Leon. To see his nobleness! Conceiving the dishonor of his mother, He straight declined, drooped, took it deeply; Fastened and fixed the shame on 't in himself; Threw off his spirit, his appetite, his sleep, And downright languished. Leave me solely: go,

See how he fares. [Exit Attendant.] — Fie, fie! no thought of him:

The very thought of my revenges that way
Recoil upon me in himself too mighty;
And in his parties, his alliance, let him be
Until a time may serve: for present vengeance,
Take it on her. Camillo and Polixene

babe,

I know not what I shall incur to pass it,
Having no warrant.

Paul. You need not fear it, sir:

The child was prisoner to the womb; and is,
By law and process of great nature, thence
Freed and enfranchised: not a party to

The anger of the king; nor guilty of,
If any be, the trespass of the queen.
Keep. I do believe it.

Paul. Do not you fear: upon mine honor, I Will stand 'twixt you and danger.

[Exeunt.

Enter LEONTES, ANTIGONUS, Lords, and other

Attendants.

1st Atten. Madam, he hath not slept to-night; commanded

None should come at him.

rant;

But this most cruel usage of your queen

(Not able to produce more accusation

Leon. I am a feather for each wind that

blows.

Than curse it then. It shall not neither.

Better burn it now,
But be it; let it live:
-You, sir, come you hither;
[TO ANTIGONUS.

You, that have been so tenderly officious
With lady Margery, your midwife, there,
To save this bastard's life: for 't is a bastard,
So sure as this beard's
grey, what will you ad-

venture

To save this brat's life?

Ant.

Anything, my lord,

Within this hour bring me word 't is done
(And by good testimony), or I'll seize thy life,
With what thou else call'st thine. If thou refuse,
And wilt encounter with my wrath, say so;
The bastard brains with these my proper hands
Shall I dash out. Go, take it to the fire;
For thou sett'st on thy wife.

Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongued wife,
Whom for this time we pardon. We enjoin thee,
As thou art liegeman to us, that thou carry
This female bastard hence; and that thou bear it
To some remote and desert place, quite out
Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it,
Without more mercy, to its own protection,
And favor of the climate. As by strange fortune
It came to us, I do in justice charge thee,
On thy soul's peril and thy body's torture,
That thou commend it strangely to some place,
Where chance may nurse or end it. Take it up.
Ant. I swear to do this, though a present death
Had been more merciful. Come on, poor babe :

credit :

We have always truly served you; and beseech

To be thy nurses! Wolves and bears, they say, Casting their savageness aside, have done

treason, in committing adultery with Polixenes, King of Bohemia; and conspiring with Camillo to take away the life of our sovereign lord the king, thy royal husband. The pretense whereof being by circumstances partly laid open, thou, Hermione, contrary to the faith and allegiance of a true subject, didst counsel and aid them, for their better safety, to fly away by night."

Her. Since what I am to say must be but that Which contradicts my accusation; and

The testimony on my part no other

Her.
More than mistress of
Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not
At all acknowledge. For Polixenes
(With whom I am accused), I do confess
I loved him, as in honor he required,
With such a kind of love as might become
A lady like me; with a love even such,

So and no other, as yourself commanded:
Which not to have done, I think, had been in me
Both disobedience and ingratitude,

me

To say, "Not guilty:" mine integrity

Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it,
Be so received. But thus: if powers divine
Behold our human actions (as they do),
I doubt not then but innocence shall make
False accusation blush, and tyranny

Tremble at patience. You, my lord, best know
(Who least will seem to do so) my past life
Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true,
As I am now unhappy; which is more
Than history can pattern, though devised
And played to take spectators. For behold me,
A fellow of the royal bed, which owe

A moiety of the throne, a great king's daughter,
The mother to a hopeful prince, here standing,
To prate and talk for life and honor 'fore
Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare: for honor,
'Tis a derivative from me to mine,
And only that I stand for. I appeal

To your own conscience, sir, before Polixenes
Came to your court, how I was in your grace,
How merited to be so; since he came,
With what encounter so uncurrent I
Have strained, to appear thus: if one jot beyond
The bound of honor, or in act or will
That way inclining, hardened be the hearts
Of all that hear me, and my near'st of kin
Cry "Fie!" upon my grave.

spoke,

Even since it could speak, from an infant, freely,
That it was yours. Now, for conspiracy,

I know not how it tastes; though it be dished
For me to try how: all I know of it

Is, that Camillo was an honest man;

And why he left your court, the gods themselves,
Wotting no more than I, are ignorant.
Leon. You knew of his departure, as you know
What you
have underta'en to do in 's absence.
Her. Sir,

You speak a language that I understand not:
My life stands in the level of your dreams;
Which I'll lay down.

Leon. Your actions are my dreams:
You had a bastard by Polixenes,
And I but dreamed it.

shame

-As you were past all

(Those of your fact are so), so past all truth
Which to deny, concerns more than avails:
For as

Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself,
No father owning it (which is, indeed,
More criminal in thee than it), so thou
Shalt feel our justice; in whose easiest passage,
Look for no less than death.

Her. Sir, spare your threats;
The bug which you would fright me with, I seek.
To me can life be no commodity:

The crown and comfort of my life, your favor,

I do give lost; for I do feel it gone,

But know not how it went: my second joy,
And first-fruits of my body, from his presence

I am barred, like one infectious: my third com

fort,

Starred most unluckily, is from my breast,
The innocent milk in its most innocent mouth,