Let us be sacrificers, but no butchers, Caius. Cas. Yet do I fear him: For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar,- Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die; For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. [Clock strikes. Bru. Peace, count the clock. Cas. The clock hath stricken three. Treb. 'Tis time to part. Cas. But it is doubtful yet, Whe'r Cæsar will come forth to-day, or no : Dec. Never fear that: If he be so resolv'd, [8] Company is here used in a disreputable sense. HENLEY. [9] Ceremonies means omens or signs deduced from saerifices, or other Ceremonial rites. MALONE. And bears with glasses, elephants with holes, For I can give his humour the true bent; Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him :2 Cas. The morning comes upon us: We'll leave you, Brutus : And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remember What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans. Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; Let not our looks put on our purposes; But bear it as our Roman actors do, With untir'd spirits, and formal constancy: And so, good-morrow to you every one. [Exeunt all but BRUTUS. Boy! Lucius ! - Fast asleep? It is no matter; Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber: Thou hast no figures, nor no fantasies, Which busy care draws in the brains of men ; Therefore thou sleep'st so sound. Enter PORTIA. Por. Brutus, my lord ! Bru.Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now? It is not for your health, thus to commit Por. Nor for yours neither. You have ungently, Brutus, Stole from my bed: And yesternight, at supper, [1] Unicorns are said to have been taken by one who, running behind a tree, eluded the violent push the animal was making at him, so that his horn spent its force on the trunk, and stuck fast, detaining the beast till he was despatched by the hunter. Bears are reported to have been surprised by means of a mirror, which they would gaze on, affording their pursuers an opportunity of taking the surer aim. This circumstance, I think, is mentioned. by Claudian. Elephants were seduced into pit-falls, lightly covered with hur. dles and turf, on which a proper bate to tempt them, was exposed. STEEV. [2] That is, by his house. MALONE. 20* VOL. VI. You suddenly arose, and walk'd about, Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus, Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, Is it excepted, I should know no secrets [3] On your temper, the disposition of your mind. MALONE. That appertain to you? Am I yourself, But, as it were, in sort, or limitation; To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. 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 secret. I grant, I am a woman; but, withal, A woman that lord Brutus took to wife : I grant, I am a woman; but, withal, A woman well-reputed; Cato's daughter. Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose them : Giving myself a voluntary wound 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, All the charactery of my sad brows : Leave me with haste. [Exit PORTIΙΑ. Enter LUCIUS and LIGARIUS. Lucius, who is that, knocks? Luc. Here is a sick man, that would speak with you. Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. Boy, stand aside. -Caius Ligarius! how? Lig. Vouchsafe good-morrow from a feeble tongue. Bru. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius, To wear a kerchief? 'Would you were not sick! Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour. Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, And I will strive with things impossible; Yea, get the better of them. What's to do? 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. What it is, my Caius, I shall unfold to thee, as we are going To whom it must be done. Lig. Set on your foot; And, with a heart new-fir'd, I follow you, To do I know not what: but it sufficeth, That Brutus leads me on. Bru. Follow me then. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. A Room in CESAR's Palace. Thunder and lightning. Enter CESAR, 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 Cesar! Who's within ? Enter a Servant. Serv. My lord ? Cas. 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 forth? You shall not stir out of your house to-day. Cas. Cæsarshall 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, 4 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 : Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, In ranks, and squadrons, and right form of war, Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol : The noise of battle hurtled in the air, [4] i.e. I never paid a superstitious regard to prodigies or omens, STEE. |