KING RICHARD III. William Shakespeare
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Where art thou, keeper? give me a cup of wine.
SECOND MURDERER
You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon.
CLARENCE
In God’s name, what art thou?
FIRST MURDERER
A man, as you are.
CLARENCE
But not as I am, royal.
SECOND MURDERER
Nor you as we are, loyal.
CLARENCE
Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks are humble.
FIRST MURDERER
My voice is now the king’s, my looks mine own.
CLARENCE
How darkly and how deadly dost thou speak!
Your eyes do menace me; why look you pale?
Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you come?
SECOND MURDERER
To, to, to—
CLARENCE
To murder me?
BOTH MURDERERS
Ay, ay.
CLARENCE
You scarcely have the hearts to tell me so,
And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it.
Wherein, my friends, have I offended you?
FIRST MURDERER
Offended us you have not, but the king.
CLARENCE
I shall be reconcil’d to him again.
SECOND MURDERER
Never, my lord; therefore prepare to die.
CLARENCE
Are you drawn forth among a world of men
To slay the innocent? What is my offence?
Where is the evidence that doth accuse me?
What lawful quest have given their verdict up
Unto the frowning judge? or who pronounc’d
The bitter sentence of poor Clarence’ death?
Before I be convíct by course of law,
To threaten me with death is most unlawful.
I charge you, as you hope to have redemption
By Christ’s dear blood shed for our grievous sins,
That you depart, and lay no hands on me:
The deed you undertake is damnable.
FIRST MURDERER
What we will do, we do upon command.
SECOND MURDERER
And he that hath commanded is our king.
CLARENCE
Erroneous vassals! the great King of kings
Hath in the table of his law commanded
That thou shalt do no murder: will you then
Spurn at His edict and fulfil a man’s?
Take heed; for He holds vengeance in His hand
To hurl upon their heads that break His law.
SECOND MURDERER
And that same vengeance doth He hurl on thee
For false forswearing, and for murder too:
Thou didst receive the sacrament to fight
In quarrel of the house of Lancaster.
FIRST MURDERER
And like a traitor to the name of God
Didst break that vow; and with thy treacherous blade
Unripp’dst the bowels of thy sovereign’s son.
SECOND MURDERER
Whom thou wast sworn to cherish and defend.
FIRST MURDERER
How canst thou urge God’s dreadful law to us,
When thou hast broke it in such dear degree?
CLARENCE
Alas! for whose sake did I that ill deed?
For Edward, for my brother, for his sake:
He sends you not to murder me for this;
For in that sin he is as deep as I.
If God will be avengèd for the deed,
O, know you yet He doth it publicly.
Take not the quarrel from His powerful arm;
He needs no indirect or lawless course
To cut off those that have offended Him.
FIRST MURDERER
Who made thee, then, a bloody minister
When gallant-springing brave Plantagenet,
That princely novice, was struck dead by thee?
CLARENCE
My brother’s love, the devil, and my rage.
FIRST MURDERER
Thy brother’s love, our duty, and thy faults,
Provoke us hither now to slaughter thee.
CLARENCE
If you do love my brother, hate not me;
I am his brother, and I love him well.
If you are hir’d for meed, go back again,
And I will send you to my brother Gloster,
Who shall reward you better for my life
Than Edward will for tidings of my death.
SECOND MURDERER
You are deceiv’d, your brother Gloster hates you.
CLARENCE
O, no, he loves me, and he holds me dear:
Go you to him from me.
FIRST MURDERER
Ay, so we will.
CLARENCE
Tell him when that our princely father York
Bless’d his three sons with his victorious arm
And charg’d us from his soul to love each other,
He little thought of this divided friendship:
Bid Gloster think of this, and he will weep.
FIRST MURDERER
Ay, millstones; as he lesson’d us to weep.
CLARENCE
O, do not slander him, for he is kind.
FIRST MURDERER
Right, as snow in harvest.—Come, you deceive yourself:
‘Tis he that sends us to destroy you here.
CLARENCE
It cannot be; for he bewept my fortune,
And hugg’d me in his arms, and swore, with sobs,
That he would labour my delivery.
FIRST MURDERER
Why, so he doth, when he delivers you
From this earth’s thraldom to the joys of heaven.
SECOND MURDERER
Make peace with God, for you must die, my lord.