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Act 4, Scene 7
Antony and Cleopatra Translation Act 4, Scene 8
Alarum. Enter ANTONY again in a march; SCARUS, with others
ANTONY
We have beat him to his camp. Run one beforeAnd let the Queen know of our gests.
ANTONY
We have beat him back to his camp. Let someone run on ahead and tell the Queen what we've accomplished.
Exit a soldier
Tomorrow, Before the sun shall see ’s, we’ll spill the blood That has today escaped. I thank you all, For doughty-handed are you, and have fought Not as you served the cause, but as ’t had been Each man’s like mine. You have shown all Hectors. Enter the city. Clip your wives, your friends. Tell them your feats, whilst they with joyful tears Wash the congealment from your wounds and kiss The honored gashes whole.
Tomorrow, before the sun rises, we'll kill all the enemy forces that escaped us today. I thank you all, for you are brave, and you didn't fight as though you had been commanded to serve this cause, but as though it were as much your own cause as it is mine. You have all fought as bravely as Hector. Enter the city. Embrace your wives, your friends. Tell them what you have done, while they wash the congealed blood from your wounds with joyful tears and heal your honorable injuries with kisses.
Enter CLEOPATRA
[To SCARUS] Give me thy hand. To this great fairy I’ll commend thy acts, Make her thanks bless thee. O thou day o’ the world, (to CLEOPATRA) Chain mine armed neck. Leap thou, attireand all, Through proof of harness to my heart, and there Ride on the pants triumphing!
ANTONY
[To SCARUS] Give me your hand. I'll praise your deeds to this great enchantress, the queen, so that she will bless you with her thanks.
[To CLEOPATRA] Oh light of the world, clasp your arms around my neck. Leap through my armor into my heart, in your robes and all, and ride on my heartbeats as if you were riding a horse in a triumphal parade!
CLEOPATRA
Lord of lords!O infinite virtue, com’st thou smiling fromThe world’s great snare uncaught?
CLEOPATRA
Greatest of all lords! Oh you infinitely brave man, did you face the world's greatest threat and escape with a smile?
ANTONY
Mine nightingale, We have beat them to their beds. What, girl, though gray Do something mingle with our younger brown, yet ha’ we A brain that nourishes our nerves and can Get goal for goal of youth. Behold this man. Commend unto his lips thy favoring hand. [To SCARUS] Kiss it, my warrior.
ANTONY
My nightingale, we have beaten them all the way back to their camp in fear. What does it matter, my lady, if I am not as young as I once was—I still have a brain that feeds my muscles and can achieve my goals just as well as a younger man. Look at this man. Give him your hand to kiss.
[To SCARUS] Kiss her hand, my warrior.
SCARUS kisses CLEOPATRA’s hand
He hath fought todayAs if a god, in hate of mankind, hadDestroyed in such a shape.
He has fought today like a god who became a man in order to destroy mankind out of hatred.
CLEOPATRA
[To SCARUS] I’ll give thee, friend,An armor all of gold. It was a king’s.
CLEOPATRA
[To SCARUS] I'll give you a suit of armor made entirely out of gold, my friend. It belonged to a king.
ANTONY
He has deserved it, were it carbuncled Like holy Phoebus’ car. Give me thy hand. Through Alexandria make a jolly march. Bear our hacked targets like the men that owe them. Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together And drink carouses to the next day’s fate, Which promises royal peril. —Trumpeters, With brazen din blast you the city’s ear; Make mingle with our rattling taborins, That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together, Applauding our approach.
ANTONY
He would deserve it, even if it were covered in jewels like Phoebus's chariot. Give me your hand. Let's lead a merry parade through Alexandria. Let's carry our dented shields as we are the men who own them and received those dents in battle. If our great palace had room to host the entire army, we would all dine together and drink toasts to our victory tomorrow, which I suspect will hold great danger. Trumpeters, blast the ears of everyone in the city with bold noise. Let them sound along with our rattling drums, so that the sounds of heaven and the sounds of earth will be heard together as if applauding our approach.
Exeunt
