The Winter's Tale (15 page)

       I mean thou shalt, we'll bar thee from
succession
⁴⁷⁰
,
      
Not hold thee of our blood
⁴⁷¹
, no, not our kin,
      
Far than Deucalion off
⁴⁷²
. Mark thou my words.
       Follow us to the court.— Thou
churl
⁴⁷³
, for this time,
To Shepherd
       Though full of our displeasure, yet we free thee

To Perdita

       From the
dead blow of it
⁴⁷⁵
.— And you,
          
enchantment
,—
       Worthy enough a herdsman — yea,
him
⁴⁷⁶
too,
      
That makes himself, but for our honour therein,
       Unworthy thee
⁴⁷⁷
— if ever henceforth thou
       These
rural latches
⁴⁷⁹
to his entrance open,
       Or hoop his body more with thy embraces,
       I will devise a death as cruel for thee
       As thou art
tender
⁴⁸²
to't.
Exit

PERDITA
     Even here
undone
⁴⁸³
!
       I was not much afeard, for once or twice
       I was about to speak and tell him plainly,
       The selfsame sun that shines upon his court
       Hides not his
visage
⁴⁸⁷
from our cottage but
       Looks on
alike
⁴⁸⁸
.— Will't please you, sir, be gone?
To Florizel
       I told you what would come of this. Beseech you
       Of your own state take care. This dream of mine —
       Being now awake, I'll queen it no inch further,
       But milk my ewes and weep.

CAMILLO
     Why, how now, father!
       Speak ere thou diest.

SHEPHERD
     I cannot speak, nor think
       Nor dare to know that which I know.— O, sir,
To Florizel
       You have undone a man of
fourscore three
⁴⁹⁷
,
       That thought to
fill his grave in quiet
⁴⁹⁸
, yea,
       To die upon the bed my father died,
       To lie close by his honest bones; but now

       Some hangman must put on my shroud and lay me
       Where
no priest shovels in dust
⁵⁰²
.— O cursèd wretch,
To Perdita
       That knew'st this was the prince, and wouldst
adventure
⁵⁰³
       To
mingle faith
⁵⁰⁴
with him! Undone, undone!
       If I might die within this hour, I have lived
       To die when I desire.
Exit

FLORIZEL
     Why look you so upon me?
       I am but sorry, not afeard. Delayed,
       But nothing altered. What I was, I am.
       More
straining on for plucking back
⁵¹⁰
, not
following
       My leash unwillingly
.

CAMILLO
     Gracious my lord,
       You know your father's temper. At this time
       He will allow no speech — which I do guess
       You do not
purpose
⁵¹⁵
to him — and as
hardly
       Will he endure your sight as yet, I fear.
       Then, till the fury of his highness settle,
       Come not before him.

FLORIZEL
     I not purpose it.
      
I think, Camillo?
⁵²⁰

CAMILLO
     Even he, my lord.
May remove his disguise

PERDITA
     How often have I told you 'twould be thus!
       How often said, my
dignity
⁵²³
would last
      
But
⁵²⁴
till 'twere known!

FLORIZEL
     It cannot fail but by
       The
violation of my faith
⁵²⁶
, and then
       Let nature crush the sides o'th'earth together
       And mar the
seeds
⁵²⁸
within!
Lift up thy looks
.
       From my succession
wipe
⁵²⁹
me, father. I
       Am heir to my affection.

CAMILLO
    
Be advised
⁵³¹
.

FLORIZEL
     I am, and by my
fancy
⁵³²
. If my reason
       Will thereto be obedient, I have reason.
       If not, my senses, better pleased with madness,
       Do bid it welcome.

CAMILLO
     This is
desperate
⁵³⁶
, sir.

FLORIZEL
     So call it, but it does fulfil my vow.
       I needs must think it
honesty
⁵³⁸
. Camillo,
       Not for Bohemia, nor the
pomp
⁵³⁹
that may
       Be thereat gleaned, for all the sun sees or
       The
close
⁵⁴¹
earth
wombs
or the
profound
seas hides
       In unknown fathoms, will I break my oath
       To this my fair beloved: therefore, I pray you
       As you have ever been my father's honoured friend,
       When he shall miss me — as, in faith, I mean not
       To see him any more — cast your good counsels
       Upon his
passion
⁵⁴⁷
. Let myself and fortune
      
Tug
⁵⁴⁸
for the time to come. This you may know,
       And so
deliver
⁵⁴⁹
, I am put to sea
       With her whom here I cannot hold on shore.
       And most opportune to her need, I have
     A vessel
rides fast by
⁵⁵²
, but not prepared
       For this design.
What course I mean to hold
⁵⁵³
      
Shall nothing benefit your knowledge, nor
       Concern me the reporting
⁵⁵⁴
.

CAMILLO
     O, my lord,
       I would your spirit were easier
for advice
⁵⁵⁷
,
       Or stronger for your need.

FLORIZEL
     Hark, Perdita.—
Takes her aside
       I'll hear you by and by.
To Camillo

CAMILLO
     He's
irremovable
⁵⁶¹
,
Aside
       Resolved for flight. Now were I happy, if
       His going I could
frame to serve my turn
⁵⁶³
,
       Save him from danger, do him love and honour,
      
Purchase
⁵⁶⁵
the sight again of dear Sicilia
       And that unhappy king, my master, whom
       I so much thirst to see.

FLORIZEL
     Now, good Camillo,
       I am so
fraught
⁵⁶⁹
with
curious
business that
       I leave out
ceremony
⁵⁷⁰
.

CAMILLO
     Sir, I think
       You have heard of my
poor
⁵⁷²
services, i'th'love
       That I have borne your father?

FLORIZEL
     Very nobly
       Have you deserved. It is my father's music
       To speak your deeds,
not little of his care
       To have them recompensed as thought on
⁵⁷⁶
.

CAMILLO
     Well, my lord,
       If you may please to think I love the king
       And through him what's nearest to him, which is
       Your gracious self,
embrace but my direction
⁵⁸¹
,
     If your more
ponderous
⁵⁸²
and
settled
project
       May
suffer alteration
⁵⁸³
. On mine honour,
       I'll point you where you shall have such
receiving
⁵⁸⁴
       As shall become your highness, where you may
      
Enjoy
⁵⁸⁶
your mistress, from the whom I see,
       There's no
disjunction
⁵⁸⁷
to be made, but by —
       As heavens
forfend
⁵⁸⁸
! — your ruin. Marry her,
       And, with my best endeavours in your absence,
       Your
discontenting
⁵⁹⁰
father strive to
qualify
       And bring him up to
liking
⁵⁹¹
.

FLORIZEL
     How, Camillo,
       May this, almost a miracle, be done?
       That I may call thee something more than man
       And
after that trust to
⁵⁹⁵
thee.

CAMILLO
     Have you thought
on
⁵⁹⁶
       A place whereto you'll go?

FLORIZEL
     Not any yet,
       But as
th'unthought-on accident is guilty
       To what we wildly do
⁵⁹⁹
, so we profess
       Ourselves to be the slaves of chance and
flies
       Of every wind that blows
⁶⁰¹
.

CAMILLO
     Then
list
⁶⁰³
to me.
       This follows, if you will not change your purpose
       But undergo this flight: make for Sicilia,
       And there present yourself and your fair princess,
       For so I see she must be, 'fore Leontes;
       She shall be
habited
⁶⁰⁸
as it becomes
       The partner of your bed. Methinks I see
       Leontes opening his free arms and weeping
       His welcomes forth, asks thee there ‘Son, forgiveness',
    
As 'twere i'th'father's person
⁶¹²
, kisses the hands
       Of your fresh princess; o'er and o'er
divides him
       'Twixt his unkindness and his kindness
⁶¹³
. Th'one
       He chides to hell and bids the other grow
       Faster than thought or time.

FLORIZEL
     Worthy Camillo,
       What
colour
⁶¹⁸
for my visitation shall I
       Hold up before him?

CAMILLO
     Sent by the king your father
       To greet him and to give him comforts. Sir,
       The manner of your
bearing
⁶²²
towards him, with
       What you
as
⁶²³
from your father shall deliver —
       Things known betwixt us three — I'll write you down,
       The which shall
point you forth at every sitting
⁶²⁵
       What you must say, that he shall not perceive
       But that you have your father's
bosom
⁶²⁷
there
       And speak his very heart.

FLORIZEL
     I am bound to you.
       There is some
sap
⁶³⁰
in this.

CAMILLO
     A course more promising
       Than a wild dedication of yourselves
       To
unpathed
⁶³³
waters, undreamed shores, most certain
       To miseries enough, no hope to help you,
       But as you shake off
one
⁶³⁵
to take another.
      
Nothing so certain as
⁶³⁶
your anchors, who
       Do their best office if they can but
stay
⁶³⁷
you
       Where you'll be loath to be. Besides, you know
      
Prosperity's the very bond of love
⁶³⁹
,
       Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together
      
Affliction alters
⁶⁴¹
.

PERDITA
     One of these is true:
       I think affliction may
subdue the cheek
⁶⁴³
,
       But not
take in
⁶⁴⁴
the mind.

CAMILLO
     Yea? Say you so?
       There shall not at your father's house these
seven years
⁶⁴⁶
       Be born another
such
⁶⁴⁷
.

FLORIZEL
     My good Camillo,
       She's
as forward of her breeding as
       She is i'th'rear our birth
⁶⁴⁹
.

CAMILLO
     I cannot say 'tis pity
       She lacks
instructions
⁶⁵²
, for she seems a mistress
       To most that teach.

PERDITA
     Your pardon, sir. For this
       I'll blush you thanks.

FLORIZEL
     My prettiest Perdita!
       But, O, the thorns we stand upon!— Camillo,
       Preserver of my father, now of me,
       The medicine of our house, how shall we do?
       We are not
furnished
⁶⁶⁰
like Bohemia's son,
       Nor shall
appear
⁶⁶¹
in Sicilia.

CAMILLO
     My lord,
       Fear none of this. I think you know my
fortunes
⁶⁶³
       Do all lie there. It shall be so my care
       To have you royally
appointed
⁶⁶⁵
as if
       The scene you play were
mine
⁶⁶⁶
. For
instance
, sir,
       That you may know you shall not
want
⁶⁶⁷
, one
They talk apart
           word.