ARKCODEX
Act III, Scene 6
1The same part of the forest as scene III.
2Enter Palamon from the bush.
3PalamonAbout this hour my cousin gave his faith
To visit me again, and with him bring
Two swords and two good armours: if he fail,
He’s neither man nor soldier. When he left me,
I did not think a week could have restor’d
My lost strength to me, I was grown so low
And crest-fall’n with my wants: I thank thee, Arcite,
Thou’rt yet a fair foe; and I feel myself
With this refreshing, able once again
To outdure danger. To delay it longer
Would make the world think, when it comes to hearing,
That I lay fatting like a swine, to fight,
And not a soldier: therefore, this blest morning
Shall be the last; and that sword he refuses,
If it but hold, I kill him with; ’tis justice:
So, love and fortune for me!
4Enter Arcite, with armours and swords.
5O, good morrow.
6ArciteGood morrow, noble kinsman.
7PalamonI have put you
To too much pains, sir.
8ArciteThat too much, fair cousin,
Is but a debt to honour and my duty.
9PalamonWould you were so in all, sir! I could wish ye
As kind a kinsman as you force me find
A beneficial foe, that my embraces
Might thank ye, not my blows.
10ArciteI shall think either,
Well done, a noble recompense.
11PalamonThen I shall quit you.
12ArciteDefy me in these fair terms, and you show
More than a mistress to me: no more anger,
As you love anything that’s honourable:
We were not bred to talk, man; when we’re arm’d,
And both upon our guards, then let our fury,
Like meeting of two tides, fly strongly from us;
And then to whom the birthright of this beauty
Truly pertains—without upbraidings, scorns,
Despisings of our persons, and such poutings,
Fitter for girls and school-boys—will be seen,
And quickly, yours or mine. Will’t please you arm, sir?
Or, if you feel yourself not fitting yet,
And furnish’d with your old strength, I’ll stay, cousin,
And every day discourse you into health,
As I am spar’d: your person I am friends with;
And I could wish I had not said I lov’d her,
Though I had died; but, loving such a lady,
And justifying my love, I must not fly from’t.
13PalamonArcite, thou art so brave an enemy,
That no man but thy cousin’s fit to kill thee:
I’m well and lusty; choose your arms.
14ArciteChoose you, sir.
15PalamonWilt thou exceed in all, or dost thou do it
To make me spare thee?
16ArciteIf you think so, cousin,
You are deceiv’d; for, as I am a soldier,
I will not spare you.
17PalamonThat’s well said.
18ArciteYou’ll find it.
19PalamonThen, as I am an honest man, and love
With all the justice of affection,
I’ll pay thee soundly. This I’ll take.
20ArciteThat’s mine, then.
I’ll arm you first. Proceeds to put on Palamon’s armour.
21PalamonDo. Pray thee, tell me, cousin,
Where gott’st thou this good armour?
22Arcite’Tis the duke’s;
And, to say true, I stole’t. Do I pinch you?
23PalamonNo.
24ArciteIs’t not too heavy?
25PalamonI have worn a lighter;
But I shall make it serve.
26ArciteI’ll buckle’t close.
27PalamonBy any means.
28ArciteYou care not for a grand-guard?
29PalamonNo, no; we’ll use no horses: I perceive
You’d fain be at that fight.
30ArciteI am indifferent.
31PalamonFaith, so am I. Good cousin, thrust the buckle
Through far enough.
32ArciteI warrant you.
33PalamonMy casque now.
34ArciteWill you fight bare-arm’d?
35PalamonWe shall be the nimbler.
36ArciteBut use your gauntlets though: those are o’ the least;
Pr’ythee, take mine, good cousin.
37PalamonThank you, Arcite.
How do I look? am I fall’n much away?
38ArciteFaith, very little; love has us’d you kindly.
39PalamonI’ll warrant thee I’ll strike home.
40ArciteDo, and spare not.
I’ll give you cause, sweet cousin.
41PalamonNow to you, sir.
Methinks this armour’s very like that, Arcite,
Thou wor’st that day the three kings fell, but lighter.
42ArciteThat was a very good one; and that day,
I well remember, you outdid me, cousin;
I never saw such valour: when you charg’d
Upon the left wing of the enemy,
I spurr’d hard to come up, and under me
I had a right good horse.
43PalamonYou had indeed;
A bright bay, I remember.
44ArciteYes. But all
Was vainly labour’d in me; you outwent me,
Nor could my wishes reach you: yet a little
I did by imitation.
45PalamonMore by virtue;
You’re modest, cousin.
46ArciteWhen I saw you charge first,
Methought I heard a dreadful clap of thunder
Break from the troop.
47PalamonBut still before that flew
The lightning of your valour. Stay a little:
Is not this piece too straight?
48ArciteNo, no; ’tis well.
49PalamonI would have nothing hurt thee but my sword;
A bruise would be dishonour.
50ArciteNow I’m perfect.
51PalamonStand off, then.
52ArciteTake my sword; I hold it better.
53PalamonI thank ye. No, keep it; your life lies on it:
Here’s one, if it but hold, I ask no more
For all my hopes. My cause and honour guard me!
54ArciteAnd me my love! They bow several ways; then advance, and stand. Is there aught else to say?
55PalamonThis only, and no more. Thou art mine aunt’s son,
And that blood we desire to shed is mutual;
In me thine, and in thee mine: my sword
Is in my hand, and, if thou killest me,
The gods and I forgive thee: if there be
A place prepar’d for those that sleep in honour,
I wish his weary soul that falls may win it.
Fight bravely, cousin: give me thy noble hand.
56ArciteHere, Palamon: this hand shall never more
Come near thee with such friendship.
57PalamonI commend thee.
58ArciteIf I fall, curse me, and say I was a coward;
For none but such dare die in these just trials.
Once more, farewell, my cousin.
59PalamonFarewell, Arcite. They fight. Horns winded within: they stand.
60ArciteLo, cousin, lo! our folly has undone us.
61PalamonWhy?
62ArciteThis is the duke, a-hunting as I told you;
If we be found, we’re wretched; O, retire,
For honour’s sake and safety, presently
Into your bush again, sir; we shall find
Too many hours to die in. Gentle cousin,
If you be seen, you perish instantly
For breaking prison; and I, if you reveal me,
For my contempt: then all the world will scorn us,
And say we had a noble difference,
But base disposers of it.
63PalamonNo, no, cousin;
I will no more be hidden, nor put off
This great adventure to a second trial:
I know your cunning and I know your cause:
He that faints now, shame take him! Put thyself
Upon thy present guard—
64ArciteYou are not mad?
65PalamonOr I will make th’ advantage of this hour
Mine own; and what to come shall threaten me,
I fear less than my fortune. Know, weak cousin,
I love Emilia; and in that I’ll bury
Thee, and all crosses else.
66ArciteThen, come what can come,
Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well
Die, as discourse or sleep: only this fears me,
The law will have the honour of our ends.
Have at thy life!
67PalamonLook to thine own well, Arcite. They fight. Horns winded within.
68Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Emilia, Pirithous, and Train.
69TheseusWhat ignorant and mad malicious traitors
Are you, that, ’gainst the tenor of my laws,
Are making battle, thus like knights appointed,
Without my leave, and officers of arms?
By Castor, both shall die.
70PalamonHold thy word, Theseus:
We’re certainly both traitors, both despisers
Of thee and of thy goodness: I am Palamon,
That cannot love thee, he that broke thy prison;
Think well what that deserves: and this is Arcite;
A bolder traitor never trod thy ground,
A falser ne’er seemed friend: this is the man
Was begg’d and banish’d: this is he contemns thee
And what thou dar’st do; and in this disguise,
Against thy own edict, follows thy sister,
That fortunate bright star, the fair Emilia;
Whose servant—if there be a right in seeing,
And first bequeathing of the soul to—justly
I am; and, which is more, dares think her his.
This treachery, like a most trusty lover,
I call’d him now to answer: if thou be’st,
As thou art spoken, great and virtuous,
The true decider of all injuries,
Say “Fight again!” and thou shalt see me, Theseus,
Do such a justice thou thyself wilt envy:
Then take my life; I’ll woo thee to’t.
71PirithousO heaven,
What more than man is this!
72TheseusI’ve sworn.
73ArciteWe seek not
Thy breath of mercy, Theseus: ’tis to me
A thing as soon to die as thee to say it,
And no more mov’d. Where this man calls me traitor,
Let me say thus much: if in love be treason,
In service of so excellent a beauty,
As I love most, and in that faith will perish,
As I have brought my life here to confirm it,
As I have serv’d her truest, worthiest,
As I dare kill this cousin that denies it,
So let me be most traitor, and ye please me.
For scorning thy edict, duke, ask that lady
Why she is fair, and why her eyes command me
Stay here to love her; and, if she say “traitor,”
I am a villain fit to lie unburied.
74PalamonThou shalt have pity of us both, O Theseus,
If unto neither thou show mercy; stop,
As thou art just, thy noble ear against us;
As thou art valiant: for thy cousin’s soul,
Whose twelve strong labours crown his memory,
Let’s die together, at one instant, duke;
Only a little let him fall before me,
That I may tell my soul he shall not have her.
75TheseusI grant your wish; for, to say true, your cousin
Has ten times more offended, for I gave him
More mercy than you found, sir, your offences
Being no more then his.—None here speak for ’em;
For, ere the sun set, both shall sleep for ever.
76HippolytaAlas, the pity!—Now or never, sister,
Speak, not to be denied: that face of yours
Will bear the curses else of after ages
For these lost cousins.
77EmiliaIn my face, dear sister,
I find no anger to ’em, nor no ruin;
The misadventure of their own eyes kill ’em:
Yet that I will be woman and have pity,
My knees shall grow to the ground but I’ll get mercy.
Help me, dear sister: in a deed so virtuous
The powers of all women will be with us.—
Most royal brother—They kneel.
78HippolytaSir, by our tie of marriage—
79EmiliaBy your own spotless honour—
80HippolytaBy that faith,
That fair hand, and that honest heart you gave me—
81EmiliaBy that you would have pity in another,
By your own virtues infinite—
82HippolytaBy valour,
By all the chaste nights I have ever pleas’d you—
83TheseusThese are strange conjurings.
84PirithousNay, then, I’ll in too:—Kneels.
By all our friendship, sir, by all our dangers,
By all you love most, wars, and this sweet lady—
85EmiliaBy that you would have trembled to deny
A blushing maid—
86HippolytaBy your own eyes, by strength,
In which you swore I went beyond all women,
Almost all men, and yet I yielded, Theseus—
87PirithousTo crown all this, by your most noble soul,
Which cannot want due mercy, I beg first.
88HippolytaNext, hear my prayers.
89EmiliaLast, let me entreat, sir.
90PirithousFor mercy.
91HippolytaMercy.
92EmiliaMercy on these princes.
93TheseusYe make my faith reel: say I felt
Compassion to ’em both, how would you place it?
94EmiliaUpon their lives; but with their banishments.
95TheseusYou’re a right woman, sister; you have pity,
But want the understanding where to use it.
If you desire their lives, invent a way
Safer than banishment: can these two live,
And have the agony of love about ’em,
And not kill one another? every day
They’d fight about you; hourly bring your honour
In public question with their swords. Be wise, then,
And here forget ’em; it concerns your credit
And my oath equally; I’ve said they die:
Better they fall by the law than one another.
Bow not my honour.
96EmiliaO my noble brother,
That oath was rashly made, and in your anger;
Your reason will not hold it: if such vows
Stand for express will, all the world must perish.
Beside, I have another oath ’gainst yours,
Of more authority, I’m sure more love;
Not made in passion neither, but good heed.
97TheseusWhat is it, sister?
98PirithousUrge it home, brave lady.
99EmiliaThat you would ne’er deny me anything
Fit for my modest suit and your free granting:
I tie you to your word now; if ye fall in’t,
Think how you maim your honour—
For now I’m set a-begging, sir, I’m deaf
To all but your compassion—how their lives
Might breed the ruin of my name, opinion!
Shall anything that loves me perish for me?
That were a cruel wisedom: do men proyne
The straight young boughs that blush with thousand blossoms,
Because they may be rotten? O Duke Theseus,
The goodly mothers that have groan’d for these,
And all the longing maids that ever lov’d,
If your vow stand, shall curse me and my beauty,
And in their funeral songs for these two cousins
Despise my cruelty, and cry woe-worth me,
Till I am nothing but the scorn of women.
For heaven’s sake save their lives, and banish ’em.
100TheseusOn what conditions?
101EmiliaSwear ’em never more
To make me their contention or to know me,
To tread upon thy dukedom, and to be,
Wherever they shall travel, ever strangers
To one another.
102PalamonI’ll be cut to pieces
Before I take this oath: forget I love her?
O all ye gods, dispise me, then. Thy banishment
I not mislike, so we may fairly carry
Our swords and cause along; else, never trifle,
But take our lives, duke: I must love, and will;
And for that love must and dare kill this cousin,
On any piece the earth has.
103TheseusWill you, Arcite,
Take these conditions?
104PalamonHe’s a villain, then.
105PirithousThese are men!
106ArciteNo, never, duke; ’tis worse to me than begging,
To take my life so basely. Though I think
I never shall enjoy her, yet I’ll preserve
The honour of affection, and die for her,
Make death a devil.
107TheseusWhat may be done? for now I feel compassion.
108PirithousLet it not fall again, sir.
109TheseusSay, Emilia,
If one of them were dead, as one must, are you
Content to take the other to your husband?
They cannot both enjoy you: they are princes
As goodly as your own eyes, and as noble
As ever fame yet spoke of: look upon ’em,
And, if you can love, end this difference;
I give consent.—Are you content too, princes?
110Palamon
Arcite With all our souls.
111TheseusHe that she refuses
Must die, then.
112Palamon
Arcite Any death thou canst invent, duke.
113PalamonIf I fall from that mouth, I fall with favour,
And lovers yet unborn shall bless my ashes.
114ArciteIf she refuse me, yet my grave will wed me,
And soldiers sing my epitaph.
115TheseusMake choice, then.
116EmiliaI cannot, sir; they’re both too excellent:
For me, a hair shall never fall of these men.
117HippolytaWhat will become of ’em?
118TheseusThus I ordaine it;
And, by mine honour, once again it stands,
Or both shall die.—You shall both to your country;
And each, within this month, accompanied
With three fair knights, appear again in this place,
In which I’ll plant a pyramid; and whether,
Before us that are here, can force his cousin
By fair and knightly strength to touch the pillar,
He shall enjoy her; th’ other lose his head,
And all his friends; nor shall he grudge to fall,
Nor think he dies with interest in this lady.
Will this content ye?
119PalamonYes.—Here, cousin Arcite,
I’m friends again till that hour.
120ArciteI embrace ye.
121TheseusAre you content, sister?
122EmiliaYes; I must, sir;
Else both miscarry.
123TheseusCome, shake hands again, then;
And take heed, as you’re gentlemen, this quarrel
Sleep till the hour prefix’d, and hold your course.
124PalamonWe dare not fail thee, Theseus.
125TheseusCome, I’ll give ye
Now usage like to princes and to friends.
When ye return, who wins, I’ll settle here;
Who loses, yet I’ll weep upon his bier. Exeunt.