TPTT The Tragedy of King Lear: ACT II
Introduction
ACT I
ACT II
SCENE I. GLOUCESTER's castle.
SCENE II. Before Gloucester's castle.
SCENE III. A wood.
SCENE IV. Before GLOUCESTER's castle. KENT in the stocks.
ACT III
ACT IV
ACT V
About the Play
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SCENE IV. Before GLOUCESTER's castle. KENT in the stocks.
Enter KING LEAR, Fool, and Gentleman
KING LEAR
      'Tis strange that they should so depart from home,
      And not send back my messenger.
Gentleman
      As I learn'd,
      The night before there was no purpose in them
5     Of this remove.
KENT
      Hail to thee, noble master!
KING LEAR
      Ha!
      Makest thou this shame thy pastime?
KENT
      No, my lord.
Fool
10    Ha, ha! he wears cruel garters. Horses are tied
      by the heads, dogs and bears by the neck, monkeys by
      the loins, and men by the legs: when a man's
      over-lusty at legs, then he wears wooden
      nether-stocks.
KING LEAR
15    What's he that hath so much thy place mistook
      To set thee here?
KENT
      It is both he and she;
      Your son and daughter.
KING LEAR
      No.
KENT
20    Yes.
KING LEAR
      No, I say.
KENT
      I say, yea.
KING LEAR
      No, no, they would not.
KENT
      Yes, they have.
KING LEAR
25    By Jupiter, I swear, no.
KENT
      By Juno, I swear, ay.
KING LEAR
      They durst not do 't;
      They could not, would not do 't; 'tis worse than murder,
      To do upon respect such violent outrage:
30    Resolve me, with all modest haste, which way
      Thou mightst deserve, or they impose, this usage,
      Coming from us.
KENT
      My lord, when at their home
      I did commend your highness' letters to them,
35    Ere I was risen from the place that show'd
      My duty kneeling, came there a reeking post,
      Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forth
      From Goneril his mistress salutations;
      Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission,
40    Which presently they read: on whose contents,
      They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse;
      Commanded me to follow, and attend
      The leisure of their answer; gave me cold looks:
      And meeting here the other messenger,
45    Whose welcome, I perceived, had poison'd mine,--
      Being the very fellow that of late
      Display'd so saucily against your highness,--
      Having more man than wit about me, drew:
      He raised the house with loud and coward cries.
50    Your son and daughter found this trespass worth
      The shame which here it suffers.
Fool
      Winter's not gone yet, if the wild-geese fly that way.
      Fathers that wear rags
      Do make their children blind;
55    But fathers that bear bags
      Shall see their children kind.
      Fortune, that arrant whore,
      Ne'er turns the key to the poor.
      But, for all this, thou shalt have as many dolours
60    for thy daughters as thou canst tell in a year.
KING LEAR
      O, how this mother swells up toward my heart!
      Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow,
      Thy element's below! Where is this daughter?
KENT
      With the earl, sir, here within.
KING LEAR
65    Follow me not;
      Stay here.
Exit
Gentleman
      Made you no more offence but what you speak of?
KENT
      None.
      How chance the king comes with so small a train?
Fool
70    And thou hadst been set i' the stocks for that
      question, thou hadst well deserved it.
KENT
      Why, fool?
Fool
      We'll set thee to school to an ant, to teach thee
      there's no labouring i' the winter. All that follow
75    their noses are led by their eyes but blind men; and
      there's not a nose among twenty but can smell him
      that's stinking. Let go thy hold when a great wheel
      runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with
      following it: but the great one that goes up the
80    hill, let him draw thee after. When a wise man
      gives thee better counsel, give me mine again: I
      would have none but knaves follow it, since a fool gives it.
      That sir which serves and seeks for gain,
      And follows but for form,
85    Will pack when it begins to rain,
      And leave thee in the storm,
      But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
      And let the wise man fly:
      The knave turns fool that runs away;
90    The fool no knave, perdy.
KENT
      Where learned you this, fool?
Fool
      Not i' the stocks, fool.
Re-enter KING LEAR with GLOUCESTER
KING LEAR
      Deny to speak with me? They are sick? they are weary?
      They have travell'd all the night? Mere fetches;
95    The images of revolt and flying off.
      Fetch me a better answer.
GLOUCESTER
      My dear lord,
      You know the fiery quality of the duke;
      How unremoveable and fix'd he is
100   In his own course.
KING LEAR
      Vengeance! plague! death! confusion!
      Fiery? what quality? Why, Gloucester, Gloucester,
      I'ld speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife.
GLOUCESTER
      Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them so.
KING LEAR
105   Inform'd them! Dost thou understand me, man?
GLOUCESTER
      Ay, my good lord.
KING LEAR
      The king would speak with Cornwall; the dear father
      Would with his daughter speak, commands her service:
      Are they inform'd of this? My breath and blood!
110   Fiery? the fiery duke? Tell the hot duke that--
      No, but not yet: may be he is not well:
      Infirmity doth still neglect all office
      Whereto our health is bound; we are not ourselves
      When nature, being oppress'd, commands the mind
115   To suffer with the body: I'll forbear;
      And am fall'n out with my more headier will,
      To take the indisposed and sickly fit
      For the sound man. Death on my state! wherefore

Looking on KENT

      Should he sit here? This act persuades me
120   That this remotion of the duke and her
      Is practise only. Give me my servant forth.
      Go tell the duke and 's wife I'ld speak with them,
      Now, presently: bid them come forth and hear me,
      Or at their chamber-door I'll beat the drum
125   Till it cry sleep to death.
GLOUCESTER
      I would have all well betwixt you.
Exit
KING LEAR
      O me, my heart, my rising heart! but, down!
Fool
      Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels
      when she put 'em i' the paste alive; she knapped 'em
130   o' the coxcombs with a stick, and cried 'Down,
      wantons, down!' 'Twas her brother that, in pure
      kindness to his horse, buttered his hay.
Enter CORNWALL, REGAN, GLOUCESTER, and Servants
KING LEAR
      Good morrow to you both.
CORNWALL
      Hail to your grace!
KENT is set at liberty
REGAN
135   I am glad to see your highness.
KING LEAR
      Regan, I think you are; I know what reason
      I have to think so: if thou shouldst not be glad,
      I would divorce me from thy mother's tomb,
      Sepulchring an adultress.

To KENT

140   O, are you free?
      Some other time for that. Beloved Regan,
      Thy sister's naught: O Regan, she hath tied
      Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here:

Points to his heart

      I can scarce speak to thee; thou'lt not believe
145   With how depraved a quality--O Regan!
REGAN
      I pray you, sir, take patience: I have hope.
      You less know how to value her desert
      Than she to scant her duty.
KING LEAR
      Say, how is that?
REGAN
150   I cannot think my sister in the least
      Would fail her obligation: if, sir, perchance
      She have restrain'd the riots of your followers,
      'Tis on such ground, and to such wholesome end,
      As clears her from all blame.
KING LEAR
155   My curses on her!
REGAN
      O, sir, you are old.
      Nature in you stands on the very verge
      Of her confine: you should be ruled and led
      By some discretion, that discerns your state
160   Better than you yourself. Therefore, I pray you,
      That to our sister you do make return;
      Say you have wrong'd her, sir.
KING LEAR
      Ask her forgiveness?
      Do you but mark how this becomes the house:
165   'Dear daughter, I confess that I am old;

Kneeling

      Age is unnecessary: on my knees I beg
      That you'll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food.'
REGAN
      Good sir, no more; these are unsightly tricks:
      Return you to my sister.
KING LEAR
170   (Rising) Never, Regan:
      She hath abated me of half my train;
      Look'd black upon me; struck me with her tongue,
      Most serpent-like, upon the very heart:
      All the stored vengeances of heaven fall
175   On her ingrateful top! Strike her young bones,
      You taking airs, with lameness!
CORNWALL
      Fie, sir, fie!
KING LEAR
      You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding flames
      Into her scornful eyes! Infect her beauty,
180   You fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the powerful sun,
      To fall and blast her pride!
REGAN
      O the blest gods! so will you wish on me,
      When the rash mood is on.
KING LEAR
      No, Regan, thou shalt never have my curse:
185   Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give
      Thee o'er to harshness: her eyes are fierce; but thine
      Do comfort and not burn. 'Tis not in thee
      To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train,
      To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes,
190   And in conclusion to oppose the bolt
      Against my coming in: thou better know'st
      The offices of nature, bond of childhood,
      Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude;
      Thy half o' the kingdom hast thou not forgot,
195   Wherein I thee endow'd.
REGAN
      Good sir, to the purpose.
KING LEAR
      Who put my man i' the stocks?
Tucket within
CORNWALL
      What trumpet's that?
REGAN
      I know't, my sister's: this approves her letter,
200   That she would soon be here.

Enter OSWALD

      Is your lady come?
KING LEAR
      This is a slave, whose easy-borrow'd pride
      Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows.
      Out, varlet, from my sight!
CORNWALL
205   What means your grace?
KING LEAR
      Who stock'd my servant? Regan, I have good hope
      Thou didst not know on't. Who comes here? O heavens,

Enter GONERIL

      If you do love old men, if your sweet sway
      Allow obedience, if yourselves are old,
210   Make it your cause; send down, and take my part!

To GONERIL

      Art not ashamed to look upon this beard?
      O Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand?
GONERIL
      Why not by the hand, sir? How have I offended?
      All's not offence that indiscretion finds
215   And dotage terms so.
KING LEAR
      O sides, you are too tough;
      Will you yet hold? How came my man i' the stocks?
CORNWALL
      I set him there, sir: but his own disorders
      Deserved much less advancement.
KING LEAR
220   You! did you?
REGAN
      I pray you, father, being weak, seem so.
      If, till the expiration of your month,
      You will return and sojourn with my sister,
      Dismissing half your train, come then to me:
225   I am now from home, and out of that provision
      Which shall be needful for your entertainment.
KING LEAR
      Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd?
      No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose
      To wage against the enmity o' the air;
230   To be a comrade with the wolf and owl,--
      Necessity's sharp pinch! Return with her?
      Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took
      Our youngest born, I could as well be brought
      To knee his throne, and, squire-like; pension beg
235   To keep base life afoot. Return with her?
      Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter
      To this detested groom.
Pointing at OSWALD
GONERIL
      At your choice, sir.
KING LEAR
      I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad:
240   I will not trouble thee, my child; farewell:
      We'll no more meet, no more see one another:
      But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;
      Or rather a disease that's in my flesh,
      Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil,
245   A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle,
      In my corrupted blood. But I'll not chide thee;
      Let shame come when it will, I do not call it:
      I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot,
      Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove:
250   Mend when thou canst; be better at thy leisure:
      I can be patient; I can stay with Regan,
      I and my hundred knights.
REGAN
      Not altogether so:
      I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided
255   For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister;
      For those that mingle reason with your passion
      Must be content to think you old, and so--
      But she knows what she does.
KING LEAR
      Is this well spoken?
REGAN
260   I dare avouch it, sir: what, fifty followers?
      Is it not well? What should you need of more?
      Yea, or so many, sith that both charge and danger
      Speak 'gainst so great a number? How, in one house,
      Should many people, under two commands,
265   Hold amity? 'Tis hard; almost impossible.
GONERIL
      Why might not you, my lord, receive attendance
      From those that she calls servants or from mine?
REGAN
      Why not, my lord? If then they chanced to slack you,
      We could control them. If you will come to me,--
270   For now I spy a danger,--I entreat you
      To bring but five and twenty: to no more
      Will I give place or notice.
KING LEAR
      I gave you all--
REGAN
      And in good time you gave it.
KING LEAR
275   Made you my guardians, my depositaries;
      But kept a reservation to be follow'd
      With such a number. What, must I come to you
      With five and twenty, Regan? said you so?
REGAN
      And speak't again, my lord; no more with me.
KING LEAR
280   Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favour'd,
      When others are more wicked: not being the worst
      Stands in some rank of praise.

To GONERIL

      I'll go with thee:
      Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty,
285   And thou art twice her love.
GONERIL
      Hear me, my lord;
      What need you five and twenty, ten, or five,
      To follow in a house where twice so many
      Have a command to tend you?
REGAN
290   What need one?
KING LEAR
      O, reason not the need: our basest beggars
      Are in the poorest thing superfluous:
      Allow not nature more than nature needs,
      Man's life's as cheap as beast's: thou art a lady;
295   If only to go warm were gorgeous,
      Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,
      Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true need,--
      You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!
      You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
300   As full of grief as age; wretched in both!
      If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts
      Against their father, fool me not so much
      To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger,
      And let not women's weapons, water-drops,
305   Stain my man's cheeks! No, you unnatural hags,
      I will have such revenges on you both,
      That all the world shall--I will do such things,--
      What they are, yet I know not: but they shall be
      The terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep
310   No, I'll not weep:
      I have full cause of weeping; but this heart
      Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,
      Or ere I'll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!
Exeunt KING LEAR, GLOUCESTER, KENT, and Fool
Storm and tempest
CORNWALL
      Let us withdraw; 'twill be a storm.
REGAN
315   This house is little: the old man and his people
      Cannot be well bestow'd.
GONERIL
      'Tis his own blame; hath put himself from rest,
      And must needs taste his folly.
REGAN
      For his particular, I'll receive him gladly,
320   But not one follower.
GONERIL
      So am I purposed.
      Where is my lord of Gloucester?
CORNWALL
      Follow'd the old man forth: he is return'd.
Re-enter GLOUCESTER
GLOUCESTER
      The king is in high rage.
CORNWALL
325   Whither is he going?
GLOUCESTER
      He calls to horse; but will I know not whither.
CORNWALL
      'Tis best to give him way; he leads himself.
GONERIL
      My lord, entreat him by no means to stay.
GLOUCESTER
      Alack, the night comes on, and the bleak winds
330   Do sorely ruffle; for many miles about
      There's scarce a bush.
REGAN
      O, sir, to wilful men,
      The injuries that they themselves procure
      Must be their schoolmasters. Shut up your doors:
335   He is attended with a desperate train;
      And what they may incense him to, being apt
      To have his ear abused, wisdom bids fear.
CORNWALL
      Shut up your doors, my lord; 'tis a wild night:
      My Regan counsels well; come out o' the storm.
Exeunt
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