King Lear : Act 3, Scene 6
Enter KENT [disguised as Caius]
and GLOUCESTER.
GLOUCESTER
1
Here is better than the open air; take it
1. Here: i.e., the hovel that Kent and Gloucester were trying to get Lear to enter. In this scene the stage becomes the interior of that hovel.
2
thankfully. I will piece out the comfort with what
3
addition I can: I will not be long from you.
KENT
4
All the power of his wits have given way to his
5
impatience: the gods reward your kindness!
5. impatience: inability to bear great suffering. the gods reward you: may the gods reward you.
Exit [GLOUCESTER].
Enter LEAR, EDGAR [disguised as
"Poor Tom"], and Fool.
EDGAR
6
Frateretto calls me; and tells me Nero
6. Frateretto: a devil. Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness: In Chaucer's A Monk's Tale the infamously cruel Roman Emperor Nero is found fishing in hell.
7
is an angler in the lake of darkness.
[To the Fool.]
8
Pray, innocent, and beware the foul fiend.
Fool
9
Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman
10
be a gentleman or a yeoman?
10. yeoman: a free landowner, but not a member of the gentrythe gentlemen's class.
KING LEAR
11
A king, a king!
Fool
12
No, he's a yeoman that has a gentleman
13
to his son; for he's a mad yeoman that
14
sees his son a gentleman before him.
14. sees his son a gentleman before him: i.e., allows or enables his son to be a gentleman before he himself is a gentleman.
KING LEAR
15
To have a thousand with red burning spits
16
Come hizzing in upon 'em,
16. 'em: them. Perhaps Lear is imagining the torture of Goneril and Regan.
EDGAR
17
The foul fiend bites my back.
Fool
18
He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf,
19
a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath.
KING LEAR
20
It shall be done; I will arraign them straight.
20. arraign them straight: immediately charge them with a crime. Lear now imagines a trial of his daughters Goneril and Regan.
[To EDGAR.]
21
Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer;
21. justicer: judge.
[To the Fool.]
22
Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, you she foxes!
22. sapient: wise.
EDGAR
23
Look, where he stands and glares!
23. he: Perhaps Edgar pretends to see a fiend.
24
Want'st thou eyes at trial, madam?
24. eyes at trial: spectators at your trial [?]. madam: Perhaps "poor Tom" is falling in with Lear's delusion and is speaking to one of the "she foxes."
[Sings.]
25
"Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me"
25. "Come . . . me" : A line from an old song. bourn: brook.
Fool [Sings.]
26
Her boat hath a leak,
27
And she must not speak
28
Why she dares not come over to thee.
EDGAR
29
The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice
30
of a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's belly
31
for two white herring. Croak not, black angel;
31. Hopdance: a devil whose cries are the rumbling of Tom's empty stomach. two white herring: i.e., a cheap snack.
32
I have no food for thee.
KENT
33
How do you, sir? Stand you not so amazed:
33. amazed: bewildered.
34
Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions?
KING LEAR
35
I'll see their trial first. Bring in their evidence.
35. their evidence: the witnesses against them.
[To EDGAR.]
36
Thou robed man of justice, take thy place;
36. robed man of justice: i.e., judge His tattered blanket is the only robe of "poor Tom."
[To the Fool.]
37
And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity,
37. yoke-fellow: partner.
38
Bench by his side:
[To KENT.]
You are o' the commission,
38. o' the commission: appointed one of the judges.
39
Sit you too.
EDGAR
40
Let us deal justly.
41
Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?
42
Thy sheep be in the corn;
43
And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,
44
Thy sheep shall take no harm.
43-44. for one blast . . . harm: i.e., to keep your sheep from harm you only need to blow your horn with your sweet mouth.
45
Purr the cat is gray.
KING LEAR
46
Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take
47
my oath before this honourable assembly,
48
she kicked the poor king her father.
Fool
49
Come hither, mistress. Is your name
50
Goneril?
KING LEAR
51
She cannot deny it.
Fool
52
Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool.
52. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool: This was a joking way of apologizing for not noticing the presence of another person.
KING LEAR
53
And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim
53. here's another: here's Regan.
54
What store her heart is made on. Stop her there!
54. What store her heart is made on: What material her heart is made of.
55
Arms, arms, sword, fire! Corruption in the place!
55. Corruption in the place!: Bribery in the court!
56
False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape?
56. justicer: judge.
EDGAR
57
Bless thy five wits!
KENT
58
O pity! Sir, where is the patience now,
59
That thou so oft have boasted to retain?
EDGAR [Aside.]
60
My tears begin to take his part so much,
61
They'll mar my counterfeiting.
KING LEAR
62
The little dogs and all, Tray, Blanch, and
62. The little dogs and all: Even the little dogs.
63
Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me.
EDGAR
64
Tom will throw his head at them. Avaunt,
64. throw his head at them: threaten them. Avaunt: Begone.
65
you curs!
66
Be thy mouth or black or white,
66. or black or white: either black or white.
67
Tooth that poisons if it bite;
67. Tooth that poisons: i.e., rabid.
68
Mastiff, grey-hound, mongrel grim,
69
Hound or spaniel, brach or lym,
69. brach: female hound. lym: hunting dog kept on a leash?
70
Or bobtail tike or trundle-tail,
70. bobtail tike: short-tailed mongrel. trundle-tail: long-tail.
71
Tom will make them weep and wail:
72
For, with throwing thus my head,
73
Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled.
73. hatch: the lower half of a divided door.
74
Do de, de, de. Sessa! Come, march to wakes and
74. wakes: parish festivals.
75
fairs and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is dry.
75. thy horn is dry: i.e., my begging-bowl is empty.
KING LEAR
100. anatomize: dissect
76
Then let them anatomize Regan; see what breeds
77
about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that
78
makes these hard hearts?
[To EDGAR.]
79
You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred; only I
79. entertain: retain.
80
do not like the fashion of your garments: you will
81
say they are Persian attire: but let them be changed.
81. Persian: Lear madly mistakes Edgar's wretched blanket for rich, ornamental fabric.
KENT
82
Now, good my lord, lie here and rest awhile.
KING LEAR
83
Make no noise, make no noise, draw the curtains.
83. draw the curtains: close the bed curtains.
84
So, so. We'll go to supper i' th' morning. So, so, so.
84. supper: the evening meal.
Fool
85
And I'll go to bed at noon.
Enter GLOUCESTER.
GLOUCESTER
86
Come hither, friend: where is the king my master?
KENT
87
Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits are gone.
GLOUCESTER
88
Good friend, I prithee, take him in thy arms;
89
I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him:
89. upon: against.
90
There is a litter ready; lay him in 't,
91
And drive towards Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet
92
Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master:
93
If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life,
94
With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
95
Stand in assured loss: take up, take up;
93-95. his life . . . loss: his life, and yours, and the lives of all who try to defend him will surely be taken.
96
And follow me, that will to some provision
97
Give thee quick conduct.
96-97. me . . . conduct: me, who will quickly guide you to a place where there are provisions [such as food and clothes].
KENT
Oppressed nature sleeps:
98
This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken sinews,
98. balm'd: soothed. sinews: nerves.
99
Which, if convenience will not allow,
99. convenience: circumstances.
100
Stand in hard cure.
100. Stand in hard cure: will be very difficult to cure.
[To the Fool.]
Come, help to bear thy master;
101
Thou must not stay behind.
GLOUCESTER
Come, come, away.
Exeunt [all but EDGAR].
EDGAR
102
When we our betters see bearing our woes,
102. bearing our woes: suffering the same woes we suffer.
103
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
104
Who alone suffers suffers most i' the mind,
105
Leaving free things and happy shows behind:
106
But then the mind much sufferance doth o'er skip,
107
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.
106-107. But . . . mates: i.e., only when grief is shared is the mind able rise above its suffering.
108
How light and portable my pain seems now,
108. portable: bearable.
109
When that which makes me bend makes the king bow,
110
He childed as I father'd! Tom, away!
110. He childed as I father'd!: i.e., his children are as bad as my father.
111
Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray,
111. high noises: rumors of great events. thyself bewray: reveal your true identity.
112
When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,
113
In thy just proof, repeals and reconciles thee.
114
What will hap more tonight, safe 'scape the king!
112-114. When . . . thee: i.e., when public opinion, which now mistakenly defiles you, finds you proved guiltless and recalls you to your rightful place in society. What . . . king!: i.e., No matter what else chances tonight, I hope that the king will safely escape.
115
Lurk, lurk.
Exit.