Tales from Shakespeare | Page 4

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.
'O 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.'
'O 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 grey 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 he 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, he 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 he, 'I will tie you neck and feet
together. You shall drink sea-water; shell-lush, 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, sir; 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 Caliban.' 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