284
CORIOLANUS.
[Act III.
Com. They are worn, lord consul, so.
That we shall hardly in our ages seeTheir banners wave again.
Cor. Saw you Aufidius ?
Lari. On safeguard he came to me; and didcurse
Against the Voices, for they had so vilelyYielded the town : he is retir’d to Antium.
Cor. Spoke he of me ?
Lart. He did, my lord.
Cor. How ? what ?
Lart. How often he had met you, sword tosword :
That, of all things upon the earth, he hated
Y our person most: that he would pawn his for-
tunes
To hopeless restitution, so he mightBe call’d your vanquisher.
Cor. At Antium lives he ?
Lart. At Antium.
Cor. I wish, I had a cause to seek him there,To oppose his hatred full.—Welcome home.
£To Lartius.
Enter Sicinius and Brutus.
Behold ! these are the tribunes of the people,The tongues o’the common mouth. I do despisethem;
For they do prank them in authority,
Against all noble sufferance.
Sic. Pass no further.
Cor. Ha ! What is that ?
Bra . It will be dangerous toGo on : no further.
Cor. What makes this change ?
Men. The matter ?
Com. Hath he not pass’d the nobles, and thecommons ?
Bru. Cominius, no.
Cor. Have I had children’s voices ?
1 Sen. Tribunes, give way; he shall to themarket-place.
Bru. The people are incens’d against him.
Sic. Stop,
Or all will fall in broil.
Cor. Are these your herd ?—
Must these have voices, that can yield them now,And straight disclaim their tongues ?—What areyour offices ?
Y ou being their mouths, why rule you not their
teeth ?
Have you not set them on ?
Men. Be calm, he calm.
Cor. It is a purpos’d thing, and grows by plot.To curb the will of the nobility :—
Suffer it, and live with such as cannot rule,
Nor ever will be rul’d.
Bru. Call’t not a plot:
The people cry, you mock'd them ; and, of late,When corn was given them gratis, you repin’d;Scandal’d the suppliants for the people; call’d themTime-pleasers, flatterers, foes to nobleness.
Cor. Why, this tvas known before.
Bru. Not to them all.
Cor. Have you inform’d them since ?
Bru. How ! I inform them!
Cor. You are like to do such business.
Bru. Not unlike,
Each way, to better yours.
Cor. Why then should I be consul ? By yonclouds,
Let me deserve so ill as you, and make meYour fellow-tribune.
Sic. You show too much of that,
For which the people stir : If you will passTo where you are bound, you must inquire yourway,
Which you are out of, with a gentler spirit;
Or never be so noble as a consul,
Nor yoke with him for tribune.
Men. Let’s be calm.
Com. The people are abus’d:—Set on.—Thispalt’ring
Becomes not Rome ; nor has CoriolanusDeserv’d this so dishonour’d rub, laid falselyI’the plain way of his merit.
Cor. Tell me of corn !
This was my speech, and I will speak’t again;—Men. Not now, not now.
1 Sen. Not in this heat, sir, now.
Cor. Now, as I live, I will.—My nobler friends,I crave their pardons :—
For the mutable, rank-scented many, let themRegard me as I do not flatter, andTherein behold themselves : I say again,
In soothing them, we nourish 'gainst our senateThe cockle of rebellion, insolence, sedition,Which we ourselves have plough’d for, sow’dand scatter’d,
By mingling them with us, the honour’d number ;Who lack not virtue, no, nor power, but thatWhich they have given to beggars.
Men. Well, no more.
1 Sen. No more words, we beseech you.
Cor. How ! no mere ?
As for my country I have shed my blood,
Not fearing outward force, so shall my lungsCoin words till their decay, against tliose meazels,Which we disdain should tetter us, yet sought'The very way to catch them.
Bru. You speak o'the people,
As if you were a god to punish, notA man of their infirmity.
Sic. ’Twere well,
We let the people know’t.
Men. What, what ? his choler ?
Were I as patient as the midnight sleep,
By Jove, ’twould be my mind.
Sic. It is a mind,
That shall remain a poison where it is,
Not poison any further.
Cor- Shall remain !—
Hear you this Triton of the minnows ? mark youHis absolute shall ?
Com. ’Twas from the canon.