Part 44

Troy. Aiax hath ta’en Æneas. Shall it be? No, by the flame of yonder glorious heaven, He shall not carry him; I’ll be ta’en too, Or bring him off. Fate, hear me what I say: I reck not though thou end my life to-day. Exit

Enter one in armour

Hect. Stand, stand, thou Greek; thou art a goodly mark. No? wilt thou not? I like thy armour well; I’ll frush it and unlock the rivets all But I’ll be master of it. Wilt thou not, beast, abide? Why then, fly on; I’ll hunt thee for thy hide. Exeunt

Enter Achilles, with Myrmidons

Achil. Come here about me, you my Myrmidons; Mark what I say. Attend me where I wheel; Strike not a stroke, but keep yourselves in breath; And when I have the bloody Hector found, Empale him with your weapons round about; In fellest manner execute your arms. Follow me, sirs, and my proceedings eye. It is decreed Hector the great must die. Exeunt

Enter Menelaus and Paris, fighting; then Thersites

Ther. The cuckold and the cuckold-maker are at it. Now, bull! now, dog! ’Loo, Paris, ’loo! now my double-horn’d Spartan! ’loo, Paris, ’loo! The bull has the game. Ware horns, ho! Exeunt Paris and Menelaus

Enter Bastard

Baſt. Turn, slave, and fight.

Ther. What art thou?

Baſt. A bastard son of Priam’s.

Ther. I am a bastard too; I love bastards. I am a bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valour, in everything illegitimate. One bear will not bite another, and wherefore should one bastard? Take heed, the quarrel’s most ominous to us: if the son of a whore fight for a whore, he tempts judgement. Farewell, bastard. Exit

Baſt. The devil take thee, coward! Exit

Enter Hector

Hect. Most putrified core so fair without, Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life. Now is my day’s work done; I’ll take good breath: Rest, sword; thou hast thy fill of blood and death! [Disarms]

Enter Achilles and his Myrmidons

Achil. Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set; How ugly night comes breathing at his heels; Even with the vail and dark’ning of the sun, To close the day up, Hector’s life is done.

Hect. I am unarm’d; forego this vantage, Greek.

Achil. Strike, fellows, strike; this is the man I seek. [Hector falls] So, Ilion, fall thou next! Come, Troy, sink down; Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone. On, Myrmidons, and cry you an amain ‘Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.’ [A retreat sounded] Hark! a retire upon our Grecian part.

Gree. The Troian trumpets sound the like, my lord.

Achil. The dragon wing of night o’erspreads the earth And, stickler-like, the armies separates. My half-supp’d sword, that frankly would have fed, Pleas’d with this dainty bait, thus goes to bed. [Sheathes his sword] Come, tie his body to my horse’s tail; Along the field I will the Troian trail. Exeunt

Sound retreat. Shout. Enter Agamemnon, Aiax, Menelaus, Nestor, Diomedes, and the rest, marching

Agam. Hark! hark! what shout is this?

Nestor. Peace, drums!

Sold. [Within] Achilles! Achilles! Hector’s slain. Achilles!

Diom. The bruit is Hector’s slain, and by Achilles.

Aiax. If it be so, yet bragless let it be; Great Hector was as good a man as he.

Agam. March patiently along. Let one be sent To pray Achilles see us at our tent. If in his death the gods have us befriended; Great Troy is ours, and our sharp wars are ended. Exeunt