University of Virginia Library

II.

In a cave by the sea. Caliban, and Ariel as a forester, seated.
Caliban.
So then it seems thou'rt one of these who served
This wizard lord—and he a duke disguised—
One of his tricksy spirits. I like not this.
Why did'st thou serve him?

Ariel.
He delivered me
From torture by his magic. I was bound
By gratitude as well as by his spells
To wait upon him. Oft unwillingly
I served him. But at last I loved him well;
Knew his soul's greatness, honored what he prized,
Which yet was but his minister—his art;
Felt in my airy veins a blood-warm beat,
Till through them double color seemed to run,
Like moonlight mingled with the rosy dawn.

Caliban.
If he was noble, why did he enslave me?
I never did him wrong, till he by force
Took from me this mine island—pent me up
In a vile prison—made me toil and drudge
All day, and when I lagged, beset me sore
With pinches and with terrors of his art.

Ariel.
Thou nam'st not all he did. Was he not kind?
Taught thee to speak and reason—treated thee,
At worst, as he would treat a faithful dog,
(For little more thou wast at first,) till thou
Did'st bite the hand that stroked and fed thee, yea,
And would'st have wrought dishonor on his child.

Caliban.
I know not. I was never taught to curb
My passions, and I lived a lonely life.
I wronged him? Yet my punishment was hard.
I might have served him, yet not been a slave.
It turned all love to hate to be his slave.
He did not treat me as he treated thee.

Ariel.
I was his servant too. But I perceived
There was a nearer tie 'twixt him and me,
For which I learned to love him. Let that pass.
What now behooves thee is to summon up
Thy human heart long styed in ignorance
And fear and hate; and since thou call'st thyself
Lord of this island, learn to be a lord
In nobler style, and with a human love
Of all things good. 'T were little gain for thee
To have thy freedom, if thou'rt still enslaved
To baser powers within thee. What thou hadst
Ere Prospero came, is thine to enjoy and own.
But own thyself—the man within the beast;
For man thou art, and of the same stuff framed
As his who owned thee—and better than it seemed
Thou wert, perchance, to one whose will enslaved
All human and all elemental power
His magic could enforce, to overpay
For a few brief years the dukedom he had lost.
Learn now to prize thy freedom in a field
Where thou may'st work for good and not for harm.
Curse not, but bless. If I do chance to talk
Above thy head, I'll dwarf my thought to thine;
Or meet thee again when thou upon my words
Hast pondered. ... Now, by Apollo's shaft, I think
The moon-calf is asleep! I'll vanish then.
[Exit Ariel.