Читать книгу The Complete Apocryphal Plays of William Shakespeare - William Shakespeare - Страница 5

Why, Alice! How can I do too much for him

Whose life I have endangered without cause?

ALICE

‘tis true; and, seeing ‘twas partly through my meands,

I am content to drink to him for this once.

Here master Mosbie, and I pray you henceforth,

Be you as strange to me, as I to you

Your company hath pruchased me ill friends.

And I for you god knows, have undeserved

Been ill spoken of in every place.

Therefore henceforth frequent my house no more.

MOSBIE

I’ll see your husband in despite of you,

Yet, Arden, I protest to thee by heaven,

Thou ne’er shalt see me more after this night.

I’ll go to rome rather than be forsworn.

ARDEN

Tush, I’ll have no such vows made in my house.

ALICE

Yes, I pray you, husband, let him swear;

And, on that condition, Mosbie, pledge me here.

MOSBIE

Ay, as willingly as I mean to live.

ARDEN

Come, Alice, is our supper ready yet?

ALICE

It will by then you have played a game at tables.

ARDEN

Come, master Mosbie, what shall we play for?

MOSBIE

Three games for a french crown, sir,

And please you.

ARDEN

Content.

(then they play at the tables.

WILL

Can he not take him yet? What a spite is that?

ALICE

Not yet, Will; take heed he see thee not.

WILL

I fear he will spy me as I am coming.

MOSBIE

One ace, or else I lose the game.

ARDEN

Marry, sir, there’s two for failing.

MOSBIE

Ah, master Arden, ‘now I can take you.’

(then Will pulls him down with a towel.

ARDEN

Mosbie, Michael, Alice, what will you do?

WILL

Nothing but take you up, sir, nothing else.

MOSBIE

There’s for the pressing iron you told me of.

SHAKEBAG

And there’s for the ten pound in my sleeve.

Take this for hindering Mosbie’s love and mine. (she stabs him)

MICHAEL

O, mistress!

Mosbie, farewell, and Michael, farewell too. (Exeunt. Enter SUSAN

SUSAN

Mistress, the guests are at the doors.

Hearken, they knock: what, shall I let them in?

ALICE

Mosbie, go thou, and bear them company. (Exit MOSBIE

And, susan, fetch water and wash away this blood.

SUSAN

The blood cleaveth to the ground and will not out.

ALICE

But with my nails I’ll scrape away the blood.

The more I strive, the more the blood appears!

SUSAN

What’s the reason, mistress, can you tell?

ALICE

Because I blush not at my husband’s death. (here enters MOSBIE

MOSBIE

How now? What’s the matter? Is all well?

ALICE

Ay, well, if Arden were alive again.

In vain we strive, for here his blood remains.

MOSBIE

Why, strew rushes on it, can you not?

This wench does nothing: fall unto the work.

ALICE

‘twas thou that made me murder him.

MOSBIE

What of that?

ALICE

Nay, nothing, Mosbie, so it be not known.

MOSBIE

Keep thou it close, and ‘tis impossible.

ALICE

Ah, but I can not, was he not slain by me? my husband’s death torments me at the heart.

MOSBIE

It shall not long torment thee, gentle Alice;

I am thy husband, think no more of him.

(here enters Adam Fowl and BRADSHAW

BRADSHAW

How now, mistress Arden? What ails you, you weep?

MOSBIE

Because her husband is abroad so late.

A couple of ruffians threatened him yesternight,

And she, poor soul, is afraid he should be hurt.

ADAM

Is’t nothing else? Tush, he’ll be here anon.

(here enters GREENE

GREENE

Now, mistress Arden, lack you any guests?

ALICE

Ah, master Greene, did you see my husband lately?

GREENE

I saw him walking behind the abbey even now.

ALICE

I do not like this being out so late. -

Master Franklin, where did you leave my husband?

FRANKLIN

Believe me I saw him not since morning.

Fear you not, he’ll come anon; meantime

You may do well to bid his guests sit down.

ALICE

Ay, so they shall; master Bradshaw, sit you there;

I pray you be content, I’ll have my will.

Master Mosbie, sit you in my husband’s seat.

MICHAEL

 susan, shall thou and I wait on them?

Or, and thou sayest the word, let us sit down too.

SUSAN

 peace, we have other matters now in hand.

I fear me, Michael, all will be bewrayed.

MICHAEL

Tush, so it be known that I shall marry thee in the

I can not though I be hanged ere night.

But to prevent the worst, I’ll buy some rats bane.

SUSAN

 why, Michael, wilt thou poison thyself?

MICHAEL

No, but my mistress, for I fear she’ll tell.

SUSAN

Tush, Michael; fear not her, she’s wise enough.

MOSBIE

Sirrah Michael, give’s a cup of beer. -

Mistress Arden, here’s to your husband.

ALICE

My husband?

FRANKLIN

What ails you woman, to cry so suddenly?

ALICE

Ah, neighbors, a sudden qualm came over my heart

My husband being forth torments my mind.

I know something’s amiss, he is not well;

Or else I should have heard of him ere now.

MOSBIE

 she will undo us through her foolishness.

GREENE

Fear not, mistress Arden, he’s well enough.

ALICE

Tell not me; I know he is not well:

He was not wont for to stay thus late.

Good master Franklin, go and seek him forth,

And if you find him send him home to me,

And tell him what a fear he hath put me in.

FRANKLIN

 I like not this; I pray god all be well.

I’ll seek him out, and find him if I can.

(Exeunt Franklin, Mosbie, and GREENE

ALICE

Michael, how shall I do to rid the rest away?

MICHAEL

 leave that to my charge, let me alone.

‘tis very late, master Bradshaw,

And you have many narrow lanes to pass.

BRADSHAW

Faith, friend Michael, and thou sayest true,

Therefore I pray thee light’s forth and lend’s a link.

(Exeunt Bradshaw, Adam, and MICHAEL

ALICE

Michael, bring them to the doors, but do not stay,

You know I do not love to be alone.

(here enters Mosbie and GREENE

MOSBIE

How now, Alice, whither will you bear him?

ALICE

Sweet Mosbie, art thou come?

Then weep that will:

I have my wish in that I joy thy sight.

GREENE

Well it ‘hooves us to be circumspect.

MOSBIE

Ay, for Franklin thinks that we have murdered him.

ALICE

Ay, but he cannot prove it for his life.

We’ll spend this night in dalliance and in sport.

(here enters MICHAEL

MICHAEL

O mistress, the Mayor and all the watch

Are coming towards our house with glaives and bills.

ALICE

Make the door fast; let them not come in.

MOSBIE

Tell me, sweet Alice, how shall I escape?

ALICE

Out at the back door, over the pile of wood,

And for one night lie at the flower-de-luce.

MOSBIE

That is the next way to betray my self.

GREENE

Alas, mistress Arden, the watch will take me here,

And cause suspicion, where else would be none.

ALICE

Why, take that way that master Mosbie doth,

But first convey the body to the fields.

(then they bear the body into the fields.

MOSBIE

Until to morrow, sweet Alice, now farewell:

And see you confess nothing in any case.

GREENE

Be resolute, mistress Arden, betray us not,

But cleave to us as we will stick to you.

(Exeunt Mosbie and GREENE

ALICE

Now, let the judge and juries do their worst:

My house is clear, and now I fear them not.

SUSAN

As we went, it snowed all the way,

Which makes me fear our footsteps will be spied.

ALICE

Peace, fool, the snow will cover them again.

SUSAN

But it had done before we came back again.

ALICE

Hark, hark, they knock!

Go Michael, let them in.

(here enters the Mayor and the watch.

How now, Master Mayor, have you brought my husband home?

MAYOR

I saw him come into your house an hour ago.

ALICE

You are deceived; it was a londoner.

MAYOR

Mistress Arden know you not one

That is called Black Will?

ALICE

I know none such: what mean these questions?

MAYOR

I have the council’s warrant to apprehend him.

ALICE

I am glad it is no worse.

Why, master Mayor, think you I harbor any such?

MAYOR

We are informed that here he is;

And therefore pardon us, for we must search.

ALICE

Ay, search, and spare you not, through every room,

Were my husband at home, you would not offer this.

(here enters FRANKLIN

Master Franklin, what mean you come so sad?

FRANKLIN

Arden, thy husband and my friend, is slain.

ALICE

Ah, by whom? Master Franklin, can you tell?

FRANKLIN

I know not; but behind the abbey

There he lies murdered in Most piteous case.

MAYOR

But, master Franklin, are you sure ‘tis he?

FRANKLIN

I am too sure; would god I were deceived.

ALICE

Find out the murderers, let them be known.

FRANKLIN

Ay, so they shall: come you along with us.

ALICE

Wherefore?

FRANKLIN

Know you this hand-towel and this knife?

SUSAN

 ah, Michael, through this thy negligence

Thou hast betrayed and undone us all.

MICHAEL

 I was so afraid I knew not what I did:

I thought I had thrown them both into the well.

ALICE

It is the pig’s blood we had to supper.

But wherefore stay you? Find out the murderers.

MAYOR

I fear me you’ll prove one of them yourself.

ALICE

I one of them? What mean such questions?

FRANKLIN

I fear me he was murdered in this house

And carried to the fields; for from that place

The print of many feet within the snow.

And look about this chamber where we are,

And you shall find part of his guiltless blood;

For in his slipshoe did I find some rushes,

Which argueth he was murdered in this room.

MAYOR

Look in the place where he was wont to sit.

See, see! His blood! It is too manifest.

ALICE

It is a cup of wine that Michael shed.

And seek for Mosbie, and apprehend him too.

(Exeunt. Here enters Shakebag solus.

SHAKEBAG

The widow chambly in her husband’s days I kept

And now he’s dead, she is grown so stout

She will not know her old companions.

I came thither, thinking to have had

Harbor as I was wont,

And she was ready to thrust me out at doors,

But whether she would or no, I got me up,

And as she followed me, I spurned her down the stairs,

And broke her neck, and cut her tapster’s throat,

And now I am going to fling them in the thames.

I have the gold; what care I though it be known!

I’ll cross the water and take sanctuary.

(Exit SHAKEBAG

Here Enter the Mayor, Mosbie, Alice, Franklin, Michael and susan.

MAYOR

See, mistress Arden, where your husband lies;

Confess this foul fault and be penitent.

ALICE

Arden, sweet husband, what shall I say?

The more I sound his name, the more he bleeds;

This blood condemns me, and in gushing forth

Speaks as it falls and asks me why I did it.

Forgive me, Arden: I repent me now,

And, would my death save thine, thou shouldst not die.

Rise up, sweet Arden, and enjoy thy love,

And frown not on me when we meet in heaven:

In heaven I’ll love thee, though on earth I did not.

MAYOR

Say, Mosbie, what made thee murder him?

FRANKLIN

Study not for an answer; look not down:

His purse and girdle found at thy bed’s head

Witness sufficiently thou didst the deed;

MOSBIE

I hired Black Will and Shakebag, ruffians both,

And they and I have done this murderous deed.

But wherefore stay we?

Come and bear me hence.

Rank. Those ruffians shall not escape;

I will up to London. And get the councilhs warrant

To apprehend them. (Exeunt. Here enters WILL

WILL

Shakebag, I hear, hath taken sanctuary,

But I am so pursued with hues and cries

For petty robberies that I have done,

That I can come unto no sanctuary.

Therefore must I in some oyster boat

At last be fain to go a board some hoy,

And so to flushing. There is no staying here.

At sittingburgh the watch was like to take me,

And had not I with my buckler covered my head,

And run full blank at all adventures,

I am sure I had ne’er gone further than that place,

For the constable had twenty warrants to apprehend me,

Besides that, I robbed him and his man once at gadshill.

Farewell, england, I’ll to flushing now. (Exit WILL

(here Enter the Mayor, Mosbie, Alice, Michael, Susan, and BRADSHAW

MAYOR

Come, make haste and bring away the prisoners.

BRADSHAW

Mistress Arden, you are now going to god,

And I am by the law condemned to die

About a letter I brought from master GREENE

I pray you, mistress Arden, speak the truth:

Was I ever privy to your intent or no.

ALICE

What should I say?

You brought me such a letter,

But I dare swear thou knewest not the contents.

Leave now to trouble me with worldly things,

And let me meditate upon my saviour Christ,

Whose blood must save me for the blood I shed.

MOSBIE

How long shall I live in this hell of grief?

Convey me from the presence of that strumpet.

ALICE

Ah but for thee I had never been strumpet.

What cannot oaths and protestations do,

When men have opportunity to woo?

But now I find it and repent too late.

SUSAN

Ah, gentle brother, wherefore should I die?

I knew not of it till the deed was done.

MOSBIE

For thee I mourn more than for myself;

But let it suffice, I cannot save thee now.

MICHAEL

And if your brother and my mistress

MOSBIE

Fie upon women! This shall be my song;

But bear me hence, for I have lived too long.

SUSAN

Seeing no hope on earth, in heaven is my hope.

MICHAEL

Faith, I care not, seeing I die with susan.

BRADSHAW

My blood be on his head that gave the sentence.

MAYOR

To speedy execution with them all! (Exeunt.

(here enters FRANKLIN

FRANKLIN

Thus have you seen the truth of Arden’s death.

As for the ruffians, Shakebag and Black Will,

The one took sanctuary, and, being sent for out,

Was murdered in southwark as he passed

To greenwich, where the lord protector lay.

Black Will was burned in flushing on a stage;

Greene was hanged at osbridge in kent;

The painter fled and how he died we know not.

But this above the rest is to be noted:

Arden lay murdered in that plot of ground

Which he by force and violence held from Reede;

And in the grass his body’s print was seen

Two years and more after the deed was done.

Gentlemen, we hope you’ll pardon this naked tragedy,

Wherein no filed points are foisted in

To make it gracious to the ear or eye;

For simple truth is gracious enough,

And needs no other points of glosing stuff.

THE END