Chapter XIII: Act III: Scene I

[_Enter_] BAJAZETH, _the_ KINGS _of_ FEZ, MOROCCO, _and_ ARGIER,[302] _with others in great pomp_.

_Baj._ Great Kings of Barbary and my portly bassoes,[303]
We hear the Tartars and the eastern thieves,
Under the conduct of one Tamburlaine,
Presume a bickering with your emperor, 4
And thinks to rouse us from our dreadful siege
Of the famous Grecian Constantinople.
You know our army is invincible;
As many circumcised Turks we have,
And warlike bands of Christians renied,[304]
As hath the ocean or the Terrene sea[305] 10
Small drops of water when the moon begins
To join in one her semicircled horns.
Yet would we not be brav’d with foreign power,
Nor raise our siege before the Grecians yield,
Or breathless lie before the city walls. 15

_K. of Fez._ Renowmed Emperor, and mighty general,
What, if you sent the bassoes of your guard
To charge him to remain in Asia,
Or else to threaten death and deadly arms
As from the mouth of mighty Bajazeth. 20

_Baj._ Hie thee, my basso, fast to Persia,
Tell him thy Lord, the Turkish Emperor,
Dread Lord of Afric, Europe, and Asia,
Great King and conqueror of Græcia,
The ocean, Terrene, and the Coal-black sea,[306] 25
The high and highest monarch of the world,
Wills and commands (for say not I entreat),
Not once to set his foot on Africa,
Or spread his colours [forth] in Græcia,
Lest he incur the fury of my wrath. 30
Tell him I am content to take a truce,
Because I hear he bears a valiant mind:
But if, presuming on his silly power,
He be so mad to manage arms with me,
Then stay thou with him; say, I bid thee so: 35
And if, before the sun have measured Heaven
With triple circuit, thou regreet us not,
We mean to take his morning’s next arise
For messenger he will not be reclaim’d,
And mean to fetch thee in despite of him. 40

_Bas._ Most great and puissant monarch of the earth,
Your basso will accomplish your behest,
And show your pleasure to the Persian,
As fits the legate of the stately Turk. _Exit._

_K. of Arg._ They say he is the King of Persia;
But, if he dare attempt to stir your siege, 46
’T were requisite he should be ten times more,
For all flesh quakes at your magnificence.

_Baj._ True, Argier; and tremble at my looks.

_K. of Mor._ The spring is hind’red by your smothering host, 50
For neither rain can fall upon the earth,
Nor sun reflex his virtuous beams thereon.
The ground is mantled with such multitudes.

_Baj._ All this is true as holy Mahomet;
And all the trees are blasted with our breaths.

_K. of Fez._ What thinks your greatness best to be achiev’d 56
In pursuit of the city’s overthrow?

_Baj._ I will the captive pioners of Argier
Cut off the water that by leaden pipes
Runs to the city from the mountain Carnon. 60
Two thousand horse shall forage up and down,
That no relief or succour come by land:
And all the sea my galleys countermand.
Then shall our footmen lie within the trench,
And with their cannons mouth’d like Orcus’ gulf, 65
Batter the walls, and we will enter in;
And thus the Grecians shall be conquered.

SCENE II.

[_Enter_] ZENOCRATE, AGYDAS, ANIPPE, _with others_.

[_Agyd._] Madam Zenocrate, may I presume
To know the cause of these unquiet fits,
That work such trouble to your wonted rest?
’T is more than pity such a heavenly face
Should by heart’s sorrow wax so wan and pale, 5
When your offensive rape by Tamburlaine,
(Which of your whole displeasures should be most,)
Hath seem’d to be digested long ago.

_Zeno._ Although it be digested long ago,
As his exceeding favours have deserv’d, 10
And might content the Queen of Heaven, as well
As it hath chang’d my first conceiv’d disdain,
Yet since a farther passion feeds my thoughts
With ceaseless and disconsolate conceits,
Which dyes my looks so lifeless as they are, 15
And might, if my extremes had full events,
Make me the ghastly counterfeit of death.

_Agyd._ Eternal heaven sooner be dissolv’d,
And all that pierceth Phœbus’ silver eye,
Before such hap fall to Zenocrate! 20

_Zeno._ Ah, life and soul, still hover in his breast
And leave my body senseless as the earth,
Or else unite you to his life and soul,
That I may live and die with Tamburlaine!

_Enter_ [_behind_] TAMBURLAINE, TECHELLES, _and others_.

_Agyd._ With Tamburlaine! Ah, fair Zenocrate, 25
Let not a man so vile and barbarous,
That holds you from your father in despite,
And keeps you from the honours of a queen,
(Being suppos’d his worthless concubine,)
Be honoured with your love but for necessity. 30
So, now the mighty Soldan hears of you,
Your highness needs not doubt but in short time
He will with Tamburlaine’s destruction
Redeem you from this deadly servitude.

_Zeno._ [Agydas,] leave to wound me with these words, 35
And speak of Tamburlaine as he deserves.
The entertainment we have had of him
Is far from villany[307] or servitude,
And might in noble minds be counted princely.

_Agyd._ How can you fancy one that looks so fierce, 40
Only dispos’d to martial stratagems?
Who, when he shall embrace you in his arms,
Will tell how many thousand men he slew;
And when you look for amorous discourse,
Will rattle forth his facts[308] of war and blood, 45
Too harsh a subject for your dainty ears.

_Zeno._ As looks the Sun through Nilus’ flowing stream,
Or when the Morning holds him in her arms,
So looks my lordly love, fair Tamburlaine;
His talk much sweeter than the Muses’ song 50
They sung for honour ’gainst Pierides;
Or when Minerva did with Neptune strive:
And higher would I rear my estimate
Than Juno, sister to the highest god,
If I were match’d with mighty Tamburlaine. 55

_Agyd._ Yet be not so inconstant in your love;
But let the young Arabian live in hope
After your rescue to enjoy his choice.
You see though first the King of Persia,
Being a shepherd, seem’d to love you much, 60
Now in his majesty he leaves those looks,
Those words of favour, and those comfortings,
And gives no more than common courtesies.

_Zeno._ Thence rise the tears that so distain my cheeks,
Fearing his love through my unworthiness.— 65

TAMBURLAINE _goes to her and takes her away lovingly by the hand, looking wrathfully on_ AGYDAS, _and says nothing_. [_Exeunt all but_ AGYDAS.]

_Agyd._ Betray’d by fortune and suspicious love,
Threat’ned with frowning wrath and jealousy,
Surpris’d with fear of hideous revenge,
I stand aghast; but most astoniéd[309]
To see his choler shut in secret thoughts, 70
And wrapt in silence of his angry soul.
Upon his brows was portray’d ugly death;
And in his eyes the furies of his heart
That shone as comets, menacing revenge,
And casts a pale complexion on his checks. 75
As when the seaman sees the Hyades
Gather an array of Cimmerian clouds,
(Auster and Aquilon with winged steeds,
All sweating, tilt about the watery Heavens,
With shivering spears enforcing thunderclaps, 80
And from their shields strike flames of lightning,)
All fearful folds his sails and sounds the main,
Lifting his prayers to the Heavens for aid
Against the terror of the winds and waves,
So fares Agydas for the late-felt frowns, 85
That sent a tempest to my daunted thoughts,
And makes my soul divine her overthrow.

_Re-enter_ TECHELLES _with a naked dagger_.

_Tech._ See you, Agydas, how the king salutes you?
He bids you prophesy what it imports. _Exit._

_Agyd._ I prophesied before, and now I prove 90
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 threat’ned end:
It says, Agydas, thou shalt surely die, 95
And of extremities elect the least;
More honour and less pain it may procure
To die by this resolved hand of thine,
Than stay the torments he and Heaven have sworn. 99
Then haste, Agydas, and prevent the plagues
Which thy prolonged fates may draw on thee.
Go, wander, free from fear of tyrant’s rage,
Removed from the torments and the hell
Wherewith he may excruciate thy soul,
And let Agydas by Agydas die, 105
And with this stab slumber eternally.
_Stabs himself._

[_Re-enter_ TECHELLES _with_ USUMCASANE.]

_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, 110
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, THERIDAMAS, _a_ Basso, ZENOCRATE, [ANIPPE,] _with others_.

_Tamb._ Basso, by this thy lord and master knows
I mean to meet him in Bithynia:
See how he comes! Tush, Turks are full of brags,
And menace more than they can well perform.
He meet me in the field, and fetch thee hence!
Alas! poor Turk! his fortune is too weak 6
To encounter with the strength of Tamburlaine.
View well my camp, and speak indifferently;
Do not my captains and my soldiers look
As if they meant to conquer Africa? 10

_Bas._ Your men are valiant, but their number few,
And cannot terrify his mighty host.
My lord, the great commander of the world,
Besides fifteen contributory kings,
Hath now in arms ten thousand Janissaries, 15
Mounted on lusty Mauritanian steeds,
Brought to the war by men of Tripoli;
Two hundred thousand footmen that have serv’d
In two set battles fought in Græcia:
And for the expedition of this war, 20
If he think good, can from his garrisons
Withdraw as many more to follow him.

_Tech._ The more he brings the greater is the spoil,
For when they perish by our warlike hands,
We mean to seat our footmen on their steeds, 25
And rifle all those stately Janisars.

_Tamb._ But will those kings accompany your lord?

_Bas._ Such as his highness please; but some must stay
To rule the provinces he late subdu’d.

_Tamb._ [_To his_ Officers.] Then fight courageously:
their crowns are yours; 30
This hand shall set them on your conquering heads,
That made me Emperor of Asia.

_Usum._ Let him bring millions infinite of men,
Unpeopling Western Africa and Greece,
Yet we assure us of the victory. 35

_Ther._ Even he that in a trice vanquish’d two kings,
More mighty than the Turkish emperor,
Shall rouse him out of Europe, and pursue
His scattered army till they yield or die.

_Tamb._ Well said, Theridamas; speak in that mood; 40
For _will_ and _shall_ best fitteth Tamburlaine,
Whose smiling stars give him assured hope
Of martial triumph ere he meet his foes.
I that am term’d the scourge and wrath of God,
The only fear and terror of the world, 45
Will first subdue the Turk, and then enlarge
Those Christian captives, which you keep as slaves,
Burdening their bodies with your heavy chains,
And feeding them with thin and slender fare;
That naked row about the Terrene sea, 50
And when they chance to breathe and rest a space,
Are punish’d with bastones[310] so grievously,
That they lie panting on the galley’s side,
And strive for life at every stroke they give.
These are the cruel pirates of Argier, 55
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
That Tamburlaine set foot in Africa. 60

_Enter_ BAJAZETH _with his_ Bassoes, _and contributory_ KINGS [_of_ FEZ, MOROCCO, _and_ ARGIER; ZABINA _and_ EBEA].

_Baj._ Bassoes and Janissaries of my guard,
Attend upon the person of your lord,
The greatest potentate of Africa.

_Tamb._ Techelles and the rest, prepare your swords;
I mean to encounter with that Bajazeth. 65

_Baj._ Kings of Fez, Moroccus, and Argier,
He calls me Bajazeth, whom you call Lord!
Note the presumption of this Scythian slave!
I tell thee, villain, those that lead my horse
Have to their names titles of dignity, 70
And dar’st thou bluntly call me Bajazeth?

_Tamb._ And know, thou Turk, that those which lead my horse,
Shall lead thee captive thorough Africa;
And dar’st thou bluntly call me Tamburlaine?

_Baj._ By Mahomet my kinsman’s sepulchre,
And by the holy Alcoran I swear, 76
He shall be made a chaste and lustless eunuch,
And in my sarell[311] tend my concubines;
And all his captains that thus stoutly stand,
Shall draw the chariot of my emperess, 80
Whom I have brought to see their overthrow.

_Tamb._ By this my sword, that conquer’d Persia,
Thy fall shall make me famous through the world.
I will not tell thee how I’ll handle thee,
But every common soldier of my camp 85
Shall smile to see thy miserable state.

_K. of Fez._ What means the mighty Turkish emperor,
To talk with one so base as Tamburlaine?

_K. of Mor._ Ye Moors and valiant men of Barbary,
How can ye suffer these indignities? 90

_K. of Arg._ Leave words, and let them feel your lances’ points
Which glided through the bowels of the Greeks.

_Baj._ Well said, my stout contributory kings:
Your threefold army and my hugy[312] host
Shall swallow up these base-born Persians. 95

_Tech._ Puissant, renowmed, and mighty Tamburlaine,
Why stay we thus prolonging all their lives?

_Ther._ I long to see those crowns won by our swords,
That we may reign as kings of Africa.

_Usum._ What coward would not fight for such a prize? 100

_Tamb._ Fight all courageously, and be you kings;
I speak it, and my words are oracles.

_Baj._ Zabina, mother of three braver boys
Than Hercules, that in his infancy
Did pash[313] the jaws of serpents venomous; 105
Whose hands are made to gripe a warlike lance,
Their shoulders broad for complete armour fit,
Their limbs more large, and of a bigger size,
Than all the brats ysprung from Typhon’s loins;
Who, when they come unto their father’s age,
Will batter turrets with their manly fists;— 111
Sit here upon this royal chair of state,
And on thy head wear my imperial crown,
Until I bring this sturdy Tamburlaine,
And all his captains bound in captive chains. 115

_Zab._ Such good success happen to Bajazeth!

_Tamb._ Zenocrate, the loveliest maid alive,
Fairer than rocks of pearl and precious stone,
The only paragon of Tamburlaine,
Whose eyes are brighter than the lamps of Heaven 120
And speech more pleasant than sweet harmony!
That with thy looks canst clear the darkened sky,
And calm the rage of thund’ring Jupiter,
Sit down by her, adorned with my crown,
As if thou wert the Empress of the world. 125
Stir not, Zenocrate, until thou see
Me march victoriously with all my men,
Triumphing over him and these his kings,
Which I will bring as vassals to thy feet;
Till then take thou my crown, vaunt of my worth, 130
And manage words with her, as we will arms.

_Zeno._ And may my love, the King of Persia,
Return with victory and free from wound!

_Baj._ Now shalt thou feel the force of Turkish arms,
Which lately made all Europe quake for fear. 135
I have of Turks, Arabians, Moors, and Jews,
Enough to cover all Bithynia.
Let thousands die; their slaughtered carcasses
Shall serve for walls and bulwarks to the rest
And as the heads of Hydra, so my power, 140
Subdued, shall stand as mighty as before.
If they should yield their necks unto the sword,
Thy soldiers’ arms could not endure to strike
So many blows as I have heads for thee.
Thou know’st not, foolish, hardy Tamburlaine,
What ’t is to meet me in the open field, 146
That leave no ground for thee to march upon.

_Tamb._ Our conquering swords shall marshal us the way
We use to march upon the slaughtered foe, 149
Trampling their bowels with our horses’ hoofs;
Brave horses bred on the white Tartarian hills;
My camp is like to Julius Cæsar’s host,
That never fought but had the victory;
Nor in Pharsalia was there such hot war
As these, my followers, willingly would have. 155
Legions of spirits fleeting[314] in the air
Direct our bullets and our weapons’ points,
And make your[315] strokes to wound the senseless lure,[316]
And when she sees our bloody colours spread,
Then Victory begins to take her flight, 160
Resting herself upon my milk-white tent.
But come, my lords, to weapons let us fall,
The field is ours, the Turk, his wife, and all.
_Exit with his followers._

_Baj._ Come, kings and bassoes, let us glut our swords,
That thirst to drink the feeble Persians’ blood.
_Exit with his followers._

_Zab._ Base concubine, must thou be plac’d by me,
That am the empress of the mighty Turk?

_Zeno._ Disdainful Turkess and unreverend boss![317]
Call’st thou me concubine, that am betroth’d
Unto the great and mighty Tamburlaine? 170

_Zab._ To Tamburlaine, the great Tartarian thief!

_Zeno._ Thou wilt repent these lavish words of thine,
When thy great basso-master and thyself
Must plead for mercy at his kingly feet,
And sue to me to be your advocate. 175

_Zab._ And sue to thee! I tell thee, shameless girl,
Thou shalt be laundress to my waiting maid!—
How lik’st thou her, Ebea? Will she serve?

_Ebea._ Madam, she thinks, perhaps, she is too fine.
But I shall turn her into other weeds, 180
And make her dainty fingers fall to work.

_Zeno._ Hear’st thou, Anippe, how thy drudge doth talk?
And how my slave, her mistress, menaceth?
Both for their sauciness shall be employed 184
To dress the common soldiers’ meat and drink,
For we will scorn they should come near ourselves.

_Anip._ Yet sometimes let your highness send for them
To do the work my chambermaid disdains.
_They sound the battle within._[318]

_Zeno._ Ye gods and powers that govern Persia,
And made my lordly love her worthy king, 190
Now strengthen him against the Turkish Bajazeth,
And let his foes, like flocks of fearful roes
Pursu’d by hunters, fly his angry looks,
That I may see him issue conqueror!

_Zab._ Now. Mahomet, solicit God himself, 195
And make him rain down murdering shot from Heaven
To dash the Scythians’ brains, and strike them dead,
That dare to manage arms with him
That offered jewels to thy sacred shrine,
When first he warr’d against the Christians! 200
[_They sound_] _to the battle again._

_Zeno._ By this the Turks lie welt’ring in their blood,
And Tamburlaine is Lord of Africa.

_Zab._ Thou art deceiv’d.—I heard the trumpets sound
As when my emperor overthrew the Greeks,
And led them captive into Africa. 205
Straight will I use thee as thy pride deserves:
Prepare thyself to live and die my slave.

_Zeno._ If Mahomet should come from Heaven and swear
My royal lord is slain or conquered,
Yet should he not persuade me otherwise 210
But that he lives and will be conqueror.

BAJAZETH _flies and_ [TAMBURLAINE] _pursues him. The battle short, and they enter_. BAJAZETH _is overcome_.

_Tamb._ Now, king of bassoes, who is conqueror?

_Baj._ Thou, by the fortune of this damned [foil].[319]

_Tamb._ Where are your stout contributory kings?

_Re-enter_ TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, _and_ USUMCASANE.

_Tech._ We have their crowns, their bodies strow the field. 215

_Tamb._ Each man a crown! Why, kingly fought, i’ faith.
Deliver them into my treasury.

_Zeno._ Now let me offer to my gracions lord
His royal crown again so highly won.

_Tamb._ Nay, take the Turkish crown from her, Zenocrate, 220
And crown me Emperor of Africa.

_Zab._ No, Tamburlaine: though now thou gat the best,
Thou shalt not yet be lord of Africa.

_Ther._ Give her the crown, Turkess: you were best.
_He takes it from her, and gives it to_ ZENOCRATE.

_Zab._ Injurious villains! thieves! runagates!
How dare you thus abuse my majesty? 226

_Ther._ Here, madam, you are Empress; she is none.

_Tamb._ Not now, Theridamas; her time is past.
The pillars that have bolstered up those terms,
Are fallen in clusters at my conquering feet. 230

_Zab._ Though he be prisoner, he may be ransomed.

_Tamb._ Not all the world shall ransom Bajazeth.

_Baj._ Ah, fair Zabina! we have lost the field;
And never had the Turkish emperor
So great a foil by any foreign foe. 235
Now will the Christian miscreants be glad,
Ringing with joy their superstitious bells,
And making bonfires for my overthrow.
But, ere I die, those foul idolaters
Shall make me bonfires with their filthy bones.
For though the glory of this day be lost, 241
Afric and Greece have garrisons enough
To make me sovereign of the earth again.

_Tamb._ Those walled garrisons will I subdue,
And write myself great lord of Africa. 245
So from the East unto the furthest West
Shall Tamburlaine extend his puissant arm.
The galleys and those pilling[320] brigandines,
That yearly sail to the Venetian gulf,
And hover in the Straits for Christians’ wrack,
Shall lie at anchor in the isle Asant,[321] 251
Until the Persian fleet and men of war,
Sailing along the oriental sea,
Have fetch’d about the Indian continent,
Even from Persepolis to Mexico, 255
And thence unto the straits of Jubalter;[322]
Where they shall meet and join their force in one
Keeping in awe the bay of Portingale,[323]
And all the ocean by the British shore;
And by this means I’ll win the world at last. 260

_Baj._ Yet set a ransom on me, Tamburlaine.

_Tamb._ What, think’st thou Tamburlaine esteems thy gold?
I’ll make the kings of India, ere I die,
Offer their mines to sue for peace to me,
And dig for treasure to appease my wrath. 265
Come, bind them both, and one lead in the Turk;
The Turkess let my love’s maid lead away.
_Thy bind them._

_Baj._ Ah, villains!—dare you touch my sacred arms?
O Mahomet!—O sleepy Mahomet!

_Zab._ O cursed Mahomet, that makes us thus
The slaves to Scythians rude and barbarous! 271

_Tamb._ Come, bring them in; and for this happy conquest.
Triumph and solemnise a martial feast. _Exeunt._