SCENE V.
Lelio, Antonio, Armellina.
Lel. Armellina, whom do you draw your tongue upon so sharply?
Arm. Sir, 'tis your father's ghost, that strives by force
To break the doors, and enter.
Lel. This! his grave looks!
In every lineament himself no liker.
Had I not happily been advertised,
What could have forc'd me think 'twere Trincalo?
Doubtless th' astrologer hath rais'd a ghost,
That walks in th' reverend shape of my dead father.
Ant. These ghosts, these Trincalos, and astrologers,
Strike me beside myself. Who will receive me,
When mine own son refuseth? O Antonio!
Lel. Infinite power of art! who would believe
The planets' influence could transform a man
To several shapes? I could now beat him soundly,
But that he wears the awful countenance
Of my dead father, whose memory I reverence.
Ant. If I be chang'd beyond thy knowledge, son,
Consider that th' excess of heat in Barbary,
The fear of shipwreck, and long tedious journeys,
Have tann'd my skin, and shrunk my eyes and cheeks;
Yet still this face, though alter'd, may be known:
This scar bears witness; 'twas the wound thou cur'dst
With thine own hands.
Lel. He that chang'd Trincalo
T' Antonio's figure omitted not the scar
As a main character.
Ant. I have no other marks
Or reasons to persuade thee: methinks these words,[329]
I am thy father, were argument sufficient
To bend thy knees, and creep to my embracement.
Lel. A sudden coldness strikes me: my tender heart[330]
Beats with compassion of I know not what.
Sirrah, begone; truss up your goodly speeches,
Sad shipwrecks and strange transformations;
Your plot's discover'd, 'twill not take: thy impudence
For once I pardon. The pious reverence
I owe to th' grave resemblance of my father
Holds back my angry hands. Hence! if I catch you
Haunting my doors again, I'll bastinado you
Out of Antonio's skin. Away.
Ant. I go, sir;
And yield to such cross fortune as thus drives me.
[Exeunt.