ACT I SCENE VIII

Coriolanus

ACT I SCENE VIII. A field of battle.
[ Alarum as in battle. Enter, from opposite sides, MARCIUS and AUFIDIUS ]
MARCIUS	I’ll fight with none but thee; for I do hate thee
	Worse than a promise-breaker.
AUFIDIUS	We hate alike:
	Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor
	More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot.	5
MARCIUS	Let the first budger die the other’s slave,
	And the gods doom him after!
AUFIDIUS	If I fly, Marcius,
	Holloa me like a hare.
MARCIUS	Within these three hours, Tullus,	10
	Alone I fought in your Corioli walls,
	And made what work I pleased: ’tis not my blood
	Wherein thou seest me mask’d; for thy revenge
	Wrench up thy power to the highest.
AUFIDIUS	Wert thou the Hector	15
	That was the whip of your bragg’d progeny,
	Thou shouldst not scape me here.
[ They fight, and certain Volsces come to the aid of AUFIDIUS. MARCIUS fights till they be driven in breathless ]
	Officious, and not valiant, you have shamed me
	In your condemned seconds.
[Exeunt]

Next: Coriolanus, Act 1, Scene 9