Thus will I hide me from your company.
Offers to be gone.
Scene III
TO HER ENTER Queen Mother suddenly, with Alvaro and Roderigo with rapiers.
Queen MotherLay hold upon the strumpet, where’s the King?
Fernando, son, ah me your King is dead!
Lay hand upon the murderess.
MariaImperious Queen, I am as free from murder as thyself,
Which I will prove, if you will hear me speak:
The King is living.
Roderigo If he lived, his breath would beat within his breast.
Queen MotherThe life he leads, Maria, thou shalt soon participate.
Maria
Oh father, save me!
AlveroThou art no child of mine; hadst thou been owner of Alvero’s spirit,
Thy heart would not have entertained a thought
That had convert with murder, yet mine eyes
(Howe’er my tongue wants words) brim full with tears.
Entreat her further trial!
Verdugo To what end? Here lies her trial; from this royal breast
Hath she stol’n all comfort, all the life
Of every bosom in the realm of
Spain.
Roderigo She’s both a traitor and murderess.
Queen MotherI’ll have her forthwith strangled.
Alvero Hear her speak.
Queen MotherTo heaven let her complain if she have wrong,
I murder but the murderess of my son.
AllWe murder the murderess of our King.
Alvero Ah me, my child oh! Oh cease your torturing!
MariaHeaven, ope the windows that my spotless soul,
Riding upon the wings of innocence,
May enter paradise; fairies, farewell;
Fernando’s death in mine you did foretell.
She dies. King wakes.
King Fernando Who calls Fernando? Love, Maria, speak
Oh! Whither art thou fled? Whence flow these waters
That falls like winter storms from thy drowned eyes?
AlveroFrom my Maria’s death!
King FernandoMy Maria dead?
Damned be the soul to hell that stopped her breath;
Maria, Oh me; who durst murder her?
Queen MotherI thought my dear Fernando had been dead,
And in my indignation murdered her.
King FernandoI was not dead until you murdered me
By killing fair Maria.
Queen MotherGentle son.
King FernandoUngentle mother, you a deed have done
Of so much ruth that no succeeding age
Can ever clear you off; Oh my dear love,
Yet heavens can witness thou wert never mine,
Spain’s wonder was Maria.
Queen MotherSweet, have done.
King Fernando Have done for what? For shedding zealous tears
Over the tomb of virtue’s chastity?
You cry have done, now I am doing good,
But cried do on, when you were shedding blood,
Have you done mother? Yes, yes, you have done
That which will undo your unhappy son.
RoderigoThese words become you not, my gracious Lord.
King FernandoThese words become not me, no more it did
Become you, Lords, to be mute standers by
When lustful fury ravished chastity.
It will become me to lament her death,
But it became you well to stop her breath;
Had she been fair and not so virtuous,
This deed had not been half so impious.
Alvero But she was fair in virtue, virtuous fair, oh me!
King FernandoOh me! She was true honour’s heir.
Hence, beldam, from my presence, all fly hence;
You are all murderers; come poor innocence,
Clasp thy cold hand in mine, for here I’ll lie,
And since I lived for her, for her I’ll die.
Scene IV
ENTER ELEAZAR WITH a torch and rapier drawn.
Eleazar Bar up my castle gates; fire and confusion
Shall girt these Spanish curs. Was I for this
Sent to raise power against a fugitive,
To have my wife deflowered? Zounds, where’s my wife?
My slaves cry out, she’s dallying with the King,
Stand by, where is your King? Eleazar’s bed shall
Scorn to be an emperor’s brothelry.
Queen MotherBe patient Eleazar, here’s the King.
Eleazar Patience and I am foe, where’s my Maria?
AlveroHere is her hapless corse that was Maria.
King FernandoHere lies Maria’s body, here her grave,
Her dead heart in my breast a tomb shall have.
Eleazar Now by the proud complexion of my cheeks,
Ta’en from the kisses of the amorous sun;
Were he ten thousand Kings that slew my love,
Thus should my hand, plumed with revenge’s wings,
Requite mine own dishonour and her death.
Stabs the King.
Queen MotherAh me! My son.
All The King is murdered, lay hold on the damned traitor.
Eleazar In his breast that dares but dart a finger at the Moor
I’ll bury this sharp steel, yet reeking warm
With the unchaste blood of that lecher King
That threw my wife in an untimely grave.
AlveroShe was my daughter and her timeless grave
Did swallow down my joys as deep as yours:
But thus -
Eleazar But what? Bear injuries that can;
I’ll wear no forked crest.
Roderigo Damn this black fiend; cry treason through the court.
The King is murdered.
Eleazar He that first opens his lips, I’ll drive his words
Down his wide throat upon my rapier’s point.
The King is murdered and I’ll answer it;
I am dishonoured, and I will revenge it.
Bend not your dangerous weapons at my breast,
Think where you are: this castle is the Moor’s;
You are environed with a wall of flint.
The gates are locked, portcullises let down;
If Eleazar spend one drop of blood,
Zarack and Baltazar above with claviers
On those high turret tops my slaves stand armed,
And shall confound your souls with murdering shot.
Or if you murder me, yet under ground
A villain that for me will dig to hell
Stands with a burning limstock in his fist,
Who firing gunpowder up in the air
Shall fling your torn and mangled carcasses.
QueenMother Oh! Sheathe your weapons; though my son be slain,
Yet save yourselves: choose a new sovereign.
All Prince Philip is our sovereign, choose him King.
Eleazar Prince Philip shall not be my sovereign.
Philip’s a bastard, and Fernando’s dead;
Mendoza sweats to wear Spain’s diadem,
Philip hath sworn confusion to this realm.
They both are up in arms; war’s flames do shine
Like lightning in the air, wherefore, my Lords,
Look well on Eleazar; value me not by my sun-burnt
Cheek, but by my birth; nor by
My birth, but by my loss of blood,
Which I have sacrificed in Spain’s defence.
Then look on Philip, and the Cardinal:
Look on those gaping curs, whose wide throats
Stand stretched wide open like the gates of death,
To swallow you, your country, children, wives.
Philip cries fire and blood, the Cardinal
Cries likewise fire and blood, I’ll quench those flames,
The Moor cries blood and fire and that shall burn
Till Castile like proud Troy to cinders turn.
> Roderigo Lay by these umbrages, what seeks the Moor?
Eleazar A kingdom, Castile’s crown.
Alvero Peace, devil, for shame.
Queen MotherPeace, doting lord, for shame; oh misery
When Indian slaves thirst after empery.
Princes and peers of Spain, we are beset
With horror on each side; you deny him,
Death stands at all our backs, we cannot fly him.
Crown Philip King, the crown upon his head,
Will prove a fiery meteor, war and vengeance
And desolation will invade our land;
Besides Prince Philip is a bastard born.
Oh! Give me leave to blush at mine own shame;
But I for love to you, love to fair Spain,
Choose rather to rip up a Queen’s disgrace,
Then by concealing it to set the crown
Upon a bastard’s head. Wherefore, my Lords,
By my consent crown that proud Black Moor,
Since Spain’s bright glory must so soon grow dim;
Since it must end, let it end all in him.
AllEleazar shall be King.
AlveroOh treachery! Have you so soon razed out Fernando’s love;
So soon forgot the duty of true peers;
So soon, so soon buried a mother’s name,
That you will crown him King that slew your King?
Eleazar Will you hear him or me? Who shall be King?
AllEleazar shall be Castile’s sovereign.
Alvero Do, do, make haste to crown him! Lords, adieu.
Here hell must be when the devil governs you.
Exit.
Eleazar By heaven’s great star, which Indians do adore,
But that I hate to hear the giddy word
Shame that I waded to a crown through blood,
I’d not digest his pills; but since, my Lords,
You have chosen Eleazar for your King,
Invest me with a general applause.
All Live Eleazar, Castile’s Royal King.
Roderigo A villain and a base born fugitive.
Aside.
Christofero A bloody tyrant, a usurping slave.
Aside.
Eleazar Thanks to you all; ’tis not the Spanish Crown
That Eleazar strives for, but Spain’s peace.
Amongst you I’ll divide her Empery;
Christofero shall wear Granado’s crown;
To Roderigo I’ll give Aragon,
Naples, Navarre and fair Jerusalem,
I’ll give to other three, and then our viceroys
Shall shine about our bright Castilian crown
As stars about the Sun. Cry all, arm, arm;
Prince Philip and the Cardinal do ride
Like Jove in thunder, in a storm we’ll meet them.
Go levy powers; if any man must fall,
My death shall first begin the funeral.
Exit.
Scene V
ENTER ZARACK AND Baltazar with calivers.
Baltazar Is thy cock ready, and thy powder dry?
Zarack My cock stands perching, like a cock on the game;
With a red coal for his crest instead of a comb;
And for my powder, ’tis but touch and take.
BaltazarI have tickling gear too, anonI’ll cry here I have it,
And yonder I see it; but, Zarack, is it policy for us
To kill these bald-pates?
Zarack Is it policy for us to save ourselves?
If they live, we die. Is it not wisdom then
To send them to heaven, rather than be sent ourselves?
Come, you black slave, be resolute. This way they come;
Here they will stand, and yonder will I stand.
BaltazarAnd in yonder hole I.
Zarack Our amiable faces cannot be seen if we keep close;
Therefore hide your cock’s head, lest his burning cocks-comb betray us.
But soft, which of the two shall be thy white?
Baltazar That black villain, Friar Cole.
Zarack I shall have a sharp piece of service.
Friar Crab shall be my man.
Farewell and be resolute.
Baltazar Zounds, Zarack, I shall never have the heart to do it.
ZarackYou rogue, think who commands: Eleazar.
Who shall rise? Baltazar.
Who shall die? A lousy Friar.
Who shall live our good Lord and Master?
The Negro King of Spain.
BaltazarCole, thou art but a dead man,
And shall turn to ashes.
Exit.
Zarack Crab, here’s that shall make vinegar of thy carcase.
Exit.
Enter Crab and Cole, two Friars with a rout of stinkards following them.
Friar Crab Aye, brother, ’tis best; so, now we have drawn them to a head,
We’ll begin here in the market place.
Tut, so long as we be commanded by the Mother Queen
We’ll say her son is a bastard, an he was ten Philips.
Friar Cole Take you one market form, I’ll take another.
Friar Crab No, Gods, so; we must both keep one form.
Friar Cole Aye, in oration, but not in station; mount, mount.
1 Well my masters, you know him not so well as I; on my word
Friar Crab is a sour fellow.
2 Yet he may utter sweet doctrine by your leave; but what
Think you of Friar Cole?
1 He’s all fire an he be kindled once - a hot Catholic.
3 An you mark him, he has a zealous nose,
And richly inflamed.
1 Peace you rogues now they begin.
Crab Incipe frater?
Cole Non ego Domine.
Crab Nec ego.
Cole Quare?
Crab Quia?
Cole Quæso,
All Here’s a queasy beginning me thinks. Silence, silence.
Crab Brethren citizens and market-folks of Seville -
Cole Well beloved and honoured Castilians.
Crab It is not unknown to you!
Cole I am sure you are not ignorant.
CrabHow villainous and strong -
Cole How monstrous and huge -
Crab The faction of Prince Philip is;
Cole Philip that is a bastard.
Crab Philip that is a bastard.
ColePhilip that killed your King.
Crab Only to make himself King.
Cole And by God’s blessed Lady you are all damned an you suffer it.
1 Friar Cole says true, he speaks out of the heat of his zeal;
Look how he glows.
2 Well Friar Crab for my money, he has set my teeth an edge
Against this bastard.
1 Oh! His words are like vergis, to whet a man’s stomach.
All Silence, silence.
Crab Now contrariwise…
Cole Your noble King the Moor.
Crab Is a valiant gentleman.
Cole A noble gentleman.
Crab An honourable gentleman.
ColeA fair black gentleman.
Crab A friend to Castilians.
ColeA champion for Castilians.
Crab A man fit to be King.
ColeIf he were not borne down by him that would be King,
Who (as I said before) is a bastard and no King.
1 What think you my masters? Do you mark his words well?
CrabFurther compare them together.
All ‘Sblood, there’s no comparison between them.
ColeNay, but hear us, good countrymen.
All Hear Friar Cole, hear Friar Cole.
Cole Set that bastard and Eleazar together:
1 How? Mean you by the ears?
Crab No, but compare them.
Cole Do but compare them.
2 Zounds, we say again comparisons are odious.
1 But say on, say on.
Pieces go off, Friars die.
All
Treason, treason, every man shifts for himself.
This is Philip’s treason. Arm, arm, arm.
Exeunt.
Scene VI
ENTER ELEAZAR, ZARACK, and Baltazar.
Eleazar Zarack and Baltazar, are they dispatched?
Zarack We saw them sprawl and turn up the white of the eye.
Eleazar So shall they perish that lay countermines
To cross our high designments; by their habits
The Cardinal and Philip escaped our nets.
And by your hands they tasted our revenge.
Enter Queen Mother.
Here comes the Queen, away! Under our wings
You shall stand safe, and brave the proudest Kings.
Exit.
Queen MotherOh! Fly, my Eleazar, save thy life.
Else point a guard about thee, the mad people
Tempestuous like the Sea run up and down,
Some crying kill the bastard, some the Moor;
Some cry, God save King Philip; and some cry,
God save the Moor; some others, he shall die.
Eleazar Are these your fears? Thus blow them into air.
I rushed amongst the thickest of their crowds,
And with a countenance majestical,
Like the imperious sun dispersed their clouds;
I have perfumed the rankness of their breath,
And by the magic of true eloquence,
This pigment chameleon, this beast multitude,
Whose power consists in number, pride in threats,
Yet melt like snow when majesty shines forth
This heap of fools, who crowding in huge, swarms,
Stood at our court gates like a heap of dung,
Racking and shouting out contagious breath
Of power to poison all the elements,
This wolf I held by the ears and made him tame,
And made him tremble at the Moor’s great name.
No, we must combat with a grimmer foe:
That damned Mendoza over-turns our hopes.
He loves you dearly.
Queen MotherBy his secret letters he hath entreated
Me in some disguise to leave the
Court, and fly into his arms.
Eleazar The world cannot devise a stratagem
Sooner to throw confusion on his pride;
Subscribe to his desires and in dead night
Steal to his castle, swear to him his love
Hath drawn you thither; undermine his soul,
And learn what villainies are there laid up,
Then for your pleasure walk to take the air:
Near to the castle I’ll in ambush lie,
And stern by force to take you prisoner;
This done, I have a practice plotted here,
Shall rid him of his life, and us of fear:
Complete Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker Page 21