Online Library of Liberty: The Works of Christopher Marlowe vol. 1 Portable Library of Liberty

[Alarms: and tkey scale the walls.
Enter TAMBURLAINE (drawn in his chariot by the kings of Trebizond and Soria),
USUMCASANE, AMYRAS, and CELEBInCUS; the two spare
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Kings of Natolia and
Jerusalem; and others.
T
AMB
.
The stately buildings of fair Babylon,
Whose lofty pillars, higher than the clouds,
Were wont to guide the seaman in the deep,
Being carried thither by the cannon's force,
Now fill the mouth of Limnasphaltis' lake
And make a bridge unto the battered walls.
Where Belus, Ninus, and great Alexander
Have rode in triumph, triumphs Tamburlaine,
Whose chariot wheels have burst the Assyrians' bones,
Drawn with these kings on heaps of carcases.
Now in the place where fair Semiramis,
Courted by kings and peers of Asia,
Hath trod the measures,
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do my soldiers march;
And in the streets, where brave Assyrian dames
Have rid in pomp like rich Saturnia,
With furious words and frowning visages
My horsemen brandish their unruly blades.
Re-enter THERIDAMAS and TECHELLES,brinffng in the Governor of
Babylon.
Who have ye there, my lords?
T
HER
.
The sturdy governor of Babylon,
That made us all the labour for the town,
And used sueh slender reckoning of your majesty.
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90
100
110
T
AMB
.
Go, bind the villain; he shall hang in chains
Upon the ruins of this conquered town.
Sirrah, the view of our vermilion tents,
(Which threatened more than if the region
Next underneath the element of fire
Were full of comets and of blazing stars,
Whose flaming trains should reach down to the earth,)
Could not affright you; no, nor I myself,
The wrathful messenger of mighty Jove,
That with his sword hath quailed all earthly kings,
Could not persuade you to submission,
But still the ports were shut; villain! I say,
Should I but touch the rusty gates of hell,
The triple-headed Cerberus would howl
And wake black Jove to crouch and kneel to me;
But I have sent volleys of shot to you,
Yet could not enter till the breach was made.
G
OV
.
Nor, if my body could have stopt the breach,
Should'st thou have entered, cruel Tamburlaine.
'Tis not thy bloody tents can make me yield,
Nor yet thyself, the anger of the Highest,
For though thy cannon shook the city wails,
My heart did never quake, or courage faint.
T
AMB
.
Well, now I'll make it quake; go draw him
1
up,
Hang him in
2
chains upon the city walls,
And let my soldiers shoot the slave to death.
G
OV
.
Vile monster! born of some infernal hag,
And sent from hell to tyrannise on earth,
Do all thy worst; nor death, nor Tamburlaine,
Torture, nor pain, can daunt my dreadless mind.
T
AMB
.
Up with him, then; his body shall be scared.
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130
G
OV
.
But, Tamburlaine, in Limnasphalfis' lake
There lies more gold than Babylon is worth,
Which when the city was besieged, I hid.
Save but my life and I will give it thee.
T
AMB
.
Then for all your valour you would save your life?
Whereabout lies it?
G
OV
.
Under a hollow bank, right opposite
Against the western gate of Babylon.
T
AMB
.
Go thither, some of you, and take his gold;-
The rest--forward with execution!
Away with him hence, let him speak no more.
I think I make your courage something quail
When this is done, we'll march from Babylon,
And make our greatest haste to Persia.