and sung this ballad against the hard hearts of maids it was thought, she was a woman, and was turned into a cold fish, for she would not exchange flesh with one that loved her: The ballad is very pitiful, and as true. Dor. Is it true too, think you? Aut. Five justices' hands at it; and witnesses, more than my pack will hold. Clo. Lay it by too: Another. Aut. This is a merry ballad; but a very pretty one. Mop. Let's have some merry ones. Aut. Why, this is a passing merry one; and goes to the tune of, Two maids wooing a man: there's scarce a maid westward, but she sings it; 'tis in request, I can tell you. Mop. We can both sing it; if thou'lt bear a part, thou shalt hear; 'tis in three parts. Dor. We had the tune on't a month ago. Aut. I can bear my part; you must know, 'tis my occupation: have at it with you. SONG. A. Get you hence, for I must go; D. Whither? M. O, whither? D. Whither? D. Me too, let me go thither. M. Or thou go'st to the grunge, or mill: A. Neither. D. What, neither? A. Neither. Then, whither go'st? say, whither? Serv. Master, there is three carters, three shepherds, three neat-herds, three swine-herds, that have made themselves all men of hair; they call themselves saltiers: and they have a dance which the wenches say is a gallimaufry of gambols, because they are not in't; but they themselves are o' the mind, (if it be not too rough for some, that know little but bowling,) it will please plentifully. Shep. Away! we'll none on't; here has been too much humble foolery already:-I know, sir, we weary you. Pol. You weary those that refresh us: Pray, let's see these four threes of herdsmen. Serv. One three of them, by their own report, sir, hath danced before the king; and not the worst of the three, but jumps twelve foot and a half by the squire. Shep. Leave your prating; since these good men are pleased, let them come in; but quickly now. Serv. Why, they stay at door, sir. [Exit. Re-enter Servant, with twelve Rustics, habited like Is it not too far gone?-'Tis time to part them.He's simple, and tells much. (Aside.) How now, fair shepherd? Your heart is full of something, that does take Flo. How prettily the young swain seems to wash Flo. Do, and be witness to't. Pol. And this my neighbour too? Flo. And he, and more Than he, and men; the earth, the heavens, and all: That, were I crown'd the most imperial monarch, Thereof most worthy; were I the fairest youth That ever made eye swerve; had force, and knowMore than was ever man's,—I would not prize them, ledge, Without her love: for her, employ them all; Commend them, and condemn them, to her service, Or to their own perdition. Pol. Fairly offer'd. Say you the like to him? But, my daughter, I cannot speak So well, nothing so well; no, nor mean better: Shep. Flo. O, that must be I' the virtue of your daughter: one being dead, I shall have more than you can dream of yet; Enough then for your wonder: But, come on, Contract us 'fore these witnesses. Shop. Come, your hand;-- Soft, swain, awhile, 'beseech you; And, daughter, yours. Flo. I have: But what of him? Shep. Let him, my son; he shall not need to grieve Come, come, he must not:- and made More homely than thy state. For thee, fond [Exit. Flo. I am; and by my fancy: if my reason With her, whom here I cannot hold on shore; Cam. O, my lord, I would your spirit were easier for advice, Flo. (Takes her aside.) (To Camillo.) Per. Even here undone! I was not much afeard: for once, or twice, I was about to speak; and tell him plainly, The self-same sun, that shines upon his court, I'll hear you by and by. Hides not his visage from our cottage, but Cam. He's irremovable, Looks on alike.-Will't please you, sir, be gone? Resolv'd for flight: Now were I happy, if (To Florizel.) His going I could frame to serve my turn; I told you, what would come of this: 'Beseech you, Save him from danger, do him love and honour; Of your own state take care: this dream of mine,-Purchase the sight again of dear Sicilia, Being now awake, I'll queen it no inch further, And that unhappy king, my master, whom But milk my ewes, and weep. I so much thirst to see. Cam. Flo. Speak, ere thou diest. Why, how now, father? Shep. You have undone a man of fourscore three, Now, good Camillo, (Going.) Cam. Flo. Very nobly If you may please to think I love the king; Aut. Ha, ha! what a fool honesty is! and trust, his sworn brother, a very simple gentleman! I have sold all my trumpery; not a counterfeit stone, not a riband, glass, pomander, brooch, table-book, ballad, knife, tape, glove, shoe-tye, bracelet, hornring, to keep my pack from fasting: they throng who should buy first; as if my trinkets had been hallowed, and brought a benediction to the buyer; by which means, I saw whose purse was best in picture; and, what I saw, to my good use, I remembered. My clown (who wants but something to be a reasonable man,) grew so in love with the wenches' song, that he would not stir his pettitoes, till he had both tune and words; which so drew the rest of the herd to me, that all their other This follows,-if you will not change your purpose, ness, As 'twere i'the father's person: kisses the hands Worthy Camillo, Сат. Sent by the king, your father, To greet him, and to give him comforts. Sir, The manner of your bearing towards him, with What you, as from your father, shall deliver, Things known betwixt us three, I'll write you down; The which shall point you forth at every sitting, What you must say; that he shall not perceive, But that you have your father's bosom there, And speak his very heart. Flo. There is some sap in this. Cam. I am bound to you: A course more promising To miseries enough; no hope to help you; Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together placket, it was senseless; 'twas nothing to geld a cod-piece of a purse; I would have filed keys off, that hung in chains: no hearing, no feeling, but my sir's song, and admiring the nothing of it. So that, in this time of lethargy, I picked and cut most of their festival purses: and had not the old man come in with a whoobub against his daughter and the king's son, and scared my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a purse alive in the whole army. (Cam. Flo. and Per. come forward.) Cam. Nay, but my letters by this means being there So soon as you arrive, shall clear that doubt. Cam. Shall satisfy your father. All, that you speak, shows fair. Happy be you! Who have we here? (Seeing Autolycus.) We'll make an instrument of this; omit Aut. If they have overheard me now,-why hanging. (Aside.) Cam. How now, good fellow? why shakest thou so? Fear not, man; here's no harm intended to thee. Aut. I am a poor fellow, sir. Cam. Why, be so still; here's nobody will steal that from thee: Yet, for the outside of thy poverty, we must make an exchange: therefore, discase thee instantly, (thou must think, there's necessity in't,) and change garments with this gentleman: Though the pennyworth, on his side, be the worst, yet hold thee, there's some boot. Aut. I am a poor fellow, sir:-I know ye well enough. (Aside.) Cam. Nay, pr'ythee, despatch: the gentleman is half flayed already. Aut. Are you in earnest, sir?-I smell the trick of it. Flo. Despatch, I pr'ythee. (Aside.) Aut. Indeed, I have had earnest; but I cannot with conscience take it. Cam. Unbuckle, unbuckle.— (Flo. and Autol. exchange garments.) Fortunate mistress,-let my prophecy Come home to you!-you must retire yourself Into some covert: take your sweetheart's hat, And pluck it o'er your brows; muffle your face; Dismantle you; and as you can, disliken The truth of your own seeming; that you may, Flo. O Perdita, what have we twain forgot? Pray you, a word. (They converse apart.) Cam. What I do next, shall be, to tell the king (Aside.) Of this escape, and whither they are bound; Flo. Fortune speed us!-Thus we set on, Camillo, to the sea-side. Cam. The swifter speed, the better. [Exeunt Florizel, Perdita, and Camillo, Aut. I understand the business, I hear it: To have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cut-purse; a good nose is requisite also, to smell out work for the other senses. I see, this is the time that the unjust man doth thrive. What an exchange had this been, without boot? what a boot is here, with this exchange? Sure, the gods do this year connive at us, and we may do any thing extempore. The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity; stealing away from his father, with his clog at his heels: If I thought it were not a piece of honesty to acquaint the king withal, I would do't: I hold it the more knavery to conceal it: and therein am I constant to my profession. Enter Clown and Shepherd. Aside, aside;-here is more matter for a hot brain: every lane's end, every shop, church, session, hanging, yields a careful man work. Clo. See, see; what a man you are now! there is no other way, but to tell the king she's a change ling, and none of your flesh and blood. Shep. Nay, but hear me. Clo. Nay, but hear me. Shep. Go to then. Clo. She being none of your flesh and blood, your flesh and blood has not offended the king; and, so, your flesh and blood is not to be punished by him. Show those things you found about her; those secret things, all but what she has with her: This being done, let the law go whistle; I warrant you. Shep. I will tell the king all, every word, yea, and his son's pranks too; who, I may say, is no honest man neither to his father, nor to me, to go about to make me the king's brother-in-law. Clo. Indeed, brother-in-law was the furthest off you could have been to him; and then your blood had been the dearer, by I know how much an ounce. Aut. Very wisely; puppies! [Aside. Shep. Well, let us to the king; there is that in this fardel, will make him scratch his beard. Aut. I know not what impediment this complaint may be to the flight of my master. Clo. 'Pray heartily he be at palace. Clo. We are but plain fellows, sir. Aut. A lie; you are rough and hairy: Let me have no lying; it becomes none but tradesmen, and they often give us soldiers the lie: but we pay them for it with stamped coin, not stabbing steel: therefore they do not give us the lie. Clo. Your worship had like to have given us one, if you had not taken yourself with the manner. Shep. Are you a courtier, an't like you, sir? Aut. Whether it like me or no, I am a courtier. See'st thou not the air of the court, in these enfoldings? hath not my gait in it, the measure of the court? receives not thy nose court-odour from me? reflect I not on thy baseness court-contempt? Think'st thou, for that I insinuate, or toze from thee thy business, I am therefore no courtier? I am courtier, cap-a-pè; and one that will either push on, or pluck back thy business there: whereupon I command thee to open thy affair. Shep. My business, sir, is to the king. Clo. Advocate's the court-word for a pheasant; say, you have none. [hen. Shep. None, sir; I have no pheasant, cock nor Aut. How bless'd are we, that are not simple men! Yet nature might have made me as these are, Therefore I'll not disdain. Clo. This cannot be but a great courtier. Shep. His garments are rich, but he wears them not handsomely. Clo. He seems to be the more noble in being fantastical; a great man, I'll warrant; I know, by the picking on's teeth. Aut. The fardel there? what's i'the fardel? Wherefore that box? Shep. Sir, there lies such secrets in this fardel, and box, which none must know but the king; and which he shall know within this hour, if I may come to the speech of him. Aut. Age, thou hast lost thy labour. Aut. The king is not at the palace; he is gone aboard a new ship to purge melancholy, and air himself: For, if thou be'st capable of things serious, thou must know the king is full of grief. Shep. So 'tis said, sir; about his son, that should have married a shepherd's daughter. Aut. If that shepherd be not in hand-fast, let him fly; the curses he shall have, the tortures he shall feel, will break the back of man, the heart of Clo. Think you so, sir? [monster. Aut. Not he alone shall suffer what wit can make heavy, and vengeance bitter; but those, that are germane to him, though removed fifty times, shall all come under the hangman: which though it be great pity, yet it is necessary. An old sheepwhistling rogue, a ram-tender, to offer to have his daughter come into grace! Some say, he shall be stoned; but that death is too soft for him, say I: Draw our throne into a sheep-cote! all deaths are too few, the sharpest too easy. Clo. Has the old man e'er a son, sir, do you hear, an't like you, sir? Aut. He has a son, who shall be flayed alive; then, 'nointed over with honey, set on the head of a wasp's nest; then stand, till he be three-quarters and a dram dead; then recovered again with aquavitæ, or some other hot infusion; then, raw as he Aut. Though I am not naturally honest, I am so is, and in the hottest day prognostication proclaims, sometimes by chance :-Let me pocket up my ped-shall he be set against a brick-wall, the sun looking ler's excrement. (Takes off his false beard.) How now, rustics? whither are you bound? Shep. To the palace, an it like your worship. Aut. Your affairs there? what? with whom? the condition of that fardel, the place of your dwelling, your names, your ages, of what having, breeding, and any thing that is fitting to be known, discover. with a southward eye upon him; where he is to behold him with flies blown to death. But what talk we of these traitorly rascals, whose miseries are to be smiled at, their offences being so capital? Tell me, (for you seem to be honest plain men,) what have you to the king: being something gently considered, I'll bring you where he is aboard, ten der your persons to his presence, whisper him in your behalfs; and, if it be in man, besides the king, to effect your suits, here is man shall do it. Clo. He seems to be of great authority; close with him, give him gold; and though authority be a stubborn bear, yet he is oft led by the nose with gold: show the inside of your purse to the outside of his hand, and no more ado: Remember stoned and flayed alive. Shep. An't please you, sir, to undertake the business for us, here is that gold I have: I'll make it as much more; and leave this young man in pawn till I bring it you. Aut. After I have done what I promised? Aut. Well, give me the moiety:-Are you a party in this business? Clo. In some sort, sir: but though my case be a pitiful one, I hope I shall not be flayed out of it. Aut. O, that's the case of the shepherd's son:Hang him, he'll be made an example. Clo. Comfort, good comfort: We must to the king, and show our strange sights: he must know, 'tis none of your daughter nor my sister; we are gone else. Šir, I will give you as much as this old man does, when the business is performed; and remain, as he says, your pawn, till it be brought you. Aut. I will trust you. Walk before toward the sea-side; go on the right hand; I will but look upon the hedge and follow you. Clo. We are blessed in this man, as I may say, even blessed. Shep. Let's before, as he bids ns: he was provided to do us good. [Exeunt Shepherd and Clown. Aut. If I had a mind to be honest, I see, fortune would not suffer me; she drops booties in my mouth. I am courted now with a double occasion; gold, and a means to do the prince my master good; which, who knows how that may turn back to my advancement? I will bring these two moles, these blind ones, aboard him: if he think it fit to shore them again, and that the complaint they have to the king concerns him nothing, let him call me, rogue, for being so far officious; for I am proof against that title, and what shame else belongs to't: To him will I present them, there may be matter in it. [Exit. ACT V. Cleo. Sir, you have done enough, and have perform'd A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make, Paul. True, too true, my lord: If, one by one, you wedded all the world, Or from the all, that are, took something good, To make a perfect woman; she, you kill'd, Would be unparallel'd. Leon. I think so. Kill'd! She I kill'd? I did so: but thou strik'st me Sorely, to say I did; it is as bitter There is none worthy, Paul. The crown will find an heir: Great Alexander Leon. Good Paulina,Who has the memory of Hermione, I know, in honour,-O, that ever I Had squar'd me to thy counsel!-then, even now, I might have look'd upon my queen's full eyes; Have taken treasure from her lips, Paul. And left them More rich, for what they yielded. Had she such power, Paul. I should so: Were I the ghost that walk'd, I'd bid you mark Her eye; and tell me, for what dull part in't You chose her: then I'd shriek, that even your ears Should rift to hear me ; and the words, that follow'd, As like Hermione as is her picture, |