|
A field of battle. |
A battlefield. |
|
Alarum as in battle. Enter, from opposite sides, MARTIUS and AUFIDIUS |
A trumpet sounds from the battle. MARTIUS and AUFIDIUS enter from opposite sides. |
|
MARTIUS
I’ll fight with none but thee; for I do hate thee Worse than a promise-breaker. |
MARTIUS
I’ll fight only against you, because I hate you worse than a traitor. |
|
AUFIDIUS
We hate alike: Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot. |
AUFIDIUS
We feel the same hatred. There’s not a snake in Africa that I hate more than your fame and envy. Prepare to fight. |
|
MARTIUS
Let the first budger die the other’s slave, And the gods doom him after! |
MARTIUS
Whoever runs away from this fight first must become the other’s slave until death, and after that may the gods curse him! |
|
AUFIDIUS
If I fly, Martius, Holloa me like a hare. |
AUFIDIUS
If I run, Martius, hunt me like a hare. |
|
MARTIUS
Within these three hours, Tullus, Alone I fought in your Corioli walls, And made what work I pleased: ’tis not my blood Wherein thou seest me mask’d; for thy revenge Wrench up thy power to the highest. |
MARTIUS
Less than three hours ago, Tullus, I fought alone inside the walls of Corioles, and I killed whoever I wanted. It’s not my own blood you see me covered in. For your revenge, fight me with your fullest force. |
|
AUFIDIUS
Wert thou the Hector That was the whip of your bragg’d progeny, Thou shouldst not scape me here. |
AUFIDIUS
If you’re anything like Hector, the failed champion of your ancestors whom you’re so proud of, you won’t escape me here. |
|
They fight, and certain Volsces come to the aid of AUFIDIUS. MARTIUS fights till they be driven in breathless |
They fight, and some Volsces come to the aid of AUFIDIUS. MARTIUS fights until they’re out of breath. |
|
Officious, and not valiant, you have shamed me In your condemned seconds. |
You’re intrusive, not brave. You’ve shamed me with your assistance, and I condemn you for it. |
|
Exeunt |
All exit. |