Cymbeline: ACT I , SCENE VI. The same. Another room in the palace.

Cymbeline: ACT I


	Introduction

	ACT I

		SCENE I. Britain. The garden of Cymbeline's palace.

		SCENE II. The same. A public place.

		SCENE III. A room in Cymbeline's palace.

		SCENE IV. Rome. Philario's house.

		SCENE V. Britain. A room in Cymbeline's palace.

		SCENE VI. The same. Another room in the palace.

	ACT II

	ACT III

	ACT IV

	ACT V

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SCENE VI. The same. Another room in the palace.

Enter IMOGEN

IMOGEN

      A father cruel, and a step-dame false;
      A foolish suitor to a wedded lady,
      That hath her husband banish'd;--O, that husband!
      My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated
5     Vexations of it! Had I been thief-stol'n,
      As my two brothers, happy! but most miserable
      Is the desire that's glorious: blest be those,
      How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
      Which seasons comfort. Who may this be? Fie!

Enter PISANIO and IACHIMO

PISANIO

10 Madam, a noble gentleman of Rome,
Comes from my lord with letters.

IACHIMO

      Change you, madam?
      The worthy Leonatus is in safety
      And greets your highness dearly.

Presents a letter

IMOGEN

15 Thanks, good sir:
You're kindly welcome.

IACHIMO

      (Aside) All of her that is out of door most rich!
      If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare,
      She is alone the Arabian bird, and I
20    Have lost the wager. Boldness be my friend!
      Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!
      Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight;
      Rather directly fly.

IMOGEN

      (Reads) 'He is one of the noblest note, to whose
25    kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon
      him accordingly, as you value your trust--
      LEONATUS.'
      So far I read aloud:
      But even the very middle of my heart
30    Is warm'd by the rest, and takes it thankfully.
      You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I
      Have words to bid you, and shall find it so
      In all that I can do.

IACHIMO

      Thanks, fairest lady.
35    What, are men mad? Hath nature given them eyes
      To see this vaulted arch, and the rich crop
      Of sea and land, which can distinguish 'twixt
      The fiery orbs above and the twinn'd stones
      Upon the number'd beach? and can we not
40    Partition make with spectacles so precious
      'Twixt fair and foul?

IMOGEN

What makes your admiration?

IACHIMO

      It cannot be i' the eye, for apes and monkeys
      'Twixt two such shes would chatter this way and
45    Contemn with mows the other; nor i' the judgment,
      For idiots in this case of favour would
      Be wisely definite; nor i' the appetite;
      Sluttery to such neat excellence opposed
      Should make desire vomit emptiness,
50    Not so allured to feed.

IMOGEN

What is the matter, trow?

IACHIMO

      The cloyed will,
      That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, that tub
      Both fill'd and running, ravening first the lamb
55    Longs after for the garbage.

IMOGEN

What, dear sir,
Thus raps you? Are you well?

IACHIMO

Thanks, madam; well.

To PISANIO

      Beseech you, sir, desire
60    My man's abode where I did leave him: he
      Is strange and peevish.

PISANIO

I was going, sir,
To give him welcome.

Exit

IMOGEN

Continues well my lord? His health, beseech you?

IACHIMO

65 Well, madam.

IMOGEN

Is he disposed to mirth? I hope he is.

IACHIMO

      Exceeding pleasant; none a stranger there
      So merry and so gamesome: he is call'd
      The Briton reveller.

IMOGEN

70    When he was here,
      He did incline to sadness, and oft-times
      Not knowing why.

IACHIMO

      I never saw him sad.
      There is a Frenchman his companion, one
75    An eminent monsieur, that, it seems, much loves
      A Gallian girl at home; he furnaces
      The thick sighs from him, whiles the jolly Briton--
      Your lord, I mean--laughs from's free lungs, cries 'O,
      Can my sides hold, to think that man, who knows
80    By history, report, or his own proof,
      What woman is, yea, what she cannot choose
      But must be, will his free hours languish for
      Assured bondage?'

IMOGEN

Will my lord say so?

IACHIMO

85    Ay, madam, with his eyes in flood with laughter:
      It is a recreation to be by
      And hear him mock the Frenchman. But, heavens know,
      Some men are much to blame.

IMOGEN

Not he, I hope.

IACHIMO

90    Not he: but yet heaven's bounty towards him might
      Be used more thankfully. In himself, 'tis much;
      In you, which I account his beyond all talents,
      Whilst I am bound to wonder, I am bound
      To pity too.

IMOGEN

95 What do you pity, sir?

IACHIMO

Two creatures heartily.

IMOGEN

      Am I one, sir?
      You look on me: what wreck discern you in me
      Deserves your pity?

IACHIMO

100   Lamentable! What,
      To hide me from the radiant sun and solace
      I' the dungeon by a snuff?

IMOGEN

      I pray you, sir,
      Deliver with more openness your answers
105   To my demands. Why do you pity me?

IACHIMO

      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.

IMOGEN

110   You do seem to know
      Something of me, or what concerns me: pray you,--
      Since doubling things go ill often hurts more
      Than to be sure they do; for certainties
      Either are past remedies, or, timely knowing,
115   The remedy then born--discover to me
      What both you spur and stop.

IACHIMO

      Had I this cheek
      To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
      Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
120   To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
      Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye,
      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
125   Made hard with hourly falsehood--falsehood, as
      With labour; then by-peeping in an eye
      Base and unlustrous as the smoky light
      That's fed with stinking tallow; it were fit
      That all the plagues of hell should at one time
130   Encounter such revolt.

IMOGEN

My lord, I fear,
Has forgot Britain.

IACHIMO

      And himself. Not I,
      Inclined to this intelligence, pronounce
135   The beggary of his change; but 'tis your graces
      That from pay mutest conscience to my tongue
      Charms this report out.

IMOGEN

Let me hear no more.

IACHIMO

      O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my heart
140   With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady
      So fair, and fasten'd to an empery,
      Would make the great'st king double,--to be partner'd
      With tomboys hired with that self-exhibition
      Which your own coffers yield! with diseased ventures
145   That play with all infirmities for gold
      Which rottenness can lend nature! such boil'd stuff
      As well might poison poison! Be revenged;
      Or she that bore you was no queen, and you
      Recoil from your great stock.

IMOGEN

150   Revenged!
      How should I be revenged? 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 revenged?

IACHIMO

155   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,
160   More noble than that runagate to your bed,
      And will continue fast to your affection,
      Still close as sure.

IMOGEN

What, ho, Pisanio!

IACHIMO

Let me my service tender on your lips.

IMOGEN

165   Away! I do condemn mine ears that have
      So long attended thee. If thou wert honourable,
      Thou wouldst 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
170   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,
175   A saucy stranger in his court to mart
      As in a Romish stew and to expound
      His beastly mind to us, he hath a court
      He little cares for and a daughter who
      He not respects at all. What, ho, Pisanio!

IACHIMO

180   O happy Leonatus! I may say
      The credit that thy lady hath of thee
      Deserves thy trust, and thy most perfect goodness
      Her assured credit. Blessed live you long!
      A lady to the worthiest sir that ever
185   Country call'd 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
190   The truest manner'd; such a holy witch
      That he enchants societies into him;
      Half all men's hearts are his.

IMOGEN

You make amends.

IACHIMO

      He sits 'mongst men like a descended god:
195   He hath a kind of honour sets him off,
      More than a mortal seeming. Be not angry,
      Most mighty princess, that I have adventured
      To try your taking a false report; which hath
      Honour'd with confirmation your great judgment
200   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.

IMOGEN

All's well, sir: take my power i' the court
205 for yours.

IACHIMO

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

IMOGEN

Pray, what is't?

IACHIMO

      Some dozen Romans of us and your lord--
      The best feather of our wing--have mingled sums
      To buy a present for the emperor
215   Which I, the factor for the rest, have done
      In France: 'tis plate of rare device, and jewels
      Of rich and exquisite form; their values great;
      And I am something curious, being strange,
      To have them in safe stowage: may it please you
220   To take them in protection?

IMOGEN

      Willingly;
      And pawn mine honour for their safety: since
      My lord hath interest in them, I will keep them
      In my bedchamber.

IACHIMO

225   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.

IMOGEN

O, no, no.

IACHIMO

230   Yes, I beseech; or I shall short my word
      By lengthening my return. From Gallia
      I cross'd the seas on purpose and on promise
      To see your grace.

IMOGEN

I thank you for your pains:
235 But not away to-morrow!

IACHIMO

      O, 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
240   To the tender of our present.

IMOGEN

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

Exeunt

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