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he would marry this unknown lady, even though she were an Ethiop;' but his heart was very sorrowful, and he passed that night in tears, and in remorseful grief, at the tomb which Leonato had erected for Hero.

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When the morning came, the prince accompanied Claudio to the church, where the good friar, and Leonato and his niece, were already assembled, to celebrate a second nuptial; and Leonato presented to Claudio his promised bride; and she wore a mask, that Claudio 465 might not discover her face. And Claudio said to the lady in the mask, "Give me your hand, before this holy friar ; I am your husband, if you will marry me." “And, when I lived, I was your other wife," said this unknown lady; and, taking off her mask, she proved to be no 470 niece (as was pretended), but Leonato's very daughter, the lady Hero herself. We may be sure that this proved a most agreeable surprise to Claudio, who thought her dead, so that he could scarcely for joy believe his eyes; and the prince, who was equally amazed at what he saw, 475 exclaimed, "Is not this Hero, Hero that was dead?” Leonato replied, "She died, my lord, but while her slander lived." The friar promised them an explanation of this seeming miracle after the ceremony was ended, and was proceeding to marry them, when he 480 was interrupted by Benedick, who desired to be married at the same time to Beatrice. Beatrice making some demur3 to this match, and Benedick challenging her with her love for him, which he had learned from Hero, a pleasant explanation took place; and they 485 found they had both been tricked into a belief of love which had never existed, and had become lovers in truth by the power of a false jest. But the affection

1

Ethiopian, negro.

2 Only.

3

3 Objection.

which a merry invitation had cheated them into was grown too powerful to be shaken by a serious expla- 490 nation; and, since Benedick proposed to marry, he was resolved to think nothing to the purpose that the world could say against it; and he merrily kept up the jest, and swore to Beatrice that he took her but for pity, and because he heard she was dying of love for him; and 495 Beatrice protested that she yielded but upon great persuasion, and partly to save his life, for she heard he was in a consumption. So these two mad wits were reconciled, and made a match of it, after Claudio and Hero were married; and, to complete the history, Don John, 500 the contriver of the villainy, was taken in his flight, and brought back to Messina; and a brave' punishment it was to this gloomy, discontented man to see the joy and feastings which, by the disappointment of his plots, took place at the palace in Messina.

1 Fine, fitting.

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DURING the time that France was divided into provinces (or dukedoms, as they were called), there reigned in one of these provinces a usurper,' who had deposed and banished his elder brother, the lawful duke.

The duke who was thus driven from his dominions re- 5 tired with a few faithful followers to the forest of Arden; and here the good duke lived with his loving friends, who had put themselves into a voluntary exile for his sake, while their lands and revenues enriched the false usurper; and custom soon made the life of careless ease 10 they led here more sweet to them than the pomp and 1 One who seizes power without right.

4

uneasy splendor of a courtier's life. Here they lived like the old Robin Hood' of England, and to this forest many noble youths daily resorted from the court, and did fleet' the time carelessly, as they did who lived in the 15 Golden Age. In the summer they lay along under the fine shade of the large forest trees, marking the playful sports of the wild deer; and so fond were they of these poor dappled fools, who seemed to be the native inhabitants of the forest, that it grieved them to be forced to 20 kill them to supply themselves with venison for their food. When the cold winds of winter made the duke feel the change of his adverse fortune, he would endure it patiently, and say: "These chilling winds which blow upon my body are true counsellors; they do not flatter, 25 but represent truly to me my condition, and, though they bite sharply, their tooth is nothing like so keen as that of unkindness and ingratitude. I find that, howsoever men speak against adversity, yet some sweet uses are to be extracted from it; like the jewel, precious 30 for medicine, which is taken from the head of the venomous and despised toad." In this manner did the patient duke draw a useful moral from everything that he saw; and, by the help of this moralizing' turn, in that life of his, remote from public haunts, he could 35 find "tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything."

6

The banished duke had an only daughter, named Rosalind, whom the usurper, Duke Frederick, when he banished her father, still retained in his court as a compan- 40

1 See Notes.

3 See Notes.

5 The flesh of the deer.

▾ Explaining in a moral sense.

2 Cause to fly, or pass swiftly.
• At full length.

• Poisonous.

8 Ros'-a-lind (s as in rose).

ion for his own daughter Celia.1 A strict friendship subsisted between these ladies, which the disagreement between their fathers did not in the least interrupt, Celia striving by every kindness in her power to make amends to Rosalind for the injustice of her own father in depos- 45 ing the father of Rosalind; and, whenever the thoughts of her father's banishment and her own dependence on the false usurper made Rosalind melancholy, Celia's whole care was to comfort and console her.

One day when Celia was talking in her usual kind 50 manner to Rosalind, saying, “I pray you, Rosalind, my sweet cousin, be merry," a messenger entered from the duke to tell them that if they wished to see a wrestlingmatch, which was just going to begin, they must come instantly to the court before the palace; and Celia, 55 thinking it would amuse Rosalind, agreed to go and see it.

In those times wrestling, which is only practised now by country clowns, was a favorite sport even in the courts of princes, and before fair ladies and princesses. 60 To this wrestling-match, therefore, Celia and Rosalind went. They found that it was likely to prove a very tragical' sight; for a large and powerful man, who had long been practised in the art of wrestling and had slain many men in contests of this kind, was just 65 going to wrestle with a very young man, who, from his extreme youth and inexperience in the art, the beholders all thought would certainly be killed.

When the duke saw Celia and Rosalind, he said: "How now, daughter and niece, are you crept hither 70 to see the wrestling? You will take little delight in it, • Existed. 'Like a tragedy, ending in loss of life.

1 Ce'-li-a.

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