Yet I insisted, yet' you answer'd not; Which seem'd too much enkindled; and, withal, Which sometime hath his hour with every man. Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all. Por. Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health, He would embrace the means to come by it. Bru. Why, so I de:-Good Portia, go to bed. Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. Still I insisted, still, &c. on your disposition. 3 medicinal. [J. Cæs. 26] Within the bond of marriage, tell me Brutus, To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. [suburbs Bru. You are my true and honourable wife; As dear to me, as are the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart. Por. If this were true, then should I know this I grant, I am a woman: but, withal, A woman that lord Brutus took to wife: [secret. Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose them : Here, in the thigh: Can I bear that with patience, Bru. O ye gods, Render me worthy of this noble wife! [Knocking within. Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in a while; And by and by thy bosom shall partake The secrets of my heart. All my engagements I will construe to thee, Leave me with haste. [Exit PORTIA. Lucius, who is that, knocks? Enter LUCIUS and LIGARIUS. Luc. Here is a sick man, that would speak with you. All that is charactered on, &c. [J. Cæs. 27] Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.- Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. To wear a kerchief? 'Would you were not sick! Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, Bru. A piece of work, that will make sick men whole. Lig. But are not some whole, that we must make sick? Bru. That must we also. I shall unfold to thee, as we To whom it must be done. What it is, my Caius, are going, Set on your foot; Lig. Bru. Follow me then. [Exeunt. SCENE II.—The same. A room in Cæsar's palace. Thunder and lightning. Enter Cæsar in his night-gown. Cas. Nor heaven, nor earth, have been at peace to-night: Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cried out, Help, ho! They murder Cæsar! Who's within? [J. CAS. 28] Serv. My lord? Enter a Servant. Cæs. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, And bring me their opinions of success. Serv. I will, my lord. Enter CALPHURNIA. [Exit. Cal. What mean you, Cæsar? Think you to walk You shall not stir out of your house to-day. [forth? Cæs. Cæsar shall forth: The things that threaten'd me, Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see The face of Cæsar, they are vanished. Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies, Yet now they fright me. There is one within, Besides the things that we have heard and seen, Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelped in the streets; And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead: In ranks, and squadrons, and right form of war, The noise of battle hurtled' in the air, And I do fear them. Cæs. What can be avoided, Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Yet Cæsar shall go forth: for these predictions Are to the world in general, as to Cæsar. Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Cas. Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, 1 i. e. clashed. [J. Cæs. 29] 2 c It seems to me most strange that men should fear, Will come, when it will come. Re-enter a Servant. What say the augurers? Serv. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, They could not find a heart within the beast. Cæs. The gods do this in shame of cowardice: If he should stay at home to-day for fear. We were two lions litter'd in one day, And Cæsar shall Cal. go forth. Alas, my lord, Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence. Do not go forth to-day: Call it my fear, That keeps you in the house, and not your own. Cæs. Mark Antony shall say, I am not well; Enter DECIUS. Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so. I come to fetch you to the senate-house. Cæs. And you are come in very happy time, To bear my greeting to the senators, And tell them, that I will not come to-day: Cæs. Shall Cæsar send a lie? Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far, [J. CAS. 30] |