But at this instant he is sick, my lord, Do Good friar, let's hear it. you not smile at this, lord Angelo?- Of your own cause.-Is this the witness, friar? What, are you married? Are you a maid? Muri. Duke. A widow then? Mari. Neither, my lord. Ang. My lord, I must confess I know this woman; And, five years since, there was some speech of marriage Betwixt myself and her; which was broke off, Mari. breath, As there is sense in truth, and truth in virtue, I did but smile till now: Duke. some cause To prattle for himself. Lucio. Well, my lord. Muri. My lord, I do confess I ne'er was married; And, I confess, besides, I am no maid: I have known my husband; yet my husband knows not That ever he knew me. Lucio. He was drunk, then, my lord; it can be no better. Duke. For the benefit of silence, 'would thou wert so too! Lucio. Well, my lord. Dike. This is no witness for lord Angelo. Charges she more than me? Mari. Not that I know. This is that face, thou cruel Angelo, Duke. Know you this woman? Lucio. Carnally, she says. Though they would swear down each particular Were testimonies against his worth and credit, F. Peter. Would he were here, my lord; for he, Hath set the women on to this complaint: Duke. Go do it instantly.— [Exit Provost. Escal. My lord, we'll do it thoroughly.—[Exit Duke.] Signior Lucio, did not you say, you knew that friar Lodowick to be a dishonest person? Lucio. Cucullus non facit monachum: honest in nothing but in his clothes; and one that hath spoke most villanous speeches of the duke. Escal. We shall entreat you to abide here till he come, and enforce them against him: we shall find this friar a notable fellow. Lucio. As any in Vienna, on my word. Escal. Call that same Isabel here once again; [To an Attendant.] I would speak with her: Pray you, my lord, give me leave to question; you shall see how I'll handle her. Lucio. Not better than he, by her own report. Lucio. Marry, sir, I think, if you handled her • Crazy. H privately, she would sooner confess; perchance ere you make that my report: you, indeed, spoke publicly she'll be ashamed. Re-enter Officers, with ISABELLA; the Duke, in the Friar's habit, and Provost. Escal. I will go darkly to work with her. Lucio. That's the way; for women are light at midnight. Escal. Come on, mistress: [To ISABELLA.] here's a gentlewoman denies all that you have said. Lucio. My lord, here comes the rascal I spoke of; here with the provost. Escal. In very good time:-speak not you to him, till we call upon you. Lucio. Mum. Escal. Come, sir: Did you set these women on to slander lord Angelo? they have confess'd you did. Duke. 'Tis false. Escal. How! know you where you are? Duke. Respect to your great place! and let the devil Be some time honor'd for his burning throne:Where is the duke? 'tis he should hear me speak. Escal. The duke's in us; and we will hear you speak: Look, you speak justly. Duke. Boldly, at least:-But, O, poor souls, Come you to seek the lamb here of the fox? Good night to your redress. Is the duke gone? Then is your cause gone too. The duke's unjust, Thus to retort your manifest appeal, And put your trial in the villain's mouth, Which here you come to accuse. Lucio. This is the rascal; this is he I spoke of. Escal. Why, thou unreverend and unhallow'd friar! Is't not enough,that thou hast suborn'd these women, To accuse this worthy man; but in foul mouth, And in the witness of his proper ear, To call him villain? And then to glance from him to the duke himself; But we will know this purpose:-What! unjust? Dare no more stretch this finger of mine, than he Escal. Slander to the state! Away with him to prison. Ang. What can you vouch against him, signior Lucio? Is this the man that you did tell us of? Lucio. "Tis he, my lord. Come hither, goodman bald-pate: Do you know me? Duke. I remember you, sir, by the sound of your voice. I met you at the prison in the absence of the duke. Lucio. O, did you so? And do you remember what you said of the duke? Duke. Most notedly, sir. Lucio. Do you so, sir? And was the duke a flesh-nonger, a fool, and a coward, as you then reported him to be? Duke. You must, sir, change persons with me, so of him; and much more, much worse. Lucio. O thou damnable fellow! Did not I pluck thee by the nose for thy speeches? Duke. I protest I love the duke as I love myself. Ang. Hark! how the villain would close now, after his treasonable abuses. Escal. Such a fellow is not to be talked withal:Away with him to prison. Where is the provost ?— Away with him to prison; lay bolts enough upon him: let him speak no more. Away with those giglots too, and with the other confederate companion. [The Provost lays hands on the Duke. Duke. Stay, sir; stay awhile. Ang. What! resists he? Help him, Lucio. Lucio. Come, sir; come, sir; come, sir; foh, sir: Why, you bald-pated, lying rascal! you must be hooded, must you? Show your knave's visage! with a pox to you! show your sheep-biting face, and be hang'd an hour! Will't not off? [Pulls off the Friar's hood, and discovers the Duke. Duke. Thou art the first knave that e'er made a duke. First, provost, let me bail these gentle three:Sneak not away, sir; [To Lucio.] for the friar and you Must have a word anon:-Lay hold on him. Hast thou or word, or wit, or impudence, Duke. Duke. Go, take her hence, and marry her instantly. Do you the office, friar; which consummate, Return him here again:-Go with him, provost. [Exeunt ANGELO, MARIANA, PETER, and Provost. Escal. My lord, I am more amazed at his dishonor, Than at the strangeness of it. Isab. Duke. You are pardon'd, Isabel: And now, dear maid, be you as free to us. Your brother's death, I know, sits at your heart; And you may marvel why I obscur'd myself, Laboring to save his life; and would not rather Make rash remonstrance of my hidden power, Re-enter ANGELO, MARIANA, PETER, and Provost. Whose salt imagination yet hath wrong'd Of sacred chastity, and of promise-breach, Then, Angelo, thy fault's thus manifested; We do condemn thee to the very block Away with him. Consenting to the safeguard of your honor, Mari. O, my dear lord, I crave no other nor no better man. Duke. Never crave him; we are definitive. Mari. Gentle my liege,[Kneeling. Duke. You do but lose your labor; Away with him to death.-Now, sir, [To Lucio.] Sweet Isabel, do yet but kneel by me; What's he? Duke. Prov. His name is Barnardine. Duke. I would thou hadst done so by Claudio.Go, fetch him hither; let me look upon him. [Exit Provost. Escal. I am sorry, one so learned and so wise As you, lord Angelo, have still appear'd, Should slip so grossly, both in the heat of blood, And lack of temper'd judgment afterward. Ang. I am sorry, that such sorrow I procure: And so deep sticks it in my penitent heart, That I crave death more willingly than mercy; 'Tis my deserving, and I do entreat it. Re-enter Provost, BARNARDINE, CLAUDIO, and JULIET. Duke. Which is that Barnardine? Prov. This, my lord. Duke. There was a friar told me of this man. Sirrah, thou art said to have a stubborn soul, That apprehends no further than this world, And squar'st thy life according. Thou'rt condemn'd; But, for those earthly faults I quit them all; And pray thee, take this mercy to provide For better times to come :-Friar, advise him; I leave him to your hand.-What muffled fellow's that? Prov. This is another prisoner, that I sav'd, That should have died when Claudio lost his head; As like almost to Claudio as himself. [Unmuffles CLAUDIO. Duke. If he be like your brother, [To ISABELLA.] for his sake Is he pardon'd; and for your lovely sake, I find an apt remission in myself: One all of luxury, an ass, a madman: Lucio. 'Faith, my lord, I spoke it but according to the trick: If you will hang me for it, you may, but I had rather it would please you, I might be whipp'd. Duke. Whipp'd first, sir, and hang'd after.Proclaim it, provost, round about the city; If any woman's wrong'd by this lewd fellow, (As I have heard him swear himself, there's one Whom he begot with child,) let her appear, And he shall marry her: the nuptial finish'd, Let him be whipp'd and hang'd. Lucio. I beseech your highness, do not marry me to a whore. Your highness said even now, I made you a duke; good my lord, do not recompense me, in making me a cuckold. Duke. Upon mine honor, thou shalt marry her. Thy slanders I forgive; and therewithal Remit thy other forfeits:-Take him to prison: And see our pleasure herein executed. • Thoughtless practice. Lucio. Marrying a punk, my lord, is pressing to death, whipping, and hanging. Duke. Sland'ring a prince deserves it.— She, Claudio, that you wrong'd look you restore. Joy to you, Mariana!-love her, Angelo; I have confess'd her, and I know her virtue.Thanks, good friend Escalus, for thy much good ness: There's more behind, that is more gratulate. SCENE I-Before Leonato's House. ACT I. Mess. But few of any sort, and none of name. Leon. A victory is twice itself, when the achiever brings home full numbers. I find here that don Pedro hath bestowed much honor on a young Florentine, called Claudio. Mess. Much deserved on his part, and equally remembered by don Pedro: He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age; doing, in the figure of a lamb, the feats of a lion: he hath, indeed, better bettered expectation, than you must expect of me to tell you how. Leon. He hath an uncle here in Messina will be very much glad of it. Mess. I have already delivered him letters, and there appears much joy in him; even so much, that joy could not show itself modest enough, without a badge of bitterness. Leon. Did he break out into tears? Leon. A kind overflow of kindness: There are no faces truer than those that are so washed. How much better is it to weep at joy, than to joy at weeping! Beat. I pray you, is signior Montanto returned from the wars, or no? Mess. I know none of that name, lady; there was none such in the army of any sort. Leon. What is he that you ask for, niece? Abundance. Hero. My cousin means signior Benedick of Padua. Mess. O, he is returned; and as pleasant as ever he was. Beat. He set up his bills here in Messina, and challenged Cupid at the flight: and my uncle's fool, reading the challenge, subscribed for Cupid, and challenged him at the bird-bolt.—I pray you, how many hath he killed and eaten in these wars? But how many hath he killed? for, indeed, I promised to eat all of his killing. Leon. Faith, niece, you tax signior Benedick too much; but he'll be meet with you, I doubt it not. wars. Mess. He hath done good service, lady, in these Beat. You had musty victual, and he hath holp to eat it: he is a very valiant trencher-man, he hath an excellent stomach. is Mess. And a good soldier too, lady. Beat. And a good soldier to a lady :-But what he to a lord? Mess. A lord to a lord, a man to a man; stuffed with all honorable virtues. Beat. It is so, indeed; he is no less than a stuffed man: but for the stuffing,-Well, we are all mor tal. Leon. You must not, sir, mistake my niece: there is a kind of merry war betwixt signior Benedick and her: they never meet, but there is a skirmish of wit between them. Beat. Alas, he gets nothing by that. In our last conflict, four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one: so that if he have wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear it for a difference between himself and his horse for it is all the wealth that he hath left, to be known a reasonable creature.-Who is his companion now? He hath every month a new sworn brother. 2 A cuckold. |