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Vol. Now the red pestilence strike all trades in

Cor.

Rome,

And occupations perish!

What, what, what!

I shall be loved when I am lack'd. Nay,
mother,

Resume that spirit, when you were wont to say,
If you had been the wife of Hercules,

Six of his labors you 'ld have done, and saved
Your husband so much sweat. Cominius,
Droop not; adieu. Farewell, my wife, my
mother.

20

I'll do well yet. Thou old and true Menenius,
Thy tears are salter than a younger man's,
And venomous to thine eyes. My sometime
general,

I have seen thee stern, and thou hast oft beheld
Heart-hardening spectacles; tell these sad

women,

"Tis fond to wail inevitable strokes,

As 'tis to laugh at 'em. My mother, you wot
well

My hazards still have been your solace: and
Believe 't not lightly-though I go alone,
Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen

Makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen

your son

Will or exceed the common, or be caught
With cautelous baits and practice.

30

30. The "fen" is the dragon's pestilential abode, which is talked of and shunned.-H. N. H.

32. "common," has hazards understood.-H. N. H.

Vol.

Whither wilt thou go?

My first son,

Take good Cominius

With thee awhile: determine on some course,
More than a wild exposture to each chance
That starts i' the way before thee.

O the gods!

Cor.
Com. I'll follow thee a month, devise with thee
Where thou shalt rest, that thou mayst hear of

Cor.

us

And we of thee: so, if the time thrust forth 40
A cause for thy repeal, we shall not send
O'er the vast world to seek a single man,
And lose advantage, which doth ever cool
I' the absence of the needer.

Fare ye well:
Thou hast years upon thee; and thou art too
full

Of the wars' surfeits, to go rove with one
That's yet unbruised: bring me but out at gate.
Come, my sweet wife, my dearest mother, and
My friends of noble touch, when I am forth,
Bid me farewell, and smile. I pray you, come.
While I remain above the ground, you shall 51
Hear from me still, and never of me aught
But what is like me formerly.

Men.

That's worthily

As any ear can hear. Come, let's not weep.
If I could shake off but one seven years

33. "first" is used here, apparently, in the sense of noblest.— H. N. H.

36. "exposture"; doubtless a misprint for exposure.-H. N. H 49. That is, of true metal. The metaphor from the touchstone for trying metals, is common in Shakespeare.-H. N. H.

From these old arms and legs, by the good gods,
I'ld with thee every foot.

Cor.

Come.

SCENE II

Give me thy hand:

[Exeunt.

The same. A street near the gate.

Enter the two Tribunes, Sicinius and Brutus, with the Edile.

Sic. Bid them all home; he's gone, and we'll no further.

The nobility are vex'd, whom we see have sided
In his behalf.

Bru.

Sic.

Now we have shown our power,
Let us seem humbler after it is done
Than when it was a-doing.

Bid them home:

Say their great enemy is gone, and they
Stand in their ancient strength.

Bru.

Dismiss them home. [Exit Edile.

Here comes his mother.

Enter Volumnia, Virgilia, and Menenius.

Sic.

Let's not meet her.

Bru.

Why?

Sic. They say she's mad.

Bru. They have ta'en note of us: keep on your

way.

10

Vol. O, ye're well met: the hoarded plague o' the

gods

11. "hoarded"; stored up for future vengeance.-C. H. H.

Requite your love!

Men.

Peace, peace; be not so loud.

weeping, you should

Vol. If that I could for weeping, you

hear,

Nay, and you shall hear some. [To Brutus]
Will you be gone?

Vir. [To Sicinius] You shall stay too: I would I had the power

Sic.

To say so to my husband.

Are you mankind?

Vol. Aye, fool; is that a shame? Note but this

fool.

Was not a man my father? Hadst thou fox-
ship

To banish him that struck more blows for Rome
Than thou hast spoken words?

Sic.
O blessed heavens! 20
Vol. Moe noble blows than ever thou wise words;
And for Rome's good. I'll tell thee what; yet

Sic.

Vir.

go:
Nay, but thou shalt stay too: I would my son
Were in Arabia, and thy tribe before him,
His good sword in his hand.

What then?

What then!

He 'ld make an end of thy posterity.
Vol. Bastards and all.

Good man, the wounds that he does bear for
Rome!

16. "Are you mankind?"; that is, "are you a man?" implying, of course, that she is somewhat viraginous. She kills the insult by ignoring it, choosing to understand him as asking whether she be human.-H. N. H.

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