Come, stretch thy chest, and let thy eyes spout blood;
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;
'T were better she were kiss'd 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 popp'd 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. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one.
CRES. You 're an odd man; give even, or give none.
MEN. An odd man, lady? every man is odd.
CRES. No, Paris is not; for you know 't is true
That you are odd, and he is even with you.
MEN. You fillip me o' the head.
No, I'll be sworn.
a The line in brackets is not in the folio.
ULYSS. It were no match, your nail against his horn.—
May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?
There's a 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 encounterers, so glib of tongue,
That give a coasting welcome ere it comes,
And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts
To every tickling a reader! set them down
For sluttish spoils of opportunity,
And daughters of the game.
ALL. The Trojans' trumpet.
Enter HECTOR, armed; ENEAS, TROILUS, and other Trojans, with Attendants.
ENE. Hail, all you state of Greece! what shall be done
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 be divided
By any voice or order of the field?
Hector bade ask.
ENE. Therefore Achilles: But, whate'er, know this;-
In the extremity of great and little,
Valour 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:
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.
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,
Half stints their strife before their strokes begin.
ULYSS. They are oppos'd already.
[AJAX and HECTOR enter the lists.
AGAM. What Trojan is that same that looks so heavy?
ULYSS. The youngest son of Priam; a true knighta;
Not yet mature, yet matchless: firm of word;
Speaking in deeds, and deedless in his tongue;
Not soon provok'd, nor, being provok'd, soon calm'd:
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 guides his bounty,
Nor dignifies an impure thought with breath:
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
For Hector, in his blaze of wrath, subscribes
To tender objects; but he, in heat of action,
Is more vindicative than jealous love:
They call him Troilus; and on him erect
a We take the reading of the quarto. The folio has,
"The youngest son of Priam;
A true knight; they call him Troilus."
But these words, they call him Troilus, are found below; and their introduction here is probably a clerical or typographical error.
Impure. The originals have impair. Mr. Dyce has satisfactorily shown that there is no precedent for the use of this word adjectively.
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
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'dst from thy mother,
My sacred aunt, should by my mortal sword
Be drain'd! Let me embrace thee, Ajax:
By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
Hector would have them fall upon him thus:
Cousin, all honour to thee!
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 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 honour torn from Hector. ENE. There is expectance here from both the sides, What further you will do.
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. "T is Agamemnon's wish, and great Achilles
Doth long to see unarm'd the valiant Hector.
HECT. Æneas, call my brother Troilus to me:
And signify this loving interview
To the expecters of our Trojan part;
Desire them home.-Give me thy hand, my cousin;
I will go eat with thee, and see your knights.
AJAX. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us here.
HECT. The worthiest of them tell me name by name;
But for Achilles, mine own searching eyes
Shall find him by his large and portly size.
AGAM. Worthy of arms! as welcome as to one
That would be rid of such an enemy;
But that's no welcome: Understand more clear,
What 's past, and what 's to come, is strew'd with husks
And formless ruin of oblivion;
But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing,
Bids thee, with most divine integrity,
From heart of very heart, great Hector, welcomea.
HECT. I thank thee, most imperious Agamemnon.
AGAM. My well-fam'd lord of Troy, no less to you.
MEN. Let me confirm my princely brother's greeting;-
You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither.
HECT. Whom must we answer?
ENE.
The noble Menelaus b.
HECT. O you, my lord? by Mars his gauntlet, thanks!
Mock not, that I affect the untraded oath;
Your quondam wife swears still by Venus' glove;
She 's well, but bade me not commend her to you.
MEN. Name her not now, sir; she 's a deadly theme.
HECT. O, pardon; I offend.
NEST. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft,
Labouring for destiny, make cruel way
Through ranks of Greekish youth; and I have seen thee,
The quarto has only the first two lines, and the last line, of this noble address; and yet Steevens and Malone talk about the additions and substitutions of "the player-editors."
In the quarto, and the folio, this answer to the question of Hector is given by Æneas; in the modern editions it is assigned to Menelaus; and then, without looking at the originals, Reed and M. Mason discuss whether it is proper for Menelaus to call himself "noble."
• Untraded-unused-uncommon.
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