Boult.
Pand.
Well, I had rather than twice the worth
of her, she had ne'er come here.
Bawd.
Fye, fye upon her; she is able to freeze
the god Priapus5 note, and undo a whole generation.
We must either get her ravished, or be rid of her.
When she should do for clients her fitment, and do
me the kindness of our profession, she has me her
quirks, her reasons, her master reasons, her prayers,
her knees; that she would make a puritan of the
devil, if he should cheapen a kiss of her.
Boult.
'Faith, I must ravish her, or she'll disfurnish
us of all our cavaliers, and make all our
swearers priests.
Pand.
Now, the pox upon her green-sickness
for me!
Bawd.
'Faith, there's no way to be rid on't, but
-- 173 --
by the way to the pox. Here comes the lord Lysimachus,
disguised6 note
.
Boult.
We should have both lord and lown, if
the peevish baggage would but give way to customers.
Enter Lysimachus.
Lys.
How now? How a dozen of virginities7 note
?
Bawd.
Now, the gods to-bless your honour8 note!
Boult.
I am glad to see your honour in good
health.
Lys.
You may so; 'tis the better for you that
your resorters stand upon sound legs. How now,
wholesome iniquity9 note. Have you that a man may
deal withal, and defy the surgeon?
-- 174 --
Bawd.
We have here one, sir, if she would—
but there never came her like in Mitylene.
Lys.
If she'd do the deeds of darkness, thou
would'st say.
Bawd.
Your honour knows what 'tis to say, well
enough.
Lys.
Well; call forth, call forth.
Boult.
For flesh and blood, sir, white and red,
you shall see a rose; and she were a rose indeed, if
she had but—
Lys.
What, pr'ythee?
Boult.
O, sir, I can be modest.
Lys.
That dignifies the renown of a bawd, no
less than it gives a good report to a number to be
chaste1 note
.
Enter Marina.
Bawd.
Here comes that which grows to the
stalk;—never plucked yet, I can assure you. Is she
not a fair creature?
Lys.
'Faith, she would serve after a long voyage
at sea. Well, there's for you;—leave us.
Bawd.
I beseech your honour, give me leave: a
word, and I'll have done presently.
-- 175 --
Lys.
I beseech you, do.
Bawd.
First, I would have you note, this is an
honourable man.
[To Marina, whom she takes aside.
Mar.
I desire to find him so, that I may worthily
note him.
Bawd.
Next, he's the governor of this country,
and a man whom I am bound to.
Mar.
If he govern the country, you are bound
to him indeed; but how honourable he is in that,
I know not.
Bawd.
'Pray you, without any more virginal
fencing2 note
, will you use him kindly? He will line
your apron with gold.
Mar.
What he will do graciously, I will thankfully
receive.
Lys.
Have you done?
Bawd.
My lord, she's not paced yet3 note; you must
take some pains to work her to your manage. Come,
we will leave his honour and her together4 note
.
[Exeunt Bawd, Pander, and Boult.
Lys.
Go thy ways.—Now, pretty one, how long
have you been at this trade?
Mar.
What trade, sir?
-- 176 --
Lys.
What I cannot name but I shall offend5 note
.
Mar.
I cannot be offended with my trade.
Please you to name it.
Lys.
How long have you been of this profession?
Mar.
Ever since I can remember.
Lys.
Did you go to it so young? Were you a
gamester at five, or at seven6 note
?
Mar.
Earlier too, sir, if now I be one.
Lys.
Why, the house you dwell in, proclaims
you to be a creature of sale.
Mar.
Do you know this house to be a place of
such resort, and will come into it? I hear say, you
are of honourable parts, and are the governor of
this place.
Lys.
Why, hath your principal made known unto
you who I am?
Mar.
Who is my principal?
Lys.
Why, your herb-woman; she that sets seed
and roots of shame and iniquity. O, you have
heard something of my power, and so stand aloof7 note
for more serious wooing. But I protest to thee,
pretty one, my authority shall not see thee, or else,
look friendly upon thee. Come, bring me to some
private place. Come, come.
-- 177 --
Mar.
If you were born to honour, show it now8 note
;
If put upon you, make the judgment good
That thought you worthy of it.
Lys.
How's this? how's this?—Some more;—be sage9 note.
Mar.
For me,
That am a maid, though most ungentle fortune
Hath plac'd me here within this loathsome stie,
Where, since I came, diseases have been sold
Dearer than physick,—O that the good gods
Would set me free from this unhallow'd place,
Though they did change me to the meanest bird
That flies i' the purer air!
Lys.
I did not think
Thou could'st have spoke so well; ne'er dream'd thou could'st.
Had I brought hither a corrupted mind,
Thy speech had alter'd it. Hold, here's gold for thee:
-- 178 --
Perséver still in that clear way thou goest1 note
,
And the gods strengthen thee!
Mar.
The gods preserve you!
Lys.
For me, be you thoughten
That I came with no ill intent; for to me
The very doors and windows savour vilely.
Farewell. Thou art a piece of virtue2 note
, and
I doubt not but thy training hath been noble.—
Hold; here's more gold for thee.—
A curse upon him, die he like a thief,
That robs thee of thy goodness! If thou hear'st from me,
It shall be for thy good.
[As Lysimachus is putting up his Purse, Boult enters.
Boult.
I beseech your honour, one piece for me.
Lys.
Avaunt, thou damned door-keeper! Your house,
But for this virgin that doth prop it up,
Would sink, and overwhelm you all. Away!
[Exit Lysimachus.
Boult.
How's this? We must take another
course with you. If your peevish chastity, which
is not worth a breakfast in the cheapest country under
-- 179 --
the cope3 note, shall undo a whole household, let me
be gelded like a spaniel. Come your ways.
Mar.
Whither would you have me?
Boult.
I must have your maidenhead taken off,
or the common hangman shall execute it. Come
your way. We'll have no more gentlemen driven
away. Come your ways, I say.
Re-enter Bawd.
Bawd.
How now! what's the matter?
Boult.
Worse and worse, mistress; she has here
spoken holy words to the lord Lysimachus.
Bawd.
O abominable!
Boult.
She makes our profession as it were to
stink afore the face of the gods4 note
.
Bawd.
Marry, hang her up for ever!
Boult.
The nobleman would have dealt with
her like a nobleman, and she sent him away as cold
as a snowball; saying his prayers too.
Bawd.
Boult, take her away; use her at thy
pleasure: crack the glass of her virginity, and make
the rest malleable5 note
.
-- 180 --
Boult.
An if she were a thornier piece of ground
than she is, she shall be ploughed6 note
.
Mar.
Hark, hark, you gods!
Bawd.
She conjures: away with her. Would
she had never come within my doors! Marry hang
you! She's born to undo us. Will you not go the
way of women-kind? Marry come up, my dish of
chastity with rosemary and bays7 note!
[Exit Bawd.
Boult.
Come, mistress; come your way with
me.
Mar.
Whither would you have me?
Boult.
To take from you the jewel you hold so
dear.
Mar.
Pr'ythee, tell me one thing first.
Boult.
Come now, your one thing8 note
.
Mar.
What canst thou wish thine enemy to be?
Boult.
Why, I could wish him to be my master,
or rather, my mistress.
Mar.
Neither of these are yet so bad as thou art9 note,
-- 181 --
Since they do better thee in their command.
Thou hold'st a place, for which the pained'st fiend
Of hell would not in reputation change:
Thou'rt the damn'd door-keeper to every coystrel
That hither comes enquiring for his tib1 note
;
To the cholerick fisting of each rogue thy ear
Is liable; thy very food is such
As hath been belch'd on by infected lungs2 note.
Boult.
What would you have me? go to the
wars, would you? where a man may serve seven
years for the loss of a leg, and have not money
enough in the end to buy him a wooden one?
Mar.
Do any thing but this thou doest. Empty
Old receptacles, or common sewers, of filth;
Serve by indenture to the common hangman;
Any of these ways are better yet than this3 note
:
-- 182 --
For that which thou professest, a baboon, could he speak,
Would own a name too dear4 note
. That the gods
Would safely from this place deliver me!
Here, here is gold for thee.
If that thy master would gain aught by me,
Proclaim that I can sing, weave, sew, and dance,
With other virtues, which I'll keep from boast;
And I will undertake all these to teach.
I doubt not but this populous city will
Yield many scholars5 note
.
Boult.
But can you teach all this you speak of?
Mar.
Prove that I cannot, take me home again,
And prostitute me to the basest groom6 note
That doth frequent your house.
-- 183 --
Boult.
Well, I will see what I can do for thee:
if I can place thee, I will.
Mar.
But, amongst honest women?
Boult.
'Faith, my acquaintance lies little amongst
them. But since my master and mistress have
bought you, there's no going but by their consent;
therefore I will make them acquainted with your
purpose, and I doubt not but I shall find them
tractable enough7 note. Come, I'll do for thee what I
can; come your ways.
[Exeunt.
James Boswell [1821], The plays and poems of William Shakspeare, with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators: comprehending A Life of the Poet, and an enlarged history of the stage, by the late Edmond Malone. With a new glossarial index (J. Deighton and Sons, Cambridge) [word count] [S10201].
