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FOURTH PLEBEIAN
65What does he say of Brutus?
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FOURTH PLEBEIAN What does he say about Brutus?
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THIRD PLEBEIAN He
says for Brutus' sake
He finds himself beholding to us all.
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THIRD PLEBEIAN He says that for Brutus’s sake he finds himself indebted
to us all.
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FOURTH PLEBEIAN 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here.
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FOURTH PLEBEIAN He’d better not speak badly of Brutus here.
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FIRST PLEBEIAN This Caesar was a tyrant.
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FIRST PLEBEIAN Caesar was a tyrant.
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THIRD PLEBEIAN Nay,
that’s certain.
We are blest that Rome is rid of him.
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THIRD PLEBEIAN That’s for sure. We’re lucky that Rome is rid of
him.
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FOURTH PLEBEIAN
70Peace! Let us hear what Antony can say.
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SECOND PLEBEIAN Quiet! Let’s hear what Antony has to say.
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ANTONY You gentle Romans—
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ANTONY You gentle Romans—
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ALL Peace, ho! Let
us hear him.
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ALL Quiet there! Let us hear him.
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ANTONY Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
75The good is oft interrèd with their bones.
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious.
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answered it.
80Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—
For Brutus is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men—
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me.
85But Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honorable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.
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ANTONY Friends, Romans, countrymen, give me your attention. I have come
here to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do is
remembered after their deaths, but the good is often buried with
them. It might as well be the same with Caesar. The noble Brutus
told you that Caesar was ambitious. If that’s true,
it’s a serious fault, and Caesar has paid seriously for it.
With the permission of Brutus and the others—for Brutus
is an honorable man; they are all honorable men—I have
come here to speak at Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend,
he was faithful and just to me. But Brutus says he was ambitious,
and Brutus is an honorable man. He brought many captives home to
Rome whose ransoms brought wealth to the city.
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