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But she'll not stumble.
PAULINA. Good my liege, I come-

And I beseech you hear me, who professes
Myself your loyal servant, your physician,

Your most obedient counsellor; yet that dares
Less appear so, in comforting your evils,

Than such as most seem yours- I say I come
From your good Queen.

LEONTES. Good Queen!
PAULINA. Good Queen, my lord, good Queen- I say good Queen;

And would by combat make her good, so were I
A man, the worst about you.

LEONTES. Force her hence.
PAULINA. Let him that makes but trifles of his eyes

First hand me. On mine own accord I'll off;
But first I'll do my errand. The good Queen,

For she is good, hath brought you forth a daughter;
Here 'tis; commends it to your blessing.

[Laying down the child]
LEONTES. Out!

A mankind witch! Hence with her, out o' door!
A most intelligencing bawd!

PAULINA. Not so.
I am as ignorant in that as you

In so entitling me; and no less honest
Than you are mad; which is enough, I'll warrant,

As this world goes, to pass for honest.
LEONTES. Traitors!

Will you not push her out? Give her the bastard.
[To ANTIGONUS] Thou dotard, thou art woman-tir'd, unroosted

By thy Dame Partlet here. Take up the bastard;
Take't up, I say; give't to thy crone.

PAULINA. For ever
Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou

Tak'st up the Princess by that forced baseness
Which he has put upon't!

LEONTES. He dreads his wife.
PAULINA. So I would you did; then 'twere past all doubt

You'd call your children yours.
LEONTES. A nest of traitors!

ANTIGONUS. I am none, by this good light.
PAULINA. Nor I; nor any

But one that's here; and that's himself; for he
The sacred honour of himself, his Queen's,

His hopeful son's, his babe's, betrays to slander,
Whose sting is sharper than the sword's; and will not-

For, as the case now stands, it is a curse
He cannot be compell'd to 't- once remove

The root of his opinion, which is rotten
As ever oak or stone was sound.

LEONTES. A callat
Of boundless tongue, who late hath beat her husband,

And now baits me! This brat is none of mine;
It is the issue of Polixenes.

Hence with it, and together with the dam
Commit them to the fire.

PAULINA. It is yours.
And, might we lay th' old proverb to your charge,

So like you 'tis the worse. Behold, my lords,
Although the print be little, the whole matter

And copy of the father- eye, nose, lip,
The trick of's frown, his forehead; nay, the valley,

The pretty dimples of his chin and cheek; his smiles;
The very mould and frame of hand, nail, finger.

And thou, good goddess Nature, which hast made it
So like to him that got it, if thou hast

The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours
No yellow in't, lest she suspect, as he does,

Her children not her husband's!
LEONTES. A gross hag!

And, lozel, thou art worthy to be hang'd
That wilt not stay her tongue.

ANTIGONUS. Hang all the husbands
That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself

Hardly one subject.
LEONTES. Once more, take her hence.

PAULINA. A most unworthy and unnatural lord
Can do no more.

LEONTES. I'll ha' thee burnt.
PAULINA. I care not.

It is an heretic that makes the fire,
Not she which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant

But this most cruel usage of your Queen-
Not able to produce more accusation

Than your own weak-hing'd fancy- something savours
Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you,

Yea, scandalous to the world.
LEONTES. On your allegiance,

Out of the chamber with her! Were I a tyrant,
Where were her life? She durst not call me so,

If she did know me one. Away with her!
PAULINA. I pray you, do not push me; I'll be gone.

Look to your babe, my lord; 'tis yours. Jove send her
A better guiding spirit! What needs these hands?

You that are thus so tender o'er his follies
Will never do him good, not one of you.

So, so. Farewell; we are gone. Exit
LEONTES. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.

My child! Away with't. Even thou, that hast
A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence,

And see it instantly consum'd with fire;
Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight.

Within this hour bring me word 'tis done,
And by good testimony, or I'll seize thy life,

With that thou else call'st thine. If thou refuse,
And wilt encounter with my wrath, say so;

The bastard brains with these my proper hands
Shall I dash out. Go, take it to the fire;

For thou set'st on thy wife.
ANTIGONUS. I did not, sir.

These lords, my noble fellows, if they please,
Can clear me in't.

LORDS. We can. My royal liege,
He is not guilty of her coming hither.

LEONTES. You're liars all.
FIRST LORD. Beseech your Highness, give us better credit.

We have always truly serv'd you; and beseech
So to esteem of us; and on our knees we beg,

As recompense of our dear services
Past and to come, that you do change this purpose,

Which being so horrible, so bloody, must
Lead on to some foul issue. We all kneel.

LEONTES. I am a feather for each wind that blows.
Shall I live on to see this bastard kneel

And call me father? Better burn it now
Than curse it then. But be it; let it live.

It shall not neither. [To ANTIGONUS] You, Sir, come you hither.
You that have been so tenderly officious

With Lady Margery, your midwife there,
To save this bastard's life- for 'tis a bastard,

So sure as this beard's grey- what will you adventure
To save this brat's life?

ANTIGONUS. Anything, my lord,
That my ability may undergo,

And nobleness impose. At least, thus much:
I'll pawn the little blood which I have left

To save the innocent- anything possible.
LEONTES. It shall be possible. Swear by this sword

Thou wilt perform my bidding.
ANTIGONUS. I will, my lord.

LEONTES. Mark, and perform it- seest thou? For the fail
Of any point in't shall not only be

Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu'd wife,
Whom for this time we pardon. We enjoin thee,

As thou art liegeman to us, that thou carry
This femalebastard hence; and that thou bear it

To some remote and desert place, quite out
Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it,

Without more mercy, to it own protection
And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune

It came to us, I do in justice charge thee,
On thy soul's peril and thy body's torture,

That thou commend it strangely to some place
Where chance may nurse or end it. Take it up.

ANTIGONUS. I swear to do this, though a present death
Had been more merciful. Come on, poor babe.

Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens
To be thy nurses! Wolves and bears, they say,

Casting their savageness aside, have done
Like offices of pity. Sir, be prosperous

In more than this deed does require! And blessing
Against this cruelty fight on thy side,

Poor thing, condemn'd to loss! Exit with the child
LEONTES. No, I'll not rear

Another's issue.
Enter a SERVANT

SERVANT. Please your Highness, posts
From those you sent to th' oracle are come

An hour since. Cleomenes and Dion,
Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed,

Hasting to th' court.
FIRST LORD. So please you, sir, their speed

Hath been beyond account.
LEONTES. Twenty-three days

They have been absent; 'tis good speed; foretells
The great Apollo suddenly will have

The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords;
Summon a session, that we may arraign

Our most disloyal lady; for, as she hath
Been publicly accus'd, so shall she have

A just and open trial. While she lives,
My heart will be a burden to me. Leave me;

And think upon my bidding. Exeunt
ACT III. SCENE I.

Sicilia. On the road to the Capital
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' th' off'ring!
CLEOMENES. But of all, the burst

And the ear-deaf'ning voice o' th' oracle,
Kin to Jove's thunder, so surpris'd my sense

That I was nothing.
DION. If th' event o' th' journey

Prove as successful to the Queen- O, be't so!-


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