SCENE VI. Enter Ariel, driving in Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo, in their ftolen Apparel. Ste. Every man fhift for all the reft, and let no man take care for himself; for all is but fortune; Coragio, bully-monster, Coragio! Trin. If thefe be true fpies, which I wear in my head, here's a goodly fight. Cal. O Setebos, these be brave spirits, indeed! How fine my master is! I am afraid, He will chaftife me. Seb. Ha, ha; What things are thefe, my lord Anthonio! Ant. Very like; one of them Is a plain fifh, and no doubt marketable. Pro. Mark but the badges of thefe men, my lords, Then fay, if they be true: 3 this mif fhap'd knave His mother was a witch, and one fo ftrong That could controul the moon, make flows and ebbs, Cal. I fhall be pincht to death. Alon. Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler? Alon. And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where fhould they true.] That is, honeft. A true man is, in the language of that time, oppofed to a Thief. The fenfe is, Mark what these men wear, and fay if they are honest. Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em ? + you Trin. I have been in fuch a pickle, fince I faw laft, that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I fhall not fear fly blowing. Seb. Why, how now, Stephano? Ste. O, touch me not: I am not Stephano, but a [cramp. Alon. 'Tis a ftrange thing, as I e'er look'd on. Cal. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wife hereafter, Shake 4 And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where should they Find this grand LIQUOR, that hath gilded em.] Spear, to be fure, wrote-grand 'LIXIR, alluding to the grand Elixir of the alchymifts, which they pretend would reftore youth, and confer immortality. This, as they faid being a preparation of Gold, they called Aurum potabile; which Shakespear alluded to in the word gilded; as he does again in Anthony and Cleopatra. How much art thou unlike Mark Anthony? Yet coming from him, that great med'cine bath, With his Tinct, gilded thee. But the joke here is to infinuate that, notwithstanding al the boafts of the Chymifts, Sack was the only restorer of youth, and bestower of immortality. So Ben. Johnfon in his Every man out of his humour-Canarie the very Elixar and Spirit of wine-This feems to have been the Cant name for Sack, of which the English were, at that time, inmoerately fond. Randolf in his Jealous Lovers, fpeaking of it, days, A Pottle of Elixar at the Pegafus bravely caroufed. So again in Fletcher s Monfieur Thamas, A& III. -Old reverend Sack, which, før ought that I can read yet, Was that Philofophers ftone the wife King Ptolomeus Did all his wonders by. The phrafe too of being gilded was a trite one on this occafion. Fletcher in his Chances-Duke. Is he not drunk too? Whore. A little gilded o er, Sir; Old Sack, Old Sack, Boys! WARBURTON. Was Was I, to take this drunkard for a God? . Pro. Go to, away! Alon. Hence, and beftow your luggage where you found it. Seb. Or ftole it rather. Pro. Sir, I invite your highnefs, and your train, Of these our dear beloved folemniz'd; To hear the ftory of your life, which must Pro. I'll deliver all; And promise you calm feas, aufpicious gales, Your royal fleet far off. My Ariel-chick,- Be free, and fare thou well!-Please you, draw near. EPILOGUE, my Spoken by Profpero. NOW charms are all o'er-thrown, And what ftrength I have's mine own ; Or fent to Naples. Let me not, 5 And my ending is defpair, s As you from crimes would pardon'd be, 5 And my ending is defpair, Unless I be reliev d by prayer ;] This alludes to the old Stories told of the defpair of Necro mancers in their last moments; and of the efficacy of the prayers of their friends for them. WARBURTON. |