“Bravely done, my Ariel!” said Prospero aside, while the King of Naples and his companions stood mute with amazement. “My charms are working, and these my enemies are quite astounded. They are now in my power, and here I will leave them while I visit young Ferdinand—whom they think drowned—and his and my loved darling.”
“In the name of heaven, sir, why do you stand with that strange stare?” asked Gonzalo of the King.
“Oh, it is monstrous, monstrous!” cried the conscience-stricken Alonso. “I thought the billows spoke and told me of my wicked deed, the winds sang it to me, and the thunder pronounced the name of ‘Prospero.’ Therefore my son is drowned, and I will lie with him fathoms deep below the waves.”
So saying, he hurried from the spot, followed at once by Sebastian and Antonio.
“All three of them are desperate,” said Gonzalo. “Their great guilt, like poison which takes a long time to work, now begins to bite their spirit. I do beseech you,” he added to the lords in waiting, “follow them swiftly, and hinder them from what this madness may provoke them to.”
“Though the Seas threaten, they are merciful”
The hard toil which Prospero had set the Prince of Naples did not last long, and when the magician saw that the young people loved each other sincerely he put an end to the trial, and bade them be happy together. To give them pleasure and show them some proof of his magic powers, he summoned a troop of beautiful spirits—Iris, Ceres, Juno, some water-nymphs, and various reapers, who sang sweet songs to them and danced graceful dances.
But the moment of Caliban’s plot was approaching. Prospero dismissed the spirits, and began to prepare for punishing the conspirators. Sending Ferdinand and Miranda to wait for him in his cell, he bade Ariel fetch some glistening apparel, and hang it up on a line near, in order to serve as a bait to catch the thieves.
His plan succeeded. Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo soon appeared, all wet from the stagnant pool into which they had been lured by Ariel’s music.
“Pray you, tread softly, that the blind mole may not hear a footfall; we are now near his cell,” said Caliban.