[Near Dover] EDGAR When shall I come to th' top of that same hill? GLOUCESTER You do climb up it now. Look how we labor. EDGAR Methinks the ground is even. GLOUCESTER Horrible steep. Hark, do you hear the sea? EDGAR No, truly. GLOUCESTER Why, then, your other senses grow imperfect By your eyes' anguish. EDGAR So may it be indeed. Methinks thy voice is altered, and thou speak'st In better phrase and matter than thou didst. GLOUCESTER Y'are much deceived. In nothing am I changed But in my eyes. EDGAR Methinks y'are better spoken. GLOUCESTER Come on, sir, here's the place. Stand still. How fearful And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low! The crows and choughs that wing the midway air Show scarce so gross as beetles. Halfway down Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade! Methinks he seems no bigger than his head. The fishermen that walk upon the beach Appear like mice, and yond tall anchoring bark Diminished to her cock, her cock a buoy Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge That on th' unnumbered idle pebble chafes Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more, Lest my brain turn and the deficient sight Topple down headlong. GLOUCESTER Set me where you stand. EDGAR Give me your hand. You are now within a foot Of th' extreme verge. For all beneath the moon Would I not leap upright. GLOUCESTER Let go my hand. Here, friend, 's another purse; in it a jewel Well worth a poor man's taking. Fairies and gods Prosper it with thee! Go thou further off. Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going. EDGAR Now fare ye well, good sir. GLOUCESTER With all my heart. EDGAR [Aside] Why I do trifle thus with his despair Is done to cure it. GLOUCESTER O you mighty gods! This world I do renounce, and in your sights Shake patiently my great affliction off. If I could bear it longer and not fall To quarrel with your great opposeless wills, My snuff and loathed part of nature should Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O, bless him! Now, fellow, fare thee well. [He falls forward] EDGAR Gone, sir? Farewell. [Aside] And yet I know not how conceit may rob The treasury of life when life itself Yields to the theft. Had he been where I thought, By this had thought been past.—Now, gentle sir, What are you, sir? GLOUCESTER Away, and let me die. EDGAR Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, feathers, air, So many fathom down precipitating, Thou'dst shivered like an egg; but thou dost breathe, Hast heavy substance, bleed'st not, speak'st, art sound. Ten masts at each make not the altitude Which thou hast perpendicularly fell. Thy life's a miracle. Speak yet again. GLOUCESTER But have I fall'n or no? EDGAR From the dread summit of this chalky bourn. Look up a-height; the shrill-gorged lark so far Cannot be seen or heard. Do but look up. GLOUCESTER Alack, I have no eyes. Is wretchedness deprived that benefit To end itself by death? 'Twas yet some comfort When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage And frustrate his proud will. EDGAR Give me your arm. Up—so. How is't? Feel you your legs? You stand. GLOUCESTER Too well, too well. EDGAR This is above all strangeness. Upon the crown o' th' cliff what thing was that Which parted from you? GLOUCESTER A poor unfortunate beggar. EDGAR As I stood here below, methought his eyes Were two full moons. He had a thousand noses, Horns whelked and waved like the enridgèd sea. It was some fiend. Therefore, thou happy father, Think that the clearest gods, who make them honors Of men's impossibilities, have preserved thee. GLOUCESTER I do remember now. Henceforth I'll bear Affliction till it do cry out itself "Enough, enough," and die. That thing you speak of, I took it for a man. Often 'twould say "The fiend, the fiend!" He led me to that place. EDGAR Bear free and patient thoughts. [Enter KING LEAR, mad, crowned with flowers and weeds] But who comes here? The safer sense will ne'er accommodate His master thus. LEAR No, they cannot touch me for coining; I am the King himself. EDGAR O thou side-piercing sight! LEAR Nature's above art in that respect. There's your press money. That fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper. Draw me a clothier's yard. Look, look, a mouse! Peace, peace, this piece of toasted cheese will do 't. There's my gauntlet; I'll prove it on a giant. Bring up the brown bills. O, well flown, bird, i' th' clout, i' th' clout! Hewgh! Give the word. EDGAR Sweet marjoram. LEAR Pass. GLOUCESTER I know that voice. LEAR Ha! Goneril with a white beard? They flattered me like a dog and told me I had white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. To say "ay" and "no" to everything that I said "ay" and "no" to was no good divinity. When the rain came to wet me once, and the wind to make me chatter, when the thunder would not peace at my bidding, there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go to, they are not men o' their words. They told me I was everything. 'Tis a lie—I am not ague-proof. GLOUCESTER The trick of that voice I do well remember. Is 't not the King? LEAR Ay, every inch a king! When I do stare, see how the subject quakes. I pardon that man's life. What was thy cause? Adultery? Thou shalt not die. Die for adultery? No. The wren goes to 't, and the small gilded fly Does lecher in my sight. Let copulation thrive; for Gloucester's bastard son Was kinder to his father than my daughters Got 'tween the lawful sheets. To 't, luxury, pell-mell, for I lack soldiers. Behold yond simpering dame, Whose face between her forks presages snow, That minces virtue and does shake the head To hear of pleasure's name. The fitchew nor the soilèd horse goes to 't With a more riotous appetite. Down from the waist they are centaurs, Though women all above. But to the girdle do the gods inherit; Beneath is all the fiends'. There's hell, there's darkness, there's the sulphurous pit, burning, scalding, stench, consumption. Fie, fie, fie! pah, pah! Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary, to sweeten my imagination. There's money for thee. GLOUCESTER O, let me kiss that hand! LEAR Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality. GLOUCESTER O ruined piece of nature! This great world Shall so wear out to naught. Dost thou know me? LEAR I remember thine eyes well enough. Dost thou squiny at me? No, do thy worst, blind Cupid. I'll not love. Read thou this challenge. Mark but the penning of it. GLOUCESTER Were all thy letters suns, I could not see. EDGAR [Aside] I would not take this from report. It is, And my heart breaks at it. LEAR Read. GLOUCESTER What, with the case of eyes? LEAR O ho, are you there with me? No eyes in your head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a light, yet you see how this world goes. GLOUCESTER I see it feelingly. LEAR What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears. See how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear—change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief? Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar? GLOUCESTER Ay, sir. LEAR And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold the great image of authority: a dog's obeyed in office. Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand. Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thy own back. Thou hotly lusts to use her in that kind for which thou whipp'st her. The usurer hangs the cozener. Through tattered clothes great vices do appear; robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, and the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it. None does offend, none, I say, none. I'll able 'em. Take that of me, my friend, who have the power to seal th' accuser's lips. Get thee glass eyes, And like a scurvy politician seem To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now! Pull off my boots. Harder, harder! So. EDGAR [Aside] O, matter and impertinency mixed! Reason in madness! LEAR If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes. I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloucester. Thou must be patient. We came crying hither. Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air We wawl and cry. When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools. This' a good block. It were a delicate stratagem to shoe a troop of horse with felt. I'll put 't in proof, and when I have stol'n upon these son-in-laws, then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill! [Enter a GENTLEMAN with attendants] GENTLEMAN O, here he is! Lay hand upon him.—Sir, Your most dear daughter— LEAR No rescue? What, a prisoner? I am even The natural fool of fortune. Use me well. You shall have ransom. Let me have surgeons; I am cut to th' brains. GENTLEMAN You shall have anything. LEAR No seconds? All myself? Why, this would make a man a man of salt, To use his eyes for garden water-pots, Ay, and laying autumn's dust. I will die bravely, Like a smug bridegroom. What! I will be jovial. Come, come, I am a king; masters, know you that? GENTLEMAN You are a royal one, and we obey you. LEAR Then there's life in 't. Come, an you get it, you shall get it by running. Sa, sa, sa, sa! [Exit, running, followed by attendants] GENTLEMAN A sight most pitiful in the meanest wretch, Past speaking of in a king. Thou hast one daughter Who redeems nature from the general curse Which twain have brought her to. EDGAR Hail, gentle sir. GENTLEMAN Sir, speed you. What's your will? EDGAR Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward? GENTLEMAN Most sure and vulgar. Everyone hears that Which can distinguish sound. EDGAR But, by your favor, How near's the other army? GENTLEMAN Near and on speedy foot. The main descry Stands on the hourly thought. EDGAR I thank you, sir. That's all. GENTLEMAN Though that the Queen on special cause is here, Her army is moved on. EDGAR I thank you, sir. [Exit GENTLEMAN] GLOUCESTER You ever-gentle gods, take my breath from me. Let not my worser spirit tempt me again To die before you please. EDGAR Well pray you, father. GLOUCESTER Now, good sir, what are you? EDGAR A most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows, Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows, Am pregnant to good pity. Give me your hand; I'll lead you to some biding. GLOUCESTER Hearty thanks. The bounty and the benison of heaven To boot, and boot! [Enter OSWALD] OSWALD A proclaimed prize! Most happy! That eyeless head of thine was first framed flesh To raise my fortunes. Thou old unhappy traitor, Briefly thyself remember. The sword is out That must destroy thee. GLOUCESTER Now let thy friendly hand Put strength enough to 't. [EDGAR interposes] OSWALD Wherefore, bold peasant, Darest thou support a published traitor? Hence, Lest that th' infection of his fortune take Like hold on thee. Let go his arm. EDGAR 'Chill not let go, zir, without vurther 'casion. OSWALD Let go, slave, or thou diest! EDGAR Good gentleman, go your gait, and let poor volk pass. An 'chud ha' bin zwaggered out of my life, 'twould not ha' bin zo long as 'tis by a vortnight. Nay, come not near th' old man. Keep out, che vor' ye, or I'se try whether your costard or my ballow be the harder. 'Chill be plain with you. OSWALD Out, dunghill! [They fight] EDGAR 'Chill pick your teeth, zir. Come, no matter vor your foins. [OSWALD falls] OSWALD Slave, thou hast slain me. Villain, take my purse. If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body, And give the letters which thou find'st about me To Edmund, Earl of Gloucester. Seek him out Upon the English party. O, untimely death! Death! [He dies] EDGAR I know thee well: a serviceable villain, As duteous to the vices of thy mistress As badness would desire. GLOUCESTER What, is he dead? EDGAR Sit you down, father; rest you. Let's see these pockets; the letters that he speaks of May be my friends. He's dead. I am only sorry He had no other deathsman. Let us see. Leave, gentle wax, and, manners, blame us not. To know our enemies' minds we rip their hearts; Their papers is more lawful. [Reads the letter] "Let our reciprocal vows be remembered. You have many opportunities to cut him off. If your will want not, time and place will be fruitfully offered. There is nothing done if he return the conqueror. Then am I the prisoner, and his bed my jail, from the loathed warmth whereof deliver me, and supply the place for your labor. Your (wife, so I would say) affectionate servant, Goneril." O indistinguished space of woman's will! A plot upon her virtuous husband's life, And the exchange my brother! Here in the sands Thee I'll rake up, the post unsanctified Of murderous lechers, and in the mature time With this ungracious paper strike the sight Of the death-practiced duke. For him 'tis well That of thy death and business I can tell. GLOUCESTER The King is mad. How stiff is my vile sense, That I stand up and have ingenious feeling Of my huge sorrows! Better I were distract; So should my thoughts be severed from my griefs, And woes by wrong imaginations lose The knowledge of themselves. [A drum afar off] EDGAR Give me your hand. Far off methinks I hear the beaten drum. Come, father, I'll bestow you with a friend. [Exeunt]