Read Online Complete Plays, The by William Shakespeare - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: William Shakespeare
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villaniesRuthful to hear, yet piteously perform’d: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 religiousAnd 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 knowAn idiot holds his bauble for a godAnd keeps the oath which by that god he swears,To that I’ll urge him: therefore thou shalt vowBy that same god, what god soe’er it be,That thou adorest and hast in reverence,To save my boy, to nourish and bring him up;Or else I will discover nought 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 and luxurious woman!
Aaron
Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charityTo 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 herAnd 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 cut and trimm’d, and ’twasTrim 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 holeWhere the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:I wrote the letter that thy father foundAnd 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 apartAnd almost broke my heart with extreme laughter:I pry’d me through the crevice of a wallWhen, 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 swooned almost at my pleasing tale,And for my tidings gave me twenty kisses.
First 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.Oft have I digg’d up dead men from their graves,And set them upright at their dear friends’ doors,Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,‘Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.’Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful thingsAs willingly as one would kill a fly,And nothing grieves me heartily indeedBut that I cannot do ten thousand more.
Lucius
Bring down the devil; for he must not dieSo sweet a death as hanging presently.
Aaron
If there be devils, would I were a devil,To live and burn in everlasting fire,So I might have your company in hell,But to torment you with my bitter tongue!
Lucius
Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no more.
Enter a Goth
Third Goth
My lord, there is a messenger from RomeDesires to be admitted to your
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 religiousAnd 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 knowAn idiot holds his bauble for a godAnd keeps the oath which by that god he swears,To that I’ll urge him: therefore thou shalt vowBy that same god, what god soe’er it be,That thou adorest and hast in reverence,To save my boy, to nourish and bring him up;Or else I will discover nought 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 and luxurious woman!
Aaron
Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charityTo 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 herAnd 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 cut and trimm’d, and ’twasTrim 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 holeWhere the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:I wrote the letter that thy father foundAnd 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 apartAnd almost broke my heart with extreme laughter:I pry’d me through the crevice of a wallWhen, 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 swooned almost at my pleasing tale,And for my tidings gave me twenty kisses.
First 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.Oft have I digg’d up dead men from their graves,And set them upright at their dear friends’ doors,Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,‘Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.’Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful thingsAs willingly as one would kill a fly,And nothing grieves me heartily indeedBut that I cannot do ten thousand more.
Lucius
Bring down the devil; for he must not dieSo sweet a death as hanging presently.
Aaron
If there be devils, would I were a devil,To live and burn in everlasting fire,So I might have your company in hell,But to torment you with my bitter tongue!
Lucius
Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no more.
Enter a Goth
Third Goth
My lord, there is a messenger from RomeDesires to be admitted to your
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