| ACT III SCENE I | Troy. Priam's palace. | |
| | Enter a Servant and PANDARUS | |
| PANDARUS | Friend, you! pray you, a word: do not you follow | |
| | the young Lord Paris? | |
| Servant | Ay, sir, when he goes before me. | |
| PANDARUS | You depend upon him, I mean? | 5 |
| Servant | Sir, I do depend upon the lord. | |
| PANDARUS | You depend upon a noble gentleman; I must needs | |
| | praise him. | |
| Servant | The lord be praised! | |
| PANDARUS | You know me, do you not? | 10 |
| Servant | Faith, sir, superficially. | |
| PANDARUS | Friend, know me better; I am the Lord Pandarus. | |
| Servant | I hope I shall know your honour better. | |
| PANDARUS | I do desire it. | |
| Servant | You are in the state of grace. | 15 |
| PANDARUS | Grace! not so, friend: honour and lordship are my titles. | |
| | Music within | |
| | What music is this? | |
| Servant | I do but partly know, sir: it is music in parts. | |
| PANDARUS | Know you the musicians? | |
| Servant | Wholly, sir. | 20 |
| PANDARUS | Who play they to? | |
| Servant | To the hearers, sir. | |
| PANDARUS | At whose pleasure, friend | |
| Servant | At mine, sir, and theirs that love music. | |
| PANDARUS | Command, I mean, friend. | 25 |
| Servant | Who shall I command, sir? | |
| PANDARUS | Friend, we understand not one another: I am too | |
| | courtly and thou art too cunning. At whose request | |
| | do these men play? | |
| Servant | That's to 't indeed, sir: marry, sir, at the request | 30 |
| | of Paris my lord, who's there in person; with him, | |
| | the mortal Venus, the heart-blood of beauty, love's | |
| | invisible soul,-- | |
| PANDARUS | Who, my cousin Cressida? | |
| Servant | No, sir, Helen: could you not find out that by her | 35 |
| | attributes? | |
| PANDARUS | It should seem, fellow, that thou hast not seen the | |
| | Lady Cressida. I come to speak with Paris from the | |
| | Prince Troilus: I will make a complimental assault | |
| | upon him, for my business seethes. | 40 |
| Servant | Sodden business! there's a stewed phrase indeed! | |
| | Enter PARIS and HELEN, attended | |
| PANDARUS | Fair be to you, my lord, and to all this fair | |
| | company! fair desires, in all fair measure, | |
| | fairly guide them! especially to you, fair queen! | |
| | fair thoughts be your fair pillow! | 45 |
| HELEN | Dear lord, you are full of fair words. | |
| PANDARUS | You speak your fair pleasure, sweet queen. Fair | |
| | prince, here is good broken music. | |
| PARIS | You have broke it, cousin: and, by my life, you | |
| | shall make it whole again; you shall piece it out | 50 |
| | with a piece of your performance. Nell, he is full | |
| | of harmony. | |
| PANDARUS | Truly, lady, no. | |
| HELEN | O, sir,-- | |
| PANDARUS | Rude, in sooth; in good sooth, very rude. | 55 |
| PARIS | Well said, my lord! well, you say so in fits. | |
| PANDARUS | I have business to my lord, dear queen. My lord, | |
| | will you vouchsafe me a word? | |
| HELEN | Nay, this shall not hedge us out: we'll hear you | |
| | sing, certainly. | 60 |
| PANDARUS | Well, sweet queen. you are pleasant with me. But, | |
| | marry, thus, my lord: my dear lord and most esteemed | |
| | friend, your brother Troilus,-- | |
| HELEN | My Lord Pandarus; honey-sweet lord,-- | |
| PANDARUS | Go to, sweet queen, to go:--commends himself most | 65 |
| | affectionately to you,-- | |
| HELEN | You shall not bob us out of our melody: if you do, | |
| | our melancholy upon your head! | |
| PANDARUS | Sweet queen, sweet queen! that's a sweet queen, i' faith. | |
| HELEN | And to make a sweet lady sad is a sour offence. | 70 |
| PANDARUS | Nay, that shall not serve your turn; that shall not, | |
| | in truth, la. Nay, I care not for such words; no, | |
| | no. And, my lord, he desires you, that if the king | |
| | call for him at supper, you will make his excuse. | |
| HELEN | My Lord Pandarus,-- | 75 |
| PANDARUS | What says my sweet queen, my very very sweet queen? | |
| PARIS | What exploit's in hand? where sups he to-night? | |
| HELEN | Nay, but, my lord,-- | |
| PANDARUS | What says my sweet queen? My cousin will fall out | |
| | with you. You must not know where he sups. | 80 |
| PARIS | I'll lay my life, with my disposer Cressida. | |
| PANDARUS | No, no, no such matter; you are wide: come, your | |
| | disposer is sick. | |
| PARIS | Well, I'll make excuse. | |
| PANDARUS | Ay, good my lord. Why should you say Cressida? no, | 85 |
| | your poor disposer's sick. | |
| PARIS | I spy. | |
| PANDARUS | You spy! what do you spy? Come, give me an | |
| | instrument. Now, sweet queen. | |
| HELEN | Why, this is kindly done. | 90 |
| PANDARUS | My niece is horribly in love with a thing you have, | |
| | sweet queen. | |
| HELEN | She shall have it, my lord, if it be not my lord Paris. | |
| PANDARUS | He! no, she'll none of him; they two are twain. | |
| HELEN | Falling in, after falling out, may make them three. | 95 |
| PANDARUS | Come, come, I'll hear no more of this; I'll sing | |
| | you a song now. | |
| HELEN | Ay, ay, prithee now. By my troth, sweet lord, thou | |
| | hast a fine forehead. | |
| PANDARUS | Ay, you may, you may. | 100 |
| HELEN | Let thy song be love: this love will undo us all. | |
| | O Cupid, Cupid, Cupid! | |
| PANDARUS | Love! ay, that it shall, i' faith. | |
| PARIS | Ay, good now, love, love, nothing but love. | |
| PANDARUS | In good troth, it begins so. | 105 |
| | Sings | |
| | Love, love, nothing but love, still more! | |
| | For, O, love's bow | |
| | Shoots buck and doe: | |
| | The shaft confounds, | |
| | Not that it wounds, | 110 |
| | But tickles still the sore. | |
| | These lovers cry Oh! oh! they die! | |
| | Yet that which seems the wound to kill, | |
| | Doth turn oh! oh! to ha! ha! he! | |
| | So dying love lives still: | 115 |
| | Oh! oh! a while, but ha! ha! ha! | |
| | Oh! oh! groans out for ha! ha! ha! | |
| | Heigh-ho! | |
| HELEN | In love, i' faith, to the very tip of the nose. | |
| PARIS | He eats nothing but doves, love, and that breeds hot | 120 |
| | blood, and hot blood begets hot thoughts, and hot | |
| | thoughts beget hot deeds, and hot deeds is love. | |
| PANDARUS | Is this the generation of love? hot blood, hot | |
| | thoughts, and hot deeds? Why, they are vipers: | |
| | is love a generation of vipers? Sweet lord, who's | 125 |
| | a-field to-day? | |
| PARIS | Hector, Deiphobus, Helenus, Antenor, and all the | |
| | gallantry of Troy: I would fain have armed to-day, | |
| | but my Nell would not have it so. How chance my | |
| | brother Troilus went not? | 130 |
| HELEN | He hangs the lip at something: you know all, Lord Pandarus. | |
| PANDARUS | Not I, honey-sweet queen. I long to hear how they | |
| | sped to-day. You'll remember your brother's excuse? | |
| PARIS | To a hair. | |
| PANDARUS | Farewell, sweet queen. | 135 |
| HELEN | Commend me to your niece. | |
| PANDARUS | I will, sweet queen. | |
| | Exit | |
| | A retreat sounded | |
| PARIS | They're come from field: let us to Priam's hall, | |
| | To greet the warriors. Sweet Helen, I must woo you | |
| | To help unarm our Hector: his stubborn buckles, | 140 |
| | With these your white enchanting fingers touch'd, | |
| | Shall more obey than to the edge of steel | |
| | Or force of Greekish sinews; you shall do more | |
| | Than all the island kings,--disarm great Hector. | |
| HELEN | 'Twill make us proud to be his servant, Paris; | 145 |
| | Yea, what he shall receive of us in duty | |
| | Gives us more palm in beauty than we have, | |
| | Yea, overshines ourself. | |
| PARIS | Sweet, above thought I love thee. | |
| | Exeunt | |
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