The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (609 page)

Will fade forever after. Now stop more questionsL
Thou art inclined to sleep; 'tis a good dulness,

You are wishing to sleep; it’s a good sleepiness,
And give it way: I know thou canst not choose.

And give in to it: I know you cannot do otherwise.

MIRANDA sleeps

Come away, servant, come. I am ready now.

Come here, servant, come. I am ready now.
Approach, my Ariel, come.

Approach, my Ariel come.

Enter ARIEL

ARIEL

All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come

Greetings, great master! Wise sir, greetings! I have come
To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,

To satisfy your dearest desire; whether it be to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride

To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task

On the spiraling clouds, with your powerful commands, order
Ariel and all his quality.

Ariel and all of his companions.

PROSPERO

Hast thou, spirit,

Have you, spirit,
Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?

Performed the tempest exactly as I commanded you?

ARIEL

To every article.

To the letter.
I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,

I boarded the king’s ship; first at the bow,
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,

Then in the middle, the desk, in every cabin,
I flamed amazement: sometime I'ld divide,

I excited wonder and fear: sometimes I would separate,
And burn in many places; on the topmast,

And burn in many places; on the topmast,
The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,

The yards and bowsprit, I would excite them separately,
Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors

Then meet and rejoin. The thunder god’s lightning-bolts, the precursors
O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary

Of the terrible thunder-claps, more fleeting
And sight-outrunning were not; the fire and cracks

And faster than the eye could follow weren’t there; with fire and the booming
Of sulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune

Of thunderous roaring the most mighty sea god
Seem to besiege and make his bold waves tremble,

Seemed to over take them and make his daring waves tremble,
Yea, his dread trident shake.

Oh yes, he shook his frightening trident.

PROSPERO

My brave spirit!

My excellent spirit!
Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil

Was there anyone who was so steadfast, so constant, that this tumult
Would not infect his reason?

Would not spoil his good sense?

ARIEL

Not a soul

Not a soul
But felt a fever of the mad and play'd

Instead they felt a fever like the mad and showed
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners

Some characteristics of despair. All but the sailors
Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,

Jumped into the frothy sea water and left the ship.
Then all afire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand,

Then all on fire from me: the king’s son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring,--then like reeds, not hair,--

With his hair standing on end,--more like reeds than hair,--
Was the first man that leap'd; cried, 'Hell is empty

Was the first man to leap overboard; he cried, ‘Hell is empty
And all the devils are here.'

Because all the devils are here.’

PROSPERO

Why that's my spirit!

Well, that’s my good servant!
But was not this nigh shore?

But wasn’t this near shore?

ARIEL

Close by, my master.

Close by, my master.

PROSPERO

But are they, Ariel, safe?

But are they safe, Ariel?

ARIEL

Not a hair perish'd;

Not a single one died;
On their sustaining garments not a blemish,

Not even a stain on the clothes that saved them,
But fresher than before: and, as thou badest me,

But instead cleaner than before: and, as you asked me,
In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle.

I have dispersed them in groups around the island.
The king's son have I landed by himself;

The king’s son I have brought to land by himself;
Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs

I left him blowing in the air with his sighs
In an odd angle of the isle and sitting,

In an odd corner of the island and sitting,
His arms in this sad knot.

His arms in a dejected knot.

PROSPERO

Of the king's ship

Of the king’s ship and its
The mariners say how thou hast disposed

Sailor, tell me how you managed them
And all the rest o' the fleet.

And all the rest of the fleet.

ARIEL

Safely in harbour

Safely in the harbor
Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once

Is the king’s ship; in a deep nook, where you once
Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew

Called me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vex'd Bermoothes, there she's hid:

From the always stormy Bermuda, it’s there that the ship is hidden:
The mariners all under hatches stow'd;

The sailors are all stowed under the decks;
Who, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour,

Who, with a spell combined with their hard work,
I have left asleep; and for the rest o' the fleet

I have left asleep; and for the rest of the fleet
Which I dispersed, they all have met again

Which I dispersed, they all have met up again
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,

And are floating on the Mediterranean,
Bound sadly home for Naples,

Sadly heading home for Naples,
Supposing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd

Thinking that they saw the king’s whip wreckd
And his great person perish.

And his royalty perish.

PROSPERO

Ariel, thy charge

Ariel, you task
Exactly is perform'd: but there's more work.

Has been performed exactly: but there’s more work.
What is the time o' the day?

What time of day is it?

ARIEL

Past the mid season.

Past noon.

PROSPERO

At least two glasses. The time 'twixt six and now

At least two hourglasses. The time between now and six
Must by us both be spent most preciously.

Must be spent most usefully for the both of us.

ARIEL

Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,

Is there more work? Since you are giving me more tasks,
Let me remember thee what thou hast promised,

Let me remind you what you have promised,
Which is not yet perform'd me.

Which has not yet been given to me.

PROSPERO

How now? moody?

What’s this? Are you angry?
What is't thou canst demand?

What is it you can ask for?

ARIEL

My liberty.

My freedom.

PROSPERO

Before the time be out? no more!

Before the time is up? Certainly not!

ARIEL

I prithee,

I ask you to
Remember I have done thee worthy service;

Remember that I have done excellent work for you;
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served

I have told you no lies, made you no mistakes, served you
Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise

Without complaining or grumbling: you did promise
To bate me a full year.

To lessen my term by a whole year.

PROSPERO

Dost thou forget

Did you forget
From what a torment I did free thee?

What a torment I freed you from?

ARIEL

No.

No.

PROSPERO

Thou dost, and think'st it much to tread the ooze

You have, and think that it’s too much to walk the bottom
Of the salt deep,

Of the sea,
To run upon the sharp wind of the north,

To run on the sharp north wind,
To do me business in the veins o' the earth

To do my tasks in the depths of the earth
When it is baked with frost.

When it is hardened with frost.

ARIEL

I do not, sir.

I do not, sir.

PROSPERO

Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgot

You are lying, you wicked thing! Have you forgotten
The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy

The terrible witch Sycorax, who this age and malice
Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her?

Had grown into a hunchback? Have you forgotten her?

ARIEL

No, sir.

No, sir.

PROSPERO

Thou hast. Where was she born? speak; tell me.

You have. Where was she born? Speak up; tell me.

ARIEL

Sir, in Argier.

Sir, in Algiers.

PROSPERO

O, was she so? I must

Oh, was she? I must
Once in a month recount what thou hast been,

Once a month tell you what you have been,
Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch Sycorax,

Which you forget. That damned witch Sycorax,
For mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible

For many wicked deeds and terrible magic
To enter human hearing, from Argier,

That came into human hearing,
Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did

You know, was banished from Algiers; for one thing she did, becoming pregnant,
They would not take her life. Is not this true?

They would not take her life. Isn’t that true?

ARIEL

Ay, sir.

Yes, sir.

PROSPERO

This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with child

That pregnant hag was brought here with child
And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave,

And was left here by the sailors. You, my servant,
As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant;

As you had said yourself, were her servant then;
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate

And, because you were a spirit too superb in nature
To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,

To act out her mundane and horrifying commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,

For refusing her grand orders, she did imprison you,
By help of her more potent ministers

With the help go her more powerful helpers
And in her most unmitigable rage,

And in a very ruthless rage,
Into a cloven pine; within which rift

In a pine tree that was split apart; trapped with that split
Imprison'd thou didst painfully remain

You painfully remained
A dozen years; within which space she died