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;1
They're loving, well compos'd, with gifts of nature
flowing,
And swelling o'er with arts and exercise;
How novelty may move, and parts with person,
Alas, a kind of godly, jealousy
(Which I beseech you, call a virtuous sin,)
Makes me afeard.
O heavens! you love me not.
Tro. Die I a villain then!
In this I do not call your faith in question,
So mainly as my merit: I cannot sing,
Nor heel the high lavolt,2 nor sweeten talk,
Nor play at subtle games; fair virtues all,
To which the Grecians are most prompt and
But I can tell, that in each grace of these
There lurks a still and dumb-discoursive devil,
I'll answer to my lust :5 And know you, lord,
I'll nothing do on charge: To her own worth
She shall be priz'd; but that you say-be't so,
I'll speak it in my spirit and honour,--no.
Tro. Come, to the port.-I'll tell thee, Diomed, This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy head.-Lady, give me your hand; and, as we walk, To our own selves bend we our needful talk. [Exeunt Troilus, Cressida, and Diomed. [Trumpet heard.
Par. Hark! Hector's trumpet.
Ene. How have we spent this morning!
The prince must think me tardy and remiss,
That swore to ride before him to the field.
Par. 'Tis Troilus' fault: Come, come, to field
with him.
Dei. Let us make ready straight.
Ene. Yea, with a bridegroom's fresh alacrity, preg-Let us address to tend on Hector's heels: The glory of our Troy doth this day lie, On his fair worth and single chivalry. SCENE V-The Grecian camp. Lists set out. Enter Ajax armed; Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus, Menelaus, Ulysses, Nestor, and others. Agam. Here art thou in appointment fresh and fair,
That tempts most cunningly but be not tempted.
Cres. Do think I will? you
But something may be done, that we will not:
And sometimes we are devils to ourselves,
When we will tempt the frailty of our powers,
Presuming on their changeful potency.
Ene. Within.] Nay, good my lord,-
Come, kiss; and let us part.
Par. [Within.] Brother Troilus!
Tro.
Good brother, come you hither;
And bring Æneas, and the Grecian, with you.
Cres. My lord, will you be true?
Tro. Who, I? alas, it is my vice, my fault:
While others fish with craft for great opinion,
I with great truth catch mere simplicity;
Whilst some with cunning gild their copper
So please you, save the thanks this prince expects:
The lustre in your eye, heaven in your cheek,
Pleads your fair usage; and to Diomed
You shall be mistress, and command him wholly.
Tro. Grecian, thou dost not use me courteously,||
To shame the zeal of my petition to thee,
In praising her: I tell thee, lord of Greece,
She is as far high-soaring o'er thy praises,
As thou unworthy to be call'd her servant.
I charge thee, use her well, even for my charge;
For, by the dreadful Pluto, if thou dost not,
Though the great bulk Achilles be thy guard,
I'll cut thy throat.
Dio.
O, be not mov'd, prince Troilus:
Let me be privileg'd by my place, and message,
To be a speaker free; when I am hence,
(1) Highly accomplished.
(4) Inform.
Anticipating time with starting courage.
Give with thy trumpet a loud note to Troy,
Thou dreadful Ajax; that the appalled air
May pierce the head of the great combatant,
And hale him hither.
Ajax. Thou, trumpet, there's my purse.
Now crack thy lungs, and split thy brazen pipe:
Blow, villain, till thy sphered bias cheek
Out-swell the colic of puff'd Aquilon:
Come, stretch thy chest, and let thy eyes spout
blood;
Thou blow'st for Hector.
Ulyss. No trumpet answers.
Agam. Is not yon Diomed, with Calchas'
He rises on the toe: that spirit of his
Ulyss. 'Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait;
In aspiration lifts him from the earth.
Enter Diomed, with Cressida.
Agam. Is this the lady Cressid?
Dio.
Even she.
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
Cres. In kissing do render or receive?
Patr. Both take and give.
Cres.
Men. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one.
Cres. You're an odd man; give even, or give
Agam. Here is sir Diomed :-Go, gentle knight,
I'll make my match to live, Stand by our Ajax: as you and lord Æneas The kiss you take is better than you give; Consent Therefore no kiss. the order of their fight, upon So be it; either to the uttermost, Or else a breath 2 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?
Men. An odd man, lady? every man is odd.
Cres. No, Paris is not; for, you know, 'tis true,
That you are odd, and he is even with you.
Men. You fillip me o'the head.
Cres.
No, I'll be sworn
Ulyss. It were no match, your nail against his
May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?
Cres. You
Ulyss.
Cres.
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 motive1 of her body.
O, these encounterers, 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. [Trumpet within.
All The Trojans' trumpet.
Agam.
Enter Hector, armed; Æneas, Troilus, and other
Trojans, with Attendants.
Ene. Hail, all the state of Greece! what shall
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.
What is your name?
Achil.
If not Achilles, nothing.
Jne. 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, half Hector comes to seek
This blended knight, half Trojan, and half Greek.
Achil. A maiden battle then?-O, I perceive you.
(1) Motion. (2) Breathing, exercise. (3) Stops. (4) No boaster. (5) Unsuitable to his character. (6) Yields, gives way.
Ulyss. The youngest son of Priam. a true knight;
Speaking in deeds, and deedless4 in his tongue;
Not yet mature, yet matchless; firm of word;
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,
Nor dignifies an impairs thought with breath:
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
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 vindicative than jealous love :
A second hope,
as fairly built as Hector.
Thus says Eneas; one that knows the youth
Even to his inches, and with private soul,
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!
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,
A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;
The obligation of our blood forbids
Were thy commixion Greek and Trojan so,
A gory8 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 deater9 cheek, and this sinister10
Bounds-in my father's; by Jove multipotent,
Thou should'st not bear from me a Greekish member
of our rank feud: But the just gods 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;
Hector would have them fall upon him thus:
Cousin, all honour to thee!
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 Oyes
Cries, This is he,) could promise to himself
A thought of added honour torn from Hector.
Ene. There is expectance here from both the
sides,
What further you will do.
(7) Explain his character.
(9) Right,
(11) Title.
(10) Left.
(12) Achilles.
Hect.
We'll answer it;
The issue is embracement:-Ajax, farewell.
Ajax. If I might in entreaties find success,
(As seld1 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
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
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 but 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.
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
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
To answer such a question: Stand again:
Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly,
As to prenominates in nice conjecture,
When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i'the air, Where thou wilt hit me dead?"
Not letting it decline on the declin'd ;5
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,6
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.
(5) Fallen. (6) Laomedon. (7) Observed.
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 stithied9 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 peltingll wars, since you refus'd
The Grecians' cause.
Achil.
Dost thou entreat me, Hector?
To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death;
(9) Stithy is a smith's shop. (11) Petty.
'To-night, all friends.
Hect.
Thy hand upon that match.
Agam. First, all you peers of Greece, go to my
There in the full convivel we: afterwards,
As Hector's leisure and your bounties shall
Concur together, severally entreat him.-
Beat loud the taborines,2 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 sleive4 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!
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.
[Exeunt Achil. and Patr.
Tro. Shall I, sweet lord, be bound to you so Away, Patroclus.
much,
After we part from Agamemnon's tent,
To bring me thither?
Ulyss.
You shall command me, sir.
As gentle tell me, of what honour was
This Cressida in Troy? Had she no lover there
That wails her absence?
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 6 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 ma[Exeunt.lice 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,8 a toad, a lizard, an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a roe, I would not
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.
SCENE I.-The Grecian camp. Before Achilles' care: but to be Menelaus, --I would conspire against
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 ?
Patr. Why, no, you ruinous butt; you whoreson indistinguishable cur, no.
(1) Feast. (2) Small drums. (3) Contrariety. (4) Coarse, unwrought. (5) Harlots.
destiny. Ask me not what I would be, if I were not
Thersites; for I care not to be the louse of a lazar,9
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.
Ajax.
There, where we see the lights.
Hect.
Ajax. No, not a whit.
Ulyss.
Here comes himself to guide you.
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!
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.
Ulyss. Stand where the torch may not discover us. Enter Cressida.
Tro. Cressid come forth to him!
Dio.
How now, my charge?
Cres. Now, my sweet guardian!-Hark! a word
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.
Fear me not, my lord; I will not be myself, nor have cognition4 Of what I feel; I am all patience.
Cres. In faith, I cannot: What would you have|I 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 oath;
Bid me do any thing but that, sweet Greek.
Dio. Good night.
Hold, patience!
How now, Trojan?
Ther. Now the pledge; now, now, now!
Cres. Here, Diomed, keep this sleeve.
Tro. O beauty! where's thy faith?
Ulyss.
Tro. I will be patient; outwardly I will.
Cres. You look upon that sleeve; Behold it
He loved me-O false wench!-Give't me again. Dio. Who was't?
No matter, now I have't again. will not meet with you to-morrow night: pr'ythee, Diomed, visit me no more.
Ther. Now she sharpens;-Well said, whetstone. Dio. I shall have it.
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 thee.-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; 'faith you shall not;
I'll give you something else.
Dio. I will have this; Whose was it?
|
