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SCENE III.
Enter TAMBURLAINE, TECHELLES, USUMCASANE, THERIDAMAS,
a BASSO, ZENOCRATE, ANIPPE, with others.
TAMBURLAINE. Basso, by this thy lord and master knows
I mean to meet him in Bithynia:
See, how he comes! tush, Turks are full of brags,
And menace 155 more than they can well perform.
He meet me in the field, and fetch 156 thee hence!
Alas, poor Turk! his fortune is too weak
T' encounter with the strength of Tamburlaine:
View well my camp, and speak indifferently;
Do not my captains and my soldiers look
As if they meant to conquer Africa?
BASSO. Your men are valiant, but their number few,
And cannot terrify his mighty host:
My lord, the great commander of the world,
Besides fifteen contributory kings,
Hath now in arms ten thousand janizaries,
Mounted on lusty Mauritanian steeds,
Brought to the war by men of Tripoly;
Two hundred thousand footmen that have serv'd
In two set battles fought in Graecia;
And for the expedition of this war,
If he think good, can from his garrisons
Withdraw as many more to follow him.
TECHELLES. The more he brings, the greater is the spoil;
For, when they perish by our warlike hands,
We mean to set 157 our footmen on their steeds,
And rifle all those stately janizars.
TAMBURLAINE. But will those kings accompany your lord?
BASSO. Such as his highness please; but some must stay
To rule the provinces he late subdu'd.
TAMBURLAINE. [To his OFFICERS]
Then fight courageously: their crowns are yours;
This hand shall set them on your conquering heads,
That made me emperor of Asia.
USUMCASANE. Let him bring millions infinite of men,
Unpeopling Western Africa and Greece,
Yet we assure us of the victory.
THERIDAMAS. Even he, that in a trice vanquish'd two kings
More mighty than the Turkish emperor,
Shall rouse him out of Europe, and pursue
His scatter'd army till they yield or die.
TAMBURLAINE. Well said, Theridamas! speak in that mood;
For WILL and SHALL best fitteth Tamburlaine,
Whose smiling stars give him assured hope
Of martial triumph ere he meet his foes.
I that am term'd the scourge and wrath of God,
The only fear and terror of the world,
Will first subdue the Turk, and then enlarge
Those Christian captives which you keep as slaves,
Burdening their bodies with your heavy chains,
And feeding them with thin and slender fare;
That naked row about the Terrene 158 sea,
And, when they chance to rest or breathe 159 a space,
Are punish'd with bastones 160 so grievously
That they 161 lie panting on the galleys' side,
And strive for life at every stroke they give.
These are the cruel pirates of Argier,
That damned train, the scum of Africa,
Inhabited with straggling runagates,
That make quick havoc of the Christian blood:
But, as I live, that town shall curse the time
That Tamburlaine set foot in Africa.
Enter BAJAZETH, BASSOES, the KINGS OF FEZ, MOROCCO,
and ARGIER; ZABINA and EBEA.
BAJAZETH. Bassoes and janizaries of my guard,
Attend upon the person of your lord,
The greatest potentate of Africa.
TAMBURLAINE. Techelles and the rest, prepare your swords;
I mean t' encounter with that Bajazeth.
BAJAZETH. Kings of Fez, Morocco, 162 and Argier,
He calls me Bajazeth, whom you call lord!
Note the presumption of this Scythian slave!—
I tell thee, villain, those that lead my horse
Have to their names titles 163 of dignity;
And dar'st thou bluntly call me Bajazeth?
TAMBURLAINE. And know, thou Turk, that those which lead my horse
Shall lead thee captive thorough Africa;
And dar'st thou bluntly call me Tamburlaine?
BAJAZETH. By Mahomet my kinsman's sepulchre,
And by the holy Alcoran I swear,
He shall be made a chaste and lustless eunuch,
And in my sarell 164 tend my concubines;
And all his captains, that thus stoutly stand,
Shall draw the chariot of my emperess,
Whom I have brought to see their overthrow!
TAMBURLAINE. By this my sword that conquer'd Persia,
Thy fall shall make me famous through the world!
I will not tell thee how I'll 165 handle thee,
But every common soldier of my camp
Shall smile to see thy miserable state.
KING OF FEZ. What means the 166 mighty Turkish emperor,
To talk with one so base as Tamburlaine?
KING OF MOROCCO. Ye Moors and valiant men of Barbary.
How can ye suffer these indignities?
KING OF ARGIER. Leave words, and let them feel your lances'
points,
Which glided through the bowels of the Greeks.
BAJAZETH. Well said, my stout contributory kings!
Your threefold army and my hugy 167 host
Shall swallow up these base-born Persians.
TECHELLES. Puissant, renowm'd, 168 and mighty Tamburlaine,
Why stay we thus prolonging of 169 their lives?
THERIDAMAS. I long to see those crowns won by our swords,
That we may rule 170 as kings of Africa.
USUMCASANE. What coward would not fight for such a prize?
TAMBURLAINE. Fight all courageously, and be you kings:
I speak it, and my words are oracles.
BAJAZETH. Zabina, mother of three braver 171 boys
Than Hercules, that in his infancy
Did pash 172 the jaws of serpents venomous;
Whose hands are made to gripe a warlike lance,
Their shoulders broad for complete armour fit,
Their limbs more large and of a bigger size
Than all the brats y-sprung 173 from Typhon's loins;
Who, when they come unto their father's age,
Will batter turrets with their manly fists;—
Sit here upon this royal chair of state,
And on thy head wear my imperial crown,
Until I bring this sturdy Tamburlaine
And all his captains bound in captive chains.
ZABINA. Such good success happen to Bajazeth!
TAMBURLAINE. Zenocrate, the loveliest maid alive,
Fairer than rocks of pearl and precious stone,
The only paragon of Tamburlaine;
Whose eyes are brighter than the lamps of heaven,
And speech more pleasant than sweet harmony;
That with thy looks canst clear the darken'd sky,
And calm the rage of thundering Jupiter;
Sit down by her, adorned with my crown,
As if thou wert the empress of the world.
Stir not, Zenocrate, until thou see
Me march victoriously with all my men,
Triumphing over him and these his kings,
Which I will bring as vassals to thy feet;
Till then, take thou my crown, vaunt of my worth,
And manage words with her, as we will arms.
ZENOCRATE. And may my love, the king of Persia,
Return with victory and free from wound!
BAJAZETH. Now shalt thou feel the force of Turkish arms,
Which lately made all Europe quake for fear.
I have of Turks, Arabians, Moors, and Jews,
Enough to cover all Bithynia:
Let thousands die; their slaughter'd carcasses
Shall serve for walls and bulwarks to the rest;
And as the heads of Hydra, so my power,
Subdu'd, shall stand as mighty as before:
If they should yield their necks unto the sword,
Thy soldiers' arms could not endure to strike
So many blows as I have heads for them. 174 Thou know'st not, foolish-hardy Tamburlaine,
What 'tis to meet me in the open field,
That leave no ground for thee to march upon.
TAMBURLAINE. Our conquering swords shall marshal us the way
We use to march upon the slaughter'd foe,
Trampling their bowels with our horses' hoofs,
Brave horses bred on the 175 white Tartarian hills
My camp is like to Julius Caesar's host,
That never fought but had the victory;
Nor in Pharsalia was there such hot war
As these, my followers, willingly would have.
Legions of spirits, fleeting in the air,
Direct our bullets and our weapons' points,
And make your strokes to wound the senseless light; 176 And when she sees our bloody colours spread,
Then Victory begins to take her flight,
Resting herself upon my milk-white tent.—
But come, my lords, to weapons let us fall;
The field is ours, the Turk, his wife, and all.
[Exit with his followers.]
BAJAZETH. Come, kings and bassoes, let us glut our swords,
That thirst to drink the feeble Persians' blood.
[Exit with his followers.]
ZABINA. Base concubine, must thou be plac'd by me
That am the empress of the mighty Turk?
ZENOCRATE. Disdainful Turkess, and unreverend boss, 177 Call'st thou me concubine, that am betroth'd
Unto the great and mighty Tamburlaine?
ZABINA. To Tamburlaine, the great Tartarian thief!
ZENOCRATE. Thou wilt repent these lavish words of thine
When thy great basso-master and thyself
Must plead for mercy at his kingly feet,
And sue to me to be your advocate. 178
ZABINA. And sue to thee! I tell thee, shameless girl,
Thou shalt be laundress to my waiting-maid.—
How lik'st thou her, Ebea? will she serve?
EBEA. Madam, she thinks perhaps she is too fine;
But I shall turn her into other weeds,
And make her dainty fingers fall to work.
ZENOCRATE. Hear'st thou, Anippe, how thy drudge doth talk?
And how my slave, her mistress, menaceth?
Both for their sauciness shall be employ'd
To dress the common soldiers' meat and drink;
For we will scorn they should come near ourselves.
ANIPPE. Yet sometimes let your highness send for them
To do the work my chambermaid disdains.
[They sound to the battle within.]
ZENOCRATE. Ye gods and powers that govern Persia,
And made my lordly love her worthy king,
Now strengthen him against the Turkish Bajazeth,
And let his foes, like flocks of fearful roes
Pursu'd by hunters, fly his angry looks,
That I may see him issue conqueror!
ZABINA. Now, Mahomet, solicit God himself,
And make him rain down murdering shot from heaven,
To dash the Scythians' brains, and strike them dead,
That dare 179 to manage arms with him
That offer'd jewels to thy sacred shrine
When first he warr'd against the Christians!
[They sound again to the battle within.]
ZENOCRATE. By this the Turks lie weltering in their blood,
And Tamburlaine is lord of Africa.
ZABINA. Thou art deceiv'd. I heard the trumpets sound
As when my emperor overthrew the Greeks,
And led them captive into Africa.
Straight will I use thee as thy pride deserves;
Prepare thyself to live and die my slave.
ZENOCRATE. If Mahomet should come from heaven and swear
My royal lord is slain or conquered,
Yet should he not persuade me otherwise
But that he lives and will be conqueror.
Re-enter BAJAZETH, pursued by TAMBURLAINE. 180
TAMBURLAINE. Now, king of bassoes, who is conqueror?
BAJAZETH. Thou, by the fortune of this damned foil. 181
TAMBURLAINE. Where are your stout contributory kings?
Re-enter TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, and USUMCASANE.
TECHELLES. We have their crowns; their bodies strow the field.
TAMBURLAINE. Each man a crown! why, kingly fought, i'faith.
Deliver them into my treasury.
ZENOCRATE. Now let me offer to my gracious lord
His royal crown again so highly won.
TAMBURLAINE. Nay, take the Turkish crown from her, Zenocrate,
And crown me emperor of Africa.
ZABINA. No, Tamburlaine; though now thou gat 182 the best,
Thou shalt not yet be lord of Africa.
THERIDAMAS. Give her the crown, Turkess, you were best.
[Takes it from her.]
ZABINA. Injurious villains, thieves, runagates,
How dare you thus abuse my majesty?
THERIDAMAS. Here, madam, you are empress; she is none.
[Gives it to ZENOCRATE.]
TAMBURLAINE. Not now, Theridamas; her time is past:
The pillars, that have bolster'd up those terms,
Are faln in clusters at my conquering feet.
ZABINA. Though he be prisoner, he may be ransom'd.
TAMBURLAINE. Not all the world shall ransom Bajazeth.
BAJAZETH. Ah, fair Zabina! we have lost the field;
And never had the Turkish emperor
So great a foil by any foreign foe.
Now will the Christian miscreants be glad,
Ringing with joy their superstitious bells,
And making bonfires for my overthrow:
But, ere I die, those foul idolaters
Shall make me bonfires with their filthy bones;
For, though the glory of this day be lost,
Afric and Greece have garrisons enough
To make me sovereign of the earth again.
TAMBURLAINE. Those walled garrisons will I subdue,
And write myself great lord of Africa:
So from the East unto the furthest West
Shall Tamburlaine extend his puissant arm.
The galleys and those pilling 183 brigandines,
That yearly sail to the Venetian gulf,
And hover in the Straits for Christians' wreck,
Shall lie at anchor in the Isle Asant,
Until the Persian fleet and men-of-war,
Sailing along the oriental sea,
Have fetch'd about the Indian continent,
Even from Persepolis to Mexico,
And thence unto the Straits of Jubalter;
Where they shall meet and join their force in one.
Keeping in awe the Bay of Portingale,
And all the ocean by the British 184 shore;
And by this means I'll win the world at last.
BAJAZETH. Yet set a ransom on me, Tamburlaine.
TAMBURLAINE. What, think'st thou Tamburlaine esteems thy gold?
I'll make the kings of India, ere I die,
Offer their mines, to sue for peace, to me,
And dig for treasure to appease my wrath.—
Come, bind them both, and one lead in the Turk;
The Turkess let my love's maid lead away,
[They bind them.]
BAJAZETH. Ah, villains, dare you touch my sacred arms?—
O Mahomet! O sleepy Mahomet!
ZABINA. O cursed Mahomet, that mak'st us thus
The slaves to Scythians rude and barbarous!
TAMBURLAINE. Come, bring them in; and for this happy conquest
Triumph, and solemnize a martial 185 feast.
[Exeunt.]
a BASSO, ZENOCRATE, ANIPPE, with others.
TAMBURLAINE. Basso, by this thy lord and master knows
I mean to meet him in Bithynia:
See, how he comes! tush, Turks are full of brags,
And menace 155 more than they can well perform.
He meet me in the field, and fetch 156 thee hence!
Alas, poor Turk! his fortune is too weak
T' encounter with the strength of Tamburlaine:
View well my camp, and speak indifferently;
Do not my captains and my soldiers look
As if they meant to conquer Africa?
BASSO. Your men are valiant, but their number few,
And cannot terrify his mighty host:
My lord, the great commander of the world,
Besides fifteen contributory kings,
Hath now in arms ten thousand janizaries,
Mounted on lusty Mauritanian steeds,
Brought to the war by men of Tripoly;
Two hundred thousand footmen that have serv'd
In two set battles fought in Graecia;
And for the expedition of this war,
If he think good, can from his garrisons
Withdraw as many more to follow him.
TECHELLES. The more he brings, the greater is the spoil;
For, when they perish by our warlike hands,
We mean to set 157 our footmen on their steeds,
And rifle all those stately janizars.
TAMBURLAINE. But will those kings accompany your lord?
BASSO. Such as his highness please; but some must stay
To rule the provinces he late subdu'd.
TAMBURLAINE. [To his OFFICERS]
Then fight courageously: their crowns are yours;
This hand shall set them on your conquering heads,
That made me emperor of Asia.
USUMCASANE. Let him bring millions infinite of men,
Unpeopling Western Africa and Greece,
Yet we assure us of the victory.
THERIDAMAS. Even he, that in a trice vanquish'd two kings
More mighty than the Turkish emperor,
Shall rouse him out of Europe, and pursue
His scatter'd army till they yield or die.
TAMBURLAINE. Well said, Theridamas! speak in that mood;
For WILL and SHALL best fitteth Tamburlaine,
Whose smiling stars give him assured hope
Of martial triumph ere he meet his foes.
I that am term'd the scourge and wrath of God,
The only fear and terror of the world,
Will first subdue the Turk, and then enlarge
Those Christian captives which you keep as slaves,
Burdening their bodies with your heavy chains,
And feeding them with thin and slender fare;
That naked row about the Terrene 158 sea,
And, when they chance to rest or breathe 159 a space,
Are punish'd with bastones 160 so grievously
That they 161 lie panting on the galleys' side,
And strive for life at every stroke they give.
These are the cruel pirates of Argier,
That damned train, the scum of Africa,
Inhabited with straggling runagates,
That make quick havoc of the Christian blood:
But, as I live, that town shall curse the time
That Tamburlaine set foot in Africa.
Enter BAJAZETH, BASSOES, the KINGS OF FEZ, MOROCCO,
and ARGIER; ZABINA and EBEA.
BAJAZETH. Bassoes and janizaries of my guard,
Attend upon the person of your lord,
The greatest potentate of Africa.
TAMBURLAINE. Techelles and the rest, prepare your swords;
I mean t' encounter with that Bajazeth.
BAJAZETH. Kings of Fez, Morocco, 162 and Argier,
He calls me Bajazeth, whom you call lord!
Note the presumption of this Scythian slave!—
I tell thee, villain, those that lead my horse
Have to their names titles 163 of dignity;
And dar'st thou bluntly call me Bajazeth?
TAMBURLAINE. And know, thou Turk, that those which lead my horse
Shall lead thee captive thorough Africa;
And dar'st thou bluntly call me Tamburlaine?
BAJAZETH. By Mahomet my kinsman's sepulchre,
And by the holy Alcoran I swear,
He shall be made a chaste and lustless eunuch,
And in my sarell 164 tend my concubines;
And all his captains, that thus stoutly stand,
Shall draw the chariot of my emperess,
Whom I have brought to see their overthrow!
TAMBURLAINE. By this my sword that conquer'd Persia,
Thy fall shall make me famous through the world!
I will not tell thee how I'll 165 handle thee,
But every common soldier of my camp
Shall smile to see thy miserable state.
KING OF FEZ. What means the 166 mighty Turkish emperor,
To talk with one so base as Tamburlaine?
KING OF MOROCCO. Ye Moors and valiant men of Barbary.
How can ye suffer these indignities?
KING OF ARGIER. Leave words, and let them feel your lances'
points,
Which glided through the bowels of the Greeks.
BAJAZETH. Well said, my stout contributory kings!
Your threefold army and my hugy 167 host
Shall swallow up these base-born Persians.
TECHELLES. Puissant, renowm'd, 168 and mighty Tamburlaine,
Why stay we thus prolonging of 169 their lives?
THERIDAMAS. I long to see those crowns won by our swords,
That we may rule 170 as kings of Africa.
USUMCASANE. What coward would not fight for such a prize?
TAMBURLAINE. Fight all courageously, and be you kings:
I speak it, and my words are oracles.
BAJAZETH. Zabina, mother of three braver 171 boys
Than Hercules, that in his infancy
Did pash 172 the jaws of serpents venomous;
Whose hands are made to gripe a warlike lance,
Their shoulders broad for complete armour fit,
Their limbs more large and of a bigger size
Than all the brats y-sprung 173 from Typhon's loins;
Who, when they come unto their father's age,
Will batter turrets with their manly fists;—
Sit here upon this royal chair of state,
And on thy head wear my imperial crown,
Until I bring this sturdy Tamburlaine
And all his captains bound in captive chains.
ZABINA. Such good success happen to Bajazeth!
TAMBURLAINE. Zenocrate, the loveliest maid alive,
Fairer than rocks of pearl and precious stone,
The only paragon of Tamburlaine;
Whose eyes are brighter than the lamps of heaven,
And speech more pleasant than sweet harmony;
That with thy looks canst clear the darken'd sky,
And calm the rage of thundering Jupiter;
Sit down by her, adorned with my crown,
As if thou wert the empress of the world.
Stir not, Zenocrate, until thou see
Me march victoriously with all my men,
Triumphing over him and these his kings,
Which I will bring as vassals to thy feet;
Till then, take thou my crown, vaunt of my worth,
And manage words with her, as we will arms.
ZENOCRATE. And may my love, the king of Persia,
Return with victory and free from wound!
BAJAZETH. Now shalt thou feel the force of Turkish arms,
Which lately made all Europe quake for fear.
I have of Turks, Arabians, Moors, and Jews,
Enough to cover all Bithynia:
Let thousands die; their slaughter'd carcasses
Shall serve for walls and bulwarks to the rest;
And as the heads of Hydra, so my power,
Subdu'd, shall stand as mighty as before:
If they should yield their necks unto the sword,
Thy soldiers' arms could not endure to strike
So many blows as I have heads for them. 174 Thou know'st not, foolish-hardy Tamburlaine,
What 'tis to meet me in the open field,
That leave no ground for thee to march upon.
TAMBURLAINE. Our conquering swords shall marshal us the way
We use to march upon the slaughter'd foe,
Trampling their bowels with our horses' hoofs,
Brave horses bred on the 175 white Tartarian hills
My camp is like to Julius Caesar's host,
That never fought but had the victory;
Nor in Pharsalia was there such hot war
As these, my followers, willingly would have.
Legions of spirits, fleeting in the air,
Direct our bullets and our weapons' points,
And make your strokes to wound the senseless light; 176 And when she sees our bloody colours spread,
Then Victory begins to take her flight,
Resting herself upon my milk-white tent.—
But come, my lords, to weapons let us fall;
The field is ours, the Turk, his wife, and all.
[Exit with his followers.]
BAJAZETH. Come, kings and bassoes, let us glut our swords,
That thirst to drink the feeble Persians' blood.
[Exit with his followers.]
ZABINA. Base concubine, must thou be plac'd by me
That am the empress of the mighty Turk?
ZENOCRATE. Disdainful Turkess, and unreverend boss, 177 Call'st thou me concubine, that am betroth'd
Unto the great and mighty Tamburlaine?
ZABINA. To Tamburlaine, the great Tartarian thief!
ZENOCRATE. Thou wilt repent these lavish words of thine
When thy great basso-master and thyself
Must plead for mercy at his kingly feet,
And sue to me to be your advocate. 178
ZABINA. And sue to thee! I tell thee, shameless girl,
Thou shalt be laundress to my waiting-maid.—
How lik'st thou her, Ebea? will she serve?
EBEA. Madam, she thinks perhaps she is too fine;
But I shall turn her into other weeds,
And make her dainty fingers fall to work.
ZENOCRATE. Hear'st thou, Anippe, how thy drudge doth talk?
And how my slave, her mistress, menaceth?
Both for their sauciness shall be employ'd
To dress the common soldiers' meat and drink;
For we will scorn they should come near ourselves.
ANIPPE. Yet sometimes let your highness send for them
To do the work my chambermaid disdains.
[They sound to the battle within.]
ZENOCRATE. Ye gods and powers that govern Persia,
And made my lordly love her worthy king,
Now strengthen him against the Turkish Bajazeth,
And let his foes, like flocks of fearful roes
Pursu'd by hunters, fly his angry looks,
That I may see him issue conqueror!
ZABINA. Now, Mahomet, solicit God himself,
And make him rain down murdering shot from heaven,
To dash the Scythians' brains, and strike them dead,
That dare 179 to manage arms with him
That offer'd jewels to thy sacred shrine
When first he warr'd against the Christians!
[They sound again to the battle within.]
ZENOCRATE. By this the Turks lie weltering in their blood,
And Tamburlaine is lord of Africa.
ZABINA. Thou art deceiv'd. I heard the trumpets sound
As when my emperor overthrew the Greeks,
And led them captive into Africa.
Straight will I use thee as thy pride deserves;
Prepare thyself to live and die my slave.
ZENOCRATE. If Mahomet should come from heaven and swear
My royal lord is slain or conquered,
Yet should he not persuade me otherwise
But that he lives and will be conqueror.
Re-enter BAJAZETH, pursued by TAMBURLAINE. 180
TAMBURLAINE. Now, king of bassoes, who is conqueror?
BAJAZETH. Thou, by the fortune of this damned foil. 181
TAMBURLAINE. Where are your stout contributory kings?
Re-enter TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, and USUMCASANE.
TECHELLES. We have their crowns; their bodies strow the field.
TAMBURLAINE. Each man a crown! why, kingly fought, i'faith.
Deliver them into my treasury.
ZENOCRATE. Now let me offer to my gracious lord
His royal crown again so highly won.
TAMBURLAINE. Nay, take the Turkish crown from her, Zenocrate,
And crown me emperor of Africa.
ZABINA. No, Tamburlaine; though now thou gat 182 the best,
Thou shalt not yet be lord of Africa.
THERIDAMAS. Give her the crown, Turkess, you were best.
[Takes it from her.]
ZABINA. Injurious villains, thieves, runagates,
How dare you thus abuse my majesty?
THERIDAMAS. Here, madam, you are empress; she is none.
[Gives it to ZENOCRATE.]
TAMBURLAINE. Not now, Theridamas; her time is past:
The pillars, that have bolster'd up those terms,
Are faln in clusters at my conquering feet.
ZABINA. Though he be prisoner, he may be ransom'd.
TAMBURLAINE. Not all the world shall ransom Bajazeth.
BAJAZETH. Ah, fair Zabina! we have lost the field;
And never had the Turkish emperor
So great a foil by any foreign foe.
Now will the Christian miscreants be glad,
Ringing with joy their superstitious bells,
And making bonfires for my overthrow:
But, ere I die, those foul idolaters
Shall make me bonfires with their filthy bones;
For, though the glory of this day be lost,
Afric and Greece have garrisons enough
To make me sovereign of the earth again.
TAMBURLAINE. Those walled garrisons will I subdue,
And write myself great lord of Africa:
So from the East unto the furthest West
Shall Tamburlaine extend his puissant arm.
The galleys and those pilling 183 brigandines,
That yearly sail to the Venetian gulf,
And hover in the Straits for Christians' wreck,
Shall lie at anchor in the Isle Asant,
Until the Persian fleet and men-of-war,
Sailing along the oriental sea,
Have fetch'd about the Indian continent,
Even from Persepolis to Mexico,
And thence unto the Straits of Jubalter;
Where they shall meet and join their force in one.
Keeping in awe the Bay of Portingale,
And all the ocean by the British 184 shore;
And by this means I'll win the world at last.
BAJAZETH. Yet set a ransom on me, Tamburlaine.
TAMBURLAINE. What, think'st thou Tamburlaine esteems thy gold?
I'll make the kings of India, ere I die,
Offer their mines, to sue for peace, to me,
And dig for treasure to appease my wrath.—
Come, bind them both, and one lead in the Turk;
The Turkess let my love's maid lead away,
[They bind them.]
BAJAZETH. Ah, villains, dare you touch my sacred arms?—
O Mahomet! O sleepy Mahomet!
ZABINA. O cursed Mahomet, that mak'st us thus
The slaves to Scythians rude and barbarous!
TAMBURLAINE. Come, bring them in; and for this happy conquest
Triumph, and solemnize a martial 185 feast.
[Exeunt.]
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
Enter the SOLDAN OF EGYPT, CAPOLIN, LORDS, and a MESSENGER.
SOLDAN. Awake, ye men of Memphis! 186 hear the clang
Of Scythian trumpets; hear the basilisks, 187 That, roaring, shake Damascus' turrets down!
The rogue of Volga holds Zenocrate,
The Soldan's daughter, for his concubine,
And, with a troop of thieves and vagabonds,
Hath spread his colours to our high disgrace,
While you, faint-hearted base Egyptians,
Lie slumbering on the flowery banks of Nile,
As crocodiles that unaffrighted rest
While thundering cannons rattle on their skins.
MESSENGER. Nay, mighty Soldan, did your greatness see
The frowning looks of fiery Tamburlaine,
That with his terror and imperious eyes
Commands the hearts of his associates,
It might amaze your royal majesty.
SOLDAN. Villain, I tell thee, were that Tamburlaine
As monstrous 188 as Gorgon prince of hell,
The Soldan would not start a foot from him.
But speak, what power hath he?
MESSENGER. Mighty lord,
Three hundred thousand men in armour clad,
Upon their prancing steeds, disdainfully
With wanton paces trampling on the ground;
Five hundred thousand footmen threatening shot,
Shaking their swords, their spears, and iron bills,
Environing their standard round, that stood
As bristle-pointed as a thorny wood;
Their warlike engines and munition
Exceed the forces of their martial men.
SOLDAN. Nay, could their numbers countervail the stars,
Or ever-drizzling 189 drops of April showers,
Or wither'd leaves that autumn shaketh down,
Yet would the Soldan by his conquering power
So scatter and consume them in his rage,
That not a man should 190 live to rue their fall.
CAPOLIN. So might your highness, had you time to sort
Your fighting men, and raise your royal host;
But Tamburlaine by expedition
Advantage takes of your unreadiness.
SOLDAN. Let him take all th' advantages he can:
Were all the world conspir'd to fight for him,
Nay, were he devil, 191 as he is no man,
Yet in revenge of fair Zenocrate,
Whom he detaineth in despite of us,
This arm should send him down to Erebus,
To shroud his shame in darkness of the night.
MESSENGER. Pleaseth your mightiness to understand,
His resolution far exceedeth all.
The first day when he pitcheth down his tents,
White is their hue, and on his silver crest
A snowy feather spangled-white he bears,
To signify the mildness of his mind,
That, satiate with spoil, refuseth blood:
But, when Aurora mounts the second time,
As red as scarlet is his furniture;
Then must his kindled wrath be quench'd with blood,
Not sparing any that can manage arms:
But, if these threats move not submission,
Black are his colours, black pavilion;
His spear, his shield, his horse, his armour, plumes,
And jetty feathers, menace death and hell;
Without respect of sex, degree, or age,
He razeth all his foes with fire and sword.
SOLDAN. Merciless villain, peasant, ignorant
Of lawful arms or martial discipline!
Pillage and murder are his usual trades:
The slave usurps the glorious name of war.
See, Capolin, the fair Arabian king, 192 That hath been disappointed by this slave
Of my fair daughter and his princely love,
May have fresh warning to go war with us,
And be reveng'd for her disparagement.
[Exeunt.]
SOLDAN. Awake, ye men of Memphis! 186 hear the clang
Of Scythian trumpets; hear the basilisks, 187 That, roaring, shake Damascus' turrets down!
The rogue of Volga holds Zenocrate,
The Soldan's daughter, for his concubine,
And, with a troop of thieves and vagabonds,
Hath spread his colours to our high disgrace,
While you, faint-hearted base Egyptians,
Lie slumbering on the flowery banks of Nile,
As crocodiles that unaffrighted rest
While thundering cannons rattle on their skins.
MESSENGER. Nay, mighty Soldan, did your greatness see
The frowning looks of fiery Tamburlaine,
That with his terror and imperious eyes
Commands the hearts of his associates,
It might amaze your royal majesty.
SOLDAN. Villain, I tell thee, were that Tamburlaine
As monstrous 188 as Gorgon prince of hell,
The Soldan would not start a foot from him.
But speak, what power hath he?
MESSENGER. Mighty lord,
Three hundred thousand men in armour clad,
Upon their prancing steeds, disdainfully
With wanton paces trampling on the ground;
Five hundred thousand footmen threatening shot,
Shaking their swords, their spears, and iron bills,
Environing their standard round, that stood
As bristle-pointed as a thorny wood;
Their warlike engines and munition
Exceed the forces of their martial men.
SOLDAN. Nay, could their numbers countervail the stars,
Or ever-drizzling 189 drops of April showers,
Or wither'd leaves that autumn shaketh down,
Yet would the Soldan by his conquering power
So scatter and consume them in his rage,
That not a man should 190 live to rue their fall.
CAPOLIN. So might your highness, had you time to sort
Your fighting men, and raise your royal host;
But Tamburlaine by expedition
Advantage takes of your unreadiness.
SOLDAN. Let him take all th' advantages he can:
Were all the world conspir'd to fight for him,
Nay, were he devil, 191 as he is no man,
Yet in revenge of fair Zenocrate,
Whom he detaineth in despite of us,
This arm should send him down to Erebus,
To shroud his shame in darkness of the night.
MESSENGER. Pleaseth your mightiness to understand,
His resolution far exceedeth all.
The first day when he pitcheth down his tents,
White is their hue, and on his silver crest
A snowy feather spangled-white he bears,
To signify the mildness of his mind,
That, satiate with spoil, refuseth blood:
But, when Aurora mounts the second time,
As red as scarlet is his furniture;
Then must his kindled wrath be quench'd with blood,
Not sparing any that can manage arms:
But, if these threats move not submission,
Black are his colours, black pavilion;
His spear, his shield, his horse, his armour, plumes,
And jetty feathers, menace death and hell;
Without respect of sex, degree, or age,
He razeth all his foes with fire and sword.
SOLDAN. Merciless villain, peasant, ignorant
Of lawful arms or martial discipline!
Pillage and murder are his usual trades:
The slave usurps the glorious name of war.
See, Capolin, the fair Arabian king, 192 That hath been disappointed by this slave
Of my fair daughter and his princely love,
May have fresh warning to go war with us,
And be reveng'd for her disparagement.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II.
Enter TAMBURLAINE, TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE,
ZENOCRATE, ANIPPE, two MOORS drawing BAJAZETH in a cage,
and ZABINA following him.
TAMBURLAINE. Bring out my footstool.
[They take BAJAZETH out of the cage.]
BAJAZETH. Ye holy priests of heavenly Mahomet,
That, sacrificing, slice and cut your flesh,
Staining his altars with your purple blood,
Make heaven to frown, and every fixed star
To suck up poison from the moorish fens,
And pour it 193 in this glorious tyrant's throat!
TAMBURLAINE. The chiefest god, first mover of that sphere
Enchas'd with thousands ever-shining lamps,
Will sooner burn the glorious frame of heaven
Than it should 194 so conspire my overthrow.
But, villain, thou that wishest this 195 to me,
Fall prostrate on the low disdainful earth,
And be the footstool of great Tamburlaine,
That I may rise into 196 my royal throne.
BAJAZETH. First shalt thou rip my bowels with thy sword,
And sacrifice my heart 197 to death and hell,
Before I yield to such a slavery.
TAMBURLAINE. Base villain, vassal, slave to Tamburlaine,
Unworthy to embrace or touch the ground
That bears the honour of my royal weight;
Stoop, villain, stoop! stoop; 198 for so he bids
That may command thee piecemeal to be torn,
Or scatter'd like the lofty cedar-trees
Struck with the voice of thundering Jupiter.
BAJAZETH. Then, as I look down to the damned fiends,
Fiends, look on me! and thou, dread god of hell,
With ebon sceptre strike this hateful earth,
And make it swallow both of us at once!
[TAMBURLAINE gets up on him into his chair.]
TAMBURLAINE. Now clear the triple region of the air,
And let the Majesty of Heaven behold
Their scourge and terror tread on emperors.
Smile, stars that reign'd at my nativity,
And dim the brightness of your 199 neighbour lamps;
Disdain to borrow light of Cynthia!
For I, the chiefest lamp of all the earth,
First rising in the east with mild aspect,
But fixed now in the meridian line,
Will send up fire to your turning spheres,
And cause the sun to borrow light of you.
My sword struck fire from his coat of steel,
Even in Bithynia, when I took this Turk;
As when a fiery exhalation,
Wrapt in the bowels of a freezing cloud,
Fighting for passage, make[s] the welkin crack,
And casts a flash of lightning to 200 the earth:
But, ere I march to wealthy Persia,
Or leave Damascus and th' Egyptian fields,
As was the fame of Clymene's brain-sick son
That almost brent 201 the axle-tree of heaven,
So shall our swords, our lances, and our shot
Fill all the air with fiery meteors;
Then, when the sky shall wax as red as blood,
It shall be said I made it red myself,
To make me think of naught but blood and war.
ZABINA. Unworthy king, that by thy cruelty
Unlawfully usurp'st the Persian seat,
Dar'st thou, that never saw an emperor
Before thou met my husband in the field,
Being thy captive, thus abuse his state,
Keeping his kingly body in a cage,
That roofs of gold and sun-bright palaces
Should have prepar'd to entertain his grace?
And treading him beneath thy loathsome feet,
Whose feet the kings 202 of Africa have kiss'd?
TECHELLES. You must devise some torment worse, my lord,
To make these captives rein their lavish tongues.
TAMBURLAINE. Zenocrate, look better to your slave.
ZENOCRATE. She is my handmaid's slave, and she shall look
That these abuses flow not from 203 her tongue.—
Chide her, Anippe.
ANIPPE. Let these be warnings, then, for you, 204 my slave,
How you abuse the person of the king;
Or else I swear to have you whipt stark nak'd. 205
BAJAZETH. Great Tamburlaine, great in my overthrow,
Ambitious pride shall make thee fall as low,
For treading on the back of Bajazeth,
That should be horsed on four mighty kings.
TAMBURLAINE. Thy names, and titles, and thy dignities 206 Are fled from Bajazeth, and remain with me,
That will maintain it 'gainst a world of kings.—
Put him in again.
[They put him into the cage.]
BAJAZETH. Is this a place for mighty Bajazeth?
Confusion light on him that helps thee thus!
TAMBURLAINE. There, whiles 207 he lives, shall Bajazeth be kept;
And, where I go, be thus in triumph drawn;
And thou, his wife, shalt 208 feed him with the scraps
My servitors shall bring thee from my board;
For he that gives him other food than this,
Shall sit by him, and starve to death himself:
This is my mind, and I will have it so.
Not all the kings and emperors of the earth,
If they would lay their crowne before my feet,
Shall ransom him, or take him from his cage:
The ages that shall talk of Tamburlaine,
Even from this day to Plato's wondrous year,
Shall talk how I have handled Bajazeth:
These Moors, that drew him from Bithynia
To fair Damascus, where we now remain,
Shall lead him with us wheresoe'er we go.—
Techelles, and my loving followers,
Now may we see Damascus' lofty towers,
Like to the shadows of Pyramides
That with their beauties grace 209 the Memphian fields.
The golden stature 210 of their feather'd bird, 211 That spreads her wings upon the city-walls,
Shall not defend it from our battering shot:
The townsmen mask in silk and cloth of gold,
And every house is as a treasury;
The men, the treasure, and the town are 212 ours.
THERIDAMAS. Your tents of white now pitch'd before the gates,
And gentle flags of amity display'd,
I doubt not but the governor will yield,
Offering Damascus to your majesty.
TAMBURLAINE. So shall he have his life, and all the rest:
But, if he stay until the bloody flag
Be once advanc'd on my vermilion tent,
He dies, and those that kept us out so long;
And, when they see me march in black array,
With mournful streamers hanging down their heads,
Were in that city all the world contain'd,
Not one should scape, but perish by our swords.
ZENOCRATE. Yet would you have some pity for my sake,
Because it is my country 213 and my father's.
TAMBURLAINE. Not for the world, Zenocrate, if I have sworn.—
Come; bring in the Turk.
[Exeunt.]
ZENOCRATE, ANIPPE, two MOORS drawing BAJAZETH in a cage,
and ZABINA following him.
TAMBURLAINE. Bring out my footstool.
[They take BAJAZETH out of the cage.]
BAJAZETH. Ye holy priests of heavenly Mahomet,
That, sacrificing, slice and cut your flesh,
Staining his altars with your purple blood,
Make heaven to frown, and every fixed star
To suck up poison from the moorish fens,
And pour it 193 in this glorious tyrant's throat!
TAMBURLAINE. The chiefest god, first mover of that sphere
Enchas'd with thousands ever-shining lamps,
Will sooner burn the glorious frame of heaven
Than it should 194 so conspire my overthrow.
But, villain, thou that wishest this 195 to me,
Fall prostrate on the low disdainful earth,
And be the footstool of great Tamburlaine,
That I may rise into 196 my royal throne.
BAJAZETH. First shalt thou rip my bowels with thy sword,
And sacrifice my heart 197 to death and hell,
Before I yield to such a slavery.
TAMBURLAINE. Base villain, vassal, slave to Tamburlaine,
Unworthy to embrace or touch the ground
That bears the honour of my royal weight;
Stoop, villain, stoop! stoop; 198 for so he bids
That may command thee piecemeal to be torn,
Or scatter'd like the lofty cedar-trees
Struck with the voice of thundering Jupiter.
BAJAZETH. Then, as I look down to the damned fiends,
Fiends, look on me! and thou, dread god of hell,
With ebon sceptre strike this hateful earth,
And make it swallow both of us at once!
[TAMBURLAINE gets up on him into his chair.]
TAMBURLAINE. Now clear the triple region of the air,
And let the Majesty of Heaven behold
Their scourge and terror tread on emperors.
Smile, stars that reign'd at my nativity,
And dim the brightness of your 199 neighbour lamps;
Disdain to borrow light of Cynthia!
For I, the chiefest lamp of all the earth,
First rising in the east with mild aspect,
But fixed now in the meridian line,
Will send up fire to your turning spheres,
And cause the sun to borrow light of you.
My sword struck fire from his coat of steel,
Even in Bithynia, when I took this Turk;
As when a fiery exhalation,
Wrapt in the bowels of a freezing cloud,
Fighting for passage, make[s] the welkin crack,
And casts a flash of lightning to 200 the earth:
But, ere I march to wealthy Persia,
Or leave Damascus and th' Egyptian fields,
As was the fame of Clymene's brain-sick son
That almost brent 201 the axle-tree of heaven,
So shall our swords, our lances, and our shot
Fill all the air with fiery meteors;
Then, when the sky shall wax as red as blood,
It shall be said I made it red myself,
To make me think of naught but blood and war.
ZABINA. Unworthy king, that by thy cruelty
Unlawfully usurp'st the Persian seat,
Dar'st thou, that never saw an emperor
Before thou met my husband in the field,
Being thy captive, thus abuse his state,
Keeping his kingly body in a cage,
That roofs of gold and sun-bright palaces
Should have prepar'd to entertain his grace?
And treading him beneath thy loathsome feet,
Whose feet the kings 202 of Africa have kiss'd?
TECHELLES. You must devise some torment worse, my lord,
To make these captives rein their lavish tongues.
TAMBURLAINE. Zenocrate, look better to your slave.
ZENOCRATE. She is my handmaid's slave, and she shall look
That these abuses flow not from 203 her tongue.—
Chide her, Anippe.
ANIPPE. Let these be warnings, then, for you, 204 my slave,
How you abuse the person of the king;
Or else I swear to have you whipt stark nak'd. 205
BAJAZETH. Great Tamburlaine, great in my overthrow,
Ambitious pride shall make thee fall as low,
For treading on the back of Bajazeth,
That should be horsed on four mighty kings.
TAMBURLAINE. Thy names, and titles, and thy dignities 206 Are fled from Bajazeth, and remain with me,
That will maintain it 'gainst a world of kings.—
Put him in again.
[They put him into the cage.]
BAJAZETH. Is this a place for mighty Bajazeth?
Confusion light on him that helps thee thus!
TAMBURLAINE. There, whiles 207 he lives, shall Bajazeth be kept;
And, where I go, be thus in triumph drawn;
And thou, his wife, shalt 208 feed him with the scraps
My servitors shall bring thee from my board;
For he that gives him other food than this,
Shall sit by him, and starve to death himself:
This is my mind, and I will have it so.
Not all the kings and emperors of the earth,
If they would lay their crowne before my feet,
Shall ransom him, or take him from his cage:
The ages that shall talk of Tamburlaine,
Even from this day to Plato's wondrous year,
Shall talk how I have handled Bajazeth:
These Moors, that drew him from Bithynia
To fair Damascus, where we now remain,
Shall lead him with us wheresoe'er we go.—
Techelles, and my loving followers,
Now may we see Damascus' lofty towers,
Like to the shadows of Pyramides
That with their beauties grace 209 the Memphian fields.
The golden stature 210 of their feather'd bird, 211 That spreads her wings upon the city-walls,
Shall not defend it from our battering shot:
The townsmen mask in silk and cloth of gold,
And every house is as a treasury;
The men, the treasure, and the town are 212 ours.
THERIDAMAS. Your tents of white now pitch'd before the gates,
And gentle flags of amity display'd,
I doubt not but the governor will yield,
Offering Damascus to your majesty.
TAMBURLAINE. So shall he have his life, and all the rest:
But, if he stay until the bloody flag
Be once advanc'd on my vermilion tent,
He dies, and those that kept us out so long;
And, when they see me march in black array,
With mournful streamers hanging down their heads,
Were in that city all the world contain'd,
Not one should scape, but perish by our swords.
ZENOCRATE. Yet would you have some pity for my sake,
Because it is my country 213 and my father's.
TAMBURLAINE. Not for the world, Zenocrate, if I have sworn.—
Come; bring in the Turk.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III.
Enter SOLDAN, KING OF ARABIA, 214 CAPOLIN, and SOLDIERS,
with streaming colours.
SOLDAN. Methinks we march as Meleager did,
Environed with brave Argolian knights,
To chase the savage Calydonian 215 boar,
Or Cephalus, with lusty 216 Theban youths,
Against the wolf that angry Themis sent
To waste and spoil the sweet Aonian fields.
A monster of five hundred thousand heads,
Compact of rapine, piracy, and spoil,
The scum of men, the hate and scourge of God,
Raves in Aegyptia, and annoyeth us:
My lord, it is the bloody Tamburlaine,
A sturdy felon, and 217 a base-bred thief,
By murder raised to the Persian crown,
That dare control us in our territories.
To tame the pride of this presumptuous beast,
Join your Arabians with the Soldan's power;
Let us unite our royal bands in one,
And hasten to remove Damascus' siege.
It is a blemish to the majesty
And high estate of mighty emperors,
That such a base usurping vagabond
Should brave a king, or wear a princely crown.
KING OF ARABIA. Renowmed 218 Soldan, have you lately heard
The overthrow of mighty Bajazeth
About the confines of Bithynia?
The slavery wherewith he persecutes
The noble Turk and his great emperess?
SOLDAN. I have, and sorrow for his bad success;
But, noble lord of great Arabia,
Be so persuaded that the Soldan is
No more dismay'd with tidings of his fall,
Than in the haven when the pilot stands,
And views a stranger's ship rent in the winds,
And shivered against a craggy rock:
Yet in compassion to his wretched state,
A sacred vow to heaven and him I make,
Confirming it with Ibis' holy name, 219 That Tamburlaine shall rue the day, the 220 hour,
Wherein he wrought such ignominious wrong
Unto the hallow'd person of a prince,
Or kept the fair Zenocrate so long,
As concubine, I fear, to feed his lust.
KING OF ARABIA. Let grief and fury hasten on revenge;
Let Tamburlaine for his offences feel
Such plagues as heaven and we can pour on him:
I long to break my spear upon his crest,
And prove the weight of his victorious arm;
For fame, I fear, hath been too prodigal
In sounding through the world his partial praise.
SOLDAN. Capolin, hast thou survey'd our powers?
CAPOLIN. Great emperors of Egypt and Arabia,
The number of your hosts united is,
A hundred and fifty thousand horse,
Two hundred thousand foot, brave men-at-arms,
Courageous and 221 full of hardiness,
As frolic as the hunters in the chase
Of savage beasts amid the desert woods.
KING OF ARABIA. My mind presageth fortunate success;
And, Tamburlaine, my spirit doth foresee
The utter ruin of thy men and thee.
SOLDAN. Then rear your standards; let your sounding drums
Direct our soldiers to Damascus' walls.—
Now, Tamburlaine, the mighty Soldan comes,
And leads with him the great Arabian king,
To dim thy baseness and 222 obscurity,
Famous for nothing but for theft and spoil;
To raze and scatter thy inglorious crew
Of Scythians and slavish Persians.
[Exeunt.]
with streaming colours.
SOLDAN. Methinks we march as Meleager did,
Environed with brave Argolian knights,
To chase the savage Calydonian 215 boar,
Or Cephalus, with lusty 216 Theban youths,
Against the wolf that angry Themis sent
To waste and spoil the sweet Aonian fields.
A monster of five hundred thousand heads,
Compact of rapine, piracy, and spoil,
The scum of men, the hate and scourge of God,
Raves in Aegyptia, and annoyeth us:
My lord, it is the bloody Tamburlaine,
A sturdy felon, and 217 a base-bred thief,
By murder raised to the Persian crown,
That dare control us in our territories.
To tame the pride of this presumptuous beast,
Join your Arabians with the Soldan's power;
Let us unite our royal bands in one,
And hasten to remove Damascus' siege.
It is a blemish to the majesty
And high estate of mighty emperors,
That such a base usurping vagabond
Should brave a king, or wear a princely crown.
KING OF ARABIA. Renowmed 218 Soldan, have you lately heard
The overthrow of mighty Bajazeth
About the confines of Bithynia?
The slavery wherewith he persecutes
The noble Turk and his great emperess?
SOLDAN. I have, and sorrow for his bad success;
But, noble lord of great Arabia,
Be so persuaded that the Soldan is
No more dismay'd with tidings of his fall,
Than in the haven when the pilot stands,
And views a stranger's ship rent in the winds,
And shivered against a craggy rock:
Yet in compassion to his wretched state,
A sacred vow to heaven and him I make,
Confirming it with Ibis' holy name, 219 That Tamburlaine shall rue the day, the 220 hour,
Wherein he wrought such ignominious wrong
Unto the hallow'd person of a prince,
Or kept the fair Zenocrate so long,
As concubine, I fear, to feed his lust.
KING OF ARABIA. Let grief and fury hasten on revenge;
Let Tamburlaine for his offences feel
Such plagues as heaven and we can pour on him:
I long to break my spear upon his crest,
And prove the weight of his victorious arm;
For fame, I fear, hath been too prodigal
In sounding through the world his partial praise.
SOLDAN. Capolin, hast thou survey'd our powers?
CAPOLIN. Great emperors of Egypt and Arabia,
The number of your hosts united is,
A hundred and fifty thousand horse,
Two hundred thousand foot, brave men-at-arms,
Courageous and 221 full of hardiness,
As frolic as the hunters in the chase
Of savage beasts amid the desert woods.
KING OF ARABIA. My mind presageth fortunate success;
And, Tamburlaine, my spirit doth foresee
The utter ruin of thy men and thee.
SOLDAN. Then rear your standards; let your sounding drums
Direct our soldiers to Damascus' walls.—
Now, Tamburlaine, the mighty Soldan comes,
And leads with him the great Arabian king,
To dim thy baseness and 222 obscurity,
Famous for nothing but for theft and spoil;
To raze and scatter thy inglorious crew
Of Scythians and slavish Persians.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV.
A banquet set out; and to it come TAMBURLAINE all in
scarlet, ZENOCRATE, THERIDAMAS, TECHELLES, USUMCASANE,
BAJAZETH drawn in his cage, ZABINA, and others.
TAMBURLAINE. Now hang our bloody colours by Damascus,
Reflexing hues of blood upon their heads,
While they walk quivering on their city-walls,
Half-dead for fear before they feel my wrath.
Then let us freely banquet, and carouse
Full bowls of wine unto the god of war,
That means to fill your helmets full of gold,
And make Damascus' spoils as rich to you
As was to Jason Colchos' golden fleece.—
And now, Bajazeth, hast thou any stomach?
BAJAZETH. Ay, such a stomach, cruel Tamburlaine, as I could
willingly feed upon thy blood-raw heart.
TAMBURLAINE. Nay, thine own is easier to come by: pluck out
that; and 'twill serve thee and thy wife.—Well, Zenocrate,
Techelles, and the rest, fall to your victuals.
BAJAZETH. Fall to, and never may your meat digest!—
Ye Furies, that can mask 223 invisible,
Dive to the bottom of Avernus' pool,
And in your hands bring hellish poison up,
And squeeze it in the cup of Tamburlaine!
Or, winged snakes of Lerna, cast your stings,
And leave your venoms in this tyrant's dish?
ZABINA. And may this banquet prove as ominous
As Progne's to th' adulterous Thracian king
That fed upon the substance of his child!
ZENOCRATE. My lord, 224 how can you suffer these
Outrageous curses by these slaves of yours?
TAMBURLAINE. To let them see, divine Zenocrate,
I glory in the curses of my foes,
Having the power from the empyreal heaven
To turn them all upon their proper heads.
TECHELLES. I pray you, give them leave, madam; this speech
is a goodly refreshing for them. 225
THERIDAMAS. But, if his highness would let them be fed,
it would do them more good.
TAMBURLAINE. Sirrah, why fall you not to? are you so daintily
brought up, you cannot eat your own flesh?
BAJAZETH. First, legions of devils shall tear thee in pieces.
USUMCASANE. Villain, knowest thou to whom thou speakest?
TAMBURLAINE. O, let him alone.—Here; 226 eat, sir; take it
from 227 my sword's point, or I'll thrust it to thy heart.
[BAJAZETH takes the food, and stamps upon it.]
THERIDAMAS. He stamps it under his feet, my lord.
TAMBURLAINE. Take it up, villain, and eat it; or I will make thee
slice 228 the brawns of thy arms into carbonadoes and eat them.
USUMCASANE. Nay, 'twere better he killed his wife, and then she
shall be sure not to be starved, and he be provided for a month's
victual beforehand.
TAMBURLAINE. Here is my dagger: despatch her while she is fat;
for, if she live but a while longer, she will fall 229 into a
consumption with fretting, and then she will not be worth the
eating.
THERIDAMAS. Dost thou think that Mahomet will suffer this?
TECHELLES. 'Tis like he will, when he cannot let 230 it.
TAMBURLAINE. Go to; fall to your meat. What, not a bit!—Belike
he hath not been watered to-day: give him some drink.
[They give BAJAZETH water to drink, and he flings it on
the ground.]
Fast, and welcome, sir, while 231 hunger make you eat.—How now,
Zenocrate! doth not the Turk and his wife make a goodly show at a
banquet?
ZENOCRATE. Yes, my lord.
THERIDAMAS.
Methinks 'tis a great deal better than a consort 232 of music.
TAMBURLAINE. Yet music would do well to cheer up Zenocrate.
Pray thee, tell why art thou so sad? if thou wilt have a song,
the Turk shall strain his voice: but why is it?
ZENOCRATE. My lord, to see my father's town besieg'd,
The country wasted where myself was born,
How can it but afflict my very soul?
If any love remain in you, my lord,
Or if my love unto your majesty
May merit favour at your highness' hands,
Then raise your siege from fair Damascus' walls,
And with my father take a friendly truce.
TAMBURLAINE. Zenocrate, were Egypt Jove's own land,
Yet would I with my sword make Jove to stoop.
I will confute those blind geographers
That make a triple region in the world,
Excluding regions which I mean to trace,
And with this pen 233 reduce them to a map,
Calling the provinces, cities, and towns,
After my name and thine, Zenocrate:
Here at Damascus will I make the point
That shall begin the perpendicular:
And wouldst thou have me buy thy father's love
With such a loss? tell me, Zenocrate.
ZENOCRATE. Honour still wait on happy Tamburlaine!
Yet give me leave to plead for him, my lord.
TAMBURLAINE. Content thyself: his person shall be safe,
And all the friends of fair Zenocrate,
If with their lives they will be pleas'd to yield,
Or may be forc'd to make me emperor;
For Egypt and Arabia must be mine.—
Feed, you slave; thou mayst think thyself happy to be fed from
my trencher.
BAJAZETH. My empty stomach, full of idle heat,
Draws bloody humours from my feeble parts,
Preserving life by hastening 234 cruel death.
My veins are pale; my sinews hard and dry;
My joints benumb'd; unless I eat, I die.
ZABINA. Eat, Bajazeth; let us live in spite of them, looking
some happy power will pity and enlarge us.
TAMBURLAINE. Here, Turk; wilt thou have a clean trencher?
BAJAZETH. Ay, tyrant, and more meat.
TAMBURLAINE. Soft, sir! you must be dieted; too much eating
will make you surfeit.
THERIDAMAS. So it would, my lord, 'specially 235 having so small
a walk and so little exercise.
[A second course is brought in of crowns.]
TAMBURLAINE. Theridamas, Techelles, and Casane, here are the
cates you desire to finger, are they not?
THERIDAMAS. Ay, my lord: but none save kings must feed with
these.
TECHELLES. 'Tis enough for us to see them, and for Tamburlaine
only to enjoy them.
TAMBURLAINE. Well; here is now to the Soldan of Egypt, the King
of Arabia, and the Governor of Damascus. Now, take these three
crowns, and pledge me, my contributory kings. I crown you here,
Theridamas, king of Argier; Techelles, king of Fez; and
Usumcasane, king of Morocco. 236—How say you to this, Turk? these are
not your contributory kings.
BAJAZETH. Nor shall they long be thine, I warrant them.
TAMBURLAINE. Kings of Argier, Morocco, and of Fez,
You that have march'd with happy Tamburlaine
As far as from the frozen plage 237 of heaven
Unto the watery Morning's ruddy bower,
And thence by land unto the torrid zone,
Deserve these titles I endow you with
By valour 238 and by magnanimity.
Your births shall be no blemish to your fame;
For virtue is the fount whence honour springs,
And they are worthy she investeth kings.
THERIDAMAS. And, since your highness hath so well vouchsaf'd,
If we deserve them not with higher meeds
Than erst our states and actions have retain'd,
Take them away again, 239 and make us slaves.
TAMBURLAINE. Well said, Theridamas: when holy Fates
Shall stablish me in strong Aegyptia,
We mean to travel to th' antarctic pole,
Conquering the people underneath our feet,
And be renowm'd 240 as never emperors were.—
Zenocrate, I will not crown thee yet,
Until with greater honours I be grac'd.
[Exeunt.]
scarlet, ZENOCRATE, THERIDAMAS, TECHELLES, USUMCASANE,
BAJAZETH drawn in his cage, ZABINA, and others.
TAMBURLAINE. Now hang our bloody colours by Damascus,
Reflexing hues of blood upon their heads,
While they walk quivering on their city-walls,
Half-dead for fear before they feel my wrath.
Then let us freely banquet, and carouse
Full bowls of wine unto the god of war,
That means to fill your helmets full of gold,
And make Damascus' spoils as rich to you
As was to Jason Colchos' golden fleece.—
And now, Bajazeth, hast thou any stomach?
BAJAZETH. Ay, such a stomach, cruel Tamburlaine, as I could
willingly feed upon thy blood-raw heart.
TAMBURLAINE. Nay, thine own is easier to come by: pluck out
that; and 'twill serve thee and thy wife.—Well, Zenocrate,
Techelles, and the rest, fall to your victuals.
BAJAZETH. Fall to, and never may your meat digest!—
Ye Furies, that can mask 223 invisible,
Dive to the bottom of Avernus' pool,
And in your hands bring hellish poison up,
And squeeze it in the cup of Tamburlaine!
Or, winged snakes of Lerna, cast your stings,
And leave your venoms in this tyrant's dish?
ZABINA. And may this banquet prove as ominous
As Progne's to th' adulterous Thracian king
That fed upon the substance of his child!
ZENOCRATE. My lord, 224 how can you suffer these
Outrageous curses by these slaves of yours?
TAMBURLAINE. To let them see, divine Zenocrate,
I glory in the curses of my foes,
Having the power from the empyreal heaven
To turn them all upon their proper heads.
TECHELLES. I pray you, give them leave, madam; this speech
is a goodly refreshing for them. 225
THERIDAMAS. But, if his highness would let them be fed,
it would do them more good.
TAMBURLAINE. Sirrah, why fall you not to? are you so daintily
brought up, you cannot eat your own flesh?
BAJAZETH. First, legions of devils shall tear thee in pieces.
USUMCASANE. Villain, knowest thou to whom thou speakest?
TAMBURLAINE. O, let him alone.—Here; 226 eat, sir; take it
from 227 my sword's point, or I'll thrust it to thy heart.
[BAJAZETH takes the food, and stamps upon it.]
THERIDAMAS. He stamps it under his feet, my lord.
TAMBURLAINE. Take it up, villain, and eat it; or I will make thee
slice 228 the brawns of thy arms into carbonadoes and eat them.
USUMCASANE. Nay, 'twere better he killed his wife, and then she
shall be sure not to be starved, and he be provided for a month's
victual beforehand.
TAMBURLAINE. Here is my dagger: despatch her while she is fat;
for, if she live but a while longer, she will fall 229 into a
consumption with fretting, and then she will not be worth the
eating.
THERIDAMAS. Dost thou think that Mahomet will suffer this?
TECHELLES. 'Tis like he will, when he cannot let 230 it.
TAMBURLAINE. Go to; fall to your meat. What, not a bit!—Belike
he hath not been watered to-day: give him some drink.
[They give BAJAZETH water to drink, and he flings it on
the ground.]
Fast, and welcome, sir, while 231 hunger make you eat.—How now,
Zenocrate! doth not the Turk and his wife make a goodly show at a
banquet?
ZENOCRATE. Yes, my lord.
THERIDAMAS.
Methinks 'tis a great deal better than a consort 232 of music.
TAMBURLAINE. Yet music would do well to cheer up Zenocrate.
Pray thee, tell why art thou so sad? if thou wilt have a song,
the Turk shall strain his voice: but why is it?
ZENOCRATE. My lord, to see my father's town besieg'd,
The country wasted where myself was born,
How can it but afflict my very soul?
If any love remain in you, my lord,
Or if my love unto your majesty
May merit favour at your highness' hands,
Then raise your siege from fair Damascus' walls,
And with my father take a friendly truce.
TAMBURLAINE. Zenocrate, were Egypt Jove's own land,
Yet would I with my sword make Jove to stoop.
I will confute those blind geographers
That make a triple region in the world,
Excluding regions which I mean to trace,
And with this pen 233 reduce them to a map,
Calling the provinces, cities, and towns,
After my name and thine, Zenocrate:
Here at Damascus will I make the point
That shall begin the perpendicular:
And wouldst thou have me buy thy father's love
With such a loss? tell me, Zenocrate.
ZENOCRATE. Honour still wait on happy Tamburlaine!
Yet give me leave to plead for him, my lord.
TAMBURLAINE. Content thyself: his person shall be safe,
And all the friends of fair Zenocrate,
If with their lives they will be pleas'd to yield,
Or may be forc'd to make me emperor;
For Egypt and Arabia must be mine.—
Feed, you slave; thou mayst think thyself happy to be fed from
my trencher.
BAJAZETH. My empty stomach, full of idle heat,
Draws bloody humours from my feeble parts,
Preserving life by hastening 234 cruel death.
My veins are pale; my sinews hard and dry;
My joints benumb'd; unless I eat, I die.
ZABINA. Eat, Bajazeth; let us live in spite of them, looking
some happy power will pity and enlarge us.
TAMBURLAINE. Here, Turk; wilt thou have a clean trencher?
BAJAZETH. Ay, tyrant, and more meat.
TAMBURLAINE. Soft, sir! you must be dieted; too much eating
will make you surfeit.
THERIDAMAS. So it would, my lord, 'specially 235 having so small
a walk and so little exercise.
[A second course is brought in of crowns.]
TAMBURLAINE. Theridamas, Techelles, and Casane, here are the
cates you desire to finger, are they not?
THERIDAMAS. Ay, my lord: but none save kings must feed with
these.
TECHELLES. 'Tis enough for us to see them, and for Tamburlaine
only to enjoy them.
TAMBURLAINE. Well; here is now to the Soldan of Egypt, the King
of Arabia, and the Governor of Damascus. Now, take these three
crowns, and pledge me, my contributory kings. I crown you here,
Theridamas, king of Argier; Techelles, king of Fez; and
Usumcasane, king of Morocco. 236—How say you to this, Turk? these are
not your contributory kings.
BAJAZETH. Nor shall they long be thine, I warrant them.
TAMBURLAINE. Kings of Argier, Morocco, and of Fez,
You that have march'd with happy Tamburlaine
As far as from the frozen plage 237 of heaven
Unto the watery Morning's ruddy bower,
And thence by land unto the torrid zone,
Deserve these titles I endow you with
By valour 238 and by magnanimity.
Your births shall be no blemish to your fame;
For virtue is the fount whence honour springs,
And they are worthy she investeth kings.
THERIDAMAS. And, since your highness hath so well vouchsaf'd,
If we deserve them not with higher meeds
Than erst our states and actions have retain'd,
Take them away again, 239 and make us slaves.
TAMBURLAINE. Well said, Theridamas: when holy Fates
Shall stablish me in strong Aegyptia,
We mean to travel to th' antarctic pole,
Conquering the people underneath our feet,
And be renowm'd 240 as never emperors were.—
Zenocrate, I will not crown thee yet,
Until with greater honours I be grac'd.
[Exeunt.]
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