Thee o'er to harshness; her eyes are fierce, but thine Thy half o' the kingdom hast thou not forgot, Reg. I know't, my sister's; this approves her letter, That she would soon be here.-Is your lady come? Lear. This is a slave, whose easy-borrowed pride Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows. Out, varlet, from my sight! Corn. What means your grace? Lear. Who stocked my servant? Regan, I have good hope Thou didst not know of't.-Who comes here? If you Heavens, Enter GONERIL. do love old men, if your sweet sway Allow 2 obedience, if yourselves are old, Make it your cause; send down, and take my part!— Art not ashamed to look upon this beard?— [To GONERIL. O Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand? quartos read tender-hested, which may be right, and signify giving tender hests or commands. 1 A size is a portion or allotment of food. The word and its origin are explained in Minsheu's Guide to Tongues, 1617. The term sizer is still used at Cambridge for one of the lowest rank of students, living on a stated allowance. 2 To allow is to approve, in old phraseology. Gon. Why not by the hand, sir? How have I of fended? All's not offence, 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.1 Lear. You! did you? Reg. I pray you, father, being weak, seem so.2 If, till the expiration of your month, You will return and sojourn with my sister, Dismissing half your train, come then to me; I am now from home, and out of that provision Which shall be needful for your entertainment. Lear. Return to her, and fifty men dismissed? 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, squirelike, pension beg To keep base life afoot.-Return with her? Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter* To this detested groom. Gon. 3 [Looking on the Steward. At your choice, sir. Lear. I pr'ythee, 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, 1 By less advancement, Cornwall means that Kent's disorders had entitled him to a post of even less honor than the stocks. 2 Since you are weak, be content to think yourself weak. 3 See p. 14, note 6, ante. 4 Sumpter is generally united with horse or mule, to signify one that carried provisions or other necessaries; from sumptus (Lat.). In the present instance horse seems to be understood. A plague-sore, an embossed' carbuncle, In my corrupted blood. But I'H not chide thee; Reg. Not altogether so, sir; For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister; Must be content to think you old, and so But she knows what she does. Is this well spoken, now? Lear. 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 attend ance From those that she calls servants, or from mine ? slack you, We could control them. If you will come to me, To bring but five-and-twenty; to no more Lear. I gave you all Reg. And in good time you gave it. Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries; With such a number. What, must I come to you Reg. And speak it again, my lord; no more with me. 1 Embossed here means swelling, protuberant. ་ Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well favored, Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty, Gon. Hear me, my lord; What need you five-and-twenty, ten, or five, 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 is cheap as beast's. Thou art a lady; Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, That all the world shall-I will do such things,- I have full cause of weeping; but this heart [Exeunt LEAR, GLOSTER, KENT, and Fool. 1 i. e. to be not the worst deserves some praise. 2 As cheap here means as little worth. 3 Flaws anciently signified fragments, as well as mere cracks. Among the Saxons it certainly had that meaning. The word, as Bailey observes, was "especially applied to the breaking off shivers or thin pieces from precious stones." Corn. Let us withdraw; 'twill be a storm. [Storm heard at a distance. Reg. Gon. 'Tis his own blame hath put Himself from rest, and must needs taste his folly. Gon. So am I purposed. Where is my lord of Gloster? Re-enter GLOSTER. Corn. Followed the old man forth;-he is returned. Glo. The king is in high rage. Corn. Whither is he going? Glo. 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. Glo. Alack, the night comes on, and the bleak winds 1 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; And what they may incense him to, being apt Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord; 'tis a wild night. My Regan counsels well; come out o' the storm. [Exeunt. 1 Thus the folio. The quartos read, "Do sorely russel," i. e. rustle. But ruffle is most probably the true reading. 2 To incense is here, as in other places, to instigate. |