The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 3 of 9]Shakespeare, William
General
The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 3 of 9]
Shakespeare, William
English drama
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ[10].
LEONTES, king of Sicilia.
MAMILLIUS[11], young prince of Sicilia.
CAMILLO, }
ANTIGONUS, } Four Lords of Sicilia.
CLEOMENES, }
DION, }
POLIXENES, king of Bohemia[12].
FLORIZEL, prince of Bohemia[12].
ARCHIDAMUS, a Lord of Bohemia[12].
Old Shepherd, reputed father of Perdita.
Clown, his son.
AUTOLYCUS, a rogue.
A Mariner[13].
A Gaoler[13].
HERMIONE, queen to Leontes.
PERDITA, daughter to Leontes and Hermione.
PAULINA, wife to Antigonus.
EMILIA, a lady attending on Hermione[14].
MOPSA[13], }
DORCAS[13],} Shepherdesses.
Other Lords and Gentlemen, Ladies[13], Officers[13], and Servants,
Shepherds, and Shepherdesses.
Time[13], as Chorus[13].
SCENE: _Partly in Sicilia, and partly in Bohemia_[15].
FOOTNOTES:
[10] DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. Given imperfectly as 'The Names of the Actors'
in Ff.
[11] MAMILLIUS] Mamillus. Rowe (ed. 2).
[12] Bohemia] Bithynia. Hanmer.
[13] Words and clauses omitted in Ff.
[14] a lady ... Hermione.] Rowe. a Lady. Ff.
[15] SCENE...] Rowe. om. Ff.
THE WINTER'S TALE.
ACT I.
SCENE I. _Antechamber in_ LEONTES' _palace_.
_Enter_ CAMILLO _and_ ARCHIDAMUS.
_Arch._ If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia,
on the like occasion whereon my services are now on foot,
you shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixt our
Bohemia and your Sicilia.
_Cam._ I think, this coming summer, the King of Sicilia 5
means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes
him.
_Arch._ Wherein our entertainment shall shame us we
will be justified in our loves; for indeed--
_Cam._ Beseech you,-- 10
_Arch._ Verily, I speak it in the freedom of my knowledge:
we cannot with such magnificence--in so rare--I
know not what to say. We will give you sleepy drinks,
that your senses, unintelligent of our insufficience, may,
though they cannot praise us, as little accuse us. 15
_Cam._ You pay a great deal too dear for what's given
freely.
_Arch._ Believe me, I speak as my understanding instructs
me and as mine honesty puts it to utterance.
_Cam._ Sicilia cannot show himself over-kind to Bohemia. 20
They were trained together in their childhoods; and there
rooted betwixt them then such an affection, which cannot
choose but branch now. Since their more mature dignities
and royal necessities made separation of their society,
their encounters, though not personal, have been royally 25
attorneyed with interchange of gifts, letters, loving embassies;
that they have seemed to be together, though absent;
shook hands, as over a vast; and embraced, as it were, from
the ends of opposed winds. The heavens continue their
loves! 30
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