Whom I, with this obedient steel,—three inches of it,—
Can lay to bed for ever; whiles you, doing thus,
To the perpetual wink for aye might put 293
This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who
Should not upbraid our course. For all the rest,
They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk; 296
They'll tell the clock to any business that
We say befits the hour.
Seb. Thy case, dear friend,
Shall be my precedent: as thou got'st Milan,
I'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke
Shall free thee from the tribute which thou pay'st,
And I the king shall love thee.
Ant. Draw together;
And when I rear my hand, do you the like, 303
To fall it on Gonzalo.
Seb. O! but one word. [They converse apart.]
Enter Ariel [invisible] with music and song.
Ari. My master through his art foresees the danger
That you, his friend, are in; and sends me forth—
For else his project dies—to keep them living.
Sings in Gonzalo’s ear.
'While you here do snoring lie, 308
Open-ey'd Conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber, and beware: 312
Awake, awake!'
Ant. Then let us both be sudden.
Gon. Now, good angels
Preserve the king!
296 suggestion: prompting (to disloyalty)
297 tell; cf. n.
304 fall: let fall
314 sudden: swift to act
