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.CORNWALLFetch forth the stocks! As I have life and honour,There shall he sit till noon.REGANTill noon! till night, my lord; and all night too.KENTWhy, madam, if I were your father's dog,You should not use me so.REGANSir, being his knave, I will.CORNWALLThis is a fellow of the self-same colourOur sister speaks of.Come, bring away the stocks![Stocks brought out]GLOUCESTERLet me beseech your grace not to do so:His fault is much, and the good king his masterWill cheque him for 't: your purposed low correctionIs such as basest and contemned'st wretchesFor pilferings and most common trespassesAre punish'd with: the king must take it ill,That he's so slightly valued in his messenger,Should have him thus restrain'd.CORNWALLI'll answer that.REGANMy sister may receive it much more worse,To have her gentleman abused, assaulted,For following her affairs.Put in his legs.[KENT is put in the stocks]Come, my good lord, away.[Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER and KENT]GLOUCESTERI am sorry for thee, friend; 'tis the duke's pleasure,Whose disposition, all the world well knows,Will not be rubb'd nor stopp'd: I'll entreat for thee.KENTPray, do not, sir: I have watched and travell'd hard;Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I'll whistle.A good man's fortune may grow out at heels:Give you good morrow!GLOUCESTERThe duke's to blame in this; 'twill be ill taken.[Exit]KENTGood king, that must approve the common saw,Thou out of heaven's benediction comestTo the warm sun!Approach, thou beacon to this under globe,That by thy comfortable beams I mayPeruse this letter! Nothing almost sees miraclesBut misery: I know 'tis from Cordelia,Who hath most fortunately been inform'dOf my obscured course; and shall find timeFrom this enormous state, seeking to giveLosses their remedies.All weary and o'erwatch'd,Take vantage, heavy eyes, not to beholdThis shameful lodging.Fortune, good night: smile once more: turn thy wheel![Sleeps]--------------------------------------"scene" 3Scene 3[A wood.][Enter EDGAR]EDGARI heard myself proclaim'd;And by the happy hollow of a treeEscaped the hunt.No port is free; no place,That guard, and most unusual vigilance,Does not attend my taking.Whiles I may 'scape,I will preserve myself: and am bethoughtTo take the basest and most poorest shapeThat ever penury, in contempt of man,Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth;Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in knots;And with presented nakedness out-faceThe winds and persecutions of the sky.The country gives me proof and precedentOf Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare armsPins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;And with this horrible object, from low farms,Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills,Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,Enforce their charity.Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am.[Exit]--------------------------------------"scene" 4Scene 4[Before GLOUCESTER's castle.KENT in the stocks.][Enter KING LEAR, Fool, and Gentleman]KING LEAR'Tis strange that they should so depart from home,And not send back my messenger.GentlemanAs I learn'd,The night before there was no purpose in themOf this remove.KENTHail to thee, noble master!KING LEARHa!Makest thou this shame thy pastime?KENTNo, my lord.FoolHa, ha! he wears cruel garters.Horses are tiedby the heads, dogs and bears by the neck, monkeys bythe loins, and men by the legs: when a man'sover-lusty at legs, then he wears woodennether-stocks.KING LEARWhat's he that hath so much thy place mistookTo set thee here?KENTIt is both he and she;Your son and daughter.KING LEARNo.KENTYes.KING LEARNo, I say.KENTI say, yea.KING LEARNo, no, they would not.KENTYes, they have.KING LEARBy Jupiter, I swear, no.KENTBy Juno, I swear, ay.KING LEARThey durst not do 't;They could not, would not do 't; 'tis worse than murder,To do upon respect such violent outrage:Resolve me, with all modest haste, which wayThou mightst deserve, or they impose, this usage,Coming from us.KENTMy lord, when at their homeI did commend your highness' letters to them,Ere I was risen from the place that show'dMy duty kneeling, came there a reeking post,Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forthFrom Goneril his mistress salutations;Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission,Which presently they read: on whose contents,They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse;Commanded me to follow, and attendThe leisure of their answer; gave me cold looks:And meeting here the other messenger,Whose welcome, I perceived, had poison'd mine, --Being the very fellow that of lateDisplay'd so saucily against your highness, --Having more man than wit about me, drew:He raised the house with loud and coward cries.Your son and daughter found this trespass worthThe shame which here it suffers.FoolWinter's not gone yet, if the wild-geese fly that way.Fathers that wear ragsDo make their children blind;But fathers that bear bagsShall see their children kind.Fortune, that arrant whore,Ne'er turns the key to the poor.But, for all this, thou shalt have as many doloursfor thy daughters as thou canst tell in a year [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]