MEN : servants. Abraham and Balthasar, who we saw in the first scene of the play, might be two of the servants following Benvolio and Mercutio.
BENVOLIO
1 I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire:
2 The day is hot, the Capulets abroad,
3 And, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl;
4 For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.
MERCUTIO
5 Thou art like one of those fellows that when he
6 enters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword
7 upon the table and says "God send me no need of
8-9. by . . . drawer: under the influence of the second cup of wine draws his sword against the bartender.
8 thee!" and by the operation of the second cup draws
9 it on the drawer, when indeed there is no need.
BENVOLIO
10 Am I like such a fellow?
11-13. thou art . . . moved: you are as hot a fellow in your temperament as any in Italy, and as quickly incited to be angry, and as quickly in the mood to be incited.
11 Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood as
12 any in Italy, and as soon moved to be moody, and as
13 soon moody to be moved.
14-15. what to?: Benvolio asks what emotion or action he would be moved to, but Mercutio deliberately misinterprets the word "to" as "two."
MERCUTIO
15 Nay, an there were two such, we should have none
16 shortly, for one would kill the other. Thou! why,
17 thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more,
18 or a hair less, in his beard, than thou hast: thou
19 wilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having no
20. hazel: The color hazel is a light or yellowish brown, the same color as the shell of the hazelnut.
20 other reason but because thou hast hazel eyes: what
21 eye but such an eye would spy out such a quarrel?
22 Thy head is as fun of quarrels as an egg is full of
23 meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as
24 an egg for quarrelling: thou hast quarrelled with a
25 man for coughing in the street, because he hath
26 wakened thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun:
27 didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearing
28 his new doublet before Easter? with another, for
29 tying his new shoes with old riband? and yet thou
30 wilt tutor me from quarrelling!
BENVOLIO
31 An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man
32. fee-simple: absolute ownership, undisputed title. 32-33. buy . . . quarter: i.e., I wouldn't live more than an hour and a quarter.
32 should buy the fee-simple of my life for an hour
33 and a quarter.
34 The fee-simple! O simple!
Enter TYBALT, PETRUCHIO,
and others.
BENVOLIO
35 By my head, here come the Capulets.
MERCUTIO
36 By my heel, I care not.
TYBALT
37 Follow me close, for I will speak to them.
38 Gentlemen, good den: a word with one of you.
MERCUTIO
39 And but one word with one of us? couple it with
40 something; make it a word and a blow.
MERCUTIO
43 Could you not take some occasion without
44 giving?
45 Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo,
MERCUTIO
46 Consort! what, dost thou make us minstrels? an
47 thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but
48. here's my fiddlestick: Mercutio draws his rapier.
49. 'Zounds: This oath is a shortened form of "by his [Christ's] wounds," but does not have any genuine religious content.
48 discords: here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall
49 make you dance. 'Zounds, consort!
50. public haunt of men: i.e., a place (such as a market-place) where people come all the time.
52. reason coldly of: discuss calmly.
53. depart: part company.
50 We talk here in the public haunt of men:
51 Either withdraw unto some private place,
52 And reason coldly of your grievances,
53 Or else depart; here all eyes gaze on us.
MERCUTIO
54 Men's eyes were made to look, and let them gaze;
55 I will not budge for no man's pleasure, I.
TYBALT
56 Well, peace be with you, sir: here comes my man.
57 But I'll be hanged, sir, if he wear your livery:
58 Marry, go before to field, he'll be your follower;
59 Your worship in that sense may call him "man."
60 Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford
61 No better term than this: thou art a villain.
62. Tybalt . love thee: Romeo should now love Tybalt because Romeo has just married Tybalt's cousin Juliet.
63-64. excuse . . . greeting: mollify the rage that would be appropriate to the kind of greeting that you have just given me.
62 Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
63 Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
64 To such a greeting: villain am I none;
65 Therefore farewell; I see thou know'st me not.
TYBALT
66 Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries
67 That thou hast done me; therefore turn and draw.
68 I do protest I never injured thee,
69 But love thee better than thou canst devise,
70 Till thou shalt know the reason of my love:
71 And so, good Capulet,which name I tender
72 As dearly as my own,be satisfied.
MERCUTIO
73 O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!
74. Alla stoccata carries it away: i.e., the first thrust wins the fight. Alla stoccata is an Italian fencing term, meaning "at the first thrust."
74 Alla stoccata carries it away.
75. rat-catcher: i.e., pussy. In folklore, "Tybalt" was the name of the King of Cats. walk: i.e., fight. Now (C.E. 2015) the equivalent phrase is "step outside."
75 Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?
TYBALT
76 What wouldst thou have with me?
MERCUTIO
77 Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine
78. make bold withal: use as I please. 78-79. as you shall use me hereafter: depending on how you treat after that. 79. drybeat: beat with a sword, but without drawing blood. 80. his pilcher: its scabbard.
81. by the ears: Maybe "ears" refers to the cross-guard of Tybalt's sword, and maybe the phrase "by the ears" implies that the sword is reluctant to come out of its scabbard because Tybalt is afraid to fight.
78 lives; that I mean to make bold withal, and as you
79 shall use me hereafter, drybeat the rest of the
80 eight. Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher
81 by the ears? make haste, lest mine be about your
82 ears ere it be out.
TYBALT
83 I am for you.
84 Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.
85. passado : forward thrust.85 Come, sir, your passado.
ROMEO
86 Draw, Benvolio; beat down their weapons.
87 Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage!
88 Tybalt, Mercutio, the prince expressly hath
89 Forbidden bandying in Verona streets:
[ Romeo steps between them. ]
90 Hold, Tybalt! good Mercutio!
[ Tybalt under Romeo's arm stabs
Mercutio. ] Away Tybalt [ with his followers ].
91 A plague o' both your houses! I am sped.
92 Is he gone, and hath nothing?
BENVOLIO
92 What, art thou hurt?
93. a scratch . enough:
94. villain: fellow, rascal. Mercutio uses this derogatory term not because he is angry at his page, but because he is angry at his fate.
93 Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis enough.
94 Where is my page? Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.
ROMEO
95 Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.
MERCUTIO
96 No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a
97 church door; but 'tis enough,'twill serve. Ask for me
98-99. a grave man: (1) a serious man, one who doesn't pun; (2) a dead man. Even as he is dying, Mercutio puns about dying and not punning any more. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world: I guarantee that I am done for (in) this world.
98 tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am
99 peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague o' both
100 your houses! 'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to
101 scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain,
102 that fights by the book of arithmetic! Why the devil
103 came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.
ROMEO
104 I thought all for the best.
MERCUTIO
105 Help me into some house, Benvolio,
106 Or I shall faint. A plague o' both your houses!
107 They have made worms' meat of me: I have it,
108 And soundly too. Your houses!
Exeunt [ Mercutio and Benvolio ].
109. ally: kinsman. It is never explained just how Mercutio is related to Prince Escalus. 110. very friend: true friend.
111-112. my reputation stain'd / With Tybalt's slander: my reputation is stained by Tybalt's slander of me. Tybalt's "slander" was calling Romeo "villain" and "boy."
109 This gentleman, the prince's near ally,
110 My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt
111 In my behalf; my reputation stain'd
112 With Tybalt's slander,Tybalt, that an hour
113 Hath been my kinsman! O sweet Juliet,
114 Thy beauty hath made me effeminate
115 And in my temper soften'd valour's steel!
BENVOLIO
116 O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead!
117. aspired the clouds: mounted to the clouds.
118. Which too untimely here did scorn the earth: i.e., Mercutio's spirit, at the wrong moment, scorned the safety of life on earth.
117 That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds,
118 Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.
119. This day's black fate on moe days doth depend: This day's black fate threateningly hangs over more days [in the future].
119 This day's black fate on moe days doth depend;
120 This but begins the woe others must end.
BENVOLIO
121 Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.
ROMEO
122 Alive, in triumph! and Mercutio slain!
123 Away to heaven, respective lenity,
124 And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!
125 Now, Tybalt, take the "villain" back again,
126 That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio's soul
127 Is but a little way above our heads,
128 Staying for thine to keep him company:
129 Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.
TYBALT
130 Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
131 Shalt with him hence.
131. This shall determine that: i.e., My sword will decide whether or not I will join Mercutio in death.
131 This shall determine that.
They fight; Tybalt falls.
133. up: in arms.133 The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain.
134 Stand not amazed: the prince will doom thee death,
135 If thou art taken: hence, be gone, away!
136 O, I am fortune's fool!
First Citizen
137 Which way ran he that kill'd Mercutio?
138 Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he?
BENVOLIO
139 There lies that Tybalt.
139. Up, sir, go with me: It's a bit comic to see the citizen ordering the dead Tybalt to get up and go with him to the Prince.
139 Up, sir, go with me;
140 I charge thee in the Prince's name, obey.
Enter PRINCE, old MONTAGUE,
CAPULET, their WIVES, and all.
PRINCE
141 Where are the vile beginners of this fray?
142 O noble prince, I can discover all
143 The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl:
144 There lies the man, slain by young Romeo,
145 That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.
LADY CAPULET
146 Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother's child!
147 O prince! O cousin! husband! O, the blood is spilt
148 O my dear kinsman! Prince, as thou art true,
149 For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.
150 O cousin, cousin!
PRINCE
151 Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?
BENVOLIO
152 Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay;
153. that spoke him fair: who spoke to him civilly.
154. How nice the quarrel was: how trivial the cause of the quarrel was. 155. and urged withal / Your high displeasure: i.e. , and also reminded Tybalt that you would be extremely angry at another street fight.
157. take truce: make peace. unruly spleen: i.e. , irrational bad temper.
153 Romeo that spoke him fair, bade him bethink
154 How nice the quarrel was, and urged withal
155 Your high displeasure: all this uttered
156 With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bow'd,
157 Could not take truce with the unruly spleen
158 Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts
159 With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast,
160 Who all as hot, turns deadly point to point,
161 And, with a martial scorn, with one hand beats
162 Cold death aside, and with the other sends
163 It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity,
164 Retorts it. Romeo he cries aloud,
165 "Hold, friends! friends, part!" and, swifter than his tongue,
166 His agile arm beats down their fatal points,
167 And 'twixt them rushes; underneath whose arm
168 An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life
169 Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled;
170 But by and by comes back to Romeo,
171 Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,
172 And to 't they go like lightning, for, ere I
173 Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain.
174 And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly.
175 This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.
LADY CAPULET
176 He is a kinsman to the Montague;
177 Affection makes him false; he speaks not true:
178 Some twenty of them fought in this black strife,
179 And all those twenty could but kill one life.
180 I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give;
181 Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.
PRINCE
182 Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio;
183 Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?
MONTAGUE
184 Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend;
185 His fault concludes but what the law should end,
186 The life of Tybalt.
PRINCE
186 And for that offence
187 Immediately we do exile him hence.
188. interest: personal stake.
189. My blood: i.e., the blood of my kinsman, Mercutio.
190. amerce: punish by a fine.
188 I have an interest in your hate's proceeding,
189 My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding;
190 But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine
191 That you shall all repent the loss of mine.
192 I will be deaf to pleading and excuses;
193 Nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses:
194 Therefore use none. Let Romeo hence in haste,
195 Else, when he's found, that hour is his last.
196. attend our will: be on hand to hear my further judgment.
197. Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill: i.e. , having mercy on a murderer only invites others to murder, because they think they will be given mercy, too.
196 Bear hence this body and attend our will;
197 Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.