The Stoddard library : a thousand hours of entertainment with the world's great writers
Stoddard, John L. (John Lawson), 1850-1931
1 ^x* ^v., 11 'M'xm'i 2^ fc'.' ^l^.^vl^ :^r<.-^".^,'^ V:':'-^-*^.\-^ '11' i:^. Ti S' 'iO 3MOH 3HT .QMAJOPia ,T40VA /( > u;-i' ■ 1 j r.>i i 3HAa'I23:aAH2 ?')t STRATFORD-ON-AVON, ENGLAND, THE HOME OF SHAKESPEARE ■i'r:-\^i^,l ^tf:<^T-^-V The Stoddard Library A THOUSAND HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT WITH THE WORLD'S GREAT WRITERS By JOHN L. STODDARD Vol. XI ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO AND BOSTON GEO. L. SHUMAN & CO. MCMXVII Copyright, 19 io, By Geq. L. Shuman & Co. Nor'wood Press y. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Nor-wooJ, Mass., U.S.A. Boston Bookbinding Co., Cambridge, Mass. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (Continued) (From "King Lear") Before Gloucester's castle. Kent in the stocks Enter Lear, Fool, and Gentleman. Lear. 'Tis strange that they should so depart from home, And not send back my messenger. Gent. , As I learn'd, The night before there was no purpose in them Of this remove. Kent. Hail to thee, noble master ! Lear. Ha ! Makest thou this shame thy pastime? Kent. No, my lord. Fool. Ha, ha ! he wears cruel garters. Horses are tied by the heads, dogs and bears by the neck, monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs : when a man's overlusty at legs, then he wears wooden nether-stocks. Lear. What's he that hath so much thy place mistook To set thee here? Kent. It is both he and she; Your son and daughter. Lear. No. Kent. Yes. Lear. No, I say. Kent. I say, yea. Lear. No, no, they would not. Kent. Yes, they have. Lear. By Jupiter, I swear, no. 3 4 SHAKESPEARE Kent. By Juno, I swear, aye. Lear. They durst not do't; They could not, would not do't; 'tis worse than murder, To do upon respect such violent outrage : Resolve me with all modest haste which way Thou mightst deserve, or they impose, this usage, Coming from us. Kent. My lord, when at their home I did commend your highness' letters to them, Ere I was risen from the place that show'd My duty kneeling, came there a reeking post, Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forth From Goneril his mistress salutations; Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission, Which presently they read : on whose contents They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse; Commanded me to follow and attend The leisure of their answer; gave me cold looks: And meeting here the other messenger. Whose welcome, I perceived, had poison'd mine — Being the very fellow that of late Display'd so saucily against your highness — Having more man than wit about me, drew: He raised the house with loud and coward cries. Your son and daughter found this trespass worth The shame which here it suffers. Fool. Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way. Fathers that wear rags Do make their children blind; But fathers that bear bags Shall see their children kind. Fortime, that arrant whore. Ne'er turns the key to the poor. But, for all this, thou shalt have as many dolors for thy daugh- ters as thou canst tell in a year. Lear. O how this mother swells up toward my heart ! Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow, Thy element's below ! Where is this daughter ? Kent. With the earl, sir, here within. SHAKESPEARE 5 Lear. Follow me not; stay here. [Exit. Gent. Made you no more offense but what you speak of? Kent. None. How chance the king comes with so small a train? Fool. An thou hadst been set i' the stocks for that question, thou hadst well deserved it. Kent. Why, fool? Fool. We'll set thee to school to an ant, to teach thee there's no laboring i' the winter. All that follow their noses are led by their eyes but blind men; and there's not a nose among twenty but can smell him that's stinking. Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with following it ; but the great one that goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine again : I would have none but knaves follow it, since a fool gives it. That sir which serves and seeks for gain, And follows but for form. Will pack when it begins to rain, And leave thee in the storm. But I will tarry; the fool will stay, • And let the wise man fly: The knave turns fool that runs away; The fool no knave, perdy. Kent. Where learned you this, fool? Fool. Not i' the stocks, fool. Reenter Lear, with Gloucester. Lear. Deny to speak with me? They are sick? they are weary ? They have travel'd all the night? Mere fetches; The images of revolt and flying off. Fetch me a better answer. Glou. My dear lord. You know the fiery quality of the duke; How unremovable and fix'd he is In his own course. Lear. Vengeance ! plague ! death ! confusion ! 6 SHAKESPEARE Fiery? what quality? Why, Gloucester, Gloucester, I'ld speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife. Glou. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them so. Lear. Inform'd them ! Dost thou understand me, man ? Glou. Aye, my good lord. Lear. The king would speak with Cornwall; the dear father Would with his daughter speak, commands her service: Are they inform'd of this ? My breath and blood ! ''Fiery " ? "the fiery duke " ? Tell the hot duke that — No, but not yet : may be he is not well : Infirmity doth still neglect all office Whereto our health is bound; we are not ourselves When nature being oppress'd commands the mind To suffer with the body: I'll forbear; And am fall'n out with hiy more headier will, To take the indisposed and sickly fit For the sound man. {Looking on Kent.) Death on my state ! wherefore Should he sit here? This act persuades me That this remotion of the duke and her Is practice only. Give me my servant forth. Go tell the duke and's wife I'ld speak with them, Now, presently: bid them come forth and hear me, Or at their chamber-door I'll beat the drum Till it cry sleep to death. Glou. I would have all well betwixt you. {Exit. Lear. O me, my heart, my rising heart ! But down ! Fool. Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels when she put 'em i' the paste alive; she knapped 'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, and cried "Down, wantons, down!" 'Twas her brother that, in pure kindness to his horse, buttered his hay. Reenter Gloucester, u-ith Cornwall, Regan, and Servants. Lear. Good morrov to you both. Corn. Hail to your p^race ! [Kent is set at liberty. Reg. I am gbd to <5'^'^ y^'T hi^^hness. Lear. Regan, I think y:)U are; I know what reason I have to think so : If thou shouldst not be glad, SHAKESPEARE 7 I would divorce me from thy mother's tomb, Sepulchering an adultress. {To Kent.) O, are you free? Some other time for that. Beloved Regan, Thy sister's naught : O Regan, she hath tied Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here: [Points to his heart. I can scarce speak to thee; thou'lt not believe With how depraved a quality — O Regan ! Reg. I pray you, sir, take patience : I have hope You less know how to value her desert Than she to scant her duty. Lear. Say, how is that? Reg. I cannot think my sister in the least Would fail her obligation : if, sir, perchance She have restrain'd the riots of your followers, 'Tis on such ground and to such wholesome end As clears her from all blame. Lear. My curses on her ! Reg. O sir, you are old; Nature in you stands on the very verge Of her confine : you should be ruled and led By some discretion that discerns your state Better than you yourself. Therefore I pray you That to our sister you do make return; Say you have wrong'd her, sir. Lear. Ask her forgiveness? Do you but mark how this becomes the house : {Kneeling.) "Dear daughter, I confess that I am old; Age is unnecessary: on my knees I beg That you'll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food." Reg. Good sir, no more; these are unsightly tricks: Return you to my sister. Lear {rising). Never, Regan: She hath abated me of half my train; Look'd black upon me; struck me with her tongue, Most serpent-like, upon the very heart: All the stored vengeances of heaven fall On her ingrateful top ! Strike her young bones, You taking airs, with lameness. 8 SHAKESPEARE Corn. Fie, sir, fie ! Lear. You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding flames Into her scornful eyes. Infect her beauty. You fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the powerful sun To fall and blast her pride. Reg. O the blest gods ! so will you wish on me, When the rash mood is on. Lear. No, Regan, thou shalt never have my curse: Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give Thee o'er to harshness: her eyes are fierce, but thine Do comfort and not burn. 'Tis not in thee To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes. And in conclusion to oppose the bolt Against my coming in : thou better know'st The offices of nature, bond of childhood, Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude; Thy half o' the kingdom hast thou not forgot, Wherein I thee endow'd. | Reg. Good sir, to the purpose. Lear. Who put my man i' the stocks? [Tucket within. ' Corn. What trumpet's that? Reg. I knovv't; my sister's: this approves her letter, That she would soon be here. s 1 Enter Oswald. Is your lady come? ^ Lear. This is a slave whose easy-borrow'd pride Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows. Out, varlet, from my sight ! Corn. What means your grace? Lear. Who stock'd my servant ? Regan, I have good hope Thou didst not know on't. Who comes here? Enter Goneril. O heavens. If you do love old men, if your sweet sway Allow obedience, if yourselves are old, SHAKESPEARE 9 Make it your cause ; send down, and take my part ! {To GoNERiL.) Art not ashamed to look upon this beard? 0 Pvegan, wilt thou take her by the hand? Gon. Why not by the hand, sir ? How have I offended ? All's not offense that indiscretion finds And dotage terms so. Lear. O sides, you are too tough; Will you yet hold? How came my man i' the stocks? Corn. I set him there, sir: but his own disorders Deserved much less advancement. Lear. You ! did you ? Reg. I pray you, father, being weak, seem so. If, till the expiration of your month. You will return and sojourn with my sister. Dismissing half your train, come then to me : 1 am now from home and out of that provision Which shall be needful for your entertainment. Lear. Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd? No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose To wage against the enmity o' the air. To be a comrade with the wolf and owl, — Necessity's sharp pinch ! Return with her ? Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took Our youngest born, I could as well be brought To knee his throne, and, squire-like, pension beg To keep base life afoot. Return with her? Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter To this detested groom. [Pointing at Oswald. Gon. At your choice, sir. Lear. I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad: I will not trouble thee, my child ; farewell : We'll no more meet, no more see one another: But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter; Or rather a disease that's in my flesh, Which I must needs call mine : thou art a boil, A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle. In my corrupted blood. But I'll not chide thee; Let shame come when it will, I do not call it: I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot. 10 SHAKESPEARE Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove : Mend when thou canst; be better at thy leisure: I can be patient; I can stay with Regan, I and my hundred knights. Reg. Not altogether so: I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister; For those that mingle reason with your passion Must be content to think you old, and so — But she knows what she does. Lear. Is this well spoken? Reg. I dare avouch it, sir: what, fifty followers? Is it not well ? What should you need of more ? Yea, or so many, sith that both charge and danger Speak 'gainst so great a number? How in one house Should many people under two commands Hold amity? 'Tis hard, almost impossible. Gon. Why might not you, my lord, receive attendance From those that she calls servants or from mine? Reg. Why not, my lord ? If then they chanced to slack you, We could control them. If you will come to me, For now I spy a danger, I entreat you, To bring but five and twenty : to no more Will I give place or notice. Lear. I gave you all — Reg. And in good time you gave it. Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries. But kept a reservation to be follow'd With such a number. What, must I come to you With five and twenty,. Regan ? said you so? Reg. And speak't again, my lord; no more with me. Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favor'd, When others are more wicked; not being the worst Stands in some rank of praise. {To Goneril.) I'll go with thee: Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty, And thou art twice her love. Gon. Hear me, my lord: What need you five and twenty, ten, or five, SHAKESPEARE ii To follow in a house where twice so many Have a command to tend you? Reg. What need one? Lear. O reason not the need : our basest beggars Are in the poorest thing superfluous : Allow not nature more than nature needs, Man's life's as 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. But for true need, — You heavens, give me that 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 stirs these daughters' hearts Against their father, fool me not so much To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger. And let not woman'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, Or ere I'll weep. O fool, I shall go mad ! [Exeunt Lear, Gloucester, KIent, and Fool. Corn. Let us withdraw; 'twill be a storm. [Storm and tempest, Reg. This house is little : the old man and his people Cannot be well bestow'd, Gon. 'Tis his own blame; hath put himself from rest, And must needs taste his folly. Reg. For his particular, I'll receive him gladly, But not one follower. Gon. So am I purposed. Where is my lord of Gloucester? Corn. Follow'd the old man forth : he is retum'd. 12 SHAKESPEARE Reenter Gloucester. Glou. The king is in high rage. Corn. Whither is he going? Glou. 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. Glou. Alack, the night comes on, and the bleak winds Do sorely ruffle; 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. A heath Storm still. Enter Kent and a Gentleman, meeting. Kent. Who's there, 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 curled waters 'bove the main, 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 to out-scorn The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain. This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch, The lion and the belly-pinched wolf Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs, And bids what will take all. Kent. But who is with him? • SHAKESPEARE Gent. None but the fool; who labors to out- jest His heart-struck injuries. Kent. Sir, I do know you; And dare, upon the warrant of my note, Commend a dear thing to you. There is 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 Throned and set high ? — servants, who seem no less, Which are to France the spies and speculations Intelligent of our state : what hath been seen, Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes. Or the hard rein which both of them have borne Against the old kind king, or something deeper Whereof perchance these are but furnishings, — 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, 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 fellow is That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm ! I will go seek the king. Ge?it. Give me your hand: Have you no more to say? 14 SHAKESPEARE Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all yet; That when we have found the king, — in which your pain That way, I'll this, — he that first lights on him Holla the other. [Exeunt severally. Another part of the heath. Storm still Enter Lear and 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-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts. Singe my white head ! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world ! Crack nature's molds, all germins spill at once That make ingrateful man ! Fool. O nuncle, court holy-water in a dry house is better than this rain-water out o' door. Good nuncle, in, and ask tiy daughters' blessing: here's a night pities neither wise man n^r fool. Lear. Rumble thy bellyful ! Spit, fire ! spout, rain. Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters: I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children. You owe me no subscription : then let fall Your horrible pleasure; here I stand, your slave, A poor, infirm, weak and despised old man: But yet I call you servile ministers. That have with two pernicious daughters join'd Your high-engender'd battles 'gainst a head So old and white as this. O ! O ! 'tis foul ! Fool. He that has a house to put's head in has a good head- piece. The cod-piece that will house Before the head has any, The head and he shall louse So beggars marry many. SHAKESPEARE 15 The man that makes his toe What he his heart should make Shall of a corn cry woe, And turn his sleep to wake. For there was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass. Lear. No, I will be the pattern of all patience; I will say nothing. Enter Kent. Kent. Who's there? Fool. Marry, here's grace and a cod-piece; that's a wise man and a fool. Kent. Alas, sir, are you here? things that love night Love not such nights as these; the wrathful skies Gallow the very wanderers of the dark, And make them keep their caves: since I was man. Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never Remember to have heard : man's nature cannot carry The affliction nor the fear. Lear. Let the great gods. That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads. Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch, That hast within thee undivulged crimes, Unwhipp'd of justice : hide thee, thou bloody hand ; Thou perjured, and thou simular man of virtue That art incestuous: caitiff, to pieces shake. That under covert and convenient seeming , Hast practised on man's life : close pent-up guilts, Rive your concealing continents and cry These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man More sinn'd against than sinning. Kent. Alack, bare-headed! Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel; Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tempest: Repose you there; while I to this hard house — More harder than the stones whereof 'tis raised : Which even but now, demanding after you. i6 SHAKESPEARE Denied me to come in — return, and force Their scanted courtesy. Lear. My wits begin to turn. Come on, my boy: how dost, my boy? art cold? I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow? The art of our necessities is strange, That can make vile things precious. Come, your hovel. Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart That's sorry yet for thee. Fool {singing). He that has and a little tiny wit, — With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, — • Must make content with his fortunes fit. For the rain it raineth every day. Lear. True, my good. boy. Come, bring us to this hovel. [Exeunt Lear and Kent. Fool. This is a brave night to cool a courtesan. I'll speak a prophecy ere I go : When priests are more in word than matter; When brewers mar their malt with water; When nobles are their tailors' tutors; No heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors; When every case in law is right; No squire in debt, nor no poor knight; When slanders do not live in tongues. Nor cutpurses come not to throngs; When usurers tell their gold i' the field. And bawds and whores do churches build Then shall the realm of Albion Come to great confusion : Then comes the time, who lives to see't, That going shall be used with feet. This prophecy Merlin shall make; for I live before his time. [Exit. XI— I SHAKESPEARE 17 The heath. Before a hovel Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool. Kent. Here is the place, my lord : good my lord, enter : The tyranny of the open night's too rough For nature to endure. [Storm still. Lear. Let me alone. Kent. Good my lord, enter here. Lear. Wilt break my heart? Kent. I had rather break mine own. Good my lord, enter. Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storm Invades us to the skin: so 'tis to thee; But where the greater malady is fix'd The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'ldst shun a bear. But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea Thou'ldst meet the bear i' the mouth. When the mind's free The body's delicate : the tempest in my mind Doth from my senses take all feeling else Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude ! Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand For lifting food to't? But I will punish home. No, I will weep no more. In such a night To shut me out ! Pour on ; I will endure. In such a night as this ! O Regan, Goneril ! Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave you all, — O that way madness lies; let me shun that; No more of that. Kent. Good my lord, enter here. Lear. Prithee, go in thyself; seek thine own ease: This tempest will not give me leave to ponder On things would hurt me more. But I'll go in. {To the Fool.) In, boy; go first. You houseless poverty, — Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep. [Fool goes in. Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm. How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en i8 SHAKESPEARE Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp; Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, That thou mayst shake the superflux to them And show the heavens more just. Edg. {within). Fathom and half, fathom and half! Poor Tom ! [The Fool runs out from the hovel. Fool. Come not in here, nuncle, here's a spirit. Help me, help me ! Kent. Give me thy hand. Who's there? Fool. A spirit, a spirit : he says his name's poor Tom. Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i' the straw ? Come forth. Enter Edgar, disguised as a madman. Edg. Away ! the foul fiend follows me ! "Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind." Hum ! go to thy cold bed and warm thee. Lear. Hast thou given all to thy two daughters? And art thou come to this? Edg. Who gives anything to poor Tom? whom the foul fiend hath led through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool, o'er bog and quagmire; that hath laid knives under his pillow and halters in his pew ; set ratsbane by his porridge ; made him proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting-horse over four-inched biridges, to course his own shadow for a traitor. Bless thy five wits! Tom's a-cold. O, do de, do de, do de. Bless thee from whirlwinds, starblasting, and taking ! Do poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes. There could I have him now, and there, and there again, and there. [Storm stiU. Lear. AVhat, have his daughters brought him to this pass? Couldst thou save nothing? Didst thou give them all? Fool. Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had been all shamed. Lear. Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous air Hang fated o'er men's faults light on thy daughters ! Kent. He hath no daughters, sir. Lear. Death, traitor ! nothing could have subdued nature To such a lowness but his unkind daughters. SHAKESPEARE 19 Is it the fashion that discarded fathers Should have thus httle mercy on their flesh? Judicious punishment ! 'twas this flesh begot Those pelican daughters. Edg. Pillicock sat on Pillicock-hill : Halloo, halloo, loo, loo ! Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen. Edg. Take heed o' the foul fiend: obey thy parents; keep thy word justly; swear not; commit not with man's sworn spouse; set not thy sweet heart on proud array. Tom's a-cold. Lear. What hast thou been? Edg. A serving-man, proud in heart and mind; that curled my hair ; wore gloves in my cap ; served the lust of my mistress' heart and did the act of darkness with her; swore as many oaths as I spake words and broke them in the sweet face of heaven : one that slept in the contriving of lust and waked to do it: wine loved I deeply, dice dearly, and in woman out-para- moured the Turk : false of heart, light of ear, bloody of hand ; hog in sloth, fox in stealth, wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey. Let not the creaking of shoes nor the rustling of silks betray thy poor heart to woman: keep thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets, thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul fiend. ''Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind." Says suum, mun, ha, no, nonny. f Dolphin my boy, my boy, sessa ! let him trot by. [Storm still. Lear. Why, thou wert better in thy grave than to answer with thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies. Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no per- fume. Ha ! here's three on's are sophisticated. Thou art the thing itself : unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings ! come, unbutton here. [Tearing off his clothes. Fool. Prithee, nuncle, be contented ; 'tis a naughty night to swim in. Now a little fire in a wild field were like an old lecher's heart, a small spark, all the rest on's body cold. Look, here comes a walking fire. 20 SHAKESPEARE Enter Gloucester, with a torch. Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he begins at curfew and walks till the first cock; he gives the web and the pin, squints the eye and makes the hare-lip; mildews the white wheat and hurts the poor creature of earth. Saint Withold footed thrice the 'old; He met the night-mare and her nine-fold; Bid her alight, And her troth plight, And aroint thee, witch, aroint thee ! Kent. How fares your grace? Lear. What's he? Kent. Who's there? What is't you seek? Glou. What are you there? Your names? Edg. Poor Tom, that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt and the water; that in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets; swallows the old rat and the ditch-dog; drinks the green mantle of the standing pool; who is whipped from tithing to tithing, and stock-punished, and imprisoned; who hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his body, horse to ride and weapon to wear; But mice and rats and such small deer Have been Tom's food for seven long year. Beware my follower. Peace, Smulkin ; peace, thou fiend ! Glou. What, hath your grace no better company ? Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman; Modo he's call'd, and Mahu. Glou. Our flesh and blood is grown so vile, my lord. That it doth hate what gets it. Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold. Glou. Go in with me : my duty cannot suffer To obey in all your daughters' hard commands : Though their injunction be to bar my doors And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you, Yet have I ventured to come seek you out And bring you where both fire and food is ready. Lear. First let me talk with this philosopher. What is the cause of thunder? SHAKESPEARE 21 Kent. Good my lord, take his offer; go into the house. Lear. I'll talk a word with this same learned Theban. What is your study? Edg. How to prevent the fiend and to kill vermin. Lear. Let me ask you one word in private. Kent. Importune him once more to go, my lord; His wits begin to unsettle. Glou. Canst thou blame him ? [Storm still His daughters seek his death ; ah, that good Kent ! He said it would be thus, poor banish'd man ! Thou say'st the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend, I am almost mad myself: I had a son, Now outlaw'd from my blood; he sought my life, But lately, very late: I loved him, friend. No father his son dearer: truth to tell thee. The grief hath crazed my wits. What a night's this ! I do beseech your grace, — Lear. O, cry you mercy, sir. Noble philosopher, your company. Edg. Tom's a-cold. Glou. In, fellow, there, into the hovel; keep thee warm. Lear. Come, let's in all. Kent. This way, my lord. Lear. With him; I will keep still with my philosopher. Kent. Good my lord, soothe him; let him take the fellow. Glou. Take him you on. Kent. Sirrah, come on; go along with us. Lear. Come, good Athenian. Glou. No words, no words : hush. Edg. Child Rov;land to the dark tower came: His word was still "Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man." [Exeunt. A chamber in a farmhouse adjoining the castle Enter Gloucester, Lear, Kent, Fool, ayid Edgar. Glou. Here is better than the open air ; take it thankfully. I will piece out the comfort with what addition I can: I will not be long from you. 22 SHAKESPEARE Kent. All the power of his wits have given way to his im- patience : the gods reward your kindness ! [Exit Gloucester. Edg. Frateretto calls me, and tells me Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent, and beware the foul fiend. Fool. Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentle- man or a yeoman. Lear. A king, a king ! Fool. No, he's a yeoman that has a gentleman to his son, for he's a mad yeoman that sees his son a gentleman before him. Lear. To have a thousand with red burning spits Come hissing in upon 'em, — Edg. The foul fiend bites my back. Fool. He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath. Lear. It shall be done; I will arraign them straight. {To Edgar.) Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer; {To the Fool.) Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, you she foxes! Edg. Look, where he stands and glares ! Wantest thou eyes at trial, madam ? Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me. Fool. Her boat hath a leak. And she must not speak Why she dares not come over to thee. Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice of a night- ingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's belly for two white herring. Croak not, black angel ; I have no food for thee. Kent. How do you, sir? Stand you not so amazed: Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions? Lear. I'll see their trial first. Bring in the evidence. {To Edgar.) Thou robed man of justice, take thy place ; {To the Fool.) And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity, Bench by his side. {To Kent.) You are o' the commission ; Sit you too. Edg. Let us deal justly. Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd : Thy sheep be in the corn; And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, Thy sheep shall take no harm. Pur ! the cat is gray. SHAKESPEARE 23 Lear. Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take my oath before this honorable assembly, she kicked the poor king her father. Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name Goneril? Lear. She cannot deny it. Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool. Lear. And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim What store her heart is made on. Stop her there ! Arms, arms, sword, fire ! Corruption in the place ! False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape? Edg. Bless thy five wits ! Kent. O pity ! Sir, where is the patience now, That you so oft have boasted to retain ! Edg. {aside). My tears begin to take his part so much, They'll mar my counterfeiting. Lear. The little dogs and all, Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me. Edg. Tom will throw his head at them. Avaunt, you curs ! Be thy mouth or black or white, Tooth that poisons if it bite; Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach or lym. Or bobtail tike or trundle-tail, Tom will make them weep and wail: For, with throwing thus my head. Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled. Do de, de, de. Sessa ! Come, march to wakes and fairs and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is dry. Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan ; see what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts ? {To Edgar.) You sir, I entertain for one of my hundred ; only I do not like the fashion of your garments. You will say they are Persian attire ; but let them be changed. Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here and rest awhile. Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw the curtains: so, so, so. We'll go to supper i' the morning. So, so, so. Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon. 24 SHAKESPEARE Reenter Gloucester. Glou. Come hither, friend : where is the king my master ? Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not: his wits are gone. Glou. Good friend, I prithee, take him in thy arms; I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him: There is a litter ready; lay him in't, And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master: If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life, With thine and all that offer to defend him, Stand in assured loss. Take up, take up. And follow me, that will to some provision Give thee quick conduct. Kent. - Oppressed nature sleeps. This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken sinews, Which, if convenience will not allow. Stand in hard cure. {To the Fool.) Come, help to bear thy master ; Thou must not stay behind. Glou. Come, come away. [Exeunt all but Edgar. Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes, We scarcely think our miseries our foes. Who alone suffers suffers most i' the mind. Leaving free things and happy shows behind: But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip, When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship. How light and portable my pain seems now. When that which makes me bend makes the king bow, He childed as I father'd ! Tom, away ! Mark the high noises, and thyself bewray When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee, In thy just proof repeals and reconciles thee. What will hap more to-night, safe 'scape the king ! Lurk, lurk. [Exit. SHAKESPEARE 25 Gloucester's castle Enter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, Edmund, and Servants. Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband ; show him this letter: the army of France is landed. Seek out the traitor Gloucester. [Exeunt some of the Servants. Reg. Hang him instantly. Gon. Pluck out his eyes. Corji. Leave him to my displeasure. Edmund, keep you our sister company: the revenges we are bound to take upon your traitorous father are not fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, where you are going, to a most festinate prepara- tion: we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister: farewell, my lord of Gloucester. Enter Oswald. How now ! where's the king ? Osw. My lord of Gloucester hath convey'd him hence : Some five or six and thirty of his knights. Hot questrists after him, met him at gate; Who, with some other of the lord's dependents, Are gone with him toward Dover; where they boast To have well-armed friends. Corn. Get horses for your mistress. Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister. Corn. Edmund, farewell. [Exeunt Goneril, Edmund, and Oswald. Go seek the traitor Gloucester. Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us. [Exeunt other Servants. Though well we may not pass upon his life Without the form of justice, yet our power Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men May blame but not control. Who's there? the traitor? Enter Gloucester, brought in by two or three. Reg. Ingrateful fox ! 'tis he. 26 SHAKESPEARE Corn. Bind fast his corky arms. Clou. What mean your graces? Good my friends, considei You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends. Corn. Bind him, I say. [Servants hind him. Reg. Hard, hard. O filthy traitor ! Clou. Unmerciful lady as you are, I'm none. Corn. To this chair bind him. Villain, thou shalt find — [Regan plucks his beard. Glou. By the kind gods, 'tis most ignobly done To pluck me by the beard. Reg. So white, and such a traitor ! Glou. Naughty lady, These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin Will quicken and accuse thee: I am your host: With robbers' hands my hospitable favors You should not ruffle thus. What will you do? Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from France? Reg. Be simple answerer, for we know the truth. Corn. And what confederacy have you with the traitors Late footed in the kingdom? Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic king? Speak. Glou. I have a letter guessingly set down. Which came from one that's of a neutral heart, And not from one opposed. Corn. Cunning. Reg. And false. Corn. Where hast thou sent the king? Glou. To Dover. Reg. Wherefore to Dover ? Wast thou not charged at peril — Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him first answer that. Glou. I am tied to the stake, and I must stand the course. Reg. Wherefore to Dover, sir? Glou. Because I would not see thy cruel nails Pluck out his poor old eyes, nor thy fierce sister In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs. The sea, with such a storm as his bare head In hell-black night endured, would have buoy'd up, And quench'd the stelled fires: SHAKESPEARE 27 Yet, poor old heart, he holp the heavens to rain. If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time, Thou shouldst have said, " Good porter, turn the key," All cruels else subscribed: but I shall see The winged vengeance overtake such children. Corn. See't shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the chair. Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot. Glou. He that will think to live till he be old, Give me some help ! O cruel ! O you gods ! Reg. One side will mock another; the other too. Corn. If you see vengeance — First Serv. Hold your hand, my lord : I have served you ever since I was a child; But better service have I never done you Than now to bid you hold. Reg. How now, you dog! First Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your chin, I'ld shake it on this quarrel. What do you mean? Corn. My villain! \They draw and fight. First Serv. Nay, then, come on, and take the chance of anger. Reg. Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up thus I [Takes a sword and runs at him behind. First Serv. O I am slain 1 My lord, you have one eye left To see some mischief on him. O I [Dies. Corn. Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile jelly ! Where is thy luster now? Glou. All dark and comfortless. Where's my son Edmund ? Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature. To quit this horrid act. Reg. Out, treacherous villain! Thou call'st on him that hates thee: it was he That made the overture of thy treasons to us; Who is too good to pity thee. Glou. O my follies ! Then Edgar was abused. Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him ! Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smell His way to Dover. {Exit one with Gloucester.) How is't, my lord ? how look you ? Corn. I have received a hurt: follow me, lady. 28 SHAKESPEARE Turn out that eyeless villain : throw this slave Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace: Untimely comes this hurt : give me your arm. [Exit Cornwall, led by Regan. Sec. Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do, If this man come to good. Third Serv. If she live long, And in the end meet the old course of death, Women will all turn monsters. Sec. Serv. Let's follow the old earl, and get the Bedlam To lead him where he would : his roguish madness Allows itself to anything. Third Serv. Go thou : I'll fetch some flax and whites of eggs To apply to his bleeding face. Now, Heaven help him ! [Exeuni severally. The heath Enter Edgar. Edg. Yet better thus, and known to be contemn'd, Than still contemn'd and flatter'd. To be worst, The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune, Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear: The lamentable change is from the best; The worst returns to laughter. Welcome then, Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace ! The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst Owes nothing to thy blasts. But who comes here? Enter Gloucester, led by an Old Man. My father, poorly led ? World, world, O world ! But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee. Life would not yield to age. Old Man. O my good lord, I have been your tenant, and your father's tenant, these fourscore years. Glou. Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone: Thy comforts can do me no good at all; Thee they may hurt. SHAKESPEARE 29 Old Man. Alack, sir, you cannot see your way. Glou. I have no way and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw: full oft 'tis seen, Our means secure us, and our mere defects Prove our commodities. Ah, dear son Edgar, The food of thy abused father's wrath ! Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I'ld say I had eyes again ! Old Man. How now! Who's there? Edg. (aside) . O gods ! Who is't can say "I am at the worst " ? I am worse than e'er I was. Old Man. 'Tis poor mad Tom. Edg. (aside) . And worse I may be yet : the worst is not So long as we can say "This is the worst." Old Man. Fellow, where goest? Glou. Is it a beggar-man ? Old Man. Madman and beggar too. Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg. I' the last night's storm I such a fellow saw. Which made me think a man a worm: my son Came then into my mind, and yet my mind Was then 'scarce friends with him: I have heard more since. As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport. Edg. (aside). How should this be? Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow, Angering itself and others. Bless thee, master! Glou. Is that the naked fellow? Old Man. Aye, my lord. Glou. Then, prithee, get thee gone: if for my sake Thou wilt o'ertake us hence a mile or twain I' the way toward Dover, do it for ancient love; And bring some covering for this naked soul. Who I'll entreat to lead me. Old Man. Alack, sir, he is mad. Glou. 'Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the blind. Do £,3 I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure; Above the rest, be gone. 30 SHAKESPEARE Old Man. I'll bring him the best 'parel that I have, Come on't what will. [Exit. Glou. Sirrah, naked fellow, — Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold. (Aside.) I cannot daub it further. Glou. Come hither, fellow. Edg. (aside) . And yet I must. — Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed. Glou. Know'st thou the way to Dover? Edg. Both stile and gate, horse-way and foot-path. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits. Bless thee, good man's son, from the foul fiend ! Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididence, prince of dumbness; Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; Flibberti- gibbet, of mopping and mowing ; who since possesses chamber- maids and waiting-women. So, bless thee, master ! Glou. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heavens' plagues Have humbled to all strokes : that I am wretched Makes thee the happier. Heavens, deal so still ! Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, That slaves your ordinance, that will not see Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly; So distribution should undo excess And each man have enough. Dost thou know Dover? Edg. Aye, master. Glou. There is a cliff whose high and bending head Looks fearfully in the confined deep : Bring me but to the very brim of it. And I'll repair the misery thou dost bear With something rich about me : from that place I shall no leading need. Edg. Give me thy arm: Poor Tom shall lead thee. [Exeunt. Fields near Dover Enter Gloucester, and Edgar dressed like a peasant. Glou. When shall we come to the top of that same hill ? Edg. You do climb up it now : look, how we labor. SHAKESPEARE 31 Glou. Methinks the ground is even. Edg. Horrible steep. Hark, do you hear the sea? Glou. No, truly. Edg. Why then your other senses grow imperfect By your eyes' anguish. Glou. So may it be indeed: Methinks thy voice is alter'd, and thou speak'st In better phrase and matter than thou didst. 