'A Comedy of Errors' in Seven Acts, Spokeshave [english books to improve english .txt] 📗

in combat fierce

And pierce the varied joints his armor boasts.

Francos:  Sweet Quezox, hold! Methinks I read thy mind,

Revenge is sweeter than the honeycomb.

But let it not take mastery so strong

That Reason totters on her wabbly throne.

I fear me there are lions in the way,

And we must not in open battle wage;

But let our minds deep strategy conceive

And thus achieve what otherwise might fail.

Quezox:   Most trenchant Francos, how thy words do prick;

I fear unjust suspicion rears its head,

For it is not the nature of our race

To open deal, when stealth can compass well

The object which our surging souls shall seek;

For practice which necessity hath caused

Hath built a cunning it were hard to meet;

But when, impatient of long smould'ring wrongs,

We open take the bolo in our hands,

With bellies yearning for the blood of those

Who long have winked a proud disdainful eye

Beware! I say, beware! for mercy then is dead.

Francos:  But Quezox, hold! Water thy burning thoughts.

'Twere well to bridle firm such wordy steed,

For mayhap there be one with list'ning ear,

Who wide would publish what were worthy thoughts;

But which should covered be by mantle wise,

Until time furnisheth the proper hour,

To tongue them into words with cautious garb

So they shall mellow sound a fiery thought.

Quezox:   Thy mind, sweet Francos, pregnant is, with thought,

And well I ween, thou Caesar's words hast weighed.

But patience is a burden hard to bear

And oft it galls the back on which 'tis placed.

Francos:  But Quezox, listen. Speed thy mind beyond

The present passing hour, and wise reflect

That like a blanket on the jackass spread,

Patience can guard against the chafing wound.

Quezox:   Ah, Francos, well I know that wisdom bears

With weight of mountains on my retching soul.

But I will set my shoulders like the gods,

And bear the load as Atlas doth the skies.

Francos:  But, Quezox, I am filled with anxious thoughts

Anent sweet Seldonskip, whose wandering eye

Doth lecherous look upon each passing dame.

The fire of youth that wanders through his veins

May scandal breed, and it were well to look

With watchful eye upon his every act

Affairs of state with mighty import soar

Above the intrigues of a callow youth,

Hence we must owlish vigil constant keep

And in good sooth, it might indeed be well

To speak him fair, and warning subtle give

Lest his distemper lead to grievous ill.

Quezox:   Alas I know the temptress doth beguile;

Hence sympathy doth plead for helping hand.

If 'tis thy wish, I in most guarded speech

Will whisper caution in his youthful ear.

Francos:  'Tis well. But still I fear me over much

That he, like highly tempered steel, will bend

Only to swift rebound, and further by

Reaction go from paths of rectitude.

(Seldonskip indolently approaches.)

Seldonskip:     Most noble gentlemen, I greet thee sweet:

It tireth mightily, this placid sea.

Methinks a storm, a mighty, raging storm,

To break monotony would lend to life

A phlegm, and hence a tedious day become

More gladsome. Alack-a-day when I did leave

Those gilded halls where beauty did indwell.

On this good ship naught but uncertain age

Measures those forms divine to which we kneel.

(Seldonskip walks slowly on.)

Quezox speaking to Francos.  Most noble sire, in wonderment

I pause. 

If I may query put, what mental rheum

Did cause selection of such vacuous mind

To fill a post requiring mental grasp?

Francos:  Good Quezox, surely I was misinformed.

Full well; his sire, I dreamed, was made of clay

Much finer than is wont within the mold,

And so I eager seized his proffered aid.

But keen regret doth fill my troubled soul

And fears prophetic, to the future point.

But, noble friend, we'll let the matter drop

If it hath weight to fall, which much I doubt.

Quezox:   Ha! Ha! I see! he hath so little force,

That gravitation with him worketh not!

Francos:  Now, noble Quezox, we must quick devise

Some method to surmount the vicious laws

Of civil service, which with shrewd design

Purpose to keep those vultures in their nests,

While others long denied official posts,

Shall wander in the wilderness, and ne'er

Set wary foot within the promised land.

Quezox:   Most worthy sire, when guile hath strong intrenched,

Guile of a firmer mould, should countermatch,

And beat the bulwarks down; 'twere easy done.

In sooth so easy that no glory crowns

The working of a scheme so patent to

An eagle eye, which hath discernment keen.

To unmake offices, were quickly done.

To lower stipends till the hungry mouth

Shall to the belly say: "We must go hence

Or else we perish," were a shrewd device.

'Twere he who holds the money bags, must rule

And we the golden sword hold in our grasp.

Francos:  Ah noble Quezox, thou hast clearly solved

The riddle which hath cost me sleepless nights

It shall be done. But who approacheth me?

Quezox:   Sire, heed him not! Let's to our state rooms hie.

In truth methinks this man doth seek to spy,

And it were wise indeed to guard each port.

To pass an idle moment, it were well

In converse to enjoin; but this man speaks

Through eyes that warning give that he hath brains.

Hence it were best to pass him idly by,

And only mouth vain words with those who, dull,

Can work no harm by mouthing what were said.

(Quezox takes Francos by the arm and moves off

muttering to himself)

'Tis thus I guard this weakling from the throng.

And hold his foolish ear unto myself.

ACT IV Dramatis Personae

Francos . . . . . . Governor General of a Province.
Quezox  . . . . . . Resident Delegate from the Province.
Seldonskip: . . . Secretary to the Governor General.
                                   Commissioners
Halstrom: . . . . Aide to the Governor General.

Scene I. Garden of the Palace.