King John
| ACT III SCENE III | The same. | |
| Alarums, excursions, retreat. Enter KING JOHN, QUEEN ELINOR, ARTHUR, the BASTARD, HUBERT,and Lords. | ||
| KING JOHN | To QUEEN ELINOR | |
| stay behind | ||
| So strongly guarded. | ||
| To ARTHUR | ||
| Cousin, look not sad: | ||
| Thy grandam loves thee; and thy uncle will | 5 | |
| As dear be to thee as thy father was. | ||
| ARTHUR | O, this will make my mother die with grief! | |
| KING JOHN | To the BASTARD | |
| haste before: | ||
| And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags | ||
| Of hoarding abbots; imprisoned angels | 10 | |
| Set at liberty: the fat ribs of peace | ||
| Must by the hungry now be fed upon: | ||
| Use our commission in his utmost force. | ||
| BASTARD | Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, | |
| When gold and silver becks me to come on. | 15 | |
| I leave your highness. Grandam, I will pray, | ||
| If ever I remember to be holy, | ||
| For your fair safety; so, I kiss your hand. | ||
| ELINOR | Farewell, gentle cousin. | |
| KING JOHN | Coz, farewell. | 20 |
| Exit the BASTARD | ||
| QUEEN ELINOR | Come hither, little kinsman; hark, a word. | |
| KING JOHN | Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert, | |
| We owe thee much! within this wall of flesh | ||
| There is a soul counts thee her creditor | ||
| And with advantage means to pay thy love: | 25 | |
| And my good friend, thy voluntary oath | ||
| Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished. | ||
| Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say, | ||
| But I will fit it with some better time. | ||
| By heaven, Hubert, I am almost ashamed | 30 | |
| To say what good respect I have of thee. | ||
| HUBERT | I am much bounden to your majesty. | |
| KING JOHN | Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet, | |
| But thou shalt have; and creep time ne’er so slow, | ||
| Yet it shall come from me to do thee good. | 35 | |
| I had a thing to say, but let it go: | ||
| The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day, | ||
| Attended with the pleasures of the world, | ||
| Is all too wanton and too full of gawds | ||
| To give me audience: if the midnight bell | 40 | |
| Did, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth, | ||
| Sound on into the drowsy race of night; | ||
| If this same were a churchyard where we stand, | ||
| And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs, | ||
| Or if that surly spirit, melancholy, | 45 | |
| Had baked thy blood and made it heavy-thick, | ||
| Which else runs tickling up and down the veins, | ||
| Making that idiot, laughter, keep men’s eyes | ||
| And strain their cheeks to idle merriment, | ||
| A passion hateful to my purposes, | 50 | |
| Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes, | ||
| Hear me without thine ears, and make reply | ||
| Without a tongue, using conceit alone, | ||
| Without eyes, ears and harmful sound of words; | ||
| Then, in despite of brooded watchful day, | 55 | |
| I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts: | ||
| But, ah, I will not! yet I love thee well; | ||
| And, by my troth, I think thou lovest me well. | ||
| HUBERT | So well, that what you bid me undertake, | |
| Though that my death were adjunct to my act, | 60 | |
| By heaven, I would do it. | ||
| KING JOHN | Do not I know thou wouldst? | |
| Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye | ||
| On yon young boy: I’ll tell thee what, my friend, | ||
| He is a very serpent in my way; | 65 | |
| And whereso’er this foot of mine doth tread, | ||
| He lies before me: dost thou understand me? | ||
| Thou art his keeper. | ||
| HUBERT | And I’ll keep him so, | |
| That he shall not offend your majesty. | 70 | |
| KING JOHN | Death. | |
| HUBERT | My lord? | |
| KING JOHN | A grave. | |
| HUBERT | He shall not live. | |
| KING JOHN | Enough. | 75 |
| I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee; | ||
| Well, I’ll not say what I intend for thee: | ||
| Remember. Madam, fare you well: | ||
| I’ll send those powers o’er to your majesty. | ||
| ELINOR | My blessing go with thee! | 80 |
| KING JOHN | For England, cousin, go: | |
| Hubert shall be your man, attend on you | ||
| With all true duty. On toward Calais, ho! | ||
| Exeunt |
Next: King John, Act 3, Scene 4