THE TEMPEST
Ferdinand and Miranda
THE TEMPEST
Prospero, the Duke of Milan, was a learned and studious man,
who lived among his books, leaving the management of his dukedom to his brother
Antonio, in whom indeed he had complete trust. But that trust was ill-rewarded,
for Antonio wanted to wear the duke's crown himself, and, to gain his ends,
would have killed his brother but for the love the people bore him. However,
with the help of Prospero's great enemy, Alonso, King of Naples, he managed to
get into his hands the dukedom with all its honor, power, and riches. For they
took Prospero to sea, and when they were far away from land, forced him into a
little boat with no tackle, mast, or sail. In their cruelty and hatred they put
his little daughter, Miranda (not yet three years old), into the boat with him,
and sailed away, leaving them to their fate.
But one among the courtiers with Antonio was true to his
rightful master, Prospero. To save the duke from his enemies was impossible,
but much could be done to remind him of a subject's love. So this worthy lord,
whose name was Gonzalo, secretly placed in the boat some fresh water,
provisions, and clothes, and what Prospero valued most of all, some of his
precious books.
The boat was cast on an island, and Prospero and his little
one landed in safety. Now this island was enchanted, and for years had lain
under the spell of a fell witch, Sycorax, who had imprisoned in the trunks of
trees all the good spirits she found there. She died shortly before Prospero
was cast on those shores, but the spirits, of whom Ariel was the chief, still
remained in their prisons.
Prospero was a great magician, for he had devoted himself
almost entirely to the study of magic during the years in which he allowed his
brother to manage the affairs of Milan. By his art he set free the imprisoned
spirits, yet kept them obedient to his will, and they were more truly his
subjects than his people in Milan had been. For he treated them kindly as long
as they did his bidding, and he exercised his power over them wisely and well.
One creature alone he found it necessary to treat with harshness: this was
Caliban, the son of the wicked old witch, a hideous, deformed monster, horrible
to look on, and vicious and brutal in all his habits.
When Miranda was grown up into a maiden, sweet and fair to
see, it chanced that Antonio and Alonso, with Sebastian, his brother, and
Ferdinand, his son, were at sea together with old Gonzalo, and their ship came
near Prospero's island. Prospero, knowing they were there, raised by his art a
great storm, so that even the sailors on board gave themselves up for lost; and
first among them all Prince Ferdinand leaped into the sea, and, as his father
thought in his grief, was drowned. But Ariel brought him safe ashore; and all
the rest of the crew, although they were washed overboard, were landed unhurt
in different parts of the island, and the good ship herself, which they all
thought had been wrecked, lay at anchor in the harbor whither Ariel had brought
her. Such wonders could Prospero and his spirits perform.
While yet the tempest was raging, Prospero showed his
daughter the brave ship laboring in the trough of the sea, and told her that it
was filled with living human beings like themselves. She, in pity of their
lives, prayed him who had raised this storm to quell it. Then her father bade
her to have no fear, for he intended to save every one of them.
Then, for the first time, he told her the story of his life
and hers, and that he had caused this storm to rise in order that his enemies,
Antonio and Alonso, who were on board, might be delivered into his hands.
When he had made an end of his story he charmed her into
sleep, for Ariel was at hand, and he had work for him to do. Ariel, who longed
for his complete freedom, grumbled to be kept in drudgery, but on being
threateningly reminded of all the sufferings he had undergone when Sycorax
ruled in the land, and of the debt of gratitude he owed to the master who had
made those sufferings to end, he ceased to complain, and promised faithfully to
do whatever Prospero might command.
"Do so," said Prospero, "and in two days I
will discharge thee."
Then he bade Ariel take the form of a water nymph and sent
him in search of the young prince. And Ariel, invisible to Ferdinand, hovered
near him, singing the while--
"Come unto these yellow sands
And then take hands:
Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd
(The wild waves whist),
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burden bear!"
And Ferdinand followed the magic singing, as the song
changed to a solemn air, and the words brought grief to his heart, and tears to
his eyes, for thus they ran--
"Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made.
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Hark! now I hear them,-- ding dong bell!"
And so singing, Ariel led the spell-bound prince into the
presence of Prospero and Miranda. Then, behold! all happened as Prospero
desired. For Miranda, who had never, since she could first remember, seen any
human being save her father, looked on the youthful prince with reverence in
her eyes, and love in her secret heart.
"I might call him," she said, "a thing
divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble!"
And Ferdinand, beholding her beauty with wonder and delight,
exclaimed--
"Most sure the goddess on whom these airs attend!"
Nor did he attempt to hide the passion which she inspired in
him, for scarcely had they exchanged half a dozen sentences, before he vowed to
make her his queen if she were willing. But Prospero, though secretly
delighted, pretended wrath.
"You come here as a spy," he said to Ferdinand.
"I will manacle your neck and feet together, and you shall feed on fresh
water mussels, withered roots and husk, and have sea-water to drink.
Follow."
"No," said Ferdinand, and drew his sword. But on
the instant Prospero charmed him so that he stood there like a statue, still as
stone; and Miranda in terror prayed her father to have mercy on her lover. But
he harshly refused her, and made Ferdinand follow him to his cell. There he set
the Prince to work, making him remove thousands of heavy logs of timber and
pile them up; and Ferdinand patiently obeyed, and thought his toil all too well
repaid by the sympathy of the sweet Miranda.
She in very pity would have helped him in his hard work, but
he would not let her, yet he could not keep from her the secret of his love,
and she, hearing it, rejoiced and promised to be his wife.
Then Prospero released him from his servitude, and glad at
heart, he gave his consent to their marriage.
"Take her," he said, "she is thine own."
In the meantime, Antonio and Sebastian in another part of
the island were plotting the murder of Alonso, the King of Naples, for Ferdinand
being dead, as they thought, Sebastian would succeed to the throne on Alonso's
death. And they would have carried out their wicked purpose while their victim
was asleep, but that Ariel woke him in good time.
Many tricks did Ariel play them. Once he set a banquet
before them, and just as they were going to fall to, he appeared to them amid
thunder and lightning in the form of a harpy, and immediately the banquet
disappeared. Then Ariel upbraided them with their sins and vanished too.
Prospero by his enchantments drew them all to the grove
without his cell, where they waited, trembling and afraid, and now at last
bitterly repenting them of their sins.
Prospero determined to make one last use of his magic power,
"And then," said he, "I'll break my staff and deeper than did
ever plummet sound I'll drown my book."
So he made heavenly music to sound in the air, and appeared
to them in his proper shape as the Duke of Milan. Because they repented, he
forgave them and told them the story of his life since they had cruelly
committed him and his baby daughter to the mercy of wind and waves. Alonso, who
seemed sorriest of them all for his past crimes, lamented the loss of his heir.
But Prospero drew back a curtain and showed them Ferdinand and Miranda playing
at chess. Great was Alonso's joy to greet his loved son again, and when he
heard that the fair maid with whom Ferdinand was playing was Prospero's
daughter, and that the young folks had plighted their troth, he said--
"Give me your hands, let grief and sorrow still embrace
his heart that doth not wish you joy."
So all ended happily. The ship was safe in the harbor, and
next day they all set sail for Naples, where Ferdinand and Miranda were to be
married. Ariel gave them calm seas and auspicious gales; and many were the
rejoicings at the wedding.
Then Prospero, after many years of absence, went back to his
own dukedom, where he was welcomed with great joy by his faithful subjects. He
practiced the arts of magic no more, but his life was happy, and not only because
he had found his own again, but chiefly because, when his bitterest foes who
had done him deadly wrong lay at his mercy, he took no vengeance on them, but
nobly forgave them.
As for Ariel, Prospero made him free as air, so that he
could wander where he would, and sing with a light heart his sweet song--
"Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer, merrily:
Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough."
AS YOU LIKE IT
There was once a wicked Duke named Frederick, who took the
dukedom that should have belonged to his brother, sending him into exile. His
brother went into the Forest of Arden, where he lived the life of a bold
forester, as Robin Hood did in Sherwood Forest in merry England.
The banished Duke's daughter, Rosalind, remained with Celia,
Frederick's daughter, and the two loved each other more than most sisters. One
day there was a wrestling match at Court, and Rosalind and Celia went to see
it. Charles, a celebrated wrestler, was there, who had killed many men in
contests of this kind. Orlando, the young man he was to wrestle with, was so
slender and youthful, that Rosalind and Celia thought he would surely be
killed, as others had been; so they spoke to him, and asked him not to attempt
so dangerous an adventure; but the only effect of their words was to make him
wish more to come off well in the encounter, so as to win praise from such
sweet ladies.
Orlando, like Rosalind's father, was being kept out of his
inheritance by his brother, and was so sad at his brother's unkindness that,
until he saw Rosalind, he did not care much whether he lived or died. But now
the sight of the fair Rosalind gave him strength and courage, so that he did
marvelously, and at last, threw Charles to such a tune, that the wrestler had
to be carried off the ground. Duke Frederick was pleased with his courage, and
asked his name.
"My name is Orlando, and I am the youngest son of Sir Rowland
de Boys," said the young man.
Now Sir Rowland de Boys, when he was alive, had been a good
friend to the banished Duke, so that Frederick heard with regret whose son
Orlando was, and would not befriend him. But Rosalind was delighted to hear
that this handsome young stranger was the son of her father's old friend, and
as they were going away, she turned back more than once to say another kind
word to the brave young man.
"Gentleman," she said, giving him a chain from her
neck, "wear this for me. I could give more, but that my hand lacks
means."
Rosalind and Celia, when they were alone, began to talk
about the handsome wrestler, and Rosalind confessed that she loved him at first
sight.
"Come, come," said Celia, "wrestle with thy
affections."
"Oh," answered Rosalind, "they take the part
of a better wrestler than myself. Look, here comes the Duke."
"With his eyes full of anger," said Celia.
"You must leave the Court at once," he said to
Rosalind. "Why?" she asked.
"Never mind why," answered the Duke, "you are
banished. If within ten days you are found within twenty miles of my Court, you
die."
So Rosalind set out to seek her father, the banished Duke,
in the Forest of Arden. Celia loved her too much to let her go alone, and as it
was rather a dangerous journey, Rosalind, being the taller, dressed up as a
young countryman, and her cousin as a country girl, and Rosalind said that she
would be called Ganymede, and Celia, Aliena. They were very tired when at last
they came to the Forest of Arden, and as they were sitting on the grass a
countryman passed that way, and Ganymede asked him if he could get them food.
He did so, and told them that a shepherd's flocks and house were to be sold.
They bought these and settled down as shepherd and shepherdess in the forest.
In the meantime, Oliver having sought to take his brother
Orlando's life, Orlando also wandered into the forest, and there met with the
rightful Duke, and being kindly received, stayed with him. Now, Orlando could
think of nothing but Rosalind, and he went about the forest carving her name on
trees, and writing love sonnets and hanging them on the bushes, and there
Rosalind and Celia found them. One day Orlando met them, but he did not know
Rosalind in her boy's clothes, though he liked the pretty shepherd youth,
because he fancied a likeness in him to her he loved.
"There is a foolish lover," said Rosalind,
"who haunts these woods and hangs sonnets on the trees. If I could find
him, I would soon cure him of his folly."
Orlando confessed that he was the foolish lover, and
Rosalind said--"If you will come and see me every day, I will pretend to
be Rosalind, and I will take her part, and be wayward and contrary, as is the
way of women, till I make you ashamed of your folly in loving her."
And so every day he went to her house, and took a pleasure
in saying to her all the pretty things he would have said to Rosalind; and she
had the fine and secret joy of knowing that all his love-words came to the
right ears. Thus many days passed pleasantly away.
One morning, as Orlando was going to visit Ganymede, he saw
a man asleep on the ground, and that there was a lioness crouching near,
waiting for the man who was asleep to wake: for they say that lions will not
prey on anything that is dead or sleeping. Then Orlando looked at the man, and
saw that it was his wicked brother, Oliver, who had tried to take his life. He
fought with the lioness and killed her, and saved his brother's life.
While Orlando was fighting the lioness, Oliver woke to see
his brother, whom he had treated so badly, saving him from a wild beast at the
risk of his own life. This made him repent of his wickedness, and he begged
Orlando's pardon, and from thenceforth they were dear brothers. The lioness had
wounded Orlando's arm so much, that he could not go on to see the shepherd, so
he sent his brother to ask Ganymede to come to him.
Oliver went and told the whole story to Ganymede and Aliena,
and Aliena was so charmed with his manly way of confessing his faults, that she
fell in love with him at once. But when Ganymede heard of the danger Orlando
had been in she fainted; and when she came to herself, said truly enough,
"I should have been a woman by right."
Oliver went back to his brother and told him all this,
saying, "I love Aliena so well that I will give up my estates to you and
marry her, and live here as a shepherd."
"Let your wedding be to-morrow," said Orlando,
"and I will ask the Duke and his friends."
When Orlando told Ganymede how his brother was to be married
on the morrow, he added: "Oh, how bitter a thing it is to look into
happiness through another man's eyes."
Then answered Rosalind, still in Ganymede's dress and
speaking with his voic--"If you do love Rosalind so near the heart, then
when your brother marries Aliena, shall you marry her."
Now the next day the Duke and his followers, and Orlando,
and Oliver, and Aliena, were all gathered together for the wedding.
Then Ganymede came in and said to the Duke, "If I bring
in your daughter Rosalind, will you give her to Orlando here?" "That
I would," said the Duke, "if I had all kingdoms to give with
her."
"And you say you will have her when I bring her?"
she said to Orlando. "That would I," he answered, "were I king
of all kingdoms."
Then Rosalind and Celia went out, and Rosalind put on her
pretty woman's clothes again, and after a while came back.
She turned to her father--"I give myself to you, for I
am yours." "If there be truth in sight," he said, "you are
my daughter."
Then she said to Orlando, "I give myself to you, for I
am yours." "If there be truth in sight," he said, "you are
my Rosalind."
"I will have no father if you be not he," she said
to the Duke, and to Orlando, "I will have no husband if you be not
he."
So Orlando and Rosalind were married, and Oliver and Celia,
and they lived happy ever after, returning with the Duke to the kingdom. For
Frederick had been shown by a holy hermit the wickedness of his ways, and so
gave back the dukedom of his brother, and himself went into a monastery to pray
for forgiveness.
