Cas. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself; Have mind upon your health, tempt me no further. Must I give way and room to your rash choler? Cas. Ye gods, ye gods! must I endure all this? Bru. All this! ay, more; fret till your proud heart break; And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge? 45 50 39. Have mind upon your health.-Take care of yourself; recollect that I may do you an injury. 40. Slight man. — Cassius was thin, and apparently insignificant and Thus, earlier in the play, Cæsar says, alluding to feeble. Cassius: "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look." 43. Rash choler.-Choler is used for temper. It was once thought that our varying moods and tempers were caused by different humours or matters in the body; the humour which made a person irritable or cross was his choler. 47. Choleric.-An adjective formed from the word explained in note 43; it means subject to choler; ill-tempered. 48. Must I budge.-Must I give way. 51. The venom of your spleen.—The spleen is an organ of the human body; the corresponding organ in the lower animals is called the milt. When this is out of order, ill-temper may be expected to follow; hence the word spleen itself is often used for ill-temper, spite, as it is in this place; the whole line would mean, "You shall swallow your spite." 54. Waspish.-Irritable; easily put out of temper. Cas. Is it come to this? 55 Bru. You say you are a better soldier; Cas. Let it appear so; make your vaunting true, And it shall please me well; for mine own part, I shall be glad to learn of noble men. You wrong me every way; you wrong me, Brutus; 60 Did I say "better?" If you did, I care not. When Cæsar liv'd, he durst not thus have mov'd me. Bru. Cas. Bru. Cas. Bru. No. Cas. What, durst not tempt him! Bru. 65 Cas. Do not presume too much upon my love; Bru. You have done that you should be sorry for. That they pass by me as the idle wind, 75 Which I respect not. I did send to you For certain sums of gold, which you denied me; By heaven, I had rather coin my heart, And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 80 From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 71. I may do that I shall be sorry for.-The relative pronoun which must be understood after that. In Shakespeare's time the word that, like what in the present day, included within itself the word which; thus, in the Book of Common Prayer we have the expression, "to do always that is righteous in thy sight." 80. Drachmas.-The drachma was a small piece of money. 81. Their vile trash.-This refers to money. It is evident that Brutus thought very little of money for its own sake. 82. By any indirection.-By any unfair means; by means not straight. To you for gold to pay my legions, Cas. Bru. Cas. Bru. Cas. Bru. Cas. Which you denied me; was that done like Cassius? Should I have answered Caius Cassius so? When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, To lock such rascal counters from his friends, You did. I denied you not. I did not; he was but a fool that brought I do not like your faults. A friendly eye could never see such faults. Bru. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear Cas. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, 83. My legions. My regiments; in a Roman legion there were about 6000 men; each legion contained both cavalry and infantry. 87. Rascal counters.-Another name Brutus gives to money; see note 81. Imitation money is used for purposes of counting, in games, &c.; hence the name counters. 88. With all your thunderbolts.—In an age when mythology (see § III. note 39) was the belief of the civilized world, it was supposed that the gods had the power of hurling thunderbolts, or as we should say now, causing death by lightning. Thus, Jupiter, the king and father of the gods, is generally represented holding in one hand thunderbolts ready to be hurled. 93. Riv'd.-Broken; torn. 101. High Olympus.—A celebrated mountain of Greece. It is famous as having been considered by Homer and other poets as the seat of the gods. 102. Young Octavius.-The nephew of Julius Cæsar, and one of the triumvirate (see introduction) after Cæsar's death. He is better known as Augustus Cæsar, Emperor of Rome after the triumvirate. He is mentioned in St. Luke ii. 1. Bru. For Cassius is aweary of the world; 105 110 Hated by one he loves; brav'd by his brother; better Than ever thou lovedst Cassius. 115 120 Sheathe your dagger; Cas. Bru. Hath Cassius liv'd 125 Cas. O Brutus ! 130 104. Aweary.-This means the same as weary. Many adjectives were used with the prefix a—as afeared, acold, &c. 107. Conn'd by rote.-Learned by heart; learned thoroughly. 108. To cast into my teeth.-To charge me with before my face. 111. Plutus' mine.--Plutus was the god of riches; see § XXV. note 63. The mine would be the place whence all these riches were obtained. 121. That carries anger as the flint bears fire.-Carries it, that is to say, not always visibly; Brutus could be angry, as the flint could strike. fire; but his anger was soon over. 123. Straight.-Immediately. Bru. Cas. Bru. What's the matter? Have you not love enough to bear with me, Yes, Cassius; and from henceforth, 135 When you are over-earnest with your Brutus, XXIX. KING LEAR. ACT i. SCENE 1.-THE THREE SISTERS. [Shakespeare borrowed the materials for this play from an old historian, Geoffrey of Monmouth, who says that Lear was King of Britain eight centuries before the birth of Christ. It is very doubtful whether anything authentic is known about this island in times so remote. With the correctness of the history, however, Shakespeare had nothing to do; it is sufficient for us to observe that out of the story he found in the old chronicler he has woven for us one of his finest plays, the plot of which is founded upon the unnatural conduct of two of Lear's daughters, and the harsh treatment which Lear himself meted out to a third daughter. His two eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, promised the old king unbounded love, but failed in the performance of that promise when put to the test; while Cordelia, the youngest, who would promise nothing but the duty of a daughter to her father, was banished by the king, and yet, in the end, showed that her idea of a daughter's duty was the right one. The Dukes of Albany and Cornwall, mentioned in the scene, are the husbands of Goneril and Regan respectively; the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy are suitors for the hand of Cordelia; and the Earl of Kent, a nobleman who takes the side of Cordelia when her father turns against her. These titles, duke, earl, and the rest, are all modern; but are used by Shakespeare to give his ancient story a modern dress.] SCENE: King Lear's palace. Lear. Give me the map there. Know that we have divided wall, Our son of Corn And you, our no less loving son of Albany, 1. We. This is the "royal we." See § VI. note 2. 5 |