Previous
Act 5, Scene 4
Troilus and Cressida Translation Act 5, Scene 5
Enter DIOMEDES and a Servant
DIOMEDES
Go, go, my servant, take thou Troilus' horse; Present the fair steed to my lady Cressid: Fellow, commend my service to her beauty; Tell her I have chastised the amorous Trojan, And am her knight by proof.
DIOMEDES
Go, go, servant, take Troilus's horse and show it to my lady Cressida. My man, tell the beautiful lady that she is mine, tell her I beat her Trojan lover, and I am now her knight because of this.
SERVANT
I go, my lord.
SERVANT
I will go now, my lord.
Exit
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
Enter AGAMEMNON
AGAMEMNON
Renew, renew! The fierce Polydamas Hath beat down Menon: bastard Margarelon Hath Doreus prisoner, And stands colossus-wise, waving his beam, Upon the pashed corpses of the kings Epistrophus and Cedius: Polyxenes is slain, Amphimachus and Thoas deadly hurt, Patroclus ta'en or slain, and Palamedes Sore hurt and bruised: the dreadful Sagittary Appals our numbers: haste we, Diomed, To reinforcement, or we perish all.
AGAMEMNON
Rally! Rally! The fierce Polydamas has beaten Menon, Margarelon the bastard has Doreus prisoner and stands over him like the Colossus of Rhodes, waving this sword over the broken bodies of the kings Epistrophus and Cedius. Polyxenes is dead, Amphimachus and Thoas are fatally wounded, Patroclus has been taken prisoner or killed, and Palamedes has been badly beaten. Their cavalry are terrifying our soldiers. We must hurry, Diomedes, to reinforce our soldiers, or all of us will die.
Enter NESTOR
NESTOR
Go, bear Patroclus' body to Achilles; And bid the snail-paced Ajax arm for shame. There is a thousand Hectors in the field: Now here he fights on Galathe his horse, And there lacks work; anon he's there afoot, And there they fly or die, like scaled sculls Before the belching whale; then is he yonder, And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge, Fall down before him, like the mower's swath: Here, there, and every where, he leaves and takes, Dexterity so obeying appetite That what he will he does, and does so much That proof is call'd impossibility.
NESTOR
Go, show Patroclus's body to Achilles, and tell Ajax to arm himself. It is as if there are a thousand Hectors out there today, you see him one moment fighting on Galathe his horse, and the next moment he is fighting on foot where our soldiers either flee or are killed like schools of small fish before a hungry whale. Then you'll see him over there, harvesting Greeks like they were wheat. He appears here, there, and everywhere and decides who shall live and who shall die. His skill is perfectly matched to his desire to kill, so much so that he can do anything he wants, and he is doing so much that proof of it would be called impossibility.
Enter ULYSSES
ULYSSES
O, courage, courage, princes! great Achilles Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance: Patroclus' wounds have roused his drowsy blood, Together with his mangled Myrmidons, That noseless, handless, hack'd and chipp'd, come to him, Crying on Hector. Ajax hath lost a friend And foams at mouth, and he is arm'd and at it, Roaring for Troilus, who hath done to-day Mad and fantastic execution, Engaging and redeeming of himself With such a careless force and forceless care As if that luck, in very spite of cunning, Bade him win all.
ULYSSES
Be brave, be brave, princes! Great Achilles is arming himself, weepings, cursing, and promising revenge. Patroclus's wounds have awoken his sleepy rage, and he is rallying his Myrmidons many of whom have been horribly injured and all of them wanting to kill Hector. One of Ajax's friends has died, and he is now foaming at the mouth with anger, because of this he has armed himself and come out to find Troilus, who has killed a great many people today. Troilus has been reckless in engaging our soldiers and even when the odds almost guaranteed his death, he simply kills them and moves on as if luck itself was on his side.
Enter AJAX
AJAX
Troilus! thou coward Troilus!
AJAX
Troilus! You are a coward Troilus!
Exit
DIOMEDES
Ay, there, there.
DIOMEDES
Yes, over there, over there.
NESTOR
So, so, we draw together.
NESTOR
We are pulling together now.
Enter ACHILLES
ACHILLES
Where is this Hector? Come, come, thou boy-queller, show thy face; Know what it is to meet Achilles angry: Hector? where's Hector? I will none but Hector.
ACHILLES
Where is Hector? Come here boy-killer, show yourself. You will learn what it is like to meet me when I am angry. Hector? Where's Hector? I won't deal with anyone except Hector.
Exeunt
