The Complete Plays (26 page)

And then depart we to our territories.

Exeunt
.

[
Enter
]
CALLAPINE
with
ALMEDA
,
his keeper
.

CALLAPINE

Sweet Almeda, pity the ruthful plight

Of Callapine, the son of Bajazeth,

Born to be monarch of
the western world
,

Yet here detained by cruel Tamburlaine.

ALMEDA

My lord, I pity it, and with my heart

Wish your release. But he whose wrath is death,

My sovereign lord, renownèd Tamburlaine,

Forbids you further liberty than this.

CALLAPINE

Ah, were I now but half so eloquent

To paint in words what I'll perform in deeds,

10   I know thou wouldst depart from hence with me.

ALMEDA

Not for
all Afric. Therefore
move
me not.

CALLAPINE

Yet hear me speak, my gentle Almeda.

ALMEDA

No speech to that end, by your favour, sir.

CALLAPINE

By Cairo runs –

ALMEDA

No talk of running, I tell you, sir.

CALLAPINE

A little further, gentle Almeda.

ALMEDA

Well, sir, what of this?

CALLAPINE

By Cairo runs to Alexandria Bay

20   
Darote's streams
, wherein at anchor lies

A Turkish galley of my royal fleet,

Waiting my coming to the river side,

Hoping by some means I shall be released,

Which, when I come aboard, will hoist up sail

And soon put forth into the Terrene Sea,

Where 'twixt the isles of Cyprus and of Crete

We quickly may in Turkish seas arrive.

Then shalt thou see a hundred kings and more,

Upon their knees, all bid me welcome home.

30   Amongst so many crowns of burnished gold

Choose which thou wilt; all are at thy command.

A thousand galleys manned with Christian slaves

I freely give thee, which shall cut the
Straits

And bring armadoes from the coasts of Spain,

Fraughted with gold of rich America.

The Grecian virgins shall attend on thee,

Skilful in music and in amorous lays,

As fair as was Pygmalion's ivory girl,

Or lovely Io metamorphosèd.

40   With naked negroes shall thy coach be drawn,

And as thou rid'st in triumph through the streets,

The pavement underneath thy chariot wheels

With Turkey carpets shall be coverèd,

And
cloth of arras
hung about the walls,

Fit objects for thy princely eye to pierce.

A hundred bassoes, clothed in crimson silk,

Shall ride before thee on Barbarian steeds,

And when thou
goest
, a golden canopy

Enchased with precious stones which shine as bright

As that
fair veil
that covers all the world,

50   When Phoebus, leaping from his hemisphere,

Descendeth downward to th'Antipodes –

And more than this, for all I cannot tell.

ALMEDA

How far hence lies the galley, say you?

CALLAPINE

Sweet Almeda, scarce half a league from hence.

ALMEDA

But need we not be spied going aboard?

CALLAPINE

Betwixt the hollow hanging of a hill

And crooked bending of a craggy rock,

The sails wrapped up, the mast and tacklings down,

She lies so close that none can find her out.

60   

ALMEDA
I like that well. But tell me, my lord, if I should let you
go, would you be as good as your word? Shall I be made a
king for my labour?

CALLAPINE

As I am Callapine the emperor,

And by the hand of Mahomet, I swear

Thou shalt be crowned a king and be my mate.

ALMEDA

Then here I swear, as I am Almeda,

Your keeper under Tamburlaine the Great –

For that's the style and title I have yet –

Although he sent a thousand armèd men

70   To intercept this
haughty
enterprise,

Yet would I venture to conduct your grace

And die before I brought you back again.

CALLAPINE

Thanks, gentle Almeda. Then let us haste,

Lest time be past and, ling'ring, let us both.

ALMEDA

When you will, my lord. I am ready.

CALLAPINE

Even straight. And farewell, cursèd Tamburlaine!

Now go I to revenge my father's death.

Exeunt
.

[
Enter
]
TAMBURLAINE
with
ZENOCRATE
,
and his three sons
,
CALYPHAS
,
AMYRAS
,
and
CELEBINUS
,
with drums and trumpets
. [
A throne is brought on
.]

TAMBURLAINE

Now, bright Zenocrate, the world's fair eye,

Whose beams illuminate the lamps of heaven,

Whose cheerful looks do clear the cloudy air

And clothe it in a crystal livery,

Now rest thee here on fair Larissa plains,

Where Egypt and the Turkish empire parts,

Between thy sons that shall be emperors

And every one commander of a world.

ZENOCRATE

Sweet Tamburlaine, when wilt thou leave these arms

10   And save thy sacred person free from scathe

And dangerous chances of the wrathful war?

TAMBURLAINE

When heaven shall cease to move on both the poles,

And when the ground whereon my soldiers march

Shall rise aloft and touch the hornèd moon,

And not before, my sweet Zenocrate.

Sit up and rest thee like a lovely queen.

So, now she sits in pomp and majesty,

When these my sons, more precious in mine eyes

Than all the wealthy kingdoms I subdued,

20   Placed by her side, look on their mother's face.

But yet methinks their looks are amorous,

Not martial as the sons of Tamburlaine;

Water
and air, being symbolized in one,

Argue their want of courage and of wit;

Their hair as white as milk and soft as down,

Which should be like the quills of porcupines,

As black as jet, and hard as iron or steel,

Bewrays they are too dainty for the wars.

Their fingers made to quaver on a lute,

Their arms to hang about a lady's neck,

30   Their legs to dance and caper in the air,

Would make me think them bastards, not my sons,

But that I know they issued from thy womb,

That never looked on man but Tamburlaine.

ZENOCRATE

My gracious lord, they have their mother's looks,

But when they list, their conquering father's heart.

This lovely boy, the youngest of the three,

Not long ago bestrid a Scythian steed,

Trotting the ring
and tilting at a glove,

Which when he tainted with his slender rod,

40   He reined him straight and made him so
curvet

As I cried out for fear he should have fall'n.

TAMBURLAINE
[
to
CELEBINUS
]

Well done, my boy, thou shalt have shield and lance,

Armour of proof
, horse, helm, and curtle-axe,

And I will teach thee how to charge thy foe

And
harmless
run among the deadly pikes.

If thou wilt love the wars and follow me,

Thou shalt be made a king and reign with me,

Keeping in iron cages emperors.

If thou exceed thy elder brothers' worth

50   And shine in complete virtue more than they,

Thou shalt be king before them, and thy seed

Shall issue crownèd from their mother's womb.

CELEBINUS

Yes, father, you shall see me, if I live,

Have under me as many kings as you

And march with such a multitude of men

As all the world shall tremble at their view.

TAMBURLAINE

These words assure me, boy, thou art my son.

When I am old and cannot manage arms,

60   Be thou the scourge and terror of the world.

AMYRAS

Why may not I, my lord, as well as he,

Be termed the scourge and terror of the world?

TAMBURLAINE

Be all a scourge and terror to the world,

Or else you are not sons of Tamburlaine.

CALYPHAS

But while my brothers follow arms, my lord,

Let me accompany my gracious mother.

They are enough to conquer all the world,

And you have won enough for me to keep.

TAMBURLAINE

Bastardly boy, sprung from some coward's loins

70   And not the issue of great Tamburlaine,

Of all the provinces I have subdued,

Thou shalt not have a foot, unless thou bear

A mind courageous and invincible.

For he shall wear the crown of Persia

Whose head hath deepest scars, whose breast most wounds,

Which, being wroth, sends lightning from his eyes,

And in the furrows of his frowning brows

Harbours revenge, war, death, and cruelty.

For in a field, whose
superficies

80   Is covered with a liquid
purple
veil

And sprinkled with the brains of slaughtered men,

My royal chair of state shall be advanced,

And he that means to place himself therein

Must armèd wade up to the chin in blood.

ZENOCRATE

My lord, such speeches to our princely sons

Dismays their minds before they come to prove

The wounding troubles angry war affords.

CELEBINUS

No, madam, these are speeches fit for us.

For if his chair were in a sea of blood,

I would prepare a ship and sail to it

90   Ere I would lose the title of a king.

AMYRAS

And I would strive to swim through pools of blood

Or make a bridge of murdered carcasses,

Whose arches should be framed with bones of Turks,

Ere I would lose the title of a king.

TAMBURLAINE

Well, lovely boys, you shall be emperors both,

Stretching your conquering arms from east to west.

[
To
CALYPHAS
]

And, sirrah, if you mean to wear a crown,

When we shall meet the Turkish deputy

And all his viceroys, snatch it from his head,

100   And cleave his pericranion with thy sword.

CALYPHAS

If any man will hold him, I will strike,

And cleave him to the
channel
with my sword.

TAMBURLAINE

Hold him and cleave him, too, or I'll cleave thee,

For we will march against them presently.

Theridamas, Techelles, and Casane

Promised to meet me on Larissa plains

With hosts apiece against this Turkish crew,

For I have sworn by sacred Mahomet

To make it parcel of my empery.

110   The trumpets sound, Zenocrate. They come.

Enter
THERIDAMAS
and his train, with drums and trumpets
.

Welcome, Theridamas, King of Argier!

THERIDAMAS

My lord, the great and mighty Tamburlaine,

Arch-monarch of the world, I offer here

My crown, myself, and all the power I have,

In all affection at thy kingly feet.

[
He presents his crown to
TAMBURLAINE
.]

TAMBURLAINE

Thanks, good Theridamas.

THERIDAMAS

Under my colours march ten thousand Greeks,

And of Argier and Afric's frontier towns

120   Twice twenty thousand valiant men-at-arms,

All which have sworn to sack Natolia.

Five hundred brigantines are under sail,

Meet for your service on the sea, my lord,

That, launching from Argier to Tripoli,

Will quickly ride before Natolia

And batter down the castles on the shore.

TAMBURLAINE

Well said, Argier. Receive thy crown again.

[
He returns
THERIDAMAS
'
s
crown
.]

Enter
TECHELLES
and
USUMCASANE
together
.

Kings of Moroccus and of Fez, welcome.

USUMCASANE
[
presenting his crown to
TAMBURLAINE
]

Magnificent and peerless Tamburlaine,

130   I and my neighbour King of Fez have brought,

To aid thee in this Turkish expedition,

A hundred thousand expert soldiers.

From Azamor
to Tunis near the sea

Is Barbary unpeopled for thy sake,

And all the men in armour under me,

Which with my crown I gladly offer thee.

TAMBURLAINE
[
returning
USUMCASANE
's
crown
]

Thanks, King of Moroccus. Take your crown again.

TECHELLES
[
presenting his crown to
TAMBURLAINE
]

And, mighty Tamburlaine, our earthly god,

Whose looks make this inferior world to quake,