And say in thunder-Achilles, go to him. [Aside. Ajax. If I go to him, with my arm'd fist I'll pash him Over the face. 4 Agam. O, no, you shall not go. Ajax. An he be proud with me, I'll pheeze his pride:5 Let me go to him. Ulyss. Not for the worth that hangs upon our quarrel. Ajax. A paltry, insolent fellow, Nest. Himself! How he describes [ Aside. I'll pash him Over the face. ] i. e. strike him with violence. So, in The Virgin Martyr, by Massinger, 1623: 66 when the batt'ring ram "Were fetching his career backward, to pash Again, in Churchyard's Challenge, 1596, p. 91: "-the pot which goeth often to the water comes home with a knock, or at length is pashed all to pieces." Reed. 5 pheeze his pride:] To pheeze is to comb or curry. Yohnson. Mr. Steevens has explained the word Feaze, as Dr. Johnson does, to mean the untwisting or unravelling a knotted skain of silk or thread. I recollect no authority for this use of it. To feize is to drive away; and the expression-I'll feize his pride, may signify, I'll humble or lower his pride. See Vol. VI, p. 11, n. 1. Whalley. To comb or curry, undoubtedly, is the meaning of the word here. Kersey, in his Dictionary, 1708, says that it is a sea-term, and that it signifies, to separate a cable by untwisting the ends; and Dr. Johnson gives a similar account of its original meaning. [See the reference at the end of the fore going note.] But whatever may have been the origin of the expression, it undoubtedly signified, in our author's time, to beat, knock, strike, or whip. Cole, in his Latin Dictionary, 1679, renders it, flagellare, virgis cedere, as he does to feage, of which the modern school-boy term, to fag, is a corruption. Malone. 6 Not for the worth-] Not for the value of all for which we are fighting. Johnson. Ajax. I will let his humours blood.? 8 Agam. He'll be physician, that should be the patient. [Aside. Were o' my mind, Ulyss. Ajax. An all men Wit would be out of fashion. [Aside. [Aside. Ajax. He should not bear it so, He should eat swords first: Shall pride carry it? He'd have ten shares. Aside. praises: 9 Pour in, pour in; his ambition is dry. Ulyss. My lord, you feed too much on this dislike. Nest. O noble general, do not do so. [Aside. [TO AGAM. Dio. You must prepare to fight without Achilles. Ulyss. Why, 'tis this naming of him does him harm. Here is a man- -But 'tis before his face; I will be silent. Nest. Wherefore should you so? 7 I will let his humours blood.] In the year 1600 a collection of Epigrams and Satires was published with this quaint title: The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-vaine. Malone. & He'll be physician,] Old copies-the physician. Steevens. 9 I'll knead him, &c.] Old copy: Ajax. I'll knead him, I'll make him supple, he's not yet thorough warm. Nest. force him with praises: &c. The latter part of Ajax's speech is certainly got out of place, and ought to be assigned to Nestor, as I have ventured to transpose it. Ajax is feeding on his vanity, and boasting what he will do to Achilles; he 'll pash him o'er the face, he 'll make him eat swords, he 'll knead him, he 'll supple him, &c. Nestor and Ulysses slily labour to keep him up in this vein; and to this end Nestor craftily hints that Ajax is not warm yet, but must be crammed with more flattery. Theobald. Nestor was of the same opinion with Dr. Johnson, who, speaking of a metaphysical Scotch writer, said, that he thought there was "as much charity in helping a man down hill as up hill, if his tendency be downwards " See Boswell's Tour to the Hebrides, third edit. p. 245. Malone. -- -force him] i. e. stuff him. play: "- malice forced with wit." Farcir, Fr. So again, in this He is not emulous, as Achilles is. Ulyss. Know the whole world, he is as valiant. Ajax. A whoreson dog, that shall palter2 thus with us! I would, he were a Trojan! Nest. Were it in Ajax now Ulyss. What a vice If he were proud? Ay, or surly borne? Dio. Or covetous of praise? Ulyss. Dio. Or strange, or self-affected? Ulyss. Thank the heavens, lord, thou art of sweet composure; Praise him that got thee, she that gave thee suck:3 To sinewy Ajax. I'll not praise thy wisdom, 1 He is not emulous,] Emulous is here used, in an ill sense, for envious. See p. 77, n. 9. Malone. Emulous, in this instance, and perhaps in some others, may well enough be supposed to signify-jealous of higher authority. Steevens. 2 that shall palter-] That shall juggle with us, or fly from his engagements. So, in Julius Cæsar : 3 "Than secret Romans, who have spoke the word, she that gave thee suck:] This is from St. Luke, xi, 27: "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked." Steevens. 4 beyond all erudition:] Thus the folio. The quartos, er roneously: beyond all thy erudition. Steevens. 5 Bull-bearing Milo his addition yield-] i. e. yield his titles, his celebrity for strength. Addition, in legal language, is the title given to each party, showing his degree, occupation, &c. as esquire, gentleman, yeoman, merchant, &c. Our author here, as usual, pays no regard to chronology. Milo of Croton lived long after the Trojan war. Malone. 6 ·like a bourn,] A bourn is a boundary, and sometimes a VOL. XII. I Thy spacious and dilated parts: Here's Nestor,- He must, he is, he cannot but be wise ;— Ajax. Shall I call you father? Nest. Ay, my good son." Dio. Be rul'd by him, lord Ajax. Ulyss. There is no tarrying here; the hart Achilles Keeps thicket. Please it our great general To call together all his state of war; Fresh kings are come to Troy: To-morrow, We must with all our main of power stand fast: Agam. Go we to council. Let Achilles sleep: Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep. [Exeunt. rivulet dividing one place from another. So, in King Lear, Act III, sc. vi: "Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me." See note on this passage. Steevens. * A rivulet is called a burn in Scotland at the present day. Ajax. Shall I call you father? Am. Ed. Nest. Ay, my good son. In the folio and in the modern editions Ajax desires to give the title of father to Ulysses; in the quarto, more naturally, to Nestor. Johnson. Shakspeare had a custom prevalent about his own time in his thoughts. Ben Jonson had many who called themselves his sons. Mr. Vaillant adds, that Cotton dedicated his Treatise on Fishing to his father Walton; and that Ashmole, in his Diary, observesApril 3. Mr. William Backhouse, of Swallowfield, in com. Berks, caused me to call him father thenceforward." Steevens. 8 Fresh kings are come to Troy: &c.] We might complete this imperfect verse by reading: Fresh king's are come to succour Troy: &c. So, Spenser: "To succour the weak state of sad afflicted Troy." draw deep.] So, in the Prologue to this play: the deep-drawing barks." Steevens. Steevens ACT III.....SCENE I. Troy. A Room in Priam's Palace. Enter PANDARUS and a Servant. Pan. Friend! you! pray you, a word: Do not you follow the young lord Paris? Serv. Ay, sir, when he goes before me. Pan. You do depend upon him, I mean? Serv. Sir, I do depend upon the lord. Pan. You do depend upon a noble gentleman; I must needs praise him. Serv. The lord be praised! Pan. You know me, do you not? Serv. 'Faith, sir, superficially. Pan. Friend, know me better; I am the lord Pandarus. Serv. You are in the state of grace. [Musick within. Pan. Grace! not so, friend; honour and lordship are my titles:-What musick is this? Serv. I do but partly know, sir; it is musick in parts. Pan. Know you the musicians? Serv. Wholly, sir. Pan. Who play they to? Serv. To the hearers, sir. Pan. At whose pleasure, friend? Serv. At mine, sir, and theirs that love musick. Pan. Command, I mean, friend. Serv. Who shall I command, sir? Pan. Friend, we understand not one another; I am too courtly, and thou art too cunning: At whose request do these men play? Serv. That's to 't, indeed, sir: Marry, sir, at the request of Paris my lord, who is there in person; with 1 I hope, I shall know your honour better.] The servant means to quibble. He hopes that Pandarus will become a better man than he is at present. In his next speech he chooses to understand Pandarus as if he had said he wished to grow better, and hence the servant affirms that he is in the state of grace. The second of these speeches has been pointed, in the late editions, as if he had asked, of what rank Pandarus was. Malone. |