Coriolanus

Coriolanus

ACT I SCENE IX	The Roman camp.
	Flourish. Alarum. A retreat is sounded. Flourish.Enter, from one side, COMINIUS with the Romans; fromthe other side, MARCIUS, with his arm in a scarf
COMINIUS	If I should tell thee o'er this thy day's work,
	Thou'ldst not believe thy deeds: but I'll report it
	Where senators shall mingle tears with smiles,
	Where great patricians shall attend and shrug,	5
	I' the end admire, where ladies shall be frighted,
	And, gladly quaked, hear more; where the
	dull tribunes,
	That, with the fusty plebeians, hate thine honours,
	Shall say against their hearts 'We thank the gods	10
	Our Rome hath such a soldier.'
	Yet camest thou to a morsel of this feast,
	Having fully dined before.
	Enter TITUS LARTIUS, with his power,from the pursuit
LARTIUS	O general,
	Here is the steed, we the caparison:	15
	Hadst thou beheld--
MARCIUS	Pray now, no more: my mother,
	Who has a charter to extol her blood,
	When she does praise me grieves me. I have done
	As you have done; that's what I can; induced	20
	As you have been; that's for my country:
	He that has but effected his good will
	Hath overta'en mine act.
COMINIUS	You shall not be
	The grave of your deserving; Rome must know	25
	The value of her own: 'twere a concealment
	Worse than a theft, no less than a traducement,
	To hide your doings; and to silence that,
	Which, to the spire and top of praises vouch'd,
	Would seem but modest: therefore, I beseech you	30
	In sign of what you are, not to reward
	What you have done--before our army hear me.
MARCIUS	I have some wounds upon me, and they smart
	To hear themselves remember'd.
COMINIUS	Should they not,	35
	Well might they fester 'gainst ingratitude,
	And tent themselves with death. Of all the horses,
	Whereof we have ta'en good and good store, of all
	The treasure in this field achieved and city,
	We render you the tenth, to be ta'en forth,	40
	Before the common distribution, at
	Your only choice.
MARCIUS	I thank you, general;
	But cannot make my heart consent to take
	A bribe to pay my sword: I do refuse it;	45
	And stand upon my common part with those
	That have beheld the doing.
	A long flourish. They all cry 'Marcius! Marcius!'cast up their caps and lances: COMINIUS and LARTIUSstand bare
MARCIUS	May these same instruments, which you profane,
	Never sound more! when drums and trumpets shall
	I' the field prove flatterers, let courts and cities be	50
	Made all of false-faced soothing!
	When steel grows soft as the parasite's silk,
	Let him be made a coverture for the wars!
	No more, I say! For that I have not wash'd
	My nose that bled, or foil'd some debile wretch.--	55
	Which, without note, here's many else have done,--
	You shout me forth
	In acclamations hyperbolical;
	As if I loved my little should be dieted
	In praises sauced with lies.	60
COMINIUS	Too modest are you;
	More cruel to your good report than grateful
	To us that give you truly: by your patience,
	If 'gainst yourself you be incensed, we'll put you,
	Like one that means his proper harm, in manacles,	65
	Then reason safely with you. Therefore, be it known,
	As to us, to all the world, that Caius Marcius
	Wears this war's garland: in token of the which,
	My noble steed, known to the camp, I give him,
	With all his trim belonging; and from this time,	70
	For what he did before Corioli, call him,
	With all the applause and clamour of the host,
	CAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS! Bear
	The addition nobly ever!
	Flourish. Trumpets sound, and drums
All	Caius Marcius Coriolanus!	75
CORIOLANUS	I will go wash;
	And when my face is fair, you shall perceive
	Whether I blush or no: howbeit, I thank you.
	I mean to stride your steed, and at all times
	To undercrest your good addition	80
	To the fairness of my power.
COMINIUS	So, to our tent;
	Where, ere we do repose us, we will write
	To Rome of our success. You, Titus Lartius,
	Must to Corioli back: send us to Rome	85
	The best, with whom we may articulate,
	For their own good and ours.
LARTIUS	I shall, my lord.
CORIOLANUS	The gods begin to mock me. I, that now
	Refused most princely gifts, am bound to beg	90
	Of my lord general.
COMINIUS	Take't; 'tis yours. What is't?
CORIOLANUS	I sometime lay here in Corioli
	At a poor man's house; he used me kindly:
	He cried to me; I saw him prisoner;	95
	But then Aufidius was within my view,
	And wrath o'erwhelm'd my pity: I request you
	To give my poor host freedom.
COMINIUS	O, well begg'd!
	Were he the butcher of my son, he should	100
	Be free as is the wind. Deliver him, Titus.
LARTIUS	Marcius, his name?
CORIOLANUS	By Jupiter! forgot.
	I am weary; yea, my memory is tired.
	Have we no wine here?	105
COMINIUS	Go we to our tent:
	The blood upon your visage dries; 'tis time
	It should be look'd to: come.
	Exeunt