Enter ARIEL, invisible.
CALIBAN As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant,
A sorcerer, that by his cunning hath
Cheated me of the island.
ARIEL [in Trinculo’s voice] Thou liest.
CALIBAN Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou.
I would my valiant master would destroy thee.
I do not lie.
STEPHANO Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in’s tale, by this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth.
TRINCULO Why, I said nothing.
STEPHANO Mum, then, and no more. Proceed. (3.2.40-49)
Ah, Ariel, invisible again – they are presumably still dressed as a sea-nymph, as specified by Prospero in 1.2, and therefore – recognisably, paradoxically – invisible. Caliban comes to the point, and he’s back in verse; again, just how drunk is he? And he’s told this story to Stephano already, that Prospero is a tyrant, a sorcerer (so much more sinister than magus or magician) – and he’s been cheated out of the island. (This is actually, so far as we know, pretty accurate.) But now the point of all the earlier, are you calling me a liar? swagger between Caliban and Trinculo and Stephano, because Ariel joins in, accusing Caliban of lying, but apparently in Trinculo’s voice. (The stage direction is editorial, but the context makes it clear.) Who are you calling a liar, Caliban retorts to Trinculo, you’re a liar, you jesting monkey. (Harsh but fair.) I would my valiant master, that is Stephano, would destroy thee. I do not lie. (An interesting assertion from Caliban: does he mean that he’s telling the truth now, specifically, or that he tells the truth in general? Probably the former.) Stop interrupting, Trinculo, says Stephano, or I’ll rearrange your teeth, I swear, by this hand, which is also the hand I would employ to do said rearranging. Trinculo, understandably aggrieved: Why, I said nothing. Shut up then, replies Stephano, entirely logically. Proceed, he says to Caliban, graciously; do carry on. (As editors point out: this is an echo of Puck’s imitation of Demetrius and Lysander, in order to separate them and so, eventually, undo the mess he’s made by anointing the wrong Athenian’s eyes, so that both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with Helena. Midsummer Night’s Dream, 3.2)
