Deliver with more openness yonr answers
To my demands. Why do you pity me?

Iach. That others do,
I was about to say, enjoy your- -But
It is an office of the gods to venge it,
Not mine to speak on't.
Imo.

You do seem to know
Something of me, or what concerns me; 'Pray you
(Since doubting things go ill, often hurts more
Than to be sure they do: For certainties
Either are past remedies; or, timely knowingo,
The remedy then born), discover to me
What both you spur and stoplo.
Iach.

Had I this cheek
To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
To the oath of loyalty ; this object, which

Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye,
Pring) Fixing it only here: should I (damn'd then),

Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
That mount the Capitol; join gripes with hands

Made hard with hourly falsehood11 (falsehood, as buy? With labour ); then lie peeping in an eye, lirsinicuo Base and unlustrous as the smoky light hillutious

That's fed with stinking tallow; it were fit,
That all the plagues of hell should at one time
Encounter such revolt.
Imo.

My lord, I fear,
Has forgot Britain.
Iach.

And himself. Not 1,
Inclin’d to this intelligence, pronounce
The beggary of his change; but 'tis your graces

9 It seems probable that knowing is here an error of the press for known.

10 • The information which you seem to press forward and yet withhold.' The allusion is to horsemanship. So in Sidney's Arcadia :- She was like

horse desirous to runne, and miserably spurred, but so short-reined, as he cannot stirre forward.'

11 Hard with falsehood is hard by being often griped with frequent change of hands.

a

That, from my mutest conscience, to my tongue,
Charms this report out.
Imo.

Let me hear no more. lach. O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my

heart With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady So fair, and fasten'd to an empery12, Would make the great’st king double! to be partnerid With tomboys, hir'd with that self-exhibition 13, Which your own coffers yield! with diseas'd ven

tures, That play with all infirmities for gold Which rottenness can lend nature! such boil'd

stuff14,
As well might poison poison! Be reveng'd;
Or she, that bore you, was no queen, and you
Recoil from your great stock.
Imo.

Reveng'd!
How should I be reveng'd? If this be true
(As I have such a heart, that both mine ears
Must not in haste abuse), if it be true,
How should I be reveng'd ?
Iach.

Should he make me
Live like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets;
Whiles he is vaulting variable ramps,
In your despite, upon your purse? Revenge it.
I dedicate myself to your sweet pleasure;
More noble than that runagate to your bed;

And will continue fast to your affection,
Still close, as sure.
Imo.

What ho, Pisanio!
Iach. Let me my service tender on your lips.

Imo. Away!—I do condemn mine ears, that have
So long attended thee.-If thou wert honourable,
Thou would'st have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek'st; as base, as strange.
Thou wrong'st a gentleman, who is as far
From thy report, as thou from honour; and
Solicit'st here a lady, that disdains
Thee and the devil alike.--What ho, Pisanio!--
The king my father shall be made acquainted
Of thy assault: if he shall think it fit,
A saucy stranger, in his court, to mart
As in a Romish15 stew, and to expound
His beastly mind to us; he hath a court
He little cares for, and a daughter whom
He not respects at all.- What ho, Pisanio!

lach. O happy Leonatus ! I may say; The credit, that thy lady hath of thee, Deserves thy trust: and thy most perfect goodness Her assur'd credit! Blessed live you long! A lady to the worthiest sir, that ever Country callid his! and you his mistress, only For the most worthiest fit! Give me your pardon. I have spoke this, to know if your affiance Were deeply rooted ; and shall make your lord, That which he is, new o’er: And he is one The truest manner'd ; such a holy witch, That he enchants societies unto him16: Half all men's hearts are his.

15 Romish for Roman was the phraseology of Shakspeare's age. Thus in Claudius Tiberius Nero. 1607: In the loathsome Romish stewes. Drant, in his translation of the first epistle of the second book of Horace, 1567, has

• The Romishe people wise in this, in this point only just.' And in other places we have the 'Romish cirque,' &.

6----he did in the general bosom reign
Of young and old, and sexes both enchanted -
Consents bewitchi, ere he desire, have granted.'

16

Imo.

You make amends. Iach. He sits 'mongst men, like a descended god17: textil He hath a kind of honour sets him off, More than a mortal seeming. Be not angry, Most mighty princess, that I have adventur'd To try your taking of a false report; which hath Honour'd with confirmation your great judgment In the election of a sir so rare, Which you know, cannot err: The love I bear him Made me to fan you thus; but the gods made you, Unlike all others, chaffless. Pray your pardon.

Imo. All's well, sir: Take my power i' the court

for yours.

Iach. My humble thanks. I had almost forgot
To entreat your grace but in a small request,
And yet of moment too, for it concerns
Your lord; myself, and other noble friends,
Are partners in the business.
Imo.

Pray, what is't?
Iach. Some dozen Romans of us, and

your

lord
(The best feather of our wing 18 ), have mingled sums,
To buy a present for the emperor;
Which I, the factor for the rest, have done
In France: "T'is plate, of rare device; and jewels,
Of rich and exquisite form; their values great;
And I am something curious, being strangelo,
To have them in safe stowage; May it please you
To take them in protection ?
Imo.

Willingly;
And pawn mine honour for their safety: since

17 So in Chapman's version of the twenty-third book of the Odyssey :

--as he were A god descended from the starry sphere.' And in Hamlet :

•--a station like the herald Mercury

New lighted on a heaven-kissing bills
You are so great you would faine march in fielde,
That world should judge you feathers of one wing

Churchyard's Warning to Wanderers, 1593. 19 See note 6, p. 30 ante.

18

My lord hath interest in them, I will keep them
In my bed-chamber.
Iach.

They are in a trunk,
Attended by my men: I will make bold
To send them to you, only for this night;
I must aboard to morrow.
Imo.

0, no, no. lach. Yes, I beseech; or I shall short my word, By length’ning my return. From Gallia I cross'd the seas on purpose, and on promise To see your grace. Imo,

I thank you for your pains; But not away to-morrow? lach,

0, I must, madam :
Therefore, I shall beseech you, if you please
To greet your lord with writing, do't to-night:
I have outstood my time; which is material
To the tender of our present.
Imo.

I will write.
Send your trunk to me; it shall safe be kept,
And truly yielded you: You are very welcome.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I. Court before Cymbeline's Palace.

Enter Cloten, and Two Lords.

Clo. Was there ever man had such luck! when I kissed the jack upon an upcast?, to be hit away! I had a hundred pound on't: And then a whoreson

I He is describing his fate at bowls. The jack is the small bowl at which the others are aimed: he who is nearest to it wing. To kiss the jack' is a state of great advantage. The expression is of frequent occurrence in the old comedies. The jack is also called the mistress.