Start: CADE Fie on ambitions! Fie on my...

Start: CADE

Fie on ambitions! Fie on myself, that have a

sword and yet am ready to famish! These five days

have I hid me in these woods and durst not peep

out, for all the country is laid for me. But now am

I so hungry that, if I might have a lease of my life

for a thousand years, I could stay no longer.

Wherefore, o'er a brick wall have I climbed into

this garden, to see if I can eat grass, or pick a sallet

another while, which is not amiss to cool a man's

stomach this hot weather. And I think this word

sallet was born to do me good; for many a time,

but for a sallet, my brainpan had been cleft with a

brown bill; and many a time, when I have been dry

and bravely marching, it hath served me instead of

a quart pot to drink in; and now the word sallet

must serve me to feed on.

(Enter Iden)

IDEN

Lord, who would live turmoilèd in the court

And may enjoy such quiet walks as these?

This small inheritance my father left me

Contenteth me, and worth a monarchy.

I seek not to wax great by others' waning,

Or gather wealth, I care not with what envy.

Sufficeth that I have maintains my state

And sends the poor well pleasèd from my gate.

CADE

(aside)

 Here's the lord of the soil come to seize

me for a stray, for entering his fee-simple without

leave.---Ah, villain, thou wilt betray me and get a

thousand crowns of the King by carrying my head

to him; but I'll make thee eat iron like an ostrich

and swallow my sword like a great pin, ere thou

and I part.

(He draws his sword.)

IDEN

Why, rude companion, whatsoe'er thou be,

I know thee not. Why, then, should I betray thee?

Is 't not enough to break into my garden

And, like a thief, to come to rob my grounds,

Climbing my walls in spite of me the owner,

But thou wilt brave me with these saucy terms?

CADE Brave thee? Ay, by the best blood that ever was

broached, and beard thee too. Look on me well: I

have eat no meat these five days, yet come thou

and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as

dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat

grass more.

IDEN

Nay, it shall ne'er be said, while England stands,

That Alexander Iden, an esquire of Kent,

Took odds to combat a poor famished man.

Oppose thy steadfast gazing eyes to mine;

See if thou canst outface me with thy looks.

Set limb to limb, and thou art far the lesser;

Thy hand is but a finger to my fist,

Thy leg a stick comparèd with this truncheon.

My foot shall fight with all the strength thou hast;

And if mine arm be heavèd in the air,

Thy grave is digged already in the earth.

As for words, whose greatness answers words,

Let this my sword report what speech forbears.

(He draws his sword.)

CADE

By my valor, the most complete champion that

ever I heard! Steel, if thou turn the edge or cut not

out the burly-boned clown in chines of beef ere

thou sleep in thy sheath, I beseech God on my

knees thou mayst be turned to hobnails.

(Here they fight, and Cade falls.)

O, I am slain! Famine, and no other, hath slain me.

Let ten thousand devils come against me, and give

me but the ten meals I have lost, and I'd defy them

all. Wither, garden, and be henceforth a burying

place to all that do dwell in this house, because the

unconquered soul of Cade is fled.

IDEN

Is 't Cade that I have slain, that monstrous traitor?

Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed,

And hang thee o'er my tomb when I am dead.

Ne'er shall this blood be wipèd from thy point,

But thou shalt wear it as a herald's coat

To emblaze the honor that thy master got.

CADE

Iden, farewell, and be proud of thy victory. Tell

Kent from me she hath lost her best man, and

exhort all the world to be cowards; for I, that never

feared any, am vanquished by famine, not by valor.

(Dies.)

IDEN

How much thou wrong'st me, heaven be my judge!

Die, damnèd wretch, the curse of her that bare thee!

And as I thrust thy body in with my sword,

So wish I, I might thrust thy soul to hell.

Hence will I drag thee headlong by the heels

Unto a dunghill, which shall be thy grave,

And there cut off thy most ungracious head,

Which I will bear in triumph to the King,

Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon.

(He exits dragging Cade's body.)

Shakespeare, William, Henry VI Part 2, http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2255/pg2255.html, Act 4, Scene 10.

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