As great as is thy master: greater; for
His fortunes all lie speechless, and his name
Is at last gasp: Return he cannot, nor
Continue where he is: to shift his being,
Is to exchange one misery with another;
And every day that comes, comes to decay
A day's work in him: What shalt thou expect,
To be depender on a thing that leans?

Who cannot be new built; nor has no friends,

(The Queen drops a box: Pisanio takes it up.)
So much as but to prop him ?-Thou takest up
Thou know'st not what; but take it for thy labour:
It is a thing I made, which hath the king

Five times redeem'd from death: I do not know
What is more cordial,-nay, I pr'ythee, take it;
It is an earnest of a farther good

That I mean to thee. Tell thy mistress how
The case stands with her; do 't, as from thyself.
Think what a chance thou changest on; but think
Thou hast thy mistress still; to boot, my son,
Who shall take notice of thee: I'll move the king
To any shape of thy preferment, such

As thou 'It desire; and then myself, I chiefly,
That set thee on to this desert, am bound

To load thy merit richly. Call my women:

Think on my words. (Exit Pisa.)-A sly and constant

Not to be shaked: the agent for his master;
And the remembrancer of her, to hold

The hand fast to her lord. I have given him that,
Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her
Of liegers for her sweet; and which she, after,
Except she bend her humour, shall be assured

Re-enter PISANIO and Ladies.

To taste of too. So, so; well done, well done:
The violets, cowslips, and the primroses,
Bear to my closet. Fare thee well, Pisanio;
Think on my words.

Pis.

[Exeunt Queen and Ladies. And shall do:

But when to my good lord I prove untrue,

I'll choke myself: there's all I'll do for you.

SCENE VIL-Another Room in the same.

Enter IMOGEN,

Imo. A father cruel, and a step-dame false; A foolish suitor to a wedded lady,

That hath her husband banish'd,-O, that husband!

My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated
Vexations of it! Had I been thief-stolen,
As my two brothers, happy! but most miserable
Is the desire that's glorious: Blessed be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
Which seasons comfort.-Who may this be? Fy!
Enter PISANIO and IACHIMO.

Pis. Madani, a noble gentleman of Rome;
Comes from my lord with letters.

lach.

The worthy Leonatus is in safety,
And greets your highness dearly.
Imo.

You are kindly welcome.

Change you, madam?

(Presents a letter.) Thanks, good sir

lach. All of her, that is out of door, most rich!

If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare,

She is alone the Arabian bird; and I

Have lost the wager. Boidness be my friend!
Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!

Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight;
Rather, directly fly.

(Aside.)

Imo. (Reads.) He is one of the noblest note, to whose kindnesses I am most infinitely tied.

upon him accordingly, as you value your truest

Reflect

LEONATUS.

So far I read aloud:

But even the very middle of my heart

Is warm'd by the rest, and takes it thankfully.-
You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I

Have words to bid you; and shall find it so

In all that I can do.

Iach.

Thanks, fairest lady.What are men mad? Hath nature given them eyes To see this vaulted arch, and the rich crop Of sea and land, which can distinguish 'twixt The fiery orbs above, and the twinn'd stones Upon the number'd beach? and can we not Partition make with spectacles so precious 'Twixt fair and foul?"

Imo.

What makes your admiration? Iach. It cannot be i' the eye; for apes and monkeys, 'Twixt two such shes, would chatter this way, and Contemn with mows the other: Nor i' the judgment; For idiots, in this case of favour, would Be wisely definite: Nor i' the appetite; Sluttery, to such neat excellence opposed,

Should make desire vomit emptiness,
Not so allured to feed.

Imo. What is the matter, trow?
Iach.

(That satiate yet unsatisfied desire,

The cloy'd will,

That tub both fill'd and running,) ravening first
The lamb, longs after for the garbage.

Imo.

Thus raps you? Are you well?

Iach. Thanks, madam; well.-'Beseech you, sir,

desire

My man's abode, where I did leave him: he

Is strange and peevish.

Pis.

To give him welcome.

What, dear sir,

(To Pisanio.)

I was going, sir,

[Exit Pisanio.

[you?

Imo. Continues well my lord? His health, beseech

Iach. Well, madam.

Imo. Is he disposed to mirth? I hope, he is. lach. Exceeding pleasant; none a stranger there So merry and so gamesome: he is call'd

The Briton reveller.

Imo.

When he was here,

I never saw him sad.

He did incline to sadness; and oft-times
Not knowing why.

Iach.

There is a Frenchman his companion, one,

An eminent monsieur, that, it seems, much loves
A Gallian girl at home: he furnaces

The thick sighs from him; whiles the jolly Briton
(Your lord, I mean) laughs from 's free lungs, cries, 01
Can my sides hold, to think, that man,-who knows
By history, report, or his own proof,

What woman is, yea, what she cannot choose
But must be,-will his free hours languish for
Assured bondage?

Imo.

Will my lord say so?

lach. Ay, madam; with his eyes in flood with laughter. It is a recreation to be by,

And hear him mock the Frenchman: But Heavens Some men are much to blame.

Imo.

Iach. Not he: But yet Heaven's bounty towards

him might

Be used more thankfully. In himself, 'tis much;
In you, which I count his, beyond all talents,
Whilst I am bound to wonder, I am bound
To pity too.

i Imo.

What do you pity, sir?

Iach. Two creatures, heartily.

Imo.

Am I one, sir?

You look on me: What wreck discern you in me,

Deserves your pity?

lach.

Lamentable! What!

To hide me from the radiant sun, and solace

I the dungeon by a snuff?

Imo.
I pray you, sir,
Deliver with more openness your answers
To my demands. Why do you pity me?
Iach. That others do,

I was about to say, enjoy your--But
It is an office of the gods to venge it,
Not mine to speak on 't.

Imo.

You do seem to know

Something of me, or what concerns me: 'Pray you,
(Since doubting things go ill, often hurts more
Than to be sure they do; for certainties

Either are past remedies, or, timely knowing,
The remedy then born,) discover to me
What both you spur and stop.

lach.
Had I this cheek
To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye.
Fixing it only here: should I (damn'd then)
Slaver with lips as common as the stairs

That mount the Capitol; join gripes with hands
Made hard with hourly falsehood, (fasehood, as
With labour;) then lie peeping in an eye,
Base and unlustrous as the smoky light
That's fed with stinking tallow; it were fit,
That all the plagues of hell should at one time
Encounter such revolt.

Imo.

Has forgot Britain.

Iach.

My lord, I fear,

And himself. Not I,

Inclined to this intelligence, pronounce

The beggary of his change; but 'tis your graces,
That, from my mutest conscience to my tongue,
Charms this report out.

Imo.

Let me hear no more.

Iach. O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my heart With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady

So fair, and fasten'd to an empery,

Would make the great'st king double! to be partner'd With tomboys, hired with that self exhibition,

Which your own coffers yield! with diseased ventures, That play with all infirmities for gold,

Which rottenness can lend nature; such boil'd stuff,
As well might poison poison! Be revenged;

Or she, that bore you, was no queen, and you
Recoil'd from your great stock.

Imo.
Revenged!
How should I be revenged? If this be true,
(As I have such a heart, that both mine ears
Must not in haste abuse,) if it be true,
How should I be revenged?

lach.
Should he make me
Live like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets;
Whiles he is vaulting variable ramps,

In your despite, upon your purse? Revenge it.
I dedicate myself to your sweet pleasure;
More noble than that runagate to your bed;
And will continue fast to your affection,
Still close, as sure.

Imo.

What ho, Pisanio!

Iach. Let me my service tender on your lips

Imo. Away!-I do condemn mine ears, that have
So long attended thee.-If thou wert honourable,
Thou wouldst have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek'st; as base, as strange.
Thou wrong'st a gentleman, who is as far
From thy report, as thou from honour; and
Solicit'st here a lady, that disdains

Thee and the devil alike.-What, ho! Pisanio!-
The king my father shall be made acquainted
Of thy assault: if he shall think it fit,
A saucy stranger, in his court, to mart
As in a Romish stew, and to expound
His beastly mind to us; he hath a court
He little cares for, and a daughter whom
He not respects at all. What ho, Pisanio!
Iach. O happy Leonatus! I may say;
The credit that thy lady hath of thee,
Deserves thy trust; and thy most perfect goodness
Her assured credit!-Blessed live you long!
A lady to the worthiest sir, that ever

Country call'd his! and you his mistress, only
For the most worthiest fit! Give me your pardon.
I have spoke this, to know if your affiance
Were deeply rooted; and shall make your lord,
That which he is, new o'er: And he is one
The truest manner'd; such a holy witch,
That he enchants societies unto him:
Half all men's hearts are his.