The Tempest – Act 3 Scene 3

GONZALO

By'r lakin, I can go no further, sir;

By Mary, I can walk no further, sir;

My old bones ache: here's a maze trod indeed

My old bones ache. We’re walking in a maze

Through forth-rights and meanders! By your patience,

With straight paths and then zigzags! If you don’t mind,

I needs must rest me.

I have to rest.

ALONSO

Old lord, I cannot blame thee,

Old lord, I cannot blame you,

Who am myself attached with weariness,

For I myself am feeling rather weary,

To the dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.

And downbeat: let’s all sit down here to rest.

Even here I will put off my hope and keep it

Just here I’ll give up hope and won’t continue

No longer for my flatterer: he is drowned

To kid myself no longer: he has drowned

Whom thus we stray to find, and the sea mocks

Whom we are looking for; the sea is laughing

Our frustrate search on land. Well, let him go.

At us for searching on the land. He’s gone.

ANTONIO

[Aside to SEBASTIAN]

I am right glad that he's so out of hope.

I’m thrilled that he has given up all hope.

Do not, for one repulse, forego the purpose

Don’t, for a moment, give up on the plan

That you resolved to effect.

That you committed to.

SEBASTIAN

[Aside to ANTONIO]

The next advantage

Then at the next chance

Will we take throughly.

We’ll do it thoroughly.

ANTONIO

[Aside to SEBASTIAN]

Let it be to-night;

Tonight, we’ll do it;

For, now they are oppressed with travel, they

For now that they are worn out from the travel,

Will not, nor cannot, use such vigilance

They will not and they cannot be as watchful

As when they are fresh.

As when they’re fresh.

SEBASTIAN

[Aside to ANTONIO]

I say, to-night: no more.

I say, tonight: end of.

ALONSO

What harmony is this? My good friends, hark!

What song is this? My good friends, listen up!

GONZALO

Marvellous sweet music!

What marvellous, lovely music!

ALONSO

Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these?

Send guardian angels, heaven! What were those things?

SEBASTIAN

A living drollery. Now I will believe

A puppet show with living puppets. I now

That there are unicorns, that in Arabia

Believe in unicorns, and in Arabia

There is one tree, the phoenix' throne, one phoenix

There is a tree wherein the phoenix roosts,

At this hour reigning there.

And it is sat there now.

ANTONIO

I'll believe both;

I think that too;

And what does else want credit, come to me,

All myths that want believing, come to me

And I'll be sworn 'tis true: travellers ne'er did lie,

And I will swear they’re true: travellers don’t lie,

Though fools at home condemn 'em.

Though fools at home dismiss them.

GONZALO

If in Naples

If in Naples

I should report this now, would they believe me?

I told them what I’d seen, would they believe me?

If I should say, I saw such islanders –

If I said, I saw people from the island –

For, certes, these are people of the island –

For I am sure they’re people from the island –

Who, though they are of monstrous shape, yet, note,

Who, though they look like monsters, we have noted

Their manners are more gentle-kind than of

Their manners are more kind and gentle than

Our human generation you shall find

The humans of our age who you might meet

Many, nay, almost any.

Most times, no, almost every time.

PROSPERO

[Aside]

Honest lord,

Good lord,

Thou hast said well; for some of you there present

You spoke the truth; for some within your group

Are worse than devils.

Are worse than devils.

ALONSO

I cannot too much muse

I cannot stop thinking

Such shapes, such gesture and such sound, expressing,

About those shapes, their gestures, and those noises,

Although they want the use of tongue, a kind

That, though they lacked the power of speech, they used

Of excellent dumb discourse.

A clever silent chat.

PROSPERO

[Aside]

Praise in departing.

Wait till we’re finished.

FRANCISCO

They vanished strangely.

They strangely disappeared.

SEBASTIAN

No matter, since

That doesn’t matter,

They have left their viands behind; for we have stomachs.

For they have left their food, and we are hungry.

Will't please you taste of what is here?

Would you desire to taste the food?

ALONSO

Not I.

Not me.

GONZALO

Faith, sir, you need not fear. When we were boys,

There’s no need to be scared. When we were boys,

Who would believe that there were mountaineers

Who’d have believed that there were mountain men

Dew-lapped like bulls, whose throats had hanging at 'em

With bull-like pouches hanging round their necks

Wallets of flesh? Or that there were such men

Like clumps of flesh? Or that there were some men

Whose heads stood in their breasts? Which now we find

Whose heads were in their chest? Which now we know

Each putter-out of five for one will bring us

A savvy bet at five-to-one will give us

Good warrant of.

A good return, because it’s true.

ALONSO

I will stand to and feed,

I’ll eat this,

Although my last: no matter, since I feel

Even if it’s my last meal. I don’t care, since

The best is past. Brother, my lord the duke,

My best days are behind me. Brother, lord duke,

Stand to and do as we.

Stand here and eat as well.

ARIEL

You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,

You three are sinners, men whom Destiny –

That hath to instrument this lower world

Which has control of everything on earth

And what is in't, the never-surfeited sea

And all that’s in it – made the quenchless sea

Hath caused to belch up you; and on this island

Spit out again, to live upon this island

Where man doth not inhabit; you 'mongst men

Where no man lives; and you amongst all men

Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;

Do not deserve to live. I’ve made you mad;

And even with such-like valour men hang and drown

And men who have gone mad will hang or drown

Their proper selves.

Themselves.

[ALONSO, SEBASTIAN ETC. DRAW THEIR SWORDS]

You fools! I and my fellows

You fools! I and my fellow beings

Are ministers of Fate: the elements,

Enact what Fate decrees: the elements

Of whom your swords are tempered, may as well

Your swords have swiped at might as well attempt

Wound the loud winds, or with bemocked-at stabs

To hurt the winds, or your pathetic stabs

Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish

Might try to kill encasing water, as you

One dowle that's in my plume: my fellow-ministers

Might chop a feather from my plume: my fellows

Are like invulnerable. If you could hurt,

Are as untouchable. If you could hurt us,

Your swords are now too massy for your strengths

Your swords are now too heavy for your strength

And will not be uplifted. But remember –

And can’t be lifted. But you must remember –

For that's my business to you – that you three

And that’s the reason that I’m here – that you three

From Milan did supplant good Prospero;

In Milan overthrew good Prospero,

Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it,

And left him to the oceans – much like you’ve been –

Him and his innocent child: for which foul deed

Along with his defenceless child. For that crime,

The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have

The powers that be – who’d waited, not forgetting –

Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,

Fired up an angry sea and all its creatures

Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,

To break your peace. That son of yours, Alonso,

They have bereft; and do pronounce by me:

The sea has taken; and it’s ordered me to

Lingering perdition, worse than any death

Inflict a drawn-out ruin, worse than death

Can be at once, shall step by step attend

Can ever be, and every step will happen

You and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from –

To you. The only way that you can stop them –

Which here, in this most desolate isle, else falls

Which here, upon this isolated island,

Upon your heads – is nothing but heart-sorrow

Will come to you – is no less than remorse

And a clear life ensuing.

And living kind and morally from now on.

PROSPERO

Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou

You gave a fine performance as a birdman,

Performed, my Ariel; a grace it had, devouring:

My Ariel; classy and overwhelming.

Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated

You left out nothing from my clear instructions

In what thou hadst to say: so, with good life

In what you had to say. Also, with lifelike

And observation strange, my meaner ministers

And wondrous detail, my low-ranking servants

Their several kinds have done. My high charms work

Performed their roles. Now, all my spells are working

And these mine enemies are all knit up

And all my enemies are self-consumed

In their distractions; they now are in my power;

And mystified; they’re under my control now;

And in these fits I leave them, while I visit

I’ll leave them in confusion while I visit

Young Ferdinand, whom they suppose is drowned,

Young Ferdinand, whom they believe has drowned,

And his and mine loved darling.

And his girl whom both he and I do love.

GONZALO

I' the name of something holy, sir, why stand you

Good God, sir, why are you just standing there

In this strange stare?

And staring into space?

ALONSO

O, it is monstrous, monstrous:

Oh, it is awful.

Methought the billows spoke and told me of it;

I thought I heard the waves tell me about it;

The winds did sing it to me, and the thunder,

The winds sang it to me, and then the thunder –

That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounced

That sounds like dreadful organ music – spoke

The name of Prosper: it did bass my trespass.

Of Prospero: a bass-note boomed my sins.

Therefore my son i' the ooze is bedded, and

Because of that, my son lies in the ocean,

I'll seek him deeper than e'er plummet sounded

So I’ll go deeper now than any anchor

And with him there lie mudded.

And lie there in the mud with him.

SEBASTIAN

But one fiend at a time,

One devil at a time,

I'll fight their legions o'er.

I’ll fight through all their army.

ANTONIO

I'll be thy second.

I’ll support you.

GONZALO

All three of them are desperate: their great guilt,

All three of them are desperate: their guilt,

Like poison given to work a great time after,

Has, like a poison taking time to work,

Now 'gins to bite the spirits. I do beseech you

Begins to gnaw their conscience. I must ask you

That are of suppler joints, follow them swiftly

Whose bones don’t creak, to quickly follow them

And hinder them from what this ecstasy

And stop them doing something that this poison

May now provoke them to.

Might make them do.

ADRIAN

Follow, I pray you.

I ask you, follow them.