Go, wander, free from fear of tyrant's rage,
Removed from the torments and the hell,
Wherewith he may excruciate thy soul,
And let Agydas by Agydas die,

And with this stab slumber eternally.

[Stabs himself.

Tech. Usumcasane, see, how right the man

Hath hit the meaning of my lord, the king.

Usum. 'Faith, and Techelles, it was manly done; And since he was so wise and honourable,

Let us afford him now the bearing hence,

And crave his triple-worthy burial.

Tech. Agreed, Casane; we will honour him.

110

[Exeunt bearing out the body.

SCENE III.

Enter TAMBURLAINE, TECHELLES, USUMCASANE, THERIDAMAS, a Basso, ZENOCRATE, ANIPPE, with others.

Tamb. 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 more than they can well perform.
He meet me in the field, and fetch thee hence!
Alas! poor Turk! his fortune is too weak
To 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.

ΙΟ

Bas. 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 Janisaries,
Mounted on lusty Mauritanian steeds,
Brought to the war by men of Tripoli ;
Two hundred thousand footmen that have serv'd
In two set battles fought in Græcia ;
And for the expedition of this war,
If he think good, can from his garrisons
Withdraw as many more to follow him.

Tech. The more he brings the greater is the spoil,
For when they perish by our warlike hands,

We mean to set our footmen on their steeds,

And rifle all those stately Janisars.

20

Tamb. But will those kings accompany your lord? Bas. Such as his highness please; but some must stay To rule the provinces he late subdued.

Tamb. [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.

Usum. Let him bring millions infinite of men,
Unpeopling Western Africa and Greece,

Yet we assure us of the victory.

Ther. Even he that in a trice vanquished two kings,

More mighty than the Turkish emperor,

Shall rouse him out of Europe, and pursue

His scattered army till they yield or die.

30

Tamb. Well said, Theridamas; speak in that mood; 40 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 termed 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,
Burthening their bodies with your heavy chains,
And feeding them with thin and slender fare;
That naked row about the Terrene sea,

50

And when they chance to rest or breathe a space,

Are punished with bastones 1 so grievously,

That they lie panting on the galley's 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.

60

Enter BAJAZETH with his Bassoes and contributory Kings.

Baj. Bassoes and Janisaries of my guard, Attend upon the person of your lord,

The greatest potentate of Africa.

1 "Mr. Dyce says, ‘bastones, i.e. bastinadoes;' but the bastinado, as I have seen it, was applied to the soles of the feet, and was therefore a punishment inapplicable to rowers, whom it would have rendered unfit for work. 'Bastones' simply means batons, sticks."—Cunningham.

Tamb. Techelles, and the rest, prepare your swords;

I mean to encounter with that Bajazeth.

Baj. Kings of Fez, Moroccus,1 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 of dignity,
And dar'st thou bluntly call me Bajazeth?

70

Tamb. And know, thou Turk, that those which lead

my horse,

Shall lead thee captive thorough Africa ;

And dar'st thou bluntly call me Tamburlaine?

Baj. 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 2 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.

Tamb. By this my sword, that conquered Persia,
Thy fall shall make me famous through the world.
I will not tell thee how I'll handle thee,
But every common soldier of my camp
Shall smile to see thy miserable state.

K. of Fez. What means the mighty Turkish emperor, To talk with one so base as Tamburlaine ?

1 Cf. Peele's Battle of Alczar, i. 2:—

"Those plots of ground

That to Morroccus lead the lower way."

80

2 Seraglio (Fr. serail).

K. of Mor. Ye Moors and valiant men of Barbary, How can ye suffer these indignities?

90

K. of Arg. Leave words, and let them feel your lances'

points

Which glided through the bowels of the Greeks.

Baj. Well said, my stout contributory kings:
Your threefold army and my hugy1 host
Shall swallow up these base-born Persians.

Tech. Puissant, renowmed, and mighty Tamburlaine, Why stay we thus prolonging of their lives?

Ther. I long to see those crowns won by our swords, That we may rule as kings of Africa.

Usum. What coward would not fight for such a prize? 100 Tamb. Fight all courageously, and be you kings; I speak it, and my words are oracles.

Baj. Zabina, mother of three braver boys
Than Hercules, that in his infancy

Did pash 2 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 ysprong 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,

1 Old form of "huge."

* Strike violently, dash. So Greene (in Orlando Furioso) :-
"But as the son of Saturn in his wrath

Pash'd all the mountains at Typhoeus' head."

ΠΙΟ