Of the same house Publius and Quintus were, Was his great ancestor. Sic. Bru. Say, you ne'er had done 't, (Harp on that still) but by our putting on; And presently, when you have drawn your number, This mutiny were better put in hazard, With their refusal, both observe and answer The vantage of his anger. Sic. To the Capitol: Come, we 'll be there before the stream o' the people; Which we have goaded onward. ACT III. [Exeunt. SCENE I. The Same. A Street. Cornets. Enter CORIOLANUS, MENENIUS, COMINIUS, TITUS Cor. Tullus Aufidius, then, had made new head? Our swifter composition. Cor. So then, the Volsces stand but as at first; Lart. On safe-guard he came to me; and did curse Against the Volsces, for they had so vilely Yielded the town: he is retir'd to Antium. Cor. Spoke he of me? Lart. Cor. He did, my lord. How? what? Lart. How often he had met you, sword to sword; Your person most; that he would pawn his fortunes Be call'd your vanquisher. Cor. Lart. At Antium. At Antium lives he? Cor. I wish, I had a cause to seek him there, Enter SICINIUS and BRUTUS. Behold! these are the tribunes of the people, [TO LARTIUS. The tongues o' the common mouth. I do despise them, Against all noble sufferance. Sic. Cor. Ha! what is that? Pass no farther. Bru. It will be dangerous to go on: no farther. Cor. What makes this change? Men. The matter? Com. Hath he not pass'd the noble, and the common? 16 Gor. Have I had children's voices? Sen. Tribunes, give way: he shall to the market-place. Bru. The people are incens'd against him. Sic. Or all will fall in broil. Cor. Are these your herd? Must these have voices, that can yield them now, Stop, What are your offices? You being their mouths, why rule you not their teeth? Men. Be calm, be calm. Cor. It is a purpos'd thing, and grows by plot, To curb the will of the nobility: Suffer 't, and live with such as cannot rule, The people cry, you mock'd them; and, of late, Bru. Cor. Have you inform'd them sithence? Not to them all. How! I inform them! Not unlike', Com. You are like to do such business. Each way, to better yours. Cor. Why, then, should I be consul? By yond' clouds, Let me deserve so ill as you, and make me Your fellow tribune. Sie. You show too much of that, For which the people stir. If you will pass To where you are bound, you must inquire your way, Or never be so noble as a consul, Nor yoke with him for tribune. Men. Let's be calm. This paltering Com. The people are abus'd. Set on. Becomes not Rome; nor has Coriolanus Deserved this so dishonour'd rub, laid falsely I' the plain way of his merit. Cor. Tell me of corn! This was my speech, and I will speak 't again Men. Not now, not now. 1 Sen. Not in this heat, Sir, now. Cor. Now, as I live, I will. — My nobler friends, I crave their pardons: For the mutable, rank-scented many, let them Therein behold themselves. I say again, In soothing them we nourish 'gainst our senate The cockle of rebellion, insolence, sedition, Which we ourselves have plough'd for, sow'd, and scatter'd, By mingling them with us, the honour'd number; Who lack not virtue, no, nor power, but that Which they have given to beggars. Men. Well, no more. Sen. No more words, we beseech you. How! no more? As for my country I have shed my blood, You speak o' the people, "T were well, What, what? his choler? Were I as patient as the midnight sleep, By Jove, 't would be my mind. Sic. It is a mind, That shall remain a poison where it is, Hear you this Triton of the minnows? mark you Com. Cor. 'T was from the canon. "Shall!" O, good but most unwise patricians! why, You grave but reckless senators, have you thus That with his peremtory "shall," being but The horn and noise o' the monsters, wants not spirit Let them have cushions by you. You are plebeians, When both your voices blended, the great'st taste Com. Well- Cor. Whoever gave that counsel, to give forth The corn o' the store-house gratis, as 't was us'd Sometime in Greece, Men, Well, well; no more of that. Com. Though there the people had more absolute power, I say, they nourished disobedience, fed The ruin of the state. Bru. Why, shall the people give |