[Exit. -Here, you maid! where's my cousin Cressid? Cres. Go hang yourself, you naughty mocking
Ene. Good morrow,
a!l.
Par. And tell me, nobie Diomed; 'faith, tell
me true,
Even in the soul of sound good-fellowship,-
Who, in your thoughts, merits fair Helen best,
Myself, or Menelaus?
Both alike:
He merits well to have her, that doth seek her
(Not making any scruple of her soilure,)
With such a hell of pain, and world of charge;
And you as well to keep her, that defend her
(Not palating the taste of her dishonour,)
With such a costly loss of wealth and friends:
He, like a puling cuckold, would drink up
The lees and dregs of a flat tamed piece;
You, like a lecher, out of whorish loins
Are pleas'd to breed out your inheritors:
Both merits pois'd, each weighs nor less nor more;
But he as he, the heavier for a whore.
Par. You are too bitter to your countrywoman.
Dio. She's bitter to her country: Hear me,
Paris,-
For every false drop in her bawdy veins
A Grecian's life hath sunk; for every scruple
Of her contaminated carrion weight,
A Trojan hath been slain: since she could speak,
She hath not given so many good words breath,
As for her Greeks and Trojans suffer'd death.
Par. Fair Diomed, you do as chapmen do, Dispraise the thing that you desire to buy: But we in silence hold this virtue well,We'll not commend what we intend to sell. Here lies our way. [Exeunt. SCENE II.The same. Court before the house of Pandarus. Enter Troilus and Cressida. Tro. Dear, trouble not yourself; the morn is cold. Cres. Then, sweet my lord, I'll call mine uncle down;
He shall unbolt the gates.
Trouble him not;
To bed, to bed: Sleep kill those pretty eyes,
And give as soft attachment to thy senses,
As infants' empty of all thought!
Cres.
Tro. Pr'ythee now, to bed.
Cres.
Are you a-weary of me?
Tro. O Cressida! but that the busy day,
Wak'd by the lark, hath rous'd the ribald' crows,
And dreaming night will hide our joys no longer,
I would not from thee.
Cres.
Night hath been too brief.
Tro. Beshrew the witch! with venomous wights
Cres. A pestilence on him! now will he be mocking:
I shall have such a life,
Pan. Ha, ha! Alas, poor wretch! a poor capocchia !-hast not slept to-night? would he not, a naughty man, let it sleep? a bugbear take him! [Knocking.
Cres. Did I not tell you?-Would he were knock'd o'the head!—
Who's that at door? good uncle, go and see.-
My lord, come you again into my chamber:
You smile, and mock me, as if I meant naughtily.
Tro. Ha, ha!
Cres. Come, you are deceiv'd, I think of no such thing.[Knocking. How earnestly they knock!-pray you, come in; I would not for half Troy have you seen here. [Exeunt Troilus and Cressida. Pan. [Going to the door.] Who's there? what's the matter? will you beat down the door? How now? what's the matter?
ne. Good morrow, lord, good morrow. Pan. Who's there? my lord Eneas? By my troth, I knew you not; what news with you so early? ne. Is not prince Troilus here! Pan. Here! what should he do here? Ene. Come, he is here, my lord, do not deny him; It doth import him much, to speak with me.
I'll be sworn :-For my own part, I came in late: Pan. Is he here, say you? 'tis more than I know,
What should he do here?
Ene. Who!-nay, then :
Come, come, you'll do him wrong ere you are 'ware:
You'll be so true to him, to be false to him:
Do not you know of him, yet go fetch him hither;
Go.
As Pandarus is going out, enter Troilus.
Tro. How now? what's the matter?
Ene. My lord, I scarce have leisure to salute you, My matter is so rash: There is at hand Paris your brother, and Deiphobus, The Grecian Diomed, and our Antenor Deliver'd to us; and for him forthwith, Ere the first sacrifice, within this hour, We must give un to Diomedes' hand The lady Cressida.
Have not more gift in taciturnity.
[Exeunt Troilus and Eneas. Pan. Is't possible? no sooner cot, but lost? The devil take Antenor! the young prince will go mad.
Pan. How now, how now? how go maiden- A plague upon Antenor: I would, they had broke's
(2) To do is here used in a wanton sense.
(4) An Italian word for poor fool. (5) Hasty.
Cres. O Troilus! Troilus! [Embracing him. Pan. What a pair of spectacles is here! Let Cres. How now? What is the matter? Who me embrace too: O heart!-as the goodly saying
Cres. Why sigh you so profoundly? where's my lord gone?
Tell me, sweet uncle, what's the matter?
Pan. 'Would I were as deep under the earth as
Cres. O the gods!-what's the matter?
Pan. Pr'ythee, get thee in; 'Would thou hadst
―o heart, o heavy heart,
Why sigh'st thou without breaking?
where he answers again,
Because thou canst not ease thy smart,
By friendship, nor by speaking.
ne'er been born! I knew, thou would'st be his There never was a truer rhyme. Let us cast away death:-0 poor gentleman!-A plague upon An-nothing, for we may live to have need of such
Cres. Good uncle, I beseech you on my knees, I beseech you, what's the matter?
Pan. Thou must be gone, wench, thou must be gone; thou art changed for Antenor: thou must to thy father, and be gone from Troilus; 'twill be his death; 'twill be his bane; he cannot bear it.
Cres. O you immortal gods!—I will not go.
Pan. Thou must.
Cres. I will not, uncle: I have forgot my father;
I know no touch' of consanguinity:
No kin, no love, no blood, no soul so near me,
As the sweet Troilus.-O you gods divine!
Make Cressid's name the very crown of falsehood,
If ever she leave Troilus! Time, force, and death,
Do to this body what extremes you can;
But the strong base and building of my love
Is as the very centre of the earth,
Drawing all things to it.-I'll go in, and weep ;-
Pan. Do, do.
Cres. Tear my bright hair, and scratch my praised
Crack my clear voice with sobs, and break my heart
With sounding Troilus. I will not go from Troy.
[Exeunt.
SCENE III.-The same. Before Pandarus'
house. Enter Paris, Troilus, Æneas, Deipho-
bus, Antenor, and Diomedes.
Par. It is great morning; and the hour prefix'd
Of her delivery to this valiant Greek
Comes fast upon :-Good my brother Troilus,
Tell you the lady what she is to do,
And haste her to the purpose.
verse; we see it, we see it.-How now, lambs?
That the blest gods-as angry with my fancy,
Tro. Cressid, I love thee in so strain'd a purity,
More bright in zeal than the devotion which
Cold lips blow to their deities,-take thee from me.
Cres. Have the gods envy?
Pan. Ay, ay, ay, ay; 'tis too plain a case.
Cres. And is it true, that I must go from Troy?
Tro. A hateful truth.
What, and from Troilus too?
Tro. From Troy, and Troilus.
Cres.
Is it possible?
Tro. And suddenly; where injury of chance
All time of pause, rudely beguiles our lips
Puts back leave-taking, justles roughly by
of all rejoindure, forcibly prevents
Our lock'd embrasures, strangles our dear vows
Even in the birth of our own labouring breath:
We two, that with so many thousand sighs
Did buy each other, must poorly sell ourselves
With the rude brevity and discharge of one.
Injurious time now, with a robber's haste,
Crams his rich thievery up, he knows not how:
With distinct breath and consign'd' kisses to them,
As many farewells as be stars in heaven,
He fumbles up into a loose adieu;
And scants us with a single famish'd kiss,
Distasted with the salt of broken tears.
Ene. [Within.] My lord! is the lady ready?
Tro. Hark! you are call'd: Some say, the
Genius so
Cries, Come! to him that instantly must die.Bid them have patience; she shall come anon. Pan. Where are my tears? rain, to lay this wind, Tro. Walk in to her house; or my heart will be blown up by the root! I'll bring her to the Grecian presently: [Exit Pandarus. Cres. I must then to the Greeks? And to his hand when I deliver her, Tro. Think it an altar; and thy brother Troilus No remedy. Cres. A woful Cressid 'mongst the merry Greeks! Tro. Hear me, my love: Be thou but true of heart,
A priest, there offering to it his own heart. [Exit. When shall we see again?
Par. I know what 'tis to love;
And 'would, as I shall pity, I could help!-
Please you, walk in, my lords.
Cres. I true! how now? what wicked deem is this?
And violenteth in a sense as strong
Tro. Nay, we must use expostulation kindly,
For it is parting from us :
I speak not, be thou true, as fearing thee;
For I will throw my glove to keath himself,
That there's no maculation' in thy heart:
As that which causeth it: How can I moderate it? But be thou true, say I, to fashion in
If I could temporize with my affection,
Or brew it to a weak and colder palate,
The like allayment could I give my grief:
My love admits no qualifying dross:
No more my grief,in such a precious loss.
Pan. Here, here, here he comes.-Ah, sweet ducks!
(1) Sense or feeling of relationship. (2) Sealed. |
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;'
I'll answer to my lust: 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,
They're loving, well compos'd, with gifts of nature This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy head.
And swelling o'er with arts and exercise;
How novelty may move, and parts with person, Alas, a kind of godly jealously
(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, nor sweeten talk, Nor play at subtle games; fair virtues all, To which the Grecians are most prompt and
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
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.
But I can tell, that in each grace of these
There lurks a still and dumb-discoursive devil,
That tempts most cunningly but be not tempted.
Cres. Do you think I will?
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,-
Tro.
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 cang gad their comper
With truth and plainness I do wear mine bare.
Fear not my truth; the moral of my wit
Is-plain, and true,-there's all the reach of it.
Enter Æneas, Paris, Antenor, Deiphobus, and
Diomedes.
Welcome, sir Diomed! here is the lady,
Which for Antenor ve deliver you:
At the port, lord, I'll give her to thy hand;
And, by the way, possess thee what she is.
Entreat her fair; and, by my soul, fair Greek,
If e'er thou stand at mercy of my sword,
Name Cressid, and thy life shall be as safe
As Priam is in Ilion.
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 ine be privilee'd by my place, and message, To be a speaker free; when I am hence,
Lists set out. SCENE V-The Grecian camp. Enter Ajax armed; Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus, Menelaus, Ulysses, Nestor, and others. Agam. Here art thou in appointment fresh and fair,
Anticipating time with starting courage.
Give with thy trumpet a loud note to Troy,
Thou dreadful Ajax; that the apalled air
May pierce the head of the great combatant,
And hale him hither.
Ajar.
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;
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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 welcome.
Men. I had good argument for kissing once. Patr. But that's no argument for kissing now: For thus popp'd Paris in his hardiment; And parted thus you and your argument. Ulyss. O deadly gall and theme of all our
For which we lose our heads, to gild his horns.
Patr. The first was Menelaus' kiss;-this, mine:
Patroclus kisses you.
O, this is trim! Patr. Paris, and I, kiss evermore for him. Men. I'll have my kiss, sir :-Lady, by your leave.
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.
Al. The Trojans' trumpet.
Agam.
[Trumpet within.
Yonder comes the troop.
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?-0, I perceive you.
(1) Motion. (2) Breathing, exercise. (3) Stops.
(4) No boaster. (5) Unsuitable to his character.
(6) Yields, gives way.
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: the combatants being kin,
So be it; either to the uttermost,
Half stins their strife before their strokes begin.
[Ajax and Hector enter the lists.
Ulyss. They are oppos'd already.
Agam. What Trojan is that saine 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 deedless 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,
Nor dignifies an impair 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 vindictive 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!
Agam. His blows are well dispos'd:-there,
Ajax!
Dio. You must no more.
Œne.
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 commision Greek and Trojan so,
A gory emulation 'twixt us twain:
That thou could't 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
Bounds-in
Thou should'st not bear from me a Greekish member
my father's; by Jove's multipotent,
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 en brace 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 Neoptolemus 12 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.
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.
Heet, O you, my lord? by Mars his gauntlet,
thanks!
Mock not, that I affect the untraded 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, sit; she's a deadly
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 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.
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
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 ;'
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. 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 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—
Do not chafe thee, cousin ;-
Ajax.
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, Hector?
To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death;
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