Of will and judgment: how may I avoid, We do not throw in unrespective sieve t He brought a Grecian queen, whose youth and freshness Wrinkles Apollo's, and makes staleb the morning. Why keep we her? the Grecians keep our aunt: Is she worth keeping? why, she is a pearl, Whose price hath launch'd above a thousand ships, PRI. What noise? what shriek is this? TROIL. 'Tis our mad sister, I do know her voice. CAS. [Without.] Cry, Trojans ! HECT. It is Cassandra. bmakes stale the morning.] The quarto reads,-"makes pule the morning," &c. Enter CASSANDRA, raving.(2) CAS. Cry, Trojans, cry! lend me ten thousand eyes, And I will fill them with prophetic tears. HECT. Peace, sister, peace! CAS. Virgins and boys, mid-age and wrinkled eld, Soft infancy, that nothing canst* but cry, [Exit. HECT. Now, youthful Troilus, do not these high strains Of divination in our sister work Some touches of remorse? or is your blood Can qualify the same? TROIL. Why, brother Hector, We may not think the justness of each act Such and no other than event doth form it; Nor once deject the courage of our minds, Because Cassandra's mad; her brain-sick raptures Cannot distaste the goodness of a quarrel, Which hath our several honours all engag'd To make it gracious. For my private part, I am no more touch'd than all Priam's sons : And Jove forbid there should be done amongst us Such things as might offend the weakest spleen To fight for and maintain ! PAR. Else might the world convince of levity As well my undertakings as your counsels : But I attest the gods, your full consent Gave wings to my propension, and cut off All fears attending on so dire a project. For what, alas, can these my single arms? What propugnation is in one man's valour, To stand the push and enmity of those This quarrel would excite? Yet, I protest, Were I alone to pass the difficulties, And had as ample power as I have will, Paris should ne'er retract what he hath done, Nor faint in the pursuit. Paris, you speak PRI. PAR. Sir, I propose not merely to myself On terms of base compulsion! Can it be Should once set footing in your generous bosoms? HECT. Paris, and Troilus, you have both said And on the cause and question now in hand The reasons you allege do more conduce If Helen, then, be wife to Sparta's king,- My spritely brethren, I propend to you In resolution to keep Helen still; For 'tis a cause that hath no mean dependance TROIL. Why, there you touch'd the life of our Were it not glory that we more affected O, worthy satisfaction! would it were otherwise; that I could beat him, whilst he railed at me: 'sfoot, I'll learn to conjure and raise devils, but I'll see some issue of my spiteful execrations. Then there's Achilles,-a rare enginer. If Troy be not taken till these two undermine it, the walls will stand till they fall of themselves. O, thou great thunder-darter of Olympus, forget that thou art Jove, the king of gods; and, Mercury, lose all the serpentine craft of thy caduceus; if ye* take not that little-little less-than-little wit from them that they have! which short-armed ignorance itself knows is so abundant scarce, it will not in circumvention deliver a fly from a spider, without drawing their massy irons and cutting the web. After this, the vengeance on the whole camp! or, rather, the bone-ache! for that, methinks, is the curse dependant on those that war for a placket. I have said my prayers; and devil envy, say Amen.What, ho! my lord Achilles ! Enter PATROCLUS. PATR. Who's there? Thersites! Good Thersites, come in and rail. a THER. If I could have remembered a gilt counterfeit, thou wouldst not have slipped out of my contemplation: but it is no matter; thyself upon thyself! The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance, be thine in great revenue, heaven bless thee from a tutor, and discipline come not near thee! Let thy blood be thy direction till thy death! then if she that lays thee out says thou art a fair corse, I'll be sworn and sworn upon't, she never shrouded any but lazars. Amen.-Where's Achilles? PATR. What, art thou devout? wast thou in ‡ prayer? THER. Ay; the heavens hear me ! Enter ACHILLES. ACHIL. Who's there? PATR. Thersites, my lord. ACHIL. Where, where?-Art thou come? Why, my cheese, my digestion, why hast thou not served thyself in to my table so many meals? Come,-— what's Agamemnon? (*) First folio, thou. (+) First folio, the. (1) First folio inserts, a. a If I could have remembered a gilt counterfeit, thou wouldst not have slipped out of my contemplation:] A similar play on slip and counterfeit, the cant names for false pieces of money, occurs in "Romeo and Juliet:" see note (b), p. 179, Vol. I. By "contemplation," he refers to his previous devout imprecations. b of the prover.-] The folio reads, to the creator. c- - patchery,-] "Patchery" meant roguery, villany; not folly, as Mr. Collier persists in explaining it. THER. Thy knower, Patroclus: then tell me, Patroclus, what art thou? PATR. Thou mayst tell that knowest. THER. I'll decline the whole question :-Agamemnon commands Achilles; Achilles is my lord; I am Patroclus' knower; and Patroclus is a fool. PATR. You rascal ! THER. Peace, fool! I have not done. ACHIL. He is a privileged man.- Proceed, Thersites. THER. Agamemnon is a fool; Achilles is a fool; Thersites is a fool; and, as aforesaid, Patroclus is a fool. ACHIL. Derive this; come. THER. Agamemnon is a fool to offer to command Achilles; Achilles is a fool to be commanded of Agamemnon; Thersites is a fool to serve such a fool; and Patroclus is a fool positive. PATR. Why am I a fool? THER. Make that demand of the prover."-It suffices me thou art. Look you, who comes here? ACHIL. Patroclus, I'll speak with nobody.Come in with me, Thersites. c [Exit. THER. Here is such patchery, such juggling, and such knavery! all the argument is a cuckold and a whore; a good quarrel, to draw emulous factions, and bleed to death upon. Now the dry serpigo on the subject! and war and lechery confound all! [Exit. ULYSS. We saw him at the opening of his tent : He is not sick. AJAX. Yes, lion-sick, sick of proud heart: you may call it melancholy, if you will favour the man; but, by my head, 'tis pride: but why, why? let him show us at cause.-A word, my lord. [Takes AGAMEMNON aside. NEST. What moves Ajax thus to bay at him? ULYSS. Achilles hath inveigled his fool from him. NEST. Who? Thersites? ULYSS. He. NEST. Then will Ajax lack matter, if he have lost his argument. ULYSS. No; you see, he is his argument that has his argument,-Achilles. NEST. All the better; their fraction is more our wish than their faction: but it was a strong composure a fool could disunite." ULYSS. The amity that wisdom knits not, folly may easily untie.-Here comes Patroclus. NEST. NO Achilles with him. ULYSS. The elephant hath joints, but none for courtesy: his legs are legs for necessity, not for flexure.+ Re-enter PATROCLUS. PATR. Achilles bids me say, he is much sorry, If any thing more than your sport and pleasure Did move your greatness and this noble state To call upon him; he hopes it is no other But, for your health and your digestion sake, An after-dinner's breath. AGAM. Hear you, Patroclus; We are too well acquainted with these answers: But his evasion, wing'd thus swift with scorn, Cannot outfly our apprehensions. Much attribute he hath; and much the reason himself His pettish lunes, his ebbs, his flows, as if PATR. I shall; and bring his answer presently. [Exit. AGAM. In second voice we 'll not be satisfied; We come to speak with him.-Ulysses, enter you. [Exit ULYSSES. AJAX. What is he more than another? AGAM. No more than what he thinks he is. AJAX. Is he so much? Do you not think he thinks himself a better man than I am? AGAM. No question. AJAX. Will you subscribe his thought, and say he is? AGAM. No, noble Ajax; you are as strong, as valiant, as wise, no less noble, much more gentle, and altogether more tractable. AJAX. Why should a man be proud? How doth pride grow? I know not what pride is.* AGAM. Your mind's the clearer, Ajax, and your virtues the fairer. He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle; and whatever praises itself but in the deed, devours the deed in the praise. AJAX. I do hate a proud man, as I hate the engendering of toads. NEST. [Aside.] Yet he loves himself: is't not strange? Re-enter ULYSSES. ULYSS. Achilles will not to the field to-morrow. AGAM. What's his excuse? ULYSS. He doth rely on none; But carries on the stream of his dispose, Without observance or respect of any, In will peculiar and in self-admission. AGAM. Why will he not, upon our fair request, Untent his person, and share the air with us? ULYSS. Things small as nothing, for request's sake only, [ness; He makes important: possess'd he is with greatAnd speaks not to himself, but with a pride That quarrels at self-breath: imagin'd worth+ Holds in his blood such swoln and hot discourse, |