Pan. 'Would I were as deep under the earth as I am above!

Cres. O the gods!-what's the matter? Pan. Pr'ythee, get thee in; 'Would thou hadst ne'er been born! I knew, thou wouldst be his death:-0 poor gentleman!-A plague upon Antenor!

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 cheeks,

Crack my clear voice with sobs, and break my heart With sounding Troilus. I will not go from Troy. [Exeunt.

SCENE III.-Before Pandarus' House. Enter PARIS, TROILUS, ENEAS, DEIPHOBUS, 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.

Tro.

Walk into her house; I'll bring her to the Grecian presently: And to his hand when I deliver her,

Think it an altar; and thy brother Troilus

A priest, there offering to it his own heart. [Exit.
Par. I know what 'tis to love;

And 'would, as I shall pity, I could help!-
Please you, walk in, my lords.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-A Room in Pandarus' House.

Enter PANDARUS and CRESSIDA.

Pan. Be moderate, be moderate.
Cres. Why tell you me of moderation?
The grief is fine, full, perfect, that I taste,
And violenteth in a sense as strong

As that which causeth it: How can I moderate it?

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.
Enter TROILUS.

Pan. Here, here, here he comes.-Ah, sweet ducks!

Cres. O Troilus! Troilus! [Embracing him. Pan. What a pair of spectacles is here! Let me embrace too: O heart! as the goodly saying is,O heart, O heavy heart, Why sigh'st thou without breaking?

where he answers again,

* Sense or feeling of relationship.

Because thou canst not ease thy smart,

By friendship, nor by speaking. There never was a truer rhyme. Let us cast away nothing, for we may live to have need of such a verse; we see it, we see it.-How now, lambs?

Tro. Cressid, I love thee in so strain'd a purity,
That the blest gods-as angry with my fancy,
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.
Cres.

What, and from Troilus too?
Tro. From Troy and Troilus.
Cres.

Is it possible?

Tro. And suddenly; where injury of chance
Puts back leave-taking, justles roughly by
Of all rejoindure, forcibly prevents
All time of pause, rudely beguiles our lips

Our lock'd embrasures, strangles our dear vows
Even in the birth of our own laboring breath:
We two, that with so many thousand sighs
With the rude brevity and discharge of one.
Did buy each other, must poorly sell ourselves
Injurious time now, with a robber's haste,
Crams his rich thievery up, he knows not how:
As many farewells as be stars in heaven,
With distinct breath and consign'd kisses to them,
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

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 death himself,
That there's no maculation' in thy heart:
But, be thou true, say I, to fashion in
My sequent protestation: be thou true,
And I will see thee.

Cres. O, you shall be expos'd, my lord, to dangers As infinite as imminent! but, I'll be true.

Tro. And I'll grow friend with danger. Wear this sleeve.

Cres. And you this glove. When shall I see you? Tro. I will corrupt the Grecian sentinels, To give thee nightly visitations. But yet, be true. Cres.

O heavens!-be true again? Tro. Hear why I speak it, love; The Grecian youths are full of quality;" They're loving, well compos'd, with gifts of nature flowing,

And swelling o'er with arts and exercise;

How novelty may move, and parts with person,

Alas, a kind of godly jealousy (Which, I beseech you, call a virtuous sin) Makes me afeard.

Cres.

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,

Par. Hark! Hector's trumpet. Ene.

nant;

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?

Tro. No.

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 cunning gild their copper crowns,
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 ENEAS, PARIS, ANTENOR, DEIPHOBUS, and DIOMEDES.

Welcome, sir Diomed! here is the lady,
Which for Antenor we 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.

Div.

Fair lady Cressid,

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 called 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 me be privileged by my place, and message, To be a speaker free; when I am hence, 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 honor,-no.

Tro. Come, to the port.-I'll tell thee, Diomed, This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy head. 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.

On his fair worth and single chivalry. [Exeunt.

SCENE V.-The Grecian Camp. Lists set out. 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 appalled air
May pierce the head of the great combatant,

And hale him hither.

Thou, trumpet, there's my purse.
Ajax.
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;
Thou blow'st for Hector. [Trumpet sounds.

Ulyss. No trumpet answers.
Achil.

"Tis but early days. Agam. Is not yon Diomed, with Calchas' daughter?

Ulyss. 'Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait:
He rises on the toe: that spirit of his
In aspiration lifts him from the earth.

Enter DIOMED, with CRESSIDA.
Agam. Is this the lady Cressid? *

Dio.
Even she.
Agam. Most dearly welcome to the Greeks,
sweet lady.

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 scorns! For which we lose our heads, to gild his horns. Patr. The first was Menelaus' kiss ;-this, mine: ! Patroclus kisses you.

Men.

O, this is trim!

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-famed lord of Troy, no less to
[TO TROILUS.

you.

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. Hect. 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, sir; she's a deadly theme.
Hect. O pardon; I offend.

Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft,
Laboring 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,
When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i' the air,
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.

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 favor, 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,
• Laomedon.

• Imperial.

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.
Heet. 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 would buy thee, view thee limb by limb.
Hect. O, like a book of sport thouʼlt 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

his body

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

man,

To answer such a question: Stand again: Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly, As to prenominate in nice conjecture, Where thou wilt hit me dead?

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 stithied3 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 endeavor deeds to match these words, Or may I never

Ajax. Do not chafe thee, cousin;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; 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: To-night, all friends. Hect. Thy hand upon that match. Agam. First, all you peers of Greece, go to my

tent;

There in the full convive' we: afterwards,
As Hector's leisure and your bounties shall
Concur together, severally entreat him.—
Beat loud the tabourines,' let the trumpets blow,
That this great soldier may his welcome know.

[Exeunt all but TROILUS and ULYSSES. Tro. My lord Ulysses, tell me, I beseech you, In what place of the field doth Calchas keep?

Ulyss. At Menelaus' tent, most princely Troilus: There Diomed doth feast with him to-night; Who neither looks upon the heaven, nor earth, 3 Stithy, is a smith's shop. 5 Small drums.

1 Observed. 4 Feast.

a Forename.

But gives all gaze and bent of amorous view
On the fair Cressid.

Tro. Shall I, sweet lord, be bound to you so much, After we part from Agamemnon's tent,

To bring me thither!

Ulyss.

[Exeunt.

Tent.

Enter ACHILLES and PATROCLUS.

Achil. I'll heat his blood with Greekish wine to-night,

Which with my scimitar I'll cool to-morrow.-
Patroclus, let us feast him to the height.
Patr. Here comes Thersites.

Enter THERSITES.

Achil. How now, thou core of envy! Thou crusty batch of nature, what's the news! Ther. Why, thou picture of what thou seemest, and idol of idiot-worshippers, here's a letter for thee. Achil. From whence, fragment?

Ther. Why thou full dish of fool, from Troy. Patr. Who keeps the tent now? Ther. The surgeon's box, or the patient's wound. Patr. Well said, Adversity!" and what need these tricks?

Ther. Pr'ythee be silent, boy; I profit not by thy talk: thou art thought to be Achilles' male

varlet.

Patr. Male varlet, you rogue! what's that? Ther. Why, his masculine whore. Now the rotten diseases of the south, the guts-griping, ruptures, catarrhs, loads o' gravel i' the back, lethargies, cold palsies, raw eyes, dirt-rotten livers, wheezing lungs, bladders full of imposthume, sciaticas, lime-kilns i' the palm, incurable bone-ache, and the rivelled feesimple of the tetter, take and take again such preposterous discoveries!

Patr. Why, thou damnable box of envy, thou, what meanest thou to curse thus?

Patr. Out, gall!

Ther. Finch-egg!

Achil. My sweet Patroclus, I am thwarted quite From my great purpose in to-morrow's battle. Here is a letter from queen Hecuba;

A token from her daughter, my fair love;
Both taxing me, and gaging me to keep

An oath that I have sworn. I will not break it:
Fall, Greeks; fail, fame; honor, or go, or stay,
My major vow lies here, this I'll obey.-
Come, come, Thersites, help to trim my tent;
This night in banqueting must all be spent.
Away, Patroclus.

[Exeunt ACHILLES and PATROCLUS. Ther. With too much blood and too little brain, these two may run mad; but if with too much brain, and too little blood, they do, I'll be a curer Coarse, unwrought.

• Contrariety.

fellow enough, and one that loves quails; but he has not so much brain as ear-wax: And the goodly transformation of Jupiter there, his brother, the bull,

the primitive statue, and oblique memorial of cuckolds; a thrifty shoeing-horn in a chain, hanging at his brother's leg,-to what form, but that he is, should wit larded with malice, and malice forced' with wit, turn him to? To an ass, were nothing: he is both ass and ox: to an ox, were nothing; he is both ox and ass. To be a dog, a mule, a cat, a fitchew,' a toad, a lizard, an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a roe, I would not care: but to be Menelaus,-I would conspire against destiny. Ask me not what I would be, if I were not Thersites; for I care not to be the louse of a lazar,' so I were not Menelaus.-Hey-day! spirits and fires! Enter HECTOR, TROILUS, AJAX, AGAMEMNON, ULYSSES, NESTOR, MENELAUS, and DIOMED, with Lights.

Agam. We go wrong, we go wrong.
Ajax.

There, where we see the lights.
Hect.

Ajax. No, not a whit.
Ulyss

No, yonder 'tis ;

I trouble you.

Here comes himself to guide you.
Enter ACHILLES.

Achil. Welcome, brave Hector: welcome, princes all!

Agam. So now, fair prince of Troy, I bid goodnight.

Ajax commands the guard to tend on you.

Hect. Thanks, and good night to the Greeks' general.

Men. Good night, my lord.
Hect.

Good night, sweet Menelaus. Ther. Sweet draught: Sweet, quoth 'a! sweet sink, sweet sewer.

Follow his torch, he goes

To Calchas' tent; I'll keep you company.

[Aside to TROILUS.