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that hath drunk fo much fack as I to-day? Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie, being but half a fish, and half a monfter?

CAL. Lo, how he mocks me! wilt thou let him, my lord?

TRIN. Lord, quoth he!-that a monster should be fuch a natural!

CAL. Lo, lo, again! bite him to death, I pr'ythee.

STE. Trinculo, keep a good tongue in your head; if you prove a mutineer, the next tree-The poor monster's my fubject, and he fhall not fuffer indignity.

CAL. I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleas'd

To hearken once again the fuit I made thee?" STE. Marry will I: kneel, and repeat it; I will ftand, and fo fhall Trinculo.

Enter ARIEL, invisible.

CAL. As I told thee

Before, I am fubject to a tyrant ;7

When the word was firft adopted from the French language, it appears to have been fpelt according to the pronunciation, and therefore wrongly; but ever fince it has been fpelt right, it has been uttered with equal impropriety. STEEVENS.

6 I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleas'd

To hearken once again the fuit I made thee?] The old copy, which erroneously prints this and other of Caliban's speeches as profe, reads

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But the elliptical mode of expreffion in the text, has already occurred in the fecond fcene of the first act of this play:

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"To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's fuit."

- being an enemy

STEEVENS.

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a tyrant;] Tyrant is here employed as a trifyllable.

STEEVENS.

A forcerer, that by his cunning hath
Cheated me of the island.

ARI.

Thou lieft.

CAL. Thou lieft, thou jefting monkey, thou; I would, my valiant mafter would deftroy thee: I do not lie.

STE. Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in his tale, by this hand, I will fupplant fome of your teeth.

TRIN. Why, I faid nothing.

STE. Mum then, and no more. -[TO CALIBAN.]

Proceed.

CAL. I fay, by forcery he got this ifle;
From me he got it. If thy greatness will
Revenge it on him-for, I know, thou dar'ft;
But this thing dare not,

STE. That's most certain.

CAL. Thou shalt be lord of it, and I'll serve thee.

STE. How now fhall this be compafs'd? Canft thou bring me to the party?

CAL. Yea, yea, my lord; I'll yield him thee afleep,

Where thou may'st knock a nail into his head."
ARI. Thou lieft, thou canst not.

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CAL. What a py'd ninny's this? Thou fcurvy patch!

-I'll yield him thee afleep,

Where thou may'ft knock a nail into his head.] Perhaps Shakfpeare caught this idea from the 4th Chapter of Judges, v. 21. "Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went foftly unto him, and Smote the nail into his temples, &c. for he was fast asleep," &c. STEEVENS. What a py'd ninny's this?] It should be remembered that VOL. III.

H

I do befeech thy greatness, give him blows,
And take his bottle from him: when that's gone,
He shall drink nought but brine; for I'll not fhew
him

Where the quick freshes are.

STE. Trinculo, run into no further danger: interrupt the monfter one word further, and, by this hand, I'll turn my mercy out of doors, and make a ftock-fifh of thee.

TRIN. Why, what did I? I did nothing; I'll go further off.

STE. Didft thou not fay, he lied?

ARI. Thou lieft.

STE. Do I fo? take thou that. [Atrikes him.] As you like this, give me the lie another time.

TRIN. I did not give the lie:-Out o' your wits, and hearing too?-A pox o' your bottle! this can fack, and drinking do.-A murrain on your monster, and the devil take your fingers!

CAL. Ha, ha, ha!

STE. Now, forward with your tale. Pr'ythee ftand further off.

CAL. Beat him enough: after a little time, I'll beat him too.

STE. Stand further.-Come, proceed.

Trinculo is no failor, but a jefter; and is fo called in the ancient dramatis perfona. He therefore wears the party-colour'd drefs of one of thefe characters. See fig. XII. in the plate annexed to the first part of K. Henry IV. and Mr. Tollet's explanation of it. So, in the Devil's Law Cafe, 1623:

"Unless I wear a py'd fool's coat." STEEVENS.

Dr. Johnfon obferves, that Caliban could have no knowledge of the ftriped coat ufually worn by fools; and would therefore transfer this fpeech to Stephano. But though Caliban might not know this circumftance, Shakspeare did. Surely he who has given to all countries and all ages the manners of his own, might forget himfelf here, as well as in other places. MALONE.

CAL. Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him
I'the afternoon to fleep: there thou may'ft brain him,
Having first seiz'd his books; or with a log
Batter his fkull, or paunch him with a stake,
Or cut his wezand with thy knife: Remember,
First to poffefs his books; for without them
He's but a fot, as I am, nor hath not

One spirit to command: They all do hate him,
As rootedly as I: Burn but his books;

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Firft to poffefs his books; for without them
He's but a fot, as I am, nor hath not

One fpirit to command:] Milton, in his Mafque at Ludlow Caftle, feems to have caught a hint from the foregoing paffage :

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Oh, ye miftook; ye fhould have fnatch'd his wand,

And bound him faft; without his rod revers'd, "And backward mutters of diffevering power,

"We cannot free the lady."

In a former fcenc Profpero fays

"I'll to my book;

STEEVENS.

"For yet, ere fupper time, muft I perform
"Much bufinefs appertaining."

Again, in Act V:

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And deeper than did ever plummet found, "I'll drown my book."

In the old romances the forcerer is always furnished with a book, by reading certain parts of which he is enabled to fummon to his aid whatever dæmons or spirits he has occafion to employ. When he is deprived of his book, his power ceafes. Our author might have obferved this circumftance much infifted on in the Orlando Innamorato of Boyardo, (of which, as the Rev. Mr. Bowle informs me, the first three Cantos were tranflated and published in 1598,) and alfo in Harrington's tranflation of the Orlando Furiofo, 1591. A few lines from the former of thefe works may prove the best illuftration of the paffage before us.

Angelica, by the aid of Argalia, having bound the enchanter Malagigi:

The damfel fearcheth forthwith in his breast,
"And there the damned booke the ftraightway founde,
"Which circles ftrange and fhapes of fiendes expreft;
"No fooner fhe fome wordes therein did found,

And opened had some damned leaves unblest,
"But Spirits of th' ayre, earth, fea, came out of hand,
Crying alowde, what is't you us command ?" MALONE,

He has brave utenfils, (for fo he calls them,)
Which, when he has a house, he'll deck withal.
And that most deeply to confider, is

The beauty of his daughter; he himself
Calls her a non-pareil: I ne'er faw woman,*
But only Sycorax my dam, and fhe;

But fhe as far furpaffeth Sycorax,

As greatest does leaft.

STE. Is it fo brave a lafs?

CAL. Ay, lord; fhe will become thy bed, I war

rant,

And bring thee forth brave brood.

STE. Monster, I will kill this man: his daughter and I will be king and queen; (fave our graces!) and Trinculo and thyself shall be vice-roys :-Dost thou like the plot, Trinculo?

TRIN. Excellent.

STE. Give me thy hand; I am forry I beat thee: but, while thou liv'ft, keep a good tongue in thy head.

CAL. Within this half hour will he be asleep; Wilt thou destroy him then?

STE.

Ay, on mine honour.

ARI. This will I tell my mafter.

CAL. Thou mak'ft me merry: I am full of pleafure;

Let us be jocund: Will you troll the catch3

2 Calls her a non-pareil: I ne'er faw woman,] The old copy reads

Calls her a non-pareil: I never faw a woman-But this verse being too long by a foot, Hanmer judicioufly gave it as it now ftands in the text.

in

By means as innocent, the verfification of Shakspeare has, I hope, many inftances been reftored. The temerity of fome critics had too long impofed fevere reftraints on their fucceffors. STEEVENS. -Will you troll the catch-] Ben Jonfon uses the word in Every Man in his Humour :

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