LEPIDUS         You’ve strange serpents there?

ANTONY         Ay, Lepidus.

LEPIDUS         Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile.

ANTONY         They are so.

POMPEY         Sit, and some wine. A health to Lepidus!

LEPIDUS         I am not so well as I should be, but I’ll ne’er out.

ENOBARBUS  Not till you have slept—I fear me you’ll be in till then.

LEPIDUS         Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies’ pyramises are very goodly things: without contradiction I have heard that.

MENAS           [aside to Pompey] Pompey, a word.

POMPEY         [aside to Menas] Say in mine ear, what is’t?

MENAS           [aside to Pompey] Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, captain,

And hear me speak a word.

POMPEY         [aside to Menas] Forbear me till anon.

[Aloud]

This wine for Lepidus!

[Menas] whispers in [Pompey’s] ear (2.7.23-36)

 

Lepidus may well be fascinated by Egyptian wildlife, but he’s also trying to act as if he’s not as drunk as he is. (This is one of the pitfalls of this scene: no one can really be drunk, but really being drunk often involves attempting to behave as if sober. This performance is all there in Lepidus’s lines, enabling him to perform extreme inebriation far more convincingly than if he were crashing around in some artificial version of drunken incoherence.) He wants to chat with Antony about Egypt, and to show off his sophisticated understanding of its natural wonders: you’ve strange serpents there, he suggests to Antony. He isn’t actually talking about Cleopatra, however, he means real snakes. Antony’s going to humour him, yep, weird snakes alright. Ay, Lepidus. This encourages Lepidus to share more of his indepth knowledge of the Egyptian climate: your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile. This was a common belief, found in many ancient writers, that Nile mud was so fertile that it would spontaneously generate creatures merely through the action of the sun’s rays upon it. Including crocodiles! (More on crocodiles later.) Antony continues to humour him by agreeing, mmm-hmmm, absolutely. They are so.

 

Pompey joins them—there may be a sense that he’s coming to rescue Antony, or to see what mileage there might be in Lepidus as entertainment, especially if he has more to drink. A health to Lepidus! he says, meaning (probably) that Lepidus has to drink too, even though he has to admit that I am not so well as I should be, but I’ll ne’er out. Feeling it a bit, chaps, to be honest, but you won’t catch me not keeping up. (Oh, Lepidus.) Not till you have slept, comments Enobarbus, not until either you’ve slept this bout off, or you’ve drunk yourself into a stupor—I fear me you’ll be in till then, you’ll be in drink, and drunk, until then. (Mostly it’s just a reminder that Enobarbus is there, watching and listening, laconic, playful, well able to hold his drink, as Antony can too.)

 

But Lepidus wants to talk more about Egypt! Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies’ pyramises are very goodly things: without contradiction I have heard that. They’re amazing! I won’t hear a word against them! The slight note of belligerence, of responding to an imagined slight, makes him sound even drunker, and there is, of course, much scope for tongue-twisting difficulty in Ptolemies’ pyramises, even if the P is silent (it looks twistier on the page). Much more scope for comedy, however, if Lepidus attempts to pronounce it as written, which isn’t out of the question. The focus has to shift, though, to this little exchange between Pompey and Menas, Menas who has ended the previous scene expressing his disappointment in his ally. I want a word, he says. Go ahead, replies Pompey, whisper, say’t in my ear, what is’t? No, not here, says Menas, somewhere more private, need to be discreet: forsake thy seat, come with me, I do beseech thee, captain, and hear me speak a word. We need to talk. (And calling him captain is polite and conciliatory; it also reminds Pompey that he is a leader, that he has followers and allies.) Forbear me till anon, replies Pompey, perhaps with a bit of annoyance, give me a minute, wait a little and I’ll be with you. In the meantime, distract: This wine for Lepidus! keep the old man going and all eyes will be on him.