Titus Andronicus

fatal place it seems to me.
Speak, brother, hast thou hurt thee with the fall? Martius

O brother, with the dismall’st object hurt
That ever eye with sight made heart lament!

Aaron

Aside. Now will I fetch the king to find them here,
That he thereby may give a likely guess
How these were they that made away his brother. Exit.

Martius

Why dost not comfort me, and help me out
From this unhallowed and blood-stained hole?

Quintus

I am surprised with an uncouth fear:
A chilling sweat o’er-runs my trembling joints:
My heart suspects more than mine eye can see.

Martius

To prove thou hast a true-divining heart,
Aaron and thou look down into this den,
And see a fearful sight of blood and death.

Quintus

Aaron is gone; and my compassionate heart
Will not permit mine eyes once to behold
The thing whereat it trembles by surmise:
O, tell me how it is; for ne’er till now
Was I a child to fear I know not what.

Martius

Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here,
All on a heap, like to a slaughter’d lamb,
In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.

Quintus If it be dark, how dost thou know ’tis he? Martius

Upon his bloody finger he doth wear
A precious ring, that lightens all the hole,
Which, like a taper in some monument,
Doth shine upon the dead man’s earthy cheeks,
And shows the ragged entrails of the pit:
So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus
When he by night lay bathed in maiden blood.
O brother, help me with thy fainting hand⁠—
If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath⁠—
Out of this fell devouring receptacle,
As hateful as Cocytus’ misty mouth.

Quintus

Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out;
Or, wanting strength to do thee so much good,
I may be pluck’d into the swallowing womb
Of this deep pit, poor Bassianus’ grave.
I have no strength to pluck thee to the brink.

Martius Nor I no strength to climb without thy help. Quintus

Thy hand once more; I will not loose again,
Till thou art here aloft, or I below:
Thou canst not come to me: I come to thee. Falls in.

Enter Saturninus with Aaron. Saturninus

Along with me: I’ll see what hole is here,
And what he is that now is leap’d into it.
Say who art thou that lately didst descend
Into this gaping hollow of the earth?

Martius

The unhappy son of old Andronicus;
Brought hither in a most unlucky hour,
To find thy brother Bassianus dead.

Saturninus

My brother dead! I know thou dost but jest:
He and his lady both are at the lodge
Upon the north side of this pleasant chase;
’Tis not an hour since I left him there.

Martius

We know not where you left him all alive;
But, out, alas! here have we found him dead.

Re-enter Tamora, with Attendants; Titus Andronicus, and Lucius. Tamora Where is my lord the king? Saturninus Here, Tamora, though grieved with killing grief. Tamora Where is thy brother Bassianus? Saturninus

Now to the bottom dost thou search my wound:
Poor Bassianus here lies murdered.

Tamora

Then all too late I bring this fatal writ,
The complot of this timeless tragedy;
And wonder greatly that man’s face can fold
In pleasing smiles such murderous tyranny. She giveth Saturninus a letter.

Saturninus

Reads. “An if we miss to meet him handsomely⁠—
Sweet huntsman, Bassianus ’tis we mean⁠—
Do thou so much as dig the grave for him:
Thou know’st our meaning. Look for thy reward
Among the nettles at the elder-tree
Which overshades the mouth of that same pit
Where we decreed to bury Bassianus.
Do this, and purchase us thy lasting friends.”

O Tamora! was ever heard the like?
This is the pit, and this the elder-tree.
Look, sirs, if you can find the huntsman out
That should have murder’d Bassianus here.

Aaron My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold. Saturninus

To Titus. Two of thy whelps, fell curs of bloody kind,
Have here bereft my brother of his life.
Sirs, drag them from the pit unto the prison:
There let them bide until we have devised
Some never-heard-of torturing pain for them.

Tamora

What, are they in this pit? O wondrous thing!
How easily murder is discovered!

Titus

High emperor, upon my feeble knee
I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed,
That this fell fault of my accursed sons,
Accursed, if the fault be proved in them⁠—

Saturninus

If it be proved! you see it is apparent.
Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you?

Tamora Andronicus himself did take it up. Titus

I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail;
For, by my father’s reverend tomb, I vow
They shall be ready at your highness’ will
To answer their suspicion with their lives.

Saturninus

Thou shalt not bail them: see thou follow me.
Some bring the murder’d body, some the murderers:
Let them not speak a word; the guilt is plain;
For, by my soul, were there worse end than death,
That end upon them should be executed.

Tamora

Andronicus, I will entreat the king;
Fear not thy sons; they shall do well enough.

Titus Come, Lucius, come; stay not to talk with them. Exeunt.

Scene IV

Another part of the forest.

	Enter Demetrius and Chiron, with Lavinia, ravished; her hands cut off, and her tongue cut out.
Demetrius	So, now go tell, an if thy tongue can speak, Who ’twas that cut thy tongue and ravish’d thee.
Chiron	Write down thy mind, bewray thy meaning so, An if thy stumps will let thee play the scribe.
Demetrius	See, how with signs and tokens she can scrowl.
Chiron	Go home, call for sweet water, wash thy hands.
Demetrius	She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash; And so let’s leave her to her silent walks.
Chiron	An ’twere my case, I should go hang myself.
Demetrius	If thou hadst hands to help thee knit the cord. Exeunt Demetrius and Chiron.
	Enter Marcus.
Marcus	Who is this? my niece, that flies away so fast! Cousin, a word; where is your husband? If I do dream, would all my wealth would wake me! If I do wake, some planet strike me down, That I may slumber in eternal sleep! Speak, gentle niece, what stern ungentle