The Tempest | Page 9

you The Queen of Naples.
PROSPERO. Soft, sir; one word more-- [Aside] They are both in
either's powers: but this swift business I must uneasy make, lest too
light winning Make the prize light. [To FERDINAND] One word more:
I charge thee That thou attend me. Thou dost here usurp The name thou
ow'st not; and hast put thyself Upon this island as a spy, to win it From
me, the lord on't.
FERDINAND. No, as I am a man.
MIRANDA. There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple: If the ill
spirit have so fair a house, Good things will strive to dwell with't.
PROSPERO. {To FERDINAND] Follow me.-- [To MIRANDA] Speak
not you for him; he's a traitor.-- [To FERDINAND] Come; I'll manacle
thy neck and feet together: Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be
The fresh-brook mussels, wither'd roots, and husks Wherein the acorn
cradled. Follow.
FERDINAND. No; I will resist such entertainment till Mine enemy has
more power.
[He draws, and is charmed from moving.]
MIRANDA. O dear father! Make not too rash a trial of him, for He's
gentle, and not fearful.
PROSPERO. What! I say, My foot my tutor? Put thy sword up, traitor;
Who mak'st a show, but dar'st not strike, thy conscience Is so possess'd
with guilt: come from thy ward, For I can here disarm thee with this
stick And make thy weapon drop.
MIRANDA. Beseech you, father!
PROSPERO. Hence! Hang not on my garments.
MIRANDA. Sir, have pity; I'll be his surety.
PROSPERO. Silence! One word more Shall make me chide thee, if not
hate thee. What! An advocate for an impostor? hush! Thou think'st
there is no more such shapes as he, Having seen but him and Caliban:
foolish wench! To the most of men this is a Caliban, And they to him
are angels.
MIRANDA. My affections Are then most humble; I have no ambition

To see a goodlier man.
PROSPERO. [To FERDINAND] Come on; obey: Thy nerves are in
their infancy again, And have no vigour in them.
FERDINAND. So they are: My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
My father's loss, the weakness which I feel, The wrack of all my
friends, nor this man's threats, To whom I am subdued, are but light to
me, Might I but through my prison once a day Behold this maid: all
corners else o' th' earth Let liberty make use of; space enough Have I in
such a prison.
PROSPERO. [Aside] It works.--[To FERDINAND] Come on.-- Thou
hast done well, fine Ariel! [To FERDINAND] Follow me.-- [To
ARIEL] Hark what thou else shalt do me.
MIRANDA. Be of comfort; My father's of a better nature, sir, Than he
appears by speech: this is unwonted, Which now came from him.
PROSPERO. Thou shalt be as free As mountain winds; but then
exactly do All points of my command.
ARIEL. To the syllable.
PROSPERO. [To FERDINAND] Come, follow.--Speak not for him.
[Exeunt]

ACT 2
SCENE I.--Another part of the island
[Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN,
FRANCISCO, and OTHERS]
GONZALO. Beseech you, sir, be merry; you have cause, So have we
all, of joy; for our escape Is much beyond our loss. Our hint of woe Is
common: every day, some sailor's wife, The masters of some merchant
and the merchant, Have just our theme of woe; but for the miracle, I
mean our preservation, few in millions Can speak like us: then wisely,
good sir, weigh Our sorrow with our comfort.
ALONSO. Prithee, peace.
SEBASTIAN. He receives comfort like cold porridge.
ANTONIO. The visitor will not give him o'er so.
SEBASTIAN. Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it
will strike.
GONZALO. Sir,--
SEBASTIAN. One: tell.

GONZALO. When every grief is entertain'd that's offer'd, Comes to the
entertainer--
SEBASTIAN. A dollar.
GONZALO. Dolour comes to him, indeed: you have spoken truer than
you purposed.
SEBASTIAN. You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should.
GONZALO. Therefore, my lord,--
ANTONIO. Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue!
ALONSO. I prithee, spare.
GONZALO. Well, I have done: but yet--
SEBASTIAN. He will be talking.
ANTONIO. Which, of he or Adrian, for a good wager, first begins to
crow?
SEBASTIAN. The old cock.
ANTONIO. The cockerel.
SEBASTIAN. Done. The wager?
ANTONIO. A laughter.
SEBASTIAN. A match!
ADRIAN. Though this island seem to be desert,--
SEBASTIAN. Ha, ha, ha! So, you're paid.
ADRIAN. Uninhabitable, and almost inaccessible,--
SEBASTIAN. Yet--
ADRIAN. Yet--
ANTONIO. He could not miss it.
ADRIAN. It must needs be of subtle, tender, and delicate temperance.
ANTONIO. Temperance was a delicate wench.
SEBASTIAN. Ay, and a subtle; as he most learnedly delivered.
ADRIAN. The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.
SEBASTIAN. As if it had lungs, and rotten