To answer for his love, Tell him from me,—
I'll hide my silver beard in a gold beaver,
And in my vantbrace' put this wither'd brawn ;
And, meeting him, will tell him, That my lady
Was fairer than his grandame, and as chaste
As may be in the world; His youth in flood,
I'll prove this truth with my three drops of blood.
Ene. Now heavens forbid such scarcity of youth!
Ulyss. Amen.

Aga. Fair lord Æneas, let me touch your hand ;
To our pavilion shall I lead you, sir.

Achilles shall have word of this intent;

So shall each lord of Greece, from tent to tent:
Yourself shall feast with us before you go,

And find the welcome of a noble foe.

Ulyss. Nestor,

[Exeunt, all but ULYSSES and NESTOR.

Nest. What says Ulysses?

Ulyss. I have a young conception in my brain, Be you my time to bring it to some shape.

Nest. What is't?

Ulyss. This 'tis :

Blunt wedges rive hard knots: The seeded pride
That hath to this maturity blown up

In rank Achilles, must or now be cropp'd,

Or, shedding, breed a nursery of like evil,
To overbulk us all.

Nest. Well, and how?

Ulyss. This challenge that the gallant Hector sends, However it is spread in general name,

Relates in purpose only to Achilles.

Nest The purpose is perspicuous even as substance, Whose grossness little characters sum up :* And, in the publication, make no strain," But that Achilles, were his brain as barren As banks of Libya,-though, Apollo knows,

'Tis dry enough,-will with great speed of judgment, Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose

Vantbrace--an armour for the arm, avantbras.

POPE.

Be you to my present purpose what time is in respect of all other schemes,

viz. a ripener and bringer of them to maturity.
[3] Alluding to a plantation called a nursery.

STEEVENS.
JOHNSON.

4 That is, the purpose is as plain as body or substance; and though I have collec ted this purpose from many minute particulars, as a gross body is made up of small insensible parts, yet the result is as clear and certain as a body thus made up is paipa. ble and visible. [5] Nestor goes on to say, make no difficulty, no doubt, when this duel comes to be proclaimed, but that Achil THEOBALD. les, dull as he is, will discover the drift of it.

WARBURTON.

Pointing on him.

Ulyss. And wake him to the answer, think you?
Nest. Yes,

It is most meet; Whom may you

else

oppose,

That can from Hector bring those honours off,
If not Achilles? Though 't be a sportful combat,
Yet in the trial much opinion dwells;

For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute
With their fin'st palate : And trust to me, Ulysses,
Our imputation shall be oddly pois'd

In this wild action: for the success,
Although particular, shall give a scantling
Of good or bad unto the general;

And in such indexes, although small pricks
To their subséquent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass

Of things to come at large. It is suppos'd,
He, that meets Hector, issues from our choice:
And choice, being mutual act of all our souls,
Makes merit her election; and doth boil,
As 'twere from forth us all, a man distill'd
Out of our virtues; Who miscarrying,

What heart receives from hence a conquering part,
To steel a strong opinion to themselves?
Which entertain'd, limbs are his instruments,
In no less working, than are swords and bows
Directive by the limbs.

Ulyss. Give pardon to my speech ;

Therefore 'tis meet, Achilles meet not Hector.
Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares,
And think, perchance, they'll sell; if not,
The lustre of the better shall exceed,

By showing the worst first. Do not consent,

That ever Hector and Achilles meet;

For both our honour and our shame, in this,

Are dogg'd with two strange followers.

Nest. I see them not with my old eyes; what are they? Ulyss. What glory our Achilles shares from Hector, Where he not proud, we all should share with him : But he already is too insolent;

And we were better parch in Africk sun,

Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes,

[6] Scantling--a measure, proportion. The carpenter cuts his wood to a certain Scantling.

JOHNSON.

[7] Small points compared with the volumes.

JOHNSON.

Should he 'scape Hector fair: If he were foil'd,
Why, then we did our main opinion crush
In taint of our best man. No, make a lottery;

And, by device, let blockish Ajax draw

The sort to fight with Hector: Among ourselves,
Give him allowance for the better man,

For that will physic the great Myrmidon,
Who broils in loud applause; and make him fall
His crest, that prouder than blue Iris bends.
If the dull brainless Ajax come safe off,
We'll dress him up in voices: If he fail,
Yet go we under our opinion still

That we have better men. But, hit or miss,
Our project's life this shape of sense assumes,-
Ajax, employ'd, plucks down Achilles' plumes
Nest. Ulysses,

Now I begin to relish thy advice;

And I will give a taste of it forthwith

To Agamemnon: go we to him straight.

Two curs shall tame each other; Pride alone

Must tarre the mastiffs on, as 'twere their bone." [Exe

ACT II.

SCENE I.—Another part of the Grecian Camp. Enter AJAX and THERSITES.

Ajax. THERSITES,

Ther. Agamemnon--how if he had boils ? full, all over, generally?

Ajax. Thersites,

Ther. And those boils did run ?

-Say so,-did not the

general run then? were not that a botchy core?

Ajax. Dog,

Ther. Then would come some matter from him; I see

none now.

Ajax. Thou bitch-wolf's son, canst thou not hear? Feel then.

[Strikes him.

Ther. The plague of Greece upon thee,' thou mongrel beef-witted lord !?

Tarre--an old English word signifying to provoke or urge on.
Alluding perhaps to the plague sent by Apollo on the Grecian army.

POPE.

JOHNSON.

[2] He calls Ajax mongrel on account of his father's being a Grecian and his mother a Trojan.

MALONE.

Ajax. Speak then, thou unsalted leaven,' speak: I will beat thee into handsomeness.

Ther. I shall sooner rail thee into wit and holiness: but, I think, thy horse will sooner con an oration, than thou learn a prayer without book. Thou canst strike, canst thou? a red murrain o' thy jade's tricks!

Ajax. Toads-stool, learn me the proclamation.

Ther. Dost thou think, I have no sense, thou strikest me thus ?

Ajax. The proclamation,—

Ther. Thou art proclaimed a fool, I think.

Ajax. Do not, porcupine, do not; my fingers itch.

Ther. I would, thou didst itch from head to foot, and I had the scratching of thee; I would make thee the loathsomest scab in Greece. When thou art forth in the incursions, thou strikest as slow as another.

Ajax. I say, the proclamation,

Ther. Thou grumblest and railest every hour on Achilles; and thou art as full of envy at his greatness, as Eerberus is at Proserpina's beauty, ay, that thou barkest at him.

Ajax. Mistress Thersites !

Ther. Thou shouldest strike him.

Ajax. Cobloaf!"

Ther. He would pun thee into shivers with his fist,' as a sailor breaks a biscuit.

Ajax. You whoreson cur!

Ther. Do, do.

Ajax. Thou stool for a witch !6

[Beating him.

Ther. Ay, do, do; thou sodden-witted lord! thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows; an assinego may tutor thee:7 Thou scurvy valiant ass! Thou art here put to thrash Trojans; and thou art bought and sold among those of any wit, like a Barbarian slave. If thou use to beat me, I will begin at thy heel, and tell what thou art by inches, thou thing of no bowels, thou! Ajax. You dog!

8

Unsalted leaven means sour withou salt, malignity without wit. JOHNSON. A crusty, uneven, gibbous loaf, is in some counties called by this name. STEEV "A cobloaf," says Minshieu," is a bunne." MALONE.

[5] Pun is in the midland counties the vulgar and colloquial word for pound. JOHNSON.

[6] In one way of trying a witch, they used to place her on a chair or stool, with her legs tied across, that all the weight of her body might rest upon her seat; and by that means, after some time, the circulation of the blood would be much stopped, and her sitting would be as painful as the wooden horse. GREY.

An assinego is a he

RITSON.

(3) If thou continue to beat me, or make practice of beating me. STEEVENS.

Ther. You scurvy lord!

Ajax. You cur!

[Beating him.

Ther. Mars his ideot! do, rudeness; do, camel; do, do.

Enter ACHILLES and PATROCLUS.

Achil. Why, how now, Ajax ? Wherefore do you thus ? -How now, Thersites ? what's the matter, man?

Ther. You see him there, do you?

Achil. Ay; what's the matter?

Ther. Nay, look upon him.

Achil. So I do; What's the matter?
Ther. Nay, but regard him well.

Achil. Well, why I do so.

Ther. But yet you look not well upon him: for, whoso ever you take him to be, he is Ajax.

Achil. I know that, fool.

Ther. Ay, but that fool knows not himself.

Ajax. Therefore I beat thee.

Ther. Lo, lo, lo, lo, what modicums of wit he utters ! his evasions have ears thus long. I have bobbed his brain, more than he has beat my bones: I will buy nine sparrows for a penny, and his pia mater is not worth the ninth part of a sparrow. This lord, Achilles, Ajax,who wears his wit in his belly, and his guts in his head,— I'll tell you what I say of him.

Achil. What?

Ther. I say, this Ajax

Achil. Nay, good Ajax.

[AJAX offers to strike him, ACHILLES interposes.

Ther. Has not so much wit

Achil. Nay, I must hold you.

Ther. As will stop the eye of Helen's needle, for whom he comes to fight.

Achil. Peace, fool!

Ther. I would have peace and quietness, but the fool will not he there; that he; look you

Ajax. O thou damned cur! I shall

there.

Achil. Will you set your wit to a fool's?

Ther. No, I warrant you; for a fool's will shame it.

Patr. Good words, Thersites.

Achil. What's the quarrel?

Ajax. I bade the vile owl, go learn me the tenour of the proclamation, and he rails upon me.

Ther. I serve thee not.

Ajax. Well, go to, go to.

Ther. I serve here voluntary.