This riveting tragedy presents one of Shakespeare's greatest female characters—the seductive, cunning Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. Mark Antony, a virtual prisoner of his passion for her, is torn between pleasure and virtue, between sensual indolence and duty... 作者：William Shakespeare，1564-1616，英国文艺复兴时期最伟大的剧作家、诗人、文学家；朗读：苑溪仙；播出时间：晚9点。本集文本如下 :ACT V SCENE II Alexandria. A room in the monument. [Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS]CLEOPATRA My desolation does begin to makeA better life. 'Tis paltry to be Caesar;Not being Fortune, he's but Fortune's knave,A minister of her will: and it is greatTo do that thing that ends all other deeds;5Which shackles accidents and bolts up change;Which sleeps, and never palates more the dug,The beggar's nurse and Caesar's.[ Enter, to the gates of the monument, PROCULEIUS, GALLUS and Soldiers ]PROCULEIUSCaesar sends greeting to the Queen of Egypt;And bids thee study on what fair demands10Thou mean'st to have him grant thee.CLEOPATRAWhat's thy name?PROCULEIUSMy name is Proculeius.CLEOPATRAAntonyDid tell me of you, bade me trust you; but15I do not greatly care to be deceived,That have no use for trusting. If your masterWould have a queen his beggar, you must tell him,That majesty, to keep decorum, mustNo less beg than a kingdom: if he please20To give me conquer'd Egypt for my son,He gives me so much of mine own, as IWill kneel to him with thanks.PROCULEIUSBe of good cheer;You're fall'n into a princely hand, fear nothing:25Make your full reference freely to my lord,Who is so full of grace, that it flows overOn all that need: let me report to himYour sweet dependency; and you shall findA conqueror that will pray in aid for kindness,30Where he for grace is kneel'd to.CLEOPATRAPray you, tell himI am his fortune's vassal, and I send himThe greatness he has got. I hourly learnA doctrine of obedience; and would gladly35Look him i' the face.PROCULEIUSThis I'll report, dear lady.Have comfort, for I know your plight is pitiedOf him that caused it.GALLUSYou see how easily she may be surprised:40[ Here PROCULEIUS and two of the Guard ascend the monument by a ladder placed against a window, and, having descended, come behind CLEOPATRA. Some of the Guard unbar and open the gates ][To PROCULEIUS and the Guard]Guard her till Caesar come.[Exit]IRASRoyal queen!CHARMIANO Cleopatra! thou art taken, queen:CLEOPATRAQuick, quick, good hands.[Drawing a dagger]PROCULEIUSHold, worthy lady, hold:45[Seizes and disarms her]Do not yourself such wrong, who are in thisRelieved, but not betray'd.CLEOPATRAWhat, of death too,That rids our dogs of languish?PROCULEIUSCleopatra,50Do not abuse my master's bounty byThe undoing of yourself: let the world seeHis nobleness well acted, which your deathWill never let come forth.CLEOPATRAWhere art thou, death?55Come hither, come! come, come, and take a queenWorthy many babes and beggars!PROCULEIUSO, temperance, lady!CLEOPATRASir, I will eat no meat, I'll not drink, sir;If idle talk will once be necessary,60I'll not sleep neither: this mortal house I'll ruin,Do Caesar what he can. Know, sir, that IWill not wait pinion'd at your master's court;Nor once be chastised with the sober eyeOf dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up65And show me to the shouting varletryOf censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in EgyptBe gentle grave unto me! rather on Nilus' mudLay me stark naked, and let the water-fliesBlow me into abhorring! rather make70My country's high pyramides my gibbet,And hang me up in chains!PROCULEIUSYou do extendThese thoughts of horror further than you shallFind cause in Caesar.75[Enter DOLABELLA]DOLABELLAProculeius,What thou hast done thy master Caesar knows,And he hath sent for thee: for the queen,I'll take her to my guard.PROCULEIUSSo, Dolabella,80It shall content me best: be gentle to her.[To CLEOPATRA]To Caesar I will speak what you shall please,If you'll employ me to him.CLEOPATRASay, I would die.[Exeunt PROCULEIUS and Soldiers]DOLABELLAMost noble empress, you have heard of me?85CLEOPATRAI cannot tell.DOLABELLAAssuredly you know me.CLEOPATRANo matter, sir, what I have heard or known.You laugh when boys or women tell their dreams;Is't not your trick?90DOLABELLAI understand not, madam.CLEOPATRAI dream'd there was an Emperor Antony:O, such another sleep, that I might seeBut such another man!DOLABELLAIf it might please ye,--95CLEOPATRAHis face was as the heavens; and therein stuckA sun and moon, which kept their course,and lightedThe little O, the earth.DOLABELLAMost sovereign creature,--100CLEOPATRAHis legs bestrid the ocean: his rear'd armCrested the world: his voice was propertiedAs all the tuned spheres, and that to friends;But when he meant to quail and shake the orb,He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty,105There was no winter in't; an autumn 'twasThat grew the more by reaping: his delightsWere dolphin-like; they show'd his back aboveThe element they lived in: in his liveryWalk'd crowns and crownets; realms and islands were110As plates dropp'd from his pocket.DOLABELLACleopatra!CLEOPATRAThink you there was, or might be, such a manAs this I dream'd of?DOLABELLAGentle madam, no.115CLEOPATRAYou lie, up to the hearing of the gods.But, if there be, or ever were, one such,It's past the size of dreaming: nature wants stuffTo vie strange forms with fancy; yet, to imagineAnd Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy,120Condemning shadows quite.DOLABELLAHear me, good madam.Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear itAs answering to the weight: would I might neverO'ertake pursued success, but I do feel,125By the rebound of yours, a grief that smitesMy very heart at root.CLEOPATRAI thank you, sir,Know you what Caesar means to do with me?DOLABELLAI am loath to tell you what I would you knew.130CLEOPATRANay, pray you, sir,--DOLABELLAThough he be honourable,--CLEOPATRAHe'll lead me, then, in triumph?DOLABELLAMadam, he will; I know't.[ Flourish, and shout within, 'Make way there: Octavius Caesar!' ][ Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR, GALLUS, PROCULEIUS, MECAENAS, SELEUCUS, and others of his Train ]OCTAVIUS CAESARWhich is the Queen of Egypt?135DOLABELLAIt is the emperor, madam.[CLEOPATRA kneels]OCTAVIUS CAESARArise, you shall not kneel:I pray you, rise; rise, Egypt.CLEOPATRASir, the godsWill have it thus; my master and my lord140I must obey.OCTAVIUS CAESARTake to you no hard thoughts:The record of what injuries you did us,Though written in our flesh, we shall rememberAs things but done by chance.145CLEOPATRASole sir o' the world,I cannot project mine own cause so wellTo make it clear; but do confess I haveBeen laden with like frailties which beforeHave often shamed our sex.150OCTAVIUS CAESARCleopatra, know,We will extenuate rather than enforce:If you apply yourself to our intents,Which towards you are most gentle, you shall findA benefit in this change; but if you seek155To lay on me a cruelty, by takingAntony's course, you shall bereave yourselfOf my good purposes, and put your childrenTo that destruction which I'll guard them from,If thereon you rely. I'll take my leave.160CLEOPATRAAnd may, through all the world: 'tis yours; and we,Your scutcheons and your signs of conquest, shallHang in what place you please. Here, my good lord.OCTAVIUS CAESARYou shall advise me in all for Cleopatra.CLEOPATRAThis is the brief of money, plate, and jewels,165I am possess'd of: 'tis exactly valued;Not petty things admitted. Where's Seleucus?SELEUCUSHere, madam.CLEOPATRAThis is my treasurer: let him speak, my lord,Upon his peril, that I have reserved170To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus.SELEUCUSMadam,I had rather seal my lips, than, to my peril,Speak that which is not.CLEOPATRAWhat have I kept back?175SELEUCUSEnough to purchase what you have made known.OCTAVIUS CAESARNay, blush not, Cleopatra; I approveYour wisdom in the deed.CLEOPATRASee, Caesar! O, behold,How pomp is follow'd! mine will now be yours;180And, should we shift estates, yours would be mine.The ingratitude of this Seleucus doesEven make me wild: O slave, of no more trustThan love that's hired! What, goest thou back? thou shaltGo back, I warrant thee; but I'll catch thine eyes,185Though they had wings: slave, soulless villain, dog!O rarely base!OCTAVIUS CAESARGood queen, let us entreat you.CLEOPATRAO Caesar, what a wounding shame is this,That thou, vouchsafing here to visit me,190Doing the honour of thy lordlinessTo one so meek, that mine own servant shouldParcel the sum of my disgraces byAddition of his envy! Say, good Caesar,That I some lady trifles have reserved,195Immoment toys, things of such dignityAs we greet modern friends withal; and say,Some nobler token I have kept apartFor Livia and Octavia, to induceTheir mediation; must I be unfolded200With one that I have bred? The gods! it smites meBeneath the fall I have.[To SELEUCUS]Prithee, go hence;Or I shall show the cinders of my spiritsThrough the ashes of my chance: wert thou a man,205Thou wouldst have mercy on me.OCTAVIUS CAESARForbear, Seleucus.[Exit SELEUCUS]CLEOPATRABe it known, that we, the greatest, are misthoughtFor things that others do; and, when we fall,We answer others' merits in our name,210Are therefore to be pitied.OCTAVIUS CAESARCleopatra,Not what you have reserved, nor what acknowledged,Put we i' the roll of conquest: still be't yours,Bestow it at your pleasure; and believe,215Caesar's no merchant, to make prize with youOf things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheer'd;Make not your thoughts your prisons: no, dear queen;For we intend so to dispose you asYourself shall give us counsel. Feed, and sleep:220Our care and pity is so much upon you,That we remain your friend; and so, adieu.CLEOPATRAMy master, and my lord!OCTAVIUS CAESARNot so. Adieu.[Flourish. Exeunt OCTAVIUS CAESAR and his train]CLEOPATRAHe words me, girls, he words me, that I should not225Be noble to myself: but, hark thee, Charmian.[Whispers CHARMIAN]IRASFinish, good lady; the bright day is done,And we
