| ACT I SCENE VIII. A field of battle. |
| [
Alarum as in battle. Enter, from opposite sides,
MARCIUS and AUFIDIUS
] |
| MARCIUS | I'll fight with none but thee; for I do hate thee |
| Worse than a promise-breaker. |
| AUFIDIUS | We hate alike: |
| Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor |
| More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot. | 5 |
| MARCIUS | Let the first budger die the other's slave, |
| And the gods doom him after! |
| AUFIDIUS | If I fly, Marcius, |
| Holloa me like a hare. |
| MARCIUS | Within these three hours, Tullus, | 10 |
| Alone I fought in your Corioli walls, |
| And made what work I pleased: 'tis not my blood |
| Wherein thou seest me mask'd; for thy revenge |
| Wrench up thy power to the highest. |
| AUFIDIUS | Wert thou the Hector | 15 |
| That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny, |
| Thou shouldst not scape me here. |
[
They fight, and certain Volsces come to the aid of
AUFIDIUS. MARCIUS fights till they be driven in
breathless
] |
| Officious, and not valiant, you have shamed me |
| In your condemned seconds. |
| [Exeunt] |
Shakespeare's Sources for Coriolanus