each other and from that hour Oliver loved Orlando with

a true brotherly affection, though he had come to the forest bent

on his destruction.

The wound in Orlando’s arm having bled very much, he found

himself too weak to go to visit Ganymede, and therefore he

desired his brother to go and tell Ganymede, “whom,” said

Orlando, “I in sport do call my Rosalind,” the accident which had

befallen him.

Thither then Oliver went, and told to Ganymede and Aliena how

Orlando had saved his life; and when he had finished the story of

Orlando’s bravery and his own providential escape he owned to

them that he was Orlando’s brother who had so cruelly used him;

and then be told them of their reconciliation.

The sincere sorrow that Oliver expressed for his offenses made

such a lively impression on the kind heart of Aliena that she

instantly fell in love with him; and Oliver observing how much

she pitied the distress he told her he felt for his fault, he as

suddenly fell in love with her. But while love was thus stealing

into the hearts of Aliena and Oliver, he was no less busy with

Ganymede, who, hearing of the danger Orlando had been in, and

that he was wounded by the lioness, fainted; and when he

recovered he pretended that he had counterfeited the swoon in the

imaginary character of Rosalind, and Ganymede said to Oliver:

“Tell your brother Orlando how well I counterfeited a swoon.”

But Oliver saw by the paleness of his complexion that he did

really faint, and, much wondering at the weakness of the young

man, he said, “Well, if you did counterfeit, take a good heart

and counterfeit to be a man.”

“So I do,” replied Ganymede, truly, “but I should have been a

woman by right.”

Oliver made this visit a very long one, and when at last he

returned back to his brother he had much news to tell him; for,

besides the account of Ganymede’s fainting at the hearing that

Orlando was wounded, Oliver told him how he had fallen in love

with the fair shepherdess Aliena, and that she had lent a

favorable ear to his suit, even in this their first interview;

and he talked to his brother, as of a thing almost settled, that

he should marry Aliena, saying that he so well loved her that he

would live here as a shepherd and settle his estate and house at

home upon Orlando.

“You have my consent,” said Orlando. “Let your wedding be

to-morrow, and I will invite the duke and his friends. Go

and persuade your shepherdess to agree to this. She is now alone,

for, look, here comes her brother.”

Oliver went to Aliena, and Ganymede, whom Orlando had perceived

approaching, came to inquire after the health of his wounded

friend.

When Orlando and Ganymede began to talk over the sudden love

which had taken place between Oliver and. Aliena, Orlando said be

had advised his brother to persuade his fair shepherdess to be

married on the morrow, and then he added how much he could wish

to be married on the same day to his Rosalind.

Ganymede, who well approved of this arrangement, said that if

Orlando really loved Rosalind as well as he professed to do, he

should have his wish; for on the morrow he would engage to make

Rosalind appear in her own person, and also that Rosalind should

be willing to marry Orlando.

This seemingly wonderful event, which, as Ganymede was the Lady

Rosalind, he could so easily perform, be pretended he would bring

to pass by the aid of magic, which he said he had learned of an

uncle who was a famous magician.

The fond lover Orlando, half believing and half doubting what he

heard, asked Ganymede if he spoke in sober meaning.

“By my life I do,” said Ganymede. “Therefore put on your best

clothes, and bid the duke and your friends to your wedding, for

if you desire to be married to-morrow to Rosalind, she shall be

here.”

The next morning, Oliver having obtained the consent of Aliena,

they came into the presence of the duke, and with them also came

Orlando.

They being all assembled to celebrate this double marriage, and

as yet only one of the brides appearing, there was much of

wondering and conjecture, but they mostly thought that Ganymede

was making a jest of Orlando.

The duke, hearing that it was his own daughter that was to be

brought in this strange way, asked Orlando if he believed the

shepherd-boy could really do what he had promised; and while

Orlando was answering that he knew not what to think, Ganymede

entered and asked the duke, if he brought his daughter, whether

he would consent to her marriage with Orlando.

“That I would,” said the duke, “if I had kingdoms to give with

her.”

Ganymede then said to Orlando, “And you say you will marry her if

I bring her here.”

“That I would,” said Orlando, “if I were king of many kingdoms.”

Ganymede and Aliena then went out together, and, Ganymede

throwing off his male attire, and being once more dressed in

woman’s apparel, quickly became Rosalind without the power of

magic; and Aliena, changing her country garb for her own rich

clothes, was with as little trouble transformed into the lady

Celia.

While they were gone, the duke said to Orlando that he thought

the shepherd Ganymede very like his daughter Rosalind; and

Orlando said he also had observed the resemblance.

They had no time to wonder how all this would end, for Rosalind

and Celia, in their own clothes, entered, and, no longer

pretending that it was by the power of magic that she came there,

Rosalind threw herself on her knees before her father and begged

his blessing. It seemed so wonderful to all present that she

should so suddenly appear, that it might well have passed for

magic; but Rosalind would no longer trifle with her father, and

told him the story of her banishment, and of her dwelling in the

forest as a shepherd-boy, her cousin Celia passing as her sister.

The duke ratified the consent he had already given to the

marriage; and Orlando and Rosalind, Oliver and Celia, were

married at the same time. And though their wedding could not be

celebrated in this wild forest with any of the parade of splendor

usual on such occasions, yet a happier wedding-day was never

passed. And while they were eating their venison under the cool

shade of the pleasant trees, as if nothing should be wanting to

complete the felicity of this good duke and the true lovers, an

unexpected messenger arrived to tell the duke the joyful news

that his dukedom was restored to him.

The usurper, enraged at the flight of his daughter Celia, and

hearing that every day men of great worth resorted to the forest

of Arden to join the lawful duke in his exile, much envying that

his brother should be so highly respected in his adversity, put

himself at the head of a large force and advanced toward the

forest, intending to seize his brother and put him with all his

faithful followers to the sword; but by a wonderful interposition

of Providence this bad brother was converted from his evil

intention, for just as he entered the skirts of the wild forest

he was met by an old religious man, a hermit, with whom he had

much talk and who in the end completely turned his heart from his

wicked design. Thenceforward he became a true penitent, and

resolved, relinquishing his unjust dominion, to spend the

remainder of his days in a religious house. The first act of his

newly conceived penitence was to send a messenger to his brother

(as has been related) to offer to restore to him his dukedom,

which be had usurped so long, and with it the lands and revenues

of his friends, the faithful followers of his adversity.

This joyful news, as unexpected as it was welcome, came

opportunely to heighten the festivity and rejoicings at the

wedding of the princesses. Celia complimented her cousin on this

good, fortune which had happened to the duke, Rosalind’s father,

and wished her joy very sincerely, though she herself was no

longer heir to the dukedom, but by this restoration which her

father had made, Rosalind was now the heir, so completely was the

love of these two cousins unmixed with anything of jealousy or of

envy.

The duke had now an opportunity of rewarding those true friends

who had stayed with him in his banishment; and these worthy

followers, though they had patiently shared his adverse fortune,

were very well pleased to return in peace and prosperity, to the

palace of their lawful duke.

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA

There lived in the city of Verona two young gentlemen, whose

names were Valentine and Proteus, between whom a firm and

uninterrupted friendship had long subsisted. They pursued their

studies together, and their hours of leisure were always passed

in each other’s company, except when Proteus visited a lady he

was in love with. And these visits to his mistress,, and this

passion of Proteus for the fair Julia, were the only topics on

which these two friends disagreed; for Valentine, not being

himself a lover, was sometimes a little weary of bearing his

friend forever talking of his Julia, and then he would laugh at

Proteus, and in pleasant terms ridicule the passion of love, and

declare that no such idle fancies should ever enter his head,

greatly preferring (as he said) the free and happy life he led to

the anxious hopes and fears of the lover Proteus.

One morning Valentine came to Proteus to tell him that they must

for a time be separated, for that he was going to Milan. Proteus,

unwilling to part with his friend, used many arguments to prevail

upon Valentine not to leave him. But Valentine said:

“Cease to persuade me, my loving Proteus. I will not, like a

sluggard, wear out my youth in idleness at home. Home-keeping

youths have ever homely wits. If your affection were not chained

to the sweet glances of your honored Julia, I would entreat you

to accompany me, to see the wonders of the world abroad; but

since you are a lover, love on still, and may your love be

prosperous!”

They parted with mutual expressions of unalterable friendship.

“Sweet Valentine, adieu!” said Proteus. “Think on me when you see

some rare object worthy of notice in your travels, and wish me

partaker of your happiness.”

Valentine began his journey that same day toward Milan; and when

his friend had left him, Proteus sat down to write a letter to

Julia, which he gave to her maid Lucetta to deliver to her

mistress.

Julia loved Proteus as well as he did her, but she was a lady of

a noble spirit, and she thought it did not become her maiden

dignity too easily to be won; therefore she affected to be

insensible of his passion and gave him much uneasiness in the

prosecution of his suit.

And when Lucetta, offered the letter to Julia she would not

receive it, and chid her maid for taking letters from Proteus,

and ordered her to leave the room. But she so much wished to see

what was written in the letter that she soon called in her maid

again; and when Lucetta returned she said, “What o’clock is it?”

Lucetta, who knew her mistress more desired to see the letter

than to know the time of day, without answering her question

again offered the rejected letter. Julia, angry that her maid

should thus take the liberty of seeming to know what she really

wanted, tore the letter in pieces and threw it on the floor,,

ordering her maid once more out of the room. As Lucetta was

retiring, she stopped to pick up the fragments of the torn

letter; but Julia, who meant not so to part with them, said, in

pretended anger, “Go, get you gone, and let the papers lie; you

would be fingering them to anger me.”

Julia then began to piece together as well as she could the torn

fragments. She first made out these words, “Love-wounded

Proteus”; and lamenting over these and such like loving words,

which she made out though they were all torn asunder, or, she

said WOUNDED (the expression “Love-wounded Proteus” giving her

that idea), she talked to these kind words, telling them she

would lodge them in her bosom as in a bed, till their wounds were

healed, and that she would kiss each several piece to make

amends.

In this manner she went on talking with a pretty, ladylike

childishness, till, finding herself unable to make out the whole,

and vexed at her own ingratitude in destroying such sweet and

loving words, as she called them, she wrote a much kinder letter

to Proteus than she had ever done before.

Proteus was greatly delighted at receiving this favorable answer

to his letter. And while he was reading it he exclaimed, “Sweet

love! sweet lines! sweet life!”

In the midst of his raptures he was interrupted by his father.

“How now?” said the old gentleman. “What letter are you reading

there?”

“My lord,” replied Proteus, “it is a letter from my friend

Valentine, at Milan.”

“Lend me the letter,” said his father. “Let me see what news.”

“There is no news, my lord,” said Proteus, greatly alarmed, “but

that he writes how well beloved he is of the Duke of Milan, who

daily graces him with favors, and how he wishes me with him, the

partner of his fortune.”

“And how stand you affected to his wish?” asked the father.

“As one relying on your lordship’s will and not depending on his

friendly wish,” said Proteus.

Now it had happened that Proteus’s father had just been talking

with a friend on this very subject. His friend had said he

wondered his lordship suffered his son to spend his youth at home

while most men were sending their sons to seek preferment abroad.

“Some,” said he, “to the wars, to try their fortunes there, and

some to discover islands far away, and some to study in foreign

universities. And there is his companion Valentine; he is gone to

the Duke of Milan’s court. Your son is fit for any of these

things, and it will be a great disadvantage to him in his riper

age not to have traveled in his youth.”

Proteus’s father thought the advice of his friend was very good,

and upon Proteus telling him that Valentine “wished him with him,

the partner of his fortune,” he at once determined to send his

son to Milan; and without giving Proteus any reason for this

sudden resolution, it being the usual habit of this positive old

gentleman to command his son, not reason with him, he said:

“My will is the same as Valentine’s wish.” And seeing his son

look astonished, he added: “Look not amazed, that I so suddenly

resolve you shall spend some time in the Duke of Milan’s court;

for what I will I will, and there is an end. Tomorrow be in

readiness to go. Make no excuses, for I am peremptory.”

Proteus knew it was of no use to make objections to his father,

who never suffered him to dispute his will; and he blamed himself

for telling his father an untruth about Julia’s letter, which had

brought upon him the sad necessity of leaving her.

Now that Julia found she was going to lose Proteus for so long a

time she no longer pretended indifference; and they bade each

other a mournful farewell, with many vows of love and constancy.

Proteus and Julia exchanged rings, which they both promised to

keep forever in remembrance of each other; and thus, taking a

sorrowful leave, Proteus set out on his journey to Milan, the

abode of his friend Valentine.

Valentine was in reality, what Proteus had feigned to his father,

in high favor with the Duke of Milan; and another event had

happened to him of which Proteus did not even dream, for

Valentine had given up the freedom of which he used so much to

boast, and was become as passionate a lover as Proteus.

She who had wrought this wondrous change in Valentine was the

Lady Silvia, daughter of the Duke of Milan, and she also loved

him; but they concealed their love from the duke, because,

although he showed much kindness for Valentine and invited him

every day to his palace, yet he designed to marry his daughter to

a young courtier whose name was Thurio. Silvia despised this

Thurio, for he had none of the fine sense and excellent qualities

of Valentine.

These two rivals, Thurio and Valentine, were one day on a visit

to Silvia, and Valentine was entertaining Silvia with turning

everything Thurio said into ridicule, when the duke himself

entered the room and told Valentine the welcome news of his

friend Proteus’s arrival.

Valentine said, “If I had wished a thing, it would have been to

have seen him here!” And then he highly praised Proteus to the

duke, saying, “My lord, though I have been a truant of my time,

yet hath my friend made use and fair advantage of his days, and

is complete in person and in mind, in all good grace to grace a

gentleman.”

“Welcome him, then, according to his worth,” said the duke.

“Silvia, I speak to you, and you, Sir Thurio; for Valentine, I

need not bid him do so.”

They were here interrupted by the entrance of Proteus, and

Valentine introduced him to Silvia, saying, “Sweet lady,

entertain him to be my fellow-servant to your ladyship.”

When Valentine and Proteus had ended their visit, and were alone

together, Valentine said:

“Now tell me how all does from whence you came? How does your

lady, and how thrives your love?”

Proteus replied: “My tales of love used to weary you. I know you

joy not in a love discourse.”

“Aye, Proteus,” returned Valentine, “but that life is altered

now. I have done penance for condemning love. For in revenge of

my contempt of love, love has chased sleep from my enthralled

eyes. O gentle Proteus, Love is a mighty lord, and hath so

humbled me that I confess there is no woe like his correction nor

no such joy on earth as in his service. I now like no discourse

except it be of love. Now I can break my fast, dine, sup, and

sleep upon the very name of love.”

This acknowledgment of the change which love had made in, the

disposition of Valentine was a great triumph to his friend

Proteus. But “friend” Proteus must be called no longer, for the

same all-powerful deity Love, of whom they were speaking (yea,

even while they were talking of the change he had made in

Valentine), was working in the heart of Proteus; and he, who had

till this time been a pattern of true love and perfect

friendship, was now, in one short interview with Silvia, become a

false friend and a faithless lover; for at the first sight of

Silvia all his love for Julia vanished away like a dream, nor did

his long friendship for Valentine deter him from endeavoring to

supplant him in her affections; and although, as it will always

be, when people of dispositions naturally good become unjust, be

bad many scruples before he determined to forsake Julia and

become the rival of Valentine, yet be at length overcame his

sense of duty and yielded himself up, almost without remorse, to

his new unhappy passion.

Valentine imparted to him in confidence the whole history of his

love, and how carefully they had concealed it from the duke her

father, and told him that, despairing of ever being able to

obtain his consent, he had prevailed upon Silvia to leave her

father’s palace that night and go with him to Mantua; then he

showed Proteus a ladder of ropes by help of which he meant to

assist Silvia to get out of one of the windows of the palace

after it was dark.

Upon hearing this faithful recital of his friend’s dearest

secrets, it is hardly possible to be believed, but so it was that

Proteus resolved to go to the duke and disclose the whole to him.

This false friend began his tale with many artful speeches to the

duke, such as that by the laws of friendship he ought to conceal

what he was going to reveal, but that the gracious favor the duke

had shown him, and the duty he owed his grace, urged him to tell

that which else no worldly good should draw from him. He then

told all he had heard from Valentine, not omitting the ladder of

ropes and the manner in which Valentine meant to conceal them

under a long cloak.

The duke thought Proteus quite a miracle of integrity, in that he

preferred telling his friend’s intention rather than he would

conceal an unjust action; highly commended him, and promised him

not to let Valentine know from whom he had learned this

intelligence, but by some artifice to make Valentine betray the

secret himself. For this purpose the duke awaited the coming of

Valentine in the evening, whom he soon saw hurrying toward the

palace, and he perceived somewhat was wrapped within his cloak,

which he concluded was the rope ladder.

The duke, upon this, stopped him, saying, “Whither away so fast,

Valentine?”

“May it please your grace,” said Valentine, “there is a messenger

that stays to bear my letters to my friends, and I am going to

deliver them.”

Now this falsehood of Valentine’s had no better success in the

event than the untruth Proteus told his father.

“Be they of much import?” said the duke.

“No more, my lord,” said Valentine, “than to tell my father I am

well and happy at your grace’s court.”

“Nay then,” said the duke, “no matter; stay with me awhile. I

wish your counsel about some affairs that concern me nearly.”

He then told Valentine an artful story, as a prelude to draw his

secret from him, saying that Valentine knew he wished to match

his daughter with Thurio, but that she was stubborn and

disobedient to his commands.

“Neither regarding,” said he, “that she is my child nor fearing

me as if I were her father. And I may say to thee this pride of

hers has drawn my love from her. I had thought my age should have

been cherished by her childlike duty. I now am resolved to take a

wife, and turn her out to whosoever will take her in. Let her

beauty be her wedding dower, for me and my possessions she

esteems not.”

Valentine, wondering where all this would end, made answer, “And

what would your grace have me to do in all this?”

“Why,” said the duke, “the lady I would wish to marry is nice and

coy and does not much esteem my aged eloquence. Besides, the

fashion of courtship is much changed since I was young. Now I

would willingly have you to be my tutor to instruct me how I am

to woo.”

Valentine gave him a general idea of the modes of courtship then

practised by young men when they wished to win a fair lady’s

love, such as presents, frequent visits, and the like.

The duke replied to this that the lady did refuse a present which

he sent her, and that she was so strictly kept by her father that

no man might have access to her by day.

“Why, then,” said Valentine, “you must visit her by night.”

“But at night,” said the artful duke, who was now coming to the

drift of his discourse, “her doors are fast locked.”

Valentine then unfortunately proposed that the duke should get

into the lady’s chamber at night by means of a ladder of ropes,,

saying he would procure him one fitting for that purpose; and in

conclusion advised him to conceal this ladder of ropes under such

a cloak as that which he now wore.

“Lend me your cloak,” said the duke, who had feigned this long

story on purpose to have a pretense to get off the cloak; so upon

saying these words he caught hold of Valentine’s cloak and,

throwing it back, he discovered not only the ladder of ropes but

also a letter of Silvia’s, which he instantly opened and read;

and this letter contained a full account of their intended

elopement. The duke, after upbraiding Valentine for his

ingratitude in thus returning the favor he had shown him, by

endeavoring to steal away his daughter, banished him from the

court and city of Milan forever, and Valentine was forced to

depart that night without even seeing Silvia.

While Proteus at Milan was thus injuring Valentine, Julia at

Verona was regretting the absence of Proteus; and her regard for

him at last so far overcame her sense of propriety that she

resolved to leave Verona and seek her lover at Milan; and to

secure herself from danger on the road she dressed her maiden

Lucetta and herself in men’s clothes,-. and they set out in this

disguise, and arrived at Milan soon after Valentine was banished

from that, city through the treachery of Proteus.

Julia entered Milan about noon, and she took up her abode at an

inn; and, her thoughts being all on her dear Proteus, she entered

into conversation with the innkeeper--or host, as he was

called--thinking by that means to learn some news of Proteus.

The host was greatly pleased that this handsome young gentleman

(as he took her to be), who from his appearance be concluded was

of high rank, spoke so familiarly to him, and, being a

good-natured man, he was sorry to see him look so melancholy; and

to amuse his young guest he offered to take him to hear some fine

music, with which, he said, a gentleman that evening was going to

serenade his mistress.

The reason Julia looked so very melancholy was, that she did not

well know what Proteus would think of the imprudent step she had

taken, for she knew he had loved her for her noble maiden pride

and dignity of character, and she feared she should lower herself

in his esteem; and this it was that made her wear a sad and

thoughtful countenance.

She gladly accepted the offer of the host to go with him and hear

the music; for she secretly hoped she might meet Proteus by the

way.

But when she came to the palace whither the host conducted a very

different effect was produced to what the kind host intended; for

there, to her heart’s sorrow, she beheld her lover, the

inconstant Proteus, serenading the Lady Silvia with music, and

addressing discourse of love and admiration to her. And Julia

overheard Silvia from a window talk with Proteus, and reproach

him for forsaking his own true lady, and for his ingratitude his

friend Valentine; and then Silvia left the window, not choosing

to listen to his music and his fine speeches; for she was a

faithful lady to her banished Valentine, and abhorred the

ungenerous conduct of his false friend, Proteus.

Though Julia was in despair at what she had just witnessed, yet

did she still love the truant Proteus; and hearing that he had

lately parted with a servant, she contrived, with the assistance

of her host, the friendly innkeeper, to hire herself to Proteus

as a page; and Proteus knew not she was Julia, and he sent her

with letters and presents to her rival, Silvia, and he even sent

by her the very ring she gave him as a parting gift at Verona.

When she went to that lady with the ring she was most glad to

find that Silvia utterly rejected the suit of Proteus; and

Julia--or the page Sebastian, as she was called, entered into

conversation with Silvia about Proteus’s first love, the forsaken

Lady Julia. She putting in (as one may say) a good word for

herself, said she knew Julia; as well she might, being herself

the Julia of whom she spoke; telling how fondly Julia loved her

master, Proteus, and how his unkind neglect would grieve her. And

then she with a pretty equivocation went on: “Julia is about my

height, and of my complexion, the color of her eyes and hair the

same as mine.” And indeed Julia looked a most beautiful youth in

her boy’s attire.

Silvia was moved to pity this lovely lady who was so sadly

forsaken by the man she loved; and when Julia offered the ring

which Proteus had sent, refused it, saying:

“The more shame for him that he sends me that ring. I will not

take it, for I have often heard him say his Julia gave it to him.

I love thee, gentle youth, for pitying her, poor lady! Here is a

purse; I give it you for Julia’s sake.”

These comfortable words coming from her kind rival’s tongue

cheered the drooping heart of the disguised lady.

But to return to the banished Valentine, who scarce knew which

way to bend his course, being unwilling to return home to his

father a disgraced and banished man. As he was wandering over a

lonely forest, not far distant from Milan, where he had left his

heart’s dear treasure, the Lady Silvia, he was set upon by

robbers, who demanded his money.

Valentine told them that he was a man crossed by adversity, that

be was going into banishment, and that he had no money, the

clothes he had on being all his riches.

The robbers, hearing that he was a distressed man, and being

struck with his noble air and manly behavior, told him if he

would live with them and be their chief, or captain, they would

put themselves under his command; but that if he refused to

accept their offer they would kill him.

Valentine, who cared little what became of himself, said he would

consent to live with them and be their captain, provided they did

no outrage on women or poor passengers.

Thus the noble Valentine became, like Robin Hood, of whom we read

in ballads, a captain of robbers and outlawed banditti; and in

this situation he was found by Silvia, and in this manner it came

to pass.

Silvia, to avoid a marriage with Thurio, whom her father insisted

upon her no longer refusing, came at last to the resolution of

following Valentine to Mantua, at which place she had heard her

lover had taken refuge; but in this account she was misinformed,

for he still lived in the forest among the robbers, hearing the

name of their captain, but taking no part in their depredations,

and using the authority which they had imposed upon him in no

other way than to compel them to show compassion to the travelers

they robbed.

Silvia contrived to effect her escape from her father’s palace in

company with a worthy old gentleman whose name was Eglamour, whom

she took along with her for protection on the road. She had to

pass through the forest where Valentine and the banditti dwelt;

and one of these robbers seized on Silvia, and would also have

taken Eglamour, but he escaped.

The robber who had taken Silvia, seeing the terror she was in,

bade her not be alarmed, for that he was only going to carry her

to a cave where his captain lived, and that she need not be

afraid, for their captain had an honorable mind and always showed

humanity to women. Silvia found little comfort in hearing she was

going to be carried as a prisoner before the captain of a lawless

banditti.

“O Valentine,” she cried, “this I endure for thee!”

But as the robber was conveying her to the cave of his captain he

was stopped by Proteus, who, still attended by Julia in the

disguise of a page, having heard of the flight of Silvia, had

traced her steps to this forest. Proteus now rescued her from the

hands the robber; but scarce had she time to thank him for the

service he had done her before be began to distress her afresh

with his love suit; and while he was rudely pressing her to

consent to marry him, and his page (the forlorn Julia) was

standing beside him in great anxiety of mind, fearing lest the

great service which Proteus had just done to Silvia should win

her to show him some favor, they were all strangely surprised

with the sudden appearance of Valentine, who, having heard his

robbers had taken a lady prisoner, came to console and relieve

her.

Proteus was courting Silvia, and he was so much ashamed of being

caught by his friend that he was all at once seized with

penitence and remorse; and he expressed such a lively sorrow for

the injuries he had done to Valentine that Valentine, whose

nature was noble and generous, even to a romantic degree, not

only forgave and restored him to his former place in his

friendship, but in a sudden flight of heroism he said:

“I freely do forgive you; and all the interest I have in Silvia I

give it up to you.”

Julia, who was standing beside her master as a page, hearing this

strange offer, and fearing Proteus would not be able with this

new-found virtue to refuse Silvia, fainted; and they were all

employed in recovering her, else would Silvia have been offended

at being thus made over to Proteus, though she could scarcely

think that Valentine would long persevere in this overstrained

and too generous act of friendship. When Julia recovered from the

fainting fit, she said:

“I had forgot, my master ordered me to deliver this ring to

Silvia.”

Proteus, looking upon the ring, saw that it was the one he gave

to Julia in return for that which he received from her and which

he had sent by the supposed page to Silvia.

“How is this?” said he. “This is Julia’s ring. How came you by

it, boy?”

Julia answered, “Julia herself did give it me, and Julia herself

hath brought it hither.”

Proteus, now looking earnestly upon her, plainly perceived that

the page Sebastian was no other than the Lady Julia herself; and

the proof she had given of her constancy and true love so wrought

in him that his love for her returned into his heart, and he took

again his own dear lady and joyfully resigned all pretensions to

the Lady Silvia to Valentine, who had so well deserved her.

Proteus and Valentine were expressing their happiness in their

reconciliation, and in the love of their faithful ladies, when

they were surprised with the sight of the Duke of Milan and

Thurio, who came there in pursuit of Silvia.

Thurio first approached, and attempted to seize Silvia, saying,

“Silvia is mine.”

Upon this Valentine said to him in a very spirited manner:

“Thurio, keep back. If once again you say that Silvia is yours,

you shall embrace your death. Here she stands, take but

possession of her with a touch! I dare you but to breathe upon my

love.”

Hearing this threat, Thurio, who was a great coward, drew back,

and said he cared not for her and that none but a fool would

fight for a girl who loved him not.

The duke, who was a very brave man himself, said now, in great

anger, “The more base and degenerate in you to take such means

for her as you have done and leave her on such slight

conditions.”

Then turning to Valentine he said: “I do applaud your spirit,

Valentine, and think you worthy of an empress’s love. You shall

have Silvia, for you have well deserved her.”

Valentine then with great humility kissed the duke’s hand and

accepted the noble present which he had made him of his daughter

with becoming thankfulness, taking occasion of this joyful minute

to entreat the good-humored duke to pardon the thieves with whom

he had associated in the forest, assuring him that when reformed

and restored to society there would be found among them many

good, and fit for great employment; for the most of them had been

banished, like Valentine, for state offenses, rather than for any

black crimes they had been guilty of. To this the’ ready duke

consented. And now nothing remained but that Proteus, the false

friend, was ordained, by way of penance for his love-prompted

faults, to be present at the recital of the whole story of his

loves and falsehoods before the duke. And the shame of the

recital to his awakened conscience was judged sufficient

punishment; which being done, the lovers, all four, returned back

to Milan, and their nuptials were solemnized in the presence of

the duke, with high triumphs and feasting.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

Shylock, the Jew, lived at Venice. He was a usurer who had

amassed an immense fortune by lending money at great interest to

Christian merchants. Shylock, being a hard-hearted man, exacted

the payment of the money he lent with such severity that he was

much disliked by all good men, and particularly by Antonio, a

young merchant of Venice; and Shylock as much hated Antonio,

because he used to lend money to people in distress, and would

never take any interest for the money he lent; therefore there

was great enmity between this covetous Jew and the generous

merchant Antonio. Whenever Antonio met Shylock on the Rialto, (or

Exchange) he used to reproach him with his usuries and hard

dealings, which the Jew would bear with seeming patience, while

he secretly meditated revenge.

Antonio was the kindest man that lived, the best conditioned, and

had the most unwearied spirit in doing courtesies; indeed, he was

one in whom the ancient Roman honor more appeared than in any

that drew breath in Italy. He was greatly beloved by all his

fellow-citizens; but the friend who was nearest and dearest to

his heart was Bassanio, a noble Venetian, who, having but a small

patrimony, had nearly exhausted his little fortune by living in

too expensive a manner for his slender means, at young men of

high rank with small fortunes are too apt to do. Whenever

Bassanio wanted money Antonio assisted him; and it seemed as if

they had but one heart and one purse between them.

One day Bassanio came to Antonio and told him that he wished to

repair his fortune by a wealthy marriage with a lady whom he

dearly loved, whose father, that was lately dead, had left her

sole heiress to a large estate; and that in her father’s lifetime

he used to visit at her house, when he thought he had observed

this lady had sometimes from her eyes sent speechless messages

that seemed to say he would be no unwelcome suitor; but not

having money to furnish himself with an appearance befitting the

lover of so rich an heiress, he besought Antonio to add to the

many favors he had shown him by lending him three thousand

ducats.

Antonio had no money by him at that time to lend his friend; but

expecting soon to have. some ships come home laden with

merchandise, he said he would go to Shylock, the rich

moneylender, and borrow the money upon the credit of those ships.

Antonio and Bassanio went together to Shylock, and Antonio asked

the Jew to lend him three thousand ducats upon any interest he

should require, to be paid out of the merchandise contained in

his ships at sea.

On this, Shylock thought within himself: “If I can once catch him

on the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. He

hates our Jewish nation; he lends out money gratis; and among the

merchants he rails at me and my well-earned bargains, which he

calls interest. Cursed be my tribe if I forgive him!”

Antonio, finding be was musing within himself and did not answer,

and being impatient for the money, said:

“Shylock, do you hear? Will you lend the money?”

To this question the Jew replied: “Signor Antonio, on the Rialto

many a time and often you have railed at me about my moneys and

my usuries, and I have borne it with a patient shrug, for

sufferance is the badge of all our tribe; and then you have

called me unbeliever, cutthroat dog, and spit upon my Jewish

garments, and spurned at me with your foot, as if I was a cur.

Well, then, it now appears you need my help, and you come to me

and say, ‘Shylock, lend me moneys.’ Has a dog money? Is it

possible a cur should lend three thousand ducats? Shall I bend

low and say, ‘Fair sir, you spit upon me on Wednesday last;

another time you called me dog, and for these courtesies I am to

lend you moneys.”’

Antonio replied: “I am as like to call you so again, to spit on

you again, and spurn you, too. If you will lend me this money,

lend it not to me as to a friend, but rather lend it to me as to

an enemy, that, if I break, you may with better face exact the

penalty.”

“Why, look you,” said Shylock, “how you storm! I would be friends

with you and have your love. I will forget the shames you have

put upon me. I will supply your wants and take no interest for my

money.”

This seemingly kind offer greatly surprised Antonio; and then

Shylock, still pretending kindness and that all he did was to

gain Antonio’s love, again said he would lend him the three

thousand ducats, and take no interest for his money; only Antonio

should go with him to a lawyer and there sign in merry sport a

bond that, if he did not repay the money by a certain day, he

would forfeit a pound of flesh, to be cut off from any part of

his body that Shylock pleased.

“Content,” said Antonio. “I will sign to this bond, and say there

is much kindness in the Jew.”

Bassanio said Antonio should not sign to such a bond for him; but

still Antonio insisted that he would sign it, for that before the

day of payment came his ships would return laden with many times

the value of the money.

Shylock, hearing this debate, exclaimed: “O Father Abraham, what

suspicious people these Christians are! Their own hard dealings

teach them to suspect the thoughts of others. I pray you tell me

this, Bassanio: if he should break his day, what should I gain by

the exaction of the forfeiture? A pound of man’s flesh, taken

from a man, is not so estimable, profitable, neither, as the

flesh of mutton or beef. I say, to buy his favor I offer this

friendship: if he will take it, so; if not, adieu.”

At last, against the advice of Bassanio, who, notwithstanding all

the Jew had said of his kind intentions, did not like his friend

should run the hazard of this shocking penalty for his sake,

Antonio signed the bond, thinking it really was (as the Jew said)

merely in sport.

The rich heiress that Bassanio wished to marry lived near Venice,

at a place called Belmont. Her name was Portia, and in the graces

of her person and her mind she was nothing inferior to that

Portia, of whom we read, who was Cato’s daughter and the wife of

Brutus.

Bassanio being so kindly supplied with money by his friend

Antonio, at the hazard of his life, set out for Belmont with a

splendid train and attended by a gentleman of the name of

Gratiano.

Bassanio proving successful in his suit, Portia in a short time

consented to accept of him for a husband.

Bassanio confessed to Portia that he had no fortune and that his

high birth and noble ancestry were all that he could boast of;

she, who loved him for his worthy qualities and had riches enough

not to regard wealth in a husband, answered, with a graceful

modesty, that she would wish herself a thousand times more fair,

and ten thousand times more rich, to be more worthy of him; and

then the accomplished Portia prettily dispraised herself and said

she was an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised, yet not so

old but that she could learn, and that she would commit her

gentle spirit to be directed and governed by him in all things;

and she said: “Myself and what is mine to you and yours is now

converted. But yesterday, Bassanio, I was the lady of this fair

mansion, queen of myself, and mistress over these servants; and

now this house, these servants, and myself are yours, my lord; I

give them with this ring,” presenting a ring to Bassanio.

Bassanio was so overpowered with gratitude and wonder at the

gracious manner in which the rich and noble Portia accepted of a

man of his humble fortunes that he could not express his joy

and reverence to the dear lady who so honored him, by anything

but broken words of love and thankfulness; and, taking the ring,

he vowed never to part with it.

Gratiano and Nerissa, Portia’s waiting-maid, were in attendance

upon their lord and lady when Portia so gracefully promised to

become the obedient wife of Bassanio; and Gratiano, wishing

Bassanio and the generous lady joy, desired permission to be

married at the same time.

“With all my heart, Gratiano,” said Bassanio, “if you can get a

wife.”

Gratiano then said that he loved the Lady Portia’s fair

waiting-gentlewoman, Nerissa, and that she had promised to be his

wife if her lady married Bassanio. Portia asked Nerissa if this

was true. Nerissa replied:

“Madam, it is so, if you approve of it.”

Portia willingly consenting, Bassanio pleasantly said:

“Then our wedding-feast shall be much honored by your marriage,

Gratiano.”

The happiness of these lovers was sadly crossed at this moment by

the entrance of a messenger, who brought a letter from Antonio

containing fearful tidings. When Bassanio read Antonio’s letter,

Portia feared it was to tell him of the death of some dear

friend, he looked so pale; and, inquiring what was the news which

bad so distressed him, he said:

“Oh, sweet Portia, here are a few of the unpleasantest words that

ever blotted paper! Gentle lady, when I first imparted my love to

you, I freely told you all the wealth I had ran in my veins; but

I should have told you that I had less than nothing, being in

debt.”

Bassanio then told Portia what has been here related, of his

borrowing the money of Antonio, and of Antonio’s procuring it of

Shylock the Jew, and of the bond by which Antonio had engaged to

forfeit a pound of flesh if it was not repaid by a certain day:

and then Bassanio read Antonio’s letter, the words of which were:

‘Sweet Bassanio, my ships are all lost, my bond to the Jew is

forfeited, and since in paying it is impossible I should live, I

could wish, to see you at my death; notwithstanding, use your

pleasure. If your love for me do not persuade you to come, let

not my letter.’

“Oh, my dear love,” said Portia, “despatch all business and

begone; you shall have gold to pay the money twenty times over,

before this kind friend shall lose a hair by my Bassanio’s fault;

and as you are so dearly bought, I will dearly love you.”

Portia then said she would be married to Bassanio before he set

out, to give him a legal right to her money; and that same day

they were married, and Gratiano was also married to Nerissa; and

Bassanio and Gratiano, the instant they were married, set out in

great haste for Venice, where Bassanio found Antonio in prison.

The day of payment being past, the cruel Jew would not accept of

the money which Bassanio offered him, but insisted upon having a

pound of Antonio’s flesh. A day was appointed to try this

shocking cause before the Duke of Venice, and Bassanio awaited in

dreadful suspense the event of the trial.

When Portia parted with her husband she spoke cheeringly to him

and bade him bring his dear friend along with him when he

returned; yet she feared it would go hard with Antonio, and when

she was left alone she began to think and consider within herself

if she could by any means be instrumental in saving the life of

her dear Bassanio’s friend. And notwithstanding when she wished

to honor her Bassanio she had said to him, with such a meek and

wifelike grace, that she would submit in all things to be

governed by his superior wisdom, yet being now called forth into

action by the peril of her honored husband’s friend, she did

nothing doubt her own powers, and by the sole guidance of her own

true and perfect judgment at once resolved to go herself to

Venice and speak in Antonio’s defense.

Portia had a relation who was a counselor in the law; to this

gentleman, whose name was Bellario, she wrote, and, stating the

case to him, desired his opinion, and that with his advice he

would also send her the dress worn by a counselor. When the

messenger returned he brought letters from Bellario of advice how

to proceed, and also everything necessary for her equipment.

Portia dressed herself and her maid Nerissa in men’s apparel,

and, putting on the robes of a counselor, she took Nerissa along

with her as her clerk; setting out immediately, they arrived at

Venice on the very day of the trial. The cause was just going to

be heard before the Duke and Senators of Venice in the Senate

House when Portia entered this high court of justice and

presented a letter from Bellario, in which that learned counselor

wrote to the duke, saying he would have come himself to plead for

Antonio but that he was prevented by sickness, and he requested

that the learned young Doctor Balthasar (so he called Portia)

might be permitted to plead in his stead. This the Duke granted,

much wondering at the youthful appearance of the stranger, who

was prettily disguised by her counselor’s robes and her large

wig.

And now began this important trial. Portia looked around her and

she saw the merciless Jew; and she saw Bassanio, but he knew her

not in her disguise. He was standing beside Antonio, in an agony

of distress and fear for his friend.

The importance of the arduous task Portia had engaged in gave

this tender lady courage, and she boldly proceeded in the duty

she had undertaken to perform. And first of all she addressed

herself to Shylock; and allowing that he had a right by the

Venetian law to have the forfeit expressed in the bond, she spoke

so sweetly of the noble quality of MERCY as would have softened

any heart but the unfeeling Shylock’s, saying that it dropped as

the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath; and how mercy

was a double blessing, it blessed him that gave and him that

received it; and how it became monarchs better than their crowns,

being an attribute of God Himself; and that earthly power came

nearest to God’s in proportion as mercy tempered justice; and she

bade Shylock remember that as we all pray for mercy, that same

prayer should teach us to show mercy. Shylock only answered her

by desiring to have the penalty forfeited in the bond.

“Is he not able to pay the money?” asked Portia.

Bassanio then offered the Jew the payment of the three thousand

ducats as many times over as he should desire; which Shylock

refusing, and still insisting upon having a pound of Antonio’s

flesh, Bassanio begged the learned young counselor would endeavor

to wrest the law a little, to save Antonio’s life. But Portia

gravely answered that laws once established never be altered.

Shylock, hearing Portia say that the law might not be altered, it

seemed to him that she was pleading in his favor, and he said:

“A Daniel is come to judgment! O wise young judge, how I do honor

you! How much elder are you than your looks!”

Portia now desired Shylock to let her look at the bond; and when

she had read it she said: “This bond is forfeited, and by this

the Jew may lawfully claim a pound of flesh, to be by him cut off

nearest Antonio’s heart.” Then she said to Shylock, “Be merciful;

take the money and bid me tear the bond.”

But no mercy would the cruel Shylock show; and he said, “By my

soul, I swear there is no power in the tongue of man to alter

me.”

“Why, then, Antonio,” said Portia, “you must prepare your bosom

for the knife.” And while Shylock was sharpening a long knife

with great eagerness to cut off the pound of flesh, Portia said

to Antonio, “Have you anything to say?”

Antonio with a calm resignation replied that he had but little to

say, for that he had prepared his mind for death. Then he said to

Bassanio:

“Give me your hand, Bassanio! Fare you well! Grieve not that I am

fallen into this misfortune for you. Commend me to your honorable

wife and tell her how I have loved you!”

Bassanio in the deepest affliction replied: “Antonio, I am

married to a wife who is as dear to me as life itself; but life

itself, my wife, and all the world are not esteemed with me above

your life. I would lose all, I would sacrifice all to this devil

here, to deliver you.”

Portia hearing this, though the kind-hearted lady was not at all

offended with her husband for expressing the love he owed to so

true a friend as Antonio in these strong terms, yet could not

help answering:

“Your wife would give you little thanks, if she were present, to

hear you make this offer.”

And then Gratiano, who loved to copy what his lord did, thought

he must make a speech like Bassanio’s, and he said, in Nerissa’s

hearing, who was writing in her clerk’s dress by the side of

Portia:

“I have a wife whom I protest I love. I wish she were in heaven

if she could but entreat some power there to change the cruel

temper of this currish Jew.”

“It is well you wish this behind her back, else you would have

but an unquiet house,” said Nerissa.

Shylock now cried out, impatiently: “We trifle time. I pray

pronounce the sentence.”

And now all was awful expectation in the court, and every heart

was full of grief for Antonio.

Portia asked if the scales were ready to weigh the flesh; and she

said to the Jew, “Shylock, you must have some surgeon by, lest he

bleed to death.”

Shylock, whose whole intent was that Antonio should bleed to

death, said, “It is not so named in the bond.”

Portia replied: “It is not so named in the bond, but what of

that? It were good you did so much for charity.”

To this all the answer Shylock would make was, “I cannot find it;

it is not in the bond.”

“Then,” said Portia, “a pound of Antonio’s flesh is thine. The

law allows it and the court awards it. And you may cut this flesh

from off his breast. The law allows it and the court awards it.”

Again Shylock exclaimed: “O wise and upright judge! A Daniel is

come to judgment!” And then he sharpened his long knife again,

and looking eagerly on Antonio, he said, “Come, prepare!”

“Tarry a little, Jew,” said Portia. “There is something else.

This bond here gives you no drop of blood; the words expressly

are, ‘a pound of flesh.’ If in the cutting off the pound of flesh

you shed one drop of Christian blood, your lands and goods are by

the law to be confiscated to the state of Venice.”

Now as it was utterly impossible for Shylock to cut off the pound

of flesh without shedding some of Antonio’s blood, this wise

discovery of Portia’s, that it was flesh and not blood that was

named in the bond, saved the life of Antonio; and all admiring

the wonderful sagacity of the young counselor who had so happily

thought of this expedient, plaudits resounded from every part of

the Senate House; and Gratiano exclaimed, in the words which

Shylock had used:

“O wise and upright judge! Mark, Jew, a Daniel is come to

judgment!”

Shylock, finding himself defeated in his cruel intent, said, with

a disappointed look, that he would take the money. And Bassanio,

rejoiced beyond measure at Antonio’s unexpected deliverance,

cried out:

“Here is the money!”

But Portia stopped him, saying: “Softly; there is no haste. The

Jew shall have nothing but the penalty. Therefore prepare,

Shylock, to cut off the flesh; but mind you shed no blood; nor do

not cut off more nor less than just a pound; be it more or less

by one poor scruple, nay, if the scale turn but by the weight of

a single hair, you are condemned by the laws of Venice to die,

and all your wealth is forfeited to the state.”

“Give me my money and let me go,” said Shylock.

“I have it ready,” said Bassanio. “Here it is.”

Shylock was going to take the money, when Portia again stopped

him, saying: “Tarry, Jew. I have yet another hold upon you. By

the laws of Venice your wealth is forfeited to the state for

having conspired against the life of one of its citizens, and

your life lies at the mercy of the duke; therefore, down on your

knees and ask him to pardon you.”

The duke then said to Shylock: “That you may see the difference

of our Christian spirit, I pardon you your life before you ask

it. Half your wealth belongs to Antonio, the other half comes to

the state.”

The generous Antonio then said that he would give up his share of

Shylock’s wealth if Shylock would sign a deed to make it over at

his death to his daughter and her husband; for Antonio knew that

the Jew had an only daughter who had lately married against his

consent a young Christian named Lorenzo, a friend of Antonio’s,

which had so offended Shylock that he had disinherited her.

The Jew agreed to this; and being thus disappointed in his

revenge and despoiled of his riches, he said: “I am ill. Let me

go home. Send the deed after me, and I will sign over half my

riches to my daughter.”

“Get thee gone, then,” said the duke, “and sign it; and if you

repent your cruelty and turn Christian, the state will forgive

you the fine of the other half of your riches.”

The duke now released Antonio and dismissed the court. He then

highly praised the wisdom and ingenuity of the young counselor

and invited him home to dinner.

Portia, who meant to return to Belmont before her husband,

replied, “I humbly thank your Grace, but I must away directly.”

The duke said he was sorry he had not leisure to stay and dine

with him, and, turning to Antonio, he added, “Reward this

gentleman; for in my mind you are much indebted to him.”

The duke and his senators left the court; and then Bassanio said

to Portia: “Most worthy gentleman, I and my friend Antonio have

by your wisdom been this day acquitted of grievous penalties, and

I beg you will accept of the three thousand ducats due unto the

Jew.”

“And we shall stand indebted to you over and above,” said

Antonio, “in love and service evermore.”

Portia could not be prevailed upon to accept the money. But upon

Bassanio still pressing her to accept of some reward, she said:

“Give me your gloves. I will wear them for your sake.” And then

Bassanio taking off his gloves, she espied the ring which she had

given him upon his finger. Now it was the ring the wily lady

wanted to get from him to make a merry jest when she saw her

Bassanio again, that made her ask him for his gloves; and she

said, when she saw the ring, “And for your love, I will take this

ring from you.”

Bassanio was sadly distressed that the counselor should ask him

for the only thing he could not part with, and he replied, in

great confusion, that be could not give him that ring, because it

was his wife’s gift and he had vowed never to part with it; but

that he would give him the most valuable ring in Venice, and find

it out by proclamation.

On this Portia affected to be affronted, and left the court,

saying, “You teach me, sir, how a beggar should be answered.”

“Dear Bassanio,” said Antonio, “let him have the ring. Let My love and

the great service he has done for me be valued against your wife’s

displeasure.” Bassanio, ashamed to appear so ungrateful, yielded, and

sent Gratiano after Portia with the ring; and then the “clerk” Nerissa,

who had also given Gratiano a ring, begged his ring, and Gratiano (not

choosing to be outdone in generosity by his lord) gave it to her. And

there was laughing among these ladies to think, when they got home, how

they would tax their husbands with giving away their rings and swear

that they had given them as a present to some woman.

Portia, when she returned, was in that happy temper of mind which

never fails to attend the consciousness of having performed a

good action. Her cheerful spirits enjoyed everything she saw: the

moon never seemed to shine so bright before; and when that

pleasant moon was hid behind a cloud, then a light which she saw

from her house at Belmont as well pleased her charmed fancy, and

she said to Nerissa:

“That light we see is burning in my hall. How far that little

candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty

world.” And hearing the sound of music from her house, she said,

“Methinks that music sounds much sweeter than by day.”

And now Portia and Nerissa entered the house, and, dressing

themselves in their own apparel, they awaited the arrival of

their husbands, who soon followed them with Antonio; and Bassanio

presenting his dear friend to the Lady Portia, the

congratulations and welcomings of that lady were hardly over when

they perceived Nerissa and her husband quarreling in a corner of

the room.

“A quarrel already?” said Portia. “What is the matter?”

Gratiano replied, “Lady, it is about a paltry gilt ring that

Nerissa gave me, with words upon it like the poetry on a cutler’s

knife: ‘Love me, and leave me not.’”

“What does the poetry or the value of the ring signify?” said

Nerissa. “You swore to me, when I gave it to you, that you would

keep it till the hour of death; and now you say you gave it to

the lawyer’s clerk. I know you gave it to a woman.”

“By this hand,” replied Gratiano, “I gave it to a youth, a kind

Of boy, a little scrubbed boy, no higher than yourself; be was

clerk to the young counselor that by his wise pleading saved

Antonio’s life. This prating boy begged it for a fee, and I could

not for my life deny him.”

Portia said: “You were to blame, Gratiano, to part with your

wife’s first gift. I gave my Lord Bassanio a ring, and I am sure

be would not part with it for all the world.”

Gratiano, in excuse for his fault, now said, “My Lord Bassanio

gave his ring away to the counselor, and then the boy, his clerk,

that took some pains in writing, he begged my ring.”

Portia, hearing this, seemed very angry and reproached Bassanio

for giving away her ring; and she said Nerissa had taught her

what to believe, and that she knew some woman had the ring.

Bassanio was very unhappy to have so offended his dear lady, and

he said with great earnestness:

“No, by my honor, no woman had it, but a civil doctor who refused

three thousand ducats of me and begged the ring, which when I

denied him he went displeased away. What could I do, sweet

Portia? I was so beset with shame for my seeming ingratitude that

I was forced to send the ring after him. Pardon me, good lady.

Had you been there, I think you would have begged the ring of me

to give the worthy doctor.”

“Ah!” said Antonio, “I am the unhappy cause of these quarrels.”

Portia bid Antonio not to grieve at that, for that be was welcome

notwithstanding; and then Antonio said:

“I once did lend my body for Bassanio’s sake; and but for him to

whom your husband gave the ring I should have now been dead. I

dare be bound again, my soul upon the forfeit, your lord will

never more break his faith with you.”

“Then you shall be his surety,” said Portia. “Give him this ring

and bid him keep it better than the other.”

When Bassanio looked at this ring be was strangely surprised to

find it was the same he gave away; and then Portia told him how

she was the young counselor, and Nerissa was her clerk; and

Bassanio found, to his unspeakable wonder and delight, that it

was by the noble courage and wisdom of his wife that Antonio’s

life was saved.

And Portia again welcomed Antonio, and gave him letters which by

some chance had fallen into her hands, which contained an account

of Antonio’s ships, that were supposed lost, being safely arrived

in the harbor. So these tragical beginnings of this rich

merchant’s story were all forgotten in the unexpected good

fortune which ensued; and there was leisure to laugh at the

comical adventure of the rings and the husbands that did not know

their own wives, Gratiano merrily swearing, in a sort of rhyming

speech, that--

While he lived, he’d fear no other thing

So sore, as keeping safe Nerissa’s ring.

CYMBELINE

During the time of Augustus Caesar, Emperor of Rome, there

reigned in England (which was then called Britain) a king whose

name was Cymbeline.

Cymbeline’s first wife died when his three children (two sons and

a daughter) were very young. Imogen, the eldest of these

children, was brought up in her father’s court; but by a strange

chance the two sons of Cymbeline were stolen out of their nursery

when the eldest was but three years of age and the youngest quite

an infant; and Cymbeline could never discover what was become of

them or by whom they were conveyed away.

Cymbeline was twice married. His second wife was a wicked,

plotting woman, and a cruel stepmother to Imogen, Cymbeline’s

daughter by his first wife.

The queen, though she hated Imogen, yet wished her to marry a son

of her own by a former husband (she also having been twice

married), for by this means she hoped upon the death of Cymbeline

to place the crown of Britain upon the head of her son Cloten;

for she knew that, if the king’s sons were not found, the

Princess Imogen must be the king’s heir. But this design was

prevented by Imogen herself, who married without the consent or

even knowledge of her father or the queen.

Posthumus (for that was the name of Imogen’s husband) was the

best scholar and most accomplished gentleman of that age. His

father died fighting in the wars for Cymbeline, and soon after

his birth his mother died also for grief at the loss of her

husband.

Cymbeline, pitying the helpless state of this orphan, took

Posthumus (Cymbeline having given him that name because he was

born after his father’s death), and educated him in his own

court.

Imogen and Posthumus were both taught by the same masters, and

were playfellows from their infancy; they loved each other

tenderly when they were children, and, their affection continuing

to increase with their years, when they grew up they privately

married.

The disappointed queen soon learned this secret, for she kept

spies constantly in watch upon the actions of her stepdaughter,

and she immediately told the king of the marriage of Imogen with

Posthumus.

Nothing could exceed the wrath of Cymbeline when he heard that

his daughter had been so forgetful of her high dignity as to

marry a subject. He commanded Posthumus to leave Britain and

banished him from his native country forever.

The queen, who pretended to pity Imogen for the grief she

suffered at losing her husband, offered to procure them a private

meeting before Posthumus set out on his journey to Rome, which

place he had chosen for his residence in his banishment. This

seeming kindness she showed the better to succeed in her future

designs in regard to her son Cloten, for she meant to persuade

Imogen, when her husband was gone, that her marriage was not

lawful, being contracted without the consent of the king.

Imogen and Posthumus took a most affectionate leave of each

other. Imogen gave her husband a diamond ring which had been her

mother’s, and Posthumus promised never to part with the ring; and

he fastened a bracelet on the arm of his wife, which he begged

she would preserve with great care, as a token of his love; they

then bade each other farewell, with many vows of everlasting love

and fidelity.

Imogen remained a solitary and dejected lady in her father’s

court, and Posthumus arrived at Rome, the place he had chosen for

his banishment.

Posthumus fell into company at Rome with some gay young men of

different nations, who were talking freely of ladies, each one

praising the ladies of his own country and his own mistress.

Posthumus, who had ever his own dear lady in his mind, affirmed

that his wife, the fair Imogen, was the most virtuous, wise, and

constant lady in the world.

One of those gentlemen, whose name was Iachimo, being offended

that a lady of Britain should be so praised above the Roman

ladies, his country-women, provoked Posthumus by seeming to doubt

the constancy of his so highly praised wife; and at length, after

much altercation, Posthumus consented to a proposal of Iachimo’s

that he (Iachimo) should go to Britain and endeavor to gain the

love of the married Imogen. They then laid a wager that if

Iachimo did not succeed in this wicked design he was to forfeit a

large sum of money; but if he could win Imogen’s favor, and

prevail upon her to give him the bracelet which Posthumus had so

earnestly desired she would keep as a token of his love, then the

wager was to terminate with Posthumus giving to Iachimo the ring

which was Imogen’s love present when she parted with her husband.

Such firm faith had Posthumus in the fidelity of Imogen that he

thought he ran no hazard in this trial of her honor.

Iachimo, on his arrival in Britain, gained admittance and a

courteous welcome from Imogen, as a friend of her husband; but

when he began to make professions of love to her she repulsed him

with disdain, and he soon found that he could have no hope of

succeeding in his dishonorable design.

The desire Iachimo had to win the wager made him now have

recourse to a stratagem to impose upon Posthumus, and for this

purpose he bribed some of Imogen’s attendants and was by them

conveyed into her bedchamber, concealed in a large trunk, where

he remained shut up till Imogen.was retired to rest and had

fallen asleep; and then, getting out of the trunk, he examined

the chamber with great attention, and wrote down everything he

saw there, and particularly noticed a mole which he observed upon

Imogen’s neck, and then softly unloosing the bracelet from her

arm, which Posthumus had given to her, he retired into the chest

again; and the next day he set off for Rome with great

expedition, and boasted to Posthumus that Imogen had given him

the bracelet, and likewise permitted him to pass a night in her

chamber. And in this manner Iachimo told his false tale: “Her

bedchamber,” said he, “was hung with tapestry of silk and silver,

the story was the proud Cleopatra when she met her Anthony, a

piece of work most bravely wrought.”

“This is true,” said Posthumus; “but this you might have heard

spoken of without seeing.”

“Then the chimney,” said Iachimo, “is south of the chamber, and

the chimneypiece is Diana bathing; never saw I figures livelier

expressed.” “This is a thing you might have likewise heard,” said

Posthumus; “for it is much talked of.”

Iachimo as accurately described the roof of the chamber; and

added, “I had almost forgot her andirons; they were two winking

Cupids made of silver, each on one foot standing.’” He then took

out the bracelet, and said: “Know you this jewel, sir? She gave

me this. She took it from her arm. I see her yet; her pretty

action did outsell her gift, and yet enriched it, too. She gave

it me, and said, SHE PRIZED IT ONCE.” He last of all described

the mole he had observed upon her neck.

Posthumus, who had heard the whole of this artful recital in an

agony of doubt, now broke out into the most passionate

exclamations against Imogen. He delivered up the diamond ring to

Iachimo which he had agreed to forfeit to him if he obtained the

bracelet from Imogen.

Posthumus then in a jealous rage wrote to Pisanio, a gentleman of

Britain, who was one of Imogen’s attendants, and had long been a

faithful friend to Posthumus; and after telling him what proof he

had of his wife’s disloyalty, he desired Pisanio would take

Imogen to Milford Haven, a seaport of Wales, and there kill her.

And at the same time he wrote a deceitful letter to Imogen,

desiring her to go with Pisanio, for that, finding he could live

no longer without seeing her, though he was forbidden upon pain

of death to return to Britain, he would come to Milford Haven, at

which place he begged she would meet him. She, good, unsuspecting

lady, who loved her husband above all things, and desired more

than her life to see him, hastened her departure with Pisanio,

and the same night she received the letter she set out.

When their journey was nearly at an end, Pisanio, who, though

faithful to Posthumus, was not faithful to serve him in an evil

deed, disclosed to Imogen the cruel order he had received.

Imogen, who, instead of meeting a loving and beloved husband,

found herself doomed by that husband to suffer death, was

afflicted beyond measure.

Pisanio persuaded her to take comfort and wait with patient

fortitude for the time when Posthumus should see and repent his

injustice. In the mean time, as she refused in her distress to

return to her father’s court, he advised her to dress herself in

boy’s clothes for more security in traveling; to which advice she

agreed, and thought in that disguise she would go over to Rome

and see her husband, whom, though he had used her so barbarously,

she could no-t forget to love.

When Pisanio had provided her with her new apparel he left her to

her uncertain fortune, being obliged to return to court; but

before he departed he gave her a vial of cordial, which he said

the queen had given him as a sovereign remedy in all disorders.

The queen, who hated Pisanio because he was a friend to Imogen

and Posthumus, gave him this vial, which she supposed contained

poison, she having ordered her physician to give her some poison,

to try its effects (as she said) upon animals; but the physician,

knowing her malicious disposition, would not trust her with real

poison, but gave her a drug which would do no other mischief than

causing a person to sleep with every appearance of death for a

few hours. This mixture, which Pisanio thought a choice cordial,

he gave to Imogen, desiring her, if she found herself ill upon

the road, to take it; and so, with blessings and prayers for her

safety and happy deliverance from her undeserved troubles, he

left her.

Providence strangely directed Imogen’s steps to the dwelling of

her two brothers who had been stolen away in their infancy.

Bellarius, who stole them away, was a lord in the court of

Cymbeline, and, having been falsely accused to the king of

treason and banished from the court, in revenge he stole away the

two sons of Cymbeline and brought them up in a forest, where he

lived concealed in a cave. He stole them through revenge, but he

soon loved them as tenderly as if they had been his own children,

educated them carefully, and they grew up fine youths, their

princely spirits leading them to bold and daring actions; and as

they subsisted by hunting, they were active and hardy, and were

always pressing their supposed father to let them seek their

fortune in the wars.

At the cave where these youths dwelt it was Imogen’s fortune to

arrive. She had lost her way in a large forest through which .her

road lay to Milford Haven (from which she meant to embark for

Rome); and being unable to find any place where she could

purchase food, she was, with weariness and hunger, almost dying;

for it is not merely putting on a man’s apparel that will enable

a young lady, tenderly brought up, to bear the fatigue of

wandering about lonely forests like a man.. Seeing this cave, she

entered, hoping to find some one within of whom she could procure

food. She found the cave empty, but, looking about, she

discovered some cold meat, and her hunger was so pressing that

she could not wait for an invitation, but sat down and began to

eat.

“Ah,” said she, talking to herself, “I see a man’s life is a

tedious one. How tired am I! For two nights together I have made

the ground my bed. My resolution helps me, or I should be sick.

When Pisanio showed me Milford Haven from the mountain-top, how

near it seemed!” Then the thoughts of her husband and his cruel

mandate came across her, and she said, “My dear Posthumus, thou

art a false one!”

The two brothers of Imogen, who had been hunting with their

reputed father, Bellarius, were by this time returned home.

Bellarius had given them the names of Polydore and Cadwal, and

they knew no better, but supposed that Bellarius was their

father; but the real names of these princes were Guiderius and

Arviragus.

Bellarius entered the cave first, and, seeing Imogen, stopped

them, saying: “ Come not in yet. It eats our victuals, or I

should think it was a fairy.”

“What is the matter, sir?” said the young men.

“By Jupiter!” said Bellarius, again, “there is an angel in the

cave, or if not, an earthly paragon.” So beautiful did Imogen

look in her boy’s apparel.

She, hearing the sound of voices, came forth from the cave and

addressed them in these words: “Good masters, do not harm me.

Before I entered your cave I had thought to have begged or bought

what I have eaten. Indeed, I have stolen nothing, nor would I,

though I had found gold strewed on the floor. Here is money for

my meat, which I would have left on the board when I had made my

meal, and parted with prayers for the provider.”

They refused her money with great earnestness.

“I see you are angry with me,” said the timid Imogen; “but, sirs,

if you kill me for my fault, know that I should have died if I

had not made it.”

“Whither are you bound,” asked Bellarius, “and what is your

name?”

“Fidele is my name,” answered Imogen. “I have a kinsman who is

bound for Italy; he embarked at Milford Haven, to whom being

going, almost spent with hunger, I am fallen into this offense.”

“Prithee, fair youth,” said old Bellarius, “do not think us

churls, nor measure our good minds by this rude place we live in.

‘You are well encountered; it is almost night. You shall have

better cheer before you depart, and thanks to stay and eat it.

Boys, bid him welcome.”

The gentle youths, her brothers, then welcomed Imogen to their

cave with many kind expressions, saying they would love her (or,

as they said, HIM) as a brother; and they entered the cave, where

(they having killed venison when they were hunting) Imogen

delighted them with her neat housewifery, assisting them in

preparing their supper; for, though it is not the custom now for

young women of high birth to understand cookery, it was then, and

Imogen excelled in this useful art; and, as her brothers prettily

expressed it, Fidele cut their roots in characters, and sauced

their broth, as if Juno had been sick and Fidele were her dieter.

“And then,” said Polydore to his brother, “how angel-like he

sings!”

They also remarked to each other that though Fidele smiled so

sweetly, yet so sad a melancholy did overcloud his lovely face,

as if grief and patience had together taken possession of him.

For these her gentle qualities (or perhaps it was their near

relationship, though they knew it not) Imogen (or, as the boys

called her, Fidele) became the doting-piece of her brothers, and

she scarcely less loved them, thinking that but for the memory of

her dear Posthumus she could live and die in the cave with these

wild forest youths; and she gladly consented to stay with them

till she was enough rested from the fatigue of traveling to

pursue her way to Milford Haven.

When the venison they had taken was all eaten and they were going

out to hunt for more, Fidele could not accompany them because she

was unwell. Sorrow, no doubt, for her husband’s

cruel usage, as well as the fatigue of wandering in the forest,

was the cause of her illness.

They then bid her farewell, and went to their hunt, praising all

the way the noble parts and graceful demeanor of the youth

Fidele.

Imogen was no sooner left alone than she recollected the cordial

Pisanio had given her, and drank it off, and presently fell into

a sound and deathlike sleep.

When Bellarius and her brothers returned from hunting, Polydore

went first into the cave, and, supposing her asleep, pulled off

his heavy shoes, that he might tread softly and not awake her (so

did true gentleness spring up in the minds of these princely

foresters); but he soon discovered that she could not be awakened

by any noise, and concluded her to be dead, and Polydore lamented

over her with dear and brotherly regret, as if they had never

from their infancy been parted.

Bellarius also proposed to carry her out into the forest, and

there celebrate her funeral with songs and solemn dirges, as was

then the custom.

Imogen’s two brothers then carried her to a shady covert, and

there, laying her gently on the grass, they sang repose to her

departed spirit, and, covering her over with leaves and flowers,

Polydore said:

“While summer lasts and I live here, Fidele, I will daily strew

thy grave. The pale primrose, that flower most like thy face; the

bluebell, like thy clear veins; and the leaf of eglantine, which

is not sweeter than was thy breath-all these will I strew over

thee. Yea, and the furred moss in winter, when there are no

flowers to cover thy sweet corse.”

When they had finished her funeral obsequies they departed, very

sorrowful.

Imogen had not been long left alone when, the effect of the

sleepy drug going off, she awaked, and easily shaking off the

slight covering of leaves and flowers they had thrown over her,

she arose, and, imagining she had been dreaming, she said:

“I thought I was a cave-keeper and cook to honest creatures. How

came I here covered with flowers?”

Not being able to find her way back to the cave, and seeing

nothing of her new companions, she concluded it was certainly all

a dream; and once more Imogen set out on her weary pilgrimage,

hoping at last she should find her way to Milford Haven, and

thence get a passage in some ship bound for Italy; for all her

thoughts were still with her husband, Posthumus, whom she

intended to seek in the disguise of a page.

But great events were happening at this time, of which Imogen

knew nothing; for a war had suddenly broken out between the Roman

Emperor Augustus Caesar and Cymbeline, the King of Britain; and a

Roman army had landed to invade Britain, and was advanced into

the very forest over which Imogen was journeying. With this army

came Posthumus.

Though Posthumus came over to Britain with the Roman army, he did

not mean to fight on their side against his own countrymen, but

intended to join the army of Britain and fight in the cause of

his king who had banished him.

He still believed Imogen false to him; yet the death of her he

had so fondly loved, and by his own orders, too (Pisanio having

written him a letter to say he had obeyed his command, and that

Imogen was dead), sat heavy on his heart, and therefore he

returned to Britain, desiring either to be slain in battle or to

be put to death by Cymbeline for returning home from banishment.

Imogen, before she reached Milford Haven, fell into the hands of

the Roman army, and, her presence and deportment recommending

her, she was made a page to Lucius, the Roman general.

Cymbeline’s army now advanced to meet the enemy, and when they

entered this forest Polydore and Cadwal joined the king’s army.

The young men were eager to engage in acts of valor, though they

little thought they were going to fight for their own royal

father; and old Bellarius went with them to the battle.

He had long since repented of the injury he had done to Cymbeline

in carrying away his sons; and, having been a warrior in his

youth, he gladly joined the army to fight for the king he had so

injured.

And now a great battle commenced between the two armies, and the

Britons would have been defeated, and Cymbeline himself killed,

but for the extraordinary valor of Posthumus and Bellarius and

the two sons of Cymbeline. They rescued the king and saved his

life, and so entirely turned the fortune of the day that the

Britons gained the victory.

When the battle was over, Posthumus, who had not found the death

he sought for, surrendered himself up to one of the officers of

Cymbeline, willing to suffer the death which was to be his

punishment if he returned from banishment.

Imogen and the master she served were taken prisoners and brought

before Cymbeline, as was also her old enemy, Iachimo, who was an

officer in the Roman army. And when these prisoners were before

the king, Posthumus was brought in to receive his sentence of

death; and at this strange juncture of time Bellarius with

Polydore and Cadwal were also brought before Cymbeline, to

receive the rewards due to the great services they had by their

valor done for the king. Pisanio, being one of the king’s

attendants, was likewise present.

Therefore there were now standing in the king’s presence (but

with very different hopes and fears) Posthumus and Imogen, with

her new master the Roman general; the faithful servant Pisanio

and the false friend Iachimo; and likewise the two lost sons of

Cymbeline, with Bellarius, who had stolen them away.

The Roman general was the first who spoke; the rest stood silent

before the king, though there was many a beating heart among

them.

Imogen saw Posthumus, and knew him, though he was in the disguise

of a peasant; but he did not know her in her male attire. And she

knew Iachimo, and she saw a ring on his finger which she

perceived to be her own., but she did not know him as yet to have

been the author of all her troubles; and she stood before her own

father a prisoner of war.

Pisanio knew Imogen, for it was he who had dressed her in the

garb of a boy. “It is my mistress,” thought he. “Since she is

living, let the time run on to good or bad.” Bellarius knew her,

too, and softly said to Cadwal, “Is not this boy revived from

death?”

“One sand,” replied Cadwal, “does not more resemble another than

that sweet, rosy lad is like the dead Fidele.”

“The same dead thing alive,” said Polydore.

“Peace, peace,” said Bellarius. “If it were he, I am sure be

would have spoken to us.”

“But we saw him dead,”, again whispered Polydore.

“Be silent,” replied Bellarius.

Posthumus waited in silence to hear the welcome sentence of his

own death; and he resolved not to disclose to the king that he

had saved his life in the battle, lest that should move Cymbeline

to pardon him.

Lucius, the Roman general, who had taken Imogen under his

protection as his page, was the first (as has been before said)

who spoke to the king. He was a man of high courage and noble and

this was his speech to the king:

“I hear you take no ransom for your prisoners, but doom them all

to death. I am a Roman, and with a Roman heart will suffer,

death. But there is one thing for which I would entreat.” Then

bringing Imogen before the king, he said: “This boy is a Briton

born. Let him be ransomed. He is my page. Never master had a page

so kind, so duteous, so diligent on all occasions, so true, so

nurselike. He hath done no Briton wrong, though he hath served a

Roman. Save him, if you spare no one beside.”

Cymbeline looked earnestly on his daughter Imogen. He knew her

not in that disguise; but it seemed that all-powerful Nature

spake in his heart, for he said: “I have surely seen him; his

face appears familiar to me. I know not why or wherefore I say,

live, boy, but I give you your life; and ask of me what boon you

will and I will grant it you. Yea, even though it be the life of

the noblest prisoner I have.”

“I humbly thank your Highness,” said Imogen.

What was then called granting a boon was the same as a promise to

give any one thing, whatever it might be,. that the person on

whom that favor was conferred chose to ask for.

They all were attentive to hear what thing the page would ask

for; and Lucius, her master, said to her:

“I do not beg my life, good lad, but I know that is what you will

ask for.”

“No, no, alas!” said Imogen. “I have other work in hand, good

master. Your life I cannot ask for.”

This seeming want of gratitude in the boy astonished the Roman

general.

Imogen then, fixing her eye on Iachimo, demanded no other boon

than this: that Iachimo should be made to confess whence he had

the ring he wore on his finger.

Cymbeline granted her this boon, and threatened Iachimo with the

torture if he did not confess how he came by the diamond ring on

his finger.

Iachimo then made a full acknowledgment of all his villainy, in

telling, as has been before related, the whole story of his wager

with Posthumus and how he had succeeded in imposing upon is

credulity.

What Posthumus felt at hearing this proof of the innocence of his

lady cannot be expressed. He instantly came forward and confessed

to Cymbeline the cruel sentence which he had enjoined Pisanio to

execute upon the princess, exclaiming, wildly:

“O Imogen, my queen, my life, my wife! O Imogen, Imogen, Imogen!”

Imogen could not see her beloved husband in this distress without

discovering herself, to the unutterable joy of Posthumus, who was

thus relieved from a weight of guilt and woe, and restored to the

good graces of the dear lady he had so cruelly treated.

Cymbeline, almost as much overwhelmed as he with joy, at finding

his lost daughter so strangely recovered, received her to her

former place in his fatherly affection, and not only gave her

husband Posthumus his life, but consented to acknowledge him for

his son-in-law.

Bellarius chose this time of joy and reconciliation to make his

confession. He presented Polydore and Cadwal to the king, telling

him they were his two lost sons, Guiderius and Arviragus.

Cymbeline forgave old Bellarius; for who could think of

punishments at a season of such universal happiness? To find his

daughter living, and his lost sons in the persons of his young

deliverers, that he had seen so bravely fight in his defense, was

unlooked-for joy indeed!

Imogen was now at leisure to perform good services for her late

master, the Roman general, Lucius, whose life the king, her

father, readily granted at her request; and by the mediation of

the same Lucius a peace was concluded between the Romans and the

Britons which was kept inviolate many years.

How Cymbeline’s wicked queen, through despair of bringing her

projects to pass, and touched with remorse of conscience,

sickened and died, having first lived to see her foolish son

Cloten slain in a quarrel which he had provoked, are events too

tragical to interrupt this happy conclusion by more than merely

touching upon. It is sufficient that all were made happy who were

deserving; and even the treacherous Iachimo, in consideration of

his villainy having missed its final aim, was dismissed without

punishment.

KING LEAR

Lear, King of Britain, had three daughters: Goneril, wife to the

Duke of Albany; Regan, wife to the Duke of Cornwall; and

Cordelia, a young maid, for whose love the King of France and

Duke of Burgundy were joint suitors, and were at this time making

stay for that purpose in the court of Lear.

The old king, worn out with age and the fatigues of government,

he being more than fourscore years old, determined to take no

further part in state affairs, but to leave the management to

younger strengths, that he might have time to prepare for death,

which must at no long period ensue. With this intent he called

his three daughters to him, to know from their own lips which of

them loved him best, that he might part his kingdom among them in

such proportions as their affection for him should seem to

deserve.

Goneril, the eldest, declared that she loved her father more than

words could give out, that he was dearer to her than the light of

her own eyes, dearer than life and liberty, with a deal of such

professing stuff, which is easy to counterfeit where there is no

real love, only a few fine words delivered with confidence being

wanted in that case. The king, delighted to hear from her own

mouth this assurance of her love, and thinking truly that her

heart went with it, in a fit of fatherly fondness bestowed upon

her and her husband one-third of his ample kingdom.

Then calling to him his second daughter he demanded what she had

to say. Regan, who was made of the same hollow metal as her

sister, was not a whit behind in her professions, but rather

declared that what her sister had spoken came short of the love

which she professed to bear for his Highness; in so much that she

found all other joys dead in comparison with the pleasure which

she took in the love of her dear king and father.

Lear blessed himself in having such loving children, as he

thought; and could do no less, after the handsome assurances

which Regan had made, than bestow a third of his kingdom upon her

and her husband, equal in size to that which he had already

given away to Goneril.

Then turning to his youngest daughter, Cordelia, whom he called

his joy, he asked what she had to say,thinking no doubt that she

would glad his ears with the same loving speeches which her

sisters had uttered, or rather that her expressions would be so

much stronger than theirs, as she had always been his darling,

and favored by him above either of them. But Cordelia, disgusted

with the flattery of her sisters, whose hearts she knew were far

from their lips, and seeing that all their coaxing speeches were

only intended to wheedle the old king out of his dominions, that

they and their husbands might reign in his lifetime, made no

other reply but this--that she loved his Majesty according to her

duty, neither more nor less.

The king, shocked with this appearance of ingratitude in his

favorite child, desired her to consider her words and to mend her

speech, lest it should mar her fortunes.

Cordelia then told her father that he was her father, that he had

given her breeding, and loved her; that she returned those duties

back as was most fit, and did obey him, love him, and most honor

him. But that she could not frame her mouth to such large

speeches as her sisters had done, or promise to love nothing else

in the world. Why had her sisters husbands if (as they said) they

had no love for anything but their father? If she should ever

wed, she was sure the lord to whom she gave her husband would

want half her love, half of her care and duty; she should never

marry like her sisters, to love her father all.

Cordelia, who in earnest loved her old father even almost

extravagantly as her sisters pretended to do, would have plainly

told him so at any other time, in more daughter-like and loving

terms, and without these qualifications, which did indeed sound a

little ungracious; but after the crafty, flattering speeches of

her sisters, which she had seen draw such extravagant rewards,

she thought the handsomest thing she could do was to love and be

silent. This put her affection out of suspicion of mercenary

ends, and showed that she loved, but not for gain; and that her

professions, the less ostentatious they were, had so much the

more of truth and sincerity than her sisters’.

This plainness of speech, which Lear called pride, so enraged the

old monarch--who in his best of times always showed much of

spleen and rashness, and in whom the dotage incident to old age

had so clouded over his reason that he could not discern truth

from flattery, nor a gaypainted speech from words that came from

the heart--that in a fury of resentment he retracted the third

part of his kingdom which yet remained, and which he had reserved

for Cordelia, and gave it away from her, sharing it equally

between her two sisters and their husbands, the Dukes of Albany

and Cornwall, whom he now called to him and in presence of all

his courtiers, bestowing a coronet between them, invested them

jointly with all the power, revenue, and execution of government,

only retaining to himself the name of king; all the rest of

royalty he resigned, with this reservation, that himself, with a

hundred knights for his attendants, was to be maintained by

monthly course in each of his daughters’ palaces in turn.

So preposterous a disposal of his kingdom, so little guided by

reason, and so much by passion, filled all his courtiers with

astonishment and sorrow; but none of them had the courage to

interpose between this incensed king and his wrath, except the

Earl of Kent, who was beginning to speak a good word for

Cordelia, when the passionate Lear on pain of death commanded him

to desist; but the good Kent was not so to be repelled. He had

been ever loyal to Lear, whom he had honored as a king, loved as

a father, followed as a master; and he had never esteemed his

life further than as a pawn to wage against his royal master’s

enemies, nor feared to lose it when Lear’s safety was the motive;

nor, now that Lear was most his own enemy, did this faithful

servant of the king forget his old principles, but manfully

opposed Lear to do Lear good; and was unmannerly only because

Lear was mad. He had been a most faithful counselor in times past

to the king, and he besought him now that he would see with his

eyes (as he had done in many weighty matters) and go by his

advice still, and in his best consideration recall this hideous

rashness; for he would answer with his life his judgment that

Lear’s youngest daughter did not love him least, nor were those

empty-hearted whose low sound gave no token of hollowness. When

power bowed to flattery, honor was bound to plainness. For Lear’s

threats, what could he do to him whose life was already at his

service? That should not hinder duty from speaking.

The honest freedom of this good Earl of Kent only stirred up the

king’s wrath the more, and, like a frantic patient who kills his

physician and loves his mortal disease, he banished this true

servant, and allotted him but five days to make his preparations

for departure; but if on the sixth his hated person was found

within the realm of Britain, that moment was to be his death. And

Kent bade farewell to the king, and said that, since he chose to

show himself in such fashion, it was but banishment to stay

there; and before he went he recommended Cordelia to the

protection of the gods, the maid who had so rightly thought and

so discreetly spoken; and only wished that her sisters’ large

speeches might be answered with deeds of love; and then he went,

as he said, to shape his old course to a new country.

The King of France and Duke of Burgundy were now called in to

hear the determination of Lear about his youngest daughter, and

to know whether they would persist in their courtship to

Cordelia, now that she was under her father’s displeasure and had

no fortune but her own person to recommend her. And the Duke of

Burgundy declined the match, and would not take her to wife upon

such conditions. But the King of France, understanding what the

nature of the fault had been which had lost her the love of her

father--that it was only a tardiness of speech and the not being

able to frame her tongue to flattery like her sisters--took this

young maid by the hand and, saying that her virtues were a dowry

above a kingdom, bade Cordelia to take farewell of her sisters

and of her father, though he had been unkind, and she should go

with him and be Queen of him and of fair France, and reign over

fairer possessions than her sisters. And he called the Duke of

Burgundy, in contempt, a waterish duke, because his love for this

young maid had in a moment run all away like water.

Then Cordelia with weeping eyes took leave of her sisters, and

besought them to love their father well and make good their

professions; and they sullenly told her not to prescribe to them,

for they knew their duty, but to strive to content her husband,

who had taken her (as they tauntingly expressed it) as Fortune’s

alms. And Cordelia with a heavy heart departed, for she knew the

cunning of her sisters and she wished her father in better hands

than she was about to leave him in.

Cordelia was no sooner gone than the devilish dispositions of her

sisters began to show themselves ‘in their true colors. Even

before the expiration of the first month, which Lear was to spend

by agreement ,with his , daughter, Goneril, the old king began to

find out the difference between promises and performances. This

wretch, having got from her father all that he had to bestow,

even to the giving away of the crown from off his head, began to

grudge even those small remnants of royalty which the old man had

reserved to himself, to please his fancy with the idea of being

still a king. She could not bear to see him and his knights.

Every time she met her father she put on a frowning countenance;

and when the old man wanted to speak with her she would feign

sickness or anything to get rid of the sight of him, for it was

plain that she esteemed his old age a useless burden and his

attendants an unnecessary expense; not only she herself slackened

in her expressions of duty to the king, but by her example, and

(it is to be feared) not without her private instructions, her

very servants affected to treat him with neglect, and would

either refuse to obey his orders or still more contemptuously

pretend not to hear them. Lear could not but perceive this

alteration in the behavior of his daughter, but he shut his eyes

against it as long as he could, as people commonly are unwilling

to believe the unpleasant consequences which their own mistakes

and obstinacy have brought upon them.

True love and fidelity are no more to be estranged by ILL, than

falsehood and hollow-heartedness can be conciliated by GOOD,

USAGE. This eminently appears in the instance of the good Earl of

Kent, who, though banished by Lear, and his life made forfeit if

he were found in Britain, chose to stay and abide all

consequences as long as there was a chance of his being useful to

the king his master. See to what mean shifts and disguises poor

loyalty is forced to submit sometimes; yet it counts nothing base

or unworthy so as it can but do service where it owes an

obligation! In the disguise of a serving-man, all his greatness

and pomp laid aside, this good earl proffered his services to the

king, who, not knowing him to be Kent in that disguise, but

pleased with a certain plainness, or rather bluntness, in his

answers, which the earl put on (so different from that smooth,

oily flattery which he had so much reason to be sick of, having

found the effects not answerable in his daughter), a bargain was

quickly struck, and Lear took Kent into his service by the name

of Caius, as he called himself, never suspecting him to be his

once great favorite, the high and mighty Earl of Kent.

This Caius quickly found means to show his fidelity and love to

his royal master, for, Goneril’s steward that same day behaving

in a disrespectful manner to Lear, and giving him saucy looks and

language, as no doubt he was secretly encouraged to do by his

mistress, Caius, not enduring to hear so open an affront put upon

his Majesty, made no more ado, but presently tripped up his heels

and laid the unmannerly slave in the kennel; for which friendly

service Lear became more and more attached to him.

Nor was Kent the only friend Lear had. In his degree, and as far

as so insignificant a personage could show his love, the poor

fool, or jester, that had been of his palace while Lear had a

palace, as it was the custom of kings and great personages at

that time to keep a fool (as he was called) to make them sport

after serious business--this poor fool clung to Lear after he had

given away his crown, and by his witty sayings would keep up his

good-humor, though he could not refrain sometimes from jeering at

his master for his imprudence in uncrowning himself and giving

all away to his daughters; at which time, as he rhymingly

expressed it, these daughters--

“For sudden joy did weep,

And I for sorrow sung,

That such a king should play bo-peep

And go the fools among.”

And in such wild sayings, and scraps of songs, of which he had

plenty, this pleasant, honest fool poured out his heart even in

the presence of Goneril herself, in many a bitter taunt and jest

which cut to the quick, such as comparing the king to the

hedgesparrow, who feeds the young of the cuckoo till they grow

old enough, and then has its head bit off for its pains; and

saying that an ass may know when the cart draws the horse

(meaning that Lear’s daughters, that ought to go behind, now

ranked before their father); and that Lear was no longer Lear,

but the shadow of Lear. For which free speeches he was once or

twice threatened to be whipped.

The coolness and falling off of respect which Lear had begun to

perceive were not all which this foolish fond father was to

suffer from his unworthy daughter. She now plainly told him that

his staying in her palace was inconvenient so long as he insisted

upon keeping up an establishment of a hundred knights; that this

establishment was useless and expensive and only served to fill

her court with riot and feasting; and she prayed him that he

would lessen their number and keep none but old men about him,

such as himself, and fitting his age.

Lear at first could not believe his eyes or ears, nor that it was

his daughter who spoke so unkindly. He could not believe that she

who had received a crown from him could seek to cut off his train

and grudge him the respect due to his old age. But she persisting

in her undutiful demand, the old man’s rage was so excited that

he called her a detested kite and said that she spoke an untruth;

and so indeed she did, for the hundred knights were all men of

choice behavior and sobriety of manners, skilled in all

particulars of duty, and not given to rioting or feasting, as she

said. And he bid his horses to be prepared, for he would go to

his other daughter, Regan, he and his hundred knights; and he

spoke of ingratitude, and said it was a marble-hearted devil, and

showed more hideous in a child than the sea-monster. And he

cursed his eldest daughter, Goneril, so as was terrible to hear,

praying that she might never have a child, or, if she had, that

it might live to return that scorn and contempt upon her which

she had shown to him; that she might feel how sharper than a

serpent’s tooth it was to have a thankless child. And Goneril’s

husband, the Duke of Albany, beginning to excuse himself for any

share which Lear might suppose he had in the unkindness, Lear

would not hear him out, but in a rage ordered his horses to be

saddled and set out with his followers for the abode of Regan,

his other daughter. And Lear thought to himself how small the

fault of Cordelia (if it was a fault) now appeared in comparison

with her sister’s, and he wept; and then he was ashamed that such

a creature as Goneril should have so much power over his manhood

as to make him weep.

Regan and her husband were keeping their court in great pomp and

state at their palace; and Lear despatched his servant Caius with

letters to his daughter, that she might be prepared for his

reception, while he and his train followed after. But it seems

that Goneril had been beforehand with him, sending letters also

to Regan, accusing her father of waywardness and ill-humors, and

advising her not to receive so great a train as he was bringing

with him. This messenger arrived at the same time with Caius, and

Caius and he met, and who should it be but Caius’s old enemy the

steward, whom he had formerly tripped up by the heels for his

saucy behavior to Lear. Caius not liking the fellow’s look, and,

suspecting what he came for, began to revile him and challenged

him to fight, which the fellow refusing, Caius, in a fit of

honest passion, beat him soundly, as such a mischief-maker and

carrier of wicked messages deserved; which coming to the ears of

Regan and her husband, they ordered Caius to be put in the

stocks, though he was a messenger from the king her father and in

that character demanded the highest respect. So that the first

thing the king saw when he entered the castle was his faithful

servant Caius sitting in that disgraceful situation.

This was but a bad omen of the reception which he was to expect;

but a worse followed when, upon inquiry for his daughter and her

husband, he was told they were weary with traveling all night and

could not see him; and when, lastly, upon his insisting in a

positive and angry manner to see them, they came to greet him,

whom should he see in their company but the hated Goneril, who

had come to tell her own story and set her sister against the

king her father!

This sight much moved the old man, and still more to see Regan

take her by the hand; and he asked Goneril if she was not ashamed

to look upon his old white beard. And Regan advised him to go

home again with Goneril, and live with her peaceably, dismissing

half of his attendants, and to ask her forgiveness; for he was

old and wanted discretion, and must be ruled and led by persons

that had more discretion than himself. And Lear showed how

preposterous that would sound, if he were to go down on his knees

and beg of his own daughter for food and raiment; and he argued

against such an unnatural dependence, declaring his resolution

never to return with her, but to stay where he was with Regan, he

and his hundred knights; for he said that she had not forgot the

half of the kingdom which he had endowed her with, and that her

eyes were not fierce like Goneril’s, but mild and kind. And he

said that rather than return to Goneril, with half his train cut

off, he would go over to France and beg a wretched pension of the

king there, who had married his youngest daughter without a

portion.

But he was mistaken in expecting kinder treatment of Regan than

he had experienced from her sister Goneril. As if willing to

outdo her sister in unfilial behavior, she declared that she

thought fifty knights too many to wait upon him; that

five-and-twenty were enough. Then Lear, nigh heartbroken, turned

to Goneril and said that he would go back with her, for her fifty

doubled five-and-twenty, and so her love was twice as much as

Regan’s. But Goneril excused herself, and said, what need of so

many as five-and twenty? or even ten? or five? when he might be

waited upon by her servants or her sister’s servants? So these

two wicked daughters, as if they strove to exceed each other in

cruelty to their old father, who had been so good to them, by

little and little would have abated him of all his train, all

respect (little enough for him that once commanded a kingdom)

which was left him to show that he had once been a king! Not that

a splendid train is essential to happiness, but from a king to a

beggar is a hard change, from commanding millions to be without

one attendant; and it was the ingratitude in his daughters’

denying more than what he would suffer by the want of it, which

pierced this poor king to the heart; in so much that, with this

double ill-usage, and vexation for having so foolishly given away

a kingdom, his wits began to be unsettled, and while he said he

knew not what, he vowed revenge against those unnatural hags and

to make examples of them that should be a terror to the earth!

While he was thus idly threatening what his weak arm could never

execute, night came on, and a loud storm of thunder and lightning

with rain; and his daughters still persisting in their resolution

not to admit his followers, he called for his horses, and chose

rather to encounter the utmost fury of the storm abroad than stay

under the same roof with these ungrateful daughters; and they,

saying that the injuries which wilful men procure to themselves

are their just punishment, suffered him to go in that condition

and shut their doors upon him.

The winds were high, and the rain and storm increased, when the

old man sallied forth to combat with the elements, less sharp

than his daughters’ unkindness. For many miles about there was

scarce a bush; and there upon a heath, exposed to the fury of the

storm in a dark night, did King Lear wander out, and defy the

winds and the thunder; and he bid the winds to blow the earth

into the sea, or swell the waves of the sea till they drowned the

earth, that no token might remain of any such ungrateful animal

as man. The old king was now left with no other companion than

the poor fool, who still abided with him, with his merry conceits

striving to outjest misfortune, saying it was but a naughty night

to swim in, and truly the king had better go in and ask his

daughter’s blessing:

But he that has a little tiny wit--

With heigh ho, the wind and the rain,--

Must make content with his fortunes fit

Though the rain it raineth every day,

and swearing it was a brave night to cool a lady’s pride.

Thus poorly accompanied, this once great monarch was found by his

ever-faithful servant the good Earl of Kent, now transformed to

Caius, who ever followed close at his side, though the king did

not know him to be the earl; and be said:

“Alas, sir, are you here? Creatures that love night love not such

nights as these. This dreadful storm has driven the beasts to

their hiding-places. Man’s nature cannot endure the affliction or

the fear.”

And Lear rebuked him and said these lesser evils were not felt

where a greater malady was fixed. When the mind is at ease the

body has leisure to be delicate, but the tempest in his mind did

take all feeling else from his senses but of that which beat at

his heart. And he spoke of filial ingratitude, and said it was

all one as if the mouth should tear the hand for lifting food to

it; for parents were hands and food and everything to children.

But the good Caius still persisting in his entreaties that the

king would not stay out in the open air, at last persuaded him to

enter a little wretched hovel which stood upon the heath, where

the fool first entering, suddenly ran back terrified, saying that

he had seen a spirit. But upon examination this spirit proved to

be nothing more than a poor Bedlam beggar who had crept into this

deserted hovel for shelter, and with his talk about devils

frighted the fool, one of those poor lunatics who are either mad,

or feign to be so, the better to extort charity from the

compassionate country people, who go about the country calling

themselves poor Tom and poor Turlygood, saying, “Who gives

anything to poor Tom?” sticking pins and nails and sprigs of

rosemary into their arms to make them bleed; and with horrible

actions, partly by prayers, and partly with lunatic curses, they

move or terrify the ignorant country folk into giving them alms.

This poor fellow was such a one; and the king, seeing him in so

wretched a plight, with nothing but a blanket about his loins to

cover his nakedness, could not be persuaded but that the fellow

was some father who had given all away to his daughters and

brought himself to that pass; for nothing, he thought, could

bring a man to such wretchedness but the having unkind daughters.

And from this and many such wild speeches which he uttered the

good Caius plainly perceived that he was not in his perfect mind,

but that his daughters’ ill-usage had really made him go mad. And

now the loyalty of this worthy Earl of Kent showed itself in more

essential services than he had hitherto found opportunity to

perform. For with the assistance of some of the king’s attendants

who remained loyal he had the person of his royal master removed

at daybreak to the castle of Dover, where his own friends and

influence, as Earl of Kent, chiefly lay; and himself, embarking

for France, hastened to the court of Cordelia, and did there in

such moving terms represent the pitiful condition of her royal

father, and set out in such lively colors the inhumanity of her

sisters, that this good and loving child with many tears besought

the king, her husband, that he would give her leave to embark for

England, with a sufficient power to subdue these cruel daughters

and their husbands and restore the old king, her father, to his

throne; which being granted, she set forth, and with a royal army

landed at Dover.

Lear, having by some chance escaped from the guardians which’ the

good Earl of Kent had put over him to take care of him in his

lunacy, was found by some of Cordelia’s train, wandering about

the fields near Dover, in a pitiable condition, stark mad, and

singing aloud to himself, with a crown upon his head which he had

made of straw and nettles and other wild weeds that he had picked

up in the corn-fields. By the advice of the physicians, Cordelia,

though earnestly desirous of seeing her father, was prevailed

upon to put off the meeting till, by sleep and the operation of

herbs which they gave him, he should be restored to greater

composure. By the aid of these skilful physicians, to whom

Cordelia promised all her gold and jewels for the recovery of the

old king, Lear was soon in a condition to see his daughter.

A tender sight it was to see the meeting between this father and

daughter; to see the struggles between the joy of this poor old

king at beholding again his once darling child, and the shame at

receiving such filial kindness from her whom he had cast off for

so small a fault in his displeasure; both these passions

struggling with the remains of his malady, which in his

half-crazed brain sometimes made him that he scarce remembered

where he was or who it was tb at so kindly kissed him and spoke

to him. And then he would beg the standers-by not to laugh at him

if he were mistaken in thinking this lady to be his daughter

Cordelia! And then to see him fall on his knees to beg pardon of

his child; and she, good lady, kneeling all the while to ask a

blessing of him, and telling him that it did not become him to

kneel, but it was her duty, for she was his child, his true and

very child Cordelia! And she kissed him (as she said) to kiss

away all her sisters’ unkindness, and said that they might be

ashamed of themselves, to turn their old kind father with his

white beard out into the cold air, when her enemy’s dog, though

it had bit her (as she prettily expressed it), should have stayed

by her fire such a night as that, and warmed himself. And she

told her father how she had come from France with purpose to

bring him assistance; and he said that she must forget and

forgive, for he was old and foolish and did not know what he did;

but that to be sure she had great cause not to love him, but her

sisters had none. And Cordelia said that she had no cause, no

more than they had.

So we will leave this old king in the protection of his dutiful

and loving child, where, by the help of sleep and medicine, she

and her physicians at length succeeded in winding up the untuned

and jarring senses which the cruelty of his other daughters had

so violently shaken. Let us return to say a word or two about

those cruel daughters.

These monsters of ingratitude, who had been so false to their old

father, could not be expected to prove more faithful to their own

husbands. They soon grew tired of paying even the appearance of

duty and affection, and in an open way showed they had fixed

their loves upon another. It happened that the object of their

guilty loves was the same. It was Edmund, a natural son of the

late Earl of Gloucester, who by his treacheries had succeeded in

disinheriting his brother Edgar, the lawful heir, from his

earldom, and by his wicked practices was now earl himself; a

wicked man, and a fit object for the love of such wicked

creatures as Goneril and Regan. It falling out about this time

that the Duke of Cornwall, Regan’s husband, died, Regan

immediately declared her intention of wedding this Earl of

Gloucester, which rousing the jealousy of her sister, to whom as

well as to Regan this wicked earl had at sundry times professed

love, Goneril found means to make away with her sister by poison;

but being detected in her practices, and imprisoned by her

husband, the Duke of Albany, for this deed, and for her guilty

passion for the earl which had come to his ears, she, in a fit of

disappointed love and rage, shortly put an end to her own life.

Thus the justice of Heaven at last overtook these wicked

daughters.

While the eyes of all men were upon this event, admiring the

justice displayed in their deserved deaths, the same eyes were

suddenly taken off from this sight to admire at the mysterious

ways of the same power in the melancholy fate of the young and

virtuous daughter, the Lady Cordelia, whose good deeds did seem

to deserve a more fortunate conclusion. But it is an awful truth

that innocence and piety are not always successful in this world.

The forces which Goneril and Regan had sent out under the command

of the bad Earl of Gloucester were victorious, and Cordelia, by

the practices of this wicked earl, who did not like that any

should stand between him and the throne, ended her life in

prison. Thus heaven took this innocent lady to itself in her

young years, after showing her to the world an illustrious

example of filial duty. Lear did not long survive this kind

child.

Before he died, the good Earl of Kent, who had still attended his

old master’s steps from the first of his daughters’ ill-usage to

this sad period of his decay, tried to make him understand that

it was he who had followed him under the name of Caius; but

Lear’s care-crazed brain at that time could not comprehend how

that could be, or how Kent and Caius could be the same person, so

Kent thought it needless to trouble him with explanations at such

a time; and, Lear soon after expiring, this faithful servant to

the king, between age and grief for his old master’s vexations,

soon followed him to the grave.

How the judgment of Heaven overtook the bad Earl of Gloucester,

whose treasons were discovered, and himself slain in single

combat with his brother, the lawful earl, and how Goneril’s

husband, the Duke of Albany, who was innocent of the death of

Cordelia, and had never encouraged his lady in her wicked

proceedings against her father, ascended the throne of Britain

after the death of Lear, it is needless here to narrate, Lear and

his three daughters being dead, whose adventures alone concern

our story.

MACBETH

When Duncan the Meek reigned King of Scotland there lived a great

thane, or lord, called Macbeth. This Macbeth was a near kinsman

to the king, and in great esteem at court for his valor and

conduct in the wars, an example of which he had lately given in

defeating a rebel army assisted by the troops of Norway in

terrible numbers.

The two Scottish generals, Macbeth and Banquo, returning

victorious from this great battle, their way lay over a blasted

heath, where they were stopped by the strange appearance of three

figures like women, except that they had beards, and their

withered skins and wild attire made them look not like any

earthly creatures. Macbeth first addressed them, when they,

seemingly offended, laid each one her choppy finger upon her

skinny lips, in token of silence; and the first of them saluted

Macbeth with the title of Thane of Glamis. The general was not a

little startled to find himself known by such creatures; but how

much more, when the second of them followed up that salute by

giving him the title of Thane of Cawdor, to which honor he had no

pretensions; and again the third bid him, “All hail! that shalt

be king hereafter!” Such a prophetic greeting might well amaze

him, who knew that while the king’s sons lived he could not hope

to succeed to the throne. Then turning to Banquo, they pronounced

him, in a sort of riddling terms, to be LESSER THAN MACBETH, AND

GREATER! NOT SO HAPPY, BUT MUCH HAPPIER! and prophesied that

though he should never reign, yet his sons after him should be

kings in Scotland. They then turned into air and vanished; by

which the generals knew them to be the weird sisters, or witches.

While they stood pondering on the strangeness of this adventure

there arrived certain messengers from the king, who were

empowered by him to confer upon Macbeth the dignity of Thane of

Cawdor. An event so miraculously corresponding with the

prediction of the witches astonished Macbeth, and he stood

wrapped in amazement, unable to make reply to the messengers; and

in that point of time swelling hopes arose in his mind that the

prediction of the third witch might in like manner have its

accomplishment, and that he should one day reign king in

Scotland.

Turning to Banquo, he said, “Do you not hope that your children

shall be kings, when what the witches promised to me has so

wonderfully come to pass?”

“That hope,” answered the general, “might enkindle you to aim at

the throne; but oftentimes these ministers of darkness tell us

truths in little things, to betray us into deeds of greatest

consequence.”

But the wicked suggestions of the witches had sunk too deep into

the mind of Macbeth to allow him to attend to the warnings of the

good Banquo. From that time he bent all his thoughts how to

compass the throne of Scotland.

Macbeth had a wife, to whom he communicated the strange

prediction of the weird sisters and its partial accomplishment.

She was a bad, ambitious woman, and so as her husband and herself

could arrive at greatness she cared not much by what means. She

spurred on the reluctant purpose of Macbeth, who felt compunction

at the thoughts of blood, and did not cease to represent the

murder of the king as a step absolutely necessary to the

fulfilment of the flattering prophecy.

It happened at this time that the king, who out of his royal

condescension would oftentimes visit his principal nobility upon

gracious terms, came to Macbeth’s house, attended by his two

sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, and a numerous train of thanes and

attendants, the more to honor Macbeth for the triumphal success

of his wars.

The castle of Macbeth was pleasantly situated and the air about

it was sweet and wholesome, which appeared by the nests which the

martlet, or swallow, had built under all the jutting friezes and

buttresses of the building, wherever it found a place of

advantage; for where those birds most breed and haunt the air is

observed to be delicate. The king entered, well pleased with the

place, and not less so with the attentions and respect of his

honored hostess, Lady Macbeth, who had the art of covering

treacherous purposes with smiles, and could look like the

innocent flower while she was indeed serpent under it.

The king, being tired with his journey, went early to bed, and in

his state-room two grooms of his chamber (as was the custom)

beside him. He had been unusually pleased with his reception, and

had made presents before he retired to his principal ; and among

the rest had sent a diamond to Lady Macbeth, greeting the name of

his most kind hostess.

Now was the middle of night, when over half the world nature

seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse men’s minds asleep, and none

but the wolf and the murderer are abroad. This was the time when

Lady Macbeth waked to plot the murder of the king. She would not

have undertaken a deed so abhorrent to her sex but that she

feared her husband’s nature, that it was too full of the milk of

human kindness to do a contrived murder. She knew him to be

ambitious, but withal to be scrupulous, and not yet prepared for

that height of crime which commonly in the end accompanies

inordinate ambition. She had won him to consent to the murder,

but she doubted his resolution; and she feared that the natural

tenderness of his disposition (more humane than her own) would

come between and defeat the purpose. So with her own hands armed

with a dagger she approached the king’s bed, having taken care to

ply the grooms of his chamber so with wine that they slept

intoxicated and careless of their charge. There lay Duncan in a

sound sleep after the fatigues of his journey, and as she viewed

him earnestly there was something in his face, as he slept, which

resembled her own father, and she had not the courage to proceed.

She returned to confer with her husband. His resolution had begun

to stagger. He considered that there were strong reasons against

the deed. In the first place, he was not only a subject, but a

near kinsman to the king; and he had been his host and

entertainer that day, whose duty, by the laws of hospitality, it

was to shut the door against his murderers, not bear the knife

himself. Then he considered how just and merciful a king this

Duncan had been, how clear of offense to his subjects, how loving

to his nobility, and in particular to him; that such kings are

the peculiar care of Heaven, and their subjects doubly bound to

revenge their deaths. Besides, by the favors of the king, Macbeth

stood high in the opinion of all sorts of men, and how would

those honors be stained by the reputation of so foul a murder!

In these conflicts of the mind Lady Macbeth found her husband

inclining to the better part and resolving to proceed no further.

But she, being a woman not easily shaken from her evil purpose,

began to pour in at his ears words which infused a portion of her

own spirit into his mind, assigning reason upon reason why he

should not shrink from what he had undertaken; how easy the deed

was; how soon it would be over; and how the action of one short

night would give to all their nights and days to come sovereign

sway and royalty! Then she threw contempt on his change of

purpose, and accused him of fickleness and cowardice; and

declared that she had given suck, and knew how tender it was to

love the babe that milked her, but she would, while it was

smiling in her face, have plucked it from her breast and dashed

its brains out if she had so sworn to do it as he had sworn to

perform that murder. Then she added, how practicable it was to

lay the guilt of the deed upon the drunken, sleepy grooms. And

with the valor of her tongue she so chastised his sluggish

resolutions that he once more summoned up courage to the bloody

business.

So, taking the dagger in his hand, he softly stole in the dark to

the room where Duncan lay; and as he went he thought he saw

another dagger in the air, with the handle toward him, and on the

blade and at the point of it drops of blood; but when be tried to

grasp at it it was nothing but air, a mere phantasm proceeding

from his own hot and oppressed brain and the business he had in

hand.

Getting rid of this fear, he entered the king’s room, whom he

despatched with one stroke of his dagger. just as he had done the

murder one of the grooms who slept in the chamber laughed in his

sleep, and the other cried, “Murder,” which woke them both.

But they said a short prayer; one of them said, “God less us!”

and the other answered, “Amen”; and addressed themselves to sleep

again. Macbeth, who stood listening to them, tried to say “Amen”

when the fellow said “God bless us!” but, though he had most need

of a blessing, the word stuck in his throat and he could not

pronounce it.

Again he thought he heard a voice which cried: “Sleep no more!

Macbeth doth murder sleep, the innocent sleep, that nourishes

life.” Still it cried, “Sleep no more!” to all the house. “Glamis

hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more,

Macbeth shall sleep no more.”

With such horrible imaginations Macbeth returned to his listening

wife, who began to think he had failed of his purpose and that

the deed was somehow frustrated. He came in so distracted a state

that she reproached him with his want of firmness and sent him to

wash his hands of the blood which stained them, while she took

his dagger, with purpose to stain the cheeks of the grooms with

blood, to make it seem their guilt.

Morning came, and with it the discovery of the murder, which

could not be concealed; and though Macbeth and his lady made

great show of grief, and the proofs against the grooms (the

dagger being produced against them and their faces smeared with

blood) were sufficiently strong, yet the entire suspicion fell

upon Macbeth, whose inducements to such a deed were so much more

forcible than such poor silly grooms could be supposed to have;

and Duncan’s two sons fled. Malcolm, the eldest, sought for

refuge in the English court; and the youngest, Donalbain, made

his escape to Ireland.

The king’s sons, who should have succeeded him, having thus

vacated the throne, Macbeth as next heir was crowned king, and

thus the prediction of the weird sisters was literally

accomplished.

Though placed so high, Macbeth and his queen could not forget the

prophecy of the weird sisters that, though Macbeth should be

king, yet not his children, but the children of Banquo, should be

kings after him. The thought of this, and that they had defiled

their hands with blood, and done so great crimes, only to place

the posterity of Banquo upon the throne, so rankled within them

that they determined to put to death both Banquo and his son, to

make void the predictions of the weird sisters, which in their

own case had been so remarkably brought to pass.

For this purpose they made a great supper, to which they invited

all the chief thanes; and among the rest, with marks of

particular respect, Banquo and his son Fleance were invited. The

way by which Banquo was to pass to the palace at night was beset

by murderers appointed by Macbeth, who stabbed Banquo; but in the

scuffle Fleance escaped. From that Fleance descended a race of

monarchs who afterward filled the Scottish throne, ending with

James the Sixth of Scotland and the First of England, under whom

the two crowns of England and Scotland were united.

At supper, the queen, whose manners were in the highest degree

affable and royal, played the hostess with a gracefulness and

attention which conciliated every one present, and Macbeth

discoursed freely with his thanes and nobles, saying that all

that was honorable in the country was under his roof, if he had

but his good friend Banquo present, whom yet he hoped he should

rather have to chide for neglect than to lament for any

mischance. just at these words the ghost of Banquo, whom he had

caused to be murdered, entered the room and placed himself on the

chair which Macbeth was about to occupy. Though Macbeth was a

bold man, and one that could have faced the devil without

trembling, at this horrible sight his cheeks turned white with

fear and he stood quite unmanned, with his eyes fixed upon the

ghost. His queen and all the nobles, who saw nothing, but

perceived him gazing (as they thought) upon an empty chair, took

it for a fit of distraction; and she reproached him, whispering

that it was but the same fancy which made him see the dagger in

the air when he was about to kill Duncan. But Macbeth continued

to see the ghost, and gave no heed to all they could say, while

he addressed it with distracted words, yet so significant that

his queen, fearing the dreadful secret would be disclosed, in

great haste dismissed the guests, excusing the infirmity of

Macbeth as disorder he was often troubled with.

To such dreadful fancies Macbeth was subject. His queen and he

had their sleeps afflicted with terrible dreams, and the blood of

Banquo troubled them not more than the escape of Fleance, whom

now they looked upon as father to a line of kings who should keep

their posterity out of the throne. With these miserable thoughts

they found no peace, and Macbeth determined once more to seek out

the weird sisters and know from them the worst.

He sought them in a cave upon the heath, where they, who knew by

foresight of his coming, were engaged in preparing their dreadful

charms by which they conjured up infernal spirits to reveal to

them futurity. Their horrid ingredients were toads, bats, and

serpents, the eye of a newt and the tongue of a dog, the leg of a

lizard and the wing of the night-owl, the scale of a dragon, the

tooth of a wolf, the maw of the ravenous salt-sea shark, the

mummy of a witch, the root of the poisonous hemlock (this to have

effect must be digged in the dark), the gall of a goat, and the

liver of a Jew, with slips of the yew-tree that roots itself in

graves, and the finger of a dead child. All these were set on to

boil in a great kettle, or caldron, which, as fast as it grew too

hot, was cooled with a baboon’s blood. To these they poured in

the blood of a sow that had eaten her young, and they threw into

the flame the grease that had sweaten from a murderer’s gibbet.

By these charms they bound the infernal spirit to answer their

questions.

It was demanded of Macbeth whether he would have his doubts

resolved by them or by their masters, the spirits.

He, nothing daunted by the dreadful ceremonies which be saw,

boldly answered: “Where are they? Let me see them.”

And they called the spirits, which were three. And the first

arose in the likeness of an armed head, and he called Macbeth by

name and bid him beware of the Thane of Fife; for which caution

Macbeth thanked him; for Macbeth had entertained a jealousy of

Macduff, the Thane of Fife.

And the second spirit arose in the likeness of a bloody child,

and he called Macbeth by name and bid him have no fear, but laugh

to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born should have

power to hurt him; and he advised him to be bloody, bold, and

resolute.

“Then live, Macduff!” cried the king. “What need I fear thee? But

yet I will make assurance doubly sure. Thou shalt not live, that

I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, and sleep in spite of

thunder.”

That spirit being dismissed, a third arose in the form of a child

crowned, with a tree in his hand. He called Macbeth by name and

comforted him against conspiracies, saying that he should never

be vanquished until the wood of Birnam to Dunsinane hill should

come against him.

“Sweet bodements! good!” cried Macbeth; “who can unfix the

forest, and move it from its earth-bound roots? I see I shall

live the usual period of man’s life, and not be cut off by a

violent death. But my heart throbs to know one thing. Tell me, if

your art can tell so much, if Banquo’s issue shall ever reign in

this kingdom?”

Here the caldron sank into the ground, and a noise of music was

heard, and eight shadows, like kings, passed by Macbeth, and

Banquo last, who bore a glass which showed the figures of many

more, and Banquo, all bloody, smiled upon Macbeth, and pointed to

them; by which Macbeth knew that these were the posterity of

Banquo, who should reign after him in Scotland; and the witches,

with a sound of soft music, and with dancing, making a show of

duty and welcome to Macbeth, vanished. And from this time the

thoughts of Macbeth were all bloody and dreadful. The first thing

he heard when he got out of the witches’ cave was that Macduff,

Thane of Fife, had fled to England to join the army which was

forming against him under Malcolm, the eldest son of the late

king, with intent to displace Macbeth and set Malcolm, the right

heir, upon the throne. Macbeth, stung with rage, set upon the

castle of Macduff and put his wife and children, whom the thane

had left behind, to the sword, and extended the slaughter to all

who claimed the least relationship to Macduff.

These and such-like deeds alienated the minds of all his chief

nobility from him. Such as could fled to join with Malcolm and

Macduff, who were now approaching with a powerful army which they

had raised in England; and the rest secretly wished success to

their arms, though, for fear of Macbeth, they could take no

active part. His recruits went on slowly. Everybody hated the

tyrant; nobody loved or honored him; but all suspected him; and

he began to envy the condition of Duncan, whom he had murdered,

who slept soundly in his grave, against whom treason had done its

worst. Steel nor poison, domestic malice nor foreign levies,

could hurt him any longer.

While these things were acting, the queen, who had been the sole

partner in his wickedness, in whose bosom he could sometimes seek

a momentary repose from those terrible dreams which afflicted

them both nightly, died, it is supposed, by her own hands, unable

to bear the remorse of guilt and public hate; by which event he

was left alone, without a soul to love or care for him, or a

friend to whom he could confide his wicked purposes.

He grew careless of life and wished for death; but the near

approach of Malcolm’s army roused in him what remained of his

ancient courage, and he determined to die (as he expressed it)

“with armor on his back.” Besides this, the hollow promises of

the witches had filled him with a false confidence, and he

remembered the sayings of the spirits, that none of woman born

was to hurt him, and that he was never to be vanquished till

Birnam wood should come to Dunsinane, which he thought could

never be. So he shut himself up in his castle, whose impregnable

strength was such as defied a siege. Here he sullenly waited the

approach of Malcolm. When, upon a day, there came a messenger to

him, pale and shaking with fear, almost unable to report that

which he had seen; for he averred, that as he stood upon his

watch on the hill he looked toward Birnam, and to his thinking

the wood began to move!

“Liar and slave!” cried Macbeth. “If thou speakest false, thou

shalt hang alive upon the next tree, till famine end thee. If thy

tale be true, I care not if thou dost as much by me”; for Macbeth

now began to faint in resolution, and to doubt the equivocal

speeches of the spirits. He was not to fear till Birnam wood

should come to Dunsinane; and now a wood did move! “However,”

said he, “if this which he avouches be true, let us arm and out.

There is no flying hence, nor staying here. I begin to be weary

of the sun, and wish my life at an end.” With these desperate

speeches he sallied forth upon the besiegers, who had now come up

to the castle.

The strange appearance which had given the messenger an idea of a

wood moving is easily solved. When the besieging army marched

through the wood of Birnam, Malcolm, like a skilful general,

instructed his soldiers to hew down every one a bough and bear it

before him, by way of concealing the true numbers of his host.

This marching of the soldiers with boughs had at a distance the

appearance which had frightened the messenger. Thus were the

words of the spirit brought to pass, in a sense different from

that in which Macbeth had understood them, and one great hold of

his confidence was gone.

And now a severe skirmishing took place, in which Macbeth, though

feebly supported by those who called themselves his friends, but

in reality hated the tyrant and inclined to the party of Malcolm

and Macduff, yet fought with the extreme of rage and valor,

cutting to pieces all who were opposed to him, till he came to

where Macduff was fighting. Seeing Macduff, and remembering the

caution of the spirit who had counseled him to avoid Macduff,

above all men, he would have turned, but Macduff, who had been

seeking him through the whole fight, opposed his turning, and a

fierce contest ensued, Macduff giving him many foul reproaches

for the murder of his wife and children. Macbeth, whose soul was

charged enough with blood of that family already, would still

have declined the combat; but Macduff still urged him to it,

calling him tyrant, murderer, hell-hound, and villain.

Then Macbeth remembered the words of the spirit, how none of

woman born should hurt him; and, smiling confidently, he said to

Macduff:

“Thou losest thy labor, Macduff. As easily thou mayest impress

the air with thy sword as make me vulnerable. I bear a charmed

life, which must not yield to one of woman born.”

“Despair thy charm,” said Macduff, “and let that lying spirit

whom thou hast served tell thee that Macduff was never born of

woman, never as the ordinary manner of men is to be born, but was

untimely taken from his mother.”

“Accursed be the tongue which tells me so,” said the trembling

Macbeth, who felt his last hold of confidence give way; “and let

never man in future believe the lying equivocations of witches

and juggling spirits who deceive us in words which have double

senses, and, while they keep their promise literally, disappoint

our hopes with a different meaning. I will not fight with thee.”

“Then live!” said the scornful Macduff. “We will have a show of

thee, as men show monsters, and a painted board, on which all be

written, ‘Here men may see the tyrant!’”

“Never,” said Macbeth, whose courage returned with despair. “I

will not live to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet to

be baited with the curses of the rabble. Though Birnam wood be

come to Dunsinane, and thou opposed to me, who wast born of

woman, yet will I try the last.”

With these frantic words he threw himself upon Macduff, who,

after a severe struggle, in the end overcame him, and, cutting

off his head, made a present of it to the young and lawful king,

Malcolm, who took upon him the government which, by the

machinations of the usurper, he had so long been deprived of, and

ascended the throne of Duncan the Meek among the acclamations of

the nobles and the people.

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Bertram, Count of Rousillon, had newly come to his title and

estate by the death of his father. The King of France loved the

father of Bertram, and when he heard of his death he sent for his

son to come immediately to his royal court in Paris, intending,

for the friendship he bore the late count, to grace young Bertram

with his especial favor and protection.

Bertram was living with his mother, the widowed countess, when

Lafeu, an old lord of the French court, came to conduct him to

the king. The King of France was an absolute monarch and the

invitation to court was in the form of a royal mandate, or

positive command, which no subject, of what high dignity soever,

might disobey; therefore, though the countess, in parting with

this dear son, seemed a second time to bury her husband, whose

loss she had so lately mourned, yet she dared not to keep him a

single day, but gave instant orders for his departure. Lafeu, who

came to fetch him, tried to comfort the countess for the loss of

her late lord and her son’s sudden absence; and he said, in a

courtier’s flattering manner, that the king was so kind a prince,

she would find in his Majesty a husband, and that he would be a

father to her son; meaning only that the good king would befriend

the fortunes of Bertram. Lafeu told the countess that the king

had fallen into a sad malady, which was pronounced by his

physicians to be incurable. The lady expressed great sorrow on

hearing this account of the king’s ill health, and said she

wished the father of Helena (a young gentlewoman who was present

in attendance upon her) were living that she doubted not he could

have cured his Majesty of his disease. And she told Lafeu

something of the history of Helena, saying she was the only

daughter of the famous physician, Gerard de Narbon, and that he

had recommended his daughter to her care when he was dying, so

that since his death she had taken Helena under her protection;

then the countess praised the virtuous disposition and excellent

qualities of Helena, saying she inherited these virtues from her

worthy father. While she was speaking, Helena wept in sad and

mournful silence, which made the countess gently reprove her for

too much grieving for her father’s death.

Bertram now bade his mother farewell. The countess parted with

this dear son with tears and many blessings, and commended him to

the care of Lafeu, saying:

“Good my lord, advise him, for he is an unseasoned courtier.”

Bertram’s last words were spoken to Helena, but they were words

of mere civility, wishing her happiness; and he concluded his

short farewell to her with saying:

“Be comfortable to my mother, your mistress, and make much of

her.”

Helena had long loved Bertram, and when she wept in sad and

mournful silence the tears she shed were not for Gerard de

Narbon.. Helena loved her father, but in the present feeling of a

deeper love, the object of which she was about to lose, she had

forgotten the very form and features of her dead father, her

imagination presenting no image to her mind but Bertram’s.

Helena had long loved Bertram, yet she always remembered that he

was the Count of Rousillon, descended from the most ancient

family in France. She of humble birth. Her parents of no note at

all. His ancestors all noble. And therefore she looked up to the

high-born Bertram as to her master and to her dear lord, and

dared not form any wish but to live his servant, and, so living,

to die his vassal. So great the distance seemed to her between

his height of dignity and her lowly fortunes that she would say:

“It were all one that I should love a bright particular star, and

think to wed it, Bertram is so far above me.”

Bertram’s absence filled her eyes with tears and her heart with

sorrow; for though she loved without hope, yet it was a pretty

comfort to her to see him every hour, and Helena would sit and

look upon his dark eye, his arched brow, and the curls of his

fine hair till she seemed to draw his portrait on the tablet of

her heart, that heart too capable of retaining the memory of

every line in the features of that loved face.

Gerard de Narbon, when he died, left her no other portion than

some prescriptions of rare and well-proved virtue, which, by deep

study and long experience in medicine, he had collected as

sovereign and almost infallible remedies. Among the rest there

was one set down as an approved medicine for the disease under

which Lafeu said the king at that time languished; and when

Helena heard of the king’s complaint, she, who till now had been

so humble and so hopeless, formed an ambitious project in her

mind to go herself to Paris and undertake the cure of the king.

But though Helena was the possessor of this choice prescription,

it was unlikely, as the king as well as his physicians was of

opinion that his disease was incurable, that they would give

credit to a poor unlearned virgin if she should offer to perform

a cure. The firm hopes that Helena had of succeeding, if she

might be permitted to make the trial, seemed more than even her

father’s skill warranted, though he was the most famous physician

of his time; for she felt a strong faith that this good medicine

was sanctified by all the luckiest stars in heaven to be the

legacy that should advance her fortune, even to the high dignity

of being Count Rousillon’s wife.

Bertram had not been long gone when the countess was informed by

her steward that he had overheard Helena talking to herself, and

that he understood, from some words she uttered, she was in love

with Bertram and thought of following him to Paris. The countess

dismissed the steward with thanks, and desired him to tell Helena

she wished to speak with her. What she had just heard of Helena

brought the remembrance of days long past into the mind of the

countess; those days, probably, when her love for Bertram’s

father first began; and she said to herself:

“Even so it was with me when I was young. Love is a thorn that

belongs to the rose of youth; for in the season of youth, if ever

we are Nature’s children, these faults are ours, though then we

think not they are faults.”

While the countess was thus meditating on the loving errors of

her own youth, Helena entered, and she said to her, “Helena, you

know I am a mother to you.”

Helena replied, “You are my honorable mistress.”

“You are my daughter,” said the countess again. “I say I am your

mother. Why do you start and look pale at my words?”

With looks of alarm and confused thoughts, fearing the countess

suspected her love, Helena still replied, “Pardon me, madam, you

are not my mother; the Count Rousillon cannot be my brother, nor

I your daughter.”

“Yet, Helena,” said the countess, “you might be my

daughter-in-law; and I am afraid that is what you mean to be, the

words MOTHER and DAUGHTER so disturb you. Helena, do you love my

son?”

“Good madam, pardon me,” said the affrighted Helena.

Again the countess repeated her question. “Do you love my son?”

“Do not you love him, madam?” said Helena.

The countess replied: “Give me not this evasive answer, Helena.

Come, come, disclose the state of your affections, for your love

has to the full appeared.”

Helena, on her knees now, owned her love, and with shame and

terror implored the pardon of her noble mistress; and with words

expressive of the sense she had of the inequality between their

fortunes she protested Bertram did not know she loved him,

comparing her humble, unaspiring love to a poor Indian who adores

the sun that looks upon his worshiper but knows of him no more.

The countess asked Helena if she had not lately an intent to go

to Paris. Helena owned the design she had formed in her mind when

she heard Lafeu speak of the king’s illness.

“This was your motive for wishing to go to Paris,” said the

countess, “was it? Speak truly.”

Helena honestly answered, “My lord your son made me to think of

this; else Paris. and the medicine and the king had from the

conversation of my thoughts been absent then.”

The countess heard the whole of this confession without saying a

word either of approval or of blame, but she strictly questioned

Helena as to the probability of the medicine being useful to the

king. She found that it was the most prized by Gerard de Narbon

of all he possessed, and that he had given it to his daughter on

his death-bed; and remembering the solemn promise she had made at

that awful hour in regard to this young maid, whose destiny, and

the life of the king himself, seemed to depend on the execution

of a project (which, though conceived by the fond suggestions of

a loving maiden’s thoughts, the countess knew not but it might be

the unseen workings of Providence to bring to pass the recovery

of the king and to lay the foundation of the future fortunes of

Gerard de Narbon’s daughter), free leave she gave to Helena to

pursue her own way, and generously furnished her with ample means

and suitable attendants; and Helena set out for Paris with the

blessings of the countess and her kindest wishes for her success.

Helena arrived at Paris, and by the assistance of her friend, the

old Lord Lafeu, she obtained an audience of the king. She had

still many difficulties to encounter, for the king was not easily

prevailed on to try the medicine offered him by this fair young

doctor. But she told him she was Gerard de Narbon’s daughter

(with whose fame the king was well acquainted), and she offered

the precious medicine as the darling treasure which contained the

essence of all her father’s long experience and skill, and she

boldly engaged to forfeit her life if it failed to restore his

Majesty to perfect health in the space of two days. The king at

length consented to try it, and in two days’ time Helena was to

lose her fife if the king did not recover; but if she succeeded,

he promised to give her the choice of any man throughout all

France (the princes only excepted) whom she could like for a

husband; the choice of a husband being the fee Helena demanded if

she cured the king of his disease.

Helena did not deceive herself in the hope she conceived of the

efficacy of her father’s medicine. Before two days were at an

end the king was restored to perfect health, and he assembled all

the young noblemen of his court together, in order to confer the

promised reward of a husband upon his fair physician; and he

desired Helena to look round on this youthful parcel of noble

bachelors and choose her husband. Helena was not slow to make her

choice, for among these young lords she saw the Count Rousillon,

and, turning to Bertram, she said:

“This is the man. I dare not say, my lord, I take you, but I give

me and my service ever whilst I live into your guiding power.”

“Why, then,” said the king, “young Bertram, take her; she is your

wife.”

Bertram did not hesitate to declare his dislike to this present

of the king’s of the self-offered Helena, who, he said, was a

poor physician’s daughter, bred at his father’s charge, and now

living a dependent on his mother’s bounty.

Helena heard him speak these words of rejection and of scorn, and

she said to the king: “That you are well, my lord, I am glad. Let

the rest go.”

But the king would not suffer his royal command to be so

slighted, for the power of bestowing their nobles in marriage was

one of the many privileges of the kings of France, and that same

day Bertram was married to Helena, a forced and uneasy marriage

to Bertram, and of no promising hope to the poor lady, who,

though she gained the noble husband she had hazarded her life to

obtain, seemed to have won but a splendid blank, her husband’s

love not being a gift in the power of the King of France to

bestow.

Helena was no sooner married than she was desired by Bertram to

apply to the king for him for leave of absence from court; and

when she brought him the king’s permission for his departure,

Bertram told her that he was not prepared for this sudden

marriage, it had much unsettled him, and therefore she must not

wonder at the course he should pursue. If Helena wondered not,

she grieved when she found it was his intention to leave her. He

ordered her to go home to his mother. When Helena heard this

unkind command, she replied:

“Sir, I can nothing say to this but that I am your most obedient

servant, and shall ever with true observance seek to eke out that

desert wherein my homely stars have failed to equal my great

fortunes.”

But this humble speech of Helena’s did not at all move the

haughty Bertram to pity his gentle wife, and he parted from her

without even the common civility of a kind farewell.

Back to the countess then Helena returned. She had accomplished

the purport of her journey, she had preserved the life of the

king, and she had wedded her heart’s dear lord, the Count

Rousillon; but she returned back a dejected lady to her noble

mother-in-law, and as soon as she entered the house she received

a letter from Bertram which almost broke her heart.

The good countess received her with a cordial welcome, as if she

had been her son’s own choice and a lady of a high degree, and

she spoke kind words to comfort her for the unkind neglect of

Bertram in sending his wife home on her bridal day alone. But

this gracious reception failed to cheer the sad mind of Helena,

and she said:

“Madam, my lord is gone, forever gone.” She then read these words

out of Bertram’s letter:

“When you can get the ring from my finger, which never shall come

off, then call me husband, but in such a Then I write a Never.”

“This is a dreadful sentence!” said Helena.

The countess begged her to have patience, and said, now Bertram

was gone, she should be her child and that she deserved a lord

that twenty such rude boys as Bertram might tend upon, and hourly

call her mistress. But in vain by respectful condescension and

kind flattery this matchless mother tried to soothe the sorrows

of her daughter-in-law.

Helena still kept her eyes fixed upon the letter, and cried out

in an agony of grief, “TILL I HAVE NO WIFE, I HAVE NOTHING IN

FRANCE.” The countess asked her if she found those words in the

letter.

“Yes, madam,” was all poor Helena could answer.

The next morning Helena was missing. She left a letter to be

delivered to the countess after she was gone, to acquaint her

with the reason of her sudden absence. In this letter she

informed her that she was so much grieved at having driven

Bertram from his native country and his home, that to atone for

her offense, she had undertaken a pilgrimage to the shrine of St.

Jaques le Grand, and concluded with requesting the countess to

inform her son that the wife he so hated had left his house

forever.

Bertram, when he left Paris, went to Florence, and there became

an officer in the Duke of Florence’s army, and after a successful

war, in which he distinguished himself by many brave actions,

Bertram received letters from his mother containing the

acceptable tidings that Helena would no more disturb him; and he

was preparing to return home, when Helena herself, clad in her

pilgrim’s weeds, arrived at the city of Florence.

Florence was a city through which the pilgrims used to pass on

their way to St. Jaques le Grand; and when Helena arrived at this

city she heard that a hospitable widow dwelt there who used to

receive into her house the female pilgrims that were going to

visit the shrine of that saint, giving them lodging and kind

entertainment. To this good lady, therefore, Helena went, and the

widow gave her a courteous welcome and invited her to see

whatever was curious in that famous city, and told her that if

she would like to see the duke’s army she would take her where

she might have a full view of it.

“And you will see a countryman of yours,” said the widow. “His

name is Count Rousillon, who has done worthy service in the

duke’s wars.” Helena wanted no second invitation, when she found

Bertram was to make part of the show. She accompanied her

hostess; and a sad and mournful pleasure it was to her to look

once more upon her dear husband’s face.

“Is he not a handsome man?” said the widow.

“I like him well,” replied Helena, with great truth.

All the way they walked the talkative widow’s discourse was all

of Bertram. She told Helena the story of Bertram’s marriage, and

how he had deserted the poor lady his wife and entered into the

duke’s army to avoid living with her. To this account of her own

misfortunes Helena patiently listened, and when it was ended the

history of Bertram was not yet done, for then the widow began

another tale, every word of which sank deep into the mind of

Helena; for the story she now told was of Bertram’s love for her

daughter.

Though Bertram did not like the marriage forced on him by the

king, it seems he was not insensible to love, for since he had

been stationed with the army at Florence he had fallen in love

with Diana, a fair young gentlewoman, the daughter of this widow

who was Helena’s hostess; and every night, with music of all

sorts, and songs composed in praise of Diana’s beauty, he would

come under her window and solicit her love; and all his suit to

her was that she would permit him to visit her by stealth after

the family were retired to rest. But Diana would by no means be

persuaded to grant this improper request, nor give any

encouragement to his suit, knowing him to be a married man; for

Diana had been brought up under the counsels of a prudent mother,

who, though she was now in reduced circumstances, was well born

and descended from the noble family of the Capulets.

All this the good lady related to Helena, highly praising the

virtuous principles of her discreet daughter, which she said were

entirely owing to the excellent education and good advice she had

given her; and she further said that Bertram had been

particularly importunate with Diana to admit him to the visit he

so much desired that night, because he was going to leave

Florence early the next morning.

Though it grieved Helena to hear of Bertram’s love for the

widow’s daughter, yet from this story the ardent mind of Helena

conceived a project (nothing discouraged at the ill success of

her former one) to recover her truant lord. She disclosed to the

widow that she was Helena, the deserted wife of Bertram, and

requested that her kind hostess and her daughter would suffer

this visit from Bertram to take place, and allow her to pass

herself upon Bertram for Diana, telling them her chief motive for

desiring to have this secret meeting with her husband was to get

a ring from him, which, he had said, if ever she was in

possession of he would acknowledge her as his wife.

The widow and her daughter promised to assist her in this affair,

partly moved by pity for this unhappy, forsaken wife and partly

won over to her interest by the promises of reward which Helena

made them, giving them a purse of money in earnest of her future

favor. In the course of that day Helena caused information to be

sent to Bertram that she was dead, hoping that, when he thought

himself free to make a second choice by the news of her death, he

would offer marriage to her in her feigned character of Diana.

And if she could obtain the ring and this promise, too, she

doubted not she should make some future good come of it.

In the evening, after it was dark, Bertram was admitted into

Diana’s chamber, and Helena was there ready to receive him. The

flattering compliments and love discourse he addressed to Helena

were precious sounds to her though she knew they were meant for

Diana; and Bertram was so well pleased with her that he made her

a solemn promise to be her husband, and to love her forever;

which she hoped would be prophetic of a real affection, when he

should know it was his own wife, the despised Helena, whose

conversation had so delighted him.

Bertram never knew how sensible a lady Helena was, else perhaps

he would not have been so regardless of her; and seeing her every

day, he had entirely over looked her beauty; a face we are

accustomed to see constantly losing the effect which is caused by

the first sight either of beauty or of plainness; and of her

understanding it was impossible he should judge, because she felt

such reverence, mixed with her love for him, that she was always

silent in his presence. But now that her future fate, and the

happy ending of all her love-projects, seemed to depend on her

leaving a favorable impression on the mind of Bertram from this

night’s interview, she exerted all her wit to please him; and the

simple graces of her lively conversation and the endearing

sweetness of her manners so charmed Bertram that be vowed she

should be his wife. Helena begged the ring from off his finger as

a token of his regard, and he gave it to her; and in return for

this ring, which it was of such importance to her to possess, she

gave him another ring, which was one the king had made her a

present of. Before it was light in the morning she sent Bertram

away; and he immediately set out on his journey toward his

mother’s house.

Helena prevailed on the widow and Diana to accompany her to

Paris, their further assistance being necessary to the full

accomplishment of the plan she had formed. When they arrived

there, they found the king was gone upon a visit to the Countess

of Rousillon, and Helena followed the king with all the speed she

could make.

The king was still in perfect health, and his gratitude to her

who had been the means of his recovery was so lively in his mind

that the moment he saw the Countess of Rousillon he began to talk

of Helena, calling her a precious jewel that was lost by the

folly of her son; but seeing the subject distressed the countess,

who sincerely lamented the death of Helena, he said:

“My good lady, I have forgiven and forgotten all.”

But the good-natured old Lafeu, who was present, and could not

bear that the memory of his favorite Helena should be so lightly

passed over, said, “This I must say, the young lord did great

offense to his Majesty, his mother, and his lady; but to himself

he did the greatest wrong of all, for he has lost a wife whose

beauty astonished all eyes, whose words took all ears captive,

whose deep perfection made all hearts wish to serve her.”

The king said: “Praising what is lost makes the remembrance dear.

Well--call him hither”; meaning Bertram, who now presented

himself before the king, and on his expressing deep sorrow for

the injuries he had done to Helena the king, for his dead

father’s and his admirable mother’s sake, pardoned him and

restored him once more to his favor. But the gracious countenance

of the king was soon changed toward him, for he perceived that

Bertram wore the very ring upon his finger which he had given to

Helena; and he well remembered that Helena had called all the

saints in heaven to witness she would never part with that ring

unless she sent it to the king himself upon some great disaster

befalling her; and Bertram, on the king’s questioning him how he

came by the ring, told an improbable story of a lady throwing it

to him out of a window, and denied ever having seen Helena since

the day of their marriage. The king, knowing Bertram’s dislike to

his wife, feared he had destroyed her, and he ordered his guards

to seize Bertram, saying:

“I am wrapt in dismal thinking, for I fear the life of Helena was

foully snatched.”

At this moment Diana and her mother entered and presented a

petition to the king, wherein they begged his Majesty to exert

his royal power to compel Bertram to marry Diana, he having made

her a solemn promise of marriage. Bertram, fearing the king’s

anger, denied he had made any such promise; and then Diana

produced the ring (which Helena had put into her hands) to

confirm the truth of her words; and she said that she had given

Bertram the ring he then wore, in exchange for that, at the time

he vowed to marry her. On hearing this the king ordered the

guards to seize her also; and, her account of the ring differing

from Bertram’s, the king’s suspicions were confirmed, and he said

if they did not confess how they came by this ring of Helena’s

they should be both put to death. Diana requested her mother

might be permitted to fetch the jeweler of whom she bought the

ring, which, being granted, the widow went out, and presently

returned, leading in Helena herself.

The good countess, who in silent grief had beheld her son’s

danger, and had even dreaded that the suspicion of his having

destroyed his wife might possibly be true, finding her dear

Helena, whom she loved with even a maternal affection, was still

living, felt a delight she was hardly able to support; and the

king, scarce believing for joy that it was Helena, said:

“Is this indeed the wife of Bertram that I see?”

Helena, feeling herself yet an unacknowledged wife, replied, “No,

my good lord, it is but the shadow of a wife you see; the name

and not the thing.”

Bertram cried out: “Both, both! Oh pardon!”

“O my lord,” said Helena, “when I personated this fair maid I

found you wondrous kind; and look, here is your letter!” reading

to him in a joyful tone those words which she had once repeated

so sorrowfully, “WHEN FROM MY FINGER YOU CAN GET THIS RING--This

is done; it was to me you gave the ring. Will you be mine, now

you are doubly won?”

Bertram replied, “If you can make it plain that you were the lady

I talked with that night I will love you dearly, ever, ever

dearly.”

This was no difficult task, for the widow and Diana came with

Helena to prove this fact; and the king was so well pleased with

Diana for the friendly assistance she had rendered the dear lady

he so truly valued for the service she had done him that he

promised her also a noble husband, Helena’s history giving him a

hint that it was a suitable reward for kings to bestow upon fair

ladies when they perform notable services.

Thus Helena at last found that her father’s legacy was indeed

sanctified by the luckiest stars in heaven; for she was now the

beloved wife of her dear Bertram, the daughter-in-law of her

noble mistress, and herself the Countess of Rousillon.

TAMING OF THE SHREW

Katharine, the Shrew, was the eldest daughter of Baptista, a rich

gentleman of Padua. She was a lady of such an ungovernable spirit

and fiery temper, such a loud-tongued scold, that she was known

in Padua by no other name than Katharine the Shrew. It seemed

very unlikely, indeed impossible, that any gentleman would ever

be found who would venture to marry this lady, and therefore

Baptista was much blamed for deferring his consent to many

excellent offers that were made to her gentle sister Bianca,

putting off all Bianca’s suitors with this excuse, that when the

eldest sister was fairly off his bands they should have free

leave to address young Bianca.

It happened, however, that a gentleman, named Petruchio, came to

Padua purposely to look out for a wife, who, nothing discouraged

by these reports of Katharine’s temper, and hearing she was rich

and handsome, resolved upon marrying this famous termagant, and

taming her into a meek and manageable wife. And truly none was so

fit to set about this herculean labor as Petruchio, whose spirit

was as high as Katharine’s, and he was a witty and most

happy-tempered humorist, and withal so wise, and of such a true

judgment, that he well knew how to feign a passionate and furious

deportment when his spirits were so calm that himself could have

laughed merrily at his own angry feigning, for his natural temper

was careless and easy; the boisterous airs he assumed when he

became the husband of Katharine being but in sport, or, more

properly speaking, affected by his excellent discernment, as the

only means to overcome, in her own way, the passionate ways of

the furious Katharine.

A-courting, then, Petruchio went to Katharine the Shrew; and

first of all he applied to Baptista, her father, for leave to woo

his GENTLE DAUGHTER Katharine, as Petruchio called her, saying,

archly, that, having heard of her bashful modesty and mild

behavior, he had come from Verona to solicit her love. Her

father, though he wished her married, was forced to confess

Katharine would ill answer this character, it being soon apparent

of what manner of gentleness she was composed, for her

music-master rushed into the room to complain that the gentle

Katharine, his pupil, had broken his head with her lute for

presuming to find fault with her performance; which, when

Petruchio heard, he said:

“It is a brave wench. I love her more than ever, and long to have

some chat with her.” And hurrying the old gentleman for a

positive answer, he said: “My business is in haste, Signor

Baptista. I cannot come every day to woo. You knew my father. He

is dead, and has left me heir to all his lands and goods. Then

tell me, if I get your daughter’s love, what dowry you will give

with her.”

Baptista thought his manner was somewhat blunt for a lover; but,

being glad to get Katharine married, he answered that he would

give her twenty thousand crowns for her dowry, and half his

estate at his death. So this odd match was quickly agreed on and

Baptista went to apprise his shrewish daughter of her lover’s

addresses, and sent her in to Petruchio to listen to his suit.

In the mean time Petruchio was settling with himself the mode of

courtship be should pursue; and he said: “I will woo her with

some spirit when she comes. If she rails at me, why, then I will

tell her she sings as sweetly as a nightingale; and if she

frowns, I will say she looks as clear as roses newly washed with

dew. If she will not speak a word, I will praise the eloquence of

her language; and if she bids me leave her, I will give her

thanks as if she bid me stay with her a week.”

Now the stately Katharine entered, and Petruchio first addressed

her with:

“Good morrow, Kate, for that is your name, I hear.”

Katharine, not liking this plain salutation, said, disdainfully,

“They call me Katharine who do speak to me.”

“You lie,” replied the lover; “for you are called plain Kate, and

bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the Shrew; but, Kate, you are the

prettiest Kate in Christendom, and therefore, Kate, hearing your

mildness praised in every town, I am come to woo you for my

wife.”

A strange courtship they made of it. She in loud and angry terms

showing him how justly she had gained the name of Shrew, while he

still praised her sweet and courteous words, till at length,

hearing her father coming, he said (intending to make as quick a

wooing as possible):

“Sweet Katharine, let us set this idle chat aside, for your

father has consented that you shall be my wife, your dowry is

agreed on, and whether you will or no I will marry you.”

And now Baptista entering, Petruchio told him his daughter had

received him kindly and that she had promised to be married the

next Sunday. This Katharine denied, saying she would rather see

him hanged on Sunday, and reproached her father for wishing to

wed her to such a madcap ruffian as Petruchio. Petruchio desired

her father not to regard her angry words, for they had agreed she

should seem reluctant before him, but that when they were alone

he had found her very fond and loving; and he said to her:

“Give me your hand, Kate. I will go to Venice to buy you apparel

against our wedding-day. Provide the feast, father, bid the

wedding guests. I will be sure to bring rings, fine array, and

rich clothes, that my Katharine may be fine. And kiss me, Kate,

for we will be married on Sunday.”

On the Sunday all the wedding guests were assembled, but they

waited long before Petruchio came, and Katharine wept for

vexation to think that Petruchio had only been making a jest of

her. At last, however, he appeared; but he brought none of the

bridal finery be had promised Katharine, nor was he dressed

himself like a bridegroom, but in strange, disordered attire, as

if he meant to make a sport of the serious business he came

about; and his servant and the very horses on which they rode

were in like manner in mean and fantastic fashion habited.

Petruchio could not be persuaded to change his dress. He said

Katharine was to be married to him, and not to his clothes. And,

finding it was in vain to argue with him, to the church they

went, he still behaving in the same mad way, for when the priest

asked Petruchio if Katharine should be his wife, he swore so loud

that she should, that, all amazed, the priest let fall his book,

and as he stooped to take it up this mad-brained bridegroom gave

him such a cuff that down fell the priest and his book again. And

all the while they were being married he stamped and swore so

that the high-spirited Katharine trembled and shook with fear.

After the ceremony was over, while they were yet in the church,

he called for wine, and drank a loud health to the company, and

threw a sop which was at the bottom of the glass full in the

sexton’s face, giving no other reason for this strange act than

that the sexton’s beard grew thin and hungerly, and seemed to ask

the sop as he was drinking. Never sure was there such a mad

marriage; but Petruchio did but put this wildness on the better

to succeed in the plot he had formed to tame his shrewish wife.

Baptista had provided a sumptuous marriage feast, but when they

returned from church, Petruchio, taking hold of Katharine,

declared his intention of carrying his wife home instantly, and

no remonstrance of his father-in-law, or angry words of the

enraged Katharine, could make him change his purpose. He claimed

a husband’s right to dispose of his wife as he pleased, and away

he hurried Katharine off; he seeming so daring and resolute that

no one dared attempt to stop him.

Petruchio mounted his wife upon a miserable horse, lean and lank,

which he had picked out for the purpose, and, himself and his

servant no better mounted, they journeyed on through rough and

miry ways, and ever when this horse of Katharine’s stumbled he

would storm and swear at the poor jaded beast, who could scarce

crawl under his burthen, as if he had been the most passionate

man alive.

At length, after a weary journey, during which Katharine had

heard nothing but the wild ravings of Petruchio at the servant

and the horses, they arrived at his house. Petruchio welcomed her

kindly to her home, but he resolved she should have neither rest

nor food that night. The tables were spread, and supper soon

served; but Petruchio, pretending to find fault with every dish,

threw the meat about the floor, and ordered the servants to

remove it away; and all this he did, as he said, in love for his

Katharine, that she might not eat meat that was not well dressed.

And when Katharine, weary and supperless, retired to rest, he

found the same fault with the bed, throwing the pillows and

bedclothes about the room, so that she was forced to sit down in

a chair, where, if, she chanced to drop asleep, she was presently

awakened by the loud voice of her husband storming at the

servants for the ill-making of his wife’s bridal-bed.

The next day Petruchio pursued the same course, still speaking

kind words to Katharine, but, when she attempted to eat, finding

fault with everything that was set before her, throwing the

breakfast on the floor as he had done the supper; and Katharine,

the haughty Katharine, was fain to beg the servants would bring

her secretly a morsel of food; but they, being instructed by

Petruchio, replied they dared not give her anything unknown to

their master.

“Ah,” said she, “did he marry me to famish me? Beggars that come

to my father’s door have food given them. But I, who never knew

what it was to entreat for anything, am starved for want of food,

giddy for want of sleep, with oaths kept waking, and with

brawling fed; and that which vexes me more than all, he does it

under the name of perfect love, pretending that if I sleep or

eat, it were present death to me.”

Here the soliloquy was interrupted by the entrance of Petruchio.

He, not meaning she should be quite starved, had brought her a

small portion of meat, and he said to her:

“How fares my sweet Kate? Here, love, you see how diligent I am.

I have dressed your meat myself. I am sure this kindness merits

thanks. What, not a word? Nay, then you love not the meat, and

all the pains I have taken is to no purpose.” He then ordered the

servant to take the dish away.

Extreme hunger, which had abated the pride of Katharine, made her

say, though angered to the heart, “I pray you let it stand.”

But this was not all Petruchio intended to bring her to, and he

replied, “The poorest service is repaid with thanks, and so shall

mine before you touch the meat.”

On this Katharine brought out a reluctant “I thank you, sir.”

And now he suffered her to make a slender meal, saying: “Much

good may it do your gentle heart, Kate. Eat apace! And now, my

honey love, we will return to your father’s house and revel it as

bravely as the best, with silken coats and caps and golden rings,

with ruffs and scarfs and fans and double change of finery.” And

to make her believe be really intended to give her these gay

things, he called in a tailor and a haberdasher, who brought some

new clothes he had ordered for her, and then, giving her plate to

the servant to take away, before she had half satisfied her

hunger, he said:

“What, have you dined?”

The haberdasher presented a cap, saying, “Here is the cap your

worship bespoke.” On which Petruchio began to storm afresh,

saying the cap was molded in a porringer and that it was no

bigger than a cockle or walnut shell, desiring the haberdasher to

take it away and make it bigger.

Katharine said, “I will have this; all gentlewomen wear such caps

as these.”

“When you are gentle,” replied Petruchio, “you shall have one,

too, and not till then.”

The meat Katharine had eaten had a little revived her fallen

spirits, and she said: “Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to

speak, and speak I will. I am no child, no babe. Your betters

have endured to hear me say my mind; and if you cannot, you had

better stop your ears.”

Petruchio would not hear these angry words, for he had happily

discovered a better way of managing his wife than keeping up a

jangling argument with her; therefore his answer was:

“Why, you say true; it is a paltry cap, and I love you for not

liking it.”

“Love me, or love me not,” said Katharine, “I like the cap, and I

will have this cap or none.”

“You say you wish to see the gown,” said Petruchio, still

affecting to misunderstand her.

The tailor then came forward and showed her a fine gown he had

made for her. Petruchio, whose intent was that she should have

neither cap nor gown, found as much fault with that.

“Oh, mercy, Heaven!” said he, “what stuff is here! What, do you

call this a sleeve? it is like a demi-cannon, carved up and down

like an apple tart.”

The tailor said, “You bid me make it according to the fashion of

the times”; and Katharine said she never saw a better-fashioned

gown. This was enough for Petruchio, and privately desiring these

people might be paid for their goods, and excuses made to them

for the seemingly strange treatment he bestowed upon them, he

with fierce words and furious gestures drove the tailor and the

haberdasher out of the room; and then, turning to Katharine, he

said:

“Well, come, my Kate, we will go to your father’s even in these

mean garments we now wear.”

And then he ordered his horses, affirming they should reach

Baptista’s house by dinner-time, for that it was but seven

o’clock. Now it was not early morning, but the very middle of the

day, when he spoke this; therefore Katharine ventured to say,

though modestly, being almost overcome by the vehemence of his

manner:

“I dare assure you, sir, it is two o’clock, and will be

suppertime before we get there.”

But Petruchio meant that she should be so completely subdued that

she should assent to everything he said before he carried her to

her father; and therefore, as if he were lord even of the sun and

could command the hours, he said it. should be what time he

pleased to have it, before beset forward. “For,” he said,

“whatever I say or do, you still are crossing it. I will not go

to-day, and when I go, it shall be what o’clock I say it is.”

Another day Katharine was forced to practise her newly found

obedience, and not till he had brought her proud spirit to such a

perfect subjection that she dared not remember there was such a

word as contradiction would Petruchio allow her to go to her

father’s house; and even while they were upon their journey

thither she was in danger of being turned back again, only

because she happened to hint it was the sun when he affirmed the

moon shone brightly at noonday.

“Now, by my mother’s son,” said be, “and that is myself, it shall

be the moon, or stars, or what I list, before I journey to your

father’s house.” He then made as if he were going back again. But

Katharine, no longer Katharine the Shrew, but the obedient wife,

said, “Let us go forward, I pray, now we have come so far, and it

shall be the sun, or moon, or what you please; and if you please

to call it a rush candle henceforth, I vow it shall be so for

me.”

This he was resolved to prove, therefore he said again, “I say it

is the moon.”

“I know it is the moon,” replied Katharine.

“You lie. It is the blessed sun,” said Petruchio.

“Then it is the blessed sun,” replied Katharine; “but sun it is

not when you say it is not. What you will have it named, even so

it is, and so it ever shall be for Katharine.”

Now then he suffered her to proceed on her journey; but further

to try if this yielding humor would last, he addressed an old

gentleman they met on the road as if he had been a young woman,

saying to him, “Good morrow, gentle mistress”; and asked

Katharine if she had ever beheld a fairer gentlewoman, praising

the red and white of the old man’s cheeks, and comparing his eyes

to two bright stars; and again he addressed him, saying, “Fair,

lovely maid, once more good day to you!” and said to his wife,

“Sweet Kate, embrace her for her beauty’s sake.”

The now completely vanquished Katharine quickly adopted her

husband’s opinion, and made her speech in like sort to the old

gentleman, saying to him: “Young budding virgin, you are fair and

fresh and sweet. Whither are you going, and where is your

dwelling? Happy are the parents of so fair a child.”

“Why, how now, Kate,” said Petruchio. “I hope you are not mad.

This is a man, old and wrinkled, faded and withered, and not a

maiden, as you say he is.”

On this Katharine said, “Pardon me, old gentleman; the sun has so

dazzled my eyes that everything I look on seemeth green. Now I

perceive you are a reverend father. I hope you will pardon me for

my sad mistake.”

“Do, good old grandsire,” said Petruchio, “and tell us which way

you are traveling. We shall be glad of your good company, if you

are going our way.”

The old gentleman replied: “Fair sir, and you, my merry mistress,

your strange encounter has much amazed me. My name is Vincentio,

and I am going to visit a son of mine who lives at Padua.”

Then Petruchio knew the old gentleman to be the father of

Lucentio, a young gentleman who was to be married to Baptista’s

younger daughter, Bianca, and he made Vincentio very happy by

telling him the rich marriage his son was about to make; and they

all journeyed on pleasantly together till they came to Baptista’s

house, where there was a large company assembled to celebrate the

wedding of Bianca and Lucentio, Baptista having willingly

consented to the marriage of Bianca when he had got Katharine off

his hands.

When they entered, Baptista welcomed them to the wedding feast,

and there was present also another newly married pair.

Lucentio, Bianca’s husband, and Hortensio, the other new-married

man, could not forbear sly jests, which seemed to hint at the

shrewish disposition of Petruchio’s wife, and these fond

bridegrooms seemed highly pleased with the mild tempers of the

ladies they had chosen, laughing at Petruchio for his less

fortunate choice. Petruchio took little notice of their jokes

till the ladies were retired after dinner, and then he perceived

Baptista himself joined in the laugh against him, for when

Petruchio affirmed that his wife would prove more obedient than

theirs, the father of Katharine said, “Now, in good sadness, son

Petruchio, I fear you have got the veriest shrew of all.”

“Well,” said Petruchio, “I say no, and therefore, for assurance

that I speak the truth, let us each one send for his wife, and he

whose wife is most obedient to come at first when she is sent for

shall win a wager which we will propose.”

To this the other two husbands willingly consented, for they were

confident that their gentle wives would prove more obedient than

the headstrong Katharine, and they proposed a wager of twenty

crowns. But Petruchio merrily said he would lay as much as that

upon his hawk or hound, but twenty times as much upon his wife.

Lucentio and Hortensio raised the wager to a hundred crowns, and

Lucentio first sent his servant to desire Bianca would come to

him. But the servant returned, and said:

“Sir, my mistress sends you word she is busy and cannot come.”

“How,” said Petruchio, “does she say she is busy and cannot come?

Is that an answer for a wife?”

Then they laughed at him, and said it would be well if Katharine

did not send him a worse answer. And now it was Hortensio’s turn

to send for his wife; and be said to his servant, “Go, and

entreat my wife to come to me.”

“Oh ho! entreat her!” said Petruchio.

“Nay, then, she needs must come.”

“I am afraid, sir,” said Hortensio, “your wife will not be

entreated.” But presently this civil husband looked a little

blank when the servant returned without his mistress; and he said

to him:

“How now? Where is my wife?”

“Sir,” said the servant, “my mistress says you have some goodly

jest in hand, and therefore she will not come. She bids you come

to her.”

“Worse and worse!” said Petruchio. And then he sent his servant,

saying, “Sirrah, go to your mistress and tell her I command her

to come to me.”

The company had scarcely time to think she would not obey this

summons when Baptista, all in amaze, exclaimed:

“Now, by my holidame, here comes Katharine!”

And she entered, saying meekly to Petruchio, “What is your will,

sir, that you send for me?”

“Where is your sister and Hortensio’s wife?” said he.

Katharine replied, “They sit conferring by the parlor fire.”

“Go, fetch them hither!” said Petruchio.

Away went Katharine without reply to perform her husband’s

command.

“Here is a wonder,” said Lucentio, “if you talk of a wonder.”

“And so it is,” said Hortensio. “I marvel what it bodes.”

“Marry, peace it bodes,” said Petruchio, “and love, and quiet

life, and right supremacy; and, to be short, everything that is

sweet and happy.”

Katharine’s father, overjoyed to see this reformation in his

daughter, said: “Now, fair befall thee, son Petruchio! You have

won the wager, and I will add another twenty thousand crowns to

her dowry, as if she were another daughter, for she is changed as

if she had never been.”

“Nay,” said Petruchio, “I will win the wager better yet, and show

more signs of her new-built virtue and obedience.” Katharine now

entering with the two ladies, he continued: “See where she comes,

and brings your froward wives as prisoners to her womanly

persuasion. Katharine, that cap of yours does not become you; off

with that bauble, and throw it underfoot.”

Katharine instantly took off her cap and threw it down.

“Lord!” said Hortensio’s wife, “may I never have a cause to sigh

till I am brought to such a silly pass!”

And Bianca, she, too, said, “Fie! What foolish duty call you

this?”

On this Bianca’s husband said to her, “I wish your duty were as

foolish, too! The wisdom of your duty, fair Bianca, has cost me a

hundred crowns since dinner-time.”

“The more fool you,” said Bianca, “for laying on my duty.”

“Katharine,” said Petruchio, “I charge you tell these headstrong

women what duty they owe their lords and husbands.”

And to the wonder of all present, the reformed shrewish lady

spoke as eloquently in praise of the wifelike duty of obedience

as she had practised it implicitly in a ready submission to

Petruchio’s will. And Katharine once more became famous in Padua,

not as heretofore as Katharine the Shrew, but as Katharine the

most obedient and duteous wife in Padua.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

The states of Syracuse and Ephesus being at variance, there was a

cruel law made at Ephesus, ordaining that if any merchant of

Syracuse was seen in the city of Ephesus he was to be put to

death, unless he could pay a thousand marks for the ransom of his

life.

Aegeon, an old merchant of Syracuse, was discovered in the

streets of Ephesus, and brought before the duke, either to pay

this heavy fine or receive sentence of death.

Aegeon had no money to pay the fine, and the duke, before he

pronounced the sentence of death upon him, desired him to relate

the history of his life, and to tell for what cause he had

ventured to come to the city of Ephesus, which it was death for

any Syracusan merchant to enter.

Aegeon said that he did not fear to die, for sorrow had made him

weary of his life, but that a heavier task could not have been

imposed upon him than to relate the events of his unfortunate

life. He then began his own history, in the following words:

“I was born at Syracuse, and brought up to the profession of a

merchant. I married a lady, with whom I lived very happily, but,

being obliged to go to Epidamnum, I was detained there by my

business six months, and then, finding I should be obliged to

stay some time longer, I sent for my wife, who, as soon as she

arrived, was brought to bed of two sons, and what was very

strange, they were both so exactly alike that it was impossible

to distinguish the one from the other. At the same time that my

wife was brought to bed of these twin boys a poor woman in the

inn where my wife lodged was brought to bed of two sons, and

these twins were as much like each other as my two sons were. The

parents of these children being exceeding poor, I bought the two

boys and brought them up to attend upon my sons.

“My sons were very fine children, and my wife was not a little

proud of two such boys; and she daily wishing to return home, I

unwillingly agreed, and in an evil hour we got on shipboard, for

we had not sailed above a league from Epidamnum before a dreadful

storm arose, which continued with such violence that the sailors,

seeing no chance of saving the ship, crowded into the boat to

save their own lives, leaving us alone in the ship, which we

every moment expected would be destroyed by the fury of the

storm.

“The incessant weeping of my wife and the piteous complaints of

the pretty babes, who, not knowing what to fear, wept for

fashion, because they saw their mother weep, filled me with

terror for them, though I did not for myself fear death; and all

my thoughts were bent to contrive means for their safety. I tied

my youngest son to the end of a small spire mast, such as

seafaring men provide against storms; at the other end I bound

the youngest of the twin slaves, and at the same time I directed

my wife how to fasten the other children in like manner to

another mast. She thus having the care of the eldest two

children, and I of the younger two, we bound ourselves separately

to these masts with the children; and but for this contrivance we

had all been lost, for the ship split on a mighty rock and was

dashed in pieces; and we, clinging to these slender masts, were

supported above the water, where I, having the care of two

children, was unable to assist my wife, who, with the other

children, was soon separated from me; but while they were yet in

my sight they were taken up by a boat of fishermen, from Corinth

(as I supposed), and, seeing them in safety, I had no care but to

struggle with the wild sea-waves, to preserve my dear son and the

youngest slave. At length we, in our turn, were taken up by a

ship, and the sailors, knowing me, gave us kind welcome and

assistance and landed us in safety at Syracuse; but from that sad

hour I have never known what became of my wife and eldest child.

“My youngest son, and now my only care, when he was eighteen

years of age, began to be inquisitive after his mother and his

brother, and often importuned me that he might take his

attendant, the young slave, who had also lost his brother, and

go in search of them. At length I unwillingly gave consent, for,

though I anxiously desired to hear tidings of my wife and eldest

son, yet in sending my younger one to find them I hazarded the

loss of him also. It is now seven years since my son left me;

five years have I passed in traveling through the world in search

of him. I have been in farthest Greece, and through the bounds of

Asia, and, coasting homeward, I landed here in Ephesus, being

unwilling to leave any place unsought that harbors men; but this

day must end the story of my life, and happy should I think

myself in my death if I were assured my wife and sons were

living.”

Here the hapless Aegeon ended the account of his misfortunes; and

the duke, pitying this unfortunate father who had brought upon

himself this great peril by his love for his lost son, said if it

were not against the laws, which his oath and dignity did not

permit him to alter, he would freely pardon him; yet, instead of

dooming him to instant death, as the strict letter of the law

required, he would give him that day to try if he could beg or

borrow the money to pay the fine.

This day of grace did seem no great favor to Aegeon, for, not

knowing any man in Ephesus, there seemed to him but little chance

that any stranger would lend or give him a thousand marks to pay

the fine; and, helpless and hopeless of any relief, he retired

from the presence of the duke in the custody of a jailer.

Aegeon supposed he knew no person in Ephesus; but at the time he

was in danger of losing his life through the careful search he

was making after his youngest son that son, and his eldest son

also, were in the city of Ephesus.

Aegeon’s sons, besides being exactly alike in face and person,

were both named alike, being both called Antipholus, and the two

twin slaves were also both named Dromio. Aegeon’s youngest son,

Antipholus of Syracuse, he whom the old man had come to Ephesus

to seek, happened to arrive at Ephesus with his slave Dromio that

very same day that Aegeon did; and he being also a merchant of

Syracuse, he would have been in the same danger that his father

was, but by good fortune he met a friend who told him the peril

an old merchant of Syracuse was in, and advised him to pass for a

merchant of Epidamnum. This Antipholus agreed to do, and he was

sorry to hear one of his own countrymen was in this danger, but

he little thought this old merchant was his own father.

The eldest son of Aegeon (who must be called Antipholus of

Ephesus, to distinguish him from his brother Antipholus of

Syracuse) had lived at Ephesus twenty years, and, being a rich

man, was well able to have paid the money for the ransom of his

father’s life; but Antipholus knew nothing of his father, being

so young when he was taken out of the sea with his mother by the

fishermen that he only remembered he had been so preserved; but

he had no recollection of either his father or his mother, the

fishermen who took up this Antipholus and his mother and the

young slave Dromio having carried the two children away from her

(to the great grief of that unhappy lady), intending to sell

them.

Antipholus and Dromio were sold by them to Duke Menaphon, a

famous warrior, who was uncle to the Duke of Ephesus, and he

carried the boys to Ephesus when he went to visit the duke, his

nephew.

The Duke of Ephesus, taking a liking to young Antipholus, when he

grew up made him an officer in his army, in which he

distinguished himself by his great bravery in the wars, where he

saved the life of his patron, the duke, who rewarded his merit by

marrying him to Adriana, a rich lady of Ephesus, with whom he was

living (his slave Dromio still attending him) at the time his

father came there.

Antipholus of Syracuse, when he parted with his friend, who,

advised him to say he came from Epidamnum, gave his slave Dromio

some money to carry to the inn where he intended to dine, and in

the mean time he said he would walk about and view the city and

observe the manners of the people.

Dromio was a pleasant fellow, and when Antipholus was dull and

melancholy he used to divert himself with the odd humors and

merry jests of his slave, so that the freedoms of speech he

allowed in Dromio were greater than is usual between masters and

their servants.

When Antipholus of Syracuse had sent Dromio away, he stood awhile

thinking over his solitary wanderings in search of his mother and

his brother, of whom in no place where he landed could he hear

the least tidings; and he said sorrowfully to himself, “I am like

a drop of water in the ocean. which, seeking to find its fellow

drop, loses itself in the wide sea, So I, unhappily, to find a

mother and a brother, do lose myself.”

While he was thus meditating on his weary travels, which had

hitherto been so useless, Dromio (as he thought) returned.

Antipholus, wondering that he came back so soon, asked him where

he had left the money. Now it was not his own Dromio, but the

twin-brother that lived with Antipholus of Ephesus, that he spoke

to. The two Dromios and the two Antipholuses were still as much

alike as Aegeon had said they were in their infancy; therefore no

wonder Antipholus thought it was his own slave returned, and

asked him why he came back so soon.

Dromio replied: “My mistress sent me to bid you come to dinner.

The capon burns, and the pig falls from the spit, and the meat

will be all cold if you do not come home.”

“These jests are out of season,” said Antipholus. “Where did you

leave the money?”

Dromio still answering that his mistress had sent him to fetch

Antipholus to dinner, “What mistress?” said Antipholus.

“Why, your worship’s wife, sir!” replied Dromio.

Antipholus having no wife, he was very angry with Dromio, and

said: “Because I familiarly sometimes chat with you, you presume

to jest with me in this free manner. I am not in a sportive humor

now. Where is the money? We being strangers here, how dare you

trust so great a charge from your own custody?”

Dromio, hearing his master, as he thought him, talk of their

being strangers, supposing Antipholus was jesting, replied,

merrily: “I pray you, sir, jest as you sit at dinner. I had no

charge but to fetch you home to dine with my mistress and her

sister.”

Now Antipholus lost all patience, and beat Dromio, who ran home

and told his mistress that his master had refused to come to

dinner and said that he had no wife.

Adriana, the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, was very angry when

she heard that her husband said he had no wife; for she was of a

jealous temper, and she said her husband meant that he loved

another lady better than herself; and she began to fret, and say

unkind words of jealousy and reproach of her husband; and her

sister Luciana, who lived with her, tried in vain to persuade her

out of her groundless suspicions.

Antipholus of Syracuse went to the inn, and found Dromio with the

money in safety there, and, seeing his own Dromio, he was going

again to chide him for his free jests, when Adriana came up to

him, and, not doubting but it was her husband she saw, she began

to reproach him for looking strange upon her (as well he might,

never having seen this angry lady before); and then she told him

how well he loved her before they were married, and that now he

loved some other lady instead of her.

“How comes it now, my husband,” said she, “oh, how comes it that

I have lost your love?”

“Plead you to me, fair dame?” said the astonished Antipholus.

It was in vain he told her he was not her husband and that he had

been in Ephesus but two hours. She insisted on his going home

with her, and Antipholus at last, being unable to get away, went

with her to his brother’s house, and dined with Adriana and her

sister, the one calling him husband and the other brother, he,

all amazed, thinking he must have been married to her in his

sleep, or that he was sleeping now. And Dromio, who followed

them, was no less surprised, for the cook-maid, who was his

brother’s wife, also claimed him for her husband.

While Antipholus of Syracuse was dining with his brother’s wife,

his brother, the real husband, returned home to dinner with his

slave Dromio; but the servants would not open the door, because

their mistress had ordered them not to admit any company; and

when they repeatedly knocked, and said they were Antipholus and

Dromio, the maids laughed at them, and said that Antipholus was

at dinner with their mistress, and Dromio was in the kitchen, and

though they almost knocked the door down, they could not gain

admittance, and at last Antipholus went away very angry, and

strangely surprised at, hearing a gentleman was dining with his

wife.

When Antipholus of Syracuse had finished his dinner, he was so

perplexed at the lady’s still persisting in calling him husband,

and at hearing that Dromio had also been claimed by the cookmaid,

that he left the house as soon as he could find any pretense to

get away; for though he was very much pleased with Luciana, the

sister, yet the jealous-tempered Adriana he disliked very much,

nor was Dromio at all better satisfied with his fair wife in the

kitchen; therefore both master and man were glad to get away from

their new wives as fast as they could.

The moment Antipholus of Syracuse had left the house he was met

by a goldsmith, who, mistaking him, as Adriana had done, for

Antipholus of Ephesus, gave him a gold chain, calling him by his

name; and when Antipholus would have refused the chain, saying it

did not belong to him, the goldsmith replied he made it by his

own orders, and went away, leaving the chain in the hands of

Antipholus, who ordered his man Dromio to get his things on board

a ship, not choosing to stay in a place any longer where he met

with such strange adventures that he surely thought himself

bewitched.

The goldsmith who had given the chain to the wrong Antipholus was

arrested immediately after for a sum of money he owed; and

Antipholus, the married brother, to whom the goldsmith thought he

had given the chain, happened to come to the place where the

officer was arresting the goldsmith, who, when he saw Antipholus,

asked him to pay for the gold chain he had just delivered to him,

the price amounting to nearly the same sum as that for which he

had been arrested. Antipholus denying the having received the

chain, and the goldsmith persisting to declare that he had but a

few minutes before given it to him, they disputed this matter a

long time, both thinking they were right; for Antipholus knew the

goldsmith never gave him the chain, and so like were the two

brothers, the goldsmith was as certain he had delivered the chain

into his hands, till at last the officer took the goldsmith away

to prison for the debt he owed, and at the same time the

goldsmith made the officer arrest Antipholus for the price of the

chain; so that at the conclusion of their dispute Antipholus and

the merchant were both taken away to prison together.

As Antipholus was going to prison, he met Dromio of Syracuse, his

brother’s slave, and, mistaking him for his own, he ordered him

to go to Adriana his wife, and tell her to send the money for

which he was arrested. Dromio, wondering that his master should

send him back to the strange house where he dined, and from which

he had just before been in such haste to depart, did not dare to

reply, though he came to tell his master the ship was ready to

sail, for he saw Antipholus was in no humor to be jested with.

Therefore he went away, grumbling within himself that he must

return to Adriana’s house, “Where,” said he, “Dowsabel claims me

for a husband. But I must go, for servants must obey their

masters’ commands.”

Adriana gave him the money, and as Dromio was returning he met

Antipholus of Syracuse, who was still in amaze at the surprising

adventures he met with, for, his brother being well known in

Ephesus, there was hardly a man he met in the streets but saluted

him as an old acquaintance. Some offered him money which they

said was owing to him, some invited him to come and see them, and

some gave him thanks for kindnesses they said he had done them,

all mistaking him for his brother. A tailor showed him some silks

he had bought for him, and insisted upon taking measure of him

for some clothes.

Antipholus began to think he was among a nation of sorcerers and

witches, and Dromio did not at all relieve his master from his

bewildered thoughts by asking him how he got free from the

officer who was carrying him to prison, and giving him the purse

of gold which Adriana had sent to pay the debt with. This talk of

Dromio’s of the arrest and of a prison, and of the money he had

brought from Adriana, perfectly confounded Antipholus, and he

said, “This fellow Dromio is certainly distracted, and we wander

here in illusions,” and, quite terrified at his own confused

thoughts, he cried out, “Some blessed power deliver us from this

strange place!”

And now another stranger came up to him, and she was a lady, and

she, too, called him Antipholus, and told him he had dined with

her that day, and asked him for a gold chain which she said he

had promised to give her. Antipholus now lost all patience, and,

calling her a sorceress, he denied that he had ever promised her

a chain, or dined with her, or had even seen her face before that

moment. The lady persisted in affirming he had dined with her and

had promised her a chain, which Antipholus still denying, she

further said that she had given him a valuable ring, and if he

would not give her the gold chain, she insisted upon having her

own ring again. On this Antipholus became quite frantic, and

again calling her sorceress and witch, and denying all knowledge

of her or her ring, ran away from her, leaving her astonished at

his words and his wild looks, for nothing to her appeared more

certain than that he had dined with her, and that she had given

him a ring in consequence of his promising to make her a present

of a gold chain. But this lady had fallen into the same mistake

the others had done, for she had taken him for his brother; the

married Antipholus had done all the things she taxed this

Antipholus with.

When the married Antipholus was denied entrance into his house

(those within supposing him to be already there) be had gone away

very angry, believing it to be one of his wife’s jealous freaks,

to which she was very subject, and, remembering that she had

often falsely accused him of visiting other ladies, he, to be

revenged on her for shutting him out of his own house, determined

to go and dine with this lady, and she receiving him with great

civility, and his wife having so highly offended him, Antipholus

promised to give her a gold chain which he had intended as a

present for his wife; it was the same chain which the goldsmith

by mistake had given to his brother. The lady liked so well the

thoughts of having a fine gold chain that she gave the married

Antipholus a ring; which when, as she supposed (taking his

brother for him), he denied, and said he did not know her, and

left her in such a wild passion, she began to think he was

certainly out of his senses; and presently she resolved to go and

tell Adriana that her husband was mad. And while she was telling

it to Adriana he came, attended by the jailer (who allowed him to

come home to get the money to pay the debt), for the purse of

money which Adriana had sent by Dromio and he had delivered to

the other Antipholus.

Adriana believed the story the lady told her of her husband’s

madness must be true when he reproached her for shutting him out

of his own house; and remembering how he had protested all

dinner-time that he was not her husband and had never been in

Ephesus till that day, she had no doubt that he was mad; she

therefore paid the jailer the money, and, having discharged him,

she ordered her servants to bind her husband with ropes, and had

him conveyed into a dark room, and sent for a doctor to come and

cure him of his madness, Antipholus all the while hotly

exclaiming against this false accusation, which the exact

likeness he bore to his brother had brought upon him. But his

rage only the more confirmed them in the belief that he was mad;

and Dromio persisting in the same story, they bound him also and

took him away along with his master.

Soon after Adriana had put her husband into confinement a servant

came to tell her that Antipholus and Dromio must have broken

loose from their keepers, for that they were both walking at

liberty in the next street. On hearing this Adriana ran out to

fetch him home, taking some people with her to secure her husband

again; and her sister went along with her. When they came to the

gates of a convent in their neighborhood, there they saw

Antipholus and Dromio, as they thought, being again deceived by

the likeness of the twin brothers.

Antipholus of Syracuse was still beset with the perplexities this

likeness had brought upon him. The chain which the goldsmith had

given him was about his neck, and the goldsmith was reproaching

him for denying that he had it and refusing to pay for it, and

Antipholus was protesting that the goldsmith freely gave him the

chain in the morning, and that from that hour he had never seen

the goldsmith again.

And now Adriana came up to him and claimed him as her lunatic

husband who had escaped from his keepers, and the men she brought

with her were going to lay violent hands on Antipholus and

Dromio; but they ran into the convent, and Antipholus begged the

abbess to give him shelter in her house.

And now came out the lady abbess herself to inquire into the

cause of this disturbance. She was a grave and venerable lady,

and wise to judge of what she saw, and she would not too hastily

give up the man who had sought protection in her house; so she

strictly questioned the wife about the story she told of her

husband’s madness, and she said:

“What is the cause of this sudden distemper of your husband’s?

Has he lost his wealth at sea? Or is it the death of some dear

friend that has disturbed his mind?”

Adriana replied that no such things as these had been the cause.

“Perhaps,” said the abbess, “he has fixed his affections on some

other lady than you, his wife, and that has driven him to this

state.”

Adriana said she had long thought the love of some other lady was

the cause of his frequent absences from home.

Now it was not his love for another, but the teasing jealousy of

his wife’s temper, that often obliged Antipholus to leave his

home; and the abbess (suspecting this from the vehemence of

Adriana’s manner), to learn the truth, said:

“You should have reprehended him for this.”

“Why, so I did,” replied Adriana.

“Aye,” said the abbess, “but perhaps not enough.”

Adriana, willing to convince the abbess that she had said enough

to Antipholus on this subject, replied: “It was the constant

subject of our conversation; in bed I would not let him sleep for

speaking of it. At table I would not let him eat for speaking of

it. When I was alone with him I talked of nothing else; and in

company I gave him frequent hints of it. Still all my talk was

how vile and bad it was in him to love any lady better than me.”

The lady abbess, having drawn this full confession from the

jealous Adriana, now said: “And therefore comes it that your

husband is mad. The venomous clamor of a jealous woman is a more

deadly poison than a mad dog’s tooth. It seems his sleep was

hindered by your railing; no wonder that his head is light; and

his meat was sauced with your upbraidings; unquiet meals make ill

digestions, and that has thrown him into this fever. You say his

sports were disturbed by your brawls; being debarred from the

enjoyment of society and recreation, what could ensue but dull

melancholy and comfortless despair? The consequence is, then,

that your jealous fits have made your husband mad.”

Luciana would have excused her sister, saying she always

reprehended her husband mildly; and she said to her sister, “Why

do you hear these rebukes without answering them?”

But the abbess had made her so plainly perceive her fault that

she could only answer, “She has betrayed me to my own reproof.”

Adriana, though ashamed of her own conduct, still insisted on

having her husband delivered up to her; but the abbess would

suffer no person to enter her house, nor would she deliver up

this unhappy man to the care of the jealous wife, determining

herself to use gentle means for his recovery, and she retired

into her house again, and ordered her gates to be shut against

them.

During the course of this eventful day, in which so many errors

had happened from the likeness the twin brothers bore to each

other, old Aegeon’s day of grace was passing away, it being now

near sunset; and at sunset he was doomed to die if he could not

pay the money.

The place of his execution was near this convent, and here he

arrived just as the abbess retired into the convent; the duke

attending in person, that, if any offered to pay the money, he

might be present to pardon him.

Adriana stopped this melancholy procession, and cried out to the

duke for justice, telling him that the abbess had refused to

deliver up her lunatic husband to her care. While she was

speaking, her real husband and his servant, Dromio, who had got

loose, came before the duke to demand justice, complaining that

his wife had confined him on a false charge of lunacy, and

telling in what manner he had broken his bands and eluded the

vigilance of his keepers. Adriana was strangely surprised to see

her husband when she thought he had been within the convent.

Aegeon, seeing his son, concluded this was the son who had left

him to go in search of his mother and his brother, and he felt

secure that this dear son would readily pay the money demanded

for his ransom. He therefore spoke to Antipholus in words of

fatherly affection, with joyful hope that he should now be

released. But, to the utter astonishment of Aegeon, his son

denied all knowledge of him, as well he might, for this

Antipholus had never seen his father since they were separated in

the storm in his infancy. But while the poor old Aegeon was in

vain endeavoring to make his son acknowledge him, thinking surely

that either his griefs and the anxieties he had suffered had so

strangely altered him that his son did not know him or else that

he was ashamed to acknowledge his father in his misery--in the

midst of this perplexity the lady abbess and the other Antipholus

and Dromio came out, and the wondering Adriana saw two husbands

and two Dromios standing before her.

And now these riddling errors, which had so perplexed them all,

were clearly made out. When the duke saw the two Antipholuses and

the two Dromios both so exactly alike, he at once conjectured

aright of these seeming mysteries, for he remembered the story

Aegeon had told him in the morning; and he said these men must be

the two sons of Aegeon and their twin slaves.

But now an unlooked-for joy indeed completed the history of

Aegeon; and the tale he had in the morning told in sorrow, and

under sentence of death, before the setting sun went down was

brought to a happy conclusion, for the venerable lady abbess made

herself known to be the long-lost wife of Aegeon and the fond

mother of the two Antipholuses.

When the fishermen took the eldest Antipholus and Dromio away

from her, she entered a nunnery, and by her wise and virtuous

conduct she was at length made lady abbess of this convent and in

discharging the rites of hospitality to an unhappy stranger she

had unknowingly protected her own son.

Joyful congratulations and affectionate greetings between these

long-separated parents and their children made them for a while

forget that Aegeon was yet under sentence of death. When they

were become a little calm, Antipholus of Ephesus offered the duke

the ransom money for his father’s life; but the duke freely

pardoned Aegeon, and would not take the money. And the duke went

with the abbess and her newly found husband and children into the

convent, to hear this happy family discourse at leisure of the

blessed ending of their adverse fortunes. And the two Dromios’

humble joy must not be forgotten; they had their congratulations

and greetings, too, and each Dromio pleasantly complimented his

brother on his good looks, being well pleased to see his own

person (as in a glass) show so handsome in his brother.

Adriana had so well profited by the good counsel of her

mother-in-law that she never after cherished unjust suspicions

nor was jealous of her husband.

Antipholus of Syracuse married the fair Luciana, the sister of

his brother’s wife; and the good old Aegeon, with his wife and

sons, lived at Ephesus many years. Nor did the unraveling of

these perplexities so entirely remove every ground of mistake for

the future but that sometimes, to remind them of adventures past,

comical blunders would happen, and the one Antipholus, and the

one Dromio, be mistaken for the other, making altogether a

pleasant and diverting Comedy of Errors.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

In the city of Vienna there once reigned a duke of such a mild

and gentle temper that he suffered his subjects to neglect the

laws with impunity; and there was in particular one law the

existence of which was almost forgotten, the duke never having

put it in force during his whole reign. This was a law dooming

any man to the punishment of death who should live with a woman

that was not his wife; and this law, through the lenity of the

duke, being utterly disregarded, the holy institution of marriage

became neglected, and complaints were every day made to the duke

by the parents of the young ladies in Vienna that their daughters

had been seduced from their protection and were living as the

companions of single men.

The good duke perceived with sorrow this growing evil among his

subjects; but he thought that a sudden change in himself from the

indulgence he had hitherto shown, to the strict severity

requisite to check this abuse, would make his people (who had

hitherto loved him) consider him as a tyrant; therefore he

determined to absent himself awhile from his dukedom and depute

another to the full exercise of his power, that the law against

these dishonorable lovers might be put in effect, without giving

offense by an unusual severity in his own person.

Angelo, a man who bore the reputation of a saint in Vienna for

his strict and rigid life, was chosen by the duke as a fit person

to undertake this important charge; and when the duke imparted

his design to Lord Escalus, his chief counselor, Escalus said:

“If any man in Vienna be of worth to undergo such ample grace and

honor, it is Lord Angelo.”

And now the duke departed from Vienna under pretense of making a

journey into Poland, leaving Angelo to act as the lord deputy in

his absence; but the duke’s absence was only a feigned one, for

he privately returned to Vienna, habited like a friar, with the

intent to watch unseen the conduct of the saintly-seeming Angelo.

It happened just about the time that Angelo was invested with his

new dignity that a gentleman, whose name was Claudio, had seduced

a young lady from her parents; and for this offense, by command

of the new lord deputy, Claudio was taken up and committed to

prison, and by virtue of the old law which had been so long

neglected Angelo sentenced Claudio to be beheaded. Great interest

was made for the pardon of young Claudio, and the good old Lord

Escalus himself interceded for him.

“Alas!” said he, “this gentleman whom I would save had an

honorable father, for whose sake I pray you pardon the young

man’s transgression.”

But Angelo replied: “We must not make a scarecrow of the law,

setting it up to frighten birds of prey, till custom, finding it

harmless, makes it their perch and not their terror. Sir, he must

die.”

Lucio, the friend of Claudio, visited him in the prison, and

Claudio said to him: “I pray you, Lucio, do me this kind service.

Go to my sister Isabel, who this day proposes to enter the

convent of Saint Clare; acquaint her with the danger of my state;

implore her that she make friends with the strict deputy; bid her

go herself to Angelo. I have great hopes in that; for she can

discourse with prosperous art, and well she can persuade;

besides, there is a speechless dialect in youthful sorrow such as

moves men.”

Isabel, the sister of Claudio, had, as he said, that day entered

upon her novitiate in the convent, and it was her intent, after

passing through her probation as a novice, to take the veil, and

she was inquiring of a nun concerning the rules of the convent

when they heard the voice of Lucio, who, as he entered that

religious house, said, “Peace be in this place!”

“Who is it that speaks?” said Isabel.

“It is a man’s voice,” replied the nun. “Gentle Isabel, go to

him, and learn his business; you may, I may not. When you have

taken the veil, you must not speak with men but in the presence

of the prioress; then if you speak you must not show your face,

or if you show your face you must not speak.”

“And have you nuns no further privileges?” said Isabel.

“Are not these large enough?” replied the nun.

“Yes, truly,” said Isabel. “I speak not as desiring more, but

rather wishing a more strict restraint upon the sisterhood, the

votarists of Saint Clare.”

Again they heard the voice of Lucio, and the nun said: “He calls

again. I pray you answer him.”

Isabel then went out to Lucio, and in answer to his salutation,

said: “Peace and Prosperity! Who is it that calls?”

Then Lucio, approaching her with reverence, said: “Hail, virgin,

if such you be, as the roses on your cheeks proclaim you are no

less! Can you bring me to the sight of Isabel, a novice of this

place, and the fair sister to her unhappy brother Claudio?”

“Why her unhappy brother?” said Isabel, “let me ask! for I am

that Isabel and his sister.”

“Fair and gentle lady,” he replied, “your brother kindly greets

you by me; he is in prison.”

“Woe is me! for what?” said Isabel.

Lucio then told her Claudio was imprisoned for seducing a young

maiden. “Ah,” said she, “I fear it is my cousin Juliet.”

Juliet and Isabel were not related, but they called each other

cousin in remembrance of their school-days’ friendship; and as

Isabel knew that Juliet loved Claudio, she feared she had been

led by her affection for him into this transgression.

“She it is,” replied Lucio.

“Why, then, let my brother marry Juliet,” said Isabel.

Lucio replied that Claudio would gladly marry Juliet, but that

the lord deputy had sentenced him to die for his offense.

“Unless,” said he, “you have the grace by your fair prayer to

soften Angelo, and that is my business between you and your poor

brother.”

“Alas!” said Isabel, “what poor ability is there in me to do him

good? I doubt I have no power to move Angelo.”

“Our doubts are traitors,” said Lucio, “and make us lose the good

we might often win, by fearing to attempt it. Go to Lord Angelo!

When maidens sue and kneel and weep men give like gods.”

“I will see what I can do said Isabel. “I will but stay to give

the prioress notice of the affair, and then I will go to Angelo.

Commend me to my brother. Soon at night I will send him word of

my success.”

Isabel hastened to the palace and threw herself on her knees

before Angelo, saying, “I am a woeful suitor to your Honor, if it

will please your Honor to hear me.”

“Well, what is your suit?” said Angelo.

She then made her petition in the most moving terms for her

brother’s life.

But Angelo said, “Maiden, there is no remedy; your brother is

sentenced, and he must die.”

“Oh, just but severe law!” said Isabel. “I had a brother then.

Heaven keep your Honor!” and she was about to depart.

But Lucio, who had accompanied her, said: “Give it not over so;

return to him again, entreat him, kneel down before him, hang

upon his gown. You are too cold; if you should need a pin, you

could not with a more tame tongue desire it.”

Then again Isabel on her knees implored for mercy.

“He is sentenced,” said Angelo. “It is too late.”

“Too late!” said Isabel. “Why, no! I that do speak a word may

call it back again. Believe this, my lord, no ceremony that to

great ones belongs, not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword,

the marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe, becomes them with

one half so good a grace as mercy does.”

“Pray you begone,” said Angelo.

But still Isabel entreated; and she said: “If my brother had been

as you, and you as he, you might have slipped like him, but he,

like you, would not have been so stern. I would to Heaven I had

your power and you were Isabel. Should it then be thus? No, I

would tell you what it were to be a judge, and what a prisoner.”

“Be content, fair maid!” said Angelo: “it is the law, not I,

condemns your brother. Were he my kinsman, my brother, or my son,

it should be thus with him. He must die to-morrow.”

“To-morrow?” said Isabel. “Oh, that is sudden! Spare him, spare

him. He is not prepared for death. Even for our kitchens we kill

the fowl in season; shall we serve Heaven with less respect than

we minister to our gross selves? Good, good, my lord, bethink

you, none have died for my brother’s offense, though many have

committed it. So you would be the first that gives this sentence

and he the first that suffers it. Go to your own bosom, my lord;

knock there, and ask your heart what it does know that is like my

brother’s fault; if it confess a natural guiltiness such as his

is, let it not sound a thought against my brother’s life!”

Her last words more moved Angelo than all she had before said,

for the beauty of Isabel had raised a guilty passion in his heart

and he began to form thoughts of dishonorable love, such as

Claudio’s crime had been, and the conflict in his mind made him

to turn away from Isabel; but she called him back, saying:

“Gentle my lord, turn back. Hark, how I will bribe you. Good my

lord, turn back!”

“How! bribe me?” said Angelo, astonished that she should think of

offering him a bribe.

“Aye,” said Isabel, “with such gifts that Heaven itself shall

share with you; not with golden treasures, or those glittering

stones whose price is either rich or poor as fancy values them,

but with true prayers that shall be up to Heaven before

sunrise--prayers from preserved souls, from fasting maids whose

minds are dedicated to nothing temporal.”

“Well, come to me to-morrow,” said Angelo.

And for this short respite of her brother’s life, and for this

permission that she might be heard again, she left him with the

joyful hope that she should at last prevail over his stern

nature. And as she went away she said: “Heaven keep your Honor

safe! Heaven save your Honor!” Which, when Angelo heard, he said

within his heart, “Amen, I would be saved from thee and from thy

virtues.” And then, affrighted at his own evil thoughts, he said:

“What is this? What is this? Do I love her, that I desire to hear

her speak again and feast upon her eyes? What is it I dream on?

The cunning enemy of mankind, to catch a saint, with saints does

bait the hook. Never could an immodest woman once stir my temper,

but this virtuous woman subdues me quite. Even till now, when men

were fond, I smiled and wondered at them.”

In the guilty conflict in his mind Angelo suffered more that

night than the prisoner he had so severely sentenced; for in the

prison Claudio was visited by the good duke, who, in his friar’s

habit, taught the young man the way to heaven, preaching to him

the words of penitence and peace. But Angelo felt all the pangs

of irresolute guilt, now wishing to seduce Isabel from the paths

of innocence and honor, and now suffering remorse and horror for

a crime as yet but intentional. But in the end his evil thoughts

prevailed; and he who had so lately started at the offer of a

bribe resolved to tempt this maiden with so high a bribe as she

might not be able to resist, even with the precious gift of her

dear brother’s life.

When Isabel came in the morning Angelo desired she might be

admitted alone to his presence; and being there, he said to her,

if she would yield to him her virgin honor and transgress even as

Juliet had done with Claudio, he would give her her brother’s

life.

“For,” said he, “I love you, Isabel.”

“My brother,” said Isabel, “did so love Juliet, and yet you tell

me he shall die for it.”

“But,” said Angelo, “Claudio shall not die if you will consent to

visit me by stealth at night, even as Juliet left her father’s

house at night to come to Claudio.”

Isabel, in amazement at his words, that he should tempt her to

the same fault for which he passed sentence upon her brother,

said, “I would do as much for my poor brother as for myself; that

is, were I under sentence of death, the impression of keen whips

I would wear as rubies, and go to my death as to a bed that

longing I had been sick for, ere I would yield myself up to this

shame.” And then she told him she hoped he only spoke these words

to try her virtue.

But he said, “Believe me, on my honor, my words express my

purpose.”

Isabel, angered to the heart to hear him use the word honor to

express such dishonorable purposes, said: “Ha! little honor to be

much believed; and most pernicious purpose. I will proclaim thee,

Angelo, look for it! Sign me a present pardon for my brother, or

I will tell the world aloud what man thou art!”

“Who will believe you, Isabel?” said Angelo; “my unsoiled name,

the austereness of my life, my word vouched against yours, will

outweigh your accusation. Redeem your brother by yielding to my

will, or he shall die to-morrow. As for you, say what you can, my

false will overweigh your true story. Answer me to-morrow.”

“To whom should I complain? Did I tell this, who would believe

me?” said Isabel, as she went toward the dreary prison where her

brother was confined. When she arrived there her brother was in

pious conversation with the duke, who in his friar’s habit had

also visited Juliet and brought both these guilty lovers to a

proper sense of their fault; and unhappy Juliet with tears and a

true remorse confessed that she was more to blame than Claudio,

in that she willingly consented to his dishonorable

solicitations.

As Isabel entered the room where Claudio was confined, she said,

“Peace be here, grace, and good company!”

“Who is there?” said the disguised duke. “Come in; the wish

deserves a welcome.”

“My business is a word or two with Claudio,” said Isabel.

Then the duke left them together, and desired the provost who had

the charge of the prisoners to place him where he might overhear

their conversation.

“Now, sister, what is the comfort?” said Claudio.

Isabel told him he must prepare for death on the morrow.

“Is there no remedy?” said Claudio.

“Yes, brother,” replied Isabel, “there is; but such a one as if

you consented to it would strip your honor from you and leave you

naked.”

“Let me know the point,” said Claudio.

“Oh, I do fear you, Claudio!” replied his sister; “and I quake,

lest you should wish to live, and more respect the trifling term

of six or seven winters added to your life than your perpetual

honor! Do you dare to die? The sense of death is most in

apprehension, and the poor beetle that we tread upon feels a pang

as great as when a giant dies.”

“Why do you give me this shame?” said Claudio. “Think you I can

fetch a resolution from flowery tenderness? If I must die, I will

encounter darkness as a bride and hug it in my arms.”

“There spoke my brother,” said Isabel; “there my father’s grave

did utter forth a voice! Yes, you must die; yet would you think

it, Claudio, this outward sainted deputy, if I would yield to him

my virgin honor, would grant your life? Oh, were it but my life,

I would lay it down for your deliverance as frankly as a pin!”

“Thanks, dear Isabel,” said Claudio.

“Be ready to die to-morrow,” said Isabel.

“Death is a fearful thing,” said Claudio.

“And shamed life a hateful,” replied his sister.

But the thoughts of death now overcame the constancy of Claudio’s

temper, and terrors, such as the guilty only at their deaths do

know, assailing him, he cried out: “Sweet sister, let me live!

The sin you do to save a brother’s life, nature dispenses with

the deed so far that it becomes a virtue.”

“O faithless coward! O dishonest wretch!” said Isabel. “Would you

preserve your life by your sister’s shame? Oh, fie, fie, fie! I

thought, my brother, you had in you such a mind of honor that,

had you twenty heads to render up on twenty blocks, you would

have yielded them up all before your sister should stoop to such

dishonor.”

“Nay, hear me, Isabel!” said Claudio.

But what he would have said in defense of his weakness in

desiring to live by the dishonor of his virtuous sister was

interrupted by the entrance of the duke; who said:

“Claudio, I have overheard what has passed between you and your

sister. Angelo had never the purpose to corrupt her; what he

said, has only been to make trial of her virtue. She, having the

truth of honor in her, has given him that gracious denial which

he is most ill glad to receive. There is no hope that he will

pardon you; therefore pass your hours in prayer, and make ready

for death.”

Then Claudio repented of his weakness, and said: “Let me ask my

sister’s pardon! I am so out of love with life that I will sue to

be rid of it.” And Claudio retired, overwhelmed with shame and

sorrow for his fault.

The duke, being now alone with Isabel, commended her virtuous

resolution, saying, “The hand that made you fair has made you

good.”

“Oh,” said Isabel, “how much is the good duke deceived in Angelo!

If ever he return, and I can speak to him, I will discover his

government.” Isabel knew not that she was even now making the

discovery she threatened.

The duke replied: “That shall not be much amiss; yet as the

matter now stands, Angelo will repel your accusation; therefore

lend an attentive ear to my advisings. I believe that you may

most righteously do a poor wronged lady a merited benefit, redeem

your brother from the angry law, do no stain to your own most

gracious person, and much please the absent duke, if peradventure

he shall ever return to have notice of this business.”

Isabel said she had a spirit to do anything he desired, provided

it was nothing wrong.

“Virtue is bold and never fearful,” said the duke: and then he

asked her, if she had ever heard of Mariana, the sister of

Frederick, the great soldier who was drowned at sea.

“I have heard of the lady,” said Isabel, “and good words went

with her name.”

“This lady,” said the duke, “is the wife of Angelo; but her

marriage dowry was on board the vessel in which her brother

perished, and mark how heavily this befell to the poor

gentlewoman! for, besides the loss of a most noble and renowned

brother, who in his love toward her was ever most kind and

natural, in the wreck of her fortune she lost the affections of

her husband, the well-seeming Angelo, who, pretending to discover

some dishonor in this honorable lady (though the true cause was

the loss of her dowry), left her in her tears and dried not one

of them with his comfort. His unjust unkindness, that in all

reason should have quenched her love, has, like an impediment in

the current, made it more unruly, and Mariana loves her cruel

husband with the full continuance of her first affection.”

The duke then more plainly unfolded his plan. It was that Isabel

should go to Lord Angelo and seemingly consent to come to him as

he desired at midnight; that by this means she would obtain the

promised pardon; and that Mariana should go in her stead to the

appointment, and pass herself upon Angelo in the dark for Isabel.

“Nor, gentle daughter,” said the feigned friar, “fear you to this

thing. Angelo is her husband, and to bring them thus together is

no sin.

Isabel, being pleased with this project, departed to do as he

directed her; and he went to apprise Mariana of their intention.

He had before this time visited this unhappy lady in his assumed

character, giving her religious instruction and friendly

consolation, at which times he had learned her sad story from her

own lips; and now she, looking upon him as a holy man, readily

consented to be directed by him in this undertaking.

When Isabel returned from her interview with Angelo, to the house

of Mariana, where the duke had appointed her to meet him, he

said: “Well met, and in good time. What is the news from this

good deputy?”

Isabel related the manner in which she had settled the affair.

“Angelo,” said she, “has a garden surrounded with a brick wall,

on the western side of which is a vineyard, and to that vineyard

is a gate.” And then she showed to the duke and Mariana two keys

that Angelo had given her; and she said: “This bigger key opens

the vineyard gate; this other a little door which leads from the

vineyard to the garden. There I have made my promise at the dead

of the night to call upon him, and have got from him his word of

assurance for my brother’s life. I have taken a due and wary note

of the place; and with whispering and most guilty diligence he

showed me the way twice over.”

“Are there no other tokens agreed upon between you, that Mariana

must observe?” said the duke.

“No, none,” said Isabel, “only to go when it is dark. I have told

him my time can be but short; for I have made him think a servant

comes along with me, and that this servant is persuaded I come

about my brother.”

The duke commended her discreet management, and she, turning to

Mariana, said, “Little have you to say to Angelo, when you depart

from him, but soft and low, REMEMBER NOW MY BROTHER!”

Mariana was that night conducted to the appointed place by

Isabel, who rejoiced that she had, as she supposed, by this

device preserved both her brother’s life and her own honor. But

that her brother’s life was safe the duke was not well satisfied,

and therefore at midnight he again repaired to the prison, and it

was well for Claudio that he did so, else would Claudio have that

night been beheaded; for soon after the duke entered the prison

an order came from the cruel deputy commanding that Claudio

should be beheaded and his head sent to him by five o’clock in

the morning. But the duke persuaded the provost to put off the

execution of Claudio, and to deceive Angelo by sending him the

head of a man who died that morning in the prison. And to prevail

upon the provost to agree to this, the duke, whom still the

provost suspected not to be anything more or greater than he

seemed, showed the provost a letter written with the duke’s hand,

and sealed with his seal, which when the provost saw, he

concluded this friar must have some secret order from the absent

duke, and therefore he consented to spare Claudio; and he cut off

the dead man’s head and carried it to Angelo.

Then the duke in his own name wrote to Angelo a letter saying

that certain accidents had put a stop to his journey and that he

should be in Vienna by the following morning, requiring Angelo to

meet him at the entrance of the city, there to deliver up his

authority; and the duke also commanded it to be proclaimed that

if any of his subjects craved redress for injustice they should

exhibit their petitions in the street on his first entrance into

the city.

Early in the morning Isabel came to the prison, and the duke, who

there awaited her coming, for secret reasons thought it good to

tell her that Claudio was beheaded; therefore when Isabel

inquired if Angelo had sent the pardon for her brother, he said:

“Angelo has released Claudio from this world. His head is off and

sent to the deputy.”

The much-grieved sister cried out, “O unhappy Claudio, wretched

Isabel, injurious world, most wicked Angelo!”

The seeming friar bid her take comfort, and when she was become a

little calm he acquainted her with the near prospect of the

duke’s return and told her in what manner she should proceed in

preferring her complaint against Angelo; and he bade her not fear

if the cause should seem to go against her for a while. Leaving

Isabel sufficiently instructed, he next went to Mariana and gave

her counsel in what manner she also should act.

Then the duke laid aside his friar’s habit, and in his own royal

robes, amid a joyful crowd of his faithful subjects assembled to

greet his arrival, entered the city of Vienna, where he was met

by Angelo, who delivered up his authority in the proper form. And

there came Isabel, in the manner of a petitioner for redress, and

said:

“Justice, most royal duke! I am the sister of one Claudio, who,

for the seducing a young maid, was condemned to lose his head. I

made my suit to lord Angelo for my brother’s pardon. It were

needless to tell your Grace how I prayed and kneeled, how he

repelled me, and how I replied; for this was of much length. The

vile conclusion I now begin with grief and pain to utter. Angelo

would not, but by my yielding to his dishonorable love, release

my brother; and after much debate within myself my sisterly

remorse overcame my virtue, and I did yield to him. But the next

morning betimes, Angelo, forfeiting his promise, sent a warrant

for my poor brother’s head!”

The duke affected to disbelieve her story; and Angelo said that

grief for her brother’s death, who had suffered by the due course

of the law, had disordered her senses.

And now another suitor approached, which was Mariana; and Mariana

said: “Noble prince, as there comes light from heaven and truth

from breath, as there is sense in truth and truth in virtue, I am

this man’s wife, and, my good lord, the words of Isabel are

false, for the night she says she was with Angelo I passed that

night with him in the garden-house. As this is true let me in

safety rise, or else forever be fixed here a marble monument.”

Then did Isabel appeal for the truth of what she had said to

Friar Lodowick, that being the name the duke had assumed in his

disguise. Isabel and Mariana had both obeyed his instructions in

what they said, the duke intending that the innocence of Isabel

should be plainly proved in that public manner before the whole

city of Vienna; but Angelo little thought that it was from such a

cause that they thus differed in their story, and he hoped from

their contradictory evidence to be able to clear himself from the

accusation of Isabel; and he said, assuming the look of offended

innocence:

“I did but smile till now; but, good my lord, my patience here is

touched, and I perceive these poor, distracted women are but the

instruments of some greater one who sets them on. Let me have

way, my lord, to find this practice out.”

“Aye, with all my heart,” said the duke, “and punish them to the

height of your pleasure. You, Lord Escalus, sit with Lord Angelo,

lend him your pains to discover this abuse; the friar is sent for

that set them on, and when he comes do with your injuries as may

seem best in any chastisement. I for a while will leave you, but

stir not you, Lord Angelo, till you have well determined upon

this slander.” The duke then went away, leaving Angelo well

pleased to be deputed judge and umpire in his own cause. But the

duke was absent only while he threw off his royal robes and put

on his friar’s habit; and in that disguise again he presented

himself before Angelo and Escalus. And the good old Escalus, who

thought Angelo had been falsely accused, said to the supposed

friar, “Come, sir, did you set these women on to slander Lord

Angelo?”

He replied: “Where is the duke? It is he who should hear me

speak.”

Escalus said: “The duke is in us, and we will hear you. Speak

justly.”

“Boldly, at least,” retorted the friar; and then he blamed the

duke for leaving the cause of Isabel in the hands of him she had

accused, and spoke so freely of many corrupt practices he had

observed while, as he said, he had been a looker-on in Vienna,

that, Escalus threatened, him with the torture for speaking words

against the state and for censuring the conduct of the duke, and

ordered him to be taken away to prison. Then, to the amazement of

all present, and to the utter confusion of Angelo, the supposed

friar threw off his disguise, and they saw it was the duke

himself.

The duke first addressed Isabel. He said to her: “Come hither,

Isabel. Your friar is now your prince, but with my habit I have

not changed my heart. I am still devoted to your service.”

“Oh, give me pardon,” said Isabel, “that I, your vassal, have

employed and troubled your unknown sovereignty.”

He answered that he had most need of forgiveness from her for not

having prevented the death of her brother for not yet would he

tell her that Claudio was living; meaning first to make a further

trial of her goodness.

Angelo now knew the duke had been a secret witness of his bad

deeds, and be said: “O my dread lord, I should be guiltier than

my guiltiness, to think I can be undiscernible, when I perceive

your Grace, like power divine, has looked upon my actions. Then,

good prince, no longer prolong my shame, but let my trial be my

own confession. Immediate sentence and death is all the grace I

beg.”

The duke replied: “Angelo, thy faults are manifest. We do condemn

thee to the very block where Claudio stooped to death, and with

like haste away with him; and for his possessions, Mariana, we do

instate and widow you withal, to buy you a better husband.”

“O my dear lord,” said Mariana, “I crave no other, nor no better

man!” And then on her knees, even as Isabel had begged the life

of Claudio, did this kind wife of an ungrateful husband beg the

life of Angelo; and she said: “Gentle my liege, O good my lord!

Sweet Isabel, take my part! Lend me your knees and all my life to

come I will lend you all my life, to do you service!”

The duke said: “Against all sense you importune her. Should

Isabel kneel down to beg for mercy, her brother’s ghost would

break his paved bed and take her hence in horror.”

Still Mariana said: “Isabel, sweet Isabel, do but kneel by me,

hold up your hand, say nothing! I will speak all. They say best

men are molded out of faults, and for the most part become much

the better for being a little bad. So may my husband. O Isabel!

will you not lend a knee?”

The duke then said, “He dies for Claudio.” But much pleased was

the good duke when his own Isabel, from whom he expected all

gracious and honorable acts, kneeled down before him, and said:

“Most bounteous sir, look, if it please you, on this man

condemned, as if my brother lived. I partly think a due sincerity

governed his deeds till he did look on me. Since it is so, let

him not die! My brother had but justice in that he did the thing

for which he died.”

The duke, as the best reply he could make to this noble

petitioner for her enemy’s life, sending for Claudio from his

prisonhouse, where he lay doubtful of his destiny, presented to

her this lamented brother living; and he said to Isabel: “Give me

your hand, Isabel. For your lovely sake I pardon Claudio. Say you

will be mine, and he shall be my brother, too.”

By this time Lord Angelo perceived he was safe; and the duke,

observing his eye to brighten up a little, said:

“Well, Angelo, look that you love your wife; her worth has

obtained your pardon. Joy to you, Mariana! Love her, Angelo! I

have confessed her and know her virtue.”

Angelo remembered, when dressed in a little brief authority, how

hard his heart had been, and felt how sweet is mercy.

The duke commanded Claudio to marry Juliet, and offered himself

again to the acceptance of Isabel, whose virtuous and noble

conduct had won her prince’s heart. Isabel, not having taken the

veil, was free to marry; and the friendly offices, while hid

under the disguise of a humble friar, which the noble duke had

done for her, made her with grateful joy accept the honor he

offered her; and when she became Duchess of Vienna the excellent

example of the virtuous Isabel worked such a complete reformation

among the young ladies of that city, that from that time none

ever fell into the transgression of Juliet, the repentant wife of

the reformed Claudio. And the mercy-loving duke long reigned with

his beloved Isabel, the happiest of husbands and of princes.

TWELFTH NIGHT; OR, WHAT YOU WILL

Sebastian and his sister Viola, a young gentleman and lady of

Messaline, were twins, and (which was accounted a great wonder)

from their birth they so much resembled each other that, but for

the difference in their dress, they could not be known apart.

They were both born in one hour, and in one hour they were both

in danger of perishing, for they were shipwrecked on the coast of

Illyria, as they were making a sea-voyage together. The ship on

board of which they were split on a rock in a violent storm, and

a very small number of the ship’s company escaped with their

lives. The captain of the vessel, with a few of the sailors that

were saved, got to land in a small boat, and with them they

brought Viola safe on shore, where she, poor lady, instead of

rejoicing at her own deliverance, began to lament her brother’s

loss; but the captain comforted her with the assurance that he

had seen her brother, when the ship split, fasten himself to a

strong mast, on which, as long as he could see anything of him

for the distance, he perceived him borne up above the waves.

Viola was much consoled by the hope this account gave her, and

now considered bow she was to dispose of herself in a strange

country, so far from home; and she asked the captain if he knew

anything of Illyria.

“Aye, very well, madam,” replied the captain, “for I was born not

three hours’ travel from this place.”

“Who governs here?” said Viola. The captain told her Illyria was

governed by Orsino, a duke noble in nature as well as dignity.

Viola said, she had heard her father speak of Orsino, and that he

was unmarried then.

“And he is so now,” said the captain; “or was so very late for,

but a month ago, I went from here, and then it was the general

talk (as you know what great ones do, the people will prattle of)

that Orsino sought the love of fair Olivia, a virtuous maid, the

daughter of a count who died twelve months ago, leaving Olivia to

the protection of her brother, who shortly after died also; and

for the love of this dear brother, they say, she has abjured the

sight and company of men.”

Viola, who was herself in such a sad affliction for her brother’s

loss, wished she could live with this lady who so tenderly

mourned a brother’s death. She asked the captain if be could

introduce her to Olivia, saying she would willingly serve this

lady. But he replied this would be a hard thing to accomplish,

because the Lady Olivia would admit no person into her house

since her brother’s death, not even the duke himself. Then Viola

formed another project in her mind, which was, in a man’s habit,

to serve the Duke Orsino as a page. It was a strange fancy in a

young lady to put on male attire and pass for a boy; but the

forlorn and unprotected state of Viola, who was young and of

uncommon beauty, alone, and in a foreign land, must plead her

excuse.

She having observed a fair behavior in the captain, and that he

showed a friendly concern for her welfare, intrusted him with her

design, and he readily engaged to assist her. Viola gave him

money and directed him to furnish her with suitable apparel,

ordering her clothes to be made of the same color and in the same

fashion her brother Sebastian used to wear, and when she was

dressed in her manly garb she looked so exactly like her brother

that some strange errors happened by means of their being

mistaken for each other, for, as will afterward appear, Sebastian

was also saved.

Viola’s good friend, the captain, when he had transformed this

pretty lady into a gentleman, having some interest at court, got

her presented to Orsino under the feigned name of Cesario. The

duke was wonderfully pleased with the address and graceful

deportment of this handsome youth, and made Cesario one of his

pages, that being the office Viola wished to obtain; and she so

well fulfilled the duties of her new station, and showed such a

ready observance and faithful attachment to her lord, that she

soon became his most favored attendant. To Cesario Orsino

confided the whole history of his love for the lady Olivia. To

Cesario he told the long and unsuccessful suit he had made to one

who, rejecting his long services and despising his person,

refused to admit him to her presence; and for the love of this

lady who had so unkindly treated him the noble Orsino, forsaking

the sports of the field and all manly exercises in which he

used to delight, passed his hours in ignoble sloth, listening to

the effeminate sounds of soft music, gentle airs, and passionate

love-songs; and neglecting the company of the wise and learned

lords with whom he used to associate, he was now all day long

conversing with young Cesario. Unmeet companion no doubt his

grave courtiers thought Cesario was for their once noble master,

the great Duke Orsino.

It is a dangerous matter for young maidens to be the confidantes

of handsome young dukes; which Viola too soon found, to her

sorrow, for all that Orsino told her he endured for Olivia she

presently perceived she suffered for the love of him, and much it

moved her wonder that Olivia could be so regardless of this her

peerless lord and master, whom she thought no one could behold

without the deepest admiration, and she ventured gently to hint

to Orsino, that it was a pity he should affect a lady who was so

blind to his worthy qualities; and she said:

“If a lady were to love you, my lord, as you love Olivia (and

perhaps there may be one who does), if you could not love her in

return) would you not tell her that you could not love, and must

she not be content with this answer?”

But Orsino would not admit of this reasoning, for he denied that

it was possible for any woman to love as he did. He said no

woman’s heart was big enough to hold so much love, and therefore

it was unfair to compare the love of any lady for him to his love

for Olivia. Now, though Viola had the utmost deference for the

duke’s opinions, she could not help thinking this was not quite

true, for she thought her heart had full as much love in it as

Orsino’s had; and she said:

“Ah, but I know, my lord.”

“What do you know, Cesario?” said Orsino.

“Too well I know,” replied Viola, “what love women may owe to

men. They are as true of heart as we are. My father had a

daughter loved a man, as I perhaps, were I a woman, should love

your lordship.”

“And what is her history?” said Orsino.

“A blank, my lord,” replied Viola. “She never told her love, but

let concealment, like a worm in the bud, feed on her damask

cheek. She pined in thought, and with a green and yellow

melancholy she sat like Patience on a monument, smiling at

Grief.”

The duke inquired if this lady died of her love, but to this

question Viola returned an evasive answer; as probably she had

feigned the story, to speak words expressive of the secret love

and silent grief she suffered for Orsino.

While they were talking, a gentleman entered whom the duke had

sent to Olivia, and he said, “So please you, my lord, I might not

be admitted to the lady, but by her handmaid she returned you

this answer: Until seven years hence the element itself shall not

behold her face; but like a cloistress she will walk veiled,

watering her chamber with her tears for the sad remembrance of

her dead brother.”

On hearing this the duke exclaimed, “Oh, she that has a heart of

this fine frame, to pay this debt of love to a dead brother, how

will she love when the rich golden shaft has touched her heart!”

And then he said to Viola: “You know, Cesario, I have told you

all the secrets of my heart; therefore, good youth, go to

Olivia’s house. Be not denied access; stand at her doors and tell

her there your fixed foot shall grow till you have audience.”

“And if I do speak to her, my lord, what then?” said Viola.

“Oh, then,” replied Orsino, “unfold to her the passion of my

love. Make a long discourse to her of my dear faith. It will well

become you to act my woes, for she will attend more to you than

to one of graver aspect.”

Away then went Viola; but not willingly did she undertake this

courtship, for she was to woo a lady to become a wife to him she

wished to marry; but, having undertaken the affair, she performed

it with fidelity, and Olivia soon heard that a youth was at her

door who insisted upon being admitted to her presence.

“I told him,” said the servant, “that you were sick. He said he

knew you were, and therefore he came to speak with you. I told

him that you were asleep. He seemed to have a foreknowledge of

that, too, and said that therefore he must speak with you. What

is to be said to him, lady? for he seems fortified against all

denial, and will speak with you, whether you will or no.”

Olivia, curious to see who this peremptory messenger might be,

desired be might be admitted, and, throwing her veil over her

face, she said she would once more hear Orsino’s embassy, not

doubting but that he came from the duke, by his importunity.

Viola, entering, put on the most manly air she could assume, and,

affecting the fine courtier language of great men’s pages, she

said to the veiled lady:

“Most radiant, exquisite, and matchless beauty, I pray you tell

me if you are the lady of the house; for I should be sorry to

cast away my speech upon another; for besides that it is

excellently well penned, I have taken great pains to learn it.”

“Whence come you, sir?” said Olivia.

“I can say little more than I have studied,” replied Viola, and

that question is out of my part.”

“Are you a comedian?” said Olivia.

“No,” replied Viola; “and yet I am not that which I play,”

meaning that she, being a woman, feigned herself to be a man. And

again she asked Olivia if she were the lady of the house.

Olivia said she was; and then Viola, having more curiosity to see

her rival’s features than haste to deliver her master’s message,

said, “Good madam, let me see your face.” With this bold request

Olivia was not averse to comply, for this haughty beauty, whom

the Duke Orsino had loved so long in vain, at first sight

conceived a passion for the supposed page, the humble Cesario.

When Viola asked to see her face, Olivia said, “Have you any

commission from your lord and master to negotiate with my face?”

And then, forgetting her determination to go veiled for seven

long years, she drew aside her veil, saying: “But I will draw the

curtain and show the picture. Is it not well done?”

Viola replied: “It is beauty truly mixed; the red and white upon

your cheeks is by Nature’s own cunning hand laid on. You are the

most cruel lady living if you lead these graces to the grave and

leave the world no copy.”

“Oh, sir,” replied Olivia, “I will not be so cruel. The world may

have an inventory of my beauty. As, item, two lips, indifferent

red; item, two gray eyes with lids to them; one neck; one chin;

and so forth. Were you sent here to praise me?”

Viola replied, “I see what you are: you are too proud, but you

are fair. My lord and master loves you. Oh, such a love could but

be recompensed though you were crowned the queen of beauty; for

Orsino loves you with adoration and with tears, with groans that

thunder love, and sighs of fire.”

“Your lord,” said Olivia, “knows well my mind. I cannot love him;

yet I doubt not he is virtuous; I know him to be noble and of

high estate, of fresh and spotless youth. All voices proclaim him

learned, courteous, and valiant; yet I cannot love him. He might

have taken his answer long ago.”

“If I did love you as my master does,” said Viola, “I would make

me a willow cabin at your gates, and call upon your name. I would

write complaining sonnets on Olivia, and sing them in the dead of

the night. Your name should sound among the hills, and I would

make Echo, the babbling gossip of the air, cry out OLIVIA. Oh,

you should not rest between the elements of earth and air, but

you should pity me.”

“You might do much,” said Olivia. “What is your parentage?’”

Viola replied: “Above my fortunes, yet my state is well. I am a

gentleman.”

Olivia now reluctantly dismissed Viola, saying: “Go to your

master and tell him I cannot love him. Let him send no more,

‘unless perchance you come again to tell me how he takes it.”

And Viola departed, bidding the lady farewell by the name of Fair

Cruelty. When she was gone Olivia repeated the words, ABOVE MY

FORTUNES, YET MY STATE IS WELL. I AM A GENTLEMAN. And she said

aloud, “I will be sworn he is; his tongue, his face, his limbs,

action, and spirit plainly show he is a gentleman.” And then she

wished Cesario was the duke; and, perceiving the fast hold he had

taken on her affections, she blamed herself for her sudden love;

but the gentle blame which people lay upon their own faults has

no deep root, and presently the noble lady Olivia so far forgot

the inequality between, her fortunes and those of this seeming

page, as well as the maidenly reserve which is the chief ornament

of a lady’s character, that she resolved to court the love of

young Cesario, and sent a servant after him with a diamond ring,

under the pretense that he had left it with her as a present from

Orsino. She hoped by thus artfully making Cesario a present of

the ring she should give him some intimation of her design; and

truly it did make Viola suspect; for, knowing that Orsino had

sent no ring by her, she began to recollect that Olivia’s looks

and manner were expressive of admiration, and she presently

guessed her master’s mistress had fallen in love with her.

“Alas!” said she, “the poor lady might as well love a dream.

Disguise I see is wicked, for it has caused Olivia to breathe as

fruitless sighs for me as I do for Orsino.”

Viola returned to Orsino’s palace, and related to her lord the

ill success of the negotiation, repeating the command of Olivia

that the duke should trouble her no more. Yet still the duke

persisted in hoping that the gentle Cesario would in time be able

to persuade her to show some pity, and therefore he bade him he

should go to her again the next day. In the mean time, to pass

away the tedious interval, he commanded a song which he loved to

be sung; and he said:

“My good Cesario, when I heard that song last night, methought it

did relieve my passion much. Mark it, Cesario, it is old and

plain. The spinsters and the knitters when they sit in the sun,

and the young maids that weave their thread with bone, chant this

song. It is silly, yet I love it, for it tells of the innocence

of love in the old times.”

SONG

Come away, come away, Death,

And in sad cypress let me be laid;

Fly away, fly away, breath,

I am slain by a fair cruel maid.

My shroud of white stuck all with yew, O prepare it!

My part of death no one so true did share it.

Not a flower, not a flower sweet,

On my black coffin let there be strewn:

Not a friend, not a friend greet

My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown.

A thousand thousand sighs to save, lay me O where

Sad true lover never find my grave, to weep there!

Viola did not fail to mark the words of the old song, which in

such true simplicity described the pangs of unrequited love, and

she bore testimony in her countenance of feeling what the song

expressed. Her sad looks were observed by Orsino, who said to

her:

“My life upon it, Cesario, though you are so young, your eye has

looked upon some face that it loves. Has it not, boy?”