which the king refused. After him comes a brave and lusty young
gentleman, and presents the king with a cup of gold filled with
poison, which the king accepted, and drinking the same, immediately
fell down dead upon the stage, and so was carried thence away by
his lords and gentlemen, and then the music ceased. Hereby was
signified, that as glass by nature holdeth no poison, but is clear
and may easily be seen through, ne boweth by any art; so a faithful
counsellor holdeth no treason, but is plain and open, ne yieldeth
to any indiscreet affection, but giveth wholesome counsel, which
the ill advised prince refuseth. The delightful gold filled with
poison betokeneth flattery, which under fair seeming of pleasant
words beareth deadly poison, which destroyeth the prince that
receiveth it. As befel in the two brethren, Ferrex and Porrex, who,
refusing the wholesome advice of grave counsellors, credited these
young parasites, and brought to themselves death and destruction
thereby.

But it is time to set forth the plot in more detail. The importance of
_Gorboduc_ as an example of English 'classical' tragedy prompts us to
follow it through, scene by scene.

_Act I, Scene 1._--Queen Videna discovers to her favourite and elder
son, Ferrex, the king's intention, grievous in her eyes, of dividing his
kingdom equally between his two sons. _Scene 2._--King Gorboduc submits
his plan to the consideration of his three counsellors, whose wise and
lengthy reasonings he listens to but elects to disregard.

_Act II, Scene 1._--The division having been carried out, Ferrex, in his
part of the kingdom, is prompted by evil counsel to suspect aggressive
rivalry from his brother, and decides to collect forces for his own