PALAMON and ARCITE
Any death thou canst invent, Duke.
PALAMON
If I fall from that mouth, I fall with favour,
And lovers yet unborn shall bless my ashes.
ARCITE
If she refuse me, yet my grave will wed me,
And soldiers sing my epitaph.
THESEUS (to Emilia)
Make choice, then.
EMILIA
I cannot, sir. They are both too excellent.
For me, a hair shall never fall of these men.
HIPPOLYTA ⌈to Theseus⌉
What will become of ’em?
THESEUS
Thus I ordain it, And by mine honour once again it stands,
Or both shall die. (To Palamon and Arcite) You shall
both to your country,
And each within this month, accompanied
With three fair knights, appear again in this place,
In which I’ll plant a pyramid; and whether,
Before us that are here, can force his cousin,
By fair and knightly strength, to touch the pillar,
He shall enjoy her; the other lose his head,
And all his friends; nor shall he grudge to fall,
Nor think he dies with interest in this lady.
Will this content ye?
PALAMON
Yes. Here, cousin Arcite,
I am friends again till that hour.
ARCITE
I embrace ye.
THESEUS (to Emilia)
Are you content, sister?
EMILIA
Yes, I must, sir,
Else both miscarry.
THESEUS (to Palamon and Arcite)
Come, shake hands again, then,
And take heed, as you are gentlemen, this quarrel
Sleep till the hour prefixed, and hold your course.
PALAMON
We dare not fail thee, Theseus.
THESEUS
Come, I’ll give ye
Now usage like to princes and to friends.
When ye return, who wins I’ll settle here,
Who loses, yet I’ll weep upon his bier.
Exeunt. ⌈ln the act-time the bush is removed⌉
4.1 Enter the Jailer and his Friend
JAILER
Hear you no more? Was nothing said of me
Concerning the escape of Palamon?
Good sir, remember.
FRIEND
Nothing that I heard,
For I came home before the business
Was fully ended. Yet I might perceive,
Ere I departed, a great likelihood
Of both their pardons: for Hippolyta
And fair-eyed Emily upon their knees
Begged with such handsome pity that the Duke,
Methought, stood staggering whether he should
follow
His rash oath or the sweet compassion
Of those two ladies; and to second them
That truly noble prince, Pirithous—
Half his own heart—set in too, that I hope
All shall be well. Neither heard I one question
Of your name or his scape.
Enter the Second Friend
JAILER Pray heaven it hold so.
SECOND FRIEND
Be of good comfort, man. I bring you news,
Good news.
JAILER
They are welcome.
SECOND FRIEND
Palamon has cleared you,
And got your pardon, and discovered how
And by whose means he scaped—which was your
daughter’s,
Whose pardon is procured too; and the prisoner,
Not to be held ungrateful to her goodness,
Has given a sum of money to her marriage—
A large one, I’ll assure you.
JAILER
Ye are a good man,
And ever bring good news.
FIRST FRIEND
How was it ended?
SECOND FRIEND
Why, as it should be: they that ne’er begged,
But they prevailed, had their suits fairly granted—
The prisoners have their lives.
FIRST FRIEND
I knew ’twould be so.
SECOND FRIEND
But there be new conditions which you’ll hear of
At better time.
JAILER
I hope they are good.
SECOND FRIEND
They are honourable—
How good they’ll prove I know not.
Enter the Wooer
EIRST ERIEND
’Twill be known.
WOOER
Alas, sir, where’s your daughter?
JAILER
Why do you ask?
WOOER
O, sir, when did you see her?
SECOND FRIEND
How he looks!
JAILER
This morning.
WOOER
Was she well? Was she in health?
Sir, when did she sleep?
FIRST FRIEND
These are strange questions.
JAILER
I do not think she was very well: for now
You make me mind her, but this very day
I asked her questions and she answered me
So far from what she was, so childishly,
So sillily, as if she were a fool,
An innocent—and I was very angry.
But what of her, sir?
WOOER
Nothing, but my pity
But you must know it, and as good by me
As by another that less loves her—
JAILER
Well, sir?
FIRST FRIEND Not right?
WOOER
No, sir, not well.
SECOND FRIEND
Not Well?
WOOER
’Tis too true—she is mad.
FIRST FRIEND
It cannot be.
WOOER
Believe, you’ll find it so.
JAILER
I half suspected
What you told me—the gods comfort her!
Either this was her love to Palamon,
Or fear of my miscarrying on his scape,
Or both.
WOOER
’Tis likely.
JAILER
But why all this haste, sir?
WOOER
I’ll tell you quickly. As I late was angling
In the great lake that lies behind the palace,
From the far shore, thick set with reeds and sedges,
As patiently I was attending sport,
I heard a voice—a shrill one—and attentive
I gave my ear, when I might well perceive