Flo. He shall not.

Pol. 'Prithee, let him.

Flo. No, he must not.

She. Let him, my son; he shall not need to grieve At knowing of thy choice.

Flo. Come, come, he must not :

Our contract mark.

Pol. (L. c.) Mark your divorce, young sir;

Whom son I dare not call.

Thou a sceptre's heir,

[Discovering himself.

That thus affect'st a sheep-hook?-Thou old traitor,
I am sorry, that by hanging thee, I can but
Shorten thy life one week :—

She. Undone, undone !-I cannot speak, nor think; Nor dare to know that which I know.

Pol. And thou, fresh piece

[Exit Shepherd, R.

Of excellent witchcraft-who, of force, must know,
The royal fool thou cop'st with-

Per. O, my heart!

Pol. I'll have thy beauty scratch'd with briars, and made

More homely than thy state.-For thee, fond boy-
If I may ever know thou dost but sigh,

That thou no more shalt see this knack (as never
I mean thou shalt,) we'll bar thee from succession;
Nor hold thee of our blood:

Mark thou my words:

Follow us to the court.
Camillo, come.--

And you, enchantment

If ever, henceforth, thou

These rural latches to his entrance open,

I will devise a death as cruel for thee,

As thou art tender to it.-Follow, sir.

[Exit Polixenes, L.

Per. (c.) [Camillo stands back L. c.] Even here un

done!

I was not much afear'd; for once, or twice,
I was about to speak; and tell him plainly,
The selfsame sun, that shines upon his court,
Hides not his visage from our cottage, but

Looks on all alike. [Florizel takes her hand.] Wilt please you, sir, begone?

I told you, what would come of this: 'Beseech you, Of your own state take care: this dream of mineBeing now awake, I'll queen it no inch further, But milk my ewes, and weep.

Flo. Why look you so upon me:

I am but sorry, not afear'd; delay'd,
But nothing alter'd: What I was, I am :
Lift up thy looks:-

From my succession wipe me, father! I
Am heir to my affection.

Cam. [Comes forward, L. c.] Be advis'd-

Flo. (c.) I am; and by my fancy: if my reason Will thereto be obedient, I have reason;

If not, my senses, better pleased with madness,
Do bid it welcome.

Cam. This is desperate, sir.

Flo. So call it; but it does fulfil my vow: Not for Bohemia, nor the pomp that may Be thereat glean'd; for all the sun sees, or The close earth wombs, or the profound seas hide In unknown fathoms, will I break my oath To this my fair belov'd: Therefore I pray you, As you've e'er been my father's honour'd friend, When he shall miss me, (as, in faith I mean not To see him any more,) cast your good counsels Upon his passion:

I am put to sea

With her, whom here I cannot hold on shore;
And, to our need most opportune, I have
A vessel rides fast by.

Hark, Perdita.

Cam. My lord

Flo. I'll hear you by and by.

Cam. He's irremoveable,

Resolv'd for flight: Now were I happy, if
His going I could frame to serve my turn;
Save him from danger, do him love and honour;
Purchase the sight again of dear Sicilia,
And that unhappy king, my master, whom
I so much thirst to see:-It shall be so.-
Sir.-

Flo. Now, good Camillo
Cam. Have you thought on
A place, whereto you'll go?
Flo. Not any yet.

Cam. Then list to me:

This follows-if you will not change your purpose,
But undergo this flight-make for Sicilia;

-

And there present yourself, and your fair princess,
For so, I see, she must be,) 'fore the king
Methinks I see

Leontes, opening his free arms, and weeping

His welcome forth: asks there the son forgiveness,
As 'twere i'the father's person; kisses the hands
Of your fresh princess; and-

Flo. Worthy Camillo,

What colour for my visitation shall I
Hold up before him?

Cam. Sent by the king your father

To greet him, and to give him comforts. Sir,
The manner of your bearing towards him, with
What you, as from your father, shall deliver,

(Things known betwixt us three,) I'll write you down: And, with my best endeavours, in your absence. Your discontenting father I will strive

To qualify, and bring him up to liking.

Flo. I am bound to you:

There is some sap in this.

Enter AUTOLYCUS behind in a Court Dress.

But oh, the thorns we stand upon !-Camillo-
Preserver of my father, now of me-

How shall we do?

We are not furnish'd like Bohemia's son ;
Nor shall appear in Sicily-

Cam. My lord,

Fear none of this: I think, you know, my fortunes
Do all lie there; it shall be so my care

To have you royally appointed, as if

The scene you play were mine.

Aut. [Back ground.] So, so-I smell the trick of it.
Per. But my poor father-

Cam. Fear not, fair shepherdess-he shall be safe.
Flo. Thus we set on, Camillo, to the sea-side :-
Come, dearest Perdita :-and fortune speed us!

[Exeunt Florizel and Perdita, R

Cam. The swifter speed the better.
Aut. If I could overhear him now--

Cam. What I do next, shall be to tell the king
Of this escape, and whither they are bound;

Wherein my hope is, I shall so prevail,
To force him after; in whose company
I shall review Sicilia; for whose sight
I have a woman's longing.

[Exit Camillo, R. Aut. I understand the business-I hear it :-the prince is about a piece of iniquity; stealing away from his father, with his clog at his heels. Well, I am transformed courtier again: four silken gamesters, who attended the king, and were revelling by themselves at some distance from the shepherds, have drank so plentifully, that their weak brains are turned topsy-turvy. I found one of them retired from the rest, sobering himself with sleep under the shade of a hawthorn: I made profit of occasion, and exchanged garments with him; the pedlar's clothes are on his back, and the pack by his side, as empty as his pockets; for I had sold all my trumpery; not a counterfeit stone, nor a riband, glass, ballad, knife, tape, glove, to keep my pack from fasting. My clown grew so in love with a new song, that he would not stir his pettitoes till he had both tune and words; which so drew the rest of the herd to me, that all their other senses stuck in ears: no hearing, no feeling, but my sir's song, and admiring the nothing of it: So that, in this time of lethargy, I picked and cut most of their festival purses; and had not the old man come in, with a hubbub against his daughter and the king's son, and scared my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a purse alive in the whole army. Aside, aside;-here is more matter for a hot brain. Every lane's end yields a careful man work. [Retires, R.

Enter SHEPHERD, R. and Clown, l. u. e.

Clo. See, see; what a man you are now! there is no other way but to tell the king she's a changeling, and none of your flesh and blood.

She. Nay, but hear me

Clo. Nay, but hear me :-She being none of your flesh and blood, your flesh and blood has not offended the king; and so your flesh and blood is not to be punished by him. Show those things you found about her. This being done, let the law go whistle; I warrant you.

She. I will tell the king all, every word; yea, and his son's pranks too; who, I may say, is no honest man neither to his father nor to me, to go about to make me the king's brother-in-law.

Clo. Indeed, brother-in-law was the furthest off you could have been to him; and then your blood had been the dearer, by I know how much an ounce.

Aut. [In his retreat, R.] Very wisely, puppies!

She. Well; let us to the king: there is that in this fardel, will make him scratch his beard.

Aut. [Comes forward.] How now, rustics? whither are you bound?

She. [Shepherd and Clown take off their hats.] To the palace, and it like your worship.

Aut. Your affairs there? what? with whom?-The condition of that fardel, the place of your dwelling, your names, your ages, of what having, breeding, and any thing that is fitting to be known, discover.

Clo. Are you a courtier, an't like you, sir?

Aut. Whether it like me, or no, I am a courtier.Seest thou not the air of a courtier in these enfoldings? hath not my gait in it, the measure of the court? I am a courtier cap-a-pè; and one that will either push on, or pluck back thy business there: whereupon I command thee to open thy affair.

She. My business, sir, is to the king.

Aut. What advocate hast thou to him?

She. I know not, a'nt like you.

Clo. Advocate's the court word for a pheasant; say, you have none.

She. None, sir; I have no pheasant, cock nor hen. Aut. How bless'd are we, that are not simple men! Yet nature might have made me as these are;

Therefore I'll not disdain.

Clo. This cannot be but a great courtier.

She. His garments are rich, but he wears them not handsomely.

Clo. A great man, I'll warrant; I know, by the picking on's teeth.

Aut. The fardel there? what's i'the fardel?Wherefore that box?

She. Sir, there lie such secrets in this fardel, and box, which none must know but the king; and which he shall know within this hour, if I may come to the speech of him.

Aut. Age, thou hast lost thy labour.

She. Why, sir?

Aut. The king is not at the palace; he is gone aboard a new ship, to purge melancholy, and air himself. For,