n _King John_, V, iv,
45: "the noise and rumour of the field." Since the interview
of Brutus and Portia, he has unbosomed all his secrets to her;
and now she is in such a fever of anxiety that she mistakes
her fancies for facts.]

[Note 20: /Sooth:/ in truth. Cf. _The Merchant of Venice_, I,
i, 1. See Skeat, and cf. note on 'soothsayer,' p. 10, l. 19.]

[Page 77]

_Enter the_ SOOTHSAYER

PORTIA. Come hither, fellow: which way hast thou been?

SOOTHSAYER. At mine own house, good lady.

PORTIA. What is 't o'clock?

SOOTHSAYER. About the ninth hour, lady.

PORTIA. Is Caesar yet gone to the Capitol?

SOOTHSAYER. Madam, not yet: I go to take my stand, 25
To see him pass on to the Capitol.

PORTIA. Thou hast some suit to Caesar, hast thou not?

SOOTHSAYER. That I have, lady: if it will please Caesar
To be so good to Caesar as to hear me,
I shall beseech him to befriend himself. 30

PORTIA. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards him?

SOOTHSAYER. None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance.
Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow:
The throng that follows Caesar at the heels,
Of senators, of praetors, common suitors, 35
Will crowd a feeble man almost to death:
I'll get me to a place more void, and there
Speak to great Caesar as he comes along. [_Exit_]

[Note 21: _Enter the_ SOOTHSAYER Ff | Enter Artemidorus Rowe.]

[Note 23: /o'clock/ Theobald | a clocke F1.]

[Note 32: Two lines in Ff.]

[Note 39: Two lines in Ff.]

[Note 21: _Enter the_ SOOTHSAYER. Rowe substituted
'Artemidorus' for 'the Soothsayer' here, and many modern
editors have adopted this change. But North's Plutarch
furnishes a source for the Soothsayer as distinct from
Artemidorus, and the reading of the Folios has a dramatic edge
and effectiveness which Rowe's change destroys.]

[Page 78]

PORTIA. I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing
The heart of woman is! O Brutus, 40
The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!
Sure, the boy heard me. Brutus hath a suit
That Caesar will not grant. O, I grow faint.
Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord;
Say I am merry: come to me again, 45
And bring me word what he doth say to thee. [_Exeunt severally_]

[Note 39: /Ay/ | Aye Ff | ah Johnson.]

[Note 46: [_Exeunt se