ESCALUS Your mistress' name?

  POMPEY Mistress Overdone.

  ESCALUS Hath she had any more than one husband?

  POMPEY Nine, sir: Overdone by the last188.

  ESCALUS Nine? Come hither to me, Master Froth. Master

  Froth, I would not have you acquainted with tapsters: they

  will draw191 you, Master Froth, and you will hang them. Get

  you gone, and let me hear no more of you.

  FROTH I thank your worship. For mine own part, I never

  come into any room in a tap-house194, but I am drawn in.

  ESCALUS Well, no more of it, Master Froth, farewell.--

  [Exit Froth]

  To Pompey

  Come you hither to me, Master Tapster. What's your name, Master Tapster?

  POMPEY Pompey.

  ESCALUS What else?

  POMPEY Bum, sir.

  ESCALUS Troth, and your bum is the greatest thing about

  you, so that in the beastliest202 sense you are Pompey the Great.

  Pompey, you are partly a bawd, Pompey, howsoever you

  colour it in204 being a tapster, are you not? Come, tell me true, it

  shall be the better for you.

  POMPEY Truly, sir, I am a poor fellow that would live206.

  ESCALUS How would you live, Pompey? By being a bawd?

  What do you think of the trade, Pompey? Is it a lawful trade?

  POMPEY If the law would allow it, sir.

  ESCALUS But the law will not allow it, Pompey, nor it shall not

  be allowed in Vienna.

  POMPEY Does your worship mean to geld and splay212 all the

  youth of the city?

  ESCALUS No, Pompey.

  POMPEY Truly, sir, in my poor opinion, they will to't215 then. If

  your worship will take order for the drabs and the knaves216,

  you need not to fear217 the bawds.

  ESCALUS There is pretty orders218 beginning, I can tell you: it is

  but heading and hanging219.

  POMPEY If you head and hang all that offend that way but

  for ten year together, you'll be glad to give out a commission

  for more heads221: if this law hold222 in Vienna ten year, I'll rent

  the fairest house in it after223 three-pence a bay. If you live to see

  this come to pass, say Pompey told you so.

  ESCALUS Thank you, good Pompey, and, in requital of225 your

  prophecy, hark you: I advise you, let me not find you before

  me again upon any complaint whatsoever, no, not for

  dwelling where you do. If I do, Pompey, I shall beat you228 to

  your tent, and prove a shrewd229 Caesar to you: in plain

  dealing230, Pompey, I shall have you whipped. So, for this time,

  Pompey, fare you well.

  POMPEY I thank your worship for your good counsel--

  but I shall follow it as the flesh and fortune shall

  better determine233.

  Aside

  Whip me? No, no, let carman235 whip his jade:

  The valiant heart's not whipped out of his trade.

  Exit

  ESCALUS Come hither to me, Master Elbow, come hither,

  Master Constable. How long have you been in this place238 of

  constable?

  ELBOW Seven year and a half, sir.

  ESCALUS I thought by the readiness241 in the office you had

  continued in it some time. You say, seven years together?

  ELBOW And a half, sir.

  ESCALUS Alas, it hath been great pains244 to you. They do you

  wrong to put you so oft upon't245. Are there not men in your

  ward246 sufficient to serve it?

  ELBOW Faith, sir, few of any wit247 in such matters: as they are

  chosen, they are glad to choose me for them. I do it for some

  piece of money, and go through with all249.

  ESCALUS Look you bring me in the names of some six or

  seven, the most sufficient of your parish.

  ELBOW To your worship's house, sir?

  ESCALUS To my house. Fare you well.

  [Exit Elbow]

  What's o'clock, think you?

  To Justice

  JUSTICE Eleven, sir.

  ESCALUS I pray you home to dinner255 with me.

  JUSTICE I humbly thank you.

  ESCALUS It grieves me for the death of Claudio,

  But there's no remedy.

  JUSTICE Lord Angelo is severe.

  ESCALUS It is but needful261.

  Mercy is not itself that oft looks so,

  Pardon is still the nurse of second woe262:

  But yet, poor Claudio! There is no remedy.

  Come, sir.

  Exeunt

  Act 2 Scene 2

  running scene 5 continues

  Enter Provost [and a] Servant

  SERVANT He's1 hearing of a cause: he will come straight, I'll

  tell him of you.

  PROVOST Pray you, do.-- I'll know

  [Exit Servant]

  His pleasure4, maybe he will relent. Alas,

  He5 hath but as offended in a dream!

  All sects6, all ages smack of this vice, and he

  To die for't?

  Enter Angelo

  ANGELO Now, what's the matter, provost?

  PROVOST Is it your will Claudio shall die tomorrow?

  ANGELO Did not I tell thee yea? Hadst thou not order?

  Why dost thou ask again?

  PROVOST Lest12 I might be too rash.

  Under your good correction13, I have seen

  When, after execution, judgement hath

  Repented o'er his doom15.

  ANGELO Go to, let that be mine16.

  Do you your office, or give up your place,

  And you shall well be spared18.

  PROVOST I crave your honour's pardon.

  What shall be done, sir, with the groaning20 Juliet?

  She's very near her hour21.

  ANGELO Dispose of22 her

  To some more fitter place, and that with speed.

  [Enter Servant]

  SERVANT Here is the sister of the man condemned

  Desires access to you.

  ANGELO Hath he a sister?

  PROVOST Ay, my good lord, a very virtuous maid,

  And to be shortly of a sisterhood28,

  If not already.

  ANGELO Well, let her be admitted.

  [Exit Servant]

  See you the fornicatress31 be removed.

  Let her have needful but not lavish means.

  There shall be order33 for't.

  Enter Lucio and Isabella

  PROVOST 'Save your honour!

  ANGELO Stay a little while.--

  To Provost

  You're welcome: what's your will?

  To Isabella

  ISABELLA I am a woeful suitor37 to your honour,

  Please but your honour hear me.

  ANGELO Well, what's your suit?

  ISABELLA There is a vice that most I do abhor,

  And most desire should meet the blow of justice,

  For which I would not plead, but that I must,

  For which I must not plead, but that I am

  At war 'twixt will and will not44.

  ANGELO Well, the matter45?

  ISABELLA I have a brother is condemned to die:

  I do beseech you, let it be his fault,

  And not my brother47.

  PROVOST Heaven give thee moving49 graces!

  Aside

  ANGELO Condemn the fault and not the actor of it?

  Why, every fault's condemned ere it be done51:

  Mine were the very cipher of a function52,

  To fine53 the faults whose fine stands in record,

  And let go by54 the actor.

  ISABELLA O, just but severe law!

  I had a brother, then. Heaven keep your honour.

  LUCIO Give't not o'er so57.
To him again, entreat him,

  Aside to Isabella

  Kneel down before him, hang upon his gown.

  You are too cold. If you should need a pin59,

  You could not with more tame a tongue desire it.

  To him, I say!

  ISABELLA Must he needs die?

  To Angelo

  ANGELO Maiden, no remedy.

  ISABELLA Yes, I do think that you might pardon him,

  And neither heaven nor man grieve at the mercy.

  ANGELO I will not do't.

  ISABELLA But can you, if you would67?

  ANGELO Look what68 I will not, that I cannot do.

  ISABELLA But might you do't, and do the world no wrong,

  If so your heart were touched with that remorse70

  As mine is to him?

  ANGELO He's sentenced, 'tis too late.

  LUCIO You are too cold.

  Aside to Isabella

  ISABELLA Too late? Why, no, I that do speak a word

  May call it back again. Well, believe this:

  No ceremony that to great ones 'longs76,

  Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword77,

  The marshal78's truncheon, nor the judge's robe,

  Become79 them with one half so good a grace

  As mercy does.

  If he had been as you81 and you as he,

  You would have slipped like him, but he, like you,

  Would not have been so stern.

  ANGELO Pray you, be gone.

  ISABELLA I would to heaven I had your potency85,

  And you were Isabel. Should it then be thus?

  No, I would tell87 what 'twere to be a judge,

  And what a prisoner.

  LUCIO Ay, touch him, there's the vein89.

  Aside to Isabella

  ANGELO Your brother is a forfeit of90 the law,

  And you but waste your words.

  ISABELLA Alas, alas!

  Why, all the souls that were93 were forfeit once,

  And he94 that might the vantage best have took

  Found out the remedy. How would you be,

  If he, which is the top of judgement, should

  But judge you as you are? O, think on that,

  And mercy then will breathe within your lips

  Like man new made99.

  ANGELO Be you content, fair maid,

  It is the law, not I, condemn your brother.

  Were he my kinsman, brother, or my son,

  It should be thus with him. He must die tomorrow.

  ISABELLA Tomorrow? O, that's sudden! Spare him, spare him!

  He's not prepared for death. Even for our kitchens

  We kill the fowl of season106: shall we serve heaven

  With less respect than we do minister107

  To our gross108 selves? Good, good my lord, bethink you;

  Who is it that hath died for this offence?

  There's many have committed it.

  LUCIO Ay, well said.

  Aside to Isabella

  ANGELO The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept:

  Those many had not dared to do that evil,

  If the first that did th'edict infringe

  Had answered for his deed113. Now 'tis awake,

  Takes note of what is done, and, like a prophet,

  Looks in a glass117 that shows what future evils,

  Either now118, or by remissness new-conceived,

  And so in progress to be hatched and born119,

  Are now to have no successive degrees120,

  But ere121 they live to end.

  ISABELLA Yet show some pity.

  ANGELO I show it most of all when I show justice:

  For then I pity those I do not know,

  Which a dismissed125 offence would after gall,

  And do him right that, answering one foul wrong,

  Lives not to act another. Be satisfied;

  Your brother dies tomorrow; be content.

  ISABELLA So you must be the first that gives this sentence,

  And he, that suffers. O, it is excellent

  To have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous

  To use it like a giant.

  LUCIO That's well said.

  Aside to Isabella

  ISABELLA Could great men thunder

  As Jove135 himself does, Jove would ne'er be quiet,

  For every pelting136, petty officer

  Would use his heaven for thunder,

  Nothing but thunder! Merciful heaven,

  Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt139

  Splits the unwedgeable140 and gnarled oak

  Than the soft myrtle141: but man, proud man,

  Dressed in a little brief142 authority,

  Most ignorant of what he's most assured143 --

  His glassy144 essence -- like an angry ape

  Plays such fantastic145 tricks before high heaven

  As makes the angels weep, who, with our spleens146,

  Would all themselves laugh mortal147.

  LUCIO O, to him, to him, wench: he will relent.

  Aside to Isabella

  He's coming149, I perceive't.

  PROVOST Pray heaven she win him.

  Aside

  ISABELLA We cannot weigh our brother with ourself151.

  Great men may jest with152 saints, 'tis wit in them,

  But in the less foul profanation153.

  LUCIO Thou'rt i'th'right, girl, more o'that.

  Aside to Isabella

  ISABELLA That in the captain's but a choleric155 word,

  Which in the soldier is flat156 blasphemy.

  LUCIO Art avised157 o'that? More on't.

  Aside to Isabella

  ANGELO Why do you put158 these sayings upon me?

  ISABELLA Because authority, though it err like others,

  Hath yet a kind of medicine in itself

  That skins161 the vice o'th'top. Go to your bosom,

  Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know

  That's like my brother's fault. If it confess

  A natural guiltiness164 such as is his,

  Let it not sound165 a thought upon your tongue

  Against my brother's life.

  ANGELO She speaks, and 'tis such sense167

  Aside

  That my sense168 breeds with it.-- Fare you well.

  Starts to go

  ISABELLA Gentle my lord, turn back.

  ANGELO I will bethink me. Come again tomorrow.

  ISABELLA Hark how I'll bribe you: good my lord, turn back.

  ANGELO How? Bribe me?

  ISABELLA Ay, with such gifts that heaven shall share with you.

  LUCIO You had marred all else174.

  Aside to Isabella

  ISABELLA Not with fond175 sicles of the tested gold,

  Or stones176 whose rates are either rich or poor

  As fancy177 values them, but with true prayers

  That shall be up at heaven and enter there

  Ere sunrise, prayers from preserved179 souls,

  From fasting maids180 whose minds are dedicate

  To nothing temporal181.

  ANGELO Well, come to me tomorrow.

  LUCIO Go to, 'tis well; away!

  Aside to Isabella

  ISABELLA Heaven keep your honour safe.

  ANGELO Amen.

  Aside

  For I am that way going to temptation,

  Where prayers cross187.

  ISABELLA At what hour tomorrow

  Shall I attend your lordship?

  ANGELO At any time 'fore noon.

  ISABELLA 'Save191 your honour!

  [Exeunt Isabella, Lucio and Provost]

  ANGELO From thee, even from thy virtue.

  What's this? What's this? Is this her fault or mine?

  The tempter or the tempted, who sins most? Ha?

  Not she -- nor doth she tempt -- but it is I

  That, lying by the violet196 in the sun,

  Do as the carrion197 does,
not as the flower,

  Corrupt with virtuous season198. Can it be

  That modesty199 may more betray our sense

  Than woman's lightness200? Having waste ground enough,

  Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary201

  And pitch202 our evils there? O, fie, fie, fie!

  What dost thou? Or what art thou, Angelo?

  Dost thou desire her foully204 for those things

  That make her good? O, let her brother live!

  Thieves for their robbery have authority

  When judges steal themselves. What, do I love her,

  That I desire to hear her speak again,

  And feast upon her eyes? What is't I dream on?

  O cunning enemy210, that to catch a saint

  With saints dost bait thy hook! Most dangerous

  Is that temptation that doth goad us on

  To sin in loving virtue: never could the strumpet,

  With all her double vigour214, art and nature,

  Once stir my temper215, but this virtuous maid

  Subdues me quite. Ever till now,

  When men were fond217, I smiled and wondered how.

  Exit

  Act 2 Scene 3

  running scene 6

  Enter [separately] Duke [disguised as a friar] and Provost

  DUKE Hail to you, provost -- so I think you are1.

  PROVOST I am the provost. What's your will, good friar?

  DUKE Bound3 by my charity and my blest order,

  I come to visit the afflicted spirits

  Here in the prison. Do me the common right5

  To let me see them and to make me know

  The nature of their crimes, that I may minister

  To them accordingly.

  PROVOST I would do more than that, if more were needful.

  Enter Juliet

  Look, here comes one: a gentlewoman of mine10,

  Who, falling in the flaws11 of her own youth,

  Hath blistered her report12. She is with child,

  And he that got13 it, sentenced: a young man

  More fit to do another such offence

  Than die for this.

  DUKE When must he die?

  PROVOST As I do think, tomorrow.

  I have provided for you, stay awhile,

  To Juliet

  And you shall be conducted19.

  DUKE Repent you, fair one, of the sin you carry?

  JULIET I do, and bear21 the shame most patiently.

  DUKE I'll teach you how you shall arraign22 your conscience

  And try23 your penitence, if it be sound

  Or hollowly24 put on.

  JULIET I'll gladly learn.

  DUKE Love you the man that wronged you?

  JULIET Yes, as I love the woman that wronged him.

  DUKE So then it seems your most offenceful act

  Was mutually committed?

  JULIET Mutually.

  DUKE Then was your sin of heavier31 kind than his.

  JULIET I do confess it, and repent it, father.

  DUKE 'Tis meet so33, daughter, but lest you do repent

  As that34 the sin hath brought you to this shame,

  Which sorrow is always toward ourselves35, not heaven,

  Showing we would not spare heaven as we love it,

  But as we stand in fear37--

  JULIET I do repent me, as38 it is an evil,

  And take the shame with joy.

  DUKE There rest40.

  Your partner, as I hear, must die tomorrow,

  And I am going with instruction42 to him.

  Grace go with you, Benedicite43.

  Exit

  JULIET Must die tomorrow! O injurious44 love,

  That respites45 me a life, whose very comfort