Tam. But when you have the honey you desire, Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting.

Chi. I warrant you, madam, we will make that

sure.

Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy
That nice-preserved honesty of yours.

Lav. O Tamora! thou bear'st a woman's face ;-
Tam. I will not hear her speak; away with her.
Lav. Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a

word.

Dem. Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory To see her tears; but be your heart to them,

As unrelenting flint to drops of rain.

Lav. When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam?

O, do not learn her wrath; she taught it thee.
The milk, thou suck'dst from her, did turn to

marble;

Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny:

Yet every mother breeds not sons alike.

Do thou entreat her show a woman pity.

[to Chiron. Chi. What! wouldst thou have me prove myself

a bastard?

Lav. 'Tis true; the raven doth not hatch a lark: Yet I have heard, (O, could I find it now!) The lion, moved with pity, did endure To have his princely paws pared all away. Some say, that ravens foster forlorn children, The whilst their own birds famish in their nests. O, be to me, though thy hard heart say no,

Nothing so kind, but something pitiful!

Tam. I know not what it means: away with her. Lav. O, let me teach thee: for my father's sake, That gave thee life, when well he might have slain thee,

Be not obdurate; open thy deaf ears.

Tam. Hadst thou in person ne'er offended me,
Even for his sake am I pitiless.

Remember, boys, I pour'd forth tears in vain,
To save your brother from the sacrifice ;
But fierce Andronicus would not relent:
Therefore away with her, and use her as you will ;
The worse to her, the better loved of me.

Lav. O Tamora, be call'd a gentle queen,
And with thine own hands kill me in this place :
For 'tis not life that I have begg'd so long;
Poor I was slain when Bassianus died.

Tam. What begg'st thou then? fond1 woman, let

me go.

Lav. 'Tis present death I beg; and one thing

more,

That womanhood denies my tongue to tell.

O, 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.

Foolish.

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

Chi. Nay, then I'll stop your mouth.-Bring thou her husband; [dragging of 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 deflour. [Exit.

SCENE IV.

The same.

Enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS.

Aaron. Come on, my lords; the better foot

before :

Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit,
Where I espied the panther fast asleep.

Quin. My sight is very dull, whate'er it bodes.
Mart. And mine, I promise you: were 't not for

shame,

Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile.

[Martius falls into the pit.

SCENE IV.

TITUS ANDRONICUS.

Quin. What, art thou fallen? What subtle hole

is this,

Whose mouth is cover'd with rude-growing briers;
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. O, brother, with the dismall'st object hurt,
That ever eye, with sight, made heart lament.

Aaron. [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'erruns 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.
O, tell me who it is; for ne'er, till now,
Was I a child, to fear I know not what.

Mart. Lord Bassianus lies imbrued here,
All on a heap, like to a slaughter'd lamb,

In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.

Quin. If it be dark, how dost thou know 'tis he? "Mart. Upon his bloody finger he doth wear "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 this pit.
"So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus,
"When he by night lay bathed in maiden blood.
"O 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.

[falls in.

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