Which sometime hath his hour with every man. Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all. Bru. Why, so I do.-Good Portia, go to bed. Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, Is it excepted, I should know no secrets To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, suburbs Dwell I but in the Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, Bru. You are my true and honourable wife; That visit my sad heart. Por. If this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant, I am a woman; but, withal, A woman that lord Brutus took to wife: I grant, I am a woman; but, withal, A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose them. Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience, And by and by thy bosom shall partake The secrets of my heart. All my engagements I will construe to thee, All the charactery of my sad brows. Leave me with haste. Enter LUCIUS and LIGARIUS. [Exit PORTIA. Lucius, who is that, knocks? Luc. Here is a sick man, that would speak with you. Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.Boy, stand aside.-Caius Ligarius! how? Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. Bru. O! what a time have you chose out, brave Caius, To wear a kerchief! Would you were not sick! Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour. Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, Yea, get the better of them. What's to do? Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men whole. Lig. But are not some whole that we must make sick? Bru. That must we also. What it is, my Caius, are going, Set on your foot, Lig. Bru. Follow me, then. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The Same. A Room in CÆSAR'S Palace. Thunder and Lightning. Enter CESAR, in his Night gown. Cæs. Nor heaven, nor earth, have been at peace tonight: Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cried out, "Help, ho! They murder Cæsar!"-Who's within? Serv. My lord. Enter a Servant. Cæs. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, And bring me their opinions of success. Serv. I will, my lord. Enter CALPHURNIA. [Exit. Cal. What mean you, Cæsar? Think you to walk forth? You shall not stir out of your house to-day. Cæs. Cæsar shall forth: the things that threaten'd me, Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies, And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; The noise of battle hurtled in the air; Horses do neigh, and dying men did groan; And ghosts did shriek, and squeal about the streets. And I do fear them. Cæs. What can be avoided, Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Yet Cæsar shall go forth; for these predictions. Cal. When beggars die there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Cas. Cowards die many times before their deaths, The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come, when it will come. Re-enter a Servant. What say the augurers? Serv. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, They could not find a heart within the beast. Cæs. The gods do this in shame of cowardice: We were two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible; And Cæsar shall go forth. Cal. Alas! my lord, Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence. Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear, That keeps you in the house, and not your own. And he shall say, you are not well to-day : Cæs. Mark Antony shall say, I am not well; Enter DECIUS. Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so. Dec. Cæsar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy Cæsar: I come to fetch you to the senate-house. Cæs. And you are come in very happy time To bear my greeting to the senators, And tell them that I will not come to-day. Cæs. Tell them so, Decius. Shall Cæsar send a lie? We were two lions] All the folios, "We heare two lions." |