Aar. Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them;
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 me,
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:
aI wrote the letter that thy father found,

And hid the gold within the letter mention'd,
Con erate 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?
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,
to|| 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 swounded almost at my pleasing tale,
And, for my tidings, gave me twenty kisses
Goth. What! canst thou say all this, and never
blush?

Surpris'd him suddenly; and brought him hither,
To use as you think needful of the man.

Luc. Oworthy Goth! this is the incarnate devil,
That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand:
This is the pearl that pleas'd your empress' eye;1
And here's the base fruit of his burning lust.-
Say, wall-ey'd slave, whither would'st thou convey
This growing image of thy fiend-like face?
Why dost not speak? What! deaf? No; not
word?

halter, soldiers; hang him on this tree, And by his side his fruit of bastardy.

Aar. Touch not the boy, he is of royal blood.
Luc. Too like the sire for ever being good.-.
First, hang the child, that he may see it sprawl;
A sight to vex the father's soul withal.
Get me a ladder.

[A ladder brought, which Aaron is obliged
ascend.

Aar.

Lucius, save the child;
And bear it from me to the empress.
If thou do this, I'll show thee wondrous things,
That highly may advantage thee to hear:
If thou wilt not, befall what may befall,
I'll speak no more; But vengeance rot you all!
Luc. Say on; and, if it please me which thou
speak'st,
Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish'd.
Aar. An if it please thee? why, assure thee,
Lucius,

'Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak :
For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres,
Acts of black night, abominable deeds,
Complots of mischief, treason; villanies
Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd:
And this shall all be buried by my death,
Unless thou swear to me, my child shall live.

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.
Even now I curse the day (and yet, I think,
Few come within the compass of my curse,)
Wherein I did not some notorious ill :
|| As kill a man, or else devise his death;
Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;
Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself:
Set deadly enmity between two friends;
Make poor men's cattle break their necks;
Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
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. Tell on thy mind; I say, thy child shall live.
Aar. Swear, that he shall, and then I will begin.
Luc. Who should I swear by? thou believ'st
no god;

That granted, how canst thou believe an oath?
Aar. What if I do not? as, indeed, I do 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;
To that I'll urge him :-Therefore, thou shalt vow
By that same god, what god soe'er it be,
That thou ador'st 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 em-
press.

Luc. O most insatiate, luxurious woman!
Aar. Tut, Lucius! this was but a deed of charity,
To that which thou shalt hear of me anon.
'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, détestable villain! call'st thou that trim-
ming?
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!

་

(1) Alluding to the proverb, A black man is a pearl in a fair woman's eye.'

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;
So I might have your company in hell,
But to torment you with my bitter tongue!
Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no

more.

Enter a Goth.

Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Rome,
Desires to be admitted to your presence.
Luc. Let him come near.-

Enter Æmilius.

Welcome, Æmilius, what's the news from Rome?
Emil. Lord Lucius, and you princes of the
Goths,

The Roman emperor greets you all by me :
And, for he understands you are in arms,
He craves a parley at your father's house;
Willing you to demand your hostages,
And they shall be immediately deliver'd.
1 Goth. What says our general?

Luc. Emilius, let the emperor give his pledges Unto my father and my uncle Marcus,

are!

And we will come.-March away. I [Exeunt. Tit. Good lord, how like the empress' sons they
SCENE II.—Roine. Before Titus's house. En-And you, the empress! But we worldly men
ter Tamora, Chiron, and Demetrius, disguised.
Have miserable, mad, mistaking eyes.
O sweet Revenge, now do I come to thee:
And, if one arm's embracement will content thee,
I will embrace thee in it by and by.

[Exit Titus, from above.
Tam. This closing with him fits his lunacy :
Whate'er I forge, to feed his brain-sick fits,
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.
Enter Titus.

Tam. Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment,
I will encounter with Andronicus;
And say, I am Revenge, sent from below,
To join with him, and right his heinous wrongs.
Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps,
To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge;
Tell him, Revenge is come to join with him,
And work confusion on his enemies. [They knock.
Enter Titus, above.

Tit. Who doth molest my contemplation?
Is it your trick, to make me ope the door;
That so my sad decrees may fly away,
And all my study be to no effect?
You are deceiv'd: for what I mean to do,
See here, in bloody lines I have set down;
And what is written shall be executed.

Tam. Titus, I am come to talk with thee.
Tit. No; not a word: How can I grace my talk,
Wanting a hand to give it action?
Thou hast the odds of me, therefore no more.
Tam. If thou didst know me, thou would'st talk
with me.

Tit. I am not mad; I know thee well enough:
Witness this wretched stump, these crimson lines;
Witness these trenches, made by grief and care;
Witness the tiring day, and heavy night;
Witness all sorrow, that I know thee well
For our proud empress, mighty Tamora :
Is not thy coming for my other hand?

Tam. Know thou, sad man, I am not Tamora;
She is thy enemy, and I thy friend :

I am Revenge; sent from the infernal kingdom,
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,
To be a torment to mine enemies?

Tam. I am; therefore come down, and welcome

me.

Tit. Do me some service, erc I come to thee.
Lo, by thy side where Rape, and Murder, stand;
Now give 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 globes.
Provide thee proper palfries, black as jet,
To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away,
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 thou destroy Rapine and Murder there.

These are my ministers, and come with me.
Tit. Are they thy ministers? what are they call'd?
Tam. Rapine, and Murder; therefore called so,
'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.

(1) Perhaps this is a stage-direction, crept into the text.

Tit. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee:
Welcome, dread fury, to my woful house;—
Rapine, and Murder, you are welcome too:-
How like the empress and her sons you are!
Well are you fitted, had you but a Moor:—
Could not all hell afford you such a devil?—
For, well I wot, the empress never wags,
But in her company there is a Moor;
And, would you represent our queen aright,
It were convenient you had such a devil:
But welcome, as you are. What shall we do?
Tam. What would'st thou have us do, Androni-
cus?

Dem. Show me a murderer, I'll deal with him. Chi. Show me a villain, that hath done a rape, And I am sent to be reveng'd on him.

Tam. Show me a thousand, that hath done thee
wrong,
And I will be revenged on them all.

Tit. Look round about the wicked streets of
Rome;

And when thou find'st a man that's like thyself,
Good Murder, stab him; he's a murderer.--
Go thou with him: and when it is thy hap,
To find another that is like to thee,
Good Rapine, stab him; he is a ravisher.-
Go thou with them; and in the emperor's court
There is a queen, attended by a Moor;
Well may'st thou know her by thy own proportion,
For up and down she doth resemble thee;

I

pray thee, do on them some violent death,
They have been violent to me and mine.

Tam. Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall we do.
But would it please thee, good Andronicus,
To send for Lucius, thy thrice valiant son,
Who leads towards Rome a band of warlike Goths,
And bid him come and banquet at thy house:
When he is here, even at thy solemn feast,
I will bring in the empress, and her sons,
The emperor himself, and all thy foes;
And at thy mercy shall they stoop and kneel,
And on them shalt thou ease thy angry heart.
What says Andronicus to this device?

Tit. Marcus, my brother!-'tis sad Titus calls.

Enter Marcus.

Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius; "
Thou shalt inquire him out among the Goths:
Bid him repair to me, and bring with him
Some of the chiefest princes of the Goths;
Bid him encamp his soldiers where they are:
Tell him, the emperor and the empress too
Feast at my house: and he shall feast with them,

This do thou for my love; and so let him,
As he regards his aged father's life.

Mar. This will I do, and soon return again.

[Exit.

Whilst that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold
The bason, that receives your guilty blood.
You know, your mother means to feast with me,-
And calls herself, Revenge, and thinks me mad,-
Hark, villains; I will grind your bones to dust,
And with your blood and it, I'll make a paste,
And of the paste a coffin' I will rear,

And make two pasties of your shameful heads;
And bid that strumpet, your unhallow'd dam,

Tum. What say you, boys? will you abide with Like to the earth, swallow her own increase.
This is the feast that I have bid her to,
And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
For worse than Philomel you us'd my daughter,
And worse than Progne I will be reveng'd:
And now prepare your throats.-Lavinia, come,
[He cuts their throats.
Receive the blood: and, when that they are dead,
Let me go grind their bones to powder small,
And with this hateful liquor temper it;
And in that paste let their vile heads be bak'd.
[Aside.Come, come, be every one officious

To make this banquet; which I wish may prove
More stern and bloody than the Centaurs' feast.
So, now bring them in, for I will play the cook,
And see them ready 'gainst their mother comes.
[Exeunt, bearing the dead bodies.
A pavilion, with ta-
SCENE III.—The_same.
bles, &c. Enter Lucius, Marcus, and Goths,
with Aaron, prisoner.

Tam. Now will I hence about thy business,
And take my ministers along with me.

Tit. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with me;
Or else I'll call my brother back again,
And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.

him,

Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor,
How I have govern'd our determin'd jest?
Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair,

[Aside.

And tarry with him, till I come again.
Tit. I know them all, though they suppose me
mad;
And will o'er-reach them in their own devices,
A pair of cursed hell-hounds, and their dam.

Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us here. Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit Tam. Tit. I know, thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, farewell.

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd? Tit. Tut, I have work enough for you to do. Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine!

Enter Publius, and others.
Pub. What's your will?
Tit.

Pub.
I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.
Tit. Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much de-
ceiv'd;

Know you these two?
Th' empress' sons,

The one is Murder, Rape is the other's name :
And therefore bind them, gentle Publius:
Caius, and Valentine, lay hands on them:
Oft have you heard me wish for such an hour,
And now I find it; therefore bind them sure;
And stop their mouths, if they begin to cry.

[Exit Titus-Publius, &c. lay hold on Chiron
and Demetrius.

manded.

Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a word
Is he sure bound? look, that you bind them fast.
Re-enter Titus Andronicus, with Lavinia; she bear-
ing a bason, and he a knife.
Tit. Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are
bound;-

Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me;
But let them hear what fearful words I utter.-
O villains, Chiron and Demetrius !

Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd with
mud;

Chi. Villains, forbear; we are the empress' sons.
Pub. And therefore do we what we are com-Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.—

This goodly summer with your winter mix'd.
You kill'd her husband; and, for that vile fault,
Two of her brothers were condemn'd to death:
My hand cut off, and made a merry jest:
Both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that, more
dear

Than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity,
Inhuman traitors, you constrain'd and forc'd.
What would you say, if I should let you speak?
Villains, for shame you could not beg for grace.
Hark, wretches, how I mean to martyr you.
This one hand yet is left to cut your throats;

(1) Crust of a raised pye.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind, That I repair to Rome, I am content.

1 Goth. And ours, with thine, befall what for-
tune will.

Luc. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous
Moor,

This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;
Let him receive no sustenance, fetter him,
Till he be brought unto the empress' face,
For testimony of her foul proceedings:
And see the ambush of our friends be strong:
I fear, the emperor means no good to us.

Aar. Some devil whisper curses in mine ear,
And prompt me, that my tongue may utter forth
The venomous malice of my swelling heart!
Luc. Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd slave !-

[Exeunt Goths, with Aaron. Flourish.
The trumpets show, the emperor is at hand.
Enter Saturninus and Tamora, with Tribunes,
Senators, and others.

[He kills Lavinia.
And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!
Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural, and unkind?
Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made
me blind.

I am as woful as Virginius was:
And have a thousand times more cause than he
To do this outrage-and it is now done.
Sat. What, was she ravish'd? tell, who did the
deed.

Tit. Will't please you eat; will't please your highness feed?

Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus?

Tit. Not I; 'twas Chiron, and Demetrius : They ravish'd her, and cut away her tongue, And they, 'twas they, that did her all this wrong. Sat. Go, fetch them hither to us presently. Tit. Why, there they are both, baked in that pye; Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred. 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point. [Killing Tamora. Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed. [Killing Titus.

Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed. Kills Saturninus. A great tumult. The people in confusion disperse. Marcus, Lucius, and their partisans, ascend the steps before Titus's house.

Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of
Rome,
By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
O, let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body.

Sen. Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself;
And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate cast-away,
Do shameful execution on herself.

Tell us, what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
Or who hath brought the fatal engine in,
That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil wound.-
My heart is not compact of flint, nor steel;
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,
But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
And break my very utterance; even i'the time
When it should move you to attend me most,
Lending your kind commiseration:
Here is a captain, let him tell the tale;
Your hearts will throb and weep hear him speak.

Luc. Then, noble auditory, be it known to you,
That cursed Chiron and Demetrius

Were they that murdered our emperor's brother;
And they it were that ravished our sister:
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father's tears despis'd; and basely cozen'd
Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel out,
And sent her enemies unto the grave.
Lastly, myself unkindly banished,

But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,
Cannot induce you to attend my words,
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To Lucius.] as erst

our ancestor,

;

The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out,
To beg relief among Rome's enemies
Who drown'd their enmity in my true tears,
And op'd their arms to embrace me as a friend :
And I am the turn'd-forth, be it known to you,
That have preserv'd her welfare in my blood;
And from her bosom took the enemy's point,
Sheathing the steel in my advent'rous body.
Alas! you know, I am no vaunter, I;
My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
That my report is just, and full of truth.
But, soft; methinks, I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise: O, pardon me ;
For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.
Mar. Now is my turn to speak; Behold this

child,

[Pointing to the child in the arms of an
Attendant.
Of this was Tamora delivered;
The issue of an irreligious Moor,
Chief architect and plotter of these woes;
The villain is alive in Titus' house,
Damn'd as he is, to witness this is true.
Now judge, what cause had Titus to revenge
These wrongs, unspeakable, past patience,
Or more than any living man could bear.
Now you have heard the truth, what say you, Re-

mans?

Lucius, &c. descend.

Mar. Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house :
[To an Attendant.
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.

When with his solemn tongue he did discourse,

Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's gracious governor!

To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,

Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May 1 govern so, To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her wo!

The story of that baleful burning night,

When subtle Greeks surpris'd king Priam's Troy ;||But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,~

Luc. Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish || different from that of the other plays.

him;