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The gates of Milan; and, i’th' dead of darkness,
The minifters for th' purpofe hurry'd thence
Me, and thy crying self.

Mira. Alack, for pity!

I, not remembring how I cry'd out then,
Will cry it o'er again; it is a hint,
That wrings mine eyes to't.

Pro. Hear a little further,

And then I'll bring thee to the prefent business.
Which now's upon's, without the which this story
Were most impertinent.

Mira. Why did they not

That hour destroy us?

Pro. Well demanded, wench;

My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durft not
(So dear the love my people bore me ;) fet

A mark fo bloody on the business; but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurry'd us aboard a bark ;
Bore us fome leagues to fea; where they prepar'd
A rotten careafs of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, fail, nor maft; the very rats
Inftinctively had quit it: there they boift us
To cry to th' fea, that roar'd to us; to figh
To th' winds, whofe pity, fighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.

Mira. Alack! what trouble.

Was I then to you?

Pro. O a Cherubim

Thou waft, that did preferve me: Thou didft smile,
Infused with a fortitude from heav'n,

(When I have deck'd the sea with drops full salt ;
Under my burthen groan'd;) which rais'd in me
An undergoing ftomach, to bear up

Against what fhould ensue.

Mira. How came we a-fhore?

Pro. By providence divine.

Some food we had, and some fresh water, that

A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Out of his charity (being then appointed
Mafter of this defign) did give us, with

Rich garments, linnens, ftuffs, and neceffaries,

A 5

Which

Which fince have steeded much. So of his gentleness,
Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me
From my own library, with volumes that
I prize above my Dukedom.

Mira. Would I might

But ever fee that man!

Pro. Now, I arife:

Sit ftill and hear the laft of our fea forrow.
Here in this ifland we arriv'd, and here

Have I, thy fchool-mafter, made thee more profit
Than other Princes can, that have more time

For vainer hours, and tutors not fo careful.`

Mira. Heav'ns thank you for't! And now, I pray you, Sir,

(For ftill 'tis beating in my mind) your reafon For raising this fea-ftorm?

Pro. Know thus far forth;

By accident most strange, bountiful fortune
(Now my dear lady) hath mine enemies
Brought to this fhore: and, by my prefcience
I find, my Zenith doth depend upon
A moft aufpicious ftar; whofe influence
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop
Thou art inclin'd to fleep. 'Tis a good dulnefs,
And give it way; I know, thou canst not chuse.-

-Here ceafe more questions;

[Miranda fleeps. Come away, fervant, come; I'm ready now: Approach, my Ariel. Come.

Enter Ariel.

Ari. All hail, great mafter! grave Sir, hail! I come To answer thy beft pleasure: Be't to fly;

To fwim; to dive into the fire; to ride.

On the curl'd clouds: to thy ftrong bidding task
Ariel, and all his qualities.

Pro. Haft thou, fpirit,

Perform'd to point the tempeft that I bad thee?
Ari. To every Article.

I boarded the King's fhip: now on the beak,
Now in the wafte, the deck, in every cabin,
I flam'd amazement. Sometimes, I'd divide,
And burn in many places; on the top maft,

The

The yards, and bolt-fprit, would I flame diftinctly; Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precurfors Of dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary

And fight out-running were not; the fire and cracks Of fulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune Seem'd to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble; Yea, his dread trident shake.

Pro. My brave, brave spirit!

Who was fo firm, fo conftant, that this coyl
Would not infect his reafon?

Ari. Not a foul

But felt a fever of the mind, and plaid

Some tricks of defperation: all, but mariners,
Plung'd in the foaming brine, and quit the veffel,
Then all a-fire with me: the King's fon Ferdinand
With hair up-starting (then like reeds, not hair)
Was the first man, that leap'd; cry'd," hell is empty;
"And all the devils are here.

Pro. Why, that's my Spirit!

But was not this nigh fhore?
Ari. Close by, my mafter.
Pro. But are they, Ariel, fafe?
Pro. Not a hair perish'd:

On their fuftaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before. And as thou badít me,
In troops I have difpers'd them 'bout the isle:
The King's fon have I landed by himself,
Whom I left cooling of the air with fighs,
In an odd angle of the ifle, and fitting,
His arms in this fad Knot.

Pro. Of the King's fhip,

The mariners, fay how thou haft difpos'd,
And all the rest o'th' fleet?

Ari. Safely in harbour

Is the King's fhip; in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dft me up at midnight, to fetch dew
From the ftill-vext Bermudas, there fhe's hid:
The mariners are under hatches ftow'd,

Who, with a charm join'd to their fuffered labour,
I've left afleep; and for the reft o'th' fleet
(Which I difpers'd) they all have met again,
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,

Bound

Bound fadly home for Naples;•

Suppofing that they faw the King's fhip wrackt
And his great perfon perifh.

Pro. Ariel, thy charge.

Exactly is perform'd; but there's more work:
What is the time o'th' day?

Ari. Paft the mid feafon.

Pro. At least two glaffes; the time 'twixt fix and now Muft by us both be fpent most preciously.

Ari. Is there more toil? fince thou dost give me pains, Let me remember thee what thou haft promis'd, Which is not yet perform'd me.

Pro. How now ? moody?

What is't thou canst demand?
Ari. My liberty.

Pro. Before the time be out? no more.
Ari. I pr'ythee,

Remember, I have done the worthy fervice;
Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, ferv'd

Without or grudge, or grumblings; thou didst promife
To bate me a full year.

Pro. Doft thou forget

From what a torment I did free thee?

Ari. No.

Pro. Thou doft, and think'ft it much to tread the ooze

Of the falt deep?

To run upon the sharp Wind of the North

To do me business in the veins o’th' earth,
When it is bak'd with froft.

Ari. I do not, Sir.

h;

Pro. Thou ly't, malignant thing: haft thou forgot The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy Was grown into a hoop? haft thou forgot her? Ari. No, Sir.

Pro. Thou haft: where was fhe born? speak; tell me. Ari. Sir, in Argier.

Pro. Oh, was fhe fo? I muft

Once in a month recount what thou haft been,

Which thou forget'ft. This damn'd witch Sycorax,
For mischiefs manifold and forceries terrible
To enter human hearing, from Argier,

Thou know'ft, was banifh'd: for one thing fhe did,

They

They would not take her Life. Is not this true?
Ari. Ay, Sir.

Pro. This blue-ey'd hag was hither brought with Child And here was left by th' failors; thou my flave, As thou report'ft thyself, waft then her fervant. And, for thou waft a fpirit too delicate To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands, Refufing her grand hefts, she did confine thee, By help of her more potent minifters, And in her moft unmitigable rage, Into a cloven pine; within which rift Imprifon'd, thou didst painfully remain

A dozen Years, within which space she dy'd,

And left thee there: where thou didft vent thy groans, As faft as mill-wheels ftrike. Then was this Ifland

(Save for the fon that fhe did litter here,

A freckled whelp, hag-born) not honour'd with
A human shape.

Ari. Yes, Caliban her son.

Pro. Dull thing, I fay fo: he, that Caliban,
Whom now I keep in fervice. Thou best know'ft,
What torment I did find thee in; thy groans
Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts
Of ever-angry bears; it was a torment
To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax
Could not again undo: it was mine art,

When I arriv'd and heard thee, that made gape

The pine, and let thee out.

Ari. I thank thee, master.

Pro. If thou more murmur'ft, I will rend an Oak,

And peg thee in his knotty entrails, 'till

Thou'st howl'd away twelve winters.

Ari. Pardon, mafter.

I will be correfpondent to command,
And do my fp'riting gently.

Pro. Do fo: and after two days

I will discharge thee,

Ari. That's my noble master :

What fhall I do? fay what? what shall I do?
Pro. Go make thy felf like to a nymph o'th' sea.
Be fubject to no fight but mine: invifible
To every eye-ball elfe. Go take this fhape,

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