Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish'd.
Aar. An if it please thee? why, assure tee,
Lucius,

Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak :
For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massas,
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.
Luc. Tell on thy mind; I say, thy child shall
Aar. Swear, that he shall, and then I will be: n.
Luc. Who should I swear by? thou belie зt

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,

e.

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's

ou 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! 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 iny worth.
I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole,
Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay :
I wrote the letter that thy father found,
And hid the gold within the letter mention'd,
Confederate 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,
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?

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. 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 Emilius.

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,
And we will come.-
e.-March away.

[Exeunt.

(1) Perhaps this is a stage-direction, crept inte

the text.

SCENE II-Rome. Before Titus's house. Enter Tamora, Chiron, and Demetrius, disguised.

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.

grace my talk,

Tam. Titus, I am come to talk with thee. Tit. No; not a word: How can I g Wanting a hand to give it action? Thou hast the odds of me, therefore no more. T'am. 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, ere 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.

Tam. 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. Tit. Good lord, how like the empress' sons they

are!

And you, the empress! But we worldly men
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,