Heaven shield156 my mother played my father fair,

  For such a warped slip of wilderness157

  Ne'er issued from his blood. Take my defiance158!

  Die, perish! Might but159 my bending down

  Reprieve thee from thy fate, it should proceed.

  I'll pray a thousand prayers for thy death,

  No word to save thee.

  CLAUDIO Nay, hear me, Isabel.

  ISABELLA O, fie, fie, fie!

  Thy sin's not accidental165, but a trade.

  Mercy to thee would prove itself166 a bawd,

  'Tis best that thou diest quickly.

  CLAUDIO O, hear me, Isabella!

  The Duke comes forward

  DUKE Vouchsafe169 a word, young sister, but one word.

  ISABELLA What is your will?

  DUKE Might you dispense with your leisure171, I would by

  and by have some speech with you: the satisfaction172 I would

  require is likewise your own benefit173.

  ISABELLA I have no superfluous leisure, my stay must be stolen

  out of other affairs, but I will attend175 you awhile.

  She walks apart

  DUKE Son, I have overheard what hath passed between

  you and your sister. Angelo had never the purpose177 to corrupt

  her; only he hath made an assay178 of her virtue to practise his

  judgement with the disposition of natures. She, having the

  truth of honour in her, hath made him that gracious180 denial

  which he is most glad to receive. I am confessor to Angelo,

  and I know this to182 be true. Therefore prepare yourself to

  death: do not satisfy your resolution183 with hopes that are

  fallible. Tomorrow you must die, go to your knees and make

  ready.

  CLAUDIO Let me ask my sister pardon. I am so out of love with

  life that I will sue to be rid of it.

  DUKE Hold you there188. Farewell.

  [Exit Claudio]

  Provost, a word with you.

  Provost enters or comes forward

  PROVOST What's your will, father?

  DUKE That now you are come, you will be gone. Leave me

  awhile with the maid. My mind promises with my habit192 no

  loss shall touch193 her by my company.

  PROVOST In good time.

  Exit

  Isabella comes forward

  DUKE The hand that hath made you fair hath made you

  good: the goodness196 that is cheap in beauty makes beauty

  brief in goodness; but grace197, being the soul of your

  complexion198, shall keep the body of it ever fair. The assault

  that Angelo hath made to you, fortune hath conveyed to my

  understanding; and, but that frailty hath examples for his

  falling200, I should wonder at Angelo. How will you do to

  content this substitute202, and to save your brother?

  ISABELLA I am now going to resolve203 him. I had rather my

  brother die by the law than my son should be unlawfully

  born. But, O, how much is the good duke deceived in Angelo!

  If ever he return and I can speak to him, I will open my lips

  in vain, or discover his government207.

  DUKE That shall not be much amiss. Yet, as the matter

  now stands, he will avoid209 your accusation: he made trial of

  you only. Therefore fasten your ear on my advisings210: to the

  love I have in doing good a remedy presents itself. I do make

  myself believe211 that you may most uprighteously212 do a poor

  wronged lady a merited213 benefit, redeem your brother from

  the angry law, do no stain to your own gracious person, and

  much please the absent duke, if peradventure215 he shall ever

  return to have hearing of this business.

  ISABELLA Let me hear you speak further. I have spirit217 to do

  anything that appears not foul in the truth of my spirit218.

  DUKE Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. Have you

  not heard speak of Mariana, the sister of Frederick, the great

  soldier who miscarried221 at sea?

  ISABELLA I have heard of the lady, and good words went with

  her name.

  DUKE She should this Angelo have married, was affianced224

  to her by oath, and the nuptial appointed225: between which

  time of the contract226 and limit of the solemnity, her brother

  Frederick was wrecked at sea, having in that perished vessel

  the dowry of his sister. But mark how heavily228 this befell to

  the poor gentlewoman: there she lost a noble and renowned

  brother, in his love toward her ever most kind and natural230:

  with him, the portion and sinew231 of her fortune, her

  marriage-dowry: with both, her combinate232 husband, this

  well-seeming Angelo.

  ISABELLA Can this be so? Did Angelo so leave her?

  DUKE Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them with

  his comfort, swallowed his vows whole, pretending in her

  discoveries of dishonour237: in few, bestowed her on her own

  lamentation, which she yet238 wears for his sake: and he, a

  marble to her tears, is washed with them, but relents not.

  ISABELLA What a merit were it in death to take this poor maid

  from the world? What corruption in this life that it will let

  this man live! But how out of this can she avail242?

  DUKE It is a rupture that you may easily heal, and the cure

  of it not only saves your brother, but keeps you from

  dishonour in doing it.

  ISABELLA Show me how, good father.

  DUKE This forenamed maid hath yet in her the

  continuance of her first affection248: his unjust unkindness --

  that in all reason should have quenched her love -- hath,

  like an impediment in the current250, made it more violent and

  unruly. Go you to Angelo, answer his requiring251 with a

  plausible252 obedience, agree with his demands to the point.

  Only refer yourself to this advantage253: first, that your stay

  with him may not be long, that the time may have all

  shadow and silence in it, and the place answer to

  convenience255. This being granted in course256, and now

  follows all: we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up257

  your appointment, go in your place. If the encounter258

  acknowledge259 itself hereafter, it may compel him to her

  recompense; and here, by this is your brother saved, your

  honour untainted, the poor Mariana advantaged, and the

  corrupt deputy scaled262. The maid will I frame and make fit for

  his attempt. If you think well to carry263 this as you may, the

  doubleness264 of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof.

  What think you of it?

  ISABELLA The image266 of it gives me content already, and I trust

  it will grow to a most prosperous perfection267.

  DUKE It lies much in your holding up268. Haste you speedily

  to Angelo: if for this night he entreat you to his bed, give him

  promise of satisfaction. I will presently to Saint Luke's, there

  at the moated grange271 resides this dejected Mariana. At that

  place call upon me, and dispatch272 with Angelo, that it may be

  quickly.

  ISABELLA I thank you for this comfort. Fare you well, good

  father.

  Exit

  Enter Elbow [and] Officers [with Pompey, the] Clown

  ELBOW Nay, if there be no remedy for it, but that you will

  needs buy and sell men and women like beasts, we shall have
/>
  all the world drink brown and white bastard278.

  DUKE O heavens, what stuff279 is here?

  POMPEY 'Twas never merry world since280 of two usuries the

  merriest281 was put down, and the worser allowed by order of

  law a furred gown to keep him warm; and furred with fox282

  and lamb-skins too, to signify that craft283, being richer than

  innocency, stands for the facing284.

  ELBOW Come your way, sir. Bless you, good father friar.

  DUKE And you, good brother father286. What offence hath

  this man made you, sir?

  ELBOW Marry, sir, he hath offended the law; and, sir, we

  take him to be a thief too, sir, for we have found upon him,

  sir, a strange picklock290, which we have sent to the deputy.

  DUKE Fie, sirrah291, a bawd, a wicked bawd!

  The evil that thou causest to be done,

  That is thy means to live. Do thou but think

  What 'tis to cram a maw294 or clothe a back

  From such a filthy vice. Say to thyself,

  From their abominable and beastly touches

  I drink, I eat, array297 myself, and live.

  Canst thou believe thy living is a life,

  So stinkingly depending299? Go mend, go mend.

  POMPEY Indeed, it does stink in some sort300, sir, but yet, sir, I

  would prove--

  DUKE Nay, if the devil have given thee proofs302 for sin,

  Thou wilt prove his. Take him to prison, officer:

  Correction304 and instruction must both work

  Ere this rude305 beast will profit.

  ELBOW He must before306 the deputy, sir, he has given him

  warning. The deputy cannot abide a whoremaster. If he be a

  whoremonger, and comes before him, he were as good go a

  mile on his errand308.

  DUKE That310 we were all, as some would seem to be,

  Free311 from our faults, as faults from seeming free!

  Enter Lucio

  ELBOW His neck will come to312 your waist -- a cord, sir.

  POMPEY I spy comfort, I cry313 bail. Here's a gentleman and a

  friend of mine.

  LUCIO How now, noble Pompey? What, at the wheels of

  Caesar? Art thou led in triumph316? What, is there none of

  Pygmalion317's images, newly made woman, to be had now, for

  putting the hand in the pocket and extracting clutched318?

  What reply, ha? What sayest thou to this tune, matter and

  method? Is't not drowned i'th'last rain320, ha? What sayest

  thou, Trot321? Is the world as it was, man? Which is the way?

  Is it sad, and few words322? Or how? The trick of it?

  DUKE Still thus, and thus323, still worse!

  LUCIO How doth my dear morsel324, thy mistress? Procures

  she still, ha?

  POMPEY Troth326, sir, she hath eaten up all her beef, and she is

  herself in the tub327.

  LUCIO Why, 'tis good: it is the right of it328, it must be so. Ever

  your fresh whore and your powdered329 bawd, an unshunned

  consequence, it must be so. Art going to prison, Pompey?

  POMPEY Yes, faith, sir.

  LUCIO Why, 'tis not amiss332, Pompey. Farewell: go, say I sent

  thee thither. For debt, Pompey? Or how?

  ELBOW For being a bawd, for being a bawd.

  LUCIO Well, then, imprison him. If imprisonment be the

  due336 of a bawd, why, 'tis his right. Bawd is he doubtless, and of

  antiquity too, bawd-born337. Farewell, good Pompey. Commend

  me to the prison, Pompey: you will turn good husband338 now,

  Pompey, you will keep the house.

  POMPEY I hope, sir, your good worship will be my bail.

  LUCIO No, indeed, will I not, Pompey, it is not the wear341. I

  will pray, Pompey, to increase your bondage342. If you take it

  not patiently, why, your mettle343 is the more. Adieu, trusty

  Pompey.--Bless you, friar.

  DUKE And you.

  LUCIO Does Bridget paint346 still, Pompey, ha?

  ELBOW Come your ways, sir, come.

  POMPEY You will not bail me, then, sir?

  To Lucio

  LUCIO Then, Pompey, nor now. What news abroad349, friar?

  What news?

  ELBOW Come your ways, sir, come.

  LUCIO Go to kennel352, Pompey, go.

  [Exeunt Elbow, Pompey and Officers]

  What news, friar, of the duke?

  DUKE I know none. Can you tell me of any?

  LUCIO Some say he is with the Emperor of Russia. Other

  some355, he is in Rome. But where is he, think you?

  DUKE I know not where: but wheresoever, I wish him well.

  LUCIO It was a mad fantastical trick358 of him to steal from

  the state, and usurp the beggary359 he was never born to. Lord

  Angelo dukes it well in his absence: he puts transgression to't360.

  DUKE He does well in't.

  LUCIO A little more lenity362 to lechery would do no harm in

  him: something too crabbed363 that way, friar.

  DUKE It is too general364 a vice, and severity must cure it.

  LUCIO Yes, in good sooth365, the vice is of a great kindred; it is

  well allied366, but it is impossible to extirp it quite, friar, till

  eating and drinking be put down367. They say this Angelo was

  not made by man and woman after this downright368 way of

  creation. Is it true, think you?

  DUKE How should he be made, then?

  LUCIO Some report a sea-maid371 spawned him. Some, that

  he was begot between two stock-fishes372. But it is certain that

  when he makes water373 his urine is congealed ice, that I know

  to be true: and he is a motion generative374, that's infallible.

  DUKE You are pleasant375, sir, and speak apace.

  LUCIO Why, what a ruthless thing is this in him, for the

  rebellion of a codpiece377 to take away the life of a man. Would

  the duke that is absent have done this? Ere he would have

  hanged a man for the getting379 a hundred bastards, he would

  have paid for the nursing a380 thousand. He had some feeling of

  the sport381, he knew the service, and that instructed him to

  mercy.

  DUKE I never heard the absent duke much detected for

  women383, he was not inclined that way.

  LUCIO O sir, you are deceived.

  DUKE 'Tis not possible.

  LUCIO Who, not the duke? Yes, your beggar of fifty387, and

  his use388 was to put a ducat in her clack-dish; the duke had

  crotchets389 in him. He would be drunk too, that let me

  inform you.

  DUKE You do him wrong, surely.

  LUCIO Sir, I was an inward392 of his. A shy fellow was the

  duke, and I believe I know the cause of his withdrawing393.

  DUKE What, I prithee, might be the cause?

  LUCIO No, pardon. 'Tis a secret must be locked within the

  teeth and the lips: but this I can let you understand, the

  greater file of the subject397 held the duke to be wise.

  DUKE Wise? Why, no question but he was.

  LUCIO A very superficial, ignorant, unweighing399 fellow.

  DUKE Either this is the envy400 in you, folly, or mistaking: the

  very stream of his life and the business he hath helmed401 must

  upon a warranted need402 give him a better proclamation. Let

  him be but testimonied403 in his own bringings-forth, and he

  shall appear to the envious a scholar, a statesman and a

  soldier: therefore you speak unskilfully405, or, if your knowledge

  be more, it is much darkened in your
malice.

  LUCIO Sir, I know him, and I love him.

  DUKE Love408 talks with better knowledge, and knowledge

  with dearer love.

  LUCIO Come, sir, I know what I know.

  DUKE I can hardly believe that, since you know not what

  you speak. But if ever the duke return -- as our prayers are he

  may -- let me desire you to make your answer413 before him. If

  it be honest you have spoke, you have courage to maintain414 it;

  I am bound to call upon you -- and, I pray you, your name?

  LUCIO Sir, my name is Lucio, well known to the duke.

  DUKE He shall know you better, sir, if I may live to report

  you.

  LUCIO I fear you not.

  DUKE O, you hope the duke will return no more, or you

  imagine me too unhurtful an opposite421. But indeed I can do

  you little harm. You'll forswear422 this again?

  LUCIO I'll be hanged first. Thou art deceived in me, friar. But

  no more of this. Canst thou tell if Claudio die tomorrow or no?

  DUKE Why should he die, sir?

  LUCIO Why? For filling a bottle with a tundish426. I would the

  duke we talk of were returned again. This ungenitured427 agent

  will unpeople428 the province with continency. Sparrows must

  not build in his house-eaves, because they are lecherous. The

  duke yet would have dark deeds430 darkly answered, he would

  never bring them to light. Would he were returned! Marry,

  this Claudio is condemned for untrussing432. Farewell, good

  friar. I prithee, pray for me. The duke, I say to thee again,

  would eat mutton on Fridays434. He's now past it, yet and I say to

  thee, he would mouth with435 a beggar, though she smelt brown

  bread and garlic. Say that I said so. Farewell.

  Exit

  DUKE No might nor greatness in mortality

  Can censure 'scape438. Back-wounding calumny

  The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong

  Can tie the gall440 up in the sland'rous tongue?

  But who comes here?

  Enter Escalus, Provost and [Officers with] Bawd [Mistress Overdone]

  ESCALUS Go, away with her to prison.

  MISTRESS OVERDONE Good my lord, be good to me: your honour

  is accounted a merciful man, good my lord.

  ESCALUS Double and treble admonition, and still forfeit in

  the same kind?445 This would make mercy swear and play the

  tyrant446.

  PROVOST A bawd of eleven years' continuance, may it please

  your honour.

  MISTRESS OVERDONE My lord, this is one Lucio's information450

  against me. Mistress Kate Keepdown451 was with child by him

  in the duke's time452, he promised her marriage. His child is a

  year and a quarter old come Philip and Jacob453. I have kept it

  myself; and see how he goes about to abuse me!

  ESCALUS That fellow is a fellow of much licence455. Let him be

  called before us. Away with her to prison. Go to, no more

  words.

  [Exeunt Officers with Mistress Overdone]

  Provost, my brother458 Angelo will not be altered: Claudio must

  die tomorrow. Let him be furnished with divines459, and have

  all charitable preparation. If my brother wrought by my pity460,