Titus Andronicus

speak? what, deaf? not a word?
A halter, soldiers! hang him on this tree,
And by his side his fruit of bastardy. Aaron Touch not the boy; he is of royal blood. Lucius

Too like the sire for ever being good.
First hang the child, that he may see it sprawl;
A sight to vex the father’s soul withal.
Get me a ladder. A ladder brought, which Aaron is made to ascend.

Aaron

Lucius, save the child,
And bear it from me to the empress.
If thou do this, I’ll show thee wondrous things,
That highly may advantage thee to hear:
If thou wilt not, befall what may befall,
I’ll speak no more but “Vengeance rot you all!”

Lucius

Say on: an if it please me which thou speak’st,
Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish’d.

Aaron

An if it please thee! why, assure thee, Lucius,
’Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak;
For I must talk of murders, rapes and massacres,
Acts of black night, abominable deeds,
Complots of mischief, treason, villainies
Ruthful 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 religious
And 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 know
An idiot holds his bauble for a god
And keeps the oath which by that god he swears,
To that I’ll urge him: therefore thou shalt vow
By 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 charity
To 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 her
And 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 ’twas
Trim 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 hole
Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:
I wrote the letter that thy father found
And 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 apart
And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter:
I pry’d me through the crevice of a wall
When, 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 things
As willingly as one would kill a fly,
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
But that I cannot do ten thousand more.

Lucius

Bring down the devil; for he must not die
So 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 Rome
Desires to be admitted to your presence.

Lucius Let him come near. Enter Aemilius. Welcome, Aemilius: what’s the news from Rome? Aemilius

Lord Lucius, and you princes of the Goths,
The Roman emperor greets you all by me;
And, for he understands you are in arms,
He craves a parley at your father’s house,
Willing you to demand your hostages,
And they shall be immediately deliver’d.

First Goth What says our general? Lucius

Aemilius, let the emperor give his pledges
Unto my father and my uncle Marcus,
And we will come. March away. Exeunt.

Scene II

Rome. Before Titus’s house.

	Enter Tamora, Demetrius, and Chiron, disguised.
Tamora	Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment, I will encounter with Andronicus, And say I am Revenge, sent from below To join with him and right his heinous wrongs. Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps, To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge; Tell him Revenge is come to join with him, And work confusion on his enemies. They knock.