A Select Collection of Old English Plays Part 45

HOR. And I can tell, True misery loves a companion well.

PHIL. Thou left'st me to the mercy of a Moor That hath d.a.m.nation dyed upon his flesh; 'Twas well; thou, mother, didst unmotherly Betray thy true son to false b.a.s.t.a.r.dy; Thou left'st me then: now thou art found and staid, And thou, who didst betray me, art betray'd.

A plague upon you all!

CAR. Thou cursest them Whom I may curse: first, may I curse myself, Too credulous of loyalty and love; Next may I curse the Moor, more than a devil; And last thy mother, mother of all evil.

QUEEN-M. All curses and all crosses light on thee!

What need I curse myself, when all curse me?

I have been deadly impious, I confess: Forgive me, and my sin will seem the less.

This heavy chain, which now my neck a.s.saults, Weighs ten times lighter than my heavy faults.

PHIL. Hortenzo, I commend myself to thee; Thou that are near'st, stand'st furthest off from me.

HOR. That mould of h.e.l.l, that Moor, has chain'd me here; 'Tis not myself, but Isabel I fear.

SCENE V.

_Enter_ ELEAZAR, ISABELLA, ZARACK, _and_ BALTHAZAR.

ELE. It's strange!

Will not Prince Philip come with Hortenzo?

ZAR. He swears he'll live and die there.

ELE. Marry, and shall.

[_Aside_.

I pray, persuade him, you, to leave the place.

A prison! why, it's h.e.l.l. 'Las, here they be!

Ha! they are they, i' faith; see, see, see, see.

ALL. Moor, devil, toad, serpent!

ELE. O sweet airs, sweet voices!

ISA. O my Hortenzo!

ELE. Do not these birds sing sweetly, Isabella?

O, how their spirits would leap aloft and spring, Had they their throats at liberty to sing!

PHIL. d.a.m.nation dog thee!

CAR. Furies follow thee!

QUEEN-M. Comets confound thee!

HOR. And h.e.l.l swallow thee!

ELE. Sweeter and sweeter still. O harmony!

Why, there's no music like to misery.

ISA. Hast thou betrayed me thus?

ELE. Not I, not I.

PHIL. Sirrah hedgehog.

ELE. Ha! I'll hear thee presently.

ISA. Hear me then, h.e.l.lhound; slaves, unchain my love, Or by----

ELE. By what? Is't not rare walking here?

Methinks this stage shows like a tennis-court; Does it not, Isabel? I'll show thee how-- Suppose that iron chain to be the line, The prison-doors the hazard, and their heads, Scarce peeping o'er the line, suppose the b.a.l.l.s!

Had I a racket now of burnish'd steel, How smoothly could I bandy every ball Over this globe of earth, win set, and all.

PHIL. How brisk the villain jets in villany!

ELE. Prating! he's proud because he wears a chain: Take it off, Balthazar, and take him hence.

[_They unbind him._

PHIL. And whither then, you dog?

ISA. Pity my brother.

ELE. Pity him! no; away!

PHIL. Ay, come, do come.[73] I pray thee kill me: come.

ELE. I hope to see Thy own hands do that office. Down with him!

PHIL. Is there another h.e.l.l?

TWO MOORS. Try, try; he's gone.

ELE. So him next, he next, and next him; and then----

ALL. Worse than d.a.m.nation! fiend, monster of men!

ELE. Why, when! Down, down!

CAR. Slave, as thou thrust me down Into this dungeon, so sink thou to h.e.l.l.

QUEEN-M. Amen, amen.

ELE. Together so; and you--