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Near Misenum. | |
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Flourish. Enter POMPEY and MENAS, at one side, with drum and trumpet; at the other, CÆSAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, ENOBARBUS, MECÆNAS, with Soldiers marching. | |
| Pom. Your hostages I have, so have you mine; | |
| And we shall talk before we fight. | |
| Cæs. Most meet | 5 |
| That first we come to words, and therefore have we | |
| Our written purposes before us sent; | |
| Which if thou hast consider’d, let us know | |
| If ’twill tie up thy discontented sword, | |
| And carry back to Sicily much tall youth | 10 |
| That else must perish here. | |
| Pom. To you all three, | |
| The senators alone of this great world, | |
| Chief factors for the gods, I do not know | |
| Wherefore my father should revengers want, | 15 |
| Having a son and friends; since Julius Cæsar, | |
| Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted, | |
| There saw you labouring for him. What was ’t | |
| That mov’d pale Cassius to conspire? and what | |
| Made the all-honour’d, honest Roman, Brutus, | 20 |
| With the arm’d rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom, | |
| To drench the Capitol, but that they would | |
| Have one man but a man? And that is it | |
| Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burden | |
| The anger’d ocean foams, with which I meant | 25 |
| To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome | |
| Cast on my noble father. | |
| Cæs. Take your time. | |
| Ant. Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails; | |
| We’ll speak with thee at sea: at land, thou know’st | 30 |
| How much we do o’er-count thee. | |
| Pom. At land, indeed, | |
| Thou dost o’er-count me of my father’s house; | |
| But, since the cuckoo builds not for himself, | |
| Remain in ’t as thou mayst. | 35 |
| Lep. Be pleas’d to tell us— | |
| For this is from the present—how you take | |
| The offers we have sent you. | |
| Cæs. There’s the point. | |
| Ant. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh | 40 |
| What it is worth embrac’d. | |
| Cæs. And what may follow, | |
| To try a larger fortune. | |
| Pom. You have made me offer | |
| Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must | 45 |
| Rid all the sea of pirates; then, to send | |
| Measures of wheat to Rome; this ’greed upon, | |
| To part with unhack’d edges, and bear back | |
| Our targets undinted. | |
| Cæs., Ant. & Lep. That’s our offer. | 50 |
| Pom. Know, then, | |
| I came before you here a man prepar’d | |
| To take this offer; but Mark Antony | |
| Put me to some impatience. Though I lose | |
| The praise of it by telling, you must know, | 55 |
| When Cæsar and your brother were at blows, | |
| Your mother came to Sicily and did find | |
| Her welcome friendly. | |
| Ant. I have heard it, Pompey; | |
| And am well studied for a liberal thanks | 60 |
| Which I do owe you. | |
| Pom. Let me have your hand: | |
| I did not think, sir, to have met you here. | |
| Ant. The beds i’ the east are soft; and thanks to you, | |
| That call’d me timelier than my purpose hither, | 65 |
| For I have gain’d by ’t. | |
| Cæs. Since I saw you last, | |
| There is a change upon you. | |
| Pom. Well, I know not | |
| What counts harsh Fortune casts upon my face, | 70 |
| But in my bosom shall she never come | |
| To make my heart her vassal. | |
| Lep. Well met here. | |
| Pom. I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed. | |
| I crave our composition may be written | 75 |
| And seal’d between us. | |
| Cæs. That’s the next to do. | |
| Pom. We’ll feast each other ere we part; and let’s | |
| Draw lots who shall begin. | |
| Ant. That will I, Pompey. | 80 |
| Pom. No, Antony, take the lot: | |
| But, first or last, your fine Egyptian cookery | |
| Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Cæsar | |
| Grew fat with feasting there. | |
| Ant. You have heard much. | 85 |
| Pom. I have fair meanings, sir. | |
| Ant. And fair words to them. | |
| Pom. Then, so much have I heard; | |
| And I have heard Apollodorus carried— | |
| Eno. No more of that: he did so. | 90 |
| Pom. What, I pray you? | |
| Eno. A certain queen to Cæsar in a mattress. | |
| Pom. I know thee now; how far’st thou, soldier? | |
| Eno. Well; | |
| And well am like to do; for I perceive | 95 |
| Four feasts are toward. | |
| Pom. Let me shake thy hand; | |
| I never hated thee. I have seen thee fight, | |
| When I have envied thy behaviour. | |
| Eno. Sir, | 100 |
| I never lov’d you much, but I ha’ prais’d ye | |
| When you have well deserv’d ten times as much | |
| As I have said you did. | |
| Pom. Enjoy thy plainness, | |
| It nothing ill becomes thee. | 105 |
| Aboard my galley I invite you all: | |
| Will you lead, lords? | |
| Cæs., Ant. & Lep. Show us the way, sir. | |
| Pom. Come. [Exeunt all except MENAS and ENOBARBUS. | |
| Men. Thy father, Pompey, would ne’er have made this treaty. You and I have known, sir. | 110 |
| Eno. At sea, I think. | |
| Men. We have, sir. | |
| Eno. You have done well by water. | |
| Men. And you by land. | |
| Eno. I will praise any man that will praise me; though it cannot be denied what I have done by land. | 115 |
| Men. Nor what I have done by water. | |
| Eno. Yes, something you can deny for your own safety; you have been a great thief by sea. | |
| Men. And you by land. | |
| Eno. There I deny my land service. But give me your hand, Menas; if our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing. | |
| Men. All men’s faces are true, whatsoe’er their hands are. | 120 |
| Eno. But there is never a fair woman has a true face. | |
| Men. No slander; they steal hearts. | |
| Eno. We came hither to fight with you. | |
| Men. For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune. | |
| Eno. If he do, sure, he cannot weep it back again. | 125 |
| Men. You have said, sir. We looked not for Mark Antony here: pray you, is he married to Cleopatra? | |
| Eno. Cæsar’s sister is called Octavia. | |
| Men. True, sir; she was the wife of Caius Marcellus. | |
| Eno. But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius. | |
| Men. Pray ye, sir? | 130 |
| Eno. ’Tis true. | |
| Men. Then is Cæsar and he for ever knit together. | |
| Eno. If I were bound to divine of this unity, I would not prophesy so. | |
| Men. I think the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage than the love of the parties. | |
| Eno. I think so too; but you shall find the band that seems to tie their friendship together will be the very strangler of their amity. Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation. | 135 |
| Men. Who would not have his wife so? | |
| Eno. Not he that himself is not so; which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again; then, shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Cæsar, and, as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection where it is; he married but his occasion here. | |
| Men. And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you. | |
| Eno. I shall take it, sir: we have used our throats in Egypt. | |
| Men. Come; let’s away. [Exeunt. | 140 |
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