Cam. A courfe more promising Than a wild dedication of yourselves To unpath'd waters, undream'd fhores; moft certain Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together Per. One of these is true: I think, affliction may subdue the cheek, Cam. Yea, fay you fo? There shall not at your father's houfe, these seven years, Be born another fuch. Flo. My good Camillo, She is as forward of her Breeding, as She is i'th' rear of birth. Cam. I cannot fay, 'tis Pity She lacks inftructions, for fhe seems a mistress Per. Your pardon, Sir, for this: I'll blush you thanks. Flo. My prettieft Perdita But, oh, the thorns we stand upon! Camillo, Preferver of my father, now of me; The medicine of our Houfe! how fhall we do? We are not furnish'd like Bohemia's fon, Nor fhall appear in Sicily. Cam. My Lord, Fear none of this: I think, you know my fortunes Do all lie there; it fhall be fo my care To have you royally appointed, as if The Scene, you play, were mine. For instance, Sir, That you may know you fhall not want: one word.— [They talk afide. SCENE SCENE X. Enter Autolycus. Aut. Ha, ha, what a fool Honefty is! and Truft, his fworn brother, a very fimple gentleman! I have fold all my trumpery; not a counterfeit ftone, not a ribbon, glass, pomander, browch, table-hook, ballad, knife, tape, glove, fhoe-tye, bracelet, horn-ring, to keep my Pack from fafting: they throng who should buy firft, as if my trinkets had been hallowed, and brought a benediction to the buyer; by which means, I saw whose purse was beft in picture; and what I faw, to my good úfe, I remember'd. My good Clown, who wants but fomething to be a reasonable man, grew fo in love with the wenches' fong, that he would not ftir his pettitoes 'till he had both tune and words; which fo drew the reft of the herd to me, that all their other fenfes ftuck in ears; you might have pinch'd a placket, it was fenfelefs; 'twas nothing to geld a codpiece of a purfe; I would have filed keys off, that hung in chains: no hearing, no feeling, but my Sir's fong, and admiring the nothing of it. So that in this time of lethargy, I pick'd and cut moft of their festival purfes : and had not the old man come in with a whoo-bub against his daughter and the King's fon, and fcar'd my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a purfe alive in the whole army. [Camillo, Florizel and Perdita come forward. Cam. Nay; but my letters by this means being there, So foon as you arrive, fhall clear that Doubt. Flo. And thofe that you'll procure from King Leontes Cam. Shall fatisfy your father. This alludes to beads often fold by the Romanifts, as made [Seeing Autolycus. particularly efficacious by the touch of fome relick. We'll We'll make an instrument of this; omit Nothing may give us aid. ing. Aut. If they have overheard me now, why hang Cam. How now, good fellow, Why shak'st thou fo? fear not, man, [Afide. Cam. Why, be fo ftill; here's no body will steal that from thee; yet for the outfide of thy poverty, we must make an exchange: therefore difcafe thee inftantly, thou must think, there's neceffity in't, and change garments with this gentleman: tho' the pennyworth, on his fide, be the worst, yet hold thee, there's fome * boot. Aut. I am a poor fellow, Sir;-I know ye well enough. [Afide. Cam. Nay, pr'ythee, difpatch: the gentleman is half flead already. Aut. Are you in earneft, Sir?-1 fmell the trick on't. Flo. Difpatch, I pr'ythee. [Afide. Aut. Indeed, I have had Earnest, but I cannot with confcience take it. Cam. Unbuckle, unbuckle. Fortunate Mistress !-let my Prophecy Come home to ye,-you must retire yourself Get undefcry'd. Per. I fee, the Play fo lies, That I must bear a Part. Cam. No remedy Boot, that is, fomething over and above, or, as we now fay, fomething to boot. VOL. II. Y Have Have you done there? Flo. Should I now meet my father, He would not call me fon. Cam. Nay, you fhall have no hat: Come, Lady, come.-Farewel, my friend. Aut. Adieu, Sir. Flo. O Perdita, what have we twain forgot? Pray you, a word. Cam. What I do next, fhall be to tell the King Of this Escape, and whither they are bound: Flo. Fortune fpeed us! Thus we fet on, Camillo, to th' fea-fide. [Afide [Exit Flor. with Per. [Exit. Cam. The fwifter speed, the better. SCENE XI. Aut. I understand the business, I hear it to have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is neceffary for a cut-purse; a good nofe is requifite alfo, to smell out work for th' other senses. I fee, this is the time that the unjuft man doth thrive. What an exchange had this been, without boot? what a boot is here, with this exchange? fure, the Gods do this year connive at us, and we may do any thing extempore. The Prince himself is about a piece of iniquity; ftealing away from his father, with his clog at his heels. If I thought it were not a piece of honesty to acquaint the King withal, I would do't; I hold it the more knavery to conceal it; and therein am I conftant to my Profeffion. 4 This is the reading of Sir T. Hanmer, inftead of if I thought it were a piece of honesty to ac I quaint the King withal, I'd not do it. Enter Enter Clown and Shepherd. Afide, afide,-here's more matter for a hot brain; every lane's end, every fhop, church, feffion, hanging, yields a careful man work. Glo. See, fee; what a man you are now! there is no other way but to tell the King fhe is a Changeling, and none of your flesh and blood. Shep. Nay, but hear me. Clo. Nay, but hear me. Clo. She being none of your flesh and blood, your flesh and blood has not offended the King; and, fo your flesh and blood is not to be punish'd by him. Shew thofe things you found about her, thofe fecret things, all but what she has with her; this being done, let the law go whiftle; I warrant you. Shep. I will tell the King all, every word; yea, and his fon's pranks too; who, I may fay, is no honeft man neither to his father, nor to me, to go about to make me the King's brother-in-law. Clo. Indeed, brother-in-law was the fartheft off you could have been to him, and then your blood had been the dearer by I know how much an ounce. Aut. Very wifely, puppies! [Afide. Shep. Well, let us to the King; there is that in this Farthel will make him fcratch his beard, Aut. I know not, what impediment this Complaint may be to the flight of my mafter. Clo. 'Pray heartily, he be at the Palace. Aut. Tho' I am not naturally honest, I am so fometimes by chance.-Let me pocket up my pedler's * excrement. How now, rufticks, whither are you bound? Shep. To th' Palace, an it like your Worship. Aut. Your affairs there,-what? with whom? the • What he means by his Pedler's excrement, I know not. |
