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- William Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, Act IV, Scene V
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Scene VThe Grecian camp. Lists set outEnter Ajax, armed; Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus, Menelaus, Ulysses, Nestor, and othersAgamemnonHere art thou in appointment fresh and fair, Anticipating time with starting courage. Give with thy trumpet a loud note to Troy, Thou dreadful Ajax; that the appalled air May pierce the head of the great combatant And hale him hither.AjaxThou, trumpet, there’s my purse. Now crack thy lungs, and split thy brazen pipe: Blow, villain, till thy sphered bias cheek Outswell the colic of puff’d Aquilon: Come, stretch thy chest and let thy eyes spout blood; Thou blow’st for Hector.Trumpet soundsUlyssesNo trumpet answers.Achilles’Tis but early days.AgamemnonIs not yond Diomed, with Calchas’ daughter?Ulysses’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 Diomedes, with CressidaAgamemnonIs this the Lady Cressid?DiomedesEven she.AgamemnonMost dearly welcome to the Greeks, sweet lady.NestorOur general doth salute you with a kiss.UlyssesYet is the kindness but particular; ‘Twere better she were kiss’d in general.NestorAnd very courtly counsel: I’ll begin. So much for Nestor.AchillesI’ll take what winter from your lips, fair lady: Achilles bids you welcome.MenelausI had good argument for kissing once.PatroclusBut that’s no argument for kissing now; For this popp’d Paris in his hardiment, And parted thus you and your argument.UlyssesO deadly gall, and theme of all our scorns! For which we lose our heads to gild his horns.PatroclusThe first was Menelaus’ kiss; this, mine: Patroclus kisses you.MenelausO, this is trim!PatroclusParis and I kiss evermore for him.MenelausI’ll have my kiss, sir. Lady, by your leave.CressidaIn kissing, do you render or receive?PatroclusBoth take and give.CressidaI’ll make my match to live, The kiss you take is better than you give; Therefore no kiss.MenelausI’ll give you boot, I’ll give you three for one.CressidaYou’re an odd man; give even or give none.MenelausAn odd man, lady! every man is odd.CressidaNo, Paris is not; for you know ’tis true, That you are odd, and he is even with you.MenelausYou fillip me o’ the head.CressidaNo, I’ll be sworn.UlyssesIt were no match, your nail against his horn. May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?CressidaYou may.UlyssesI do desire it.CressidaWhy, beg, then.UlyssesWhy then for Venus’ sake, give me a kiss, When Helen is a maid again, and his.CressidaI am your debtor, claim it when ’tis due.UlyssesNever’s my day, and then a kiss of you.DiomedesLady, a word: I’ll bring you to your father.Exit with CressidaNestorA woman of quick sense.UlyssesFie, 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 accosting 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 withinAllThe Trojans’ trumpet.AgamemnonYonder comes the troop.Enter Hector, armed; Aeneas, Troilus, and other Trojans, with AttendantsAeneasHail, all you state of Greece! what shall be done To him that victory commands? or do you purpose A victor shall be known? will you the knights Shall to the edge of all extremity Pursue each other, or shall be divided By any voice or order of the field? Hector bade ask.AgamemnonWhich way would Hector have it?AeneasHe cares not; he’ll obey conditions.Achilles’Tis done like Hector; but securely done, A little proudly, and great deal misprizing The knight opposed.AeneasIf not Achilles, sir, What is your name?AchillesIf not Achilles, nothing.AeneasTherefore Achilles: but, whate’er, know this: In the extremity of great and little, Valour and pride excel 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; Half heart, half hand, half Hector comes to seek This blended knight, half Trojan and half Greek.AchillesA maiden battle, then? O, I perceive you.Re-enter DiomedesAgamemnonHere is Sir Diomed. Go, gentle knight, Stand by our Ajax: as you and Lord AEneas 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 listsUlyssesThey are opposed already.AgamemnonWhat Trojan is that same that looks so heavy?UlyssesThe 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 provoked nor being provoked 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 impure 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 AEneas; 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 fightAgamemnonThey are in action.NestorNow, Ajax, hold thine own!TroilusHector, thou sleep’st; Awake thee!AgamemnonHis blows are well disposed: there, Ajax!DiomedesYou must no more.Trumpets ceaseAeneasPrinces, enough, so please you.AjaxI am not warm yet; let us fight again.DiomedesAs Hector pleases.HectorWhy, 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 couldst 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 shouldst 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 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!AjaxI 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.HectorNot Neoptolemus so mirable, On whose bright crest Fame with her loud’st Oyes Cries ‘This is he,’ could promise to himself A thought of added honour torn from Hector.AeneasThere is expectance here from both the sides, What further you will do.HectorWe’ll answer it; The issue is embracement: Ajax, farewell.AjaxIf I might in entreaties find success— As seld I have the chance—I would desire My famous cousin to our Grecian tents.Diomedes’Tis Agamemnon’s wish, and great Achilles Doth long to see unarm’d the valiant Hector.HectorAEneas, 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.AjaxGreat Agamemnon comes to meet us here.HectorThe worthiest of them tell me name by name; But for Achilles, mine own searching eyes Shall find him by his large and portly size.AgamemnonWorthy 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.HectorI thank thee, most imperious Agamemnon.AgamemnonTo TroilusMy well-famed lord of Troy, no less to you.MenelausLet me confirm my princely brother’s greeting: You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither.HectorWho must we answer?AeneasThe noble Menelaus.HectorO, 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.MenelausName her not now, sir; she’s a deadly theme.HectorO, pardon; I offend.NestorI have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft Labouring for destiny make cruel way 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 declined, That I have said to some my standers by ‘Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life!’ 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 saw like thee. Let an old man embrace thee; And, worthy warrior, welcome to our tents.Aeneas’Tis the old Nestor.HectorLet 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.NestorI would my arms could match thee in contention, As they contend with thee in courtesy.HectorI would they could.NestorHa! By this white beard, I’ld fight with thee to-morrow. Well, welcome, welcome! I have seen the time.UlyssesI wonder now how yonder city stands When we have here her base and pillar by us.HectorI 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.UlyssesSir, 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.HectorI 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.UlyssesSo 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.AchillesI shall forestall thee, Lord Ulysses, thou! Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee; I have with exact view perused thee, Hector, And quoted joint by joint.HectorIs this Achilles?AchillesI am Achilles.HectorStand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee.AchillesBehold thy fill.HectorNay, I have done already.AchillesThou art too brief: I will the second time, As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb.HectorO, like a book of sport thou’lt read me o’er; But there’s more in me than thou understand’st. Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye?AchillesTell me, you heavens, in which part of his body Shall I destroy him? whether there, or there, or there? That I may give the local wound a name And make distinct the very breach whereout Hector’s great spirit flew: answer me, heavens!HectorIt would discredit the blest gods, proud man, To answer such a question: stand again: Think’st thou to catch my life so pleasantly As to prenominate in nice conjecture Where thou wilt hit me dead?AchillesI tell thee, yea.HectorWert thou an oracle to tell me so, I’d not believe thee. Henceforth guard thee well; For I’ll not kill thee there, nor there, nor there; 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—AjaxDo 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.HectorI pray you, let us see you in the field: We have had pelting wars, since you refused The Grecians’ cause.AchillesDost thou entreat me, Hector? To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death; To-night all friends.HectorThy hand upon that match.AgamemnonFirst, 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 except Troilus and UlyssesTroilusMy Lord Ulysses, tell me, I beseech you, In what place of the field doth Calchas keep?UlyssesAt Menelaus’ tent, most princely Troilus: 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.TroilusShall sweet lord, be bound to you so much, After we part from Agamemnon’s tent, To bring me thither?UlyssesYou 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?TroilusO, sir, to such as boasting show their scars A mock is due. Will you walk on, my lord? She was beloved, she loved; she is, and doth: But still sweet love is food for fortune’s tooth.Exeunt
William Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, Act IV
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William Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, Act V
- William Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, Act V
TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.
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TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.
Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Current Events This Week: January 2023
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Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Contents
The Celtic Twilight: A Teller of Tales
- Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses
- Current Events This Week: January 2023
- African Americans by the Numbers
- Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Contents
- The Celtic Twilight: A Teller of Tales
