Sec. Sen. Stand, and go back.[3719]
Men. You guard like men; 'tis well: but, by your leave,
I am an officer of state, and come[3720]
To speak with Coriolanus.[3720]
First Sen. From whence?[3721]
Men. From Rome.
First Sen. You may not pass, you must return: our general[3722] 5
Will no more hear from thence.[3722][3723]
Sec. Sen. You'll see your Rome embraced with fire, before
You'll speak with Coriolanus.
Men. Good my friends,
If you have heard your general talk of Rome
And of his friends there, it is lots to blanks[3724] 10
My name hath touch'd your ears: it is Menenius.
First Sen. Be it so; go back: the virtue of your name
Is not here passable.
Men. I tell thee, fellow,[3725]
Thy general is my lover: I have been
The book of his good acts, whence men have read 15
His fame unparallel'd haply amplified;[3726]
For I have ever verified my friends,[3727]
Of whom he's chief, with all the size that verity[3728]
Would without lapsing suffer: nay, sometimes,
Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground, 20
I have tumbled past the throw, and in his praise[3729]
Have almost stamp'd the leasing: therefore, fellow,
I must have leave to pass.
First Sen. Faith, sir, if you had told as many lies in
his behalf as you have uttered words in your own, you 25
should not pass here; no, though it were as virtuous to lie
as to live chastely. Therefore go back.