The Winter's Tale (13 page)

POLIXENES
     Then make your garden rich in gillyvors,
       And do not call them bastards.

PERDITA
     I'll not put
       The
dibble
¹¹⁶
in earth to
set
one slip of them.
       No more than were I
painted
¹¹⁷
I would wish
       This youth should say 'twere well and only therefore
     Desire to breed by me. Here's flowers for you:
Gives flowers
      
Hot
¹²⁰
lavender, mints,
savory
, marjoram,
       The marigold, that
goes to bed wi'th'sun
       And with him rises weeping
¹²¹
. These are flowers
       Of middle summer, and I think they are given
       To men of middle age. You're very welcome.

CAMILLO
     I should leave grazing, were I of your flock,
       And only live by gazing.

PERDITA
    
Out, alas!
¹²⁷
       You'd be so lean that blasts of January
       Would blow you through and through.—
       Now, my fair'st friend,

To Florizel

To Shepherdesses

       I would I had some flowers o'th'spring that might
       Become your time of day,— and yours, and
           yours,
       That wear upon your virgin branches yet
       Your
maidenheads
¹³⁴
growing.— O
Proserpina
,
       For the flowers now that, frighted, thou let'st fall
       From Dis's wagon! Daffodils,
       That come before the swallow
dares
¹³⁷
, and
take

       The winds of March with beauty: violets,
dim
¹³⁸
,
       But sweeter than the lids of
Juno
¹³⁹
's eyes
       Or
Cytherea
¹⁴⁰
's breath: pale primroses
       That die unmarried, ere they can behold
       Bright
Phoebus
¹⁴²
in his strength — a
malady
       Most incident to maids
: bold oxlips and
       The
crown imperial
¹⁴⁴
: lilies of all kinds,
       The
flower-de-luce
¹⁴⁵
being one. O, these I lack,
       To make you garlands of, and my sweet friend,
       To strew him o'er and o'er!

FLORIZEL
     What, like a corpse?

PERDITA
     No, like a bank for love to lie and play on.
       Not like a corpse. Or
if
¹⁵⁰
, not to be buried,
       But
quick
¹⁵¹
and in mine arms. Come, take your flowers.
       Methinks I play as I have seen them do
       In
Whitsun pastorals
¹⁵³
. Sure this robe of mine
       Does change my disposition.

FLORIZEL
     What you do
      
Still
¹⁵⁶
betters what is done. When you speak, sweet,
       I'd have you do it ever: when you sing,
       I'd have you buy and sell so, so give
alms
¹⁵⁸
,
       Pray so, and, for the
ord'ring
¹⁵⁹
your affairs,
       To sing them too. When you do dance, I wish you
       A wave o'th'sea, that you might ever do
       Nothing but that. Move
still
¹⁶²
, still so,
       And
own no other function
¹⁶³
. Each
your doing
,
       So
singular
¹⁶⁴
in each particular,
       Crowns
what you are doing in the present deeds
¹⁶⁵
,
       That all your acts are queens.

PERDITA
     O
Doricles
¹⁶⁷
,
       Your praises are too large. But that your youth,
       And the
true
¹⁶⁹
blood which peeps fairly through't,
       Do plainly
give you out
¹⁷⁰
an unstained shepherd,
       With wisdom I might fear, my Doricles,
       You wooed me
the false way
¹⁷²
.

FLORIZEL
     I think you have
       As little
skill
¹⁷⁴
to fear as I have purpose
       To put you to't. But come, our dance, I pray.
       Your hand, my Perdita. So
turtles
¹⁷⁶
pair,
       That never mean to part.

PERDITA
     I'll swear for 'em.
They stand aside

POLIXENES
     This is the prettiest low-born lass that ever
To Camillo
       Ran on the
greensward
¹⁸⁰
. Nothing she does or seems
       But smacks of something greater than herself,
       Too noble for this place.

CAMILLO
     He tells her something
       That makes her
blood look out
¹⁸⁴
. Good
sooth
, she is
       The queen of
curds and cream
¹⁸⁵
.

CLOWN
     Come on, strike up!

DORCAS
     Mopsa must be your
mistress
¹⁸⁷
. Marry, garlic,
       To
mend her kissing with
¹⁸⁸
!

MOPSA
     Now,
in good time
¹⁸⁹
!

CLOWN
     Not a word, a word. We
stand upon
¹⁹⁰
our manners.
       Come, strike up!
Music

Here a dance of Shepherds and Shepherdesses

POLIXENES
     Pray, good shepherd, what fair swain is this
       Which dances with your daughter?

SHEPHERD
     They call him Doricles, and
boasts
¹⁹⁴
himself
       To have a
worthy feeding
¹⁹⁵
; but I have it
       Upon his own report and I believe it.
       He looks
like sooth
¹⁹⁷
. He says he loves my daughter.
       I think so too, for never gazed the moon
       Upon the water as he'll stand and read,
       As 'twere, my daughter's eyes. And to be plain,
       I think there is not half a kiss to choose
       Who loves another best.

POLIXENES
     She dances
featly
²⁰³
.

SHEPHERD
     So she does anything, though I report it,
       That should be silent. If young Doricles
       Do
light upon
²⁰⁶
her, she shall bring him that
       Which he not dreams of.

Enter
Servant

SERVANT
     O, master, if you did but hear the pedlar at the door,
       you would never dance again after a
tabor
²⁰⁹
and pipe. No, the
       bagpipe could not move you. He sings several tunes faster
       than you'll
tell
²¹¹
money. He utters them as he had eaten
      
ballads
²¹²
and all men's ears
grew
to his tunes.

CLOWN
     He could never come
better
²¹³
. He shall come in. I love
       a ballad but even too well, if it be doleful matter merrily set
       down, or a very pleasant thing indeed and sung lamentably.

SERVANT
     He hath songs for man or woman, of all sizes. No
      
milliner
²¹⁷
can so fit his customers with gloves. He has the
       prettiest love-songs for maids, so without
bawdry
²¹⁸
, which is
       strange, with such delicate
burdens
²¹⁹
of
dildos and fadings
,
      
‘jump her and thump her'
²²⁰
. And where some
stretch-mouthed
       rascal would, as it were, mean mischief and
break
       a foul gap into the matter
²²¹
, he makes the maid to answer
       ‘
Whoop
²²³
, do me no harm, good man', puts him off, slights
       him, with ‘Whoop, do me no harm, good man'.

POLIXENES
     This is a
brave
²²⁵
fellow.

CLOWN
     Believe me, thou talkest of an
admirable conceited
²²⁶
       fellow. Has he any
unbraided
²²⁷
wares?

SERVANT
     He hath ribbons of all the colours i'th'rainbow;
      
points
²²⁹
more than all the lawyers in Bohemia can learnedly
       handle, though they come to him
by th'gross
²³⁰
:
inkles
,
      
caddisses
²³¹
,
cambrics
,
lawns
. Why, he sings
'em over
as they
       were gods or goddesses. You would think a
smock
²³²
were a she-angel,
       he so chants to the
sleeve-hand
²³³
and the
work about
       the
square
²³⁴
on't.

CLOWN
     Prithee bring him in, and let him approach singing.

PERDITA
     Forewarn him that he use no scurrilous words in's
       tunes.
Servant goes to door

CLOWN
    
You have
²³⁸
of these pedlars, that have more in them
       than you'd think, sister.

PERDITA
     Ay, good brother, or
go about
²⁴⁰
to think.

Enter Autolycus, singing
He wears a false beard and carries a pack

AUTOLYCUS
     Lawn as white as driven snow,
Song

        
Cypress
²⁴²
black as e'er was crow,
           Gloves as
sweet
²⁴³
as damask roses,
          
Masks
²⁴⁴
for faces and for noses,
          
Bugle
²⁴⁵
bracelet, necklace amber,
           Perfume for a lady's chamber,
           Golden
quoifs
²⁴⁷
and
stomachers
,
           For my lads to give their dears,
           Pins and
poking-sticks
²⁴⁹
of steel,
           What maids lack from head to heel.
           Come buy of me, come. Come buy, come buy.
           Buy lads, or else your lasses cry. Come buy!

CLOWN
     If I were not in love with Mopsa, thou shouldst take
       no money of me, but being
enthralled
²⁵⁴
as I am, it will also be
       the
bondage
²⁵⁵
of certain ribbons and gloves.

MOPSA
     I was promised them
against
²⁵⁶
the feast, but they
       come not too late now.

DORCAS
     He hath promised you
more than that
²⁵⁸
, or there be
       liars.

MOPSA
     He hath
paid you
²⁶⁰
all he promised you. Maybe he has
      
paid you more, which will shame you to give him again
²⁶¹
.

CLOWN
     Is there no manners left among maids? Will they
       wear their
plackets
where they should bear their faces
²⁶³
? Is
       there not milking-time, when you are going to bed, or
kiln-hole
²⁶⁴
,
       to whistle of these secrets, but you must be tittle-tattling
       before all our guests? 'Tis well they are whisp'ring.
      
Clamour
²⁶⁷
your tongues, and not a word more.

MOPSA
     I have done. Come, you promised me a
tawdry-lace
²⁶⁸
       and a pair of sweet gloves.

CLOWN
     Have I not told thee how I was
cozened
²⁷⁰
by the way
       and lost all my money?

AUTOLYCUS
     And indeed, sir, there are cozeners
abroad
²⁷²
:
       therefore it
behoves
²⁷³
men to be wary.

CLOWN
     Fear not thou, man, thou shalt lose nothing here.

AUTOLYCUS
     I hope so, sir, for I have about me many parcels of
      
charge
²⁷⁶
.

CLOWN
     What hast here? Ballads?

MOPSA
     Pray now, buy some. I love a ballad in print
alife
²⁷⁸
, for
       then we are sure they are true.

AUTOLYCUS
     Here's one to a very doleful tune, how a
usurer
²⁸⁰
's
       wife was
brought to bed of
²⁸¹
twenty money-bags
at a burden
       and how she longed to eat adders' heads and toads
      
carbonadoed
²⁸³
.