Sic. Why, what of that?
Men. If it be possible for you to displace it 4
with your little finger, there is some hope the
ladies of Rome, especially his mother, may
prevail with him. But I say, there is no hope
in 't. Our throats are sentenced and stay upon 8
execution.
Sic. Is 't possible that so short a time can alter
the condition of a man?
Men. There is differency between a grub and 12
a butterfly; yet your butterfly was a grub. This
Martius is grown from man to dragon: he has
wings; he's more than a creeping thing.
Sic. He loved his mother dearly. 16
Men. So did he me; and he no more remem-
bers his mother now than an eight-year-old
horse. The tartness of his face sours ripe
grapes: when he walks, he moves like an engine, 20
and the ground shrinks before his treading: he
is able to pierce a corslet with his eye; talks like
a knell, and his 'hum!' is a battery. He sits in his
state, as a thing made for Alexander. What 24
he bids be done is finished with his bidding. He
wants nothing of a god but eternity and a heaven
to throne in.
Sic. Yes, mercy, if you report him truly. 28
Men. I paint him in the character. Mark what
mercy his mother shall bring from him: there is
no more mercy in him than there is milk in a
8 stay upon: await
12 differency: difference
20 engine: piece of artillery
22 corslet: breastplate
22, 23 talks . . . battery; cf. n.
24 state: chair of state
as . . . Alexander: like a statue of Alexander the Great
25 finished . . . bidding: as good as done when he commands it
27 throne: enthrone himself
29 in . . . character: as he is
