A Select Collection of Old English Plays Part 56

EPH. Yes, I have heard it.

PLAN. Then know, when death and our own fates had sworn Our ruin, and we, like some strong wall that long Resists the iron vomits of the flaming cannon, At last shakes itself into a dreadful ruin To those who throw it down; so had the Iberians, With valour great as the cause they fought for, Strove with a n.o.ble envy, who should first[86]

Outgo his fellow in slaughtering the Argives: At last, oppress'd with mult.i.tude and toil, We sunk under the unequal burden; Then was our emulation chang'd, and who before Strove to outdo each other, now eagerly contended To run the race of death first. Sir, there it was I (and many other braver captains) fell, Being one wound from head to foot. O, then It was Inophilus came in, With about twenty other gallants, and with what speed The nimble lightning flies from east to west, Redeem'd this bleeding trunk, which the Insulting Argive had encompa.s.s'd, Blown up with victory and pride; he with A gallantry like none but great Inophilus, Being bravely back'd by his own soldiers, Whose actions spoke them more than men, had not Inophilus been by, redeem'd the honour Of a bleeding day. And thus are[87] [now] our troops, As little in number[88] as their valour great, Enrich'd with victory, blood, and jewels, Of which the opposite army wanted no store, Return'd with the renown of an achievement, As full of glory and honour to the conquerors, As ruin to the Argives.

INO. My liege, Had this action and my merit been so great As our prince would make it, I then might Own it, and expect reward.---- But it was so small, so much below my duty, That I must, upon my knees, beg pardon That I came no sooner.

EPH. This is a prodigy Beyond whatever yet was wrote in story.

Inophilus, we have been too backward In cherishing thy growing virtue, we will Hereafter mend it.

And, dear Rinatus, be proud of thy brave son, And let the people honour the remaining army; We shall esteem it as a favour done to us.

We have a largess for your valorous captains, You have not fought in vain.

This day let our court put on its greatest jollity, And let none wear a discontented brow; For where a frown is writ, we'll think it reason To say, that face hath characters of treason.

[_Exeunt._

ACT III., SCENE 1.

_Enter_ PLANGUS _and_ INOPHILUS.

INO. But, sir, when you consider she's a woman----

PLAN. O dear Inophilus!

Let earth and heav'n forget there are such things; Or if they ever name them, let it be With a curse heavy as are the ills they act. A mandrake's note Would ring a better peal of music in my ears, Than those two syllables p.r.o.nounc'd again.

INO. Pray, sir, put off this humour, This peevish pet, and reason tamely. Sir, You've lost a wench, and will you therefore lose Yourself too? Hear me but patiently a word.[89]

PLAN. Prythee, go teach the galley-slaves that word, Things that dare own no thought beyond their chains, And stand in fear of whipping and wanting bread.

Bid them be tame and patient that fry in sulphur: 'Tis a word I've forsworn to know the meaning of; Or if I must, 'tis but to shun it, and hate it more.

O, were thy wrongs as great as mine, Inophilus, Or didst thou love but half so well as Plangus, Thou wouldst instil into me the poison of revenge, And puff me up with thought of vengeance Till I did burst, and, like a breaking cloud, Spread a contagion on those have injur'd me.

INO. Why, this were handsome in some country-fellow, Whose soul is dirty as the thing he's mad for: 'Twere pretty in a lady that had lost her dog; [Her dog;] but----

PLAN. I know what thou wouldst say-- But for Plangus. O, 'tis for none but him to Be so. Those that have injur'd me are persons I once held dearer than my eyes; but how much Greater was my love, so much more is th' offence; Wounds from our friends are deepest.

Had any but my father--and yet methinks That name should have protected me; or was it Made only to secure offenders?

My life was his, he gave it me: my honour, too, I could have parted with; but, 'las, my love Was none of mine, no more than vows made to A deity and not perform'd. And for that creature, Who must be lost for ills, through which I must Make way to my revenge-- Had she betray'd my honour to anything But him that gave me being, she had made Me half amends, in that my way to vengeance Had been open. Now I am spurr'd forward To revenge by fury, and yet held in by the rein Of a foolish piety, that doth no man good But them that use it not.

'Tis like the miser's idol, it yielded him No gold till he had broke the head off.

Nay, Inophilus, one secret more, And the horror of it blow thee from earth to heaven, Where there are no such things as women: 'Twill turn thy soul the inside outward: I cannot get it out. Prythee what is't, Inophilus?

INO. Alas, I know not, sir.

PLAN. Do but imagine the worst of ills Earth ever groan'd under; a sin nothing but woman, Nay, such a woman as Andromana, durst think on; And it is that.

INO. How revenge transports you!

Princes have lost their mistresses before, Nay, and to those have not such right to them, As hath Ephorbas to what Plangus hath.

Who could command her, if not Ephorbas?

PLAN. But I have--O Inophilus, I burst-- Yet it will out--dost thou not see it here?

[_Unb.u.t.tons his doublet._

O, I have known Andromana as Ephorbas did last night.----

INO. Why, sir, The sin done by your father is not yours, If you could not help it.----

PLAN. Why, there it is: 'Tis that which gnaws me here.

But I swore by all the G.o.ds that she was As innocent from my unclean embraces as is The new-fall'n snow, or ermines that will meet Ten deaths before one spot: I made my father think The thoughts of angels were less innocent than she.

No, it was I betray'd him; his virtue was too great To[90] have suspected it. How do I look, Inophilus?

INO. Like some bless'd man that, griev'd for others' sins, Could,[91] out of a good nature, part with half His own whiteness to purge the others' stains.

PLAN. Now thou soothest, and, like some flattering gla.s.s, Present'st me to advantage. I am, in short, One born to make Iberia unhappy.

Had I as black a face as is my soul, you would Find in respect of it ?gyptians were snow-white.

Methinks I hear Heaven tell me I am slow, And it is time I had begun revenge.

Ephorbas has done him wrong, who lov'd him More than heaven or his happiness, and would Have run out of the world to have left him Free [to] whatever he would lay claim to, but Andromana-- Nay, she also had been His, so it could have been without a sin.

But she knew the sin she acted, and yet did it; And [yet she] lives free from the stroke of thunder!

Is there such a thing as heaven, or such a one As Justice dwells there? and can I ask the question?

O, the tameness of a conscience loaded with sin.

Which reasons and talks, when it should do!

But I will be reveng'd, and thus I begin. Inophilus,

[_He draws._

Be sure, when I am dead, to meet my ghost, And do as that instructs thee. 'Twill tell all the particulars Of my revenge, who must die first, who last, and What way too. I have my lesson perfect.

[_He leans the pommel on the ground to fall on it_: INOPHILUS _kicks it by with his foot_.

INO. Is this the revenge befits great Plangus?

PLAN. Had this been done two days ago, thou durst As well have met the lightning naked As have opposed my will thus.

[_He draws._

INO. Hear me; Ask me no questions, nor answer me; or if you do, By Heav'n, I'll never speak more. It is revenge You'd have, and 'tis a great one, a very n.o.ble one, To kill yourself! Be confident, your greatest foes Wish nothing more.

When after-ages come to hear your story, What will they say? Just as they did of Cato: He durst not look great Caesar in the face-- So Plangus was afraid, and died.

A very pretty story, and much to a man's credit: For shame, dear Plangus (let friendship use that t.i.tle): Show your great soul the world believes you're master of-- And I dare swear you are in this action.

Nay, rally up yourself, and fight it stoutly.

Shake from your mind revenge, and having laid That pa.s.sion by, put on that virtue the world Admires in you; 'tis now the time to show it.

The sun, broke from a cloud, doubles his light; And fire, the more resisted, flames more bright.

Andromana has injur'd you; scorn her, therefore, As though[92] she had done nothing; I'd not do her the favour To have one thought of her, or could be troubled At that she did. As for your father, sir, Besides the tie of nature, he knows not He hath wrong'd you: or if he doth, 'Tis love that caus'd him; A word that once made an excuse with Plangus For what offence soever.

PLAN. Thou hast wrought upon me, And I am resolved to live a day or two more: But if I like it not--well, I'll go try To sleep a little; perhaps that may--I am Strangely melancholy: prythee, lie down by me, Inophilus, I'm safe while in thy company.

[_Exeunt._

SCENE II.