William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (454 page)
Read William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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MESSENGER
Take no offence that I would not offend you.
To punish me for what you make me do
Seems much unequal. He’s married to Octavia.
To punish me for what you make me do
Seems much unequal. He’s married to Octavia.
CLEOPATRA
O that his fault should make a knave of thee,
That act not what thou‘rt sure of! Get thee hence.
The merchandise which thou hast brought from Rome
Are all too dear for me. Lie they upon thy hand,
And be undone by ’em.
That act not what thou‘rt sure of! Get thee hence.
The merchandise which thou hast brought from Rome
Are all too dear for me. Lie they upon thy hand,
And be undone by ’em.
Exit Messenger
CHARMIAN Good your highness, patience.
CLEOPATRA
In praising Antony I have dispraised Caesar.
CHARMIAN Many times, madam.
CLEOPATRA
I am paid for’t now. Lead me from hence.
I faint. O Iras, Charmian—’tis no matter.
Go to the fellow, good Alexas, bid him
Report the feature of Octavia: her years,
Her inclination; let him not leave out
The colour of her hair. Bring me word quickly.
I faint. O Iras, Charmian—’tis no matter.
Go to the fellow, good Alexas, bid him
Report the feature of Octavia: her years,
Her inclination; let him not leave out
The colour of her hair. Bring me word quickly.
Exit Alexas
Let him for ever go—let him not, Charmian;
Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon,
The other way’s a Mars. ⌈
To Mardian
⌉ Bid you Alexas
Bring me word how tall she is. Pity me, Charmian,
But do not speak to me. Lead me to my chamber.
Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon,
The other way’s a Mars. ⌈
To Mardian
⌉ Bid you Alexas
Bring me word how tall she is. Pity me, Charmian,
But do not speak to me. Lead me to my chamber.
Exeunt
Flourish. Enter Pompey and Menas at one door
,
with a drummer and a trumpeter; at another, Caesar, Lepidus, Antony, Enobarbus, Maecenas, Agrippa, with soldiers marching
POMPEY
Your hostages I have, so have you mine,
And we shall talk before we fight.
And we shall talk before we fight.
CAESAR
Most meet
That first we come to words, and therefore have we
Our written purposes before us sent,
Which if thou hast considered, let us know
If ’twill tie up thy discontented sword
And carry back to Sicily much tall youth
That else must perish here.
Our written purposes before us sent,
Which if thou hast considered, let us know
If ’twill tie up thy discontented sword
And carry back to Sicily much tall youth
That else must perish here.
POMPEY
To you all three, The senators alone of this great world,
Chief factors for the gods: I do not know
Wherefore my father should revengers want,
Having a son and friends, since Julius Caesar,
Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted,
There saw you labouring for him. What was’t
That moved pale Cassius to conspire? And what
Made the all-honoured, honest Roman Brutus,
With the armed rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom,
To drench the Capitol but that they would
Have one man but a man? And that is it
Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burden
The angered ocean foams; with which I meant
To scourge th’ingratitude that despiteful Rome
Cast on my noble father.
Chief factors for the gods: I do not know
Wherefore my father should revengers want,
Having a son and friends, since Julius Caesar,
Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted,
There saw you labouring for him. What was’t
That moved pale Cassius to conspire? And what
Made the all-honoured, honest Roman Brutus,
With the armed rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom,
To drench the Capitol but that they would
Have one man but a man? And that is it
Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burden
The angered ocean foams; with which I meant
To scourge th’ingratitude that despiteful Rome
Cast on my noble father.
CAESAR
Take your time.
ANTONY
Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails.
We’ll speak with thee at sea. At land thou know’st
How much we do o’ercount thee.
We’ll speak with thee at sea. At land thou know’st
How much we do o’ercount thee.
POMPEY
At land indeed Thou dost o’ercount me of my father’s house,
But since the cuckoo builds not for himself,
Remain in’t as thou mayst.
But since the cuckoo builds not for himself,
Remain in’t as thou mayst.
LEPIDUS
Be pleased to tell us—
For this is from the present—how you take
The offers we have sent you.
The offers we have sent you.
CAESAR
There’s the point.
ANTONY
Which do not be entreated to, but weigh
What it is worth, embraced.
What it is worth, embraced.
CAESAR
And what may follow, To try a larger fortune?
POMPEY
You have made me offer Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must
Rid all the sea of pirates; then to send
Measures of wheat to Rome; this ’greed upon,
To part with unhacked edges, and bear back
Our targes undinted.
Rid all the sea of pirates; then to send
Measures of wheat to Rome; this ’greed upon,
To part with unhacked edges, and bear back
Our targes undinted.
CAESAR, ANTONY,
and
LEPIDUS That’s our offer.
and
LEPIDUS That’s our offer.
POMPEY
Know, then, I came before you here a man prepared
To take this offer. But Mark Antony
Put me to some impatience. Though I lose
The praise of it by telling, you must know,
When Caesar and your brother were at blows,
Your mother came to Sicily, and did find
Her welcome friendly.
To take this offer. But Mark Antony
Put me to some impatience. Though I lose
The praise of it by telling, you must know,
When Caesar and your brother were at blows,
Your mother came to Sicily, and did find
Her welcome friendly.
ANTONY
I have heard it, Pompey, And am well studied for a liberal thanks
Which I do owe you.
Which I do owe you.
POMPEY
Let me have your hand.
Pompey and Antony shake hands
I did not think, sir, to have met you here.
ANTONY
The beds i’th’ East are soft; and thanks to you,
That called me timelier than my purpose hither;
For I have gained by’t.
That called me timelier than my purpose hither;
For I have gained by’t.
CAESAR
(to Pompey)
Since I saw you last
(to Pompey)
Since I saw you last
There is a change upon you.
POMPEY
Well, I know not
What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face,
But in my bosom shall she never come
To make my heart her vassal.
But in my bosom shall she never come
To make my heart her vassal.
LEPIDUS
Well met here.
POMPEY
I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed.
I crave our composition may be written
And sealed between us.
I crave our composition may be written
And sealed between us.
CAESAR
That’s the next to do.
POMPEY
We’ll feast each other ere we part, and let’s
Draw lots who shall begin.
Draw lots who shall begin.
ANTONY That will I, Pompey.
POMPEY No, Antony, take the lot.
But, first or last, your fine Egyptian cookery
Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar
Grew fat with feasting there.
Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar
Grew fat with feasting there.
ANTONY
You have heard much.
POMPEY I have fair meanings, sir.
ANTONY And fair words to them.
POMPEY Then so much have I heard,
And I have heard Apollodorus carried—
ENOBARBUS
No more o’ that, he did so.
POMPEY
What, I pray you?
ENOBARBUS
A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress.
POMPEY
I know thee now. How far’st thou, soldier?
ENOBARBUS
Well, and well am like to do, for I perceive
Four feasts are toward.
Four feasts are toward.
POMPEY
Let me shake thy hand.
Pompey and Enobarbus shake hands
I never hated thee. I have seen thee fight
When I have envied thy behaviour.
When I have envied thy behaviour.
ENOBARBUS
Sir, I never loved you much, but I ha’ praised ye
When you have well deserved ten times as much
As I have said you did.
When you have well deserved ten times as much
As I have said you did.
POMPEY
Enjoy thy plainness. It nothing ill becomes thee.
Aboard my galley I invite you all.
Will you lead, lords?
Aboard my galley I invite you all.
Will you lead, lords?
CAESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS Show’s the way, sir.
POMPEY
Come.
Exeunt all but Enobarbus and Menas
MENAS (
aside
)
aside
)
Thy father, Pompey, would ne’er have made this
treaty.
(
To Enobarbus
) You and I have known, sir.
treaty.
(
To Enobarbus
) You and I have known, sir.
ENOBARBUS At sea, I think.
MENAS We have, sir.
ENOBARBUS You have done well by water.
MENAS And you by land.
ENOBARBUS I will praise any man that will praise me, though it cannot be denied what I have done by land.
MENAS Nor what I have done by water.
ENOBARBUS Yes, something you can deny for your own safety. You have been a great thief by sea.
MENAS And you by land.
ENOBARBUS There I deny my land service; but give me your hand, Menas. If our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing.
They shake hands
MENAS All men’s faces are true, whatsome’er their hands are.
ENOBARBUS But there is never a fair woman has a true face.
MENAS No slander; they steal hearts.
ENOBARBUS We came hither to fight with you.
MENAS For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a drinking.
Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune.
ENOBARBUS If he do, sure he cannot weep’t back again.
MENAS You’ve said, sir. We looked not for Mark Antony here. Pray you, is he married to Cleopatra?
ENOBARBUS Caesar’s sister is called Octavia.
MENAS True, sir. She was the wife of Caius Marcellus.
ENOBARBUS But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius.
MENAS Pray ye, sir?
ENOBARBUS ’Tis true.
MENAS Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together.
ENOBARBUS If I were bound to divine of this unity I would not prophesy so.
MENAS I think the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage than the love of the parties.
ENOBARBUS I think so, too. But you shall find the band that seems to tie their friendship together will be the very strangler of their amity. Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation.
MENAS Who would not have his wife so?
ENOBARBUS Not he that himself is not so, which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again; then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar, and, as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection where it is. He married but his occasion here.
MENAS And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you.
ENOBARBUS I shall take it, sir. We have used our throats in Egypt.
MENAS Come, let’s away.
Exeunt
Music plays. Enter two or three Servants with a banquet
FIRST SERVANT Here they’ll be, man. Some o’ their plants are ill rooted already; the least wind i’th’ world will blow them down.
SECOND SERVANT Lepidus is high-coloured.
FIRST SERVANT They have made him drink alms-drink.
SECOND SERVANT As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out ‘No more!’—reconciles them to his entreaty and himself to th’ drink.
FIRST SERVANT But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion.
SECOND SERVANT Why, this it is to have a name in great men’s fellowship. I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service as a partisan I could not heave.
FIRST SERVANT To be called into a huge sphere and not to be seen to move in’t, are the holes where eyes should be which pitifully disaster the cheeks.
A sennet sounded. Enter Caesar, Antony, Pompey, Lepidus, Agrippa, Maecenas,.Enobarbus, and Menas, with other captains
⌈
and a boy
⌉
ANTONY (
to Caesar
)
to Caesar
)
Thus do they, sir: they take the flow o’th’ Nile
By certain scales i’th’ pyramid. They know
By th’ height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth
Or foison follow. The higher Nilus swells
The more it promises; as it ebbs, the seedsman
Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain,
And shortly comes to harvest.
By certain scales i’th’ pyramid. They know
By th’ height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth
Or foison follow. The higher Nilus swells
The more it promises; as it ebbs, the seedsman
Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain,
And shortly comes to harvest.
LEPIDUS You’ve strange serpents there?
ANTONY Ay, Lepidus.
LEPIDUS Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile.
ANTONY They are so.
POMPEY
Sit, and some wine. A health to Lepidus!
⌈
Antony
, Pompey, and Lepidus
sit
⌉
LEPIDUS I am not so well as I should be, but I’ll ne’er out.
ENOBARBUS Not till you have slept—I fear me you’ll be in till then.
LEPIDUS Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies’ pyramises are very goodly things: without contradiction I have heard that.
MENAS (aside to Pompey)
Pompey, a word.
POMPEY (aside to Menas) Say in mine ear; what is’t?
MENAS (aside to Pompey)
Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, captain,
And hear me speak a word.
And hear me speak a word.
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