Chapter VIII: Act I: , Scene 1

_Enter_ ZARACK, BALTHAZAR, _two Moors, taking tobacco; music
sounding within_. _Enter_ QUEEN-MOTHER OF SPAIN _with two_
PAGES. ELEAZAR, _sitting on a chair, suddenly draws the
curtain_.[51]

ELE. On me does music spend this sound! on me, That hate all unity! ah, Zarack! [ah,] Balthazar!

QUEEN-M. My gracious lord.

ELE. Are you there with your beagles! hark, you slaves! Did not I bind you on your lives to watch That none disturb'd us?

QUEEN-M. Gentle Eleazar.

ELE. There, off: is't you that deaf me with this noise?

[_Exeunt two Moors._

QUEEN-M. Why is my love's aspèct so grim and horrid? Look smoothly on me; Chime out your softest strains of harmony, And on delicious music's silken wings Send ravishing delight to my love's ears, That he may be enamoured of your tunes. Come, let's kiss.

ELE. Away, away!

QUEEN-M. No, no says ay; and twice away says stay: Come, come, I'll have a kiss; but if you strive, For one denial you shall forfeit five.

ELE. Nay, prythee, good queen, leave me; I am now sick and heavy, dull[52] as lead.

QUEEN-M. I'll make thee lighter by taking something from thee.

ELE. Do: take from me this ague and these fits That, hanging on me, Shake me in pieces, and set all my blood A-boiling with the fire of rage: away, away! Thou believ'st I jest, And laugh'st to see My wrath wear antic shapes! Begone, begone!

QUEEN-M. What means my love? Burst all those wires, burn all those instruments; For they displease my Moor. Art thou now pleas'd? Or wert thou now disturb'd? I'll wage all Spain To one sweet kiss, this is some new device To make me fond and long. O, you men Have tricks to make poor women die for you.

ELE. What, die for me? away!

QUEEN-M. Away, what way? I prythee, speak more kindly; Why dost thou frown? at whom?

ELE. At thee.

QUEEN-M. At me! O, why at me? For each contracted frown A crooked wrinkle interlines my brow: Spend but one hour in frowns, and I shall look Like to a beldame of one hundred years. I prythee, speak to me, and chide me not. I prythee, chide, if I have done amiss; But let my punishment be this and this.

[_Kiss._

I prythee, smile on me, if but awhile, Then frown on me, I'll die: I prythee, smile. Smile on me, and these two wanton boys, These pretty lads that do attend on me, Shall call thee Jove, shall wait upon thy cup, And fill thee nectar: their enticing eyes Shall serve as crystal, wherein thou may'st see To dress thyself, if thou wilt smile on me. Smile on me, and with coronets of pearl And bells of gold, circling their pretty arms, In a round ivory fount these two shall swim, And dive to make thee sport: Bestow one smile, one little, little smile, And in a net of twisted silk and gold In my all-naked arms thyself shall lie.

ELE. Why, what to do? Lust's arms do stretch so wide That none can fill them. I lie there? away![53]

QUEEN-M. Where hast thou learn'd this language, that can say No more but two rude words, _away, away_? Am I grown ugly now?

ELE. Ugly as hell.

QUEEN-M. Thou lov'dst me once.

ELE. That can thy bastards tell.

QUEEN-M. What is my sin? I will amend the same.

ELE. Hence, strumpet! use of sin makes thee past shame.

QUEEN-M. Strumpet!

ELE. Ay, strumpet.

QUEEN-M. Too true 'tis, woe is me; I am a strumpet, but made so by thee.

ELE. By me! No, no, by these young bawds: fetch thee a glass, And thou shalt see the balls of both thine eyes Burning in fire of lust. By me! There's here, Within this hollow cistern of thy breast, A spring of hot blood: have not I, to cool it, Made an extraction to the quintessence Even of my soul: melted all my spirits, Ravish'd my youth, deflow'r'd my lovely cheeks, And dried this, this to an anatomy, Only to feed your lust?--these boys have ears--

[_In a whisper._]

Yet wouldst thou murder me.

QUEEN-M. I murder thee!

ELE. I cannot ride through the Castilian streets But thousand eyes, through windows and through doors, Throw killing looks at me; and every slave At Eleazar darts a finger out, And every hissing tongue cries, "There's the Moor; That's he that makes a cuckold of our king; There goes the minion of the Spanish queen; That's the black prince of devils; there goes he That on smooth boys, on masques and revellings, Spend[s] the revenues of the King of Spain." Who arms this many-headed beast but you? Murder and lust are twins, and both are thine. Being weary of me, thou wouldst worry me, Because some new love makes thee loathe thine old.

QUEEN-M. Eleazar!

ELE. Harlot, I'll not hear thee speak.

QUEEN-M. I'll kill myself unless thou hear'st me speak. My husband-king upon his deathbed lies, Yet have I stol'n from him to look on thee: A queen hath made herself thy concubine, Yet dost thou now abhor me; hear me speak, Else shall my sons plague thy adult'rous wrongs, And tread upon thy heart for murdering me: This tongue hath murder'd me. Cry murder, boys.

[_The_ QUEEN _shouts_.]

TWO BOYS. Murder! the queen's murder'd!

ELE. Love, slaves, peace!

TWO BOYS. Murder! the queen's murder'd!

ELE. Stop your throats! Hark! hush, you squaller. Dear love, look up: Our chamber-window stares into the court, And every wide-mouth'd ear, hearing this news, Will give alarum to the cuckold king: I did dissemble when I chid my love, And that dissembling was to try my love.

QUEEN-M. Thou call'dst me strumpet.

ELE. I'll tear out my tongue From this black temple for blaspheming thee.

QUEEN-M. And when I woo'd thee but to smile on me, Thou cri'dst away, away, and frown'dst upon me.

ELE. Come, now I will kiss thee; now I'll smile upon thee; Call to thy ashy cheeks their wonted red; Come, frown not, pout not; smile, smile upon me, And with my poniard will I stab my flesh, And quaff carouses to thee of my blood; Whilst in moist nectar kisses thou dost pledge me. How now, why star'st thou thus?

[_Knock._

_Enter_ ZARACK.

ZAR. The king is dead!

ELE. Ah, dead! [ah, dead!] You hear this? Is't true, is't true? The king [is] dead! Who dare knock thus?

ZAR. It is the cardinal Making inquiry if the queen were here.

Ele. See, she is here, [go] tell him; and yet [no--] Zarack, stay.

_Enter_ BALTHAZAR.

BAL. Don Roderigo's come to seek the queen.

ELE. Why should Roderigo seek her here?

BAL. The king hath swooned thrice; and, being recovered, Sends up and down the court to seek her grace.

ELE. The king was dead with you. [_To_ ZARACK.] Run, and with a voice Erected high as mine, say thus, thus threaten, To Roderigo and the cardinal: Seek no queens here, I'll broach them, if they do, Upon my falchion's point:

[_Knock again._

Again! more knocking!

ZAR. Your father is at hand, my gracious lord.

ELE. Lock all the chambers, bar him out, you apes: Hither, a vengeance! stir, Eugenia, You know your old walk underground; away! So down, hie to the king; quick, quick, you squalls, Crawl with your dam i' th' dark; dear love, farewell: One day I hope to shut you up in hell.

[ELEAZAR _shuts them in_.

SCENE II.

_Enter_ ALVERO.

ALV. Son Eleazar, saw you not the queen?

ELE. Hah!

ALV. Was not the queen here with you?

ELE. Queen with me! Because, my lord, I'm married to your daughter, You, like your daughter, will grow jealous: The queen with me! with me a Moor, a devil, A slave of Barbary, a dog--for so Your silken courtiers christen me. But, father, Although my flesh be tawny, in my veins Runs blood as red, as royal, as the best And proudest in Spain; there does, old man. My father, who with his empire lost his life, And left me captive to a Spanish tyrant,-- O! Go tell him, _Spanish tyrant_; tell him, do. He that can lose a kingdom, and not rave, He's a tame jade; I am not: tell old Philip I call him tyrant; here's a sword and arms, A heart, a head, and so, pish!--'tis but death. Old fellow, she's not here: but ere I die, Sword, I'll bequeath thee a rich legacy.

ALV. Watch fitter hours to think on wrongs than now; Death's frozen hand holds royal Philip's heart; Half of his body lies within a grave; Then do not now by quarrels shake that state, Which is already too much ruinate. Come, and take leave of him, before he die.

[_Exit._

ELE. I'll follow you. Now, purple villany, Sit like a robe imperial on my back, That under thee I closelier may contrive My vengeance; foul deeds hid do sweetly thrive. Mischief, erect thy throne, and sit in state Here, here upon this head; let fools fear fate, Thus I defy my stars. I care not, I, How low I tumble down, so I mount high: Old Time, I'll wait bareheaded at thy heels, And be a footboy to thy winged hours; They shall not tell one minute out in sands, But I'll set down the number; I'll still wake, And waste these balls of sight by tossing them In busy observations upon thee. Sweet opportunity! I'll bind myself To thee in base apprenticehood so long, Till on thy naked scalp grow hair as thick As mine; and all hands shall lay hold on thee, If thou wilt lend me but thy rusty scythe, To cut down all that stand within my wrongs And my revenge. Love, dance in twenty forms Upon my beauty, that this Spanish dame May be bewitch'd and doat; her amorous flames Shall blow up the old king, consume his sons, And make all Spain a bonfire. This Tragedy being acted, hers doth begin: To shed a harlot's blood can be no sin.

[_Exit._

SCENE III.

_The Curtain being drawn, there appears in his bed_ KING
PHILIP, _with his Lords; the_ PRINCESS ISABELLA _at the
feet_, MENDOZA, ALVERO, HORTENZO, FERNANDO, RODERIGO;
_and to them enter_ QUEEN _in haste_.

QUEEN-M. Whose was that screech-owl's voice that, like the sound Of a hell-tortur'd soul, rung through mine ears Nothing but horrid shrieks, nothing but death? Whilst I, vailing my knees to the cold earth, Drowning my wither'd cheeks in my warm tears, And stretching out my arms to pull from heaven Health for the royal majesty of Spain, All cried, the majesty of Spain is dead! That last word _dead_ struck through the echoing air Rebounded on my heart, and smote me down Breathless to the cold earth, and made me leave My prayers for Philip's life; but, thanks to heaven, I see him live, and lives (I hope) to see Unnumber'd years to guide this empery.

KING P. The number of my years ends in one day: Ere this sun's down, all a king's glory sets, For all our lives are but death-counterfeits. Father Mendoza, and you peers of Spain, Dry your wet eyes; for sorrow wanteth force T' inspire a breathing soul in a dead corse; Such is your king. Where's Isabella, our daughter?

MEN. At your bed's feet, confounded in her tears.

KING P. She of your grief the heaviest burthen bears; You can but lose a king, but she a father.

QUEEN-M. She bear the heaviest burthen! O, say rather I bear, and am borne down; my sorrowing Is for a husband's loss, loss of a king.

KING P. No more. Alvero, call the princess hither.

ALV. Madam, his majesty doth call for you.

KING P. Come hither, Isabella, reach a hand, Yet now it shall not need: instead of thine, Death, shoving thee back, clasps his hands in mine, And bids me come away: I must, I must, Though kings be gods on earth, they turn to dust. Is not Prince Philip come from Portugal?

ROD. The prince as yet is not return'd, my lord.

KING P. Commend me to him, if I ne'er behold him. This tells the order of my funeral; Do it as 'tis set down; embalm my body; Though worms do make no difference of flesh, Yet kings are curious here to dig their graves; Such is man's frailty: when I am embalm'd, Apparel me in a rich royal robe, According to the custom of the land; Then place my bones within that brazen shrine, Which death hath builded for my ancestors; I cannot name death, but he straight steps in And pulls me by the arm.

FER. His grace doth faint; Help me, my lords, softly to raise him up.

_Enter_ ELEAZAR, _and stands sadly by_.

KING P. Lift me not up, I shortly must go down. When a few dribbling minutes have run out, Mine hour is ended. King of Spain, farewell; You all acknowledge him your sovereign?

ALL. When you are dead, we will acknowledge him.

KING P. Govern this kingdom well; to be a king Is given to many, but to govern well Granted to few. Have care to Isabel; Her virtue was King Philip's looking-glass; Reverence the queen your mother; love your sister And the young prince your brother: even that day, When Spain shall solemnise my obsequies, And lay me up in earth, let them crown you. Where's Eleazar, Don Alvero's son?

FER. Yonder, with cross'd arms, stands he malcontent.

KING P. I do commend him to thee for a man Both wise and warlike; yet beware of him: Ambition wings his spirit; keep him down. What will not men attempt to win a crown? Mendoza is protector of thy realm, I did elect him for his gravity; I trust he'll be a father to thy youth. Call help, Fernando, now I faint indeed.

FER. My lords!

KING. P. Let none with a distracted voice Shriek out, and trouble me in my departure. Heaven's hands, I see, are beckoning for my soul; I come, I come; thus do the proudest die; Death hath no mercy, life no certainty.

[_Dies._

MEN. As yet his soul's not from her temple gone: Therefore forbear loud lamentation.

QUEEN-M. O, he's dead, he's dead! lament and die; In her king's end begins Spain's misery.

ISA. He shall not end so soon. Father, dear father!

FER. Forbear, sweet Isabella: shrieks are vain.

ISA. You cry forbear; you by his loss of breath Have won a kingdom, you may cry forbear: But I have lost a father and a king, And no tongue shall control my sorrowing.

HOR. Whither, good Isabella?

ISA. I will go Where I will languish in eternal woe.

HOR. Nay, gentle love.

ISA. Talk not of love to me, The world and the world's pride henceforth I'll scorn.

[_Exit._

HOR. My love shall follow thee; if thou deny'st To live with poor Hortenzo as his wife, I'll never change my love, but change my life.

_Enter_ PHILIP _hastily_.

PHIL. I know he is not dead; I know proud death Durst not behold such sacred majesty. Why stand you thus distracted? Mother, brother, My Lord Mendoza, where's my royal father?

QUEEN-M. Here lies the temple of his royal soul.

FER. Here's all that's left of Philip's majesty; Wash you his tomb with tears: Fernando's moan, Hating a partner, shall be spent alone.

[_Exit._

PHIL. O happy father! miserable son! Philip is gone to joy, Philip's forlorn: He dies to live, my life with woe is torn.

QUEEN-M. Sweet son.

PHIL. Sweet mother: O, how I now do shame To lay on one so foul so fair a name: Had you been a true mother, a true wife, This king had not so soon been robb'd of life.

QUEEN-M. What means this rage, my son?

PHIL. Call not me your son. My father, whil'st he liv'd, tir'd his strong arms In bearing Christian armour 'gainst the Turks, And spent his brains in warlike stratagems To bring confusion on damn'd infidels: Whilst you, that snorted here at home, betray'd His name to everlasting infamy; Whilst you at home suffer'd his bedchamber To be a brothelry; whilst you at home Suffer'd his queen to be a concubine, And wanton red-cheek'd boys to be her bawds; Whilst she, reeking in that lecher's arms----

ELE. Me!

PHIL. Villain, 'tis thee; Thou hell-begotten fiend, at thee I stare.

QUEEN-M. Philip, thou art a villain to dishonour me.

PHIL. Mother, I am no villain: 'tis this villain Dishonours you and me, dishonours Spain, Dishonours all these lords; this devil is he, That----

ELE. What! O, pardon me, I must throw off All chains of duty, wert thou ten kings' sons; Had I as many souls as I have sins, As this from hence, so they from this should fly, In just revenge of this indignity.

PHIL. Give way, or I'll make way upon your bosoms.

ELE. Did my dear sovereign live, sirrah, that tongue----

QUEEN-M. Did but King Philip live, traitor, I'd tell----

PHIL. A tale that should rid both your souls to hell. Tell Philip's ghost, that Philip tells his queen, That Philip's queen is a Moor's concubine; Did the king live, I'd tell him how you two Ripp'd up the entrails of his treasury With masques and antic revellings.

ELE. Words insupportable! dost hear me, boy?

QUEEN-M. Stand you all still, and see me thus trod down?

PHIL. Stand you all still, yet let this devil stand here?

MEN. Forbear, sweet prince. Eleazar, I am now Protector to Fernando, King of Spain; By that authority, and by consent Of all these peers, I utterly deprive thee Of all those royalties thou holdst in Spain.

QUEEN-M. Cardinal, who lends thee this commission?

ELE. Cardinal, I'll shorten thee by the head for this.

PHIL. Forward, my Lord Mendoza; damn the fiend.

ELE. Princes of Spain, consent you to this pride?

ALL. We do.

QUEEN-M. For what cause? Let his faith be tried.

MEN. His treasons need no trial, they're too plain. Come not within the court; for, if you do, To beg with Indian slaves I'll banish you.

[_Exeunt all but_ ALVERO, QUEEN _and_ ELEAZAR.

SCENE IV.

ALV. Why should my son be banished?

_Enter_ MARIA.

QUEEN-M. Of that dispute not now. Alvero, I'll to the king my son; it shall be tried, If Castile's king can cool a cardinal's pride.

[_Exeunt_ QUEEN _and_ ALVERO.

ELE. If I digest this gall--O my Maria, I am whipp'd, and rack'd, and torn upon the wheel Of giddy Fortune; she and her minions Have got me down, and treading on my bosom, They cry, _Lie still_: the cardinal (O rare!) would bandy me away from Spain, And banish me to beg--ay, beg with slaves.

MARIA. Conquer with patience these indignities.

ELE. Patience! ha, ha! yes, yes, an honest cardinal!

MARIA. Yet smother [still] the grief, and seek revenge.

ELE. Ha! banish me! s'foot, why, say they do, There's Portugal--a good air, and France--a fine country, Or Barbary--rich, and has Moors; the Turk, Pure devil, and allows enough to fat The sides of villany--good living there! I can live there, and there, and there; Troth, 'tis a villain can live anywhere. But say I go from hence: I leave behind me A cardinal that will laugh; I leave behind me A Philip that will clap his hands for joy. And dance lavoltoes through the Castile court; But the deep'st wound of all is this, I leave My wrongs, dishonours, and my discontents-- O, unreveng'd; my bedrid enemies Shall never be rais'd up by the strong physical Curing of my sword; therefore stay still; Many have hearts to strike, that dare not kill Leave me, Maria. Cardinal, this disgrace Shall dye thy soul as inky as my face. Pish!--hence, Maria.

_Enter_ ALVERO.

MARIA. To the king I'll fly, He shall revenge my lord's indignity.

[_Exit._

ALV. Mendoza woos the king to banish thee. Startle thy wonted spirits, awake thy soul, And on thy resolution fasten wings, Whose golden feathers may outstrip their hate.

ELE. I'll tie no golden feathers to my wings.

ALV. Shall they thus tread thee down, which once were glad To lacquey by thy conquering chariot-wheels?

ELE. I care not: I can swallow more sour wrongs.

ALV. If they triumph o'er thee, they'll spurn me down.

ELE. Look: spurn again!

ALV. What ice hath cool'd that fire, Which sometimes made thy thoughts to heaven aspire? This patience had not wont to dwell with thee.

_Enter_ FERNANDO _and_ MARIA.

ELE. 'Tis right, but now the world is chang'd, you see; Though I seem dead to you, here lives a fire---- No more, here comes the king and my Maria: The Spaniard loves my wife; she swears to me She's chaste as the white moon; well, if she be; Well, too, if she be not, I care not, I; I'll climb up by that love to dignity.

FER. Thou woo'st me to revenge thy husband's wrong, I woo thy fair self not to wrong thyself; Swear but to love me, and to thee I'll swear To crown thy husband with a diadem.

MARIA. Such love as I dare yield, I'll not deny.

FER. When in the golden arms of majesty-- I am broke off--yonder thy husband stands; I'll set him free, if thou unite my bands; So much for that. Durst then the cardinal Put on such insolence? tell me, fair madam, Where's your most valiant husband?

ELE. He sees me, and yet inquires for me.

MARIA. Yonder, my lord.

FER. Eleazar, I have in my breast writ down From her report your late receiv'd disgrace; My father lov'd you dearly, so will I.

ELE. True, for my wife's sake.

[_Aside._

FER. This indignity Will I have interest in; for, being your king, You shall perceive I'll curb my underling. This morning is our coronation, and [Our] father's funeral solemnised. Be present, step into your wonted place, We'll gild your dim disgraces with our grace.

[_Exeunt._

ELE. I thank my sovereign that you love my wife; I thank thee, wife, that thou wilt lock my head In such strong armour to bear off all blows; Who dare say such wives are their husbands' foes? Let's see now, by her falling I must rise; Cardinal, you die if the king bid me live; Philip, you die for railing at me; Proud lord, you die, that with Mendoza cried, Banish the Moor. And you, my loving liege, you're best sit fast: If all these live not, you must die at last.