(kneeling) Pardon him, Caesar,
pardon him. I fall to your feet to beg you to restore Publius Cimber
to citizenship.
CAESAR
I could be well moved if I were as you.
65
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me.
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks.
70
They are all fire and every one doth shine,
But there's but one in all doth hold his place.
So in the world. 'Tis furnished well with men,
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive,
Yet in the number I do know but one
75
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion. And that I am he
Let me a little show it even in this:
That I was constant Cimber should be banished,
And constant do remain to keep him so.
CAESAR
I could be convinced if I were like you. If I could beg others to
change their minds, begging would convince me, too. But I'm
as immovable as the northern star, whose stable and stationary
quality has no equal in the sky. The sky shows countless stars.
They're all made of fire, and each one shines. But only one
among all of them remains in a fixed position. So it is on earth.
The world is full of men, and men are flesh and blood, and they are
capable of reason. Yet out of all of them, I know only one who is
unassailable, who never moves from his position. To show you that
that's me, let me prove it a little even in this case. I
was firm in ordering that Cimber be banished, and I remain firm in
that decision.
CINNA
80
(kneeling) O
Caesar—
CINNA
(kneeling) Oh,
Caesar—
CAESAR
Hence! Wilt thou lift up Olympus?
CAESAR
Enough! Would you try to lift Mount Olympus?
DECIUS
(kneeling) Great
Caesar—
DECIUS
(kneeling) Great
Caesar—
CAESAR
Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?
CAESAR
Haven't I resisted even Brutus, begging from his
knees?
