Why she is fair, and why her eyes command me

  170 Stay here to love her and, if she say ’traitor’,

  I am a villain fit to lie unburied.

  PALAMON

  Thou shalt have pity of us both, O Theseus,

  If unto neither thou show mercy. Stop,

  As thou art just, thy noble ear against us;

  175 As thou art valiant – for thy cousin’s soul,

  Whose twelve strong labours crown his memory –

  Let’s die together, at one instant, Duke.

  Only a little let him fall before me,

  That I may tell my soul, he shall not have her.

  THESEUS

  180 I grant your wish, for, to say true, your cousin

  Has ten times more offended, for I gave him

  More mercy than you found, sir, your offences

  Being no more than his. None here speak for ‘em,

  For, ere the sun set, both shall sleep for ever.

  HIPPOLYTA

  185 Alas the pity! Now or never, sister,

  Speak not to be denied. That face of yours

  Will bear the curses else of after ages

  For these lost cousins.

  EMILIA In my face, dear sister,

  I find no anger to ’em, nor no ruin;

  190 The misadventure of their own eyes kill ’em.

  Yet that I will be woman and have pity,

  My knees shall grow to th’ ground but I’ll get mercy.

  Help me, dear sister; in a deed so virtuous,

  The powers of all women will be with us. [Kneels.]

  Most royal brother –

  195 HIPPOLYTA [Kneels.] Sir, by our tie of marriage –

  EMILIA

  By your own spotless honour –

  HIPPOLYTA By that faith,

  That fair hand and that honest heart you gave me –

  EMILIA

  By that you would have pity in another,

  By your own virtues infinite –

  HIPPOLYTA By valour,

  200 By all the chaste nights I have ever pleased you –

  THESEUS

  These are strange conjurings.

  PIRITHOUS Nay, then, I’ll in too. [Kneels.]

  By all our friendship, sir, by all our dangers,

  By all you love most: wars, and this sweet lady –

  EMILIA

  By that you would have trembled to deny

  A blushing maid –

  205 HIPPOLYTA By your own eyes, by strength,

  In which you swore I went beyond all women,

  Almost all men, and yet I yielded, Theseus –

  PIRITHOUS

  To crown all this, by your most noble soul,

  Which cannot want due mercy, I beg first –

  HIPPOLYTA

  Next hear my prayers –

  210 EMILIA Last, let me entreat, sir –

  PIRITHOUS

  For mercy!

  HIPPOLYTA Mercy!

  EMILIA Mercy on these princes!

  THESEUS

  Ye make my faith reel. Say I felt

  Compassion to ’em both, how would you place it?

  [Emilia, Hippolyta and Pirithous rise.]

  EMILIA

  Upon their lives. But with their banishments.

  THESEUS

  215 You are a right woman, sister: you have pity

  But want the understanding where to use it.

  If you desire their lives, invent a way

  Safer than banishment. Can these two live

  And have the agony of love about ’em

  220 And not kill one another? Every day

  They’d fight about you; hourly bring your honour

  In public question with their swords. Be wise then

  And here forget ’em; it concerns your credit

  And my oath equally. I have said they die.

  225 Better they fall by th’ law than one another.

  Bow not my honour.

  EMILIA Oh, my noble brother,

  That oath was rashly made and in your anger.

  Your reason will not hold it; if such vows

  Stand for express will, all the world must perish

  230 Besides, I have another oath ’gainst yours,

  Of more authority, I am sure more love,

  Not made in passion neither but good heed.

  THESEUS

  What is it, sister?

  PIRITHOUS Urge it home, brave lady.

  EMILIA

  That you would ne’er deny me anything

  235 Fit for my modest suit and your free granting.

  I tie you to your word now; if ye fail in’t,

  Think how you maim your honour. Tell me not

  (For now I am set a-begging, sir, I am deaf

  To all but your compassion) how their lives

  240 Might breed the ruin of my name. Opinion!

  Shall anything that loves me perish for me?

  That were a cruel wisdom. Do men prune

  The straight young boughs that blush with thousand blossoms,

  Because they may be rotten? Oh, Duke Theseus,

  245 The goodly mothers that have groaned for these

  And all the longing maids that ever loved,

  If your vow stand, shall curse me and my beauty

  And in their funeral songs for these two cousins

  Despise my cruelty and cry woe worth me,

  250 Till I am nothing but the scorn of women.

  For heaven’s sake, save their lives and banish ’em.

  THESEUS

  On what conditions?

  EMILIA Swear ’em never more

  To make me their contention, or to know me,

  To tread upon thy dukedom, and to be,

  255 Wherever they shall travel, ever strangers

  To one another.

  PALAMON I’ll be cut a-pieces

  Before I take this oath! Forget I love her?

  O, all ye gods, despise me then! Thy banishment

  I not mislike, so we may fairly carry

  260 Our swords and cause along; else, never trifle,

  But take our lives, Duke; I must love and will

  And, for that love, must and dare kill this cousin

  On any piece the earth has.

  THESEUS Will you, Arcite,

  Take these conditions?

  PALAMON He’s a villain then.

  PIRITHOUS

  265 These are men!

  ARCITE

  No, never, Duke. ‘Tis worse to me than begging

  To take my life so basely. Though I think

  I never shall enjoy her, yet I’ll preserve

  The honour of affection and die for her,

  270 Make death a devil.

  THESEUS

  What may be done? For now I feel compassion.

  PIRITHOUS

  Let it not fall again, sir.

  THESEUS Say, Emilia,

  If one of them were dead, as one must, are you

  Content to take the other as your husband?

  275 They cannot both enjoy you. They are princes

  As goodly as your own eyes and as noble

  As ever fame yet spoke of. Look upon ’em

  And, if you can love, end this difference;

  I give consent. Are you content too, princes?

  PALAMON and ARCITE

  With all our hearts.

  280 THESEUS He that she refuses

  Must die then.

  PALAMON and ARCITE

  Any death thou canst invent, Duke.

  PALAMON

  If I fall from that mouth, I fall with favour

  And lovers yet unborn shall bless my ashes.

  ARCITE

  If she refuse me, yet my grave will wed me

  And soldiers sing my epitaph.

  285 THESEUS [to Emilia] Make choice, then.

  EMILIA

  I cannot, sir; they are both too excellent;

  For me, a hair shall never fall of these men.

  HIPPOLYTA

  What will become of ’em?

  THESEUS Thus I ordain it

  And by mine honour, once again, it stands,

  290 Or both shall die. You shall both to your country

  And each, within this month, accompanied

  With three fair knights, appear again in this place,

  In which I’ll plant a pyramid; and whether,

  Before us that are here, can force his cousin,

  295 By fair and knightly strength, to touch the pillar,

  He shall enjoy her; th’other lose his head,

  And all his friends. Nor shall he grudge to fall,

  Nor think he dies with interest in this lady.

  Will this content ye?

  PALAMON Yes. There, cousin Arcite,

  [Offers his hand.]

  I am friends again, till that hour.

  300 ARCITE I embrace ye.

  THESEUS

  Are you content, sister?

  EMILIA Yes, I must, sir,

  Else both miscarry.

  THESEUS Come, shake hands again, then,

  And take heed, as you are gentlemen, this quarrel

  Sleep till the hour prefixed, and hold your course.

  [Palamon and Arcite shake hands.]

  PALAMON

  We dare not fail thee, Theseus.

  305 THESEUS Come, I’ll give ye

  Now usage like to princes and to friends.

  When ye return, who wins, I’ll settle here;

  Who loses, yet I’ll weep upon his bier. Exeunt.

  [4.1] Enter Jailer and First Friend.

  JAILER

  Heard you no more? Was nothing said of me

  Concerning the escape of Palamon?

  Good sir, remember!

  1 FRIEND Nothing that I heard,

  For I came home before the business

  5 Was fully ended. Yet I might perceive,

  Ere I departed, a great likelihood

  Of both their pardons. For Hippolyta

  And fair-eyed Emily, upon their knees,

  Begged with such handsome pity that the Duke

  10 Methought stood staggering whether he should follow

  His rash oath or the sweet compassion

  Of those two ladies; and, to second them,

  That truly noble Prince Pirithous,

  Half his own heart, set in too, that I hope

  15 All shall be well. Neither heard I one question

  Of your name or his ’scape.

  Enter Second Friend.

  JAILER Pray heaven it hold so.

  2 FRIEND

  Be of good comfort, man; I bring you news,

  Good news!

  JAILER They are welcome.

  2 FRIEND Palamon has cleared you,

  And got your pardon, and discovered how

  20 And by whose means he ’scaped – which was your daughter’s,

  Whose pardon is procured too; and the prisoner,

  Not to be held ungrateful to her goodness,

  Has given a sum of money to her marriage:

  A large one, I’ll assure you.

  JAILER You’re a good man

  And ever bring good news.

  25 1 FRIEND How was it ended?

  2 FRIEND

  Why, as it should be. They that never begged

  But they prevailed had their suits fairly granted:

  The prisoners have their lives.

  1 FRIEND I knew ’twould be so.

  2 FRIEND

  But there be new conditions, which you’ll hear of

  At better time.

  JAILER I hope they are good.

  30 2 FRIEND They are honourable;

  How good they’ll prove, I know not.

  Enter Wooer.

  1 FRIEND ’Twill be known.

  WOOER [to Jailer]

  Alas, sir, where’s your daughter?

  JAILER Why do you ask?

  WOOER

  Oh, sir, when did you see her?

  2 FRIEND How he looks!

  JAILER

  This morning.

  WOOER Was she well? Was she in health? Sir,

  When did she sleep?

  35 1 FRIEND These are strange questions.

  JAILER

  I do not think she was very well, for now

  You make me mind her: but this very day

  I asked her questions, and she answered me

  So far from what she was, so childishly,

  40 So sillily, as if she were a fool,

  An innocent, and I was very angry.

  But what of her, sir?

  WOOER Nothing but my pity.

  But you must know it, and as good by me

  As by another that less loves her.

  JAILER

  Well, sir?

  1 FRIEND Not right?

  2 FRIEND Not well?

  45 WOOER No sir, not well:

  ’Tis too true: she is mad.

  1 FRIEND It cannot be!

  WOOER

  Believe, you’ll find it so.

  JAILER I half suspected

  What you have told me. The gods comfort her!

  Either this was her love to Palamon,

  50 Or fear of my miscarrying on his ’scape,

  Or both.

  WOOER ’Tis likely.

  JAILER But why all this haste, sir?

  WOOER

  I’ll tell you quickly. As I late was angling

  In the great lake that lies behind the palace,

  From the far shore, thick set with reeds and sedges,

  55 As patiently I was attending sport,

  I heard a voice, a shrill one, and attentive

  I gave my ear, when I might well perceive

  ’Twas one that sung and, by the smallness of it,

  A boy or woman. I then left my angle

  60 To his own skill, came near, but yet perceived not

  Who made the sound, the rushes and the reeds

  Had so encompassed it. I laid me down

  And listened to the words she sung, for then,

  Through a small glade cut by the fishermen,

  I saw it was your daughter.

  65 JAILER Pray go on, sir.

  WOOER

  She sung much, but no sense; only I heard her

  Repeat this often: ‘Palamon is gone,

  Is gone to th’ wood to gather mulberries;

  I’ll find him out tomorrow.’

  1 FRIEND Pretty soul!

  WOOER

  70 ‘His shackles will betray him, he’ll be taken;

  And what shall I do then? I’ll bring a bevy,

  A hundred black-eyed maids that love as I do,

  With chaplets on their heads of daffadillies,

  With cherry-lips and cheeks of damask roses,

  75 And all we’ll dance an antic ’fore the Duke

  And beg his pardon.’ Then she talked of you, sir:

  That you must lose your head tomorrow morning,

  And she must gather flowers to bury you,

  And see the house made handsome. Then she sung

  80 Nothing but ‘Willow, willow, willow’ and, between,

  Ever was ‘Palamon, fair Palamon’

  And ‘Palamon was a tall young man’. The place

  Was knee-deep where she sat; her careless tresses

  A wreath of bullrush rounded; about her stuck

  85 Thousand fresh water-flowers of several colours,

  That methought she appeared like the fair nymph

  That feeds the lake with waters, or as Iris

  Newly dropped down from heaven. Rings she made

  Of rushes that grew by and to ’em spoke

  90 The prettiest posies: ‘Thus our true love’s tied’,

  ‘This you may loose, not me,’ and many a one.

  And then she wept, and sung again, and sighed,

  And with the same breath smiled and kissed her hand.

  2 FRIEND

  Alas, what pity it is!

  WOOER I made in to her.

  95 She saw me, and straight sought the flood; I saved her,

  And set her safe to land, when presently

  She slipped away and to the city made,

  With such a cry and swiftness that, believe me,

  She left me far behind her. Three or four

  100 I saw from far off cross her – one of ’em

  I knew to be your brother – where she stayed

  And fell, scarce to be got away. I left them with her,

  Enter [Jailer’s] Brother, [Jailer’s] Daughter and others.

  And hither came to tell you. Here they are.

  DAUGHTER [Sings.]

  May you never more enjoy the light (etc.).

  Is not this a fine song?

  105 BROTHER Oh, a very fine one.

  DAUGHTER

  I can sing twenty more.

  BROTHER I think you can.

  DAUGHTER

  Yes, truly, can I. I can sing ‘The Broom’

  And ‘Bonny Robin’. Are not you a tailor?

  BROTHER

  Yes.

  DAUGHTER

  Where’s my wedding gown?

  BROTHER I’ll bring it tomorrow.

  DAUGHTER

  110 Do, very early. I must be abroad else

  To call the maids and pay the minstrels,

  For I must lose my maidenhead by cocklight;

  ’Twill never thrive else.

  [Sings.]

  O fair, o sweet (etc.).

  BROTHER [to Jailer]

  You must e’en take it patiently.

  115 JAILER ’Tis true.

  DAUGHTER

  Good ev’n, good men; pray, did you ever hear

  Of one young Palamon?

  JAILER Yes, wench, we know him.

  DAUGHTER

  Is’t not a fine young gentleman?

  JAILER ’Tis, love.

  BROTHER

  By no means cross her, she is then distempered

  Far worse than now she shows.

  120 1 FRIEND [to Daughter] Yes, he’s a fine man.

  DAUGHTER

  Oh, is he so? You have a sister.

  1 FRIEND Yes.

  DAUGHTER

  But she shall never have him – tell her so –

  For a trick that I know; you’d best look to her,

  For if she see him once, she’s gone; she’s done,

  125 And undone, in an hour. All the young maids

  Of our town are in love with him, but I laugh at ’em

  And let ’em all alone; is’t not a wise course?

  1 FRIEND Yes.

  DAUGHTER

  There is at least two hundred now with child by him –

  There must be four – yet I keep close for all this,

  130 Close as a cockle; and all these must be boys

  (He has the trick on’t) and at ten years old

  They must be all gelt for musicians

  And sing the wars of Theseus.

  2 FRIEND This is strange.

  DAUGHTER

  As ever you heard, but say nothing.

  1 FRIEND No.

  DAUGHTER

  135 They come from all parts of the dukedom to him.