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The Tempest - Act 1, scene 1
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The Tempest - Act 1, scene 1Act 1, scene 1
Scene 1
Synopsis:
On board a ship carrying King Alonso of Naples and his entourage, a boatswain directs the crew to fight a great storm, but the ship appears destined to sink.
A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.Enter a Shipmaster and a Boatswain.
MASTER 0001 Boatswain!
BOATSWAIN 0002 Here, master. What cheer?
MASTER 0003 Good, speak to th’ mariners. Fall to ’t yarely,
0004 or we run ourselves aground. Bestir, bestir!
He exits.
Enter Mariners.
BOATSWAIN 0005 5Heigh, my hearts! Cheerly, cheerly, my
0006 hearts! Yare, yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to th’
0007 Master’s whistle.—Blow till thou burst thy wind, if
0008 room enough!
Enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo,
and others.
ALONSO 0009 Good boatswain, have care. Where’s the Master?
0010 10 Play the men.
BOATSWAIN 0011 I pray now, keep below.
ANTONIO 0012 Where is the Master, boatswain?
BOATSWAIN 0013 Do you not hear him? You mar our labor.
0014 Keep your cabins. You do assist the storm.
GONZALO 0015 15Nay, good, be patient.
BOATSWAIN 0016 When the sea is. Hence! What cares these
p.
9
0017
roarers for the name of king? To cabin! Silence!0018 Trouble us not.
GONZALO 0019 Good, yet remember whom thou hast
0020 20 aboard.
BOATSWAIN 0021 None that I more love than myself. You are
0022 a councillor; if you can command these elements
0023 to silence, and work the peace of the present, we
0024 will not hand a rope more. Use your authority. If
0025 25 you cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and
0026 make yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance
0027 of the hour, if it so hap.—Cheerly, good
0028 hearts!—Out of our way, I say!He exits.
GONZALO 0029 I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks
0030 30 he hath no drowning mark upon him. His
0031 complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good
0032 Fate, to his hanging. Make the rope of his destiny
0033 our cable, for our own doth little advantage. If he be
0034 not born to be hanged, our case is miserable.
He exits ⌜with Alonso, Sebastian,
and the other courtiers.⌝
Enter Boatswain.
BOATSWAIN 0035 35Down with the topmast! Yare! Lower, lower!
0036 Bring her to try wi’ th’ main course. (A cry
within.) 0037 A plague upon this howling! They are
0038 louder than the weather or our office.
Enter Sebastian, Antonio, and Gonzalo.
0039 Yet again? What do you here? Shall we give o’er and
0040 40 drown? Have you a mind to sink?
SEBASTIAN 0041 A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,
0042 incharitable dog!
BOATSWAIN 0043 Work you, then.
ANTONIO 0044 Hang, cur, hang, you whoreson, insolent
0045 45 noisemaker! We are less afraid to be drowned than
0046 thou art.
p.
11
GONZALO
0047
I’ll warrant him for drowning, though the0048 ship were no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky
0049 as an unstanched wench.
BOATSWAIN 0050 50Lay her ahold, ahold! Set her two courses.
0051 Off to sea again! Lay her off!
Enter ⌜more⌝ Mariners, wet.
MARINERS 0052 All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost!
⌜Mariners exit.⌝
BOATSWAIN 0053 What, must our mouths be cold?
GONZALO 0054 The King and Prince at prayers. Let’s assist
0055 55 them, for our case is as theirs.
SEBASTIAN 0056 I am out of patience.
ANTONIO 0057 We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards.
0058 This wide-chopped rascal—would thou
0059 mightst lie drowning the washing of ten tides!
⌜Boatswain exits.⌝
GONZALO 0060 60He’ll be hanged yet, though every drop of
0061 water swear against it and gape at wid’st to glut him.
A confused noise within: 0062 “Mercy on us!”—“We split, we
0063 split!”—“Farewell, my wife and children!”—
0064 “Farewell, brother!”—“We split, we split, we
0065 65 split!”
ANTONIO 0066 Let’s all sink wi’ th’ King.
SEBASTIAN 0067 Let’s take leave of him.
He exits ⌜with Antonio.⌝
GONZALO 0068 Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea
0069 for an acre of barren ground: long heath, brown
0070 70 furze, anything. The wills above be done, but I
0071 would fain die a dry death.
He exits.