Chapter Three. “A plague on both your houses.”
In the streets of Verona, Mercutio and Benvolio were looking for Romeo. ‘He didn't go home last night, you know,' said Benvolio, ‘and there's a letter for him. I spoke to his servant.'
‘Who's the letter from?' said Mercutio.
‘Tybalt!'
‘Oh no! Has Tybalt challenged him to a fight?'
‘Yes, he has.'
The two friends were worried about Romeo. Tybalt was dangerous and Romeo was in love. He was a lover not a fighter. Tybalt was an expert fighter. He was like a lion. A mad, angry lion.
Romeo came round the corner into the street. He was smiling.
‘Ah, hello Romeo. Where did you go last night? We lost you after the party.'
‘Yes, I'm sorry. I had things to do.'
‘That's OK, but you look happy this morning. That's a nice change. It's good to see the old Romeo again.'
Romeo laughed and joked happily with his friends. Then, Juliet's nurse arrived. She was looking for Romeo.
‘Who's that fat old lady?' said Mercutio. ‘She's looking for you. Perhaps she's in love with you. Run, Romeo. Run!'
‘You rude young man,' said the nurse, ‘I must speak to Romeo
alone. I have a message for him. Go away, you horrible teenagers.'
Mercutio and Benvolio went away. They were laughing.
Romeo turned to the nurse. ‘Mercutio was rude. I'm sorry,' he said.
‘Yes, Mercutio was very rude. I hope you aren't a rude young man, too. My Juliet is a lady and she's very young. You must be kind to her.'
‘I know. Of course I'll be kind. I love her.'
Romeo explained his plan to the nurse. ‘Tell Juliet to meet me this afternoon. Tell her to come to Friar Laurence's house. We're getting married there. Oh, and tell her not to worry; everything will be fine.'
The nurse ran home to Juliet.
Juliet was sitting in the garden. She was waiting for news from Romeo. Finally, the nurse arrived. ‘At last you're home!' said Juliet. ‘What did Romeo say?'
‘Oh, I'm tired', replied the nurse, ‘and I've got a headache. Let me sit down for a minute.'
‘No! Please tell me! Is the news from Romeo good or bad? What did he say?'
The nurse sat down and said, ‘Well, I can see he's a handsome young man.'
‘Yes, I KNOW! He's very, very handsome. But tell me about our wedding!'
Finally, the nurse explained the plan and Juliet left immediately. She ran to Friar Laurence's house without stopping.
Meanwhile, Romeo and Friar Laurence were waiting for Juliet. Friar Laurence was talking to Romeo about love and marriage. He told Romeo to look after Juliet and to be a good husband. As soon as Juliet arrived, Friar Laurence started the wedding.
After a few minutes, Romeo and Juliet were married. It was a secret wedding, but they were still married. Then Juliet went quickly home because she didn't want her parents to find out about her wedding. She went home to wait for Romeo.
Back in the streets of Verona, Mercutio and Benvolio were chatting. Benvolio was worried. It was another very hot afternoon and the Capulets were near. Benvolio didn't want any more fights. ‘Come on, Mercutio', he said, ‘it's dangerous here. Let's go home.'
‘Are you afraid to fight?' Mercutio asked. ‘Anyway, it's too late. The Capulets are here now.'
At that very moment, Tybalt came into the street with his Capulet friends. He wanted a fight. ‘Where's Romeo?' he said, ‘I want to speak to him.'
Mercutio and Tybalt started to argue and Benvolio tried to stop them. He was afraid of the prince and he didn't want another big fight in the street. Mercutio and Tybalt didn't listen to him. They continued to argue. Suddenly, Romeo walked round the corner into the street. Tybalt saw him and forgot all about Mercutio. ‘Romeo, you're a Montague! I'll kill you,' shouted Tybalt.
But Romeo didn't want to fight. He especially didn't want to fight Tybalt, because Tybalt was Juliet's cousin. ‘No,' said Romeo, ‘I can't explain, but you must try to understand. I love all Capulets now. I don't want to fight you.'
Mercutio was very angry with Romeo. He didn't understand. ‘You're afraid, Romeo. You're afraid to fight. You're afraid of Tybalt! Get out of my way. I'll fight Tybalt. I'll kill the rat.'
Tybalt and Mercutio started fighting. Tybalt was a better fighter
than Mercutio. Romeo tried to stop them, but it was too late. Mercutio fell down. ‘I'm hurt,' he shouted, ‘I'm hurt.'
Tybalt saw him fall and ran away.
‘Tybalt's killed me,' said Mercutio. ‘He's killed me. Why did you try to stop the fight, Romeo? He killed me when you tried to stop us. It's your fault. A plague on the Montagues, a plague on the Capulets. A plague on both your houses. I'm a dead man.'
‘I'm sorry,' said Romeo, ‘I'm so sorry. I only wanted to help.'
But Romeo and Benvolio knew it was too late. Mercutio died.
Suddenly, Tybalt came back into the street.
‘You've killed Mercutio!' shouted Romeo angrily, ‘and now I'm going to kill you.'
Romeo was furious and attacked Tybalt. There was nothing Tybalt could do. Romeo killed him.
‘Oh no, he's dead,' cried Benvolio. ‘Run, Romeo, run. The prince is coming. He'll kill you if he finds you here.'
Romeo ran away.
Prince Escalus soon arrived in the street. Lord and Lady Montague and Lord and Lady Capulet were with him. ‘I've heard Mercutio is dead. They say that Tybalt killed him. But who's Tybalt's killer?' asked the prince angrily.
Benvolio explained. He told the story of the fight to everyone. The prince listened carefully. But Lady Capulet was angry and didn't believe the story. ‘Romeo killed Tybalt', she said, ‘and Tybalt was a Capulet. Tybalt was my nephew. Romeo's a Montague and so he must die.'
‘No,' said Lord Montague, ‘Romeo was Mercutio's friend. He killed Tybalt because Tybalt was Mercutio's killer. Romeo didn't start the
fight, the fight was Tybalt's fault.'
‘Stop this,' said the prince, ‘I understand everything. My soldiers won't kill Romeo, but I'll send him away. Romeo must leave Verona immediately and he must never come back. Do you understand? Romeo must leave Verona for ever.'
Juliet was waiting for Romeo at home. She didn't know about the fight. She didn't know that Mercutio and Tybalt were dead. Then, her nurse came into the room, crying. ‘What's the matter? Why are you so unhappy?' said Juliet.
‘He's dead,' said the nurse. ‘He's dead.'
‘What do you mean? Is my Romeo dead? How did it happen?'
‘No, not Romeo. Romeo's not dead', the nurse replied, ‘but he killed Tybalt. Tybalt's dead and Romeo killed him.'
Juliet was very angry with Romeo because Tybalt was her cousin. Then she remembered the prince's threat. ‘But the prince will kill Romeo now!' she cried.
So the nurse explained. ‘No, the prince won't kill Romeo, but he has sent Romeo away. Romeo must leave Verona and he can never come back.'
Juliet cried and cried. ‘But he's my husband. I can't live without him. I'll kill myself. I must be with him.'
The nurse was frightened by Juliet's words. ‘No, no,' she said, ‘I'll find Romeo, I promise. I'll find him and bring him here to you.'
‘Give him this ring,' cried Juliet. ‘Tell him I still love him.'
The nurse went out into the street to look for Romeo.
After the fight, Romeo ran to Friar Laurence's house. Friar Laurence told him about the prince's decision. ‘You must leave Verona', said the friar, ‘and you can't come back. If you come back, the prince will kill you.'
Romeo was very unhappy. ‘How can I leave Verona? How can I leave my Juliet?' he cried. ‘Without Juliet, I want to die.'
Suddenly, they heard someone outside. ‘Quick! Hide!' said the friar.
Romeo ran to the friar's study and he hid behind the desk. There was a knock at the door. The friar went to the hall and opened the door. Juliet's nurse was there. ‘Where's Romeo?' she asked, ‘I must speak to him. Juliet is very unhappy.'
Romeo came out of the study. ‘Does Juliet hate me now?' he said, ‘I killed her cousin.'
‘No. She gave me this ring for you. You must come to see her,' answered the nurse, ‘Juliet knows about the fight and she knows about the prince's decision. She knows you have to leave Verona. She's crying and crying, but she can't live without you. She says she wants to die. You must go and see her.'
‘Go to Juliet,' said the friar, ‘but you have to leave Verona before morning. It's too dangerous for you to stay here. Tomorrow morning, you must go to Mantua. Don't worry, I'll send messages to you about Juliet.'
Romeo and the nurse ran to Lord Capulet's house. Romeo climbed the wall into the garden and then he climbed to Juliet's balcony. Romeo and Juliet spent their sad wedding night together.