Page 1069 - Shakespeare - Vol. 4

ANTONIO

Ay, sir; where lies that? if ’twere a kibe,
’Twould put me to my slipper: but I feel not
This deity in my bosom: twenty consciences,

That stand ’twixt me and Milan, candied be they,
And melt, ere they molest! Here lies your brother, [275]
No better than the earth he lies upon,
If he were that which now he Is like, that ’s dead;
Whom I, with this obedient steel, three inches of it,

Can lay to bed for ever; whiles you, doing thus,
To the perpetual wink for aye might put [280]
This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who

Should not upbraid our course. For all the rest,
They ’ll take suggestion as a cat laps milk;
They ’ll tell the clock to any business that
We say befits the hour.

SEBASTIAN
Thy case, dear friend, [285]

Shall be my precedent; as thou got’st Milan,
I’ll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke
Shall free thee from the tribute which thou payest;
And I the King shall love thee.

ANTONIO

Draw together;
And when I rear my hand, do you the like, [290]
To fall it on Gonzalo.

SEBASTIAN
O, but one word.
[They talk apart.]

[Re-]enter Ariel [invisible], with music and song.

ARIEL
My master through his Art foresees the danger