Ulyss. Cres.

I do desire it.

Why, beg then. Ulyss. Why then for Venus' sake, give me a kiss, When Helen is a maid again, and his. Cres. I am your debtor, claim it when 'tis due. Ulyss. Never's my day, and then a kiss of you. Dio. Lady, a word:-I'll bring you to your father. [Diomed leads out Cressida. Nest. A woman of quick sense. Ulyss. Fie, fie upon her! There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip, Nay, her foot speaks; her wanton spirits look out At every joint and motive' of her body. O, these encounters, so glib of tongue, That give a coasting welcome ere it comes, And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts To every ticklish reader! set them down For sluttish spoils of opportunity, And daughters of the game. All. The Trojans' trumpet. Agam.

[Trumpet within.

Yonder comes the troop.

Enter Hector armed; Æneas, Troilus, and other Trojans, with Attendants.

Ene. Hail, all the state of Greece! what shall

be done

To him that victory commands? Or do you purpose,
A victor shall be known? will you, the knights
Shall to the edge of all extremity

Pursue each other; or shall they be divided
By any voice or order of the field?
Hector bade ask.

Agam. Which way would Hector have it?
Ene. He cares not, he'll obey conditions.
Achil. 'Tis done like Hector; but securely done,
A little proudly, and great deal misprizing
The knight oppos'd.
Ene.
What is your name?

If not Achilles, sir,

Achil
If not Achilles, nothing.
Ene. Therefore Achilles: But, whate'er, know

this;-
In the extremity of great and little,
Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector;
The one almost as infinite as all,

The other blank as nothing. Weigh him well,
And that, which looks like pride, is courtesy.
This Ajax is half made of Hector's blood:
In love whereof, half Hector stays at home;
Half heart, half hand, haif Hector comes to seek
This blended knight, half Trojan, and half Greek.
Achil. A maiden battle then?-0, I perceive you.

(1) Motion. (2) Breathing, exercise. (3) Stops. (4) No boaster. (5) Unsuitable to his character. (6) Yields, gives way.

Re-enter Diomed.

Stand by our Ajax: as you and lord Æneas
Agam. Here is sir Diomed:-Go, gentle knight,
Consent upon the order of their fight,
Or else a breath:2 the combatants being kin,
So be it; either to the uttermost,
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;
Speaking in deeds, and deedless4 in his tongue;
Not soon provok'd, nor, being provok'd, soon calm'd:
His heart and hand both open, and both free;
For what he has, he gives, what thinks, he shows;
Yet gives he not till judgment guide his bounty,
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
Nor dignifies an impair thought with breath:
For Hector, in his blaze of wrath, subscribes
To tender objects; but he, in heat of action,
They call him Troilus; and on him erect
Is more vindictive than jealous love:
A second hope, as fairly built as Hector.
Even to his inches, and with private soul,
Thus says Eneas; one that knows the youth
Did in great Ilion thus translate" him to me.
[Alarum. Hector and Ajax fight.

Agam. They are in action.
Nest. Now, Ajax, hold thine own!

Tro.

Awake thee!

Hector, thou sleep'st;

Agam. His blows are well dispos'd :-there,

Ajax! Dio. You must no more. [Trumpets cease. Æne. Princes, enough, so please you. Ajax. I am not warm yet, let us fight again. Dio. As Hector pleases.

Hect.
Why then, will I no more :-
Thou art, great lord, my father's sister's son,
The obligation of our blood forbids
A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;

Were thy commixion Greek and Trojan so,
A gory emulation 'twixt us twain:
That thou could'st say-This hand is Grecian all,
And this is Trojan; the sinews of this leg
All Greek, and this all Troy; my mother's blood
Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister10
Thou should'st not bear from me a Greekish member
Bounds-in my father's; by Jove's multipotent,
of our rank feud: But the just geds gainsay,
Wherein my sword had not impressure made
That any drop thou borrow'st from thy mother,
My sacred aunt, should by my mortal sword
Be drain'd! Let me embrace thee, Ajax:
By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
Cousin, all honour to thee!
Hector would have them fall upon him thus:

Ajax.
I thank thee, Hector:
Thou art too gentle, and too free a man :
I came to kill thee, cousin, and bear hence
A great addition" earned in thy death.
Hect. Not Neoptolemus12 so mirable
(On whose bright crest Fame with her loud'st O yes
Cries, This is he,) could promise to himself
A thought of added honour torn from Hector.
Ene. There is expectance here from both the
What further you will do.
sides,

(7) Explain his character.
(9) Right.
(10) Left.
(11) Title. (12) Achilles.

(8) Bloody.

Hect.
We'll answer it;
The issue is embracement:-Ajax, farewell.'
Ajax. If I might in entreaties find success,
(As seld' I have the chance,) I would desire
My famous cousin to our Grecian tents.

Dio. 'Tis Agamemnon's wish: and great Achilles Doth long to see unarm'd the valiant Hector.

Hect. Eneas, call my brother Troilus to me:
And signify this loving interview

To the expecters of our Trojan part;
Desire them home.-Give me thy hand, my cousin;
I will go eat with thee, and see your knights.
Ajax. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us here.
Hect. The worthiest of them tell me name by

name;

But for Achilles, my own searching eyes
Shall find him by his large and portly size.

Agam. Worthy of arms! as welcome as to one That would be rid of such an enemy;

But that's no welcome: Understand more clear, What's past, and what's to come, is strew'd with husks,

And formless ruin of oblivion;

But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing,
Bids thee, with most divine integrity,
From heart of very heart, great Hector, welcome.
Hect. I thank thee, most imperious? Agamemnon.
Agam. My well-fam'd lord of Troy, no less to you.
[To Troilus.

Men. Let me confirm my princely brother's greeting;

You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither.
Hect. Whom must we answer?
Men.
The noble Menelaus.
Hect. O you, my lord? by Mars his gauntlet,
thanks!

Mock not, that I affect the untraded3 oath ;
Your quondam wife swears still by Venus' glove:
She's well, but bade me not commend her to you.
Men. Name her not now, sir; she's a deadly

theme.

Hect. O, pardon; I offend.

Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft, Labouring for destiny, make cruel way

Through ranks of Greekish youth: and I have seen

thee,

As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed, Despising many forfeits and subduements,

Nest. Ha!
By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morrow.
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 Greek and Trojan dead,
Since first I saw yourself and Diomed
In Ilion, on your Greekish embassy.

Ulyss. Sir, I foretold you then what would ensue:
My prophecy is bat half his journey yet;
For yonder walls, that pertly front your town,
Yon towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds,
Must kiss their own feet.
Hect.
I must not believe you:
There they stand yet; and modestly I think,
The fall of every Phrygian stone will cost
A drop of Grecian blood: The end crowns all;
And that old common arbitrator, time,
Will one day end it.

Ulyss. So to him we leave it. Most gentle, and most valiant Hector, welcome: After the general, I beseech you next To feast with me, and see me at my tent.

Achil. I shall forestall thee, lord Ulysses, thou!Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee; I have with exact view perus'd thee, Hector, And quoted' joint by joint. Hect.

Is this Achilles?

Achil. I am Achilles.
Hect. Stand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee.
Achil. Behold thy fill."

Hect.
Nay, I have done already.
Achil. Thou art too brief; I will the second time,
As I could buy thee, view thee limb by limb.

Hect. O, like a book of sport thou'lt read me o'er; But there's more in me than thou understand'st. Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye?

Achil. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of

his body

Shall I destroy him; whether there, there, or there?
That I may give the local wound a name;
And make distinct the very breach whereout
Hector's great spirit flew: Answer me, heavens!
Hect. It would discredit the bless'd gods, proud

man,

Not letting it decline on the declin'd ;'
That I have said to some my standers-by,

Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life!

And I have seen thee pause, and take thy breath,
When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd thee in,
Like an Olympian wrestling: This have I seen;
But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel,
I never saw till now. I knew thy grandsire,
And once fought with him: he was a soldier good;
But, by great Mars, the captain of us all,
Never like thee: Let an old man embrace thee:
And, worthy warrior, welcome to our tents.
Ene. 'Tis the old Nestor.

Hect. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle, That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with time: 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.
Hect. I would they could.

(1) Seldom. (2) Imperial.

(3) Singular, not common. (4) Heretofore. (5) Fallen. (6) Laomedon. (7) Observed.

Achil.
I tell thee, yes.
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 his 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; 10 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,
To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death;

Hector?

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,
As Hectors' leisure and your bounties shall
Concur together, severally entreat him.-
Beat loud the taborines, let the trumpets blow,
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 Troilus:
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.

Ther. No? why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleive silk, thou green sarcenet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a prodigal's purse, thou? Ah, how the poor world is pestered with such water-flies; diminutives of nature! Patr. Out, gall!

Ther. Finch-egg!

Achil. My sweet Patroclus, I am thwarted quite From my great purpose in to-morrow's battle." Here is a letter from queen Hecuba;

A token from her daughter, my fair love;
Both taxing me, and gaging me to keep
An oath that I have sworn. I will not break it:
Fall, Greeks; fail, fame; honour, or go, or stay;
My major vow lies here, this I'll obey.
Come, come, Thersites, help to trim my tent:
This night in banqueting must all be spent.

ACT V.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I-The Grecian camp. Before Achilles' tent. Enter Achilles and Patroclus.

Achil. I'll heat his blood with Greekish wine to-night,

Which with my scimitar I'll cool to-morrow.-
Patroclus, let us feast him to the height.
Patr. Here comes Thersites.

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 !3 and what need these tricks?

Ther. Pr'ythee be silent, boy; I profit not by thy talk: thou art thought to be Achilles' male varlet.

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 ?

Ther. Do I curse thee?

Patr. Why, no, you ruinous butt; you whoreson indistinguishable cur, no.

(1) Feast. (2) Small drums. (3) Contrariety. (4) Coarse, unwrought. (5) Harlots.

[Exeunt Achil. and Patr. 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-wax; And the goodly transformation of Jupiter 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, an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a roe, I would not care: but to be Menelaus, I would conspire against destiny. Ask me not what I would be, if I were not so I were not Menelaus.-Hey day! spirits and Thersites; for I care not to be the louse of a lazar, fires!

To Calchas' tent; I'll keep you company
Aside to Troilus.
Tro. Sweet sir, you honour me.
Hect.
And so good night.
[Exit Diomed; Ulyss. and Tro. following.
Achil. Come, come, enter my tent.

[Exeunt Achilles, Hector, Ajax, and Nestor. Ther. That same Diomed's a false-hearted rogue, a most unjust knave; 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 foretell 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. Enter Diomedes.

Dio. What, are you up here, ho? speak.
Cal. [Within.] Who calls?

Dio. Diomed.-Calchas, I think.-Where's your daughter?

Cal. [Within.] She comes to you.

Enter Troilus and Ulysses, at a distance; after

them Thersites.

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. Dio. Give me some token for the surety of it. Cres. I'll fetch you one.

Ulyss. You have sworn patience.

Tro.

[Exit.

Fear me not, my lord; I will not be myself, nor have cognition" Of what I feel; I am all patience.

Re-enter Cressida.

Ther. Now the pledge; now, now, now!
Cres. Here, Diomed, keep this sleeve.
Tro. O beauty! where's thy faith?
Ulyss.

My lord,

Tro. I will be patient; outwardly I will.
Cres. You look upon that sleeve; Behold it

well.

He loved me-O false wench!-Give't me again. Dio. Who was't?

Cres.

I

I

No matter, now I have't again. will not meet with you to-morrow night: pr'ythee, Diomed, visit me no more.

What, this?

Ther. Now she sharpens ;-Well said, whetstone. Dio. I shall have it.

Cres.

Dio.

Ay, that. Cres. O, all you gods!-O pretty, pretty pledge! Thy master now lies thinking in his bed Of thee, and me; and sighs, and takes my glove, And gives memorial dainty kisses to it, As I kiss thce.-Nay, do not snatch it from me; He, that takes that, must take my heart withal. Dio. I had your heart before, this follows it. Tro. I did swear patience.

Cres. You shall not have it, Diomed;
shall not;

I'll give you something else.
Dio. I will have this; Whose was it?
Cres.