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A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means,
If he improve them, may well stretch so far,
As to annoy us all: which to prevent,

Let Antony and Cæsar fall together.

Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs
Like wrath in death, and envy afterwards :
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar.

Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood :
O, that we then could come by Cæsar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæsar! But, alas,
Cæsar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall mark
Our purpose necessary, and not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be called purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm,
When Cæsar's head is off.

Cas. Yet I do fear him :

For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar,-
Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him:
If he love Cæsar, all that he can do

Is to himself, take thought, and die for Cæsar :
And that were much he should; for he is given
To sports, to wildness, and much company.

[Clock strikes.

190. Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die;
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.
Bru. Peace, count the clock.

Cas. The clock hath stricken three.

Treb. 'Tis time to part.

Cas. But it is doubtful yet,

Whether Cæsar will come forth to-day or no:
For he is superstitious grown of late;

Quite from the main opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies;
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustomed terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers,
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.
195. Dec. Never fear that: If he be so resolved,

I can o'ersway him: for he loves to hear,
That unicorns may be betrayed with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers;
But, when I tell him, he hates flatterers,
He says, he does; being then most flattered.
Let me work :

For I can give his humour the true bent;
And I will bring him to the Capitol.

Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.
Bru. By the eighth hour: Is that the uttermost ?
Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard,
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey;
I wonder, none of you have thought of him.
200. Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him:
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons;
Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.

Cas. The morning comes upon us : We'll leave you, Brutus :-
And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remember
What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.
Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;

Let not our looks put on our purposes:
But bear it as our Roman actors do,

With untired spirits, and formal constancy :

And so, good morrow to you every one.

[Exeunt all but BRUTUS.

Boy! Lucius!-Fast asleep? It is no matter;
Enjoy the heavy honey-dew of slumber :
Thou hast no figures, nor no fantasies,
Which busy care draws in the brains of men ;
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.

Por. Brutus, my lord!

Enter PORTIA.

Bru. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now? It is not for your health, thus to commit

Your weak condition to the raw-cold morning.

205. Por. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus,
Stole from my bed: And yesternight, at supper,

You suddenly arose, and walked about,
Musing, and sighing, with your arms across :
And, when I asked you what the matter was,
You stared upon me with ungentle looks :
I urged you further; then you scratched
And too impatiently stamped with your foot:
Yet I insisted, yet you answered not;
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,

your head,

210.

Gave sign for me to leave you: So I did;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience,

Which seemed too much enkindled; and, withal,
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,

Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep;
And, could it work so much upon your shape,
As it hath much prevailed on your condition,
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.

Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all.
Por. Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it.

Bru. Why, so I do.-Good Portia, go to bed.
Por. Is Brutus sick? and is it physical
To walk unbraced, and suck up the humours
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick;
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed,
To dare the vile contagion of the night?
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus ;
You have some sick offence within your mind,
Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
I ought to know of: And, upon my knees,
I charm you, by my once commended beauty,
By all your vows of love, and that great vow,
Which did incorporate and make us one,
That you unfold to me, yourself, your half,
Why you are heavy; and what men to-night
Have had resort to you: for here have been
Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
Even from darkness.

Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia.

Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,

Is it excepted, I should know no secrets

That appertain to you? Am I yourself,

But, as it were, in sort, or limitation;

To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,

And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs

Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,

Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.

Bru. You are my true and honourable wife ;

As dear to me as are the ruddy drops

That visit my sad heart.

Por. If this were true, then should I know this secret.

I grant, I am a woman; but, withal,

A woman that lord Brutus took to wife:

I grant, I am a woman; but, withal,
A woman well reputed; Cato's daughter.
Think you, I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so fathered, and so husbanded?

Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em :
I have made strong proof of my constancy,

Giving myself a voluntary wound

Here, in the thigh: Can I bear that with patience,
And not my husband's secrets ?

Bru. O ye gods,

Render me worthy of this noble wife!

[Knocking within.

Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in a while;
And by and by thy bosom shall partake

The secrets of my heart.

All my engagements I will construe to thee,

All the charactery of my sad brows:

Leave me with haste.

Enter LUCIUS and LIGARIUS.

Lucius, who's that, knocks?

[Exit PORTIA.

215. Luc. Here is a sick man, that would speak with you. Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.

Boy, stand aside.-Caius Ligarius! how?

Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue.
Bru. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,
To wear a kerchief? Would you were not sick!
Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of honour.

220. Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius,
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.

Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before
I here discard my sickness. Soul of Rome!
Brave son, derived from honourable loins!
Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up
My mortified spirit. Now bid me run
And I will strive with things impossible;
Yea, get the better of them. What's to do?

Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men whole.

Lig. But are not some whole, that we must make sick?
Bru. That must we also. What it is, my Caius,

I shall unfold to thee, as we are going

To whom it must be done.

225. Lig. Set on your foot;

And, with a heart new-fired, I follow you,
To do I know not what: but it sufficeth,
That Brutus leads me on.

Bru. Follow me then.

[Exeunt.

230.

SCENE II.-The same. A Room in CESAR'S Palace.

Thunder and lightning. Enter CESAR, in his night-gown.

Cas. Nor heaven, nor earth, have been at peace to-night : Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cried out,

Help, ho! they murder Casar!-Who's within ?

Serv. My lord?

Enter a SERVANT.

Cas. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice,

And bring me their opinions of success.

Serv. I will, my lord.

Enter CALPHURNIA.

[Exit.

Cal. What mean you, Cæsar? Think you to walk forth?
You shall not stir out of your house to-day.

Cæs. Cæsar shall forth: The things that threatened me,
Ne'er looked but on my back; when they shall see
The face of Cæsar, they are vanished.

Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets;

And graves have yawned, and yielded up their dead :
Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons, and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol :

The noise of battle hurtled in the air,

Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan;

And ghosts did shriek, and squeal about the streets.
O Cæsar! these things are beyond all use,

And I do fear them.

Cæs. What can be avoided,

Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?

Yet Cæsar shall go forth: for these predictions

Are to the world in general, as to Cæsar.

235. Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Cas. Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

It seems to me most strange that men should fear ;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come, when it will come.

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