Scene 2. Page 104.
Seb. ... in Arabia
There is one tree, the Phœnix' throne, one phœnix
At this hour reigning there.
Bartholomæus De propriet. rerum, speaking of Arabia, says, "there breedeth a birde that is called Phœnix;" and from what has already been said of this book, it was probably one of Shakspeare's authorities on the occasion.
Scene 2. Page 106.
Gon. Who would believe that there were mountaineers,
Dewlapp'd like bulls, whose throats had hanging at them
Wallets of flesh? or that there were such men,
Whose heads stood in their breasts?
The "dewlapp'd mountaineers" are shown to have been borrowed from Maundeville's travels, and the same author doubtless supplied the other monsters. In the edition printed by Thomas Este, without date, is the following passage: "In another ile dwell men that have no heads, and their eyes are in their shoulders, and their mouth is on their breast." A cut however which occurs in this place is more to the purpose, and might have saved our poet the trouble of consulting the text, for it represents a complete head with eyes, nose, and mouth, placed on the breast and stomach.
ACT IV.
Scene 1. Page 122.
Cer. Hail many-coloured messenger, that ne'er
Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter;
Who with thy saffron wings upon my flowers
Diffusest honey-drops, refreshing showers;
And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown
My bosky acres——