Puslapio vaizdai
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O heavens!-be true again?

I'll answer to my lust :5 And know you, lord, I'll nothing do on charge: To her own worth She shall be priz'd; but that you say-be't so, I'll speak it in my spirit and honour,-no.

Tro. Come, to the port.-I'll tell thee, Diomed, They're loving, well compos'd, with gifts of nature This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy head.

To give thee nightly visitation.
But yet, be true.
Cres.

Tro. Hear why I speak it, love;

The Grecian youths are full of quality ;1

flowing,

And swelling o'er with arts and exercise;

Lady, give me your hand; and, as we walk, To our own selves bend we our needful talk.

Par. Hark! Hector's trumpet. Æne.

How novelty may move, and parts with person,

Alas, a kind of godly jealousy

(Which I beseech you, call a virtuous sin,)

[Exeunt Troilus, Cressida, and Diomed. [Trumpet heard. How have we spent this morning!

O heavens! you love me not. The prince must think me tardy and remiss,

Makes me afeard.

Cres.

Tro. Die I a villain then!

In this I do not call your faith in question,

So mainly as my merit: I cannot sing,

Nor heel the high lavolt, nor sweeten talk,

Nor play at subtle games; fair virtues all,

That swore to ride before him to the field.

Par. 'Tis Troilus' fault: Come, come, to field with him.

Dei. Let us make ready straight.

Æne. Yea, with a bridegroom's fresh alacrity,

To which the Grecians are most prompt and preg- Let us address to tend on Hector's heels:

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Fair lady Cressid,

So please you, save the thanks this prince expects:
The lustre in your eye, heaven in your cheek,
Pleads your fair usage; and to Diomed
You shall be mistress, and command him wholly.

Tro. Grecian, thou dost not use me courteously,

To shame the zeal of my petition to thee,
In praising her: I tell thee, lord of Greece,
She is as far high-soaring o'er thy praises,
As thou unworthy to be call'd her servant.
I charge thee, use her well, even for my charge;
For, by the dreadful Pluto, if thou dost not,
Though the great bulk Achilles be thy guard,
I'll cut thy throat.

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Ulyss. "Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait; He rises on the toe: that spirit of his In aspiration lifts him from the earth.

Enter Diomed, with Cressida.

Agam. Is this the lady Cressid?
Dio.
Even she.
Agam. Most dearly welcome to the Greeks,
sweet lady.

Nest. Our general doth salute you with a kiss. Ulyss. Yet is the kindness but particular; 'Twere better, she were kiss'd in general.

Nest. And very courtly counsel: I'll begin.So much for Nestor.

Achil. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair

lady: Achilles bids you welcome.

Men. I had good argument for kissing once.
Patr. But that's no argument for kissing now:

For thus popp'd Paris in his hardiment;
And parted thus you and your argument.

Ulyss. O deadly gall, and theme of all our

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Cres. In kissing do you render or receive?

Patr. Both take and give.

Cres.

Re-enter Diomed.

Agam. Here is sir Diomed:--Go, gentle knight,

I'll make my match to live, Stand by our Ajax: as you and lord Æneas
The kiss you take is better than you give;
Therefore no kiss.

Men. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one.
Cres. You're an odd
man; give even, or give

none.

Men. An odd man, lady? every man is odd. Cres. No, Paris is not; for, you know, 'tis true, That you are odd, and he is even with you.

Men. You fillip me o'the head.
Cres.

No, I'll be sworn.

Ulyss. It were no match, your nail against his

horn.

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To him that victory commands? Or do you purpose,
A victor shall be known? will you, the knights
Shall to the edge of all extremity

Pursue each other; or shall they be divided
By any voice or order of the field?
Hector bade ask.

Agam. Which way would Hector have it?
Æne. He cares not, he'll obey conditions.

Consent upon the order of their fight,
So be it; either to the uttermost,
Or else a breath:2 the combatants being kin,
Half stints their strife before their strokes begin.
[Ajax and Hector enter the lists.

Ulyss. They are oppos'd already.
Agam. What Trojan is that same that looks so
heavy?
Ulyss. The youngest son of Priam, a true knight;
Not yet mature, yet matchless; firm of word;
Speaking in deeds, and deedless in his tongue;
Not soon provok'd, nor, being provok'd, soon calm'd
His heart and hand both open, and both free;
For what he has, he gives, what thinks, he shows;
Yet gives he not till judgment guide his bounty,
Nor dignifies an impairs thought with breath:
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
For Hector, in his blaze of wrath, subscribes6
To tender objects; but he, in heat of action,
Is more vindicative than jealous love:
They call him Troilus; and on him erect
A second hope, as fairly built as Hector.
Thus says Æneas; one that knows the youth
Even to his inches, and with private soul,
Did in great Ilion thus translate? him to me.

[Alarum. Hector and Ajax fight.

Agam. They are in action.

Nest. Now, Ajax, hold thine own!

Tro.

Awake thee!

Hector, thou sleep'st;

Agam. His blows are well dispos'd:-there,

Ajax!

Dio. You must no more. Æne.

[Trumpets cease.

Princes, enough, so please you.

Ajax. I am not warm yet, let us fight again.
Dio. As Hector pleases.
Hect.

Why then, will I no more :

Thou art, great lord, my father's sister's son,
A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;
The obligation of our blood forbids
Were thy commixion Greek and Trojan so,
A gorys emulation 'twixt us twain:

That thou could'st say-This hand is Grecian all,
And this is Trojan; the sinews of this leg
All Greek, and this all Troy; my mother's blood
Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister 10
Bounds-in my father's; by Jove multipotent,
Thou should'st not bear from me a Greekish member

Wherein my sword had not impressure made

Achil. "Tis done like Hector; but securely done, Of our rank feud: But the just gods gainsay,

A little proudly, and great deal misprizing The knight oppos'd.

Æne.

What is your name? Achil.

If not Achilles, sir,

If not Achilles, nothing.

Ene. Therefore Achilles: But, whate'er, know this;

In the extremity of great and little,

Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector;
The one almost as infinite as all,

The other blank as nothing. Weigh him well,
And that, which looks like pride, is courtesy.
This Ajax is half made of Hector's blood:
In love whereof, half Hector stays at home;
Half heart, half hand, half Hector comes to seek
This blended knight, half Trojan, and half Greek.
Achil. A maiden battle then?-O, I perceive you.

(1) Motion. (2) Breathing, exercise. (3) Stops.
(4) No boaster.
(5) Unsuitable to his character.
(6) Yields, gives way,

I thank thee, Hector:

That any drop thou borrow'st from thy mother,
My sacred aunt, should by my mortal sword
Be drain'd! Let me embrace thee, Ajax:
By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
Hector would have them fall upon him thus:
Cousin, all honour to thee!
Ajax.
Thou art too gentle, and too free a man:
I came to kill thee, cousin, and bear hence
A great addition!ll earned in thy death.
Hect. Not Neoptolemus12 so mirable
(On whose bright crest Fame with her loud'st O yes
Cries, This is he,) could promise to himself
A thought of added honour torn from Hector.
Æne. There is expectance here from both the

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Scene V.

Hect.

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA.

We'll answer it; The issue is embracement:-Ajax, farewell. Ajax. If I might in entreaties find success, (As seld! I have the chance,) I would desire My famous cousin to our Grecian tents.

Dio. 'Tis Agamemnon's wish: and great Achilles
Doth long to see unarm'd the valiant Hector.

Hect. Æneas, call my brother Troilus to me:
And signify this loving interview
To the expecters of our Trojan part;
Desire them home. Give me thy hand, my cousin;
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 strew'd with
husks,

And formless ruin of oblivion;

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 very heart, great Hector, welcome.
Hect. I thank thee, most imperious2 Agamemnon.
Agam. My well-fam'd lord of Troy, no less to you.
[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. O, 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,

Nest. Ha!

By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morrow.
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 ensue:
My prophecy is but half his journey yet;
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.

Hect.

Achil. I am Achilles.

Is this Achilles?

Hect. Stand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee.
Achil. Behold thy fill.
Nay, I have done already.
Hect.
Achil. Thou art too brief; I will the second time,
As I could buy thee, view thee limb by limb.
Hect. O, like a book of sport thou'lt 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

Shall I destroy him; whether there, there, or there?
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 prenominates in nice conjecture,

Achil.

I tell thee, yea.

Hect. Wert thou an oracle to tell me so,

When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i'the air, Where thou wilt hit me dead?

Not letting it decline on the declin'd;5

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, 6
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.

Æne. 'Tis the old Nestor.

Hect. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle,
That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with time:-
Most reverend Nestor, I am glad to clasp thee.

Nest. I would, my arms could match thee in

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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

Ајах.

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; 10 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 had peltingll wars, since you refus'd
The Grecians' cause.
Achil.

To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death;

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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 convivel we: afterwards,
As Hector's leisure and your bounties shall
Concur together, severally entreat him.-
Beat loud the taborines,2 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:
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.

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

Tro. Shall I, sweet lord, be bound to you so Away, Patroclus. Exeunt Achil. and Patr. much, After we part from Agamemnon's tent, To bring me thither? Ulyss.

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-wax: And the goodly transformation of Jupiter there, his brother, the bull, the primitive statue, and oblique memoriał of cuckolds; a thrifty shoeing-horn in a chain, hanging 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 both ass and ox: to an ox, were nothing; he is both ox and ass. To be a dog, a mule, a cat, a fitchew, a toad, a lizard, an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a roe, I would not care: but to be Menelaus, -I would conspire against destiny. Ask me not what I would be, if I were not Thersites; for I care not to be the louse of a lazar,9 Achil. I'll heat his blood with Greekish wine so I were not Menelaus.-Hey day! spirits and fires!

You shall command me, sir.

As gentle tell me, of what honour was
This Cressida in Troy? Had she no lover there
That wails her absence?

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

ACT V.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I.-The Grecian camp. Before Achilles' tent. Enter Achilles and Patroclus.

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

Patr. Here comes Thersites.

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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?

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Ulyss. Here comes himself to guide you.
Enter Achilles.

Achil. Welcome, brave Hector; welcome, prin-
ces all.

Agam. So now, fair prince of Troy, I bid good
night.

Ajax commands the guard to tend on you.
Hect. Thanks, and good night, to the Greeks'

general.
Men. Good night, my lord.

Hect.

Good night, sweet Menelaus.

Ther. Sweet draught:10 Sweet, quoth 'a! sweet sink, sweet sewer.

Achil. Good night,

And welcome, both to those that go, or tarry.
Agam. Good night. (Exe. Agam. and Men.
Achil. Old Nestor tarries; and you too, Diomed,

Keep Hector company an hour or two.

Dio. I cannot, lord; I have important business, The tide whereof is now. Good night, great

Hector.

Hect. Give me your hand.
Ulyss.

Follow his torch, he goes

(6) Menelaus. (7) Stuffed.

(8) Polecat.

(9) A diseased beggar. (10) Privy.

To Calchas' tent; I'll keep you company.
[Aside to Troilus.
And so good night.

Tro. Sweet sir, you honour me.
Hect.

[Exit Diomed; Ulyss. and Tro. following. Achil. Come, come, enter my tent.

Lest your displeasure should enlarge itself
To wrathful terms: this place is dangerous;
The time right deadly; I beseech you, go.
Tro. Behold, I pray you!
Ulyss.

Now, good my lord, go off: You flow to great destruction; come, my lord. Tro. I pr'ythee, stay. Ulyss.

[Exeunt Achilles, Hector, Ajax, and Nestor. Ther. That same Diomed's a false-hearted rogue,

a most unjust knave; I will no more trust him

when he leers, than I will a serpent when he hisses:

You have not patience; come. Tro. I pray you, stay; by hell, and all hell's torments,

he will spend his mouth, and promise, like Brabler I will not speak a word.

the hound; but when he performs, astronomers

Dio.

And so, good night.

foretell it; it is prodigious, there will come some

Cres. Nay, but you part in anger.

change; the sun borrows of the moon, when Dio

Tro.

Doth that grieve thee?

med keeps his word. I will rather leave to see O wither'd truth!

Hector, than not to dog him: they say, he keeps a

Ulyss.

Why, how now, lord?

Trojan drab, and uses the traitor Calchas' tent:

Tro.

By Jove,

I'll after. Nothing but lechery! all incontinent I will be patient.

varlets!

[Exit.

Cres.

Guardian!-why, Greek!

Dio. Pho, pho! adieu; you palter.3

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Cres. In faith, I do not; come hither once again.

Ulyss. You shake, my lord, at something; will

You will break out.

you go?

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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.

Ulyss. You have sworn patience.
Tro.

[Exit.

Fear me not, my lord;

Ulyss. She will sing any man at first sight.
Ther. And any man may sing her, if he can take I will not be myself, nor have cognition4

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Cres. O, all you gods!-O pretty, pretty 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

(3) Shuffle

(4) Knowledge.

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