Pros. Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban,
Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st
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(24)
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.

Pros. If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak, And peg thee in his knotty entrails, till

Thou'st howl'd away twelve winters.

Ari.

I will be correspondent to command,

And do my spriting gently.

Pros.

I will discharge thee.

Ari.

Pardon, master:

Do so; and after two days

That's my noble master!

What shall I do? say what; what shall I do?

Pros. Go make thyself like to a nymph o' the sea :

Be subject to no sight but mine; (25) invisible

To every eyeball else. Go take this shape,

And hither come in't: hence(26) with diligence! [Exit Ariel. Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well;

Awake!

Mir. [waking] The strangeness of your story put Heaviness in me.

Pros.

Shake it off. Come on;

We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never

Yields us kind answer.

We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,
Fetch in our wood; and serves in offices
That profit us.-What, ho! slave! Caliban!
Thou earth, thou! speak.

Cal. [within]

There's wood enough within.

Pros. Come forth, I say! there's other business for thee: Come, thou tortoise! when?

Pros. Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!

Enter CALIBAN.

Cal. As wicked dew(27) as e'er my mother brush'd

With raven's feather from unwholesome fen

Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye,

And blister you all o'er!

Pros. For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,

Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins

Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,

All exercise on thee; thou shalt be pinch'd

As thick as honeycomb,(28) each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made 'em.

Cal.

I must eat my dinner.

This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,

Which thou tak'st from me. When thou cam'st here first,(29)

Thou strok'dst me, and mad'st much of me; wouldst give me

Water with berries in't; and teach me how

To name the bigger light, and how the less,

That burn by day and night: and then I lov'd thee,

And show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle,

The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile :-
Cursed be I that did so! All the charms

Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!

For I am all the subjects that you have,

Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me

The rest o' th' island.

Pros.

Thou most lying slave,

Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have us'd thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodg'd thee

In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honour of my child.

Cal. O ho, O ho!-would 't had been done!
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans.

Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,

Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes

With words that made them known. But thy vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in't which good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou

Deservedly confin'd into this rock,

Who hadst deserv'd more than a prison. (31)

Cal. You taught me language; and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!

Pros.

Hag-seed, hence! Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou'rt(32) best,

To answer other business. Shrugg'st thou, malice?

If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly

What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps,

Fill all thy bones with achès, make thee roar,

That beasts shall tremble at thy din.

Cal.

No, pray thee.

[Aside] I must obey: his art is of such power,

It would control my dam's god, Setebos,

And make a vassal of him.

Pros.

So, slave; hence!

[Exit Caliban.

Re-enter ARIEL, invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND

following.

ARIEL'S song.

Come unto these yellow sands,

And then take hands:

Court'sied when you have and kiss'd,—

The wild waves whist,—(33)

Foot it featly here and there;

And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.(34)
Hark, hark!

[Burden, dispersedly, within. Bow, wow.] The watch-dogs bark:

[Burden, dispersedly, within. Bow, wow.]

Hark, hark! I hear

The strain of strutting chanticleer

Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.

Fer. Where should this music be? i' th' air or th' earth?

It sounds no more:—and, sure, it waits upon
Some god o' th' island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the king my father's wreck,
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion
With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it,
Or it hath drawn me rather :-but 'tis gone.
No, it begins again.

ARIEL sings.

Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade

But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:

[Burden, within. Ding-dong.]

Hark! now I hear them,-Ding-dong, bell.

Fer. The ditty does remember my drown'd father :—

This is no mortal business, nor no sound.

That the earth owes :-I hear it now above me.

Pros. The fringèd curtains of thine eye advance,
what thou see'st yond.

say

And

Mir.

What is't? a spirit?

Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,
It carries a brave form :-but 'tis a spirit.

Pros. No, wench; it cats, and sleeps, and hath such senses

As we have, such. This gallant which thou see'st

Was in the wreck; and, but he's something stain'd
With grief, that's beauty's canker, thou mightst call him
A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows,

And strays about to find 'em.

Mir.

I might call him

A thing divine; for nothing natural

I ever saw so noble.

Pros. [aside] It goes on, I see,

As my soul prompts it.-Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee
Within two days for this.

Fer.

Most sure, the goddess

On whom these airs attend!-Vouchsafe my prayer

May know if you remain upon this island;
And that you will some good instruction give
How I may bear me here: my prime request,

Which I do last pronounce, is,-O you wonder!—
If you be maid or no?

Mir.

But certainly a maid.

Fer.

No wonder, sir;

My language! heavens!

I am the best of them that speak this speech,

Were I but where 'tis spoken.

Pros.
How! the best!
What wert thou, if the King of Naples heard thee?
Fer. A single thing, as I am now, that wonders
To hear thee speak of Naples. He does hear me;
And that he does I weep: myself am Naples;
Who with mine eyes, ne'er since at ebb, beheld
The king my father wreck'd.

Mir.

Alack, for mercy!

Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the Duke of Milan And his brave son being twain.

Pros. [aside]

The Duke of Milan

And his more braver daughter could control(35) thee,

If now 'twere fit to do't.-At the first sight
They have chang'd eyes.-Delicate Ariel,
I'll set thee free for this!-A word, good sir;
I fear you've done yourself some wrong: a word.