Glou. Here is better than the open air; take it thankfully.
I will piece out the comfort with what addition I
can: I will not be long from you.
Kent. All the power of his wits have given way to his[3818]
impatience: the gods reward your kindness! 5
[Exit Gloucester.[3819]
Edg. Frateretto calls me, and tells me Nero is an[3820]
angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent, and beware[3821]
the foul fiend.
Fool. Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a[3822]
gentleman or a yeoman.[3823] 10
Lear. A king, a king!
Fool. No, he's a yeoman that has a gentleman to his[3824]
son, for he's a mad yeoman that sees his son a gentleman[3824][3825]
before him.[3824]
Edg. The foul fiend bites my back.[3828]
Fool. He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf,[3828][3829]
a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath.[3828][3830]
Lear. It shall be done; I will arraign them straight.[3828][3831] 20
[To Edgar] Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer;[3828][3832]
[To the Fool] Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, you she foxes![3828][3833]
Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice of[3828]
a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's belly for two white[3828] 30
herring. Croak not, black angel; I have no food for thee.[3828][3842]
Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name Goneril?[3828]
Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool.[3828][3856] 50
Lear. And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim[3828][3857]
What store her heart is made on. Stop her there![3828][3857][3858]
Arms, arms, sword, fire! Corruption in the place![3828][3859]
False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape?[3828]
Edg. Bless thy five wits! 55
Kent. O pity! Sir, where is the patience now,
That you so oft have boasted to retain?[3860]
Edg. [Aside] My tears begin to take his part so much,[3861]
They'll mar my counterfeiting.[3862]
Lear. The little dogs and all, 60
Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me.
Edg. Tom will throw his head at them. Avaunt, you[3863]
curs![3863]
Be thy mouth or black or white,[3863]
Tooth that poisons if it bite;[3863] 65
Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim,[3863][3864]
Hound or spaniel, brach or lym,[3863][3864][3865]
Or bobtail tike or trundle-tail,[3863][3866]
Tom will make them weep and wail:[3863][3867]
For, with throwing thus my head,[3863] 70
Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled.[3863][3868]
Do de, de, de. Sessa! Come, march to wakes and fairs[3869][3870]
and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is dry.[3869][3871]
Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan; see what[3872][3873]
breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that[3872][3874] 75
makes these hard hearts? [To Edgar] You, sir, I entertain[3872][3875]
for one of my hundred; only I do not like the fashion[3872][3876]
of your garments. You will say they are Persian attire;[3872][3877]
but let them be changed.[3872]
Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here and rest awhile.[3878] 80
Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw the curtains:[3879]
so, so, so. We'll go to supper i' the morning. So,[3879][3880]
so, so.
Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon.
Re-enter Gloucester.[3881]
Glou. Come hither, friend: where is the king my master?[3882] 85
Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not: his wits are gone.
Glou. Good friend, I prithee, take him in thy arms;
I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him:
There is a litter ready; lay him in't,[3883][3884]
And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet[3883][3885] 90
Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master:[3883]
If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life,[3883][3886]
With thine and all that offer to defend him,[3883]
Stand in assured loss. Take up, take up,[3883][3887]
And follow me, that will to some provision[3883] 95
Give thee quick conduct.
Glou. Come, come, away. 100
[Exeunt all but Edgar.[3894]
Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes,[3895][3896]
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.[3895][3896]
Who alone suffers suffers most i' the mind,[3895][3897]
Leaving free things and happy shows behind:[3895]
But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip,[3895][3898] 105
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.[3895]
How light and portable my pain seems now,[3895]
When that which makes me bend makes the king bow,[3895]
He childed as I father'd! Tom, away![3895][3899]
Mark the high noises, and thyself bewray[3895][3900] 110
When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,[3895][3901]
In thy just proof repeals and reconciles thee.[3895]
What will hap more to-night, safe 'scape the king![3895][3902]
Lurk, lurk. [Exit.[3895][3903]
Scene VII. Gloucester's castle.
Enter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, Edmund, and Servants.[3904]
Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband; show[3905]
him this letter: the army of France is landed. Seek out the[3905]
traitor Gloucester. [Exeunt some of the Servants.[3905][3906]
Reg. Hang him instantly.
Gon. Pluck out his eyes. 5
Corn. Leave him to my displeasure. Edmund, keep[3907][3908]
you our sister company: the revenges we are bound to take[3907][3909]
upon your traitorous father are not fit for your beholding.[3907]
Advise the duke, where you are going, to a most festinate[3907][3910]
preparation: we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be[3907][3911][3912] 10
swift and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister:[3911][3913]
farewell, my lord of Gloucester.[3911]
Enter Oswald.[3914]
How now! where's the king?
Osw. My lord of Gloucester hath convey'd him hence:
Some five or six and thirty of his knights,[3915] 15
Hot questrists after him, met him at gate;[3915][3916]
Who, with some other of the lords dependants,[3915][3917]
Are gone with him toward Dover; where they boast[3915][3918]
To have well-armed friends.[3915]
Corn. Get horses for your mistress.
Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister. 20
Corn. Edmund, farewell.
[Exeunt Goneril, Edmund, and Oswald.[3919]
Go seek the traitor Gloucester.
Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us.
[Exeunt other Servants.[3920]
Though well we may not pass upon his life[3921]
Without the form of justice, yet our power
Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men[3922][3923] 25
May blame but not control. Who's there? the traitor?[3922]
Enter Gloucester, brought in by two or three.[3924]