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Tam. What begg'st thou then? fond woman, let me go'. Lav. "Tis present death I beg; and one thing more,

That womanhood denies my tongue to tell.

Oh! keep me from their worse than killing lust,
And tumble me into some loathsome pit,
Where never man's eye may behold my body:
Do this, and be a charitable murderer.

Tam. So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee:

No; let them satisfy their lust on thee.

Dem. Away! for thou hast stay'd us here too long.
Lav. No grace? no womanhood? Ah, beastly creature!

The blot and enemy to our general name!
Confusion fall-

[Rising 2.

Chi. Nay, then I'll stop your mouth.-Bring thou her

husband: [Dragging off LAVINIA. This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him. [Exeunt. Tam. Farewell, my sons: see, that you make her sure. Ne'er let my heart know merry cheer indeed, Till all the Andronici be made away. Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor,

And let my spleenful sons this trull deflower.

[Exit.

SCENE IV.

The Same.

Enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS.

Aar. Come on, my lords, the better foot before: Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit, Where I espy'd the panther fast asleep.

Quin. My sight is very dull, whate'er it bodes.

Mart. And mine, I promise you: wer't not for shame,

1 — FOND Woman, let me go.] Here, as in many other places, both before and afterwards, to which it is unnecessary here particularly to refer, "fond " is to be taken in the sense of foolish.

2 Rising.] This word and the preceding "Kneeling" are stage-directions inserted in the corr. fo. 1632.

to the LOATHSOME pit,] The epithet "loathsome" may have been that of the poet, and we leave it, merely noting that the corr. fo. 1632 substitutes lonesome; which, for various reasons, may seem more applicable.

Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile.

[MARTIUS falls into the pit.

Quin. What! art thou fallen? What subtle hole is this,

Whose mouth is cover'd with rude-growing briars,

Upon whose leaves are drops of new-shed blood,

As fresh as morning's dew distill'd on flowers?
A very fatal place it seems to me :-

Speak, brother, hast thou hurt thee with the fall?

Mart. Oh, brother! with the dismall'st object hurt‘,

That ever eye with sight made heart lament.

Aar. [Aside.] Now will I fetch the king to find them here;

That he thereby may give a likely guess',

How these were they that made away his brother.

[Exit AARON.

Mart. Why dost not comfort me, and help me out
From this unhallow'd and blood-stained hole?

Quin. I am surprised with an uncouth fear;
A chilling sweat o'er-runs my trembling joints:
My heart suspects more than mine eye can see.
Mart. To prove thou hast a true-divining heart,
Aaron and thou look down into this den,
And see a fearful sight of blood and death.

Quin. Aaron is gone; and my compassionate heart
Will not permit mine eyes once to behold
The thing whereat it trembles by surmise.
Oh! tell me how it is; for ne'er till now
Was I a child, to fear I know not what.

Mart. Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here,

All on a heap, like to a slaughter'd lamb,

In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.

4

Quin. If it be dark, how dost thou know 'tis he?
Mart. Upon his bloody finger he doth wear

the dismall'st object HURT,] So the 4to, 1600: in the 4to, 1611, and all the folios, the word "hurt" is omitted. It is proper to note that, before this speech, the corr. fo. 1632 has the words Under the stage, in order to show that Martius was supposed to speak out of the "loathsome" or lonesome pit.

3 - may GIVE a likely guess,] So the 4to, 1600, while later impressions read have instead of "give." Mr. Singer in two notes, immediately following each other, repeats this information; and we only mention it, lest it should be thought that the same variation occurs twice.

6 - How it is;] The later 4to. and the folios read "how it is:" the 4to, 1600," who it is;" but Quintus could not yet know, though he might suspect, that a dead body was in the pit.

A precious ring, that lightens all the hole,
Which, like a taper in some monument,
Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks',
And shows the ragged entrails of the pit:
So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus,
When he by night lay bath'd in maiden blood.
Oh brother! help me with thy fainting hand,-
If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath,-
Out of this fell devouring receptacle,

As hateful as Cocytus' misty mouth.

Quin. Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out;
Or, wanting strength to do thee so much good,
I may be pluck'd into the swallowing womb

Of this deep pit, poor Bassianus' grave.

I have no strength to pluck thee to the brink.

Mart. Nor I no strength to climb without thy help. Quin. Thy hand once more: I will not loose again, Till thou art here aloft, or I below.

Thou canst not come to me; I come to thee.

Enter SATURNINUS and AARON.

Sat. Along with me:-I'll see what hole is here,
And what he is that now is leap'd into it.-
Say, who art thou, that lately didst descend
Into this gaping hollow of the earth?

Mart. The unhappy son of old Andronicus,
Brought hither, in a most unlucky hour,
To find thy brother Bassianus dead.

[Falls in.

Sat. My brother dead! I know, thou dost but jest: He and his lady both are at the lodge,

Upon the north side of this pleasant chase;

"Tis not an hour since I left him there".

Mart. We know not where you left him all alive,

But, out alas! here have we found him dead.

7

the dead man's EARTHY cheeks,] The 4to, 1600, has "earthy :" the 4to, 1611, and folio, earthly. It is not necessary to repeat here, from the Variorum Shakespeare, the several quotations in which it is shown, that there was an ancient and poetical superstition that the carbuncle gave light in the dark.

8 — I left HIM there.] The 4to, 1600, has them for "him" of the 4to, 1611, and the folio. In the next two lines, the 4to, 1611, has them in the first instance, and "him" in the second. We prefer "him" for the sake of consistency.

Enter TAMORA, with Attendants; TITUS ANDRONICUS, and

LUCIUS.

Tam. Where is my lord, the king?

Sat. Here, Tamora; though griev'd with killing grief.
Tam. Where is thy brother Bassianus ?

Sat. Now to the bottom dost thou search
Poor Bassianus here lies murdered.

my wound:

Tam. Then, all too late I bring this fatal writ,

The complot of this timeless tragedy;

And wonder greatly, that man's face can fold
In pleasing smiles such murderous tyranny.

[Giving a letter.

Sat. [Reads.] "An if we miss to meet him handsomely,Sweet huntsman, Bassianus 'tis, we mean,

Do thou so much as dig the grave for him.

Thou know'st our meaning: look for thy reward

Among the nettles at the elder tree,

Which overshades the mouth of that same pit,
Where we decreed to bury Bassianus.

Do this, and purchase us thy lasting friends."
O, Tamora! was ever heard the like?
This is the pit, and this the elder-tree.
Look, sirs, if you can find the huntsman out,
That should have murder'd Bassianus here.

Aar. My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold.

[Showing it.

Sat. Two of thy whelps, [To TITUS] fell curs of bloody

kind,

Have here bereft my brother of his life.—

Sirs, drag them from the pit unto the prison:

There let them bide, until we have devis'd

Some never-heard-of torturing pain for them.

Tam. What are they in this pit? Oh, wondrous thing! How easily murder is discovered!

Tit. High emperor, upon my feeble knee I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed; That this fell fault of my accursed sons, Accursed, if the fault be prov'd in them,

Sat. If it be prov'd! you see, it is apparent.— Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you? Tam. Andronicus himself did take it up.

Tit. I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail;
For by my father's reverend tomb, I vow,
They shall be ready, at your highness' will,
To answer this suspicion with their lives".

Sat. Thou shalt not bail them: see, thou follow me.
Some bring the murder'd body, some the murderers:
Let them not speak a word, their guilt is plain;
For, by my soul, were there worse end than death,
That end upon them should be executed.

Tam. Andronicus, I will entreat the king:

Fear not thy sons; they shall do well enough.

Tit. Come, Lucius, come; stay not to talk with them.

SCENE V.

[Exeunt severally.

The Same.

Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, with LAVINIA, ravished; her hands cut off, and her tongue cut out.

Dem. So, now go tell, an if thy tongue can speak,
Who 'twas cut out thy tongue, and ravish'd thee 1o.
Chi. Write down thy mind, bewray thy meaning so;
And, if thy stumps will let thee, play the scribe.

Dem. See, how with signs and tokens she can scrowl'.
Chi. Go home, call for sweet water, wash thy hands.
Dem. She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash;
And so let's leave her to her silent walks.

Chi. An 'twere my case, I should go hang myself.
Dem. If thou hadst hands to help thee knit the cord.

[Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON.

"To answer THIS suspicion with their lives.] It is "their suspicion" in the early impressions, but it ought clearly to be "this suspicion" as we find it in the corr. fo. 1632: the old printer was confused by "their," near the end of the line, where it is proper enough. Three lines lower, he again blundered about the same word, and what he printed the ought to be "their"-"their guilt is plain."

10 Who 'twas cut our thy tongue, and ravish'd thee.] So the corr. fo. 1632 : the line in the 4tos. and folios is,

"Who 'twas that cut thy tongue," &c.

but they had not merely cut her tongue, but cut it out, and the line ought to run as we have above given it. The cause of the lapse by the printer doubtless was the similarity of the words "cut" and "out" in the MS.

[blocks in formation]

she can SCROWL.] So the 4tos, 1600 and 1611: the folio, scowl.

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