And swim to yonder point?-Upon the word,
Accoutre das I was, I plunged in,
And bid him follow; so indeed he did.
The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews; throwing it aside,
Aud stemming it with hearts of controversy.
But ere we could arrive the point propos'd,
Caesar cry'd help me, Cassius, or I sink!
1, as AEneas, our great ancestor,

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear; so from the waves of Tyber
Did I the tired Cæsar: and this man
is now become a god; and Cassius is

A wretched creature, and must bend his body,
If Cæsar carelessly but nod on him.
He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And when the fit was on him, I did mark
How he did shake. 'Tis true, this god did shake;
His coward lips did from their colour fly
And that same eye whose bend does awe the world,
Did lose its lustre; I did hear him groan:
Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans
Mark him and write his speeches in their books,
Alas! it cry'd-Give me some drink, Titinius-
As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world,
And bear the palm alone.

Bru. Another general shout!,

I do believe that these applauses are

For some new honours that are heap'd on Cæsar. Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow

world

Like a Colossus! and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men, at sometimes, are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus

and Cæsar what should be in that
Cæsar?

Why should that name be sounded more than yours;

Write them together; yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cæsar.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meats does this our Cæsar feed,
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art sham'd;
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods,
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was fam'd with more than with one man?

When could they say, till now, that talk'd of

Rome,

That her wide walls encompass'd but one man?
Oh! you and I have heard our fathers say

There was a Brutus, one that would have brook'd
Th' eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king.

Bru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealouss
What you would work me to, I have some aim
How I have thought of this, and of these times,
I shall recount hereafter: for this present,
I would not, (so with love I might intreat you)
Be any further mov'd. What you have said,
I will consider; what you have to say,
I will with patience hear; and find a time,
Both meet to hear, and answer such high things.
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this;
Brutus had rather be a villager,

Than to repute himself a son of Rome
Under such hard conditions as this time

Is like to lay upon us.

Cas. I am glad that my weak words

Have struck but thus much show of fire from Bru

tus.

SHAKESPEARE.

K

CHAP. Y V.

Bellarius, Guiderius, and Arviragus. Bel. A

A goodly day! not to keep house, with such

Whose roof's as low as ours: see! boys, this gate Instructs you how t'adore the heav'ns: and bows

you

The morning's holy office. Gates of monarchs
Are arch'd so high, that giants may get through,
And keep their impious turbans on, without
Good morrow to the sun. Hail, thou fair heav'n!
We house i' th' rock, yet use thee not so hardly
As prouder livers do.

Guid. Hail IIeav'n!

Arv. Hail Heav'n!

Bel. Now for our mountain sport up to yon

hill,

Your legs are young. I'll tread these flats. Consider,
When you, above, perceive me like a crow,
That it is place which lessens and sets off:

you may

And
then revolve what tales I told you,
Of courts, of princes, of the tricks in war;
That service is not service, so being done,
But being so allow'd. To apprehend thus,
Draws us a profit from all things we see;
And often to our comfort, shall we find
The sharded beetle in a safer hold,
Than is the full wing'd eagle. Oh, this life
Is nobler than attending for a check:
Richer, than doing nothing for a bauble;
Prouder, than rustling in unpaid-for silk.
Such gain the cap of him, that makes them fine,
Yet keeps his book uncross'd:-}

-no life to ours.

Guid. Out of your proof you speak; we, poor,
untledg'd

Have never wing'd from view o' th' nest; nor know
What air's front home. Haply this life is best,
If quiet life is best: sweeter to you,

That have a sharper known; well corresponding

With your stiff age but unto us, it is
A cell of ign'rance; travelling a-bed;
A prison for a debtor that not dares
To stride a limit.

Arv. What should we speak of,

When we are old as yon? When we shall hear
The rain and wind beat dark December? how,
In this our pinching cave, shall we discourse
The freezing hours away? We have seen nothing;
We're beastly; subtle as the fox for

prey,

Like warlike as the wolf, for what we eat.
Our valour is to chase what flies: our cage
We make a choir, as doth the prison'd bird,
And sing our bondage.freely.

Bel. How you speak!

Did you but know the city's usuries,

And felt them knowingly; the art o' th' court,
As hard to leave, as keep; whose top to climb,
Is certain falling; or so slipp'ry, that

The fear's as bad as falling; the toil of war;
A pain that only seems to seek out danger
I' th' name of fame and honour; which dies i' th
search,

And hath as oft a sland'rous epitaph,

As record of fair act; nay, many times,
Doth ill deserve, by doing well: what's worse
Must curt'sy at the censure.-Oh, boys, this story
The world might read in me: my body's mark'd
With Roman swords; and my report was once
First with the best of note. Cymbeline lov'd me;
And when a soldier was the theme, my name
Was not far off: then was I as a tree,

Whose boughs did bend with fruit. But, in one night,

you

A storm, or robbery, call it what
will,
Shook down my mellow hangings, nay, my leaves
And left me bare to weather.

Guid. Uncertain favour!

Bel. My fault being nothing, as I have told you

oft,

But that two villains (whose false oaths prevail'd

Before my perfect honour) swore to Cymbeline 1 was confed'rate with the Romans: so

Follow'd my banishment; and, thes twenty years,
This rock and these demesnes have been my world;
Where I have liv'd at honest freedom; paid
More pious debts to Heaven, than in all

The fore-end of my time.- -But, up to the moun.

tains!

This is not hunters' language; he that strikes The venison first, shall be the lord o' th' feast ; To him the other two shall minister,

And we will fear no poison, which attends

In place of greater state.

I'll meet you in the vallies.

SHAKESPEARE.