Scene 4
Enter Florizell and Perdita .
FLORIZELL
These your unusual weeds to each part of you
Does give a life — no shepherdess , but Flora
Peering in April’s front . This your sheep-shearing
Is as a meeting of the petty gods ,
And you the queen on ’t .
PERDITA
Sir , my gracious lord ,
To chide at your extremes it not becomes me ;
O , pardon that I name them ! Your high self ,
The gracious mark o’ th’ land , you have obscured
With a swain’s wearing , and me , poor lowly maid ,
Most goddesslike pranked up . But that our feasts
In every mess have folly , and the feeders
Digest it with a custom , I should blush
To see you so attired , swoon , I think ,
To show myself a glass .
FLORIZELL
I bless the time
When my good falcon made her flight across
Thy father’s ground .
PERDITA
Now Jove afford you cause .
To me the difference forges dread . Your greatness
[135] ACT 4. SC. 4 Hath not been used to fear . Even now I tremble
To think your father by some accident
Should pass this way as you did . O the Fates ,
How would he look to see his work , so noble ,
Vilely bound up ? What would he say ? Or how
Should I , in these my borrowed flaunts , behold
The sternness of his presence ?
FLORIZELL
Apprehend
Nothing but jollity . The gods themselves ,
Humbling their deities to love , have taken
The shapes of beasts upon them . Jupiter
Became a bull , and bellowed ; the green Neptune
A ram , and bleated ; and the fire-robed god ,
Golden Apollo , a poor humble swain ,
As I seem now . Their transformations
Were never for a piece of beauty rarer ,
Nor in a way so chaste , since my desires
Run not before mine honor , nor my lusts
Burn hotter than my faith .
PERDITA
O , but sir ,
Your resolution cannot hold when ’tis
Opposed , as it must be , by th’ power of the King .
One of these two must be necessities ,
Which then will speak : that you must change this
purpose
Or I my life .
FLORIZELL
Thou dear’st Perdita ,
With these forced thoughts I prithee darken not
The mirth o’ th’ feast . Or I’ll be thine , my fair ,
Or not my father’s . For I cannot be
Mine own , nor anything to any , if
I be not thine . To this I am most constant ,
Though destiny say no . Be merry , gentle .
Strangle such thoughts as these with anything
That you behold the while . Your guests are coming .
[137] ACT 4. SC. 4 Lift up your countenance as it were the day
Of celebration of that nuptial which
We two have sworn shall come .
PERDITA
O Lady Fortune ,
Stand you auspicious !
FLORIZELL
See , your guests approach .
Address yourself to entertain them sprightly ,
And let’s be red with mirth .
Enter Shepherd , Shepherd’s Son , Mopsa , Dorcas ,
Shepherds and Shepherdesses , Servants , Musicians ,
and Polixenes and Camillo in disguise .
SHEPHERD
Fie , daughter , when my old wife lived , upon
This day she was both pantler , butler , cook ,
Both dame and servant ; welcomed all ; served all ;
Would sing her song and dance her turn , now here
At upper end o’ th’ table , now i’ th’ middle ;
On his shoulder , and his ; her face afire
With labor , and the thing she took to quench it
She would to each one sip . You are retired
As if you were a feasted one and not
The hostess of the meeting . Pray you bid
These unknown friends to ’s welcome , for it is
A way to make us better friends , more known .
Come , quench your blushes and present yourself
That which you are , mistress o’ th’ feast . Come on ,
And bid us welcome to your sheep-shearing ,
As your good flock shall prosper .
PERDITA
, to Polixenes
Sir , welcome .
It is my father’s will I should take on me
The hostess-ship o’ th’ day .
To Camillo .
You’re
welcome , sir . —
Give me those flowers there , Dorcas . — Reverend
sirs ,
[139] ACT 4. SC. 4 For you there’s rosemary and rue . These keep
Seeming and savor all the winter long .
Grace and remembrance be to you both ,
And welcome to our shearing .
POLIXENES
Shepherdess —
A fair one are you — well you fit our ages
With flowers of winter .
PERDITA
Sir , the year growing ancient ,
Not yet on summer’s death nor on the birth
Of trembling winter , the fairest flowers o’ th’ season
Are our carnations and streaked gillyvors ,
Which some call nature’s bastards . Of that kind
Our rustic garden’s barren , and I care not
To get slips of them .
POLIXENES
Wherefore , gentle maiden ,
Do you neglect them ?
PERDITA
For I have heard it said
There is an art which in their piedness shares
With great creating nature .
POLIXENES
Say there be ;
Yet nature is made better by no mean
But nature makes that mean . So , over that art
Which you say adds to nature is an art
That nature makes . You see , sweet maid , we marry
A gentler scion to the wildest stock ,
And make conceive a bark of baser kind
By bud of nobler race . This is an art
Which does mend nature , change it rather , but
The art itself is nature .
PERDITA
So it is .
POLIXENES
Then make your garden rich in gillyvors ,
And do not call them bastards .
PERDITA
I’ll not put
The dibble in earth to set one slip of them ,
[141] ACT 4. SC. 4 No more than , were I painted , I would wish
This youth should say ’twere well , and only
therefore
Desire to breed by me . Here’s flowers for you :
Hot lavender , mints , savory , marjoram ,
The marigold , that goes to bed wi’ th’ sun
And with him rises weeping . These are flowers
Of middle summer , and I think they are given
To men of middle age . You’re very welcome .
CAMILLO
I should leave grazing , were I of your flock ,
And only live by gazing .
PERDITA
Out , alas !
You’d be so lean that blasts of January
Would blow you through and through .
( To
Florizell . ) Now , my fair’st friend ,
I would I had some flowers o’ th’ spring , that might
Become your time of day ,
( to the Shepherdesses )
and yours , and yours ,
That wear upon your virgin branches yet
Your maidenheads growing . O Proserpina ,
For the flowers now that , frighted , thou let’st fall
From Dis’s wagon ! Daffodils ,
That come before the swallow dares , and take
The winds of March with beauty ; violets dim ,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes
Or Cytherea’s breath ; pale primroses ,
That die unmarried ere they can behold
Bright Phoebus in his strength — a malady
Most incident to maids ; bold oxlips and
The crown imperial ; lilies of all kinds ,
The flower-de-luce being one — O , these I lack
To make you garlands of , and my sweet friend ,
To strew him o’er and o’er .
FLORIZELL
What , like a corse ?
[143]ACT 4. SC. 4
PERDITA
No , like a bank for love to lie and play on ,
Not like a corse ; or if , not to be buried ,
But quick and in mine arms . Come , take your
flowers .
Methinks I play as I have seen them do
In Whitsun pastorals . Sure this robe of mine
Does change my disposition .
FLORIZELL
What you do
Still betters what is done . When you speak , sweet ,
I’d have you do it ever . When you sing ,
I’d have you buy and sell so , so give alms ,
Pray so ; and for the ord’ring your affairs ,
To sing them too . When you do dance , I wish you
A wave o’ th’ sea , that you might ever do
Nothing but that , move still , still so ,
And own no other function . Each your doing ,
So singular in each particular ,
Crowns what you are doing in the present deeds ,
That all your acts are queens .
PERDITA
O Doricles ,
Your praises are too large . But that your youth
And the true blood which peeps fairly through ’t
Do plainly give you out an unstained shepherd ,
With wisdom I might fear , my Doricles ,
You wooed me the false way .
FLORIZELL
I think you have
As little skill to fear as I have purpose
To put you to ’t . But come , our dance , I pray .
Your hand , my Perdita . So turtles pair
That never mean to part .
PERDITA
I’ll swear for ’em .
POLIXENES
, to Camillo
This is the prettiest lowborn lass that ever
Ran on the greensward . Nothing she does or seems
But smacks of something greater than herself ,
Too noble for this place .
[145]ACT 4. SC. 4
CAMILLO
He tells her something
That makes her blood look out . Good sooth , she is
The queen of curds and cream .
SHEPHERD’S SON
, to Musicians
Come on , strike up .
DORCAS
Mopsa must be your mistress ? Marry , garlic
To mend her kissing with .
MOPSA
Now , in good time !
SHEPHERD’S SON
Not a word , a word . We stand upon our manners . —
Come , strike up .
Music begins .Here a Dance of Shepherds and Shepherdesses .
POLIXENES
Pray , good shepherd , what fair swain is this
Which dances with your daughter ?
SHEPHERD
They call him Doricles , and boasts himself
To have a worthy feeding . But I have it
Upon his own report , and I believe it .
He looks like sooth . He says he loves my daughter .
I think so too , for never gazed the moon
Upon the water as he’ll stand and read ,
As ’twere , my daughter’s eyes . And , to be plain ,
I think there is not half a kiss to choose
Who loves another best .
POLIXENES
She dances featly .
SHEPHERD
So she does anything , though I report it
That should be silent . If young Doricles
Do light upon her , she shall bring him that
Which he not dreams of .
Enter a Servant .
SERVANT
O , master , if you did but hear the peddler at
the door , you would never dance again after a tabor
and pipe ; no , the bagpipe could not move you . He
[147] ACT 4. SC. 4 sings several tunes faster than you’ll tell money . He
utters them as he had eaten ballads and all men’s
ears grew to his tunes .
SHEPHERD’S SON
He could never come better . He shall
come in . I love a ballad but even too well if it be
doleful matter merrily set down , or a very pleasant
thing indeed and sung lamentably .
SERVANT
He hath songs for man or woman , of all sizes .
No milliner can so fit his customers with gloves . He
has the prettiest love songs for maids , so without
bawdry , which is strange , with such delicate burdens
of dildos and fadings , ‘Jump her and thump
her .’ And where some stretch-mouthed rascal
would , as it were , mean mischief and break a foul
gap into the matter , he makes the maid to answer
‘Whoop , do me no harm , good man’ ; puts him off ,
slights him , with ‘Whoop , do me no harm , good
man .’
POLIXENES
This is a brave fellow .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Believe me , thou talkest of an admirable
conceited fellow . Has he any unbraided
wares ?
SERVANT
He hath ribbons of all the colors i’ th’ rainbow ;
points more than all the lawyers in Bohemia
can learnedly handle , though they come to him by
th’ gross ; inkles , caddises , cambrics , lawns — why ,
he sings ’em over as they were gods or goddesses .
You would think a smock were a she-angel , he so
chants to the sleeve-hand and the work about the
square on ’t .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Prithee bring him in , and let him
approach singing .
PERDITA
Forewarn him that he use no scurrilous words
in ’s tunes .
Servant exits .
SHEPHERD’S SON
You have of these peddlers that have
more in them than you’d think , sister .
[149]ACT 4. SC. 4
PERDITA
Ay , good brother , or go about to think .
Enter Autolycus , wearing a false beard , singing .
AUTOLYCUS
Lawn as white as driven snow ,
Cypress black as e’er was crow ,
Gloves as sweet as damask roses ,
Masks for faces and for noses ,
Bugle bracelet , necklace amber ,
Perfume for a lady’s chamber ,
Golden coifs and stomachers
For my lads to give their dears ,
Pins and poking-sticks of steel ,
What maids lack from head to heel ,
Come buy of me , come . Come buy , come buy .
Buy , lads , or else your lasses cry .
Come buy .
SHEPHERD’S SON
If I were not in love with Mopsa , thou
shouldst take no money of me ; but being enthralled
as I am , it will also be the bondage of certain
ribbons and gloves .
MOPSA
I was promised them against the feast , but they
come not too late now .
DORCAS
He hath promised you more than that , or there
be liars .
MOPSA
He hath paid you all he promised you . Maybe
he has paid you more , which will shame you to give
him again .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Is there no manners left among
maids ? Will they wear their plackets where they
should bear their faces ? Is there not milking time ,
when you are going to bed , or kiln-hole , to whistle
of these secrets , but you must be tittle-tattling
before all our guests ? ’Tis well they are whisp’ring .
Clamor your tongues , and not a word more .
[151]ACT 4. SC. 4
MOPSA
I have done . Come , you promised me a tawdry
lace and a pair of sweet gloves .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Have I not told thee how I was cozened
by the way and lost all my money ?
AUTOLYCUS
And indeed , sir , there are cozeners abroad ;
therefore it behooves men to be wary .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Fear not thou , man . Thou shalt lose
nothing here .
AUTOLYCUS
I hope so , sir , for I have about me many
parcels of charge .
SHEPHERD’S SON
What hast here ? Ballads ?
MOPSA
Pray now , buy some . I love a ballad in print
alife , for then we are sure they are true .
AUTOLYCUS
Here’s one to a very doleful tune , how a
usurer’s wife was brought to bed of twenty moneybags
at a burden , and how she longed to eat adders’
heads and toads carbonadoed .
MOPSA
Is it true , think you ?
AUTOLYCUS
Very true , and but a month old .
DORCAS
Bless me from marrying a usurer !
AUTOLYCUS
Here’s the midwife’s name to ’t , one Mistress
Taleporter , and five or six honest wives that
were present . Why should I carry lies abroad ?
MOPSA
, to Shepherd’s Son
Pray you now , buy it .
SHEPHERD’S SON
, to Autolycus
Come on , lay it by , and
let’s first see more ballads . We’ll buy the other
things anon .
AUTOLYCUS
Here’s another ballad , of a fish that appeared
upon the coast on Wednesday the fourscore
of April , forty thousand fathom above water , and
sung this ballad against the hard hearts of maids . It
was thought she was a woman , and was turned into
a cold fish for she would not exchange flesh with
one that loved her . The ballad is very pitiful , and as
true .
DORCAS
Is it true too , think you ?
[153]ACT 4. SC. 4
AUTOLYCUS
Five justices’ hands at it , and witnesses
more than my pack will hold .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Lay it by too . Another .
AUTOLYCUS
This is a merry ballad , but a very pretty
one .
MOPSA
Let’s have some merry ones .
AUTOLYCUS
Why , this is a passing merry one and goes
to the tune of Two Maids Wooing a Man . There’s
scarce a maid westward but she sings it . ’Tis in
request , I can tell you .
MOPSA
We can both sing it . If thou ’lt bear a part , thou
shalt hear ; ’tis in three parts .
DORCAS
We had the tune on ’t a month ago .
AUTOLYCUS
I can bear my part . You must know ’tis my
occupation . Have at it with you .
Song .AUTOLYCUS
Get you hence , for I must go
Where it fits not you to know .
DORCAS
Whither ?
MOPSA
O , whither ?
DORCAS
Whither ?
MOPSA
It becomes thy oath full well
Thou to me thy secrets tell .
DORCAS
Me too . Let me go thither .
MOPSA
Or thou goest to th’ grange or mill .
DORCAS
If to either , thou dost ill .
AUTOLYCUS
Neither .
DORCAS
What , neither ?
AUTOLYCUS
Neither .
DORCAS
Thou hast sworn my love to be .
MOPSA
Thou hast sworn it more to me .
Then whither goest ? Say whither .
SHEPHERD’S SON
We’ll have this song out anon by
ourselves . My father and the gentlemen are in sad
[155] ACT 4. SC. 4 talk , and we’ll not trouble them . Come , bring away
thy pack after me . — Wenches , I’ll buy for you
both . — Peddler , let’s have the first choice . — Follow
me , girls .
He exits with Mopsa , Dorcas , Shepherds and
Shepherdesses .
AUTOLYCUS
And you shall pay well for ’em .
Song .
Will you buy any tape ,
Or lace for your cape ,
My dainty duck , my dear-a ?
Any silk , any thread ,
Any toys for your head ,
Of the new’st and fin’st , fin’st wear-a ?
Come to the peddler .
Money’s a meddler
That doth utter all men’s ware-a .
He exits .
Enter a Servant .
SERVANT
, to Shepherd
Master , there is three carters ,
three shepherds , three neatherds , three swineherds ,
that have made themselves all men of hair .
They call themselves saultiers , and they have a
dance which the wenches say is a gallimaufry of
gambols , because they are not in ’t , but they themselves
are o’ th’ mind , if it be not too rough for
some that know little but bowling , it will please
plentifully .
SHEPHERD
Away ! We’ll none on ’t . Here has been too
much homely foolery already . — I know , sir , we
weary you .
POLIXENES
You weary those that refresh us . Pray , let’s
see these four threes of herdsmen .
[157]ACT 4. SC. 4
SERVANT
One three of them , by their own report , sir ,
hath danced before the King , and not the worst of
the three but jumps twelve foot and a half by th’
square .
SHEPHERD
Leave your prating . Since these good men
are pleased , let them come in — but quickly now .
SERVANT
Why , they stay at door , sir .
Here a Dance of twelve herdsmen , dressed as Satyrs .
Herdsmen , Musicians , and Servants exit .
POLIXENES
, to Shepherd
O father , you’ll know more of that hereafter .
Aside to Camillo .
Is it not too far gone ? ’Tis time to
part them .
He’s simple , and tells much .
To Florizell .
How now ,
fair shepherd ?
Your heart is full of something that does take
Your mind from feasting . Sooth , when I was young
And handed love , as you do , I was wont
To load my she with knacks . I would have ransacked
The peddler’s silken treasury and have poured it
To her acceptance . You have let him go
And nothing marted with him . If your lass
Interpretation should abuse and call this
Your lack of love or bounty , you were straited
For a reply , at least if you make a care
Of happy holding her .
FLORIZELL
Old sir , I know
She prizes not such trifles as these are .
The gifts she looks from me are packed and locked
Up in my heart , which I have given already ,
But not delivered .
To Perdita .
O , hear me breathe
my life
Before this ancient sir , who , it should seem ,
[159] ACT 4. SC. 4 Hath sometime loved . I take thy hand , this hand
As soft as dove’s down and as white as it ,
Or Ethiopian’s tooth , or the fanned snow that’s
bolted
By th’ northern blasts twice o’er .
POLIXENES
What follows this ? —
How prettily th’ young swain seems to wash
The hand was fair before . — I have put you out .
But to your protestation . Let me hear
What you profess .
FLORIZELL
Do , and be witness to ’t .
POLIXENES
And this my neighbor too ?
FLORIZELL
And he , and more
Than he , and men — the Earth , the heavens , and
all —
That were I crowned the most imperial monarch ,
Thereof most worthy , were I the fairest youth
That ever made eye swerve , had force and knowledge
More than was ever man’s , I would not prize them
Without her love ; for her employ them all ,
Commend them and condemn them to her service
Or to their own perdition .
POLIXENES
Fairly offered .
CAMILLO
This shows a sound affection .
SHEPHERD
But my daughter ,
Say you the like to him ?
PERDITA
I cannot speak
So well , nothing so well , no , nor mean better .
By th’ pattern of mine own thoughts I cut out
The purity of his .
SHEPHERD
Take hands , a bargain . —
And , friends unknown , you shall bear witness to ’t :
I give my daughter to him and will make
Her portion equal his .
[161]ACT 4. SC. 4
FLORIZELL
O , that must be
I’ th’ virtue of your daughter . One being dead ,
I shall have more than you can dream of yet ,
Enough then for your wonder . But come on ,
Contract us fore these witnesses .
SHEPHERD
Come , your hand —
And daughter , yours .
POLIXENES
, To Florizell
Soft , swain , awhile , beseech
you .
Have you a father ?
FLORIZELL
I have , but what of him ?
POLIXENES
Knows he of this ?
FLORIZELL
He neither does nor shall .
POLIXENES
Methinks a father
Is at the nuptial of his son a guest
That best becomes the table . Pray you once more ,
Is not your father grown incapable
Of reasonable affairs ? Is he not stupid
With age and alt’ring rheums ? Can he speak ? Hear ?
Know man from man ? Dispute his own estate ?
Lies he not bedrid , and again does nothing
But what he did being childish ?
FLORIZELL
No , good sir .
He has his health and ampler strength indeed
Than most have of his age .
POLIXENES
By my white beard ,
You offer him , if this be so , a wrong
Something unfilial . Reason my son
Should choose himself a wife , but as good reason
The father , all whose joy is nothing else
But fair posterity , should hold some counsel
In such a business .
FLORIZELL
I yield all this ;
But for some other reasons , my grave sir ,
[163] ACT 4. SC. 4 Which ’tis not fit you know , I not acquaint
My father of this business .
POLIXENES
Let him know ’t .
FLORIZELL
He shall not .
POLIXENES
Prithee let him .
FLORIZELL
No , he must not .
SHEPHERD
Let him , my son . He shall not need to grieve
At knowing of thy choice .
FLORIZELL
Come , come , he must not .
Mark our contract .
POLIXENES
, removing his disguise
Mark your divorce ,
young sir ,
Whom son I dare not call . Thou art too base
To be acknowledged . Thou a scepter’s heir
That thus affects a sheep-hook ! — Thou , old traitor ,
I am sorry that by hanging thee I can
But shorten thy life one week . — And thou , fresh
piece
Of excellent witchcraft , whom of force must know
The royal fool thou cop’st with —
SHEPHERD
O , my heart !
POLIXENES
I’ll have thy beauty scratched with briers and made
More homely than thy state . — For thee , fond boy ,
If I may ever know thou dost but sigh
That thou no more shalt see this knack — as never
I mean thou shalt — we’ll bar thee from succession ,
Not hold thee of our blood , no , not our kin ,
Far’r than Deucalion off . Mark thou my words .
Follow us to the court .
To Shepherd .
Thou , churl ,
for this time ,
Though full of our displeasure , yet we free thee
From the dead blow of it . — And you , enchantment ,
Worthy enough a herdsman — yea , him too ,
[165] ACT 4. SC. 4 That makes himself , but for our honor therein ,
Unworthy thee — if ever henceforth thou
These rural latches to his entrance open ,
Or hoop his body more with thy embraces ,
I will devise a death as cruel for thee
As thou art tender to ’t .
He exits .
PERDITA
Even here undone .
I was not much afeard , for once or twice
I was about to speak and tell him plainly
The selfsame sun that shines upon his court
Hides not his visage from our cottage but
Looks on alike .
To Florizell .
Will ’t please you , sir ,
be gone ?
I told you what would come of this . Beseech you ,
Of your own state take care . This dream of mine —
Being now awake , I’ll queen it no inch farther ,
But milk my ewes and weep .
CAMILLO
, to Shepherd
Why , how now , father ?
Speak ere thou diest .
SHEPHERD
I cannot speak , nor think ,
Nor dare to know that which I know .
To Florizell .
O sir ,
You have undone a man of fourscore three ,
That thought to fill his grave in quiet , yea ,
To die upon the bed my father died ,
To lie close by his honest bones ; but now
Some hangman must put on my shroud and lay me
Where no priest shovels in dust .
To Perdita .
O
cursèd wretch ,
That knew’st this was the Prince , and wouldst
adventure
To mingle faith with him ! — Undone , undone !
If I might die within this hour , I have lived
To die when I desire .
He exits .
FLORIZELL
, to Perdita
Why look you so upon me ?
I am but sorry , not afeard ; delayed ,
[167] ACT 4. SC. 4 But nothing altered . What I was , I am ,
More straining on for plucking back , not following
My leash unwillingly .
CAMILLO
Gracious my lord ,
You know your father’s temper . At this time
He will allow no speech , which I do guess
You do not purpose to him ; and as hardly
Will he endure your sight as yet , I fear .
Then , till the fury of his Highness settle ,
Come not before him .
FLORIZELL
I not purpose it .
I think Camillo ?
CAMILLO
, removing his disguise
Even he , my lord .
PERDITA
, to Florizell
How often have I told you ’twould be thus ?
How often said my dignity would last
But till ’twere known ?
FLORIZELL
It cannot fail but by
The violation of my faith ; and then
Let nature crush the sides o’ th’ Earth together
And mar the seeds within . Lift up thy looks .
From my succession wipe me , father . I
Am heir to my affection .
CAMILLO
Be advised .
FLORIZELL
I am , and by my fancy . If my reason
Will thereto be obedient , I have reason .
If not , my senses , better pleased with madness ,
Do bid it welcome .
CAMILLO
This is desperate , sir .
FLORIZELL
So call it ; but it does fulfill my vow .
I needs must think it honesty . Camillo ,
Not for Bohemia nor the pomp that may
Be thereat gleaned , for all the sun sees or
The close earth wombs or the profound seas hides
[169] ACT 4. SC. 4 In unknown fathoms , will I break my oath
To this my fair beloved . Therefore , I pray you ,
As you have ever been my father’s honored friend ,
When he shall miss me , as in faith I mean not
To see him anymore , cast your good counsels
Upon his passion . Let myself and fortune
Tug for the time to come . This you may know
And so deliver : I am put to sea
With her who here I cannot hold on shore .
And most opportune to our need I have
A vessel rides fast by , but not prepared
For this design . What course I mean to hold
Shall nothing benefit your knowledge , nor
Concern me the reporting .
CAMILLO
O my lord ,
I would your spirit were easier for advice
Or stronger for your need .
FLORIZELL
Hark , Perdita . —
I’ll hear you by and by .
Florizell and Perdita walk aside .
CAMILLO
He’s irremovable ,
Resolved for flight . Now were I happy if
His going I could frame to serve my turn ,
Save him from danger , do him love and honor ,
Purchase the sight again of dear Sicilia
And that unhappy king , my master , whom
I so much thirst to see .
FLORIZELL
, coming forward
Now , good Camillo ,
I am so fraught with curious business that
I leave out ceremony .
CAMILLO
Sir , I think
You have heard of my poor services i’ th’ love
That I have borne your father ?
FLORIZELL
Very nobly
Have you deserved . It is my father’s music
[171] ACT 4. SC. 4 To speak your deeds , not little of his care
To have them recompensed as thought on .
CAMILLO
Well , my
lord ,
If you may please to think I love the King
And , through him , what’s nearest to him , which is
Your gracious self , embrace but my direction ,
If your more ponderous and settled project
May suffer alteration . On mine honor ,
I’ll point you where you shall have such receiving
As shall become your Highness , where you may
Enjoy your mistress — from the whom I see
There’s no disjunction to be made but by ,
As heavens forfend , your ruin — marry her ,
And with my best endeavors in your absence ,
Your discontenting father strive to qualify
And bring him up to liking .
FLORIZELL
How , Camillo ,
May this , almost a miracle , be done ,
That I may call thee something more than man ,
And after that trust to thee ?
CAMILLO
Have you thought on
A place whereto you’ll go ?
FLORIZELL
Not any yet .
But as th’ unthought-on accident is guilty
To what we wildly do , so we profess
Ourselves to be the slaves of chance , and flies
Of every wind that blows .
CAMILLO
Then list to me .
This follows : if you will not change your purpose
But undergo this flight , make for Sicilia ,
And there present yourself and your fair princess ,
For so I see she must be , ’fore Leontes .
She shall be habited as it becomes
The partner of your bed . Methinks I see
[173] ACT 4. SC. 4 Leontes opening his free arms and weeping
His welcomes forth , asks thee , the son , forgiveness ,
As ’twere i’ th’ father’s person ; kisses the hands
Of your fresh princess ; o’er and o’er divides him
’Twixt his unkindness and his kindness . Th’ one
He chides to hell and bids the other grow
Faster than thought or time .
FLORIZELL
Worthy Camillo ,
What color for my visitation shall I
Hold up before him ?
CAMILLO
Sent by the King your father
To greet him and to give him comforts . Sir ,
The manner of your bearing towards him , with
What you , as from your father , shall deliver ,
Things known betwixt us three , I’ll write you down ,
The which shall point you forth at every sitting
What you must say , that he shall not perceive
But that you have your father’s bosom there
And speak his very heart .
FLORIZELL
I am bound to you .
There is some sap in this .
CAMILLO
A course more promising
Than a wild dedication of yourselves
To unpathed waters , undreamed shores , most
certain
To miseries enough ; no hope to help you ,
But as you shake off one to take another ;
Nothing so certain as your anchors , who
Do their best office if they can but stay you
Where you’ll be loath to be . Besides , you know
Prosperity’s the very bond of love ,
Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together
Affliction alters .
PERDITA
One of these is true .
I think affliction may subdue the cheek
But not take in the mind .
[175]ACT 4. SC. 4
CAMILLO
Yea , say you so ?
There shall not at your father’s house these seven
years
Be born another such .
FLORIZELL
My good Camillo ,
She’s as forward of her breeding as she is
I’ th’ rear our birth .
CAMILLO
I cannot say ’tis pity
She lacks instructions , for she seems a mistress
To most that teach .
PERDITA
Your pardon , sir . For this
I’ll blush you thanks .
FLORIZELL
My prettiest Perdita .
But O , the thorns we stand upon ! — Camillo ,
Preserver of my father , now of me ,
The medicine of our house , how shall we do ?
We are not furnished like Bohemia’s son ,
Nor shall appear in Sicilia .
CAMILLO
My lord ,
Fear none of this . I think you know my fortunes
Do all lie there . It shall be so my care
To have you royally appointed as if
The scene you play were mine . For instance , sir ,
That you may know you shall not want , one word .
They step aside and talk .
Enter Autolycus .
AUTOLYCUS
Ha , ha , what a fool Honesty is ! And Trust ,
his sworn brother , a very simple gentleman ! I have
sold all my trumpery . Not a counterfeit stone , not a
ribbon , glass , pomander , brooch , table book , ballad ,
knife , tape , glove , shoe tie , bracelet , horn ring ,
to keep my pack from fasting . They throng who
should buy first , as if my trinkets had been hallowed
and brought a benediction to the buyer ; by which
means I saw whose purse was best in picture , and
[177] ACT 4. SC. 4 what I saw , to my good use I remembered . My
clown , who wants but something to be a reasonable
man , grew so in love with the wenches’ song that he
would not stir his pettitoes till he had both tune and
words , which so drew the rest of the herd to me that
all their other senses stuck in ears . You might have
pinched a placket , it was senseless ; ’twas nothing to
geld a codpiece of a purse . I could have filed
keys off that hung in chains . No hearing , no feeling ,
but my sir’s song and admiring the nothing of it . So
that in this time of lethargy I picked and cut most of
their festival purses . And had not the old man come
in with a hubbub against his daughter and the
King’s son , and scared my choughs from the chaff , I
had not left a purse alive in the whole army .
Camillo , Florizell , and Perdita come forward .
CAMILLO
, to Florizell
Nay , but my letters , by this means being there
So soon as you arrive , shall clear that doubt .
FLORIZELL
And those that you’ll procure from King Leontes —
CAMILLO
Shall satisfy your father .
PERDITA
Happy be you !
All that you speak shows fair .
CAMILLO
, noticing Autolycus
Who have we here ?
We’ll make an instrument of this , omit
Nothing may give us aid .
AUTOLYCUS
, aside
If they have overheard me now , why , hanging .
CAMILLO
How now , good fellow ? Why shak’st thou so ?
Fear not , man . Here’s no harm intended to thee .
AUTOLYCUS
I am a poor fellow , sir .
CAMILLO
Why , be so still . Here’s nobody will steal that
from thee . Yet for the outside of thy poverty we
[179] ACT 4. SC. 4 must make an exchange . Therefore discase thee
instantly — thou must think there’s a necessity in
’t — and change garments with this gentleman .
Though the pennyworth on his side be the worst ,
yet hold thee , there’s some boot .
He hands Autolycus money .
AUTOLYCUS
I am a poor fellow , sir .
Aside .
I know you
well enough .
CAMILLO
Nay , prithee , dispatch . The gentleman is half
flayed already .
AUTOLYCUS
Are you in earnest , sir ?
Aside .
I smell the
trick on ’t .
FLORIZELL
Dispatch , I prithee .
AUTOLYCUS
Indeed , I have had earnest , but I cannot
with conscience take it .
CAMILLO
Unbuckle , unbuckle .
Florizell and Autolycus exchange garments .
Fortunate mistress — let my prophecy
Come home to you ! — you must retire yourself
Into some covert . Take your sweetheart’s hat
And pluck it o’er your brows , muffle your face ,
Dismantle you , and , as you can , disliken
The truth of your own seeming , that you may —
For I do fear eyes over — to shipboard
Get undescried .
PERDITA
I see the play so lies
That I must bear a part .
CAMILLO
No remedy . —
Have you done there ?
FLORIZELL
Should I now meet my father ,
He would not call me son .
CAMILLO
Nay , you shall have no hat .
He gives Florizell’s hat to Perdita .
Come , lady , come . — Farewell , my friend .
AUTOLYCUS
Adieu , sir .
[181]ACT 4. SC. 4
FLORIZELL
O Perdita , what have we twain forgot ?
Pray you , a word .
They talk aside .
CAMILLO
, aside
What I do next shall be to tell the King
Of this escape , and whither they are bound ;
Wherein my hope is I shall so prevail
To force him after , in whose company
I shall re-view Sicilia , for whose sight
I have a woman’s longing .
FLORIZELL
Fortune speed us ! —
Thus we set on , Camillo , to th’ seaside .
CAMILLO
The swifter speed the better .
Camillo , Florizell , and Perdita exit .
AUTOLYCUS
I understand the business ; I hear it . To have
an open ear , a quick eye , and a nimble hand is
necessary for a cutpurse ; a good nose is requisite
also , to smell out work for th’ other senses . I see this
is the time that the unjust man doth thrive . What an
exchange had this been without boot ! What a boot
is here with this exchange ! Sure the gods do this
year connive at us , and we may do anything extempore .
The Prince himself is about a piece of iniquity ,
stealing away from his father with his clog at his
heels . If I thought it were a piece of honesty to
acquaint the King withal , I would not do ’t . I hold it
the more knavery to conceal it , and therein am I
constant to my profession .
Enter Shepherd’s Son and Shepherd , carrying the
bundle and the box .
Aside , aside ! Here is more matter for a hot brain .
Every lane’s end , every shop , church , session , hanging ,
yields a careful man work .
He moves aside .
[183]ACT 4. SC. 4
SHEPHERD’S SON
, to Shepherd
See , see , what a man
you are now ! There is no other way but to tell the
King she’s a changeling and none of your flesh and
blood .
SHEPHERD
Nay , but hear me .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Nay , but hear me !
SHEPHERD
Go to , then .
SHEPHERD’S SON
She being none of your flesh and
blood , your flesh and blood has not offended the
King , and so your flesh and blood is not to be
punished by him . Show those things you found
about her , those secret things , all but what she has
with her . This being done , let the law go whistle , I
warrant you .
SHEPHERD
I will tell the King all , every word , yea , and
his son’s pranks too ; who , I may say , is no honest
man , neither to his father nor to me , to go about to
make me the King’s brother-in-law .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Indeed , brother-in-law was the farthest
off you could have been to him , and then your
blood had been the dearer by I know how much an
ounce .
AUTOLYCUS
, aside
Very wisely , puppies .
SHEPHERD
Well , let us to the King . There is that in this
fardel will make him scratch his beard .
AUTOLYCUS
, aside
I know not what impediment this
complaint may be to the flight of my master .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Pray heartily he be at’ palace .
AUTOLYCUS
, aside
Though I am not naturally honest ,
I am so sometimes by chance . Let me pocket up my
peddler’s excrement . ( He removes his false beard . )
How now , rustics , whither are you bound ?
SHEPHERD
To th’ palace , an it like your Worship .
AUTOLYCUS
Your affairs there ? What , with whom , the
condition of that fardel , the place of your dwelling ,
[185] ACT 4. SC. 4 your names , your ages , of what having , breeding ,
and anything that is fitting to be known , discover !
SHEPHERD’S SON
We are but plain fellows , sir .
AUTOLYCUS
A lie ; you are rough and hairy . Let me have
no lying . It becomes none but tradesmen , and they
often give us soldiers the lie , but we pay them for it
with stamped coin , not stabbing steel ; therefore
they do not give us the lie .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Your Worship had like to have given
us one , if you had not taken yourself with the
manner .
SHEPHERD
Are you a courtier , an ’t like you , sir ?
AUTOLYCUS
Whether it like me or no , I am a courtier .
Seest thou not the air of the court in these enfoldings ?
Hath not my gait in it the measure of the
court ? Receives not thy nose court odor from me ?
Reflect I not on thy baseness court contempt ?
Think’st thou , for that I insinuate and toze from
thee thy business , I am therefore no courtier ? I am
courtier cap-a-pie ; and one that will either push on
or pluck back thy business there . Whereupon I
command thee to open thy affair .
SHEPHERD
My business , sir , is to the King .
AUTOLYCUS
What advocate hast thou to him ?
SHEPHERD
I know not , an ’t like you .
SHEPHERD’S SON
, aside to Shepherd
Advocate’s the
court word for a pheasant . Say you have none .
SHEPHERD
, to Autolycus
None , sir . I have no pheasant ,
cock nor hen .
AUTOLYCUS
How blest are we that are not simple men !
Yet Nature might have made me as these are .
Therefore I will not disdain .
SHEPHERD’S SON
, to Shepherd
This cannot be but a
great courtier .
[187]ACT 4. SC. 4
SHEPHERD
His garments are rich , but he wears them
not handsomely .
SHEPHERD’S SON
He seems to be the more noble in
being fantastical . A great man , I’ll warrant . I know
by the picking on ’s teeth .
AUTOLYCUS
The fardel there . What’s i’ th’ fardel ?
Wherefore that box ?
SHEPHERD
Sir , there lies such secrets in this fardel and
box which none must know but the King , and
which he shall know within this hour if I may come
to th’ speech of him .
AUTOLYCUS
Age , thou hast lost thy labor .
SHEPHERD
Why , sir ?
AUTOLYCUS
The King is not at the palace . He is gone
aboard a new ship to purge melancholy and air
himself , for , if thou beest capable of things serious ,
thou must know the King is full of grief .
SHEPHERD
So ’tis said , sir — about his son , that should
have married a shepherd’s daughter .
AUTOLYCUS
If that shepherd be not in handfast , let him
fly . The curses he shall have , the tortures he shall
feel , will break the back of man , the heart of
monster .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Think you so , sir ?
AUTOLYCUS
Not he alone shall suffer what wit can
make heavy and vengeance bitter ; but those that are
germane to him , though removed fifty times , shall
all come under the hangman — which , though it be
great pity , yet it is necessary . An old sheep-whistling
rogue , a ram tender , to offer to have his daughter
come into grace ! Some say he shall be stoned , but
that death is too soft for him , say I . Draw our throne
into a sheepcote ? All deaths are too few , the sharpest
too easy .
SHEPHERD’S SON
Has the old man e’er a son , sir , do you
hear , an ’t like you , sir ?
[189]ACT 4. SC. 4
AUTOLYCUS
He has a son , who shall be flayed alive ; then
’nointed over with honey , set on the head of a
wasps’-nest ; then stand till he be three-quarters and
a dram dead , then recovered again with aqua vitae
or some other hot infusion ; then , raw as he is , and
in the hottest day prognostication proclaims , shall
he be set against a brick wall , the sun looking with a
southward eye upon him , where he is to behold him
with flies blown to death . But what talk we of these
traitorly rascals , whose miseries are to be smiled at ,
their offenses being so capital ? Tell me — for you
seem to be honest plain men — what you have to the
King . Being something gently considered , I’ll bring
you where he is aboard , tender your persons to his
presence , whisper him in your behalfs ; and if it be
in man besides the King to effect your suits , here is
man shall do it .
SHEPHERD’S SON
, to Shepherd
He seems to be of
great authority . Close with him , give him gold ; and
though authority be a stubborn bear , yet he is oft
led by the nose with gold . Show the inside of your
purse to the outside of his hand , and no more ado .
Remember : ‘stoned ,’ and ‘flayed alive .’
SHEPHERD
, to Autolycus
An ’t please you , sir , to
undertake the business for us , here is that gold I
have . I’ll make it as much more , and leave this
young man in pawn till I bring it you .
AUTOLYCUS
After I have done what I promised ?
SHEPHERD
Ay , sir .
AUTOLYCUS
Well , give me the moiety . Shepherd hands
him money . Are you a party in this business ?
SHEPHERD’S SON
In some sort , sir ; but though my case
be a pitiful one , I hope I shall not be flayed out of it .
AUTOLYCUS
O , that’s the case of the shepherd’s son !
Hang him , he’ll be made an example .
SHEPHERD’S SON
, to Shepherd
Comfort , good comfort .
[191] ACT 4. SC. 4 We must to the King , and show our strange
sights . He must know ’tis none of your daughter nor
my sister . We are gone else . — Sir , I will give you as
much as this old man does when the business is
performed , and remain , as he says , your pawn till it
be brought you .
AUTOLYCUS
I will trust you . Walk before toward the
seaside . Go on the right hand . I will but look upon
the hedge , and follow you .
SHEPHERD’S SON
, to Shepherd
We are blessed in this
man , as I may say , even blessed .
SHEPHERD
Let’s before , as he bids us . He was provided
to do us good .
Shepherd and his son exit .
AUTOLYCUS
If I had a mind to be honest , I see Fortune
would not suffer me . She drops booties in my
mouth . I am courted now with a double occasion :
gold , and a means to do the Prince my master good ;
which who knows how that may turn back to my
advancement ? I will bring these two moles , these
blind ones , aboard him . If he think it fit to shore
them again and that the complaint they have to the
King concerns him nothing , let him call me rogue
for being so far officious , for I am proof against that
title and what shame else belongs to ’t . To him will I
present them . There may be matter in it .
He exits .