Against us brats, with no less confidence,
Than boys pursuing summer butter-flies,
Or butchers killing flies.
Men.

You have made good work,
You, and your apron-men; you that stood so much
Upon the voice of occupation, and
The breath of garlick-eaters!
Çom.

He will shake
Your Rome about your ears.
Men.

As Hercules
Did shake down mellow fruit: You have made fair

work! Bru. But is this true, sir? Com.

Ay; and you'll look pale Before

you

find it other.' All the regions
Do smilingly revolt; and, who resist,
Are only mock'd for valiant ignorance,
And perish constant fools. Who is't can blame him?
Your enemies, and his, find something in him. -,

Men. We are all undone, unless
The noble man have mercy.
Com.

Who shall ask it?
The tribunes cannot do't for shame; the people
Deserve such pity of him, as the wolf
Does of the shepherds : for his best friends, if they
Should say, Be good to Rome, they charg'd him even
As those should do that had desery'd his hate,
And therein shovi'd like enemies,
Men,

Tis true:

Com.

If he were putting to my house the brand
That should consume it, I have not the face
To say, 'Beseech you, cease.—You have made fair

hands, You, and

your
crafts !

you
have crafted fair!

You have brought
A trembling upon Rome, such as was never
So incapable of help.
Tri.

Say not, we brought it.
Men. How! Was it we? We lov'd him; but, like

beasts,
And cowardly nobles, gave way to your clusters,
Who did hoot him out o'the city.
Com.

But, I fear
They'll roar him in again. Tullus Aufidius,
The second name of men, obeys his points
As if he were his officer:- Desperation
Is all the policy, strength, and defence,
That Rome can make against them.

Enter a troop of Citizens.
Men.

Here come the clusters. And is Aufidius with him ?-You are they That made the air unwholesome, when you cast Your stinking, greasy caps, in hooting at Coriolanus' exile. Now he's coming; And not a hair upon a soldier's head, Which will not prove a whip; as many coxcombs, As you threw caps up, will he tumble down,

And pay you

for
your

voices. 'Tis no matter;
If he could burn us all into one coal,
We have desery'd it.

Cit. 'Faith, we hear fearful news. i Cit.

For mine own part, When I said, banish him, I said, 'twas pity.

2 Cit. And so did I.

3 Cit. And so did I; and, to say the truth, so did very many of us: Thạt we did, we did for the best: and though we willingly consented to his banishment, yet it was against our will."

Com. You are goodly things, you voices!
Men.

You have made
Good work, you and your cry!-Shall us to the

Capitol?
Com. O, ay; what else? (Exeunt Com, and Men,

Sic. Go, masters, get you home, be not dismay'd;
These are a side, that would be glad to have
This true, which they so seem to fear. Go home,
And show no sign of fear.

i Cit. The gods be good to us! Come, masters,
let's home. I ever said, we were i' the wrong, when
we banish'd him.
2 Cit. So did we all.' But.come, let's home.

[Exeunt Citizens.
Bru. I do not like this news.
Sic. Nor I.

Bru. Let's to the Capitol :-'Would, half my wealth
Would buy this for a lie!'
Sic.

Pray, let us go. [Exeunt.

SCENE VII,

A Camp; at a small distance from Rome.

Enter AUPIDIUS, and his Lieutenant.
Auf. Do they still fly to the Roman?

Lieu. I do not know what witchcraft's in him; but
Your soldiers use him as the grace 'fore meat,
Their talk at table, and their thanks at end;
And you are darkend in this action, sir,
Even by your own.
Auf.

I cannot help it now;
Unless, by using means, I lame the foot
Of our design. He bears himself more proudlier
Even to my person, than I thought he would,
When first I did embrace him: Yet his nature
In that's no changeling; and I must excuse
What cannot be amended.
Lieu.

Yet I wish, sir,
(I mean, for your particular,) you had not
Join’d in commission with him: but either
Had borne the action of yourself, or else
To him had left it solely.

Auf. I understand thee well; and be thou sure,
When he shall come to his account, he knows not
What I can urge against him. Although it seems,
And so he thinks, and is no less apparent
To the vulgar eye, that he bears all things fairly,
And shows good husbandry for the Volcian state;

Fights dragon-like, and does achieve as soon
As draw his sword: yet he hath left undone
That, which shall break his neck, or hazard mine,
Whene'er we come to our account.
Lieu. Sir, I beseech you, think you he'll carry

Rome?
Auf. All places yield to him ere he sits down;
And the nobility of Rome are his:
The senators, and patricians, love him too:
The tribunes are no soldiers; and their people
Will be as rash in the repeal, as hasty
To expel him thence. I think, he'll be to Rome,
As is the osprey to the fish 59, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature. First he was
A noble servant to them; but he could not
Carry his honours even: whether 'twas pride,
Which out of daily fortune ever taints
The happy man; whether defect of judgement,
To fail in the disposing of those chances
Which he was lord of; or whether nature,
Not to be other than one thing, not moving
From the casque to the cushion, but commanding

peace
Even with the same austerity and garb
As he controllid the war: but, one of these,
(As he hath spices of them all, not all,
For I dare so far free him,) made him fear'd,
So hated, and so banish’d: But he has a merit,
To choke it in the utterance. So our virtues
Lie in the interpretation of the time: