SCENE II.
A street.
Enter Cressida, and Alexander her servant.
Cre.
Who were those went by?
Serv.
Queen Hecuba, and Helen.
Cre.
And whither go they?
Serv.
Up to the eastern tower,
Whose height commands as subject all the vale,
To see the battle. 9 note
Hector, whose patience
Is, as a virtue, fix'd, to-day was mov'd:
He chid Andromache, and struck his armourer;
And, like as there were husbandry in war,
1 note
Before the sun rose, he was harness'd light,
-- 15 --
And to the field goes he; where every flower
Did, as a prophet, weep what it foresaw
In Hector's wrath.
Cre.
What was his cause of anger?
Serv.
The noise goes, this: There is among the Greeks
-- 16 --
A lord of Trojan blood, nephew to Hector;
They call him, Ajax.
Cre.
Good; And what of him?
Serv.
They say he is a very man 2 note
per se,
And stands alone.
Cre.
So do all men; unless they are drunk, sick,
or have no legs.
Serv.
This man, lady, hath robb'd many beasts of
their particular additions; he is as valiant as the lion,
churlish as the bear, slow as the elephant: a man into
whom nature hath so crowded humours, 3 notethat his
valour is crushed into folly, his folly sauced with discretion:
there is no man hath a virtue, that he hath not
a glimpse of; nor any man an attaint, but he carries
some stain of it: he is melancholy without cause, and
merry against the hair4 note: He hath the joints of every
thing; but every thing so out of joint, that he is a
gouty Briareus, many hands and no use; or purblinded
Argus, all eyes and no sight.
Cre.
But how should this man, that makes me
smile, make Hector angry?
Serv.
They say, he yesterday cop'd Hector in the
battle, and struck him down; the disdain and shame
whereof hath ever since kept Hector fasting and
waking.
-- 17 --
Enter Pandarus.
Cre.
Who comes here?
Serv.
Madam, your uncle Pandarus.
Cre.
Hector's a gallant man.
Serv.
As may be in the world, lady.
Pan.
What's that? what's that?
Cre.
Good morrow, uncle Pandarus.
Pan.
1 noteGood morrow, cousin Cressid: What do
you talk of?—Good morrow, Alexander.—How do
you, cousin? When were you at 2 noteIlium?
Cre.
This morning, uncle.
Pan.
What were you talking of, when I came?
Was Hector arm'd, and gone, ere ye came to Ilium?
Helen was not up, was she?
Cre.
Hector was gone; but Helen was not up.
Pan.
E'en so; Hector was stirring early.
Cre.
That were we talking of, and of his anger.
Pan.
Was he angry?
Cre.
So he says here.
-- 18 --
Pan.
True, he was so; I know the cause too; he'll
lay about him to-day, I can tell them that: and there's
Troilus will not come far behind him; let them take
heed of Troilus; I can tell them that too.
Cre.
What, is he angry too?
Pan.
Who, Troilus? Troilus is the better man of the two.
Cre.
O, Jupiter! there's no comparison.
Pan.
What, not between Troilus and Hector? Do
you know a man, if you see him?
Cre.
Ay; if I ever saw him before, and knew him.
Pan.
Well, I say, Troilus is Troilus.
Cre.
Then you say as I say; for, I am sure, he is
not Hector.
Pan.
No, nor Hector is not Troilus, in some degrees.
Cre.
'Tis just to each of them; he is himself.
Pan.
Himself? Alas, poor Troilus! I would, he
were,—
Cre.
So he is.
Pan.
—'Condition, I had gone bare-foot to India.
Cre.
He is not Hector.
Pan.
Himself? no, he's not himself.—'Would 'a
were himself! Well, the gods are above; Time must
friend, or end: Well, Troilus, well,—I would, my
heart were in her body!—No, Hector is not a better
man than Troilus.
Cre.
Excuse me.
Pan.
He is elder.
Cre.
Pardon me, pardon me.
Pan.
The other's not come to't; you shall tell me
another tale, when the other's come to't. Hector shall
not have his wit this year.
Cre.
He shall not need it, if he have his own.
Pan.
Nor his qualities.
Cre.
No matter.
Pan.
Nor his beauty.
Cre.
'Twould not become him, his own's better.
-- 19 --
Pan.
You have no judgment, niece: Helen herself
swore the other day, that Troilus, for a brown
favour, (for so 'tis, I must confess)—Not brown
neither.
Cre.
No, but brown.
Pan.
'Faith, to say truth, brown and not brown.
Cre.
To say the truth, true and not true.
Pan.
She prais'd his complexion above Paris.
Cre.
Why, Paris hath colour enough.
Pan.
So he has.
Cre.
Then, Troilus should have too much: if she
prais'd him above, his complexion is higher than his;
he having colour enough, and the other higher, is too
flaming a praise for a good complexion. I had as
lieve, Helen's golden tongue had commended Troilus
for a copper nose.
Pan.
I swear to you, I think, Helen loves him
better than Paris.
Cre.
Then she's a merry Greek3 note, indeed.
Pan.
Nay, I am sure she does. She came to him
the other day into the 4 notecompass'd window,—and, you
know, he has not past three or four hairs on his chin.
Cre.
Indeed, a tapster's arithmetic may soon bring
his particulars therein to a total.
Pan.
Why, he is very young: and yet will he,
within three pound, lift as much as his brother Hector.
Cre.
Is he so young a man, and so old a lifter5 note
?
-- 20 --
Pan.
But, to prove to you that Helen loves him;—
she came, and puts me her white hand to his cloven
chin,—
Cre.
Juno have mercy!—How came it cloven?
Pan.
Why, you know, 'tis dimpled: I think, his
smiling becomes him better than any man in all
Phrygia.
Cre.
O, he smiles valiantly.
Pan.
Does he not?
Cre.
O, yes; an 'twere a cloud in autumn.
Pan.
Why, go to then:—But, to prove to you
that Helen loves Troilus,—
Cre.
Troilus will stand to the proof, if you'll prove
it so.
Pan.
Troilus? why, he esteems her no more than
I esteem an addle egg.
Cre.
If you love an addle egg as well as you love
an idle head, you would eat chickens i' the shell.
Pan.
I cannot chuse but laugh, to think how she
tickled his chin;—Indeed, she has a marvellous white
hand, I must needs confess.
Cre.
Without the rack.
Pan.
And she takes upon her to spy a white hair
on his chin.
Cre.
Alas, poor chin! many a wart is richer.
Pan.
But, there was such laughing;—Queen Hecuba
laugh'd, that her eyes ran o'er.
Cre.
With mill-stones.
Pan.
And Cassandra laugh'd.
Cre.
But there was more temperate fire under the
pot of her eyes;—Did her eyes run o'er too?
Pan.
And Hector laugh'd.
Cre.
At what was all this laughing?
-- 21 --
Pan.
Marry, at the white hair that Helen spied on
Troilus' chin.
Cre.
An't had been a green hair, I should have
laugh'd too.
Pan.
They laugh'd not so much at the hair, as at
his pretty answer.
Cre.
What was his answer?
Pan.
Quoth she, Here's but one and fifty hairs on your
chin, and one of them is white.
Cre.
This is her question.
Pan.
That's true; make no question of that. 6 noteOne
and fifty hairs, quoth he, and one white: That white hair
is my father, and all the rest are his sons. Jupiter!
quoth she, which of these hairs is Paris, my husband?
The forked one, quoth he; pluck it out, and give it him.
But, there was such laughing! and Helen so blush'd,
and Paris so chaf'd, and all the rest so laugh'd, that
it pass'd.
Cre.
So let it now; for it has been a great while
going by.
Pan.
Well, cousin, I told you a thing yesterday;
think on't.
Cre.
So I do.
Pan.
I'll be sworn, 'tis true; he will weep you, an
'twere a man born in April.
[Sound a retreat.
Cre.
And I'll spring up in his tears, an 'twere a
nettle against May.
Pan.
Hark, they are coming from the field: Shall
we stand up here, and see them, as they pass toward
Ilium? good niece, do; sweet niece Cressida.
Cre.
At your pleasure.
Pan.
Here, here, here's an excellent place; here
we may see most bravely: I'll tell you them all by
-- 22 --
their names, as they pass by; but mark Troilus above
the rest.
Æneas passes over stage.
Cre.
Speak not so loud.
Pan.
That's Æneas; Is not that a brave man?
he's one of the flowers of Troy, I can tell you; But
mark Troilus; you shall see anon.
Cre.
Who's that?
Antenor passes over.
Pan.
7 note
That's Antenor; he has a shrewd wit, I can
tell you; and he's a man good enough: he's one o' the
soundest judgment in Troy, whosoever; and a proper
man of person:—When comes Troilus?—I'll shew
you Troilus anon; if he see me, you shall see him
nod at me.
Cre.
Will he give you the nod?
Pan.
You shall see.
Cre.
If he do, 8 note
the rich shall have more.
-- 23 --
Hector passes over.
Pan.
That's Hector, that, that, look you, that;
There's a fellow!—Go thy way, Hector;—There's
a brave man, niece.—O brave Hector!—Look, how
he looks! there's a countenance: Is't not a brave
man?
Cre.
O, a brave man!
Pan.
Is 'a not? It does a man's heart good—Look
you, what hacks are on his helmet? look you yonder,
do you see? look you there! There's no jesting:
laying on; take't off who will, as they say: there be
hacks!
Cre.
Be those with swords?
Paris passes over.
Pan.
Swords? any thing, he cares not: an the
devil come to him, it's all one: By god's lid, it does
one's heart good:—Yonder comes Paris, yonder
comes Paris: look ye yonder, niece; Is't not a gallant
-- 24 --
man too, is't not?—Why, this is brave now.—
Who said, he came home hurt to-day? he's not hurt:
why, this will do Helen's heart good now. Ha!
'would I could see Troilus now!—you shall see Troilus
anon.
Cre.
Who's that?
Helenus passes over.
Pan.
That's Helenus,—I marvel, where Troilus
is:—That's Helenus;—I think he went not forth
to-day;—That's Helenus.
Cre.
Can Helenus fight, uncle?
Pan.
Helenus? no;—yes, he'll fight indifferent
well:—I marvel, where Troilus is!—Hark; do you
not hear the people cry, Troilus? Helenus is a
priest.
Cre.
What sneaking fellow comes yonder?
Troilus passes over.
Pan.
Where? yonder? that's Deiphobus: 'Tis
Troilus! there's a man, niece!—Hem!—Brave
Troilus! the prince of chivalry!
Cre.
Peace, for shame, peace!
Pan.
Mark him; note him;—O brave Troilus!—
look well upon him, niece; look you, how his sword
is bloody'd, and his helm more hack'd than Hector's9 note
;
And how he looks, and how he goes!—O admirable
youth! he ne'er saw three and twenty. Go thy way,
Troilus, go thy way; had I a sister were a grace, or
a daughter a goddess, he should take his choice. O
admirable man! Paris?—Paris is dirt to him; and,
-- 25 --
I warrant, Helen, to change, would give 1 notean eye to
boot.
Enter soldiers, &c.
Cre.
Here come more.
Pan.
Asses, fools, dolts! chaff and bran, chaff and
bran! porridge after meat! I could live and die i' the
eyes of Troilus. Ne'er look, ne'er look; the eagles
are gone; crows and daws, crows and daws! I had
rather be such a man as Troilus, than Agamemnon
and all Greece.
Cre.
There is among the Greeks, Achilles; a better
man than Troilus.
Pan.
Achilles? a dray-man, a porter, a very camel.
Cre.
Well, well.
Pan.
Well, well?—Why, have you any discretion?
have you any eyes? Do you know what a man is? Is
not birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood,
learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and
such like, the spice and salt that season a man?
Cre.
Ay, a minc'd man: and then to be bak'd
with no date in the pye2 note
,—for then the man's date is
out.
Pan.
You are such a woman! one knows not at
what ward you lie.
Cre.
Upon my back, to defend my belly; 3 note
upon
-- 26 --
my wit, to defend my wiles; upon my secrecy, to
defend mine honesty; my mask, to defend my beauty;
and you, to defend all these: and at all these
wards I lie, at a thousand watches.
Pan.
Say one of your watches.
Cre.
Nay, I'll watch you for that; and that's one of
the chiefest of them too: if I cannot ward what I
would not have hit, I can watch you for telling how
I took the blow; unless it swell past hiding, and then
it is past watching.
Pan.
You are such another!
Enter Troilus' Boy.
Boy.
Sir, my lord would instantly speak with you.
Pan.
Where?
Boy.
4 note
At your own house; there he unarms him.
Pan.
Good boy, tell him I come [Exit Boy]: I
doubt he be hurt.—Fare ye well, good niece.
Cre.
Adieu, uncle.
Pan.
I'll be with you, niece, by and by.
Cre.
To bring, uncle,—
Pan.
Ay, a token from Troilus.
Cre.
By the same token—you are a bawd.—
[Exit Pandarus.
Words, vows, gifts, tears, and love's full sacrifice,
He offers in another's enterprize:
But more in Troilus thousand fold I see
Than in the glass of Pandar's praise may be;
Yet hold I off. Women are angels, wooing;
Things won are done, 5 note
joy's soul lies in the doing:
-- 27 --
That she belov'd knows nought, that knows not this,—
Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is:
6 noteThat she was never yet, that ever knew
Love got so sweet, as when desire did sue:
Therefore this maxim out of love I teach,—
Atchievement is, command; ungain'd, beseech:
7 noteThen though 8 notemy heart's content firm love doth bear,
Nothing of that shall from mine eyes appear.
[Exeunt.
SCENE III.
The Grecian camp.
Trumpets. Enter Agamemnon, Nestor, Ulysses, Menelaus, with others.
Agam.
Princes,
What grief hath set the jaundice on your cheeks?
The ample proposition, that hope makes
In all designs begun on earth below,
Fails in the promis'd largeness: checks and disasters
Grow in the veins of actions highest rear'd;
As knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,
Infect the sound pine, and divert his grain
Tortive and errant from his course of growth.
Nor, princes, is it matter new to us,
That we come short of our suppose so far,
That, after seven years' siege, yet Troy walls stand;
Sith every action that hath gone before,
Whereof we have record, trial did draw
Bias and thwart, not answering the aim,
And that unbodied figure of the thought
-- 28 --
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
In fortune's love: for then, the bold and 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 9 notebroad 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.
1 note
With due observance of thy godlike seat,
Great Agamemnon, 2 note
Nestor shall apply
Thy latest words. In the reproof of chance
Lies the true proof of men: The sea being smooth,
How many shallow bauble boats dare sail
Upon her 3 note
patient breast, making their way
-- 29 --
4 note
With those of nobler bulk?
But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage
The gentle Thetis, and, anon, behold
The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cut,
Bounding between the two moist elements,
Like Perseus' horse: Where's then the saucy boat,
Whose weak untimber'd sides but even now
Co-rival'd greatness? either to harbour fled,
Or made a toast for Neptune. Even so
Doth valour's shew, and valour's worth, divide
In storms of fortune: For, in her ray and brightness,
The herd hath more annoyance by the brize5 note
,
Than by the tyger: but when splitting winds
Make flexible the knees of knotted oaks,
And flies flee under shade, Why, then, 6 notethe thing of courage,
As rowz'd with rage, with rage doth sympathize,
And with an accent tun'd in self-same key,
7 noteReturns to chiding fortune.
-- 30 --
Ulyss.
Agamemnon,—
Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Greece,
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 Agamemnon.
And thou most reverend for thy stretcht-out life,—
[To Nestor.
I give to both your 8 note
speeches,—which were such,
-- 31 --
As Agamemnon9Q1002 and the hand of Greece
Should hold up high in brass; and such again,
-- 32 --
As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver,
Should with a bond of air9Q1003 (strong as the axle-tree
On which heaven rides) knit all the Greekish ears
To his experienc'd tongue,—yet let it please both,—
Thou great,—and wise,—to hear Ulysses speak.
9 noteAgam.
Speak prince of Ithaca; and be't of less expect
That matter needless, of importless burden,
Divide thy lips; than we are confident,
When rank Thersites opes his mastiff jaws,
We shall hear music, wit, and oracle.
Ulyss.
Troy, yet upon her basis, had been down,
And the great Hector's sword had lack'd a master,
But for these instances.
1 noteThe specialty of rule hath been neglected;
And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand
Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions.
2 noteWhen that the general is not like the hive,
To whom the foragers shall all repair,
What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded,
The unworthiest shews as fairly in the mask.
3 note
The heavens themselves, the planets, and this center,
-- 33 --
Observe degree, priority, and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office, and custom, in all line of order:
And therefore is the glorious planet, Sol,
In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd
Amidst the other; whose med'cinable eye
Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil,
And posts, like the commandment of a king,
Sans check, to good and bad: 4 note
But, when the planets,
-- 34 --
In evil mixture, to disorder wander,
What plagues, and what portents? what mutiny?
What raging of the sea? shaking of earth?
Commotion in the winds? frights, changes, horrors,
Divert and crack, rend and deracinate
The unity and married calm of states5 note
Quite from their fixure? 6 note
O, when degree is shak'd,
Which is the ladder to all high designs,
7 note
The enterprize is sick! How could communities,
Degrees in schools, and 8 notebrotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable shores,
The primogenitive and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, scepters, laurels,
But by degree, stand in authentic place?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets
In meer oppugnancy: The bounded waters
Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores,
And make a sop of all this solid globe:
Strength should be lord of imbecility,
And the rude son should strike his father dead:
Force should be right; or, rather, right and wrong
(Between whose endless jar justice resides)
Should lose their names, and so should justice too.
-- 35 --
Then every thing includes itself in power,
Power into will, will into appetite;
And appetite, an universal wolf,
So doubly seconded with will and power,
Must make perforce an universal prey,
And, last, eat up himself. Great Agamemnon,
This chaos, when degree is suffocate,
Follows the choaking.
And this neglection of degree it is,
9 noteThat by a pace goes backward, 1 note
with a purpose9Q1004
It hath to climb: The general's disdain'd
By him one step below; he, by the next;
That next, by him beneath: so every step,
Exampled by the first pace that is sick
Of his superior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and 2 notebloodless emulation:
And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot,
Not her own sinews. To end a tale of length,
Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength.
Nest.
Most wisely hath Ulysses here discover'd
The fever whereof all our power is sick.
Agam.
The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses,
What is the remedy?
Ulyss.
The great Achilles,—whom opinion crowns
The sinew and the forehand of our host,—
Having his ear full of his airy fame,
Grows dainty of his worth, and in his tent
Lies mocking our designs: With him, Patroclus,
Upon a lazy bed, the livelong day
Breaks scurril jests;
And with ridiculous and aukward action
-- 36 --
(Which, slanderer, he imitation calls)
He pageants us. Sometime, great Agamemnon,
3 note
Thy topless deputation he puts on;
And, like a strutting player,—whose conceit
Lies in his ham-string, and doth think it rich
To hear the wooden dialogue and sound
'Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage9Q1005,—
Such to-be-pitied and o'er-rested seeming9Q1006
He acts thy greatness in: and when he speaks,
'Tis like a chime a mending; with terms unsquar'd,
Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon drop'd,
Would seem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff,
The large Achilles, on his press'd bed lolling,
From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause;
Cries—Excellent!—'tis Agamemnon just.—
Now play me Nestor;—hem, and stroke thy beard,
As he, being 'drest to some oration.
That's done;—4 noteas 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-fumbling5 note on his gorget,
Shake in and out of the rivet:—and at this sport,
Sir Valour dies; cries, O!—enough, Patroclus;—
-- 37 --
Or give me ribs of steel! I shall split all
In pleasure of my spleen. And in this fashion,
6 note
All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes,
Severals and generals of grace exact,
Atchievements, plots, orders, preventions,
Excitements to the field, or speech for truce,
Success, or loss, what is, or is not, serves
As stuff for these two 7 note
to make paradoxes.
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 8 note
bears his head
In such a rein, in full as proud a place
As broad Achilles: keeps his tent like him;
Makes factious feasts; rails on our state of war,
Bold as an oracle: and sets Thersites
(A slave, whose gall coins slanders like a mint)
To match us in comparisons with dirt;
To weaken and discredit our exposure,
9 note
How rank soever rounded in with danger.
Ulyss.
They tax our policy, and call it cowardice;
Count wisdom as no member of the war;
Forestall pre-science, and esteem no act
But that of hand: the still and mental parts,—
That do contrive how many hands shall strike,
-- 38 --
When fitness calls them on; 1 note
and know, by measure
Of their observant toil, the enemies' weight,—
Why, this hath not a finger's dignity;
They call this—bed-work, mappery, closet war:
So that the ram, that batters down the wall,
For the great swing and rudeness of his poize,
They place before his hand that made the engine;
Or those, that with the fineness of their souls
By reason guide his execution.
Nest.
Let this be granted, and Achilles' horse
Makes many Thetis' sons.
[Trumpet sounds.
Agam.
What trumpet? look, Menelaus.
Men.
From Troy.
Enter Æneas.
Aga.
What would you 'fore our tent?
Æne.
Is this great Agamemnon's tent, I pray you?
Aga.
Even this.
Æne.
May one, that is a herald, and a prince,
Do a fair message to his 2 note
kingly ears?
Aga.
With surety stronger than 3 note
Achilles' arm
'Fore all the Greekish heads, which with one voice
Call Agamemnon head and general.
Æne.
Fair leave, and large security. How may
4 note
A stranger to those most imperial looks
-- 39 --
Know them from eyes of other mortals?
Aga.
How?
Æne.
I ask, that I might waken reverence,9Q1007
And 5 note
bid the cheek be ready with a blush
Modest as morning when she coldly eyes
The youthful Phœbus:
Which is that god in office, guiding men?
Which is the high and mighty Agamemnon?
Aga.
This Trojan scorns us; or the men of Troy
Are ceremonious courtiers.
Æne.
Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarm'd,
As bending angels; that's their fame in peace:
But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls,
Good arms, strong joints, true swords; and, Jove's accord,
Nothing so full of heart. But peace, Æneas,
Peace, Trojan; lay thy finger on thy lips!
The worthiness of praise distains his worth,
If that the prais'd himself bring the praise forth:
But what the repining enemy commends,
That breath fame blows; that praise, sole pure, transcends.
Aga.
Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself Æneas?
Æne.
Ay, Greek, that is my name.
Aga.
What's your affair, I pray you?
-- 40 --
Æne.
Sir, pardon; 'tis for Agamemnon's ears.
Aga.
He hears nought privately, that comes from Troy.
Æne.
Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him:
I bring a trumpet to awake his ear;
To set his sense on the attentive bent,
And then to speak.
Aga.
Speak frankly as the wind;
It is not Agamemnon's sleeping hour:
That thou shalt know, Trojan, he is awake,
He tells thee so to himself.
Æne.
Trumpet, blow loud,
Send thy brass voice through all these lazy tents;—
And every Greek of mettle, let him know,
What Troy means fairly, shall be spoke aloud.
[Trumpets sound.
We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy
A prince call'd Hector, Priam is his father,
Who in this dull and 6 notelong-continu'd truce
Is 7 noterusty grown; he bade me take a trumpet,
And to this purpose speak. Kings, princes, lords!
If there be one, among the fair'st of Greece,
That holds his honour higher than his ease;
That seeks his praise more than he fears his peril;
That knows his valour, and knows not his fear;
That loves his mistress 8 notemore than in confession,
(With truant vows 9 noteto her own lips he loves)
And dare avow her beauty, and her worth,
In other arms than hers9Q1009,—to him this challenge.
Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks,
Shall make it good, or do his best to do it,
-- 41 --
He hath a lady, wiser, fairer, truer,
Than ever Greek did compass in his arms;
And will to-morrow with his trumpet call,
Mid-way between your tents and walls of Troy,
To rouse a Grecian that is true in love:
If any come, Hector shall honour him;
If none, he'll say in Troy, when he retires,
The Grecian dames are sun-burn'd, 1 note
and not worth
The splinter of a lance. Even so much.
Aga.
This shall be told our lovers, lord Æneas;
If none of them have soul in such a kind,
We left them all at home: But we are soldiers;
And may that soldier a mere recreant prove,
That means not, hath not, or is not in love!
If then one is, or hath, or means to be,
That one meets Hector; if none else, I am he.
Nest.
Tell him of Nestor, one that was a man
When Hector's grandsire suck'd: he is old now;
But, if there be not in our Grecian host9Q1010
One noble man that hath one spark of fire,
To answer for his love, Tell him from me,—
I'll hide my silver beard in a gold beaver,
2 note
And in my vantbrace put this wither'd brawn;
And, meeting him, will tell him, That my lady
Was fairer than his grandame, and as chaste
As may be in the world: His youth in flood,
I'll pawn this truth with my three drops of blood.
Æne.
Now heavens forbid such scarcity of youth!
Ulyss.
Amen.
-- 42 --
Aga.
Fair lord Æneas, let me touch your hand;
To our pavilion shall I lead you, sir.
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.
Manent Ulysses, and Nestor.
Ulyss.
Nestor,—
Nest.
What says Ulysses?
Ulyss.
I have a young conception in my brain,
3 noteBe you my time to bring it to some shape.
Nest.
What is't?
Ulyss.
This 'tis:
Blunt wedges rive hard knots: The seeded pride4 note
That hath to its maturity blown up9Q1011
In rank Achilles, must or now be cropt,
Or, shedding, breed a 5 notenursery of like evil,
To over-bulk us all.
Nest.
Well, and how?
Ulyss.
This challenge that the gallant Hector sends,
However it is spread in general name,
Relates in purpose only to Achilles.
Nest.
6 note
The purpose is perspicuous even as substance,
-- 43 --
Whose grossness little characters sum up:
7 note
And, in the publication, make no strain,
But that Achilles, were his brain as barren
As banks of Libya,—though, Apollo knows,
'Tis dry enough,—will with great speed of judgment,
Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose
Pointing on him.
Ulyss.
And wake him to the answer, think you?
Nest.
Yes, 'tis most meet; Whom may you else oppose,
That can from Hector bring those honours off,9Q1012
If not Achilles? Though't be a sportful combat,
Yet in this trial much opinion dwells;
For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute
With their fin'st palate: And trust to me, Ulysses,
Our imputation shall be oddly pois'd
In this wild action: for the success,
Although particular, shall give a 8 notescantling
Of good or bad unto the general;
-- 44 --
And in such indexes, although 9 notesmall pricks
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass
Of things to come at large. It is suppos'd,
He, that meets Hector, issues from our choice:
And choice, being mutual act of all our souls,
Makes merit her election; and doth boil,
As 'twere from forth us all, a man distill'd
Out of our virtues; Who miscarrying,
What heart receives from hence a conquering part,
To steel a strong opinion to themselves?
1 noteWhich entertain'd, limbs are in his instruments,
In no less working, than are swords and bows
Directive by the limbs.
Ulyss.
Give pardon to my speech;—
Therefore 'tis meet, Achilles meet not Hector.
Let us, like merchants, shew our foulest wares,
And think, perchance, they'll sell; if not,
The lustre of the better shall exceed,
By shewing the worst first.9Q1013 Do not consent,
That ever Hector and Achilles meet;
For both our honour and our shame, in this,
Are dogg'd with two strange followers.
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 2 noteshare with him:
But he already is too insolent;
And we were better parch in Africk sun,
Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes,
Should he 'scape Hector fair: If he were foil'd,
Why, then we did our main opinion crush
-- 45 --
In taint of our best man. No, make a lottery;
And, by device, let blockish Ajax3 note
draw
The sort4 note to fight with Hector: Among ourselves,
Give him allowance as the better man,
For that will physick the great Myrmidon,
Who broils in loud applause; and make him fall
His crest, that prouder than blue Iris bends.
If the dull brainless Ajax come safe off,
We'll dress him up in voices: If he fail,
Yet go we under our opinion still,
That we have better men. But, hit or miss,
Our project's life this shape of sense assumes,—
Ajax, employ'd, plucks down Achilles' plumes.
Nest.
Ulysses,
Now I begin to relish thy advice;
And I will give a taste of it forthwith
To Agamemnon: go we to him straight.
Two curs shall tame each other; Pride alone
5 note
Must tarre the mastiffs on, as 'twere their bone.
[Exeunt.
-- 46 --
note
Samuel Johnson [1778], The plays of William Shakspeare. In ten volumes. With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. The second edition, Revised and Augmented (Printed for C. Bathurst [and] W. Strahan [etc.], London) [word count] [S10901].
