That thou commend it strangely to some place Antigonus. I swear to do this, though a present death In more than this deed does require! And blessing Poor thing, condemn'd to loss! Leontes. Another's issue. 190 [Exit with the child. No, I'll not rear Servant. Enter a Servant. Please your highness, posts From those you sent to the oracle are come An hour since; Cleomenes and Dion, Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed, I Lord. So please you, sir, their speed Twenty-three days Hath been beyond account. Leontes. They have been absent: 't is good speed; foretells The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords; Leave me, 200 [Exeunt. SCENE I. A Seaport in Sicilia. Enter CLEOMENES and DION. Cleomenes. The climate 's delicate, the air most sweet, Fertile the isle, the temple much surpassing The common praise it bears. Dion. I shall report, For most it caught me, the celestial habits, Methinks I so should term them,-and the reverence Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice! How ceremonious, solemn, and unearthly It was i' the offering! Cleomenes. But of all, the burst And the ear-deafening voice o' the oracle, Dion. If the event o' the journey Prove as successful to the queen,-O, be 't so !— The time is worth the use on 't. Cleomenes. Great Apollo Turn all to the best! These proclamations, Will clear or end the business; when the oracle, Shall the contents discover, something rare Even then will rush to knowledge.—Go: fresh horses !— And gracious be the issue! SCENE II. A Court of Justice. Enter LEONTES, Lords, and Officers. ΤΟ 20 [Exeunt. Leontes. This sessions, to our great grief we pronounce, Even pushes 'gainst our heart; the party tried The daughter of a king, our wife, and one Of us too much belov'd.-Let us be clear'd Of being tyrannous, since we so openly Proceed in justice, which shall have due course, Produce the prisoner. Officer. It is his highness' pleasure that the queen Appear in person here in court.-Silence! 10 Enter HERMIONE guarded; PAULINA and Ladies attending. Leontes. Read the indictment. Officer. [Reads] 'Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes, king of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high treason, in committing adultery with Polixenes, king of Bohemia, and conspiring with Camillo to take away the life of our sovereign lord the king, thy royal husband; the pretence whereof being by circumstances partly laid open, thou, Hermione, contrary to the faith and allegiance of a true subject, didst counsel and aid them, for their better safety, to fly away by night!' Hermione. Since what I am to say must be but that Which contradicts my accusation, and The testimony on my part no other But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot me Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it, I doubt not then but innocence shall make Tremble at patience.-You, my lord, best know, A moiety of the throne, a great king's daughter, 20 30 40 Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it As I weigh grief, which I would spare; for honour, 'Tis a derivative from me to mine, And only that I stand for. I appeal To your own conscience, sir, before Polixenes Have strain'd to appear thus: if one jot beyond Cry fie upon my grave! Leontes. That any I ne'er heard yet of these bolder vices wanted Less impudence to gainsay what they did Than to perform it first. Hermione. That's true enough; Though 't is a saying, sir, not due to me. Leontes. You will not own it. Hermione. More than mistress of Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not At all acknowledge. For Polixenes, With whom I am accus'd, I do confess A lady like me, with a love even such, So and no other, as yourself commanded; Which not to have done I think had been in me Both disobedience and ingratitude To you and toward your friend, whose love had spoke, That it was yours. Now, for conspiracy, I know not how it tastes; though it be dish'd : Is that Camillo was an honest man; And why he left your court, the gods themselves, 50 60 70 |