SCENE VI
The same. A room in the brothel.Enter Pandar, Bawd, and BOULT.
Pand.
Well, I had rather than twice the
worth of her she had ne'er come here. Bawd.
Fie, fie upon her! she's able to
freeze the god Priapus, and undo a whole
generation. We must either get her ravished, or
be rid of her. When she should do for clients
her fitment, and do me the kindness of our
profession, she has me her quirks, her
reasons, her master reasons, her prayers, her
knees; that she would make a puritan of the
devil, if he should cheapen a kiss of her. Boult.
'Faith, I must ravish her, or she'll
disfurnish us of all our cavaliers, and make
our swearers priests. Pand.
Now, the pox upon her green-sickness
for me! Bawd.
'Faith, there's no way to be rid on't
but by the way to the pox. Here comes the
Lord Lysimachus disguised. Boult.
We should have both lord and
lown, if the peevish baggage would but give
way to customers. Enter LYSIMACHUS. Lys.
How now! How a dozen of virginities? Bawd.
Now, the gods to bless your honor! Boult.
I am glad to see your honour in good
health. Lys.
You may so; 'tis the better for you
that your resorters stand upon sound legs.
How now! wholesome iniquity have you that
a man may deal withal, and defy the surgeon? Bawd.
We have here one, sir, if she would
--but there never came her like in Mytilene. Lys.
If she'ld do the deed of darkness,
thou wouldst say. Bawd.
Your honor knows what 'tis to say
well enough. Lys.
Well, call forth, call forth. Boult.
For flesh and blood, sir, white and
red, you shall see a rose; and she were a rose
indeed, if she had but-- Lys.
What, prithee? Boult.
O, sir, I can be modest. Lys.
That dignifies the renown of a bawd,
no less than it gives a good report to a number
to be chaste. [Exit Boult. Bawd.
Here comes that which grows to the
stalk; never plucked yet, I can assure you. Re-enter BOULT with MARINA. Is she not a fair creature? Lys.
'Faith, she would serve after a long
voyage at sea. Well, there's for you: leave us. Bawd.
I beseech your honor, give me
leave: a word, and I'll have done presently. Lys.
I beseech you, do. Bawd.
[To Marina]
First, I would have
you note, this is an honorable man. Mar.
I desire to find him so, that I may
worthily note him. Bawd.
Next, he's the governor of this country,
and a man whom I am bound to. Mar.
If he govern the country, you are
bound to him indeed; but how honorable he
is in that, I know not. Bawd.
Pray you, without any more virginal
fencing, will you use him kindly? He
will line your apron with gold. Mar.
What he will do graciously, I will
thankfully receive. Lys.
Ha' you done? Bawd.
My lord, she's not paced yet: you
must take some pains to work her to your
manage. Come, we will leave his honor and
her together. Go thy ways. Exeunt Bawd, Pandar, and Boult. Lys.
Now, pretty one, how long have you
been at this trade? Mar.
What trade, sir? Lys.
Why, I cannot name't but I shall
offend. Mar.
I cannot be offended with my trade.
Please you to name it. Lys.
How long have you been of this
profession? Mar.
E'er since I can remember? Lys.
Did you go to't so young? Were
you a gamester at five or at seven? Mar.
Earlier too, sir, if now I be one. Lys.
Why, the house you dwell in proclaims
you to be a creature of sale. Mar.
Do you know this house to be a
place of such resort, and will come into't? I
hear say you are of honorable parts, and are
the governor of this place. Lys.
Why, hath your principal made
known unto you who I am? Mar.
Who is my principal? Lys.
Why, your herb-woman; she that
sets seeds and roots of shame and iniquity. O,
you have heard something of my power, and
so stand aloof for more serious wooing. But I
protest to thee, pretty one, my authority shall
not see thee, or else look friendly upon thee.
Come, bring me to some private place: come,
come. Mar.
If you were born to honor, show it now;
If put upon you, make the judgement good
That thought you worthy of it.
Lys.
How's this? how's this? Some more; be sage.
Mar.
For me,
That am a maid, though most ungentle fortune
Have placed me in this sty, where, since I came,
Diseases have been sold dearer than physic.
O, that the gods
Would set me free from this unhallow'd place,
Though they did change me to the meanest bird
That flies i' the purer air!
Lys.
I did not think
110Thou couldst have spoke so well; ne'er dream'd thou couldst.
Had I brought hither a corrupted mind,
Thy speech had alter'd it. Hold, here's gold for thee:
Persever in that clear way thou goest,
And the gods strengthen thee!
Mar.
The good gods preserve you!
Lys.
For me, be you thoughten
That I came with no ill intent; for to me
The very doors and windows savor vilely.
Fare thee well. Thou art a piece of virtue, and
I doubt not but thy training hath been noble.
120Hold, here's more gold for thee.
A curse upon him, die he like a thief,
That robs thee of thy goodness! If thou dost
Hear from me, it shall be for thy good. Re-enter BOULT.
Boult.
I beseech your honour, one piece for me.
Lys.
Avaunt, thou damned door-keeper!
Your house, but for this virgin that doth prop it,
Would sink and overwhelm you. Away! [Exit.
Boult.
How's this? We must take another
course with you. If your peevish chastity,
which is not worth a breakfast in the cheapest
country under the cope, shall undo a whole
a whole household, let me be gelded like a spaniel.
Come your ways. Mar.
Whither would you have me? Boult.
I must have your maidenhead taken
off, or the common hangman shall execute it.
Come your ways. We'll have no more gentlemen
driven away. Come your ways, I say. Re-enter Bawd. Bawd.
How now! what's the matter? Boult.
Worse and worse, mistress; she has
here spoken holy words to the Lord Lysimachus. Bawd.
O abominable! Boult.
She makes our profession as it were
to stink afore the face of the gods. Bawd.
Marry, hang her up for ever! Boult.
The nobleman would have dealt
with her like a nobleman, and she sent him
away as cold as a snowball; saying his
prayers too. Bawd.
Boult, take her away; use her at
thy pleasure: crack the glass of her virginity,
and make the rest malleable. Boult.
An if she were a thornier piece of
ground than she is, she shall be ploughed. Mar.
Hark, hark, you gods! Bawd.
She conjures: away with her!
Would she had never come within my doors!
Marry, hang you! She's born to undo us.
Will you not go the way of women-kind?
Marry, come up, my dish of chastity with rose-
mary and bays! [Exit. Boult.
Come, mistress; come your ways
with me. Mar.
Whither wilt thou have me? Boult.
To take from you the jewel you
hold so dear. Mar.
Prithee, tell me one thing first. Boult.
Come now, your one thing. Mar.
What canst thou wish thine enemy to be? Boult.
Why, I could wish him to be my
master, or rather, my mistress. Mar.
Neither of these are so bad as thou art,
Since they do better thee in their command.
Thou hold'st a place, for which the pained'st fiend
Of hell would not in reputation change:
Thou art the damned doorkeeper to every
Coistrel that comes inquiring for his Tib;
To the choleric fisting of every rogue
Thy ear is liable, thy food is such
As hath been belch'd on by infected lungs.
Boult.
What would you have me do? go
to the wars, would you? where a man may
serve seven years for the loss of a leg, and
have not money enough in the end to buy
him a wooden one? Mar.
Do any thing but this thou doest. Empty
Old receptacles, or common shores, of filth;
Serve by indenture to the common hangman:
Any of these ways are yet better than this;
For what thou professest, a baboon, could he speak,
Would own a name too dear. O, that the gods
Would safely deliver me from this place!
Here, here's gold for thee.
If that thy master would gain by me,
Proclaim that I can sing, weave, sew, and dance,
With other virtues, which I'll keep from boast;
And I will undertake all these to teach.
I doubt not but this populous city will
Yield many scholars.
Boult.
But can you teach all this you speak of? Mar.
200Prove that I cannot, take me home again,
And prostitute me to the basest groom
That doth frequent your house.
Boult.
Well, I will see what I can do for
thee: if I can place thee, I will. Mar.
But amongst honest women. Boult.
'Faith, my acquaintance lies little
amongst them. But since my master and mistress
have bought you, there's no going but by
their consent: therefore I will make them
acquainted with your purpose, and I doubt not
but I shall find them tractable enough. Come,
I'll do for thee what I can; come your ways. [Exeunt.
