Cymbeline (22 page)

Had ever scar for.
³⁵⁹
— Let his arms alone,

They were not born for bondage.

CYMBELINE
    Why, old soldier,

Wilt thou undo the
worth thou art unpaid for
³⁶²

By
tasting of
³⁶³
our wrath? How of descent

As good as we?

ARVIRAGUS
    In that he spake too far.

CYMBELINE
    And
thou
³⁶⁶
shalt die for’t.

BELARIUS
    We will die all three,

But I will
prove that two
on’s
³⁶⁸
are as good

As I have
given out him.
³⁶⁹
My sons, I must

For mine own part unfold a dangerous speech
³⁷⁰
,

Though
haply
well for
³⁷¹
you.

ARVIRAGUS
    Your danger’s ours.

GUIDERIUS
    And our good his.

BELARIUS
    Have at it then,
by leave.
³⁷⁴

Thou hadst, great king, a subject who

Was called Belarius.

CYMBELINE
    What of him? He is

A banished traitor.

BELARIUS
    He it is that hath

Assumed this age
³⁸⁰
: indeed, a banished man,

I know not how a traitor.

CYMBELINE
    Take him hence,

The whole world shall not save him.

BELARIUS
    Not too
hot
³⁸⁴
:

First pay me for the nursing of thy sons,

And let
it
be
confiscate all
so
³⁸⁶
soon

As I have received it.

CYMBELINE
    Nursing of my sons?

BELARIUS
    I am too blunt and
saucy
³⁸⁹
, here’s my knee:

Ere I arise I will
prefer
³⁹⁰
my sons,

Then spare not the old father. Mighty sir,

These two young gentlemen that call me father,

And think they are my sons, are none of mine.

They are the issue of your loins, my liege,

And
blood
³⁹⁵
of your begetting.

CYMBELINE
    How, my issue?

BELARIUS
    So sure as you your father’s. I, old Morgan,

Am that Belarius whom you
sometime
³⁹⁸
banished:

Your pleasure was my
mere
³⁹⁹
offence, my punishment

Itself, and all my treason.
That I suffered
⁴⁰⁰

Was all the harm I did. These gentle princes —

For such and so they are — these twenty years

Have I trained up: those arts they have as I

Could
put into
⁴⁰⁴
them. My breeding was, sir,

As your highness knows. Their nurse, Euriphile,

Whom for the theft I wedded, stole these children

Upon my banishment: I
moved
⁴⁰⁷
her to’t,

Having received the punishment before
⁴⁰⁸

For that which I did then.
Beaten
⁴⁰⁹
for loyalty

Excited
⁴¹⁰
me to treason. Their dear loss,

The more
of
you ’twas felt, the more it
shaped
⁴¹¹

Unto my
end of
⁴¹²
stealing them. But, gracious sir,

Here are your sons again, and I must lose

Two of the sweet’st companions in the world.

The benediction of these covering heavens

Fall on their heads like dew, for they are worthy

To inlay heaven with stars.

CYMBELINE
    Thou weep’st, and speak’st:

The
service
⁴¹⁹
that you three have done is more

Unlike
⁴²⁰
than this thou tell’st. I lost my children:

If these be they, I know not how to wish

A pair of worthier sons.

BELARIUS
    
Be pleased awhile.
⁴²³

This gentleman, whom I call Polydore,

Most worthy prince,
as yours
⁴²⁵
, is true Guiderius:

This gentleman, my Cadwal, Arviragus,

Your younger princely son. He, sir, was
lapped
⁴²⁷

In a most
curious
⁴²⁸
mantle, wrought by th’hand

Of his queen mother, which for more
probation
⁴²⁹

I can with ease produce.

CYMBELINE
    Guiderius had

Upon his neck a mole, a
sanguine
⁴³²
star.

It was a mark of wonder.

BELARIUS
    This is he,

Who hath upon him still that
natural stamp
⁴³⁵
:

It was wise nature’s
end in the donation
⁴³⁶

To be his evidence now.

CYMBELINE
    O, what am I?

A mother to the birth of three? Ne’er mother

Rejoiced
deliverance
more: blest
pray
⁴⁴⁰
you be,

That, after this strange
starting from your orbs
⁴⁴¹
,

You may reign in them now! O Innogen,

Thou hast lost by this a kingdom.
⁴⁴³

INNOGEN
    No, my lord:

I have got two worlds by’t. O my gentle brothers,

Have we thus met? O, never say hereafter

But
⁴⁴⁷
I am truest speaker. You called me brother

When I was but your sister: I you brothers,

When ye were so indeed.

CYMBELINE
    Did you e’er meet?

ARVIRAGUS
    Ay, my good lord.

GUIDERIUS
    And at first meeting loved,

Continued so until we thought he died.

CORNELIUS
    By the queen’s dram she swallowed.

CYMBELINE
    O
rare
⁴⁵⁵
instinct!

When shall I hear all through? This
fierce abridgement
⁴⁵⁶

Hath to it circumstantial
branches
⁴⁵⁷
, which

Distinction should be rich in.
⁴⁵⁸
Where? How lived you?

And when came you to serve our Roman captive?

How parted with your brothers? How first met them?

Why fled you from the court? And whither? These,

And
your three motives to
⁴⁶²
the battle, with

I know not how much more, should be
demanded
⁴⁶³
,

And all the other
by-dependences
⁴⁶⁴
,

From
chance
to chance. But
nor
⁴⁶⁵
the time nor place

Will serve
our long
interrogatories.
⁴⁶⁶
See,

Posthumus
anchors
⁴⁶⁷
upon Innogen,

And she, like harmless lightning,
throws her eye
⁴⁶⁸

On him, her brothers, me, her master, hitting

Each object with a joy: the
counterchange
⁴⁷⁰

Is severally in all. Let’s
quit this ground
⁴⁷¹
,

And
smoke
⁴⁷²
the temple with our sacrifices.—

Thou art my brother, so we’ll
hold
⁴⁷³
thee ever.

INNOGEN
    You are my father too, and did
relieve me
⁴⁷⁴

To see this
gracious season.
⁴⁷⁵

CYMBELINE
    All o’erjoyed,

Save
⁴⁷⁷
these in bonds: let them be joyful too,

For they shall
taste our comfort.
⁴⁷⁸

INNOGEN
    My good master,

I will yet do you service.

LUCIUS
    Happy be you!

CYMBELINE
    The
forlorn
⁴⁸²
soldier, that so nobly fought,

He would have well
becomed
this place, and
graced
⁴⁸³

The thankings of a king.

POSTHUMUS
    I am, sir,

The soldier that did
company
⁴⁸⁶
these three

In poor
beseeming
: ’twas a
fitment
⁴⁸⁷
for

The purpose I then followed. That I was he,

Speak, Iachimo: I had you down, and might

Have made
you finish.
⁴⁹⁰

IACHIMO
    I am down again:

But now my heavy conscience
sinks
⁴⁹²
my knee,

As then your force did. Take that life, beseech you,

Which I so
often
⁴⁹⁴
owe: but your ring first,

And here the bracelet of the truest princess

That ever swore her faith.

POSTHUMUS
    Kneel not to me:

The power that I have on you is to spare you:

The malice towards you to forgive you. Live,

And deal with others better.

CYMBELINE
    Nobly
doomed!
⁵⁰¹

We’ll learn our
freeness
⁵⁰²
of a son-in-law:

Pardon’s the word to all.

ARVIRAGUS
    You
holp
⁵⁰⁴
us, sir,

As
⁵⁰⁵
you did mean indeed to be our brother.

Joyed
⁵⁰⁶
are we that you are.

POSTHUMUS
    Your servant, princes. Good my lord of Rome,

Call forth your soothsayer: as I slept, methought

Great Jupiter,
upon his eagle backed
⁵⁰⁹
,

Appeared to me, with other
spritely shows
⁵¹⁰

Of mine own kindred. When I waked I found

This
label
on my bosom, whose
containing
⁵¹²

Is
so from sense in hardness
⁵¹³
that I can

Make no
collection of
⁵¹⁴
it. Let him show

His skill in the
construction.
⁵¹⁵

LUCIUS
    
Philharmonus.
⁵¹⁶

SOOTHSAYER
    Here, my good lord.

LUCIUS
    Read, and declare the meaning.

SOOTHSAYER
    
Reads
‘Whenas a lion’s
whelp
⁵¹⁹
shall, to himself

unknown, without seeking find, and be embraced by a piece

of tender air: and when from a stately cedar shall be lopped

branches, which being dead many years, shall after revive,

be jointed to the old stock, and freshly grow, then shall

Posthumus end his miseries, Britain be fortunate and

flourish in peace and plenty.’

Thou, Leonatus, art the lion’s whelp:

The fit and apt construction of thy name,

Being
leo-natus
, doth
import
⁵²⁸
so much.—

The piece of tender air, thy virtuous daughter,

Which we call
‘
mollis aer
⁵³⁰
’;
and
‘mollis aer’

We term it
‘mulier’
.— Which
‘mulier’
I
divine
⁵³¹

Is this most constant wife, who even now,

Answering the letter of the oracle,

Unknown to you, unsought, were
clipped about
⁵³⁴

With this most tender air.

CYMBELINE
    This hath some
seeming.
⁵³⁶

SOOTHSAYER
    The lofty
cedar
⁵³⁷
, royal Cymbeline,

Personates
thee: and thy lopped branches
point
⁵³⁸

Thy two sons forth, who by Belarius stol’n,

For many years thought dead, are now revived,

To the majestic cedar joined, whose
issue
⁵⁴¹

Promises Britain peace and plenty.

CYMBELINE
    Well,

My peace we will begin.— And, Caius Lucius,

Although the victor, we submit to Caesar

And to the Roman empire, promising

To pay our
wonted
⁵⁴⁷
tribute, from the which

We were dissuaded by our wicked queen,

Whom
⁵⁴⁹
heavens in justice both on her and hers

Have laid most heavy hand.

SOOTHSAYER
    The fingers of the powers above do tune

The harmony of this peace. The vision

Which I made known to Lucius ere the
stroke
⁵⁵³

Of this yet scarce-cold battle, at this instant

Is full accomplished. For the Roman eagle,

From south to west on wing soaring aloft,

Lessened herself
⁵⁵⁷
, and in the beams o’th’sun

So vanished; which foreshowed our princely eagle,

Th’imperial Caesar, should again unite

His favour with the radiant Cymbeline,

Which shines here in the
west.
⁵⁶¹

CYMBELINE
    
Laud
⁵⁶²
we the gods,

And let our
crookèd
⁵⁶³
smokes climb to their nostrils

From our blest altars.
Publish
⁵⁶⁴
we this peace

To all our subjects.
Set we forward
⁵⁶⁵
: let

A Roman and a British
ensign
⁵⁶⁶
wave

Friendly together: so through Lud’s town march,

And in the temple of great Jupiter

Our peace we’ll ratify,
seal
⁵⁶⁹
it with feasts.

Set on there!
⁵⁷⁰
Never was a war did cease,

Ere bloody hands were washed, with such a peace.