A mother, and two brothers: But (O fcorn!)
Gone! they went hence fo foon as they were born.
And fo I am awake.-Poor wretches, that depend
'On greatnefs' favour, dream as I have done;
Wake, and find nothing.But, alas, I fwerve:
Many dream not to find, neither deferve,
And yet are fteep'd in favours; fo am I,
That have this golden chance, and know not why.
What fairies haunt this ground? A book? O,|
rare one!

Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment
Nobler than that it covers: let thy effects
So follow, to be moft unlike our courtiers,
As good as promife.

[Reads. ]

Gal. Your death has eyes in's head then; I have not feen him fo pictur'd: you must either be directed by fome that take upon them to know; or take upon yourself that, which I am sure you do not know; or jump the after-enquiry 5 on your own peril: and how you fhall speed in your journey's end, I think, you'll never return to tell one.

Poft. I tell thee, fellow, there are none want eyes, to direct them the way I am going, but fuch as wink, and will not ufe them.

Gaol. What an infinite mock is this, that a man fhould have the beft ufe of eyes, to fee the way of blindnets! I am fure, hanging's the way of winking.

Enter a Mefinger.

Mef. Knock off his manacles; bring your pri

"When as a lion's whelp fhall, to himself un"known, without feeking find, and be embrac'd "by a piece of tender air; and when from a foner to the king. "ftately cedar fhall be lopt branches, which, be

Poft. Thou bring'ft good news; I am call'd to

Gaol. I'll be hang'd then.

Poft. Thou shalt be then freer than a gaoler; no bolts for the dead. [Exeunt Poflumus, and Meflenger.

"ing dead many years, shall after revive, be joint-be made free.
"ed to the old ftock, and freshly grow; then
"fhall Pofthumus end his miferies, Britain be
"fortunate, and flourish in peace and plenty."
'Tis ftill a dream; or elfe fuch stuff as madmen
Tongue, and brain not: either both, or nothing:
Or fenfelefs fpeaking, or a speaking fuch
As fenfe cannot untie'. Be what it is,
The action of my life is like it, which
I'll keep if but for fympathy.

Re-enter Gaolers.

Gaol. Come, fir, are you ready for death?
Poft. Over-roafted rather: ready long ago.
Gaol. Hanging is the word, fir; if you be
ready for that, you are well cook'd.

Poft. So, if I prove a good repaft to the spectators, the dish pays the fhot.

Gaol. Unlefs a man would marry a gallows,
and beget young gibbets, I never faw one fo
prone. Yet, on my confcience, there are verier
knaves defire to live, for all he be a Roman: and
there be fome of them too, that die against their
wills; fo fhould I, if I were one. I would we
were all of one mind, and one mind good; 0,
there were defolation of gaolers, and gallowfes!
I fpeak against my prefent profit; but my wish
hath a preferment in 't.
[Exit

SCEN E V.
Cymbeline's Tent.

Enter Cymbeline, Belarius, Guiderius, Arviragus,
Pijanis, and Lords.

Cym. Stand by my fide, you, whom the gods

have made

Gaol. A heavy reckoning for you, fir: But the
comfort is, you fhall be call'd to no more payments,
fear no more tavern bills; which are often the
fadnets of parting, as the procuring of mirth: you
come in faint for want of meat, depart reeling
with too much drink; forry that you have paid
too much, and forry that you are paid too much 2;
purfe and brain both empty: the brain the hea-
vier, for being too light; the purfe too light, be-
ing drawn 3 of heaviness: O! of this contradic-Our grace can make him fo.
tion you fhall now be quit.-O, the charity of a
penny cord! it fums up thoufands in a trice: you
have no true debitor and creditor 4 but it; of
what's part, is, and to come, the difcharge: :---
Your neck, fir, is pen, book, and counters; fo
the acquittance follows.

Prefervers of my throne. Woe is my heart,
That the poor foldier, that fo richly fought,
Whofe rags fham'd gilded arms, whofe naked
breaft

Poft. I am merrier to die, than thou art to live. Gaol. Indeed, fir, he that fleeps feels not the tooch-ach: But a man that were to fleep your fleep, and a hangman to help him to bed, I think, he would change places with his officer: for, look you, fir, you know not which way you fhall go. Poft. Yes, indeed, do I, fellow.

Stept before targe of proof, cannot be found:
He fhall be happy that can find him, if

Bel. I never faw

Such noble fury in fo poor a thing;
Such precious deeds in one that promis'd nought
But beggary and poor looks.

Cym. No tidings of him?

[living, Pif. He hath been fearch'd among the dead and But no trace of him.

Cym. To my grief, I am

The heir of his reward; which I will add
To you, the liver, heart, and brain of Britain,

To Belarius, Guiderius, and Arviragus.
By whom, I grant, the lives: 'Tis now the time
To afk of whence you are :-report it.

1 The meaning, according to Dr. Johnfon, is this: "This is a dream or maduefs, or both-or nothing--but whether it be a speech without confcioufnefs, as in a dream, or a fpeech unintelligible, ' as in madness, be it as it is, it is like my courfe of life." 2 i. e. forry that you have paid too much out of your pocket, and sorry that you are paid, or fubdued, too much by the liquor.

3 Drawn

is embowell'd, exenterated. 4 Debitor and creditor for an accounting book. 5 That is, venture at it without thought. 1. e. forward.

Bel.

1 i. e. fo ready; fo dextrous in waiting.

Io. Fidele, fir.

Cym. Thou art my good youth, my page;
I'll be thy mafter: Walk with me; fpeak freely.
[Cymbeline and Imogen walk afide.
Bel. Is not this boy reviv'd from death?
Arv. One fand another
Not more resembles: That fweet rofy lad,
Who dy'd, and was Fidele-What think you?
Guid. The fame dead thing alive. [forbear;
Bel. Peace, peace! fee further; he eyes us not;
Creatures may be alike: were't he, I am fure
He would have spoke to us.

Guid. But we faw him dead.

Poftures beyond brief nature2; for condition,
A fhop of all the qualities that man
Loves woman for; befides, that hook of wiving,
Fairness, which strikes the eye :—
Cym. I ftand on fire:
Come to the matter.

Iach. All too foon I fhall,

[mus,

Unlefs thou wouldft grieve quickly.-This Pofthu-
(Moft like a noble lord in love, and one
That had a royal lover) took his hint;
And, not difpraifing whom we prais'd, (therein
He was as calm as virtue) he began

His miftrefs' picture; which by his tongue-being
made,

And then a mind put in't, either our brags
Were crack'd of kitchen trulls, or his defcription
Prov'd us unspeaking fots.

Cym. Nay, nay, to the purpose.

lach. Your daughter's chastity-there it begins.
He (pake of her, as Dian had hot dreams,
And the alone were cold: Whereat, I, wretch !
Made fcruple of his praife; and wager'd with him
Pieces of gold, 'gainft this which then he wore
Upon his honour'd finger, to attain

In fuit the place of his bed, and win this ring

Imo. My boon is, that this gentleman may ren-By hers and mine adultery; he, true knight,

Of whom he had this ring.

Poft. What's that to him?

[Afide.

Cym. That diamond upon your finger, say, How came it yours?

lach. Thou'lt torture me to leave unfpoken that Which, to be fpoke, would torture thee.

Cym. How! me?

[which lach. I am glad to be constrain'd to utter that Torments me to conceal. By villainy

No leffer of her honour confident
Than I did truly find her, ftakes this ring;
And would fo, had it been a carbuncle
Of Phoebus' wheel; and might fo fafely, had it
Been all the worth of his car. - Away to Britain
Poft I in this defign: Well may you, fir,
Remember me at court, where I was taught
Of your chaste daughter the wide difference
'Twixt amorous and villainous. Being thus quench'd
Of hope, not longing, mine Italian brain

I got this ring; 'twas Leonatus' jewel,
Whom thou didft banish; and (which more may 'Gan in your duller Britain operate

grieve thee,

As it doth me) a nobler fir ne'er liv'd [lord?
Twixt sky and ground. Wilt thou hear more, my
Cym. All that belongs to this.

lach. That paragon, thy daughter,

I

[fpirits

For whom my heart drops blood, and my falfe
Quail to remember,-Give me leave; I faint.
Cym. My daughter! what of her? Renew thy
ftrength:

I had rather thou shouldft live while nature will,
Than die ere I hear more; strive, man, and speak.
lach. Upon a time, (unhappy was the clock
That ftruck the hour!) it was in Rome, (accurs'd
The manfion where !) 'twas at a feaft, (O, 'would
Our viands had been poifon'd! or, at least,
Those which I heav'd to head!) the good
humus,

Moft vilely; for my vantage, excellent;
And, to be brief, my practice fo prevail'd,
That I return'd with fimular proof enough
To make the noble Leonatus mad,
By wounding his belief in her renown
With tokens thus, and thus; averring notes
Of chamber-hanging, pictures, this, her bracelet,
(O, cunning, how I got it!) nay, fome marks
Of fecret on her perfon, that he could not
But think her bond of chastity quite crack'd,
I having ta'en the forfeit. Whereupon,-
Methinks I fee him now,-

Poft. Ay, fo thou doft, [Coming forward.
Italian fiend!-Ah me, moft credulous fool,
Egregious murderer, thief, any thing
Poft-That's due to all the villains paft, in being,

(What should I fay? he was too good, to be
Where ill men were; and was the best of all
Amongst the rarit of good ones) fitting fadly,
Hearing us praife our loves of Italy
For beauty that made barren the fwell'd boaft
Of him that belt could fpeak: for feature, laming
The fhrine of Venus, or straight-pight Minerva,

To come!-O, give me cord or knife or poifon,
Some upright jutticer! Thou, king, fend out
For tortures ingenious: it is I

That all the abhorred things o' the earth amend,
By being worfe than they. I am Pofthumus,
That kill'd thy daughter :-villain-like, I lie;
That caus'd a leffer villain than my felf,
A facrilegious thief, to do't :-the temple

To quail is to fink into dejection. 3 i. e. the ancient ftatues of Venus and Minerva, which exceeded, in beauty of exact proportion, any living bodies, the work of brief nature, i. e. of hally,

unelaborate nature.

Of

[To Guiderius, and Arviragat.

Cym. My tears, that fall,
Prove holy water on thee! Imogen,
Thy mother's dead.

Imo. I'm forry for 't, my lord.

Cym. O, fhe was naught; and long of her it was, That we meet here fo ftrangely: But her fon

Poft. Shall's have a play of this? thou scorn-Is gone, we know not how, nor where.

Bel. Though you did love this youth, I blame As I have given out him.-My fons, I muft,

3 A dullard in this place means a person ftupidly unconcerned.

2 This wild and del rious perturbation. Staggers is the horse's apoplexy.

Though, haply, well for you.

dro. Your danger's ours.

Guid. And our good his.

Bel. Have at it then.

It was a mark of wonder.

Bel. This is he;

Who hath upon him ftill that natural famp:
It was wife nature's end in the donation,

By leave;-Thou had it, great king, a fubject, who To be his evidence now.

Was call'd Belarius.

Cym. What of him? he is

A banish'd traitor.

Bel. He it is, that hath

Affum'd this age: indeed, a banish'd man;

I know not how, a traitor.

Cym. Take him hence;

The whole world fhall not fave him.

Bel. Not too hot :

First pay me for the nurfing of thy fons;
And let it be confifcate all, io foon
As I have receiv'd it.

Cym. Nurfing of my fons?

Bel. I am too blunt, and faucy: Here's my knee: Ere I arife, I will prefer my fons;

Then, fpare not the old father. Mighty fir,

Thefe two young gentlemen, that call me father,
And think they are my fons, are none of mine;
They are the illue of your loins, my liege,
And blood of your begetting.

Cym. How! my iffue?

Bel. So fure as you your father's. I, old Morgan,
Am that Belarius whom you fometime banifh'd:
Your pleasure was my near offence, my punishment
Itself, and all my treafon; that I fuffer'd,

Was all the harm I did. Thefe gentle princes
(For fuch, and fo they are) these twenty years
Have I train'd up: thofe arts they have, as I
Could put into them; my breeding was, fir, as
Your highness knows. Their nurse, Euriphile,
Whom for the theft I wedded, stole thefe children
Upon my banishment: I mov'd her to 't ;
Having receiv'd the punishment before,

For that which I did then: Beaten for loyalty
Excited me to treafon: Their dear lofs,
The more of you 'twas felt, the more it thap'd
Unto my end of stealing them. But, gracious fir,
Here are your fons again; and I mutt lofe
Two of the fweet'ft companions in the world :—
The benediction of thefe covering heavens
Fall on their heads like dew! for they are worthy
To inlay heaven with stars.

Cym. Thou weep'it, and speak'st.

The fervice, that you three have done, is more
Unlike than this thou tell'ft: I loft my children;
If these be they, I know not how to with
A pair of worthier fons.

Bel. Be pleas'd a while.

This gentleman, whom I call Polydore,
Moft worthy prince, as yours, is true Guiderius:
This gentleman, my Cadwal, Arviragus,
Your younger princely fon; he, fir, was lap'd
In a moft curious mantle, wrought by the hand
Of his queen mother, which, for more probation,
I can with ease produce.

Cym. Guiderius had

Upon his neck a mole, a fanguine star;

Cym. O, what am I

A mother to the birth of three? Ne'er mother
Rejoic'd deliverance more :-Bleft may you be,
That, after this trange starting from your orbs,
You may reign in them now!-O Imogen,
Thou haft loft by this a kingdom.

Imo. No, my lord;

[thers,

I have got two worlds by 't.-O my gentle bro-
Have we thus met? O never fay hereafter,
But I am trueft fpeaker; you call'd me brother,
When I was but your fifter; I you brothers,
When you were fo indeed.

Cym., Did you e'er meet?

Aru. Ay, my good lord.

Guid. And at first meeting lov'd;
Continued fo, until we thought he died.

Cor. By the queen's dram she swallow'd.
Gym. O rare inftiuct!

When fhall I hear all through? This fierce
abridgment

Hath to it circumftantial branches, which
Diftinction fhould be rich in.--Where? how
liv'd you?

And when came you to ferve our Roman captive?
How parted with your brothers? how first met

them ?

Why fled you from the court? and whither? Thefe,
And your three motives to the battle, with

I know not how much more, fhould be demanded;
And all the other by-dependancies,

From chance to chance; but nor the time, nor place,
Will ferve our long interrogatories. See,
Pofthumus anchors upon Imogen;

And fhe, like harmless lightning, throws her eye
On him, her brothers, me, her mafter; hitting
Each object with a joy: the counter-change
Let's quit this ground,
Is feverally in all.
And smoke the temple with our facrifices.-
Thou art my brother; So we'll hold thee ever.

[Fo Belarias.

Imo. You are my father too; and did relieve me, To fee this gracious feason.

Cym. All o'er-joy'd,

Save thefe in bonds: let them be joyful too,
For they shall tafte our comfort.

Imo. My good matter,

fervice.

I will yet
do you
Luc. Happy be you!

Cym. The forlorn foldier, that so nobly fought, He would have well becom❜d this place, and grac'd The thankings of a king.

Peft. I am, fir,

The foldier that did company these three
In poor befeeming; 'twas a fitment for
The purpose I then follow'd:-That I was he,
Speak, lachimo; I had you down, and might
Have made you finish.