Cas. Which we will niggard with a little rest. No more. Early to-morrow will we rise, and hence. Good night: Bru. This was an ill beginning of the night : Never come such division 'tween our souls! Cas. Good night, my lord. Tit., Mes. Good night, Lord Brutus. Bru. Farewell, every one. [Exeunt Cassius, Titinius, and Messala. Re-enter LUCIUS, with the gown. Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument? Luc. Here in the tent. Bru. What! thou speak'st drowsily? Poor knave, I blame thee not; thou art o'er Call Claudius and some other of my men ; I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent. Luc. Varro! and Claudius! Enter VARRO and CLAUDIUS. Var. Calls my lord? Bru. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep: 245 Var. So please you, we will stand and watch your pleasure. It may be I shall otherwise bethink me. I put it in the pocket of my gown. 250 [Varro and Claudius lie down. Luc. I was sure your lordship did not give it me. 241, 243, 288, 289, 298. Claudius] Claudio Ff. 243, 288. Varro] Varrus Ff. of the first Folio makes excellent sense. The second Folio follows the first, but instead of "not" gives the misprint "art." It is probable that the editors of the third Folio followed the second, but omitted the meaningless "art." The fourth Folio followed the third. It is, however, possible with little alteration to get good sense and metre out of the reading of the third and fourth Folios, if we read: "Poor knave, I blame thee! Thou art over-watched." For the construction, compare Othello, v. ii. 219: "Twill out, 'twill out. I peace!" and Swift's indignant exclamation: "I to such blockheads set my wit !" 240. o'erwatched] wearied out with watching, as in P. L. ii. 288: "Seafaring men o'erwatched." 243. Varro and Claudius] appear in the Folio as Varrus and Claudio, the two names being misspelt in opposite ways. As the wrong spelling is not traceable to North, we may alter it. 250. otherwise bethink me] change my mind. 251. Look, Lucius] The conversation between Brutus and his attendant may be compared with that between Desdemona and her attendant, Bianca, which has a similar position in the end of the fourth act of Othello. Both scenes are pervaded with a feeling of drowsiness and peaceful tranquillity, which agreeably relieves the strain to which our feelings are subjected by the highly-wrought scene that has gone before, and by the tragic conclusion of the drama which we know to be imminent. In both cases the ease and natural simplicity of the conversation conceal the dramatist's consummate art. Bru. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful. Luc. Ay, my lord, an 't please you. Bru. 255 It does, my boy. I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. Luc. It is my duty, sir. Bru. I should not urge thy duty past thy might; I know young bloods look for a time of rest. Luc. I have slept, my lord, already. Bru. It was well done, and thou shalt sleep again; I will not hold thee long: if I do live, 260 I will be good to thee. [Music, and a Song. 265 I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee. 266. slumber] F 3, 4; slumbler F 1, 2: 254. Bear with me] be patient with "But whenas Morpheus with his leaden mace Arrested all that courtly com pany. In that passage, as in this, the metaphor compares sleep to an officer making an arrest with the mace, his symbol of authority, like the sergeant in the Comedy of Errors, IV. iii. 28, that "when gentlemen are tired, gives them a sob and 'rests them," and "sets up his rest to do more exploits with his mace than a morris pike." Dromio's play upon the different meanings of "rest" and "rest suggests the same comparison, which is also applied to death in Hamlet, v. ii. 348, where the "fell sergeant, Death, is strict in his arrest." 13 269.] Compare the story of If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument; 270 Enter the Ghost of CESAR. How ill this taper burns! here? Ha! who comes 275 I think it is the weakness of mine eyes That shapes this monstrous apparition. Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. Bru. Why com'st thou ? Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. Bru. Well; then I shall see thee again? Mahomet and the cat which was sleeping on the skirt of his robe when he had to go to prayers. Rather than disturb the cat, he cut off from his robe the piece of cloth on which the cat was lying. 272. leaf turn'd down] Ancient books were in the form of rolls and had no leaves to turn down. 274. How ill this taper burns] "The light of the lamp that waxed very dim" (Plutarch). 276. apparition] The apparition that appears is described in the stagedirection as "the ghost of Cæsar," and this is confirmed by v. v. 18. In Plutarch we are told that "a horrible vision of a man, of a wonderful greatness and dreadful look," appeared to 280 Brutus, but it is not called Cæsar's ghost. 277. Art thou any thing?] In Plutarch, Cassius discussing the vision tells Brutus that according to the Epicureans the senses, when idle, "are induced to imagine they see and conjecture that which in truth they do not." 279. stare] stand on end. Compare Tempest, I. ii. 213: "With hair upstaring." In Hamlet, 1. v. 18, the ghost says that the tale of the secrets of his prison-house would make his hearer's "knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful por. pentine." Bru. Why, I will see thee at Philippi then: 285 [Ghost vanishes. Now I have taken heart thou vanishest: Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee. Boy! Lucius! Varro! Claudius! Sirs, awake! Luc. The strings, my lord, are false. Bru. He thinks he still is at his instrument. 290 Lucius, awake! Luc. My lord! Bru. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out? Luc. My lord, I do not know that I did cry. Bru. Yes, that thou didst. 295 Didst thou see anything? Bru. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep? Var., Clau. Did we, my lord? Bru. Ay: saw you any thing? Nor I, my lord. Var. No, my lord, I saw nothing. Clau. Bru. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius; 305 Bid him set on his powers betimes before, And we will follow. Var., Clau. 285. I will see thee] This composed remark indicates the absence of fear. 285. then] in that case, Brutus is It shall be done, my lord. [Exeunt. not alarmed with vague fears on |
