Never like thee: Let an old man embrace thee; Hect. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle, That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with time:— Most reverend Nestor, I am glad to clasp thee. Nest. I would, my arms could match thee in contention, As they contend with thee in courtesy. Hect. I would they could. Nest. Ha! By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morrow, Well, welcome, welcome! I have seen the time— Ulyss. I wonder now how yonder city stands, When we have here her base and pillar by us. Hect. I know your favour, Lord Ulysses, well. Ah, sir, there's many a Greek and Trojan dead, Since first I saw yourself and Diomed In Ilion, on your Greekish embassy. Ulyss. Sir, I foretold you then what would ensue : My prophecy is but half his journey yet; For yonder walls, that pertly front your town, Hect. 34 Thus in Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece : 'Threatening cloud-kissing Ilion with annoy.' And in Pericles : you: Whose towers bore heads so high, they kiss'd the clouds.' Ilion, according to Shakspeare's authority, was the name of Priam's palace, that was one of the richest and strongest that ever was in all the world. And it was of height five hundred paces, besides the height of the towers, whereof there was great plenty, and so high that it seemed to them that saw them from farre, they raught up unto the heavens.'-Destruction of Troy, b. ii. p. 478. The fall of every Phrygian stone will cost A drop of Grecian blood: The end crowns all; Will one day end it. Ulyss. So to him we leave it. Most gentle, and most valiant Hector, welcome: To feast with me, and see me at my tent. Achil. I shall forestall thee, Lord Ulysses,thou 35 ! — Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee; I have with exact view perus'd thee, Hector, And quoted 36 joint by joint. Hect. Achil. I am Achilles. Is this Achilles? Hect. Stand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee. Achil. Behold thy fill. Hect. Nay, I have done already. Achil. Thou art too brief; I will the second time, As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb. Hect. O, like a book of sport thou❜lt read me o'er; But there's more in me than thou understand'st. Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye? Achil. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of his body Shall I destroy him? whether there, there, or there? That I may give the local wound a name; And make distinct the very breach whereout Hector's great spirit flew: Answer me, heavens! Hect. It would discredit the bless'd gods, proud man, To answer such a question: Stand again: 35 Mr. Tyrwhitt thought we should read: I shall forestall thee, Lord Ulysses, though!" 36 Quoted is noted, observed. The hint for this scene of altercation between Achilles and Hector is furnished by Lydgale. Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly, Achil. I tell thee, yea. Hect. Wert thou an oracle to tell me so, I'd not believe thee. Henceforth guard thee well; But I'll endeavour deeds to match these words, Ajax. to't: You may have every day enough of Hector, Hect. I pray you, let us see you in the field; Achil. Dost thou entreat me, Hector? To-morrow, do I meet thee, fell as death; To-night, all friends. Hect. Thy hand upon that match. Agam. First, all you peers of Greece, go to my tent; 37 A stith is an anvil, a stithy a smith's shop, and hence the verb stithied is formed. See Hamlet, Act iii. Sc. 2. 38 Ajax treats Achilles with contempt, and means to insinuate that he was afraid of fighting with Hector. You may every day (says he) have enough of Hector, if you have the inclination; but I believe the whole state of Greece will scarcely prevail on you to be at odds with him, to contend with him. 39 i. e. petty or paltry wars. See vol. ii. p. 239, note 4. 40 There in the full convive we: afterwards, Beat loud the tabourines 41, let the trumpets blow, you, [Exeunt all but TROILUS and ULYSSES. Tro. My Lord Ulysses, tell me, I beseech In what place of the field doth Calchas keep? Ulyss. At Menelaus' tent, most princely Troilus: There Diomed doth feast with him to-night; Who neither looks upon the heaven, nor earth, But gives all gaze and bent of amorous view On the fair Cressid. Tro. Shall I, sweet lord, be bound to you so much, After we part from Agamemnon's tent, To bring me thither? Ulyss. You shall command me, sir. As gentle tell me, of what honour was This Cressida in Troy? Had she no lover there Tro. O, sir, to A mock is due. such as boasting show their scars, Will you walk on, my lord? She was belov'd, she lov'd; she is, and doth: [Exeunt. 40 A convive is a feast. 'The sitting of friends together at a table, our auncestors have well called convivium, a banket, because it is a living of men together.'-Hutton. The word is several times used in Helyas the Knight of the Swanne, blk. 1. 41 Small drums. ACT V. SCENE I. The Grecian Camp. Before Achilles' Tent. Enter ACHILLES and PATROCLUS. Achil. I'll heat his blood with Greekish wine tonight, Which with my scimitar I'll cool to-morrow Achil. Enter THERSITES. How now, thou core of envy? Thou crusty batch of nature, what's the news? Ther. Why, thou picture of what thou seemest, and idol of idiot-worshippers, here's a letter for thee. Achil. From whence, fragment? Ther. Why, thou full dish of fool, from Troy. Patr. Who keeps the tent now 3? Ther. The surgeon's box, or the patient's wound. Patr. Well said, Adversity! and what need these tricks? 1 Grammar requires us to read: I With Greekish wine to-night I'll heat his blood, Otherwise Achilles threatens to cool the wine, instead of Hector's blood. 2 A batch is all that is baked at one time, without heating the oven afresh. So Ben Jonson in his Cataline: Except he were of the same meal and batch.' Thersites has already been called a cob-loaf. 3 In his answer Thersites quibbles upon the word tent. 4 Adversity is here used for contrariety. The reply of Ther |