[Flourish. Enter CAESAR; ANTONY, for the course; CALPURNIA, PORTIA, DECIUS BRUTUS, CICERO, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, and CASCA; a great crowd following, among them a Soothsayer]
- Casca. Peace, ho! Caesar speaks.
- Caesar. Stand you directly in Antonius' way,
When he doth run his course. Antonius!
- Caesar. Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say,
90
The barren, touched in this holy chase,
Shake off their sterile curse.
- Antony. I shall remember:
When Caesar says 'do this,' it is perform'd.
- Caesar. Set on; and leave no ceremony out.
95
Flourish
- Casca. Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!
- Caesar. Who is it in the press that calls on me?
100
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
- Brutus. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
105
- Caesar. Set him before me; let me see his face.
- Cassius. Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
- Caesar. What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.
- Caesar. He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.
110
Sennet. Exeunt all except BRUTUS and CASSIUS
- Cassius. Will you go see the order of the course?
- Brutus. I am not gamesome: I do lack some part
115
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony.
Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires;
I'll leave you.
- Cassius. Brutus, I do observe you now of late:
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
120
And show of love as I was wont to have:
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend that loves you.
- Brutus. Cassius,
Be not deceived: if I have veil'd my look,
125
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
Of late with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors;
130
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved—
Among which number, Cassius, be you one—
Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.
135
- Cassius. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion;
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations.
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?
- Brutus. No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself,
140
But by reflection, by some other things.
- Cassius. 'Tis just:
And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
145
That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome,
Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus
And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes.
150
- Brutus. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?
- Cassius. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear:
And since you know you cannot see yourself
155
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you yet know not of.
And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus:
Were I a common laugher, or did use
160
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester; if you know
That I do fawn on men and hug them hard
And after scandal them, or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting
165
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.
Flourish, and shout
- Brutus. What means this shouting? I do fear, the people
Choose Caesar for their king.
- Cassius. Ay, do you fear it?
170
Then must I think you would not have it so.
- Brutus. I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well.
But wherefore do you hold me here so long?
What is it that you would impart to me?
If it be aught toward the general good,
175
Set honour in one eye and death i' the other,
And I will look on both indifferently,
For let the gods so speed me as I love
The name of honour more than I fear death.
- Cassius. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
180
As well as I do know your outward favour.
Well, honour is the subject of my story.
I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life; but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
185
In awe of such a thing as I myself.
I was born free as Caesar; so were you:
We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter's cold as well as he:
For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
190
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
Caesar said to me 'Darest thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood,
And swim to yonder point?' Upon the word,
Accoutred as I was, I plunged in
195
And bade him follow; so indeed he did.
The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy;
But ere we could arrive the point proposed,
200
Caesar cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!'
I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber
Did I the tired Caesar. And this man
205
Is now become a god, and Cassius is
A wretched creature and must bend his body,
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him.
He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And when the fit was on him, I did mark
210
How he did shake: 'tis true, this god did shake;
His coward lips did from their colour fly,
And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world
Did lose his lustre: I did hear him groan:
Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans
215
Mark him and write his speeches in their books,
Alas, it cried 'Give me some drink, Tintinius,'
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
220
And bear the palm alone.
Shout. Flourish
- Brutus. Another general shout!
I do believe that these applauses are
For some new honours that are heap'd on Caesar.
225
- Cassius. 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 some time are masters of their fates:
230
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that 'Caesar'?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
235
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 Caesar.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed,
240
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed!
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was famed with more than with one man?
When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome,
245
That her wide walls encompass'd but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.
O, you and I have heard our fathers say,
There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd
250
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king.
- Brutus. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous;
What you would work me to, I have some aim:
How I have thought of this and of these times,
255
I shall recount hereafter; for this present,
I would not, so with love I might entreat you,
Be any further moved. What you have said
I will consider; what you have to say
I will with patience hear, and find a time
260
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 these hard conditions as this time
265
Is like to lay upon us.
- Cassius. I am glad that my weak words
Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus.
- Brutus. The games are done and Caesar is returning.
- Cassius. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve;
270
And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you
What hath proceeded worthy note to-day.
Re-enter CAESAR and his Train
- Brutus. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius,
The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow,
275
And all the rest look like a chidden train:
Calpurnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes
As we have seen him in the Capitol,
Being cross'd in conference by some senators.
280
- Cassius. Casca will tell us what the matter is.
- Caesar. Let me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights:
285
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
- Antony. Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous;
He is a noble Roman and well given.
- Caesar. Would he were fatter! But I fear him not:
290
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays,
295
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit
That could be moved to smile at any thing.
Such men as he be never at heart's ease
300
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd
Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar.
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
305
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.
Sennet. Exeunt CAESAR and all his Train, but CASCA
- Casca. You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me?
- Brutus. Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanced to-day,
That Caesar looks so sad.
310
- Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not?
- Brutus. I should not then ask Casca what had chanced.
- Casca. Why, there was a crown offered him: and being
offered him, he put it by with the back of his hand,
thus; and then the people fell a-shouting.
315
- Brutus. What was the second noise for?
- Casca. Why, for that too.
- Cassius. They shouted thrice: what was the last cry for?
- Casca. Why, for that too.
- Brutus. Was the crown offered him thrice?
320
- Casca. Ay, marry, was't, and he put it by thrice, every
time gentler than other, and at every putting-by
mine honest neighbours shouted.
- Cassius. Who offered him the crown?
- Brutus. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca.
- Casca. I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it:
it was mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark
Antony offer him a crown;—yet 'twas not a crown
neither, 'twas one of these coronets;—and, as I told
330
you, he put it by once: but, for all that, to my
thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he
offered it to him again; then he put it by again:
but, to my thinking, he was very loath to lay his
fingers off it. And then he offered it the third
335
time; he put it the third time by: and still as he
refused it, the rabblement hooted and clapped their
chapped hands and threw up their sweaty night-caps
and uttered such a deal of stinking breath because
Caesar refused the crown that it had almost choked
340
Caesar; for he swounded and fell down at it: and
for mine own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of
opening my lips and receiving the bad air.
- Cassius. But, soft, I pray you: what, did Caesar swound?
- Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at
345
mouth, and was speechless.
- Brutus. 'Tis very like: he hath the failing sickness.
- Cassius. No, Caesar hath it not; but you and I,
And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness.
- Casca. I know not what you mean by that; but, I am sure,
350
Caesar fell down. If the tag-rag people did not
clap him and hiss him, according as he pleased and
displeased them, as they use to do the players in
the theatre, I am no true man.
- Brutus. What said he when he came unto himself?
355
- Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceived the
common herd was glad he refused the crown, he
plucked me ope his doublet and offered them his
throat to cut. An I had been a man of any
occupation, if I would not have taken him at a word,
360
I would I might go to hell among the rogues. And so
he fell. When he came to himself again, he said,
If he had done or said any thing amiss, he desired
their worships to think it was his infirmity. Three
or four wenches, where I stood, cried 'Alas, good
365
soul!' and forgave him with all their hearts: but
there's no heed to be taken of them; if Caesar had
stabbed their mothers, they would have done no less.
- Brutus. And after that, he came, thus sad, away?
- Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek.
- Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne'er look you i' the
face again: but those that understood him smiled at
375
one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own
part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more
news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs
off Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you
well. There was more foolery yet, if I could
380
remember it.
- Cassius. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca?
- Casca. No, I am promised forth.
- Cassius. Will you dine with me to-morrow?
- Casca. Ay, if I be alive and your mind hold and your dinner
385
worth the eating.
- Casca. Do so. Farewell, both.
Exit
- Brutus. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be!
390
He was quick mettle when he went to school.
- Cassius. So is he now in execution
Of any bold or noble enterprise,
However he puts on this tardy form.
This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit,
395
Which gives men stomach to digest his words
With better appetite.
- Brutus. And so it is. For this time I will leave you:
To-morrow, if you please to speak with me,
I will come home to you; or, if you will,
400
Come home to me, and I will wait for you.
- Cassius. I will do so: till then, think of the world.
[Exit BRUTUS]
Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see,
Thy honourable metal may be wrought
405
From that it is disposed: therefore it is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
For who so firm that cannot be seduced?
Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus:
If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
410
He should not humour me. I will this night,
In several hands, in at his windows throw,
As if they came from several citizens,
Writings all tending to the great opinion
That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely
415
Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at:
And after this let Caesar seat him sure;
For we will shake him, or worse days endure.
Exit
|
print/save view![]](/images/arrow_left.gif){kind=icon}
Previous scene
Play menu
![]](/images/arrow_right.gif){kind=icon}
