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First hand me; on my own accord, I'll off; But, first, I'll do my errand.-The good queen, For she is good, hath brought you forth a daugli

ter;

Here 'tis; commends it to your blessing. [Laying down the Child.

Leon.

Out!

A mankind witch? Hence with her, out o' door: O most intelligencing bawd!

Paul.

I am as ignorant in that, as you

Not so:

In so entitling me: and no less honest

Than you are mad; which is enough, I'll warrant, As this world goes, to pass for honest.

Leon.

Traitors! Will you not push her out? Give her the bastard:

Thou dotard [To ANTIGONUS], thou art womantir'd, unroosted

By thy dame Partlet here:-take up the bastard; Take 't up, I say; give 't to thy crone.

Paul.

Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou

For ever

Takest up the princess, by that forced baseness Which he has put upon 't!

Leon.

He dreads his wife.

Paul. So, I would, you did; then, 'twere past all doubt,

You'd call
Leon.

your children yours.

A nest of traitors!

Ant. I am none, by this good light. Paul. Nor I; nor any, But one, that's here; and that's himself: for he The sacred honour of himself, his queen's, His hopeful son's, his babe's, betrays to slander, Whose sting is sharper than the sword's; and

will not

(For, as the case now stands, it is a curse He cannot be compell'd to 't), once remove The root of his opinion, which is rotten,

As ever oak, or stone, was sound.

Leon.

A callat,

Of boundless tongue; who late hath beat her

husband,

And now baits me!-This brat is none of mine; It is the issue of Polixenes:

Hence with it; and, together with the dam,
Commit them to the fire.

Paul.

It is yours;

And, might we lay the old proverb to your charge,

So like you, 'tis the worse.-Behold, my lords, Although the print be little, the whole matter And copy of the father: eye, nose, lip,

The trick of his frown, his forehead; nay, the valley,

The pretty dimples of his chin, and cheek;

smiles;

his

The very mould and frame of hand, nail, fin

ger:

And, thou, good goddess nature, which hast made it

So like to him that got it, if thou hast

The ordering of the mind too,'mongst all colours No yellow in't; lest she suspect, as he does, Her children not her husband's!

Leon. A gross hag!And, lozel, thou art worthy to be hang'd, That wilt not stay her tongue.

Ant.

Hang all the husbands

That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself

Hardly one subject.

Leon.

Once more, take her hence.

Paul. A most unworthy and unnatural lord Can do no more.

Leon.
Paul.

I'll have thee burn'd.

It is a heretick that makes the fire,

I care not:

Not she which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant; But this most cruel usage of your queen

(Not able to produce more accusation

Than your own weak-hing'd fancy) something

savours

Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you,
Yea, scandalous to the world.

Leon.

On your allegiance, Out of the chamber with her. Were I a tyrant, Where were her life? she durst not call me so, If she did know me one. Away with her.

Paul. I pray you, do not push me; I'll be gone. Look to your babe, my lord; 'tis yours: Jove

send her

A better guiding spirit!-What need these

hands?

You, 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. Leon. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.

My child? away with't!-even thou, that hast A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence,

And see it instantly consum'd with fire;
Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up
straight:

Within this hour bring me word, 'tis 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.

Ant.

I did not, sir: These lords, my noble fellows, if they please,

Can clear me in't.

1 Lord.

We can; my royal liege,

He is not guilty of her coming hither.
Leon. You are liars all.

1 Lord. 'Beseech your highness, give us better credit:

We have always truly serv'd you; and beseech So to esteem of us; And on our knees we beg (As recompense of our dear services,

Past, and to come), that you do change this

purpose;

Which, being so horrible, so bloody, must
Lead on to some foul issue: We all kneel.
Leon. I am a feather for each wind that
blows:-

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 Margery, your midwife, there,
To save this bastard's life for 'tis a bastard,
So sure as this beard's gray, what will you
To save this brat's life?
[adventure

Ant.

Any thing, 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: any thing possible.
Leon. It shall be possible: Swear by this sword,
Thou wilt perform my bidding.

Ant.

I will, my lord. Leon. Mark, and perform it; (seest thou?) for the fail

Of any point in't shall not only be

Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu'd 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 favour 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. Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and

ravens,

To be thy nurses? Wolves, and bears, they say,
Casting their savageness aside, have done
Like offices of pity.-Sir, be prosperous

In more than this deed doth require! and blessing,

Against this cruelty, fight on thy side,

Poor thing, condemn'd to loss!

Leon.

Another's issue.

1 Atten.

[Exit, with the Child.

No, I'll not rear

Please your highness, posts,

From those you sent to the oracle, are come

An hour since: Cleomenes and Dion,

Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed,

Hasting to the court.

1 Lord.

[blocks in formation]

So please you, sir, their speed

Twenty-three days

They have been absent: 'Tis good speed: fore-
The great Apollo certainly will have [tells,
The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords;
Summon a session, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady; for, as she hath
Been publicly accus'd, 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 III.

SCENE I. The same. A Street in some Town. Enter CLEOMENES and DION.

Cleo. The climate's delicate; the air most

sweet;

Fertile the isle; the temple much surpassing
The common praise it bears.

Dion.

I shall report,

For most it caught me, the celestial habits (Methinks, I so should term them), and the re

verence

Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice!
How ceremonious, solemn, and unearthly
It was i' the offering!

Cleo.
But, of all, the burst
And the ear-deaf'ning voice o' the oracle,
Kin to Jove's thunder, so surpris'd my sense,
That I was nothing.

Dion. If the event o' the journey Prove as successful to the queen,-O, be't so!As it hath been to us, rare, pleasant, speedy, The time is worth the use on't.

Cleo.

Great Apollo,

Turn all to the best: These proclamations,
So forcing faults upon Hermione,

I little like.

Dion.

The violent carriage of it

Will clear, or end, the business: When the oracle,
(Thus by Apollo's great divine seal'd up)
Shall the contents discover, something rare,
Even then will rush to knowledge.-Go,-

fresh horses ;

And gracious be the issue!

[Exeunt.

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