swearing rascals, that stale old mouse-eaten dry
cheese, Nestor, and that same dog-fox, Ulysses, is
not proved worthy 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 comes sleeve, and t’other.
Enter DIOMEDES, TROILUS following
TROILUS Fly not; for shouldst thou take the river Styx,
I would swim after.
DIOMEDES Thou dost miscall retire:
I do not fly, but advantageous care
Withdrew me from the odds of multitude:
Have at thee!
THERSITES Hold thy whore, Grecian!–now for thy whore,
Trojan!–now the sleeve, now the sleeve!
Exeunt TROILUS and DIOMEDES, fighting
Enter HECTOR
HECTOR What art thou, Greek? art thou for Hector’s match?
Art thou of blood and honour?
THERSITES No, no, I am a rascal; a scurvy railing knave:
a very filthy rogue.
HECTOR I do believe thee: live.
Exit
THERSITES God-a-mercy, that thou wilt believe me; but a
plague break thy neck for frightening 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 5
Another part of the plains.
Enter DIOMEDES and a Servant
DIOMEDES 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 chastised the amorous Trojan,
And am her knight by proof.
Servant I go, my lord.
Exit
Enter AGAMEMNON
AGAMEMNON Renew, renew! The fierce Polydamas
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: Polyxenes is slain,
Amphimachus and Thoas deadly hurt,
Patroclus ta’en or slain, and Palamedes
Sore hurt and bruised: the dreadful Sagittary
Appals our numbers: haste we, Diomed,
To reinforcement, or we perish all.
Enter NESTOR
NESTOR Go, bear Patroclus’ body to Achilles;
And bid the snail-paced 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
ULYSSES O, courage, courage, princes! great Achilles
Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance:
Patroclus’ wounds have roused his drowsy blood,
Together with his mangled Myrmidons,
That noseless, handless, hack’d and chipp’d, come to him,
Crying on Hector. Ajax hath lost a friend
And foams at mouth, and he is arm’d and at it,
Roaring for Troilus, who hath done to-day
Mad and fantastic execution,
Engaging and redeeming of himself
With such a careless force and forceless care
As if that luck, in very spite of cunning,
Bade him win all.
Enter AJAX
AJAX Troilus! thou coward Troilus!
Exit
DIOMEDES Ay, there, there.
NESTOR So, so, we draw together.
Enter ACHILLES
ACHILLES Where is this Hector?
Come, come, thou boy-queller, show thy face;
Know what it is to meet Achilles angry:
Hector? where’s Hector? I will none but Hector.
Exeunt
Scene 6
Another part of the plains.
Enter AJAX
AJAX Troilus, thou coward Troilus, show thy head!
Enter DIOMEDES
DIOMEDES Troilus, I say! where’s Troilus?
AJAX What wouldst thou?
DIOMEDES I would correct him.
AJAX Were I the general, thou shouldst have my office
Ere that correction. Troilus, I say! what, Troilus!
Enter TROILUS
TROILUS O traitor Diomed! turn thy false face, thou traitor,
And pay thy life thou owest me for my horse!
DIOMEDES Ha, art thou there?
AJAX I’ll fight with him alone: stand, Diomed.
DIOMEDES He is my prize; I will not look upon.
TROILUS Come, both you cogging Greeks; have at you both!
Exeunt, fighting
Enter HECTOR
HECTOR Yea, Troilus? O, well fought, my youngest brother!
Enter ACHILLES
ACHILLES Now do I see thee, ha! have at thee, Hector!
HECTOR Pause, if thou wilt.
ACHILLES I do disdain thy courtesy, proud Trojan:
Be happy that my arms are out of use:
My rest and negligence befriends thee now,
But thou anon shalt hear of me again;
Till when, go seek thy fortune.
Exit
HECTOR Fare thee well:
I would have been much more a fresher man,
Had I expected thee. How now, my brother!
Re-enter TROILUS
TROILUS Ajax hath ta’en AEneas: shall it be?
No, by the flame of yonder glorious heaven,
He shall not carry him: I’ll be ta’en too,
Or bring him off: fate, hear me what I say!
I reck not though I end my life to-day.
Exit
Enter one in sumptuous armour
HECTOR Stand, stand, thou Greek; thou art a goodly mark:
No? wilt thou not? I like thy armour well;
I’ll frush it and unlock the rivets all,
But I’ll be master of it: wilt thou not,
beast, abide?
Why, then fly on, I’ll hunt thee for thy hide.
Exeunt
Scene 7
Another part of the plains.
Enter ACHILLES, with Myrmidons
ACHILLES Come here about me, you my Myrmidons;
Mark what I say. Attend me where I wheel:
Strike not a stroke, but keep yourselves in breath:
And when I have the bloody Hector found,
Empale him with your weapons round about;
In fellest manner execute your aims.
Follow me, sirs, and my proceedings eye:
It is decreed Hector the great must die.
Exeunt
Enter MENELAUS and PARIS, fighting: then THERSITES
THERSITES The cuckold and the cuckold-maker are at it. Now,
bull! now, dog! ‘Loo, Paris, ‘loo! now my double-
henned sparrow! ‘loo, Paris, ‘loo! The bull has the
game: ware horns, ho!
Exeunt PARIS and MENELAUS
Enter MARGARELON
MARGARELON Turn, slave, and fight.
THERSITES What art thou?
MARGARELON A bastard son of Priam’s.
THERSITES 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.
Exit
MARGARELON The devil take thee, coward!
Exit
Scene 8
Another part of the plains.
Enter HECTOR
HECTOR Most putrefied 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 hangs his shield behind him
Enter ACHILLES and Myrmidons
ACHILLES 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.
HECTOR I am unarm’d; forego this vantage, Greek.
ACHILLES Strike, fellows, strike; this is the man I seek.
HECTOR falls
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.
MYRMIDONS The Trojan trumpets sound the like, my lord.
ACHILLES 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,
Pleased with this dainty bait, thus goes to bed.
Sheathes his sword
Come, tie his body to my horse’s tail;
Along the field I will the Trojan trail.
Exeunt
Scene 9
Another part of the plains.
Enter AGAMEMNON, AJAX, MENELAUS, NESTOR, DIOMEDES, and others, marching. Shouts within
AGAMEMNON Hark! hark! what shout is that?
NESTOR Peace, drums!
Within
Achilles! Achilles! Hector’s slain! Achilles.
DIOMEDES The bruit is, Hector’s slain, and by Achilles.
AJAX If it be so, yet bragless let it be;
Great Hector was a man as good as he.
AGAMEMNON March patiently along: let one be sent
To pray Achilles see us at our tent.
If in his death the gods have us befriended,
Great Troy is ours, and our sharp wars are ended.
Exeunt, marching
Scene 10
Another part of the plains.
Enter AENEAS and Trojans
AENEAS Stand, ho! yet are we masters of the field:
Never go home; here starve we out the night.
Enter TROILUS
TROILUS Hector is slain.
ALL Hector! the gods forbid!
TROILUS 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!
AENEAS My lord, you do discomfort all the host!