The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (799 page)

COMINIUS.

Come, sir, let’s go.

Come, sir, along with us.

CORIOLANUS.

I wish they were foreigners (and they act like it!

I would they were barbarians,--as they are,

though they were born in Rome), not Romans (which they wouldn’t be

Though in Rome litter'd,--not Romans,--as they are not,

even if they were born inside the Capitol itself).

Though calv'd i' the porch o' the Capitol.

MENENIUS.

Go away.

Be gone;

Don’t vent your rage in words right now.

Put not your worthy rage into your tongue;

Another time you’ll be able to make up for this.

One time will owe another.

CORIOLANUS.

On even ground

On fair ground

I could beat forty of them.

I could beat forty of them.

MENENIUS.

I could myself

I could myself

take on a pair of the best of them—yes, the two tribunes.

Take up a brace o' the best of them; yea, the two tribunes.

COMINIUS.

But now the odds are against us so bad I can’t calculate our disadvantage.

But now 'tis odds beyond arithmetic;

And courage is called stupidity when it holds its ground

And manhood is call'd foolery when it stands  

in a collapsing building. Will you leave

Against a falling fabric.--Will you hence,

before the mob returns? Their rage is like a

Before the tag return? whose rage doth rend

suddenly flooded stream

Like interrupted waters, and o'erbear

that will burst its dam.

What they are used to bear.

MENENIUS.

Please go.

Pray you be gone:

I’ll see if my good judgment will be listened to  

I'll try whether my old wit be in request

by those that have none. This thing has to settled

With those that have but little: this must be patch'd

by any means necessary.

With cloth of any colour.

COMINIUS.

No, come away with us.

Nay, come away.

[Exeunt CORIOLANUS, COMINIUS, and others.]

FIRST PATRICIAN.

Coriolanus has ruined his good luck.

This man has marr'd his fortune.

MENENIUS.

He is just too noble for the world.

His nature is too noble for the world:

He wouldn’t flatter the god of the sea even if threatened with death,

He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,

of the god of thunder even if he were going to be zapped. He speaks his mind.

Or Jove for's power to thunder. His heart's his mouth:

What ever he feels, he has to say.

What his breast forges, that his tongue must vent;

And when he’s angry he loses

And, being angry, does forget that ever

all fear of death.

He heard the name of death.

[A noise within.]

Here comes good news!

Here's goodly work!

SECOND PATRICIAN.

I wish they would go to bed!

I would they were a-bed!

MENENIUS.

I wish they would drown in the river!

I would they were in Tiber!  

What the hell, couldn’t he be nice for once?

What the vengeance, could he not speak 'em fair?

[Re-enter BRUTUS and SICINIUS, with the rabble.]

SICINIUS.

Where is that snake,

Where is this viper

That would depopulate the city and

That would depopulate the city and

Be every man himself?

Be every man himself?

MENENIUS.

Good tribunes—

You worthy tribunes,--

SICINIUS.

He will be thrown off the cliff

He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian rock

with severe hands. He has broken the law, and resisted arrest,

With rigorous hands: he hath resisted law,

and therefore the law will not give him a trial

And therefore law shall scorn him further trial

other than the judgment of the people,

Than the severity of the public power,

which he thinks is worth nothing.

Which he so sets at nought.

FIRST CITIZEN.

He will learn that

He shall well know

the tribunes are the voice of the people,

The noble tribunes are the people's mouths,

and we do what they say.

And we their hands.

CITIZENS.

He certainly will.

He shall, sure on't.

MENENIUS.

Sir, sir—

Sir, sir,--

SICINIUS.

Quiet!

Peace!

MENENIUS.

Do not use excessive force when

Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt  

you shouldn’t.

With modest warrant.

SICINIUS.

Sir, why did you

Sir, how comes't that you

help to let him escape from legal custody?

Have holp to make this rescue?

MENENIUS.

Listen to me:

Hear me speak:--

Though I know the consul good qualities,

As I do know the consul's worthiness,

I can also list his flaws—

So can I name his faults,--

SICINIUS.

Consul! What consul?

Consul!--what consul?

MENENIUS.

The consul Coriolanus.

The consul Coriolanus.

BRUTUS.

Is he a consul?

He consul!

CITIZENS.

No, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no.

MENENIUS.

If the tribunes and the people

If, by the tribunes' leave, and yours, good people,

will listen to me for a minute, I have something to say

I may be heard, I would crave a word or two;

which won’t cause you any further harm

The which shall turn you to no further harm

except the waste of your time.

Than so much loss of time.

SICINIUS.

Speak quickly, then,

Speak briefly, then;

because we are absolutely determined to kill

For we are peremptory to dispatch

that poisonous traitor. To exile him

This viperous traitor: to eject him hence

will leave the danger of his violent return, and to keep him here

Were but one danger; and to keep him here

will mean our certain death. Therefore it is decided:

Our certain death: therefore it is decreed

he dies tonight.

He dies to-night.  

MENENIUS.

It would be a sin

Now the good gods forbid

for Rome, whose gratitude

That our renowned Rome, whose gratitude

towards her deserving citizens is

Towards her deserved children is enroll'd

famous, to eat her own pup

In Jove's own book, like an unnatural dam

like a deranged bitch!

Should now eat up her own!

SICINIUS.

He’s a disease that must be cut out.

He's a disease that must be cut away.

MENENIUS.

He’s like a leg that just has a minor disease:

O, he's a limb that has but a disease;

it would be fatal to cut it off, and easy to cure it.

Mortal, to cut it off; to cure it, easy.

What has he done to Rome that's worthy of death?

What has he done to Rome that's worthy death?

Killing our enemies, the blood he has lost

Killing our enemies, the blood he hath lost,--

(which I bet is many ounces more than he has in his veins),

Which I dare vouch is more than that he hath

he lost for his country.

By many an ounce,--he dropt it for his country;

And if his own country were to make him loose the blood he has left

And what is left, to lose it by his country

would make all of us who did it and allowed it

Were to us all, that do't and suffer it

guilty until the end of the world.

A brand to the end o' the world.

SICINIUS.

That is completely wrong.

This is clean kam.

BRUTUS.

Entirely wrong. When he loved his country,

Merely awry: when he did love his country,

it honored him.

It honour'd him.

MENENIUS.

A foot,

The service of the foot,

after its been infected with disease, is no longer respected

Being once gangren'd, is not then respected  

for what it once was.

For what before it was.

BRUTUS.

We won’t hear any more of this.

We'll hear no more.—

Go arrest him at his house,

Pursue him to his house, and pluck him thence;

and so keep his nasty, contagious ideas

Lest his infection, being of catching nature,

from spreading further.

Spread further.

MENENIUS.

Let me say one more thing.

One word more, one word.

This fast-moving rage, when it finds out

This tiger-footed rage, when it shall find

the danger of unconsidered speed, will, too late,

The harm of unscann'd swiftness, will, too late,

try to slow itself down. Proceed by legal action,

Tie leaden pounds to's heels. Proceed by process;

so that factions (since he is also beloved) don’t break out

Lest parties,--as he is belov'd,--break out,

and allow the Roman to destroy Rome.

And sack great Rome with Romans.

BRUTUS.

If that were so—

If it were so,--

SICINIUS.

Why do you talk?

What do ye talk?

Haven’t we been obedient to him long enough?

Have we not had a taste of his obedience?

Our police knocked down? Ourselves resisted? Come now—

Our aediles smote? ourselves resisted?--come,--

MENENIUS.

Think about it—he’s been a soldier

Consider this:--he has been bred i' the wars

since he was a kid, and he doesn’t know

Since 'a could draw a sword, and is ill school'd

how to talk fancy, he just speaks his mind.

In bolted language; meal and bran together

Let me go get to him

He throws without distinction. Give me leave,

and try to bring him back here

I'll go to him and undertake to bring him

to explain himself

Where he shall answer, by a lawful form,