SCENE I. ACT V. Rome. A Public Place. Enter MENENIUS, COMINIUS, SICINIUS, BRUTUS, and Others. MENENIUS. O, I'll not go: you hear what he hath said, N% Which was sometime his General; who lov'd In a most dear particular. He call'd me father: That we have bled together. Coriolanus He would not answer to; forbade all names: He was a kind of nothing, titleless, Till he had forg'd himself a name o' th' fire Men. Why, so; you have made good work: A pair of tribunes, that have rack'd for Rome, To make coals cheap, a noble memory! Com. I minded him, how royal 'twas to pardon When it was least expected: he replied, It was a bare petition of a state To one whom they had punish'd. Men. Very well: could he say less? Com. I offer'd to awaken his regard For his private friends: his answer to me was, Men. For one poor grain or two? I am one of those; his mother, wife, his child, Sic. Nay, pray, be patient: if you refuse your aid In this so never-needed help, yet do not Upbraid 's with our distress. But, sure, if you Would be your country's pleader, your good tongue, More than the instant army we can make, Might stop our countryman. Men. Sic. Pray you, go to him. Men. What should I do? No; I'll not meddle. Bru. Only make trial what your love can do For Rome towards Marcius. Men. Well; and say that Marcius Return me, as Cominius is return'd, Unheard, what then? But as a discontented friend, grief-shot With his unkindness? say 't be so? Sic. Yet your good will Must have that thanks from Rome, after the measure As you intended well. Men. I think he'll hear me. I'll undertake it: Yet to bite his lip And hum at good Cominius much unhearts me. He was not taken well; he had not din'd: We pout upon the morning, are unapt To give or to forgive; but when we have stuff'd Than in our priest-like fasts: therefore, I'll watch him Till he be dieted to my request, And then I'll set upon him. Bru. You know the very road into his kind ness, And cannot lose your way. Men. Good faith, I'll prove him, Speed how it will. I shall ere long have knowl Com. I tell you, he does sit in gold: his eye Red as 'twould burn Rome; and his injury The gaoler to his pity. I kneel'd before him; 'Twas very faintly he said, "Rise;" dismiss'd me Thus, with his speechless hand; what he would do, He sent in writing after me; what he would not, Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions : So that all hope is vain, Unless in 's noble mother and his wife Who, as I hear, mean to solicit him For mercy to his country. Therefore, let's hence, And with our fair entreaties haste them on. [Exeunt. SCENE II. An Outpost of the Volscian Camp before Rome. The Guards at their stations. Enter to them MENENIUS. 1 Guard. Stay: whence are you? 2 G. Stand, and go back. Men. You guard like men: 'tis well; but, by your leave, I am an Officer of State, and come To speak with Coriolanus. 1 G. Men. From whence ? From Rome. 1 G. You may not pass; you must return: our General Will no more hear from thence. 2 G. You'll see your Rome embrac'd with fire, before You'll speak with Coriolanus. Men. Good my friends, If you have heard your General talk of Rome, 1 G. Be it so; go back: the virtue of your name Is not here passable. Men. I tell thee, fellow, Thy General is my lover: I have been The book of his good acts, whence men have read His fame unparallel'd, haply, amplified; For I have ever magnified my friends. (Of whom he's chief) with all the size that verity Would without lapsing suffer: nay, sometimes, Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground, I have tumbled past the throw, and in his praise Have almost stamp'd the leasing. Therefore, fellow, I must have leave to pass. 1 G. 'Faith, sir, if you had told as many lies in his behalf, as you have uttered words in your own, you should not pass here: no, though it were as virtuous to lie as to live chastely. Therefore, go back. Men. Pr'ythee, fellow, remember my name is Menenius, always factionary on the party of your General. 2 G. Howsoever you have been his liar, as you. say you have, I am one that, telling true under him, must say, you cannot pass. Therefore, go back. Men. Has he din'd, canst thou tell? for I would not speak with him till after dinner. 1 G. You are a Roman, are you? Men. I am, as thy General is. 1 G. Then you should hate Rome, as he does. Can you, when you have push'd out your gates the very defender of them, and, in a violent popular ignorance, given your enemy your shield, think to front his revenges with the easy groans of old women, the virginal palms of your daughters, or with the palsied intercession of such a decay'd dotant as you seem to be? Can you think to blow out the intended fire your city is ready to flame in, with such weak breath as this? No, you are deceiv'd; therefore, back to Rome, and prepare for your execution. You are condemn'd; our General has sworn you out of reprieve and pardon. Men. Sirrah, if thy Captain knew I were here, he would use me with estimation. 2 G. Come, my Captain knows you not. Men. I mean, thy General. |