I could beat forty of them.
MENENIUS.
I could myself
I could myself
take on a pair of the best of them—yes, the two tribunes.
Take up a brace o' the best of them; yea, the two tribunes.
COMINIUS.
But now the odds are against us so bad I can’t calculate our disadvantage.
But now 'tis odds beyond arithmetic;
And courage is called stupidity when it holds its ground
And manhood is call'd foolery when it stands
in a collapsing building. Will you leave
Against a falling fabric.--Will you hence,
before the mob returns? Their rage is like a
Before the tag return? whose rage doth rend
suddenly flooded stream
Like interrupted waters, and o'erbear
that will burst its dam.
What they are used to bear.
MENENIUS.
Please go.
Pray you be gone:
I’ll see if my good judgment will be listened to
I'll try whether my old wit be in request
by those that have none. This thing has to settled
With those that have but little: this must be patch'd
by any means necessary.
With cloth of any colour.
COMINIUS.
No, come away with us.
Nay, come away.
[Exeunt CORIOLANUS, COMINIUS, and others.]
FIRST PATRICIAN.
Coriolanus has ruined his good luck.
This man has marr'd his fortune.
MENENIUS.
He is just too noble for the world.
His nature is too noble for the world:
He wouldn’t flatter the god of the sea even if threatened with death,
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,
of the god of thunder even if he were going to be zapped. He speaks his mind.
Or Jove for's power to thunder. His heart's his mouth:
What ever he feels, he has to say.
What his breast forges, that his tongue must vent;
And when he’s angry he loses
And, being angry, does forget that ever
all fear of death.
He heard the name of death.
[A noise within.]
Here comes good news!
Here's goodly work!
SECOND PATRICIAN.
I wish they would go to bed!
I would they were a-bed!
MENENIUS.
I wish they would drown in the river!
I would they were in Tiber!
What the hell, couldn’t he be nice for once?
What the vengeance, could he not speak 'em fair?
[Re-enter BRUTUS and SICINIUS, with the rabble.]
SICINIUS.
Where is that snake,
Where is this viper
That would depopulate the city and
That would depopulate the city and
Be every man himself?
Be every man himself?
MENENIUS.
Good tribunes—
You worthy tribunes,--
SICINIUS.
He will be thrown off the cliff
He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian rock
with severe hands. He has broken the law, and resisted arrest,
With rigorous hands: he hath resisted law,
and therefore the law will not give him a trial
And therefore law shall scorn him further trial
other than the judgment of the people,
Than the severity of the public power,
which he thinks is worth nothing.
Which he so sets at nought.
FIRST CITIZEN.
He will learn that
He shall well know
the tribunes are the voice of the people,
The noble tribunes are the people's mouths,
and we do what they say.
And we their hands.
CITIZENS.
He certainly will.
He shall, sure on't.
MENENIUS.
Sir, sir—
Sir, sir,--
SICINIUS.
Quiet!
Peace!
MENENIUS.
Do not use excessive force when
Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt
you shouldn’t.
With modest warrant.
SICINIUS.
Sir, why did you
Sir, how comes't that you
help to let him escape from legal custody?
Have holp to make this rescue?
MENENIUS.
Listen to me:
Hear me speak:--
Though I know the consul good qualities,
As I do know the consul's worthiness,
I can also list his flaws—
So can I name his faults,--
SICINIUS.
Consul! What consul?
Consul!--what consul?
MENENIUS.
The consul Coriolanus.
The consul Coriolanus.
BRUTUS.
Is he a consul?
He consul!
CITIZENS.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
MENENIUS.
If the tribunes and the people
If, by the tribunes' leave, and yours, good people,
will listen to me for a minute, I have something to say
I may be heard, I would crave a word or two;
which won’t cause you any further harm
The which shall turn you to no further harm
except the waste of your time.
Than so much loss of time.
SICINIUS.
Speak quickly, then,
Speak briefly, then;
because we are absolutely determined to kill
For we are peremptory to dispatch
that poisonous traitor. To exile him
This viperous traitor: to eject him hence
will leave the danger of his violent return, and to keep him here
Were but one danger; and to keep him here
will mean our certain death. Therefore it is decided:
Our certain death: therefore it is decreed
he dies tonight.
He dies to-night.
MENENIUS.
It would be a sin
Now the good gods forbid
for Rome, whose gratitude
That our renowned Rome, whose gratitude
towards her deserving citizens is
Towards her deserved children is enroll'd
famous, to eat her own pup
In Jove's own book, like an unnatural dam
like a deranged bitch!
Should now eat up her own!
SICINIUS.
He’s a disease that must be cut out.
He's a disease that must be cut away.
MENENIUS.
He’s like a leg that just has a minor disease:
O, he's a limb that has but a disease;
it would be fatal to cut it off, and easy to cure it.
Mortal, to cut it off; to cure it, easy.
What has he done to Rome that's worthy of death?
What has he done to Rome that's worthy death?
Killing our enemies, the blood he has lost
Killing our enemies, the blood he hath lost,--
(which I bet is many ounces more than he has in his veins),
Which I dare vouch is more than that he hath
he lost for his country.
By many an ounce,--he dropt it for his country;
And if his own country were to make him loose the blood he has left
And what is left, to lose it by his country
would make all of us who did it and allowed it
Were to us all, that do't and suffer it
guilty until the end of the world.
A brand to the end o' the world.
SICINIUS.
That is completely wrong.
This is clean kam.
BRUTUS.
Entirely wrong. When he loved his country,
Merely awry: when he did love his country,
it honored him.
It honour'd him.
MENENIUS.
A foot,
The service of the foot,
after its been infected with disease, is no longer respected
Being once gangren'd, is not then respected
for what it once was.
For what before it was.
BRUTUS.
We won’t hear any more of this.
We'll hear no more.—
Go arrest him at his house,
Pursue him to his house, and pluck him thence;
and so keep his nasty, contagious ideas
Lest his infection, being of catching nature,
from spreading further.
Spread further.
MENENIUS.
Let me say one more thing.
One word more, one word.
This fast-moving rage, when it finds out
This tiger-footed rage, when it shall find
the danger of unconsidered speed, will, too late,
The harm of unscann'd swiftness, will, too late,
try to slow itself down. Proceed by legal action,
Tie leaden pounds to's heels. Proceed by process;
so that factions (since he is also beloved) don’t break out
Lest parties,--as he is belov'd,--break out,
and allow the Roman to destroy Rome.
And sack great Rome with Romans.
BRUTUS.
If that were so—
If it were so,--
SICINIUS.
Why do you talk?
What do ye talk?
Haven’t we been obedient to him long enough?
Have we not had a taste of his obedience?
Our police knocked down? Ourselves resisted? Come now—
Our aediles smote? ourselves resisted?--come,--
MENENIUS.
Think about it—he’s been a soldier
Consider this:--he has been bred i' the wars
since he was a kid, and he doesn’t know
Since 'a could draw a sword, and is ill school'd
how to talk fancy, he just speaks his mind.
In bolted language; meal and bran together
Let me go get to him
He throws without distinction. Give me leave,
and try to bring him back here
I'll go to him and undertake to bring him
to explain himself
Where he shall answer, by a lawful form,
and face the legal consequences of his actions.
In peace, to his utmost peril.
FIRST SENATOR.
Noble tribunes,
Noble tribunes,
you should do what he said: if we do it the other way
It is the humane way: the other course
it’s going to get ugly
Will prove too bloody; and the end of it
And who knows what could happen?
Unknown to the beginning.
SICINIUS.
Noble Menenius,
Noble Menenius,
you may represent the people on that errand.
Be you then as the people's officer.—
People, put down your weapons.
Masters, lay down your weapons.
BRUTUS.
But don’t go home,
Go not home.
SICINIUS.
Let’s meet at the market place. We’ll wait for you there.
Meet on the market-place.--We'll attend you there:
But if you don’t bring Coriolanus we’ll go back
Where, if you bring not Marcius, we'll proceed
to our first plan.
In our first way.
MENENIUS.
I’ll bring him to you.
I'll bring him to you.—
[To the SENATORS.] Please come with me. He has to come back with us
[To the SENATORS.] Let me desire your company: he must come,
or the worst will happen.
Or what is worst will follow.
FIRST SENATOR.
Let’s go to him.
Pray you let's to him.
[Exeunt.]
[Enter CORIOLANUS and Patricians.]
CORIOLANUS.
I don’t care if they pull my ears off, or crush me to death under a giant wheel,
Let them pull all about mine ears; present me
or tear me apart by tying my arms and legs to horses running in different directions,
Death on the wheel, or at wild horses' heels;
or throw me off a really tall cliff,
Or pile ten hills on the Tarpeian rock,
from the top of which you couldn’t
That the precipitation might down stretch
see the bottom. I will still
Below the beam of sight; yet will I still
act the same.
Be thus to them.
FIRST PATRICIAN.
You are very noble.
You do the nobler.
CORIOLANUS.
I wonder that my mother
I muse my mother
does not approve of my intransigence, she who likes
Does not approve me further, who was wont
to call those people poor servants, things created
To call them woollen vassals, things created
to buy and sell for pennies, to take off their hats
To buy and sell with groats; to show bare heads
and bow to their superiors, to gape, be still and marvel
In congregations, to yawn, be still, and wonder,
someone of my rank stood up
When one but of my ordinance stood up
to speak about peace or war.
To speak of peace or war.
[Enter VOLUMNIA.]
I was just talking about you. [To VOLUMNIA.]
I talk of you: [To VOLUMIA.]
Why do want me to calm down? Do you want me
Why did you wish me milder? Would you have me
to not be true to myself? You should tell me to act like
False to my nature? Rather say, I play
the man I am.
The man I am.
VOLUMNIA.
Oh, sir,
O, sir, sir, sir,
I wish you had established yourself securely in your new position
I would have had you put your power well on
before you wore it out.
Before you had worn it out.
CORIOLANUS.
Leave me alone.
Let go.
VOLUMNIA.
You might have been yourself
You might have been enough the man you are
without trying so hard to do so. You would have been
With striving less to be so: lesser had been
truer to yourself if
The thwartings of your dispositions, if
you hadn’t told them your real opinions
You had not show'd them how ye were dispos'd,
before they couldn’t oppose you [i.e., after you had been confirmed as consul].
Ere they lack'd power to cross you.
CORIOLANUS.
They can all go to hell.
Let them hang.
VOLUMNIA.
Ye, and burn too.
Ay, and burn too.
[Enter MENENIUS with the SENATORS.]
MENENIUS.
Alright, you have been too rough, somewhat too rough.
Come, come, you have been too rough, something too rough;
You must return and fix it.
You must return and mend it.
FIRST SENATOR.
There’s no way to fix it.
There's
no remedy;
But if you don’t fix it, our city
Unless, by not so doing, our good city
with be split and two, and die.
Cleave in the midst, and perish.
VOLUMNIA.
Please listen to their advice.
Pray be counsell'd;
I am as incompliant as you are
I have a heart as little apt as yours,
but I’m smart enough to use my anger
But yet a brain that leads my use of anger
to greater advantage.
To better vantage.
MENENIUS.
Well said, good woman!
Well said, noble woman!
If it weren’t for the fact the people’s violent fit
Before he should thus stoop to the herd, but that
threatens the whole country,
The violent fit o' the time craves it as physic
I would get ready to fight rather than see Coriolanus humble himself to the mob,
For the whole state, I would put mine armour on,
which I can hardly bear to see.
Which I can scarcely bear.
CORIOLANUS.
What should I do?
What must I do?
MENENIUS.
Return to the tribunes.
Return to the tribunes.
CORIOLANUS.
Well, what then? what then?
Well, what then? what then?
MENENIUS.
Take back what you said.
Repent what you have spoke.
CORIOLANUS.
For them? I cannot take back what I said to the gods,
For them?--I cannot do it to the gods;
but I have to do it for them?
Must I then do't to them?
VOLUMNIA.
You are too inflexible,
You are too absolute;
though that’s a good quality
Though therein you can never be too noble
except in times of extreme urgency. I have heard you say
But when extremities speak. I have heard you say
that honor and crafty lies, like inseparable friends,
Honour and policy, like unsever'd friends,
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) Page 487