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Measure for Measure
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    Is this the witness, friar?  FIRST let her show her face, and after speak.  MARIANA. Pardon, my lord; I will not show my face    Until my husband bid me.  DUKE. What, are you married?  MARIANA. No, my lord.  DUKE. Are you a maid?  MARIANA. No, my lord.  DUKE. A widow, then?  MARIANA. Neither, my lord.  DUKE. Why, you are nothing then; neither maid, widow, nor wife.  LUCIO. My lord, she may be a punk; for many of them are neither    maid, widow, nor wife.  DUKE. Silence that fellow. I would he had some cause    To prattle for himself.  LUCIO. Well, my lord.  MARIANA. My lord, I do confess I ne'er was married,    And I confess, besides, I am no maid.    I have known my husband; yet my husband    Knows not that ever he knew me.  LUCIO. He was drunk, then, my lord; it can be no better.  DUKE. For the benefit of silence, would thou wert so too!  LUCIO. Well, my lord.  DUKE. This is no witness for Lord Angelo.  MARIANA. Now I come to't, my lord:    She that accuses him of fornication,    In self-same manner doth accuse my husband;    And charges him, my lord, with such a time    When I'll depose I had him in mine arms,    With all th' effect of love.  ANGELO. Charges she moe than me?  MARIANA. Not that I know.  DUKE. No? You say your husband.  MARIANA. Why, just, my lord, and that is Angelo,    Who thinks he knows that he ne'er knew my body,    But knows he thinks that he knows Isabel's.  ANGELO. This is a strange abuse. Let's see thy face.  MARIANA. My husband bids me; now I will unmask.                                                     [Unveiling]    This is that face, thou cruel Angelo,    Which once thou swor'st was worth the looking on;    This is the hand which, with a vow'd contract,    Was fast belock'd in thine; this is the body    That took away the match from Isabel,    And did supply thee at thy garden-house    In her imagin'd person.  DUKE. Know you this woman?  LUCIO. Carnally, she says.  DUKE. Sirrah, no more.  LUCIO. Enough, my lord.  ANGELO. My lord, I must confess I know this woman;    And five years since there was some speech of marriage    Betwixt myself and her; which was broke off,    Partly for that her promised proportions    Came short of composition; but in chief    For that her reputation was disvalued    In levity. Since which time of five years    I never spake with her, saw her, nor heard from her,    Upon my faith and honour.  MARIANA. Noble Prince,    As there comes light from heaven and words from breath,    As there is sense in truth and truth in virtue,    I am affianc'd this man's wife as strongly    As words could make up vows. And, my good lord,    But Tuesday night last gone, in's garden-house,    He knew me as a wife. As this is true,    Let me in safety raise me from my knees,    Or else for ever be confixed here,    A marble monument!  ANGELO. I did but smile till now.    Now, good my lord, give me the scope of justice;    My patience here is touch'd. I do perceive    These poor informal women are no more    But instruments of some more mightier member    That sets them on. Let me have way, my lord,    To find this practice out.  DUKE. Ay, with my heart;    And punish them to your height of pleasure.    Thou foolish friar, and thou pernicious woman,    Compact with her that's gone, think'st thou thy oaths,    Though they would swear down each particular saint,    Were testimonies against his worth and credit,    That's seal'd in approbation? You, Lord Escalus,    Sit with my cousin; lend him your kind pains    To find out this abuse, whence 'tis deriv'd.    There is another friar that set them on;    Let him be sent for.  PETER. Would lie were here, my lord! For he indeed    Hath set the women on to this complaint.    Your provost knows the place where he abides,    And he may fetch him.  DUKE. Go, do it instantly. Exit PROVOST    And you, my noble and well-warranted cousin,    Whom it concerns to hear this matter forth,    Do with your injuries as seems you best    In any chastisement. I for a while will leave you;    But stir not you till you have well determin'd    Upon these slanderers.  ESCALUS. My lord, we'll do it throughly. Exit DUKE    Signior Lucio, did not you say you knew that Friar Lodowickto be    a dishonest person?  LUCIO. 'Cucullus non facit monachum': honest in nothing but inhis    clothes; and one that hath spoke most villainous speeches ofthe    Duke.  ESCALUS. We shall entreat you to abide here till he come and    enforce them against him. We shall find this friar a notable    fellow.  LUCIO. As any in Vienna, on my word.  ESCALUS. Call that same Isabel here once again; I would speakwith    her. [Exit an ATTENDANT] Pray you, my lord, give me leave to    question; you shall see how I'll handle her.  LUCIO. Not better than he, by her own report.  ESCALUS. Say you?  LUCIO. Marry, sir, I think, if you handled her privately, shewould    sooner confess; perchance, publicly, she'll be asham'd.Re-enter OFFICERS with ISABELLA; and PROVOST with the DUKE in his friar's habit  ESCALUS. I will go darkly to work with her.  LUCIO. That's the way; for women are light at midnight.  ESCALUS. Come on, mistress; here's a gentlewoman denies allthat    you have said.  LUCIO. My lord, here comes the rascal I spoke of, here with the    Provost.  ESCALUS. In very good time. Speak not you to him till we callupon    you.  LUCIO. Mum.  ESCALUS. Come, sir; did you set these women on to slander Lord    Angelo? They have confess'd you did.  DUKE. 'Tis false.  ESCALUS. How! Know you where you are?  DUKE. Respect to your great place! and let the devil    Be sometime honour'd for his burning throne!    Where is the Duke? 'Tis he should hear me speak.  ESCALUS. The Duke's in us; and we will hear you speak;    Look you speak justly.  DUKE. Boldly, at least. But, O, poor souls,    Come you to seek the lamb here of the fox,    Good night to your redress! Is the Duke gone?    Then is your cause gone too. The Duke's unjust    Thus to retort your manifest appeal,    And put your trial in the villain's mouth    Which here you come to accuse.  LUCIO. This is the rascal; this is he I spoke of.  ESCALUS. Why, thou unreverend and unhallowed friar,    Is't not enough thou hast suborn'd these women    To accuse this worthy man, but, in foul mouth,    And in the witness of his proper ear,    To call him villain; and then to glance from him    To th' Duke himself, to tax him with injustice?    Take him hence; to th' rack with him! We'll touze you    Joint by joint, but we will know his purpose.    What, 'unjust'!  DUKE. Be not so hot; the Duke    Dare no more stretch this finger of mine than he    Dare rack his own; his subject am I not,    Nor here provincial. My business in this state    Made me a looker-on here in Vienna,    Where I have seen corruption boil and bubble    Till it o'errun the stew: laws for all faults,    But faults so countenanc'd that the strong statutes    Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop,    As much in mock as mark.  ESCALUS. Slander to th' state! Away with him to prison!  ANGELO. What can you vouch against him, Signior Lucio?    Is this the man that you did tell us of?  LUCIO. 'Tis he, my lord. Come hither, good-man bald-pate.    Do you know me?  DUKE. I remember you, sir, by the sound of your voice. I metyou at    the prison, in the absence of the Duke.  LUCIO. O did you so? And do you remember what you said of theDuke?  DUKE. Most notedly, sir.  LUCIO. Do you so, sir? And was the Duke a fleshmonger, a fool,and    a coward, as you then reported him to be?  DUKE. You must, sir, change persons with me ere you make thatmy    report; you, indeed, spoke so of him; and much more, muchworse.  LUCIO. O thou damnable fellow! Did not I pluck thee by the nosefor    thy speeches?  DUKE. I protest I love the Duke as I love myself.  ANGELO. Hark how the villain would close now, after histreasonable    abuses!  ESCALUS. Such a fellow is not to be talk'd withal. Away withhim to    prison! Where is the Provost? Away with him to prison! Laybolts    enough upon him; let him speak no more. Away with thosegiglets    too, and with the other confederate companion!                            [The PROVOST lays bands on the DUKE]  DUKE. Stay, sir; stay awhile.  ANGELO. What, resists he? Help him, Lucio.  LUCIO. Come, sir; come, sir; come, sir; foh, sir! Why, you    bald-pated lying rascal, you must be hooded, must you? Showyour    knave's visage, with a pox to you! Show your sheep-bitingface,    and be hang'd an hour! Will't not off?             [Pulls off the FRIAR'S bood and discovers the DUKE]  DUKE. Thou art the first knave that e'er mad'st a duke.    First, Provost, let me bail these gentle three.    [To Lucio] Sneak not away, sir, for the friar and you    Must have a word anon. Lay hold on him.  LUCIO. This may prove worse than hanging.  DUKE. [To ESCALUS] What you have spoke I pardon; sit you down.    We'll borrow place of him. [To ANGELO] Sir, by your leave.    Hast thou or word, or wit, or impudence,    That yet can do thee office? If thou hast,    Rely upon it till my tale be heard,    And hold no longer out.  ANGELO. O my dread lord,    I should be guiltier than my guiltiness,    To think I can be undiscernible,    When I perceive your Grace, like pow'r divine,    Hath look'd upon my passes. Then, good Prince,    No longer session hold upon my shame,    But let my trial be mine own confession;    Immediate sentence then, and sequent death,    Is all the grace I beg.  DUKE. Come hither, Mariana.    Say, wast thou e'er contracted to this woman?  ANGELO. I was, my lord.  DUKE. Go, take her hence and marry her instantly.    Do you the office, friar; which consummate,    Return him here again. Go with him, Provost.Exeunt ANGELO, MARIANA, FRIAR PETER, and PROVOST  ESCALUS. My lord, I am more amaz'd at his dishonour    Than at the strangeness of it.  DUKE. Come hither, Isabel.    Your friar is now your prince. As I was then    Advertising and holy to your business,    Not changing heart with habit, I am still    Attorney'd at your service.  ISABELLA. O, give me pardon,    That I, your vassal have employ'd and pain'd    Your unknown sovereignty.  DUKE. You are pardon'd, Isabel.    And now, dear maid, be you as free to us.    Your brother's death, I know, sits at your heart;    And you may marvel why I obscur'd myself,    Labouring to save his life, and would not rather    Make rash remonstrance of my hidden pow'r    Than let him so be lost. O most kind maid,    It was the swift celerity of his death,    Which I did think with slower foot came on,    That brain'd my purpose. But peace be with him!    That life is better life, past fearing death,    Than that which lives to fear. Make it your comfort,    So happy is your brother.  ISABELLA. I do, my lord.

Re-enter ANGELO, MARIANA, FRIAR PETER, and PROVOST

  DUKE. For this new-married man approaching here,    Whose salt imagination yet hath wrong'd    Your well-defended honour, you must pardon    For Mariana's sake; but as he adjudg'd your brother-    Being criminal in double violation    Of sacred chastity and of promise-breach,    Thereon dependent, for your brother's life-    The very mercy of the law cries out    Most audible, even from his proper tongue,    'An Angelo for Claudio, death for death!'    Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure;    Like doth quit like, and Measure still for Measure.    Then, Angelo, thy fault's thus manifested,    Which, though thou wouldst deny, denies thee vantage.    We do condemn thee to the very block    Where Claudio stoop'd to death, and with like haste.    Away with him!  MARIANA. O my most gracious lord,    I hope you will not mock me with a husband.  DUKE. It is your husband mock'd you with a husband.    Consenting to the safeguard of your honour,    I thought your marriage fit; else imputation,    For that he knew you, might reproach your life,    And choke your good to come. For his possessions,    Although by confiscation they are ours,    We do instate and widow you withal    To buy you a better husband.  MARIANA. O my dear lord,    I crave no other, nor no better man.  DUKE. Never crave him; we are definitive.  MARIANA. Gentle my liege- [Kneeling]  DUKE. You do but lose your labour.    Away with him to death! [To LUCIO] Now, sir, to you.  MARIANA. O my good lord! Sweet Isabel, take my part;    Lend me your knees, and all my life to come    I'll lend you all my life to do you service.  DUKE. Against all sense you do importune her.    Should she kneel down in mercy of this fact,    Her brother's ghost his paved bed would break,    And take her hence in horror.  MARIANA. Isabel,    Sweet Isabel, do yet but kneel by me;    Hold up your hands, say nothing; I'll speak all.    They say best men moulded out of faults;    And, for the most, become much more the better    For being a little bad; so may my husband.    O Isabel, will you not lend a knee?  DUKE. He dies for Claudio's death.  ISABELLA. [Kneeling] Most bounteous sir,    Look, if it please you, on this man condemn'd,    As if my brother liv'd. I partly think    A due sincerity govern'd his deeds    Till he did look on me; since it is so,    Let him not die. My brother had but justice,    In that he did the thing for which he died;    For Angelo,    His act did not o'ertake his bad intent,    And must be buried but as an intent    That perish'd by the way. Thoughts are no subjects;    Intents but merely thoughts.  MARIANA. Merely, my lord.  DUKE. Your suit's unprofitable; stand up, I say.    I have bethought me of another fault.    Provost, how came it Claudio was beheaded    At an unusual hour?  PROVOST. It was commanded so.  DUKE. Had you a special warrant for the deed?  PROVOST. No, my good lord; it was by private message.  DUKE. For which I do discharge you of your office;    Give up your keys.  PROVOST. Pardon me, noble lord;    I thought it was a fault, but knew it not;    Yet did repent me, after more advice;    For testimony whereof, one in the prison,    That should by private order else have died,    I have reserv'd alive.  DUKE. What's he?  PROVOST. His name is Barnardine.  DUKE. I would thou hadst done so by Claudio.    Go fetch him hither; let me look upon him. Exit PROVOST  ESCALUS. I am sorry one so learned and so wise    As you, Lord Angelo, have still appear'd,    Should slip so grossly, both in the heat of blood    And lack of temper'd judgment afterward.  ANGELO. I am sorry that such sorrow I procure;    And so deep sticks it in my penitent heart    That I crave death more willingly than mercy;    'Tis my deserving, and I do entreat it.Re-enter PROVOST, with BARNARDINE, CLAUDIO (muffled) and JULIET  DUKE. Which is that Barnardine?  PROVOST. This, my lord.  DUKE. There was a friar told me of this man.    Sirrah, thou art said to have a stubborn soul,    That apprehends no further than this world,    And squar'st thy life according. Thou'rt condemn'd;    But, for those earthly faults, I quit them all,    And pray thee take this mercy to provide    For better times to come. Friar, advise him;    I leave him to your hand. What muffl'd fellow's that?  PROVOST. This is another prisoner that I sav'd,    Who should have died when Claudio lost his head;    As like almost to Claudio as himself. [Unmuffles CLAUDIO]  DUKE. [To ISABELLA] If he be like your brother, for his sake    Is he pardon'd; and for your lovely sake,    Give me your hand and say you will be mine,    He is my brother too. But fitter time for that.    By this Lord Angelo perceives he's safe;    Methinks I see a quick'ning in his eye.    Well, Angelo, your evil quits you well.    Look that you love your wife; her worth worth yours.    I find an apt remission in myself;    And yet here's one in place I cannot pardon.    To Lucio] You, sirrah, that knew me for a fool, a coward,    One all of luxury, an ass, a madman!    Wherein have I so deserv'd of you    That you extol me thus?  LUCIO. Faith, my lord, I spoke it but according to the trick.    If you will hang me for it, you may; but I had rather itwould    please you I might be whipt.  DUKE. Whipt first, sir, and hang'd after.    Proclaim it, Provost, round about the city,    If any woman wrong'd by this lewd fellow-    As I have heard him swear himself there's one    Whom he begot with child, let her appear,    And he shall marry her. The nuptial finish'd,    Let him be whipt and hang'd.  LUCIO. I beseech your Highness, do not marry me to a whore.Your    Highness said even now I made you a duke; good my lord, donot    recompense me in making me a cuckold.  DUKE. Upon mine honour, thou shalt marry her.    Thy slanders I forgive; and therewithal    Remit thy other forfeits. Take him to prison;    And see our pleasure herein executed.  LUCIO. Marrying a punk, my lord, is pressing to death,whipping,    and hanging.  DUKE. Slandering a prince deserves it.Exeunt OFFICERS with LUCIO    She, Claudio, that you wrong'd, look you restore.    Joy to you, Mariana! Love her, Angelo;    I have confess'd her, and I know her virtue.    Thanks, good friend Escalus, for thy much goodness;    There's more behind that is more gratulate.    Thanks, Provost, for thy care and secrecy;    We shall employ thee in a worthier place.    Forgive him, Angelo, that brought you home    The head of Ragozine for Claudio's:    Th' offence pardons itself. Dear Isabel,    I have a motion much imports your good;    Whereto if you'll a willing ear incline,    What's mine is yours, and what is yours is mine.    So, bring us to our palace, where we'll show    What's yet behind that's meet you all should know.Exeunt

THE END

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