Act II, Scene I Britain. Before Cymbeline's palace.

Enter CLOTEN and two Lords

 

CLOTEN Was there ever man had such luck! when I kissed the
jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away! I had a
hundred pound on't: and then a whoreson jackanapes
must take me up for swearing; as if I borrowed mine
oaths of him and might not spend them at my pleasure.
First Lord What got he by that? You have broke his pate with
your bowl.
Second Lord [Aside] If his wit had been like him that broke it,
it would have run all out.
CLOTEN When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not for
any standers-by to curtail his oaths, ha?
Second Lord No my lord;
  [Aside]
  nor crop the ears of them.
CLOTEN Whoreson dog! I give him satisfaction?
Would he had been one of my rank!
Second Lord [Aside] To have smelt like a fool.
CLOTEN I am not vexed more at any thing in the earth: a
pox on't! I had rather not be so noble as I am;
they dare not fight with me, because of the queen my
mother: every Jack-slave hath his bellyful of
fighting, and I must go up and down like a cock that
nobody can match.
Second Lord [Aside] You are cock and capon too; and you crow,
cock, with your comb on.
CLOTEN Sayest thou?
Second Lord It is not fit your lordship should undertake every
companion that you give offence to.
CLOTEN No, I know that: but it is fit I should commit
offence to my inferiors.
Second Lord Ay, it is fit for your lordship only.
CLOTEN Why, so I say.
First Lord Did you hear of a stranger that's come to court to-night?
CLOTEN A stranger, and I not know on't!
Second Lord [Aside] He's a strange fellow himself, and knows it
not.
First Lord There's an Italian come; and, 'tis thought, one of
Leonatus' friends.
CLOTEN Leonatus! a banished rascal; and he's another,
whatsoever he be. Who told you of this stranger?
First Lord One of your lordship's pages.
CLOTEN Is it fit I went to look upon him? is there no
derogation in't?
Second Lord You cannot derogate, my lord.
CLOTEN Not easily, I think.
Second Lord [Aside] You are a fool granted; therefore your
issues, being foolish, do not derogate.
CLOTEN Come, I'll go see this Italian: what I have lost
to-day at bowls I'll win to-night of him. Come, go.
Second Lord I'll attend your lordship.
  [Exeunt CLOTEN and First Lord]
  That such a crafty devil as is his mother
Should yield the world this ass! a woman that
Bears all down with her brain; and this her son
Cannot take two from twenty, for his heart,
And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess,
Thou divine Imogen, what thou endurest,
Betwixt a father by thy step-dame govern'd,
A mother hourly coining plots, a wooer
More hateful than the foul expulsion is
Of thy dear husband, than that horrid act
Of the divorce he'ld make! The heavens hold firm
The walls of thy dear honour, keep unshaked
That temple, thy fair mind, that thou mayst stand,
To enjoy thy banish'd lord and this great land!
  [Exit]

 

To view other scenes from the show:

Full Text Act III, Scene 2 Another room in the palace.
Act I, Scene 1 Britain. The garden of Cymbeline's palace. Act III, Scene 3 Wales. a mountainous country with a a cave.
Act I, Scene 2 The same. A public Place Act III, Scene 4 Country near Milford Haven
Act I, Scene 3 A room in Cymbeline's palace. Act III, Scene 5 A room in Cymbeline's palace
Act I, Scene 4 Rome. Philario's house. Act III, Scene 6 Wales Before the cave of Belarius./Act III, Scene 7 Rome A public place.
Act I, Scene 5 Britain. A room in Cymbeline's palace. Act IV, Scene 1 Wales: near the cave of Belarius./Act IV, Scene 2 Before the cave of Belarius
Act I, Scene 6 The same. Another room in the palace. Act IV, Scene 3 A room in Cymbeline's palace.
Act II, Scene 1 Britain. Before Cymbeline's palace. Act IV, Scene 4 Wales: before the cave of Belarius.
Act II, Scene 2 Imogen's bedchamber in Cymbeline's palace. Act V, Scene 1 Britain. The Roman camp./Act V, Scene 2 Field of battle between the British and Roman camps.
Act II, Scene 3 An ante-chamber adjoining Imogen's apartments. Act V, Scene 3 Another part of the field.
Act II, Scene 4 Rome. Philario's house./Act II, Scene 5 Another room in Philario's house. Act V, Scene 4 A British prison.
Act III, Scene 1 A hall in Cymbeline's house Act V, Scene 5 Cymbeline's tent.

 

To view other Cymbeline sections:

Main Play Page      Play Text     Scene by Scene Synopsis     Character Directory     Commentary  

 

To view the other Plays click below:

By  Comedies    Histories    Romances    Tragedies

All's Well the Ends Well Antony & Cleopatra As You Like It Cardenio Comedy of Errors Coriolanus
Cymbeline Edward III Hamlet Henry IV, Part 1 Henry IV, Part 2 Henry V
Henry VI, Part 1 Henry VI, Part 2 Henry VI, Part 3 Henry VIII Julius Caesar King John
King Lear Love's Labours Lost Love's Labours Wonne Macbeth Measure for Measure Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor A Mid Summer Night's Dream  Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II
Richard III Romeo & Juliet Sir Thomas More Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsman The Winter's Tale

 

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