| ACT IISCENE III | A lonely part of the forest. | |
| | Enter AARON, with a bag of gold | |
| AARON | He that had wit would think that I had none, | |
| | To bury so much gold under a tree, | |
| | And never after to inherit it. | |
| | Let him that thinks of me so abjectly | 5 |
| | Know that this gold must coin a stratagem, | |
| | Which, cunningly effected, will beget | |
| | A very excellent piece of villany: | |
| | And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest | |
| | Hides the gold | |
| | That have their alms out of the empress' chest. | 10 |
| | Enter TAMORA | |
| TAMORA | My lovely Aaron, wherefore look'st thou sad, | |
| | When every thing doth make a gleeful boast? | |
| | The birds chant melody on every bush, | |
| | The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun, | |
| | The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind | 15 |
| | And make a chequer'd shadow on the ground: | |
| | Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit, | |
| | And, whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds, | |
| | Replying shrilly to the well-tuned horns, | |
| | As if a double hunt were heard at once, | 20 |
| | Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise; | |
| | And, after conflict such as was supposed | |
| | The wandering prince and Dido once enjoy'd, | |
| | When with a happy storm they were surprised | |
| | And curtain'd with a counsel-keeping cave, | 25 |
| | We may, each wreathed in the other's arms, | |
| | Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber; | |
| | Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds | |
| | Be unto us as is a nurse's song | |
| | Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep. | 30 |
| AARON | Madam, though Venus govern your desires, | |
| | Saturn is dominator over mine: | |
| | What signifies my deadly-standing eye, | |
| | My silence and my cloudy melancholy, | |
| | My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls | 35 |
| | Even as an adder when she doth unroll | |
| | To do some fatal execution? | |
| | No, madam, these are no venereal signs: | |
| | Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, | |
| | Blood and revenge are hammering in my head. | 40 |
| | Hark Tamora, the empress of my soul, | |
| | Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee, | |
| | This is the day of doom for Bassianus: | |
| | His Philomel must lose her tongue to-day, | |
| | Thy sons make pillage of her chastity | 45 |
| | And wash their hands in Bassianus' blood. | |
| | Seest thou this letter? take it up, I pray thee, | |
| | And give the king this fatal plotted scroll. | |
| | Now question me no more; we are espied; | |
| | Here comes a parcel of our hopeful booty, | 50 |
| | Which dreads not yet their lives' destruction. | |
| TAMORA | Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life! | |
| AARON | No more, great empress; Bassianus comes: | |
| | Be cross with him; and I'll go fetch thy sons | |
| | To back thy quarrels, whatsoe'er they be. | 55 |
| | Exit | |
| | Enter BASSIANUS and LAVINIA | |
| BASSIANUS | Who have we here? Rome's royal empress, | |
| | Unfurnish'd of her well-beseeming troop? | |
| | Or is it Dian, habited like her, | |
| | Who hath abandoned her holy groves | |
| | To see the general hunting in this forest? | 60 |
| TAMORA | Saucy controller of our private steps! | |
| | Had I the power that some say Dian had, | |
| | Thy temples should be planted presently | |
| | With horns, as was Actaeon's; and the hounds | |
| | Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs, | 65 |
| | Unmannerly intruder as thou art! | |
| LAVINIA | Under your patience, gentle empress, | |
| | 'Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning; | |
| | And to be doubted that your Moor and you | |
| | Are singled forth to try experiments: | 70 |
| | Jove shield your husband from his hounds to-day! | |
| | 'Tis pity they should take him for a stag. | |
| BASSIANUS | Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian | |
| | Doth make your honour of his body's hue, | |
| | Spotted, detested, and abominable. | 75 |
| | Why are you sequester'd from all your train, | |
| | Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed. | |
| | And wander'd hither to an obscure plot, | |
| | Accompanied but with a barbarous Moor, | |
| | If foul desire had not conducted you? | 80 |
| LAVINIA | And, being intercepted in your sport, | |
| | Great reason that my noble lord be rated | |
| | For sauciness. I pray you, let us hence, | |
| | And let her joy her raven-colour'd love; | |
| | This valley fits the purpose passing well. | 85 |
| BASSIANUS | The king my brother shall have note of this. | |
| LAVINIA | Ay, for these slips have made him noted long: | |
| | Good king, to be so mightily abused! | |
| TAMORA | Why have I patience to endure all this? | |
| | Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON | |
| DEMETRIUS | How now, dear sovereign, and our gracious mother! | 90 |
| | Why doth your highness look so pale and wan? | |
| TAMORA | Have I not reason, think you, to look pale? | |
| | These two have 'ticed me hither to this place: | |
| | A barren detested vale, you see it is; | |
| | The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, | 95 |
| | O'ercome with moss and baleful mistletoe: | |
| | Here never shines the sun; here nothing breeds, | |
| | Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven: | |
| | And when they show'd me this abhorred pit, | |
| | They told me, here, at dead time of the night, | 100 |
| | A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes, | |
| | Ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins, | |
| | Would make such fearful and confused cries | |
| | As any mortal body hearing it | |
| | Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly. | 105 |
| | No sooner had they told this hellish tale, | |
| | But straight they told me they would bind me here | |
| | Unto the body of a dismal yew, | |
| | And leave me to this miserable death: | |
| | And then they call'd me foul adulteress, | 110 |
| | Lascivious Goth, and all the bitterest terms | |
| | That ever ear did hear to such effect: | |
| | And, had you not by wondrous fortune come, | |
| | This vengeance on me had they executed. | |
| | Revenge it, as you love your mother's life, | 115 |
| | Or be ye not henceforth call'd my children. | |
| DEMETRIUS | This is a witness that I am thy son. | |
| | Stabs BASSIANUS | |
| CHIRON | And this for me, struck home to show my strength. | |
| | Also stabs BASSIANUS, who dies | |
| LAVINIA | Ay, come, Semiramis, nay, barbarous Tamora, | |
| | For no name fits thy nature but thy own! | 120 |
| TAMORA | Give me thy poniard; you shall know, my boys | |
| | Your mother's hand shall right your mother's wrong. | |
| DEMETRIUS | Stay, madam; here is more belongs to her; | |
| | First thrash the corn, then after burn the straw: | |
| | This minion stood upon her chastity, | 125 |
| | Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty, | |
| | And with that painted hope braves your mightiness: | |
| | And shall she carry this unto her grave? | |
| CHIRON | An if she do, I would I were an eunuch. | |
| | Drag hence her husband to some secret hole, | 130 |
| | And make his dead trunk pillow to our lust. | |
| TAMORA | But when ye have the honey ye desire, | |
| | Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting. | |
| CHIRON | I warrant you, madam, we will make that sure. | |
| | Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy | 135 |
| | That nice-preserved honesty of yours. | |
| LAVINIA | O Tamora! thou bear'st a woman's face,-- | |
| TAMORA | I will not hear her speak; away with her! | |
| LAVINIA | Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word. | |
| DEMETRIUS | Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory | 140 |
| | To see her tears; but be your heart to them | |
| | As unrelenting flint to drops of rain. | |
| LAVINIA | When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam? | |
| | O, do not learn her wrath; she taught it thee; | |
| | The milk thou suck'dst from her did turn to marble; | 145 |
| | Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny. | |
| | Yet every mother breeds not sons alike: | |
| | To CHIRON | |
| | Do thou entreat her show a woman pity. | |
| CHIRON | What, wouldst thou have me prove myself a bastard? | |
| LAVINIA | 'Tis true; the raven doth not hatch a lark: | 150 |
| | Yet have I heard,--O, could I find it now!-- | |
| | The lion moved with pity did endure | |
| | To have his princely paws pared all away: | |
| | Some say that ravens foster forlorn children, | |
| | The whilst their own birds famish in their nests: | 155 |
| | O, be to me, though thy hard heart say no, | |
| | Nothing so kind, but something pitiful! | |
| TAMORA | I know not what it means; away with her! | |
| LAVINIA | O, let me teach thee! for my father's sake, | |
| | That gave thee life, when well he might have | 160 |
| | slain thee, | |
| | Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears. | |
| TAMORA | Hadst thou in person ne'er offended me, | |
| | Even for his sake am I pitiless. | |
| | Remember, boys, I pour'd forth tears in vain, | 165 |
| | To save your brother from the sacrifice; | |
| | But fierce Andronicus would not relent; | |
| | Therefore, away with her, and use her as you will, | |
| | The worse to her, the better loved of me. | |
| LAVINIA | O Tamora, be call'd a gentle queen, | 170 |
| | And with thine own hands kill me in this place! | |
| | For 'tis not life that I have begg'd so long; | |
| | Poor I was slain when Bassianus died. | |
| TAMORA | What begg'st thou, then? fond woman, let me go. | |
| LAVINIA | 'Tis present death I beg; and one thing more | 175 |
| | That womanhood denies my tongue to tell: | |
| | O, keep me from their worse than killing lust, | |
| | And tumble me into some loathsome pit, | |
| | Where never man's eye may behold my body: | |
| | Do this, and be a charitable murderer. | 180 |
| TAMORA | So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee: | |
| | No, let them satisfy their lust on thee. | |
| DEMETRIUS | Away! for thou hast stay'd us here too long. | |
| LAVINIA | No grace? no womanhood? Ah, beastly creature! | |
| | The blot and enemy to our general name! | 185 |
| | Confusion fall-- | |
| CHIRON | Nay, then I'll stop your mouth. Bring thou her husband: | |
| | This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him. | |
| | DEMETRIUS throws the body of BASSIANUS into thepit; then exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, draggingoff LAVINIA | |
| TAMORA | Farewell, my sons: see that you make her sure. | |
| | Ne'er let my heart know merry cheer indeed, | 190 |
| | Till all the Andronici be made away. | |
| | Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor, | |
| | And let my spleenful sons this trull deflow'r. | |
| | Exit | |
| | Re-enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS | |
| AARON | Come on, my lords, the better foot before: | |
| | Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit | 195 |
| | Where I espied the panther fast asleep. | |
| QUINTUS | My sight is very dull, whate'er it bodes. | |
| MARTIUS | And mine, I promise you; were't not for shame, | |
| | Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile. | |
| | Falls into the pit | |
| QUINTUS | What art thou fall'n? What subtle hole is this, | 200 |
| | Whose mouth is cover'd with rude-growing briers, | |
| | Upon whose leaves are drops of new-shed blood | |
| | As fresh as morning dew distill'd on flowers? | |
| | A very fatal place it seems to me. | |
| | Speak, brother, hast thou hurt thee with the fall? | 205 |
| MARTIUS | O brother, with the dismall'st object hurt | |
| | That ever eye with sight made heart lament! | |
| AARON | Aside | |
| | That he thereby may give a likely guess | |
| | How these were they that made away his brother. | |
| | Exit | |
| MARTIUS | Why dost not comfort me, and help me out | 210 |
| | From this unhallowed and blood-stained hole? | |
| QUINTUS | I am surprised with an uncouth fear; | |
| | A chilling sweat o'er-runs my trembling joints: | |
| | My heart suspects more than mine eye can see. | |
| MARTIUS | To prove thou hast a true-divining heart, | 215 |
| | Aaron and thou look down into this den, | |
| | And see a fearful sight of blood and death. | |
| QUINTUS | Aaron is gone; and my compassionate heart | |
| | Will not permit mine eyes once to behold | |
| | The thing whereat it trembles by surmise; | 220 |
| | O, tell me how it is; for ne'er till now | |
| | Was I a child to fear I know not what. | |
| MARTIUS | Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here, | |
| | All on a heap, like to a slaughter'd lamb, | |
| | In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit. | 225 |
| QUINTUS | If it be dark, how dost thou know 'tis he? | |
| MARTIUS | Upon his bloody finger he doth wear | |
| | A precious ring, that lightens all the hole, | |
| | Which, like a taper in some monument, | |
| | Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks, | 230 |
| | And shows the ragged entrails of the pit: | |
| | So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus | |
| | When he by night lay bathed in maiden blood. | |
| | O brother, help me with thy fainting hand-- | |
| | If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath-- | 235 |
| | Out of this fell devouring receptacle, | |
| | As hateful as Cocytus' misty mouth. | |
| QUINTUS | Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out; | |
| | Or, wanting strength to do thee so much good, | |
| | I may be pluck'd into the swallowing womb | 240 |
| | Of this deep pit, poor Bassianus' grave. | |
| | I have no strength to pluck thee to the brink. | |
| MARTIUS | Nor I no strength to climb without thy help. | |
| QUINTUS | Thy hand once more; I will not loose again, | |
| | Till thou art here aloft, or I below: | 245 |
| | Thou canst not come to me: I come to thee. | |
| | Falls in | |
| | Enter SATURNINUS with AARON | |
| SATURNINUS | Along with me: I'll see what hole is here, | |
| | And what he is that now is leap'd into it. | |
| | Say who art thou that lately didst descend | |
| | Into this gaping hollow of the earth? | 250 |
| MARTIUS | The unhappy son of old Andronicus: | |
| | Brought hither in a most unlucky hour, | |
| | To find thy brother Bassianus dead. | |
| SATURNINUS | My brother dead! I know thou dost but jest: | |
| | He and his lady both are at the lodge | 255 |
| | Upon the north side of this pleasant chase; | |
| | 'Tis not an hour since I left him there. | |
| MARTIUS | We know not where you left him all alive; | |
| | But, out, alas! here have we found him dead. | |
| | Re-enter TAMORA, with Attendants; TITUSANDRONICUS, and Lucius | |
| TAMORA | Where is my lord the king? | 260 |
| SATURNINUS | Here, Tamora, though grieved with killing grief. | |
| TAMORA | Where is thy brother Bassianus? | |
| SATURNINUS | Now to the bottom dost thou search my wound: | |
| | Poor Bassianus here lies murdered. | |
| TAMORA | Then all too late I bring this fatal writ, | 265 |
| | The complot of this timeless tragedy; | |
| | And wonder greatly that man's face can fold | |
| | In pleasing smiles such murderous tyranny. | |
| | She giveth SATURNINUS a letter | |
| SATURNINUS | Reads | |
| | Sweet huntsman, Bassianus 'tis we mean-- | |
| | Do thou so much as dig the grave for him: | 270 |
| | Thou know'st our meaning. Look for thy reward | |
| | Among the nettles at the elder-tree | |
| | Which overshades the mouth of that same pit | |
| | Where we decreed to bury Bassianus. | |
| | Do this, and purchase us thy lasting friends.' | 275 |
| | O Tamora! was ever heard the like? | |
| | This is the pit, and this the elder-tree. | |
| | Look, sirs, if you can find the huntsman out | |
| | That should have murdered Bassianus here. | |
| AARON | My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold. | 280 |
| SATURNINUS | To TITUS | |
| | bloody kind, | |
| | Have here bereft my brother of his life. | |
| | Sirs, drag them from the pit unto the prison: | |
| | There let them bide until we have devised | |
| | Some never-heard-of torturing pain for them. | 285 |
| TAMORA | What, are they in this pit? O wondrous thing! | |
| | How easily murder is discovered! | |
| TITUS ANDRONICUS | High emperor, upon my feeble knee | |
| | I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed, | |
| | That this fell fault of my accursed sons, | 290 |
| | Accursed if the fault be proved in them,-- | |
| SATURNINUS | If it be proved! you see it is apparent. | |
| | Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you? | |
| TAMORA | Andronicus himself did take it up. | |
| TITUS ANDRONICUS | I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail; | 295 |
| | For, by my father's reverend tomb, I vow | |
| | They shall be ready at your highness' will | |
| | To answer their suspicion with their lives. | |
| SATURNINUS | Thou shalt not bail them: see thou follow me. | |
| | Some bring the murder'd body, some the murderers: | 300 |
| | Let them not speak a word; the guilt is plain; | |
| | For, by my soul, were there worse end than death, | |
| | That end upon them should be executed. | |
| TAMORA | Andronicus, I will entreat the king; | |
| | Fear not thy sons; they shall do well enough. | 305 |
| TITUS ANDRONICUS | Come, Lucius, come; stay not to talk with them. | |
| | Exeunt | |
