The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (802 page)

SICINIUS.

Have you organized them by social group?

Have you collected them by tribes?

AEDILE.

I have.

I have.

SICINIUS.

Tell the people to gather here now.

Assemble presently the people hither:

And when they hear me say, “His penalty will be

And when they hear me say 'It shall be so

determined by the power of the people.” And whether they choose a sentence

I' the right and strength o' the commons,' be it either

of death, or a fine, or banishment, then tell them,

For death, for fine, or banishment, then let them,

when I say fine, yell “Fine!” If death, yell “Death!”

If I say fine, cry 'Fine!'- if death, cry 'Death;'

We’ll stand by the ancient rights and powers of the people,

Insisting on the old prerogative

for the truth of the cause.

And power i' the truth o' the cause.

AEDILE.

I will tell them.

I shall inform them.

BRUTUS.

And when they have begun to yell,

And when such time they have begun to cry,

tell them not to stop yelling, and with a loud, confused noise,

Let them not cease, but with a din confus'd

urge the immediate enforcement

Enforce the present execution

of whatever sentence we decide on.

Of what we chance to sentence.

AEDILE.

Very well.

Very well.

SICINIUS.

Make them be strong, and ready to go along with this plan

Make them be strong, and ready for this hint,

when we start the trial.

When we shall hap to give't them.

BRUTUS.

Get to it.

Go about it.

[Exit AEDILE.]

Make him angry right away. He is used

Put him to choler straight: he hath been us'd

to conquering, and to being famous

Ever to conquer, and to have his worth  

for fighting back. Once he is irritated he cannot

Of contradiction; being once chaf'd, he cannot

control his temper, and then says

Be rein'd again to temperance; then he speaks

what he really thinks, and that is what promises

What's in his heart; and that is there which looks

to help us have him executed.

With us to break his neck.

SICINIUS.

Well, here he comes.

Well, here he comes.

[Enter CORIOLANUS, MENENIUS, COMINIUS, Senators, and Patricians.]

MENENIUS.

Please, try to stay calm.

Calmly, I do beseech you.

CORIOLANUS.

Yeah, like a stable boy who for a penny

Ay, as an ostler, that for the poorest piece

will endure being called book’s worth of nasty name. May God

Will bear the knave by the volume.--The honoured gods

protect Rome, and make Roman judges

Keep Rome in safety, and the chairs of justice

good! Spread love among us!

Supplied with worthy men! plant love among's!

Fill our temples with the spectacles of peace,

Throng our large temples with the shows of peace,

and don’t fill our streets with war!

And not our streets with war!

FIRST SENATOR.

Amen, amen!

Amen, amen!

MENENIUS.

A noble wish.

A noble wish.

[Re-enter the AEDILE, with Citizens.]

SICINIUS.

Come closer, you people.

Draw near, ye people.

AEDILE.

Listen to your tribunes. Attention! Quiet, I say!

List to your tribunes; audience: peace, I say!

CORIOLANUS.

First, listen to me.

First, hear me speak.

BOTH TRIBUNES.

So, speak. Quiet, please!

Well, say.--Peace, ho!

CORIOLANUS.

Will I charged with anything other than this?

Shall I be charg'd no further than this present?

Will everything end here?

Must all determine here?

SICINIUS.

I demand,

I do demand,

if you will submit to the authority of the people’s votes,

If you submit you to the people's voices,

and allow the tribunes to exist, and are willing

Allow their officers, and are content

to accept to the lawful punishment for whatever crimes

To suffer lawful censure for such faults

you are convicted of.

As shall be proved upon you.

CORIOLANUS.

I will submit to all that.

I am content.

MENENIUS.

Hey, people, he says he will go along with it.

Lo, citizens, he says he is content:

Consider his service during wartime; think

The warlike service he has done, consider; think

about the wounds he bears, which look

Upon the wounds his body bears, which show

like graves in a graveyard.

Like graves i' the holy churchyard.

CORIOLANUS.

They’re just scratches,

Scratches with briers,

scars that should provoke laughter, nothing more.

Scars to move laughter only.

MENENIUS.

Consider also

Consider further,

that when you doesn’t sound like a common person

That when he speaks not like a citizen,  

it’s because he sounds like a soldier. Don’t mistake

You find him like a soldier: do not take

his rough speech for unkindness,

His rougher accents for malicious sounds,

because it is an appropriate tone for a soldier,

But, as I say, such as become a soldier,

not ill-will against you.

Rather than envy you.

COMINIUS.

That’s enough of that.

Well, well, no more.

CORIOLANUS.

Why is it

What is the matter,

that having been elected consul with all of your votes,

That being pass'd for consul with full voice,

I am now dishonored by you

I am so dishonour'd that the very hour

all revoking your votes?

You take it off again?

SICINIUS.

Defend yourself against our charges, don’t accuse us of anything.

Answer to us.

CORIOLANUS.

Speak then. You’re right, I ought to be defending myself.

Say then: 'tis true, I ought so.

SICINIUS.

We allege that you have attempted to remove

We charge you that you have contriv'd to take

all of Rome’s moderate politicians, and to insinuate

From Rome all season'd office, and to wind

yourself as a tyrant;

Yourself into a power tyrannical;

For which you are a traitor to the people.

For which you are a traitor to the people.

CORIOLANUS.

How am I traitor?

How! traitor!

MENENIUS.

Stay calm. You promised.

Nay, temperately; your promise.

CORIOLANUS.

I hope you all burn in hell!

The fires i' the lowest hell fold in the people!

Call me a traitor! You insulting tribune!

Call me their traitor!--Thou injurious tribune!

If you were within eyeshot of twenty thousand deaths,

Within thine eyes sat twenty thousand deaths,  

and if you held 20 million more in your hand,

In thy hands clutch'd as many millions, in

and you tried to talk about both numbers, I would

Thy lying tongue both numbers, I would say,

you were a liar in a voice as frank

Thou liest unto thee with a voice as free

as the one I use to pray.

As I do pray the gods.

SICINIUS.

Do you hear this, people?

Mark you this, people?

CITIZENS.

Kill him!

To the rock, to the rock, with him!

SICINIUS.

Quiet

Peace!

We don’t need to add more charges against him.

We need not put new matter to his charge:

What you have seen do and heard him say,

What you have seen him do and heard him speak,

beating your officers, cursing you,

Beating your officers, cursing yourselves,

breaking the law by threatening people with his sword, and now defying you,

Opposing laws with strokes, and here defying

who have the power to put him on trial. For all of these

Those whose great power must try him; even this,

crimes, some of which are capital offenses,

So criminal and in such capital kind,

he deserves to be put to extreme death.

Deserves the extremest death.

BRUTUS.

But since he has

But since he hath

served his country well—

Serv'd well for Rome,--

CORIOLANUS.

Why do you babble about service?

What do you prate of service?

BRUTUS.

I speak as one who knows about it.

I talk of that that know it.

CORIOLANUS.

You?

You?

MENENIUS.

Is this how you keep your promise to your mother to behave yourself?

Is this the promise that you made your mother?  

COMINIUS.

Listen, please—

Know, I pray you,--

CORIOLANUS.

I won’t listen to anything else.

I'll know no further:

Let them sentence me to death,

Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death,

or exile, or to be whipped, imprisoned

Vagabond exile, flaying, pent to linger

without enough food. I wouldn’t try to convince them to spare me

But with a grain a day, I would not buy

if I had to say one nice thing to them,

Their mercy at the price of one fair word,

nor would I limit my spirit out of fear for what they can do,

Nor check my courage for what they can give,

because I can have it just be saying hello.

To have't with saying Good-morrow.

SICINIUS.

Because he has,

For that he has,--

as much as he could, sometimes

As much as in him lies,--from time to time

spoken against the people, and tried to

Envied against the people, seeking means

take away their power, and has just now

To pluck away their power; as now at last

used his sword against us, and done so not only in the presence

Given hostile strokes, and that not in the presence