That now hath seized them; why they were no worse Than now they are: There be, that can rule Naples, As well as he that sleeps; lords, that can prate

As amply, and unnecessarily,

As this Gonzalo; I myself could make

A chough1 of as deep chat. O, that you bore
The mind that I do! what a sleep were this
For your advancement! Do you understand me?
Seb. Methinks, I do.

Ant.

And how does your content Tender your own good fortune?

Seb.

I remember,

True:

You did supplant your brother Prospero.

Ant.
And, look, how well my garments sit upon me;
Much feater than before: My brother's servants
Were then my fellows, now they are my men.
Seb. But, for your conscience—

Ant. Ay, sir; where lies that? if it were a kybe,
"Twould put me to my slipper; but I feel not
This deity in my bosom: twenty consciences,
That stand 'twixt me and Milan, candied be they,
And melt, e'er they molest! Here lies your brother,
No better than the earth he lies upon,

If he were that which now he's like, that's dead;
Whom I, with this obedient steel, three inches of it,
Can lay to bed forever: whiles you, doing thus,
To the perpetual wink for aye might put

This ancient morsel, this sir Prudence, who
Should not upbraid our course.
For all the rest,

2

They'll take suggestion, as a cat laps milk;
They'll tell the clock to any business that
We say befits the hour.

Seb.

Shall be my precedent;
I'll come by Naples.

Thy case, dear friend,

as thou got'st Milan, Draw thy sword: one stroke

1 A chough is a bird of the jackdaw kind.

2 Suggestion is frequently used in the sense of temptation, or seduction, by Shakspeare and his contemporaries. The sense here is, that they will adopt and bear witness to any tale that may be dictated to them.

Alon. Heard you this, Gonzalo? Gon. Upon mine honor, sir, I heard a humming, And that a strange one too, which did awake me: I shaked you, sir, and cried; as mine eyes opened, I saw their weapons drawn :-there was a noise, That's verity: 'Best stand upon our guard; Or that we quit this place: let's draw our weapons. Alon. Lead off this ground; and let's make further search

For my poor son.

Gon.

Heavens keep him from these beasts! For he is, sure, i' the island.

Alon.

Lead away.

Ari. Prospero my lord shall know what I have

done:

So, king, go safely on to seek thy son.

Aside.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-Another Part of the Island.

Enter CALIBAN, with a burden of wood. A noise thunder heard.

Cal. All the infections that the sun sucks up
From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall, and make him
By inch-meal a disease! His spirits hear me,
And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch,
Fright me with urchin shows, pitch me i' the mire,
Nor lead me, like a firebrand, in the dark,
Out of my way, unless he bid them; but
For every trifle are they set upon me:

Sometimes like apes, that moe1 and chatter at me,
And after, bite me; then like hedgehogs, which
Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount
Their pricks at my foot-fall; sometime am I
All wound with adders, who, with cloven tongues,
Do hiss me into madness:-Lo! now! lo!

2

1 To moe is to make mouths.

2 Pricks is the ancient word for prickles.

The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I,
The gunner, and his mate,

Loved Mall, Megg, and Marian, and Margery,
But none of us cared for Kate:
For she had a tongue with a tang,
Would cry to a sailor, Go, hang:

She loved not the savor of tar nor of pitch,
Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch:
Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang.

This is a scurvy tune, too: But here's my comfort. [Drinks.

Cal. Do not torment me: 0!

Ste. What's the matter? Have we devils here? Do you put tricks upon us with savages, and men of Inde? Ha! I have not 'scaped drowning, to be afeard now of your four legs; for it hath been said, As proper a man as ever went on four legs, cannot make him give ground: and it shall be said so again, while Stephano breathes at nostrils.

Cal. The spirit torments me: O!

Ste. This is some monster of the isle, with four legs; who hath got, as I take it, an ague: Where the devil should he learn our language? I will give him some relief, if it be but for that: if I can recover him, and keep him tame, and get to Naples with him, he's a present for any emperor that ever trod on neat'sleather.

Cal. Do not torment me, pr'ythee; I'll bring my wood home faster.

Ste. He's in his fit now; and does not talk after the wisest. He shall taste of my bottle: if he hath never drunk wine afore, it will go near to remove his fit: if I can recover him, and keep him tame, I will not take too much1 for him: he shall pay for him that hath him, and that soundly.

Cal. Thou dost me yet but little hurt; thou wilt

1 Any sum, ever so much; an ironical expression implying that he would get as much as he could for him.