ACT III. SCENE I. A publick Place. Enter MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO, Page, and Servants. BEN. I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire; The day is hot, the Capulets abroad, 6 And, if we meet, we shall not 'scape a brawl; MER. Thou art like one of those fellows, that, when he enters the confines of a tavern, claps me his sword upon the table, and says, God send me no need of thee! and, by the operation of the second cup, draws it on the drawer, when, indeed, there is no need. BEN. Am I like such a fellow? MER. Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood as any in Italy; and as soon moved to be moody, and as soon moody to be moved. BEN. And what to? MER. Nay, an there were two such, we should have none shortly, for one would kill the other. 6 The day is hot,] It is observed, that, in Italy, almost all assassinations are committed during the heat of summer. JOHNSON. In Sir Thomas Smith's Commonwealth of England, 1583, B. II. c. xix. p. 70, it is said—" And commonly every yeere or each second yeere in the beginning of sommer or afterwards (for in the warme time the people for the most part be more unruly) even in the calm time of peace, the prince with his counsell chooseth out," &c. REED. Thou! why thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more, or a hair less, in his beard, than thou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having no other reason but because thou hast hazel eyes; What eye, but such an eye, would spy out such a quarrel? Thy head is as full of quarrels, as an egg is full of meat; and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg, for quarrelling. Thou hast quarrelled with a man for coughing in the street, because he hath wakened thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun. Didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter? with another, for tying his new shoes with old ribband? and yet thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling!7 BEN. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man should buy the fee-simple of my life for an hour and a quarter. 7 MER. The fee-simple? O simple ! 8 Enter TYBALT, and Others. BEN. By my head, here come the Capulets. Thou wilt thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling!] endeavour to restrain me, by prudential advice, from quarrelling. Thus the quarto, 1599, and the folio. The quarto, 1597, reads-thou wilt forbid me of quarrelling. The modern editions, after Mr. Pope, read-Thou wilt tutor me for quarrelling. MALONE. * An I were so apt &c.] These two speeches have been added since the first quarto, together with some few circumstances in the rest of the scene, as well as in the ensuing one. STEEVENS. TYB. Follow me close, for I will speak to them." -Gentlemen, good den: a word with one of you. MER. And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something; make it a word and a blow. TYB. You will find me apt enough to that, sir, you will give me occasion. if MER. Could you not take some occasion without giving? TYB. Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo, MER. Consort! what, dost thou make us minstrels? an thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords: here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall make you dance. 'Zounds, consort! BEN. We talk here in the publick haunt of men: Either withdraw into some private place, Or reason coldly of your grievances, Or else depart; here all eyes gaze on us. MER. Men's eyes were made to look, and let them gaze; I will not budge for no man's pleasure, I. Follow me close, for I will speak to them.] In the original copy this line is not found, Tybalt entering alone. In that of 1599 we find this stage-direction: "Enter Tybalt, Petruchio, and others;" and the above line is inserted; but I strongly suspect it to be an interpolation: for would Tybalt's partizans suffer him to be killed without taking part in the affray? That they do not join in it, appears from the account given by Benvolio. In the original copy Benvolio says, on the entrance of Tybalt, "By my head, here comes a Capulet." Instead of the two latter words, we have in the quarto 1599, the Capulets. MALONE. Mr. Malone forgets that, even in his own edition of this play, Tybalt is not killed while his partisans are on the stage. They go out with him after he has wounded Mercutio; and he himself re-enters, unattended, when he fights with Romeo. STEEVENS. Enter ROMEO. TYB. Well, peace be with you, sir! here comes my man. MER. But I'll be hanged, sir, if he wear your livery: Marry, go before to field, he'll be your follower; Your worship, in that sense, may call him—man. 2 TYB. Romeo, the hate I bear thee, can afford No better term than this-Thou art a villain. ROM. Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee Doth much excuse the appertaining råge To such a greeting:-Villain am I none; Therefore farewell; I see, thou know'st me not. TYB. Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries That thou hast done me; therefore turn, and draw. ROM. I do protest, I never injur'd thee; But love thee better than thou canst devise, Till thou shalt know the reason of my love: And so, good Capulet,-which name I tender As dearly as mine own,-be satisfied. MER. O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! A la stoccata3 carries it away. Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk? 2 [Draws. TYB. What would'st thou have with me? the hate I bear thee,] So the quarto 1597. The subsequent ancient copies have the love, &c. MALONE. 3 A la stoccata-] Stoccata is the Italian term for a thrust or stab with a rapier. So, in The Devil's Charter, 1607: "He makes a thrust; I with a swift passado "Make quick avoidance, and with this stoccata," &c. STEEVENS. MER. Good king of cats,* nothing, but one of your nine lives; that I mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter, dry-beat the rest of the eight. Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? 5 make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out, TYB. I am for you. [Drawing. ROM. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up. MER. Come, sir, your passado. [They fight. ROM. Draw, Benvolio; Beat down their weapons:-Gentlemen, for shame MER. I am hurt; A plague o'both the houses!-I am sped: BEN, What, art thou hurt? * Good king of cats,] Alluding to his name. See p. 104, n. 4. MALONE. Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears?] We should read pilche, which signifies a cloke or coat of skins, meaning the scabbard. WARburton.、 The old quarto reads scabbard. Dr. Warburton's explanation is, I believe, just. Nash, in Pierce Pennyless his Supplication, 1595, speaks of a carman in a leather pilche. Again, in Decker's Sutiromastix, 1602: "I'll beat five pounds out of his leather pilch." Again, “Thou hast forgot how thou ambled'st in a leather pilch, by a play-waggon in the highway, and took'st mad Jeronimo's part, to get service among the mimicks." It appears from this passage, that Ben Jonson acted the part of Hieronimo in the Spanish tragedy, the speech being addressed to Horace, under which character old Ben is ridiculed. STEEVENS. |