That hath to this maturity blown up
In rank Achilles, muft or now be cropp'd,
Or, fhedding, breed a nursery of like evil,
To over-bulk us all.

Neft. Well, and how ?

Uly. This challenge that the gallant Hector fends, However it is spread in general name,

Relates in purpose only to Achilles.

Neft. The purpose is perfpicuous even as fubftance,
Whofe groffnefs little characters fum up7:
And, in the publication, make no strain,
But that Achilles, were his brain as barren
As banks of Libya,-though, Apollo knows,
"Tis dry enough,-will with great speed of judgment,
Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose
Pointing on him.

Uly. And wake him to the answer, think you?
Neft. Yes, 'tis moft meet; Whom may you else oppose,
That can from Hector bring those honours off,
If not Achilles? Though't be a fportful combat,
Yet in the trial much opinion dwells;
For here the Trojans tafte our dear'st repute
With their fin'ft palate: And truft to me, Ulyffes,
Our imputation fhall be oddly pois'd

In this wild action: for the fuccefs,
Although particular, fhall give a scantling
Of good or bad unto the general;

8

And in fuch indexes, although small pricks"

6 Alluding to a plantation called a nursery.

To

7 That is, the purpose is as plain as body or fubftance; and though I have collected this purpofe from many minute particulars, as a grofs body is made up of small infenfible parts, yet the refult is as clear and certain as a body thus made up is palpable and vifible. This is the thought, though a little obscured in the conciseness of the expres-fion. WARBURTON.

Subftance is eftate, the value of which is afcertained by the use of fmall characters, i. e. numerals. STEEVENS.

8 That is, a measure, proportion. The carpenter cuts his wood to a certain fcantling.

9 Small points compared with the volumes. Indexes were in Shakfpeare's time often prefixed to books.

To their fubféquent volumes, there is feen
The baby figure of the giant mafs

Of things to come at large. It is fuppos'd,
He, that meets Hector, iffues from our choice:
And choice, being mutual act of all our fouls,
Makes merit her election; and doth boil,
As 'twere from forth us all, a man distill'd
Out of our virtues; Who mifcarrying,
What heart receives from hence a conquering part,
To steel a ftrong opinion to themselves?

Which entertain'd, limbs are in his inftruments,
In no lefs working, than are swords and bows
Directive by the limbs.

Uly. Give pardon to my fpeech ;

Therefore 'tis meet, Achilles meet not Hector.
Let us, like merchants, fhew our fouleft wares,
And think, perchance, they'll fell; if not,
The luftre of the better fhall exceed,
By fhewing the worfe firft. Do not confent,
That ever Hector and Achilles meet;

For both our honour and our shame, in this,
Are dogg'd with two ftrange followers.

Neft. I fee them not with my old eyes; What are they?
Ul. What glory our Achilles fhares from Hector,
Were he not proud, we all fhould share with him:
But he already is too infolent;

And we were better parch in Africk fun.
Than in the pride and falt fcorn of his eyes,
Should he 'scape Hector fair: If he were foil'd,
Why, then we did our main opinion1 crush
In taint of our best man. No, make a lottery;
And, by device, let blockish Ajax draw

2

The fort to fight with Hector: Among ourselves,
Give him allowance for the better man,

For that will phyfick the great Myrmidon,

Who broils in loud applaufe; and make him fall

I

His

— our main opinion] is, our general estimation or character. 2 The fort] i. e. the lot.

His creft, that prouder than blue Iris bends.
If the dull brainless Ajax come fafe 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 mifs,
Our project's life this shape of fenfe aflumes,→
Ajax, employ'd, plucks down Achilles' plumes.
Neft. Ulyffes,

Now I begin to relish thy advice;

And I will give a taste of it forthwith

To Agamemnon: go we to him ftraight.

Two curs fhall tame each other; Pride alone
Muft tarre the maftiffs on, as 'twere their bone. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

Another part of the Grecian Camp.

Enter AJAX, and THERSITES.

Ajax. Therfites,

Ther. Agamemnon-how if he had boils? full, all over, generally?

Ajax. Therfites,

Ther. And thofe boils did run?-Say fo,-did not the general run then? were not that a botchy core? Ajax. Dog,

Ther. Then would come fome matter from him; I fee none pow.

Ajax. Thou bitch-wolf's fon, canst thou not hear? Feel then. [Atrikes him. Ther. The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mungrel beef-witted lord?!

Ajax. Speak then, thou unfalted leaven', fpeak: I will beat thee into handsomeness.

Ther.

9 He calls Ajax mongrel on account of his father's being a Grecian and his mother a Trojan. See Hector's fpeech to Ajax in Act IV. fc. v. 1 Unfalted leaven means four without falt, malignity without wit. Shakspeare wrote first unfalted; but recollecting that want of falt was no fault in leaven, changed it to vinew'd. JOHNSON.

VOL. VI.

The

Ther. I fhall fooner rail thee into wit and holiness: but, I think, thy horfe will fooner con an'oration, than thou learn a prayer without book. Thou canft ftrike, canst thou? a red murrain o' thy jade's tricks!

Ajax. Toads-ftool, learn me the proclamation.

Ther. Doft thou think, I have no sense, thou strik'st me thus ?

Ajax. The proclamation,

Ther. Thou art proclaim'd a fool, I think.

Ajax. Do not, porcupine, do not; my fingers itch. Ther. I would, thou didft itch from head to foot, and I had the fcratching of thee; I would make thee the loathfomeft fcab in Greece. When thou art forth in the incurfions, thou ftrikeft as flow as another.

Ajax. I fay, the proclamation,

Ther. Thou grumbleft and raileft every hour on Achilles; and thou art as full of envy at his greatness, as Cerberus is at Proferpina's beauty, ay, that thou bark'st at him 2.

Ajax. Miftrefs Therfites!

Ther. Thou fhould'st strike him.

Ajax. Cobloaf3!

Ther. He would pun 4 thee into shivers with his fift, as

a failer breaks a bisket.

Ajax. You whorefon cur!

Ther. Do, do.

[beating him.

Ajax.

The want of falt is no fault in leaven; but leaven without the addition of falt will not make good bread: hence Shakspeare used it as a term of reproach. MALONE.

In the preface to James the Firft's Bible the translators speak of fenowed (i. e. vinewed or mouldy) traditions. BLACKSTONE.

2 I read, O that thou bark'dft at him. JOHNSON.

The old reading is I, which, if changed at all, fhould have been changed into ay. TYRWHITT.

3 A crufty uneven loaf is in fome counties called by this name. Cole in his Dictionary, 1679, fays that a cobloaf is a bun; but, I believe, he is mistaken. A cobnut is a very large nut. So a cobloaf

is, I fuppofe, a large, mishapen loaf. MALONE.

4 Pun is in the midland counties the vulgar and colloquial word for pound.

Ajax. Thou ftool for a witch 5!

6

Ther. Ay, do, do; thou fodden-witted lord! thou haft no more brain than I have in mine elbows; an affinego may tutor thee: Thou fcurvy valiant afs! thou art here put to thrash Trojans; and thou art bought and fold 7 among those of any wit, like a Barbarian slave. If thou ufe to beat me, I will begin at thy heel, and tell what thou art by inches, thou thing of no bowels, thou!

do.

Ajax. You dog!

Ther. You fcurvy lord!

Ajax. You cur!

[beating him.

Ther. Mars his ideot! do, rudenefs; do, camel; do,

Enter ACHILLES, and PATROCLUS.

Achil. Why, how now, Ajax? wherefore do you thus? How now, Therfites? what's the matter, man ?

Ther. You fee him there, do you?

Achil. Ay; What's the matter?

Ther. Nay, look upon him.

Achil. So I do; What's the matter?

Ther. Nay, but regard him well.

Achil. Well, why I do fo.

Ther. But yet you look not well upon him: for, whofoever you take him to be, he is Ajax.

Achil. I know that, fool.

Ther. Ay, but that fool knows not himself.
Ajax. Therefore I beat thee.

Ther. Lo, lo, lo, lo, what modicums of wit he utters ! his evafions have ears thus long. I have bobb'd his brain, more than he has beat my bones: I will buy nine sparrows for a penny, and his pia mater is not worth the ninth part of a sparrow. This lord, Achilles, Ajax,—

P 2

who

5 In one way of trying a witch they ufed to place her on a chair or ftool, with her legs tyed across, that all the weight of her body might rest upon her feat; and by that means, after fome time, the circulation of the blood would be much stopped, and her fitting would be as painful as the wooden horse.

6 Afinego is Portuguese for a little afs. MUSGRAVE.

7

thou art bought and fold-] This was a proverbial expreffion.