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And room within to lodge six thousand men.
It must have privy ditches, countermines,
And secret issuings to defend the ditch;
It must have high argins* and cover'd ways,
To keep the bulwark fronts from battery,
And parapets to hide the musketeers,
Casemates to place the great artillery,
And store of ordinance, that from ev'ry flank
May scour the outward curtain of the fort,
Dismount the cannon of the adverse part,
Murder the foe, and save their walls from breach.
When this is learn'd for service on the land,
By plain and easy demonstration
I'll teach

you

how to make the water mount, That you may dry-foot march through lakes and pools, Deep rivers, havens, creeks, and little seas, And make a fortress in the raging waves, Fenc'd with the concave of a monstrous rock, Invisible by nature of the place. When this is done, then are ye soldiers, And worthy sons of Tamburlaine the Great. Cal. My lord, but this is dangerous to be done; may

be slain or wounded ere we learn. TAMB. Villain! Art thou the son of Tamburlaine, And fear’st to die, or with the curtle-axe To hew thy flesh, and make a gaping wound? Hast thou beheld a peal of ordnance strike A ring of pikes, mingled with shot and horse, Whose shatter'd limbs, being toss'd as high as heaven,

* Argins---argine, Ital. An embankment, a rampart.

We

And canst thou, coward, stand in fear of death?
Hast thou not seen my horsemen charge the foe,
Shot through the arms, cut overthwart the hands,
Dying their lances with their streaming blood,
And yet at night carouse within my tent,
Filling their empty veins with airy wine,
That, being concocted turns to crimson blood,
And wilt thou shun the field for fear of wounds?
View me, thy father, that hath conquer'd kings,
And, with his host, march'd round about the earth,
Quite void of scars, and clear from any wound,
That by the wars lost not a drop of blood,
And see him lance his flesh to teach you all.

(He cuts his arm.
A wound is nothing, be it ne’er so deep;
Blood is the god of war's rich livery.
Now look I like a soldier, and this wound
As great a grace and majesty to me,
As if a chain of gold, enamelled,
Enchas'd with diamonds, sapphires, rubies,
And fairest pearl of wealthy India,
Were mounted here under a canopy,
And I sate down cloth'd with a massy robe,
That late adorn'd the Afric potentate,
Whom I brought bound unto Damascus' walls.
Come, boys, and with your fingers search my wound,
And in

my blood wash all your hands at once,
While I sit smiling to behold the sight.
Now, my boys, what think you of a wound?
CAL. I know not what I should think of it;

9

VOL. I.

Methinks it is a pitiful sight.

CEL. This? nothing: give me a wound, father.
AMY. And me another, my lord.

TAMB. Come, sirrah, give me your arm.

CEL. Here, father, cut it bravely, as you did your

own.

TAMB. It shall suffice thou dar'st abide a wound; My boy, thou shalt not lose a drop of blood Before we meet the army of the Turk;

But then run desp'rate through the thickest dregs,
Dreadless of blows, of bloody wounds, and death;
And let the burning of Larissa's walls,

My speech of war, and this my wound, you see,
Teach you, my boys, to bear courageous minds,
Fit for the followers of great Tamburlaine !
Usumcasane, now come, let us march
Towards Techelles and Theridamas,

That we have sent before to fire the towns,
The tow'rs and cities of these hateful Turks,
And hunt that coward, faint-heart runaway,
With that accursed traitor Almeda,

Till fire and sword have found them at a bay.
USUM. I long to pierce his bowels with my sword,
That hath betray'd my gracious sovereign,-
That curs'd and damned traitor Almeda.

TAMB. Then let us see if coward Callapine

Dare levy arms against our puissance,
That we may tread upon his captive neck,
And treble all his father's slaveries.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

Enter TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, and their Train. THER. Thus have we march'd northward from

Tamburlaine,

Unto the frontier port of Syria;

And this is Balsora, their chiefest hold,
Wherein is all the treasure of the land.

TECH. Then let us bring our light artillery,
Minions, Falc'nets, and Sakers*, to the trench,
Filling the ditches with the walls' wide breach,
And enter in to seize upon the gold.

How say you, soldiers, shall we not?

SOLD. Yes, my lord, yes; come, let's about it. THER. But stay awhile; summon a parley, drum. It may be they will yield it quietly,

Knowing two kings, the friends to Tamburlaine,
Stand at the walls with such a mighty pow'r.

[A parley sounded.-Captain appears on the
walls, with Olympia, his wife and son.

CAPT. What require you, my masters?

THER. Captain, that thou yield up thy hold to us. CAPT. To you! Why, do you think me weary of it? TECH. Nay, captain, thou art weary of thy life, If thou withstand the friends of Tamburlaine.

THER. The pioneers of Argier in Africa, Even in the cannon's face, shall raise a hill Of earth and faggots higher than the fort, And over thy Argins and cover'd ways

Minions, Falc'nets, and Sakers. All small pieces of ordnance.

Shall play upon the bulwarks of thy hold
Vollies of ordnance, till the breach be made
That with his ruin fills up all the trench.
And when we enter in, not heav'n itself
Shall ransom thee, thy wife, and family.
Tech. Captain, these Moors shall cut the leaden

pipes,
That bring fresh water to thy men and thee,
And lie in trench before thy castle walls,
That no supply of victual shall come in,
Nor any issue forth but they shall die ;
And, therefore, captain, yield it quietly.
Capt. Were you, that are the friends of Tambur-

laine,
Brothers of holy Mahomet himself,
I would not yield it; therefore do your worst :
Raise mounts, batter, intrench, and undermine,
Cut off the water, all

convoys

that Yet I am resolute and so farewell.

[Captain, Olympia, and their son, retire from

the walls,
Ther. Pioneers, away! and, where I stuck the

stake,
Intrench with those dimensions I prescrib’d.
Cast up the earth towards the castle walls,
Which, till it may defend you, labour low,
And few or none shall perish by the shot.

Pio. We will, my lord. [Exeunt Pioneers.
Tech. A hundred horse shall scout about the

plains,

come,

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