Man's life is cheap as beast's. Thou art a lady:

If only to go warm were gorgeous,

Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,

Which scarcely keeps thee warm.38 But, for true need, —
You Heavens, give me patience, — patience I need ! —
You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
As full of grief as age; wretched in both!
If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts
Against their father, fool me not so much
To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger;
And let not women's weapons, water-drops,
Stain my man's cheeks! No, you unnatural hags,
I will have such revenges on you both,

That all the world shall - I will do such things,

-

What they are, yet I know not; but they shall be
The terrors of the Earth. You think I'll weep;
No, I'll not weep:

I have full cause of weeping; but this heart
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,39

Or e'er I'll weep.

O Fool, I shall go mad! [Exeunt LEAR, GLOSTER, KENT, and the FOOL. Storm heard at a distance.

Corn. Let us withdraw; 'twill be a storm.

Reg. This house is little th' old man and his people Cannot be well bestow'd.

Gon. 'Tis his own blame; 'hath put himself from rest,

38 The scope of this reasoning seems to be, "You need clothing only for warmth; yet you pile up expense of dress for other ends, while your dress, after all, hardly meets that natural want; which shows that you would rather suffer lack of warmth than of personal adornment."

39 Flaws anciently signified fragments, as well as mere cracks. The word, as Bailey observes, was "especially applied to the breaking off shivers or thin pieces from precious stones."

And must needs taste his folly.

Reg. For his particular, I'll receive him gladly, But not one follower.

Where is my lord of Gloster?

Corn. Follow'd the old man forth: - he is return'd.

Re-enter GLOSTER.

Glos. The King is in high rage.

Corn.

Whither is he going?

Glos. He calls to horse; but will I know not whither. Corn. 'Tis best to give him way; he leads himself. Gon. My lord, entreat him by no means to stay.40 Glos. Alack! the night comes on, and the bleak winds Do sorely ruffle ;41 for many miles about

There's scarce a bush.

Reg.

O, sir, to wilful men,

The injuries that they themselves procure

Must be their schoolmasters. Shut up your doors:

He is attended with a desperate train;

And what they may incense him to, being apt
To have his ear abused, wisdom bids fear.

Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord; 'tis a wild night :

My Regan counsels well.

Come out o' the storm.

[Exeunt.

40" Do not by any means entreat him to stay," is the meaning.

41 Are very boisterous or blustering. A stronger sense than ruffle now

has.

ACT III.

SCENE I.-A Heath. A Storm, with Thunder and Lightning. Enter KENT and a Gentleman, meeting.

Kent. Who's here, besides foul weather?

Gent. One minded, like the weather, most unquietly.
Kent. I know you. Where's the King?

Gent. Contending with the fretful elements;
Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea,

Or swell the curlèd waters 'bove the main,1

That things might change or cease; tears his white hair,
Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage,

Catch in their fury, and make nothing of;
Strives in his little world of man t' out-scorn

The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain.

This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch,
The lion and the belly-pinchèd wolf2

Keep their fur dry, unbonnetted he runs,

And bids what will take all.

Kent.

But who is with him?

Gent. None but the Fool; who labours to out-jest His heart-struck injuries.

Kent.

Sir, I do know you;

And dare, upon the warrant of my note,3

1 Lear wishes for the destruction of the world, either by the winds blowing the land into the water, or raising the waters so as to overwhelm the land. 2 A bear made fierce by suckling her cubs; a wolf enraged by the gnawings of hunger.

3 Note for notice, knowledge, or observation; referring to "I do know you." Shakespeare repeatedly uses note thus.

Commend a dear thing to you. There's division,
Although as yet the face of it be cover'd

With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall;
Who have as who have not, that their great stars
Throne and set high? - servants, who seem no less,
Which are to France the spies and speculators
Intelligent of our State ;4 what hath been seen,
Either in snuffs and packings of the Dukes ;5
Or the hard rein which both of them have borne
Against the old kind King; or something deeper,
Whereof perchance these are but furnishings.6
But, true it is, from France there comes a power
Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already,
Wise in our negligence, have secret feet
In some of our best ports, and are at point
To show their open banner. Now to you:
If on my credit you dare build so far

To make your speed to Dover, you shall find
Some that will thank you, making just report
Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow
The King hath cause to plain.

I am a gentleman of blood and breeding,

4 "Who seem the servants of Albany and Cornwall, but are really engaged in the service of France as spies, gathering and conveying information of all that is done here." Intelligent here carries the sense not only of knowing, but also of giving intelligence; intelligencers.—Speculator in the Latin sense of observer or looker-on.

5 Snuffs are dislikes, and packings underhand contrivances.

6 That is, whereof these things are but the trimmings or appendages; not the thing itself, but only the circumstances or furniture of the thing.

7 That is, having its military force scattered; or, perhaps, distracted by the feud between Albany and Cornwall.

8 Have secret footing; have landed secretly.— At point, next line, is ready or prepared; on the point of showing, as we should say.

And from some knowledge and assurance offer
This office to you.

Gent. I will talk further with you.

Kent.

No, do not.

For confirmation that I am much more
Than my out-wall, open this purse, and take
What it contains. If you shall see Cordelia,
As fear not but you shall, — show her this ring;
And she will tell you who your fellow9 is

That yet you do not know.

I will go seek the King.

Fie on this storm!

Gent. Give me your hand: have you no more to say? Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all yet, That, when we've found the King, in which your pain That way, I'll this,' he that first lights on him

Holla the other.

10

[Exeunt severally.

Another part of the Heath. Storm still.

Enter LEAR and the FOOL.

Lear. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout

Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing1 fires,

Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,

Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world!

9 Fellow was often used for companion.

10 "In which search you take pains in that direction, and I will in this." 1 Thought-executing may mean acting with the swiftness of thought, or executing the thoughts of Jupiter Tonans.— Vaunt-couriers originally meant the foremost scouts of an army, as lightning foreruns thunder.