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Whom I, with this obedient steel,—three inches of it,—

Can lay to bed for ever; whiles you, doing thus,

To the perpetual wink for aye might put

This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who

Should not upbraid our course. For all the rest,

They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk;

They'll tell the clock to any business that

We say befits the hour.

Seb. Thy case, dear friend,

Shall be my precedent: as thou got'st Milan,

I'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke

Shall free thee from the tribute which thou pay'st,

And I the king shall love thee.

Ant. Draw together;

And when I rear my hand, do you the like,

To fall it on Gonzalo.

Seb. O! but one word.

Ari. My master through his art foresees the danger

That you, his friend, are in; and sends me forth—

For else his project dies—to keep them living.

'While you here do snoring lie,

Open-ey'd Conspiracy

His time doth take.

If of life you keep a care,

Shake off slumber, and beware:

Awake, awake!'

Ant. Then let us both be sudden.

Gon. Now, good angels

Preserve the king!

 296 suggestion: prompting (to disloyalty)

297 tell; cf. n.

304 fall: let fall

314 sudden: swift to act

