TITUS ANDRONICUS

Scene I Rome. Titus's garden.

	[Enter young LUCIUS, and LAVINIA running after him, and the boy flies from her, with books under his arm. Then enter TITUS and MARCUS]
Young LUCIUS	Help, grandsire, help! my aunt Lavinia Follows me every where, I know not why: Good uncle Marcus, see how swift she comes. Alas, sweet aunt, I know not what you mean.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Stand by me, Lucius; do not fear thine aunt.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	She loves thee, boy, too well to do thee harm.
Young LUCIUS	Ay, when my father was in Rome she did.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	What means my niece Lavinia by these signs?
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Fear her not, Lucius: somewhat doth she mean: See, Lucius, see how much she makes of thee: Somewhither would she have thee go with her. Ah, boy, Cornelia never with more care Read to her sons than she hath read to thee Sweet poetry and Tully's Orator.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Canst thou not guess wherefore she plies thee thus?
Young LUCIUS	My lord, I know not, I, nor can I guess, Unless some fit or frenzy do possess her: For I have heard my grandsire say full oft, Extremity of griefs would make men mad; And I have read that Hecuba of Troy Ran mad through sorrow: that made me to fear; Although, my lord, I know my noble aunt Loves me as dear as e'er my mother did, And would not, but in fury, fright my youth: Which made me down to throw my books, and fly-- Causeless, perhaps. But pardon me, sweet aunt: And, madam, if my uncle Marcus go, I will most willingly attend your ladyship.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Lucius, I will.
	[LAVINIA turns over with her stumps the books which LUCIUS has let fall]
TITUS ANDRONICUS	How now, Lavinia! Marcus, what means this? Some book there is that she desires to see. Which is it, girl, of these? Open them, boy. But thou art deeper read, and better skill'd Come, and take choice of all my library, And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens Reveal the damn'd contriver of this deed. Why lifts she up her arms in sequence thus?
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	I think she means that there was more than one Confederate in the fact: ay, more there was; Or else to heaven she heaves them for revenge.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Lucius, what book is that she tosseth so?
Young LUCIUS	Grandsire, 'tis Ovid's Metamorphoses; My mother gave it me.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	For love of her that's gone, Perhaps she cull'd it from among the rest.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Soft! see how busily she turns the leaves!
	[Helping her]
	What would she find? Lavinia, shall I read? This is the tragic tale of Philomel, And treats of Tereus' treason and his rape: And rape, I fear, was root of thine annoy.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	See, brother, see; note how she quotes the leaves.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Lavinia, wert thou thus surprised, sweet girl, Ravish'd and wrong'd, as Philomela was, Forced in the ruthless, vast, and gloomy woods? See, see! Ay, such a place there is, where we did hunt-- O, had we never, never hunted there!-- Pattern'd by that the poet here describes, By nature made for murders and for rapes.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	O, why should nature build so foul a den, Unless the gods delight in tragedies?
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Give signs, sweet girl, for here are none but friends, What Roman lord it was durst do the deed: Or slunk not Saturnine, as Tarquin erst, That left the camp to sin in Lucrece' bed?
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Sit down, sweet niece: brother, sit down by me. Apollo, Pallas, Jove, or Mercury, Inspire me, that I may this treason find! My lord, look here: look here, Lavinia: This sandy plot is plain; guide, if thou canst This after me, when I have writ my name Without the help of any hand at all.
	[He writes his name with his staff, and guides it with feet and mouth]
	Cursed be that heart that forced us to this shift! Write thou good niece; and here display, at last, What God will have discover'd for revenge; Heaven guide thy pen to print thy sorrows plain, That we may know the traitors and the truth!
	[She takes the staff in her mouth, and guides it with her stumps, and writes]
TITUS ANDRONICUS	O, do ye read, my lord, what she hath writ? 'Stuprum. Chiron. Demetrius.'
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	What, what! the lustful sons of Tamora Performers of this heinous, bloody deed?
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Magni Dominator poli, Tam lentus audis scelera? tam lentus vides?
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	O, calm thee, gentle lord; although I know There is enough written upon this earth To stir a mutiny in the mildest thoughts And arm the minds of infants to exclaims. My lord, kneel down with me; Lavinia, kneel; And kneel, sweet boy, the Roman Hector's hope; And swear with me, as, with the woful fere And father of that chaste dishonour'd dame, Lord Junius Brutus sware for Lucrece' rape, That we will prosecute by good advice Mortal revenge upon these traitorous Goths, And see their blood, or die with this reproach.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	'Tis sure enough, an you knew how. But if you hunt these bear-whelps, then beware: The dam will wake; and, if she wind you once, She's with the lion deeply still in league, And lulls him whilst she playeth on her back, And when he sleeps will she do what she list. You are a young huntsman, Marcus; let it alone; And, come, I will go get a leaf of brass, And with a gad of steel will write these words, And lay it by: the angry northern wind Will blow these sands, like Sibyl's leaves, abroad, And where's your lesson, then? Boy, what say you?
Young LUCIUS	I say, my lord, that if I were a man, Their mother's bed-chamber should not be safe For these bad bondmen to the yoke of Rome.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Ay, that's my boy! thy father hath full oft For his ungrateful country done the like.
Young LUCIUS	And, uncle, so will I, an if I live.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Come, go with me into mine armoury; Lucius, I'll fit thee; and withal, my boy, Shalt carry from me to the empress' sons Presents that I intend to send them both: Come, come; thou'lt do thy message, wilt thou not?
Young LUCIUS	Ay, with my dagger in their bosoms, grandsire.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	No, boy, not so; I'll teach thee another course. Lavinia, come. Marcus, look to my house: Lucius and I'll go brave it at the court: Ay, marry, will we, sir; and we'll be waited on.
	[Exeunt TITUS, LAVINIA, and Young LUCIUS]
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	O heavens, can you hear a good man groan, And not relent, or not compassion him? Marcus, attend him in his ecstasy, That hath more scars of sorrow in his heart Than foemen's marks upon his batter'd shield; But yet so just that he will not revenge. Revenge, ye heavens, for old Andronicus!
	[Exit]

Scene II The same. A room in the palace.

	[Enter, from one side, AARON, DEMETRIUS, and CHIRON; from the other side, Young LUCIUS, and an Attendant, with a bundle of weapons, and verses writ upon them]
CHIRON	Demetrius, here's the son of Lucius; He hath some message to deliver us.
AARON	Ay, some mad message from his mad grandfather.
Young LUCIUS	My lords, with all the humbleness I may, I greet your honours from Andronicus.
	[Aside]
	And pray the Roman gods confound you both!
DEMETRIUS	Gramercy, lovely Lucius: what's the news?
Young LUCIUS	[Aside] That you are both decipher'd, that's the news, For villains mark'd with rape.--May it please you, My grandsire, well advised, hath sent by me The goodliest weapons of his armoury To gratify your honourable youth, The hope of Rome; for so he bade me say; And so I do, and with his gifts present Your lordships, that, whenever you have need, You may be armed and appointed well: And so I leave you both:
	[Aside] like bloody villains.
	[Exeunt Young LUCIUS, and Attendant]
DEMETRIUS	What's here? A scroll; and written round about? Let's see;
	[Reads]
	'Integer vitae, scelerisque purus, Non eget Mauri jaculis, nec arcu.'
CHIRON	O, 'tis a verse in Horace; I know it well: I read it in the grammar long ago.
AARON	Ay, just; a verse in Horace; right, you have it.
	[Aside]
	Now, what a thing it is to be an ass! Here's no sound jest! the old man hath found their guilt; And sends them weapons wrapped about with lines, That wound, beyond their feeling, to the quick. But were our witty empress well afoot, She would applaud Andronicus' conceit: But let her rest in her unrest awhile.
	And now, young lords, was't not a happy star Led us to Rome, strangers, and more than so, Captives, to be advanced to this height? It did me good, before the palace gate To brave the tribune in his brother's hearing.
DEMETRIUS	But me more good, to see so great a lord Basely insinuate and send us gifts.
AARON	Had he not reason, Lord Demetrius? Did you not use his daughter very friendly?
DEMETRIUS	I would we had a thousand Roman dames At such a bay, by turn to serve our lust.
CHIRON	A charitable wish and full of love.
AARON	Here lacks but your mother for to say amen.
CHIRON	And that would she for twenty thousand more.
DEMETRIUS	Come, let us go; and pray to all the gods For our beloved mother in her pains.
AARON	[Aside] Pray to the devils; the gods have given us over.
	[Trumpets sound within]
DEMETRIUS	Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?
CHIRON	Belike, for joy the emperor hath a son.
DEMETRIUS	Soft! who comes here?
	[Enter a Nurse, with a blackamoor Child in her arms]
Nurse	Good morrow, lords: O, tell me, did you see Aaron the Moor?
AARON	Well, more or less, or ne'er a whit at all, Here Aaron is; and what with Aaron now?
Nurse	O gentle Aaron, we are all undone! Now help, or woe betide thee evermore!
AARON	Why, what a caterwauling dost thou keep! What dost thou wrap and fumble in thine arms?
Nurse	O, that which I would hide from heaven's eye, Our empress' shame, and stately Rome's disgrace! She is deliver'd, lords; she is deliver'd.
AARON	To whom?
Nurse	I mean, she is brought a-bed.
AARON	Well, God give her good rest! What hath he sent her?
Nurse	A devil.
AARON	Why, then she is the devil's dam; a joyful issue.
Nurse	A joyless, dismal, black, and sorrowful issue: Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad Amongst the fairest breeders of our clime: The empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal, And bids thee christen it with thy dagger's point.
AARON	'Zounds, ye whore! is black so base a hue? Sweet blowse, you are a beauteous blossom, sure.
DEMETRIUS	Villain, what hast thou done?
AARON	That which thou canst not undo.
CHIRON	Thou hast undone our mother.
AARON	Villain, I have done thy mother.
DEMETRIUS	And therein, hellish dog, thou hast undone. Woe to her chance, and damn'd her loathed choice! Accursed the offspring of so foul a fiend!
CHIRON	It shall not live.
AARON	It shall not die.
Nurse	Aaron, it must; the mother wills it so.
AARON	What, must it, nurse? then let no man but I Do execution on my flesh and blood.
DEMETRIUS	I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point: Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon dispatch it.
AARON	Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up.
	[Takes the Child from the Nurse, and draws]
	Stay, murderous villains! will you kill your brother? Now, by the burning tapers of the sky, That shone so brightly when this boy was got, He dies upon my scimitar's sharp point That touches this my first-born son and heir! I tell you, younglings, not Enceladus, With all his threatening band of Typhon's brood, Nor great Alcides, nor the god of war, Shall seize this prey out of his father's hands. What, what, ye sanguine, shallow-hearted boys! Ye white-limed walls! ye alehouse painted signs! Coal-black is better than another hue, In that it scorns to bear another hue; For all the water in the ocean Can never turn the swan's black legs to white, Although she lave them hourly in the flood. Tell the empress from me, I am of age To keep mine own, excuse it how she can.
DEMETRIUS	Wilt thou betray thy noble mistress thus?
AARON	My mistress is my mistress; this myself, The vigour and the picture of my youth: This before all the world do I prefer; This maugre all the world will I keep safe, Or some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.
DEMETRIUS	By this our mother is forever shamed.
CHIRON	Rome will despise her for this foul escape.
Nurse	The emperor, in his rage, will doom her death.
CHIRON	I blush to think upon this ignomy.
AARON	Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears: Fie, treacherous hue, that will betray with blushing The close enacts and counsels of the heart! Here's a young lad framed of another leer: Look, how the black slave smiles upon the father, As who should say 'Old lad, I am thine own.' He is your brother, lords, sensibly fed Of that self-blood that first gave life to you, And from that womb where you imprison'd were He is enfranchised and come to light: Nay, he is your brother by the surer side, Although my seal be stamped in his face.
Nurse	Aaron, what shall I say unto the empress?
DEMETRIUS	Advise thee, Aaron, what is to be done, And we will all subscribe to thy advice: Save thou the child, so we may all be safe.
AARON	Then sit we down, and let us all consult. My son and I will have the wind of you: Keep there: now talk at pleasure of your safety.
	[They sit]
DEMETRIUS	How many women saw this child of his?
AARON	Why, so, brave lords! when we join in league, I am a lamb: but if you brave the Moor, The chafed boar, the mountain lioness, The ocean swells not so as Aaron storms. But say, again; how many saw the child?
Nurse	Cornelia the midwife and myself; And no one else but the deliver'd empress.
AARON	The empress, the midwife, and yourself: Two may keep counsel when the third's away: Go to the empress, tell her this I said.
	[He kills the nurse]
	Weke, weke! so cries a pig prepared to the spit.
DEMETRIUS	What mean'st thou, Aaron? wherefore didst thou this?
AARON	O Lord, sir, 'tis a deed of policy: Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours, A long-tongued babbling gossip? no, lords, no: And now be it known to you my full intent. Not far, one Muli lives, my countryman; His wife but yesternight was brought to bed; His child is like to her, fair as you are: Go pack with him, and give the mother gold, And tell them both the circumstance of all; And how by this their child shall be advanced, And be received for the emperor's heir, And substituted in the place of mine, To calm this tempest whirling in the court; And let the emperor dandle him for his own. Hark ye, lords; ye see I have given her physic,
	[Pointing to the nurse]
	And you must needs bestow her funeral; The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms: This done, see that you take no longer days, But send the midwife presently to me. The midwife and the nurse well made away, Then let the ladies tattle what they please.
CHIRON	Aaron, I see thou wilt not trust the air With secrets.
DEMETRIUS	For this care of Tamora, Herself and hers are highly bound to thee.
	[Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON bearing off the Nurse's body]
AARON	Now to the Goths, as swift as swallow flies; There to dispose this treasure in mine arms, And secretly to greet the empress' friends. Come on, you thick lipp'd slave, I'll bear you hence; For it is you that puts us to our shifts: I'll make you feed on berries and on roots, And feed on curds and whey, and suck the goat, And cabin in a cave, and bring you up To be a warrior, and command a camp.
	[Exit]