King Lear Read online

  69-70 mine own jealous curiosity suspicious concern for my own dignity

  70 very pretense actual intention

  and tell my daughter I would speak with her. Go you, call hither my Fool. [Exit an Attendant.]

  Enter Oswald.

  O, you, sir, you! Come you hither, sir. Who am I, sir?

  Oswald. My lady’s father.

  Lear. “My lady’s father”? My lord’s knave, you whoreson dog, you slave, you cur!

  Oswald. I am none of these, my lord; I beseech your pardon.

  Lear. Do you bandy° looks with me, you rascal?

  [Striking him.]

  Oswald. I’ll not be strucken,° my lord.

  Kent. Nor tripped neither, you base football° player.

  [Tripping up his heels.]

  Lear. I thank thee, fellow. Thou serv‘st me, and I’ll love thee.

  Kent. Come, sir, arise, away. I’ll teach you differences. ° Away, away. If you will measure your lubber’s ° length again, tarry; but away. Go to!° Have you wisdom?° So.° [Pushes Oswald out.]

  Lear. Now, my friendly knave, I thank thee. There’s earnest° of thy service. [Giving Kent money.]

  Enter Fool.

  Fool. Let me hire him too. Here’s my coxcomb.°

  [Offering Kent his cap.]

  Lear. How now, my pretty knave? How dost thou?

  Fool. Sirrah, you were best° take my coxcomb.

  Kent. Why, Fool?

  86 bandy exchange insolently (metaphor from tennis)

  87 strucken struck

  88 football (a low game played by idle boys to the scandal of sensible men)

  91-92 differences (of rank)

  92-93 lubber’s lout’s

  93 Go to (expression of derisive incredulity)

  93-94 Have you wisdom i.e., do you know what’s good for you 94 So good 96 earnest money for services rendered

  97 coxcomb professional fool’s cap, shaped like a coxcomb

  99 you were best you had better

  Fool. Why? For taking one’s part that’s out of favor.Nay, an° thou canst not smile as the wind sits,° thou‘lt catch cold shortly. There, take my coxcomb. Why, this fellow has banished° two on’s daughters, and did the third a blessing against his will. If thou follow him, thou must needs wear my coxcomb. —How now, Nuncle?° Would I had two coxcombs and two daughters.

  Lear. Why, my boy?

  Fool. If I gave them all my living,° I’d keep my coxcombs myself. There’s mine; beg another of thy daughters.

  Lear. Take heed, sirrah—the whip.

  Fool. Truth’s a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out, when Lady the Brach° may stand by th’ fire and stink.

  Lear. A pestilent gall° to me.

  Fool. Sirrah, I’ll teach thee a speech.

  Lear. Do.

  Fool. Mark it, Nuncle.Have more than thou showest,

  Speak less than thou knowest,

  Lend less than thou owest,°

  Ride more than thou goest,°

  Learn more than thou trowest,°

  Set less than thou throwest,°

  Leave thy drink and thy whore,

  And keep in-a-door,

  And thou shalt have more

  Than two tens to a score.°

  Kent. This is nothing, Fool.

  102 an if

  102 smile ... sits ingratiate yourself with those in power

  104 banished alienated (by making them independent)

  107 Nun- de (contraction of “mine uncle”)

  110 living property

  115 Brach

  bitch

  117 gall sore

  123 owest ownest

  124 goest walkest

  125 trowest knowest

  126 Set ... throwest bet less than you play for (get odds from your opponent)

  129-30 have ... score i.e., come away with more than you had (two tens, or twenty shillings, make a score, or one pound)

  Fool. Then ‘tis like the breath of an unfeed° lawyer —you gave me nothing for’t. Can you make no use of nothing, Nuncle?

  Lear. Why, no, boy. Nothing can be made out of nothing.

  Fool. [To Kent] Prithee tell him, so much the rent of his land comes to; he will not believe a Fool.

  Lear. A bitter° Fool.

  Fool. Dost thou know the difference, my boy, between a bitter Fool and a sweet one?

  Lear. No, lad; teach me.

  Fool.That lord that counseled thee

  To give away thy land,

  Come place him here by me,

  Do thou for him stand.

  The sweet and bitter fool

  Will presently appear;

  The one in motley° here,

  The other found out° there.°

  Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy?

  Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with.

  Kent. This is not altogether fool, my lord.

  Fool. No, faith; lords and great men will not let me.°If I had a monopoly° out, they would have part

  on’t. And ladies too, they will not let me have all

  the fool to myself; they’ll be snatching. Nuncle,

  give me an egg, and I’ll give thee two crowns.

  132 unfeed unpaid for

  140 bitter satirical

  150 motley the drab costume of the professional jester

  151 found out revealed

  151 there (the Fool points at Lear, as a fool in the grain)

  156 let me (have all the folly to myself)

  157 monopoly (James I gave great scandal by granting to his “snatching” courtiers royal patents to deal exclusively in some commodity)

  Lear. What two crowns shall they be?

  Fool. Why, after I have cut the egg i’ th’ middle and eat up the meat, the two crowns of the egg. When thou clovest thy crown i’ th’ middle and gav‘st away both parts, thou bor’st thine ass on thy back o‘er the dirt.° Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav’st thy golden one away. If I speak like myself° m this, let him be whipped° that first finds it so.

  [Singing] Fools had ne‘er less grace in a year,For wise men are grown foppish,

  And know not how their wits to wear,

  Their manners are so apish.°

  Lear. When were you wont to be so full of songs, sirrah?

  Fool. I have used° it, Nuncle, e‘er since thou mad’st thy daughters thy mothers; for when thou gav‘st them the rod, and put’st down thine own breeches, [Singing] Then they for sudden joy did weep,And I for sorrow sung,

  That such a king should play bo-peep°

  And go the fools among.

  Prithee, Nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can teach

  thy Fool to lie. I would fain learn to lie.

  Lear. And° you lie, sirrah, we’ll have you whipped.

  Fool. I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are.They’ll have me whipped for speaking true; thou‘lt

  have me whipped for lying; and sometimes I am

  whipped for holding my peace. I had rather be any

  kind o’ thing than a Fool, and yet I would not be165-66 bor‘st ... dirt (like the foolish and unnatural countryman in Aesop’s fable)

  168 like myself like a Fool

  168 let him be whipped i.e., let the man be whipped for a Fool who thinks my true saying to be foolish

  170-73 Fools ... apish i.e., fools were never in less favor than now, and the reason is that wise men, turning foolish, and not knowing how to use their intelligence, imitate the professional fools and so make them unnecessary

  176 used practiced

  181 play bo-peep (1) act like a child (2) blind himself

  185 And if

  thee, Nuncle: thou hast pared thy wit o’ both sides

  and left nothing i’ th’ middle. Here comes one o’

  the parings. Enter Goneril.

  Enter Goneril.

  Lear. How now, daughter? What makes that frontlet° on? Methinks you are too much of late i’ th’ frown.

 
Fool. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst no need to care for her frowning. Now thou art an O without a figure.° I am better than thou art now: I am a Fool, thou art nothing. [To Goneril.] Yes, forsooth, I will hold my tongue. So your face bids me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum,He that keeps nor crust nor crum,°

  Weary of all, shall want° some.

  [Pointing to Lear] That’s a shealed peascod.°

  Goneril. Not only, sir, this your all-licensed° Fool,But other° of your insolent retinue

  Do hourly carp and quarrel, breaking forth

  In rank° and not-to-be-endured riots. Sir,

  I had thought by making this well known unto you

  To have found a safe° redress, but now grow

  fearful,

  By what yourself too late° have spoke and done,

  That you protect this course, and put it on

  By your allowance;° which if you should, the fault

  Would not ‘scape censure, nor the redresses sleep,°

  Which, in the tender of° a wholesome weal,°

  Might in their working do you that offense,

  Which else were shame, that then necessity

  Will call discreet proceeding.°

  194 frontlet frown (lit., ornamental band)

  199 figure digit, to give value to the cipher (Lear is a nought)

  203 crum soft bread inside the loaf

  204 want lack

  205 shealed peascod empty pea pod

  206 all-licensed privileged to take any liberties

  207 other others

  209 rank gross

  211 safe sure

  212 too late lately

  213-14 put... allowance promote it by your approval

  214 allowance approval

  215 redresses sleep correction fail to follow

  216 tender of desire for

  216 weal state

  217-19 Might ... proceeding as I apply it, the correction might humiliate you; but the need to take action cancels what would otherwise be unfilial conduct in me

  Fool. For you know, Nuncle,The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo° so long

  That it had it head bit off by it° young.

  So out went the candle, and we were left darkling.°

  Lear. Are you our daughter?

  Goneril. Come, sir,I would you would make use of your good wisdom

  Whereof I know you are fraught° and put away

  These dispositions° which of late transport you

  From what you rightly are.

  Fool. May not an ass know when the cart draws the horse? Whoop, Jug,° I love thee!

  Lear. Does any here know me? This is not Lear.Does Lear walk thus? Speak thus? Where are his

  eyes?

  Either his notion° weakens, or his discernings°

  Are lethargied°—Ha! Waking? ‘Tis not so.

  Who is it that can tell me who I am?

  Fool. Lear’s shadow.

  Lear. I would learn that; for, by the marks of sovereignty, ° knowledge, and reason, I should be false° persuaded I had daughters.

  Fool. Which° they will make an obedient father.

  Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman?

  Goneril. This admiration,° sir, is much o’ th’ savor°Of other your° new pranks. I do beseech you

  To understand my purposes aright.

  As you are old and reverend, should be wise.

  Here do you keep a hundred knights and squires,221 cuckoo (who lays its eggs in the nests of other birds)

  222 it its

  223 darkling in the dark

  227 fraught endowed

  228 dispositions moods

  231 Jug Joan (? a quotation from a popular song)

  234 notion understanding 234 discernings faculties

  235 lethargied paralyzed

  238-39 marks of sovereignty i.e., tokens that Lear is king, and hence father to his daughters

  239 false falsely

  241 Which whom (Lear)

  243 admiration (affected) wonderment

  243 is much o’ th’ savor smacks much

  244 other your others of your

  Men so disordered, so deboshed,° and bold,

  That this our court, infected with their manners,

  Shows° like a riotous inn. Epicurism° and lust

  Makes it more like a tavern or a brothel

  Than a graced° palace. The shame itself doth speak

  For instant remedy. Be then desired°

  By her, that else will take the thing she begs,

  A little to disquantity your train,°

  And the remainders° that shall still depend,°

  To be such men as may besort° your age,

  Which know themselves, and you.

  Lear. Darkness and devils!Saddle my horses; call my train together.

  Degenerate° bastard, I’ll not trouble thee:

  Yet have I left a daughter.

  Goneril. You strike my people, and your disordered rabbleMake servants of their betters.

  Enter Albany.

  Lear. Woe, that too late repents. O, sir, are you come?Is it your will? Speak, sir. Prepare my horses.

  Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend,

  More hideous when thou show‘st thee in a child

  Than the sea-monster.

  Albany. Pray, sir, be patient.

  Lear. Detested kite,° thou liest.My train are men of choice and rarest parts,°

  That all particulars of duty know,

  And, in the most exact regard,° support

  The worships° of their name. O most small fault,248 deboshed debauched

  250 Shows appears

  250 Epicurism riotous living

  252 graced dignified

  253 desired requested

  255 disquantity your train reduce the number of your dependents

  256 remainders those who remain

  256 depend attend on you

  257 besort befit

  260 Degenerate unnatural

  269 kite scavenging bird of prey

  270 parts accomplishments

  272 exact regard strict attention to detail

  273 worships honor

  How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show!

  Which, like an engine,° wrenched my frame of

  nature

  From the fixed place;° drew from my heart all love,

  And added to the gall.° O Lear, Lear, Lear!

  Beat at this gate that let thy folly in [Striking

  his head.]

  And thy dear judgment out. Go, go, my people.

  Albany. My lord, I am guiltless, as I am ignorant Of what hath moved you.

  Lear. It may be so, my lord.Hear, Nature, hear; dear Goddess, hear:

  Suspend thy purpose if thou didst intend

  To make this creature fruitful.

  Into her womb convey sterility,

  Dry up in her the organs of increase,°

  And from her derogate° body never spring

  A babe to honor her. If she must teem,°

  Create her child of spleen,° that it may live

  And be a thwart disnatured° torment to her.

  Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth,

  With cadent° tears fret° channels in her cheeks,

  Turn all her mother’s pains and benefits°

  To laughter and contempt, that she may feel

  How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is

  To have a thankless child. Away, away! Exit.

  Albany. Now, gods that we adore, whereof comes this?

  Goneril. Never afflict yourself to know the cause,But let his disposition° have that scope

  As° dotage gives it.

  Enter Lear.

  Lear. What, fifty of my followers at a clap?°275 engine destructive contrivance

  274-76 wrenched ... place i.e., disordered my natural self

  277 gall bitterness

  286 increase childbearing

  287 derogate degraded

  288 tee
m conceive

  289 spleen ill humor

  290 thwart disnatured perverse unnatural

  292 cadent falling

  292 fret wear

  293 benefits the mother’s beneficent care of her child

  299 disposition mood

  300 As that

  301 at a ciap at one stroke

  Within a fortnight?

  Albany. What’s the matter, sir?

  Lear. I’ll tell thee. [To Goneril] Life and death, I am ashamedThat thou hast power to shake my manhood°

  thus!

  That these hot tears, which break from me

  perforce,°

  Should make thee worth them. Blasts and fogs

  upon thee!

  Th’ untented woundings° of a father’s curse

  Pierce every sense about thee! Old fond° eyes,

  Beweep° this cause again, I’ll pluck ye out

  And cast you, with the waters that you loose,°

  To temper° clay. Yea, is it come to this?

  Ha! Let it be so. I have another daughter,

  Who I am sure is kind and comfortable.°

  When she shall hear this of thee, with her nails

  She’ll flay thy wolvish visage. Thou shalt find

  That I’ll resume the shape° which thou dost think

  I have cast off for ever.

  Exit [Lear with Kent and Attendants].

  Goneril. Do you mark that?

  Albany. I cannot be so partial, Goneril, To the great love I bear you°—

  Goneril. Pray you, content. What, Oswald, ho! [To the Fool] You, sir, more knave than fool, after your master!

  Fool. Nuncle Lear, Nuncle Lear, tarry. Take the Fool° with thee.304 shake my manhood i.e., with tears

  305 perforce involuntarily, against my will