|
| All's Well That Ends Well |
|
Shakespeare homepage
| All's Well That Ends Well
| Act 3, Scene 5
Previous scene | Next scene |
|
Enter an old Widow of Florence, DIANA, VIOLENTA, and MARIANA, with other CitizensWidow
Nay, come; for if they do approach the city, weDIANA
shall lose all the sight.
They say the French count has done most honourable service.Widow
It is reported that he has taken their greatestMARIANA
commander; and that with his own hand he slew the
duke's brother.
Tucket
We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary
way: hark! you may know by their trumpets.
Come, let's return again, and suffice ourselves withWidow
the report of it. Well, Diana, take heed of this
French earl: the honour of a maid is her name; and
no legacy is so rich as honesty.
I have told my neighbour how you have been solicitedMARIANA
by a gentleman his companion.
I know that knave; hang him! one Parolles: aDIANA
filthy officer he is in those suggestions for the
young earl. Beware of them, Diana; their promises,
enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of
lust, are not the things they go under: many a maid
hath been seduced by them; and the misery is,
example, that so terrible shows in the wreck of
maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession,
but that they are limed with the twigs that threaten
them. I hope I need not to advise you further; but
I hope your own grace will keep you where you are,
though there were no further danger known but the
modesty which is so lost.
You shall not need to fear me.Widow
I hope so.HELENA
Enter HELENA, disguised like a Pilgrim
Look, here comes a pilgrim: I know she will lie at
my house; thither they send one another: I'll
question her. God save you, pilgrim! whither are you bound?
To Saint Jaques le Grand.Widow
Where do the palmers lodge, I do beseech you?
At the Saint Francis here beside the port.HELENA
Is this the way?Widow
Ay, marry, is't.HELENA
A march afar
Hark you! they come this way.
If you will tarry, holy pilgrim,
But till the troops come by,
I will conduct you where you shall be lodged;
The rather, for I think I know your hostess
As ample as myself.
Is it yourself?Widow
If you shall please so, pilgrim.HELENA
I thank you, and will stay upon your leisure.Widow
You came, I think, from France?HELENA
I did so.Widow
Here you shall see a countryman of yoursHELENA
That has done worthy service.
His name, I pray you.DIANA
The Count Rousillon: know you such a one?HELENA
But by the ear, that hears most nobly of him:DIANA
His face I know not.
Whatsome'er he is,HELENA
He's bravely taken here. He stole from France,
As 'tis reported, for the king had married him
Against his liking: think you it is so?
Ay, surely, mere the truth: I know his lady.DIANA
There is a gentleman that serves the countHELENA
Reports but coarsely of her.
What's his name?DIANA
Monsieur Parolles.HELENA
O, I believe with him,DIANA
In argument of praise, or to the worth
Of the great count himself, she is too mean
To have her name repeated: all her deserving
Is a reserved honesty, and that
I have not heard examined.
Alas, poor lady!Widow
'Tis a hard bondage to become the wife
Of a detesting lord.
I warrant, good creature, wheresoe'er she is,HELENA
Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might do her
A shrewd turn, if she pleased.
How do you mean?Widow
May be the amorous count solicits her
In the unlawful purpose.
He does indeed;MARIANA
And brokes with all that can in such a suit
Corrupt the tender honour of a maid:
But she is arm'd for him and keeps her guard
In honestest defence.
The gods forbid else!Widow
So, now they come:HELENA
Drum and Colours
Enter BERTRAM, PAROLLES, and the whole army
That is Antonio, the duke's eldest son;
That, Escalus.
Which is the Frenchman?DIANA
He;HELENA
That with the plume: 'tis a most gallant fellow.
I would he loved his wife: if he were honester
He were much goodlier: is't not a handsome gentleman?
I like him well.DIANA
'Tis pity he is not honest: yond's that same knaveHELENA
That leads him to these places: were I his lady,
I would Poison that vile rascal.
Which is he?DIANA
That jack-an-apes with scarfs: why is he melancholy?HELENA
Perchance he's hurt i' the battle.PAROLLES
Lose our drum! well.MARIANA
He's shrewdly vexed at something: look, he has spied us.Widow
Marry, hang you!MARIANA
And your courtesy, for a ring-carrier!Widow
Exeunt BERTRAM, PAROLLES, and army
The troop is past. Come, pilgrim, I will bring youHELENA
Where you shall host: of enjoin'd penitents
There's four or five, to great Saint Jaques bound,
Already at my house.
I humbly thank you:BOTH
Please it this matron and this gentle maid
To eat with us to-night, the charge and thanking
Shall be for me; and, to requite you further,
I will bestow some precepts of this virgin
Worthy the note.
We'll take your offer kindly.
Exeunt
|
Shakespeare homepage
| All's Well That Ends Well
| Act 3, Scene 5
Previous scene | Next scene |
 | Ahoy Mates! We're happy to announce that 2006 is the year of Moby Dick. Join us before the mast! For more information, please check out Moby Dick or email Drake. Free downloadable copies are available at Moby Dick, and we hope that ye join us in discussing the novel at the Moby Dick Campfire. Invite yer friends! We would like to unite the world in reading what is perhaps the greatest work of fiction ever penned on the American shores. Written in the rich context of Shakespeare and the Bible, Moby Dick was Herman Melville's definitive masterpiece. If you've already read the epic, we invite you to read it again. And be sure to pick up Hamlet and the Bible throughout November, as the novel shall only be enhanced by the deeper context. The White Whale, symbolic of the truth and freedom which the greatest spirits in Western Civilization have ever pursued, yet swims free. Concerning Moby Dick, Melville wrote, "It ... is of the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hausers. A Polar wind blows through it, & birds of prey hover over it. Warn all gentle fastidious people from so much as peeping into the book..." Moby Dick was the first "Great Book" posted at jollyroger.com, over six years ago, and Melville's masterpiece has inspired a lot of our poetry and prose. Check out Drake's new film at Moby Dick Film and Moby Dick.  Amazon Computers | |