Read The Complete Plays Online
Authors: Christopher Marlowe
Whither now, fiddler?
BARABAS
Par donnez-moi
, monsieur, me be no well.
Exit
[BARABAS].
80Â Â Â
PILIA-BORZA
Farewell, fiddler. One letter more to the Jew.
BELLAMIRA Prithee, sweet love, one more, and write it sharp.
ITHAMORE
No, I'll send by word of mouth now. [
To
PILIA-BORZA
] Bid him deliver thee a thousand crowns, by the same token that the nuns loved rice, that Friar Barnardine slept in his own clothes â any of 'em will do it.
PILIA-BORZA
Let me alone to urge it, now I know
the meaning
.
ITHAMORE
The meaning has a meaning. Come, let's in.
To undo a Jew is charity, and not sin.
Exeunt.
Enter
[FERNEZE
the
]
Governor,
KNIGHTS, MARTIN DEL
BOSCO
[
and
OFFICERS
].
FERNEZE
Now, gentlemen, betake you to your arms,
And see that Malta be well fortified.
And it behoves you to be resolute,
For Calymath, having
hovered here
so long,
Will win the town or die before the walls.
FIRST KNIGHT
And die he shall, for we will never yield.
Enter
[BELLAMIRA
the
]
Courtesan
[
and
]
PILIA-BORZA.
BELLAMIRA
O, bring us to the governor.
FERNEZE
Away with her! She is a courtesan.
BELLAMIRA
Whate'er I am, yet, governor, hear me speak.
I bring thee news by whom thy son was slain:
10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Mathias did it not, it was the Jew.
PILIA-BORZA
Who, besides the slaughter of these gentlemen, poisoned his own daughter and the nuns, strangled a friar, and I know not what mischief beside.
FERNEZE
Had we but proof of this!
BELLAMIRA
Strong proof, my lord. His man's now at my lodging
That was his agent; he'll confess it all.
FERNEZE
Go fetch him straight.
[
Exeunt
OFFICERS
.]
I always feared that Jew.
Enter
BARABAS
[
and
]
ITHAMORE
[
guarded by some
OFFICERS
].
BARABAS
I'll go alone, dogs, do not hale me thus.
20Â Â Â
ITHAMORE
Nor me neither. I
cannot out-run
you, constable. O, my belly!
BARABAS
[
aside
]
One dram of powder more had made all sure.
What a damned slave was I!
FERNEZE
Make fires, heat irons, let the rack be fetched.
FIRST KNIGHT
Nay, stay, my lord, 't may be he will confess.
BARABAS
Confess? What mean you, lords, who should confess?
FERNEZE
Thou and thy Turk: 'twas you that slew my son.
ITHAMORE
Guilty, my lord, I confess. Your son and Mathias
were both contracted unto Abigall; he forged a counterfeit
30Â Â Â Â challenge.
BARABAS
Who carried that challenge?
ITHAMORE
I carried it, I confess, but who writ it? Marry, even he that strangled Barnardine, poisoned the nuns, and his own daughter.
FERNEZE
Away with him! His sight is death to me.
BARABAS
For what? You men of Malta, hear me speak.
She is a courtesan, and he a thief,
And he my bondman. Let me have law,
For none of this can prejudice my life.
FERNEZE
40Â Â Â Â Once more, away with him! You shall have law.
BARABAS
Devils, do your worst,
I'll
live in spite of you.
As these have spoke, so be it to their souls.
[
Aside
] I hope the poisoned flowers will work anon.
Exeunt
[OFFICERS
with
BARABAS, ITHAMORE,
BELLAMIRA
and
PILIA-BORZA
].
Enter
KATHERINE.
KATHERINE
Was my Mathias murdered by the Jew?
Ferneze, 'twas thy son that murdered him.
FERNEZE
Be patient, gentle madam, it was he.
He forged the daring challenge made them fight.
KATHERINE
Where is the Jew? Where is that murderer?
FERNEZE
In prison, till the law has
passed
on him.
Enter
[
an
]
OFFICER.
OFFICER
My lord, the courtesan and her man are dead;
50Â Â Â Â Â Â So is the Turk, and Barabas the Jew.
FERNEZE
Dead?
OFFICER
Dead, my lord, and here they bring his body.
[
Enter
OFFICERS,
carrying
BARABAS
as dead
.]
DEL BOSCO
This sudden death of his is very strange.
FERNEZE
Wonder not at it, sir, the heavens are just.
Their deaths were like their lives, then think not of 'em.
Since they are dead, let them be buried.
For the Jew's body, throw that o'er the walls,
To be a prey for vultures and wild beasts.
[
OFFICERS
throw down the body.
]
60Â Â Â So, now away, and fortify the town.
Exeunt
[;
BARABAS
remains
].
BARABAS
[
rising
]
What, all alone?
Well fare, sleepy drink
!
I'll be revenged on this accursed town,
For by my means Calymath shall enter in.
I'll help to slay their children and their wives,
To fire the churches, pull their houses down,
Take my goods too, and seize upon my lands.
I hope to see the governor a slave,
And, rowing in a galley, whipped to death.
Enter
CALYMATH, BASHAWS,
[
and
]
TURKS.
CALYMATH
Whom have we there, a spy?
BARABAS
70Â Â Â Â Â Yes, my good lord, one that can spy a place
Where you may enter and surprise the town.
My name is Barabas, I am a Jew.
CALYMATH
Art thou that Jew whose goods we heard were sold
For tribute-money?
BARABAS
          The very same, my lord;
And since that time they have hired a slave, my man,
To accuse me of a thousand villainies.
I was imprisoned, but escaped their hands.
CALYMATH
Didst break prison?
BARABAS
No, no,
80Â Â Â Â I drank of
poppy
and cold mandrake juice,
And, being asleep, belike they thought me dead,
And threw me o'er the walls. So, or how else,
The Jew is here, and rests at your command.
CALYMATH
'Twas bravely done. But tell me, Barabas,
Canst thou, as thou reportest, make Malta ours?
BARABAS
Fear not, my lord, for here against the
sluice
The rock is hollow and of purpose digged
To make a passage for the running streams
And common channels of the city.
90Â Â Â Â Â Now, whilst you give assault unto the walls,
I'll lead five hundred soldiers through the
vault
,
And rise with them i'th'middle of the town,
Open the gates for you to enter in,
And by this means the city is your own.
CALYMATH
If this be true, I'll make thee governor.
BARABAS
And if it be not true, then let me die.
CALYMATH
Thou'st doomed thyself. Assault it presently.
Exeunt.
Alarms
. Enter
[CALYMATH,] TURKS,
[
and
]
BARABAS,
[
with
]
FERNEZE
and
KNIGHTS
prisoners.
CALYMATH
Now vail your pride, you captive Christians,
And kneel for mercy to your conquering foe.
Now where's the hope you had of haughty Spain?
Ferneze, speak. Had it not been much better
To keep thy promise than be thus surprised?
FERNEZE
What should I say? We are captives and must yield.
CALYMATH
Ay, villains, you must yield, and under Turkish yokes
Shall groaning bear the burden of our ire.
And, Barabas, as erst we promised thee,
For thy desert we make thee governor.
10Â Â Â Â Use them at thy discretion.
BARABAS
          Thanks, my lord.
FERNEZE
O, fatal day, to fall into the hands
Of such a traitor and unhallowed Jew!
What greater misery could heaven inflict?
CALYMATH
'Tis our command; and Barabas, we give,
To guard thy person, these our janizaries;
Entreat them well, as we have usèd thee.
And now, brave bashaws, come, we'll walk about
The ruined town and see the wrack we made.
20Â Â Â Â Â Farewell, brave Jew, farewell, great Barabas.
BARABAS
May all good fortune follow Calymath!
Exeunt
[
CALYMATH
and
BASHAWS
].
And now, as
entrance
to our safety,
To prison with the governor and these
Captains, his consorts and confederates.
FERNEZE
O villain, heaven will be revenged on thee!
BARABAS
Away, no more! Let him not trouble me.
Exeunt
[
TURKS
with
FERNEZE
and
KNIGHTS
].
Thus hast thou gotten, by thy policy,
No simple place, no small authority.
I now am governor of Malta. True,
30Â Â Â Â But Malta hates me, and, in hating me,
My life's in danger; and what boots it thee,
Poor Barabas, to be the governor,
Whenas
thy life shall be at their command?
No, Barabas, this must be looked into;
And since by wrong thou got'st authority,
Maintain it bravely by firm policy,
At least unprofitably lose it not.
For he that liveth in authority,
And neither gets him friends nor fills his bags,
40Â Â Â Â Lives like the ass that Aesop speaketh of,
That labours with a load of bread and wine
And leaves it off to
snap
on
thistle tops
.
But Barabas will be more circumspect.
Begin betimes;
Occasion's bald behind;
Slip not thine opportunity, for fear too late
Thou seek'st for much but canst not compass it.
[
Calling offstage
]
Within, there!
Enter
FERNEZE,
with a
GUARD
[
of
TURKISH JANIZARIES
].
FERNEZE
My lord?
BARABAS
[
aside
]
Ay, âlord'; thus slaves will learn.
[
To him
] Now, governor.
[
To the
GUARD]Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Stand by, there.
50Â Â Â
Wait within.
    [
Exit
GUARD
.]
This is the reason that I sent for thee:
Thou seest thy life and Malta's happiness
Are at my arbitrament, and Barabas
At his discretion may dispose of both.
Now tell me, governor, and plainly too,
What think'st thou shall become of it and thee?
FERNEZE
This, Barabas: since things are in thy power,
I see no reason but of Malta's wrack,
Nor hope of thee but extreme cruelty,
Nor fear I death, nor will I flatter thee.
60Â Â Â
BARABAS
Governor, good words, be not so furious.
'Tis not thy life which can avail me aught.
Yet you do live, and live
for me
you shall;
And as for Malta's ruin, think you not
'Twere slender policy for Barabas
To dispossess himself of such a place?
For sith, as once you said, within this isle,
In Malta here, that I have
got my goods
,
And in this city still have had success,
And now at length am grown your governor,
70Â Â Â Â Yourselves shall see it shall not be forgot.
For, as a friend not known but in distress,
I'll rear up Malta, now
remediless
.
FERNEZE
Will Barabas recover Malta's loss?
Will Barabas be good to Christians?
BARABAS
What wilt thou give me, governor, to procure
A dissolution of the slavish bands