Alarum. A retreat is sounded. Flourish. Enter, at one
door, Cominius with the Romans; at another door
Martius, with his arm in a scarf. COMINIUS, to Martius If I should tell thee o’er this thy day’s work,
Thou ’t not believe thy deeds. But I’ll report it
Where senators shall mingle tears with smiles;
Where great patricians shall attend and shrug,
I’ th’ end admire; where ladies shall be frighted 5
And, gladly quaked, hear more; where the dull
tribunes,
That with the fusty plebeians hate thine honors,
Shall say against their hearts “We thank the gods
Our Rome hath such a soldier.” 10
Yet cam’st thou to a morsel of this feast,
Having fully dined before. Enter Titus Lartius with his power, from the pursuit. LARTIUS O general,
Here is the steed, we the caparison.
Hadst thou beheld— 15 MARTIUS Pray now, no more. My mother,
Who has a charter to extol her blood,
When she does praise me grieves me. I have done
As you have done—that’s what I can;
Induced as you have been—that’s for my country. 20He that has but effected his good will
Hath overta’en mine act. COMINIUS You shall not be
The grave of your deserving. Rome must know
The value of her own. ’Twere a concealment 25
Worse than a theft, no less than a traducement,
To hide your doings and to silence that
Which, to the spire and top of praises vouched,
Would seem but modest. Therefore, I beseech you—
In sign of what you are, not to reward 30
What you have done—before our army hear me. MARTIUS
I have some wounds upon me, and they smart
To hear themselves remembered. COMINIUS Should they not,
Well might they fester ’gainst ingratitude 35
And tent themselves with death. Of all the horses—
Whereof we have ta’en good and good store—of all
The treasure in this field achieved and city,
We render you the tenth, to be ta’en forth
Before the common distribution 40
At your only choice. MARTIUS I thank you, general,
But cannot make my heart consent to take
A bribe to pay my sword. I do refuse it
And stand upon my common part with those 45
That have beheld the doing. | As the scene opens, the Romans are celebrating their victory with flying chest bumps and stuff. Caius Martius is super embarrassed by all the attention and refuses to take his share (one tenth) of the war spoils. |
A long flourish. They all cry “Martius, Martius!”
and cast up their caps and lances.
Cominius and Lartius stand bare. May these same instruments, which you profane,
Never sound more! When drums and trumpets shall
I’ th’ field prove flatterers, let courts and cities be
Made all of false-faced soothing! When steel grows 50
Soft as the parasite’s silk, let him be made
An ovator for th’ wars! No more, I say.
For that I have not washed my nose that bled,
Or foiled some debile wretch—which, without note,
Here’s many else have done—you shout me forth 55
In acclamations hyperbolical,
As if I loved my little should be dieted
In praises sauced with lies. | This, of course, makes him an even bigger rock-star. While the crowd of
soldiers cheers him on, Martius gives a modest little victory speech
about how he was just doing his military duty. |
COMINIUS Too modest are you,
More cruel to your good report than grateful 60
To us that give you truly. By your patience,
If ’gainst yourself you be incensed, we’ll put you,
Like one that means his proper harm, in manacles,
Then reason safely with you. Therefore be it known,
As to us to all the world, that Caius Martius 65
Wears this war’s garland, in token of the which
My noble steed, known to the camp, I give him,
With all his trim belonging. And from this time,
For what he did before Corioles, call him,
With all th’ applause and clamor of the host, 70
Martius Caius Coriolanus! Bear
Th’ addition nobly ever! Flourish. Trumpets sound, and drums. ALL
Martius Caius Coriolanus! | Cominius declares that Caius Martius is so getting a new nickname name for his service to Rome. From here on out, he'll be called "Caius Martius Coriolanus." You know, after the city he just destroyed. (Ah ha! Now we know why this play is titled Coriolanus.) |
CORIOLANUS I will go wash;
And when my face is fair, you shall perceive 75
Whether I blush or no. Howbeit, I thank you.
I mean to stride your steed and at all times
To undercrest your good addition
To th’ fairness of my power. COMINIUS So, to our tent, 80
Where, ere we do repose us, we will write
To Rome of our success.—You, Titus Lartius,
Must to Corioles back. Send us to Rome
The best, with whom we may articulate
For their own good and ours. 85 LARTIUS I shall, my lord. CORIOLANUS
The gods begin to mock me. I, that now
Refused most princely gifts, am bound to beg
Of my lord general. COMINIUS Take ’t, ’tis yours. What is ’t? 90 CORIOLANUS
I sometime lay here in Corioles
At a poor man’s house; he used me kindly.
He cried to me; I saw him prisoner;
But then Aufidius was within my view,
And wrath o’erwhelmed my pity. I request you 95
To give my poor host freedom. COMINIUS O, well begged!
Were he the butcher of my son, he should
Be free as is the wind.—Deliver him, Titus. LARTIUS
Martius, his name? 100 CORIOLANUS By Jupiter, forgot!
I am weary; yea, my memory is tired.
Have we no wine here? COMINIUS Go we to our tent.
The blood upon your visage dries; ’tis time 105
It should be looked to. Come. A flourish of cornets. They exit. | Caius Martius Coriolanus says he really wants to help out a Volscian guy (some poor plebian) who was nice to him during his stay in Corioles. The only problem is, he can't remember the dude's name. Then he's all, "Oops! Oh, well" and runs off to wash all the sticky blood from his face. |