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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.

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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; 'Twere better, she were kiss'd in general.

NEST. And very courtly counsel: I'll begin. So much for Nestor.

[lady: ACHIL. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair 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 :

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ULYSS. It were no match, your nail against his

horn.

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

ULYSS.

CRES.

I do desire it.

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.
[Exit with 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 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 ticklish* reader! set them down
For sluttish spoils of opportunity,

C

And daughters of the game. [Trumpet without
ALL. The Trojans' trumpet!
AGAM.
Yonder comes the troop

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

shall be done

ENE. Hail, all the state of Greece! wha [pose To him that victory commands? Or do you pur 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;d but securely
done,

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

ENE.
What is your name?

ACHIL.

(*) First folio, tickling.

If not Achilles, sir,

If not Achilles, nothing.

(+) First folio, you. (1) First folio omits, they. "That give accosting welcome," &c.;

and Mr. Collier's annotator has,

"That give occasion welcome," &c

u 'Tis done like Hector, &c.] This speech, in the old copies, assigned to Agamemnon.

e securely done,-] Over-confidently done.

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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?
[knight;
ULYSS. The youngest son of Priam, a true
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 guide his bounty,
Nor dignifies an impair 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 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.(3)
AGAM. They are in action.
NEST. Now, Ajax, hold thine own!

TROIL.

Awake thee!

Hector, thou sleep'st;

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ENE.
Princes, enough, so please you.
AJAX. I am not warm yet; let us fight again.
Dro. As Hector pleases.
HECT.
Why then, will I no more:-
Thou art, great lord, my father's sister's son,
A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;
The obligation of our blood forbids
A gory emulation 'twixt us twain:
Were thy commixtion Greek and Trojan so,
That thou could'st say-This hand is Grecian all,
And this is Trojan; the sinews of this leg
All Greek, and this all Troy; my mother's blood
Runs on the dexter cheek, and this sinister
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,
That any drop thou borrow'dst from thy mother,
My sacred aunt, should by my mortal sword
Be drained! 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 O

yes

Cries, This is he,) could promise to himself
A thought of added honour torn from Hector.
ENE. There is expectance here from both the
sides,

What further you will do.
HECT.
We'll answer it;
The issue is embracement :-Ajax, farewell.
AJAX. If I might in entreaties find success
(As seld I 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. HECT. Æneas, call my brother Troilus to me: And signify this loving interview

To the expecters of our Trojan part; Desire them home.-Give me thy hand, my cousin :

I will go eat with thee, and see your knights. AJAX. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us here. [name; HECT. The worthiest of them tell me name by

(*) First folio, could'st.

the author, as Johnson conjectured, supposing, as that hero's son was Pyrrhus Neoptolemus, Neoptolemus must have been the nomen gentilitium.

Χ

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HECT. O, pardon;
NEST. I have, thou
Labouring for destiny.
Through ranks of Gre
As hot as Perseus, sp
Despising many forfeit
When thou hast hung t
Not letting it decline o
That I have said to so
Lo, Jupiter is yonder,

And I have seen thee p...
When that a ring of Gi
Like an Olympian wrest
But this thy countenance
I never saw till now. I
And once fought with hin
But, by great Mars the c
Never like thee! Let an
And, worthy warrior, weld

Ex. Tis the old Nest Hser. Let me embrace. That hast so long walk'd time

Most reverend Nostor, I am
NEST. I would my arms
contention,
As they contend with thee in

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enet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a pro's purse, thou? Ah, how the poor world is ed with such water-flies-diminutives of

Te!

AIR. Out, gall!

LR. Finch egg!

IL. My sweet Patroclus, I am thwarted quite

my great purpose in to-morrow's battle. is a letter from queen Hecuba;

from her daughter, my fair love; xing me, and gaging me to keep

th that I have sworn. I will not break it: Freeks; fail fame; honour or go or stay, or vow lies here, this I'll obey.come, Thersites, help to trim my tent; ht in banqueting must all be spent., Patroclus!

-an

[Exeunt ACHILLES and PATROclus. n. With too much blood and too little these two may run mad; but if with too brain and too little blood, they do, I'll be r of madmen. Here's Agamemnon,— fellow enough, and one that loves quails; has not so much brain as ear-wax and ily transformation of Jupiter there, his the bull, the primitive statue, and obmorial of cuckolds; a thrifty shoeing-horn n, hanging at his brother's leg,-to what . that he is, should wit larded with malice, e forced with wit, turn him to? To an nothing; he is both ass and ox: to an nothing; he is both ox and ass. To be raule, a cat, a fitchew, a toad, a lizard, an rock, or a herring without a roe, I would but to be Menelaus,-I would conspire stiny. Ask me not what I would be, if

Thersites; for I care not to be the lazar, so I were not Menelaus.-HoyAs and fires!

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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 Brabbler 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.

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elcome, brave Hector; welcome, your daughter? es all.

(*) First folio, light.

CAL. [Within.] She comes to you.

(*) First folio inserts, that.

b Sweet draught:] See note (c), p. 605, Vol. II.

But for Achilles, mine own searching eyes
Shall find him by his large and portly size.

AGAM. Worthy of arms! as welcome as to one That would be rid of such an enemy;

But that's no welcome: understand more clear, What's past and what's to come is strew'd with husks,

And formless ruin of oblivion;

But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing,
Bids thee, with most divine integrity,
From heart of very heart, great Hector, welcome!
HECT. I thank thee, most imperious Aga-

memnon.

you.

AGAM. My well-fam'd lord of Troy, no less to [TO TROILUS. MEN. Let me confirm my princely brother's greeting;

You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither.
HECT. Whom must we answer?
ENE.
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:
She's well, but bade me not commend her to you.
MEN. Name her not now, sir; she's a deadly
theme.

HECT. O, pardon; I offend.

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And I have seen thee pause, and take thy breath,
When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd thee in,
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, That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with

time:

:

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.

(*) First folio, unto my.

HECT. I would they could. NEST. Ha! By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morrow!—

Well, 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, I foretold you then what would

ensue:

My prophecy is but half his journey yet;
For yonder walls, that pertly front your town,
Yond towers, whose wanton tops do buss the
clouds,

Must kiss their own feet.
HECT.
I must not believe you:
There they stand yet; and modestly I think,
The fall of every Phrygian stone will cost
A drop of Grecian blood: the end crowns all;
And that old common arbitrator, Time,
Will one day end it.

ULYSS.
So to him we leave it.
Most gentle and most valiant Hector, welcome:
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?

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To answer such a question: stand again: Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly,

a Despising many forfeits and subduements,-] So the quarto: the folio reads, And seene thee scorning forfeits, &c.

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