New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-16

Antonio. Il think he will carry the island home
IN his pocket and give II to his son for an ap-
pie" To which Antonio answers: And SOW
ing the kernels Of IT in the sea bring forth more
islands"
But what was the land likeT' says the man
ager The sailor tries TO explain. 1T was
! green. with yellow In 1t; a tawny-colored coun-
try'-the color that Is TO say, OF the coral
land the air made one sleepy, and the place
was full Of noises"-the muttering and roaring
of the among the islands and between the
reefs-"and there was sou.west wind that
blistered all over" The Elzabethan mari
ner would not distinguish finely between Dis
tiers and prickly neat; but the bermudlan OF
to-day viii tell you that the sOu'-west or light
house. wind in summer brings that plague and
general discomfort. That the coral rock bat
tered by the sea. rings hollow with strange
sounds. answered by the winds in the little
cramped valleys, is a matter of common knowi-
edge.
The man. refreshed with more drink then de-
scribes the geography Of his landing place-the
spot where TrnculO makes his first appearance.
He insists and relnssts on details which 10
him at one time meant life or death, and the
manager follows attentively. He can give his
audience no more than few hangings and
placard for scenery, but that his lines snail iiit
them beyond that bare show 10 the place ne
would have them. the manager needs for HIM
self the clearest possible understanding-tne
most ample detail He must see the scene IN
the round-solid-ere he peoples it, Much DOUBT
less he discarded. but so closely did he Keep 10
his original informations that those VINO go
to-day to q certain beach some two miles from
Hamilton will find the stage set Tor ACT H.
Scene .. Of THE Tempest-a bare beach. win
the wind singing through the scrub at the and
edge. a gap In the reefs wide enough Tor the
passage OF Stephano's butt OF sack. and these
eyes have seen ~ cave In the coral Witnin
easy reach of the tide whereto such NUT
might be conveniently rolled C'My cellar IS IN
q rock by the seaside where my wine ls mo j.
There is other cave for some two miles
Here's neither bush nor shrub; one is exposed
TO the wrath ~ "'yond' same black cloud. ana
alaUa
we'll done that. after three hundred years
stray tripper. and no Shakespeare scholar. rec
ognized in flash that old first set of all
So far good Up to this point the manager
has gained little except some suggestions for
al opening scene. and some notion of an un-
canny island. The mariner zone cannot believe
that Shakespeare mean In these httle
things) is dipping to deeper drunkenness
Suddenly he launches into preposterous tale
OF himself and his fellows flung ashore, sePa
rated from their officers, horribly AFRAID OF
the devil-haunted beach OF noises with tner
heads full Of the fumes Of preached liquor one
castaway was found hiding under the rios nt a
dead whale which smelt abomnably IheE
hauled him out by the legs-he mistook them
for mps-and gave him drink And now dlsci-
pne being melted. they would s,r,ke OUT iel
themselves defy their officers, and take poses
sion of the island. The narrators mates IN tnls
enterprise were probably described as fools. ne
the only sober man in the COMPANY.
So they went inland farng badly AS the.
staggered up and down this pestilent country,
They pricked with palmettoes ana 'he
cedar branches rasped their faces Ihen tnrE
found and stole some Of their ofhcers clothes
which were hanging up to dry. But presently
they fell into swamp, and. what was "uase.
into the hands Of their officers ana me ertat
eypedition ended in muck and miro. Truly an
island hewitched Else why their cramps ana
sickness? Sack never made man more than
reasonably drunk. He was prepared 70 ans"rr
for unlimited sack: but what befell ms stomach
and head the purest magic that honest man
4 drunken sailor NJ to-day wandering about
Oba liy
and to-day as then II one takes the easiest m
land road from Trinculos beach. near Hamil-
ton. the path that a drunken man woula m IN
fanby follow. it ends abruptly In swamp Inc
one point that our mariner did not owen upon
was that ne and the others were SUFFERING from
acute alcoholism combined with the eneCts OF
nerve-shattering peril and exposure Hence
the magic That a wizard should control such
an island was demanded by me hehelS ~ MI
seafarers Of that date.
Accent this theory and you Will concede that
The Tempest" came 20 the manager 'aneY
and normally in the course of his dallY IRE
He may have been casting about for a new play
he NAV have purposed 10 vamp an old one-say.
"Aureiio and Isabella; or he may have been
merely waiting on his demon. But II ~ all
Prospero's wealth against Calihan's pignuts
that 10 him IN receptive hour. sent by Heaven
entered the original Stephano fresh from me
seas and half-seas over. To him Stephaho toln
his tale all in one piece two hours discourse
~ most glorious absurdties. His prohigate
abundance Of detail at the beginning. when ne
was moro or less sober Suppncn ana - n
esta bished the earth basis or the play IN nc
cordance with the great law that a story 70 ne
,rulv miraculous must %" hallast"d with factS
His maunderings Of magic ana incomprehehs'-
bic amhushes when he was without rcscrNa-
ton drunk (and this Is Just the time when n
losser-uinded man than Shakespeare "ould
have paid the reckoning and turned MN ou'.
suggested 10 the manager the peculiar no'e OF
It's Supernatural mechanism.
Truly II was dream. hut that there may ne
no doubt ~ its source or OF MS onlleatioh'
Shakespeare has also made the dreamer i'm
mortal