Act 3, Scene 1

Original Text

SCENE I. Sicilia. A Street in some Town. Enter Cleomenes and Dion.

Modern English

Scene 1. Sicilia. A street in a town. Cleomenes and Dion enter.

Original Text

CLEOMENES. The climate's delicate; the air most sweet, Fertile the isle, the temple much surpassing The common praise it bears.

Modern English

CLEOMENES. What a gentle climate — the air so sweet, The island so fertile, and the temple itself Far beyond what all the talk of it had promised.

Original Text

DION. I shall report, For most it caught me, the celestial habits (Methinks I so should term them) and the reverence Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice! How ceremonious, solemn, and unearthly, It was i' th' offering!

Modern English

DION. What struck me most — what I'll be telling people about — Was the sacred robes the priests wore (That's the only word I can think of for them) and the reverence Of those who wore them so solemnly. And the sacrifice — How ceremonial, how grave, how unlike anything Of this world, the offering of it was.

Original Text

CLEOMENES. But of all, the burst And the ear-deaf'ning voice o' th' oracle, Kin to Jove's thunder, so surprised my sense That I was nothing.

Modern English

CLEOMENES. But above everything, that sudden crack — The voice of the oracle, deafening, enormous, Like a cousin of Jove's own thunder — it stunned me so completely That I ceased to exist for a moment.

Original Text

DION. If the event o' th' journey Prove as successful to the queen,—O, be't so!— As it hath been to us rare, pleasant, speedy, The time is worth the use on't.

Modern English

DION. If the outcome of the journey Proves as fortunate for the queen — oh, let it be so! — As the journey itself was remarkable, pleasant, and swift for us, Every moment spent on it will have been worth it.

Original Text

CLEOMENES. Great Apollo Turn all to th' best! These proclamations, So forcing faults upon Hermione, I little like.

Modern English

CLEOMENES. May great Apollo Turn it all to the best! These charges they're pressing, Heaping fault after fault onto Hermione — I don't like them. Not one bit.

Original Text

DION. The violent carriage of it Will clear or end the business: when the oracle, (Thus by Apollo's great divine seal'd up) Shall the contents discover, something rare Even then will rush to knowledge. Go. Fresh horses! And gracious be the issue! [_Exeunt._]

Modern English

DION. The violence of it will settle things one way or another — Either clear her name or end it. When the oracle, Sealed up by the divine hand of Apollo himself, Has its contents revealed, something remarkable Will come to light in that instant. Come — fresh horses! And may the outcome be merciful. [_They exit._]

The Winter's Tale

Act 3, Scene 1

Act 3, Scene 1