Cres. Adieu, uncle. Pan. I'll be with you, niece, by and by. Pan. Ay, a token from Troilus. Cres. By the same token you are a bawd.- Words, vows, griefs, tears, and love's full sa- That she belov'd knows nought, that knows not this, Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is: That she was never yet, that ever knew Love got so sweet, as when desire did sue: Therefore this maxim out of love I teach,Achievement is command; ungain'd beseech: Then though my heart's content firm love doth bear, Nothing of that shall from mine eyes appear. [Exit. Sitht every action that hath gone before, That gav't surmised shape. Why then, you princes, Do you with cheeks abash'd behold our works; And think them shames, which are, indeed, nought else But the protractive trials of great Jove. To find persistive constancy in men? The fineness of which metal is not found tains cut, Bounding between the two moist elements, Like Perseus' horse: Where's then the saucy boat, Whose weak untimber'd sides but even now The herd hath more annoyance by the brize,t thing of courage, Ulyss. Agamemnon, [Greece, Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Heart of our numbers, soul and only spirit, In whom the tempers and the minds of all Should be shut up, -hear what Ulysses speaks. Besides the applause and approbation The which,-most mighty for thy place and sway,[TO AGAMEMΝΟΝ. And thou most reverend for thy stretch'd-out life,[TO NESTOR. I give to both your speeches, which were such, As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece Should hold up high in brass; and such again, As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver, [tree Should with a bond of air (strong as the axleOn which heaven rides,) knit all the Greekish [both,To his experienc'd tongue, yet let it please Thou great, and wise, to hear Ulysses ears speak. Agam. Speak, prince of Ithaca; and be't of less expect‡ That matter needless, of importless burden, down, And the great Hector's sword had fack'd a But for these instances. In fortune's love: for then, the bold and When that the general is not like the hive, coward, The wise and fool, the artist and unread, The hard and soft, seem all affin'd‡ and kin: But, in the wind and tempest of her frown, Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan, Puffing at all, winnows the light away; And what hath mass, or matter, by itself Lies, rich in virtue, and unmingled. Nest. With due observance of thy godlike seat,§ Great Agamemnon, Nestor shall apply * Twisted and rambling. Joined by affinity. + Since. The throne. * The daughter of Neptune. + The gad fly that stings cattle. ‡ Expectation. Rights of authority. || Masked. 1 Constancy Amidst the other; whose med'cinable eye And posts, like the commandment of a king, Sans check, to good and bad: But when the planets, In evil mixture, to disorder wander, [tiny? Divert and crack, rend and deracinatet And, like a strutting player, whose conceit Lies in his hamstring, and doth think it rich To hear the wooden dialogue and sound 'Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage,* Such to-be-pitied and o'er-wrestedt seeming He acts thy greatness in: and when he speaks, 'Tis like a chime a mending; with terms unsquar'd,‡ [dropp'd, Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon Would seem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff, The large Achilles, on his press'd bed lolling, Quite from their fixture? O, when degree is From his deep chest laughs out a loud apIt is most meet; Whom may you else oppose, That can from Hector bring those honours off, If not Achilles? Though't be a sportful combat, Yet in the trial much opinion dwells; shak'd, Which is the ladder of all high designs, ities, Take but degree away, untune that string, And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets Then every thing includes itself in power, So doubly seconded with will and power, And, last, eat up himself. Great Agamem- And this neglection of degree it is, And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot, Nest. Most wisely hath Ulysses here discover'd The fever whereof all our power is sick. Ulyss. The great Achilles, whom opinion plause; Cries-Excellent!-'tis Agamemnon just.-Now play me Nestor;-hem, and stroke thy As he, being dress'd to some oration. [beard, That's done ;-as near as the extremest ends Of parallels; as like as Vulcan and his wife. Yet good Achilles still cries, Excellent! 'Tis Nestor right! Now play him me, Patroclus, Arming to answer in a night alarm. And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age Must be the scene of mirth; to cough, and spit, And with a palsy-fumbling on his gorget, Shake in and out the rivet:-and at this sport, Sír Valour dies; cries, O!-enough, Patro clus; Or give me ribs of steel! I shall split all Nest. And in the imitation of these twain (Whom, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns With an imperial voice,) many are infect. Ajax is grown self-will'd; and bears his head In such a reign, in full as proud a place As broad Achilles: keeps his tent like him; Makes factious feasts; rails on our state of Bold as an oracle: and sets Thersites [war, (A slave, whose gall coins slanders like a mint,) To match us in comparisons with dirt; To weaken and discredit our exposure, How rank soever rounded in with danger. Ulyss. They tax our policy, and call it cow- Count wisdom as no member of the war; Æne. Nor I from Troy come not to whisper To set his sense on the attentive bent, Agam. Speak frankly as the wind; Æne. Trumpet, blow loud, [tents; Send thy brass voice through all these lazy If there be one among the fair'st of Greece, That knows his valour, and knows not to fear; Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks, * Freely. He hath a lady, wiser, fairer, truer, man If none of them have soul in such a kind, Æne. Now heavens forbid such scarcity of youth! Ulyss. Amen! Agam. Fair lord Æneas, let me touch your To our pavilion shall I lead you, Sir. [hand; Achilles shall have word of this intent: So shall each lord of Greece, from tent to tent: Yourself shall feast with us before you go, And find the welcome of a noble foe. [Exeunt all but ULYSSES and NESTOR. Ulyss. Nestor, brain, Be you my time to bring it to some shape. Nest. What is't? Ulyss. This 'tis: [pride Blunt wedges rive hard knots: The seeded In rank Achilles, must or now be cropp'd, Nest. Well, and how? Ulyss. This challenge that the gallant Hec tor sends, However it is spread in general name, Nest. The purpose is perspicuous even as substance, Whose grossness little characters sum up: of judgement, Ulyss. And wake him to the answer, think you? Nest. Yes, For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute Ulysses, Our imputation shall be oddly pois'd Of things to come at large. It is suppos'd, part, To steel a strong opinion to themselves? Ulyss. Give pardon to my speech;- Nest. I see them not with my old eyes; what are they? Ulyss. What glory our Achilles shares from Hector, Were he not proud, we all should share with him: But he already is too insolent; And we were better parch in Afric sun, Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes, The sorts to figh fight with Hector: Among our- Give him allowance for the better man, fall His crest, that prouder than blue Iris bends. That we have better men. But, hit or miss, Now I begin to relish thy advice; bone. ACT II. SCENE I.-Another part of the Grecian Camp. Ajax. Thersites, Ther. Agamemnon-how if he had boils? full, all over, generally? Ajar. Thersites, Ajax. Thou bitch-wolf's son, canst thou not [Strikes him. hear? Feel then. Ther. The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mongrel beef-witted lord! Ajax. Speak then, thou unsalted leaven, speak: I will beat thee into handsomeness. Ther. I shall sooner rail thee into wit and holiness: but, I think, thy horse will sooner con an oration, than thou learn a prayer without book. Thou canst strike, canst thou? a red murrain o' thy jade's tricks! Ajax. Toads-stool, learn me the proclamation. Ther. Dost thou think, I have no sense, thou strikest me thus? Ajax. The proclamation, Ther. Thou art proclaimed a fool, I think. itch. Ther. I would, thou didst itch from head to foot, and I had the scratching of thec; I would make thee the loathsomest scab in Greece. When thou art forth in the incursions, thou strikest as slow as another. Ajar. I say, the proclamation, Ther. Thou grumblest and railest every hour on Achilles; and thou art as full of envy at his greatness, as Cerberus is at Proserpina's beauty, ay, that thou barkest at him. Ajax. Mistress Thersites! Ther. Thou shouldest strike him. you thus? How now, Thersites? what's the matter, man? Achil. Ay; what's the matter? Ther. Nay, look upon him. Achil. So I do; What's the matter? Ther. Nay, but regard him well. Achil. Well, why I do so. Ther. But yet you look not well upon him: for, whosoever you take him to be, he is Ajax. Achil. I know that, fool. Ther. Ay, but that fool knows not himself. Ther. Lo, lo, lo, lo, what modicums of wit he utters! his evasions have ears thus long. Ther. And those boils did run ?-Say so, I have bobbed his brain, more than he has beat * Size, measure. + Small points compared with the Volumes. † Estimation or character. || Character. Provoke. Lot. * Pound. ↑ Ass a cant term for a foolish fellow, † Continue. my bones: I will buy nine sparrows for a penny and his pia muter* is not worth the ninth part of a sparrow. This lord, Achilles, Ajax,一 HELENUS. who wears his wit in his belly, and his guts in Enter PRIAM, HECTOR, TROILUS, PARIS, and his head, I'll tell you what I say of him. Achil. What? Ther. I say, this Ajax Achil. Nay, good Ajax. interposes. Pri. After so many hours, lives, speeches spent, [AJAX offers to strike him, ACHILLES Thus once again says Nestor from the Greeks; Ther. Has not so much wit Achil. Nay, I must hold you. Ther. As will stop the eye of Helen's needle, for whom he comes to fight. Achil. Peace, fool! Ther. I would have peace and quietness, but the fool will not: he there; that he; look you there. Ajax. O thou damned cur! I shallAchil. Will you set your wit to a fool's? Ther. No, I warrant you; for a fool's will shame it. Ther. I serve thee not. Ther. I serve here voluntary.t as under an impress. Achil. Your last service was sufferance, 'twas not voluntary; no man is beaten voluntary; Ajax was here the voluntary, and you Ther. Even so?-a great deal of your wit too lies in your sinews, or else there be liars. Hector shall have a great catch, if he knock out either of your brains; a' were as good crack a fusty nut with no kernel. Achil. What, with me too, Thersites? Ther. There's Ulysses, and old Nestor, whose wit was mouldy ere your grandsires had nails on their toes, -yoke you like draught oxen, and make you plough up the wars. Achil. What, what? Ther. Yes, good sooth; To, Achilles! to, Ajax! to! Ajax. I shall cut out your tongue. Ther. 'Tis no matter; I shall speak as much as thou, afterwards. Patr. No more words, Thersites; peace. Ther. I will hold my peace when Achilles' bracht bids me, shall I? Achil. There's for you, Patroclus. Ther. I will see you hanged, like clotpoles, ere I come any more to your tents; I will keep where there is wit stirring, and leave the faction of fools. Patr. A good riddance. our host: [Exit. Achil. Marry, this, Sir, is proclaim'd through That Hector, by the first hour of the sun, Will, with a trumpet, 'twixt our tents and Troy, dare To-morrow morning call some knight to arms, Ajax. O, meaning you :-I'll go learn more [Exeunt. In hot digestion of this cormorant war, Shall be struck off: -Hector, what say you to't Hect. Though no man lesser fears the Greeks than I, As far as toucheth my particular, yet, There is no lady of more softer bowels, lows? Than Hector is: The wound of peace is surety, Since the first sword was drawn about this question, Every tithe soul, 'mongst many thousand dismes,* Hath been as dear as Helen; I mean, of ours: Tro. Fie, fie, my brother! Weigh you the worth and honour of a king, So great as our dread father, in a scale Of common ounces? will you with counters The past-proportion of his infinite? [sum with spans and inches so diminutive most fathomless, of it. * The membrane the protects the brain. → Voluntarily. + Bitch, hound. * Tenths. + Caution. |