R. U. E. from hovel.
Edgar. (R.)
Away! the foul fiend follows me!
Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind.—
Humph! go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.
Lear.
Hast thou given all to thy two daughters?
And art thou come to this?
Edgar.
Who gives anything to poor Tom? whom the
foul fiend hath led through fire and through flame, through
ford and whirlpool, over bog and quagmire; that hath
laid knives under his pillow, and halters in his pew; set
ratsbane by his porridge; made him proud of heart, to
ride on a bay trotting-horse over four-inched bridges, to
course his own shadow for a traitor:—Bless thy five wits!
(wind) Tom's a-cold. (wind) O, do de, do de, do de.—
-- 50 --
Bless thee from whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking!
Do poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes:
There could I have him now,—and there,—and there,—
and there again, and there.
(striking with his staff)
(storm continues)
Lear.
What! have his daughters brought him to this pass!
Could'st thou save nothing? Did'st thou give them all?
Fool.
Nay, he reserved a blanket, else he had had nought.
Lear.
Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous air
Hang fated o'er men's vaults, light on thy daughters.
Kent. (L. C.)
He hath no daughters, sir.
Lear. (C.)
Death, traitor! nothing could have subdued nature
To such a lowness, but his unkind daughters.—
Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
Judicious punishment! 'twas this flesh begot
Those pelican daughters.
Edgar. (R.)
Pillicock sat on pillicock's-hill;—
Halloo, halloo, loo, loo!
Fool. (L.)
This cold night will turn us all to fools and
madmen.
Edgar.
Take heed o' the foul fiend. Obey thy parents,
keep thy word justly; swear not; commit not with man's
sworn spouse: set not thy sweet heart on proud array.
(wind) Tom's a-cold.
Lear.
What hast thou been?
Edgar.
A serving-man, proud in heart and mind; that
curled my hair: wore gloves in my cap: swore as many
oaths as I spake words, and broke them in the sweet face
of heaven. Wine loved I deeply; dice dearly; and
out-paramoured the Turk: false of heart, light of ear,
bloody of hand; hog in sloth, fox in stealth, wolf in
greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey. Let not the
creaking of shoes, nor the rustling of silks, betray thy
poor heart to woman: keep thy foot out of brothels, thy
hand out of plackets, thy pen from lenders' books, and
defy the foul fiend. (wind) Still through the hawthorn blows
the cold wind: says suum, mun, ha no nonney, Dolphin
my boy, my boy, sessa; let him trot by.
(storm continues)
Lear.
Why, thou were better in thy grave, than to
answer with thy uncovered body this extremity of the
-- 51 --
skies.—Is man no more than this? Consider him well.
Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep
no wool, the cat no perfume: ha! here's three on's are
sophisticated!—Thou art the thing itself: unaccommodated
man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as
thou art.—Off, off, you lendings:—come; unbutton here.
(crosses, R.—tearing off his clothes—wind and rain)
Fool.
Pr'ythee, nuncle, be contented; 'tis a naughty
night to swim in.
Kent.
Defend his wits—good heaven!
Lear.
What's your name?
Edgar.
Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog, the
toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt, and the water; that
in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend rages,
swallows the old rat, and the ditch-dog; drinks the
green mantle of the standing pool; who is whipped
from tything to tything, and stocked, punished, and
imprisoned; who hath had three suits to his back, six
shirts to his body, horse to ride, and weapon to wear.
But mice, and rats, and such small deer,
Have been Tom's food for seven long year.
(Lear crosses to L., examining some straw which he takes from Edgar)
Beware, my follower:—peace, Smulkin: peace, thou fiend!
Lear.
One word more, but be sure keep true counsel
—tell me, is a madman a gentleman, a yeoman, or a king?
Edgar.
Frateretto calls me, (placing his ear to the
ground) and tells me, Nero is an angler in the lake of
darkness. Pray, innocent, and beware the foul fiend!
Lear.
To have a thousand with red burning spits
Come whizzing in upon them.
Kent.
I feared 'twould come to this.
Lear.
It shall be done; I will arraign them straight.—
Now you she foxes!—Bring in the evidence.—
Thou robed man of justice, take thy place;—
(to Edgar)
And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity,
(to the Fool)
Bench by his side.—You are o' the commission,
Sit you too. (to Kent—making them sit, L.) Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril.
And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim
What store her heart is made on.—Stop her there!
-- 52 --
Arms, arms, sword, fire!—Corruption in the place!
False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape?
Edgar. (aside)
My tears begin to take his part so much,
They'll mar my counterfeiting.
Lear.
The little dogs and all,
Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me.
Edgar.
Tom will throw his head at them.—Avaunt,
you curs!
Be thy mouth or black or white,
Tooth that poisous if it bite;
Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim,
Hound or spaniel, brach or lym,
Or bobtail tyke, or trundle tail,
Tom will make them weep and wail;
For with throwing thus my head,
Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled.
(throws his straw head dress and crosses, L.)
Do, de, de, de! sese! come march to wakes, and fairs,
and country towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is dry.
Kent.
How do you, sir? Stand you not so amaz'd—
Will go in?
Lear.
You sir; I entertain you for one of my hundred,
only I do not like the fashion of your garments—you will
say, they are Persian attire, but let them be changed.
(crosses, L.)
Fool. (pointing, R.)
Look, here comes a walking fire
Edgar. (looking, R.)
This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet:
he begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock; he gives
the web and the pin, squints the eye, and makes the harelip;
mildews the white wheat, and hurts the poor creatures
of the earth.
Saint Withold footed thrice the wold;
He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold;
Bid her alight,
And her troth plight,
And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee.
Enter Gloster and two Servants, R., with torches.
Gloster.
What has your grace no better company?
Edgar.
The prince of darkness is a gentleman;
Modo he's call'd, and Mahu. Poor Tom's a-cold.
-- 53 --
Gloster.
Go in with me; my duty cannot suffer
To obey in all your daughters' hard commands:
Though their injunction be to bar my doors,
And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you;
Yet have I ventur'd to come seek you out,
And bring you where both fire and food is ready.
Lear.
First let me talk with this philosopher;
(Lear and Edgar sit down, L. C.)
What is the cause of thunder?
Kent.
Good my lord, take his offer: go into the house.
Lear.
I'll talk a word with this same learned Theban:—
What is your study?
Edgar.
How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin.
Lear.
Let me ask you one word in private.
(whispers in Edgar's ear)
Kent.
Impórtune him once more to go, my lord,
His wits begin to unsettle.
Gloster.
Canst thou blame him?
His daughters seek his death:—
Thou say'st, the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend,
I am almost mad myself:
This bedlam, but disturbs him. Fellow, begone!
Edgar.
Child Rowland to the dark tower came,—
His word was still,—Fie, foh, and fum,
I smell the blood of a British man.
Retires, and Exit, R. U. E.—Lear clings to his
blanket and is dragged to C. there losing his hold.
Kent. (L. of Lear)
Now, good my lord—
Lear.
Aye, let them anatomise Regan,—see what breeds about her heart:
Is there any cause in nature for these hard hearts?
Gloster.
Good friend, I pr'ythee take him in thy arms;
I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him.
There is a litter ready, lay him in't,
And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet
Both welcome and protection. Good sir, along with us.
Lear.
Hush, make no noise, make no noise: draw the
curtains closer, closer, so, so, so; we'll go to supper i'the
morning—so, so.
(falls asleep and is carried off by Kent, Gloster, and Servants, R.)
-- 54 --
William Macready [1857], King Lear. A Tragedy, in five acts, by William Shakespeare (Thomas Hailes Lacy [etc.], London) [word count] [S41000].
