Ari. In the same fashion as you gave in charge; Just as you left them, sir; all prisoners In the lime-grove which weather-fends your cell; They cannot budge, till you release. The king, His brother, and yours, abide all three distracted; And the remainder mourning over them, Brim-full of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly Him you term'd, sir, The good old lord, Gonzalo ; His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops From eaves of reeds: your charm so strongly works them,
That if you now beheld them, your affections Would become tender.
Dost thou think so, spirit? Ari. Mine would, sir, were I human.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling Of their afflictions? and shall not myself, One of their kind, that relish all as sharply, Passion as they, be kindlier mov'd than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the
I'll fetch them, sir. [Exit. Pro. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing-lakes, and
And ye, that on the sands with printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him, When he comes back; you demy-puppets, that By moon-shine do the green-sour ringlets make, Whereof the ewe not bites; and you, whose pastime Is to make midnight mushrooms; that rejoice To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid (Weak masters though ye be) I have be-dimm'd The noon-tide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds, And 'twixt the green sea and the azur'd vault Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak With his own bolt: the strong-bas'd promontory Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up The pine and cedar: graves, at my command, Have wak'd their sleepers; op'd, and let them forth By my so potent art: But this rough magic I here abjure: and, when I have requir'd Some heavenly music, (which even now I do,) To work mine end upon their senses, that This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff, Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, And, deeper than did ever plummet sound, I'll drown my book.
Re-enter Ariel: after him, Alonso, with a frantic gesture, attended by Gonzalo; Sebastian and Antonio in like manner, attended by Adrian and Francisco: they all enter the circle which Prospero had made, and there stand charmed; which Prospero observing, speaks.
A solemn air, and the best comforter
To an unsettled fancy, cure thy brains,
Now useless, boil'd within thy skull! There stand, For you are spell-stopp'd.—
Holy Gonzalo, honourable man,
Mine eyes, even sociable to the shew of thine, Fall fellowly drops.-The charm dissolves apace; And as the morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness, so their rising senses Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle Their clearer reason.-O my good Gonzalo, My true proserver, and a loyal sir
To him thou follow'st; I will pay thy graces Home, both in word and deed.-Most cruelly Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter: Thy brother was a furtherer in the act ;- Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian.-Flesh and blood You brother mine, that entertain'd ambition, Expell'd remorse and nature; who, with Sebastian, (Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong) Would here have kill'd your king; I do forgive thee, Unnatural though thou art!-Their understanding Begins to swell; and the approaching tide Will shortly fill the reasonable shores,
That now lie foul and muddy. Not one of them That yet looks on me, or would know me:Ariel, Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell;
I will dis-case me, and myself present,
As I was sometime Milan:- Thou shalt ere long be free.
Ariel re-enters, singing, and helps to attire Prospero,
Ari. Where the ber sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip's bell I lie:
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the but's back I do fly,
After summer, merrily: Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,
Under the blossum that hangs on the bough
The king and queen there! that they were, I wish Myself were mudded in that oozy bed Where my son lies. When did you lose your daughter?
Pro. In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords At this encounter do so much admire,
That they devour their reason; and scarce think Their eyes do offices of truth, their words Are natural breath: but, howsoe'er you have Been justled from your senses, know for certain, That I am Prospero, and that very duke
Which was thrust forth of Milan; who most strangely Upon this shore, where you were wreck'd, was landed; To be the lord on't. No more yet of this; For 'tis a chronicle of day by day,
Not a relation for a breakfast, nor Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, sir; This cell's my court: here have 1 few attendants, And subjects none abroad: pray you, look in. My dukedom since you have given me again, I will requite you with as good a thing; At least, bring forth a wonder, to content ye, As much as me my dukedom.
The entrance of the Cell opens and discovers Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess.
Mir. Sweet lord, you play me false.
Your eld'st acquaintance cannot be three hours: Is she the goddess that hath sever❜d us, And brought us thus together?
Fer. Sir, she's mortal; But, by immortal Providence, she's mine; I chose her, when I could not ask my father For his advice; nor thought I had one: she Is daughter to this famous duke of Milan, Of whom so often I have heard renown, But never saw before; of whom I have Receiv'd a second life, and second father This lady makes him to me.
I am her's: But O, how oddly will it sound, that I Must ask my child forgiveness!
Let us not burden our remembrance With a heaviness that's gone.
Or should have spoke ere this. Look down, you gods, And on this couple drop a blessed crown;
Give me your hands: [To Fer. and Mira.
Let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart, That doth not wish you joy!
Gon. Re-enter Ariel, with the Master and Boatswain amazedly following.
O look, sir, look, sir; here are more of us! I prophesied, if a gallows were on land, This fellow could not drown :-Now, blasphemy, That swear'st grace o'erboard, not an oath on shore? Hast thou no mouth by land? What is the news?
Boats. The best news is, that we have safely found Our king and company: the next, our ship,- Which, but three glasses since, we gave out split,- Is tight, and yare, and bravely rigg'd, as when We first put out to sea.
Have I done since I went.
My tricksy spirit! Alon. These are not natural events; they strengthen, hither? From strange to stranger :-Say, how came you Boats. If I did think, sir, I were well awake, I'd strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep, And (how, we know not.) all clapp'd under hatches, Where, but even now, with strange and several noises Of roaring, shrieking, howling, gingling chains, And more diversity of sounds, all horrible, We were awak'd; straitway, at liberty: Where we. in all her trim, freshly beheld Our royal, good, and gallant ship; our master Cap'ring to eye her: On a trice, so please you, Even in a dream, were we divided from them, And were brought inoping hither. Ari.
Pro. Bravely, my diligence. Thou shalt be free. [Aside.
Alon. This is as strange a maze as e'er men trod; And there is in this business more than nature Was ever conduct of: some oracle
Must rectify our knowledge.
Do not infest your mind with beating on
The strangeness of this business; at pick'd leisure, Which shall be shortly, single I'll resolve you (Which to you shall seem probable,) of every These happen'd accidents: till when, be cheerful,
And think of each thing well.-Come hither, spirit; Set Caliban and his companions free:
Untie the spell. [Ex. Ariel.]-How fares my gracious sir?
There are yet missing of your company Home fow odd lads, that you remember not. Re-enter Ariel, driving in Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo, in their stolen apparel.
Ste. Every inan shift for all the rest, and let no man
What things are these, my lord Antonio! Will money buy them?
Very like; one of them Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable. Pro. Mark but the badges of these men, my lords, Then say, if they be true:-This mis-shapen knave,- His mother was a witch; and one so strong That could control the moon; make flows and ebbs, And deal in her command, without her power: These three have robb'd me; and this demi-devil (For he's a bastard one,) had plotted with them To take my life: two of these fellows you Must know, and own; this thing of darkness I Acknowledge mine.
Cal. I shall be pinch'd to death. Alon. Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler? Seb. He is drunk now: where had he wine? Alon. And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded them?— How cam'st thou in this pickle?
Trin. I have been in such a pickle, since I saw you last, that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.
Seb. Why, how now, Stephano?
Ste. O, touch me not; I am not Stephano, but a
Pro. You'd be king of the isle, sirrah!
Stc. I should have been a sore one then. Alon. This is as strange a thing as e'er I look'd on. [Pointing to Caliban.
Pro. He is as disproportion'd in his manners, As in his shape:-Go, sirrah, to my cell; Take with you your companions; as you look To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.
Cal. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter, And seek for grace: What a thrice-double ass Was I, to take this drunkard for a god,
And worship this dull fool?
Alon. Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.
Seb. Or stole it, rather. [Exe. Cal. Ste. & Trin Pro. Sir, I invite your highness, and your train, To my poor cell: where you shall take your rest For this one night; which (part of it,) I'll waste With such discourse, as, I not doubt, shall make it Go quick away: the story of my life, And the particular accidents, gone by, Since I came to this isle: And in the moru, I'll bring you to your ship, and so to Naples, Where I have hope to see the nuptial Of these our dear-beloved solemniz'd; And thence retire me to my Milan, where Every third thought shall be my grave. I long Alon. To hear the story of your life, which must Take the ear strangely.
I'll deliver all; Pro. And promise yon calm seas, auspicions gales, And sail so expeditious, that shall catch Your royal fleet far off-My Ariel ;-chick,-
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell In this bare island, by your spell ; But release me from my bands, With the help of your good hands. Gentle breath of yours my sails Must fill, or else my project fails, Which was to please: Now I want Spirits to enforce, art to enchant; And my ending is despair, Unless I be reliev'd by prayer ; Which pierces so, that it assaults Mercy itself, and frees all faults. As you from crimes would pardon'd be, Let your indulgence set me free.
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