On this hill and in despair, with his slave Pindarus.
MESSALA
Is not that he that lies upon the ground?
MESSALA
Isn't that him on the ground?
TITINIUS
He lies not like the living. O my heart!
TITINIUS
He doesn't seem to be alive. Oh, my heart!
MESSALA
Is not that he?
MESSALA
Isn't that him?
TITINIUS
No, this was he, Messala,
But Cassius is no more. O setting sun,
65
As in thy red rays thou dost sink tonight,
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set.
The sun of Rome is set. Our day is gone.
Clouds, dews, and dangers come! Our deeds are done.
Mistrust of my success hath done this deed.
TITINIUS
No, it was him, Messala, but
Cassius is no more. Just as the sun's rays turn red when it
sets, so Cassius has ended his life in a pool of red blood. The sun
of Rome has set! Our day is over. Clouds, dew, and dangers approach.
We're finished! He didn't believe I would ever
return on my mission, and so he killed himself.
MESSALA
70
Mistrust of good success hath done this deed.
O hateful error, melancholy's child,
Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men
The things that are not? O error, soon conceived,
Thou never comest unto a happy birth
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But kill'st the mother that engendered thee!
MESSALA
Yes, he killed himself because he thought we'd lost the
whole battle. Sadness, which misconstrues reality, gave birth to his
errors in thinking—and then destroyed him.
TITINIUS
What, Pindarus! Where art thou, Pindarus?
TITINIUS
Pindarus! Where are you, Pindarus?
MESSALA
Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet
The noble Brutus, thrusting this report
Into his ears. I may say “thrusting” it,
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For piercing steel and darts envenomèd
Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus
As tidings of this sight.
MESSALA
Look for him, Titinius, while I go to meet the noble Brutus and
force him to hear this news. I say “force”
because Brutus would rather I stuck sharp blades and poisoned arrows
in his ears than fill them with this.
