Chapter XXVII: Act III: SCENE I. A sea-port in Sicilia

_Enter_ CLEOMENES _and_ DION.

_Cleo._ The climate's delicate, the air most sweet,
Fertile the isle, the temple much surpassing
The common praise it bears.

_Dion._ I shall report,
For most it caught me, the celestial habits,
Methinks I so should term them, and the reverence 5
Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice!
How ceremonious, solemn and unearthly
It was i' the offering!

_Cleo._ But of all, the burst
And the ear-deafening voice o' the oracle,
Kin to Jove's thunder, so surprised my sense, 10
That I was nothing.

_Dion._ If the event o' the journey
Prove as successful to the queen,--O be't so!--
As it hath been to us rare, pleasant, speedy,
The time is worth the use on't.

_Cleo._ Great Apollo
Turn all to the best! These proclamations, 15
So forcing faults upon Hermione,
I little like.

_Dion._ The violent carriage of it
Will clear or end the business: when the oracle,
Thus by Apollo's great divine seal'd up,
Shall the contents discover, something rare 20
Even then will rush to knowledge. Go: fresh horses!
And gracious be the issue! [_Exeunt._

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