The Complete Plays (34 page)

TAMBURLAINE
Take them away, Theridamas. See them dispatched.

THERIDAMAS
I will, my lord.

[
Exit
THERIDAMAS
with the kings of
TREBIZOND
and
SORIA
.]

TAMBURLAINE

Come, Asian viceroys, to your tasks a while,

And take such fortune as your fellows felt.

ORCANES

First let thy Scythian horse tear both our limbs,

140   Rather than we should draw thy chariot,

And like base slaves abject our princely minds

To vile and ignominious servitude.

JERUSALEM

Rather lend me thy weapon, Tamburlaine,

That I may sheathe it in this breast of mine.

A thousand deaths could not torment our hearts

More than the thought of this doth vex our souls.

AMYRAS

They will talk still, my lord, if you do not bridle them.

TAMBURLAINE

Bridle them, and let me to my coach.

They bridle them. [The
GOVERNOR OF BABYLON
is hung up in chains. Re-enter
THERIDAMAS. TAMBURLAINE
mounts his chariot
.]

AMYRAS

See now, my lord, how brave the captain hangs!

TAMBURLAINE

150   'Tis brave indeed, my boy. Well done!

Shoot first, my lord, and then the rest shall follow.

THERIDAMAS

Then have at him to begin withal.

THERIDAMAS
shoots
[
the
GOVERNOR
].

GOVERNOR

Yet save my life, and let this wound appease

The mortal fury of great Tamburlaine.

TAMBURLAINE

No, though Asphaltis' lake were liquid gold

And offered me as ransom for thy life,

Yet shouldst thou die. Shoot at him all at once.

They shoot
.

So, now he hangs
like Baghdad's governor
,

Having as many bullets in his flesh

160   As there be breaches in her battered wall.

Go now and bind the burghers hand and foot,

And cast them headlong in the city's lake;

Tartars and Persians shall inhabit there,

And, to command the city, I will build

A citadel, that all
Assyria
,

Which hath been subject to the Persian king,

Shall pay me tribute for, in Babylon.

TECHELLES

What shall be done with their wives and children, my lord?

TAMBURLAINE

Techelles, drown them all, man, woman, and child.

170   Leave not a Babylonian in the town.

TECHELLES

I will about it straight. Come, soldiers.

Exit
[
TECHELLES
with
SOLDIERS
].

TAMBURLAINE

Now, Casane, where's the Turkish Alcoran,

And all the heaps of superstitious books

Found in the temples of that Mahomet

Whom I have thought a god? They shall be burnt.

USUMCASANE
[
presenting the books
] Here they are, my lord.

TAMBURLAINE

Well said. Let there be a fire presently.

[
They light a fire
.]

In vain, I see, men worship Mahomet.

My sword hath sent millions of Turks to hell,

180   Slew all his priests, his kinsmen, and his friends,

And yet I live untouched by Mahomet.

There is a God full of revenging wrath,

From whom the thunder and the lightning breaks,

Whose scourge I am, and him will I obey.

So, Casane, fling them in the fire.

[
They burn the books
.]

Now, Mahomet, if thou have any power,

Come down thyself and work a miracle.

Thou art not worthy to be worshippéd

That suffers flames of fire to burn the writ

190   Wherein the sum of thy religion rests.

Why send'st thou not a furious whirlwind down

To blow thy Alcoran up to thy throne,

Where men report thou sitt'st by God himself,

Or vengeance on the head of Tamburlaine,

That shakes his sword against thy majesty

And spurns the
abstracts
of thy foolish laws?

Well, soldiers, Mahomet remains in hell;

He cannot hear the voice of Tamburlaine.

Seek out another godhead to adore,

200   The God that sits in heaven, if any god,

For he is God alone, and none but he.

[
Re-enter
TECHELLES
.]

TECHELLES

I have fulfilled your highness' will, my lord.

Thousands of men, drowned in Asphaltis' lake,

Have made the water swell above the banks,

And fishes, fed by human carcasses,

Amazed, swim up and down upon the waves As when they swallow assafoetida,

Which makes them fleet aloft and gasp for air.

TAMBURLAINE

Well, then, my friendly lords, what now remains,

210   But that we leave sufficient garrison,

And presently depart to Persia

To triumph after all our victories?

THERIDAMAS

Ay, good my lord. Let us in haste to Persia,

And let this captain
be removed the walls

To some high hill about the city here.

TAMBURLAINE

Let it be so. About it, soldiers.

But stay, I feel myself
distempered
suddenly.

TECHELLES

What is it dares distemper Tamburlaine?

TAMBURLAINE

Something, Techelles, but I know not what.

220   But forth, ye vassals! Whatsoe'er it be,

Sickness or death can never conquer me.

Exeunt
.

Enter
CALLAPINE
, [
the King of
]
AMASIA
, [
a
CAPTAIN
,
SOLDIERS
,]
with drums and trumpets
.

CALLAPINE

King of Amasia, now our mighty host

Marcheth in Asia Major, where the streams

Of Euphrates and Tigris swiftly runs,

And here may we behold great Babylon,

Circled about with Limnasphaltis' lake,

Where Tamburlaine with all his army lies,

Which being faint and weary with the siege,

We may lie ready to encounter him

Before his host be
full from Babylon
,

10   And so revenge our latest grievous loss,

If God or Mahomet send any aid.

AMASIA

Doubt not, my lord, but we shall conquer him.

The monster that hath drunk a sea of blood

And yet gapes still for more to quench his thirst,

Our Turkish swords shall headlong send to hell;

And that vile carcass drawn by warlike kings,

The fowls shall eat, for never sepulchre

Shall grace that base-born tyrant Tamburlaine.

CALLAPINE

When I
record
my parents' slavish life,

20   Their cruel death, mine own captivity,

My viceroys' bondage under Tamburlaine,

Methinks I could sustain a thousand deaths

To be revenged of all his villainy.

Ah, sacred Mahomet! Thou that hast seen

Millions of Turks perish by Tamburlaine,

Kingdoms made waste, brave cities sacked and burnt,

And but one host is left to honour thee,

Aid thy obedient servant Callapine,

And make him, after all these overthrows,

30   To triumph over cursed Tamburlaine!

AMASIA

Fear not, my lord. I see great Mahomet

Clothèd in purple clouds, and on his head

A chapter brighter than Apoll's crown,

Marching about the air with armèd mcn

To join with you against this Tamburlaine.

CAPTAIN

Renownèd general, mighty Callapine,

Though God himself and holy Mahomet

Should come in person to resist your power,

Yet might your mighty host encounter all

40   And pull proud Tamburlaine upon his knees

To sue for mercy at your highness' feet.

CALLAPINE

Captain, the force of Tamburlaine is great,

His fortune greater, and the victories

Wherewith he hath so sore dismayed the world

Are greatest to discourage all our drifts.

Yet when the pride of Cynthia is at full

She wanes again, and so shall his, I hope,

For we have here the chief selected men

Of twenty several kingdoms at the least.

50   Nor ploughman, priest, nor merchant stays at home;

All Turkey is in arms with Callapine,

And never will we sunder camps and arms

Before himself or his be conqueréd.

This is the time that must eternize me

For conquering the tyrant of the world.

Come, soldiers, let us lie in wait for him,

And if we find him absent from his camp

Or that
it be rejoined again at full,

Assail it and be sure of victory.

Exeunt
.

[
Enter
]
THERIDAMAS, TECHELLES, USUMCASANE. THERIDAMAS

Weep, heavens, and vanish into liquid tears!

Fall, stars that govern his nativity,

And summon all the shining lamps of heaven

To cast their bootless fires to the earth

And shed their feeble influence in the air!

Muffle your beauties with eternal clouds,

For hell and darkness pitch their pitchy tents,

And Death with armies of Cimmerian spirits

Gives battle 'gainst the heart of Tamburlaine.

10   Now, in defiance of that wonted love

Your sacred virtues poured upon his throne

And made his state an honour to the heavens,

These cowards invisibly assail his soul

And threaten conquest on our sovereign;

But if he die, your glories are disgraced,

Earth droops and says that hell in heaven is placed.

TECHELLES

O then, ye powers that sway eternal seats

And guide this massy substance of the earth,

If you
retain
desert of holiness,

20   As your supreme estates instruct our thoughts,

Be not inconstant, careless of your fame;

Bear
not the burden of your enemies' joys,

Triumphing in his fall whom you advanced;

But as his birth, life, health, and majesty

Were strangely blest and governèd by heaven,

So honour, heaven, till heaven dissolvèd be,

His birth, his life, his health, and majesty.

USUMCASANE

Blush, heaven, to lose the honour of thy name,

To see thy footstool set upon thy head,

30   And let no baseness in thy haughty breast

Sustain a shame of such inexcellence,

To see the devils mount in angels' thrones

And angels dive into the pools of hell.

And though
they think
their painful date is out

And that their power is puissant as Jove's,

Which makes them manage arms against thy state,

Yet make them feel the strength of Tamburlaine,

Thy instrument and note of majesty,

Is greater far than they can thus subdue;

40   For if he die, thy glory is disgraced,

Earth droops and says that hell in heaven is placed.

[
Enter
TAMBURLAINE
in his chariot, drawn by
ORCANES
,
King of Natolia and the King of
JERUSALEM
attended by
AMYRAS, CELEBINUS
,
and
PHYSICIANS
.]

TAMBURLAINE

What daring god torments my body thus

And seeks to conquer mighty Tamburlaine?

Shall sickness prove me now to be
a man
,

That have been termed the terror of the world?

Techelles and the rest, come take your swords

And threaten him whose hand afflicts my soul.

Come let us march against the powers of heaven

And set black streamers in the firmament

50   To signify the slaughter of the gods.

Ah, friends, what shall I do? I cannot stand.

Come, carry me to war against the gods,

That thus envy the health of Tamburlaine.

THERIDAMAS

Ah, good my lord, leave these impatient words,

Which add much danger to your malady.

TAMBURLAINE

Why shall I sit and languish in this pain?

No! Strike the drums, and, in revenge of this,

Come, let us
charge
our spears and pierce
his
breast

Whose shoulders bear the axis of the world,

60   That if I perish, heaven and earth may fade.

Theridamas, haste to the court of Jove.

Will him to send
Apollo
hither straight

To cure me, or I'll fetch him down myself.

TECHELLES

Sit still, my gracious lord. This grief will cease

And cannot last, it is so violent.

TAMBURLAINE

Not last, Techelles? No, for I shall die.

See where my slave, the ugly monster Death,

Shaking and quivering, pale and wan for fear,

Stands aiming at me with his murdering dart,

70   Who flies away at every glance I give,

And when I look away comes stealing on.

Villain, away, and hie thee to the field!

I and mine army come to load thy bark