The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 493
The slave's report is seconded, and more,
even worse, has arrived.
More fearful, is deliver'd.
SICINIUS.
What could be worse?
What more fearful?
MESSENGER.
Many people are talking about it,
It is spoke freely out of many mouths,--
though I don’t know if it’s true, that Marcius,
How probable I do not know,--that Marcius,
together with Aufidies, is leading an army against Rome,
Join'd with Aufidius, leads a power 'gainst Rome,
and vows revenge against everyone
And vows revenge as spacious as between
from the youngest to the oldest.
The young'st and oldest thing.
SICINIUS.
That is likely!
This is most likely!
BRUTUS.
That rumor was started only so that weak people will want
Rais'd only, that the weaker sort may wish
Marcius to come home again.
Good Marcius home again.
SICINIUS.
That’s a very clever trick.
The very trick on 't.
MENENIUS.
That is unlikely.
This is unlikely:
He Aufidius couldn’t reconcile with each other:
He and Aufidius can no more atone
they are violent enemies.
Than violentest contrariety.
[Enter a second MESSENGER.]
SECOND MESSENGER.
You are needed in the senate.
You are sent for to the senate:
A scary army, led by Caius Marcius,
A fearful army, led by Caius Marcius
allied with Aufidius, rushes furiously
Associated with Aufidius, rages
onto our territory, and has already
Upon our territories; and have already
overwhelmed everything in their path, burnt it to the ground and took
O'erborne their way, consum'd with fire and took
everything they saw.
What lay before them.
[Enter COMINIUS.]
COMINIUS.
Oh, Tribunes, this is your fault!
O, you have made good work!
MENENIUS.
What is the news?
What news? what news?
COMINIUS.
You have helped to rape your own daughters, and
You have holp to ravish your own daughters, and
to bring the roofs down on your heads,
To melt the city leads upon your pates;
to see your wives raped in front of you—
To see your wives dishonour'd to your noses,--
MENENIUS.
What’s the news?
What's the news? what's the news?
COMINIUS.
…your temples burned down, and
Your temples burned in their cement; and
your freedoms, which you insisted on, stuck
Your franchises, whereon you stood, confin'd
in a tiny hole.
Into an auger's bore.
MENENIUS.
Please, tell me your news!
Pray now, your news?—
You have done this, I’m afraid, tribunes. Please, your news.
You have made fair work, I fear me.--Pray, your news.
If Marcius is working with the Volscians—
If Marcius should be join'd wi' the Volscians,--
COMINIUS.
If?
If!
He is their god, he leads them like a
He is their god: he leads them like a thing
supernatural
Made by some other deity than nature,
superman, and they follow him,
That shapes man better; and they follow him,
against us fools, with all the confidence
Against us brats, with no less confidence
of boys chasing butterflies,
Than boys pursuing summer butterflies,
or butchers killing flies.
Or butchers killing flies.
MENENIUS.
You have done this, tribunes!
You have made good work,
You and your common craftsmen, you who insisted so much
You and your apron men; you that stood so much
on the votes of tradesmen and
Upon the voice of occupation and
the voices of stinky commoners!
The breath of garlic-eaters!
COMINIUS.
He will destroy
He'll shake
Rome around you.
Your Rome about your ears.
MENENIUS.
Like Hercules [in a Greek myth]
As Hercules
plucked a golden apple guarded by a dragon. Good work!
Did shake down mellow fruit.--You have made fair work!
BRUTUS.
But is it true?
But is this true, sir?
COMINIUS.
Yes, and you’ll be dead
Ay; and you'll look pale
before you find out otherwise. All of our outlying provinces
Before you find it other. All the regions
are cheerfully revolting, and whoever fights back
Do smilingly revolt; and who resists
is mocked as a brave idiot,
Are mock'd for valiant ignorance,
and they die as loyal fools. Who can blame him?
And perish constant fools. Who is't can blame him?
Your enemies and his both seem to like him.
Your enemies and his find something in him.
MENENIUS.
We are doomed unless
We are all undone unless
Coriolanus has mercy.
The noble man have mercy.
COMINIUS.
Who will ask for it?
Who shall ask it?
The tribunes can’t do it, out of shame. The people
The tribunes cannot do't for shame; the people
deserve to be to killed.
Deserve such pity of him as the wolf
As for his best friends, if they
Does of the shepherds: for his best friends, if they
asked him to be kind to Rome, they would sound like
Should say 'Be good to Rome,' they charg'd him even
those who deserve his hatred,
As those should do that had deserv'd his hate,
and therefore look like enemies.
And therein show'd like enemies.
MENENIUS.
That’s true.
'Tis true:
If he were lighting my house on fire,
If he were putting to my house the brand
I would be ashamed
That should consume it, I have not the face
to say, “Please, stop!” You have made a mess, tribunes,
To say 'Beseech you, cease.'--You have made fair hands,
you and your crafty craftsmen! You have made proper mess!
You and your crafts! You have crafted fair!
COMINIUS.
You have caused
You have brought
Rome to tremble from fear in such a way
A trembling upon Rome, such as was never
as can’t be fixed.
So incapable of help.
BOTH TRIBUNES.
Don’t say it was our fault.
Say not, we brought it.
MENENIUS.
What? Did we do it? We loved him, but, like animals,
How! Was it we? we lov'd him, but, like beasts,
and cowardly rich men, allowed your mobs
And cowardly nobles, gave way unto your clusters,
to kick him out of the city.
Who did hoot him out o' the city.
COMINIUS.
But I’m afraid
&
nbsp; But I fear
they’ll cry in pain when he returns. Tullus Aufidius,
They'll roar him in again. Tullus Aufidius,
the second most famous man of all, listens to Coriolanus
The second name of men, obeys his points
as if Coriolanus were his superior officer. Desperation
As if he were his officer:--desperation
is the only policy and defense
Is all the policy, strength, and defence,
that Rome can use against them.
That Rome can make against them.
[Enter a troop of citizens.]
MENENIUS.
Here comes the crowd.
Here comes the clusters.--
And is Aufidius with him? You are the ones
And is Aufidius with him?--You are they
who created this problem, when you threw up your
That made the air unwholesome, when you cast
stinking, greasy hats in celebration of
Your stinking greasy caps in hooting at
Coriolanus’ exile. Now he’s coming,
Coriolanus' exile. Now he's coming;
and he’s going to use every weapon
And not a hair upon a soldier's head
he’s got against you. As many fool’s hats
Which will not prove a whip: as many coxcombs
as you threw up in celebration, he will bring down on your heads
As you threw caps up will he tumble down,
as a punishment for your votes. It doesn’t matter.
And pay you for your voices. 'Tis no matter;
If he could burn us to cinders
If he could burn us all into one coal
we would deserve it.
We have deserv'd it.
CITIZENS.
We are afraid of the news we’ve been hearing.
Faith, we hear fearful news.
FIRST CITIZEN.
As far as I’m concerned,
For mine own part,
when I voted to banish him, I said it was a shame.
When I said banish him, I said 'twas pity.
SECOND CITIZEN.
So did I.
And so did I.
THIRD CITIZEN.
And so did I. Honestly, so did many of us. What we did,
And so did I; and, to say the truth, so did very many of us. That
we did for the best. And though we agreed to
we did, we did for the best; and though we willingly consented to
his banishment, it was against our will.
his banishment, yet it was against our will.
COMINIUS.
You are just great, you and your stupid votes!
You are goodly things, you voices!
MENENIUS.
You have made
You have made
a real mess, you and your demands. Should we go to the Capitol?
Good work, you and your cry!--Shall's to the Capitol?
COMINIUS.
Yes, what else can we do?
O, ay; what else?
[Exeunt COMINIUS and MENENIUS.]
SICINIUS.
Go, people, go home. Do not be afraid.
Go, masters, get you home; be not dismay'd;
Those guys would be glad to have Marcius and the Volscians invade,
These are a side that would be glad to have
though they pretend to be afraid. Go home,
This true which they so seem to fear. Go home,
and show no sign of fear.
And show no sign of fear.
FIRST CITIZEN.
Good luck to us! Come on folks, let’s go home. I
The gods be good to us!--Come, masters, let's home. I
always said we were wrong to banish him.
ever said we were i' the wrong when we banished him.
SECOND CITIZEN.
So did we all. But come, let’s go home.
So did we all. But come, let's home.
[Exeunt Citizens.]
BRUTUS.
I do not like this news.
I do not like this news.
SICINIUS.
Me neither.
Nor I.
BRUTUS.
Let’s go to the Capitol. I wish I could give half my wealth
Let's to the Capitol:--would half my wealth
to make this not true.
Would buy this for a lie!
SICINIUS.
Let’s go.
Pray let's go.
[Exeunt.]
[Enter AUFIDIUS and his LIEUTENANT.]
AUFIDIUS.
Do they still flock to Coriolanus?
Do they still fly to the Roman?
LIEUTENANT.
I don’t know how he does it, but
I do not know what witchcraft's in him, but
your soldiers love him so much they use his name to say grace before meals,
Your soldiers use him as the grace 'fore meat,
they talk about him while they eat, and they thank him like a god at the end.
Their talk at table, and their thanks at end;
You are overshadowed by him in this war,
And you are darken'd in this action, sir,
even from the perspective of your own men.
Even by your own.
AUFIDIUS.
I can’t help that now,
I cannot help it now,
except by using methods that ruin our
Unless by using means, I lame the foot
other plans. He carries himself with more pride,
Of our design. He bears himself more proudlier,
even towards me, than I thought he would
Even to my person, than I thought he would
when I first gave him a hug. But
When first I did embrace him: yet his nature
that’s just his nature, and I must forgive him
In that's no changeling; and I must excuse
for what he can’t change.
What cannot be amended.
LIEUTENANT.
But I wish,
Yet I wish, sir,--
as far as you are concerned, that you had not
I mean, for your particular,--you had not
partnered with him, but had either
Join'd in commission with him; but either
done this action by yourself, or else
Had borne the action of yourself, or else
had left him to do it alone.
To him had left it solely.
AUFIDIUS.
I know what you mean. And I’m sure,
I understand thee well; and be thou sure,
when he has to answer for his conduct, he won’t know
When he shall come to his account, he knows not
what I can allege against him. Though it seems
What I can urge against him. Although it seems,
(and he thinks so, and it looks like from the
And so he thinks, and is no less apparent
outside), that he carries out his actions fairly,
To the vulgar eye, that he bears all things fairly,
and takes good care of the Volscians,
And shows good husbandry for the Volscian state,
and fights like a dragon, and wins as soon
Fights dragon-like, and does achieve as soon
as he starts to fight, but he has neglected to do
As draw his sword: yet he hath left undone
the thing that will get him killed, and risk my life,
That which shall break his neck or hazard mine
whenever we are put on trial.
Whene'er we come to our account.
LIEUTENANT.
Please, sir, do think we’ll capture Rome?
Sir, I beseech you, think you he'll carry Rome?
AUFIDIUS.
Everyone surrenders to him before he even lays siege.
All places yield to him ere he sits d
own;
And the Roman noblemen love him,
And the nobility of Rome are his;
and so do the senators and aristocrats.
The senators and patricians love him too:
The tribunes, who hate him, can’t fight, and their people
The tribunes are no soldiers; and their people
will want to take back their votes
Will be as rash in the repeal as hasty
to banish him. I think he’ll capture Rome
To expel him thence. I think he'll be to Rome
like a fish-hawk captures fish: by its
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it
nature. First he served them well,
By sovereignty of nature. First he was
but he could not be even-tempered
A noble servant to them; but he could not
when they gave him honors (I don’t know if that was because of pride,
Carry his honours even: whether 'twas pride,
which as a consequence of success always taints
Which out of daily fortune ever taints
fortunate men; or a lack of judgment,
The happy man; whether defect of judgment,
in failing to manage the opportunities
To fail in the disposing of those chances
he got; or if it’s just his nature
Which he was lord of; or whether nature,
to have only one personality, not changing
Not to be other than one thing, not moving
from a soldier to a politician, but trying to rule in peacetime
From the casque to the cushion, but commanding peace
with the same sever military style
Even with the same austerity and garb
he used when issuing orders in a battle), but for some reason
As he controll'd the war; but one of these,--
(and he has traces of all of those reasons—maybe not all of them,
As he hath spices of them all, not all,
I don’t want to let him off the hook), he was feared,
For I dare so far free him,--made him fear'd,
hated and then banished. But he has the ability
So hated, and so banish'd: but he has a merit
to silence any mention of his faults. So his virtues