Lav. Ay, for these flips have made him noted long : Good king! to be fo mightily abus'd !

Tam. Why have I patience to endure all this?

Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS.

Dem. How now, dear fovereign, and our gracious mother,

Why doth your highhefs look fo pale and wan?

Tam. Have I not reason, think you, to look pale?
Thefe two have tic'd me hither to this place,
A barren detefted vale, you see, it is:

The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,
O'ercome with mofs, and baleful misletoe.
Here never fhines the fun; 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,
A thousand fiends, a thousand hiffing snakes,
Ten thousand fwelling toads, as many urchins,
Would make fuch fearful and confused cries,
As any mortal body, hearing it,

Should ftraight fall mad, or elfe die fuddenly.
No sooner had they told this hellish tale,

But ftraight they told me, they would bind me here
Unto the body of a difmal yew;

And leave me to this miferable death.

And then they call'd me, foul adulterefs,
Lafcivious Goth, and all the bitterest terms
That ever ear did hear to fuch 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,
Or be ye not henceforth call'd my children.

Dem.

Dem. This is a witnefs that I am thy fon.

[Stabs BASSIANUS. Chi. And this for me, ftruck home to show my strength. [Stabbing him likewife.

Lav. Ay come, Semiramis,-nay, barbarous Tamora! For no name fits thy nature but thy own!

Tam. Give me thy poniard; you fhall know, my boys, Your mother's hand fhall right your mother's wrong.

Dem. Stay, madam, here is more belongs to her; First, thrash the corn, then after burn the straw: This minion stood upon her chastity,

Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,

And with that painted hope braves your mightiness:
And fhall the carry this unto her grave?

Chi. An if the do, I would I were an eunuch.

Drag hence her husband to fome fecret hole,

And make his dead trunk pillow to our luft.
Tam. But when you have the honey you defire,

Let not this wasp outlive, us both to fting.

Chi. I warrant you, madam; we will make that fure.-Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy

That nice-preferved honefty of yours.

Lav. O Tamora! thou bear'ft a woman's face,-
Tam. I will not hear her speak; away with her.
Lav. Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word.
Dem. Liften, fair madam: Let it be your glory,
To fee her tears; but be your heart to them,
As unrelenting flint to drops of rain.

Lav. When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam? O, do not learn her wrath; fhe taught it thee:

The milk, thou fuck'dft from her, did turn to marble;

Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny.—

Yet every mother breeds not fons alike;
Do thou entreat her how a woman pity.

[To CHIRON.

Chi. What! would'ft thou have me prove myself a bas

tard?

Lav. 'Tis true; the raven doth not hatch a lark:
Yet I have heard, (O could I find it now!)
The lion, mov'd with pity, did endure
To have his princely paws par'd all away.
Some fay, that ravens fofter forlorn children,
The whilft their own birds famifh in their nests:
O, be to me, though thy hard heart fay no,
Nothing fo kind, but fomething pitiful!

Tam. I know not what it means; away with her.
Lav. O, let me teach thee: for my father's fake,
That gave thee life, when well he might have slain thee,
Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears.

Tam. Hadft thou in person ne'er offended me,
Even for his fake am I pitiless:-

Remember, boys, I pour'd forth tears in vain,
To fave your brother from the facrifice;
But fierce Andronicus would not relent;
Therefore away with her, and use her as you will;
The worse to her, the better lov'd of me.

Lav. O Tamora, be call'd a gentle queen,
And with thine own hands kill me in this place :
For 'tis not life, that I have begg'd fo long;

Poor I was flain, when Baffianus died.

Tam. What begg'ft thou then? fond woman, let me go.

Lav. 'Tis prefent death I beg; and one thing more, That womanhood denies my tongue to tell :

O, keep me from their worse than killing luft,
And tumble me into fome loathsome pit;
Where never man's eye may behold my body:
Do this, and be a charitable murderer.

A

Tam

Tam. So fhould I rob my fweet fons of their fee: No, let them fatisfy their luft on thee.

Dem. Away; for thou haft ftaid us here too long.

Lav. No grace? no womanhood? Ah beaftly creature! The blot and enemy to our general name!

Confufion fall

Chi Nay, then I'll stop your mouth :-Bring thou her By husband;

[Dragging off LAVINIA.

This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him.

[Exeunt.

Tam. Farewell, my fons: fee, that you make her sure : Ne'er let my heart know merry cheer indeed,

Till all the Andronici be made away.

Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor,
And let my spleenful fons this trull deflour.

[Exit.

SCENE IV.

The fame.

Enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS.

Aar. Come on, my lords; the better foot before :
Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit,
Where I efpy'd the panther fast asleep.

Quin. My fight is very dull, whate'er it bodes.

Mart. And mine, I promise you; wer't not for fhame, Well could I leave our sport to fleep awhile.

[MARTIUS falls into the pit.

Quin. What, art thou fallen? What subtle hole is this, Whofe mouth is cover'd with rude-growing briars ; Upon whofe leaves are drops of new-shed blood, As fresh as morning's dew distill'd on flowers?

A

very fatal place it seems to me :Speak, brother, haft thou hurt thee with the fall?

5

Mart.

Mart. O, brother, with the dismallest object That ever eye, with fight, made heart lament.

Aar. [fide.] Now will I fetch the king to find them

here;

That he thereby may give a likely guess,

How these were they, that made away his brother. [Exit AARON.

Mart. Why doft not comfort me, and help me out
From this unhallow'd and blood-stained hole?

Quin. I am furprized with an uncouth fear :
A chilling fweat o'er-runs my trembling joints;
My heart fufpects more than mine eye can fee.
Mart. To prove thou haft a true-divining heart,
Aaron and thou look down into this den,
And see a fearful fight of blood and death.
Quin. Aaron is gone; and my compaffionate heart
Will not permit mine eyes once to behold
The thing, whereat it trembles by furmise :
O, tell me how it is; for ne'er till now
Was I a child, to fear I know not what.

Mart. Lord Baffianus lies embrewed here,
All on a heap, like to a flaughter'd lamb,
In this detefted, dark, blood-drinking pit.
Quin. If it be dark, how dost thou know 'tis he?
Mart. Upon his bloody finger he doth wear

A precious ring, that lightens all the hole,
Which, like a taper in fome monument,
Doth fhine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks,
And shows the ragged entrails of this pit:
So pale did thine the moon on Pyramus,
When he by night lay bath'd in maiden blood.
O brother, help me with thy fainting hand,-
If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath,-

Out