Hect. No, 'faith young Troilus; doff thy harness,

youth;

I am to-day i' the vein of chivalry:

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Let grow thy sinews 'till their knots be strong,
And tempt not yet the brushes of the war.
Unarm thee, go; and doubt thou not, brave boy,
I'll stand, to-day, for thee, and me, and Troy.

Troi. Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you, Which better fits a lion, than a man.

Hect. What vice is that, good Troilus? chide me for it.

Troi. When many times the captive Grecians fall, Even in the fan and wind of your fair sword,

You bid them rise, and live,

Hect. O, 'tis fair play.

Troi. Fool's play by heaven, Hector.

Heft. How now? how now ?

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Troi. For the love of all the gods,

Let's leave the hermit pity with our mother;
And when we have our armours buckled on,
The venom'd vengeance ride upon our swords;
Spur them to ruthful work, rein them from ruth,
Hect. Fie, savage, fie!

Troi. Hector, then 'tis wars.

Hect. Troilus, I would not have you fight to-day. Troi. Who should withhold me?

Not fate, obedience, nor the hand of Mars

Beckoning with fiery truncheon my retire;
Not Priamus and Hecuba on knees,

Their eyes o'er-galled with recourse of tears;

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Nor you, my brother, with your true sword drawn, Oppos'd to hinder me, should stop my way,

But by my ruin.

Re-enter CASSANDRA, with PRIAM.

Cas. Lay hold upon him, Priam, hold him fast: He is thy crutch; now if thou lose thy stay,

Thou on him leaning, and all Troy on thee,
Fall all together.

Priam. Come, Hector, come, go back:

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Thy wife hath dreamt; thy mother hath had visions Cassandra doth foresee; and I myself

Am like a prophet suddenly enrapt,

To tell thee-that this day is ominous :

Therefore, come back.

Helt. Æneas is a-field;

And I do stand engag'd to many Greeks,

Even in the face of valour, to appear

This morning to them.

Priam. But thou shalt not go.

Hect. I must not break my faith.

You know me dutiful; therefore, dear sir,
Let me not shame respect; but give me leave
To take that course by your consent and voice,
Which you do here forbid me, royal Priam.
Cas. O Priam, yield not to him.

And. Do not, dear father.

Hect. Andromache, I am offended with you. Upon the love you bear me, get you in.

;

410

420

[Exit ANDROMACHE.

Troi. This foolish, dreaming, superstitious girl Makes all these bodements.

Cas. O farewel, dear Hector!

Look, how thou dy'st! look, how thy eye turns pale !

Look, how thy wounds do bleed at many vents!
Hark, how Troy roars! how Hecuba cries out!
How poor Andromache shrills her dolours forth!
Behold, distraction, frenzy, and amazement,
Like witless anticks, one another meet,
And all cry-Hector! Hector's dead! O Hector!
Troi. Away!.
Cas. Farewel.

leave:

-Away!

430

Yet soft :-Hector, I take my

Thou dost thyself and all our Troy deceive. [Exit.
Hect. You are amaz'd, my liege, at her exclaim:
Go in, and cheer the town: we'll forth, and fight;
Do deeds worth praise, and tell you them at night.
Priam. Farewel: The gods with safety stand about
thee!
[Exit PRIAM. Alarums.
Troi. They are at it; hark! Proud Diomed, be-

lieve,

I come to lose my arm, or win my sleeve.

Enter PANDARUS.

Pan. Do you hear, my lord? do you hear?
Troi. What now?

Pan. Here's a letter come from yon' poor girl.
Troi. Let me read.

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Pan.

Pan. A whoreson phthisick, a whoreson rascally phthisick so troubles me, and the foolish fortune of this girl; and what one thing, what another, that I shall leave you one o' these days: And I have a rheum in mine eyes too; and such an ach in my bones, that, unless a man were curst, I cannot tell what to think on't.-What says she there?

453

Troi. Words, words, mere words, no matter from [Tearing the Letter.

the heart;

The effect doth operate another way.—

Go, wind, to wind, there turn and change to

gether.

My love with words and errors still she feeds;

But edifies another with her deeds.

Pan. Why, but hear you

Troi. Hence, broker lacquey!—ignomy and shame

Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name !

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[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

Between Troy and the Camp. [Alarum.] Enter THERSITES.

Ther. Now they are clapper-clawing one another; I'll go look on. That dissembling abominable varlet, Diomed, has got that same scurvy doting foolish young knave's sleeve of Troy, there, in his helm: I would fain see them meet; that that same young

Trojan

Trojan ass, that loves the whore there, might send that Greekish whore-masterly villain, with the sleeve, back to the dissembling luxurious drab; of a sleeveless errand. O' the other side, The policy of those crafty swearing rascals,-that stale old mouse-eaten dry cheese, Nestor; and that same dog-fox, Ulysses,is not prov'd worth a black-berry :-They set me up, in policy, that mungrel cur, Ajax, against that dog of as bad a kind, Achilles: and now is the cur Ajax prouder than the cur Achilles, and will not arm today; whereupon the Grecians begin to proclaim barbarism, and policy grows into an ill opinion. here comes sleeve, and t'other.

Enter DIOMED, and TROILUS.

Soft!

Troi. Fly not; for, shouldst thou take the river

Styx, I would swim after.

Dio. Thou dost mis-call retire:

I do not fly; but advantageous care

Withdrew me from the odds of multitude:

Have at thee!

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[They go off fighting.

Ther. Hold thy whore, Grecian !-now for thy whore, Trojan !—now the sleeve, now the sleeve !

Enter HECTOR.

Hect. What art thou, Greek? art thou for Hector's match?

Art thou of blood, and honour?

Ther. No, no:--I am a rascal; a scurvy railing knave; a very filthy rogue.

491