Poм. Sit,—and fome wine.-A health to Lepidus. LEP. I am not fo well as I fhould be, but I'll ne'er out. ENO. Not till you have flept; I fear me, you'll be in, till then.

LEP. Nay, certainly, I have heard, the Ptolemies' ругаmifes are very goodly things; without contradiction, I have heard that.

MEN. Pompey, a word.

Pом. Say in mine ear: What is't?

[Afide

MEN. Forfake thy feat, I do befeech thee, captain, [Afide. And hear me speak a word.

POM. Forbear me till anon.

This wine for Lepidus.

LEP. What manner o' thing is your crocodile? ANT. It is fhaped, fir, like it self; and it is as broad as it hath breadth: it is just fo high as it is, and moves with its own organs: it lives by that which nourisheth it; and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates.

LEP. What colour is it of?

ANT. Of its own colour too.

LEP. 'Tis a ftrange ferpent.

ANT. 'Tis fo. And the tears of it are wet.

CES. Will this description fatisfy him?

ANT. With the health that Pompey gives him, elfe he is a very epicure.

POM. [to MENAS afide.] Go, hang, fir hang! Tell me that? away!

Do as I bid you.

Where's this cup I call'd for? MEN. If for the fake of merit thou wilt hear me,

Rife from thy ftool.

POм. I think, thou'rt mad. The matter?

of

[Afide

[rifes, and walks afide.

MEN. I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.

POм. Thou haft ferv'd me with much faith: What's

Be jolly, lords.

ANT. These quick-fands, Lepidus,

Keep off them, for you fink.

MEN. Wilt thou be lord of all the world?

POM. What say'st thou?

[elfe to fay?

MEN. Wilt thou be lord of the whole world? That's twice,

Ром. How fhould that be?

MEN. But entertain it, and,

Although thou think me poor, I am the man

Will give thee all the world.

POM. Haft thou drunk well?

MEN. No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup. Thou art, if thou dar'ft be, the earthly Jove : Whate'er the ocean pales, or sky inclips,

Is thine, if thou wilt have 't.

POм. Show me which way.

MEN. These three world-fharers, thefe competitors,

Are in thy veffel: Let me cut the cable;

And, when we are put off, fall to their throats:

All there is thine.

POм. Ah, this thou should'st have done,

And not have spoke on't! In me, 'tis villainy;
In thee, it had been good service. Thou must know,
'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour ;
Mine honour, it. Repent, that e'er thy tongue
Hath fo betray'd thine act: Being done unknown,
I should have found it afterwards well done;
But must condemn it now. Defist, and drink.
MEN. For this,

I'll never follow thy pall'd fortunes more.—

[Afide.

Who feeks, and will not take, when once 'tis offer'd,
Shall never find it more.

POм. This health to Lepidus.

ANT. Bear him afhore.-I'll pledge it for him, Pompey.

ENO. Here's to thee, Menas.
MEN. Enobarbus, welcome.

POм. Fill, till the cup be hid.

ENO. There's a strong fellow, Menas.

[Pointing to the attendant who carries off LEPIDUS.

MEN. Why?

ENO. He bears

The third part of the world, man; See'ft not?

MEN. The third part then is drunk: 'Would it were all, That it might go on wheels!

ENO. Drink thou; increase the reels.

MEN. Come.

POм. This is not yet an Alexandrian feast.

ANT. It ripens towards it.-Strike the veffels, ho! Here is to Cæfar.

CES. I could well forbear it.

It's monftrous labour, when I wash my brain,

And it grows fouler.

ANT. Be a child o' the time.

CAS. Poffefs it, I'll make answer: but I had rather fast

From all, four days, than drink fo much in one.

ENO. Ha, my brave emperor!

[to ANTONY.

Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals,

And celebrate our drink?

POм. Let's ha't good foldier.

ANT. Come, let us all take hands;

Till that the conquering wine hath fteep'd our sense
In foft and delicate Lethe.

ENO. All take hands.

Make battery to our ears with the loud mufick :

The while, I'll place you Then the boy fhall fingi

The holding every man fhall bear, as loud

As his ftrong fides can volley.

[Mufick plays. Enobarbus places them hand in hand.

SONG.

Come, thou monarch of the vine,
Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne:
In thy vats our cares be drown'd;
With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd;
Cup us, till the world go round;

Cup us, till the world go round!

CES. What would you more?- Pompey, good night.
Good brother,

Let me request you off: our graver business
Frowns at this levity.-Gentle lords, let's part;
You fee we have burnt our cheeks: ftrong Enobarbe
Is weaker than the wine; and mine own tongue
Splits what it speaks: the wild difguife hath almost
Antick'd us all. What needs more words? Good night.
Good Antony, your
hand.

POм. I'll try you o' the shore.

ANT. And fhall, fir: give's your hand.

Ром. O, Antony,

You have my father's house,-But what? we are friends:
Come, down into the boat.

ENO. Take heed you fall not.

[Exeunt Poм. CES. ANT. and Attendants.

Menas, I'll not on fhore.

MEN. No, to my cabin.

Thefe drums!-thefe trumpets, flutes! what!—

Let Neptune hear we bid a loud farewell

To these great fellows: Sound, and be hang'd, found out.

[A flourish of trumpets, with drums.

ENO. Ho, fays 'a!-There's my cap.

MEN. Ho! noble captain!

Come.

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I. A Plain in Syria.

Enter VENTIDIUS, as after conqueft, with SILIUS, and other Roman officers, and foldiers; the dead body of PAcorus borne before him.

VEN. Now, darting Parthia, art thou ftruck; and now Pleas'd fortune does of Marcus Craffus' death

Make me revenger.-Bear the king's fon's body
Before our army :-Thy Pacorus, Orodes,
Pays this for Marcus Craffus.

SIL. Noble Ventidius,

Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy fword is warm, The fugitive Parthians follow; fpur through Media, Mefopotamia, and the fhelters whither

The routed fly fo thy grand captain Antony

:

Shall fet thee on triumphant chariots, and
Put garlands on thy head.

VEN. O Silius, Silius,

I have done enough: A lower place, note well,
May make too great an act: For learn this, Silius
Better leave undone, than by our deed acquire
Too high a fame, when him we serve's away.
Cæfar, and Antony, have ever won
More in their officer, than perfon: Soffius,
One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant,
For quick accumulation of renown,

Which he achiev'd by the minute, loft his favour.
Who does i' the wars more than his captain can,
Becomes his captain's captain: and ambition,