Nandita To Nandini
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The Bard And I Part 1 free porn video
The Bard and I
By Bronwen Welsh
Part 1
The gray light of dawn filtered through the small dirty windows high in
the wall of the long dormitory. The tortured breathing of the boy in the
next cot to mine had finally stopped and he was now quiet, but I still
lay awake, my mind musing for the hundredth time of how I came to be in
this awful place. Less than a year previously, I had been living with my
parents above my father's shop in Silk Lane where he sold all manner of
colorful silks, satins and brocades to the wealthier citizens of London.
We were not rich but comfortable enough. I went to school where I
learned English, Philosophy, Mathematics and a little Latin. The kindly
schoolmaster told me I had an artist's memory of recall for things I had
seen and read. I took part in some short plays and poetry readings we
presented and enjoyed that very much. Although an only child I had many
friends of my own age, then sixteen, and I was happy. But happiness can
be ephemeral as I was to discover, and can be snatched away in an
instant.
One day my father told me that he and my mother would journey to Oxford
where his brother dwelt, for there had been bad feeling and he wished
them to reconcile. I did not like my uncle, indeed felt afraid of him,
but hoped for my father's sake he would be successful in his endeavours.
My parents set out the next morning in a small chaise drawn by a single
horse, promising to return in two days. I was in the care of Sarah the
cook and Ann the maid, and went to school as usual. Two days later I was
translating Latin poetry when I was called out of class to see the
headmaster. He sat me down with a grave face and told me my parents had
had an accident.
"Are they injured?" I gasped.
"Alas no," he replied, "I am sorry to tell you they are dead, killed when
their chaise overturned."
I broke down and wept bitterly for I loved them dearly and my world was
shattered. I remember little of the following days. My uncle came from
Oxford to take charge and he seemed kindly enough and I thought I
misjudged him. One evening he brought another man to the shop and gave
me some wine to drink as he explained that I must sign some papers to
secure my inheritance. Na?ve and unsuspecting I signed as he directed,
and the stranger witnessed my signature. Then the wine made me feel very
strange and the room spun around.
I awoke in the same cot I now occupied, with a strange man's face looking
down at me. He looked hard and cruel and I was afraid. When I asked where
I was he told me it was a house for the poor. I asked for my uncle and
was told it was he who had brought me here as being penniless and he
could not support me. Gradually it dawned upon me that he has stolen my
inheritance. What could I do, a youth with no other family and no
friends? I was doomed to a life of grinding poverty and hard work with
no escape.
The crash of the heavy door to the dormitory opening cut my wretched
thoughts as the Master, for such we had to call him, entered the room,
his heavy boots pounding upon the bare boards. We all scrambled from our
cots and stood shivering in the cold dawn air, all save the boy in the
next cot who had not stirred. Seeing this the Master strode up and hit
the body with his cane, but there was no movement. He pulled back the
blanket and snorted with disgust. Tears silently course down my cheeks
but I dared not make a sound.
"Breakfast," he growled, "last one down gets nothing." There was wild
scramble for the door.
After our meagre breakfast of gruel and stale bread, washed down with
water, we all set to work for another twelve hours of toil. This
workhouse was currently devoted to oakum picking, teasing out the fibres
of old temp ropes to be sold back to ship builders. Today however was to
be different, more so than I could ever imagine. We had been trained to
work without pause even if someone entered with workhouse, but today the
Master's voice cut in.
"Stop work! Look up."
We did so in amazement. With the Master were two men dressed in fine
clothes and silk stockings, each bearing a sword, gentlemen without a
doubt. They walked slowly down the lines of workers and I heard one say
to the other.
"There is no point in this Will; we will not find him here."
The gentleman called Will spoke out loudly.
"Is there anyone here who can read?"
I amazed even myself by rising to my feet. If I had paused for a moment
the thought of the Master's anger would have frozen me to the spot.
"I can sir," I piped up in my clear treble voice.
Will came over and looked searchingly at me. Then he produced a scrap of
paper from his pocket and said "Read this." I looked at it, seeing at
once it was a sonnet for such I had read at school and home where my
parents were fond of poetry. I started to read.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May."
"Good," Will interrupted. "And what of thy memory boy?"
"My schoolmaster said it was tolerably good sir," I replied
"Then read the rest quietly to thyself and memorize."
I did as he asked and handed the paper back.
"Now recite," he commanded and I started to recite the words written on
the paper. In truth it was not hard for they were words of such beauty
and meaning, who could read them and forget?
".....As long as men can breathe or eyes can see
So long lives this and this give life to thee," I concluded.
Will smiled at his companion as if to say 'I told you so'..
"What is your name boy?" he demanded.
"Julian Moss," I replied.
"Well Julian, how would you like to become apprenticed as a player in the
Lord Chamberlain's Men?"
"I would like that very well," I replied hastily as I heard the Master
cough. Will turned to him, his eyebrow raised.
"No doubt you require recompense for Master Moss's board? Would two half
crowns suffice?"
The Master's eye glittered as he greedily took the coins.
"Get your belongings Julian and follow me."
"I have none but these clothes sir," I replied.
"Good, then we are not delayed," he said and they strode from the
workroom, with me in hasty pursuit. Outside was a carriage and we
entered it, myself scarcely believing that I had escaped the house of
paupers. As the carriage started the man called Will said
"I have not introduced myself, Master William Shakespeare, playwright and
actor, and this is my good friend Richard Burbage.
"I have heard tell of you sir. My father said you came to his shop to
buy costume materials."
"Moss! Why Daniel Moss of Silk Lane!" exclaimed Will "I wondered where I
knew that name. How fares Master Moss?"
Then of course I must needs explain how I had come to this sad state and
Will frowned mightily when he heard of my uncle's deception.
That was ill done," he said "But you have a rare talent and will make
your fortune again I do not doubt it."
We arrived at a house in Shoreditch where I was ushered inside and
introduced to Mary, a stout jolly woman who tusked at the sight of me and
promised Will she would feed me, bathe me and wash my clothes. That
night I rested in a comfortable cot with a full stomach and slept the
whole night long, waking refreshed in the morning.
Soon after breakfast Will arrived and announced we were off the theatre
where the plays were presented, many of which he had written.
"And I have a particular part for you in mind," he said mysteriously.
The theatre had been built by Dick Burbage's father, a circular building
with a stage at one side, with a space before it for those who paid a
penny, and three levels of galleries where the rich folk could sit to
watch the performance. A number of men and youths were there and I was
introduced all round before Will leapt on the stage and called for
silence.
"I have a new work which we will start to rehearse today. It is a
tragedy of two young lovers, set in Venice and is called 'Romeo and
Juliet'. In a most happy co-incidence our new player Master Julian Moss
will try the part of Juliet."
I stood stunned. "But that is a woman's part" I gasped and everyone
laughed.
"But of course!" cried Will. "Have you never seen a play before? Women
do not act on stage, it is unseemly. All the female roles are played by
boys. Have you an objection?"
Just the thought of returning to the workhouse made me hurriedly cry out
"Not at all sir. I will be glad to do it."
Will decided that he would start with the scene in the Capulet's house
where Romeo first sees Juliet. The players' parts were distributed and
we started to work through our parts. Romeo was to be played by a youth
taller and older than I whose voice had broken. He was called Dirk and
was quite handsome. We rehearsed for a while but I found it hard to play
a girl, dressed as I was in male clothes. Finally Will called out for us
to stop.
"This will not serve. I think that Juliet would be more comfortable if
she was dressed for the part." he said, and took me around the back of
the stage to where a jolly woman called Maria was busy at work,
surrounded by costumes of many colors and sizes.
"Here is Master Julian," said Will "Give me back Miss Juliet." And he
went back to rehearse another scene.
Maria sized me up with a practised eye.
"Take off your clothes young man and we will see what we can do."
I stripped down to my breeches and stood there.
"Tut tut young master, breeches too, she scolded, "You cannot play a young
woman and still feel a man underneath."
I did as she commanded and stood naked and blushing, awaiting her
instructions. She ignored my nakedness as if she had seen many naked
before and I'm sure she had. She produced first a long white shift of a
silky material and ordering me to raise my arms, lowered over my head. I
gasped quietly as I felt it flow around my body and Maria suppressed a
smile.
"What about breeches?" I asked and Maria gasped in mock disapproval.
"Have you never seen a lady dress?" I shook my head being an only child.
It appeared that for a woman to wear breeches would be unseemly too.
Then she produced some silk stockings which I had to draw on carefully,
and they were held in place by garters tied just below my knees.
Next she fitted a corset around my upper body. This was rather tight-
fitting and I had to adapt my breathing. A small amount of material was
inserted to give me a woman's form, but not too much as fashion currently
dictated that breasts should not be too prominent. The next item was
called a Spanish farthingale, a hooped skirt which reached nearly to the
ground and was tied to my corset. She also added a bumroll, a padded
crescent around my hips which apparently women wore too, and that gave my
body silhouette a more female look. By now I was quite amazed at the
number of items which a lady of noble class had to wear. Next came a
kirtle skirt, a type of embroidered petticoat, russet coloured and very
pretty as it would be partly visible, and a type of embroidered white
shirt called a partlet, with a high neck, again embroidered and looking
very fine. Finally a gown of rich brightly-coloured brocade in shades of
deep red which was laced tightly around my upper body but was parted at
the front so that my embroidered kirtle was visible. I gasped as I
looked down at myself. It felt so strange and yet rather wonderful. I
was given some slippers to wear and then she led me to a stool and set to
work with powder and paint upon my face, with some pink on my cheeks and
my lips painted a bight red. Finally loosening my long fair hair she
brushed it and finally gave me a mirror to see the effect. I stared at
the pretty girl who looked back at me and Maria chuckled in satisfaction.
"Let's see what Master Will thinks," she said and led me out onto the
stage. Will turned as I appeared and I saw a strange look on his face. I
wondered, was this how a man looks at a woman? Then he recovered himself
and laughed
"Miss Maria, you never fail me," he said.
We started the scene again and this time it felt quite different. I
could believe that I was Juliet, a young girl as smitten with love as the
young man who appears uninvited at her parents' ball. When the time came
for us to share a kiss, I could scarcely contain my feelings. The kiss
seemed to last a long time and Dirk's tongue forced itself between my
lips. He held me tightly and I could feel he was aroused and pressing
against my thighs. When we finally broke apart, I felt my cheeks
reddening and wondered if the paint concealed it? Will laughed out loud.
"Well done! That is as different as the sun from the moon," he cried.
When we finished rehearsing for the day, I was about to change back into
my boy's garb but Will stopped me.
"I think it best you keep wearing your women's clothes to get used to
them," he said, so I walked back to my lodgings accompanied by two other
players. Will was right, it took some practice to get used to walking in
a gown, lifting it over puddles in the roadway or when climbing stairs,
feeling it sway as I walked. Mary made no comment when I arrived back
dressed as a girl, and that night she helped me undress and I slept in my
shift.
The next morning I had to be up early to go through the whole process of
dressing again with Mary assisting. As a boy I had wondered why my
mother always seemed to take an age to get ready for special occasions
but now I knew why. I was of course dressing as a daughter of nobility
for the play. Most women like my mother would wear just a shift,
petticoats and a gown which they could easily manage themselves.
So began a series of days of busy rehearsals. A rumour circulated that
Queen Bess might attend the first performance and that made us work even
harder, for royal approval would guarantee full houses for the season. I
was happy again and even the pain of losing my parents began to ease. I
found memorizing my words easy enough and the company of players very
pleasant. There was only one incident that caused me concern. One day
while rehearsing, it started to rain very hard and we were forced to
suspend our work. While waiting for it to stop, Dirk came up to me and
told me he wished to show me something. Unsuspecting I let him take my
hand and lead me to a closet away from the other players, Once inside he
closed the door and I asked what he wished to show me. Instead of
answering he pulled me to him and started to kiss me passionately. I had
found him quite attractive, especially as I was so used to playing the
woman now, but now he was pulling me hard against him and I felt afraid.
Next I felt his hands pulling up my gown and then they were grasping my
naked buttocks, pulling me against his tumescence.
"This is what I want to show you," he gasped. I tried to pull away but
he was too strong for me. I struggled in vain but at that moment I heard
Richard calling loudly
"The rain has stopped. We rehearse again. Romeo and Juliet on stage
please." Dirk muttered an oath but released me.
"Not a word of this to anyone," he growled. I said nothing but adjusted
my gown and tried to smooth my hair. I left the closet quickly before he
could say anything more. We carried on working but I found it hard to
play the lover with a man who had ill used me. I could see that Will was
looking concerned at the change in my demeanour, but I dared not tell him
what had happened.
That night I lay awake for a long time, wondering what I should do. The
first performance was but three days away, certainly too late to replace
Dirk as Will assuredly would of he knew how I had been mistreated. Or
maybe he would say I was na?ve and foolish and the fault was all mine? I
tossed and turned all night long. The next morning I awoke from fitful
sleep, dressed and broke my fast. Arriving at the theatre as usual, I
immediately sensed that the atmosphere was strange. People were huddled
together talking and when they saw me one came up and said
"It's Dirk." My heart leapt. Was our closet meeting now common
knowledge? Was he dismissed and I accused? I felt the blood drain from
my face.
"He's dead. It seems he was surprised in the arms of a married lady by
her husband. There was a fight and he was stabbed through the heart."
The ground beneath me started to shift and he caught me before I fell. I
was seated on a stool drinking a cup of water when Will approached me,
his face ashen.
"This is a bad business. I had concerns about Dirk and I suspected there
was something amiss between you and he?"
"It was nothing, a misunderstanding." I said but I could tell he did not
believe me.
"There is no time for another player to learn the part. Richard has
suggested that I play Romeo. I know I am too old for it, but what say
you?"
I could scarce believe it. The greatest playwright in all England and he
was asking my opinion, nay perhaps even my permission to play opposite
me? I rose to my feet and curtseyed deeply to him.
"It would be an honour and a joy to play Juliet to your Romeo," I
declared. Will's face broke out into a huge smile.
The last few days of rehearsal were wonderful. Will's acting was a
delight. When he kissed me so tenderly in that first scene, I felt like
a girl in love, trembling with the emotion of it. Was I playing at being
in love or was I in fact in love with him?
The day of the first performance arrived. Suddenly the theatre which had
been so empty for rehearsals was buzzing with humanity, the atmosphere
electric. I and the others peeped through a curtain at the rear of the
stage seeing the galleries fill. Then suddenly there was a blast of
trumpets and an excited buzz 'The Queen, the Queen." Through the curtain
I could see a small figure in the second level of the gallery wearing a
gown of deep blue, with a white face beneath impossibly red hair, taking
her seat. Surrounding her were courtiers, clad in the richest silks and
brocades and everywhere the glint of gold.
Suddenly the audience was hushed as Chorus strode onto the stage, doffing
his hat in a deep bow before the Queen and in a high clear voice began to
speak.
"Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Verona where we lay our scene
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny...."
I did not enter until the third scene, so had to wait, my heart beating
fast as I heard the play start to unfold. Then I was on the stage with
two of the older players who played my mother and nurse as they discussed
my marriage, and suddenly, my nerves subsided and I started to enjoy the
play. I forgot about the audience even though they were close by, and
lived my part.
My scenes with Will, first at the ball and later when I stood on the
balcony and he below, exchanging those sweet expressions of young love,
so overpowering in its intensity were wonderful to play. We were totally
immersed in our roles and I'm sure our sincerity showed through for the
audience cheered loudly as each scene ended.
All too soon we reached the climax of the tragedy where Romeo thinking
Juliet dead drinks poison in her tomb. Then enters the friar as Juliet
awakens and attempts to lead her from the tomb but she resists and unable
to live without Romeo snatches his dagger and kills herself. There was a
gasp from the audience and even some sobs as I thrust the trick dagger
hard against my breast and sank to the ground. I lay there breathing as
shallowly as I could to make no movement as the final scene played out,
the Prince remonstrating with the Montagues and Capulets at the tragedy
their animosity had caused
"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
There was a silence of about ten heartbeats, broken only by the sound of
a woman quietly crying. Then the theatre erupted into wild cheering and
applause. Will rose to his feet and helped me to mine and we withdrew
while the other players took their bows.
Finally we appeared once more and walked to the front of the stage where
Will bowed low and I made deep curtsey, all to thunderous applause. What
a feeling it is to hear such acknowledgement! More intoxicating than
wine I vow.
We left the stage and there were mutual congratulations as the company
thronged around. Will kissed my cheek declaring himself a genius for
picking me to play the part. Just then a herald arrived panting to
inform us that Her Grace the Queen commanded the presence of Master Will
and also Juliet. I started to shake in fright but Will assured me that
only good could come of this, and taking my hand he led me up the stairs
to the upper gallery. I lifted my gown to avoid tripping as we quickly
climbed the stairs and then walked passed some guards. Suddenly we were
in the presence of the Queen. She sat in an ornate chair and was smaller
than I imagined. She was dressed in a rich blue gown with a high collar
framing her deathly white face and bright red hair. Will bowed low and
I, not knowing if I should bow or curtsey managed a clumsy mixture of
both. Then Will knelt and kissed her hand as I did in my turn. Her
hand, covered in rings with huge rubies was very soft. Then we rose and
stood before her.
"Well done Master Will, you have surpassed yourself. My ladies all fell a
sobbing at your piteous death." It was clear that she was not amongst
those who gave way to emotion! The she turned her gaze on me, and Will
hastened to introduce me.
"Master Julian Moss Your Grace, his first acting role."
It was then I became aware of her eyes, a piercing green which seemed to
bore through me to the depths of my soul.
"Very prettily done Master Moss. I had thought I saw a woman upon the
stage."
"Thank you Your Grace," I managed to get out, this time curtseying very
deeply at which she barked a short laugh.
"Now Master Will, you must sup with me this even and we will discuss your
play some more."
It appeared that the audience was at an end and that I was not invited
along with Will, so again bowing low we backed out of the royal presence.
As we descended the stairs I confessed to Will that I had never been more
frightened in my entire life.
"Nonsense," said Will, "she liked you and that was high praise indeed. I
will make sure that all get to hear it."
Will was right about the effect of royal approval. We played to packed
houses for the rest of the season and when it finally ended I was sad
indeed to give up my excuse to wear woman's garb daily and longed to hear
what other parts I would play. I had grown to love the way men looked at
me and even desired me though they knew in their heart that I was not a
woman. Indeed I learned that certain of the boy players were taken for
carriage rides by members of the nobility after the plays and what
transpired was related to me in graphic detail. Though I had invitations
too, I gracefully declined for there was only one person I would have
wished to be with and I knew it could never be. To my surprise I was
rewarded with two gold sovereigns as my part of the profits, an absolute
fortune. Happy indeed is he who is paid for work that he loves!
End of Part 1
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