A most intelligencing bawd! Paul. Not so: I am as ignorant in that, as you In so entitling me: and no less honest Than you are mad; which is enough, I'll warrant, As this world goes, to pass for honest, Traitors! Leon. Will you not push her out? Give her the bastard :Thou dotard, [To Antigonus] thou art woman-tir'd*, unroosted By thy dame Partlet here,-take up the bastard; Take't up, I say; give't to thy crone†. Paul. Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou For ever Tak'st up the princess, by that forced baseness Which he has put upon't! Leon. He dreads his wife. Paul. So I would you did; then, 'twere past all doubt, You'd call your children yours. Leon. A nest of traitors ! Ant. I am none, by this good light. Paul. Nor I; nor any, But one, that's here; and that's himself: for he' The sacred honour of himself, his queen's, His hopeful son's, his babe's, betrays to slander, Whose sting is sharper than the sword's; and will not (For, as the case now stands, it is a curse Leon. A callat §, Of boundless tongue; who late hath beat her hus band, And now baits me !-This brat is none of mine; * Pecked by a woman; hen-pecked. + Worn-out old woman. Forced is false; uttered with violence to truth. § Trull. It is the issue of Polixenes: Hence with it; and, together with the dam, Paul. It is yours; And, might we lay the old proverb to your charge, The trick of his frown, his forehead: nay, the valley, smiles; The very mould and frame of hand, nail, finger :And thou, good goddess nature, which hast made it So like to him that got it, if thou hast The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours No yellow* in't; lest she suspect, as he does, Her children not her husband's! Leon. A gross hag!And, lozel+! thou art worthy to be hang'd, That wilt not stay her tongue. Ant. That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself Hardly one subject. Leon. Hang all the husbands Once more, take her hence. Paul. A most unworthy and unnatural lord Can do no more. Leon. Paul. I'll have thee burn'd. It is an heretick, that makes the fire, I care not: Not she, which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant ; But this most cruel usage of your queen (Not able to produce more accusation Than your own weak-hing'd fancy), something savours Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you, Yea, scandalous to the world. Leon: On your allegiance, Out of the chamber with her. Were I a tyrant, *The colour of jealousy. +Worthless fellow, Where were her life? she durst not call me so, Paul. I pray you, do not push me; I'll be gone. Look to your babe, my lord; 'tis yours: Jove send her A better guiding spirit!-What need these hands? [Exit. Leon. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this. My child? away with't!-even thou, that hast A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence, And see it instantly consum'd with fire ; Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight: Ant. I did not, sir; These lords, my noble fellows, if they please, Can clear me in't. 1 Lord. We can; my royal liege, He is not guilty of her coming hither. 1 Lord. 'Beseech your highness, give us better credit: We have always truly serv'd you; and beseech So to esteem of us: And on our knees we beg (As recompence of our dear services, Past, and to come), that you do change this pur pose; Which, being so horrible, so bloody, must Lead on to some foul issue: We all kneel. Leon. I am a feather for each wind that blows: Shall I live on, to see this bastard kneel And call me father? Better burn it now, Than curse it then. But be it; let it live: You, that have been so tenderly officious ture To save this brat's life? Ant. Any thing, my lord, And nobleness impose: at least, thus much; Leon. It shall be possible: Swear by this sword*, Thou wilt perform my bidding. Ant. I will, my lord. Leon. Mark, and perform it; (seest thou?) for the fail Of any point in't shall not only be Death to thyself, but to thy lewd tongu'd wife; Ant. I swear to do this, though a present death Had been more merciful.-Come on, poor babe: Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens, To be thy nurses! Wolves, and bears, they say, Casting their savageness aside, have done * It was anciently a practice to swear by the cross at the hilt of a sword. +i.e. Commit it to some place as a stranger. Like offices of pity.-Sir, be prosperous Poor thing, condemned to loss! Leon. Another's issue. 1 Atten. [Exit with the child. No, I'll not rear Please your highness, posts, From those you sent to the oracle, are come Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed, 1 Lord. So please you, sir, their speed Hath been beyond account. Leon. Twenty-three days They have been absent: "Tis good speed; foretels, The great Apollo suddenly will have The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords; ACT III. Leave me ; [Exeunt. SCENE I. The same. A street in some Town. Enter Cleomenes and Dion. Cleo. The climate's delicate; the air most sweet; Fertile the isle; the temple much surpassing The common praise it bears. I shall report, Dion. (Methinks, I so should term them), and the reve rence Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice! |