The Tempest | Page 7

she did litter here, A freckl'd whelp, hag-born--not honour'd with A human shape.
ARIEL. Yes; Caliban her son.
PROSPERO. Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban, Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st What torment I did find thee in; thy groans Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts Of ever-angry bears: it was a torment To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax Could not again undo; it was mine art, When I arriv'd and heard thee, that made gape The pine, and let thee out.
ARIEL. I thank thee, master.
PROSPERO. If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak And peg thee in his knotty entrails till Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.
ARIEL. Pardon, master: I will be correspondent to command, And do my spriting gently.
PROSPERO. Do so; and after two days I will discharge thee.
ARIEL. That's my noble master! What shall I do? Say what? What shall I do?
PROSPERO. Go make thyself like a nymph o' th' sea: be subject To no sight but thine and mine; invisible To every eyeball else. Go, take this shape, And hither come in 't: go, hence with diligence!
[Exit ARIEL]
Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well; Awake!
MIRANDA. [Waking] The strangeness of your story put Heaviness in me.
PROSPERO. Shake it off. Come on; We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never Yields us kind answer.
MIRANDA. 'Tis a villain, sir, I do not love to look on.
PROSPERO. But as 'tis, We cannot miss him: he does make our fire, Fetch in our wood; and serves in offices That profit us.--What ho! slave! Caliban! Thou earth, thou! Speak.
CALIBAN. [Within] There's wood enough within.
PROSPERO. Come forth, I say; there's other business for thee: Come, thou tortoise! when?
[Re-enter ARIEL like a water-nymph.]
Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel, Hark in thine ear.
ARIEL. My lord, it shall be done.
[Exit]
PROSPERO. Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!
[Enter CALIBAN]
CALIBAN. As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd With raven's feather from unwholesome fen Drop on you both! A south-west blow on ye, And blister you all o'er!
PROSPERO. For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps, Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins Shall forth at vast of night that they may work All exercise on thee: thou shalt be pinch'd As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging Than bees that made them.
CALIBAN. I must eat my dinner. This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, Which thou tak'st from me. When thou cam'st first, Thou strok'st me and made much of me; wouldst give me Water with berries in't; and teach me how To name the bigger light, and how the less, That burn by day and night: and then I lov'd thee, And show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle, The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place, and fertile. Curs'd be I that did so! All the charms Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you! For I am all the subjects that you have, Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me The rest o' th' island.
PROSPERO. Thou most lying slave, Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have us'd thee, Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodg'd thee In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate The honour of my child.
CALIBAN. Oh ho! Oh ho! Would it had been done! Thou didst prevent me; I had peopl'd else This isle with Calibans.
PROSPERO. Abhorred slave, Which any print of goodness wilt not take, Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee, Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage, Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes With words that made them known: but thy vile race, Though thou didst learn, had that in't which good natures Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou Deservedly confin'd into this rock, who hadst Deserv'd more than a prison.
CALIBAN. You taught me language, and my profit on't Is, I know how to curse: the red plague rid you, For learning me your language!
PROSPERO. Hag-seed, hence! Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou 'rt best, To answer other business. Shrug'st thou, malice? If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps, Fill all thy bones with aches; make thee roar, That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
CALIBAN. No, pray thee.-- [Aside] I must obey. His art is of such power, It would control my dam's god, Setebos, And make a vassal of him.
PROSPERO. So, slave: hence!
[Exit CALIBAN]
[Re-enter ARIEL invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND following]
[ARIEL'S SONG.]
Come unto these yellow sands, And then take hands: Curtsied when you have, and kiss'd,--