Collected Works of Giovanni Boccaccio
Page 438
Which you do here forbid me, royal Priam.
Cas. O Priam! yield not to him. 90
And. Do not, dear father.
Hect. Andromache, I am offended with you:
Upon the love you bear me, get you in. [Exit ANDROMACHE.
Tro. This foolish, dreaming, superstitious girl
Makes all these bodements. 95
Cas. O farewell! dear Hector.
Look! how thou diest; look! how thy eye turns pale;
Look! how thy wounds do bleed at many vents:
Hark! how Troy roars: how Hecuba cries out!
How poor Andromache shrills her dolours forth! 100
Behold, distraction, frenzy, and amazement,
Like witless anticks, one another meet,
And all cry Hector! Hector’s dead! O Hector!
Tro. Away! Away!
Cas. Farewell. Yet, soft! Hector, I take my leave: 105
Thou dost thyself and all our Troy deceive. [Exit.
Hect. You are amaz’d, my liege, at her exclaim.
Go in and cheer the town: we’ll forth and fight;
Do deeds worth praise and tell you them at night.
Pri. Farewell: the gods with safety stand about thee! [Exeunt severally PRIAM and HECTOR. Alarums. 110
Tro. They are at it, hark! Proud Diomed, believe,
I come to lose my arm, or win my sleeve.
As TROILUS is going out, enter, from the other side, PANDARUS.
Pan. Do you hear, my lord? do you hear?
Tro. What now? 115
Pan. Here’s a letter come from yond poor girl.
Tro. Let me read.
Pan. A whoreson tisick, a whoreson rascally tisick so troubles me, and the foolish fortune of this girl; and what one thing, what another, that I shall leave you one o’ these days: and I have a rheum in mine eyes too, and such an ache in my bones that, unless a man were cursed, I cannot tell what to think on ‘t. What says she there?
Tro. Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart;
The effect doth operate another way. [Tearing the letter. 120
Go, wind to wind, there turn and change together.
My love with words and errors still she feeds,
But edifies another with her deeds. [Exeunt severally.
Act V. Scene IV.
BETWEEN TROY AND the Grecian Camp.
Alarums. Excursions. Enter THERSITES.
Ther. Now they are clapper-clawing one another; I’ll go look on. That dissembling abominable varlet, Diomed, has got that same scurvy doting foolish young knave’s sleeve of Troy there in his helm: I would fain see them meet; that that same young Trojan ass, that loves the whore there, might send that Greekish whoremasterly villain, with the sleeve, back to the dissembling luxurious drab, on a sleeveless errand. O’ the other side, the policy of those crafty swearing rascals, — that stale old mouse-eaten dry cheese, Nestor, and that same dog-fox, Ulysses, is not proved worth a blackberry: they set me up, in policy, that mongrel cur, Ajax, against that dog of as bad a kind, Achilles; and now is the cur Ajax prouder than the cur Achilles, and will not arm to-day; whereupon the Grecians begin to proclaim barbarism, and policy grows into an ill opinion. Soft! here comes sleeve, and t’ other.
Enter DIOMEDES, TROILUS following.
Tro. Fly not; for shouldst thou take the river Styx, 5
I would swim after.
Dio. Thou dost miscall retire:
I do not fly; but advantageous care
Withdrew me from the odds of multitude.
Have at thee! 10
Ther. Hold thy whore, Grecian! now for thy whore, Trojan! now the sleeve, now the sleeve! [Exeunt TROILUS and DIOMEDES, fighting.
Enter HECTOR.
Hect. What art thou, Greek? art thou for Hector’s match?
Art thou of blood and honour?
Ther. No, no, I am a rascal; a scurvy railing knave; a very filthy rogue. 15
Hect. I do believe thee: live. [Exit.
Ther. God-a-mercy, that thou wilt believe me; but a plague break thy neck for frighting me! What’s become of the wenching rogues? I think they have swallowed one another: I would laugh at that miracle; yet, in a sort, lechery eats itself. I’ll seek them. [Exit.
Act V. Scene V.
ANOTHER PART OF the Plains.
Enter DIOMEDES and a Servant.
Dio. Go, go, my servant, take thou Troilus’ horse;
Present the fair steed to my Lady Cressid:
Fellow, commend my service to her beauty: 5
Tell her I have chastis’d the amorous Trojan,
And am her knight by proof.
Serv. I go, my lord. [Exit.
Enter AGAMEMNON.
Agam. Renew, renew! The fierce Polydamas 10
Hath beat down Menon; bastard Margarelon
Hath Doreus prisoner,
And stands colossus-wise, waving his beam,
Upon the pashed corses of the kings
Epistrophus and Cedius; Polixenes is slain; 15
Amphimachus, and Thoas, deadly hurt;
Patroclus ta’en, or slain; and Palamedes
Sore hurt and bruis’d; the dreadful Sagittary
Appals our numbers: haste we, Diomed,
To reinforcement, or we perish all. 20
Enter NESTOR.
Nest. Go, bear Patroclus’ body to Achilles;
And bid the snail-pac’d Ajax arm for shame.
There is a thousand Hectors in the field:
Now here he fights on Galathe his horse, 25
And there lacks work; anon he’s there afoot,
And there they fly or die, like scaled sculls
Before the belching whale; then is he yonder,
And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge,
Fall down before him, like the mower’s swath: 30
Here, there, and everywhere, he leaves and takes,
Dexterity so obeying appetite
That what he will he does; and does so much
That proof is called impossibility.
Enter ULYSSES. 35
Ulyss. O! courage, courage, princes; great Achilles
Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance:
Patroclus’ wounds have rous’d his drowsy blood,
Together with his mangled Myrmidons,
That noseless, handless, hack’d and chipp’d, come to him, 40
Crying on Hector. Ajax hath lost a friend,
And foams at mouth, and he is arm’d and at it,
Roaring for Troilus, who hath done to-day
Mad and fantastic execution,
Engaging and redeeming of himself 45
With such a careless force and forceless care
As if that luck, in very spite of cunning,
Bade him win all.
Enter AJAX.
Ajax. Troilus! thou coward Troilus! [Exit. 50
Dio. Ay, there, there.
Nest. So, so, we draw together.
Enter ACHILLES.
Achil. Where is this Hector?
Come, come, thou boy-queller, show thy face; 55
Know what it is to meet Achilles angry:
Hector! where’s Hector? I will none but Hector. [Exeunt.
Act V. Scene VI.
ANOTHER PART OF the Plains.
Enter AJAX.
Ajax. Troilus, thou coward Troilus, show thy head!
Enter DIOMEDES.
Dio. Troilus, I say! where’s Troilus? 5
Ajax. What wouldst thou?
Dio. I would correct him.
Ajax. Were I the general, thou shouldst have my office
Ere that correction. Troilus, I say! what, Troilus!
Enter TROILUS. 10
Tro. O traitor Diomed! Turn thy false face, thou traitor!
And pay thy life thou ow’st me for my horse!
Dio. Ha! art thou there?
Ajax. I’ll fight with him alone: stand, Diomed.
Dio. He is my prize; I will not look upon. 15
Tro. C
ome, both you cogging Greeks; have at you both! [Exeunt, fighting.
Enter HECTOR.
Hect. Yea, Troilus? O, well fought, my youngest brother!
Enter ACHILLES.
Achil. Now I do see thee. Ha! have at thee, Hector! 20
Hect. Pause, if thou wilt.
Achil. I do disdain thy courtesy, proud Trojan.
Be happy that my arms are out of use:
My rest and negligence befriend thee now,
But thou anon shalt hear of me again; 25
Till when, go seek thy fortune. [Exit.
Hect. Fare thee well: —
I would have been much more a fresher man,
Had I expected thee. How now, my brother!
Re-enter TROILUS. 30
Tro. Ajax 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 I end my life to-day. [Exit. 35
Enter One in sumptuous 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? 40
Why then, fly on, I’ll hunt thee for thy hide. [Exeunt.
Act V. Scene VII.
ANOTHER PART OF the Plains.
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: 5
And when I have the bloody Hector found,
Empale him with your weapons round about;
In fellest manner execute your aims.
Follow me, sirs, and my proceedings eye:
It is decreed, Hector the great must die. [Exeunt. 10
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-henned sparrow! ‘loo, Paris, ‘loo! The bull has the game: ‘ware horns, ho! [Exeunt PARIS and MENELAUS.
Enter MARGARELON.
Mar. Turn, slave, and fight.
Ther. What art thou? 15
Mar. 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 every thing 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 judgment. Farewell, bastard. [Exit.
Mar. The devil take thee, coward! [Exit.
Act V. Scene VIII.
ANOTHER PART OF the Plains.
Enter HECTOR.
Hect. Most putrefied core, so fair without,
Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life.
Now is my day’s work done; I’ll take good breath: 5
Rest, sword; thou hast thy fill of blood and death. [Puts off his helmet, and hangs his shield behind him.
Enter ACHILLES and Myrmidons.
Achil. Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set;
How ugly night comes breathing at his heels:
Even with the vail and darking of the sun, 10
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! now, Troy, sink down!
Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone. 15
On! Myrmidons, and cry you all amain,
‘Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.’ — [A retreat sounded.
Hark! a retreat upon our Grecian part.
Myr. The Trojan trumpets sound the like, my lord.
Achil. The dragon wing of night o’erspreads the earth, 20
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 Trojan trail. [Exeunt. 25
Act V. Scene IX.
ANOTHER PART OF the Plains.
Enter AGAMEMNON, AJAX, MENELAUS, NESTOR, DIOMEDES, and Others marching. Shouts within.
Agam. Hark! hark! what shout is that?
Nest. Peace, drums! [Within.] Achilles!
Achilles! Hector’s slain! Achilles! 5
Dio. The bruit is, Hector’s slain, and by Achilles.
Ajax. If it be so, yet bragless let it be;
Great Hector was a man as good as he.
Agam. March patiently along. Let one be sent
To pray Achilles see us at our tent. 10
If in his death the gods have us befriended,
Great Troy is ours, and our sharp wars are ended. [Exeunt marching.
Act V. Scene X.
AS TROILUS IS going out, enter, from the other side, PANDARUS.
Another Part of the Plains.
Enter ÆNEAS and Trojans.
Æne. Stand, ho! yet are we masters of the field.
Never go home; here starve we out the night.
Enter TROILUS. 5
Tro. Hector is slain.
All. Hector! the gods forbid!
Tro. He’s dead; and at the murderer’s horse’s tail,
In beastly sort, dragg’d through the shameful field.
Frown on, you heavens, effect your rage with speed! 10
Sit, gods, upon your thrones, and smile at Troy!
I say, at once let your brief plagues be mercy,
And linger not our sure destructions on!
Æne. My lord, you do discomfort all the host.
Tro. You understand me not that tell me so. 15
I do not speak of flight, of fear, of death;
But dare all imminence that gods and men
Address their dangers in. Hector is gone:
Who shall tell Priam so, or Hecuba?
Let him that will a screech-owl aye be call’d 20
Go in to Troy, and say there Hector’s dead:
There is a word will Priam turn to stone,
Make wells and Niobes of the maids and wives,
Cold statues of the youth; and, in a word,
Scare Troy out of itself. But march away: 25
Hector is dead; there is no more to say.
Stay yet. You vile abominable tents,
Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains,
Let Titan rise as early as he dare,
I’ll through and through you! And, thou great-siz’d coward, 30
No space of earth shall sunder our two hates:
I’ll haunt thee like a wicked conscience still,
That mouldeth goblins swift as frenzy’s thoughts.
Strike a free march to Troy! with comfort go:
Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe. [Exeunt ÆNEAS and Trojan Forces. 35
Pan. But hear you, hear you!
Tro. Hence, broker lackey! ignomy and shame
Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name! [Exit.
Pan. A goodly medicine for my aching bones! O world! world! world! thus is the poor agent despised. O traitors and bawds, how earnestly are you set a-work, and how ill requited! why should our endeavour be so loved, and the performance so loathed? what verse for it? what instance for it? — Let me see! —
Full merrily the humble-bee doth sing,
Till he hath lost his honey and his sting;
And being once subdu’d in armed tail,
Sweet honey and sweet notes together fail. 40
Good traders in the flesh, set this in your painted cloths.
As many as be here of pander’s hall,
Your eyes, half out, weep out
at Pandar’s fall;
Or if you cannot weep, yet give some groans,
Though not for me, yet for your aching bones.
Brethren and sisters of the hold-door trade,
Some two months hence my will shall here be made:
It should be now, but that my fear is this,
Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss.
Till then I’ll sweat, and seek about for eases;
And at that time bequeath you my diseases.
[Exit.
The Non-Fiction
Ravenna, northern Italy — from 1347, Boccaccio spent much time in Ravenna, seeking new patronage.
De Mulieribus Claris
Translated by Henry Parker, Lord Morely
De Mulieribus Claris (Latin for ‘Concerning Famous Women’) is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women, first published in 1374. The book is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature, which was compiled by Boccaccio at the same time as he was writing a collection of biographies on famous men, De Casibus Virorum Illustrium (On the Fates of Famous Men).
Boccaccio claimed to have written the 106 biographies for the posterity of the women that were considered renowned, whether good or bad. He believed that recounting the deeds of certain women who may have been wicked would be offset by the exhortations to virtue by the deeds of good women. He argues that hopefully the book would encourage virtue and curb vice.
Boccaccio’s collection of female biographies inspired characters in Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies, Alvaro de Luna’s De las virtuosas y claras mujeres, Thomas Elyot’s Defence of Good Women, Alonso of Cartagena’s De las mujeres ilustres, various works by Edmund Spenser; but, most famously of all, it influenced Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women and The Canterbury Tales.
Boccaccio wrote De Mulieribus Claris probably between the summer of 1361 and the summer of 1362, although it could have been as late as December 1362. He dedicated the book to Andrea Acciaioli, Countess of Altavilla, in Naples at the end of 1362, even though he continued to revise it up until his death in 1375. She was not his first choice however. He first considered dedicating his slim volume to Joanna I of Naples. He ultimately decided that his work as a little book was not worthy a person of such great fame.