Will cry it o'er again; it is a hint

That wrings mine eyes to't.

Pro. Hear a little further,

And then I'll bring thee to the present business Which now's upon's, without the which this story

Were most impertinent.

Mira. Why did they not

That hour destroy us?

Pro. Well demanded, wench;

My tale provokes that question. They durst not,
So dear the love my people bore me, fet
A mark fo bloody on the business; but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurry'd us aboard a bark,
Bore us fome leagues to fea, where they prepar'd
A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, nor fail, nor mast; the very rats
Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us
To cry to th' fea that roar'd to us; to figh
To winds, whose pity fighing back again
Did us but loving wrong.

Mira. Alack! what trouble

Was I then to you?

Pro. O! a cherubim

Thou wast that did preserve me: thou didst smile Infused with a fortitude from heav'n;

(When I have brack'd the fea with drops full falt, Under my burthen groan'd) which rais'd in me An undergoing stomach, to bear up

Against what should ensue.

Mira. How came we a-shore?

Pro. By providence divine.

Some food we had, and some fresh water, that

A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Out of his charity (being then appointed

Master of this design) did give us, with

Rich garments, linnens, stuffs, and necessaries,
Which fince have steeded much. So of his gentleness,
Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me
From my own library, with volumes that

I prize above my dukedom.

Mira. Would I might

But ever fee that man!

Pro. Now I arife:

Sit still, and hear the last of our fea-forrow.

Here in this island we arriv'd, and here

Have I, thy school-master, made thee more profit

Than other princes can, that have more time

For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.

Mira. Heav'ns thank you for't! And now I pray you, fir,

(For ftill 'tis beating in my mind) your reafon For raising this fea-storm?

Pro. Know thus far forth;

By accident most strange bountiful fortune
(Now my dear lady) hath mine enemies
Brought to this shore: and by my prefcience
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most auspicious star, whose influence
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop. ----Here cease more questions,
Thou art inclin'd to fleep. 'Tis a good dulness,
And give it way; I know thou canst not chuse.
Come away, fervant, come; I'm ready now :
Approach, my Ariel; come.

SCENE III.

Enter Ariel.

Ari. All hail, great master! grave fir, hail! I come

To answer thy best pleasure. Be't to fly;

To fwim; to dive into the fire; to ride

On the curl'd clouds: to thy strong bidding task

Ariel

(

Ariel and all his qualities.

Pro. Haft thou, spirit,

Perform'd to point the tempeft that I bad thee?

Ari. To every article.

I boarded the king's ship: now on the beak,
Now in the waste, the deck, in every cabin,
I flam'd amazement. Sometimes I'd divide,
And burn in many places; on the top-mast,
The yards, and bolt-sprit, would I flame distinctly,
Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precurfers
Of dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
And fight out-running were not; the fire and cracks
Of fulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune
Seem'd to befiege, and make his bold waves tremble,
Yea, his dread trident shake.

Pro. That's my brave spirit!

Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
Would not infect his reafon?

Ari. Not a foul

But felt a fever of the mind, and plaid
Some tricks of defperation: all but mariners
Plung'd in the foaming brine, and quit the vessel,
Then all a-fire with me: the king's fon Ferdinand
With hair up-ftaring (then like reeds, not hair)
Was the first man that leap'd; cry'd, hell is empty,
And all the devils are here.

Pro. Why that's my spirit!
But was not this nigh shore?
Ari. Close by, my mafter.
Pro. But are they, Ariel, fafe?
Ari. Not a hair perish'd :

On their fustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before. And as thou badst me,
In troops I have difpers'd them 'bout the ifle:
The king's fon have I landed by himself,
Whom I left cooling of the air with fighs

In

In an odd angle of the ifle, and fitting,
His arms in this fad knot.

Pro. Of the king's ship

The mariners, say how thou hast dispos'd,

And all the rest o' th' fleet?

Ari. Safely in harbour

Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dst me up at midnight, to fetch dew
From the still-vext Bermoothes, there she's hid:
The mariners all under hatches stow'd,

Whom with a charm join'd to their fuffered labour,
I've left asleep; and for the rest o' th' fleet
(Which I dispers'd) they all have met again,
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,
Bound sadly home for Naples,

Suppofing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd,

And his great person perish.

Pro. Ariel, thy charge

Exactly is perform'd; but there's more work:

What is the time o' th' day?

Ari. Past the mid season.

Pro. At least two glasses: the time 'twixt fix and now

Must by us both be spent most precioufly.

Ari. Is there more toil? fince thou dost give me pains,

Let me remember thee what thou hast promis'd,

Which is not yet perform'd me.

Pro. How now? moody?

What is't thou canst demand?

Ari. My liberty.

Pro. Before the time be out? no more.
Ari. I pr'ythee,

Remember I have done thee worthy service,

(a) This is the Spanish pronunciation of Bermudas: the account of which island in Purchas's Pilgrimage is, that it was call'd the Island of Devils and the inchanted Island, these names being given it from the monftrous tempefts which there have been often sustain'd. And again, speaking of the whole cluster of islands with which the great one is furrounded, he faith, The islands seem rent with tempefts of thunder, lightning and rain, which threaten in time to devour them all.

Told

1

:

Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, serv'd
Without or grudge or grumblings; thou didst promife
To bate me a full year.

Pro. Doft thou forget

From what a torment I did free thee?

Ari. No.

Pro. Thou dost; and think'st it much to tread the ooze

Pro. Thou ly'st, malignant thing: haft thou forgot

The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy

Was grown into a hoop? haft thou forgot her?

Ari. No, fir.

Pro. Thou hast: where was she born? speak; tell me, say.

Ari. Sir, in Argier.

Pro. Oh, was she so? I must

Once in a month recount what thou hast been,

Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch Sycorax,

For mischiefs manifold, forceries too terrible

To enter human hearing, from Argier,

Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did
They would not take her life. Is this not true?

Ari. Ay, fır.

Pro. This blue-ey'd hag was hither brought with child,

And here was left by th' failors; thou my flave,

As thou report'st thy self, wast then her fervant.
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate

To act her earthly and abhorr'd commands,
Refufing her grand hests, she did confine thee,

By help of her more potent ministers,

And in her most unmitigable rage,

Into a cloven pine; within which rift
Imprison'd, thou didst painfully remain

A