The Winter's Tale
Page 6
Hardly one subject.
LEONTES Once more, take her hence.
PAULINA A most unworthy and unnatural lord
Can do no more.
LEONTES I'll ha' thee burnt.
PAULINA I care not:
It is an heretic that makes the fire,
Not she which burns in't141. I'll not call you tyrant.
But this most cruel usage of your queen --
Not able to produce more accusation
Than your own weak-hinged fancy145 -- something savours
Of tyranny and will ignoble make you,
Yea, scandalous to the world.
LEONTES On your allegiance,
To Antigonus
Out of the chamber with her! Were I a tyrant,
Where were her life?150 She durst not call me so,
If she did know me one. Away with her!
PAULINA I pray you do not push me. I'll be gone.
Look to your babe, my lord, 'tis yours. Jove153 send her
A better guiding spirit! What needs these hands?154
You155 that are thus so tender o'er his follies
Will never do him good, not one of you.
So, so. Farewell, we are gone.
Exit
LEONTES Thou, traitor, hast set on158 thy wife to this.
To Antigonus
My child? Away with't! Even thou, that hast
A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence
And see it instantly consumed with fire.
Even thou and none but thou. Take it up straight162.
Within this hour bring me word 'tis done,
And by good testimony164, 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 proper167 hands
Shall I dash out. Go, take it to the fire,
For thou set'st on thy wife.
ANTIGONUS I did not, sir.
These lords, my noble fellows, if they please,
Can clear me in't.
LORDS We can. My royal liege,
He is not guilty of her coming hither.
LEONTES You're liars all.
A LORD Beseech your highness, give us better credit176.
We have always truly served you, and beseech177'
So to esteem of us, and on our knees we beg,
As recompense of our dear179 services
Past and to come, that you do change this purpose,
Which being so horrible, so bloody, must
Lead on to some foul issue182. We all kneel.
LEONTES I am a feather for each wind that blows183.
Shall I live on to see this bastard kneel
And call me father? Better burn it now
Than curse it then. But be it. Let it live.
It shall not neither.-- You, sir, come you hither.
To Antigonus
You that have been so tenderly officious
With Lady Margery189, your midwife there,
To save this bastard's life -- for 'tis a bastard,
So sure as this beard's grey191 -- what will you adventure
To save this brat's life?
ANTIGONUS Anything, my lord,
That my ability may undergo
And nobleness impose. At least thus much:
I'll pawn the little blood which I have left
To save the innocent. Anything possible.
LEONTES It shall be possible. Swear by this sword
Holds out sword
Thou wilt perform my bidding.
ANTIGONUS I will, my lord.
LEONTES Mark and perform it, see'st thou! For the fail
Of any point in't shall not only be
Death to thyself but to thy lewd-tongued203 wife,
Whom for this time we pardon. We enjoin204 thee,
As thou art liege-man205 to us, that thou carry
This female bastard hence and that thou bear it
To some remote and desert207 place quite out
Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it,
Without more mercy, to it209 own protection
And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune210
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 place213
Where chance may nurse or end it214. Take it up.
ANTIGONUS I swear to do this, though a present215 death
Had been more merciful. Come on, poor babe.
Takes up baby
Some powerful spirit instruct the kites217 and ravens
To be thy nurses! Wolves and bears, they say,
Casting their savageness aside, have done
Like220 offices of pity. Sir, be prosperous
In more221 than this deed does require; -- and blessing
Against this cruelty fight on thy222 side,
Poor thing, condemned to loss!
Exit [with the baby]
LEONTES No, I'll not rear
Another's issue.
Enter a Servant
SERVANT Please your highness, posts226
From those you sent to th'oracle are come
An hour since: Cleomenes and Dion,
Being well arrived from Delphos, are both landed,
Hasting to th'court.
FIRST LORD So please you, sir, their speed
Hath been beyond account232.
LEONTES Twenty-three days
They have been absent: 'tis good speed, foretells
The great Apollo suddenly235 will have
The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords.
Summon a session237, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady, for, as she hath
Been publicly accused, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives
My heart will be a burden to me. Leave me,
And think upon my bidding.
Exeunt
Act 3 Scene 1 running scene 5
Location: on the road
* * *
Enter Cleomenes and Dion
CLEOMENES The climate's delicate1, the air most sweet,
Fertile the isle, the temple much surpassing
The common praise it bears.
DION I shall report,
For most it caught5 me, the celestial habits,
Methinks I so should term them, and the reverence
Of the grave7 wearers. O, the sacrifice!
How ceremonious, solemn and unearthly
It was i'th'off'ring!
CLEOMENES But of all, the burst
And the ear-deaf'ning voice o'th'oracle,
Kin12 to Jove's thunder, so surprised my sense
That I was nothing.
DION If th'event14 o'th'journey
Prove as successful to the queen -- O, be't so! --
As it hath been to us rare16, pleasant, speedy,
The time is worth the use on't17.
CLEOMENES Great Apollo
Turn all to th'best! These proclamations,
So forcing faults upon Hermione,
I little like.
DION The violent carriage of it22
Will clear or end the business: when the oracle,
Thus by Apollo's great divine24 sealed up,
Shall the contents discover25, something rare
Even then will rush to knowledge. Go, fresh horses!
And gracious be the issue!
Exeunt
Act 3 Scene 2 running scene 6
Location: Sicilia
* * *
Enter Leontes, Lords, Officers
LEONTES This sessions, to our great grief we pronounce,
Even pushes gainst our heart: the party tried
The daughter of a king, our wife, and one
Of4 us too much beloved. Let us be cleared
Of being tyrannous, since we so openly
Proceed in justice, which shall have due course,
Even to the guilt or the purgation7.
Produce the prisoner.
OFFICER It is his highness' pleasure that the queen
Appear in person here in court. Silence!
[Enter Hermione as to her trial, Paulina and Ladies attending]
LEONTES Read the indictment.
OFFICER Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes,
Reads
King of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high
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
pretence17 whereof being by circumstances partly laid open,
thou, Hermione, contrary to the faith and allegiance of a
true subject, didst counsel19 and aid them, for their better
safety, to fly away by night.
HERMIONE Since what I am to say must be but that
Which contradicts my accusation and
The testimony on my part no other
But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot24 me
To say 'Not guilty': mine integrity
Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it,
Be so received25. 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 patience31. You, my lord, best know,
Whom least will seem to do so, my past life
Hath been as continent33, as chaste, as true,
As I am now unhappy, which is more
Than history35 can pattern, though devised
And played to take spectators36. For behold me
A fellow of the royal bed, which owe37
A moiety38 of the throne, a great king's daughter,
The mother to a hopeful prince, here standing
To prate40 and talk for life and honour 'fore
Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare41: for honour,
'Tis a derivative from me to mine,
And only that I stand for. I appeal
To your own conscience45, sir, before Polixenes
Came to your court, how I was in your grace46,
How merited47 to be so. Since he came,
With what encounter so uncurrent I
Have strained t'appear thus48: if one jot beyond
The bound of honour, or in act or will
That way inclining, hardened be the hearts
Of all that hear me, and my near'st of kin
Cry fie53 upon my grave!
LEONTES I ne'er heard yet
That any of these bolder vices wanted
Less impudence to gainsay what they did
Than to perform it first54.
HERMIONE That's true enough.
Though 'tis a saying, sir, not due to me.
LEONTES You will not own it.
HERMIONE More than mistress of
Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not
At all acknowledge61. For Polixenes,
With whom I am accused, I do confess
I loved him, as in honour 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
To you and toward your friend, whose love had spoke,
Even since it could speak, from an infant, freely
That it was yours71. Now, for conspiracy,
I know not how it tastes, though it be dished74
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 --
Wotting78 no more than I -- are ignorant.
LEONTES You knew of his departure, as you know
What you have underta'en to do in's absence.
HERMIONE Sir,
You speak a language that I understand not:
My life stands in the level of your dreams83,
Which84 I'll lay down.
LEONTES Your actions are my dreams.
You had a bastard by Polixenes,
And I but dreamed it. As you were past all shame --
Those of your fact88 are so -- so past all truth,
Which to deny concerns more than avails89, for as
Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself90,
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 death93.
HERMIONE Sir, spare your threats.
The bug96 which you would fright me with, I seek.
To me can life be no commodity97;
The crown and comfort of my life, your favour,
I do give99 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 comfort
Starred most unluckily103, is from my breast --
The innocent milk in it104 most innocent mouth --
Haled105 out to murder. Myself on every post
Proclaimed a strumpet106, with immodest hatred
The child-bed privilege107 denied, which 'longs
To women of all fashion108. Lastly, hurried
Here to this place, i'th'open air, before
I have got strength of limit110. Now, my liege,
Tell me what blessings I have here alive,
That I should fear to die? Therefore proceed:
But yet hear this -- mistake me not. No life,
I prize it not a straw, but for mine honour,
Which I would free115 -- if I shall be condemned
Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else116
But what your jealousies awake117, I tell you
'Tis rigour and not law118. Your honours all,
I do refer me to the oracle:
Apollo be my judge!
A LORD This your request
Is altogether just: therefore bring forth,
And in Apollo's name, his oracle.
[Exeunt some Officers]
HERMIONE The Emperor of Russia was my father.
O that he were alive, and here beholding
His daughter's trial! That he did but see
The flatness127 of my misery; yet with eyes
Of pity, not revenge!
[Enter Officers, with Cleomenes and Dion]
OFFICER You here shall swear upon this sword of
Holds sword
justice,
That you, Cleomenes and Dion, have
Been both at Delphos, and from thence have brought
This sealed-up oracle, by the hand delivered
Of great Apollo's priest; and that since then,
You have not dared to break the holy seal
Nor read the secrets in't.
CLEOMENES AND DION All this we swear.
LEONTES Break up the seals and read.
OFFICER Hermione is chaste, Polixenes blameless,
Reads
Camillo a true subject, Leontes a jealous
tyrant, his innocent babe truly
begotten140, and the king shall live without an
heir, if that which is lost be not found.
LORDS Now blessed be the great Apollo!
HERMIONE Praised!
LEONTES Hast thou read truth?
OFFICER Ay, my lord, even so as it is here set down.
LEONTES There is no truth at all i'th'oracle:
The sessions147 shall proceed: this is mere fa
lsehood.
[Enter a Servant]
SERVANT My lord the king, the king!
LEONTES What is the business?
SERVANT O sir, I shall be hated to report it!
The prince your son, with mere conceit151 and fear
Of the queen's speed152, is gone.
LEONTES How? Gone?
SERVANT Is dead.
LEONTES Apollo's angry, and the heavens themselves
Do strike at my injustice.
Hermione faints
How now there!
PAULINA This news is mortal157 to the queen. Look down
And see what death is doing.
LEONTES Take her hence.
Her heart is but o'ercharged. She will recover.
I have too much believed mine own suspicion:
Beseech you, tenderly apply to her
Some remedies for life.--
[Exeunt Ladies, carrying Hermione]
Apollo, pardon
My great profaneness gainst thine oracle!
I'll reconcile me to Polixenes,
New woo my queen, recall the good Camillo,
Whom I proclaim a man of truth, of mercy.
For, being transported168 by my jealousies
To bloody thoughts and to revenge, I chose
Camillo for the minister to poison
My friend Polixenes, which had been done,
But that the good mind of Camillo tardied172
My swift command, though I with death and with
Reward did threaten and encourage him,
Not doing it and being done175. He, most humane
And filled with honour, to my kingly guest
Unclasped my practice177, quit his fortunes here --
Which you knew great -- and to the hazard
Of all incertainties himself commended179,
No richer than180 his honour. How he glisters
Through my rust! And how his piety
Does my deeds make the blacker!
PAULINA Woe the while!
O, cut my lace184, lest my heart, cracking it,
Break too.
A LORD What fit is this, good lady?
PAULINA What studied187 torments, tyrant, hast for me?
What wheels188? Racks? Fires? What flaying? Boiling?
In leads or oils? What old or newer torture
Must I receive, whose every word deserves
To taste of thy most worst? Thy tyranny,
Together working with thy jealousies --
Fancies193 too weak for boys, too green and idle
For girls of nine -- O, think what they have done
And then run mad indeed, stark mad! For all
Thy bygone fooleries196 were but spices of it.
That thou betrayed'st Polixenes, 'twas nothing:
That did but show thee, of198 a fool, inconstant
And damnable ingrateful. Nor was't much,
Thou wouldst have poisoned good Camillo's honour,
To have him kill a king. Poor trespasses201.
More monstrous standing by: whereof I reckon
The casting forth to crows thy baby-daughter
To be or204 none or little; though a devil
Would have shed water out of fire ere done't205.
Nor is't directly laid to thee, the death
Of the young prince, whose honourable thoughts --
Thoughts high for one so tender208 -- cleft the heart
That could conceive209 a gross and foolish sire
Blemished his gracious dam: this is not, no,
Laid to thy answer211. But the last -- O, lords,