Bats. Work you, then. Art. Hang, cur, hang! you insolent noise-maker, we re less afraid to be drowned than thou art. ton. I'll warrant him from drowning; though th ship were no stronger than a nut-shell. Boats. Lay her a-hold, a-hold; set her two ourses; off to sea again, lay her off. Enter Mariners wet. Mar. All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost! Boats. What, must our mouths be cold? For our case is as their's. Seb. I am out of patience. Ant. We are merely3 cheated of our lives by drunkards. This wide-chapped rascal; -'Would, thou might'st lie drowning, The washing of ten tides! Gon. He'll be hang'd yet; Though every drop of water swear against it, And gape at wid'st to glut him. [A confused noise within.] Mercy on us!-We split, we split!-Farewell, my wife and children!. Farewell, brother!-We split, we split, we split ! Ant. Let's all sink with the king. Seb. Let's take leave of him. [Exit. [Exit. Gon. Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground! long heath, brown furze, any thing: The wills above be done! but I would fain die a dry death. 3 Absolutely. [Exit. SCENE II. The Island: before the Cell of PROSPERO. Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA. Mira. If by your art, my dearest father, yu have Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them: With those that I saw suffer! a brave vessel, Have sunk the sea within the earth, or e'er It should the good ship so have swallowed, and Be collected; Pro. Mira. Pro. O, woe the day! No harm. I have done nothing but in care of thee, (Of thee, my dear one! thee, my daughter!) who Mira. More to know 'Tis time Did never meddle with my thoughts. Pro. So; [Lays down his mantle. Lie there my art. Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort. The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. For thou must now know further. You have often Mira. Pro. The hour's now come; The very minute bids thee ope thine ear; Obey, and be attentive. Can'st thou remember I do not think thou can'st; for then thou wast not Mira. Certainly, sir, I can. Pro. By what? by any other house, or person? Of any thing the image tell me, that Hath kept with thy remembrance. Mira. "Tis far off; And rather like a dream than an assurance Pro. Thou had'st, and more, Miranda: But how is it, That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? If thou remember'st aught, ere thou cam'st here, How thou cam'st here, thou may'st. Mira. Pro. Twelve years since, But that I do not. Miranda, twelve years since, thy father was 4 Quite. Mira. Sir, are not you my father? Pro. Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father Was duke of Milan; and his only heir A princess; -no worse issued. O, the heavens ! Mira. What foul play had we, that we came from thence? Or blessed was't we did? Both, both, my girl: Pro. By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heav'd thence; But blessedly holp hither. Mira. O, my heart bleeds To think o' the teen5 that I have turn'd you to, Which is from my remembrance! Please you, further. Pro. My brother, and thy uncle, call'd Antonio,— Without a parallel; those being all my study, And to my state grew stranger, being transported, Mira. Sir, most heedfully. Pro. Being once perfected how to grant suits, How to deny them; whom to advance, and whom To trash 6 for over-topping; new-created The creatures that were mine; I say, or chang'd them, Or else new-form'd them : having both the key To what tune pleas'd his ear; that now he was 5 Sorrow. 6 Cut away. The ivy, which had hid my princely trunk, Thou attend'st O good sir, I do. Pro. I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicate To closeness, and the bettering of my mind With that, which, but by being so retir'd, O'er-priz'd all popular rate, in my false brother Awak'd an evil nature: and my trust, Like a good parent, did beget of him A falsehood, in its contrary as great As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit, To credit his own lie, - he did believe Mira. Your tale, sir, would cure deafness. Pro. To have no screen between this part he play'd, And him he play'd it for, he needs will be Mira. O the heavens! Pro. Mark his condition, and the event; then tell me, If this might be a brother. |