the rabblement hooted, and clapped their chap- [ He should not humour me. I will this night, ped hands, and threw up their sweaty night-caps, In several hands, † in at the windows throw, and uttered such a deal of stinking breath because As if they came from several citizens, Cesar refused the crown, that it had almost Writings all tending to the great opinion choked Cesar; for he swooned, and fell down That Rome holds of his name; wherein ob at it: And for mine own part I durst not laugh, scurely for fear of opening my lips, and receiving the bad air.
Cas. But soft, I pray you: What! did Cesar
Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at mouth, and was speechless.
Bru. 'Tis very like: he hath the falling-sick
Cas. No, Cesar 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, Cesar 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.
Bru. What said he, when he came unto himself?
Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceiv'd 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, 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 1 stood, cried, Alas, good soul!-aud forgave him with all their hearts: But there's no heed to be taken of them; if Cesar had stabbed their mothers, they would have done no less.
Bru. And after that, he came, thus sad, away ?
Cas. Did Cicero say any thing?
Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek.
Cas. To what effect?
Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i'the face again: But those that understood him smiled at 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 Cesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it.
Cas. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca? Casca. No, I am promised forth.
Cas. Will you dine with me to-morrow? Casca. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner worth eating.
Cas. Good: I will expect you.
Casca. Do so: Farewell, both.
Bru. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be? He was quick mettle, when he went to school. Cas. 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,
Which gives men stomach to digest his words
With better appetite.
Bru. And so it is. For this time I will leave yon:
To-morrow if you please to speak with me,
I will come home to you; or, if you will,
Come home with me, and I will wait for you.
Cas. 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
From that it is dispos'd: Therefore 'tis meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes:
For who so firm, that cannot be seduc'd?
Cesar doth bear me hard ; but he loves Brutus :
If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius,
Cesar's ambition shall be glanced at:
And, after this, let Cesar seat him sure;
For we will shake him, or worse days endure.
[Exit.
Shakes, like a thing unfirm? O Cicero,
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds
Have riv'd the knotty oaks; and I have seen
The ambitious ocean swell, and rage, and foam,
To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds:
But never till to-night, never till now,
Did I go through a tempest-dropping fire.
Either there is a civil strife in heaven,
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Incenses them to send destruction.
Cic. Why, saw you any thing more wonderful?
Casca. A common slave (you know him well
Held up his left hand, which did flame, and bura
Like twenty torches join'd; and yet his hand,
Not sensible of fire, remain'd unscorch'd.
Besides, (I have not since put up my sword)
Against the Capitol I met a lion,
Who glar'd upon nie, and went surly by,
Without annoying me: And there were drawn
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women,
Transformed with their fear; who swore they saw
Men, all in fire, walk up and down the streets.
And yesterday, the bird of night did sit,
Even at noon-day, upon the market-place,
Hooting, and shrieking. When these prodigies
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say
These are their reasons,―They are natural;
For, I believe, they are portentous things
Unto the climate that they point upon.
Cic. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time:
But men may construe things after their fashion,
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves.
Comes Cesar to the Capitol to-morrow?
Casca. He doth; for he did bid Antonius Send word to you he would be there to-morrow. Cic. Good night then, Casca: this disturbed sky Is not to walk in. [Exit CICERO.
Casca. Farewell, Cicero.
Enter CASSIUS.
Cas. Who's there?
Casca. A Roman.
Cas. Casca, by your voice. Casca. Your ear is good. Cassius, what night is this!
Cas. A very pleasing night to honest men. Casca. Who ever knew the neavens menace so Cas. Those, that have known the earth so full
For my part, I have walk'd about the streets,
And thus unbraced, Casca, as you, see,
Submitting me unto the perilous night;
Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone:
And, when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.
Casca. But wherefore did you so much tempt
the heavens?
It is the part of men to fear and tremble,
• Cajole. +Hand writings.
A mechanic. + Has an unfavourable opinion of me. of the globe. Altogether. 1 Bolt.
When the most mighty gods, by tokens, send Such dreadful heralds to astonish us.
Cas. You are dull, Casca; and those sparks of That should be in a Roman, you do want, Or else you use not: You look pale, and gaze, And put on fear, and cast yourself in wonder, To see the strange impatience of the heavens: But if you would consider the true cause, Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts, Why birds, and beasts, from quality and kind; * Why old inen fools, and children calculate ;+ Why all these things change, from their ordinance, Their natures and pre-formed faculties, To monstrous quality-why, you shall find, That heaven hath infus'd them with these spirits, To make them instruments of fear and warning, Unto some monstrous state. Now could I, Casca, Name to thee a man most like this dreadful
Casca. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in haste.
Cas. 'Tis Cinna, I do know him by his gait; He is a friend.-Ciuna, where haste you so? Cin. To find out you: Who's that? Metellus Cimber?
Cas. No, it is Casca; one incorporate⚫
To our attempts. Am I not staid for, Cinna?
Cin. I am glad on't. What a fearful night is
this?
[sights.
There's two or three of us have seen strange
Cas. Am I not staid for, Cinua? Tell me.
Cin. Yes,
You are.
O Cassius, if you could but win
The noble Brutus to our party-
Cus. Be you content: Good Cinna, take this paper,
And look you lay it in the prætor's chair, That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars Where Brutus may but find it; and throw this As doth the lion in the Capitol :
A man no mightier than thyself, or me,
In personal action; yet prodigious grown,
And fearful, as these strauge eruptions are,
Casca. 'Tis Cesar that you mean: Is it not,
Cassius?
Cas. Let it be who it is: for Romans now Have thewest and limbs like to their ancestors; But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead, And we are govern'd with our mothers' spirits; Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish.
Casca. Indeed, they say, the senators to-inorMean to establish Cesar as a king: [row And he shall wear his crown, by sea and land, In every place, save here in Italy.
Cas. I know where I will wear this dagger then;
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius:
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong;
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat:
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
I know this, know all the world besides,
That part of tyranny that I do bear,
I can shake off at pleasure.
So every bondman in his own hand bears
The power to cancel his captivity.
Cas. And why should Cesar be a tyrant then?
Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf,
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep:
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds.
Those that with haste will make a mighty fire,
Begin it with weak straws: What trash is Rome,
What rubbish, and what offal, when it serves
For the base matter to illuminate
So vile a thing as Cesar! But, O grief!
Where hast thou led me! 1, perhaps, speak this
Before a willing bondman; then I know
My answer must be made: But I am arin'd,
And dangers are to me indifferent.
Casca. You speak to Casca; and to such a
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold my hand:
Be factious for redress of all these griefs;
And I will set this foot of mine as far,
As who goes farthest.
Cas. There's a bargain made.
Now know you, Casca, I have mov'd already
Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans,
To undergo with me an enterprise
Of honourable dangerous consequence;
And I do know, by this, they stay for me
in Pompey's porch: for now, this fearful night
There is no stir or walking in the streets;
And the complexion of the element,
Is favour'd like the work we have in hand,
Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible.
In at his window: set this up with wax
Upon old Brutus' statue: all this done,
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find
Are Decius Brutus and Trebonius there?
Cin. All but Metellus Cimber; aud he's gone To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie, And so bestow these papers as you bade ine.
Cas. That doue, repair to Pompey's theatre. [Exit CINNA. Come, Casca, you and I will, yet, ere day, See Brutus at his house: three parts of him Is ours already; and the man entire, Upon the next encounter, yields him ours.
Casca. Oh! he sits high in all the people's hearts:
And that, which would appear offence in us,
His countenance, like richest alchymy,
Will change to virtue and to worthiness.
Cas. Him, and his worth, and our great need of him,
You have right well conceited. + Let us go,
For it is after midnight; and, ere day,
We will awake him, and be sure of him.
Here's my hand. Resembles.
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend: So Cesar may;
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the
quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus; that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities:
And therefore, think him as a serpent's egg,
Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mis-
And kill him in the shell.
[chievous;
Luc. The taper burneth in your closet, Sir.
Searching the window for a flint, I found
This paper, thus seal'd up; and, I am sure,
It did not lie there when I went to bed.
Bru. Get you to bed again, it is not day.
Is not to morrow, boy, the ides of March 1
Luc. I know not, Sir.
Bru. Look in the calendar, and bring me word.
Luc. I will, Sir.
[Exit.
Bru. The exhalations, whizzing in the air,
Give so much light, that I may read by them.
[Opens the Letter, and reads.
Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, &c. Speak-strike-redress!
Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake.-
Such instigations have been often dropp'd
Where I have took them up.
Shall Rome, &c. Thus, must I piece it out;
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What!
Rome?
My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king.
Speak-strike-redress!-Am I entreated then
To speak, and strike? O Rome! I make thee
promise,
If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus !
Luc. Sir, March is wasted fourteen days.
[Knock within.
Bru. 'Tis good. Go to the gate; somebody
knocks.
[Exit LUCIUS.
Since Cassius first did whet me against Cesar,
I have not slept.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream:
The genius, and the mortal instruments,
Are then in council; and the state of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.
Bru. I have been up this hour; awake, all night.
Know 1 these men, that come along with you?
Cas. Yes, every man of them; and no man
But honours you and every one doth wish
You had but that opinion of yourself,
Which every noble Roman bears of you.
This is Trebonius.
Bru. He is welcome hither.
Cas. This Decius Brutus.
Bru. He is welcome too.
Cas. This, Casca; this, Cinna;
And this, Metellus Cimber.
Bru. They are all welcome.
What watchful cares do interpose themselves
Betwixt your eyes and night ?
Cas. Shall I entreat a word? [They whisper.
Dec. Here lies the east: Doth not the day
break here?
Cin. Oh! pardon, Sir, it doth; and you grey lines,
That fret the clouds, are messengers of day.
Casca. You shall confess, that you are both
deceiv'd.
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises;
Which is a great way growing on the south,
Weighing the youthful season of the year.
Some two months hence, up higher toward the
north
He first presents his fire; and the high east
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.
Bru. Give me your hands all over, one by
Cas. Aud let us swear our resolution.
Bru. No, not an oath: If not the face of men,
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,-
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
And every man hence to his idle bed;
So let high-sighted tyranny range on,
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these,
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough
To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women; then, countrymen,
What need we any spur, but our own cause,
To prick us to redress? what other houd,
Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word,
And will not palter? And what other oath,
Than honesty to honesty engag'd
That this shall be, or we will fall for it!
Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls,
That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt: bat do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprise,
Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think that or our cause, or our performance,
Luc. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, Did need an oath; when every drop of blood Who doth desire to see you.
Luc. No, Sir, there are more with him.
Bru. Do you know them ?
Luc. No, Sir; their hats are pluck'd about their
And half their faces buried in their cloaks, [ears,
That by no means I may discover them
By any mark of favour.
Bru. Let them enter.
[Exit LUCIUS.
They are the faction. O conspiracy!
Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,
When evils are most free! Oh! then, by day,
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough
To mask thy monstrous visage ? Seek none,
Hide in it smiles and affability:
For if thou path + thy native semblance on, con-
Not Erebus itself were dim enough
To hide thee from prevention. §
Enter CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, CINNA, ME-
TELLUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS.
Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest:
Good morrow, Brutus; Do we trouble you?
That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
Is guilty of a several bastardy,
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath pass'd from him.
Cas. But what of Cicero Shall we sound him?
I think he will stand very strong with us.
Casca. Let us not leave him out.
Cin. No, by no means.
Met. Oh! let us have him; for his silver hairs
Will purchase us a good opinion,
And buy men's voices to commend our deeds:
It shall be said, his judgment rul'd our hands;
Our youths, and wildness, shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.
Bru. Oh! name him not; let us not break
with him: +
For he will never follow any thing
That other men begin.
Cas. Then leave him out.
Casca. Indeed, he is not fit.
Dec. Shall no man else be touch'd, but only
Cesar ?
Cas. Decius, well urg'd :—I think it is not meet
Mark Antony so well belov'd of Cesar,
Walk in thy true form.
Detection
Should outlive Cesar: We shall find of him
A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means,
If he improves them, may well stretch so far,
As to annoy us all which, to prevent,
Let Antony and Cesar fall together.
Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius
Cassius,
To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs;
Like wrath in death, and envy afterwards:
For Antony is but a limb of Cesar.
Let us be sacrificers, but no butchers, Cains.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cesar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
Oh that we then could come by Cesar's spirit,
And not dismember Cesar! But, alas,
Cesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide them. This shall make
Our purpose necessary, aird not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him ;
For he can do no more than Cesar's arin,
When Cesar's head is off.
Cas. Yet I do fear him:
For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cesar,-
Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him:
If he love Cesar, all that he can do
Is to himself; take thought, and die for Cesar:
And that were much he should; for he is given
To sports, to wildness, and much company.
Treb. There is no fear in him: let him not die ;
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.
[Clock strikes.
Bru. Peace, count the clock.
Cas. The clock hath stricken three.
Treb. 'Tis time to part.
Cas. But it is doubtful yet,
Whe'r Cesar will come forth to-day, or no :
For he is superstitious grown of late;
Quite from the main opinion he held once
of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies; *
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers,
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.
Dec. Never fear that: if he be so resolv'd,
I can o'ersway him: for he loves to hear
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers :
But, when I tell him he hates flatterers,
He says, he does; being then most flattered.
Let me work:
For I can give this humour the true bent;
And I will bring him to the Capitol.
Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch
bim.
Boy Lucius!-Fast asleep? It is no matter;
Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber :
Thou hast no figures, nor no fantasies,
Which busy care draws in the brains of men;
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.
Enter PORTIA.
Por. Brutus, my lord!
Bru. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise
you now?
It is not for your health, thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw-cold morning.
Por. Nor for your's neither. You have un-
Stole from my bed: And yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
Musing, and sighing, with your arms across :
And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
You star'd upon me with ungentle looks:
I urg'd you further: then you scratch'd your
head,
And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot:
Yet I insisted. yet you answer'd not;
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for ine to leave you: So I did;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience,
Which seem'd too much enkindled; and, withal
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep;
And, could it work so much upon your shape,
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition, †
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.
Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all.
Por. Brutus is wise, and were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it.
Bru. Why, so I do :-Good Portia, go to bed.
Por. Is Brutus sick? and is it physical
To walk unbraced, and suck up the humours
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick;
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed
To dare the vile contagion of the night?
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus ;
You have some sick offence within your mind,
Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
I ought to know of: And upon my knees,
I charm you, by my once commended beauty,
By all your vows of love, and that great vow
Which did incorporate and make us one,
That you unfold to me, yourself, your half,
Why you are heavy; and what men to-night
Have had resort to you: for here have been
Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
Even from darkness.
Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia.
Por. I should not need, if you were gentle
Brutus.
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutas,
Is it excepted, I should know no secrets
Bru. By the eighth hour: Is that the utter-That appertain to you? Am I yourself,
Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cesar hard,
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey;
I wonder none of you have thought of him.
Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him: †
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons;
Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.
Cas. The morning comes upon us: We'll leave
you, Brutus :-
[member
And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all re-
What you have said, and show yourselves true
Romans.
Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;
Let not our looks put on our purposes:
But bear it as our Roman actors do,
With untir'd spirits, and formal constancy:
And so good morrow to you every one.
But, as it were, in sort, or limitation;
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,
And talk to you sometimes? Dwell 1 but in the
Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.
Bru. You are my true and honourable wife;
As dear to me, as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.
Por. If this were true, then should I know
this secret.
I grant, I am a woman; but, withal,
A woman that lord Brutus took to wife :
I grant, I am a woman; but, withal,
A woman well-reputed; Cato's daughter.
Think you, I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so father'd, and so husbanded?
Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose them
[Exeunt all but BRUTUS.I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound
• Ideal shapes. † Temper. 1 Charge.
Here, in the thigh: Can I bear that with patience, | The noise of battle hurtled in the air, And not my husband's secrets?
Render me worthy of this noble wife!
[Knocking within.
Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in a while;
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows :-
Leave me with haste.
[Exit PORTIA. Enter LUCIUS and LIGARIUS. Lucius, who is that, knocks?
Luc. Here is a sick man, that would speak with you.
Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. Boy, stand aside.-Caius Ligarius! how? Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue,
Bru. Oh what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,
To wear a 'kerchief? 'Would you were not sick! Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour.
Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.
Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, I here discard my sickness. Soul of Rome! Brave son, deriv'd from honourable loins! Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjur'd up My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, And I will strive with things impossible; Yea, get the better of them. What's to do? Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men whole.
Lig. But are not some whole that we
make sick?
Bru. That must we also. What it is
Caius,
I shall unfold to thee, as we are going,
To whom it must be done.
Lig. Set on your foot;
And, with a heart new fir'd, I follow you,
To do I know not what: but it sufficeth,
That Brutus leads me on.
Bru. Follow me then.
Cal. What mean you, Cesar? Think you to walk forth?
You shall not stir out of your house to-day. Ces. Cesar shall forth: The things that threaten'd me,
Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see The face of Cesar, they are vanished.
Cal. Cesar, I never stood on ceremonies,+ Yet now they fright me. There is one within, Besides the things that we have heard and seen, Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead:
Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons, and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol :
All that is charactered on.
† On prodigies or omens.
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan; And ghosts did shriek, and squeal + about the streets,
O Cesar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear thein.
Ces. What can be avoided,
Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Yet Cesar shall go forth: for these predictions Are to the world in general, as to Cesar.
Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
Ces. Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should
fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come, when it will come.
Re-enter a SERVANT.
What say the augurers?
Serv. They would not have you to stir forth to-day.
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth,
They could not find a heart within the beast.
Ces. The gods do this in shame of cowardice:
Cesar should be a beast without a heart,
If he should stay at home to-day for fear.
No, Cesar shall not: Danger knows full well,
That Cesar is more dangerous than he.
We were two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible;
And Cesar shall go forth.
Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence.
Do not go forth to-day: Call it my fear
That keeps you in the house, and not your own.
We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house;
And he shall say you are not well to-day:
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.
Ces. Mark Antony shall say, I am not well; And, for thy humour, I will stay at home. Enter DECIUS.
Here's Decins Brutus, he shall tell them so. Dec. Cesar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy
I come to fetch you to the senate-house.
Ces. And you are come in very happy time, To bear my greeting to the senators, And tell them that I will not come to-day: Cannot, is false; and that I dare not, falser; I will not come to-day: Tell them so, Decius. Cal. Say, he is sick.
C'es. Shall Cesar send a lie?
Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far,
To be afeard to tell grey-beards the truth?
Decius, go tell them, Cesar will not come.
Dec. Most mighty Cesar, let me know some
Lest I be laugh'd at, when I tell them so.
Ces. The cause is in my will, I will not come;
That is enough to satisfy the senate.
But, for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you, I will let you know.
Calphurnia here, my wife, stays me at home :
She dreamt to-night she saw my statue,
Which like a fountain, with a hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans
Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it.
And these does she apply for warnings, portents,
And evils imminent; and on her knee
Hath begg'd, that I will stay at home to-day.
Dec. This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It was a vision, fair and fortunate:
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bath'd,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood; and that great men shall press
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