Mir. I must say, sister, it was long of you That all this mischief happen'd.

Dor. Blame not me

For your own fault; your curiosity

Brought me to see the man.

Mir. You safely might

Have seen him, and retir'd; but you would needs Go near him, and converse :-You may remember, My father call'd me thence, and I call'd you.

Dor. You call'd me thence, because you could not be

Alone with him yourself:-But, I am sure,

My man had never gone to heaven so soon,

But that yours made him go.

Mir. I could not wish, that either of them should Have gone to heaven without us; but it was

His fortune, and you must be satisfy'd.

Dor. I'll not be satisfy'd: perhaps, you think,

Tis nothing to lose a man.

Mir. Yes; but there is

Some difference between my Ferdinand,

And your Hippolyto.

Dor. Ay, there's your judgment:

Yours is the oldest man I ever saw,

Except my father.

Mir. Sister, I'll never sleep with you again.
Dor. I'll never more meet in a bed with you;

But lodge on the bare ground, and mourn my love :
Just at the entrance of his cave I'll lie,

And echo to each blast of wind a sigh.

[Exeunt.

ACT THE FIFTH.

SCENE I.

A Grove behind the Cell of PROSPERO.

Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA.

. Pro. You beg in vain; I cannot pardon him; He has offended Heaven.

Mir. Then let Heaven punish him.

Pro. It will, by me.

Mir. Grant him at least some respite, for my sake. Pro. I, by deferring justice, should incense, The Deity against myself and you.

Mir. Yet I have heard you say, the powers Are slow in punishing, and should not you Resemble them ?—

And can you be his judge and executioner?

Pro. I cannot force Gonzalo, or my brother,
Much less the father, to destroy the son;
It must be then the monster Caliban;

above

And he's not here: but Ariel straight shall fetch him.

Enter ARIEL, with a small Box of Unguent, and
FERDINAND'S Sword, wrapped up in a Scarf.

Ari. My potent lord, before thou call'st, I come To serve thy will.

Pro. Then, spirit, fetch me hither

My savage slave.

Ari. My lord, it does not need.

Pro. Art thou then prone to mischief? Wilt thou be Thyself the executioner?

Ari. Think better of thy airy minister,

Who, for thy sake, unbidden, this night hath flown O'er almost all the habitable world.

Pro. But to what purpose was thy diligence?
Ari. When I was chidden by my mighty lord,
For my neglect of young Hippolyto,

I search'd his wound with care, and found that life
Was but retir'd, not sally'd out: I gather'd
The best of simples underneath the moon,
The best of balms, and to the hurt apply'd
The healing juice of vulnerary herbs:
His only danger was his loss of blood,
Just at this hour he will awake, and now
He must be dress'd again: anoint this sword,
Which pierc'd him, with this salve, and wrap it close
From air, at once his cure will be complete.

Pro. Give them to me: Be this your task, Mi

randa,

Because your sister is not present here;

[Gives her the Sword and Box.

While I go visit your dear Ferdinand,
Mir. I do obey you with a double duty;
For now, sir, you have given me life twice over.
[Exit MIRANDA.
Pro. Now does my project gather to a head:
My charms crack not; my spirits obey; and time
Goes upright with his carriage: at this hour
Lie at my mercy all mine enemies.

Tell me, my spirit, how fares Prince Ferdinand,
The King, and his followers?

Ari. Confin'd together

In the same fashion as you gave in charge:
Your brother, and the King, abide distracted;
And young Prince Ferdinand mourning over them,
Brim-full of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly,
Him that you term'd "The good old Lord Gonzalo,

G

His tears run down his beard, like winter drops From eaves of reeds: Your charm so strongly works 'em

That, if you now beheld them, your affections

Would become tender.

Pro. Dost thou think so, spirit ?

Ari. Mine would, sir, were I human.
Pro. And mine shall.

Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions? And shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply
Passion as they, be kindlier mov'd than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the
quick,

Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury

Will I take part: the rarer action is

In virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further. Follow, gentle Ariel. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

The Inside of the Cave of Hippolyto.

HIPPOLYTO on a Couch, and DORINDA by him, discovered.

Dor. How do you find yourself?

Hip. I'm somewhat cold:

Can you not draw me nearer to the sun?

I am too weak to walk.

Dor. My love, I'll try.

[She draws the Couch forward.

They told me, you had died, and were asleep,

Never to wake again :-What is't to die?

Hip. Sure 'tis a dream, a kind of breathless swood,

When once the soul's gone out.

-Dor. What is the soul?

Hip. A small blue thing, that runs about within

us.

Dor. Then I have seen it in a frosty morning Run smoking from my mouth.

Hip. But, dear Dorinda,

What is become of him, who fought with me?
Dor. O, I can tell you joyful news of him :
My father means to make him die to-day,
For what he did to you.

Hip. That must not be :

My dear Dorinda, go, and beg your father
He may not die; it was my fault he hurt me;
I urg'd him to it first: he must forgive him.

Dor. But then he'll ne'er leave killing you, perhaps.

Hip. Nay, but run quickly, lest you come too late. [Exit DORINDA,

Enter MIRANDA, with the Sword and Box.

Hip. Who's this, who looks so fair and beautiful, As nothing but Dorinda can surpass her?

O, I believe, it is that angel woman

Whom she calls sister.

Mir. Sir, I am sent hither

To dress your wound :-How do you find your strength?

Hip. Fair creature, I am faint with loss of blood.

[She uncovers the Sword.

[She anoints the Sword.

My wound shoots worse than ever.

Mir. Do you find

No ease?

Hip. Yes:-on the sudden all the pain

Is leaving me.- [She wraps the Sword up again. Sweet Heaven, how I'm reliev'd!

[Rises.