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| Two Gentlemen of Verona |
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| Two Gentlemen of Verona
| Act 2, Scene 3
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Enter LAUNCE, leading a dogLAUNCE
Nay, 'twill be this hour ere I have done weeping;PANTHINO
all the kind of the Launces have this very fault. I
have received my proportion, like the prodigious
son, and am going with Sir Proteus to the Imperial's
court. I think Crab, my dog, be the sourest-natured
dog that lives: my mother weeping, my father
wailing, my sister crying, our maid howling, our cat
wringing her hands, and all our house in a great
perplexity, yet did not this cruel-hearted cur shed
one tear: he is a stone, a very pebble stone, and
has no more pity in him than a dog: a Jew would have
wept to have seen our parting; why, my grandam,
having no eyes, look you, wept herself blind at my
parting. Nay, I'll show you the manner of it. This
shoe is my father: no, this left shoe is my father:
no, no, this left shoe is my mother: nay, that
cannot be so neither: yes, it is so, it is so, it
hath the worser sole. This shoe, with the hole in
it, is my mother, and this my father; a vengeance
on't! there 'tis: now, sit, this staff is my
sister, for, look you, she is as white as a lily and
as small as a wand: this hat is Nan, our maid: I
am the dog: no, the dog is himself, and I am the
dog--Oh! the dog is me, and I am myself; ay, so,
so. Now come I to my father; Father, your blessing:
now should not the shoe speak a word for weeping:
now should I kiss my father; well, he weeps on. Now
come I to my mother: O, that she could speak now
like a wood woman! Well, I kiss her; why, there
'tis; here's my mother's breath up and down. Now
come I to my sister; mark the moan she makes. Now
the dog all this while sheds not a tear nor speaks a
word; but see how I lay the dust with my tears.
Enter PANTHINO
Launce, away, away, aboard! thy master is shippedLAUNCE
and thou art to post after with oars. What's the
matter? why weepest thou, man? Away, ass! You'll
lose the tide, if you tarry any longer.
It is no matter if the tied were lost; for it is thePANTHINO
unkindest tied that ever any man tied.
What's the unkindest tide?LAUNCE
Why, he that's tied here, Crab, my dog.PANTHINO
Tut, man, I mean thou'lt lose the flood, and, inLAUNCE
losing the flood, lose thy voyage, and, in losing
thy voyage, lose thy master, and, in losing thy
master, lose thy service, and, in losing thy
service,--Why dost thou stop my mouth?
For fear thou shouldst lose thy tongue.PANTHINO
Where should I lose my tongue?LAUNCE
In thy tale.PANTHINO
In thy tail!LAUNCE
Lose the tide, and the voyage, and the master, andPANTHINO
the service, and the tied! Why, man, if the river
were dry, I am able to fill it with my tears; if the
wind were down, I could drive the boat with my sighs.
Come, come away, man; I was sent to call thee.LAUNCE
Sir, call me what thou darest.PANTHINO
Wilt thou go?LAUNCE
Well, I will go.
Exeunt
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| Two Gentlemen of Verona
| Act 2, Scene 3
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 | 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 | |