Presuming on their changeful potency.
ENE. [Within.] Nay, good my lord,-

TRO.

Come, kiss, and let us part.

Good brother, come you hither;

PAR. [Within.] Brother Troilus!
TRO.
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.

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 seal 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 me be privileg'd 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 honour,— -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.

PAR. Hark! Hector's trumpet.
ENE.
The prince must think me tardy and remiss,
That swore to ride before him in the field.

How have we spent this morning!

PAR. 'T is Troilus' fault: Come, come, to field with him. DEI. Let us make ready straight.

ENE. Yea, with a bridegroom's fresh alacrity, 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.

[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.

AJAX.

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;

Thou blow'st for Hector.

ULYSS. No trumpet answers.
ACHIL.

[Trumpet sounds.

"T is 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; 'T were 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.

ΜΕΝ.

O, this is trim!

PATR. Paris, and I, kiss evermore for him.

MEN. I'll have my kiss, sir:-Lady, by your leave.
CRES. In kissing, do you render or receive?

PATR. Both take and give.

CRES.

I'll make my match to live,

The kiss you take is better than you give;

Therefore no kiss.

MEN. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one.
CRES. You're an odd man; give even, or give none.
MEN. An odd man, lady? every man is odd.

CRES. No, Paris is not; for you know 't is true

That you are odd, and he is even with you.

MEN. You fillip me o' the head.
CRES.

No, I'll be sworn.

ULYSS. It were no match, your nail against his horn.May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?

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 't is 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 a 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 encounterers, so glib of tongue,
That give a coasting welcome ere it comes,
And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts
To every tickling reader! set them down
For sluttish spoils of opportunity,
And daughters of the game.

ALL. The Trojans' trumpet.
AGAM.

[Trumpet within.

Yonder comes the troop.

Enter HECTOR, armed; ENEAS, TROILUS, and other Trojans,

with Attendants.

ENE. Hail, all you state of Greece! what shall be done To him that victory commands? Or do you purpose, A victor shall be known? will you, the knights

Shall to the edge of all extremity

Pursue each other, or shall be divided
By any voice or order of the field?

Hector bade ask.

AGAM.

Which way would Hector have it?

ENE. He cares not; he 'll obey conditions.
ACHIL. "T is done like Hector; but securely done,
A little proudly, and great deal disprising

The knight oppos'd.

ENE.

If not Achilles, sir,

What is your name?

ACHIL.

If not Achilles, nothing.

ÆNE. Therefore Achilles: But, whate'er, know this ;-
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?-O, I perceive you.

Re-enter DIOMEDES.

AGAM. Here is sir Diomed:-Go, gentle knight,
Stand by our Ajax: as you and lord Æneas
Consent upon the order of their fight,
So be it; either to the uttermost,

Or else a breath: the combatants being kin,
Half stints their strife before their strokes begin.

[AJAX and HECTOR enter the lists.

ULYSS. They are oppos'd already.
AGAM. What Trojan is that same 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 guides his bounty,
Nor dignifies an impure 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,
Is more vindicative than jealous love:
They call him Troilus; and on him erect
A second hope, as fairly built as Hector.
Thus says Æneas; one that knows the youth