Ajax. I will let his humours blood.? Agam. He'll be physician, that should be the patient. [Aside. Ajax. An all men Wit would be out of fashion. [Aside. Were o' my mind, Ajax. He should not bear it so, He should eat swords first: Shall pride carry it? [Aside. Ulyss. Pour in, pour in; his ambition is dry. [Aside. Ulyss. My lord, you feed too much on this dislike. Nest. O noble general, do not do so. [TO AGAM. Dio. You must prepare to fight without Achilles. Ulyss. Why, 'tis this naming of him does him harm. Here is a man- -But 'tis before his face; I will be silent. Nest. Wherefore should you so? 7 I will let his humours blood.] In the year 1600 a collection of Epigrams and Satires was published with this quaint title : The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-vaine. Malone. 8 He'll be physician,] Old copies-the physician, Steevens. 9 I'll knead him, &c.] Old copy: Ajax. I'll knead him, I'll make him supple, he's not yet thorough warm. Nest. •force him with praises: &c. The latter part of Ajax's speech is certainly got out of place, and ought to be assigned to Nestor, as I have ventured to transpose it. Ajax is feeding on his vanity, and boasting what he will do to Achilles; he 'll pash him o'er the face, he 'll make him eat swords, he 'll knead him, he 'll supple him, &c. Nestor and Ulysses slily labour to keep him up in this vein; and to this end Nestor craftily hints that Ajax is not warm yet, but must be crammed with more flattery. Theobald. 66 Nestor was of the same opinion with Dr. Johnson, who, speaking of a metaphysical Scotch writer, said, that he thought there was as much charity in helping a man down hill as up hill, if his tendency be downwards." See Boswell's Tour to the Hebrides, third edit. p. 245. Malone. -force him-] i.e. stuff him. Farcir, Fr. So again, in this malice forced with wit." Steevens. play: " He is not emulous, as Achilles is. Ulyss. Know the whole world, he is as valiant. Ajax. A whoreson dog, that shall palter2 thus with us! I would, he were a Trojan! Nest. What a vice If he were proud? Ay, or surly borne? Dio. Or covetous of praise? Ulyss. Dio. Or strange, or self-affected? Ulyss. Thank the heavens, lord, thou art of sweet composure; Praise him that got thee, she that gave thee suck:3 Thrice-fam'd, beyond all erudition : 4 To sinewy Ajax. I'll not praise thy wisdom, 1 He is not emulous,] Emulous is here used, in an ill sense, for envious. See p 77, n. 9. Malone. Emulous, in this instance, and perhaps in some others, may well enough be supposed to signify—jealous of higher authority. 2 Steevens. that shall palter-] That shall juggle with us, or fly from his engagements. So, in Julius Cæsar: 3 "Than secret Romans, who have spoke the word, she that gave thee suck:] This is from St. Luke, xi, 27: "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked." Steevens. 4 - beyond all erudition:] Thus the folio. The quartos, erroneously: beyond all thy erudition. Steevens. 5 Bull-bearing Milo his addition yield—] i. e. yield bis titles, his celebrity for strength. Addition, in legal language, is the title given to each party, showing his degree, occupation, &c. as esquire, gentleman, yeoman, merchant, &c. Our author here, as usual, pays no regard to chronology. Milo of Croton lived long after the Trojan war. Malone. 6 like a bourn,] A bourn is a boundary, and sometimes a VOL. XII. I Thy spacious and dilated parts: Here's Nestor,- He must, he is, he cannot but be wise ;- But be as Ajax. Ajax. Shall I call you father? Nest. Ay, my good son." Dio. Be rul'd by him, lord Ajax. Ulyss. There is no tarrying here; the hart Achilles Keeps thicket. Please it our great general To call together all his state of war; Fresh kings are come to Troy: To-morrow, We must with all our main of power stand fast: Agam. Go we to council. Let Achilles sleep: [Exeunt. ivulet dividing one place from another. So, in King Lear, Act III, sc. vi: "Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me." See note on this passage. Steevens. * A rivulet is called a burn in Scotland at the present day. 7 Ajax. Shall I call you father? Am. Ed. Nest. Ay, my good son. In the folio and in the modern edi. tions Ajax desires to give the title of father to Ulysses; in the quarto, more naturally, to Nestor. Johnson. Shakspeare had a custom prevalent about his own time in his thoughts. Ben Jonson had many who called themselves his sons. Mr. Vaillant adds, that Cotton dedicated his Treatise on Fishing to his father Walton; and that Ashmole, in his Diary, observesApril 3. Mr. William Backhouse, of Swallowfield, in com. Berks, caused me to call him father thenceforward." Steevens. 8 Fresh kings are come to Troy: &c.] We might complete this imperfect verse by reading: Fresh king's are come to succour Troy: &c. So, Spenser: "To succour the weak state of sad afflicted Troy." draw deep.] So, in the Prologue to this play: the deep-drawing barks." Steevens. Steevens. ACT III.....SCENE I. Troy. A Room in Priam's Palace. Enter PANDARUS and a Servant. Pan. Friend! you! pray you, a word: Do not you follow the young lord Paris? Serv. Ay, sir, when he goes before me. Pan. You do depend upon him, I mean? Pan. You do depend upon a noble gentleman; I must needs praise him. Serv. The lord be praised! Pan. You know me, do you not? Serv. 'Faith, sir, superficially. Pan. Friend, know me better; I am the lord Pandarus. Serv. You are in the state of grace. [Musick within. Pan. Grace! not so, friend; honour and lordship are my titles:What musick is this? Serv. I do but partly know, sir; it is musick in parts. Pan. Know you the musicians? Serv. Wholly, sir. Pan. Who play they to? Serv. To the hearers, sir. Pan. At whose pleasure, friend? Serv. At mine, sir, and theirs that love musick. Pan. Command, I mean, friend. Serv. Who shall I command, sir? Pan. Friend, we understand not one another; I am too courtly, and thou art too cunning: At whose request do these men play? Serv. That's to 't, indeed, sir: Marry, sir, at the request of Paris my lord, who is there in person; with 1 I hope, I shall know your honour better.] The servant means to quibble. He hopes that Pandarus will become a better man than he is at present. In his next speech he chooses to understand Pandarus as if he had said he wished to grow better, and hence the servant affirms that he is in the state of grace The second of these speeches has been pointed, in the late editions, as if he had asked, of what rank Pandarus was. Malone. him, the mortal Venus, the heart-blood of beauty, love's invisible soui,2. Pan. Who,my cousin Cressida? Serv. No, sir, Helen; Could you not find out that by her attributes? Pan. It should seem, fellow, that thou hast not seen the lady Cressida. I come to speak with Paris from the prince Troilus: I will make a complimental assault upon him, for my business seeths. Serv. Sodden business! there's a stewed phrase,3* indeed! Enter PARIS and HELEN, attended. Pan. Fair be to you, my lord, and to all this fair company! fair desires, in all fair measure, fairly guide them! especially to you, fair queen! fair thoughts be your fair piliow! Helen. Dear lord, you are full of fair words. Pan. You speak your fair pleasure, sweet queen.Fair prince, here is good broken musick. Par. You have broke it, cousin: and, by my life, you shall make it whole again; you shall piece it out with a piece of your performance:-Neil, he is full of harmony. Pan. Truly, lady, no. Helen. O, sir, Pan. Rude, in sooth; in good sooth, very rude. 2 love's invisible soul,] may mean, the soul of love invisible every where else. Johnson. 3 Sodden business! there's a stewed phrase,] The quibbling speaker seems to mean that sodden is a phrase fit only for the stews. Thus, says the Bawd in Pericles: "The stuff we have, a strong wind will blow it to pieces, they are so pitifully sodden." Steevens. * Seethed, is sodden; seeth, is sod, boil, stew; seething, state of ebullition, &c. the meaning, and the quibble, are obvious; nor does the context, any more than the expression, afford the least glimpse of indecency. Am. Ed. 4 in fits.] i. e. now and then, by fits; or perhaps a quibble is intended. A fit was a part or division of a song, sometimes a strain in musick, and sometimes a measure in dancing. The reader will find it sufficiently illustrated in the two former senses by Dr. Percy, in the first volume of his Reliques of ancient English Poetry: |