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 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, 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.

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 usage; and to Diomed [ly. You shall be mistress and command him whol

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, Diomed, [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.

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

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. "Tis but early days.

[Trumpet sounds.

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!

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

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.

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.

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 Eneas; one that knows the youth
Even to his inches, and, with private soul,
Did in great Ilion thus translate him to me.
[Alarum. HECTOR and AJAX fight.

Agam. They are in action.

Nest. Now, Ajax, hold thine own!
Tro. Hector, thou sleep'st;

Awake thee!

Ene. Hail, all the state of Greece! what shall be done [pose, To him that victory commands? Or do you 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 band, half Hector comes to seek
This blended knight, half Trojan, and half
Greek.

Achil. A maiden battle then?—O, I 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

The obligation of our blood forbids
A gory+ 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 legall,
All Greek, and this all Troy; my mother's blood
Runs on the dexter‡ 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:
Hector would have them fall upon him thus:
By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
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,

But that's no welcome: Understand more clear,

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

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,

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, 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 In Ilion, on your Greekish embassy.

Ulyss. Sir, foretold you then what would

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

[come:

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

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 stithiedt 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:

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.
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?

Both taxing me, and gaging me to keep [it: An oath that have sworn. I will not break Fall, Greeks; fail, fame; honour, 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 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.

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. 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,