Ulyss. No trumpet answers.

Achil.

'Tis but early day.

Agam. Is not yon Diomed, with Calchas' daughter? Ulyss. '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 DIOMED, with CRESSIDA.

Agam. Is this the lady Cressid?
Dio.

Even she.

Agam. Most dearly welcome to the Greeks, sweet

lady.

Nest. Our general doth salute you with a kiss.
Ulyss. Yet is the kindness but particular;

"Twere better she were kissed in general.

Nest. And very courtly counsel. I'll begin.—

So much for Nestor.

Achil. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair lady; Achilles bids you welcome.

Men. I had good argument for kissing once.
Patr. But that's no argument for kissing now;

For thus popped Paris in his hardiment;

And parted thus you and your argument.

Ulyss. O deadly gall, and theme of all our scorns! For which we lose our heads, to gild his horns. Patr. The first was Menelaus' kiss ;-this, mine; Patroclus kisses you.

Men.

O, this is trim!

Patr. Paris, and I, kiss evermore for him.

Men. I'll have my kiss, sir.-Lady, by your leave. Cres. In kissing, do you render or receive?

Patr. Both take and give.

Cres.

The kiss

I'll make my match to live.1

take is better than you give; you Therefore no kiss.

Men. I'll give you boot; I'll give you three for one. Cres. You're an odd man; give even, or give none.

1 I will make such bargains as I may live by, such as may bring me profit, therefore will not take a worse kiss than I give.

Men. An odd man, lady? every man is odd. Cres. No, Paris is not; for, you know, 'tis true, That you are odd, and he is even with you.

Men. You fillip me o' the head.

Cres.

No, I'll be sworn Ulyss. It were no match, your nail against his horn.May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?

Cres. You may.

Ulyss.

Cres.

I do desire it.

Why, beg, then. Ulyss. Why, then, for Venus' sake, give me a kiss, When Helen is a maid again, and his.

Cres. I am your debtor; claim it when 'tis due.
Ulyss. Never's my day, and then a kiss of you.
Dio. Lady, a word;-I'll bring you to your father.
[DIOMED leads out CRESSIDA.

Nest. A woman of quick sense.
Ulyss.
Fie, 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 encounters, so glib of tongue,
That give a coasting welcome ere it comes,
And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts
To every ticklish reader! set them down
For sluttish spoils of opportunity,3

And daughters of the game.

All. The Trojan's trumpet.

Agam.

[Trumpet within.

Yonder comes the troop.

Enter HECTOR, armed; ENEAS, TROILUS, and other Trojans, with Attendants.

Ene. Hail, all the state of Greece! What shall be done

1 Motive for part that contributes to motion.

2 So in Venus and Adonis :—

"Anon she hears them chaunt it lustely,

And all in haste she coasteth to the cry."

3 i. e. of whose chastity every opportunity makes an easy prey.

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 they be divided
By any voice or order of the field?

Hector bade ask.

Agam.

Which way would Hector have it?

1

Ene. He cares not; he'll obey conditions. Achil. 'Tis done like Hector; but securely done, A little proudly, and great deal misprizing

The knight opposed.

Ene.
What is your name?
Achil.

If not Achilles, sir,

If not Achilles, nothing.

Ene. Therefore Achilles.

But, whate'er, know

this;

In the extremity of great and little,

Valor 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; 3
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.
Achil. A maiden battle, then?-O, I perceive you.

Re-enter DIOMED.

Agam. Here is sir Diomed.-Go, gentle knight, Stand by our Ajax; as you and lord Æneas Consent upon the order of their fight,

So be it; either to the uttermost,

Or else a breath; the combatants being kin,

1 "Securely done," in the sense of the Latin securus, a negligent security

arising from a contempt of the object opposed.

2 Hector is distinguished by the excellence of having pride less than other pride, and valor more than other valor.

3 Ajax and Hector were cousins-german.

4 i. e. a breathing, an exercise. See Act ii. Sc. 3. note 3, p. 285.

Half stints' their strife before their strokes begin. [AJAX and HECTOR enter the lists. Ulyss. They are opposed aiready.

2

Agam. What Trojan is that same that looks so heavy? Ulyss. The 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 calmed. 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 impair thought with breath. Manly as Hector, but more dangerous; For Hector, in his blaze of wrath, subscribes 3 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 Æneas; one that knows the youth, Even to his inches; and, with private soul, Did in great Ilion thus translate him to me.

3

[Alarum. HECTOR and AJAX fight. Agam. They are in action. Nest. Now, Ajax, hold thine own!

Tro.

Awake thee!

Agam. His blows are well disposed:-there, Ajax!

Dio. You must no more.

Ene.

Hector, thou sleep'st;

[Trumpets cease.

Princes, enough, so please you.

Why then, will I no more :

Ajax. I am not warm yet; let us fight again.

Dio. As Hector pleases.

Hect.

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,

1 Stops.

2 "An impair thought" is an unworthy or injurious thought.
3 i. e. submits, yields.

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'st from thy mother,
My sacred aunt,' should by my mortal sword
Be drained! Let me embrace thee, Ajax.
By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
Hector would have them fall upon him thus.
Cousin, all honor to thee!

Ajax.
I 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.

Hect. Not Neoptolemus 2 so mirable

(On whose bright crest Fame with her loud'st O yes Cries, This is he !) could promise to himself

A thought of added honor torn from Hector.

Ene. There is expectance here from both the sides, What further you will do.

Hect.
We'll answer it; 3
The issue is embracement.-Ajax, farewell.
Ajax. If I might in entreaties find success,
As seld I have the chance,) I would desire
My famous cousin to our Grecian tents.

Dio. 'Tis Agamemnon's wish; and great Achilles Doth long to see unarmed the valiant Hector.

Hect. Eneas, call my brother Troilus to me;

And signify this loving interview

To the expecters of our Trojan part;

1 The Greeks give to the aunt, the father's sister, the title of sacred. 2 By Neoptolemus Shakspeare seems to have meant Achilles; finding that the son was Pyrrhus Neoptolemus, he considered Neoptolemus as the nomen gentilitium, and thought the father was likewise Achilles Neoptolemus. Or he was probably led into the error by some book of the time.

3 i. e. answer the expectance.