The Two Noble Kinsmen (Act 3, Scene 6) | The William Shakespeare Project

PALAMON
[Enter Palamon from the bush.]
About this hour my cousin gave his faith
To visit me again, and with him bring
Two swords and two good armors. If he fail,
He's neither man nor soldier. When he left me,
I did not think a week could have restored
My lost strength to me, I was grown so low
And crestfall'n with my wants. I thank thee, Arcite,
Thou art yet a fair foe, and I feel myself,
With this refreshing, able once again
To outdure danger. To delay it longer
Would make the world think, when it comes to hearing,
That I lay fatting like a swine to fight
And not a soldier. Therefore, this blest morning
Shall be the last; and that sword he refuses,
If it but hold, I kill him with. 'Tis justice.
So, love and fortune for me!

[Enter Arcite with armors and swords.]

O, good morrow.

ARCITE
Good morrow, noble kinsman.

PALAMON
I have put you
To too much pains, sir.

ARCITE
That too much, fair cousin,
Is but a debt to honor and my duty.

PALAMON
Would you were so in all, sir; I could wish you
As kind a kinsman as you force me find
A beneficial foe, that my embraces
Might thank you, not my blows.

ARCITE
I shall think either,
Well done, a noble recompense.

PALAMON
Then I shall quit you.

ARCITE
Defy me in these fair terms, and you show
More than a mistress to me. No more anger,
As you love anything that's honorable!
We were not bred to talk, man; when we are armed
And both upon our guards, then let our fury,
Like meeting of two tides, fly strongly from us,
And then to whom the birthright of this beauty
Truly pertains--without upbraidings, scorns,
Despisings of our persons, and such poutings,
Fitter for girls and schoolboys--will be seen,
And quickly, yours or mine. Will 't please you arm, sir?
Or if you feel yourself not fitting yet
And furnished with your old strength, I'll stay, cousin,
And ev'ry day discourse you into health,
As I am spared. Your person I am friends with,
And I could wish I had not said I loved her,
Though I had died. But loving such a lady,
And justifying my love, I must not fly from 't.

PALAMON
Arcite, thou art so brave an enemy
That no man but thy cousin's fit to kill thee.
I am well and lusty. Choose your arms.

ARCITE
Choose you, sir.

PALAMON
Wilt thou exceed in all, or dost thou do it
To make me spare thee?

ARCITE
If you think so, cousin,
You are deceived, for as I am a soldier,
I will not spare you.

PALAMON
That's well said.

ARCITE
You'll find it.

PALAMON
Then, as I am an honest man and love
With all the justice of affection,
I'll pay thee soundly.

[He chooses armor.]

This I'll take.

ARCITE
[taking the other]
That's mine, then.
I'll arm you first.

PALAMON
Do.

[Arcite begins arming him.]

Pray thee tell me, cousin,
Where got'st thou this good armor?

ARCITE
'Tis the Duke's,
And to say true, I stole it. Do I pinch you?

PALAMON
No.

ARCITE
Is 't not too heavy?

PALAMON
I have worn a lighter,
But I shall make it serve.

ARCITE
I'll buckle 't close.

PALAMON
By any means.

ARCITE
You care not for a grand guard?

PALAMON
No, no, we'll use no horses. I perceive
You would fain be at that fight.

ARCITE
I am indifferent.

PALAMON
Faith, so am I. Good cousin, thrust the buckle
Through far enough.

ARCITE
I warrant you.

PALAMON
My casque now.

ARCITE
Will you fight bare-armed?

PALAMON
We shall be the nimbler.

ARCITE
But use your gauntlets though. Those are o' th' least.
Prithee take mine, good cousin.

PALAMON
Thank you, Arcite.
How do I look? Am I fall'n much away?

ARCITE
Faith, very little; love has used you kindly.

PALAMON
I'll warrant thee, I'll strike home.

ARCITE
Do, and spare not.
I'll give you cause, sweet cousin.

PALAMON
Now to you, sir.

[He begins to arm Arcite.]

Methinks this armor's very like that, Arcite,
Thou wor'st that day the three kings fell, but lighter.

ARCITE
That was a very good one, and that day,
I well remember, you outdid me, cousin.
I never saw such valor. When you charged
Upon the left wing of the enemy,
I spurred hard to come up, and under me
I had a right good horse.

PALAMON
You had, indeed;
A bright bay, I remember.

ARCITE
Yes, but all
Was vainly labored in me; you outwent me,
Nor could my wishes reach you; yet a little
I did by imitation.

PALAMON
More by virtue;
You are modest, cousin.

ARCITE
When I saw you charge first,
Methought I heard a dreadful clap of thunder
Break from the troop.

PALAMON
But still before that flew
The lightning of your valor. Stay a little;
Is not this piece too strait?

ARCITE
No, no, 'tis well.

PALAMON
I would have nothing hurt thee but my sword.
A bruise would be dishonor.

ARCITE
Now I am perfect.

PALAMON
Stand off, then.

ARCITE
Take my sword; I hold it better.

PALAMON
I thank you, no; keep it; your life lies on it.
Here's one; if it but hold, I ask no more
For all my hopes. My cause and honor guard me!

ARCITE
And me my love!

[They bow several ways, then advance and stand.]

Is there aught else to say?

PALAMON
This only, and no more: thou art mine aunt's son.
And that blood we desire to shed is mutual--
In me thine, and in thee mine. My sword
Is in my hand, and if thou kill'st me,
The gods and I forgive thee. If there be
A place prepared for those that sleep in honor,
I wish his weary soul that falls may win it.
Fight bravely, cousin. Give me thy noble hand.

ARCITE
[as they shake hands]
Here, Palamon. This hand shall never more
Come near thee with such friendship.

PALAMON
I commend thee.

ARCITE
If I fall, curse me, and say I was a coward,
For none but such dare die in these just trials.
Once more farewell, my cousin.

PALAMON
Farewell, Arcite.

[Fight.]
[Horns within. They stand.]

ARCITE
Lo, cousin, lo, our folly has undone us!

PALAMON
Why?

ARCITE
This is the Duke, a-hunting, as I told you.
If we be found, we are wretched. O, retire,
For honor's sake, and safely, presently
Into your bush again. Sir, we shall find
Too many hours to die in. Gentle cousin,
If you be seen, you perish instantly
For breaking prison, and I, if you reveal me,
For my contempt. Then all the world will scorn us,
And say we had a noble difference,
But base disposers of it.

PALAMON
No, no, cousin,
I will no more be hidden, nor put off
This great adventure to a second trial.
I know your cunning, and I know your cause.
He that faints now, shame take him! Put thyself
Upon thy present guard--

ARCITE
You are not mad?

PALAMON
Or I will make th' advantage of this hour
Mine own, and what to come shall threaten me
I fear less than my fortune. Know, weak cousin,
I love Emilia, and in that I'll bury
Thee and all crosses else.

ARCITE
Then come what can come,
Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well
Die as discourse or sleep. Only this fears me:
The law will have the honor of our ends.
Have at thy life!

PALAMON
Look to thine own well, Arcite.

[Fight again.]
[Horns. Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Emilia, Pirithous and train.]

THESEUS
What ignorant and mad malicious traitors
Are you, that 'gainst the tenor of my laws
Are making battle, thus like knights appointed,
Without my leave and officers of arms?
By Castor, both shall die.

PALAMON
Hold thy word, Theseus.
We are certainly both traitors, both despisers
Of thee and of thy goodness. I am Palamon,
That cannot love thee, he that broke thy prison.
Think well what that deserves. And this is Arcite.
A bolder traitor never trod thy ground,
A falser ne'er seemed friend. This is the man
Was begged and banished; this is he contemns thee
And what thou dar'st do; and in this disguise,
Against thine own edict, follows thy sister,
That fortunate bright star, the fair Emilia,
Whose servant--if there be a right in seeing
And first bequeathing of the soul to--justly
I am; and, which is more, dares think her his.
This treachery, like a most trusty lover,
I called him now to answer. If thou be'st
As thou art spoken, great and virtuous,
The true decider of all injuries,
Say "Fight again," and thou shalt see me, Theseus,
Do such a justice thou thyself wilt envy.
Then take my life; I'll woo thee to 't.

PIRITHOUS
O heaven,
What more than man is this!

THESEUS
I have sworn.

ARCITE
We seek not
Thy breath of mercy, Theseus. 'Tis to me
A thing as soon to die as thee to say it,
And no more moved. Where this man calls me traitor,
Let me say thus much: if in love be treason,
In service of so excellent a beauty,
As I love most, and in that faith will perish,
As I have brought my life here to confirm it,
As I have served her truest, worthiest,
As I dare kill this cousin that denies it,
So let me be most traitor, and you please me.
For scorning thy edict, duke, ask that lady
Why she is fair, and why her eyes command me
Stay here to love her; and if she say "traitor,"
I am a villain fit to lie unburied.

PALAMON
Thou shalt have pity of us both, O Theseus,
If unto neither thou show mercy. Stop,
As thou art just, thy noble ear against us;
As thou art valiant, for thy cousin's soul,
Whose twelve strong labors crown his memory,
Let's die together at one instant, duke;
Only a little let him fall before me,
That I may tell my soul he shall not have her.

THESEUS
I grant your wish, for to say true, your cousin
Has ten times more offended, for I gave him
More mercy than you found, sir, your offenses
Being no more than his.--None here speak for 'em,
For ere the sun set both shall sleep forever.

HIPPOLYTA
Alas, the pity! Now or never, sister,
Speak not to be denied. That face of yours
Will bear the curses else of after ages
For these lost cousins.

EMILIA
In my face, dear sister,
I find no anger to 'em, nor no ruin.
The misadventure of their own eyes kill 'em.
Yet that I will be woman and have pity,
My knees shall grow to th' ground but I'll get mercy.

[She kneels.]

Help me, dear sister; in a deed so virtuous,
The powers of all women will be with us.

[Hippolyta kneels.]

Most royal brother--

HIPPOLYTA
Sir, by our tie of marriage--

EMILIA
By your own spotless honor--

HIPPOLYTA
By that faith,
That fair hand, and that honest heart you gave me--

EMILIA
By that you would have pity in another;
By your own virtues infinite--

HIPPOLYTA
By valor;
By all the chaste nights I have ever pleased you--

THESEUS
These are strange conjurings.

PIRITHOUS
Nay, then, I'll in too.

[He kneels.]

By all our friendship, sir, by all our dangers;
By all you love most, wars and this sweet lady--

EMILIA
By that you would have trembled to deny
A blushing maid--

THESEUS
By your own eyes; by strength,
In which you swore I went beyond all women,
Almost all men, and yet I yielded, Theseus--

PIRITHOUS
To crown all this: by your most noble soul,
Which cannot want due mercy, I beg first--

HIPPOLYTA
Next hear my prayers--

EMILIA
Last let me entreat, sir--

PIRITHOUS
For mercy.

HIPPOLYTA
Mercy.

EMILIA
Mercy on these princes.

THESEUS
You make my faith reel.

[(To Emilia.)]

Say I felt
Compassion to 'em both, how would you place it?

[They rise from their knees.]

EMILIA
Upon their lives, but with their banishments.

THESEUS
You are a right woman, sister: you have pity,
But want the understanding where to use it.
If you desire their lives, invent a way
Safer than banishment. Can these two live,
And have the agony of love about 'em,
And not kill one another? Every day
They'd fight about you, hourly bring your honor
In public question with their swords. Be wise, then,
And here forget 'em; it concerns your credit
And my oath equally. I have said they die.
Better they fall by th' law than one another.
Bow not my honor.

EMILIA
O, my noble brother,
That oath was rashly made, and in your anger;
Your reason will not hold it. If such vows
Stand for express will, all the world must perish.
Besides, I have another oath 'gainst yours,
Of more authority, I am sure more love,
Not made in passion neither, but good heed.

THESEUS
What is it, sister?

PIRITHOUS
Urge it home, brave lady.

EMILIA
That you would ne'er deny me anything
Fit for my modest suit and your free granting.
I tie you to your word now; if you fail in 't,
Think how you maim your honor--
For now I am set a-begging, sir, I am deaf
To all but your compassion--how their lives
Might breed the ruin of my name. Opinion!
Shall anything that loves me perish for me?
That were a cruel wisdom. Do men prune
The straight young boughs that blush with thousand
blossoms
Because they may be rotten? O, Duke Theseus,
The goodly mothers that have groaned for these,
And all the longing maids that ever loved,
If your vow stand, shall curse me and my beauty,
And in their funeral songs for these two cousins
Despise my cruelty, and cry woe worth me,
Till I am nothing but the scorn of women.
For heaven's sake, save their lives, and banish 'em.

THESEUS
On what conditions?

EMILIA
Swear 'em never more
To make me their contention, or to know me,
To tread upon thy dukedom, and to be,
Wherever they shall travel, ever strangers
To one another.

PALAMON
I'll be cut a-pieces
Before I take this oath! Forget I love her?
O, all you gods, despise me then! Thy banishment
I not mislike, so we may fairly carry
Our swords and cause along; else never trifle,
But take our lives, duke. I must love, and will,
And for that love must and dare kill this cousin
On any piece the Earth has.

THESEUS
Will you, Arcite,
Take these conditions?

PALAMON
He's a villain, then.

PIRITHOUS
These are men!

ARCITE
No, never, duke. 'Tis worse to me than begging
To take my life so basely; though I think
I never shall enjoy her, yet I'll preserve
The honor of affection, and die for her,
Make death a devil!

THESEUS
What may be done? For now I feel compassion.

PIRITHOUS
Let it not fall again, sir.

THESEUS
Say, Emilia,
If one of them were dead, as one must, are you
Content to take th' other to your husband?
They cannot both enjoy you. They are princes
As goodly as your own eyes, and as noble
As ever fame yet spoke of. Look upon 'em,
And, if you can love, end this difference.
I give consent.--Are you content too, princes?

"Both"
With all our souls.

THESEUS
He that she refuses
Must die then.

"Both"
Any death thou canst invent, duke.

PALAMON
If I fall from that mouth, I fall with favor,
And lovers yet unborn shall bless my ashes.

ARCITE
If she refuse me, yet my grave will wed me,
And soldiers sing my epitaph.

THESEUS
[to Emilia]
Make choice, then.

EMILIA
I cannot, sir; they are both too excellent.
For me, a hair shall never fall of these men.

HIPPOLYTA
What will become of 'em?

THESEUS
Thus I ordain it--
And, by mine honor, once again, it stands,
Or both shall die: you shall both to your country,
And each within this month, accompanied
With three fair knights, appear again in this place,
In which I'll plant a pyramid; and whether,
Before us that are here, can force his cousin
By fair and knightly strength to touch the pillar,
He shall enjoy her; the other lose his head,
And all his friends; nor shall he grudge to fall,
Nor think he dies with interest in this lady.
Will this content you?

PALAMON
Yes.--Here, Cousin Arcite,
I am friends again till that hour.

[He offers his hand.]

ARCITE
I embrace you.

[They shake hands.]

THESEUS
Are you content, sister?

EMILIA
Yes, I must, sir,
Else both miscarry.

THESEUS
[to Palamon and Arcite]
Come, shake hands again, then,
And take heed, as you are gentlemen, this quarrel
Sleep till the hour prefixed, and hold your course.

PALAMON
We dare not fail thee, Theseus.

[They shake hands again.]

THESEUS
Come, I'll give you
Now usage like to princes and to friends.
When you return, who wins I'll settle here;
Who loses, yet I'll weep upon his bier.

[They exit.]

The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613)

Act III, Scene 6

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