How! the best?

Pro. What wert thou, if the king of Naples heard thee? Fer. A single thing, as I am now, that wonders To hear thee speak of Naples: he does hear me; And, that he does, I weep: myself am Naples; Who with mine eyes, ne'er since at ebb, beheld The king my father wreck'd.

Mira.

Alack, for mercy! Fer. Yes, faith, and all his lords; the duke of Milan, And his brave son, being twain.

Pro.
The duke of Milan,
And his more braver daughter, could control 39 thee,
If now 'twere fit to do't:-At the first sight [Aside.
They have chang'd eyes;-Delicate Ariel,

I'll set thee free for this!-A word, good sir;
I fear, you have done yourself some wrong 40: a word.
Mira. Why speaks my father so ungently? This
Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first

That e'er I sighed for: pity move my father
To be inclin❜d my way!

Fer.

O, if a virgin,

And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
The queen of Naples.

Pro.
Soft, sir; one word more.--
They are both in either's powers: but this swift business
I must uneasy make, lest too light winning [Aside.
Make the prize light.-One word more; I charge thee,
That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp
The name thou ow'st not; and hast put thyself
Upon this island, as a spy, to win it

From me, the lord on't.

39 To control here signifies to confute, to contradict unanswerably. The ancient meaning of control was to check or exhibit a contrary account, from the old French contre-roller.

40

you have done yourself some wrong:" that is spoken a falsehood. Thus in The Merry Wives of Windsor : "This is not well, master Ford, this wrongs you."

Fer.

No, as I am a man.

Mira. There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple: If the ill spirit have so fair an house,

Good things will strive to dwell with't.

Pro. Follow me.-[To FERD. Speak not you for him; he's a traitor.—Come. I'll manacle thy neck and feet together; Sea-water shalt thou drink, thy food shall be The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots, and husks, Wherein the acorn cradled: Follow.

Fer.

I will resist such entertainment, till

Mine enemy has more power.

No;

[He draws.

O dear father,

What, I say,

Mira.
Make not too rash a trial of him, for

He's gentle, and not fearful 41.

Pro.

My foot my tutor!-Put thy sword up, traitor; Who mak'st a show, but dar'st not strike, thy conscience

Is so possess'd with guilt: come from thy ward;
For I can here disarm thee with this stick,
And make thy weapon drop.

Mira.

Beseech you, father!

Pro. Hence; hang not on my garments.
Mira.

I'll be his surety.

""

Sir, have pity;

41 Fearful was sometimes used in the sense of formidable, terrible, dreadful, like the French épouvantable; as may be seen by consulting Cotgrave or any of our old Dictionaries. Shakspeare almost always uses it in this sense. In K. Henry VI. Act iii. Sc. A mighty and a fearful head they are." He has also fear; fearful bravery; &c. &c. The verb to fear is most used for to fright, to terrify, to make afraid. Mr. Gifks, "as a proof how little our old dramatists were at the Restoration, that Dryden censures Jonson for r use of this word, the sense of which he altogether

Pro.

Silence: one word more

Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What! An advocate for an impostor? hush!

Thou think'st there are no more such shapes as he, Having seen but him and Caliban: Foolish wench! To the most of men this is a Caliban,

And they to him are angels.

Mira.

My affections

Are then most humble; I have no ambition

To see a goodlier man.

Come on; obey: [To FERD.

Pro.
Thy nerves are in their infancy again,
And have no vigour in them.

Fer.
So they are:
My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
The wreck of all my friends, or this man's threats,
To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,
Might I but through my prison once a day
Behold this maid: all corners else o' the earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough

Have I in such a prison.

Pro.

It works:-Come on.

Thou hast done well, fine Ariel!-Follow me.

[To FERD. and MIRA.

Be of comfort;

Hark, what thou else shalt do me. [To ARIEL.

Mira.

My father's of a better nature, sir,

Than he appears by speech; this is unwonted,
Which now came from him.

Pro. Come, follow: speak not for him. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I. Another part of the Island.

Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and others.

Gon. 'Beseech you, sir, be merry : you have cause
(So have we all) of joy; for our escape
Is much beyond our loss: our hint1 of woe
Is common; every day, some sailor's wife,

The masters of some merchant2, and the merchant,
Have just our theme of woe: but for the miracle,
I mean our preservation, few in millions

Can speak like us: then wisely, good sir, weigh
Our sorrow with our comfort.

Alon.

Pr'ythee, peace.

Seb. He receives comfort like cold porridge.
Ant. The visitor3 will not give him o'er so.

Seb. Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike.

Gon. Sir,

Seb. One-Tell.

Gon. When every grief is entertain'd, that's offer'd, Comes to the entertainer

Seb.

A dollar.

Gon. Dolour comes to him, indeed; you have spoken truer than you purposed.

Seb. You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should.

Gon. Therefore, my lord,

1 See note 14, p. 20.

2 It was usual to call a merchant-vessel a merchant, as we now say a merchant-man.

He calls Gonzalo the visitor, in allusion to the office of one visits the sick to give advice and consolation.

Ant. Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue! Alon. I pr'ythee, spare.

Gon. Well, I have: But yet

Seb. He will be talking.

Ant. Which of them, he, or Adrian, for a good wager, first begins to crow?

Seb. The old cock.

Ant. The cockrel.

Seb. Done: The wager?
Ant. A laughter.

Seb. A match.

Adr. Though this island seem to be desert,—

Seb. Ha, ha, ha!

Ant. So you've pay'd.

Adr. Uninhabitable, and almost inaccessible,Seb. Yet,

Adr. Yet.

Ant. He could not miss it.

Adr. It must needs be of subtle, tender, and delicate temperance *.

Ant. Temperance was a delicate wench.

Seb. Ay, and a subtle; as he most learnedly delivered.

Adr. The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.
Seb. As if it had lungs, and rotten ones.
Ant. Or, as 'twere perfumed by a fen.
Gon. Here is every thing advantageous to life.
Ant. True; save means to live.

Seb. Of that there's none, or little.

Gon. How lush 5 and lusty the grass looks? how green?

Ant. The ground, indeed, is tawny.

4 Temperance is here used for temperature, or temperateness. 5 Lush is luxuriant, in like manner luscious is used in A Midsummer Night's Dream:

"Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine."