William Shakespeare's Cymbeline in the complete original text.
William Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems at AbsoluteShakespeare.com
Home Plays Sonnets Poems Quotes Summaries Essays Glossary Links Help

HOME > Plays > Cymbeline > Act II. Scene I.

Cymbeline

Study Guides
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Henry IV
King Lear
Macbeth
Merchant of Venice
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
The Tempest
Twelfth Night

Trivia
Authorship
Bard Facts
Bibliography
Biography
FAQ
Films
Globe Theatre
Pictures
Quiz
Timeline

Act II. Scene I.

Act II. Scene I.—Britain. Before
CYMBELINE'S Palace.

Enter CLOTEN and two Lords.

Clo. Was there ever man had such luck!
when I kissed the jack, upon an up-cast to be
hit away! I had a hundred pound on 't; and
then a whoreson jackanapes must take me up
for swearing, as if I borrowed mine oaths of him
and might not spend them at my pleasure.
First Lord. What got he by that? You have
broke his pate with your bowl.
Sec. Lord. [Aside.] If his wit had been like
him that broke it, it would have run all out.
Clo. When a gentleman is disposed to swear,
it is not for any standers-by to curtail his
oaths, ha?
Sec. Lord. No, my lord; [Aside.] nor crop.
the ears of them.
Clo. Whoreson dog! I give him satisfaction!
Would he had been one of my rank!
Sec. Lord. [Aside.] To have smelt like a
fool.
Clo. I am not vexed more at any thing in the
earth. A pox on't! I had rather not be so
noble as I am. They dare not fight with me be-
cause of the queen my mother. Every Jack-slave
hath his bellyful of fighting, and I must go
up and down like a cock that nobody can match.
Sec. Lord. [Aside.] You are cock and capon
too; and you crow, cock, with your comb on.
Clo. Sayest thou?
Sec. Lord. It is not fit your lordship should
undertake every companion that you give of-
fence to.
Clo. No, I know that; but it is fit I should
commit offence to my inferiors.
Sec. Lord. Ay, it is fit for your .lordship
only.
Clo. Why, so I say.
First Lord. Did you hear of a stranger that's
come to court to-night?
Clo. A stranger, and I not know on 't!
Sec. Lord. [Aside.] He's a strange fellow him-
self, and knows it not.
First Lord. There's an Italian come; and
'tis thought, one of Leonatus' friends.
Clo. Leonatus! a banished rascal; and he's
another, whatsoever he be. Who told you of
this stranger?
First Lord. One of your lordship's pages.
Clo. Is it fit I went to look upon him? Is
there no derogation in't?
First Lord. You cannot derogate, my lord.
Clo. Not easily, I think.
Sec. Lord. [Aside.] You are a fool, granted;
therefore your issues, being foolish, do not
derogate.
Clo. Come, I'll go see this Italian. What
I have lost to-day at bowls I'll win tonight of
him. Come, go.
Sec. Lord. I'll attend your lordship.
[Exeunt CLOTEN and First Lord.
That such a crafty devil as is his mother
Should yield the world this ass! a woman that
Bears all down with her brain, and this her son
Cannot take two from twenty for his heart
And leave eighteen. Alas! poor princess,
Thou divine Imogen, what thou endur'st
Betwixt a father by thy step-dame govern'd,
A mother hourly coining plots, a wooer
More hateful than the foul expulsion is
Of thy dear husband, than that horrid act
Of the divorce he'd make. The heavens hold
firm
The walls of thy dear honour; keep unshak'd
That temple, thy fair mind; that thou mayst
stand,
To enjoy thy banish'd lord and this great land!
[Exit.
< PREVIOUS
Copyright © 2000-2005 AbsoluteShakespeare.com. All rights reserved.  Contact Us  Privacy  Awards