For I will throw my glove to death himself, Though the great bulk Achilles be thy guard, Dio. Oh I be not mov'd, prince Troilus : Cres. Oh! you shall be expos'd, my lord, to I'll answer to my lust: And know you, lord, dangers As infinite as imminent! but, I'll be true. Tro. And I'll grow friend with danger. this sleeve. Wear Cres. And you this glove. When shall I see you? Tro. I will corrupt the Grecian sentinels, To give thee nightly visitation. But yet, be true. Cres. O heavens !-be true again ? Tro. Hear why I speak it, love: The Grecian youths are full of quality; I'll nothing do on charge: To her own worth They're loving, well compos'd, with gifts of na- The prince must think me tardy and remiss, ture flowing, And swelling o'er with arts and exercise; How novelty may move, and parts with person, (Which I beseech you, call a virtuous sin,) Cres. O heavens! you love me not. In this I do not call your faith in question, Nor heel the high lavolt, nor sweeten talk, But I can tell, that in each grace of these Cres. Do you think I will? Tro. No. But something may be done, that we will not: Ene. [Within.] Nay, good my lord,- Tro. Who, 1? alas, it is my vice, my fault: crowns, With truth and plainness I do wear mine bare. Welcome, Sir Diomed! here is the lady, That swore to ride before him to the field. with him. SCENE V.-The Grecian Camp.-Lists set out. Enter AJAX, armed; AGAMEMNON, ACHILI ES, PATROCLUS, MENELAUS, ULYSSES, NESTOR, and others. Agam. Here art thou in appointment+ fresh Anticipating time with starting courage. Ajax. Thou, trumpet, there's my purse. Come, stretch thy chest, and let thy eyes spout Thou blow'st for Hector. Ulyss. No trumpet answers. [Trumpet sounds. Agam. Is not yon Diomed, with Calchas daughter? Ulyss. "Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait ; Enter DIOMED, with CRESSIDA. 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. Ulyss. O deadly gall, and theme of all our For which we lose our heads to gild his horns. Men, Oh! this is trim ! Patr. Paris, and I, kiss evermore for him. Cres. In kissing do you render or receive? Cres. I'll make my match to live, The kiss you take is better than you give: Men. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three Cres. You're an odd man; give even or give none. Men. Au odd man, lady? every man is odd. That you are odd, and he is even with you, Cres. No, I'll be sworn. Ulyss. It were no match, you nail against his horn. May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you? Cres. You may. Ulyss. I do desire it, Cres. Why, beg then. Or else a breath; 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; His heart and hand both open, and both free; Yet gives he not till judgment guide his bounty, Ulyss. Why then, for Venus' sake, give me Is more vindicative than jealous love: a kiss, When Helen is a maid again, and his. Cres. I am your debtor, claim it when 'tis due. you. Dio. Lady, a word;-I'll bring you to your [out And daughters of the game. [Trumpet within. be done Enter HECTOR, armed; ENEAS, TROILUS, Agam. Which way would Hector have it? done. A litle proudly, and great deal misprising Ene. If not Achilles, Sir, What is your name? Achil. If not Achilles, nothing. They call him Troilus; and on him erect Agam. They are in action. Nest. Now, Ajax, hold thine own! Awake thee! Agam. His blows are well dispos'd:-there, Dio. You must no more. [Trumpets cease. Hect. Why then will I no more :- A gory emulation 'twixt us twain: Runs on the dexter + cheek, and this sinister member Wherein my sword had not impressure made Ajax. I thank thee, Hector : Ene. Therefore Achilles: But, whate'er, I came to kill thee, cousin, and bear hence And signify this loving interview Hect. The worthiest of them tell me name by name; But for Achilles, my own searching eyes Agam. Worthy of arms! as welcome as to one But in this extant moment, faith and troth, From heart of every heart, great Hector, wel Agam. My well fam'd lord of Troy, no less to You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither. 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 yon. Men. Name her not now, Sir; she's a deadly theme. Hect. Oh! pardon; I offend. Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee Labouring for destiny, make cruel way [oft, Through ranks of Greekish youth: and I have seen thee, As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed, Not letting it decline on the declin'd; § Like an Olympian wrestling: This have I seen; Bat, by great Mars, the captain of us all, Hect. Let me embrace thec, 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. 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 Greck 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, Hect. I must not believe you: There they stand yet; and modestly I think, Ulyss. So to him we leave it. Most gentle, and most valiant Hector, welcome. Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee; Hect. Is this Achilles? Achil. I am Achilles. But there's more in me than thou understand'st. To answer such a question: Stand again : 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 bis 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 Ajax. 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 had pelting wars, since you refus'd The Grecians' cause. Achil. Dost thou entreat me, Hector? To-morrow do I meet thee, felí 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, 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 Troi lus: t Former. t Stithy, a smith's shop. Petty. Feast. • Smail drume 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, Ulyss. You shall command me, Sir. 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 This Cressida in Troy? Had she no lover wax: And the goodly transformation of Jupiter 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. [Exeunt. ACT V. SCENE 1.-The Grecian Camp.-Before ACHILLES' Tent. Enter ACHILLES and PATROCLUS. Achil. I'll beat his blood with Greekish wine to-night, Which with my scimitar I'll cool to-morrow.- 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 variet. 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 ? there, his brother, the bull,-the primitive statue and oblique memorial 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, on owl, a puttock, or a herring without a row, 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, so I were not Menelaus.-Hey-day! spirits and fires ! Enter HECTOR, TROILUS, AJAX, AGAMEMNON, ULYSSES, NESTOR, MENELAUS, and DIOMED, with Lights. Agam. We go wrong, we go wrong. There, where we see the lights. Ajax. No, not a whit. Ulyss. Here comes himself to guide you. NESTOR. Ther. That same Diomed's a false-hearted rogue, a most unjust kuave; I will no more 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 after.-Nothing but lechery! all incontinent varlets! [Exit. SCENE II.-The same.-Before CALCHAS' Tent. Ther. Roguery! Dio. Nay, then,— Cres. I'll tell you what : Dio. Pho! pho! come, tell a pin: You are forsworn. Cres. In faith, I cannot: what would you have me do? Ther. A juggling trick, to be-secretly open. Dio. What did you swear you would bestow on me? Cres. I pr'ythee, do not hold me to mine cath; Bid me do any thing but that, sweet Greek. Dio. Good night. Tro. Hold, patience! Ulyss. How now, Trojan? Cres. Diomed, Dio. Do, no, good night: I'll be your fool no more. 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. Ulyss. You have sworn patience. I will not be myself, nor have cognition Re-enter CRESSIDA. [Exit. Ther. Now the pledge; now, now, now! Tro. I will be patient: outwardly I will. 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, whet stone. Dio. I shall have it. Cres. What, this? Cres. Oh! all you gods 1-0 pretty pretty pledge! Thy master now lies thinking in his bed 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? Dio. Come, tell me whose it was. Cres. 'Twas one's that loved ine 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 Diomed 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. Cres. Good night. I pr'ythee, come.- |