Twelfth Night

by: William Shakespeare

Act 2 Scene 1

1 2

Original Text	Modern Text
Enter ANTONIO and SEBASTIAN	ANTONIO and SEBASTIAN enter.
ANTONIO Will you stay no longer, nor will you not that I go with you?	ANTONIO You won’t stay any longer? And you don’t want me to come with you?
SEBASTIAN By your patience, no. My stars shine darkly over me. The malignancy of my fate might perhaps distemper yours. Therefore I shall crave of you your leave that I may bear my evils alone. It were a bad recompense for your love to lay any of them on you.	SEBASTIAN No, I’d rather you stayed here. My luck is pretty bad right now, and it might rub off on you. So just let me say goodbye and face the bad stuff alone—otherwise I wouldn’t be thanking you very well for all you’ve done for me.
ANTONIO Let me yet know of you whither you are bound.	ANTONIO At least tell me where you’re going.
SEBASTIAN No, sooth, sir. My determinate voyage is mere extravagancy. But I perceive in you so excellent a touch of modesty that you will not extort from me what I am willing to keep in. Therefore it charges me in manners the rather to express myself. You must know of me then, Antonio, my name is Sebastian, which I called Roderigo. My father was that Sebastian of Messaline, whom I know you have heard of. He left behind him myself and a sister, both born in an hour. If the heavens had been pleased, would we had so ended! But you, sir, altered that, for some hour before you took me from the breach of the sea was my sister drowned.	SEBASTIAN Honestly, I can’t. I’m just wandering, with no particular destination. But I know you’d never force me to tell you things I don’t want to, so I should be polite and tell you what I can. My name’s Sebastian, though I’ve been calling myself Roderigo. My father was Sebastian of Messaline. I know you’ve heard of him. He’s dead now. He left behind myself and my twin sister, who was born in the same hour as me. If God had been willing, I wish we had died in the same hour too! But you kept that from happening. An hour before you pulled me out of the breaking waves, my sister drowned.
ANTONIO Alas the day!	ANTONIO How tragic!

Read the Summary of Act II, scenes i–ii

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