BAJ. Kings of Fez, Morocco, and Argier, He calls me Bajazet, whom you call lord! Note the presumption of this Scythian slave! I tell thee, villain; those that lead my horse, Have to their names title of dignity,

And dar'st thou bluntly call me Bajazet?

TAMB. And know, thou Turk, that those which lead my horse,

Shall lead thee captive thorough Africa;
And dar'st thou bluntly call me Tamburlaine?
BAJ. By Mahomet, my kinsman's sepulchre,
And by the holy Alcoran I swear,

He shall be made a chaste and lustless eunuch,
And in my serail tend my concubines;
And all his captains that thus stoutly stand,
Shall draw the chariot of my emperess,
Whom I have brought to see their overthrow:

TAMB. By this my sword, that conquer'd Persia, Thy fall shall make me famous through the world. I will not tell thee how I'll handle thee,

But every common soldier of

my camp Shall smile to see thy miserable state.

K. OF FEZ. What means the mighty Turkish

emperor,

To talk with one so base as Tamburlaine?

K. OF MOR. Ye Moors and valiant men of Barbary, How can ye suffer these indignities?

K. OF ARG. Leave words, and let them feel your lances' points

Which glided through the bowels of the Greeks.

BAJ. Well said, my stout contributory kings:

Your threefold army and

my huge host

Shall swallow up these base-born Persians.

TECH. Puissant, renowned, and mighty Tamburlaine,

Why stay we thus prolonging of their lives?

THER. I long to see those crowns won by our swords,

That we may rule as kings of Africa.

USUM. What coward would not fight for such a prize?

TAMB. Fight all courageously, and be you kings; I speak it, and my words are oracles.

BAJ. Zabina, mother of three braver boys Than Hercules, that in his infancy

Did part the jaws of serpents venomous;
Whose hands are made to gripe a warlike lance,
Their shoulders broad for complete armour fit,-
Their limbs more large, and of a bigger size,
Than all the brats ere sprung from Typhon's loins;
Who, when they come unto their father's age,
Will batter turrets with their manly fists,
Sit here upon this royal chair of state,
And on thy head wear my imperial crown,
Until I bring this sturdy Tamburlaine,
And all his captains bound in captive chains.

ZAB. Such good success happen to Bajazet!
TAMB. Zenocrate, the loveliest maid alive,
Fairer than rocks of pearl and precious stone,
The only paragon of Tamburlaine,

Whose eyes are brighter than the lamps of heaven,
And speech more pleasant than sweet harmony;
That with thy looks canst clear the darken'd sky,
And calm the rage of thund'ring Jupiter,
Sit down by her, adorned with my crown,
As if thou wert the empress of the world.
Stir not, Zenocrate, until thou see
We march victoriously with all my men,
Triumphing over him and these his kings,
Which I will bring as vassals to thy feet ;
Till then take thou my crown, vaunt of my worth,
And manage words with her, as we will arms.

Zeno. And may my love the king of Persia,
Return with victory and free from wound !

BAJ. Now shalt thou feel the force of Turkish

arms,

Which lately made all Europe quake for fear.
I have of Turks, Arabians, Moors, and Jews,
Enough to cover all Bithynia.
Let thousands die ; their slaughter'd carcases
Shall serve for walls and bulwarks to the rest;
And as the heads of Hydra, so my power,
Subdu'd, shall stand as mighty as before.
If they should yield their necks unto the sword,
Thy soldiers' arms could not endure to strike
So many blows as I have heads for thee.
Thou know'st not, foolish, hardy Tamburlaine,
What 'tis to meet me in the open field,
That leave no ground for thee to march upon.

TAMB. Our conq'ring swords shall marshal us the

way

We use to march upon the slaughter'd foe,
Trampling their bowels with our horses' hoofs;
Brave horses bred o'er the white Tartarian hills;
My camp is like to Julius Cæsar's host,
That never fought but had the victory;
Nor in Pharsalia was there such hot war,
As these, my followers, willingly would have.
Legions of spirits fleeting in the air

Direct our bullets and our weapons' points,

--

And make our strokes to wound the senseless light,
And when she sees our bloody colours spread,
Then victory begins to take her flight,
Resting herself upon my milk-white tent :-
But come, my lords, to weapons let us fall;
The field is ours, the Turk, his wife, and all.
[Exit, with his followers.
BAJ. Come kings and bassas, let us glut our

ZAB. To Tamburlaine, the great Tartarian thief! Zeno. Thou wilt repent these lavish words of

thine, When thy great bassa-master and thyself Must plead for mercy at his kingly feet, And sue to me to be your advocate. ZAB. And sue to thee ! I tell thee, shameless

girl, Thou shalt be laundress to my waiting maid! How likest thou her, Ebra ?--Will she serve?

Ebra. Madam, perhaps, she thinks she is too fine, But I shall turn her into other weeds, And make her dainty fingers fall to work. Zeno. Hear’st thou, Anippe, how thy drudge doth

talk ? And how my slave, her mistress, menaceth? Both for their sauciness shall be employ'd To dress the common soldiers' meat and drink, For we will scorn they should come near ourselves. ANIP. Yet sometimes let your highness send for

them, To do the work my chambermaid disdains.

[They sound to the battle within. Zeno. Ye Gods and Pow'rs that govern Persia, And made my lordly love her worthy king, Now strengthen him against the fearful Bajazet, And let his foes, like flocks of fearful roes Pursu'd by hunters fly his angry looks, That I may see him issue conqueror ! ZAB. Now, Mahomet, solicit God himself,

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VOL I.