The Winter's Tale Read online

  Hardly one subject.

  LEONTES Once more, take her hence.

  PAULINA A most unworthy and unnatural lord

  Can do no more.

  LEONTES I'll ha' thee burnt.

  PAULINA I care not:

  It is an heretic that makes the fire,

  Not she which burns in't141. I'll not call you tyrant.

  But this most cruel usage of your queen --

  Not able to produce more accusation

  Than your own weak-hinged fancy145 -- something savours

  Of tyranny and will ignoble make you,

  Yea, scandalous to the world.

  LEONTES On your allegiance,

  To Antigonus

  Out of the chamber with her! Were I a tyrant,

  Where were her life?150 She durst not call me so,

  If she did know me one. Away with her!

  PAULINA I pray you do not push me. I'll be gone.

  Look to your babe, my lord, 'tis yours. Jove153 send her

  A better guiding spirit! What needs these hands?154

  You155 that are thus so tender o'er his follies

  Will never do him good, not one of you.

  So, so. Farewell, we are gone.

  Exit

  LEONTES Thou, traitor, hast set on158 thy wife to this.

  To Antigonus

  My child? Away with't! Even thou, that hast

  A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence

  And see it instantly consumed with fire.

  Even thou and none but thou. Take it up straight162.

  Within this hour bring me word 'tis done,

  And by good testimony164, or I'll seize thy life,

  With what thou else call'st thine. If thou refuse

  And wilt encounter with my wrath, say so;

  The bastard brains with these my proper167 hands

  Shall I dash out. Go, take it to the fire,

  For thou set'st on thy wife.

  ANTIGONUS I did not, sir.

  These lords, my noble fellows, if they please,

  Can clear me in't.

  LORDS We can. My royal liege,

  He is not guilty of her coming hither.

  LEONTES You're liars all.

  A LORD Beseech your highness, give us better credit176.

  We have always truly served you, and beseech177'

  So to esteem of us, and on our knees we beg,

  As recompense of our dear179 services

  Past and to come, that you do change this purpose,

  Which being so horrible, so bloody, must

  Lead on to some foul issue182. We all kneel.

  LEONTES I am a feather for each wind that blows183.

  Shall I live on to see this bastard kneel

  And call me father? Better burn it now

  Than curse it then. But be it. Let it live.

  It shall not neither.-- You, sir, come you hither.

  To Antigonus

  You that have been so tenderly officious

  With Lady Margery189, your midwife there,

  To save this bastard's life -- for 'tis a bastard,

  So sure as this beard's grey191 -- what will you adventure

  To save this brat's life?

  ANTIGONUS Anything, my lord,

  That my ability may undergo

  And nobleness impose. At least thus much:

  I'll pawn the little blood which I have left

  To save the innocent. Anything possible.

  LEONTES It shall be possible. Swear by this sword

  Holds out sword

  Thou wilt perform my bidding.

  ANTIGONUS I will, my lord.

  LEONTES Mark and perform it, see'st thou! For the fail

  Of any point in't shall not only be

  Death to thyself but to thy lewd-tongued203 wife,

  Whom for this time we pardon. We enjoin204 thee,

  As thou art liege-man205 to us, that thou carry

  This female bastard hence and that thou bear it

  To some remote and desert207 place quite out

  Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it,

  Without more mercy, to it209 own protection

  And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune210

  It came to us, I do in justice charge thee,

  On thy soul's peril and thy body's torture,

  That thou commend it strangely to some place213

  Where chance may nurse or end it214. Take it up.

  ANTIGONUS I swear to do this, though a present215 death

  Had been more merciful. Come on, poor babe.

  Takes up baby

  Some powerful spirit instruct the kites217 and ravens

  To be thy nurses! Wolves and bears, they say,

  Casting their savageness aside, have done

  Like220 offices of pity. Sir, be prosperous

  In more221 than this deed does require; -- and blessing

  Against this cruelty fight on thy222 side,

  Poor thing, condemned to loss!

  Exit [with the baby]

  LEONTES No, I'll not rear

  Another's issue.

  Enter a Servant

  SERVANT Please your highness, posts226

  From those you sent to th'oracle are come

  An hour since: Cleomenes and Dion,

  Being well arrived from Delphos, are both landed,

  Hasting to th'court.

  FIRST LORD So please you, sir, their speed

  Hath been beyond account232.

  LEONTES Twenty-three days

  They have been absent: 'tis good speed, foretells

  The great Apollo suddenly235 will have

  The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords.

  Summon a session237, that we may arraign

  Our most disloyal lady, for, as she hath

  Been publicly accused, so shall she have

  A just and open trial. While she lives

  My heart will be a burden to me. Leave me,

  And think upon my bidding.

  Exeunt

  Act 3 Scene 1 running scene 5

  Location: on the road

  * * *

  Enter Cleomenes and Dion

  CLEOMENES The climate's delicate1, the air most sweet,

  Fertile the isle, the temple much surpassing

  The common praise it bears.

  DION I shall report,

  For most it caught5 me, the celestial habits,

  Methinks I so should term them, and the reverence

  Of the grave7 wearers. O, the sacrifice!

  How ceremonious, solemn and unearthly

  It was i'th'off'ring!

  CLEOMENES But of all, the burst

  And the ear-deaf'ning voice o'th'oracle,

  Kin12 to Jove's thunder, so surprised my sense

  That I was nothing.

  DION If th'event14 o'th'journey

  Prove as successful to the queen -- O, be't so! --

  As it hath been to us rare16, pleasant, speedy,

  The time is worth the use on't17.

  CLEOMENES Great Apollo

  Turn all to th'best! These proclamations,

  So forcing faults upon Hermione,

  I little like.

  DION The violent carriage of it22

  Will clear or end the business: when the oracle,

  Thus by Apollo's great divine24 sealed up,

  Shall the contents discover25, something rare

  Even then will rush to knowledge. Go, fresh horses!

  And gracious be the issue!

  Exeunt

  Act 3 Scene 2 running scene 6

  Location: Sicilia

  * * *

  Enter Leontes, Lords, Officers

  LEONTES This sessions, to our great grief we pronounce,

  Even pushes gainst our heart: the party tried

  The daughter of a king, our wife, and one

  Of4 us too much beloved. Let us be cleared

  Of being tyrannous, since we so openly />
  Proceed in justice, which shall have due course,

  Even to the guilt or the purgation7.

  Produce the prisoner.

  OFFICER It is his highness' pleasure that the queen

  Appear in person here in court. Silence!

  [Enter Hermione as to her trial, Paulina and Ladies attending]

  LEONTES Read the indictment.

  OFFICER Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes,

  Reads

  King of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high

  treason, in committing adultery with Polixenes, King of

  Bohemia, and conspiring with Camillo to take away the

  life of our sovereign lord the king, thy royal husband: the

  pretence17 whereof being by circumstances partly laid open,

  thou, Hermione, contrary to the faith and allegiance of a

  true subject, didst counsel19 and aid them, for their better

  safety, to fly away by night.

  HERMIONE Since what I am to say must be but that

  Which contradicts my accusation and

  The testimony on my part no other

  But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot24 me

  To say 'Not guilty': mine integrity

  Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it,

  Be so received25. But thus: if powers divine

  Behold our human actions, as they do,

  I doubt not then but innocence shall make

  False accusation blush and tyranny

  Tremble at patience31. You, my lord, best know,

  Whom least will seem to do so, my past life

  Hath been as continent33, as chaste, as true,

  As I am now unhappy, which is more

  Than history35 can pattern, though devised

  And played to take spectators36. For behold me

  A fellow of the royal bed, which owe37

  A moiety38 of the throne, a great king's daughter,

  The mother to a hopeful prince, here standing

  To prate40 and talk for life and honour 'fore

  Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it

  As I weigh grief, which I would spare41: for honour,

  'Tis a derivative from me to mine,

  And only that I stand for. I appeal

  To your own conscience45, sir, before Polixenes

  Came to your court, how I was in your grace46,

  How merited47 to be so. Since he came,

  With what encounter so uncurrent I

  Have strained t'appear thus48: if one jot beyond

  The bound of honour, or in act or will

  That way inclining, hardened be the hearts

  Of all that hear me, and my near'st of kin

  Cry fie53 upon my grave!

  LEONTES I ne'er heard yet

  That any of these bolder vices wanted

  Less impudence to gainsay what they did

  Than to perform it first54.

  HERMIONE That's true enough.

  Though 'tis a saying, sir, not due to me.

  LEONTES You will not own it.

  HERMIONE More than mistress of

  Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not

  At all acknowledge61. For Polixenes,

  With whom I am accused, I do confess

  I loved him, as in honour he required,

  With such a kind of love as might become

  A lady like me, with a love even such,

  So and no other, as yourself commanded:

  Which, not to have done, I think had been in me

  Both disobedience and ingratitude

  To you and toward your friend, whose love had spoke,

  Even since it could speak, from an infant, freely

  That it was yours71. Now, for conspiracy,

  I know not how it tastes, though it be dished74

  For me to try how: all I know of it

  Is that Camillo was an honest man.

  And why he left your court, the gods themselves --

  Wotting78 no more than I -- are ignorant.

  LEONTES You knew of his departure, as you know

  What you have underta'en to do in's absence.

  HERMIONE Sir,

  You speak a language that I understand not:

  My life stands in the level of your dreams83,

  Which84 I'll lay down.

  LEONTES Your actions are my dreams.

  You had a bastard by Polixenes,

  And I but dreamed it. As you were past all shame --

  Those of your fact88 are so -- so past all truth,

  Which to deny concerns more than avails89, for as

  Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself90,

  No father owning it -- which is indeed

  More criminal in thee than it -- so thou

  Shalt feel our justice, in whose easiest passage

  Look for no less than death93.

  HERMIONE Sir, spare your threats.

  The bug96 which you would fright me with, I seek.

  To me can life be no commodity97;

  The crown and comfort of my life, your favour,

  I do give99 lost, for I do feel it gone,

  But know not how it went. My second joy,

  And first-fruits of my body, from his presence

  I am barred, like one infectious. My third comfort

  Starred most unluckily103, is from my breast --

  The innocent milk in it104 most innocent mouth --

  Haled105 out to murder. Myself on every post

  Proclaimed a strumpet106, with immodest hatred

  The child-bed privilege107 denied, which 'longs

  To women of all fashion108. Lastly, hurried

  Here to this place, i'th'open air, before

  I have got strength of limit110. Now, my liege,

  Tell me what blessings I have here alive,

  That I should fear to die? Therefore proceed:

  But yet hear this -- mistake me not. No life,

  I prize it not a straw, but for mine honour,

  Which I would free115 -- if I shall be condemned

  Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else116

  But what your jealousies awake117, I tell you

  'Tis rigour and not law118. Your honours all,

  I do refer me to the oracle:

  Apollo be my judge!

  A LORD This your request

  Is altogether just: therefore bring forth,

  And in Apollo's name, his oracle.

  [Exeunt some Officers]

  HERMIONE The Emperor of Russia was my father.

  O that he were alive, and here beholding

  His daughter's trial! That he did but see

  The flatness127 of my misery; yet with eyes

  Of pity, not revenge!

  [Enter Officers, with Cleomenes and Dion]

  OFFICER You here shall swear upon this sword of

  Holds sword

  justice,

  That you, Cleomenes and Dion, have

  Been both at Delphos, and from thence have brought

  This sealed-up oracle, by the hand delivered

  Of great Apollo's priest; and that since then,

  You have not dared to break the holy seal

  Nor read the secrets in't.

  CLEOMENES AND DION All this we swear.

  LEONTES Break up the seals and read.

  OFFICER Hermione is chaste, Polixenes blameless,

  Reads

  Camillo a true subject, Leontes a jealous

  tyrant, his innocent babe truly

  begotten140, and the king shall live without an

  heir, if that which is lost be not found.

  LORDS Now blessed be the great Apollo!

  HERMIONE Praised!

  LEONTES Hast thou read truth?

  OFFICER Ay, my lord, even so as it is here set down.

  LEONTES There is no truth at all i'th'oracle:

  The sessions147 shall proceed: this is mere fa
lsehood.

  [Enter a Servant]

  SERVANT My lord the king, the king!

  LEONTES What is the business?

  SERVANT O sir, I shall be hated to report it!

  The prince your son, with mere conceit151 and fear

  Of the queen's speed152, is gone.

  LEONTES How? Gone?

  SERVANT Is dead.

  LEONTES Apollo's angry, and the heavens themselves

  Do strike at my injustice.

  Hermione faints

  How now there!

  PAULINA This news is mortal157 to the queen. Look down

  And see what death is doing.

  LEONTES Take her hence.

  Her heart is but o'ercharged. She will recover.

  I have too much believed mine own suspicion:

  Beseech you, tenderly apply to her

  Some remedies for life.--

  [Exeunt Ladies, carrying Hermione]

  Apollo, pardon

  My great profaneness gainst thine oracle!

  I'll reconcile me to Polixenes,

  New woo my queen, recall the good Camillo,

  Whom I proclaim a man of truth, of mercy.

  For, being transported168 by my jealousies

  To bloody thoughts and to revenge, I chose

  Camillo for the minister to poison

  My friend Polixenes, which had been done,

  But that the good mind of Camillo tardied172

  My swift command, though I with death and with

  Reward did threaten and encourage him,

  Not doing it and being done175. He, most humane

  And filled with honour, to my kingly guest

  Unclasped my practice177, quit his fortunes here --

  Which you knew great -- and to the hazard

  Of all incertainties himself commended179,

  No richer than180 his honour. How he glisters

  Through my rust! And how his piety

  Does my deeds make the blacker!

  PAULINA Woe the while!

  O, cut my lace184, lest my heart, cracking it,

  Break too.

  A LORD What fit is this, good lady?

  PAULINA What studied187 torments, tyrant, hast for me?

  What wheels188? Racks? Fires? What flaying? Boiling?

  In leads or oils? What old or newer torture

  Must I receive, whose every word deserves

  To taste of thy most worst? Thy tyranny,

  Together working with thy jealousies --

  Fancies193 too weak for boys, too green and idle

  For girls of nine -- O, think what they have done

  And then run mad indeed, stark mad! For all

  Thy bygone fooleries196 were but spices of it.

  That thou betrayed'st Polixenes, 'twas nothing:

  That did but show thee, of198 a fool, inconstant

  And damnable ingrateful. Nor was't much,

  Thou wouldst have poisoned good Camillo's honour,

  To have him kill a king. Poor trespasses201.

  More monstrous standing by: whereof I reckon

  The casting forth to crows thy baby-daughter

  To be or204 none or little; though a devil

  Would have shed water out of fire ere done't205.

  Nor is't directly laid to thee, the death

  Of the young prince, whose honourable thoughts --

  Thoughts high for one so tender208 -- cleft the heart

  That could conceive209 a gross and foolish sire

  Blemished his gracious dam: this is not, no,

  Laid to thy answer211. But the last -- O, lords,