Hold you still, I say;

Mine honour keeps the weather of my fate:
Life every man holds dear; but the dear man
Holds honour far more precious-dear than life.—
Enter TROILUS.

How now, young man! mean'st thou to fight to-day?
And. Cassandra, call my father to persuade.
[Exit CASSANDRA.
Hect. No, 'faith, young Troilus; doff thy harness,
youth;

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

Tro. 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. Tro. 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. Tro.

Fool's play, by heaven, Hector.

Hect. How now! how now!
Tro.
For the love of all the gods,
Let's leave the hermit pity with our mothers,
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!
Tro.
Hector, then 'tis wars.
Hect. Troilus, I would not have you fight to-day.
Tro. 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'ergalled with recourse of tears;
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.

Pri.

Come, Hector, come; go back. Thy wife hath dream'd, 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.

Eneas is a-field;

Hect.
And I do stand engag'd to many Greeks,
Even in the faith of valour, to appear
This morning to them.
Pri.

Ay, 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.

[Exit ANDROMACHE. Tro. This foolish, dreaming, superstitious girl Makes all these bodements.

Cas. O farewell, dear Hector! Look, how thou diest! look, how thine 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 dolour forth! Behold, distraction, frenzy, and amazement, Like witless antics, one another meet,

And all cry-Hector! Hector's dead! O Hector! Tro. Away!-Away!

Cas. Farewell.-Yet, soft!-Hector, I take my leave:
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.
Pri. Farewell: the gods with safety stand about thee!
[Exeunt severally PRIAM and HECTOR. Alarums.
Tro. They are at it; hark!-Proud Diomed, believe,
I come to lose mine arm, or win my sleeve. [Going.
Enter PANDARUS.

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

Pan. Here's a letter come from yond' poor girl.

[Giving it.

Tro. Let me read. Pan. A whoreson phthisick, a whoreson rascally phthi- ¦ sick 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 ache in my bones, that, unless a man were cursed, I cannot tell what to think on't.What says she there?

Tro. Words, words, mere words, no matter from the
heart;
[Tearing the letter.

Th' effect doth operate another way.-
Go, wind to wind, there turn and change together.-
My love with words and air still she feeds,
But edifies another with her deeds. [Exeunt severally.
SCENE IV. Between Troy and the Grecian Camp.

Alarums: Excursions. 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 same young Trojan ass, that loves the whore there, might send that Greekish whoremasterly 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 proved worth a blackberry-they set me up in policy that mongrel 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 to-day: whereupon the Grecians begin to proclaim barbarism, and policy grows into an ill opinion. Soft! here come sleeve, and sleeveless. [Stands back. Enter DIOMEDES, TROILUS following. Tro. Fly not; for shouldst thou take the river Styx, I would swim after.

Dio.

Thou dost miscall retire:

I do not fly, but advantageous care
Withdrew me from the odds of multitude.
Have at thee!

Ther. Hold thy whore, Grecian !-now for thy whore, Trojan !-now the sleeve! now the sleeveless! [Exeunt TROILUS and DIOMEDES, fighting. Enter HECTOR. Hect. What art thou, Greek? art thou for Hector's match?

Art thou of blood, and honour?

[Dragging THER. forward. Ther. No, no;-I am a rascal; a scurvy railing knave, a very filthy rogue.

Hect. I do believe thee:-live.

[Exit.

Ther. God-a-mercy, that thou wilt believe me; but a plague break thy neck, for frighting me! What's become of the wenching rogues? I think, they have swallowed one another: I would laugh at that miracle; yet, in a sort, lechery eats itself. I'll seek them. [Exit. SCENE V.-The Same.

Enter DIOMEDES and a Servant.

Dio. Go, go, my servant, take thou Troilus' horse; Present the fair steed to my lady Cressid. Fellow, commend my service to her beauty: Tell her, I have chastis'd the amorous Trojan, And am her knight by proof.

Serv.

go, my lord. Enter AGAMEMNON.

[Exit Servant.

Agam. Renew, renew! The fierce Polydamus Hath beat down Menon: bastard Margarelon Hath Doreus prisoner,

And stands colossus-wise, waving his beam,
Upon the pashed corses of the kings
Epistrophus and Cedius: Polixenes is slain;
Amphimachus, and Thoas, deadly hurt;
Patroclus ta'en, or slain; and Palamedes
Sore hurt and bruis'd: the dreadful Sagittary
Appals our numbers. Haste we, Diomed,
To reinforcement, or we perish all.

Enter NESTOR.

Nest. Go, bear Patroclus' body to Achilles,
And bid the snail-pac'd Ajax arm for shame.-
There is a thousand Hectors in the field:
Now, here he fights on Galathe his horse,
And there lacks work; anon, he's there afoot,
And there they fly, or die, like scaled sculls
Before the belching whale: then, is he yonder,
And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge,
Fall down before him, like the mower's swath.
Here, there, and every where, he leaves, and takes;
Dexterity so obeying appetite,

That what he will, he does; and does so much,
That proof is call'd impossibility.

Enter ULYSSES.

Ulyss. O, courage, courage, princes! great Achilles Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance. Patroclus' wounds have rous'd his drowsy blood, Together with his mangled Myrmidons,

That noseless, handless, hack'd and chipp'd, come to him,

Ajax. Were I the general, thou should'st have my office,

Ere that correction.-Troilus, I say! what, Troilus! Enter TROILUS.

Tro. O, traitor Diomed!-turn thy false face, thou traitor,

And pay the life thou ow'st me for my horse.
Dio. Ha! art thou there?

Ajax. I'll fight with him alone: stand, Diomed.
Dio. He is my prize; I will not look upon.
Tro. Come both, you cogging Greeks; have at you
both.
[Exeunt fighting.

Hect. Yea, Troilus. O! well fought, my youngest brother.

Enter HECTOR.

Mar. Turn, slave, and fight.
Ther. What art thou?

Mar. A bastard son of Priam's.

Ther. I am a bastard too. I love bastards; I am a bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valour, in every thing illegitimate. One bear will not bite another, and wherefore should one bastard? Take heed, the quarrel's most ominous to us: if the son of a whore fight for a whore, he tempts judgment. Farewell, bastard.

Mar. The devil take thee, coward!

[Exeunt.

SCENE IX.-Another Part of the Field.

Enter HECTOR.

Hect. Most putrified core, so fair without, Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life. Now is my day's work done; I'll take good breath: Rest, sword; thou hast thy fill of blood and death!

[Puts off his Helmet, and lays down his Sword. Enter ACHILLES and Myrmidons.

Achil. Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set; How ugly night comes breathing at his heels: Even with the vail and darking of the sun, To close the day up, Hector's life is done.

Hect. I am unarin'd: forego this vantage, Greek. Achil. Strike, fellows, strike! this is the man I seek. [HECTOR is slain.

So, Ilion, fall thou next! now, Troy, sink down;
Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone.-
On, Myrmidons; and cry you all amain,
Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.

[A Retreat sounded.

Hark! a retire upon our Grecian part.
Myr. The Trojan trumpets sound the like, my lord.
Achil. The dragon wing of night o'erspreads the earth,
And, stickler like, the armies separates.
My half-supp'd sword, that frankly would have fed,
Pleas'd with this dainty bit, thus goes to bed.-
[Sheathes his Sword.
Come, tie his body to my horse's tail;
Along the field I will the Trojan trail.

SCENE X.-The Same.

[Exeunt.

If in his death the gods have us befriended, Great Troy is ours, and our sharp wars are ended. [Exeunt, marching.

SCENE XI.-Another Part of the Field.

Enter ENEAS and Trojan Forces. Ene. Stand, ho! yet are we masters of the field. Never go home: here starve we out the night. Enter TROILUS.

Tro. Hector is slain.

All.

Hector? The gods forbid!
Tro. He's dead; and at the murderer's horse's tail,
In beastly sort dragg'd through the shameful field.—
Frown on, you heavens, effect your rage with speed!
Sit, gods, upon your thrones, and smile at Troy!
I say, at once let your brief plagues be mercy,
And linger not our sure destructions on!

Ene. My lord, you do discomfort all the host.
Tro. You understand me not, that tell me so.
I do not speak of flight, of fear, of death;
But dare all imminence, that gods and men
Address their dangers in. Hector is gone!
Who shall tell Priam so, or Hecuba?
Let him, that will a screech-owl aye be call'd,
Go in to Troy, and say there-Hector's dead:
There is a word will Priam turn to stone,
Make wells and Niobes of the maids and wives,
Cold statues of the youth; and, in a word,
Scare Troy out of itself. But, march, away:
Hector is dead; there is no more to say.
Stay yet. You vile abominable tents,

Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains,
Let Titan rise as early as he dare,

I'll through and through you!-And, thou great-siz'd

coward,

No space of earth shall sunder our two hates:
I'll haunt thee like a wicked conscience still,
That mouldeth goblins swift as frenzy's thoughts.-
Strike a free march to Troy !-with comfort go:
Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe.

[Exeunt ENEAS and Trojan Forces. AS TROILUS is going out, enter, from the other side, PANDARUS.

Pan. But hear you, hear you!

Tro. Hence, brothel-lackey! ignomy and shame Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name! [Exit TROILUS.

Pan. A goodly medicine for mine aching bones!— [Left alone, let him say this by way of Epilogue.] O world! world! world! thus is the poor agent despised. O, traitors and bawds, how earnestly are you set 'a work, and how ill requited! why should our endeavour be so loved, and the performance so loathed? what verse for it? what instance for it?-Let me see.

"Full merrily the humble-bee doth sing, Till he hath lost his honey, and his sting; And being once subdued in armed tail, Sweet honey and sweet notes together fail.”— Good traders in the flesh, set this in your painted cloths. As many as be here of Pander's Hall, Your eyes, half out, weep out at Pandar's fall; Or, if you cannot weep, yet give some groans, Though not for me, yet for your aching bones. Brethren, and sisters, of the hold-door trade, Some two months hence my will shall here be made: It should be now, but that my fear is this,Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss. Till then I'll sweat, and seek about for eases; And at that time bequeath you my diseases.

[Exit.

CAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS, a noble Roman.

TITUS LARTIUS, Generals against the Volscians.

COMINIUS,

MENENIUS AGRIPPA, Friend to Coriolanus.

SICINIUS VELUTUS, Tribunes of the People. JUNIUS BRUTUS,

YOUNG MARCIUS, Son to Coriolanus.

A Roman Herald.

TULLUS AUFIDIUS, General of the Volscians. Lieutenant to Aufidius.

SCENE I.-Rome. A Street. Enter a Company of mutinous Citizens, with Staves, Clubs, and other Weapons.

1 Cit. Before we proceed any farther, hear me speak. All. Speak, speak.

1 Cit. You are all resolved rather to die, than to famish? All. Resolved, resolved.

1 Cit. First you know, Caius Marcius is chief enemy to the people.

All. We know't, we know't.

1 Cit. Let us kill him, and we'll have corn at our own price. Is't a verdict?

All. No more talking on't; let it be done. Away, away! 2 Cit. One word, good citizens.—

1 Cit. We are accounted poor citizens; the patricians good. What authority surfeits on, would relieve us: if they would yield us but the superfluity, while it were wholesome, we might guess they relieved us humanely; but they think, we are too dear: the leanness that afflicts us, the abjectness of our misery, is as an inventory to particularize their abundance; our sufferance is a gain to them.-Let us revenge this with our pikes, ere we become rakes: for the gods know, I speak this in hunger for bread, not in thirst for revenge. 2 Cit. Would you proceed especially against Caius Marcius?

All. Against him first: he's a very dog to the commonalty.

2 Cit. Consider you what services he has done for his country?

1 Cit. Very well; and could be content to give him good report for't, but that he pays himself with being proud.

2 Cit. Nay, but speak not maliciously.

1 Cit. I say unto you, what he hath done famously, he did it to that end: though soft-conscienced men can be content to say it was for his country, he did it to please his mother, and partly to be proud; which he is, even to the altitude of his virtue.

2 Cit. What he cannot help in his nature, you account a vice in him. You must in no way say he is covetous.

2 Cit. Worthy Menenius Agrippa; one that hath always loved the people.

1 Cit. He's one honest enough: would, all the rest were so !

Men. What work's, my countrymen, in hand? Where go you

With bats and clubs? The matter? Speak, I pray you. 2 Cit. Our business is not unknown to the senate: they have had inkling this fortnight what we intend to do, which now we'll show 'em in deeds. They say, poor suitors have strong breaths: they shall know, we have strong arms too.

Men. Why, masters, my good friends, mine honest neighbours,

Will you undo yourselves?

2 Cit. We cannot, sir; we are undone already.
Men. I tell you, friends, most charitable care
Have the patricians of you. For your wants,
Your suffering in this dearth, you may as well
Strike at the heaven with your staves, as lift them
Against the Roman state; whose course will on
The way it takes, cracking ten thousand curbs
Of more strong link asunder, than can ever
Appear in your impediment. For the dearth,
The gods, not the patricians, make it; and
Your knees to them, not arms, must help. Alack!
You are transported by calamity

Thither where more attends you; and you slander
The helms o' the state, who care for you like fathers,
When you curse them as enemies.

2 Cit. Care for us?-True, indeed!-They ne'er cared for us yet. Suffer us to famish, and their storehouses crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act esta