The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare

And signify this loving interview
To the expecters of our Trojan part; [sin;
Desire them home.-Give me thy hand, my cou-
I will go eat with thee, and see your knights.
Ajax. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us
here.

Hect. The worthiest of them tell me name by

name;

But for Achilles, my own searching eyes
Shall find him by his large and portly size.

Agam. Worthy of arms! as welcome as to one
That would be rid of such an enemy;
But that's no welcome: Understand more clear,
What's past and what's to come, is stew'd with
And formless ruin of oblivion;
[husks,

But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing,
Bids thee, with most divine integrity,

From heart of every heart, great Hector, wel

memnon.

you.

Aga

Agam. My well fam'd lord of Troy, no less to [To TROILUS. Men. Let me confirm my princely brother's greeting;

You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither. Hect. Whom must we answer?

Men. The noble Menelaus.

Hect. O you, my lord? by Mars his gauntlet, thanks!

Mock not, that I affect the untraded oath ; Your quondam wife swears still by Venus' glove:

She's well, but bade me not commend her to you. Men. Name her not now, Sir; she's a deadly theme.

Hect. Oh! pardon; I offend.

Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee [oft, Labouring for destiny, make cruel way Through ranks of Greekish youth: and I have seen thee,

As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed,
Despising many forfeits and subduements,
When thou hast hung thy advanced sword
i'the air,

Not letting it decline on the declin'd;
That I have said to some my standers-by
Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life!
And I have seen thee pause, and take thy breath,
When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd

thee in,

Like an Olympian wrestling: This have I seen;
But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel,
I never saw till now. I knew thy grandsire, ||
And once fought with him: he was a soldier
good;

But, by great Mars, the captain of us all,
Never like thee: Let an old man embrace thee;
And, worthy warrior, welcome to our tents.
Ene. 'Tis the old Nestor.

Hect. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle, [time :Thou hast so long walk'd hand in hand with Most reverend Nestor, I am glad to clasp thee. Nest. I would my arms could match thee in contention,

As they contend with thee in courtesy.
Hect. I would they could.
Nest. Ha!

[row.

By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-mow. Well, welcome, welcome! I have seen the

time

Ulyss. I wonder now how yonder city stands, When we have here her base and pillar by us. Hect. I know your favour, lord Ulysses, well. Ah! Sir, there's many a Greek and Trojan dead, Since first I saw yourself and Diomed In Ilion, on your Greekish embassy.

Ulyss. Sir, I foretold you then what would

For yonder walls, that pertly front your town, Yon towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds,

Must kiss their own feet.

Hect. I must not believe you:

There they stand yet; and modestly I think,
The fall of every Phrygian stone will cost
A drop of Grecian blood: The end crowns all;
And that old common arbitrator, time,
Will one day end it.

Ulyss. So to him we leave it.

Most gentle, and most valiant Hector, welcome.
After the general, I beseech you next
To feast with me, and see me at my tent.
Achil. I shall forestall thee, lord Ulysses,
thou!-

Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee;
I have with exact view perus'd thee, Hector,
And quoted joint by joint.

Heet. Is this Achilles ?

Achil. I am Achilles.

Hect. Staud fair, I pray thee: let me look on

time,

As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb. Hect. Oh! like a book of sport thou'it read me o'er ;

But there's more in me than thou understand'st.
Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye!
Achil. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of
his body
[there?
Shall I destroy him? whether there, there, or
That I may give the local wound a name ;
And make distinct the very breach whereout
Hector's great spirit flew: Answer me, heavens !
Hect. It would discredit the bless'd gods, proud
man,

To answer such a question: Stand again :
Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly,
As to prenominate in nice conjecture,
Where thou wilt hit me dead?

Achil. I tell thee, yea.

Hect. Wert thou an oracle to tell me so, I'd not believe thee. Henceforth guard thee well;

For I'll not kill thee there, nor there, nor there;
But, by the forge that stithied Mars his helm,
I'll kill thee every where, yea, o'er and o'er.-
You wisest Grecians, pardon me this brag,
His insolence draws folly from my lips;
But I'll endeavour deeds to match these words,
Or may I never-

Ajar. Do not chafe thee, cousin ;-
And you, Achilles, let these threats alone
Till accident or purpose bring you to't:
You may have every day enough of Hector,
If you have stomach; the general state, I fear,
Can scarce entreat you to be odd with him.

Hect. I pray you, let us see you in the field; We have bad pelting wars, since you refus'd The Grecians' cause.

Achil. Dost thou entreat me, Hector?
To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death;
To-night all friends.

Hect. Thy hand upon that match.
Agam. First, all you peers of Greece go to my

tent;

There in the full convive ¶ we: afterwards,
As Hector's leisure and your bounties shall
Concur together, severally entreat him.-
Beat loud the tabourines, ** let the trumpets
blow,

That this great soldier may his welcome know.

[Exeunt all but TROILUS and ULYSSES. Tro. My lord Ulysses, tell me, I beseech you In what place of the field doth Calchas keep? Ulyss. At Menelaus' tent, most princely Troilus:

Scene I.

TROILUS AND

There Diomed doth feast with him to-night;
Who neither looks upon the heaven, nor earth,
But gives all gaze and bent of amorous view
On the fair Cressid.

Tro. Shall I, sweet lord, be bound to you so
much,

After we part from Agamemnon's tent,
To bring me thither?

Ulyss. You shall command me, Sir.
As gentle tell me, of what honour was
This Cressida in Troy? Had she
there

That wails her absence ?

Tro. O Sir, to such as boasting show their scars,

CRESSIDA.

123

Come, come, Thersites, help to trim my tent.
This night in banqueting must all be spent.
Away, Patroclus.

[Exeunt ACHILLES and PATROCLUS.
Ther. With too much blood, and too little
brain, these two may run mad; but if with too
much brain, and too little blood, they do, I'll
be a curer of madmen. Here's Agamemnon,-
an honest fellow enough, and one that loves
quails; but he has not so much brain as ear-
no lover wax: And the goodly transformation of Jupiter
there, his brother, the bull,-the primitive statue
and oblique memorial of cuckolds; a thrifty
shoeing-horn in a chain, banging at his brother's
leg, to what form, but that he is, should wit
larded with malice, and malice forced with wit
turn him to? To an ass, were nothing; he is
To be a dog, a mule, a cat, a
both ass and ox: to an ox were nothing; he is
both ox and ass.
fitchew, a toad, a lizard, on owl, a puttock, or
a herring without a row, I would not care: but
to be Menelaus,-I would conspire against des-
tiny. Ask me not what I would be, if I were
not Thersites; for I care not to be the louse of
a lazar, so I were not Menelaus.-Hey-day !
spirits and fires !

A mock is due. Will you walk on, my lord?
She was belov'd, she lov'd; she is, and doth :
But, still, sweet love is food for fortune's tooth.
[Exeunt.

ACT V.

SOENE I.-The Grecian Camp.-Before
ACHILLES' Tent.

Enter ACHILLES and PATROCLUS.

Achil. I'll heat his blood with Greekish wine
to-night,

Which with my scimitar I'll cool to-morrow.-
Patroclus, let us feast him to the height.

Patr. Here comes Thersites.

Enter THERSITES.

Achil. How now, thou core of envy? Thou crusty batch of nature, what's the news? Ther. Why, thou picture of what thou seemest, and idol of idiot-worshippers, here's a letter for thee.

Achil. From whence, fragment?

Ther. Why, thou full dish of fool, from Troy.
Patr. Who keeps the tent now?

Ther. The surgeon's box, or the patient's wound.

Patr. Well said, Adversity! and what need these tricks?

Ther. Pr'ythee be silent, boy; I profit not by thy talk: thou art thought to be Achilles' male varlet.

Patr. Male varlet, you rogue! what's that? Ther. Why, his masculine whore. Now the rotten diseases of the south, the guts-griping, ruptures, catarrhs, loads o'gravel i'the back, lethargies, cold palsies, raw eyes, dirt-rotten livers, wheezing lungs, bladders full of imposthume, sciaticas, limekilns i'the palm, incurable bone-ache, and the rivelled fee-simple of the tetter; take and take again such preposterous discoveries!

Patr. Why thou damnable box of envy, thou, what meanest thou to curse thus ?

Ther. Do I curse thee?

Patr. Why, no, you ruinous butt; you whoreson indistinguishable cur, no.

Ther. No? why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleive + silk, thou green sarcenet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a prodigal's purse, thou? Ah! how the poor world is pestered with such water-flies; diminutives of

nature !

Patr. Out, gall!

Ther. Finch egg!
Achil. My sweet Patroclus, I am thwarted
quite

From my great purpose in to-morrow's battle.
Here is a letter from queen Hecuba:
A token from her daughter, my fair love;
Both taxing me, and gaging me to keep
An oath that I have sworn. I will not break it:
Fall, Greeks; fail, fame; honour, or go, or
stay;

My major vow lies here, this I'll obey.

• Contrariety.

Enter HECTOR, TROILUS, AJAX, AGAMEMNON,
ULYSSES, NESTOR, MENELAUS, and DIOMED,
with Lights.

Agam. We go wrong, we go wrong.
Ajax. No, yonder 'tis ;

There, where we see the lights.
Hect. I trouble you.

Ajax. No, not a whit.

Ulyss. Here comes himself to guide you.

Enter ACHILLES.

Achil. Welcome, brave Hector; welcome, princes all.

Agam. So now, fair prince of Troy, I bid good Ajax commands the guard to tend on you.[night. Hect. Thanks, and good night to the Greeks' general,

Men. Good night, my lord.

Hect. Good night, sweet Menelaus.

Ther. Sweet draught: Sweet, quoth 'a! sweet sink, sweet sewer.

Achil. Good night,

And welcome, both to those that go, or tarry.
Agam. Good night.

[Exeunt AGAMEMNON and MENELAUS.
Achil. Old Nestor tarries; and you too, Dio-
[med,
Keep Hector company an hour or two.
Dio. I cannot, lord; I have important busi-
[Hector.

ness.

The tide whereof is now,-Good night, great
Hect. Give me your hand.

Ulyss. Follow his torch, he goes
To Calchas' tent; I'll keep you company.
[Aside to TROILUS
Tro. Sweet Sir, you honour me.
Hect. And so good night.

[Exit DIOMED; ULYSSES and TROILUS
following.

Achil. Come, come, enter my tent.

[Exeunt ACHILLES, HECTOR, AJAX, and

NESTOR.

Ther. That same Diomed's a false-hearted rogue, a most unjust knave; I will no trust him when he leers, than I will a serpent when he hisses: he will spend his mouth, and promise, like Brabler the hound; but when he performs, astronomers foretel it; it is prodigious, there will come some change; the sun borrows of the moon, when Diomed keeps his word. I will rather leave to see Hector, than not to dog him: they say, he keeps a Trojan drab, and uses the traitor Calchas' tent: I'll [Exit. after.-Nothing but lechery! all incontinent varlets!

• Harlots. § Polecat.

+ Coarse, unwrought.

torments,

I will not speak a word.

Dio. And so, good night.

Cres. Nay, but yon part in anger.

Tro. Doth that grieve thee ?

O wither'd truth!

Ulyss. Why, how now, lord?
Tro. By Jove,

I will be patient.

Cres. Guardian !-why, Greek!

Dio. Pho, pho! adieu; you palter. + Cres. In faith, I do not; come hither once again.

Ulyss. You shake, my lord, at something; will you go?

You will break out.

Tro. She strokes his cheek!
Ulyss. Come, come.

Tro. Nay, stay; by Jove, I will not speak a word :

There is between my will and all offences

A guard of patience :-stay a little while.

Ther. How the devil luxury, with his fat rump, and potatoe finger, tickles these together! Fry, lechery, fry!

Dio. But will you then?

Cres. In faith, I will, la; never trust me else.
Dio. Give me some token for the surety of it.
Cres. I'll fetch you one.
[Exit.

Ulyss. You have sworn patience.
Tro. Fear me not, my lord;

I will not be myself, nor have cognition ⚫
Of what I feel I am all patience.

Re-enter CRESSIDA.

Ther. Now the pledge; now, now, now!
Cres. Here, Diomed, keep this sleeve.
Tro. O beauty! where's thy faith?
Ulyss. My lord,-

Tro. I will be patient: outwardly I will.
Cres. You look upon that sleeve; Behold it
well.-

He loved me-O false wench!-Giv't me again. Dio. Who was't?

Cres. No matter, now I hav't again.

I will not meet with you to-morrow night:

I pr'ythee Diomed, visit me no more.

Ther. Now she sharpens ;-Well said, whetstone.

pledge!

Thy master now lies thinking in his bed
of thee and me; and sighs, and takes my glove,
And gives memorial dainty kisses to it,
As I kiss thee.-Nay, do not snatch it from me;
He that takes that, must take my heart withal.
Dio. I had your heart before, this follows it.
Tro. I did swear patience.

Cres. You shall not have it, Diomed; 'faith you shall not :

I'll give you something else,

Dio. I will have this; Whose was it?
Cres. 'Tis no matter.

Dio. Come, tell me whose it was.

Cres. 'Twas one's that loved me better than you will.

But now you have it, take it.

Dio. Whose was it?

Cres. By all Diana's waiting-women yonder,† And by herself, I will not tell you whose.

Dio. To morrow will I wear it on my helm; And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it. Tro. Wert thou the devil, and wor'st on thy It should be challenged. [horn,

Cres. Well, well, "tis done, 'tis past ;-And yet it is not;

I will not keep my word.
Dio. Why then, farewell;

Thou never shalt mock Dioined again.

Cres. You shall not go :-One cannot speak a

word,

But it straight starts you.

Dio. I do not like this fooling.

Ther. Nor I, by Pluto: but that that likes not

you, pleases me best.

Dio. What, shall I come? the hour?
Cres. Ay, come :-O Jove !-

Do come :-I shall be plagu'd.
Dio. Farewell till then.

Cres. Good night. I pr'ythee, come.

[Exit DIOMEDES. Troilus, farewell! one eye yet looks on thee; But with my heart the other eye doth see. Ah! poor our sex! this fault in us I find, The error of our eye directs our mind: What error leads, must err; O then, conclude, Minds, sway'd by eyes, are full of turpitude. [Exit CRESSIDA.

Ther. A proof of strength she could not pub-¡ Let all untruths stand by thy stained name,

but now.

Tro. Let it not be believ'd for womanhood !** Think, we had mothers; do not give advantage To stubborn critics apt, without a theme, For depravation,-to square the general sex By Cressid's rule: rather think this not Cressid. Ulyss. What hath she done, prince, that can soil our mothers?

Tro. Nothing at all, unless that this were she.

Ther. Will he swagger himself out on's own eyes?

Tro. This she? no, this is Diomed's Cressida :

If beauty have a soul, this is not she;
If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimony,
If sanctimony be the gods' delight,
If there be rule in unity itself,

This was not she. O madness of discourse,
That cause sets up with and against itself!
Bifold authority! where reason can revolt
Without perdition, and loss assume all reason
Without revolt; this is, and is not, Cressid !
Within my soul there doth commence a fight
Of this strange nature, that a thing inseparate
Divides more widely than the sky and earth;
And yet the spacious breath of this division
Admits no orifice for a point as subtle
As is Arachne's broken woof, to enter.
Instance, O instance! strong as Pluto's gates;
Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven:
Instance, O instance! strong as heaven itself;
The bonds of heaven are slipp'd, dissolv'd, and
loos'd;

And with another knot, five-finger tied,

The fractions of her faith, orts of her love,
The fragments, scraps, the bits, and greasy re-

liques

Of her o'er-eaten faith, are bound to Diomed.
Ulyss. May worthy Troilus be half attach'd
With that which here his passion doth express?
Tro. Ay, Greek; and that shall be divulged
In characters as red as Mars his heart [well
Inflam'd with Venus: never did young man
fancy t

With so eternal and so fix'd a soul.
Hark, Greek ;-As much as I do Cressid love,
So much by weight hate I her Diomed:
That sleeve is mine, that he'll bear on his helm ;
Were it a casque 5 compos'd by Vulcan's skill,
My sword should bite it: not the dreadful spout,
Which shipmen do the hurricano call,
Constring'd in mass by the almighty sun,
Shall dizzy with more clamour Neptune's ear
In his descent, than shall my prompted sword
Falling on Diomed,

Ther. He'll tickle it for his concupy. ¶¶
Tro. O Cressid! O false Cressid! false, false,
false !

And they'll seem glorious.

Ulyss. Oh! contain yourself; Your passion draws ears hither.

Enter ENEAS.

Ene. I have been seeking you this hour, my lord:

Hector, by this, is arming him in Troy;
Ajax, your guard, stays to conduct you home.
Tro. Have with you, prince :-My courteous
lord, adieu:

Farewell, revolted fair!—and, Diomed,
Stand fast, and wear a castle on thy head!
Ulyss. I'll bring you to the gates.
Tro. Accept distracted thanks.

[Exeunt TROILUS, ÆNEAS, and ULYSSES. Ther. 'Would I could meet that rogue Dio med! I would croak like a raven; I would bode, I would bode. Patroclus will give me any thing for the intelligence of this whore: the parrot will not do more for an almond, than he for a com modious drab. Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery; nothing else holds fashion: A burning devil take them ! [Exit

SCENE III.-Troy-Before PRIAM'S
Palace.

Enter HECTOR and ANDROMACHE. And. When was my lord so much ungently temper'd,

To stop his ears against admonishment?
Unarm, unarm, and do not fight to-day.

Hect. You train me to offend you; get you in :
By all the everlasting gods, I'll go.
And. My dreams will, sure, prove ominous to
the day.

Hect. No more, I say.

Enter CASSANDRA.

Cas. Where is my brother Hector?

And. Here, sister; arm'd, and bloody in intent:

Consort with me in loud and dear petition,
Pursue we him on knees; for I have dream'd
Of bloody turbulence, and this whole night
Hath nothing been but shapes and forms of
slaughter.

Cas. Oh! it is true.

Hect. Ho! bid my trumpet sound!

Cas. No notes of sally, for the heavens, sweet brother.

Hect. Begone, I say: the gods have heard me

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

How now, young man? mean'st thou to fight today?

And. Cassandra, call my father to persuade. [Exit CASSANDRA. Hect. No, 'faith, young Troilus; doff; thy harness, youth,

I am to-day i'the vein of chivalry:

Let grow thy sinews til their knots be strong,
And tempt not yet the brushes of the war.
Unarm thee, go; and doubt thou not, brave boy,
I'll stand, to-day, for thee, and me, and Troy.
Tro. Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you,
Which better fits a lion than a man.

Hect. What vice is that, good Troilus? chide
me for it.

Tro. When many times the captive Grecians
fall,

Even in the fan and wind of your fair sword,
You bid them rise, and live.

Hect. Oh! 'tis fair play.

Tro. Fool's play, by heaven, Hector.
Hect. How now? how now?

Tro. For the love of all the gods,

Let's leave the hermit pity with our mother;
And when we have our armours buckled on,
The venom'd vengeance ride upon our swords;
Spur them to ruthful work, rein them from
ruth. +

Hect. Fie, savage, fie!

Tro. Hector, then 'tis wars.

Go in, and cheer the town: we'll forth, and
fight;
[night.
Do deeds worth praise, and tell you them at
Pri. Farewell: the gods with safety stand
about thee !

'Exeunt severally PRIAM and HECTOR.
Alarums.

Tro. They are at it; hark! Proud Diomed, believe,

I come to lose my arm, or win my sleeve.

AS TROILUS is going out, enter, from the
other side, PANDARUS.

Pan. Do you hear, my lord? do you hear?
Tro. What now?

Pan. Here's a letter from yon' poor girl.
Tro. Let me read.

Pan. A whoreson ptisick, a whoreson rascally ptisick so troubles me, and the foolish fortune of this girl and what one thing, what another, that I shall leave you one o'these days: And I have a rheum in mine eyes too; and such an ache in my bones, that, unless a man were cursed,

Hect. Troilus, I would not have you fight I cannot tell what to think on't.-What says she

to-day.

Tro. Who should withhold me?

Not fate, obedience, nor the hand of Mars
Beckoning with fiery truncheon my retire;
Not Priamus and Hecuba on knees,
Their eyes o'ergalled with recourse of tears;
Nor you, my brother, with your true sword
drawn,

Oppos'd to hinder me, should stop my way,
But by my ruin.

Re-enter CASSANDRA, with PRIAM.

Cas. Lay hold upon him, Priam, hold him
fast:

He is thy crutch; now if thou lose thy stay,
Thou on him leaning, and all Troy on thee,

Fall altogether.

Pri. Come, Hector, come, go back:

there?

My love with words and errors still she feeds;
But edifles another with her deeds.

[Exeunt severally. SCENE IV.-Between Troy and the Grecian Camp.

Alarums: Excursions. Enter THERSITES. Ther. Now they are clapper-clawing one another; I'll go look on. This dissembling abo minable varlet, Diomed, has got that same scurvy doting foolish young knave's sleeve of Troy

Thy wife hath dream'd; thy mother hath had there, in his helm: I would fain see them meet;

visions;

Cassandra doth foresee; and I myself

Am like a prophet suddenly eurapt,
To tell thee-that this day is ominous:
Therefore, come back.

Hect. Eneas is a-field;

And I do stand engag'd to many Greeks,
Even in the faith of valour, to appear
This morning to them.

Pri. But thou shalt not go.

Hect. I must not break my faith.
You know me dutiful; therefore, dear Sir,
Let me not shame respect; but give ine leave
To take that course by your consent and voice,
Which you do here forbid me, royal Priam.
Cas. O Priam, yield not to him.
And. Do not, dear father.

Hect. Andromache, I am offended with you:
Upon the love you bear me, get you in.
[Exit ANDROMACHE.
Tro. This foolish, dreaming, superstitious girl
Makes all these bodements.

Cas. O farewell, dear Hector.

Look, how thou diest! look, how thy eye turns
pale!

Look, how thy wounds do bleed at many vents!
Hark, how Troy roars how Hecuba cries out!
How poor Andromache shrills her dolours

forth!

that that same young Trojan ass, that loves the
whore there, might send that Greekish whore-
masterly villain with the sleeve, back to the dis-
sembling luxurions drab, on a sleeveless errand.
O'the other side, The policy of those crafty
swearing rascals,-that stale old mouse-eaten dry
cheese, Nestor: and that same dog-fox, Ulysses,
-is not proved worth a blackberry :-They set
me up, in policy, that mongrel cur, Ajax, against
that dog of as bad a kind, Achilles and now is
the cur Ajax prouder than the cur Achilles, and
will not arm to-day: whereupon the Grecians
begin to proclaim barbarisin, and policy grows
into an ill opinion. Soft! here come sleeve,
and t'other.

Enter DIOMEDES, TROILUS following.
Tro. Fly not; for, should'st thou take the
river Styx,
I would swim after.

Dio. Thou dost miscal retire:

I do not fly; but advantageous care
Withdrew ine from the odds of multitude:
Have at thee!

Ther. Hold thy whore, Grecian !-now for thy whore, Trojan!-now the sleeve, now the sleeve !

[Exeunt TROILUS and DIOMEDES, fighting.

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The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, Volume 10