You wouldn't have dared, out of fear for your
life.
CASSIUS
Do not presume too much upon my love.
I may do that I shall be sorry for.
CASSIUS
Don't take my love for granted. I might do something
I'll be sorry for.
BRUTUS
You have done that you should be sorry for.
70
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,
For I am armed so strong in honesty
That they pass by me as the idle wind,
Which I respect not. I did send to you
For certain sums of gold, which you denied me,
75
For I can raise no money by vile means.
By heaven, I had rather coin my heart
And drop my blood for drachmas than to wring
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash
By any indirection. I did send
80
To you for gold to pay my legions,
Which you denied me. Was that done like Cassius?
Should I have answered Caius Cassius so?
When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous
To lock such rascal counters from his friends,
85
Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts.
Dash him to pieces!
BRUTUS
You've already done something you should be sorry for.
Your threats don't scare me, Cassius, because I'm
so secure in my honesty and integrity that they pass me by like a
weak breeze. I asked you for a certain amount of gold, which you
wouldn't give me. I myself can't raise money by
unethical means. I'd rather turn my heart into money and my
drops of blood into coins than use crooked tactics to wring petty
cash from the hardworking hands of peasants. I asked you for gold to
pay my soldiers, and you wouldn't give it to me. Was that
the Caius Cassius that I knew? And would I have ever done that to
you? If I ever get so greedy that I hoard such petty cash from my
friends, may the gods dash me to pieces with their
thunderbolts!
CASSIUS
I denied you
not.
CASSIUS
I didn't refuse you.
BRUTUS
You did.
BRUTUS
You did.
CASSIUS
I did not. He was but a fool that
brought
My answer back. Brutus hath rived my heart.
A friend should bear his friend's infirmities,
90
But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.
CASSIUS
I didn't. The man who brought my answer to you was a
fool. You have broken my heart. A friend should put up with his
friend's weaknesses, but you exaggerate mine.
