Aar. Well, more, or less, or ne'er a whit at all, Here Aaron is; and what with Aaron now? Nur. O gentle Aaron, we are all undone ! Now help, or woe betide thee evermore! Aar. Why, what a caterwauling dost thou keep! What dost thou wrap and fumble in thine arms? Nur. O, that which I would hide from heaven's eye, Our empress' shame, and stately Rome's disgrace; She is delivered, lords, she is delivered. Aar. To whom? Nur. Aar. I mean, she's brought to bed. Well, God Give her good rest! What hath he sent her? A devil. Aar. Why, then she's the devil's dam; a joyful issue. Nur. A joyless, dismal, black, and sorrowful issue. Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad Amongst the fairest breeders of our clime. Aar. Canst not undo. Chi. Done! that which thou Thou hast undone our mother. Aar. Villain, I have done thy mother. Dem. And therein, hellish dog, thou hast undone. Woe to her chance, and damned her loathed choice! Accursed the offspring of so foul a fiend! Chi. It shall not live. Aar. It shall not die. Nur. Aaron, it must; the mother wills it so. Aar. What, must it, nurse? Then let no man but I Do execution on my flesh and blood. Dem. I'll broach1 the tadpole on my rapier's point; Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon despatch it. 1 In Lust's Dominion, by Marlowe, a play in its style bearing a near resemblance to Titus Andronicus, Eleazar, the Moor, a character of Aar. 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, Shall seize this prey out of his father's hands. In that it scorns to bear another hue; Can never turn a swan's black legs to white, Chi. Rome will despise her for this foul escape." Nur. The emperor, in his rage, will doom her death. Chi. I blush to think upon this ignomy.3 unmingled ferocity, like Aaron, and, like him, the paramour of a royal mistress, exclaims: 66 Run, and with a voice Erected high as mine, say thus, thus threaten To Roderigo and the Cardinal, Seek no queens here; I'll broach them, if they do, 1 A giant, the son of Titan and Terra. 2 i. e. this foul, illegitimate child. So in King John: 3 i. e. ignominy. VOL. VI. "No scape of Nature." 50 : Aar. Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears; Nay, he's your brother by the surer side, Nur. Aaron, what shall I say unto the empress? Aar. 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 on the ground. Dem. How many women saw this child of his? Aar. Why, so, brave lords. When we all join in league, I am a lamb; but if you brave the Moor, Nur. Cornelia the midwife, and myself, Aar. The emperess, the midwife, and yourself. Two may keep counsel, when the third's away; Go to the empress; tell her, this I said; [Stabbing her. Weke, weke !-So cries a pig, prepared to the spit. Dem. What mean'st thou, Aaron? Wherefore didst thou this? Aar. O lord, sir, 'tis a deed of policy. Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours? 1 Complexion. A long-tongued, babbling gossip? No, lords, no. 2 Go pack with him, and give the mother gold, To calm this tempest whirling in the court; The midwife, and the nurse, well made away, Chi. Aaron, I see, thou wilt not trust the air Dem. For this care of Tamora, Herself, and hers, are highly bound to thee. [Exeunt DEM. and CHI., bearing off the Nurse. Aar. 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-lipped 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, To be a warrior, and command a camp. [Exit. 1 The word lives, which is wanting in the old copies, was supplied by Rowe. Steevens thinks Muliteus a corruption for "Muly lives." 2 To pack is to contrive insidiously. SCENE III. The same. A public Place. Enter TITUS, bearing arrows, with letters at the ends of them; with him MARCUS, young Lucius, and other Gentlemen, with bows. Tit. Come, Marcus, come ;-kinsmen, this is the way; Sir boy, now let me see your archery; Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight. Be you remembered, Marcus, she's gone, she's fled. Yet there's as little justice as at land.— To see thy noble uncle thus distract? Pub. Therefore, my lord, it highly us concerns, By day and night to attend him carefully; And feed his humor kindly as we may, Till time beget some careful remedy. Mar. Kinsmen, his sorrows are past remedy. Join with the Goths; and with revengeful war |