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- $Unique_ID{SSP01258}
- $Title{Troilus and Cressida: Act III, Scene I}
- $Author{Shakespeare, William}
- $Subject{}
- $Log{Dramatis Personae*01250.txt}
-
- Portions copyright (c) CMC ReSearch, Inc., 1989
-
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
-
- TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
-
-
- ACT III
- ................................................................................
-
-
- SCENE I: Troy. Priam's palace.
- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-
- {Enter a Servant and PANDARUS.}
-
- PANDARUS: Friend, you! pray you, a word: do not you follow
- the young Lord Paris?
-
- Servant: Ay, sir, when he goes before me.
-
- PANDARUS: You depend upon him, I mean?
-
- Servant: Sir, I do depend upon the lord.
-
- PANDARUS: You depend upon a noble gentleman; I must needs
- praise him.
-
- Servant: The lord be praised!
-
- PANDARUS: You know me, do you not?
-
- Servant: Faith, sir, superficially. 10
-
- PANDARUS: Friend, know me better; I am the Lord Pandarus.
-
- Servant: I hope I shall know your honor better.
-
- PANDARUS: I do desire it.
-
- Servant: You are in the state of grace.
-
- PANDARUS: Grace! not so, friend: honor and lordship are my
- titles.
-
- [Music within.]
-
- What music is this?
-
- Servant: I do but partly know, sir: it is music in parts.
-
- PANDARUS: Know you the musicians?
-
- Servant: Wholly, sir.
-
- PANDARUS: Who play they to? 20
-
- Servant: To the hearers, sir.
-
- PANDARUS: At whose pleasure, friend
-
- Servant: At mine, sir, and theirs that love music.
-
- PANDARUS: Command, I mean, friend.
-
- Servant: Who shall I command, sir?
-
- PANDARUS: Friend, we understand not one another: I am too
- courtly and thou art too cunning. At whose request
- do these men play?
-
- Servant: That's to 't indeed, sir: marry, sir, at the request
- of Paris my lord, who's there in person; with him, 30
- the mortal Venus, the heart-blood of beauty, love's
- invisible soul,--
-
- PANDARUS: Who, my cousin Cressida?
-
- Servant: No, sir, Helen: could you not find out that by her
- attributes?
-
- PANDARUS: It should seem, fellow, that thou hast not seen the
- Lady Cressida. I come to speak with Paris from the
- Prince Troilus: I will make a complimental assault
- upon him, for my business seethes.
-
- Servant: Sodden business! there's a stewed phrase indeed! 40
-
- {Enter PARIS and HELEN, attended.}
-
- PANDARUS: Fair be to you, my lord, and to all this fair
- company! fair desires, in all fair measure,
- fairly guide them! especially to you, fair queen!
- fair thoughts be your fair pillow!
-
- HELEN: Dear lord, you are full of fair words.
-
- PANDARUS: You speak your fair pleasure, sweet queen. Fair
- prince, here is good broken music.
-
- PARIS: You have broke it, cousin: and, by my life, you
- shall make it whole again; you shall piece it out
- with a piece of your performance. Nell, he is full 50
- of harmony.
-
- PANDARUS: Truly, lady, no.
-
- HELEN: O, sir,--
-
- PANDARUS: Rude, in sooth; in good sooth, very rude.
-
- PARIS: Well said, my lord! well, you say so in fits.
-
- PANDARUS: I have business to my lord, dear queen. My lord,
- will you vouchsafe me a word?
-
- HELEN: Nay, this shall not hedge us out: we'll hear you
- sing, certainly.
-
- PANDARUS: Well, sweet queen. you are pleasant with me. But, 60
- marry, thus, my lord: my dear lord and most esteemed
- friend, your brother Troilus,--
-
- HELEN: My Lord Pandarus; honey-sweet lord,--
-
- PANDARUS: Go to, sweet queen, to go:--commends himself most
- affectionately to you,--
-
- HELEN: You shall not bob us out of our melody: if you do,
- our melancholy upon your head!
-
- PANDARUS: Sweet queen, sweet queen! that's a sweet queen,
- i' faith.
-
- HELEN: And to make a sweet lady sad is a sour offence. 70
-
- PANDARUS: Nay, that shall not serve your turn; that shall not,
- in truth, la. Nay, I care not for such words; no,
- no. And, my lord, he desires you, that if the king
- call for him at supper, you will make his excuse.
-
- HELEN: My Lord Pandarus,--
-
- PANDARUS: What says my sweet queen, my very very sweet queen?
-
- PARIS: What exploit's in hand? where sups he to-night?
-
- HELEN: Nay, but, my lord,--
-
- PANDARUS: What says my sweet queen? My cousin will fall out
- with you. You must not know where he sups. 80
-
- PARIS: I'll lay my life, with my disposer Cressida.
-
- PANDARUS: No, no, no such matter; you are wide: come, your
- disposer is sick.
-
- PARIS: Well, I'll make excuse.
-
- PANDARUS: Ay, good my lord. Why should you say Cressida? no,
- your poor disposer's sick.
-
- PARIS: I spy.
-
- PANDARUS: You spy! what do you spy? Come, give me an
- instrument. Now, sweet queen.
-
- HELEN: Why, this is kindly done. 90
-
- PANDARUS: My niece is horribly in love with a thing you have,
- sweet queen.
-
- HELEN: She shall have it, my lord, if it be not my lord
- Paris.
-
- PANDARUS: He! no, she'll none of him; they two are twain.
-
- HELEN: Falling in, after falling out, may make them three.
-
- PANDARUS: Come, come, I'll hear no more of this; I'll sing
- you a song now.
-
- HELEN: Ay, ay, prithee now. By my troth, sweet lord, thou
- hast a fine forehead. 100
-
- PANDARUS: Ay, you may, you may.
-
- HELEN: Let thy song be love: this love will undo us all.
- O Cupid, Cupid, Cupid!
-
- PANDARUS: Love! ay, that it shall, i' faith.
-
- PARIS: Ay, good now, love, love, nothing but love.
-
- PANDARUS: In good troth, it begins so.
-
- [Sings.]
-
- Love, love, nothing but love, still more!
- For, O, love's bow
- Shoots buck and doe:
- The shaft confounds, 110
- Not that it wounds,
- But tickles still the sore.
- These lovers cry Oh! oh! they die!
- Yet that which seems the wound to kill,
- Doth turn oh! oh! to ha! ha! he!
- So dying love lives still:
- Oh! oh! a while, but ha! ha! ha!
- Oh! oh! groans out for ha! ha! ha!
-
- Heigh-ho!
-
- HELEN: In love, i' faith, to the very tip of the nose. 120
-
- PARIS: He eats nothing but doves, love, and that breeds hot
- blood, and hot blood begets hot thoughts, and hot
- thoughts beget hot deeds, and hot deeds is love.
-
- PANDARUS: Is this the generation of love? hot blood, hot
- thoughts, and hot deeds? Why, they are vipers:
- is love a generation of vipers? Sweet lord, who's
- a-field to-day?
-
- PARIS: Hector, Deiphobus, Helenus, Antenor, and all the
- gallantry of Troy: I would fain have armed to-day,
- but my Nell would not have it so. How chance my 130
- brother Troilus went not?
-
- HELEN: He hangs the lip at something: you know all, Lord
- Pandarus.
-
- PANDARUS: Not I, honey-sweet queen. I long to hear how they
- sped to-day. You'll remember your brother's excuse?
-
- PARIS: To a hair.
-
- PANDARUS: Farewell, sweet queen.
-
- HELEN: Commend me to your niece.
-
- PANDARUS: I will, sweet queen.
-
- [Exit.]
-
- [A retreat sounded.]
-
- PARIS: They're come from field: let us to Priam's hall, 140
- To greet the warriors. Sweet Helen, I must woo you
- To help unarm our Hector: his stubborn buckles,
- With these your white enchanting fingers touch'd,
- Shall more obey than to the edge of steel
- Or force of Greekish sinews; you shall do more
- Than all the island kings,--disarm great Hector.
-
- HELEN: 'Twill make us proud to be his servant, Paris;
- Yea, what he shall receive of us in duty
- Gives us more palm in beauty than we have,
- Yea, overshines ourself. 150
-
- PARIS: Sweet, above thought I love thee.
-
- [Exeunt.]
-