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And in such indexes, although small pricks |
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen |
The baby figure of the giant mas |
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. |
ULYSSES. 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 yet to show shall show the better, |
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. |
NESTOR. I see them not with my old eyes. What are they? |
ULYSSES. What glory our Achilles shares from Hector, |
Were he not proud, we all should wear with him; |
But he already is too insolent; |
And it were better parch in Afric sun |
Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes, |
Should he scape Hector fair. If he were foil'd, |
Why, then we do our main opinion crush |
In taint of our best man. No, make a lott'ry; |
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. |
NESTOR. Now, Ulysses, I begin to relish thy advice; |
And I will give a taste thereof 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. Exeunt |
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ACT II. SCENE 1. |
The Grecian camp |
Enter Ajax and THERSITES |
AJAX. Thersites! |
THERSITES. Agamemnon-how if he had boils full, an over, generally? |
AJAX. Thersites! |
THERSITES. And those boils did run-say so. Did not the general run |
then? Were not that a botchy core? |
AJAX. Dog! |
THERSITES. Then there would come some matter from him; |
I see none now. |
AJAX. Thou bitch-wolf's son, canst thou not hear? Feel, then. |
[Strikes him] |
THERSITES. The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mongrel beef-witted |
lord! |
AJAX. Speak, then, thou whinid'st leaven, speak. I will beat thee |
into handsomeness. |
THERSITES. 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. Toadstool, learn me the proclamation. |
THERSITES. Dost thou think I have no sense, thou strikest me thus? |
AJAX. The proclamation! |
THERSITES. Thou art proclaim'd, a fool, I think. |
AJAX. Do not, porpentine, do not; my fingers itch. |
THERSITES. 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. |
THERSITES. Thou grumblest and railest every hour on Achilles; and |
thou art as full of envy at his greatness as Cerberus is at |
Proserpina's beauty-ay, that thou bark'st at him. |
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