JULIUS CAESAR


ACT II



SCENE II	CAESAR's house.


	[Thunder and lightning. Enter CAESAR, in his
	night-gown]

CAESAR	Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night:
	Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out,
	'Help, ho! they murder Caesar!' Who's within?

	[Enter a Servant]

Servant	My lord?

CAESAR	Go bid the priests do present sacrifice
	And bring me their opinions of success.

Servant	I will, my lord.

	[Exit]

	[Enter CALPURNIA]

CALPURNIA	What mean you, Caesar? think you to walk forth?
	You shall not stir out of your house to-day.

CAESAR	Caesar shall forth: the things that threaten'd me
	Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see
	The face of Caesar, they are vanished.

CALPURNIA	Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,
	Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
	Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
	Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
	A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
	And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead;
	Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
	In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
	Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
	The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
	Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
	And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
	O Caesar! these things are beyond all use,
	And I do fear them.

CAESAR	What can be avoided
	Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?
	Yet Caesar shall go forth; for these predictions
	Are to the world in general as to Caesar.

CALPURNIA	When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
	The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

CAESAR	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 Servant]

		       What say the augurers?

Servant	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.

CAESAR	The gods do this in shame of cowardice:
	Caesar should be a beast without a heart,
	If he should stay at home to-day for fear.
	No, Caesar shall not: danger knows full well
	That Caesar is more dangerous than he:
	We are two lions litter'd in one day,
	And I the elder and more terrible:
	And Caesar shall go forth.

CALPURNIA	Alas, my lord,
	Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.
	Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear
	That keeps you in the house, and not your own.
	We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house:
	And he shall say you are not well to-day:
	Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.

CAESAR	Mark Antony shall say I am not well,
	And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.

	[Enter DECIUS BRUTUS]

	Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.

DECIUS BRUTUS	Caesar, all hail! good morrow, worthy Caesar:
	I come to fetch you to the senate-house.

CAESAR	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:
	Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser:
	I will not come to-day: tell them so, Decius.

CALPURNIA	Say he is sick.

CAESAR	                  Shall Caesar send a lie?
	Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far,
	To be afraid to tell graybeards the truth?
	Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.

DECIUS BRUTUS	Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,
	Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so.

CAESAR	The cause is in my will: I will not come;
	That is enough to satisfy the senate.
	But for your private satisfaction,
	Because I love you, I will let you know:
	Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home:
	She dreamt to-night she saw my statua,
	Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
	Did run pure blood: and many lusty Romans
	Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it:
	And these does she apply for warnings, and portents,
	And evils imminent; and on her knee
	Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day.

DECIUS BRUTUS	This dream is all amiss interpreted;
	It was a vision fair and fortunate:
	Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
	In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
	Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
	Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
	For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance.
	This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.

CAESAR	And this way have you well expounded it.

DECIUS BRUTUS	I have, when you have heard what I can say:
	And know it now: the senate have concluded
	To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.
	If you shall send them word you will not come,
	Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
	Apt to be render'd, for some one to say
	'Break up the senate till another time,
	When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams.'
	If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper
	'Lo, Caesar is afraid'?
	Pardon me, Caesar; for my dear dear love
	To our proceeding bids me tell you this;
	And reason to my love is liable.

CAESAR	How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!
	I am ashamed I did yield to them.
	Give me my robe, for I will go.

	[Enter PUBLIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, CASCA,
	TREBONIUS, and CINNA]

	And look where Publius is come to fetch me.

PUBLIUS	Good morrow, Caesar.

CAESAR	Welcome, Publius.
	What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too?
	Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius,
	Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy
	As that same ague which hath made you lean.
	What is 't o'clock?

BRUTUS	Caesar, 'tis strucken eight.

CAESAR	I thank you for your pains and courtesy.

	[Enter ANTONY]

	See! Antony, that revels long o' nights,
	Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.

ANTONY	So to most noble Caesar.

CAESAR	Bid them prepare within:
	I am to blame to be thus waited for.
	Now, Cinna: now, Metellus: what, Trebonius!
	I have an hour's talk in store for you;
	Remember that you call on me to-day:
	Be near me, that I may remember you.

TREBONIUS	Caesar, I will:

	[Aside]

	and so near will I be,
	That your best friends shall wish I had been further.

CAESAR	Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me;
	And we, like friends, will straightway go together.

BRUTUS	[Aside]  That every like is not the same, O Caesar,
	The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon!

	[Exeunt]




	JULIUS CAESAR


ACT II



SCENE III	A street near the Capitol.


	[Enter ARTEMIDORUS, reading a paper]

ARTEMIDORUS	'Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius;
	come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna, trust not
	Trebonius: mark well Metellus Cimber: Decius Brutus
	loves thee not: thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius.
	There is but one mind in all these men, and it is
	bent against Caesar. If thou beest not immortal,
	look about you: security gives way to conspiracy.
	The mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover,
		'ARTEMIDORUS.'
	Here will I stand till Caesar pass along,
	And as a suitor will I give him this.
	My heart laments that virtue cannot live
	Out of the teeth of emulation.
	If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live;
	If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive.

	[Exit]




	JULIUS CAESAR


ACT II



SCENE IV	Another part of the same street, before the house of BRUTUS.


	[Enter PORTIA and LUCIUS]

PORTIA	I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house;
	Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone:
	Why dost thou stay?

LUCIUS	To know my errand, madam.

PORTIA	I would have had thee there, and here again,
	Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there.
	O constancy, be strong upon my side,
	Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue!
	I have a man's mind, but a woman's might.
	How hard it is for women to keep counsel!
	Art thou here yet?

LUCIUS	                  Madam, what should I do?
	Run to the Capitol, and nothing else?
	And so return to you, and nothing else?

PORTIA	Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well,
	For he went sickly forth: and take good note
	What Caesar doth, what suitors press to him.
	Hark, boy! what noise is that?

LUCIUS	I hear none, madam.

PORTIA	Prithee, listen well;
	I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray,
	And the wind brings it from the Capitol.

LUCIUS	Sooth, madam, I hear nothing.

	[Enter the Soothsayer]

PORTIA	Come hither, fellow: which way hast thou been?

Soothsayer	At mine own house, good lady.

PORTIA	What is't o'clock?

Soothsayer	                  About the ninth hour, lady.

PORTIA	Is Caesar yet gone to the Capitol?

Soothsayer	Madam, not yet: I go to take my stand,
	To see him pass on to the Capitol.

PORTIA	Thou hast some suit to Caesar, hast thou not?

Soothsayer	That I have, lady: if it will please Caesar
	To be so good to Caesar as to hear me,
	I shall beseech him to befriend himself.

PORTIA	Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards him?

Soothsayer	None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance.
	Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow:
	The throng that follows Caesar at the heels,
	Of senators, of praetors, common suitors,
	Will crowd a feeble man almost to death:
	I'll get me to a place more void, and there
	Speak to great Caesar as he comes along.

	[Exit]

PORTIA	I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing
	The heart of woman is! O Brutus,
	The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!
	Sure, the boy heard me: Brutus hath a suit
	That Caesar will not grant. O, I grow faint.
	Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord;
	Say I am merry: come to me again,
	And bring me word what he doth say to thee.

	[Exeunt severally]