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_ ACT II - SCENE III
[Enter OFFICERS, [66] with ITHAMORE and other SLAVES.]
[Footnote 66: Enter OFFICERS, &c.: The scene being the market-place.]
FIRST OFFICER.
This is the market-place; here let 'em stand:
Fear not their sale, for they'll be quickly bought.
SECOND OFFICER.
Every one's price is written on his back,
And so much must they yield, or not be sold.
FIRST OFFICER.
Here comes the Jew: had not his goods been seiz'd,
He'd give us present money for them all.
[Enter BARABAS.]
BARABAS.
In spite of these swine-eating Christians,
(Unchosen nation, never circumcis'd,
Poor villains, such as were [67] ne'er thought upon
Till Titus and Vespasian conquer'd us,)
Am I become as wealthy as I was.
They hop'd my daughter would ha' been a nun;
But she's at home, and I have bought a house
As great and fair as is the governor's:
And there, in spite of Malta, will I dwell,
Having Ferneze's hand; whose heart I'll have,
Ay, and his son's too, or it shall go hard.
I am not of the tribe of Levi, I,
That can so soon forget an injury.
We Jews can fawn like spaniels when we please;
And when we grin we bite; yet are our looks
As innocent and harmless as a lamb's.
I learn'd in Florence how to kiss my hand,
Heave up my shoulders when they call me dog,
And duck as low as any bare-foot friar;
Hoping to see them starve upon a stall,
Or else be gather'd for in our synagogue,
That, when the offering-basin comes to me,
Even for charity I may spit into't.--
Here comes Don Lodowick, the governor's son,
One that I love for his good father's sake.
[Enter LODOWICK.]
[Footnote 67: Poor villains, such as were: Old ed. "SUCH AS poore villaines were", &c.]
LODOWICK.
I hear the wealthy Jew walked this way:
I'll seek him out, and so insinuate,
That I may have a sight of Abigail,
For Don Mathias tells me she is fair.
BARABAS.
Now will I shew myself to have more of the serpent than
the dove; that is, more knave than fool.
[Aside.]
LODOWICK.
Yond' walks the Jew: now for fair Abigail.
BARABAS.
Ay, ay, no doubt but she's at your command.
[Aside.]
LODOWICK.
Barabas, thou know'st I am the governor's son.
BARABAS.
I would you were his father too, sir! that's all the harm
I wish you.--The slave looks like a hog's cheek new-singed.
[Aside.]
LODOWICK.
Whither walk'st thou, Barabas?
BARABAS.
No further: 'tis a custom held with us,
That when we speak with Gentiles like to you,
We turn into [68] the air to purge ourselves;
For unto us the promise doth belong.
[Footnote 68: into: i.e. unto: see note †, p. 15.
[note |, p. 15, The First Part of Tamburlaine the Great:
"| into: Used here (as the word was formerly often used)
for UNTO."]
LODOWICK.
Well, Barabas, canst help me to a diamond?
BARABAS.
O, sir, your father had my diamonds:
Yet I have one left that will serve your turn.--
I mean my daughter; but, ere he shall have her,
I'll sacrifice her on a pile of wood:
I ha' the poison of the city [69] for him,
And the white leprosy.
[Aside.]
[Footnote 69: city: The preceding editors have not questioned this word, which I believe to be a misprint.]
LODOWICK.
What sparkle does it give without a foil?
BARABAS.
The diamond that I talk of ne'er was foil'd:--
But, when he touches it, it will be foil'd.-- [70]
[Footnote 70: foil'd]=filed, i.e. defiled.]
[Aside.]
Lord Lodowick, it sparkles bright and fair.
LODOWICK.
Is it square or pointed? pray, let me know.
BARABAS.
Pointed it is, good sir,--but not for you.
[Aside.]
LODOWICK.
I like it much the better.
BARABAS.
So do I too.
LODOWICK.
How shews it by night?
BARABAS.
Outshines Cynthia's rays:--
You'll like it better far o' nights than days.
[Aside.]
LODOWICK.
And what's the price?
BARABAS.
Your life, an if you have it [Aside].--O my lord,
We will not jar about the price: come to my house,
And I will give't your honour--with a vengeance.
[Aside.]
LODOWICK.
No, Barabas, I will deserve it first.
BARABAS.
Good sir,
Your father has deserv'd it at my hands,
Who, of mere charity and Christian ruth,
To bring me to religious purity,
And, as it were, in catechising sort,
To make me mindful of my mortal sins,
Against my will, and whether I would or no,
Seiz'd all I had, and thrust me out o' doors,
And made my house a place for nuns most chaste.
LODOWICK.
No doubt your soul shall reap the fruit of it.
BARABAS.
Ay, but, my lord, the harvest is far off:
And yet I know the prayers of those nuns
And holy friars, having money for their pains,
Are wondrous;--and indeed do no man good;--
[Aside.]
And, seeing they are not idle, but still doing,
'Tis likely they in time may reap some fruit,
I mean, in fullness of perfection.
LODOWICK.
Good Barabas, glance not at our holy nuns.
BARABAS.
No, but I do it through a burning zeal,--
Hoping ere long to set the house a-fire;
For, though they do a while increase and multiply,
I'll have a saying to that nunnery.-- [71]
[Aside.]
As for the diamond, sir, I told you of,
Come home, and there's no price shall make us part,
Even for your honourable father's sake,--
It shall go hard but I will see your death.--
[Aside.]
But now I must be gone to buy a slave.
[Footnote 71: I'll have a saying to that nunnery: Compare Barnaby Barnes's DIVILS CHARTER, 1607;
"Before I do this seruice, lie there, peece;
For I must HAUE A SAYING to those bottels. HE DRINKETH.
True stingo; stingo, by mine honour.* * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
I must HAUE A SAYING to you, sir, I must, though you be
prouided for his Holines owne mouth; I will be bould to be
the Popes taster by his leaue." Sig. K 3.]
LODOWICK.
And, Barabas, I'll bear thee company.
BARABAS.
Come, then; here's the market-place.--
What's the price of this slave? two hundred crowns!
Do the Turks weigh so much?
FIRST OFFICER.
Sir, that's his price.
BARABAS.
What, can he steal, that you demand so much?
Belike he has some new trick for a purse;
An if he has, he is worth three hundred plates, [72]
So that, being bought, the town-seal might be got
To keep him for his life-time from the gallows:
The sessions-day is critical to thieves,
And few or none scape but by being purg'd.
[Footnote 72: plates: "i.e. pieces of silver money." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).--Old ed. "plats."]
LODOWICK.
Rat'st thou this Moor but at two hundred plates?
FIRST OFFICER.
No more, my lord.
BARABAS.
Why should this Turk be dearer than that Moor?
FIRST OFFICER.
Because he is young, and has more qualities.
BARABAS.
What, hast the philosopher's stone? an thou hast, break
my head with it, I'll forgive thee.
SLAVE.
[73] No, sir; I can cut and shave.
[Footnote 73: Slave: To the speeches of this Slave the old ed. prefixes "Itha." and "Ith.", confounding him with Ithamore.]
BARABAS.
Let me see, sirrah; are you not an old shaver?
SLAVE.
Alas, sir, I am a very youth!
BARABAS.
A youth! I'll buy you, and marry you to Lady Vanity, [74]
if you do well.
[Footnote 74: Lady Vanity: So Jonson in his FOX, act ii. sc. 3.,
"Get you a cittern, LADY VANITY,
And be a dealer with the virtuous man," &c.;
and in his DEVIL IS AN ASS, act i. sc. 1.,--
"SATAN. What Vice?
PUG. Why, any: Fraud,
Or Covetousness, or LADY VANITY,
Or old Iniquity."]
SLAVE.
I will serve you, sir.
BARABAS.
Some wicked trick or other: it may be, under colour
of shaving, thou'lt cut my throat for my goods. Tell me,
hast thou thy health well?
SLAVE.
Ay, passing well.
BARABAS.
So much the worse: I must have one that's sickly, an't
be but for sparing victuals: 'tis not a stone of beef a-day
will maintain you in these chops.--Let me see one that's
somewhat leaner.
FIRST OFFICER.
Here's a leaner; how like you him?
BARABAS.
Where wast thou born?
ITHAMORE.
In Thrace; brought up in Arabia.
BARABAS.
So much the better; thou art for my turn.
An hundred crowns? I'll have him; there's the coin.
[Gives money.]
FIRST OFFICER.
Then mark him, sir, and take him hence.
BARABAS.
Ay, mark him, you were best; for this is he
That by my help shall do much villany.--
[Aside.]
My lord, farewell.--Come, sirrah; you are mine.--
As for the diamond, it shall be yours:
I pray, sir, be no stranger at my house;
All that I have shall be at your command.
[Enter MATHIAS and KATHARINE.] [75]
[Footnote 75: Katharine: Old ed. "MATER."--The name of Mathias's mother was, as we afterwards learn, Katharine.]
MATHIAS.
What make the Jew and Lodowick so private?
I fear me 'tis about fair Abigail.
[Aside.]
BARABAS.
[to LODOWICK.]
Yonder comes Don Mathias; let us stay: [76]
He loves my daughter, and she holds him dear;
But I have sworn to frustrate both their hopes,
And be reveng'd upon the--governor.
[Aside.]
[Exit LODOWICK.]
[Footnote 76: stay: i.e. forbear, break off our conversation.]
KATHARINE.
This Moor is comeliest, is he not? speak, son.
MATHIAS.
No, this is the better, mother, view this well.
BARABAS.
Seem not to know me here before your mother,
Lest she mistrust the match that is in hand:
When you have brought her home, come to my house;
Think of me as thy father: son, farewell.
MATHIAS.
But wherefore talk'd Don Lodowick with you?
BARABAS.
Tush, man! we talk'd of diamonds, not of Abigail.
KATHARINE.
Tell me, Mathias, is not that the Jew?
BARABAS.
As for the comment on the Maccabees,
I have it, sir, and 'tis at your command.
MATHIAS.
Yes, madam, and my talk with him was [77]
About the borrowing of a book or two.
[Footnote 77: was: Qy. "was BUT"?]
KATHARINE.
Converse not with him; he is cast off from heaven.--
Thou hast thy crowns, fellow.--Come, let's away.
MATHIAS.
Sirrah Jew, remember the book.
BARABAS.
Marry, will I, sir.
[Exeunt KATHARlNE and MATHIAS.]
FIRST OFFICER.
Come, I have made a reasonable market; let's away.
[Exeunt OFFICERS with SLAVES.]
BARABAS.
Now let me know thy name, and therewithal
Thy birth, condition, and profession.
ITHAMORE.
Faith, sir, my birth is but mean; my name's Ithamore;
my profession what you please.
BARABAS.
Hast thou no trade? then listen to my words,
And I will teach [thee] that shall stick by thee:
First, be thou void of these affections,
Compassion, love, vain hope, and heartless fear;
Be mov'd at nothing, see thou pity none,
But to thyself smile when the Christians moan.
ITHAMORE.
O, brave, master! [78] I worship your nose [79] for this.
[Footnote 78: O, brave, master: The modern editors strike out the comma after "BRAVE", understanding that word as an epithet to "MASTER": but compare what Ithamore says to Barabas in act iv.: "That's BRAVE, MASTER," p. 165, first col.]
[Footnote 79: your nose: An allusion to the large artificial nose, with which Barabas was represented on the stage. See the passage cited from W. Rowley's SEARCH FOR MONEY, 1609, in the ACCOUNT OF MARLOWE AND HIS WRITINGS.]
BARABAS.
As for myself, I walk abroad o' nights,
And kill sick people groaning under walls:
Sometimes I go about and poison wells;
And now and then, to cherish Christian thieves,
I am content to lose some of my crowns,
That I may, walking in my gallery,
See 'em go pinion'd along by my door.
Being young, I studied physic, and began
To practice first upon the Italian;
There I enrich'd the priests with burials,
And always kept the sexton's arms in ure [80]
With digging graves and ringing dead men's knells:
And, after that, was I an engineer,
And in the wars 'twixt France and Germany,
Under pretence of helping Charles the Fifth,
Slew friend and enemy with my stratagems:
Then, after that, was I an usurer,
And with extorting, cozening, forfeiting,
And tricks belonging unto brokery,
I fill'd the gaols with bankrupts in a year,
And with young orphans planted hospitals;
And every moon made some or other mad,
And now and then one hang himself for grief,
Pinning upon his breast a long great scroll
How I with interest tormented him.
But mark how I am blest for plaguing them;--
I have as much coin as will buy the town.
But tell me now, how hast thou spent thy time?
[Footnote 80: Ure: i.e. use, practice.]
ITHAMORE.
Faith, master,
In setting Christian villages on fire,
Chaining of eunuchs, binding galley-slaves.
One time I was an hostler in an inn,
And in the night-time secretly would I steal
To travellers' chambers, and there cut their throats:
Once at Jerusalem, where the pilgrims kneel'd,
I strewed powder on the marble stones,
And therewithal their knees would rankle so,
That I have laugh'd a-good [81] to see the cripples
Go limping home to Christendom on stilts.
[Footnote 81: a-good: "i.e. in good earnest. Tout de bon." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
BARABAS.
Why, this is something: make account of me
As of thy fellow; we are villains both;
Both circumcised; we hate Christians both:
Be true and secret; thou shalt want no gold.
But stand aside; here comes Don Lodowick.
[Enter LODOWICK.] [82]
[Footnote 82:Enter LODOWICK: A change of scene supposed here,--to the outside of Barabas's house.]
LODOWICK.
O, Barabas, well met;
Where is the diamond you told me of?
BARABAS.
I have it for you, sir: please you walk in with me.--
What, ho, Abigail! open the door, I say!
[Enter ABIGAIL, with letters.]
ABIGAIL.
In good time, father; here are letters come
]From Ormus, and the post stays here within.
BARABAS.
Give me the letters.--Daughter, do you hear?
Entertain Lodowick, the governor's son,
With all the courtesy you can afford,
Provided that you keep your maidenhead:
Use him as if he were a Philistine;
Dissemble, swear, protest, vow love to him: [83]
He is not of the seed of Abraham.--
[Aside to her.]
I am a little busy, sir; pray, pardon me.--
Abigail, bid him welcome for my sake.
[Footnote 83: vow love to him: Old ed. "vow TO LOUE him": but compare, in Barabas's next speech but one, "And she VOWS LOVE TO HIM," &c.]
ABIGAIL.
For your sake and his own he's welcome hither.
BARABAS.
Daughter, a word more: kiss him, speak him fair,
And like a cunning Jew so cast about,
That ye be both made sure [84] ere you come out.
[Aside to her.]
[Footnote 84: made sure: i.e. affianced.]
ABIGAIL.
O father, Don Mathias is my love!
BARABAS.
I know it: yet, I say, make love to him;
Do, it is requisite it should be so.--
[Aside to her.]
Nay, on my life, it is my factor's hand;
But go you in, I'll think upon the account.
[Exeunt ABIGAIL and LODOWICK into the house.]
The account is made, for Lodovico [85] dies.
My factor sends me word a merchant's fled
That owes me for a hundred tun of wine:
I weigh it thus much
[snapping his fingers]!
I have wealth enough;
For now by this has he kiss'd Abigail,
And she vows love to him, and he to her.
As sure as heaven rain'd manna for the Jews,
So sure shall he and Don Mathias die:
His father was my chiefest enemy.
[Enter MATHIAS.]
Whither goes Don Mathias? stay a while.
[Footnote 85: Ludovico: Old ed. "Lodowicke."--In act iii. we have,
"I fear she knows--'tis so--of my device
In Don Mathias' and LODOVICO'S deaths." p. 162, sec. col.]
MATHIAS.
Whither, but to my fair love Abigail?
BARABAS.
Thou know'st, and heaven can witness it is true,
That I intend my daughter shall be thine.
MATHIAS.
Ay, Barabas, or else thou wrong'st me much.
BARABAS.
O, heaven forbid I should have such a thought!
Pardon me though I weep: the governor's son
Will, whether I will or no, have Abigail;
He sends her letters, bracelets, jewels, rings.
MATHIAS.
Does she receive them?
BARABAS.
She! no, Mathias, no, but sends them back;
And, when he comes, she locks herself up fast;
Yet through the key-hole will he talk to her,
While she runs to the window, looking out
When you should come and hale him from the door.
MATHIAS.
O treacherous Lodowick!
BARABAS.
Even now, as I came home, he slipt me in,
And I am sure he is with Abigail.
MATHIAS.
I'll rouse him thence.
BARABAS.
Not for all Malta; therefore sheathe your sword;
If you love me, no quarrels in my house;
But steal you in, and seem to see him not:
I'll give him such a warning ere he goes,
As he shall have small hopes of Abigail.
Away, for here they come.
[Re-enter LODOWICK and ABIGAIL.]
MATHIAS.
What, hand in hand! I cannot suffer this.
BARABAS.
Mathias, as thou lov'st me, not a word.
MATHIAS.
Well, let it pass; another time shall serve.
[Exit into the house.]
LODOWICK.
Barabas, is not that the widow's son?
BARABAS.
Ay, and take heed, for he hath sworn your death.
LODOWICK.
My death! what, is the base-born peasant mad?
BARABAS.
No, no; but happily [86] he stands in fear
Of that which you, I think, ne'er dream upon,--
My daughter here, a paltry silly girl.
[Footnote 86: happily: i.e. haply.]
LODOWICK.
Why, loves she Don Mathias?
BARABAS.
Doth she not with her smiling answer you?
ABIGAIL.
He has my heart; I smile against my will.
[Aside.]
LODOWICK.
Barabas, thou know'st I have lov'd thy daughter long.
BARABAS.
And so has she done you, even from a child.
LODOWICK.
And now I can no longer hold my mind.
BARABAS.
Nor I the affection that I bear to you.
LODOWICK.
This is thy diamond; tell me, shall I have it?
BARABAS.
Win it, and wear it; it is yet unsoil'd. [87]
O, but I know your lordship would disdain
To marry with the daughter of a Jew:
And yet I'll give her many a golden cross [88]
With Christian posies round about the ring.
[Footnote 87: unsoil'd: "Perhaps we ought to read 'unfoil'd', consistently with what Barabas said of her before under the figure of a jewel--
'The diamond that I talk of NE'ER WAS FOIL'D'."
COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.). But see that passage, p. 155,
sec. col., and note ||. [i.e. note 70.]]
[Footnote 88: cross: i.e. piece of money (many coins being marked with a cross on one side).]
LODOWICK.
'Tis not thy wealth, but her that I esteem;
Yet crave I thy consent.
BARABAS.
And mine you have; yet let me talk to her.--
This offspring of Cain, this Jebusite,
That never tasted of the Passover,
Nor e'er shall see the land of Canaan,
Nor our Messias that is yet to come;
This gentle maggot, Lodowick, I mean,
Must be deluded: let him have thy hand,
But keep thy heart till Don Mathias comes.
[Aside to her.]
ABIGAIL.
What, shall I be betroth'd to Lodowick?
BARABAS.
It's no sin to deceive a Christian;
For they themselves hold it a principle,
Faith is not to be held with heretics:
But all are heretics that are not Jews;
This follows well, and therefore, daughter, fear not.--
[Aside to her.]
I have entreated her, and she will grant.
LODOWICK.
Then, gentle Abigail, plight thy faith to me.
ABIGAIL.
I cannot choose, seeing my father bids:
Nothing but death shall part my love and me.
LODOWICK.
Now have I that for which my soul hath long'd.
BARABAS.
So have not I; but yet I hope I shall.
[Aside.]
ABIGAIL.
O wretched Abigail, what hast thou [89] done?
[Aside.]
[Footnote 89: thou: Old ed. "thee."]
LODOWICK.
Why on the sudden is your colour chang'd?
ABIGAIL.
I know not: but farewell; I must be gone.
BARABAS.
Stay her, but let her not speak one word more.
LODOWICK.
Mute o' the sudden! here's a sudden change.
BARABAS.
O, muse not at it; 'tis the Hebrews' guise,
That maidens new-betroth'd should weep a while:
Trouble her not; sweet Lodowick, depart:
She is thy wife, and thou shalt be mine heir.
LODOWICK.
O, is't the custom? then I am resolv'd: [90]
But rather let the brightsome heavens be dim,
And nature's beauty choke with stifling clouds,
Than my fair Abigail should frown on me.--
There comes the villain; now I'll be reveng'd.
[Re-enter MATHIAS.]
[Footnote 90: resolv'd: "i.e. satisfied." GILCHRIST (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
BARABAS.
Be quiet, Lodowick; it is enough
That I have made thee sure to Abigail.
LODOWICK.
Well, let him go.
[Exit.]
BARABAS.
Well, but for me, as you went in at doors
You had been stabb'd: but not a word on't now;
Here must no speeches pass, nor swords be drawn.
MATHIAS.
Suffer me, Barabas, but to follow him.
BARABAS.
No; so shall I, if any hurt be done,
Be made an accessary of your deeds:
Revenge it on him when you meet him next.
MATHIAS.
For this I'll have his heart.
BARABAS.
Do so. Lo, here I give thee Abigail!
MATHIAS.
What greater gift can poor Mathias have?
Shall Lodowick rob me of so fair a love?
My life is not so dear as Abigail.
BARABAS.
My heart misgives me, that, to cross your love,
He's with your mother; therefore after him.
MATHIAS.
What, is he gone unto my mother?
BARABAS.
Nay, if you will, stay till she comes herself.
MATHIAS.
I cannot stay; for, if my mother come,
She'll die with grief.
[Exit.]
ABIGAIL.
I cannot take my leave of him for tears.
Father, why have you thus incens'd them both?
BARABAS.
What's that to thee?
ABIGAIL.
I'll make 'em friends again.
BARABAS.
You'll make 'em friends! are there not Jews enow in Malta,
But thou must dote upon a Christian?
ABIGAIL.
I will have Don Mathias; he is my love.
BARABAS.
Yes, you shall have him.--Go, put her in.
ITHAMORE.
Ay, I'll put her in.
[Puts in ABIGAIL.]
BARABAS.
Now tell me, Ithamore, how lik'st thou this?
ITHAMORE.
Faith, master, I think by this
You purchase both their lives: is it not so?
BARABAS.
True; and it shall be cunningly perform'd.
ITHAMORE.
O, master, that I might have a hand in this!
BARABAS.
Ay, so thou shalt; 'tis thou must do the deed:
Take this, and bear it to Mathias straight,
[Giving a letter.]
And tell him that it comes from Lodowick.
ITHAMORE.
'Tis poison'd, is it not?
BARABAS.
No, no; and yet it might be done that way:
It is a challenge feign'd from Lodowick.
ITHAMORE.
Fear not; I will so set his heart a-fire,
That he shall verily think it comes from him.
BARABAS.
I cannot choose but like thy readiness:
Yet be not rash, but do it cunningly.
ITHAMORE.
As I behave myself in this, employ me hereafter.
BARABAS.
Away, then!
[Exit ITHAMORE.]
So; now will I go in to Lodowick,
And, like a cunning spirit, feign some lie,
Till I have set 'em both at enmity.
[Exit.] _
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