(Unless he take the course that you have done, Commit me, for committing honour,) trust it, He shall not rule me. Ant. Lo you now; you hear! When she will take the rein, I let her run; Paul. Good my liege, I come, And, I beseech you, hear me, who profess Leon. Good queen! Paul. Good queen, my lord, good queen; I say, good queen; And would by combat make her good, so were I A man, the worst + about you. Leon. Force her hence. Paul. Let him, that makes but trifles of his eyes, First hand me on mine own record, I'll off; But, first, I'll do my errand.-The good queen, For she is good, hath brought you forth a daughter; Here 'tis; commends it to your blessing. Leon. Out! [Laying down the Child. A mankind witch! Hence with her, out o' door: A most intelligencing bawd! Paul. Not so: I am as ignorant in that, as you 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 ont? Give her the bastard:Thou, dotard, [To Antigonus.] thou art woman-tired, unroosted By thy dane Partlet here,-take up the bastard; Take't up, I say; give't to thy 'crone . Paul. For ever Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou Takest up the princess, by that forced¶ baseness Which he has put upon't! Leon. He dreads his wife. Abetting your ill courses. + Lowest. 6 Worn-out old woman. Pecked by a woman, hen-pecked. Forced is false; uttered with violence to truth. Paul. So, I would, you did; then, 'twere past all doubt, You'd call your children yours. Leon. 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 His hopeful son's, his babe's, betrays to slander, Leon. A callat, Of boundless tongue; who late hath beat her husband, And now baits me!-This brat is none of mine'; Hence with it; and, together with the dam, Paul, It is yours; And, might we lay the old proverb to your charge, The trick of his frown, his forehead; nay, the The pretty dimples of his chin, and chek; ehis smiles; The very mould and frame of hand, nail, finger :And, thou, good goddess nature, which has 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. I'll have thee burn'd. Paul. I care not: • Trull. VOL. II. The colour of jealousy. Dd d It is an heretic, that makes the fire, 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-hinged fancy,) something savours Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you, 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 Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight: (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 Ant. I did not, Sir; These lords, my noble fellows, if they please, 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 served 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 hither; [To Antigonus. You, that have been so tenderly officious ture To save this brat's life?" Ant. Any thing, my lord,' That my ability may undergo, And nobleness impose: at least, thus much; 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 Death to thyself, but to thy lewd tongued wife; Like offices of pity.-Sir, be prosperous In more than this deed doth require! And blessing, Leon. No, I'll not rear Another's issue. [Exit, with the Child. 1 Attend. Please your highness, posts, From those you sent to the oracle, are come Being well arrived from Delphos, are both landed, It was anciently a practice to swear by the cross at the hilt of a sword. ti. e. Commit it to some place as a stranger. 1 Lord. So please you, Sir, their speed Hath been beyond account. Leon. Twenty-three days They have been absent: 'tis good speed; foretels, The truth of this appear. Prepare you lords; АСТ ІІІ. [Exeunt. 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 reverence 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-deafening voice o' the oracle, Dion. If the event o' the journey. Prove as successful to the queen,-0, be't so!- Cleo. Great Apollo, Turn all to the best! These proclamations, 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. i. e. Our journey has recompensed us the time we spent in it. |