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_ ACT III - SCENE I
[Enter the KINGS OF TREBIZON and SORIA, [96] one bringing a sword and the other a sceptre; next, ORCANES king of Natolia, and the KING OF JERUSALEM with the imperial crown, after, CALLAPINE; and, after him, other LORDS and ALMEDA. ORCANES and the KING OF JERUSALEM crown CALLAPINE, and the others give him the sceptre.]
[Footnote 96: Soria] See note ?, p. 44. [i.e. note 13.]]
ORCANES.
Callapinus Cyricelibes, otherwise Cybelius, son
and successive heir to the late mighty emperor Bajazeth,
by the aid of God and his friend Mahomet, Emperor
of Natolia, Jerusalem, Trebizon, Soria, Amasia,
Thracia, Ilyria, Carmania, and all the hundred
and thirty kingdoms late contributory to his mighty
father,--long live Callapinus, Emperor of Turkey!
CALLAPINE.
Thrice-worthy kings, of Natolia and the rest,
I will requite your royal gratitudes
With all the benefits my empire yields;
And, were the sinews of th' imperial seat
So knit and strengthen'd as when Bajazeth,
My royal lord and father, fill'd the throne,
Whose cursed fate [97] hath so dismember'd it,
Then should you see this thief of Scythia,
This proud usurping king of Persia,
Do us such honour and supremacy,
Bearing the vengeance of our father's wrongs,
As all the world should blot his [98] dignities
Out of the book of base-born infamies.
And now I doubt not but your royal cares
Have so provided for this cursed foe,
That, since the heir of mighty Bajazeth
(An emperor so honour'd for his virtues)
Revives the spirits of all [99] true Turkish hearts,
In grievous memory of his father's shame,
We shall not need to nourish any doubt,
But that proud Fortune, who hath follow'd long
The martial sword of mighty Tamburlaine,
Will now retain her old inconstancy,
And raise our honours [100] to as high a pitch,
In this our strong and fortunate encounter;
For so hath heaven provided my escape
]From all the cruelty my soul sustain'd,
By this my friendly keeper's happy means,
That Jove, surcharg'd with pity of our wrongs,
Will pour it down in showers on our heads,
Scourging the pride of cursed Tamburlaine.
[Footnote 97: fate] So the 8vo.--The 4to "fates."]
[Footnote 98: his] Old eds. "our."]
[Footnote 99: all] So the 8vo.--Omitted in the 4to.]
[Footnote 100: honours] So the 8vo.--The 4to "honour."]
ORCANES.
I have a hundred thousand men in arms;
Some that, in conquest [101] of the perjur'd Christian,
Being a handful to a mighty host,
Think them in number yet sufficient
To drink the river Nile or Euphrates,
And for their power enow to win the world.
[Footnote 101: in conquest] So the 4to.--The 8vo "in THE conquest."]
KING OF JERUSALEM.
And I as many from Jerusalem,
Judaea, [102] Gaza, and Sclavonia's [103] bounds,
That on mount Sinai, with their ensigns spread,
Look like the parti-colour'd clouds of heaven
That shew fair weather to the neighbour morn.
[Footnote 102: Judaea] So the 8vo.--The 4to "Juda."]
[Footnote 103: Sclavonia's] Old eds. "Scalonians" and "Sclauonians."]
KING OF TREBIZON.
And I as many bring from Trebizon,
Chio, Famastro, and Amasia,
All bordering on the Mare-Major-sea,
Riso, Sancina, and the bordering towns
That touch the end of famous Euphrates,
Whose courages are kindled with the flames
The cursed Scythian sets on all their towns,
And vow to burn the villain's cruel heart.
KING OF SORIA.
From Soria [104] with seventy thousand strong,
Ta'en from Aleppo, Soldino, Tripoly,
And so unto my city of Damascus, [105]
I march to meet and aid my neighbour kings;
All which will join against this Tamburlaine,
And bring him captive to your highness' feet.
[Footnote 104: Soria] See note ?, p. 44. (i.e. note 13.]
[Footnote 105: Damascus] Here the old eds. "Damasco." See note *, p. 31.
note *, from p. 31. (The First Part of Tamburlaine the Great):
"Damascus] Both the old eds. here "Damasco:" but in many
other places they agree in reading "Damascus.""]
ORCANES.
Our battle, then, in martial manner pitch'd,
According to our ancient use, shall bear
The figure of the semicircled moon,
Whose horns shell sprinkle through the tainted air
The poison'd brains of this proud Scythian.
CALLAPINE.
Well, then, my noble lords, for this my friend
That freed me from the bondage of my foe,
I think it requisite and honourable
To keep my promise and to make him king,
That is a gentleman, I know, at least.
ALMEDA.
That's no matter, [106] sir, for being a king;
or Tamburlaine came up of nothing.
KING OF JERUSALEM.
Your majesty may choose some 'pointed time,
Performing all your promise to the full;
'Tis naught for your majesty to give a kingdom.
CALLAPINE.
Then will I shortly keep my promise, Almeda.
ALMEDA.
Why, I thank your majesty.
[Exeunt.]
[Footnote 106: That's no matter, &c.] So previously (p. 46, first col.) Almeda speaks in prose, "I like that well," &c.
[p. 46, first col. (This play):
"ALMEDA.
I like that well: but, tell me, my lord,
if I should let you go, would you be as good as
your word? shall I be made a king for my labour?"] _
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