Ant. He misses not much. Seb. No; he doth but mistake the truth totally. Gon. But the rarity of it is (which is indeed almost beyond credit)- Seb. As many vouch'd rarities are. Gon. That our garments, being, as they were, drenched in the sea, hold, notwithstanding, their freshness, and glosses; being rather new dy'd than stain'd with salt water. Ant. If but one of his pockets could speak, would it not say, he lies? Seb. Ay, or very falsely pocket up his report. Gon. Methinks, our garments are now as frest as when we put them on first in Africk, at the marriage of the king's fair daughter Claribel to the king of Tunis. Seb. 'Twas a sweet marriage, and we prosper well in our return. Adr. Tunis was never graced before with such a paragon to their queen. Gon. Not since widow Dido's time. Ant. Widow? a pox o' that! How came that widow in? Widow Dido! Seb. What if he had said widower Eneas too? good lord, how you take it! Adr. Widow Dido, said you? you make me study of that: she was of Carthage, not of Tunis. Gon. This Tunis, sir, was Carthage. Adr. Carthage? Gon. I assure you, Carthage. Ant. His word is more than the miraculous harp. Gon. When every grief is entertain'd, that's next? offer'd, 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, Seb. I think he will carry this island home in his pocket, and give it his son for an apple. Ant. And sowing the kernels of it in the sea, bring forth more islands. Gon. Ay? Ant. Why, in good time. Gon. Sir, we were talking that our garments seem now as fresh as when we were at Tunis at Ant. Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue! the marriage of your daughter, who is now queen. 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. Ant. And the rarest that e'er came there." Seb. 'Bate, I beseech you, widow Dido. Gon. Is not, sir, my doublet as fresh as the first day I wore it? I mean, in a sort." Ant. That sort was well fish'd for. Gon. When I wore it at your daughter's mar riage? Alon. You cram these words into mine ears, against The stomach of my sense: 'Would I had never Adr. Uninhabitable, and almost inaccessible,-- Who is so far from Italy remov'd, Seb. Yet,- Adr. Yet. Ant. He could not miss it. Adr. It must needs be of subtle, tendor, and delicate temperance.4 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. Gon. How lush and lusty the grass looks! how green! Ant. The ground, indeed, is tawny. Seb. With an eyes of green in't. 1 See note 14, p. 20. 2 It was usual to call a merchant-vessel a merchant, as we now say a merchant-man. 3 He calls Gonzalo the visitor, in allusion to the office of one who visits the sick to give advice and consola. tion. 4 Temperance is here used for temperature, or tem perateness. Seb. Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss; That would not bless our Europe with your daughter, But rather lose her to an African; 5 Lush is luxuriant, in like manner luscious is used in A Midsummer Night's Dream: "Quite over-canopied with luscious woodline" 6 That is, with a shade or small portion of green. "Red with an eye of bine makes a purple ”—Boyle. 7 Alluding to the wonders of Amphior's music 8 That is in a manner or degree. Very foul. Gon. Had I a plantation of this isle, my lord,Ant. He'd sow it with nettle-seed. Seb. Or docks, or mallows. Gon. And were the king of it, What would I do? Seb. 'Scape getting drunk, for want of wine. Gon. I' the commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things for no kind of traffic3 Would I admit; no name of magistrate; Letters should not be known; riches, poverty, And use of service, none; contract, succession, Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none: No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil: No occupation; all men idle, all; And women too; but innocent and pure : No sovereignty : Seb. And yet he would be king on't. Ant. The latter end of his commmonwealth forgets the beginning. Gon. All things in common nature should pro duce 'Save his majesty! Ant. Long live Gonzalo ! Gon. I do well believe your highness; and did it to minister occasion to these gentlemen, who are of such sensible and nimble lungs, that they always use to laugh at nothing. Ant. 'Twas you we laughed at. Gon. Who, in this kind of merry fooling, am nothing to you; so you may continue, and laugh at nothing still. Ant. What a blow was there given? Gon. You are gentlemen of brave mettle: you 1 i. e. Deliberated, was in suspense. 2 See note on Twelfth Night, Act v. Sc. 1. 3 See Montaigne's Essays translated by John Florio, ol 1603, Chap "Of the Caniballes." 4 An engine was a term applied to any kind of ma chine in Shakspeare's age would lift the moc out of her cohor, if she would continue in it five weeks without changing." Enter ARIEL, invisible, piaying solemn music. Seb. We would so, and then go bat-fowling. Ant. Nay, good my lord, be not angry. Gor, No, warrant you; I will not adventure my discretion so weakly. Will you laugh me asleep, for I am very heavy? Ant. Go sleep, and hear us. [All sleep but ALON. SEB. and ANT. Alon. What, all so soon asleep! I wish mine eyes Would, with themselves, shut up my thoughts: I find, They are inclined to do so. What, art thou waking? Ant. Do you not hear me speak? Seb. I do; and, surely, It is a sleepy language; and thou speak'st Out of thy sleep: What is it thou didst say? This is a strange repose, to be asleep With eyes wide open; standing, speaking, moving, And yet so fast asleep. Ant. Noble Sebastian, Thou let'st thy fortune sleep-die rather; wink'st Whiles thou art waking. Seb. Seb. Hereditary sloth instructs thee. Ant. 0, Do so: to ebb, If you but knew how you the purpose cherish, Pr'ythee, say on: The setting of thine eye, and cheek, proclaim A matter from thee; and a birth, indeed, Which threes thee much to yield. impractical le inconsistent schemes therein recom. mended." 8 Antonio apparently means to say, "You must be more serious than you usually are, if you would pay attention to my proposals; which attention, if you be stow it, will in the end make you thrice what you are." 9 Sebastian introduces the simile of water. It is ta ken up by Antonio, who says he will teach his stagnant 5 Foison is only another word for plenty or abun-waters to flow. "It has already learned to ebb," says dance of provision, but chiefly of the fruits of the earth. In a subsequent scene we have "Earth's increase, and foison plenty." 6 See Montaigne as cited before. 7 Warburton remarks that "all this dialogue is a fine satire on the Utopian Treatise of Government, and the Sebastian. To which Antonio replies-“O, if you but knew how much even that metaphor, which you use in jest, encourages the design which I hint at : how, in stripping it of words of their common meaning, and using them figuratively, you adapt them to your owr. situation."-Edinburgh Magazine Nov. 1786 And, look, how well my garments sit upon me; Seb. But, for your conscience Ant. Ay, sir; where lies that? if it were a kybe, If he were that which now he's like, that's dead;" 1 i. e. The utmost extent of the prospect of ambition, the point where the eye can pass no farther. Music. Re-enter ARIEL, invisible. Ari. My master through his art foresees the That you, his friend, are in; and sends me forth While you here do snoring lie, His time doth take: If of life you keep a care, Shake off slumber, and beware: Ant. Then let us both be sudden. What's the matter? Of a whole herd of lions. Gon. Heavens keep him from these beasts! done: Lead away. Ari. Prospero my lord shall know what I have [Aside. [Exeunt. So, king, go safely on to seek thy son. SCENE II. Another part of the Island. Enter Cal. All the infections that the sun sucks up 3 What is past is the prologue to events which are to 4 A chough is a bird of the jackdaw kind. 5 Suggestion is frequently used in the sense of temptation, or seduction, by Shakspeare and his contem poraries. The sense here is, that they will adopt and bear witness to any tale that may be dictated to them. 2 The commentators have treated this as a remark-come; that depends on wha rou and I are to perform. able instance of Shakspeare's ignorance of geography; but though the real distance between Naples and Tunis is not so immeasurable, the intercourse in early times between the Neapolitans and the Tunisians was not so frequent as to make it popularly considered less than a formidable voyage; Shakspeare may however be countenanced in his poetical exaggeration, when we remember that Eschylus has placed the river Eridanus in Spain; and that Appolonius Rhodius describes the Rhone and the Po as meeting in one and discharging themselves into the Gulf of Venice. 6 The old copies read "For else his project dies." By the transposition of a letter, this passage, which has much puzzled the editors, is rendered more intelligible "-to keep them living," relates to projects, and not to Alonzo and Gonzalo, as Steevens and Johnson er roneously supposed |