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SCENE III. The same. A public place. Enter TITUS, bearing arrows with letters at the ends of them; with him, MARCUS, young LUCIUS, PUBLIUS, SEMPRONIUS, CAIUS, and other Gentlemen, with bows.

Tit. Come, Marcus; come, kinsmen; this is the way.

Sir boy, now let me see your archery; Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight.

Terras Astræa reliquit :

Be you remember'd, Marcus, she's gone, she's fled.

Sirs, take you to your tools. You, cousins,

shall

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spade,

And pierce the inmost centre of the earth:
Then, when you come to Pluto's region,
I pray you, deliver him this petition;
Tell him, it is for justice and for aid,
And that it comes from old Andronicus,
Shaken with sorrows in ungrateful Rome.
Ah, Rome! Well, well; I made thee miserable
What time I threw the people's suffrages
On him that thus doth tyrannize o'er me. 20
Go, get you gone; and pray be careful all,
And leave you not a man-of-war unsearch'd:
This wicked emperor may have shipp'd her
hence;

And, kinsmen, then we may go pipe for justice.
Marc. O Publius, is not this a heavy case,
To see thy noble uncle thus distract?

Pub. Therefore, my lord, it highly us

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He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere else,

40 So that perforce you must needs stay a time. Tit. He doth me wrong to feed me with delays.

I'll dive into the burning lake below,
And pull her out of Acheron by the heels.
Marcus, we are but shrubs, no cedars we,
No big-boned men framed of the Cyclops' size;
But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back,
Yet wrung with wrongs more than our backs
can bear:

And, sith there's no justice in earth nor hell, We will solicit heaven and move the gods 50 To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs. Come, to this gear. You are a good archer, Marcus; [He gives them the arrows. 'Ad Jovem,' that's for you: here, 'Ad Apollinem :

'Ad Martem,' that's for myself:

Here, boy, to Pallas: here, to Mercury :
To Saturn, Caius, not to Saturnine;
You were as good to shoot against the wind.
To it, boy! Marcus, loose when I bid.
Of my word, I have written to effect;
There's not a god left unsolicited.
Marc. Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into
the court:

We will afflict the emperor in his pride.

60

Tit. Now, masters, draw. [They shoot.] O, well said, Lucius !

Good boy, in Virgo's lap; give it Pallas.
Marc. My lord, I aim a mile beyond the

moon;

Your letter is with Jupiter by this.

Tit. Ha, ha!

Publius, Publius, what hast thou done?

See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns.

Marc. This was the sport, my lord: when Publius shot

70 The Bull, being gall'd, gave Aries such a knock That down fell both the Ram's horns in the court;

And who should find them but the empress' villain ?

She laugh'd, and told the Moor he should not choose

But give them to his master for a present. Tit. Why, there it goes: God give his lordship joy!

Enter a Clown, with a basket, and two pigeons in it.

News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is come.

Sirrah, what tidings? have you any letters ? Shall I have justice? what says Jupiter?

79

Clo. O, the gibbet-maker! he says that he hath taken them down again, for the man must not be hanged till the next week.

Tit. But what says Jupiter, I ask thee? Clo. Alas, sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank with him in all my life.

Tit. Why, villain, art not thou the carrier? Clo. Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else.

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Tit. Why,didst thou not come from heaven? Clo. From heaven! alas, sir, I never came there: God forbid I should be so bold to press to heaven in my young days. Why, I am going with my pigeons to the tribunal plebs, to take up a matter of brawl betwixt my uncle and one of the emperial's men.

Marc. Why, sir, that is as fit as can be to serve for your oration; and let him deliver the pigeons to the emperor from you.

Tit. Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the emperor with a grace?

Clo. Nay, truly, sir, I could never say grace in all my life.

101

Tit. Sirrah, come hither: make no more ado,

But give your pigeons to the emperor :
By me thou shalt have justice at his hands.
Hold, hold; meanwhile here's money for thy
charges.

Give me pen and ink. Sirrah, can you with a grace deliver a supplication ?.

Clo. Ay, sir.

Tit. Then here is a supplication for you. And when you come to him, at the first approach you must kneel, then kiss his foot, then deliver up your pigeons, and then look for your reward. I'll be at hand, sir; see you do it bravely.

Clo. I warrant you, sir, let me alone.

Tit. Sirrah, hast thou a knife? come, let me see it.

Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration;

For thou hast made it like an humble suppliant.

And when thou hast given it the emperor, Knock at my door, and tell me what he says. Clo. God be with you, sir; I will.

120

Tit. Come, Marcus, let us go. Publius, follow me. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV. The same. Before the palace. Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON, Lords, and others; SATURNINUS with the arrows in his hand that TITUS shot. Sat. Why, lords, what wrongs are these!

was ever seen

An emperor in Rome thus overborne, Troubled, confronted thus; and, for the extent

Of egal justice, used in such contempt

My lords, you know, as know the mightful gods,

However these disturbers of our peace

Buz in the people's ears, there nought hath pass'd,

But even with law, against the wilful sons
Of old Andronicus. And what an if
His sorrows have so overwhelm'd his wits, 10
Shall we be thus afflicted in his wreaks,
His fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness?
And now he writes to heaven for his redress:
See, here's to Jove, and this to Mercury;
This to Apollo; this to the god of war;
Sweet scrolls to fly about the streets of Rome !
What's this but libelling against the senate,

And blazoning our injustice every where ?
A goodly humor, is it not, my lords?
As who would say, in Rome no justice were. 20
But if I live, his feigned ecstasies
Shall be no shelter to these outrages:
But he and his shall know that justice lives
In Saturninus' health, whom, if she sleep,
He'll so awake as she in fury shall

Cut off the proud'st conspirator that lives. Tam. My gracious lord, my lovely Saturnine,

Lord of my life, commander of my thoughts.
Calm thee, and bear the faults of Titus' age,
The effects of sorrow for his valiant sons, 30
Whose loss hath pierced him deep and scarr'd
his heart;

And rather comfort his distressed plight
Than prosecute the meanest or the best
For these contempts. [Aside] Why, thus it
shall become

High-witted Tamora to gloze with all :
But, Titus, I have touched thee to the quick,
Thy life-blood out if Aaron now be wise,
Then is all safe, the anchor's in the port.

Enter Clown.

How now, good fellow wouldst thou speak with us?

Clo. Yea, forsooth, an your mistership be emperial.

40

Tam. Empress I am, but yonder sits the emperor.

Clo. 'Tis he. God and Saint Stephen give you good den: I have brought you a letter and a couple of pigeons here.

[Saturninus reads the letter. Sat. Go, take him away, and hang him presently.

Clo. How much money must I have?
Tam. Come, sirrah, you must be hanged.
Clo. Hanged! by'r lady, then I have
brought up a neck to a fair end.

[Exit,guarded. Sat. Despiteful and intolerable wrongs! 50 Shall I endure this monstrous villany? I know from whence this same device proceeds:

May this be borne ?-as if his traitorous sons,
That died by law for murder of our brother,
Have by my means been butcher'd wrong-
fully!

Go, drag the villain hither by the hair;
Nor age nor honor shall shape privilege:
For this proud mock I'll be thy slaughter.

man;

Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make mo

great,

In hope thyself should govern Rome and me. Enter EMILIUS.

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Sat. But he will not entreat his son for us. Tam. If Tamora entreat him, then he will: For I can smooth and fill his aged ear With golden promises; that, were his heart Almost impregnable, his old ears deaf, Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue. [To Emilius] Go thou before, be our ambassador: 100

Say that the emperor requests a parley
Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting
Even at his father's house, the old Audron-
icus.

Sat. Æmilius, do this message honorably:
And if he stand on hostage for his safety,
Bid him demand what pledge will please him
best.

Emil. Your bidding shall I do effectually.

[Exit. Tam. Now will I to that old Andronicus, And temper him with all the art I have, To pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths. And now, sweet emperor, be blithe again, 111 And bury all thy fear in my devices. Sat. Then go successantly, and plead to him.

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[Exeunt.

SCENE: Plains nedr Rome.

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Luc. Approved warriors, and my faithful

friends,

I have received letters from great Rome, Which signify what hate they bear their emperor

And how desirous of our sight they are. Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness,

Imperious and impatient of your wrongs, And wherein Rome hath done you any scatlı, Let him make treble satisfaction.

First Goth. Brave slip, sprung from the great Andronicus,

Whose name was once our terror, now our comfort; 10

Whose high exploits and honorable deeds Ingrateful Rome requites with foul contempt, Be bold in us: we'll follow where thou lead'st, Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day Led by their master to the flowered fields, And be avenged on cursed Tamora.

All the Goths. And as he saith, so say we all with him.

Luc. I humbly thank him, and I thank you all.

But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth? Enter a Goth, leading AARON with his Child ́in his arms.

Sec. Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I stray'd

20

To gaze upon a ruinous monastery;
And, as I earnestly did fix mine eye
Upon the wasted building, suddenly
I heard a child cry underneath a wall.
I made unto the noise; when soon I heard
The crying babe controll'd with this discourse :
'Peace, tawny slave, half me and half thy dam
Did not thy hue bewray whose brat thou art,
Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look,
Villain, thou mightst have been an emperor:
But where the bull and cow are both milk.
white,
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They never do beget a coal-black calf.
Peace, villain, peace !'-even thus he rates the
babe,-

'For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth; Who, when he knows thou art the empress❜

babe,

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not;

Yet, for I know thou art religious

And hast a thing within thee called conscience, With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies, Which I have seen thee careful to observe, Therefore I urge thy oath; for that I know An idiot holds his bauble for a god

And keeps the oath which by that god he swears, 80

To that I'll urge him: therefore thou shalt vow
By that same god, what god soe'er it be,
That thou adorest and hast in reverence,
To save my boy, to nourish and bring him up,
Or else I will discover nought to thee.

Luc. Even by my god I swear to thee I will.

Aar. First know thou, I begot him on the empress.

Lic. O most insatiate and luxurious woman!

Aar. Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charity

To that which thou shalt hear of me anon. 90 'Twas her two sons that murder'd Bassianus; They cut thy sister's tongue and ravish'd her And cut her hands and trimm'd her as thou saw'st.

Luc. O detestable villain! call'st thou that trimming?

Aar. Why, she was wash'd and cut and trimm'd, and 'twas

Trim sport for them that had the doing of it. Luc. O barbarous, beastly villains, like thyself!

Aar. Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them :

100

That codding spirit had they from their mother,
As sure a card as ever won the set;
That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of nie.
As true a dog as ever fought at head.
Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth.
I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole
Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:
I wrote the letter that thy father found
And hid the gold within the letter mention'd,
Confederate with the queen and her two sons:
And what not done, that thou hast cause to rue,
Wherein I had no stroke of mischief in it? 110
I play'd the cheater for thy father's hand,
And, when I had it, drew myself apart
And almost broke my heart with extreme
laughter:

I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall When, for his hand, he had his two sons' heads;

Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily,
That both mine eyes were rainy like to his :
And when I told the empress of this sport,
She swooned almost at my pleasing tale,
And for my tidings gave me twenty kisses.
First Goth. What, canst thou say all this
and never blush ?

121

Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is Luc. Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?

Aar. Ay, that I had not done a thousand

more.

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Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,

And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,

Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;
And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,
'Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead."
Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things
As willingly as one would kill a fly,
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
But that I cannot do ten thousand more.
Luc. Bring down the devil; for he must
not die

So sweet a death as hanging presently.

Aar. If there be devils, would I were a devil To live and burn in everlasting fire,

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She is thy enemy, and I thy friend :

I am Revenge sent from the infernal kingdom, 30

To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind,
By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes.
Come down, and welcome me to this world's
light;

Confer with me of murder and of death:
There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place,
No vast obscurity or misty vale,
Where bloody murder or detested rape
Can couch for fear, but I will find them out;
And in their ears tell them my dreadful name,
Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.
Tit. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent
to me,

41

To be a torment to mine enemies? Tam. I am; therefore come down, and welcome me.

Tit. Do me some service, ere I come to thee. Lo, by thy side where Rape and Murder stands;

Now give me some surance that thou art Revenge,

Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot-wheels:
And then I'll come and be thy waggoner,
And whirl along with thee about the globe.
Provide thee two proper palfreys, black as jet,
To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away, 51
And find out murderers in their guilty caves :
And when thy car is loaden with their heads,
I will dismount, and by the waggon-wheel
Trot, like a servile footman, all day long,
Even from Hyperion's rising in the east
Until his very downfall in the sea:
And day by day I'll do this heavy task,
So thon destroy Rapine and Murder there.
Tam. These are my ministers, and come
with me.
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Tit. Are these thy ministers? what are they call'd?

Tam. Rapine and Murder; therefore called

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[Exit above.

Tam. This closing with him fits his lunacy: Whate'er I forge to feed his brain-sick fits, 71 Do you uphold and maintain in your speeches, For now he firmly takes me for Revenge; And, being credulous in this mad thought, I'll make him send for Lucius his son; And, whilst I at a banquet hold him sure, I'll find some cunning practice out of hand, To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths, Or, at the least, make them his enemies. See. here he comes, and I must ply my theme. 80

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