They sung for honour 'gainst Pierides ; Or when Minerva did with Neptune strive : Than Juno, sister to the highest god, If I were matched with mighty Tamburlaine. my 60 cheeks [TAMBURLAINE goes to her and takes her away Agyd. Betrayed by fortune and suspicious love, To see his choler shut in secret thoughts, 70 1 Alcidamas, to whom Zenocrate had been betrothed. That shine as comets, menacing revenge, So fares Agydas for the late-felt frowns, That sent a tempest to my daunted thoughts, Enter USUMCASANE and TECHELLES with a naked dagger. Tech. See you, Agydas, how the king salutes you ? He bids you prophesy what it imports. Agyd. I prophesied before, and now I prove The killing frowns of jealousy and love. He needed not with words confirm my fear, For words are vain where working tools present The naked action of my threatened end: It says, Agydas, thou shalt surely die, And of extremities elect the least; More honour and less pain it may procure To die by this resolvèd hand of thine, Than stay the torments he and Heaven have sworn. Which thy prolongèd fates may draw on thee. 100 90 Go, wander, free from fear of tyrant's rage, 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. [Exeunt bearing out the body. SCENE III. Enter TAMBURLAINE, Techelles, Usumcasane, Theri- Tamb. Basso, by this thy lord and master knows See how he comes! tush, Turks are full of brags, IO Bas. Your men are valiant, but their number few, My lord, the great commander of the world, Hath now in arms ten thousand Janisaries, Two hundred thousand footmen that have serv'd Tech. The more he brings the greater is the spoil, We mean to seat 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. their crowns are yours; Then fight courageously: This hand shall set them on your conquering heads, Usum. Let him bring millions infinite of men, 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 I that am termed the scourge and wrath of God, Will first subdue the Turk, and then enlarge Are punished with bastones1 so grievously, And when they chance to rest or breathe a space, 50 That they lie panting on the galley's side, And strive for life at every stroke they give. 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 60 Enter BAJAZETH with his Bassoes and contributory Kings. 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. |