Cymbeline

When Augustus Caesar was the ruler of Rome, there was a king named Cymbeline in England, which was then called Britain.

Cymbeline’s first wife died when their three children (two sons and a daughter) were quite young. Imogen, the eldest, lived in her father’s royal house. But sadly, the two sons were taken from their home when the oldest was just three years old and the youngest was still a baby. Cymbeline never found out what happened to them or who took them away.

Cymbeline married a second time. His new wife was a mean woman with evil plans, and she was not kind to Imogen, Cymbeline’s daughter. The queen, even though she didn’t like Imogen, wanted her to marry her own son from a previous marriage (she had also been married twice before). 

She hoped that if Cymbeline died, her son Cloten could become king. She thought that if the king’s sons didn’t come back, Princess Imogen would become the queen. But Imogen herself stopped this plan by getting married without her father or the queen knowing.

Imogen’s husband, Posthumus, was the smartest and most well-mannered man of that time. His father died in a war for Cymbeline, and his mother died of sadness soon after he was born. Feeling sorry for Posthumus who had no parents, Cymbeline took him in and gave him education at his court. Imogen and Posthumus had the same teachers and played together since they were kids. 

They loved each other even as children, and as they grew up, their love grew stronger. So, they got married in secret.

The queen found out about this because she always kept an eye on Imogen. She quickly told the king about Imogen’s marriage to Posthumus. Cymbeline was very angry when he heard that his daughter had married a common man. He ordered Posthumus to leave Britain forever.

The queen acted as if she felt sorry for Imogen, who was sad about her husband leaving. She said she would arrange for them to meet in private before Posthumus left for Rome, where he planned to live. She pretended to be kind to further her plans for her son Cloten. She planned to tell Imogen that her marriage wasn’t legal because the king hadn’t agreed to it.

Imogen and Posthumus said a very emotional goodbye to each other. Imogen gave her husband a diamond ring that had belonged to her mother, and Posthumus promised to always keep the ring. He also gave Imogen a bracelet as a symbol of his love, asking her to take good care of it. They promised each other to always love and be faithful, and then said goodbye.

Imogen stayed in her father’s court, feeling lonely and sad, while Posthumus went to Rome.

In Rome, Posthumus met some young men who were talking about ladies. Each one said good things about the ladies from his country and about his girlfriend. But Posthumus, always thinking of his beloved wife, said that his wife Imogen was the most good, smart, and loyal lady in the world.

One man named Iachimo didn’t like that a British lady was praised more than the Roman ladies, who were from his country. He annoyed Posthumus by questioning the loyalty of his wife, whom he had praised so highly. After some argument, Posthumus agreed to Iachimo’s idea that he would go to Britain and try to win the love of Imogen, who was already married. 

They made a bet that if Iachimo failed in this bad plan, he would have to pay a lot of money. But if he could get Imogen to like him and give him the bracelet that Posthumus had given her as a sign of his love, Posthumus would have to give Iachimo the ring that Imogen had given him when they said goodbye. 

Posthumus trusted Imogen so much that he thought there was no risk in this test of her loyalty.

When Iachimo got to Britain, Imogen welcomed him because he was a friend of her husband. But when he told her he loved her, she quickly turned him away, and he knew he couldn’t carry out his plan. But Iachimo still wanted to win the bet, so he came up with a trick to fool Posthumus. He paid some of Imogen’s helpers to hide him in her bedroom in a big chest. He stayed in the chest until Imogen went to sleep. 

Then he got out, looked around the room, and wrote down everything he saw. He even noticed a small mark on Imogen’s neck. Quietly, he took off the bracelet from Imogen’s arm and then hid back in the chest. 

The next day, he quickly went back to Rome and bragged to Posthumus that Imogen had given him the bracelet and had let him stay in her room for a night.

Here’s how Iachimo lied: ‘Her bedroom,’ he said, ‘had silk and silver tapestry on the walls. The pictures showed Cleopatra when she met Anthony. It’s a very well-done piece.’

‘That’s true,’ said Posthumus, ‘but you could have heard about that without seeing it.’

‘The fireplace,’ said Iachimo, ‘is on the south wall of the room. Above it is a picture of Diana taking a bath. I’ve never seen more life-like figures.’

‘You could have heard about that too,’ said Posthumus, ‘because people talk about it.’

Iachimo also described the ceiling of the room and said: ‘I almost forgot about the fireplace tools. They’re two silver Cupids, each standing on one foot.’ 

Then he showed the bracelet and asked: ‘Do you recognize this jewel, sir? She gave it to me. She took it off her arm. I can still see her. The way she gave it to me was even more beautiful than the gift itself. She said she once cherished it.’ 

He finally mentioned the small mark he had seen on her neck. Posthumus, who had been listening to this whole clever story in a state of doubt, now started accusing Imogen angrily. He gave Iachimo the diamond ring, which he had promised to give him if he got the bracelet from Imogen.

Angry and jealous, Posthumus wrote a letter to Pisanio, a British gentleman who was one of Imogen’s helpers and a long-time friend of Posthumus. 

In the letter, he told Pisanio about the proof of Imogen’s unfaithfulness. He asked Pisanio to take Imogen to Milford-Haven, a seaside town in Wales, and kill her there.

At the same time, he wrote a tricky letter to Imogen. He asked her to come with Pisanio. He told her he couldn’t live without seeing her, even though he could be killed if he went back to Britain. He said he would come to Milford-Haven and asked her to meet him there. 

Imogen, who loved her husband more than anything and wanted to see him more than she wanted to live, quickly got ready to leave with Pisanio. She set out the same night she got the letter. When they were nearly there, Pisanio, who was loyal to Posthumus but couldn’t do this bad thing for him, told Imogen about the terrible order he had received.

Imogen, who thought she would be meeting a loving husband, was very upset when she found out he wanted her to die. Pisanio told her to be strong and patient, and wait for Posthumus to realise he was wrong. 

Since she didn’t want to go back to her father’s palace, he suggested that she dress up as a boy to be safer while travelling. She agreed and decided to go to Rome in that disguise to see her husband. Even though he had treated her badly, she still loved him.

When Pisanio had gotten her new clothes, he had to leave her to her unknown future and go back to the palace. Before he left, he gave her a bottle of strong medicine, which he said the queen had given him as a cure for all sicknesses.

The queen, who didn’t like Pisanio because he was a friend of Imogen and Posthumus, had given him this bottle. She thought it was poison. She had asked her doctor to give her poison to test on animals, she said. But the doctor, who knew she was mean, didn’t want to give her real poison. So he gave her a drug that would make a person look like they were dead for a few hours. Pisanio thought this drug was a good medicine and gave it to Imogen. He told her to take it if she felt sick on the road. Then he left her, hoping and praying she would be safe and free from her troubles she didn’t deserve.

By chance, Imogen ended up at the house of her two brothers, who had been taken away when they were babies. The man who took them, Bellarius, was a lord in King Cymbeline’s court. He was wrongly accused of treason, a crime against the king, and was sent away from the court. To get back at the king, he stole his two sons and brought them up in a forest, where he lived hidden in a cave. 

He stole them for revenge, but he soon loved them as if they were his own children. He raised them well. They became brave young men, always wanting to do big, risky things. Since they hunted for food, they were strong and tough. They always asked their supposed father to let them try their luck in the wars.

Imogen found the cave where these young men lived. She got lost in a big forest that she had to cross to get to Milford-Haven (from where she planned to take a ship to Rome). She couldn’t find anywhere to buy food, and she was very tired and hungry. Dressing like a man couldn’t help her bear the hardship of wandering in the forest. 

She found the cave and went in, hoping to find someone to give her food. The cave was empty, but she saw some cold meat. She was so hungry that she didn’t wait for someone to invite her to eat. She just started eating.

‘Ah,’ she said to herself, ‘being a man is hard; I’m so tired! I’ve slept on the ground for two nights. My decision gives me strength, or I would be sick. When Pisanio pointed out Milford-Haven from the top of the mountain, it seemed so close!’ 

Then she thought about her husband and his harsh command, and she said: ‘My dear Posthumus, you’ve lied to me!’

By this time, Imogen’s two brothers had come back from hunting with their supposed father, Bellarius. Bellarius had named them Polydore and Cadwal, and they thought he was their real father. But the true names of these princes were Guiderius and Arviragus.

Bellarius walked into the cave first. When he saw Imogen, he told the boys to stay back, saying: ‘Don’t come in yet. It’s eating our food. I would think it was a fairy.’

‘What’s going on, sir?’ asked the young men. 

‘By Jupiter,’ said Bellarius again, ‘there’s an angel in the cave, or at least a very beautiful person.’ Imogen looked lovely in her boy’s clothes.

Hearing voices, she came out of the cave and said: ‘Good sirs, don’t hurt me. Before I came into your cave, I planned to ask or pay for what I’ve eaten. 

I haven’t stolen anything, even if I had found gold on the floor. Here’s money for my food. I would have left it on the table after eating, and said a prayer for whoever provided it.’ 

They strongly refused her money.

 ‘I see you’re mad at me,’ said the scared Imogen. ‘But, sirs, if you kill me for my mistake, know that I would have died if I hadn’t made it.’

‘Where are you going?’ asked Bellarius. ‘And what’s your name?’

‘My name is Fidele,’ answered Imogen. ‘I have a relative who is going to Italy. He left from Milford-Haven. I was going to him, but I was so hungry, I committed this offence.’

‘Please, kind youth,’ said old Bellarius, ‘don’t think we’re rude, or judge us by this rough place we live in. You’re welcome here. It’s almost night. 

You’ll have better food before you leave, and you’re welcome to stay and eat. Boys, welcome him.’

Her kind brothers then welcomed Imogen to their cave, saying nice things. They said they would love her (or, as they thought, him) like a brother. They went into the cave. They had killed a deer while hunting. Imogen made them happy by helping them make their dinner. 

Even though it’s not usual now for high-born young women to know how to cook, it was then. Imogen was very good at this useful skill. As her brothers nicely said, Fidele cut their vegetables in shapes and made their soup taste good, as if he were cooking for a sick queen.

 ‘And then,’ said Polydore to his brother, ‘how beautifully he sings!’

They also noticed that, even though Fidele smiled so sweetly, he looked very sad. It seemed like he was both sad and patient at the same time. Because of these nice qualities (or maybe because they were really related, even though they didn’t know it), Imogen (or Fidele, as the boys called her), became very dear to her brothers. And she loved them almost as much. 

She thought she could live and die in the cave with these wild forest boys, if only she could forget her dear Posthumus. She agreed to stay with them until she had enough rest from her journey to continue on her way to Milford-Haven.

When all the deer meat they had was eaten and they needed to hunt for more, Fidele couldn’t go with them because she was feeling unwell. Her sadness about how her husband had treated her, and her tiredness from wandering in the forest, probably made her sick.

Then they said goodbye to her and went hunting, praising the noble actions and elegant behaviour of the young Fidele.

As soon as Imogen was alone, she remembered the medicine Pisanio had given her. She drank it and soon fell into a deep, death-like sleep.

When Bellarius and her brothers came back from hunting, Polydore went into the cave first. Thinking she was asleep, he took off his heavy shoes so he could walk quietly and not wake her up. This shows how gentle these forest princes were. But he soon found out that she couldn’t be woken up by any noise. He thought she was dead and felt deep sadness, like a brother would.

Bellarius also suggested taking her into the forest to sing songs of sorrow at her funeral, which was a tradition then. Imogen’s two brothers carried her to a quiet place in the forest. They gently laid her on the grass and sang songs to her spirit. They covered her with leaves and flowers. 

Polydore said: ‘As long as it’s summer and I’m here, Fidele, I’ll put flowers on your grave every day. 

The pale primrose, which looks like your face, the bluebell, which looks like your clear skin, and the sweet leaf of the eglantine, which is not sweeter than your breath. In winter, when there are no flowers, I’ll cover you with soft moss.’

When they finished her funeral, they left feeling very sad.

Imogen woke up not long after they left, when the sleeping drug wore off. She easily pushed off the leaves and flowers they had covered her with. She stood up and thought she had been dreaming. 

She said: ‘I thought I was living in a cave and cooking for nice people. How did I end up here, covered in flowers?’ 

She couldn’t find her way back to the cave and she didn’t see her new friends, so she thought it must have all been a dream. 

Once again, Imogen started her long journey, hoping she would finally find her way to Milford-Haven. From there, she planned to find a ship going to Italy. 

She was still thinking about her husband Posthumus and planned to find him while pretending to be a servant. But big things were happening at this time that Imogen didn’t know about. A war had started between the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar and Cymbeline, the king of Britain. 

A Roman army had come to invade Britain and was in the same forest Imogen was travelling through. Posthumus was with this army. Posthumus didn’t plan to fight against his own people with the Romans. He planned to join the British army and fight for his king who had sent him away.

He still thought Imogen had lied to him. But the news of her death, which he had asked for (Pisanio had written him a letter to say he had done what he asked and that Imogen was dead), made him very sad. So, he came back to Britain, hoping to die in the war or be killed by Cymbeline for coming back from his banishment. Before she got to Milford-Haven, Imogen was caught by the Roman army. They liked her and how she behaved, so she became a servant to Lucius, the Roman general.

Cymbeline’s army was now getting ready to fight the enemy. When they got to this forest, Polydore and Cadwal joined the king’s army. The young men wanted to be brave in battle, even though they didn’t know they were fighting for their own father, the king. And old Bellarius went with them to fight.

He had long ago felt sorry for the wrong he did to Cymbeline by taking his sons. Since he was a fighter when he was young, he happily joined the army to fight for the king he had wronged.

A big fight started between the two armies. The Britons would have lost, and Cymbeline would have been killed, if it wasn’t for the bravery of Posthumus and Bellarius and Cymbeline’s two sons. They saved the king’s life and completely turned the luck of the day so that the Britons won the battle.

After the battle, Posthumus, who didn’t die like he wanted to, gave himself up to one of Cymbeline’s officers. He was ready to face the death that was his punishment for coming back from banishment. Imogen and the master she served were captured and brought before Cymbeline. Her old enemy Iachimo, who was an officer in the Roman army, was also there. Posthumus was brought in to be sentenced to death. 

At this strange time, Bellarius with Polydore and Cadwal were also brought before Cymbeline. They were there to receive rewards for the great help they had given the king in the battle. Pisanio, one of the king’s servants, was also there.

So, standing before the king now were Posthumus and Imogen with her new master, the Roman general, the faithful servant Pisanio, and the dishonest friend Iachimo. The two sons of Cymbeline and Bellarius, who had taken them, were also there.

The Roman general was the first to speak. Everyone else stood quietly in front of the king, but many were very nervous.

Imogen saw Posthumus and recognized him, even though he was dressed like a poor man. He didn’t recognize her because she was dressed like a boy. She recognized Iachimo, and she noticed a ring on his finger that was hers. She didn’t know yet that he was the one who had caused all her problems. She stood before her own father as a prisoner of war.

Pisanio recognized Imogen because he had dressed her as a boy. 

He thought to himself, ‘That’s my master. As long as she’s alive, let’s see what happens.’ Bellarius recognized her too and quietly asked Cadwal, ‘Isn’t this boy back from the dead?’ 

Cadwal answered, ‘One grain of sand looks just like another, just like this rosy boy looks like the dead Fidele.’ 

‘The same dead thing is alive,’ said Polydore. ‘Be quiet, quiet,’ said Bellarius. ‘If it was him, I’m sure he would have spoken to us.’ 

‘But we saw him dead,’ Polydore whispered again. ‘Be quiet,’ Bellarius answered.

Posthumus waited quietly to hear the welcome news of his death. He decided not to tell the king that he had saved his life in the battle. He didn’t want that to make Cymbeline forgive him. Lucius, the Roman general who had taken Imogen as his servant, was the first to speak to the king, as I said before. He was a brave and noble man. He said to the king:

‘I hear you don’t take money for your prisoners but sentence them all to death. I’m a Roman and I’m ready to die like a Roman. But there’s one thing I want to ask.’ 

Then he brought Imogen before the king and said: ‘This boy was born in Britain. Let him be bought free. He is my servant. No master ever had a servant so kind, so dutiful, so hardworking, so truthful, so caring. He hasn’t done anything wrong to the Britons, even though he has worked for a Roman. Save him, if you don’t spare anyone else.’

Cymbeline looked closely at his daughter Imogen. He didn’t recognize her in her disguise, but something inside him spoke to him. 

He said, ‘I feel like I’ve seen him before, his face seems familiar. I don’t know why but I say, Live, boy. I’m giving you your life. Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you. Even if it’s the life of my most important prisoner.’

‘Thank you very much, your highness,’ said Imogen.

A boon was a promise to give anything that the person asked for. Everyone was waiting to hear what the servant would ask for. 

Lucius, her master, said to her, ‘I’m not asking for my life, good boy, but I know that’s what you’ll ask for.’ 

‘No, no, sadly!’ said Imogen, ‘I have other things to do, good master; I can’t ask for your life.’

The boy’s lack of thankfulness surprised the Roman general.

Then, Imogen, looking at Iachimo, asked for only one thing: that Iachimo should say where he got the ring he was wearing. Cymbeline agreed to give her this, and warned Iachimo that he would be punished if he didn’t say how he got the diamond ring. Then, Iachimo told everyone about the bad things he had done. He told the story of his bet with Posthumus, and how he tricked him.

Posthumus couldn’t express what he felt when he heard that his wife was innocent. He immediately stepped forward and told Cymbeline about the terrible order he had given Pisanio to kill the princess. 

He cried out, ‘O Imogen, my queen, my life, my wife! O Imogen, Imogen, Imogen!’

Imogen couldn’t watch her husband in pain without revealing who she was. Posthumus was very happy. He didn’t feel guilty and sad anymore, and he was back in the good graces of the wife he had treated badly. Cymbeline was almost as happy as Posthumus to find his lost daughter. He loved her like before, and not only did he spare Posthumus’s life, but he also accepted him as his son-in-law.

Bellarius decided to confess at this happy time. He introduced Polydore and Cadwal to the king and told him that they were his lost sons, Guiderius and Arviragus. Cymbeline forgave Bellarius. Who could think about punishment at such a happy time? Finding his daughter alive and his lost sons in the young men who bravely fought for him was a wonderful surprise!

Imogen then had time to help her former master, the Roman general Lucius. Her father, the king, easily agreed to spare his life at her request. Thanks to Lucius, the Romans and the Britons made peace, and it lasted many years.

Cymbeline’s evil queen became sick and died because she was sad that her plans didn’t work and she felt guilty. She lived long enough to see her foolish son Cloten killed in a fight he started. 

These sad events aren’t important to this happy story. It’s enough to know that everyone who deserved to be happy was happy. Even Iachimo, whose evil plan didn’t work, wasn’t punished.

THE END