JULIUS CAESAR. William Shakespeare
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CASSIUS.
I an itching palm!
You know that you are Brutus that speak this,
Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last.
BRUTUS.
The name of Cassius honors this corruption,
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head.
CASSIUS.
Chastisement!
BRUTUS.
Remember March, the Ides of March remember:
Did not great Julius bleed for justice’ sake?
What villain touch’d his body, that did stab,
And not for justice? What! shall one of us,
That struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers,—shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes
And sell the mighty space of our large honours
For so much trash as may be grasped thus?
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,
Than such a Roman.
CASSIUS.
Brutus, bay not me,
I’ll not endure it: you forget yourself,
To hedge me in; I am a soldier, ay,
Older in practice, abler than yourself
To make conditions.
BRUTUS.
Go to; you are not, Cassius.
CASSIUS.
I am.
BRUTUS.
I say you are not.
CASSIUS.
Urge me no more, I shall forget myself;
Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther.
BRUTUS.
Away, slight man!
CASSIUS.
Is’t possible?
BRUTUS.
Hear me, for I will speak.
Must I give way and room to your rash choler?
Shall I be frighted when a madman stares?
CASSIUS.
O gods, ye gods! must I endure all this?
BRUTUS.
All this? ay, more: fret till your proud heart break;
Go show your slaves how choleric you are,
And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge?
Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch
Under your testy humour? By the gods,
You shall digest the venom of your spleen,
Though it do split you; for, from this day forth,
I’ll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter,
When you are waspish.
CASSIUS.
Is it come to this?
BRUTUS.
You say you are a better soldier:
Let it appear so; make your vaunting true,
And it shall please me well: for mine own part,
I shall be glad to learn of abler men.
CASSIUS.
You wrong me every way, you wrong me, Brutus.
I said, an elder soldier, not a better:
Did I say “better”?
BRUTUS.
If you did, I care not.
CASSIUS.
When Caesar lived, he durst not thus have moved me.
BRUTUS.
Peace, peace! you durst not so have tempted him.
CASSIUS.
I durst not?
BRUTUS.
No.
CASSIUS.
What, durst not tempt him?
BRUTUS.
For your life you durst not.
CASSIUS.
Do not presume too much upon my love;
I may do that I shall be sorry for.
BRUTUS.
You have done that you should be sorry for.
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,
For I am arm’d so strong in honesty,
That they pass by me as the idle wind
Which I respect not. I did send to you
For certain sums of gold, which you denied me;—
For I can raise no money by vile means:
By Heaven, I had rather coin my heart,
And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash
By any indirection:—I did send
To you for gold to pay my legions,
Which you denied me: was that done like Cassius?
Should I have answer’d Caius Cassius so?
When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous
To lock such rascal counters from his friends,
Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts,
Dash him to pieces!
CASSIUS.
I denied you not.
BRUTUS.
You did.
CASSIUS.
I did not. He was but a fool
That brought my answer back. Brutus hath rived my heart:
A friend should bear his friend’s infirmities,
But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.
BRUTUS.
I do not, till you practise them on me.
CASSIUS.
You love me not.
BRUTUS.
I do not like your faults.
CASSIUS.
A friendly eye could never see such faults.
BRUTUS.
A flatterer’s would not, though they do appear
As huge as high Olympus.
CASSIUS.
Come, Antony and young Octavius, come,
Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius,
For Cassius is a-weary of the world;
Hated by one he loves; braved by his brother;
Check’d like a bondman; all his faults observed,
Set in a note-book, learn’d and conn’d by rote,
To cast into my teeth. O, I could weep
My spirit from mine eyes!—There is my dagger,
And here my naked breast; within, a heart
Dearer than Plutus’ mine, richer than gold:
If that thou be’st a Roman, take it forth;
I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart:
Strike