The
Tempest
by William Shakespeare
1
CHARACTERS
PROSPERO
The rightful Duke of Milan
MIRANDA
His daughter
ANTONIO
His brother
ALONSO
King of Naples
SEBASTIAN
His brother
FERDINAND
Alonso’s son
GONZALO
An honest old counsellor of Naples
ARIEL
A spirit attendant upon Prospero
CALIBAN
A savage native of the island - Prospero’s slave
STEPHANO
Alonso’s drunken butler
TRINCULO
Alonso’s jester
BOATSWAIN
Officer on the ship
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THE TEMPEST
By William Shakespeare
SCENE ONE
A storm with thunder and lightning. The BOATSWAIN is on deck.
BOATSWAIN:
Heigh, my hearts! Come on, men! Quickly! Quickly! Take in the topsail.
Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO and GONZALO.
ALONSO:
Good Boatswain, take care. Where’s the Master?
BOATSWAIN:
I pray you sir, stay below deck.
ANTONIO:
Where is the Master, Boatswain?
BOATSWAIN:
Do you not hear him? You mar our labour. Stay in your cabins. You do
assist the storm.
GONZALO:
Be patient, my good man.
BOATSWAIN:
When the sea is! Now, go! Do you think these waves have any cares for a
king? Go to your cabins and trouble us not.
GONZALO:
Good man, remember who you have aboard.
BOATSWAIN:
None that I love more than myself. You are a councillor. If you can
command these elements to be silent then we can all put down our ropes
and rest. Use your authority. If you cannot, give thanks that you have lived
so long and go wait in your cabin to die, if it comes to that. – Cheerly, good
hearts! – Harder, men! – Out of the way, I say.
ALONSO exits.
Down with the topmast! Quickly! Lower, lower! Let the ship sail close to the
wind.
The ship is jolted and some of the men fall and cry out
A plague upon this howling! They are louder than the storm.
(to SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO and GONZALO) You again? What do you want
here? Should we all give up and drown. Do you want to sink?
SEBASTIAN:
A pox on your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, uncharitable dog!
BOATSWAIN:
Well, get to work, then.
ANTONIO:
Hang, you lowlife! We are less afraid to be drowned than you are.
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BOATSWAIN:
Turn the ship to the wind! Lay her off!
GONZALO:
The king and prince are praying. Let’s go join them, since whatever
happens to them shall also be our fate.
SEBASTIAN:
I am out of patience.
ANTONIO:
We are cheated out of our lives by drunkards. This wide-chopped rascal – I
hope you drown ten times over!
Confused noise...
VOICE:
God have mercy on us! – The ship’s breaking up! – We split, we split!
ANTONIO:
Let’s all go sink with the king.
They exit.
SCENE TWO
Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA.
MIRANDA:
Dear father, if you with your power have put the wild waters in this roar,
please end it. Oh, I have suffered with those I saw suffer. A fine ship who
had, no doubt, some noble creature in her was dashed all to pieces. Their
dying cries broke my heart! Poor souls.
PROSPERO:
Be calm. No more amazement. There’s no harm done. Everything I have
done has been for you, my dear daughter, who is unaware of what you are
and where I came from, or that I am more than merely Prospero, your
humble father.
MIRANDA:
I never thought there was more to know.
PROSPERO:
It is time for me to tell you all. (he takes off his cloak) So, lie there, my art. –
Wipe your eyes. Take comfort. The terrible spectacle of this shipwreck,
which moved you to such pity, was so safely ordered that not a soul, not so
much as a single hair, was harmed. Sit down and be attentive. Can you
remember a time before we came to this cell? I do not think you can, for
you were not yet three years old.
MIRANDA:
Certainly, sir, I can.
PROSPERO:
What do you remember? A house, a person?
MIRANDA:
It is far off, more like a dream than a memory. Had I not four or five women
once that attended me?
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PROSPERO:
Indeed you did, and more, Miranda. Twelve years ago, Miranda, twelve
years ago your father was the Duke of Milan and a prince of power.
MIRANDA:
Sir, are not you my father?
PROSPERO:
Your mother was extremely virtuous, and she said you were my daughter.
And your father was Duke of Milan, and you were his heir, a princess.
MIRANDA:
Oh, heavens!
PROSPERO:
My brother, and your Uncle, Antonio – that a brother could be so disloyal! –
My brother whom – aside from you – I loved more than anyone else in the
world, I trusted to manage my state, which at that time was the strongest in
the land, and Prospero the prime duke, reputed in dignity and education.
The duties of the government I cast upon my brother, being absorbed by
my secret studies. Your false uncle – are you paying attention?
MIRANDA:
Sir, I hear every word.
PROSPERO:
With his cunning he won over the people who were once mine, or changed
them – remade them, you might say. With control over the entire
government he soon made everyone sing to the tune of his song. I was so
shut away from the world that I unwittingly stirred up evil wishes in my
disloyal brother. Antonio, possessing such powers and wealth, started to
believe that he was indeed the duke, like some liar that begins to believe in
his own lie. Do you hear?
MIRANDA:
O, good sir, I do.
PROSPERO:
To make his political performance absolutely perfect, he simply had to
become the Duke of Milan himself. My library was a large enough dukedom
for me. So, now Antonio pronounces me incapable of fulfilling my duties
and allies himself with the King of Naples, agreeing to pay him annual
taxes, to obey him, and put the dukedom of Milan under the control of
Naples.
MIRANDA:
Oh heavens!
PROSPERO:
Now, the agreement. The King of Naples, being my enemy, listens to my
brother’s request, which was that the king, in exchange for the homage and
money paid to him, would get rid of me and my family and make my brother
the Duke of Milan. A treacherous army was gathered, and one fateful night
at midnight, Antonio opened the gates of Milan, and in the dead of
darkness had his officers take us away.
MIRANDA:
Why did they not kill us that night?
PROSPERO:
They did not dare because the people of Milan loved me too much. They
had to disguise their bloody intentions. They hurried us aboard a ship and
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carried us out to sea, where they had prepared a rotten carcass of a boat
with no sails or masts or ropes, and they left us there.
MIRANDA:
What a burden I must have been!
PROSPERO:
No, you were the angel that preserved me.
MIRANDA:
How did we come ashore?
PROSPERO:
By providence divine. We had a little food and fresh water that a nobleman
from Naples, Gonzalo, had given us out of the kindness of his heart. He left
us rich garments, linen and other necessities of great help. Knowing I loved
my books, he gave me some volumes from my own library that I prize
above my dukedom.
MIRANDA:
But please, father – for it is playing heavy on my mind – what was your
reason for raising this sea storm?
PROSPERO:
Know this: by an accident most strange, bountiful Fortune has brought my
enemies to this shore. As I see it, my fate hangs on this lucky event, and if I
do not follow its influence now, I will forever suffer for it. Now, no more
questions. You are inclined to sleep. It is a good dullness, so give in to it. I
know you cannot choose.
MIRANDA falls fast asleep.
PROSPERO:
Come away, servant, come. I am ready now. Approach, my Ariel, come.
Enter ARIEL.
ARIEL:
All hail, great master! I come to answer your best pleasure, be it to fly, to
swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curled clouds.
PROSPERO:
Spirit, have you performed the tempest just as I commanded?
ARIEL:
To every article. I boarded the king’s ship. Now on the beak, now in the
waist, the deck, in every cabin, I flamed amazement.
PROSPERO:
My brave spirit!
ARIEL:
All but the mariners plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel. The
king’s son, Ferdinand, the first man that leaped, cried, “Hell is empty and all
the devils are here”
PROSPERO:
Why, that’s my spirit! But was this near the shore?
ARIEL:
Close by, my master.
PROSPERO:
But are they all safe, Ariel?
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ARIEL:
Not a hair perished. In troops I have dispersed them about the isle. The
king’s son I have landed by himself.
PROSPERO:
Ariel, your charge has been performed exactly. But there’s more work to be
done.
ARIEL:
Is there more toil? Since you are giving me new tasks let me remind you
what you have promised, which has not yet been given to me.
PROSPERO:
How now? Moody? What is it you demand?
ARIEL:
My liberty.
PROSPERO:
Before your sentence is up? No more!
ARIEL:
I beg you, remember I have done you worthy service. You did promise to
lessen my term by a full year.
PROSPERO:
Have you forgotten from what torment I did free you?
ARIEL:
No.
PROSPERO:
You have.
ARIEL:
I have not, sir.
PROSPERO:
You lie, you malignant thing! Have you forgotten the foul witch Sycorax?
Have you forgotten her?
ARIEL:
No, sir.
PROSPERO:
You have. Where was she born? Speak. Tell me.
ARIEL:
Sir, in Algiers.
PROSPERO:
Oh, was she so? This damned witch Sycorax was banished from Algiers
for mischiefs manifold and terrible sorceries. Is this not true?
ARIEL:
Yes, sir.
PROSPERO:
This hag was brought here with child and left by the sailors. You were her
servant, and being a delicate spirit, you refused to carry out her abhorred
commands. For this she imprisoned you within a hollow pine tree where
you did painfully remain for twelve years. Within that time she died and left
you there. At that time this island was not graced with human kind, apart
from the son that she did litter here – a freckled baby born of a hag. It was
my power that saved you, that made that pine gape and let you out.
ARIEL:
Pardon, master. I will obey your commands and do my spiriting gently.
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PROSPERO:
Do so, and after two days I will discharge you.
ARIEL:
What shall I do? Say, what?
PROSPERO:
Go make yourself a nymph of the sea. Be invisible to everyone except
yourself and me. Go take this shape.
Exit ARIEL.
(to MIRANDA) Awake, dear heart, awake! You have slept well.
MIRANDA:
The strangeness of your story made me weary.
PROSPERO:
Shake it off. Come on. We’ll visit Caliban, my slave.
MIRANDA:
He is a villain, sir, that I do not like to look at.
PROSPERO:
But even so, we cannot do without him. He builds our fires, fetches in our
wood and serves in tasks that help us. – What, ho! Slave! Caliban! Speak!
CALIBAN:
There’s wood enough within.
PROSPERO:
Come out, I say! There’s other work for you. You poisonous slave, son of a
wicked hag and fathered by the devil himself. Come out!
CALIBAN:
May a southwest wind blow on you and cover you both with blisters!
PROSPERO:
For this, be sure, tonight you shall have cramps, side-stitches that shall
keep you from breathing.
CALIBAN:
This island is mine. My mother, Sycorax, left it to me. But you have taken it
from me. When you first came here you were kind to me and would give
me water with berries in it. You taught me the names for the sun and moon.
Then, I loved you. I showed you all the qualities of the isle, the fresh
springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile. Cursed be I that did so! All the
charms of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, plague you! I am your only
subject, and you were my first king and now you pen me up in this hard
rock and keep the rest of the island from me.
PROSPERO:
You most lying slave! I took good care of you – piece of filth that you are –
and let you stay in my own cell until you did seek to violate the honour of
my child!
CALIBAN:
Oh ho, oh ho! I wish that I had! I would have filled this isle with Calibans.
MIRANDA:
You horrid slave! I pitied you, and worked hard to teach you to speak.
CALIBAN:
You taught me language, and all I can use it for is to curse. The red plague
damn you for learning me your language!
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PROSPERO:
Hag-seed, hence! Bring us wood. If you do neglect or unwillingly do what I
command, I’ll rack you with cramps, fill your bones with aches and make
you roar with pain that beasts will tremble when they hear you.
CALIBAN:
No, please. (aside) I must obey. His art is of such power.
PROSPERO:
So, slave, hence!
Exit CALIBAN. Music begins. Enter FERDINAND.
FERDINAND:
Where is that music coming from? From the earth or the air? (music stops)
It sounds no more. As I sat on the shore, weeping over my father’s
shipwreck, this music crept by me upon the waves, calming their fury and
soothing my grief with its sweet melodies. I followed it here, or it has drawn
me rather. But it is gone. No, it begins again. (music starts again) This is no
mortal business. I hear it now above me.
PROSPERO:
(to MIRANDA) Raise the curtain of your eyelids and say what you see out
there.
MIRANDA:
What is it? A spirit? Lord, how it looks about! How handsome it is. It must
be a spirit.
PROSPERO:
No, girl! It eats and sleeps and has such senses as we have. This
gentleman was in the shipwreck.
MIRANDA:
I might call him a thing divine, for I never saw anything so noble on earth
before.
PROSPERO:
(aside) It goes on, I see, just as I planned it to. Spirit, fine spirit! I’ll free you
in two days for this.
FERDINAND:
(seeing MIRANDA) This must surely be the goddess the music was played
for! - Please, I beg you, tell me if you live upon this island and – O you
wonder! – are you a maiden or goddess?
MIRANDA:
No wonder, sir. But certainly a maiden.
FERDINAND:
She speaks my language! Heavens, I am the best of them that speak this
speech.
PROSPERO:
What’s that? The best? What would the King of Naples do if he heard you
now?
FERDINAND:
The same as I do now – he would be amazed to hear you speak of Naples.
I myself am the King of Naples, since I saw my father killed in a shipwreck.
MIRANDA:
How pitiful!
FERDINAND:
Yes, indeed, and all his lords.
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PROSPERO:
(aside) At the first sight they have exchanged glances of affection. –
Delicate Ariel, I will set you free for this. (to FERDINAND) A word, good sir.
I fear you may have made a mistake. A word.
MIRANDA:
(aside) Why does my father speak so rude?
PROSPERO:
(aside) They are both in each other’s power, but this swift business I must
uneasy make or else a prize won too simply will have no value.
(to FERDINAND) One word more. I charge you to attend me. You call
yourself by a name that does not belong to you and have put yourself upon
this island as a spy to snatch it away from me.
FERDINAND:
No, I swear, that is not true!
MIRANDA:
There is nothing evil that could dwell in such a temple.
PROSPERO:
(to FERDINAND) Follow me.
(to MIRANDA) Do not defend him. He’s a traitor.
(to FERDINAND) Come, I’ll chain your neck and feet together and give you
salt water to drink. Follow.
FERDINAND:
No. I will decline that offer – at least as long as I am stronger than my
enemy. (draws his sword)
MIRANDA:
Oh, dear father, do not judge him too quickly. He is gentle and not fearful.
PROSPERO:
What’s that? The daughter knows more than the father? – Put away your
sword, traitor. For I can here disarm you with this stick and make your
weapon drop.
MIRANDA:
Please, father, I beg you.
PROSPERO:
Let go of me!
MIRANDA:
Sir, have pity.
PROSPERO:
Silence! One more word shall make me punish you, if not hate you. You
think there are no others like him since you have only seen him and
Caliban. Foolish girl. To most men this is a Caliban, and compared to him
they are angels.
MIRANDA:
Then my affections are most humble. I have no ambition to see a more
handsome man than this.
PROSPERO:
(to FERDINAND) Come on. Obey. Your muscles have grown limp and
have no power in them.
FERDINAND:
So they are. My thoughts are all tied up, as if in a dream. All my woes are
but light to me if I can only behold this maid once a day. I need no more
freedom than that.
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PROSPERO:
(aside) It works!
(to FERDINAND) Come on. Follow me.
(to ARIEL) You have done well, Ariel!
MIRANDA:
Be comforted. My father is of a better nature, sir, than he appears by his
speech.
PROSPERO:
(to FERDINAND) Come, follow.
They exit.
SCENE THREE
Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO and GONZALO.
GONZALO:
(to ALONSO) Please sir, be merry. You have good cause for joy, as do we
all who survived the storm. Our hint of woe is common. Every day some
sailor’s wife or merchant experiences the same loss as we have. But for
the miracle – I mean our survival – few in millions can speak like us.
ALONSO:
Please, no more.
SEBASTIAN:
(to ANTONIO) He enjoys these comforting words as much as cold
porridge.
ANTONIO:
(to SEBASTIAN) He will not give up that easily.
SEBASTIAN:
Look. He’s like a clock winding up to strike the hour.
GONZALO:
(to ALONSO) Sir –
SEBASTIAN:
(to ANTONIO) And there he goes.
GONZALO:
If we let every grief weigh upon us then we would find ourselves forever in
pain. Therefore my lord –
ANTONIO:
(to SEBASTIAN) Will he not be quiet?
ALONSO:
(to GONZALO) I pray you, no more.
GONZALO:
Well, I am nearly done. But yet –
SEBASTIAN:
(to ANTONIO) He insists on talking.
GONZALO:
While this island seems to be deserted, uninhabitable and almost
inaccessible –
SEBASTIAN:
Yet –
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GONZALO:
Yet –
ANTONIO:
He had to say it, it was unavoidable.
GONZALO:
The island must be mild and have a delicate temperance.
ANTONIO:
I knew Temperance – she was a delicate wench.
SEBASTIAN:
Yes, and mild too.
GONZALO:
This island contains everything beneficial to life.
ALONSO:
True. Everything except something to live on.
GONZALO:
How lush and healthy the grass looks! How green!
ANTONIO:
The ground is brown.
SEBASTIAN:
With a touch of green in it.
ANTONIO:
He doesn’t miss much.
GONZALO:
But the rarity of it is – which is indeed almost beyond belief –
SEBASTIAN:
As many unbelievable things are.
GONZALO:
That our garments were drenched with sea water but now seem as if they
were new.
ANTONIO:
Listen to him. If his clothes could talk, they would call him a liar.
GONZALO:
Is not, sir, my doublet as fresh as the first day I wore it at your daughter’s
marriage to the King of Tunis?
ALONSO:
You continue to cram these words into my ear that I don’t wish to hear. I
wish I had never married my daughter there. I will never see her again and
my son is lost. The heir of Naples and Milan. Oh, dear son of mine, what
strange fish has made a meal of you?
GONZALO:
Sir, he may live. I saw him beat the waves under him and ride upon their
backs. I have no doubt he came alive to land.
ALONSO:
No, no, he’s gone.
SEBASTIAN:
Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss. You would not bless our
Europe with your daughter, but rather give her to an African.
ALONSO:
I pray you, peace.
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SEBASTIAN:
We all begged you not to consent to this marriage. Now I fear we have lost
your son forever. The fault’s your own.
ALONSO:
And the greatest sorrow is mine too.
GONZALO:
My lord Sebastian, you speak the truth but you lack gentleness. You rub
the sore when you should bring the bandage.
SEBASTIAN:
Very well.
GONZALO:
If I could colonise this island, my lord, and were king of it, what would I do?
SEBASTIAN:
Apart from not getting drunk as there is no wine.
GONZALO:
There would be no officials and no schooling. No riches or poverty and no
servants – none. There would be no work. All men and women idle – all
pure and innocent. There would be no kingship.
SEBASTIAN:
He wants to be king in a place with no kingship.
GONZALO:
But nature would provide in abundance to feed my innocent people.
SEBASTIAN:
God save his majesty!
ANTONIO:
Long live Gonzalo!
GONZALO:
(to ALONSO) Are you listening to me, sir?
ALONSO:
Please, no more. This is all nothing to me.
GONZALO:
Of course, your highness. I spoke to give these gentlemen here occasion
to be merry and laugh. They do love to laugh at nothing.
SEBASTIAN:
It was you we laughed at.
GONZALO:
And in this merry fooling I am nothing to you and so you may continue and
laugh at nothing still.
Enter ARIEL playing solemn music.
ANTONIO:
What a blow was given there!
SEBASTIAN:
Good, my lord, be not angry.
GONZALO:
No. I’m not. But will you laugh me asleep, for I am very heavy? (he falls
asleep)
ANTONIO:
Asleep so fast? I wish I could sleep and quiet my thoughts.
SEBASTIAN:
Please you, sir, do not refuse the offer of sleep.
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ANTONIO:
We two, my lord, will guard you while you take your rest.
ALONSO:
Thank you. (he falls asleep)
Exit ARIEL.
SEBASTIAN:
What a strange drowsiness possesses them!
ANTONIO:
It must be the climate.
SEBASTIAN:
So why do we not sleep?
ANTONIO:
They fell asleep together, as if it were planned. Like they had been struck
by lightning. What might happen, worthy Sebastian, O what might – ? No
more. – And yet I think I see in your face what you should be. The
opportunity presents itself and my imagination sees a crown dropping upon
your head.
SEBASTIAN:
Do you dream?
ANTONIO:
Noble Sebastian, I am more serious than is my usual custom. You could be
great.
SEBASTIAN:
I pray you, say on.
ANTONIO:
(points to GONZALO) Although this lord almost succeeded in persuading
the king that his son is alive it is impossible that he survived. Do you
agree?
SEBASTIAN:
I’m sure he must be dead.
ANTONIO:
Then, tell me, who is the next heir of Naples?
SEBASTIAN:
My brother’s daughter, Claribel.
ANTONIO:
She that is Queen of Tunis, living at the edge of the world, who was the
cause of our shipwreck.
SEBASTIAN:
What stuff is this? What say you?
ANTONIO:
Say that these sleeping men were dead. There are many men who can rule
Naples as well as he that sleeps here. Oh, that you had my mind. Do you
understand me?
I think I do. I remember how you did unseat your brother Prospero.
SEBASTIAN:
ANTONIO:
True. And look how well my new role fits me. My brother’s servants were
my equals. Now they work for me.
SEBASTIAN:
But what of your conscience?
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ANTONIO:
Yes, What of it? Here lies your brother, no better than the dirt he sleeps
upon. If he were dead, as he appears to be now, he would not stand in our
way. Three inches of this obedient steel would see to it.
SEBASTIAN:
Your case, dear friend, shall be my precedent. Just as you got Milan, I shall
come by Naples. Draw your sword.
ANTONIO:
Draw together. And when I raise my hand, you do the same and bring it
down on Gonzalo.
Enter ARIEL. They freeze. Singing to GONZALO.
ARIEL:
While you here do snoring lie,
Open-eyed conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber and beware.
Awake, awake!
GONZALO:
(waking and seeing them) Now, good angels protect the king!
ALONSO:
(waking) Why have you drawn your swords? What is wrong?
GONZALO:
What’s the matter?
SEBASTIAN:
While we stood here on guard as you slept, we heard a loud roar like bulls,
or rather lions. Did it not wake you?
ALONSO:
I heard nothing.
ANTONIO:
Oh it was a monstrous roar, to make the earth tremble!
ALONSO:
Did you hear this, Gonzalo?
GONZALO:
I heard a humming sound that did wake me. As my eyes opened, I saw
their weapons drawn. We should be on our guard or move on.
ALONSO:
Lead us away from here, and let’s further search for my son.
ARIEL:
Prospero my lord shall know what I have done.
So, King, go safely on to seek your son.
They exit.
15
SCENE FOUR
Enter CALIBAN with a burden of wood. Thunder.
CALIBAN:
All the diseases that the sun sucks up from bogs and swamps fall on
Prospero and infect him inch by inch until he is nothing but a walking
disease. His spirits hear me, and yet I needs must curse. But they’ll not
pinch or frighten me or throw me in the mire unless he bids them to. But he
sets them upon me for every trifle.
Enter TRINCULO
Look! Here comes a spirit of his to torment me for bringing in wood slowly.
I’ll fall flat. Maybe he will not see me. (he lies down and covers himself)
TRINCULO:
Here’s neither bush nor shrub to protect me from the weather. And there’s
another storm brewing – I can hear it sing in the wind. If it should thunder
as it did before, I know not where to hide my head. (Sees CALIBAN) What
have we here? A man or a fish? Dead or alive? A fish. He smells like a fish,
a very ancient and fish-like smell. Legs like a man and fins like arms!
Warm, by God. I do let loose my opinion – this is no fish, but an islander
that has been struck by lightning. (thunder) Here comes the storm again!
The best thing to do is to creep under his cover. There is no other shelter
hereabouts. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. (he crawls
under the cover)
Enter STEPHANO, singing.
STEPHANO:
I shall no more to sea, to sea,
Here shall I die ashore –
This is a rotten song to sing at a man’s funeral. Well, here’s my comfort.
(he drinks and sings)
The master, the swabber. the boatswain, and I,
The gunner and his mate
Loved Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery,
But none of us cared for Kate.
For she had a tongue...
CALIBAN:
Do not torment me!
STEPHANO:
What’s the matter? Do we have devils here? Do you play tricks on me? I
have not escaped drowning to be afeard now of your four legs.
CALIBAN:
The spirit torments me!
STEPHANO:
This is some monster of the isle with four legs who seems to be in some
kind of pain. Where the devil did he learn our language? I will give him
some relief. If I can recover him and keep him tame and get him back to
Naples, he’d make an excellent present for any emperor.
16
CALIBAN:
Do not torment me, please. I’ll bring my wood home faster.
STEPHANO:
He’s in a fit and talks nonsense. He shall taste of my bottle. If he has never
drunk wine before, it will help sooth his fever.
CALIBAN:
You have not hurt me yet, but you soon will – Prospero sent you.
STEPHANO:
(trying to give CALIBAN a drink) Come on, open your mouth. This will
shake your shaking, I can tell you that for sure. (CALIBAN drinks) You
cannot tell who’s your friend. Open up that mouth again.
TRINCULO:
I should know that voice. It should be – But he is drowned, and these are
devils. Oh, defend me!
STEPHANO:
Four legs and two voices – a most delicate monster. His forward voice
speaks well of his friend. His backward voice is to utter foul speeches. If it
takes all the wine in my bottle, I’ll recover him. Come (CALIBAN drinks)
Amen! Now I will pour some in your other mouth.
TRINCULO:
Stephano!
STEPHANO:
Does your other mouth call me? Mercy, mercy! This is a devil, and no
monster. I will leave him.
TRINCULO:
Stephano! If you are Stephano, touch me and speak to me. I am Trinculo –
be not afeard – your good friend Trinculo.
STEPHANO:
If you are Trinculo, come fourth. I’ll pull you by the lesser legs. If any be
Trinculo’s legs, these are they. (he pulls TRICULO out from under the
cover) You are very Trinculo indeed! How did you come to be the siege of
this mooncalf? Can he vent Trinculo’s?
TRINCULO:
I thought he had been killed by a thunderstroke. But are you not drowned,
Stephano? Is the storm overblown? I hid under the dead mooncalf’s cloak
for fear of the storm. And are you living Stephano? O Stephano, two
Neapolitans survived! (he dances around STEPHANO)
STEPHANO:
Please, do not turn me about. My stomach is not constant.
CALIBAN:
(to himself) These be fine things, if they be not sprites. That’s a brave god
who bears celestial liquor. I will kneel to him.
STEPHANO:
(to TRINCULO) How did you survive? Swear by this bottle how you came
here. I floated here upon a barrel of wine the sailors heaved overboard.
CALIBAN:
(to STEPHANO) I’ll swear upon that bottle to be your true subject.
STEPHANO:
(to TRINCULO) Here. Swear then how you escaped.
TRINCULO:
I swam ashore like a duck.
17
STEPHANO:
Here, kiss the book. You may swim like a duck, but you look more like a
goose. (TRINCULO drinks) How now, mooncalf? How is your fever?
CALIBAN:
Have you not dropped from heaven?
STEPHANO:
Out of the moon, I do assure you. I was the man in the moon a long time
ago.
CALIBAN:
I have seen you there and I do worship you.
STEPHANO:
Come, swear to that, kiss the book. (CALIBAN drinks)
TRINCULO:
By this good light he’s a very weak monster. The man in the moon! A most
poor naive monster.
CALIBAN:
(to STEPHANO) I’ll show you every fertile inch of the island, and I will kiss
your feet. I beg you, be my god.
TRINCULO:
What a lying, drunken monster. When his god’s asleep, he’ll steal his
bottle.
CALIBAN:
(to STEPHANO) I’ll kiss your foot. I’ll vow to be your faithful subject.
STEPHANO:
Come on then. Down, and swear.
TRINCULO:
I shall laugh myself to death at this puppy-headed monster.
STEPHANO:
Come on, kiss my foot.
CALIBAN:
I’ll show you the best springs. I’ll pick you berries. I’ll fish for you and bring
you wood. I beg you, let me show you where you can find crabs. I’ll show
you a jay’s nest and instruct you how to catch the nimble marmoset. Will
you come with me?
STEPHANO:
Show us the way without further delay. Here, bear my bottle. – Fellow
Trinculo, we will refill him soon enough. (to CALIBAN) O brave monster!
Lead the way.
They exit.
SCENE FIVE
Enter FERDINAND carrying a log.
FERDINAND:
There be some sports that are painful, but their discomfort makes them
delightful. This mean task would be as heavy and loathsome to me, but the
mistress I serve makes my labours a pleasure. Oh, she is ten times more
gentle than her father is mean.
18
Enter MIRANDA and PROSPERO unseen.
MIRANDA:
Now, please, I beg you, do not work so hard. I wish the lighting had burnt
up those logs you have been ordered to pile! Please, set it down and rest.
My father is hard at study. So please rest. We are safe from him for these
three hours.
FERDINAND:
O most dear mistress, the sun will set before I have finished this task.
MIRANDA:
If you’ll sit down, I’ll bear your logs awhile. Please, give me that. I’ll carry it
to the pile.
FERDINAND:
No, precious creature. I would rather break my back than dishonour you so.
MIRANDA:
I’d be as right for the task as you are, and I should do it with much more
ease, for my good will is for it and yours is against.
PROSPERO:
(to himself) Poor worm, you are infected by love. I can see it clearly now.
MIRANDA:
You look wearily.
FERDINAND:
No, noble mistress. I am as fresh as the morning when you are near me. I
beg you tell me, what is your name?
MIRANDA:
Miranda. – O father, I have disobeyed you by saying so!
FERDINAND:
Admired Miranda! You are indeed admired, more than anything in the
world. I have eyed many ladies with the best regard and many a time been
seduced by the sweet nothings whispered in my ear. For several virtues
have I liked several women, but each with a defect that blotted her
excellent qualities. But you are perfect, without a rival in the world.
MIRANDA:
I have never known any woman or seen a woman’s face – except my own
in the mirror. And I’ve never met any I may call men than you and my good
father. What others may look like abroad I cannot say, but I swear by my
modesty that I would not wish for any companion in the world but you. But I
prattle on too wildly.
FERDINAND:
I am a prince, Miranda – maybe even a king; though I would wish it not so
– and I would not normally endure this wooden slavery. But hear my soul
speak. The very instant that I saw you my heart flew to your service and
there it resides to make me a slave to it, and for your sake am I this patient
log-man.
MIRANDA:
Do you love me?
FERDINAND:
Oh heaven and earth, bear witness to this sound. I beyond everything else
in the world do love, prize and honour you.
MIRANDA:
I am a fool to weep at what I am glad of.
19
PROSPERO:
(to himself) Fair encounter of two most rare affections! May the heavens
bless them.
FERDINAND:
Why do you weep?
MIRANDA:
I weep at my unworthiness. I dare not offer you what I desire to give, and
much less take what I shall die to want. Away bashful cunning and be
straightforward and innocent! I am your wife if you will marry me. If not, I’ll
die your maid. To be your fellow you may deny me, but I will be your
servant whether you want me or not.
FERDINAND:
My mistress, dearest; and I will serve you forever.
MIRANDA:
My husband then?
FERDINAND:
Yes. Here’s my hand.
MIRANDA:
And mine, with my heart in it. And for now, farewell.
Exit MIRANDA and FERDINAND in opposite directions.
SCENE SIX
Enter CALIBAN, STEPHAN and TRINCULO.
STEPHANO:
Drink, servant-monster, when I bid you. Your eyes look like they have sunk
into your head.
TRINCULO:
Where else should they be? He’d be quite a monster if his eyes were in his
tail.
STEPHANO:
Mooncalf, speak once in your life, if you are a good mooncalf.
CALIBAN:
How is your Highness? Let me lick your shoe. (indicates TRINCULO) I’ll
not serve him. He’s not valiant.
TRINCULO:
You lie, most ignorant monster. I am courageous. Do you tell such
monstrous lies because you are but half a fish and half a monster?
CALIBAN:
(to STEPHANO) Look how he mocks me! Will you let him, my lord?
TRINCULO:
“Lord,” he calls you? What an idiot that monster is!
CALIBAN:
(to STEPHANO) There he goes again! Bite him to death, I pray you.
STEPHANO:
Trinculo, be polite. The poor monster’s my subject and he shall not suffer
being insulted.
20
CALIBAN:
I thank my noble lord. Now would you please listen once again to my
request?
STEPHANO:
Indeed I will. And so will Trinculo.
Enter ARIEL invisible.
CALIBAN:
As I told you before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer who tricked me and
took my island.
ARIEL:
You lie.
CALIBAN:
(to TRINCULO) You lie, you jesting monkey. I wish my valiant master
would destroy you. I do not lie.
STEPHANO:
Trinculo, if you trouble him anymore, I swear, I will knock out your teeth.
TRINCULO:
Why, I said nothing.
STEPHANO:
Quiet then, and no more. Proceed.
CALIBAN:
I say, by sorcery he got this isle. From me he got it. If your greatness is
willing, take revenge on him – for I know that you are brave enough and –
STEPHANO:
That’s most certain.
CALIBAN:
You shall be lord of the island and I will serve you.
STEPHANO:
How shall we do this? Can you bring me to him?
CALIBAN:
Yes, yes, my lord. I’ll take you to where he sleeps, where you can knock a
nail into his head.
ARIEL:
You lie. You cannot.
CALIBAN:
What an idiot is this! I beg you highness, beat him and take his bottle from
him.
TRINCULO:
Why, what did I do? I did nothing. I’ll go farther off.
STEPHANO:
Did you not say he lied?
ARIEL:
You lie.
STEPHANO:
(to TRINCULO) Do I so? Take that, then. (beats TRINCULO) and if you
want more, accuse me of lying again.
TRINCULO:
I did not accuse you of lying. Are you out of your wits and deaf too? This is
what happens when you drink too much.
21
STEPHANO:
Now, forward with your tale.
CALIBAN:
Why, as I told you, it is his custom to sleep in the afternoon. There you can
brain him, having first seized his books, for without them he is nothing but a
poor fool and cannot command any of his spirits. And do not forget his
daughter, whose beauty cannot be equalled.
STEPHANO:
Is she really that wonderful?
CALIBAN:
Yes, my lord. She will look good in your bed and produce you some fine
children too.
STEPHANO:
Monster, I will kill this man. His daughter and I will be king and queen – god
protect us! – and you and Trinculo shall be our governors. – Do you like the
plot, Trinculo?
TRINCULO:
Excellent.
STEPHANO:
Give me your hand. I am sorry I beat you. But while you live you must learn
to control your tongue.
CALIBAN:
In half an hour he will be asleep. Will you destroy him then?
STEPHANO:
Yes, I swear.
ARIEL:
(aside) This I will tell my master.
STEPHANO:
Lead on, monster; we’ll follow.
They exit.
SCENE SEVEN
Enter ALONSO, GONZALO, ANTONIO and SEBASTIAN.
GONZALO:
I can go no further, sir. I needs must rest me.
ALONSO:
Old lord, I cannot blame you. I too am weary and it dulls my spirits. Sit
down and rest. The one we look for is drowned. The sea mocks us as we
search on land. Well, let him go.
ANTONIO:
(aside to SEBASTIAN) I am glad that he’s so out of hope. Do not forego
our plan.
SEBASTIAN:
(aside to ANTONIO) The next chance we get, we’ll do the deed.
ANTONIO:
(aside to SEBASTIAN) Let it be tonight, for now they are weary from travel.
Solemn and strange music. Enter PROSPERO.
22
SEBASTIAN:
Yes, tonight. Speak no more.
ALONSO:
What harmony is this? My good friends, listen?
GONZALO:
Marvellous sweet music!
Enter several strange shapes, bringing in a banquet, inviting the king and the others to eat.
ALONSO:
Heaven help us! What were these?
GONZALO:
If I told them in Naples of this, would they believe me?
SEBASTIAN:
Will it please you taste of what is here?
GONZALO:
Faith sir, you need not fear.
ALONSO:
I will eat, even if this is my last supper. No matter, since I feel the best is
past.
Thunder and lightning. Enter ARIEL, like a harpy.
ARIEL:
You are three men of sin, whom Destiny the sea has caused to belch you
up – and on this island where man does not inhabit, you amongst men
being most unfit to live. I have made you mad. (SEBASTIAN and
ANTONIO swing their swords) You fools, I and my fellows are ministers of
fate. The elements of whom your swords are tempered may as well wound
the winds as diminish one dowl that’s in my plume. But remember – for
that’s my business to you – that you three from Milan did supplant good
Prospero, him and his innocent child. For which foul deed the powers –
delaying, not forgetting – have incensed the seas and shores against your
peace. You of your son, Alonso, they have bereft, and do pronounce by me
lingering perdition shall step by step attend you and your ways. (ARIEL
vanishes.)
PROSPERO:
(aside) Bravely the figure of this harpy have you performed, my Ariel. My
high charms work and these my enemies are all knit up in their distractions.
They are now in my power.
GONZALO:
(to ALONSO) In the name of something holy, sir, why do you stand in this
strange stare?
ALONSO:
Oh, it is monstrous. I thought the clouds spoke and told me of it, the winds
did sing it to me, and the thunder did pronounce the name of Prospero. It
sang of my crimes and because of them my son is dead. (he exits)
SEBASTIAN:
I’ll fight their legions one fiend at a time.
ANTONIO:
I’ll be your second.
They all exit.
23
SCENE EIGHT
Enter PROSPERO, MIRANDA and FERDINAND.
PROSPERO:
(to FERDINAND) If I have punished you too harshly, then this
compensation will make amends, for I have given you here a third of my
own life – everything I live for – I put into your hands. These trials were but
a test of your love and you have passed. Then take my daughter. But if you
take advantage of her innocence before the marriage ceremony takes
place the heavens will not bless this bond, but overwhelm you with hate,
contempt and discord.
FERDINAND:
I hope for quiet days, loving family, and long life. To protect the love I
cherish, I will not be tempted to forget my honour and give into sinful
desire.
PROSPERO:
Fairly spoke. Sit then and talk with her. She is yours – Come, Ariel! My
trusty servant, Ariel!
Enter ARIEL.
ARIEL:
What would my powerful master have? Here I am.
PROSPERO:
You and your fellow spirits performed your last task well and I must use
you in another trick. Bring them here. I must give this young couple a
display of my power. It is my promise and they expect it from me.
ARIEL:
Right now?
PROSPERO:
Yes, right away.
ARIEL:
Before you can say “Come” and “Go,”
And breathe twice and cry “So, so!”
Exit ARIEL.
PROSPERO:
(to FERDINAND) Be sure you behave honourably. The strongest oaths are
straw to the fire in the blood. Be noble or you shall break your vow.
FERDINAND:
I assure you, sir, the tender love I feel in my heart is stronger than any
lustful desires.
PROSPERO:
Good. – Now come, my Ariel! No more talking. Just watch! Be silent.
Soft music. Spirits appear and dance for them.
FERDINAND:
This is a most majestic vision. Are these spirits?
PROSPERO:
Spirits that I have called out of their prisons to perform as I wish.
24
FERDINAND:
Let me live here forever.
The spirits continue. The PROSPERO starts suddenly and speaks.
PROSPERO:
I had forgotten that foul conspiracy of the beast Caliban to kill me. The
minute of their plot is almost here. (to the spirits) Well done. Leave now, no
more!
The spirits vanish and silence falls.
FERDINAND:
(to MIRANDA) This is strange. Your father seems troubled.
MIRANDA:
I have never seen him as enraged as this.
PROSPERO:
(to FERDINAND) My son you look concerned. Be cheerful, sir. Our revels
have now ended and those spirits have now melted into thin air. We are
such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a
sleep. Sir, I am upset. Bear with my weakness. If you wish, you can rest a
while in my cell. A turn or two I’ll walk to calm my feverish mind.
FERDINAND:
We wish you peace.
Exit FERDINAND and MIRANDA.
PROSPERO:
Come, Ariel – I summon you with a thought. Ariel, come.
Enter ARIEL.
ARIEL:
I obey your thoughts. What is your pleasure?
PROSPERO:
Spirit. We must prepare to meet with Caliban. Tell me again, where did you
leave those villains?
ARIEL:
I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking, so full of valour that they
swiped at the air for breathing in their faces and beat the ground for kissing
their feet. I left them in the filthy pool beyond your cell, dancing with the
dirty water up to their chins.
PROSPERO:
This was well done, my bird. Remain invisible and bring all the finery from
my house. We shall use it as bait to catch these thieves.
ARIEL:
I go, I go. (exits)
PROSPERO:
Caliban is a devil, a born devil, who can never be changed. And as with
age his body grows uglier so too rots away his mind. I’ll torment them all till
they roar with pain.
Enter ARIEL bringing the items requested followed by CALIBAN, STEPHANO and TRINCULO
CALIBAN:
Pray you, tread softly. We are now near his cell.
25
TRINCULO:
Monster, I do smell like horse piss, which upsets my nose.
STEPHANO:
Mine too. – Do you hear, monster? If I should take a disliking to you –
TRINCULO:
You would be a lost monster.
CALIBAN:
Please, my king, be quiet. Look here, this is the mouth of his cell. Do the
deed that will make this island yours forever.
STEPHANO:
Give me your hand. I do begin to have bloody thoughts.
TRINCULO:
(seeing the apparel) O King Stephano! O worthy Stephano, look what a
wardrobe is here for you!
CALIBAN:
Let it alone, you fool, It is worthless.
TRINCULO:
(putting on a gown) O King Stephano!
STEPHANO:
Take off that gown, Trinculo. By this hand, I’ll have that gown.
TRINCULO:
Your grace shall have it.
CALIBAN:
To hell with this fool! Leave it alone and do the murder first. If he wakes up
before we kill him –
STEPHANO:
Be quiet, monster.
TRINCULO:
Monster, come, and carry away the rest.
CALIBAN:
We are wasting our time. We shall miss our chance.
STEPHANO:
Monster, use your fingers. Help to bear this away to where my wine is
hidden, or I’ll turn you out of my kingdom. Go on, carry this.
TRINCULO:
And this.
STEPHANO:
Yes, and this.
Enter spirits that look like a pack of dogs with PROSPERO and ARIEL urging them on.
PROSPERO:
Hey, Mountain, hey!
ARIEL:
Silver. There they go, Silver!
PROSPERO:
Fury, Fury! – There, Tyrant, there. Listen, listen!
CALIBAN, STEPHANO and TRINCULO are driven away by the dogs.
PROSPERO:
Go charge my goblins to grind their joints and give them more bruises than
a leopard has spots.
26
ARIEL:
Listen, they roar.
PROSPERO:
Let them be hunted. Now all my enemies lie at my mercy. Soon all my work
shall be done and you will be free.
SCENE NINE
Enter PROSPERO in his magic robes and ARIEL.
PROSPERO:
Say, my spirit, how fares the king and his followers?
ARIEL:
Just as you left them; all prisoners, sir. The king, his brother, and yours all
remain confused and distracted. The one you call “the good old Lord
Gonzalo” sits whilst his tears run down his beard like winter drops. Your
charm works on them so strongly that if you saw them now your affections
would become tender.
PROSPERO:
Do you think so, spirit?
ARIEL:
Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO:
And mine shall. If you, who are but air, have a sense, a feeling of their
suffering, then how can I not, as one of their kind, be more moved than you
are? Though with their high wrongs I was hurt to the core my nobler
instincts will help me feel compassion for them. As they are remorseful the
rest of plan shall go no further. Go release them, Ariel. My charms I’ll
break, their senses I’ll restore, and they shall be themselves.
ARIEL:
I’ll fetch them, sir. (exit)
PROSPERO:
(tracing a circle on the ground) You elves of the hills, brooks, standing
lakes and groves, and you who chase Neptune as he flows away from the
shore and flee from him when he comes back without leaving a footprint on
the sand, you little fairies that by moonshine make fairy rings in the grass
where the ewe will not eat. You have helped me to cover with clouds the
noontide sun, call forth the mutinous winds and set a roaring war between
the green sea and azured sky. I have given fire to the dread rattling
thunder, and split apart Jove’s stout oak with his own thunderbolt. Graves
at my command have awoken their sleepers, opened and let them out by
my powerful magic. But this rough magic I now swear to abandon, and,
after I have commanded some heavenly music to work upon their senses, I
will break my staff and bury it far under the earth and deeper than has ever
been measured, I’ll drown my book.
Solemn music plays. Enter ALONSO, GONZALO, SEBASTIAN and ANTONIO. They enter the
circle that PROSPERO has made.
27
PROSPERO:
There stand, for you are spell-stopped. (they all freeze)
(to GONZALO) O good Gonzalo, my saviour and loyal sir. I will reward you
fully both in word and deed.
(to ALONSO) Most cruelly did you, Alonso, use me and my daughter. And
your brother helped you in the act. –
(to SEBASTIAN) You suffer for it now, Sebastian. –
(to ANTONIO) My own flesh and blood, brother of mine, that entertained
ambition and forgot all natural compassion, whom, with Sebastian, would
here have killed your king – I do forgive you, unnatural though you are.
(aside) Their understanding begins to swell.
(to ARIEL) Ariel, remove my cloak. Soon, spirit, you will be free. Why, that’s
my dainty Ariel. I shall miss you, but you shall have your freedom. So, so,
so. –
(to all) Behold, sir King, the wronged Duke of Milan. Prospero. I bid you a
hearty welcome.
ALONSO:
Whether you are him or not, or if this is some enchantment, I do not know.
Your pulse beats as if you were flesh and blood. There must be a strange
explanation for this. I surrender your dukedom and beg you to pardon me
my wrongs. But how is it possible Prospero be living and be here?
PROSPERO:
(to GONZALO) First, noble friend, let me embrace you, who are more
honourable than can be measured.
GONZALO:
Whether this be, or be not, I’ll not swear.
PROSPERO:
Welcome, my friends.
(aside to SEBASTIAN and ANTONIO) But you, my lords, if I desired, I
could expose you for the traitors you are. At this time I will tell no tales.
SEBASTIAN:
The devil speaks in him.
PROSPERO:
No. – (to ANTONIO) For you, most wicked sir, whom to call my brother
would infect my mouth, I do forgive you your sins and require my dukedom
back from you.
ALONSO:
If you are Prospero, give us the details of how you were saved, how you
met us here, when we were shipwrecked only three hours ago, when I lost
my dear son Ferdinand.
PROSPERO:
I’m so sorry, sir. I have lost my daughter.
ALONSO:
Daughter? When did you lose your daughter?
PROSPERO:
In this last tempest. But whatever the reason for you losing your senses,
know for certain that I am Prospero, that very duke who was thrust out of
Milan, who most strangely, landed upon this shore where you were
shipwrecked and became the lord of it. This cell is my court. Please, look
in. Since you have given me back my dukedom, I’ll give you back
something equally as precious.
28
We see MIRANDA and FERDINAND playing chess.
MIRANDA:
Sweet lord, you are cheating.
FERDINAND:
No, my dearest love, I would not for the world.
MIRANDA:
Maybe not for the world but for twenty kingdoms you would and I would still
lie and call it fair play.
ALONSO:
If this is a vision of the Island then I will lose my son twice.
FERDINAND:
Though the seas threaten, they are sometimes merciful too. I cursed them
without cause.
ALONSO:
Receive all the blessings of a happy father. Say how you came here.
MIRANDA:
Oh, wonder! How many wonderful creatures are there here!
ALONSO:
(to FERDINAND) Who is this maid? Is she the goddess that separated us
and brought us back together?
FERDINAND:
Sir, she is mortal, and by the grace of God, she is mine.
ALONSO:
Give me your hands. May anyone who does not wish you joy embrace grief
and sorrow in his heart.
ARIEL:
(aside to PROSPERO) Was it well done?
PROSPERO:
(aside to ARIEL) Perfectly. You shall be free.
ALONSO:
This is a strange maze as ever a man trod.
PROSPERO:
Sir, my liege, do not waste your time musing over how strange this
business is. When the time is right, which shall be shortly, I promise I alone
will explain all that has happened. Till then, be cheerful. (to ARIEL) Come
here, spirit. Set Caliban and his companions free. Untie the spell. (ARIEL
exits) There are still some missing from your company. Some few odd lads
you remember not.
Enter STEPHANO and TRINCULO in their stolen clothes.
TRINCULO:
If I can believe my eyes, this is a fine sight to see.
STEPHANO:
Oh, these are handsome spirits indeed! How fine my master is! I’m afraid
he will punish me.
PROSPERO:
These two with another, my lord, have robbed me. Caliban is the third. A
misshapen knave who’s mother was a witch, and one so strong that she
could control the moon and the tides. Together they plotted to take my life.
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These two fellows you know and must claim as your own. The thing of
darkness, that fears to show his head, I acknowledge as mine.
ALONSO:
Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler? And Trinculo too. They are drunk!
Where did they find the liquor? (to TRINCULO) How came you in this
pickle?
TRINCULO:
I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear, I will never
again be sober.
FERDINAND:
Why, how now, Stephano?
STEPHANO:
Oh, do not touch me. I am not Stephano, I am a walking cramp.
PROSPERO:
You desired to be king of the isle, sir?
STEPHANO:
I should have been a sore king then.
ALONSO:
(to STEPHANO and TRINCULO) Go, and put your garments back where
you found them.
FERDINAND:
Or stole them, rather.
PROSPERO:
Sir, I invite your highness to rest this night in my cell. I will recount for you
the story of my life and all that has happened since I came to this isle. And
in the morning I will take you to your ship and we shall sail to Naples,
where I hope to see this loving couple wed. And then I shall retire to my
Milan.
ALONSO:
I long to hear the story of your life, which must be a strange tale.
PROSPERO:
I’ll tell you everything, and I promise you calm seas and favourable winds
for your voyage. (to ARIEL) My Ariel, this task is for you. Then to the
elements be free, and farewell!
EPILOGUE
PROSPERO:
Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
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Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
THE END
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