ACT I.
Scene I. Troy. Before Priam's palace.
Enter Pandarus and Troilus.[936]
Tro. Call here my varlet; I'll unarm again:
Why should I war without the walls of Troy,
That find such cruel battle here within?
Each Trojan that is master of his heart,[937]
Let him to field; Troilus, alas, hath none! 5
Pan. Will this gear ne'er be mended?
Tro. The Greeks are strong and skilful to their strength,
Fierce to their skill and to their fierceness valiant,
But I am weaker than a woman's tear,
Tamer than sleep, fonder than ignorance,[938] 10
Less valiant than the virgin in the night,
And skilless as unpractised infancy.
Pan. Well, I have told you enough of this: for my part,
I 'll not meddle nor make no farther. He that will have a[939]
cake out of the wheat must needs tarry the grinding.[940] 15
Tro. Have I not tarried?
Pan. Ay, the grinding; but you must tarry the bolting.[941]
Tro. Have I not tarried?
Pan. Ay, the bolting; but you must tarry the leavening.
Tro. Still have I tarried. 20
Pan. Ay, to the leavening; but here's yet in the word[942]
'hereafter,' the kneading, the making of the cake, the heating
of the oven, and the baking; nay, you must stay the[943]
cooling too, or you may chance to burn your lips.[944]
Tro. Patience herself, what goddess e'er she be, 25
Doth lesser blench at sufferance than I do.[945]
At Priam's royal table do I sit;[946]
And when fair Cressid comes into my thoughts,—[947][948]
So, traitor!—'When she comes!'—When is she thence?[948]
Pan. Well, she looked yesternight fairer than ever I[949] 30
saw her look, or any woman else.[949]
Tro. I was about to tell thee:—when my heart,[950]
As wedged with a sigh, would rive in twain,
Lest Hector or my father should perceive me,
I have, as when the sun doth light a storm,[951] 35
Buried this sigh in wrinkle of a smile:
But sorrow, that is couch'd in seeming gladness,
Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness.
Pan. An her hair were not somewhat darker than[952]
Helen's—well, go to—there were no more comparison between 40
the women: but, for my part, she is my kinswoman;[953]
I would not, as they term it, praise her: but I would somebody[954]
had heard her talk yesterday, as I did. I will not
dispraise your sister Cassandra's wit, but—
Tro. O Pandarus! I tell thee, Pandarus,— 45
When I do tell thee, there my hopes lie drown'd,
Reply not in how many fathoms deep[955]
They lie indrench'd. I tell thee, I am mad[956][957]
In Cressid's love: thou answer'st 'she is fair;'[957]
Pour'st in the open ulcer of my heart[958][959] 50
Her eyes, her hair, her cheek, her gait, her voice,[959]
Handlest in thy discourse, O, that her hand,[959][960][961]
In whose comparison all whites are ink[961]
Writing their own reproach, to whose soft seizure[961]
The cygnet's down is harsh and spirit of sense[961][962] 55
Hard as the palm of ploughman: this thou tell'st me,[961]
As true thou tell'st me, when I say I love her;[963]
But, saying thus, instead of oil and balm,
Thou lay'st in every gash that love hath given me
The knife that made it. 60
Pan. I speak no more than truth.
Tro. Thou dost not speak so much.
Pan. Faith, I'll not meddle in't. Let her be as she is:[964]
if she be fair, 'tis the better for her; an she be not, she has[965]
the mends in her own hands. 65
Tro. Good Pandarus, how now, Pandarus![966]
Pan. I have had my labour for my travail; ill-thought
on of her, and ill-thought on of you: gone between and between,[967]
but small thanks for my labour.
Tro. What, art thou angry, Pandarus? what, with me? 70
Pan. Because she's kin to me, therefore she's not so[968]
fair as Helen: an she were not kin to me, she would be as[965][969]
fair on Friday as Helen is on Sunday. But what care I?[970]
I care not an she were a black-a-moor; 'tis all one to me.[965]
Tro. Say I she is not fair? 75
Pan. I do not care whether you do or no. She's a
fool to stay behind her father; let her to the Greeks; and
so I'll tell her the next time I see her: for my part, I'll
meddle nor make no more i' the matter.[971]
Tro. Pandarus,— 80
Pan. Not I.
Tro. Sweet Pandarus,—
Pan. Pray you, speak no more to me: I will leave all
as I found it, and there an end. [Exit. An alarum.[972]
Tro. Peace, you ungracious clamours! peace, rude sounds! 85
Fools on both sides! Helen must needs be fair,
When with your blood you daily paint her thus.
I cannot fight upon this argument;
It is too starved a subject for my sword.
But Pandarus—O gods, how do you plague me! 90
I cannot come to Cressid but by Pandar;[973]
And he's as tetchy to be woo'd to woo[974]
As she is stubborn-chaste against all suit.[975]
Tell me, Apollo, for thy Daphne's love,
What Cressid is, what Pandar, and what we? 95
Her bed is India; there she lies, a pearl:
Between our Ilium and where she resides,[976]
Let it be call'd the wild and wandering flood,[977]
Ourself the merchant, and this sailing Pandar
Our doubtful hope, our convoy and our bark. 100
Alarum. Enter Æneas.
Æne. How now, Prince Troilus! wherefore not afield?[978]
Tro. Because not there: this woman's answer sorts,
For womanish it is to be from thence.
What news, Æneas, from the field to-day?
Æne. That Paris is returned home, and hurt. 105
Tro. By whom, Æneas?
Æne. Troilus, by Menelaus.
Tro. Let Paris bleed: 'tis but a scar to scorn;
Paris is gored with Menelaus' horn. [Alarum.
Æne. Hark, what good sport is out of town to-day!
Tro. Better at home, if 'would I might' were 'may.' 110
But to the sport abroad: are you bound thither?
Æne. In all swift haste.
Tro. Come, go we then together. [Exeunt.
Scene II. The same. A street.
Enter Cressida and Alexander her man.[979]
Cres. Who were those went by?
Alex. Queen Hecuba and Helen[980]
Cres. And whither go they?
Alex. Up to the eastern tower.
Whose height commands as subject all the vale,
To see the battle. Hector, whose patience[981]
Is as a virtue fix'd, to-day was moved:[982] 5
He chid Andromache and struck his armourer;[983]
And, like as there were husbandry in war,
Before the sun rose he was harness'd light,[984]
And to the field goes he; where every flower
Did, as a prophet, weep what it foresaw 10
In Hector's wrath.
Cres. What was his cause of anger?
Alex. The noise goes, this: there is among the Greeks[985]
A lord of Trojan blood, nephew to Hector;
They call him Ajax.
Cres. Good; and what of him?
Alex. They say he is a very man per se,[986][987] 15
And stands alone.[986]
Cres. So do all men, unless they are drunk, sick, or[988]
have no legs.
Alex. This man, lady, hath robbed many beasts of
their particular additions; he is as valiant as the lion, 20
churlish as the bear, slow as the elephant: a man into whom
nature hath so crowded humours that his valour is crushed[989]
into folly, his folly sauced with discretion: there is no man[989][990]
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 25
without cause and merry against the hair: 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 purblind[991]
Argus, all eyes and no sight.
Cres. But how should this man, that makes me smile, 30
make Hector angry?
Alex. They say he yesterday coped Hector in the battle
and struck him down, the disdain and shame whereof[992]
hath ever since kept Hector fasting and waking.
Enter Pandarus.[993]
Cres. Who comes here?[994] 35
Alex. Madam, your uncle Pandarus.
Cres. Hector's a gallant man.
Alex. As may be in the world, lady.
Pan. What's that? what's that?
Cres. Good morrow, uncle Pandarus. 40
Pan. Good morrow, cousin Cressid: what do you talk
of? Good morrow, Alexander. How do you, cousin?[995]
When were you at Ilium?[996]
Cres. This morning, uncle.
Pan. What were you talking of when I came? Was 45
Hector armed and gone ere you came to Ilium? Helen[997]
was not up, was she?
Cres. Hector was gone; but Helen was not up.[998]
Pan. E'en so: Hector was stirring early.
Cres. That were we talking of, and of his anger. 50
Pan. Was he angry?
Cres. So he says here.
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, 55
I can tell them that too.
Cres. What, is he angry too?
Pan. Who, Troilus? Troilus is the better man of the[999]
two.
Cres. O Jupiter! there's no comparison. 60
Pan. What, not between Troilus and Hector? Do
you know a man if you see him?
Cres. Ay, if I ever saw him before and knew him.
Pan. Well, I say Troilus is Troilus.
Cres. Then you say as I say; for, I am sure, he is not[1000] 65
Hector.[1000]
Pan. No, nor Hector is not Troilus in some degrees.[1001]
Cres. 'Tis just to each of them; he is himself.[1002]
Pan. Himself! Alas, poor Troilus! I would he were.[1003]
Cres. So he is. 70
Pan. Condition, I had gone barefoot to India.[1004]
Cres. He is not Hector.
Pan. Himself! no, he's not himself: would a' were[1005]
himself! Well, the gods are above; time must friend or
end: well, Troilus, well, I would my heart were in her 75
body! No, Hector is not a better man than Troilus.
Cres. Excuse me.
Pan. He is elder.
Cres. Pardon me, pardon me.
Pan. Th' other's not come to't; you shall tell me another[1006] 80
tale, when th' other's come to't. Hector shall not have[1006]
his wit this year.[1007]
Cres. He shall not need it, if he have his own.
Pan. Nor his qualities.
Cres. No matter. 85
Pan. Nor his beauty.
Cres. 'Twould not become him; his own's better.
Pan. You have no judgement, niece: Helen herself
swore th' other day, that Troilus, for a brown favour—for
so 'tis, I must confess,—not brown neither,— 90
Cres. No, but brown.[1008]
Pan. Faith, to say truth, brown and not brown.
Cres. To say the truth, true and not true.
Pan. She praised his complexion above Paris.[1009]
Cres. Why, Paris hath colour enough. 95
Pan. So he has.
Cres. Then Troilus should have too much: if she praised[1010]
him above, his complexion is higher than his; he having[1011]
colour enough, and the other higher, is too flaming a praise[1012]
for a good complexion. I had as lief Helen's golden tongue[1013] 100
had commended Troilus for a copper nose.
Pan. I swear to you, I think Helen loves him better[1014]
than Paris.[1014]
Cres. Then she's a merry Greek indeed.
Pan. Nay, I am sure she does. She came to him th' 105
other day into the compassed window,—and, you know, he
has not past three or four hairs on his chin,—
Cres. 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 110
three pound, lift as much as his brother Hector.[1015]
Cres. Is he so young a man and so old a lifter?[1016]
Pan. But, to prove to you that Helen loves him: she
came and puts me her white hand to his cloven chin—
Cres. Juno have mercy! how came it cloven? 115
Pan. Why, you know, 'tis dimpled: I think his smiling
becomes him better than any man in all Phrygia.
Cres. O, he smiles valiantly.[1017]
Pan. Does he not?
Cres. O yes, an 'twere a cloud in autumn.[1018] 120
Pan. Why, go to, then: but to prove to you that Helen
loves Troilus,—
Cres. Troilus will stand to the proof, if you'll prove[1019][1020]
it so.[1019]
Pan. Troilus! why, he esteems her no more than I esteem 125
an addle egg.
Cres. If you love an addle egg as well as you love an
idle head, you would eat chickens i'the shell.
Pan. I cannot choose but laugh, to think how she tickled
his chin; indeed, she has a marvellous white hand, I must[1021] 130
needs confess,—
Cres. Without the rack.
Pan. And she takes upon her to spy a white hair on
his chin.
Cres. Alas, poor chin! many a wart is richer. 135
Pan. But there was such laughing! Queen Hecuba
laughed, that her eyes ran o'er.[1022]
Cres. With mill-stones.
Pan. And Cassandra laughed.
Cres. But there was more temperate fire under the pot[1023] 140
of her eyes: did her eyes run o'er too?
Pan. And Hector laughed.
Cres. At what was all this laughing?
Pan. Marry, at the white hair that Helen spied on
Troilus' chin.[1024] 145
Cres. An't had been a green hair, I should have laughed[1025]
too.
Pan. They laughed not so much at the hair as at his
pretty answer.
Cres. What was his answer? 150
Pan. Quoth she, 'Here's but two and fifty hairs on[1026]
your chin, and one of them is white.'
Cres. This is her question.
Pan. That's true; make no question of that. 'Two and[1027]
fifty hairs,' quoth he, 'and one white: that white hair is my[1028] 155
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't out, and give it him.' But there[1029]
was such laughing! and Helen so blushed, and Paris so
chafed, and all the rest so laughed, that it passed. 160
Cres. So let it now; for it has been a great while going by.[1030]
Pan. Well, cousin, I told you a thing yesterday; think[1031]
on't.[1031]
Cres. So I do.[1032]
Pan. I'll be sworn 'tis true; he will weep you, an[165, 167] 165
'twere a man born in April.
Cres. And I'll spring up in his tears, an 'twere a nettle[1033]
against May. [A retreat sounded.[1034]
Pan. Hark! they are coming from the field: shall we
stand up here, and see them as they pass toward Ilium?[1035] 170
good niece, do, sweet niece Cressida.
Cres. At your pleasure.
Pan. Here, here, here's an excellent place; here we
may see most bravely: I'll tell you them all by their names
as they pass by; but mark Troilus above the rest. 175
Æneas passes.[1036]
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;[1037]
you shall see anon.
Cres. Who's that?[1038] 180
Antenor passes.
Pan. That's Antenor: he has a shrewd wit, I can tell[1039]
you; and he's a man good enough: he's one o' the soundest[1040]
judgements in Troy, whosoever, and a proper man of person.[1041]
When comes Troilus? I'll show you Troilus anon:
if he see me, you shall see him nod at me.[1042] 185
Cres. Will he give you the nod?
Pan. You shall see.
Cres. If he do, the rich shall have more.[1043]
Hector passes.
Pan. That's Hector, that, that, look you, that; there's
a fellow! Go thy way, Hector! There's a brave man, 190
niece. O brave Hector! Look how he looks! there's a
countenance! is't not a brave man?
Cres. O, a brave man![1044]
Pan. Is a' not? it does a man's heart good. Look you[1045]
what hacks are on his helmet! look you yonder, do you 195
see? look you there: there's no jesting; there's laying on,[1046]
take't off who will, as they say: there be hacks![1047]
Cres. Be those with swords?
Pan. Swords! any thing, he cares not; an the devil[1048]
come to him, it's all one: by God's lid, it does one's heart 200
good. Yonder comes Paris, yonder comes Paris.
Paris passes.[1049]
Look ye yonder, niece; is't not a gallant man too, is't not?
Why, this is brave now. Who said he came hurt home to-day?[1050]
he's not hurt: why, this will do Helen's heart good
now, ha! Would I could see Troilus now! you shall see[1051] 205
Troilus anon.
Cres. Who's that?
Helenus passes.
Pan. That's Helenus: I marvel where Troilus is.
That's Helenus. I think he went not forth to-day. That's
Helenus. 210
Cres. Can Helenus fight, uncle?
Pan. Helenus! no; yes, he'll fight indifferent well. I[1052]
marvel where Troilus is. Hark! do you not hear the[1053]
people cry 'Troilus'? Helenus is a priest.
Cres. What sneaking fellow comes yonder? 215
Troilus passes.
Pan. Where? yonder? that's Deiphobus. 'Tis Troilus!
there's a man, niece! Hem! Brave Troilus! the prince of
chivalry!
Cres. Peace, for shame, peace!
Pan. Mark him; note him. O brave Troilus! Look[1054] 220
well upon him, niece; look you how his sword is bloodied,
and his helm more hacked than Hector's; and how he looks,
and how he goes! O admirable youth! he never saw three-and-twenty.[1055]
Go thy way, Troilus, go thy way! Had I a
sister were a grace, or a daughter a goddess, he should take[1056] 225
his choice. O admirable man! Paris? Paris is dirt to him;[1057]
and, I warrant, Helen, to change, would give an eye to boot.
Common Soldiers pass.[1058]
Cres. Here come more.[1059]
Pan. Asses, fools, dolts! chaff and bran, chaff and
bran! porridge after meat! I could live and die i'the eyes 230
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.
Cres. There is among the Greeks Achilles, a better[1060]
man than Troilus. 235
Pan. Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.
Cres. 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, 240
gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and such like, the spice[1061]
and salt that season a man?[1062]
Cres. Ay, a minced man: and then to be baked with
no date in the pie, for then the man's date is out.[1063]
Pan. You are such a woman! one knows not at what[1064] 245
ward you lie.
Cres. Upon my back, to defend my belly; upon my wit,
to defend my wiles; upon my secrecy, to defend mine honesty;[1065]
my mask, to defend my beauty; and you, to defend all[1066]
these: and at all these wards I lie, at a thousand watches.[1067] 250
Pan. Say one of your watches.
Cres. 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[1068]
hit, I can watch you for telling how I took the blow; unless
it swell past hiding, and then it's past watching.[1069] 255
Pan. You are such another!
Enter Troilus's Boy.[1070]
Boy. Sir, my lord would instantly speak with you.
Pan. Where?
Boy. At your own house; there he unarms him.[1071]
Pan. Good boy, tell him I come. [Exit Boy.] I doubt[1072] 260
he be hurt. Fare ye well, good niece.
Cres. Adieu, uncle.
Pan. I will be with you, niece, by and by.[1073]
Cres. To bring, uncle?[1074]
Pan. Ay, a token from Troilus. 265
Cres. By the same token, you are a bawd.
[Exit Pandarus.[1075]
Words, vows, gifts, tears, and love's full sacrifice,[1076]
He offers in another's enterprise:
But more in Troilus thousand fold I see
Than in the glass of Pandar's praise may be; 270
Yet hold I off. Women are angels, wooing:
Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing:[1077]
That she beloved knows nought that knows not this:[1078]
Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is:
That she was never yet that ever knew 275
Love got so sweet as when desire did sue:[1079]
Therefore this maxim out of love I teach:[1080]
Achievement is command; ungain'd, beseech.[1080][1081]
Then though my heart's content firm love doth bear,[1082]
Nothing of that shall from mine eyes appear. [Exeunt.[1083] 280
Scene III. The Grecian camp. Before Agamemnon's tent.
Sennet. Enter Agamemnon, Nestor, Ulysses, Menelaus, with others.[1084]
Agam. Princes,[1085]
What grief hath set the jaundice on your cheeks?[1086]
The ample proposition that hope makes[1087]
In all designs begun on earth below
Fails in the promised largeness: checks and disasters 5
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[1088]
Tortive and errant from his course of growth.
Nor, princes, is it matter new to us 10
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,[1089]
Whereof we have record, trial did draw
Bias and thwart, not answering the aim 15
And that unbodied figure of the thought
That gave't surmised shape. Why then, you princes,
Do you with checks abash'd behold our works,[1090]
And call them shames? which are indeed nought else[1091]
But the protractive trials of great Jove 20
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 affined and kin: 25
But in the wind and tempest of her frown,
Distinction with a broad and powerful fan[1092]
Puffing at all winnows the light away,
And what hath mass or matter, by itself[1093]
Lies rich in virtue and unmingled. 30
Nest. With due observance of thy godlike seat,[1094]
Great Agamemnon, Nestor shall apply[1095]
Thy latest words. In the reproof of chance[1096]
Lies the true proof of men: the sea being smooth,
How many shallow bauble boats dare sail 35
Upon her patient breast, making their way[1097]
With those of nobler bulk![1098]
But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage
The gentle Thetis, and anon behold
The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cut,[1099] 40
Bounding between the two moist elements,
Like Perseus' horse: where's then the saucy boat,
Whose weak untimber'd sides but even now
Co-rivall'd greatness? either to harbour fled,
Or made a toast for Neptune. Even so[1100] 45
Doth valour's show and valour's worth divide
In storms of fortune: for in her ray and brightness[1101]
The herd hath more annoyance by the breese[1102]
Than by the tiger; but when the splitting wind[1103]
Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks,[1103] 50
And flies fled under shade, why then the thing of courage[1104]
As roused with rage with rage doth sympathize,
And with an accent tuned in selfsame key[1105]
Retorts to chiding fortune.[1106]
Ulyss. Agamemnon,
Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Greece,[1107] 55
Heart of our numbers, soul and only spirit,[1108]
In whom the tempers and the minds of all
Should be shut up, hear what Ulysses speaks.
Besides the applause and approbation
The which, [To Agamemnon] most mighty for thy place and sway,[1109]60
[To Nestor] And thou most reverend for thy stretch'd-out life,[1110]
I give to both your speeches, which were such
As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece[1111]
Should hold up high in brass, and such again
As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver,[1112] 65
Should with a bond of air, strong as the axletree[1112]
On which heaven rides, knit all the Greekish ears[1113]
To his experienced tongue, yet let it please both,[1114]
Thou great, and wise, to hear Ulysses speak.[1115]
Agam. Speak, Prince of Ithaca; and be't of less expect[1116][1117] 70
That matter needless, of importless burthen,[1116]
Divide thy lips, than we are confident,[1116][1118]
When rank Thersites opes his mastic jaws,[1116][1119]
We shall hear music, wit and oracle.[1116]
Ulyss. Troy, yet upon his basis, had been down,[1116][1120] 75
And the great Hector's sword had lack'd a master,
But for these instances.[1121]
The specialty of rule hath been neglected:
And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand[1122]
Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions.[1122][1123] 80
When that the general is not like the hive[1124]
To whom the foragers shall all repair,[1125]
What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded,
The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask.[1126]
The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre, 85
Observe degree, priority and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,[1127]
Office and custom, in all line of order:
And therefore is the glorious planet Sol
In noble eminence enthroned and sphered 90
Amidst the other; whose medicinable eye[1128]
Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil,[1129]
And posts like the commandment of a king,
Sans check to good and bad: but when the planets
In evil mixture to disorder wander, 95
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 states[1130] 100
Quite from their fixure! O, when degree is shaked,[1131]
Which is the ladder to all high designs,[1132]
The enterprise is sick! How could communities,[1133]
Degrees in schools and brotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable shores, 105
The primogenitive and due of birth,[1134]
Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels,
But by degree, stand in authentic place?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets[1135] 110
In mere oppugnancy: the bounded waters
Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores,[1136]
And make a sop of all this solid globe:
Strength should be lord of imbecility,[1137]
And the rude son should strike his father dead:[1137] 115
Force should be right; or rather, right and wrong,[1137]
Between whose endless jar justice resides,[1138]
Should lose their names, and so should justice too.[1136][1137][1139]
Then every thing includes itself in power,[1140]
Power into will, will into appetite; 120
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,[1141]
This chaos, when degree is suffocate, 125
Follows the choking.[1142]
And this neglection of degree it is[1143]
That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose[1144][1145]
It hath to climb. The general's disdain'd[1144]
By him one step below; he by the next; 130
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 bloodless emulation:
And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot, 135
Not her own sinews. To end a tale of length,
Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength.[1146]
Nest. Most wisely hath Ulysses here discover'd
The fever whereof all our power is sick.
Agam. The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses, 140
What is the remedy?
Ulyss. The great Achilles, whom opinion crowns
The sinew and the forehand of our host,[1147]
Having his ear full of his airy fame,
Grows dainty of his worth, and in his tent 145
Lies mocking our designs: with him, Patroclus,
Upon a lazy bed, the livelong day
Breaks scurril jests;[1148]
And with ridiculous and awkward action,[1149]
Which, slanderer, he imitation calls, 150
He pageants us. Sometime, great Agamemnon,[1150]
Thy topless deputation he puts on;[1151]
And, like a strutting player, whose conceit
Lies in his hamstring, and doth think it rich
To hear the wooden dialogue and sound 155
'Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage,[1152]
Such to-be-pitied and o'er-wrested seeming[1153]
He acts thy greatness in: and when he speaks,
'Tis like a chime a-mending; with terms unsquared,[1154]
Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon dropp'd, 160
Would seem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff,[1155]
The large Achilles, on his press'd bed lolling,[1156]
From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause;
Cries 'Excellent! 'tis Agamemnon just.[1157]
Now play me Nestor; hem, and stroke thy beard,[1158] 165
As he being dress'd to some oration.'[1159]
That's done; as near as the extremest ends
Of parallels, as like as Vulcan and his wife:[1160]
Yet god Achilles still cries 'Excellent![1161]
'Tis Nestor right. Now play him me, Patroclus, 170
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 fumbling on his gorget,[1162]
Shake in and out the rivet: and at this sport[1163] 175
Sir Valour dies; cries 'O, enough, Patroclus;
Or give me ribs of steel! I shall split all[1164]
In pleasure of my spleen.' And in this fashion,
All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes,
Severals and generals of grace exact,[1165] 180
Achievements, 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 to make paradoxes.[1166]
Nest. And in the imitation of these twain, 185
Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns[1167]
With an imperial voice, many are infect.
Ajax is grown self-will'd and bears his head
In such a rein, in full as proud a place[1168]
As broad Achilles; keeps his tent like him;[1169] 190
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,[1170] 195
How rank soever rounded in with danger.[1171]
Ulyss. They tax our policy and call it cowardice,
Count wisdom as no member of the war,
Forestall prescience and esteem no act[1172]
But that of hand: the still and mental parts 200
That do contrive how many hands shall strike
When fitness calls them on, and know by measure[1173][1174]
Of their observant toil the enemies' weight—[1173][1175]
Why, this hath not a finger's dignity:
They call this bed-work, mappery, closet-war;[1176] 205
So that the ram that batters down the wall,
For the great swing and rudeness of his poise,
They place before his hand that made the engine,
Or those that with the fineness of their souls[1177]
By reason guide his execution.[1178] 210
Nest. Let this be granted, and Achilles' horse
Makes many Thetis' sons. [Tucket.[1179]
Agam. What trumpet? look, Menelaus.[1180]
Men. From Troy.
Enter Æneas.[1181]
Agam. What would you 'fore our tent? 215
Æne. Is this great Agamemnon's tent, I pray you?
Agam. Even this.
Æne. May one that is a herald and a prince
Do a fair message to his kingly ears?[1182]
Agam. With surety stronger than Achilles' arm[1183] 220
'Fore all the Greekish heads, which with one voice
Call Agamemnon head and general.
Æne. Fair leave and large security. How may
A stranger to those most imperial looks
Know them from eyes of other mortals?
Agam. How! 225
Æne. Ay:[1184]
I ask, that I might waken reverence,
And bid the cheek be ready with a blush[1185]
Modest as morning when she coldly eyes[1186]
The youthful Phœbus:[1186] 230
Which is that god in office, guiding men?[1187]
Which is the high and mighty Agamemnon?
Agam. This Trojan scorns us; or the men of Troy
Are ceremonious courtiers.
Æne. Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarm'd, 235
As bending angels; that's their fame in peace:[1188]
But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls,
Good arms, strong joints, true swords; and, Jove's accord,[1189][1190]
Nothing so full of heart. But peace, Æneas,[1189]
Peace, Trojan; lay thy finger on thy lips! 240
The worthiness of praise distains his worth,
If that the praised himself bring the praise forth:[1191]
But what the repining enemy commends,[1192]
That breath fame blows; that praise, sole pure, transcends.[1193]
Agam. Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself Æneas? 245
Æne. Ay, Greek, that is my name.
Agam. What's your affair, I pray you?[1194]
Æne. Sir, pardon; 'tis for Agamemnon's ears.
Agam. He hears nought privately that comes from Troy.[1195]
Æne. Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him:[1196] 250
I bring a trumpet to awake his ear,
To set his sense on the attentive bent,[1197]
And then to speak.
Agam. Speak frankly as the wind;
It is not Agamemnon's sleeping hour:
That thou shalt know, Trojan, he is awake, 255
He tells thee so himself.
Æne. Trumpet, blow loud,[1198]
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.
[Trumpet sounds.[1199]
We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy 260
A prince call'd Hector—Priam is his father—
Who in this dull and long-continued truce[1200]
Is rusty grown: he bade me take a trumpet,[1201]
And to this purpose speak. Kings, princes, lords!
If there be one among the fair'st of Greece, 265
That holds his honour higher than his ease,
That seeks his praise more than he fears his peril,[1202]
That knows his valour and knows not his fear,
That loves his mistress more than in confession[1203]
With truant vows to her own lips he loves, 270
And dare avow her beauty and her worth[1204]
In other arms than hers—to him this challenge.
Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks,
Shall make it good, or do his best to do it,[1205]
He hath a lady, wiser, fairer, truer,[1205] 275
Than ever Greek did compass in his arms;[1206]
And will to-morrow with his trumpet call
Midway between your tents and walls of Troy,
To rouse a Grecian that is true in love:
If any come, Hector shall honour him; 280
If none, he'll say in Troy when he retires,
The Grecian dames are sunburnt and not worth
The splinter of a lance. Even so much.
Agam. This shall be told our lovers, Lord Æneas:
If none of them have soul in such a kind, 285
We left them all at home: but we are soldiers;[1207]
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,[1208]
That one meets Hector; if none else, I am he.[1209] 290
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 host[1210]
One noble man that hath one spark of fire,[1211]
To answer for his love, tell him from me 295
I'll hide my silver beard in a gold beaver
And in my vantbrace put this wither'd brawn,[1212]
And meeting him will tell him that my lady[1213]
Was fairer than his grandam and as chaste
As may be in the world: his youth in flood,[1214] 300
I'll prove this truth with my three drops of blood.[1215]
Æne. Now heavens forbid such scarcity of youth![1216]
Ulyss. Amen.[1217]
Agam. Fair Lord Æneas, let me touch your hand;[1218]
To our pavilion shall I lead you, sir.[1219] 305
Achilles shall have word of this intent;[1220]
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 all but Ulysses and Nestor.[1221]
Ulyss. Nestor![1222] 310
Nest. What says Ulysses?
Ulyss. I have a young conception in my brain;
Be you my time to bring it to some shape.
Nest. What is't?
Ulyss. This 'tis:[1223] 315
Blunt wedges rive hard knots: the seeded pride
That hath to this maturity blown up[1224]
In rank Achilles must or now be cropp'd,
Or, shedding, breed a nursery of like evil,
To overbulk us all.
Nest. Well, and how?[1225] 320
Ulyss. This challenge that the gallant Hector sends,
However it is spread in general name,
Relates in purpose only to Achilles.
Nest. The purpose is perspicuous even as substance,[1226]
Whose grossness little characters sum up:[1227] 325
And, in the publication, make no strain,[1227]
But that Achilles, were his brain as barren[1228]
As banks of Libya,—though, Apollo knows,[1229]
'Tis dry enough—will, with great speed of judgement,[1229]
Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose[1230] 330
Pointing on him.[1230]
Ulyss. And wake him to the answer, think you?
Nest. Yes, 'tis most meet: who may you else oppose,[1231]
That can from Hector bring his honour off,[1232]
If not Achilles? Though't be a sportful combat,[1233] 335
Yet in this trial much opinion dwells;[1234]
For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute
With their finest palate: and trust to me, Ulysses,[1235]
Our imputation shall be oddly poised[1236]
In this wild action; for the success,[1237] 340
Although particular, shall give a scantling[1238]
Of good or bad unto the general;
And in such indexes, although small pricks
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass 345
Of things to come at large. It is supposed
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 350
Out of our virtues; who miscarrying,
What heart from hence receives the conquering part,[1239][1240]
To steel a strong opinion to themselves?[1240][1241]
Which entertain'd, limbs are his instruments,[1242][1243]
In no less working than are swords and bows[1242] 355
Directive by the limbs.[1242]
Ulyss. Give pardon to my speech;[1244]
Therefore 'tis meet Achilles meet not Hector.[1244][1245]
Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares,[1244]
And think, perchance, they'll sell; if not,[1244][1246] 360
The lustre of the better yet to show,[1244][1247]
Shall show the better. Do not consent[1244][1248]
That ever Hector and Achilles meet;[1244]
For both our honour and our shame in this[1244]
Are dogg'd with two strange followers.[1244] 365
Nest. I see them not with my old eyes: what are they?[1249]
Ulyss. What glory our Achilles shares from Hector,[1250]
Were he not proud, we all should share with him:[1251]
But he already is too insolent;
And we were better parch in Afric sun[1252] 370
Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes,
Should he 'scape Hector fair: if he were foil'd,[1253]
Why then, we did our main opinion crush[1254]
In taint of our best man. No, make a lottery;
And by device let blockish Ajax draw[1255] 375
The sort to fight with Hector: among ourselves[1256]
Give him allowance for the better man;[1257]
For that will physic the great Myrmidon
Who broils in loud applause, and make him fall
His crest that prouder than blue Iris bends. 380
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, 385
Ajax employ'd plucks down Achilles' plumes.
Nest. Ulysses,[1258]
Now I begin to relish thy advice;[1258][1259]
And I will give a taste of it forthwith[1260]
To Agamemnon: go we to him straight. 390
Two curs shall tame each other: pride alone
Must tarre the mastiffs on, as 'twere their bone.[1261]
[Exeunt.