Julius

Act 1, Scene 1
FLAVIUS
Hence! Home, you idle creatures get you home!Is this a holiday? What, know you not,Being
mechanical, you ought not walkUpon a laboring day without the sign5Of your profession? —Speak,
what trade art thou?
FLAVIUS
Go away! Go home, you lazy creatures. Go home! Is today a holiday? Don't you know that, as
working-class men, you shouldn’t walk around on a workday without wearing your work clothes?
CARPENTER
Why, sir, a carpenter.
CARPENTER
Why, I’m a carpenter, sir.
MURELLUS
Where is thy leather apron and thy rule?What dost thou with thy best apparel on?—You, sir, what
trade are you?
MURELLUS
Where are your leather apron and ruler? Why are you wearing your finest clothes?
[To COBBLER] And you, sir, what’s your job?
COBBLER
Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am but, asyou would say, a cobbler.
COBBLER
Well, sir, compared to a skilled workman, I'm just a cobbler, as you would put it.
MURELLUS
But what trade art thou? Answer me directly.
MURELLUS
But what’s your trade? Answer me straightforwardly.
COBBLER
A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safeconscience, which is, indeed, sir, a mender of
bad15soles.
COBBLER
I work a trade, sir, that I hope I can practice with a clear conscience. I am a mender of worn soles.
MURELLUS
What trade, thou knave? Thou naughty knave, what trade?
MURELLUS
What trade, fool? You good-for-nothing fool, what trade?
COBBLER
Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me. Yet, ifyou be out, sir, I can mend you.
COBBLER
Sir, I beg you, don’t be angry. Yet, if your soles are worn out, I can mend you.
MURELLUS
What mean’st thou by that? “Mend” me, thou saucy20fellow?
MURELLUS
What do you mean by that? “Mend” me, you rude man?
COBBLER
Why, sir, cobble you.
COBBLER
Well, cobble you, sir.
FLAVIUS
Thou art a cobbler, art thou?
FLAVIUS
You’re a cobbler, are you?
COBBLER
Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl. Imeddle with no tradesman’s matters nor women’s
matters,25but withal I am indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes.When they are in great danger, I
recover them. As propermen as ever trod upon neat’s leather have gone upon myhandiwork.
COBBLER
Yes, sir, I make my living through use of an awl. I don’t meddle in politics or in the affairs of women.
I’m just a surgeon for old shoes. When they’re in bad shape, I fix them. The most noble men who
have ever walked on leather have walked on my handiwork.
FLAVIUS
But wherefore art not in thy shop today?30Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?
FLAVIUS
But why aren’t you in your shop today? Why are you leading these men through the streets?
COBBLER
Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes to get myself intomore work. But indeed, sir, we make holiday to
seeCaesar and to rejoice in his triumph.
COBBLER
Well, sir, to wear out their shoes and get myself more work. But actually, sir, we took the day off to
see Caesar and celebrate his triumph.
MURELLUS
Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?35What tributaries follow him to RomeTo grace
in captive bonds his chariot wheels?You blocks, you stones, you worse than senselessthings,O you
hard hearts, you cruèl men of Rome,40Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oftHave you
climbed up to walls and battlements,To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops,Your infants in
your arms, and there have satThe livelong day with patient expectation45To see great Pompey pass
the streets of Rome.And when you saw his chariot but appear,Have you not made an universal
shoutThat Tiber trembled underneath her banksTo hear the replication of your sounds50Made in
her concave shores?And do you now put on your best attire?And do you now cull out a holiday?And
do you now strew flowers in his wayThat comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood?55Be gone!Run to
your houses, fall upon your knees,Pray to the gods to intermit the plagueThat needs must light on
this ingratitude.
MURELLUS
Why celebrate it? What foreign lands has he conquered for Rome to rule? What foreign princes are
chained to his chariot wheels and will earn Rome ransom money? You blockheads, you unfeeling
men, you worse than stupid things! Oh, you with hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome! didn’t you
know Pompey? Many a time you climbed up on walls and battlements, towers and windows—yes,
even chimney tops, with your babies in your arms—and sat there all day just waiting to see great
Pompey ride through the streets of Rome. And when you saw his chariot, didn’t all of you shout all
at once so loudly that the Tiber River shook from the sound echoing within its banks? And now you
put on your finest clothes? And now you choose to celebrate a holiday? And now you toss flowers in
the path of the man who comes in triumph having defeated Pompey’s sons? Get out of here! Run to
your houses, fall on your knees, and pray to the gods to spare you from the terrible punishment that
is certain to come down upon you for such ingratitude.
FLAVIUS
Go, go, good countrymen, and for this fault,60Assemble all the poor men of your sort,Draw them to
Tiber banks, and weep your tearsInto the channel till the lowest streamDo kiss the most exalted
shores of all.
FLAVIUS
Go, go, good countrymen. And to atone for this error in judgment, gather together all the poor men
like you. Lead them to the banks of the Tiber River, and weep into the water until it overflows.
The CARPENTER, COBBLER, and all of the commoners exit.
The CARPENTER, COBBLER, and all of the commoners exit.
FLAVIUS
See whether their basest metal be not moved.65They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness.Go you
down that way towards the Capitol.This way will I. Disrobe the imagesIf you do find them decked
with ceremonies.
FLAVIUS
That should move even these coarse and unrefined men. They’re leaving, and feel so guilty they
can’t speak. You go that way towards the Capitol, and I’ll go this way. Undress any statues you see
that have been decorated in honor of Caesar.
MURELLUS
May we do so?70You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
MURELLUS
Can we do that? You know it’s the feast of Lupercal.
FLAVIUS
It is no matter. Let no imagesBe hung with Caesar’s trophies. I’ll aboutAnd drive away the vulgar
from the streets.So do you too, where you perceive them thick.75These growing feathers plucked
from Caesar’s wingWill make him fly an ordinary pitch,Who else would soar above the view of
menAnd keep us all in servile fearfulness.
FLAVIUS
It doesn’t matter. None of the statues should be decorated in honor to Caesar. I’ll make sure the
commoners get off the streets, and you do the same wherever you see a bunch of them together. If
we can pluck the feathers of Caesar’s growing support among the commoners now, he’ll have to fly
at a normal height. If we don’t, he’ll soar to such heights of power that all of us will live in fear and
be his servants.
They exit in different directions.
They exit in different directions

Julius

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Act 1, Scene 1

Why, sir, a carpenter.

Why, I’m a carpenter, sir.

[To COBBLER] And you, sir, what’s your job?

But what trade art thou? Answer me directly.

But what’s your trade? Answer me straightforwardly.

What trade, fool? You good-for-nothing fool, what trade?

What mean’st thou by that? “Mend” me, thou saucy20fellow?

What do you mean by that? “Mend” me, you rude man?

Why, sir, cobble you.

Well, cobble you, sir.

Thou art a cobbler, art thou?

You’re a cobbler, are you?

The CARPENTER, COBBLER, and all of the commoners exit.

The CARPENTER, COBBLER, and all of the commoners exit.

May we do so?70You know it is the feast of Lupercal.

Can we do that? You know it’s the feast of Lupercal.

They exit in different directions.

They exit in different directions

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