THE SECOND PART OF

TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT.

ACT I.

SCENE I.

Enter ORCANES king of Natolia, GAZELLUS viceroy of Byron, URIBASSA*, and their train, with drums and trumpets.

ORC. Egregious viceroys of these eastern parts,
Plac'd by the issue of great Bajazeth,
And sacred lord, the mighty Callapine,

Who lives in Egypt prisoner to that slave
Which kept his father in an iron cage,—
Now have we march'd from fair Natolią
Two hundred leagues, and on Danubius' banks
Our warlike host, in complete armour, rest,
Where Sigismund, the king of Hungary,
Should meet our person to conclude a truce:
What! shall we parle with the Christian?
Or cross the stream, and meet him in the field?

* Uribassa] In this scene, but only here, the old eds. have Upibassa."

GAZ. King of Natolia, let us treat of peace:
We all are glutted with the Christians' blood,
And have a greater foe to fight against,-
Proud Tamburlaine, that now, in Asia,

Near Guyron's head doth set his conquering feet,
And means to fire Turkey as he goes:

'Gainst him, my lord, you must address your power. URI. Besides, King Sigismund hath brought from Christendom

More than his camp of stout Hungarians,Sclavonians, Almains, Rutters*, Muffs, and Danes, That with the halberd, lance, and murdering axe, Will hazard that we might with surety hold.

ORC.+ Though from the shortest northern parallel, Vast Grantland, compass'd with the Frozen Sea, (Inhabited with tall and sturdy men, Giants as big as hugy ‡ Polypheme,) Millions of soldiers cut the§ arctic line, Bringing the strength of Europe to these arms, Our Turkey blades shall glide through all their throats, And make this champion || mead a bloody fen:

* Almains, Rutters] Rutters are properly--German troopers (reiler, reuter); and in the first scene of Faustus we have,"Like Almain rutters with their horsemen's staves." The distinction made in this line (which is repeated at p. 124) I do not understand.

+ Orc] Omitted in the old eds.

hugy] i. e. huge.

$ cut the] So the 8vo.-the 4to "out of."

champion] i. e. champaign.

Danubius' stream, that runs to Trebizon,
Shall carry, wrapt within his scarlet waves,
As martial presents to our friends at home,
The slaughter'd bodies of these Christians:
The Terrene* main, wherein Danubius falls,
Shall by this battle be the bloody sea:
The wandering sailors of proud Italy

Shall meet those Christians, fleeting with the tide,
Beating in heaps against their argosies,

And make fair Europe, mounted on her bull,
Trapt with the wealth and riches of the world,
Alight, and wear a woful mourning weed.

GAZ. Yet, stout Orcanes, pro-rex of the world, Since Tamburlaine hath muster'd all his men, Marching from Cairo + northward with his camp, To Alexandria and the frontier towns,

Meaning to make a conquest of our land,
"Tis requisite to parle for a peace
With Sigismund, the king of Hungary,
And save our forces for the hot assaults

Proud Tamburlaine intends Natolia.

ORC. Viceroy of Byron, wisely hast thou said.
My realm, the centre of our empery,

Once lost, all Turkey would be overthrown,
And for that cause the Christians shall have peace.

* Terrene] i. e. Mediterranean (but the Danube falls into the Black Sea.)

+ Cairo] Old eds "Cairon:" but they are not consistent in the spelling of this name; afterwards (p. 129) they have " Cario."

Sclavonians, Almains, Rutters, Muffs, and Danes,
Fear not Orcanes, but great Tamburlaine,
Nor he, but Fortune that hath made him great.
We have revolted Grecians, Albanese,
Sicilians, Jews, Arabians, Turks, and Moors,
Natolians, Sorians †, black+ Egyptians,
Illyrians, Thracians, and Bithynians §,
Enough to swallow forceless Sigismund,
Yet scarce enough to encounter Tamburlaine.
He brings a world of people to the field,

*Fear] i. e. frighten.

+ Sorians] So the 4to.-The 8vo has here "Syrians"; but elsewhere in this Sec. Part of the play it agrees with the 4to in having "Sorians," and Soria" (which occurs repeatedly, the King of Soria being one of the characters).—Compare Jonson's Fox, act iv. sc. 1;

"whether a ship,

Newly arriv'd from Soria, or from

Any suspected part of all the Levant,

Be guilty of the plague," &c.

on which passage Whalley remarks; "The city Tyre, from whence the whole country had its name, was anciently called Zur or Zor; since the Arabs erected their empire in the East, it has been again called Sor, and is at this day known by no other name in those parts. Hence the Italians formed their Soria."

Illyrians, Thracians, and Bithynians] So the 8vo (except that by a misprint it gives " Illicians ").-The 4to has,—

Fred. And we from Europe to the same intent

Illirians, Thracians, and Bithynians";

a line which belongs to a later part of the scene (p. 127), being unaccountably inserted here.

From Scythia to the oriental plage*

Of India, where raging Lantchidol

Beats on the regions with his boisterous blows,
That never seaman yet discovered.

All Asia is in arms with Tamburlaine,
Even from the midst of fiery Cancer's tropic,
To Amazonia under Capricorn;

And thence as far as Archipelago,

All Afric is in arms with Tamburlaine;

Therefore, viceroyt, the Christians must have peace.

Enter SIGISMUND, FREDERICK, BALDWIN, and their train, with drums and trumpets.

SIG. Orcanes, (as our legates promis'd thee) We, with our peers, have cross'd Danubius' stream, To treat of friendly peace or deadly war.

Take which thou wilt; for, as the Romans us'd,

I here present thee with a naked sword:

Wilt thou have war, then shake this blade at me;
If peace, restore it to my hands again,

And I will sheathe it, to confirm the same.
ORC. Stay, Sigismund: forget'st thou I am he
That with the cannon shook Vienna-walls,
And made it dance upon the continent,
As when the massy substance of the earth
Quiver[s] about the axle-tree of heaven?
Forget'st thou that I sent a shower of darts,
Mingled with powder'd shot and feather'd steel,

plage] i. e. clime. So the 8vo.-The 4to "place."
t viceroy] So the 8vo.-The 4to "vice-royes."