Previous
Act 5, Scene 1
Troilus and Cressida Translation Act 5, Scene 2
Enter DIOMEDES
DIOMEDES
What, are you up here, ho? speak.
DIOMEDES
Hey, is anyone awake in there? Speak.
CALCHAS
[Within] Who calls?
CALCHAS
[Within] Who is asking?
DIOMEDES
Calchas, I think. Where's your daughter?
DIOMEDES
I think that is Calchas. Where's you daughter?
Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions
Get instant explanations to your questions about anything we cover.
Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
Learn More
Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions
Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions
Learn More
CALCHAS
[Within] She comes to you.
CALCHAS
[Within] She is coming out to meet you.
Enter TROILUS and ULYSSES, at a distance; after them, THERSITES
ULYSSES
Stand where the torch may not discover us.
ULYSSES
Stand in the shadows, away from the light.
Enter CRESSIDA
TROILUS
Cressid comes forth to him.
TROILUS
Cressida is coming out to him.
DIOMEDES
How now, my charge!
DIOMEDES
How are you, my ward?
CRESSIDA
Now, my sweet guardian! Hark, a word with you.
CRESSIDA
Oh, my sweet guardian! Listen, I want to tell you something.
Whispers
TROILUS
Yea, so familiar!
TROILUS
She's acting so familiar with him!
ULYSSES
She will sing any man at first sight.
ULYSSES
She will play with any man without knowing them first.
THERSITES
And any man may sing her, if he can take her cliff;she's noted.
THERSITES
And any man may sing her song, if he can find her key. She's noted like an instrument.
DIOMEDES
Will you remember?
DIOMEDES
Will you remember?
CRESSIDA
Remember! yes.
CRESSIDA
Of course I will remember.
DIOMEDES
Nay, but do, then;And let your mind be coupled with your words.
DIOMEDES
Well, make sure you do, and prove what you say with actions.
TROILUS
What should she remember?
TROILUS
What has he asked her to remember?
ULYSSES
List.
ULYSSES
Listen.
CRESSIDA
Sweet honey Greek, tempt me no more to folly.
CRESSIDA
Sweet-speaking Greek, don't tempt me to do any more foolish things.
THERSITES
Roguery!
THERSITES
What kind of poor behavior is this?
DIOMEDES
Nay, then,—
DIOMEDES
No, then...
CRESSIDA
I'll tell you what,—
CRESSIDA
I'll tell you what...
DIOMEDES
Foh, foh! come, tell a pin: you are forsworn.
DIOMEDES
Bah! Tell me nothing. You are promised to someone else.
CRESSIDA
In faith, I cannot: what would you have me do?
CRESSIDA
Honestly, I can't. What would you have me do?
THERSITES
A juggling trick,—to be secretly open.
THERSITES
A clever thing to say... one that shows her to be secretly open.
DIOMEDES
What did you swear you would bestow on me?
DIOMEDES
What did you promise you'd give to me?
CRESSIDA
I prithee, do not hold me to mine oath;Bid me do any thing but that, sweet Greek.
CRESSIDA
I beg you, don't make me do what I promised. Ask me anything other than that, sweet Greek.
DIOMEDES
Good night.
DIOMEDES
Goodnight.
TROILUS
Hold, patience!
TROILUS
How can I endure this?
ULYSSES
How now, Trojan!
ULYSSES
Quiet, Trojan!
CRESSIDA
Diomed,—
CRESSIDA
Diomedes...
DIOMEDES
No, no, good night: I'll be your fool no more.
DIOMEDES
No, no, goodnight. I'm not going to be your fool anymore.
TROILUS
Thy better must.
TROILUS
You better had.
CRESSIDA
Hark, one word in your ear.
CRESSIDA
Listen, let me say one thing into your ear.
TROILUS
O plague and madness!
TROILUS
[Shouts] Oh plague and madness!
ULYSSES
You are moved, prince; let us depart, I pray you, Lest your displeasure should enlarge itself To wrathful terms: this place is dangerous; The time right deadly; I beseech you, go.
ULYSSES
You are upset, prince. Let's go, I beg you, in case your anger makes you violent. This is a dangerous place and a deadly time for you to be here. I beg you, go.
TROILUS
Behold, I pray you!
TROILUS
Look, I beg you.
ULYSSES
Nay, good my lord, go off:You flow to great distraction; come, my lord.
ULYSSES
No, my lord, leave. You are going insane, come, my lord.
TROILUS
I pray thee, stay.
TROILUS
I beg you, stay.
ULYSSES
You have not patience; come.
ULYSSES
You don't have the patience, come.
TROILUS
I pray you, stay; by hell and all hell's tormentsI will not speak a word!
TROILUS
I beg you, stay. No matter what torture I see I won't say a word.
DIOMEDES
And so, good night.
DIOMEDES
And so, goodnight.
CRESSIDA
Nay, but you part in anger.
CRESSIDA
No, you are still angry.
TROILUS
Doth that grieve thee?O wither'd truth!
TROILUS
Does that bother you? Oh your truth has died!
ULYSSES
Why, how now, lord!
ULYSSES
Woah, lord!
TROILUS
By Jove,I will be patient.
TROILUS
By Jupiter, I will be patient.
CRESSIDA
Guardian!—why, Greek!
CRESSIDA
Guardian... oh, Greek!
DIOMEDES
Foh, foh! adieu; you palter.
DIOMEDES
Pah, pah, goodbye, you time waster.
CRESSIDA
In faith, I do not: come hither once again.
CRESSIDA
Honestly, I am not wasting your time. Come here again.
ULYSSES
You shake, my lord, at something: will you go?You will break out.
ULYSSES
You are shaking, my lord, will you leave here? You are going to blow your cover.
TROILUS
She strokes his cheek!
TROILUS
She is stroking his cheek.
ULYSSES
Come, come.
ULYSSES
Come, come.
TROILUS
Nay, stay; by Jove, I will not speak a word: There is between my will and all offences A guard of patience: stay a little while.
TROILUS
No, stay, by Jupiter, I won't say a word. My patience will stop me from saying or doing anything dangerous. Let's stay a little longer.
THERSITES
How the devil Luxury, with his fat rump andpotato-finger, tickles these together! Fry, lechery, fry!
THERSITES
Luxury, like a little devil with a fat bottom and thick fingers is getting these two excited. Go on, Lechery, go on!
DIOMEDES
But will you, then?
DIOMEDES
So you will then?
CRESSIDA
In faith, I will, la; never trust me else.
CRESSIDA
Honestly I will, ha. If I don't then never believe me again.
DIOMEDES
Give me some token for the surety of it.
DIOMEDES
Give me a token so that I can be sure.
CRESSIDA
I'll fetch you one.
CRESSIDA
I'll fetch you one.
Exit
ULYSSES
You have sworn patience.
ULYSSES
You have promised to be patient.
TROILUS
Fear me not, sweet lord;I will not be myself, nor have cognitionOf what I feel: I am all patience.
TROILUS
Don't worry about me, sweet lord. I will pretend I am not me and put my emotions aside. I can be patient.
Re-enter CRESSIDA
THERSITES
Now the pledge; now, now, now!
THERSITES
Here's her promise. Now, now, now.
CRESSIDA
Here, Diomed, keep this sleeve.
CRESSIDA
Here, Diomedes, keep this sleeve. [CRESSIDA gives DIOMEDES the sleeve Troilus had given her]
TROILUS
O beauty! where is thy faith?
TROILUS
Oh beauty! Where is your loyalty?
ULYSSES
My lord,—
ULYSSES
My lord...
TROILUS
I will be patient; outwardly I will.
TROILUS
I will be patient, or at least I won't move.
CRESSIDA
You look upon that sleeve; behold it well.He loved me—O false wench!—Give't me again.
CRESSIDA
You look at that sleeve, take good care of it. He loved me... oh you unfaithful girl... give it back to me. [Cressida takes the sleeve back]
DIOMEDES
Whose was't?
DIOMEDES
Whose was it?
CRESSIDA
It is no matter, now I have't again.I will not meet with you to-morrow night:I prithee, Diomed, visit me no more.
CRESSIDA
It doesn't matter, I want it back. I won't meet with you tomorrow night, I beg you, Diomedes, don't visit me again.
THERSITES
Now she sharpens: well said, whetstone!
THERSITES
Now she whets his appetite. Well done, like a whetstone!
DIOMEDES
I shall have it.
DIOMEDES
I'll have it.
CRESSIDA
What, this?
CRESSIDA
What, this?
DIOMEDES
Ay, that.
DIOMEDES
Yes, that.
CRESSIDA
O, all you gods! O pretty, pretty pledge! Thy master now lies thinking in his bed Of thee and me, and sighs, and takes my glove, And gives memorial dainty kisses to it, As I kiss thee. Nay, do not snatch it from me; He that takes that doth take my heart withal.
CRESSIDA
Oh, all you gods! Oh, pretty gift! The person who gave you to me is lying in his bed now, thinking of his gift and me, and sighing. He will be taking my glove, and kisses it to remember me, just as I kiss you now. [CRESSIDA kisses the sleeve and DIOMEDES steals it from her] No, don't take it from me! The person who takes that from me steals my heart itself.
DIOMEDES
I had your heart before, this follows it.
DIOMEDES
I have already won your heart, so this token comes afterwards.
TROILUS
I did swear patience.
TROILUS
I swore patience.
CRESSIDA
You shall not have it, Diomed; faith, you shall not;I'll give you something else.
CRESSIDA
You won't have it, Diomedes. I swear, you won't. I'll give you something else.
DIOMEDES
I will have this: whose was it?
DIOMEDES
I will have this. Whose was it?
CRESSIDA
It is no matter.
CRESSIDA
It doesn't matter.
DIOMEDES
Come, tell me whose it was.
DIOMEDES
Come, tell me, whose was it.
CRESSIDA
'Twas one's that loved me better than you will.But, now you have it, take it.
CRESSIDA
It belonged to someone that loved me better than you will. But now you have it, keep it.
DIOMEDES
Whose was it?
DIOMEDES
Whose was it?
CRESSIDA
By all Diana's waiting-women yond,And by herself, I will not tell you whose.
CRESSIDA
By Diana and all her companions, I will not tell you whose it was.
DIOMEDES
To-morrow will I wear it on my helm,And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it.
DIOMEDES
Tomorrow I will wear this on my helmet, and see if he comes forward.
TROILUS
Wert thou the devil, and worest it on thy horn,It should be challenged.
TROILUS
[Quietly] If you were the devil himself, and wore it on your horns, I would still come and fight you.
CRESSIDA
Well, well, 'tis done, 'tis past: and yet it is not;I will not keep my word.
CRESSIDA
Right, it is done, it is over. But no, it's not, I won't keep my word.
DIOMEDES
Why, then, farewell;Thou never shalt mock Diomed again.
DIOMEDES
Okay then, goodbye, you'll never see me again.
CRESSIDA
You shall not go: one cannot speak a word,But it straight starts you.
CRESSIDA
You mustn't go. I can't say anything without you running off.
DIOMEDES
I do not like this fooling.
DIOMEDES
I'm getting bored of this.
THERSITES
Nor I, by Pluto: but that that likes not you pleases mebest.
THERSITES
Nor me, by Pluto. But I am glad you are upset.
DIOMEDES
What, shall I come? the hour?
DIOMEDES
Well, should I come when we agreed? Same time?
CRESSIDA
Ay, come:—O Jove!—do come:—I shall be plagued.
CRESSIDA
Yes, come. Oh Jupiter! Do come. I will be cursed.
DIOMEDES
Farewell till then.
DIOMEDES
Goodbye until then.
CRESSIDA
Good night: I prithee, come.
CRESSIDA
Goodnight. I beg you, come tomorrow.
Exit DIOMEDES
CRESSIDA
Troilus, farewell! one eye yet looks on thee But with my heart the other eye doth see. Ah, poor our sex! this fault in us I find, The error of our eye directs our mind: What error leads must err; O, then conclude Minds sway'd by eyes are full of turpitude.
CRESSIDA
Goodbye Troilus. Part of me still belongs to you, but another part of me cannot help itself. Ah, women are so weak! I think our fault is that we use our eyes to make decisions not our brains! People who are only guided by bad judgments, must do bad things. Oh, brains that are lead by eyes are full of bad thoughts.
Exit
THERSITES
A proof of strength she could not publish more,Unless she said "My mind is now turn'd whore."
THERSITES
She couldn't sum herself up better, unless she said "My mind has become a whore."
ULYSSES
All's done, my lord.
ULYSSES
It's over, my lord.
TROILUS
It is.
TROILUS
It is.
ULYSSES
Why stay we, then?
ULYSSES
Why are we still here, then.
TROILUS
To make a recordation to my soul Of every syllable that here was spoke. But if I tell how these two did co-act, Shall I not lie in publishing a truth? Sith yet there is a credence in my heart, An esperance so obstinately strong, That doth invert the attest of eyes and ears, As if those organs had deceptious functions, Created only to calumniate. Was Cressid here?
TROILUS
To make a record in my soul of everything that was said here. Although these two are so deceitful together, that if I spoke the truth everything I said would be dishonest. Although there is still some trust in my heart and some hope so stubbornly strong, that it turns upside down what my eyes and ears have seen, as if those organs had been created only to make up lies. Was Cressida here?
ULYSSES
I cannot conjure, Trojan.
ULYSSES
I can't perform magic, Trojan, I couldn't fake all the things you saw.
TROILUS
She was not, sure.
TROILUS
Surely she wasn't here.
ULYSSES
Most sure she was.
ULYSSES
She definitely was.
TROILUS
Why, my negation hath no taste of madness.
TROILUS
I don't think I have gone mad, she wasn't.
ULYSSES
Nor mine, my lord: Cressid was here but now.
ULYSSES
I definitely haven't gone mad, Cressida was just here.
TROILUS
Let it not be believed for womanhood! Think, we had mothers; do not give advantage To stubborn critics, apt, without a theme, For depravation, to square the general sex By Cressid's rule: rather think this not Cressid.
TROILUS
For the sake of womankind, let this not be believed! Since we ourselves had mothers. Don't let the stubborn critics of women, who don't have an example of their depravation, blame their sex by Cressida's example. It is better not to think this was Cressida.
ULYSSES
What hath she done, prince, that can soil our mothers?
ULYSSES
What has she done, prince, that would be an insult to our mothers?
TROILUS
Nothing at all, unless that this were she.
TROILUS
Nothing at all, unless that was her.
THERSITES
Will he swagger himself out on's own eyes?
THERSITES
Will he convince himself out of it, despite all he's seen?
TROILUS
This she? no, this is Diomed's Cressida: If beauty have a soul, this is not she; If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimonies, If sanctimony be the gods' delight, If there be rule in unity itself, This is not she. O madness of discourse, That cause sets up with and against itself! Bi-fold authority! where reason can revolt Without perdition, and loss assume all reason Without revolt: this is, and is not, Cressid. Within my soul there doth conduce a fight Of this strange nature that a thing inseparate Divides more wider than the sky and earth, And yet the spacious breadth of this division Admits no orifex for a point as subtle As Ariachne's broken woof to enter. Instance, O instance! strong as Pluto's gates; Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven: Instance, O instance! strong as heaven itself; The bonds of heaven are slipp'd, dissolved, and loosed; And with another knot, five-finger-tied, The fractions of her faith, orts of her love, The fragments, scraps, the bits and greasy relics Of her o'er-eaten faith, are bound to Diomed.
TROILUS
This, her? No, this is Diomedes's Cressida. If beauty has a soul, this is not her. If souls guide promises, if promises are sacred, if being sacred is what the gods care about, if there is any justice in the world, that was not her. Oh mad talking, that argues against itself! A duplicitous judgment! Why won't my logic let her be and not be Cressida. There is a fight in my soul to bring these two possibilities together although they are further apart than the sky and the earth. But the divide between these two possibilities is as impossible to get out of as a labyrinth using Ariachne's broken spider web. With one important exception! At once Cressida is mine and tied to me by heaven, and at the same time those ties have broken and she has tied another knot to Diomedes with her unfaithful dishonesty.
ULYSSES
May worthy Troilus be half attach'dWith that which here his passion doth express?
ULYSSES
Can the worthy Troilus really be as angry as he seems?
THERSITES
He'll tickle it for his concupy.
THERSITES
He'll beat him for his lover.
TROILUS
O Cressid! O false Cressid! false, false, false!Let all untruths stand by thy stained name,And they'll seem glorious.
TROILUS
Oh Cressida! Oh false Cressida. False, false, false! Let all lies be given your name, that way they'll seem glorious.
ULYSSES
O, contain yourselfYour passion draws ears hither.
ULYSSES
Oh, be patient, your anger is drawing attention to us.
Enter AENEAS
AENEAS
I have been seeking you this hour, my lord:Hector, by this, is arming him in Troy;Ajax, your guard, stays to conduct you home.
AENEAS
I have been looking for you for an hour, my lord. Hector is getting ready for war in Troy, and Ajax, your guard, is getting ready to walk you home.
TROILUS
Have with you, prince. My courteous lord, adieu.Farewell, revolted fair! and, Diomed,Stand fast, and wear a castle on thy head!
TROILUS
I'll come with you, prince. Courteous lord, goodbye. Farewell, ugly beauty! And, Diomedes stand up tall, you'll need a strong helmet to protect you!
ULYSSES
I'll bring you to the gates.
ULYSSES
I'll show you to the gates.
TROILUS
Accept distracted thanks.
TROILUS
Please forgive me for not thanking you well enough, I am overwhelmed.
Exeunt TROILUS, AENEAS, and ULYSSES
THERSITES
Would I could meet that rogue Diomed! I would croak like a raven; I would bode, I would bode. Patroclus will give me any thing for the intelligence of this whore: the parrot will not do more for an almond than he for a commodious drab. Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery; nothing else holds fashion: a burning devil take them!
THERSITES
I wish I could wait outside Diomedes's tent like an omen of bad luck. I know, Patroclus would give me anything for information of such a woman as this. A parrot will not do more for an almond as he will do for easy women. Lechery, lechery, more wars and lechery! Nothing else is so fashionable at the moment. I hope a devil takes the lot of them.
Exit
