He. I am yours,

You valiant offspring of great Priamus.
I have a roifting challenge fent amongst
The dull and factious nobles of the Greeks,.
Will ftrike amazement to their drowsy spirits.
I was advertis'd their great general flept,
Whilft emulation * in the army crept;
This, I prefume, will wake him.

[Exeunt

Before Achilles's Tent, in the Grecian Camp. Enter Therfites folus.

How now, Therfites? what, loft in the labyrinth of thy fury? Shall the elephant Ajax carry it thus? He beats me, and I rail at him. O worthy fatiffaction! 'would it were otherwife; that I could beat him, whilft he rail'd at me. 'Sfoot, I'll learn to conjure and raife devils, but I'll fee fome iffue of my fpiteful execrations. Then there's Achilles, a rare engineer. If Troy be not taken 'till thefe two undermine it, the walls will stand till they fall of themselves. O thou great thunder-darter of Olympus, forget that thou art Jove the King of Gods, and, Mercury, lofe all the ferpentine craft of thy Caduceus, if thou take not that little, little, lefs than little wit from them that they have; which fhort-arm'd ignorance itself knows is so abundant fcarce, it will not in circumvention deliver a fly from a spider, without drawing the maffy irons and cutting the web. After this, the vengeance on the whole camp! or rather the bone-ache, for that, methinks, is the curfe dependant on thofe that war for a placket. I have faid my prayers, and devil envy fay Amen. What, ho! my Lord Achilles?

* That is,, envy, factious contention. Johnfort

Enter Patroclus.

Patr. Who's there? Therfites? Good Therfites, come in and rail.

Ther. If I could have remember'da gilt counterfeit, thou couldst not have flipp'd out of my contemplation: but it is no matter, thyself upon thyfelf! The common curfe of mankind, folly and ignorance, be thine in great revenue! heaven blefs, thee from a tutor, and difcipline come not near thee! Let thy blood be thy direction 'till thy death; then if she that lays thee out lays thou art a fair corfe, I'll be fworn and fworn upon't he never fhrowded any but Lazars; Amen. Where's Achilles? Patr. What, art thou devout? waft thou in prayer? Ther. Ay, the heav'ns hear me !

Enter Achilles.

Achil. Who's there?

Patr. Therfites, my Lord.

"

Achil. Where, where? art thou come? Why my cheefe, my digeftion, why haft thou not ferved thyfelf up to my table so many meals? Come, what's Agamemnon!

Ther. Thy commander, Achilles. Then tell me, Patroclus, what's Achilles?

Patr. Thy Lord, Therfites. Then tell me, I pray thee, what's thyfelf?

Ther. Tuy knower, Patroclus. Then tell me, Pa troclus, what art thou?

Patr. Thou must tell that knowest.

Achil. O tell, tell,

Ther. I'll decline the whole queftion. Agamem non commands Achilles, Achilles is my Lord, I am Patroclus's knower, and Patroclus is a fool.

Patr. You rafcal

Ther Peace, fool I have not done.

Achil. He is a privileg'd man. Proceed, Therfites.

Ther. Agamemnon is a fool, Achilles is a fool, Therfites is a fool, and, as aforefaid, Patroclus is a fool.

Achil. Derive this; come.

Ther. Agamemnon is a fool to offer to command Achilles, Achilles is a fool to be commanded of Aga-memnon, Therfites is a fool to ferve fuch a fool and Patroclus is a fool pofitive.

Patr. Why am I a fool?

Ther. Make that demand of the prover.-It fuffices me thou art.

Enter Agamemnon, Ulyfes, Neftor, Diomedes, Ajax and Calchas.

Look you, who comes here?

Achil. Patroclus, I'll fpeak with nobody. Come in with me, Therfites.

[Exiti Ther. Here is fuch patchery, fuch juggling, and fuch knavery. All the argument is a cuckold and a whore; a good quarrel to draw emulous factions, and bleed to death upon Now the dry Serpigo on the fubject, and war and lechery confound all ! [Exit:

Aga. Where is Achilles?
Patr. Within his tent, but ill difpos'd, my Lord
Aga. Let it be known to him that we are here.
He fhent our meffengers, and we lay by
Our appertainments, vifiting of him :

Let him be told so, left, perchance, he think
We dare not move the question of our place,
Or know not what we are.

[Exit

Patr. I fhall fo fay to him.
Uly. We faw him at the op'ning of his tent,
He is not fick

You

Ajax. Yes, lion-fick, fick of a proud heart. may call it melancholy, if you will favour the man but, by my head, 'tis pride. But why, why?-let him fhew us the cause. A word, my Lord [To Agam. Neft. What moves Ajax thus to bay at him? Uly. Achilles hath inveigled his fool from him."

He thent our mellengers,→ i. c. rebuked, rated

Warburton

Neft. Who, Therfites?

Ulyff. He.

Neft. Then will Ajax lack matter, if he have loft his argument.

Uly. No, you fee he is his argument, that has his argument, Achilles

Neft. All the better; their fraction is more our with than their faction; but it was a strong compo❤ fure that a fool could difunite.

Ulyff. The amity that wisdom knits not, folly may easily untye.

SCENE

Enter Patroclus.

Here comes Patroclus.

Neft No Achilles with him?

VII.

Uly. The elephant hath joints, but none for His legs are for neceflity, not flexure. [courtefy; Patr. Achilles bids me fay, he is much sorry, If any thing more than your sport and pleasure Did move your greatnefs, and this noble state, To call on him he hopes it is no other But for your health and your digestion-fake, And after-dinner's breath.

Aga Hear you, Patroclus;

We are too well acquainted with these answers;
But his evafion, wing'd thus fwift with fcorn,
Cannot outfly our apprehenfions.

Much attribute he hath, and much the reafon
Why we aferibe it to him; yet all his virtues,
Not virtuously on his own part beheld,
Do in our eyes begin to lofe their glofs;
Yea, like fair fruit in an unwholfome difh,

Are like to rot untafted.

Go and tell him,

We come to speak with him; and you fhall not fin
If you do fay, we think him over-proud,
And under honeft, in felf assumption greater
Than in the note of judgment; and worthier than
himself

Here tend the favage ftrangeness he puts on,
Difguite the holy ftrength of their command, r

and
And under-write † in an observing kind
His humourous predominance; yea, watch
His pettish lunes, his ebbs and flows, as if
The paffage and whole carriage of this action
Rode on his tide. Go tell him this, and add,
That if he over-hold his price fo much,
We'll none of him; but let him, like an engine
Not portable, ly under this report,

"Bring action hither, this can't go to war:

A ftirring dwarf we do allowance give, "Before a fleeping giant ;" tell him fo. Patr. I fhall, and bring his anfwer prefently.

[Exit. Aga. In fecond voice we'll not be fatisfied, We come to speak with him. Ulyffes, enter. [Exit Ulyffes. Ajax. What is he more than another? Aga. No more than what he thinks he is. Ajax Is he fo much? Do you not think, he thinks himself a better man than I am?

Aga. No queftion.

Ajax. Will you fubfcribe his thought, and fay

he is?

Aga. No, noble Ajax, you are as ftrong, as va liant, as wife, no less noble, much more gentle, and altogether more tractable.

Ajax. Why fhould a man be proud? How doth pride grow? I know not what it is.

Aga. Your mind is the clearer, Ajax, and your virtues the fairer. He that is proud, eats up himfelf. Pride is his own glafs, his own trumpet, his own chronicle; and whatever praises itself but in the deed, devours the deed in the praise.

S CE NE VIII.

Re-enter Ulyffes.

Ajax. I do hate a proud man, as I hate the engendring of toads.

Neft. afide Yet he loves himself: is't not strange?

To fubfcribe, in Shakespeare, is to obey. Johnfon."