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Tre. Good brother, come you hither;
And bring Eneas, 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 gold 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, possesst 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.

Dio. Fair lady Cressid, [pects: So please you, save the thanks this prince exThe lustre in your eye, heaven in your cheek, Pleads your fair You shall be mistress and command him wholusage; and to Diomed [ly. Tro. Grecian, thou dost not use me courte

ously,

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 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, Dio-
med,
[head.-
This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy
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. How have we spent this morning! The prince must think me tardy and remiss, That swore to ride before him to the field. Par. 'Tis 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.

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Thou dreadful Ajax; that the appalled air
May pierce the head of the great combatant,
And hale him thither.

Now crack thy lungs, and split thy brazen pipe
Ajax. Thou, trumpet, there's my purse.
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.

"Twere better, she were kiss'd in general. Ulyss. Yet is the kindness but particular; 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.

now:

Men. I had good argument for kissing once. Patr. But that's no argument for kissing 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!

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his horn.

May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?
Cres. You may.

Ulyss. I do desire it.
Cres. 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 tis
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,

રૈ

Nest. A woman of quick sense.
Ulyss. Fie, fie upon her!
There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip,
Nay, her foot speaks; her wanton spirits look
At every joint and motive* of her body. [out
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 ticklish reader! set them down
For sluttish spoils of opportunity,

And daughters of the game. [Trumpet within.
All. The Trojan's trumpet.
Agam. Yonder comes the troop.

Enter HECTOR, armed; ENEAS, TROILUS, and
other Trojans, with Attendants.

Ene. Hail, all the state of Greece! what
shall be done
To him that victory commands? Or do you pur
[pose,
A victor shall be known? will you, the knights
Shall to the edge of all extremity
Pursue each other; or shall they 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. 'Tis done like Hector; but securely
done,

A little proudly, and great deal misprising
The knight oppos'd.

Ene. If not Achilles, Sir,

What is your name?

Achil. If not Achilles, nothing.
Ene. Therefore Achilles: But, whate'er,
know this;-

In the extremity of great and little,
Valour and pride excels 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;
Halfheart, half hand, half Hector comes to seek
This blended knight, half Trojan, and half
Greek.

Achil. A maiden battle then?-O, 1 perceive

you.

Re-enter DIOMED.

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 judgement guide his bounty,
Nor dignifies an impair|| thought with breath:
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
For Hector, in his blaze of wrath, subscribes

+ Breathing, exercise.

* Motion.
No boaster.
Yields, gives way.

+ Stops.

| Unsuitable to his character.

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Ajax!

Dio. You must no more.

[Trumpets cease.
Ene. Princes, enough, so please you.
Ajax. I am not warm yet, let us fight again.
Dio. As Hector pleases.

Thou art, great lord, my father's sister's son,
A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;
Hect.Why then, will I no more :-

The obligation of our blood forbids
A goryt emulation 'twixt us twain:
Were they commixtion Greek and Trojan so,
That thou could'st say-This hand is Grecian
And this is Trojan; the sinews of this leg [all,
All Greek, and this all Troy; my mother's blood
Runs on the dextert cheek, and this sinisters
Bounds-in my father's; by Jove multipotent,
Thou should'st not bear from me a Greekish
member

Wherein my sword had not impressure made
Of our rank feud: But the just gods gainsay,
Than any drop thou borrow'st from thy mother,
My sacred aunt, should by my mortal sword
Be drain'd! Let me embrace thee, Ajax:
By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
Hector would have them fall upon him thus:
Cousin, all honour to thee!

Ajax. I thank thee, Hector:

Thou art too gentle, and too free a man:
I came to kill thee, cousin, and bear hence
A great addition|| earned in thy death.

Hect. Not Neoptolemus¶ so mirable
(On whose bright crest Fame with her loud'st
Cries, This is he,) could promise to himself
O yes
A thought of added honour torn from Hector.
Ene. There is expectance here from both the
What further you will do.

Hect. We'll answer it;

[sides,

The issue is embracement:-Ajax, farewell.
Ajax. If I might in entreaties find success,
(As seld** 1 have the chance,) I would desire
My famous cousin to our Grecian tents.

Dio. "Tis Agamemnon's wish: and great
Achilles

Doth long to see unarm'd the valiant Hector.
And signify this loving interview
Hect. Eneas, call my brother Troilus to me:
To the expecters of our Trojan part;
Desire them home.-Give me thy hand, my cou-
[sin;
I will go eat with thee, and see your knights.
Ajax. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us

here.

Hect. The worthiest of them tell me name by

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
That would be rid of such an enemy;

But that's no welcome: Understand more
[one
clear,

What's past, and what's to come, is strew'd

with husks

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And that old common arbitrator, time, Will one day end it.

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Agam. My well fam'd lord of Troy, no less to you. [To TROILUS. 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: [you. She's well, but bade me not commend her to Men. Name her not now, Sir; she's a deadly theme.

Hect. O pardon; I offend.

Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee Labouring for destiny, make cruel way [oft, Through ranks of Greekish youth: and I have seen thee,

1

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;5
That I have said to some my standers-by,
Lo, Jupiter is yonder, deuling life!

And I have seen thee pause, and take thy breath,

[in, When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd thee 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, [time:That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with 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!

[row.

By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morWell, 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 favour, lord Ulysses, well. Ah, Sir, there's many a Greek and Trojan dead, Since first I saw yourself and Diomed

n llion, on your Greekish embassy. Ulyss. Sir, I foretold you then what would

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[come,

Ulyss. So to him we leave it. Most gentle, and most valiant Hector, web 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.

Hect. 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

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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 prenominatet 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; [there;

For I'll not kill thee there, nor there, nor
But, by the forge that stithied; 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 endeavour 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:

* Observed. Stithy, is a smith's shop.

Feast.

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There Diomed doth feast with him to-night;
Who neither looks upon the heaven, nor earth,
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. You shall command me, Sir.

As gentle tell me, of what honour was

This Cressida in Troy? Had she no lover there That wails her absence?

Tro. O, Sir, to such as boasting show their

scars,

A mock is due. Will you walk on, my lord? She was belov'd, she lov'd; she is, and doth: But, still, sweet love is food for fortune's tooth. [Exeunt.

ACT V.

SCENE I.-The Grecian Camp.-Before
ACHILLES' 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.

thou core of envy?

Achil. How now, 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. Putr. 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, limekilns i'the palm, incurable bone-ache, and the rivelled fee-simple of the tetter; take and take again such preposterous discoveries!

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

Ther. Do I curse thee?

Patr. Why, no, you ruinous butt; you whoreson indistinguishable cur, no.

Ther. No? why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleivet silk, thou green sarcenet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a prodigal's purse, thou? Ah, how the poor world is pestered with such water-flies; diminutives of nature!

Patr. Out, gall! Ther. Finch egg!

Achii. 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;

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[it:

Both taxing me, and gaging me to keep
An oath that I have sworn. I will no break
Fall, Greeks; fail, fame; honour, or go, of
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 of madmen. Here's Agamemnon, -an honest fellow enough, and one that loves quails; but he has not so much brain as earwax: 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 an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a row, dog, a mule, a cat, a fitchew, a toad, a lizard, 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. No, yonder 'tis;

There, where we see the lights.
Hect. I trouble you.

Ajar. No, not a whit.

Ulyss. Here comes himself to guide you.

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

And welcome, both to those that go, or tarry.
Achil. Good night,
Agam. Good night.

ness,

[Exeunt AGAMEMNON and MENELAUS. Achil. Öld Nestor tarries; and you too, DioKeep Hector company an hour or two. [med, Dio. I cannot, lord; I have important busiThe tide whereof is now.-Good night, great [Hector. Hect. Give me your hand. To Calchas' tent; I'll keep you company. Ulyss. Follow his torch, he goes [Aside to TROILLS Tro. Sweet Sir, you honour me. Hect. And so good night.

[Exit DIOMED; ULYSSES and TROILUS following.

Achil. Come, come, enter my tent.

[Exeunt ACHILLES, HECTOR, AJAX, and NESTOR.

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Ther. That same Diomed's a false-hearted rogue, a most unjust knave; I will no more trust him when he leers, than I will a serpent when he hisses: he will spend his mouth, and promise, like Brabler the hound; but when he performs, astronomers foretell it; it is prodigious, there will come some change; the sun borrows of the moon, when Diomed keeps his word. I will rather leave to see Hector, than not to dog him: they say, he keeps a Trojan drab, and uses the traitor Calchas' tent: I'll after. Nothing but lechery! all incontinent varlets! [Exit. SCENE 11.-The sume.-Before CALCHAS' Tent.

Enter DIOMEDES.

Dio. What are you up here, ho? speak.
Cal. [Within.] Who calls?

Dio. Diomed.-Calchas, I think.-Where's

your daughter?

Cal. [Within.] She comes to you.

Enter TROILUS and ULYSSES, at a distance;

after them THERSITES.

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Cres. Guardian!-why, Greek!
Dio. Pho, pho! adieu; you palter."
Cres. In faith, I do not; come hither once
again.

Ulyss. You shake, my lord, at something;
will you go?

You will break out.

Tro. She strokes his cheek!
Ulyss. Come, come.

Tro. Nay, stay; by Jove, I will not speak a
word:

There is between my will and all offences
A guard of patience:-stay a little while.
Ther. How the devil luxury, with his fat

Ulyss. Stand where the torch may not disco- rump, and potatoe finger, tickles these together!

ver us.

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Dio. Good night.

Tro. Hold, patience!

Ulyss. How now, Trojan?

Cres. Diomed,

Fry, lechery, try!

Dio. But will you then?

Cres. In faith, I will, la; never trust me else.
Dio. Give me some token for the surety of it.
Cres. I'll fetch you one.

Ulyss. You have sworn patience.
Tro. Fear me not, my lord;

I will not be myself, nor have cognition
Of what I feel; I am all patience.

Re-enter CRESSIDA.

(Exit.

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Cres. O, all you gods!-O pretty pretty
pledge!

Thy master now lies thinking in his bed
Of thee, and me; and sighs, and takes my

glove,

And gives memorial dainty kisses to it, [me;
As I kiss thee,-Nay, do not snatch it from

Dio. No, no, good night: I'll be your fool no He, that takes that, must take my heart withal.

more.

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Dio. I had your heart before, this follows it.
Tro. I did swear patience.

Cres. You shall not have it, Diomed; 'faith
you shall not;

I'll give you something else.

Dio. I will have this; Whose was it?

Cres. 'Tis no matter.

Dio. Come, tell me whose it was.

Cres. 'Twas one's that loved me better than

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