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Aga. Speak frankly as the wind,
It is not Agamemnon's fleeping hour;
That thou fhalt know, Trojan, he is awake,
He tells thee fo himself.

Ene. Trumpet, blow loud:

Send thy brass voice through all these lazy tents:
And every Greek of mettle, let him know
What Troy means fairly, fhall be spoke aloud.
[The Trumpet founds.
We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy
A prince called Hector, (Priam is his father)
Who in this dull and long-continued truce
Is rufty grown; he bade me take a trumpet,
And to this purpose speak: Kings, Princes, Lords,
If there be one amongst the fairest of Greece,
That holds his honour higher than his ease,
That feeks his praife more than he fears his peril,
That knows his valour and knows not his fear,
That loves his mistress more than in confeffion,
(With truant vows to her own lips he loves,)
And dare avow her beauty and her worth
In other arms than hers: to him, this challenge.
Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks,
Shall make it good, (or do his best to do it)
He hath a Lady, wifer, fairer, truer,
Than ever Greek did compass in his arms;
And will to-morrow with his trumpet call,
Midway between your tents and walls of Troy,
To rouze a Grecian that is true in love.
If any come, Hector fhall honour him:
If none, he'll fay in Troy when he retires,
The Grecian dames are fun-burned, and not worth
The fplinter of a launce :-- even fo much

Aga. This fhall be told our lovers, Lord Æneas. If none of them have foul in fuch a kind,

We've left them all at home: but we are foldiers;

And may that foldier a mere recreant prove,
That means not, hath not, or is not in love!
If then one is, or hath, or means to be,
That one meets Hector; if none elfe, I'm he.

Neft. Tell him of Neftor; one that was a man When Hector's grandfire fuck'd; he is old now: But if there be not in our Grecian hoft

One noble man that hath one spark of fire,
To anfwer for his love; tell him from me,
I'll hide my filver beard in a gold beaver,
And in my vantbrace put this withered brawn;
And, meeting him, will tell him, that my Lady
Was fairer than his grandam, and as chaste
As may be in the world: his youth in flood,
I'll pawn this truth with my three drops of blood.
Ene. Now Heavens forbid fuch scarcity of youth!
Ulf. Amen.

your hand:

Aga. Fair Lord Æneas, let me touch To our pavilion fhall I lead you first: Achilles fhall have word of this intent,' So fhall each Lord of Greece from tent to tent: Yourself shall feaft with us before you go,

And find the welcome of a noble foe.

Manent ULYSSES and NESTOR.

Ulyf. Neftor,

Nt. What fays Ulyffes?

[Exeunt.

Ulyf. I have a young conception in my brain, Be you my Time to bring it to some shape. Neft. What is't?

Ulyf. This 'tis :

Blunt wedges rive hard knots; the feeded pride,
That hath to this maturity blown up

In rank Achilles, muft or now be crɔp'd,
Or, fhedding, breed a nursery of like evil,
To over-bulk us all.

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Neft. Well, and how now?

Uly. This challenge that the gallant Hector fends, However it is fpread in general name, Relates in purpose only to Achilles.

[fubftance, Neft. (5) The purpose is perspicuous ev'n-as Whofe groffnefs little characters fum up. And, in the publication, make no strain, But that Achilles, were his brain as barren As banks of Lybia, (though Apollo knows, 'Tis dry enough,) will with great speed of judgeAy, with celerity, find Hector's purpose Pointing on him.

[ment,

Uly. And wake him to the answer, think you? Neft. Yes, 'tis most meet; whom may you elfe opThat can from Hector bring his honour off, [pose, If not Achilles? Though a fportful combat, Yet in this trial much opinion dwells.

For here the Trojans taste our dearest repute

(15) The purpose is perfpicuous even as fubftarce,

Whofe grofnefs little characters fum up,

And in the publication make no ftrain,] The modern editors, 'tis plain, have lent each other very little information upon this paflage; Τυφλός τυφλῶ ὁδηγὸς, as the proverb fays, "the blind have led the blind." As they have poinsted the paffage, 'tis ftrange ftuff; and how they folved it to themselves, is past my discovery. That little characters, or particles, fum up the groffnefs of any fubftance, I conceive; but how thofe characters, or particles, make no train in the publication, feems a little harder than algebra. My regulation of the pointing brings us to clear fenfe; "The aim and purpose of this duel is as visible as any grofs fubftance can be, compounded of many little particles." And having faid thus, Ulyffes goes on to another obfervation;

And makes no difficulty, no doubt, when this duel comes to be proclaimed, but that Achilles, dull as he is, will dif cover the drift of it," This is the meaning of the last line. So afterwards, in this play, Ulyffes fays;

I do not frain at the pofition,

4. e. I do not hesitate at, I make no difficulty of it.

With their fineft palate: and truft to me, Ulyffes,.
Our imputation fhall be oddly poised
In this wild action. For the fuccefs,
Although particular, fhall give a fcantling
Of good or bad unto the general:

And in fuch indexes, although fmall pricks
To their fubfequent volumes, there is feen
The baby figure of the giant-mass

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Of things to come, at large. It is fuppofed,
He, that meets Hector, iffues from our choice;
And choice, being mutual act of all our fouls,
Makes merit her election; and doth boil,
As 'twere, from forth us all, a man distilled
Out of our virtues; who mifcarrying,
What heart from hence receives the conquering
part,

To fteel a ftrong opinion to themselves!

Which entertained, limbs are his inftruments,
In no lefs working than are swords and bows -
Directive by the limbs.

Ulyf. Give pardon to my fpeech;

Therefore 'tis meet Achilles meet not Héctor.
Let us, like merchants, fhew our.fouleft wares,
And think, perchance, they'll fell; if not,
The luftre of the better, yet to fhew,
Shall fhew the better. Do not then confent,
That ever Hector and Achilles meet:

For both our honour and our shame in this
Are dogged with two ftrange followers.

Neft. I fee them not with my old eyes: what
are they?

Ulyf. What glory our Achilles fhares from Hector, Were he not proud, we all should share with him : But he already is too infolent;

And we were better parch in Afric fun,

Than in the pride and falt fcorn of his eyes,..

Should he escape Hector fair. If he were foiled,
Why, then we did our main opinion crush
In taint of our best man. No, make a lott'ry;
And by device let blockish Ajax draw

The fort to fight with Hector: 'mong ourselves,
Give him allowance as the worthier man,
For that will phyfic the great Myrmidon,
Who broils in loud applause, and make him fall
His creft, that prouder than blue Iris bends.
If the dull brainless Ajax come safe off,
We'll drefs him up in voices: if he fail,
Yet go we under our opinion ftill,

That we have better men. But, hit or miss,
Our project's life this fhape of fenfe affumes,
Ajax, employed, plucks down Achilles' plumes.
Neft. Ulyffes, now I relish thy advice,
And I will give a taste of it forthwith
To Agamemnon; go we to him ftraight;
Two curs fhall tame each other; pride alone
Muft tar the mastiffs on, as 'twere their bone.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE, the Grecian Camp.

Enter AJAX, and THERSITES.

AJAX.

TH HERSITES,

Ther. Agamemnon-how if he had boiles

full. all over, generally.

Ajax. Therfites,

[Talking to himself.

Ther. And thofe boiles did run-fay fo―did not the General run? were not that a botchy core?

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