The bigger bulk it shews. Hence, bashful cunning! Fer. And I thus humble ever. Mira. My mistress, dearest, My husband then? Fer. Ay, with a heart as willing, As bondage e'er of freedom: here's my hand. Mira. And mine, with my heart in't:5 And now, farewell, Till half an hour hence. Fer. A thousand! thousand! [Exeunt FER. and MIRA. Pro. So glad of this as they, I cannot be, Who are surpriz'd with all; but my rejoicing At nothing can be more. I'll to my book; 3 I am your wife, &c.] 5 66 "Si tibi non cordi fuerant connubia nostra, - your fellow Catul. 62. Malone. -] i. e. companion. Steevens. here's my hand. Mira. And mine, with my heart in't:] It is still customary, in the west of England, when the conditions of a bargain are agreed upon, for the parties to ratify it, by joining their hands, and at the same time for the purchaser to give an earnest. To this practice the poet alludes. So, in The Winter's Tale: "Ere I could make thee open thy white hand, "And clap thyself my love; then didst thou utter And again, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: "Pro. Why then we'll make exchange; here, take you this. Ful. And seal the bargain with a holy kiss. "Pro. Here is my hand for my true constancy." Henley. 6 So glad of this as they, I cannot be, Who are surpriz'd with all;] The sense might be clearer, were we to make a slight transposition: "So glad of this as they, who are surpriz'd "With all, I cannot be-" For yet, ere supper-time, must I perform SCENE II. Another part of the Island. [Exit. Enter STEPHANO and TRINCULO; CALIBAN following, with a bottle. Ste. Tell not me;-when the butt is out, we will drink water; not a drop before: therefore bear up, and board 'em: Servant-monster, drink to me. Trin. Servant-monster? the folly of this island! They say, there's but five upon this isle: we are three of them; if the other two be brained like us, the state totters.7 Ste. Drink, servant-monster, when I bid thee; thy eyes are almost set in thy head. Trin. Where should they be set else? he were a brave monster indeed, if they were set in his tail. 8 Ste. My man-monster hath drowned his tongue in sack for my part, the sea cannot drown me: I swam,9 Perhaps, however, more consonantly with ancient language, we should join two of the words together, and read 7 if the other two be brained like us, the state totters.] We meet with a similar idea, in Antony and Cleopatra: "He bears the third part of the world."-" The third part then is drunk." Steevens. 8 - he were a brave monster indeed, if they were set in his tail.] I believe this to be an allusion to a story, that is met with in Stowe, and other writers of the time. It seems in the year 1574, a whale was thrown ashore near Ramsgate: "A monstrous fish, (says the chronicler) but not so monstrous as some reported-for his eyes were in his head, and not in his back." Summary, 1575, p. 562. Farmer. 9 I swam, &c.] This play was not published till 1623. Albumazar made its appearance in 1614, and has a passage, relative to the escape of a sailor, yet more incredible. Perhaps, in both instances, a sneer was meant at the Voyages of Ferdinando Mendez Pinto, or the exaggerated accounts of other lying travellers: five days I was under water: and at length "Got up and spread myself upon a chest, "Rowing with arms, and steering with my feet: "And thus in five days more got land." Act III. sc. v. 66 Steevens: ere I could recover the shore, five-and-thirty leagues, off and on, by this light.-Thou shalt be my lieutenant, monster, or my standard. Trin. Your lieutenant, if you list; he's no standard.1 Ste. We'll not run, monsieur monster. Trin. Nor go neither: but you'll lie, like dogs; and yet say nothing neither. Ste. Moon-calf, speak once in thy life, if thou beest a good moon-calf. Cal. How does thy honour? Let me lick thy shoe: I'll not serve him, he is not valiant. Trin. Thou liest, most ignorant monster; I am in case to justle a constable: Why, thou deboshed fish thou,2 was there ever man a coward, that hath drunk so much sack as I to-day? Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie, being but half a fish, and half a monster? Cal. Lo, how he mocks me! wilt thou let him, my lord? Trin. Lord, quoth he!-that a monster should be such á natural! Cal. Lo, lo, again! bite him to death, I pr'ythee. Ste. Trinculo, keep a good tongue in your head; if you prove a mutineer, the next tree-The poor monster's my subject, and he shall not suffer indignity. 1 or my standard. Trin. Your lieutenant, if you list; he's no standard.] Meaning, he is so much intoxicated, as not to be able to stand. The quibble between standard, an ensign, and standard, a fruit-tree, that grows without support, is evident. Steevens. 2 thou deboshed fish thou,] I met with this word, which I suppose to be the same as debauched, in Randolph's Jealous Lovers, 1634: See, your house be stor'd "With the deboishest roarers in this city." Again, in Monsieur Thomas, 1639: 66 saucy fellows, “Deboshed and daily drunkards.” The substantive occurs in the Partheneia Sacra, 1633: 66 ners." A hater of men rather than the deboishments of their man When the word was first adopted from the French language, it appears to have been spelt, according to the pronunciation, and, therefore, wrongly; but ever since it has been spelt right, it has been uttered with equal impropriety. Steevens. Cal. I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleas'd To hearken once again the suit I made thee?3 Ste. Marry will I: kneel and repeat it; I will stand, and so shall Trinculo. Enter ARIEL, invisible. Cal. As I told thee Before, I am subject to a tyrant;4 A sorcerer, that by his cunning, hath Ari. Thou liest. Cal. Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou; I would, my valiant master would destroy thee: I do not lie. Ste. Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in his tale, by this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth. Trin. Why, I said nothing. Ste. Mum then, and no more.- Ste. That's most certain. [To CAL. Cal. Thou shalt be lord of it, and I'll serve thee. Ste. How now shall this be compassed? Can'st thou bring me to the party? Cal. Yea, yea, my lord; I'll yield him thee asleep, Where thou may'st knock a nail into his head.5 3 I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleas'd To hearken once again the suit I made thee?] The old copy, which erroneously prints this, and other of Caliban's speeches, as prose, reads 66 to the suit I made thee;" But the elliptical mode of expression in the text, has already occurred in the second scene of the first act of this play: 4 being an enemy "To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit." Steevens. a tyrant;] Tyrant is here employed as a trisyllable. 5 I'll yield him thee asleep, Steevens. Where thou may'st knock a nail into his head.] Perhaps Shakspeare caught this idea from the 4th chapter of Judges, v. 21: "Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temple, &c. for he was fast asleep," &c. Steevens. Ari. Thou liest, thou canst not. Cal. What a pied ninny's this? Thou scurvy patch!I do beseech thy greatness, give him blows, And take his bottle from him: when that's gone, He shall drink nought but brine; for I'll not shew him Where the quick freshes are. Ste. Trinculo, run into no further danger: interrupt the monster one word further, and, by this hand, I'll turn my mercy out of doors, and make a stock-fish of thee. Trin. Why, what did I? I did nothing; I'll go further off. Ste. Didst thou not say, he lied? Ari. Thou liest. Ste. Do I so? take thou that. [Strikes him.] like this, give me the lie another time. As you Trin. I did not give the lie :-Out o' your wits, and hearing too?- -A pox o' your bottle! this can sack, and drinking do. A murrain on your monster, and the devil take your fingers! Cal. Ha, ha, ha! Ste. Now, forward with your tale. Pr'ythee stand further off. Cal. Beat him enough: after a little time, I'll beat him too. Ste. Stand further.-Come, proceed. Cal. Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him I' the afternoon to sleep: there thou may'st brain him, Having first seiz'd his books; or, with a log Batter his skull, or paunch him, with a stake, 6 What a pied ninny's this?] It should be remembered that Trinculo is no sailor, but a jester; and is so called in the ancient dramatis persona. He therefore wears the party-coloured dress of one of these characters. See fig. XII. in the plate annexed to the First Part of K. Henry IV. and Mr. Tollet's explanation of it. So, in the Devil's Law Case, 1623: "Unless I wear a pied fool's coat." Steevens. Dr. Johnson observes, that Caliban could have no knowledge of the striped coat, usually worn by fools; and would, therefore, transfer this speech to Stephano. But though Caliban might not know this circumstance, Shakspeare did. Surely he, who has given to all countries and all ages the manners of his own, might forget himself here, as well as in other places. Malone. |