Those that have known the earth so full of faults.
For my part, I have walked about the streets,
Submitting me unto the perilous night,
And, thus unbracèd, Casca, as you see,
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Have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone.
And when the cross blue lightning seemed to open
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.
CASSIUS
Those who have known how bad things are here on earth. I have
walked around the streets, exposing myself to the perilous night,
unbuttoned like this, as you see, Casca, baring my chest to the
thunderbolt. When the forked blue lightning seemed to break open the
sky, I put myself right where I thought it would hit.
CASCA
But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens?
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It is the part of men to fear and tremble
When the most mighty gods by tokens send
Such dreadful heralds to astonish us.
CASCA
But why did you tempt the heavens like that? Mankind's
role is to fear and tremble when the almighty gods send warning
signals.
CASSIUS
You are dull, Casca, and those sparks of life
That should be in a Roman you do want,
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Or else you use not. You look pale, and gaze,
And put on fear, and cast yourself in wonder
To see the strange impatience of the heavens.
But if you would consider the true cause
Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts,
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Why birds and beasts from quality and kind,
Why old men fool and children calculate,
Why all these things change from their ordinance
Their natures and preformèd faculties
To monstrous quality—why, you shall find
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That heaven hath infused them with these spirits
To make them instruments of fear and warning
Unto some monstrous state.
Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man
Most like this dreadful night,
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That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
As doth the lion in the Capitol—
CASSIUS
You're acting stupid, Casca, and you lack the quick wits
that a Roman should have—or else you don't use
them. You go pale, you stare, and you act in awe of the strange
disturbance in the heavens. But if you thought about the real reason
for all these fires, all these gliding ghosts, for why birds and
animals abandon their natural behavior, why old men, fools, and
children make predictions, why all sorts of things have departed
from the usual course of their natures and become monstrosities,
then you'd understand that heaven had them act this way so
they would serve as frightening warnings of an unnatural state to
come. Right this minute, Casca, I could name a man who's
just like this dreadful night. A man who thunders, throws lightning,
splits open graves, and roars like the lion in the Capitol.
