Lucius. I humbly thank him, and I thank you all. But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth?

Enter GOTH, leading AARON, with his Child in his

arms.

2 Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I stray'd,

To gaze upon a ruinous monastery;
And, as I earnestly did fix mine eye
Upon the wasted building, suddenly
I heard a child cry underneath a wall:
I made unto the noise; when soon I heard
The crying babe controll'd with this discourse :—
'Peace, tawny slave; half me, and half thy dam!
Did not thy hue bewray1 whose brat thou art;
Had Nature lent thee but thy mother's look ;-
Villain, thou mightst have been an emperor :
But where the bull and cow are both milk-white,
They never do beget a coal-black calf.

Peace, villain, peace!'-even thus he rates the babe,

For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth;

Who, when he knows thou art the empress' babe,

Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's sake.' With this, my weapon drawn, I rush'd upon him, Surprised him suddenly; and brought him hither, To use as you think needful of the man.

1 Discover.

Lucius. O worthy Goth! this is the incarnate

devil

1

That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand:
This is the pearl that pleased your empress' eye; 1
And here's the base fruit of his burning lust.
Say, wall-eyed slave, whither wouldst thou convey
This growing image of thy fiend-like face?

Why dost not speak? What! deaf? No; not a word?

A halter, soldiers: hang him on this tree,
And by his side his fruit of bastardy.

Aaron. Touch not the boy; he is of royal blood.
Lucius. Too like the sire for ever being good.
First, hang the child, that he may see it sprawl;
A sight to vex the father's soul withal.

Get me a ladder.

Aaron.

[a ladder brought, which Aaron is obliged

to ascend.

Lucius, save the child;

And bear it from me to the emperess.

If thou do this, I'll show thee wondrous things,
That highly may advantage thee to hear:

If thou wilt not, befall what may befall,

I'll speak no more: but vengeance rot you all! Lucius. Say on; and, if it please me which thou speak'st,

Thy child shall live, and I will see it norish'd.

In allusion to the proverb,-A black man is a pearl in a fair woman's eye.

Aaron. An if it please thee? why, assure thee,

Lucius,

"Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak;
For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres,
Acts of black night, abominable deeds,

Complots of mischief, treason; villanies
Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd: 2
And this shall all be buried by my death,
Unless thou swear to me, my child shall live.

Lucius. Tell on thy mind: I say, thy child shall

live.

Aaron. Swear that he shall, and then I will

begin.

Lucius. Who should I swear by? thou believest no god:

That granted, how canst thou believe an oath?

Aaron. What if I do not? as, indeed, I do not: Yet, for I know thou art religious,

And hast a thing within thee, called conscience;
With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies,
Which I have seen thee careful to observe ;-
Therefore I urge thy oath: for that, I know,
An idiot holds his bauble for a god,

And keeps the oath, which by that god he swears;
To that I'll urge him: therefore thou shalt vow
By that same god, what god soe'er it be,
That thou adorest and hast in reverence,-

1 Woful.

2 i. e. performed in a manner exciting pity

To save my boy, to norish, and bring him up ;
Or else I will discover naught to thee.

Lucius. Even by my god, I swear to thee, I will. Aaron. First, know thou, I begot him on the

empress.

Lucius. O most insatiate, luxurious1 woman! Aaron. Tut, Lucius! this was but a deed of

charity,

To that which thou shalt hear of me anon.
'Twas her two sons that murder'd Bassianus :
They cut thy sister's tongue, and ravish'd her,
And cut her hands, and trimm'd her as thou saw'st.
Lucius. O detestable villain! call'st thou that

trimming?

Aaron. Why, she was wash'd, and

trimm'd; and 'twas

cut, and

Trim sport for them that had the doing of it.

Lucius. O, barbarous, beastly villains, like thyself! Aaron. Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct

them;

That codding spirit had they from their mother,
As sure a card as ever won the set;

That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me,
As true a dog as ever fought at head.
Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth.
I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole,
Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:

1 Lascivious.

2 In allusion to bull-dogs, who always show their courage by meeting the bull in front, and seising his nose.

I wrote the letter that thy father found,

And hid the gold within the letter mention'd,
Confederate with the queen and her two sons:
And what not done, that thou hast cause to rue,
Wherein I had no stroke of mischief in it?

I play'd the cheater for thy father's hand;
And, when I had it, drew myself apart,

And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter.
I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall,
When, for his hand, he had his two sons' heads;
Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily,

That both mine eyes were rainy like to his :
And when I told the empress of this sport,
She swounded almost at my pleasing tale,

And, for my tidings, gave me twenty kisses.

Goth. What! canst thou say all this, and never

blush?

Aaron. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.

Lucius. Art thou not sorry for these heinous

deeds?

Aaron. Ay, that I had not done a thousand more.
Even now I curse the day, (and yet, I think,
Few come within the compass of my curse)

Wherein I did not some notorious ill;
As kill a man, or else devise his death;
Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;
Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself;
Set deadly enmity between two friends;
Make poor men's cattle break their necks;
Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their tears.