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them so.

      DECIUS BRUTUS

      Caesar, all hail! good morrow, worthy Caesar:

      I come to fetch you to the senate-house.

      CAESAR

      And you are come in very happy time,

      To bear my greeting to the senators

      And tell them that I will not come to-day:

      Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser:

      I will not come to-day: tell them so, Decius.

      CALPURNIA

      Say he is sick.

      CAESAR

      Shall Caesar send a lie?

      Have I in conquest stretch’d mine arm so far,

      To be afraid to tell graybeards the truth?

      Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.

      DECIUS BRUTUS

      Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,

      Lest I be laugh’d at when I tell them so.

      CAESAR

      The cause is in my will: I will not come;

      That is enough to satisfy the senate.

      But for your private satisfaction,

      Because I love you, I will let you know:

      Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home:

      She dreamt to-night she saw my statua,

      Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,

      Did run pure blood: and many lusty Romans

      Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it:

      And these does she apply for warnings, and portents,

      And evils imminent; and on her knee

      Hath begg’d that I will stay at home to-day.

      DECIUS BRUTUS

      This dream is all amiss interpreted;

      It was a vision fair and fortunate:

      Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,

      In which so many smiling Romans bathed,

      Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck

      Reviving blood, and that great men shall press

      For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance.

      This by Calpurnia’s dream is signified.

      CAESAR

      And this way have you well expounded it.

      DECIUS BRUTUS

      I have, when you have heard what I can say:

      And know it now: the senate have concluded

      To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.

      If you shall send them word you will not come,

      Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock

      Apt to be render’d, for some one to say

      ’Break up the senate till another time,

      When Caesar’s wife shall meet with better dreams.’

      If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper

      ’Lo, Caesar is afraid’?

      Pardon me, Caesar; for my dear dear love

      To our proceeding bids me tell you this;

      And reason to my love is liable.

      CAESAR

      How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!

      I am ashamed I did yield to them.

      Give me my robe, for I will go.

      Enter PUBLIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, CASCA, TREBONIUS, and CINNA

      And look where Publius is come to fetch me.

      PUBLIUS

      Good morrow, Caesar.

      CAESAR

      Welcome, Publius.

      What, Brutus, are you stirr’d so early too?

      Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius,

      Caesar was ne’er so much your enemy

      As that same ague which hath made you lean.

      What is ’t o’clock?

      BRUTUS

      Caesar, ’tis strucken eight.

      CAESAR

      I thank you for your pains and courtesy.

      Enter ANTONY

      See! Antony, that revels long o’ nights,

      Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.

      ANTONY

      So to most noble Caesar.

      CAESAR

      Bid them prepare within:

      I am to blame to be thus waited for.

      Now, Cinna: now, Metellus: what, Trebonius!

      I have an hour’s talk in store for you;

      Remember that you call on me to-day:

      Be near me, that I may remember you.

      TREBONIUS

      Caesar, I will:

      Aside

      and so near will I be,

      That your best friends shall wish I had been further.

      CAESAR

      Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me;

      And we, like friends, will straightway go together.

      BRUTUS

      [Aside] That every like is not the same, O Caesar,

      The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon!

      Exeunt

      Scene III

      A street near the Capitol.

      Enter ARTEMIDORUS, reading a paper

      ARTEMIDORUS

      ’Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius;

      come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna, trust not

      Trebonius: mark well Metellus Cimber: Decius Brutus

      loves thee not: thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius.

      There is but one mind in all these men, and it is

      bent against Caesar. If thou beest not immortal,

      look about you: security gives way to conspiracy.

      The mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover,

      ’ARTEMIDORUS.’

      Here will I stand till Caesar pass along,

      And as a suitor will I give him this.

      My heart laments that virtue cannot live

      Out of the teeth of emulation.

      If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live;

      If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive.

      Exit

      Scene IV

      Another

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