Author: Christopher Marlowe
Date: 2021-07-25T00:10:50+00:00
Keywords: Tragedies; Jews -- Malta -- Drama
Description: After losing all of his possessions, a Jewish merchant is determined to get his revenge on Malta.
Publisher: Standard Ebooks

The Jew of Malta

By Christopher Marlowe.

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Dramatis Personae

- Ferneze, governor of Malta.

- Lodowick, his son.

- Selim Calymath, son to the Grand Seignior.

- Martin del Bosco, Vice-Admiral of Spain.

- Mathias, a Gentleman.

- Barabas, a wealthy Jew.

- Ithamore, Barabas’ slave.

- Jacomo, Friar.

- Barnardine, Friar.

- Pilia-Borza, a Bully, attendant to Bellamira.

- Two Merchants.

- Three Jews.

- Knights, Bassoes, Officers, Guard, Messengers, Slaves, and Carpenters

- Katharine, mother of Mathias.

- Abigail, daughter of Barabas.

- Bellamira, a Courtesan.

- Abbess.

- Two Nuns.

- Machiavel,1 Speaker of the Prologue.

Scene—Malta.

The Jew of Malta

Prologue

| Enter Machiavel.

Machiavel

Albeit the world think Machiavel is dead,
Yet was his soul but flown beyond the Alps,
And, now the Guise2 is dead, is come from France,
To view this land, and frolic with his friends.
To some perhaps my name is odious,
But such as love me, guard me from their tongues;
And let them know that I am Machiavel,
And weigh not men, and therefore not men’s words.
Admired I am of those that hate me most.
Though some speak openly against my books,
Yet will they read me, and thereby attain
To Peter’s chair: and, when they cast me off,
Are poisoned by my climbing followers.
I count religion but a childish toy,
And hold there is no sin but ignorance.
Birds of the air will tell of murders past!
I am ashamed to hear such fooleries.
Many will talk of title to a crown:
What right had Caesar to the empery?
Might first made kings, and laws were then most sure
When like the Draco’s, they were writ in blood.
Hence comes it that a strong-built citadel
Commands much more than letters can import;
Which maxim had but Phalaris observed,
He had never bellowed, in a brazen bull,
Of great ones’ envy. Of the poor petty wights
Let me be envied and not pitied!
But whither am I bound? I come not, I,
To read a lecture here in Britain,
But to present the tragedy of a Jew,
Who smiles to see how full his bags are crammed;
Which money was not got without my means.
I crave but this—grace him as he deserves,
And let him not be entertained the worse
Because he favours me.

| Exit.

Act
I

Scene
I

| Barabas discovered in his counting-house, with heaps of gold before him.

Barabas

So that of thus much that return was made:
And of the third part of the Persian ships,
There was the venture summed and satisfied.
As for those Sabans,3 and the men of Uz,
That bought my Spanish oils and wines of Greece
Here have I purst their paltry silverlings.
Fie, what a trouble ’tis to count this trash
Well fare the Arabians, who so richly pay
The things they traffic for with wedge of gold,
Whereof a man may easily in a day
Tell4 that which may maintain him all his life.
The needy groom, that never fingered groat,
Would make a miracle of thus much coin:
But he whose steel-barred coffers are crammed full,
And all his lifeetime hath been tired,
Wearying his fingers’ ends with telling it,
Would in his age be loath to labour so,
And for a pound to sweat himself to death.
Give me the merchants of the Indian mines,
That trade in metal of the purest mould;
The wealthy Moor, that in the eastern rocks
Without control can pick his riches up,
And in his house heap pearl like pebble-stones,
Receive them free, and sell them by the weight;
Bags of fiery opals, sapphires, amethysts,
Jacinths, hard topaz, grass-green emeralds,
Beauteous rubies, sparkling diamonds,
And seld-seen5 costly stones of so great price,
As one of them, indifferently rated,
And of a carat of this quantity,
May serve in peril of calamity
To ransom great kings from captivity.
This is the ware wherein consists my wealth;
And thus methinks should men of judgment frame
Their means of traffic from the vulgar trade,
And, as their wealth increaseth, so enclose
Infinite riches in a little room.
But now how stands the wind?
Into what corner peers my halcyon’s bill?6
Ha! to the east? yes: see how stand the vanes?
East and by south: why then I hope my ships
I sent for Egypt and the bordering isles
Are gotten up by Nilus’ winding banks:
Mine argosy from Alexandria,
Loaden with spice and silks, now under sail,
Are smoothly gliding down by Candy shore
To Malta, through our Mediterranean sea.—
But who comes here?

| Enter a Merchant.

How now?

Merchant

Barabas, thy ships are safe,
Riding in Malta-road: and all the merchants
With other merchandise are safe arrived,
And have sent me to know whether yourself
Will come and custom them.7

Barabas

The ships are safe thou say’st, and richly fraught.

Merchant

They are.

Barabas

Why then go bid them come ashore,
And bring with them their bills of entry:
I hope our credit in the custom-house
Will serve as well as I were present there.
Go send ’em threescore camels, thirty mules,
And twenty waggons, to bring up the ware.
But art thou master in a ship of mine,
And is thy credit not enough for that?

Merchant

The very custom barely comes to more
Than many merchants of the town are worth,
And therefore far exceeds my credit, sir.

Barabas

Go tell ’em the Jew of Malta sent thee, man:
Tush! who amongst ’em knows not Barabas?

Merchant

I go.

Barabas

So, then, there’s somewhat come.
Sirrah, which of my ships art thou master of?

Merchant

Of the Speranza, sir.

Barabas

And saw’st thou not
Mine argosy at Alexandria?
Thou could’st not come from Egypt, or by Caire,
But at the entry there into the sea,
Where Nilus pays his tribute to the main,
Thou needs must sail by Alexandria.

Merchant

I neither saw them, nor inquired of them:
But this we heard some of our seamen say,
They wondered how you durst with so much wealth
Trust such a crazed vessel, and so far.

Barabas

Tush, they are wise! I know her and her strength.
But go, go thou thy ways, discharge thy ship,
And bid my factor bring his loading in.

| Exit Merchant.

And yet I wonder at this argosy.

| Enter a Second Merchant.

Second Merchant

Thine argosy from Alexandria,
Know, Barabas, doth ride in Malta-road,
Laden with riches, and exceeding store
Of Persian silks, of gold, and orient pearl.

Barabas

How chance you came not with those other ships
That sailed by Egypt?

Second Merchant

Sir, we saw ’em not.

Barabas

Belike they coasted round by Candy shore
About their oils, or other businesses.
But ’twas ill done of you to come so far
Without the aid or conduct of their ships.

Second Merchant

Sir, we were wafted by a Spanish fleet,
That never left us till within a league,
That had the galleys of the Turk in chase.

Barabas

O!—they were going up to Sicily:—
Well, go,
And bid the merchants and my men despatch
And come ashore, and see the fraught8 discharged.

Second Merchant

I go.

| Exit.

Barabas

Thus trowls our fortune in by land and sea,
And thus are we on every side enriched:
These are the blessings promised to the Jews,
And herein was old Abraham’s happiness:
What more may Heaven do for earthly man
Than thus to pour out plenty in their laps,
Ripping the bowels of the earth for them,
Making the seas their servants, and the winds
To drive their substance with successful blasts?
Who hateth me but for my happiness?
Or who is honoured now but for his wealth?
Rather had I, a Jew, be hated thus,
Than pitied in a Christian poverty:
For I can see no fruits in all their faith,
But malice, falsehood, and excessive pride,
Which methinks fits not their profession.
Haply some hapless man hath conscience,
And for his conscience lives in beggary.
They say we are a scattered nation:
I cannot tell, but we have scambled9 up
More wealth by far than those that brag of faith:
There’s Kirriah Jairim, the great Jew of Greece,
Obed in Bairseth, Nones in Portugal,
Myself in Malta, some in Italy,
Many in France, and wealthy every one;
Ay, wealthier far than any Christian.
I must confess we come not to be kings;
That’s not our fault: alas, our number’s few,
And crowns come either by succession,
Or urged by force; and nothing violent,
Oft have I heard tell, can be permanent.
Give us a peaceful rule; make Christians kings,
That thirst so much for principality.
I have no charge, nor many children,
But one sole daughter, whom I hold as dear
As Agamemnon did his Iphigen;
And all I have is hers. But who comes here?

| Enter three Jews.10

First Jew

Tush, tell not me; ’twas done of policy.

Second Jew

Come, therefore, let us go to Barabas,
For he can counsel best in these affairs;
And here he comes.

Barabas

Why, how now, countrymen!
Why flock you thus to me in multitudes?
What accident’s betided to the Jews?

First Jew

A fleet of warlike galleys, Barabas,
Are come from Turkey, and lie in our road:
And they this day sit in the council-house
To entertain them and their embassy.

Barabas

Why, let ’em come, so they come not to war;
Or let ’em war, so we be conquerors.—
Nay, let ’em combat, conquer, and kill all!
So they spare me, my daughter, and my wealth. Aside.

First Jew

Were it for confirmation of a league,
They would not come in warlike manner thus.

Second Jew

I fear their coming will afflict us all.

Barabas

Fond11 men, what dream you of their multitudes?
What need they treat of peace that are in league?
The Turks and those of Malta are in league.
Tut, tut, there is some other matter in’t.

First Jew

Why, Barabas, they come for peace or war.

Barabas

Haply for neither, but to pass along
Towards Venice by the Adriatic sea;
With whom they have attempted many times,
But never could effect their stratagem.

Third Jew

And very wisely said. It may be so.

Second Jew

But there’s a meeting in the senate-house,
And all the Jews in Malta must be there.

Barabas

Hum; all the Jews in Malta must be there?
Ay, like enough, why then let every man
Provide him, and be there for fashion-sake.
If any thing shall there concern our state,
Assure yourselves I’ll look—unto myself. Aside.

First Jew

I know you will. Well, brethren, let us go.

Second Jew

Let’s take our leaves. Farewell, good Barabas.

Barabas

Farewell, Zaareth; farewell, Temainte.

| Exeunt three Jews.

And, Barabas, now search this secret out;
Summon thy senses, call thy wits together:
These silly men mistake the matter clean.
Long to the Turk did Malta contribute;
Which tribute all in policy, I fear,
The Turk has let increase to such a sum
As all the wealth of Malta cannot pay;
And now by that advantage thinks, belike
To seize upon the town: ay, that he seeks.
Howe’er the world go, I’ll make sure for one,
And seek in time to intercept the worst,
Warily guarding that which I ha’ got.
Ego mihimet sum semper proximus.12
Why, let ’em enter, let ’em take the town.

| Exit.

Scene
II

| Enter Ferneze governor of Malta, Knights, and Officers; met by Calymath, and Bassoes of the Turk.13

Ferneze

Now, Bassoes,14 what demand you at our hands?

First Basso

Know, Knights of Malta, that we came from Rhodes,
From Cyprus, Candy, and those other Isles
That lie betwixt the Mediterranean seas.

Ferneze

What’s Cyprus, Candy, and those other Isles
To us or Malta? what at our hands demand ye?

Calymath

The ten years’ tribute that remains unpaid.

Ferneze

Alas! my lord, the sum is over-great!
I hope your highness will consider us.

Calymath

I wish, grave governor, ’twere in my power
To favour you; but ’tis my father’s cause,
Wherein I may not, nay, I dare not dally.

Ferneze

Then give us leave, great Selim Calymath.

Consults apart with the Knights.

Calymath

Stand all aside, and let the knights determine,
And send to keep our galleys under sail,
For happily15 we shall not tarry here;
Now, governor, say, how are you resolved?

Ferneze

Thus: since your hard conditions are such
That you will needs have ten years’ tribute past,
We may have time to make collection
Amongst the inhabitants of Malta for’t.

First Basso

That’s more than is in our commission.

Calymath

What, Callapine! a little courtesy.
Let’s know their time, perhaps it is not long;
And ’tis more kingly to obtain by peace
Than to enforce conditions by constraint.
What respite ask you, governor?

Ferneze

But a month.

Calymath

We grant a month, but see you keep your promise.
Now launch our galleys back again to sea,
Where we’ll attend the respite you have ta’en,
And for the money send our messenger.
Farewell, great governor and brave Knights of Malta.

Ferneze

And all good fortune wait on Calymath!

| Exeunt Calymath and Bassoes.

Go one and call those Jews of Malta hither:
Were they not summoned to appear to-day?

First Officer

They were, my lord, and here they come.

| Enter Barabas and three Jews.

First Knight

Have you determined what to say to them?

Ferneze

Yes, give me leave:—and, Hebrews, now come near.
From the Emperor of Turkey is arrived
Great Selim Calymath, his highness’ son,
To levy of us ten years’ tribute past,
Now, then, here know that it concerneth us—

Barabas

Then, good my lord, to keep your quiet still,
Your lordship shall do well to let them have it.

Ferneze

Soft, Barabas, there’s more ’longs to ’t than so.
To what this ten years’ tribute will amount,
That we have cast, but cannot compass it
By reason of the wars that robbed our store;
And therefore are we to request your aid.

Barabas

Alas, my lord, we are no soldiers:
And what’s our aid against so great a prince?

First Knight

Tut, Jew, we know thou art no soldier;
Thou art a merchant and a moneyed man,
And ’tis thy money, Barabas, we seek.

Barabas

How, my lord! my money?

Ferneze

Thine and the rest,
For, to be short, amongst you’t must be had.

First Jew

Alas, my lord, the most of us are poor.

Ferneze

Then let the rich increase your portions.

Barabas

Are strangers with your tribute to be taxed?

Second Knight

Have strangers leave with us to get their wealth?
Then let them with us contribute.

Barabas

How! equally?

Ferneze

No, Jew, like infidels.
For through our sufferance of your hateful lives,
Who stand accursed in the sight of Heaven,
These taxes and afflictions are befallen,
And therefore thus we are determined.—
Read there the articles of our decrees.

Officer

Reads. “First, the tribute-money of the Turks shall all be levied amongst the Jews, and each of them to pay one half of his estate.”

Barabas

How! half his estate? I hope you mean not mine. Aside.

Ferneze

Read on.

Officer

Reading. “Secondly, he that denies16 to pay, shall straight become a Christian.”

Barabas

How! a Christian? Hum, what’s here to do? Aside.

Officer

Reading. “Lastly, he that denies this, shall absolutely lose all he has.”

Three Jews

O my lord, we will give half.

Barabas

O earth-mettled villains, and no Hebrews born!
And will you basely thus submit yourselves
To leave your goods to their arbitrement?

Ferneze

Why, Barabas, wilt thou be christened?

Barabas

No, governor, I will be no convertite.17

Ferneze

Then pay thy half.

Barabas

Why, know you what you did by this device?
Half of my substance is a city’s wealth.
Governor, it was not got so easily;
Nor will I part so slightly therewithal.

Ferneze

Sir, half is the penalty of our decree;
Either pay that, or we will seize on all.

Barabas

Corpo di Dio! stay! you shall have half;
Let me be used but as my brethren are.

Ferneze

No, Jew, thou hast denied the articles,
And now it cannot be recalled.

| Exeunt Officers, on a sign from Ferenze.

Barabas

Will you, then, steal my goods?
Is theft the ground of your religion?

Ferneze

No, Jew, we take particularly thine,
To save the ruin of a multitude:
And better one want for a common good
Than many perish for a private man:
Yet, Barabas, we will not banish thee,
But here in Malta, where thou gott’st thy wealth,
Live still; and, if thou canst, get more.

Barabas

Christians, what or how can I multiply?
Of naught is nothing made.

First Knight

From naught at first thou cam’st to little wealth,
From little unto more, from more to most:
If your first curse fall heavy on thy head,
And make thee poor and scorned of all the world,
’Tis not our fault, but thy inherent sin.

Barabas

What, bring you Scripture to confirm your wrongs?
Preach me not out of my possessions.
Some Jews are wicked, as all Christians are:
But say the tribe that I descended of
Were all in general cast away for sin,
Shall I be tried by their transgression?
The man that dealeth righteously shall live:
And which of you can charge me otherwise?

Ferneze

Out, wretched Barabas!
Sham’st thou not thus to justify thyself,
As if we knew not thy profession?
If thou rely upon thy righteousness,
Be patient and thy riches will increase.
Excess of wealth is cause of covetousness;
And covetousness, O, ’tis a monstrous sin.

Barabas

Ay, but theft is worse: tush! take not from me then,
For that is theft! and, if you rob me thus,
I must be forced to steal and compass more.

First Knight

Grave governor, list not to his exclaims.
Convert his mansion to a nunnery;
His house will harbour many holy nuns.

Ferneze

It shall be so.

| Reenter Officers.

Now, officers, have you done?

First Officer

Ay, my lord, we have seized upon the goods
And wares of Barabas, which, being valued,
Amount to more than all the wealth in Malta.
And of the other we have seized half.

Ferneze

Then we’ll take order for the residue.

Barabas

Well, then, my lord, say, are you satisfied?
You have my goods, my money, and my wealth,
My ships, my store, and all that I enjoyed;
And, having all, you can request no more;
Unless your unrelenting flinty hearts
Suppress all pity in your stony breasts,
And now shall move you to bereave my life.

Ferneze

No, Barabas, to stain our hands with blood
Is far from us and our profession.

Barabas

Why, I esteem the injury far less
To take the lives of miserable men
Than be the causers of their misery.
You have my wealth, the labour of my life,
The comfort of mine age, my children’s hope,
And therefore ne’er distinguish of the wrong.

Ferneze

Content thee, Barabas, thou hast naught but right.

Barabas

Your extreme right does me exceeding wrong:
But take it to you, i’ the devil’s name.

Ferneze

Come, let us in, and gather of these goods
The money for this tribute of the Turk.

First Knight

’Tis necessary that be looked unto:
For, if we break our day, we break the league,
And that will prove but simple policy.

| Exeunt all except Barabas and the Jews.

Barabas

Ay, policy! that’s their profession,
And not simplicity, as they suggest.
The plagues of Egypt, and the curse of Heaven,
Earth’s barrenness, and all men’s hatred
Inflict upon them, thou great Primus Motor!
And here upon my knees, striking the earth,
I ban their souls to everlasting pains
And extreme tortures of the fiery deep,
That thus have dealt with me in my distress!

First Jew

O yet be patient, gentle Barabas.

Barabas

O silly brethren, born to see this day;
Why stand you thus unmoved with my laments?
Why weep you not to think upon my wrongs?
Why pine not I, and die in this distress?

First Jew

Why, Barabas, as hardly can we brook
The cruel handling of ourselves in this;
Thou seest they have taken half our goods.

Barabas

Why did you yield to their extortion?
You were a multitude, and I but one:
And of me only have they taken all.

First Jew

Yet, brother Barabas, remember Job.

Barabas

What tell you me of Job? I wot his wealth
Was written thus: he had seven thousand sheep,
Three thousand camels, and two hundred yoke
Of labouring oxen, and five hundred
She-asses: but for every one of those,
Had they been valued at indifferent rate,
I had at home, and in mine argosy,
And other ships that came from Egypt last,
As much as would have bought his beasts and him,
And yet have kept enough to live upon:
So that not he, but I, may curse the day,
Thy fatal birth-day, forlorn Barabas;
And henceforth wish for an eternal night,
That clouds of darkness may enclose my flesh,
And hide these extreme sorrows from mine eyes:
For only I have toiled to inherit here
The months of vanity and loss of time,
And painful nights, have been appointed me.

Second Jew

Good Barabas, be patient.

Barabas

Ay, I pray, leave me in my patience. You,
Were ne’er possess’d of wealth, are pleased with want;
But give him liberty at least to mourn,
That in a field amidst his enemies,
Doth see his soldiers slain, himself disarmed,
And knows no means of his recovery:
Ay, let me sorrow for this sudden chance;
’Tis in the trouble of my spirit I speak;
Great injuries are not so soon forgot.

First Jew

Come, let us leave him; in his ireful mood
Our words will but increase his ecstasy.18

Second Jew

On, then: but trust me ’tis a misery
To see a man in such affliction.—
Farewell, Barabas.

| Exeunt the three Jews.19

Barabas

Ay, fare you well.
See the simplicity of these base slaves,
Who, for the villains have no wit themselves,
Think me to be a senseless lump of clay
That will with every water wash to dirt:
No, Barabas is born to better chance,
And framed of finer mould than common men,
That measure naught but by the present time.
A reaching thought will search his deepest wits,
And cast with cunning for the time to come:
For evils are apt to happen every day.—

| Enter Abigail.

But whither wends my beauteous Abigail?
O! what has made my lovely daughter sad?
What, woman! moan not for a little loss:
Thy father has enough in store for thee.

Abigail

Not for myself, but aged Barabas:
Father, for thee lamenteth Abigail:
But I will learn to leave these fruitless tears,
And, urged thereto with my afflictions,
With fierce exclaims run to the senate-house,
And in the senate reprehend them all,
And rend their hearts with tearing of my hair,
Till they reduce20 the wrongs done to my father.

Barabas

No, Abigail, things past recovery
Are hardly cured with exclamations.
Be silent, daughter, sufferance breeds ease
And time may yield us an occasion
Which on the sudden cannot serve the turn.
Besides, my girl, think me not all so fond21
As negligently to forgo so much
Without provision for thyself and me,
Ten thousand portagues,22 besides great pearls,
Rich costly jewels, and stones infinite,
Fearing the worst of this before it fell,
I closely hid.

Abigail

Where, father?

Barabas

In my house, my girl.

Abigail

Then shall they ne’er be seen of Barabas:
For they have seized upon thy house and wares.

Barabas

But they will give me leave once more, I trow,
To go into my house.

Abigail

That may they not:
For there I left the governor placing nuns,
Displacing me; and of thy house they mean
To make a nunnery, where none but their own sect23
Must enter in; men generally barred.

Barabas

My gold! my gold! and all my wealth is gone!
You partial heavens, have I deserved this plague?
What, will you thus oppose me, luckless stars,
To make me desperate in my poverty?
And knowing me impatient in distress,
Think me so mad as I will hang myself,
That I may vanish o’er the earth in air,
And leave no memory that e’er I was?
No, I will live; nor loathe I this my life:
And, since you leave me in the ocean thus
To sink or swim, and put me to my shifts,
I’ll rouse my senses and awake myself.
Daughter! I have it: thou perceiv’st the plight
Wherein these Christians have oppressed me:
Be ruled by me, for in extremity
We ought to make bar of no policy.

Abigail

Father, whate’er it be to injure them
That have so manifestly wronged us,
What will not Abigail attempt?

Barabas

Why, so;
Then thus, thou told’st me they have turn’d my house
Into a nunnery, and some nuns are there?

Abigail

I did.

Barabas

Then, Abigail, there must my girl
Entreat the abbess to be entertained.

Abigail

How! as a nun?

Barabas

Ay, daughter, for religion
Hides many mischiefs from suspicion.

Abigail

Ay, but, father, they will suspect me there.

Barabas

Let ’em suspect; but be thou so precise
As they may think it done of holiness.
Entreat ’em fair, and give them friendly speech,
And seem to them as if thy sins were great,
Till thou hast gotten to be entertained.

Abigail

Thus, father, shall I much dissemble.

Barabas

Tush!
As good dissemble that thou never mean’st,
As first mean truth and then dissemble it—
A counterfeit profession is better
Than unseen hypocrisy.

Abigail

Well, father, say I be entertained,
What then shall follow?

Barabas

This shall follow then;
There have I hid, close underneath the plank
That runs along the upper-chamber floor,
The gold and jewels which I kept for thee.
But here they come; be cunning, Abigail.

Abigail

Then, father, go with me.

Barabas

No, Abigail, in this
It is not necessary I be seen:
For I will seem offended with thee for’t:
Be close, my girl, for this must fetch my gold.

| They retire.
| Enter Friar Jacomo, Friar Barnadine, Abbess, and a Nun.

Friar Jacomo

Sisters,
We now are almost at the new-made nunnery.

Abbess

The better; for we love not to be seen:
’Tis thirty winters long since some of us
Did stray so far amongst the multitude.

Friar Jacomo

But, madam, this house
And waters of this new-made nunnery
Will much delight you.

Abbess

It may be so; but who comes here?

| Abigail comes forward.

Abigail

Grave abbess, and you, happy virgins’ guide,
Pity the state of a distressed maid.

Abbess

What art thou, daughter?

Abigail

The hopeless daughter of a hapless Jew,
The Jew of Malta, wretched Barabas;
Sometimes the owner of a goodly house,
Which they have now turned to a nunnery.

Abbess

Well, daughter, say, what is thy suit with us?

Abigail

Fearing the afflictions which my father feels
Proceed from sin, or want of faith in us,
I’d pass away my life in penitence,
And be a novice in your nunnery,
To make atonement for my labouring soul.

Friar Jacomo

No doubt, brother, but this proceedeth of the spirit.

Friar Barnadine

Ay, and of a moving spirit too, brother; but come,
Let us entreat she may be entertained.

Abbess

Well, daughter, we admit you for a nun.

Abigail

First let me as a novice learn to frame
My solitary life to your strait laws,
And let me lodge where I was wont to lie,
I do not doubt, by your divine precepts
And mine own industry, but to profit much.

Barabas

As much, I hope, as all I hid is worth. Aside.

Abbess

Come, daughter, follow us.

Barabas

Coming forward. Why, how now, Abigail,
What makest thou amongst these hateful Christians?

Friar Jacomo

Hinder her not, thou man of little faith,
For she has mortified herself.

Barabas

How! mortified?

Friar Jacomo

And is admitted to the sisterhood.

Barabas

Child of perdition, and thy father’s shame!
What wilt thou do among these hateful fiends?
I charge thee on my blessing that thou leave
These devils, and their damned heresy!

Abigail

Father, forgive me—She goes to him.

Barabas

Nay, back, Abigail,
(And think upon the jewels and the gold;
The board is marked thus that covers it.) Aside to Abigail in a whisper.
Away, accursed, from thy father’s sight!

Friar Jacomo

Barabas, although thou art in misbelief,
And wilt not see thine own afflictions,
Yet let thy daughter be no longer blind.

Barabas

Blind friar, I reck not thy persuasions,
(The board is marked thus24 that covers it.)
Aside to Abigail in a whisper.
For I had rather die than see her thus.
Wilt thou forsake me too in my distress,
Seduced daughter? (Go, forget not,) Aside in a whisper.
Becomes it Jews to be so credulous?
(To-morrow early I’ll be at the door.) Aside in a whisper.
No, come not at me; if thou wilt be damned,
Forget me, see me not, and so be gone!
(Farewell; remember to-morrow morning.) Aside in a whisper.
Out, out, thou wretch!

| Exeunt, on one side, Barabas, on the other side Friars, Abbess, Nun, and Abigail; as they are going out,
| Enter Mathias.

Mathias

Who’s this? fair Abigail, the rich Jew’s daughter,
Become a nun! her father’s sudden fall
Has humbled her, and brought her down to this:
Tut, she were fitter for a tale of love,
Than to be tired out with orisons:
And better would she far become a bed,
Embraced in a friendly lover’s arms,
Than rise at midnight to a solemn mass.

| Enter Lodowick.

Lodowick

Why, how now, Don Mathias! in a dump?

Mathias

Believe me, noble Lodowick, I have seen
The strangest sight, in my opinion,
That ever I beheld.

Lodowick

What was’t, I prithee?

Mathias

A fair young maid, scarce fourteen years of age,
The sweetest flower in Cytherea’s field,
Cropt from the pleasures of the fruitful earth,
And strangely metamorphosed nun.

Lodowick

But say, what was she?

Mathias

Why, the rich Jew’s daughter.

Lodowick

What, Barabas, whose goods were lately seized?
Is she so fair?

Mathias

And matchless beautiful;
As, had you seen her, ’twould have mov’d your heart,
Though countermined with walls of brass, to love,
Or, at the least, to pity.

Lodowick

An if she be so fair as you report,
’Twere time well spent to go and visit her:
How say you? shall we?

Mathias

I must and will, sir; there’s no remedy.

Lodowick

And so will I too, or it shall go hard.
Farewell, Mathias.

Mathias

Farewell, Lodowick.

| Exeunt severally.

Act
II

Scene
I

| Enter Barabas, with a light.25

Barabas

Thus, like the sad presaging raven, that tolls
The sick man’s passport in her hollow beak,
And in the shadow of the silent night
Doth shake contagion from her sable wings,
Vexed and tormented runs poor Barabas
With fatal curses towards these Christians.
The incertain pleasures of swift-footed time
Have ta’en their flight, and left me in despair;
And of my former riches rests no more
But bare remembrance; like a soldier’s scar,
That has no further comfort for his maim.—
O thou, that with a fiery pillar led’st
The sons of Israel through the dismal shades,
Light Abraham’s offspring; and direct the hand
Of Abigail this night! or let the day
Turn to eternal darkness after this!
No sleep can fasten on my watchful eyes,
Nor quiet enter my distempered thoughts,
Till I have answer of my Abigail.

| Enter Abigail above.

Abigail

Now have I happily espied a time
To search the plank my father did appoint;
And here, behold, unseen, where I have found
The gold, the pearls, and jewels, which he hid.

Barabas

Now I remember those old women’s words,
Who in my wealth would tell me winter’s tales,
And speak of spirits and ghosts that glide by night
About the place where treasure hath been hid:
And now methinks that I am one of those:
For, whilst I live, here lives my soul’s sole hope,
And, when I die, here shall my spirit walk.

Abigail

Now that my father’s fortune were so good
As but to be about this happy place;
’Tis not so happy: yet, when we parted last,
He said he would attend me in the morn.
Then, gentle sleep, where’er his body rests,
Give charge to Morpheus that he may dream
A golden dream, and of the sudden wake,
Come and receive the treasure I have found.

Barabas

Bueno para todos mi ganado no era:
As good go on as sit so sadly thus.
But stay: what star shines yonder in the east?
The loadstar of my life, if Abigail.
Who’s there?

Abigail

Who’s that?

Barabas

Peace, Abigail, ’tis I.

Abigail

Then, father, here receive thy happiness.

Barabas

Hast thou’t?

Abigail

Here, Throws down bags. hast thou’t?
There’s more, and more, and more.

Barabas

O my girl,
My gold, my fortune, my felicity!
Strength to my soul, death to mine enemy!
Welcome the first beginner of my bliss!
O Abigail, Abigail, that I had thee here too!
Then my desires were fully satisfied:
But I will practice thy enlargement thence:
O girl! O gold!26 O beauty! O my bliss!
Hugs the bags.

Abigail

Father, it draweth towards midnight now,
And ’bout this time the nuns begin to wake;
To shun suspicion, therefore, let us part.

Barabas

Farewell, my joy, and by my fingers take
A kiss from him that sends it from his soul.

| Exit Abigail above.

Now, Phoebus, ope the eye-lids of the day,
And, for the raven, wake the morning lark,
That I may hover with her in the air;
Singing o’er these, as she does o’er her young.
Hermoso placer de los dineros.

| Exit.

Scene
II

| Enter Ferneze, Martin del Bosco, and Knights.

Ferneze

Now, captain, tell us whither thou art bound?
Whence is thy ship that anchors in our road?
And why thou cam’st ashore without our leave?

Martin del Bosco

Governor of Malta, hither am I bound;
My ship, the Flying Dragon, is of Spain,
And so am I: Del Bosco is my name;
Vice-admiral unto the Catholic King.

First Knight

’Tis true, my lord, therefore entreat27 him well.

Martin del Bosco

Our fraught28 is Grecians, Turks, and Afric Moors.
For late upon the coast of Corsica,
Because we vailed29 not to the Turkish30 fleet,
Their creeping galleys had us in the chase:
But suddenly the wind began to rise,
And then we luffed and tacked,31 and fought at ease:
Some have we fired, and many have we sunk;
But one amongst the rest became our prize:
The captain’s slain; the rest remain our slaves,
Of whom we would make sale in Malta here.

Ferneze

Martin del Bosco, I have heard of thee;
Welcome to Malta, and to all of us;
But to admit a sale of these thy Turks
We may not, nay, we dare not give consent
By reason of a tributary league.

First Knight

Del Bosco, as thou lov’st and honour’st us,
Persuade our governor against the Turk;
This truce we have is but in hope of gold,
And with that sum he craves might we wage war.

Martin del Bosco

Will Knights of Malta be in league with Turks,
And buy it basely too for sums of gold?
My lord, remember that, to Europe’s shame,
The Christian Isle of Rhodes, from whence you came,
Was lately lost, and you were stated32 here
To be at deadly enmity with Turks.

Ferneze

Captain, we know it, but our force is small.

Martin del Bosco

What is the sum that Calymath requires?

Ferneze

A hundred thousand crowns.

Martin del Bosco

My lord and king hath title to this isle,
And he means quickly to expel you hence;
Therefore be ruled by me, and keep the gold:
I’ll write unto his majesty for aid,
And not depart until I see you free.

Ferneze

On this condition shall thy Turks be sold:
Go, officers, and set them straight in show.—

| Exeunt Officers.

Bosco, thou shalt be Malta’s general;
We and our warlike Knights will follow thee
Against these barb’rous misbelieving Turks.

Martin del Bosco

So shall you imitate those you succeed:
For when their hideous force environed Rhodes,
Small though the number was that kept the town,
They fought it out, and not a man survived
To bring the hapless news to Christendom.

Ferneze

So will we fight it out: come, let’s away:
Proud daring Calymath, instead of gold,
We’ll send thee bullets wrapt in smoke and fire:
Claim tribute where thou wilt, we are resolved,
Honour is bought with blood, and not with gold.

| Exeunt.

Scene
III

| Enter Officers, with Ithamore and other Slaves.33

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 seized,
He’d give us present money for them all.

| Enter Barabas.

Barabas

In spite of these swine-eating Christians—
Unchosen nation, never circumcised,
Such as (poor villains!) such were ne’er thought upon
Till Titus and Vespasian conquered us—
Am I become as wealthy as I was:
They hoped 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 learned in Florence how to kiss my hand,
Heave up my shoulders when they call me dog,34
And duck as low as any barefoot friar;
Hoping to see them starve upon a stall,
Or else be gathered 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.

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 show 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 the air to purge ourselves:
For unto us the promise doth belong.

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 for him,
And the white leprosy. Aside.

Lodowick

What sparkle does it give without a foil?

Barabas

The diamond that I talk of ne’er was foiled:—35
But, when he touches it, it will be foiled. 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 shows 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 deserved it at my hands,
Who, of mere charity and Christian truth,
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,
Seized 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 afire;
For though they do a while increase and multiply,
I’ll have a saying to that nunnery. 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.

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,36
So that, being bought, the town-seal might be got
To keep him for his lifetime from the gallows:
The sessions day is critical to thieves,
And few or none ’scape but by being purged.

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

No, sir; I can cut and shave

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,37 if you do well.

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 his mother Katharine.

Mathias

What make the Jew and Lodowick so private?
I fear me ’tis about fair Abigail. Aside.

Barabas

Yonder comes Don Mathias; let us stay;38

| Exit Lodowick.

He loves my daughter, and she holds him dear:
But I have sworn to frustrate both their hopes,
And be revenged upon the governor.

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 talked Don Lodowick with you?

Barabas

Tush, man! we talked 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 but
About the borrowing of a book or two.

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 Mathias and his Mother.

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 moved at nothing, see thou pity none,
But to thyself smile when the Christians moan.

Ithamore

O, brave, master, I worship your nose39 for this.

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 pinioned along by my door.
Being young, I studied physic, and began
To practise first upon the Italian;
There I enriched the priests with burials,
And always kept the sexton’s arms in ure40
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 filled the jails 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?

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 kneeled,
I strewed powder on the marble stones,
And therewithal their knees would rankle so,
That I have laughed a-good41 to see the cripples
Go limping home to Christendom on stilts.

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.42

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,
He is not of the seed of Abraham. Aside.
I am a little busy, sir, pray pardon me.
Abigail, bid him welcome for my sake.

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 sure43 ere you come out. Aside.

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.
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 Lodowick he 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 kissed Abigail;
And she vows love to him, and he to her.
As sure as heaven rained 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 awhile.

Mathias

Whither, but to my fair love Abigail?

Barabas

Thou know’st, and heaven can witness this 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 keyhole 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.

| Reenter 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 he stands in fear
Of that which you, I think, ne’er dream upon,
My daughter here, a paltry silly girl.

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 loved 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 unsoiled.
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 cross44
With Christian posies round about the ring.

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.

Abigail

What, shall I be betrothed 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.
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. Aside.

Lodowick

Now have I that for which my soul hath longed.

Barabas

So have not I, but yet I hope I shall. Aside.

Abigail

O wretched Abigail, what hast thou done? Aside.

Lodowick

Why on the sudden is your colour changed?

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 betrothed 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 resolved:45
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 revenged.

| Reenter Mathias.

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 stabbed, 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 incensed 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 performed.

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, Gives a letter.
And tell him that it comes from Lodowick.

Ithamore

’Tis poisoned, is it not?

Barabas

No, no, and yet it might be done that way:
It is a challenge feigned from Lodowick.

Ithamore

Fear not; I will so set his heart afire,
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.

Act
III

Scene
I

| Enter Bellamira.46

Bellamira

Since this town was besieged, my gain grows cold:
The time has been, that but for one bare night,
A hundred ducats have been freely given:
But now against my will I must be chaste;
And yet I know my beauty doth not fail.
From Venice merchants, and from Padua
Were wont to come rare-witted gentlemen,
Scholars I mean, learned and liberal;
And now, save Pilia-Borza, comes there none,
And he is very seldom from my house;
And here he comes.

| Enter Pilia-Borza.

Pilia-Borza

Hold thee, wench, there’s something for thee to spend. Shews a bag of silver.

Bellamira

’Tis silver. I disdain it.

Pilia-Borza

Ay, but the Jew has gold,
And I will have it, or it shall go hard.

Bellamira

Tell me, how cam’st thou by this?

Pilia-Borza

’Faith, walking the back-lanes, through the gardens, I chanced to cast mine eye up to the Jew’s counting-house, where I saw some bags of money, and in the night I clambered up with my hooks, and, as I was taking my choice, I heard a rumbling in the house; so I took only this, and run my way: but here’s the Jew’s man.

Bellamira

Hide the bag.

| Enter Ithamore.

Pilia-Borza

Look not towards him, let’s away; zoons, what a looking thou keep’st; thou’lt betray’s anon.

| Exeunt Bellamira and Pilia-Borza.

Ithamore

O, the sweetest face that ever I beheld! I know she is a courtesan by her attire: now would I give a hundred of the Jew’s crowns that I had such a concubine.

Well, I have delivered the challenge in such sort,
As meet they will, and fighting die; brave sport.

| Exit.

Scene
II

| Enter Mathias.47

Mathias

This is the place; now Abigail shall see
Whether Mathias holds her dear or no.

| Enter Lodowick.

What, dares the villain write in such base terms? Looking at a letter.

Lodowick

I did it; and revenge it, if thou dar’st!
They fight.

| Enter Barabas above, on a balcony.

Barabas

O! bravely fought; and yet they thrust not home.
Now, Lodovico! now, Mathias! So—
Both fall.
So, now they have shewed themselves to be tall48 fellows.

Cries within. Part ’em, part ’em!

Barabas

Ay, part ’em now they are dead. Farewell, farewell!

| Exit.
| Enter Ferneze, Katharine, and Attendants.

Ferneze

What sight is this!—my Lodovico slain!
These arms of mine shall be thy sepulchre.

Katharine

Who is this? my son Mathias slain!

Ferneze

O Lodowick! hadst thou perished by the Turk,
Wretched Ferneze might have ’venged thy death!

Katharine

Thy son slew mine, and I’ll revenge his death.

Ferneze

Look, Katharine, look!—thy son gave mine these wounds.

Katharine

O, leave to grieve me, I am grieved enough.

Ferneze

O! that my sighs could turn to lively breath;
And these my tears to blood, that he might live.

Katharine

Who made them enemies?

Ferneze

I know not, and that grieves me most of all.

Katharine

My son loved thine.

Ferneze

And so did Lodowick him.

Katharine

Lend me that weapon that did kill my son,
And it shall murder me.

Ferneze

Nay, madam, stay; that weapon was my son’s,
And on that rather should Ferneze die.

Katharine

Hold; let’s inquire the causers of their deaths,
That we may ’venge their blood upon their heads.

Ferneze

Then take them up, and let them be interred
Within one sacred monument of stone;
Upon which altar I will offer up
My daily sacrifice of sighs and tears,
And with my prayers pierce impartial heavens,
Till they reveal the causers of our smarts,
Which forced their hands divide united hearts:
Come, Katharine, our losses equal are;
Then of true grief let us take equal share.

| Exeunt with the bodies.

Scene
III

| Enter Ithamore.49

Ithamore

Why, was there ever seen such villany,
So neatly plotted, and so well performed?
Both held in hand, and flatly both beguiled?

| Enter Abigail.

Abigail

Why, how now, Ithamore, why laugh’st thou so?

Ithamore

O mistress, ha! ha! ha!

Abigail

Why, what ail’st thou?

Ithamore

O, my master!

Abigail

Ha!

Ithamore

O mistress! I have the bravest, gravest, secret, subtle, bottle-nosed knave to my master, that ever gentleman had!

Abigail

Say, knave, why rail’st upon my father thus?

Ithamore

O, my master has the bravest policy.

Abigail

Wherein?

Ithamore

Why, know you not?

Abigail

Why, no.

Ithamore

Know you not of Mathias’ and Don Lodowick’s disaster?

Abigail

No, what was it?

Ithamore

Why, the devil inverted a challenge, my master writ it, and I carried it, first to Lodowick, and imprimis to Mathias.

And then they met, and, as the story says,
In doleful wise they ended both their days.

Abigail

And was my father furtherer of their deaths?

Ithamore

Am I Ithamore?

Abigail

Yes.

Ithamore

So sure did your father write, and I carry the challenge.

Abigail

Well, Ithamore, let me request thee this,
Go to the new-made nunnery, and inquire
For any of the friars of Saint Jaques,
And say, I pray them come and speak with me.

Ithamore

I pray, mistress, will you answer me to one question?

Abigail

Well, sirrah, what is’t?

Ithamore

A very feeling one; have not the nuns fine sport with the friars now and then?

Abigail

Go to, sirrah sauce! is this your question? get ye gone.

Ithamore

I will, forsooth, mistress.

| Exit.

Abigail

Hard-hearted father, unkind Barabas!
Was this the pursuit of thy policy!
To make me show them favour severally,
That by my favour they should both be slain?
Admit thou lov’dst not Lodowick for his sire,
Yet Don Mathias ne’er offended thee:
But thou wert set upon extreme revenge,
Because the governor50 dispossessed thee once,
And couldst not ’venge it but upon his son
Nor on his son, but by Mathias’ means;
Nor on Mathias but by murdering me.
But I perceive there is no love on earth,
Pity in Jews, nor piety in Turks.
But here comes cursed Ithamore, with the friar.

| Enter Ithamore and Friar Jacomo.

Friar Jacomo

Virgo, salve.

Ithamore

When! duck you!

Abigail

Welcome, grave friar; Ithamore, be gone.

| Exit Ithamore.

Know, holy sir, I am bold to solicit thee.

Friar Jacomo

Wherein?

Abigail

To get me be admitted for a nun.

Friar Jacomo

Why, Abigail, it is not yet long since
That I did labour thy admission,
And then thou did’st not like that holy life.

Abigail

Then were my thoughts so frail and unconfirmed
As I was chained to follies of the world:
But now experience, purchased with grief,
Has made me see the difference of things.
My sinful soul, alas, hath paced too long
The fatal labyrinth of misbelief,
Far from the sun that gives eternal life!

Friar Jacomo

Who taught thee this?

Abigail

The abbess of the house,
Whose zealous admonition I embrace:
O, therefore, Jacomo, let me be one,
Although unworthy, of that sisterhood.

Friar Jacomo

Abigail, I will, but see thou change no more,
For that will be most heavy to thy soul.

Abigail

That was my father’s fault.

Friar Jacomo

Thy father’s! how?

Abigail

Nay, you shall pardon me.—O Barabas,
Though thou deservest hardly at my hands,
Yet never shall these lips bewray thy life! Aside.

Friar Jacomo

Come, shall we go?

Abigail

My duty waits on you.

| Exeunt.

Scene
IV

| Enter Barabas, reading a letter.51

Barabas

What, Abigail become a nun again!
False and unkind; what, hast thou lost thy father?
And all unknown, and unconstrained of me,
Art thou again got to the nunnery?
Now here she writes, and wills me to repent.
Repentance! Spurca! what pretendeth52 this?
I fear she knows—’tis so—of my device
In Don Mathias’ and Lodovico’s deaths:
If so, ’tis time that it be seen into:
For she that varies from me in belief
Gives great presumption that she loves me not;
Or loving, doth dislike of something done.—
But who comes here?

| Enter Ithamore.

O Ithamore, come near;
Come near, my love; come near, thy master’s life,
My trusty servant, nay, my second self:
For I have now no hope but even in thee,
And on that hope my happiness is built.
When saw’st thou Abigail?

Ithamore

To-day.

Barabas

With whom?

Ithamore

A friar.

Barabas

A friar! false villain, he hath done the deed.

Ithamore

How, sir!

Barabas

Why, made mine Abigail a nun.

Ithamore

That’s no lie; for she sent me for him.

Barabas

O unhappy day!
False, credulous, inconstant Abigail!
But let ’em go: and, Ithamore, from hence
Ne’er shall she grieve me more with her disgrace;
Ne’er shall she live to inherit aught of mine,
Be blest of me, nor come within my gates,
But perish underneath my bitter curse,
Like Cain by Adam for his brother’s death.

Ithamore

O master!

Barabas

Ithamore, entreat not for her, I am moved,
And she is hateful to my soul and me:
And ’less thou yield to this that I entreat,
I cannot think but that thou hat’st my life.

Ithamore

Who, I, master? Why, I’ll run to some rock,
And throw myself headlong into the sea;
Why, I’ll do anything for your sweet sake.

Barabas

O trusty Ithamore, no servant, but my friend:
I here adopt thee for mine only heir,
All that I have is thine when I am dead,
And, whilst I live, use half; spend as myself;
Here, take my keys, I’ll give ’em thee anon:
Go buy thee garments: but thou shalt not want:
Only know this, that thus thou art to do:
But first go fetch me in the pot of rice
That for our supper stands upon the fire.

Ithamore

I hold my head, my master’s hungry. Aside.—I go, sir.

| Exit.

Barabas

Thus every villain ambles after wealth,
Although he ne’er be richer than in hope:—
But, husht!

| Reenter Ithamore with the pot.

Ithamore

Here ’tis, master.

Barabas

Well said, Ithamore! What, hast thou brought
The ladle with thee too?

Ithamore

Yes, sir, the proverb says, he that eats with the devil had need of a long spoon; I have brought you a ladle.

Barabas

Very well, Ithamore; then now be secret;
And, for thy sake, whom I so dearly love,
Now shalt thou see the death of Abigail,
That thou mayst freely live to be my heir.

Ithamore

Why, master, will you poison her with a mess of rice porridge? that will preserve life, make her round and plump, and batten more than you are aware.

Barabas

Ay, but, Ithamore, seest thou this?
It is a precious powder that I bought
Of an Italian, in Ancona, once,
Whose operation is to bind, infect,
And poison deeply, yet not appear
In forty hours after it is ta’en.

Ithamore

How, master?

Barabas

Thus, Ithamore.
This even they use in Malta here—’tis called
Saint Jacques’ Even—and then, I say, they use
To send their alms unto the nunneries:
Among the rest bear this, and set it there:
There’s a dark entry where they take it in,
Where they must neither see the messenger,
Nor make inquiry who hath sent it them.

Ithamore

How so?

Barabas

Belike there is some ceremony in’t.
There, Ithamore, must thou go place this pot!
Stay, let me spice it first.

Ithamore

Pray, do, and let me help you, master. Pray, let me taste first.

Barabas

Prithee, do. Ithamore tastes. What say’st thou now?

Ithamore

Troth, master, I’m loath such a pot of pottage should be spoiled.

Barabas

Peace, Ithamore! ’tis better so than spared.
Assure thyself thou shalt have broth by the eye,
My purse, my coffer, and myself is thine.

Ithamore

Well, master, I go.

Barabas

Stay, first let me stir it, Ithamore.
As fatal be it to her as the draught
Of which great Alexander drunk and died:
And with her let it work like Borgia’s wine,
Whereof his sire the Pope was poisoned!
In few,53 the blood of Hydra, Lerna’s bane:
The juice of hebon,54 and Cocytus’ breath,
And all the poisons of the Stygian pool
Break from the fiery kingdom; and in this
Vomit your venom and invenom her
That like a fiend hath left her father thus.

Ithamore

What a blessing has he given’t! was ever pot of rice-porridge so sauced? Aside. What shall I do with it?

Barabas

O, my sweet Ithamore, go set it down,
And come again so soon as thou hast done,
For I have other business for thee.

Ithamore

Here’s a drench to poison a whole stable of Flanders mares: I’ll carry’t to the nuns with a powder.

Barabas

And the horse pestilence to boot; away!

Ithamore

I am gone:
Pay me my wages, for my work is done.

| Exit.

Barabas

I’ll pay thee with a vengeance, Ithamore!

| Exit.

Scene
V

| Enter Ferneze, Martin del Bosco, Knights, and Basso.55

Ferneze

Welcome, great basso; how fares Calymath?
What wind drives you thus into Malta-road?

Basso

The wind that bloweth all the world besides—
Desire of gold.

Ferneze

Desire of gold, great sir?
That’s to be gotten in the Western Ind:
In Malta are no golden minerals.

Basso

To you of Malta thus saith Calymath:
The time you took for respite is at hand,
For the performance of your promise passed,
And for the tribute-money I am sent.

Ferneze

Basso, in brief, ’shalt have no tribute here,
Nor shall the heathens live upon our spoil:
First will we raze the city walls ourselves,
Lay waste the island, hew the temples down,
And, shipping off our goods to Sicily,
Open an entrance for the wasteful sea,
Whose billows, beating the resistless banks,
Shall overflow it with their refluence.

Basso

Well, governor, since thou hast broke the league
By flat denial of the promised tribute,
Talk not of razing down your city walls;
You shall not need trouble yourselves so far,
For Selim Calymath shall come himself,
And with brass bullets batter down your towers,
And turn proud Malta to a wilderness
For these intolerable wrongs of yours;
And so, farewell.

Ferneze

Farewell.

| Exit Basso.

And now, ye men of Malta, look about,
And let’s provide to welcome Calymath:
Close your portcullis, charge your basilisks,56
And as you profitably take up arms,
So now courageously encounter them;
For by this answer broken is the league,
And naught is to be looked for now but wars,
And naught to us more welcome is than wars.

| Exeunt.

Scene
VI

| Enter Friar Jacomo and Friar Barnadine.57

Friar Jacomo

O, brother, brother, all the nuns are sick,
And physic will not help them: they must die.

Friar Barnadine

The abbess sent for me to be confessed:
O, what a sad confession will there be!

Friar Jacomo

And so did fair Maria send for me:
I’ll to her lodging: hereabouts she lies.

| Exit.
| Enter Abigail.

Friar Barnadine

What, all dead, save only Abigail?

Abigail

And I shall die too, for I feel death coming.
Where is the friar that conversed with me?

Friar Barnadine

O, he is gone to see the other nuns.

Abigail

I sent for him, but, seeing you are come,
Be you my ghostly father: and first know,
That in this house I lived religiously,
Chaste, and devout, much sorrowing for my sins;
But, ere I came—

Friar Barnadine

What then?

Abigail

I did offend high Heaven so grievously
As I am almost desperate for my sins:
And one offence torments me more than all.
You knew Mathias and Don Lodowick?

Friar Barnadine

Yes; what of them?

Abigail

My father did contract me to ’em both:
First to Don Lodowick: him I never loved;
Mathias was the man that I held dear,
And for his sake did I become a nun.

Friar Barnadine

So, say how was their end?

Abigail

Both, jealous of my love, envied58 each other,
And by my father’s practice,59 which is there
Set down at large, the gallants were both slain.
Gives a written paper.

Friar Barnadine

O monstrous villany!

Abigail

To work my peace, this I confess to thee;
Reveal it not, for then my father dies.

Friar Barnadine

Know that confession must not be revealed,
The canon law forbids it, and the priest
That makes it known, being degraded first,
Shall be condemned, and then sent to the fire.

Abigail

So I have heard; pray, therefore, keep it close.
Death seizeth on my heart: ah gentle friar,
Convert my father that he may be saved,
And witness that I die a Christian!
Dies.

Friar Barnadine

Ay, and a virgin too; that grieves me most:
But I must to the Jew, and exclaim on him,
And make him stand in fear of me.

| Reenter Friar Jacomo.

Friar Jacomo

O brother, all the nuns are dead, let’s bury them.

Friar Barnadine

First help to bury this, then go with me,
And help me to exclaim against the Jew.

Friar Jacomo

Why, what has he done?

Friar Barnadine

A thing that makes me tremble to unfold.

Friar Jacomo

What, has he crucified a child?60

Friar Barnadine

No, but a worse thing: ’twas told me in shrift,
Thou know’st ’tis death, an if it be revealed.
Come, let’s away.

| Exeunt.

Act
IV

Scene
I

| Enter Barabas and Ithamore. Bells within.61

Barabas

There is no music to62 a Christian’s knell:
How sweet the bells ring now the nuns are dead,
That sound at other times like tinkers’ pans!
I was afraid the poison had not wrought:
Or, though it wrought, it would have done no good,
For every year they swell, and yet they live;
Now all are dead, not one remains alive.

Ithamore

That’s brave, master, but think you it will not be known?

Barabas

How can it, if we two be secret?

Ithamore

For my part fear you not.

Barabas

I’d cut thy throat if I did.

Ithamore

And reason too.
But here’s a royal monastery hard by;
Good master, let me poison all the monks.

Barabas

Thou shalt not need, for, now the nuns are dead
They’ll die with grief.

Ithamore

Do you not sorrow for your daughter’s death?

Barabas

No, but I grieve because she lived so long,
An Hebrew born, and would become a Christian!
Cazzo, diabolo.

| Enter Friar Jacomo and Friar Barnadine.

Ithamore

Look, look, master; here come two religious caterpillars.

Barabas

I smelt ’em ere they came.

Ithamore

God-a-mercy, nose! come, let’s begone.

Friar Barnadine

Stay, wicked Jew, repent, I say, and stay.

Friar Jacomo

Thou hast offended, therefore must be damned.

Barabas

I fear they know we sent the poisoned broth.

Ithamore

And so do I, master; therefore speak ’em fair.

Friar Barnadine

Barabas, thou hast—

Friar Jacomo

Ay, that thou hast—

Barabas

True, I have money, what though I have?

Friar Barnadine

Thou art a—

Friar Jacomo

Ay, that thou art, a—

Barabas

What needs all this? I know I am a Jew.

Friar Barnadine

Thy daughter—

Friar Jacomo

Ay, thy daughter—

Barabas

O speak not of her! then I die with grief.

Friar Barnadine

Remember that—

Friar Jacomo

Ay, remember that—

Barabas

I must needs say that I have been a great usurer.

Friar Barnadine

Thou hast committed—

Barabas

Fornication—but that was in another country;
And besides, the wench is dead.

Friar Barnadine

Ay, but, Barabas,
Remember Mathias and Don Lodowick.

Barabas

Why, what of them?

Friar Barnadine

I will not say that by a forged challenge they met.

Barabas

She has confessed, and we are both undone,
My bosom inmate! but I must dissemble.—Aside.
O holy friars, the burden of my sins
Lie heavy on my soul; then pray you tell me,
Is’t not too late now to turn Christian?
I have been zealous in the Jewish faith,
Hard-hearted to the poor, a covetous wretch,
That would for lucre’s sake have sold my soul;
A hundred for a hundred I have ta’en;
And now for store of wealth may I compare
With all the Jews in Malta; but what is wealth?
I am a Jew, and therefore am I lost.
Would penance serve to atone for this my sin,
I could afford to whip myself to death—

Ithamore

And so could I; but penance will not serve.

Barabas

To fast, to pray, and wear a shirt of hair,
And on my knees creep to Jerusalem.
Cellars of wine, and sollars63 full of wheat,
Warehouses stuffed with spices and with drugs,
Whole chests of gold in bullion, and in coin,
Besides I know not how much weight in pearl,
Orient and round, have I within my house;
At Alexandria merchandise unsold:
But yesterday two ships went from this town,
Their voyage will be worth ten thousand crowns.
In Florence, Venice, Antwerp, London, Seville,
Frankfort, Lubeck, Moscow, and where not,
Have I debts owing; and, in most of these,
Great sums of money lying in the banco;
All this I’ll give to some religious house.
So I may be baptized, and live therein.

Friar Jacomo

O good Barabas, come to our house.

Friar Barnadine

O no, good Barabas, come to our house;
And, Barabas, you know—

Barabas

I know that I have highly sinned:
You shall convert me, you shall have all my wealth.

Friar Jacomo

O Barabas, their laws are strict.

Barabas

I know they are, and I will be with you.

Friar Barnadine

They wear no shirts, and they go barefoot too.

Barabas

Then ’tis not for me; and I am resolved
You shall confess me, and have all my goods. To Friar Barnadine.

Friar Jacomo

Good Barabas, come to me.

Barabas

You see I answer him, and yet he stays;
Rid him away, and go you home with me.

Friar Jacomo

I’ll be with you to-night.

Barabas

Come to my house at one o’clock this night.

Friar Jacomo

You hear your answer, and you may be gone.

Friar Barnadine

Why, go, get you away.

Friar Jacomo

I will not go for thee.

Friar Barnadine

Not! then I’ll make thee go.

Friar Jacomo

How! dost call me rogue?

| They fight.

Ithamore

Part ’em, master, part ’em.

Barabas

This is mere frailty: brethren, be content.
Friar Barnardine, go you with Ithamore:
You know my mind, let me alone with him. Aside to Friar Barnadine.

Friar Jacomo

Why does he go to thy house? let him be gone.

Barabas

I’ll give him something, and so stop his mouth.

| Exit Ithamore with Friar Barnardine.

I never heard of any man but he
Maligned the order of the Jacobins:
But do you think that I believe his words?
Why, brother, you converted Abigail;
And I am bound in charity to requite it,
And so I will. O Jacomo, fail not, but come.

Friar Jacomo

But, Barabas, who shall be your godfathers?
For presently you shall be shrived.

Barabas

Marry, the Turk64 shall be one of my godfathers,
But not a word to any of your covent.65

Friar Jacomo

I warrant thee, Barabas.

| Exit.

Barabas

So, now the fear is past, and I am safe,
For he that shrived her is within my house;
What if I murdered him ere Jacomo comes?
Now I have such a plot for both their lives
As never Jew nor Christian knew the like:
One turned my daughter, therefore he shall die;
The other knows enough to have my life,
Therefore ’tis not requisite he should live.
But are not both these wise men to suppose
That I will leave my house, my goods, and all,
To fast and be well whipt? I’ll none of that.
Now, Friar Barnardine, I come to you,
I’ll feast you, lodge you, give you fair words,
And, after that, I and my trusty Turk—
No more, but so: it must and shall be done.

| Exit.

Scene
II

| Enter Barabas and Ithamore.66

Barabas

Ithamore, tell me, is the friar asleep?

Ithamore

Yes; and I know not what the reason is
Do what I can he will not strip himself,
Nor go to bed, but sleeps in his own clothes;
I fear me he mistrusts what we intend.

Barabas

No; ’tis an order which the friars use:
Yet, if he knew our meanings, could he ’scape?

Ithamore

No, none can hear him, cry he ne’er so loud.

Barabas

Why, true, therefore did I place him there:
The other chambers open towards the street.

Ithamore

You loiter, master; wherefore stay we thus?
O, how I long to see him shake his heels!

Barabas

Come on, sirrah.
Off with your girdle, make a handsome noose.
Ithamore takes off his girdle, and ties a noose on it.
Friar, awake! They put the noose round the Friar’s neck.

Friar Barnadine

What, do you mean to strangle me?

Ithamore

Yes, ’cause you use to confess.

Barabas

Blame not us, but the proverb, Confess and be hanged; pull hard.

Friar Barnadine

What, will you have67 my life?

Barabas

Pull hard, I say; you would have had my goods.

Ithamore

Ay, and our lives too, therefore pull amain. They strangle him.
’Tis neatly done, sir, here’s no print at all.

Barabas

Then is it as it should be; take him up.

Ithamore

Nay, master, be ruled by me a little. Stands the body upright against the wall, and puts a staff in its hand.

So, let him lean upon his staff; excellent! he stands as if he were begging of bacon.68

Barabas

Who would not think but that this friar lived?
What time o’ night is’t now, sweet Ithamore?

Ithamore

Towards one.

Barabas

Then will not Jacomo be long from hence.

| Exeunt.

Scene
III

| Enter Friar Jacomo.69

Friar Jacomo

This is the hour wherein I shall proceed;70
O happy hour wherein I shall convert
An infidel, and bring his gold into our treasury!
But soft, is not this Barnardine? it is;
And, understanding I should come this way,
Stands here a purpose, meaning me some wrong,
And intercept my going to the Jew.—
Barnardine!
Wilt thou not speak? thou think’st I see thee not;
Away, I’d wish thee, and let me go by:
No, wilt thou not? nay, then, I’ll force my way;
And see, a staff stands ready for the purpose:
As thou lik’st that, stop me another time.
Takes the staff, and strikes down the body, which falls down.

| Enter Barabas and Ithamore.

Barabas

Why, how now, Jacomo, what hast thou done?

Friar Jacomo

Why, stricken him that would have struck at me.

Barabas

Who is it? Barnardine! now out, alas, he’s slain!

Ithamore

Ay, master, he’s slain; look how his brains drop out on’s nose.

Friar Jacomo

Good sirs, I have done’t, but nobody knows it but you two—I may escape.

Barabas

So might my man and I hang with you for company.

Ithamore

No, let us bear him to the magistrates.

Friar Jacomo

Good Barabas, let me go.

Barabas

No, pardon me; the law must have his course
I must be forced to give in evidence,
That being importuned by this Barnardine
To be a Christian, I shut him out,
And there he sat: now I, to keep my word,
And give my goods and substance to your house,
Was up thus early, with intent to go
Unto your friary, because you stayed.

Ithamore

Fie upon ’em! master; will you turn Christian, when holy friars turn devils and murder one another?

Barabas

No, for this example I’ll remain a Jew:
Heaven bless me! what, a friar a murderer?
When shall you see a Jew commit the like?

Ithamore

Why, a Turk could ha’ done no more.

Barabas

To-morrow is the sessions; you shall to it.
Come, Ithamore, let’s help to take him hence.

Friar Jacomo

Villains, I am a sacred person; touch me not.

Barabas

The law shall touch you, we’ll but lead you, we:
’Las, I could weep at your calamity!
Take in the staff too, for that must be shown:
Law wills that each particular be known.

| Exeunt.

Scene
IV

| Enter Bellamira and Pilia-Borza.71

Bellamira

Pilia-Borza, did’st thou meet with Ithamore?

Pilia-Borza

I did.

Bellamira

And didst thou deliver my letter?

Pilia-Borza

I did.

Bellamira

And what think’st thou? will he come?

Pilia-Borza

I think so, but yet I cannot tell; for, at the reading of the letter he looked like a man of another world.

Bellamira

Why so?

Pilia-Borza

That such a base slave as he should be saluted by such a tall72 man as I am, from such a beautiful dame as you.

Bellamira

And what said he?

Pilia-Borza

Not a wise word, only gave me a nod, as who should say, “Is it even so?” and so I left him, being driven to a non-plus at the critical aspect of my terrible countenance.

Bellamira

And where didst meet him?

Pilia-Borza

Upon mine own freehold, within forty feet of the gallows, conning his neck-verse,73 I take it, looking of74 a friar’s execution; whom I saluted with an old hempen proverb, Hodie tibi, cras mihi, and so I left him to the mercy of the hangman: but, the exercise75 being done, see where he comes.

| Enter Ithamore.

Ithamore

I never knew a man take his death so patiently as this friar; he was ready to leap off ere the halter was about his neck; and when the hangman had put on his hempen tippet, he made such haste to his prayers, as if he had had another cure to serve. Well, go whither he will, I’ll be none of his followers in haste: and, now I think on’t, going to the execution, a fellow met me with a muschatoes76 like a raven’s wing, and a dagger with a hilt like a warming-pan, and he gave me a letter from one Madam Bellamira, saluting me in such sort as if he had meant to make clean my boots with his lips; the effect was, that I should come to her house. I wonder what the reason is; it may be she sees more in me than I can find in myself: for she writes further, that she loves me ever since she saw me, and who would not requite such love? Here’s her house, and here she comes, and now would I were gone; I am not worthy to look upon her.

Pilia-Borza

This is the gentleman you writ to.

Ithamore

Gentleman! he flouts me: what gentry can be in a poor Turk of tenpence?77 I’ll be gone. Aside.

Bellamira

Is’t not a sweet-faced youth, Pilia?

Ithamore

Again, “sweet youth!” Aside.—Did not you, sir, bring the sweet youth a letter?

Pilia-Borza

I did, sir, and from this gentlewoman, who, as myself, and the rest of the family, stand or fall at your service.

Bellamira

Though woman’s modesty should hale me back, I can withhold no longer: welcome, sweet love.

Ithamore

Now am I clean, or rather foully out of the way. Aside.

Bellamira

Whither so soon?

Ithamore

I’ll go steal some money from my master to make me handsome Aside.—Pray, pardon me; I must go see a ship discharged.

Bellamira

Canst thou be so unkind to leave me thus?

Pilia-Borza

An ye did but know how she loves you, sir!

Ithamore

Nay, I care not how much she loves me—Sweet Bellamira, would I had my master’s wealth for thy sake!

Pilia-Borza

And you can have it, sir, an if you please.

Ithamore

If ’twere above ground, I could and would have it; but he hides and buries it up, as partridges do their eggs, under the earth.

Pilia-Borza

And is’t not possible to find it out?

Ithamore

By no means possible.

Bellamira

What shall we do with this base villain then? Aside to Pilia-Borza.

Pilia-Borza

Let me alone; do but you speak him fair.—Aside to her.
But sir know some secrets of the Jew,
Which, if they were revealed, would do him harm.

Ithamore

Ay, and such as—Go to, no more! I’ll make him send me half he has, and glad he ’scapes so too: I’ll write unto him; we’ll have money straight.

Pilia-Borza

Send for a hundred crowns at least.

Ithamore

Ten hundred thousand crowns.—Writing. “Master Barabas.”

Pilia-Borza

Write not so submissively, but threatening him.

Ithamore

Writing. “Sirrah Barabas, send me a hundred crowns.”

Pilia-Borza

Put in two hundred at least.

Ithamore

Writing. “I charge thee send me three hundred by this bearer, and this shall be your warrant: if you do not—no more, but so.”

Pilia-Borza

Tell him you will confess.

Ithamore

Writing. “Otherwise I’ll confess all.”—Vanish, and return in a twinkle.

Pilia-Borza

Let me alone; I’ll use him in his kind.

| Exit Pilia-Borza with the letter.

Ithamore

Hang him, Jew!

Bellamira

Now, gentle Ithamore, lie in my lap.—
Where are my maids? provide a running78 banquet;
Send to the merchant, bid him bring me silks;
Shall Ithamore, my love, go in such rags?

Ithamore

And bid the jeweller come hither too.

Bellamira

I have no husband, sweet; I’ll marry thee.

Ithamore

Content: but we will leave this paltry land,
And sail from hence to Greece, to lovely Greece.
I’ll be thy Jason, thou my golden fleece;
Where painted carpets o’er the meads are hurled,
And Bacchus’ vineyards overspread the world;
Where woods and forests go in goodly green,
I’ll be Adonis, thou shalt be Love’s Queen.
The meads, the orchards, and the primrose-lanes,
Instead of sedge and reed, bear sugar-canes:
Thou in those groves, by Dis above,
Shalt live with me, and be my love.

Bellamira

Whither will I not go with gentle Ithamore?

| Reenter Pilia-Borza.

Ithamore

How now! hast thou the gold?

Pilia-Borza

Yes.

Ithamore

But came it freely? did the cow give down her milk freely?

Pilia-Borza

At reading of the letter, he stared and stamped and turned aside. I took him by the beard, and looked upon him thus; told him he were best to send it; then he hugged and embraced me.

Ithamore

Rather for fear than love.

Pilia-Borza

Then, like a Jew, he laughed and jeered, and told me he loved me for your sake, and said what a faithful servant you had been.

Ithamore

The more villain he to keep me thus; here’s goodly ’parel, is there not?

Pilia-Borza

To conclude, he gave me ten crowns. Gives the money to Ithamore.

Ithamore

But ten? I’ll not leave him worth a grey groat. Give me a ream79 of paper: we’ll have a kingdom of gold for’t.

Pilia-Borza

Write for five hundred crowns.

Ithamore

Writing. “Sirrah Jew, as you love your life, send me five hundred crowns, and give the bearer a hundred.—” Tell him I must have’t.

Pilia-Borza

I warrant, your worship shall have’t.

Ithamore

And, if he ask why I demand so much, tell him I scorn to write a line under a hundred crowns.

Pilia-Borza

You’d make a rich poet, sir. I am gone.

| Exit.

Ithamore

Take thou the money; spend it for my sake.

Bellamira

’Tis not thy money, but thyself I weigh;
Thus Bellamira esteems of gold. Throws it aside.
But thus of thee. Kisses him.

Ithamore

That kiss again! she runs division80 of my lips.
What an eye she casts on me! it twinkles like a star.

Bellamira

Come, my dear love, let’s in and sleep together.

Ithamore

O, that ten thousand nights were put in one, that we might sleep seven years together afore we wake!

Bellamira

Come, amorous wag, first banquet, and then sleep.

| Exeunt.

Scene
V

| Enter Barabas, reading a letter.81

Barabas

“Barabas, send me three hundred crowns.—”
Plain Barabas! O, that wicked courtesan!
He was not wont to call me Barabas.
“Or else I will confess:” ay, there it goes:
But, if I get him, coupe de gorge for that.
He sent a shaggy tottered,82 staring slave,
That when he speaks draws out his grisly beard,
And winds it twice or thrice about his ear;
Whose face has been a grindstone for men’s swords;
His hands are hacked, some fingers cut quite off;
Who, when he speaks, grunts like a hog, and looks
Like one that is employed in catzerie83
And cross-biting,84—such a rogue
As is the husband to a hundred whores:
And I by him must send three hundred crowns!
Well, my hope is, he will not stay there still;
And, when he comes: O, that he were but here!

| Enter Pilia-Borza.

Pilia-Borza

Jew, I must have more gold.

Barabas

Why, want’st thou any of thy tale?85

Pilia-Borza

No; but three hundred will not serve his turn.

Barabas

Not serve his turn, sir!

Pilia-Borza

No, sir; and therefore, I must have five hundred more.

Barabas

I’ll rather—

Pilia-Borza

O good words, sir, and send it you were best! see, there’s his letter. Gives letter.

Barabas

Might he not as well come as send? pray bid him come and fetch it; what he writes for you, ye shall have straight.

Pilia-Borza

Ay, and the rest too, or else—

Barabas

I must make this villain away. Aside.

Please you dine with me, sir;—and you shall be most heartily poisoned. Aside.

Pilia-Borza

No, God-a-mercy. Shall I have these crowns?

Barabas

I cannot do it; I have lost my keys.

Pilia-Borza

O, if that be all, I can pick ope your locks.

Barabas

Or climb up to my counting-house window: you know my meaning.

Pilia-Borza

I know enough, and therefore talk not to me of your counting-house. The gold! or know, Jew, it is in my power to hang thee.

Barabas

I am betrayed.—Aside.
’Tis not five hundred crowns that I esteem,
I am not moved at that: this angers me,
That he, who knows I love him as myself,
Should write in this imperious vein. Why, sir,
You know I have no child, and unto whom
Should I leave all but unto Ithamore?

Pilia-Borza

Here’s many words, but no crowns: the crowns!

Barabas

Commend me to him, sir, most humbly,
And unto your good mistress, as unknown.

Pilia-Borza

Speak, shall I have ’em, sir?

Barabas

Sir, here they are. Gives money.
O, that I should part with so much gold! Aside.
Here, take ’em, fellow, with as good a will—
As I would see thee hanged; Aside. O, love stops my breath:
Never loved man servant as I do Ithamore!

Pilia-Borza

I know it, sir.

Barabas

Pray, when, sir, shall I see you at my house?

Pilia-Borza

Soon enough to your cost, sir. Fare you well.

| Exit.

Barabas

Nay, to thine own cost, villain, if thou com’st!
Was ever Jew tormented as I am?
To have a shag-rag knave to come, force from me
Three hundred crowns, and then five hundred crowns!
Well, I must seek a means to rid ’em all,
And presently; for in his villany
He will tell all he knows, and I shall die for’t.
I have it:
I will in some disguise go see the slave,
And how the villain revels with my gold.

| Exit.

Scene
VI

| Enter Bellamira, Ithamore, and Pilia-Borza.86

Bellamira

I’ll pledge thee, love, and therefore drink it off.

Ithamore

Say’st thou me so? have at it; and do you hear? Whispers.

Bellamira

Go to, it shall be so.

Ithamore

Of87 that condition I will drink it up.
Here’s to thee.

Bellamira

Nay, I’ll have all or none.

Ithamore

There, if thou lov’st me, do not leave a drop.

Bellamira

Love thee! fill me three glasses.

Ithamore

Three and fifty dozen, I’ll pledge thee.

Pilia-Borza

Knavely spoke, and like a knight-at-arms.

Ithamore

Hey, Rivo Castiliano!88 a man’s a man.

Bellamira

Now to the Jew.

Ithamore

Ha! to the Jew; and send me money he were best.

Pilia-Borza

What would’st thou do, if he should send thee none?

Ithamore

Do nothing; but I know what I know; he’s a murderer.

Bellamira

I had not thought he had been so brave a man.

Ithamore

You knew Mathias and the governor’s son; he and I killed ’em both, and yet never touched ’em.

Pilia-Borza

O, bravely done.

Ithamore

I carried the broth that poisoned the nuns; and he and I, snickle hand too fast,89 strangled a friar.

Bellamira

You two alone?

Ithamore

We two; and ’twas never known, nor never shall be for me.

Pilia-Borza

This shall with me unto the governor. Aside to Bellamira.

Bellamira

And fit it should: but first let’s ha’ more gold. Aside to Pilia-Borza.
Come, gentle Ithamore, lie in my lap.

Ithamore

Love me little, love me long: let music rumble,
Whilst I in thy incony90 lap do tumble.

| Enter Barabas, disguised as a French musician, with a lute, and a nosegay in his hat.

Bellamira

A French musician! come, let’s hear your skill.

Barabas

Must tuna my lute for sound, twang, twang, first.

Ithamore

Wilt drink, Frenchman? here’s to thee with a—Pox on this drunken hiccup!

Barabas

Gramercy, monsieur.

Bellamira

Prithee, Pilia-Borza, bid the fiddler give me the posy in his hat there.

Pilia-Borza

Sirrah, you must give my mistress your posy.

Barabas

A votre commandement, madame.
Giving nosegay.

Bellamira

How sweet, my Ithamore, the flowers smell!

Ithamore

Like thy breath, sweetheart; no violet like ’em.

Pilia-Borza

Foh! methinks they stink like a hollyhock.

Barabas

So, now I am revenged upon ’em all:
The scent thereof was death; I poisoned it. Aside.

Ithamore

Play, fiddler, or I’ll cut your cat’s guts into chitterlings.

Barabas

Pardonnez moi, be no in tune yet: so, now, now all be in.

Ithamore

Give him a crown, and fill me out more wine.

Pilia-Borza

There’s two crowns for thee; play. Giving money.

Barabas

How liberally the villain gives me mine own gold! Aside, Barabas then plays.

Pilia-Borza

Methinks he fingers very well.

Barabas

So did you when you stole my gold. Aside.

Pilia-Borza

How swift he runs!

Barabas

You run swifter when you threw my gold out of my window. Aside.

Bellamira

Musician, hast been in Malta long?

Barabas

Two, three, four month, madam.

Ithamore

Dost not know a Jew, one Barabas?

Barabas

Very mush: monsieur, you no be his man?

Pilia-Borza

His man?

Ithamore

I scorn the peasant; tell him so.

Barabas

He knows it already. Aside.

Ithamore

’Tis a strange thing of that Jew, he lives upon pickled grasshoppers and sauced mushrooms.

Barabas

What a slave’s this? the governor feeds not as I do. Aside.

Ithamore

He never put on clean shirt since he was circumcised.

Barabas

O rascal! I change myself twice a day. Aside.

Ithamore

The hat he wears, Judas left under the elder91 when he hanged himself.

Barabas

’Twas sent me for a present from the Great Cham. Aside.

Pilia-Borza

A musty slave he is.—Whither now, fiddler?

Barabas

Pardonnez moi, monsieur, me be no well.

Pilia-Borza

Farewell, fiddler!

| Exit Barabas.

One letter more to the Jew.

Bellamira

Prithee, sweet love, one more, and write it sharp.

Ithamore

No, I’ll send by word of mouth now—Bid him deliver thee a thousand crowns, by the same token, that the nuns loved rice, that Friar Barnardine slept in his own clothes; any of ’em will do it.

Pilia-Borza

Let me alone to urge it, now I know the meaning.

Ithamore

The meaning has a meaning. Come let’s in
To undo a Jew is charity, and not sin.

| Exeunt.

Act
V

Scene
I

| Enter Ferneze, Knights, Martin del Bosco, and Officers.92

Ferneze

Now, gentlemen, betake you to your arms,
And see that Malta be well fortified;
And it behoves you to be resolute;
For Calymath, having hovered here so long,
Will win the town, or die before the walls.

First Knight

And die he shall; for we will never yield.

| Enter Bellamira and Pilia-Borza.

Bellamira

O, bring us to the governor.

Ferneze

Away with her! she is a courtesan.

Bellamira

Whate’er I am, yet, governor, hear me speak:
I bring thee news by whom thy son was slain:
Mathias did it not; it was the Jew.

Pilia-Borza

Who, besides the slaughter of these gentlemen,
Poisoned his own daughter and the nuns,
Strangled a friar, and I know not what
Mischief beside.

Ferneze

Had we but proof of this—

Bellamira

Strong proof, my lord; his man’s now at my lodging,
That was his agent; he’ll confess it all.

Ferneze

Go fetch him straight.

| Exeunt Officers.

I always feared that Jew.

| Enter Officers with Barabas and Ithamore.

Barabas

I’ll go alone; dogs! do not hale me thus.

Ithamore

Nor me neither, I cannot outrun you, constable:—O, my belly!

Barabas

One dram of powder more had made all sure;
What a damned slave was I! Aside.

Ferneze

Make fires, heat irons, let the rack be fetched.

First Knight

Nay, stay, my lord; ’t may be he will confess.

Barabas

Confess! what mean you, lords? who should confess?

Ferneze

Thou and thy Turk; ’twas you that slew my son.

Ithamore

Guilty, my lord, I confess. Your son and Mathias were both contracted unto Abigail; he forged a counterfeit challenge.

Barabas

Who carried that challenge?

Ithamore

I carried it, I confess; but who writ it? Marry, even he that strangled Barnardine, poisoned the nuns and his own daughter.

Ferneze

Away with him! his sight is death to me.

Barabas

For what, you men of Malta? hear me speak:
She is a courtezan, and he a thief,
And he my bondman. Let me have law,
For none of this can prejudice my life.

Ferneze

Once more, away with him; you shall have law.

Barabas

Devils, do your worst! I’ll live in spite of you. Aside.
As these have spoke, so be it to their souls!—
I hope the poisoned flowers will work anon. Aside.

| Exeunt Officers with Barabas and Ithamore, Bellamira, and Pilia-Borza.
| Enter Katharine.

Katharine

Was my Mathias murdered by the Jew?
Ferneze, ’twas thy son that murdered him.

Ferneze

Be patient, gentle madam, it was he;
He forged the daring challenge made them fight.

Katharine

Where is the Jew? where is that murderer?

Ferneze

In prison till the law has passed on him.

| Reenter First Officer.

First Officer

My lord, the courtesan and her man are dead;
So is the Turk and Barabas the Jew.

Ferneze

Dead!

First Officer

Dead, my lord, and here they bring his body.

Martin del Bosco

This sudden death of his is very strange.

| Reenter Officers, carrying Barabas as dead.

Ferneze

Wonder not at it, sir, the Heavens are just;
Their deaths were like their lives; then think not of ’em.
Since they are dead, let them be buried;
For the Jew’s body, throw that o’er the walls,
To be a prey for vultures and wild beasts.—
So now away and fortify the town.

| Exeunt all, leaving Barabas on the floor.

Scene
II

| Barabas discovered rising.93

Barabas

What, all alone? well fare, sleepy drink.
I’ll be revenged on this accursed town;
For by my means Calymath shall enter in.
I’ll help to slay their children and their wives,
To fire the churches, pull their houses down,
Take my goods too, and seize upon my lands.
I hope to see the governor a slave,
And, rowing in a galley, whipt to death.

| Enter Calymath, Bassoes, and Turks.

Calymath

Whom have we there? a spy?

Barabas

Yes, my good lord, one that can spy a place
Where you may enter, and surprise the town:
My name is Barabas; I am a Jew.

Calymath

Art thou that Jew whose goods we heard were sold
For tribute-money?

Barabas

The very same, my lord:
And since that time they have hired a slave, my man,
To accuse me of a thousand villainies:
I was imprisoned, but ’scaped their hands.

Calymath

Did’st break prison?

Barabas

No, no:
I drank of poppy and cold mandrake juice:
And being asleep, belike they thought me dead,
And threw me o’er the walls: so, or how else,
The Jew is here, and rests at your command.

Calymath

’Twas bravely done: but tell me, Barabas,
Canst thou, as thou report’st, make Malta ours?

Barabas

Fear not, my lord; for here, against the sluice,94
The rock is hollow, and of purpose digged,
To make a passage for the running streams
And common channels of the city.
Now, whilst you give assault unto the walls,
I’ll lead five hundred soldiers through the vault,
And rise with them i’ the middle of the town,
Open the gates for you to enter in;
And by this means the city is your own.

Calymath

If this be true, I’ll make thee governor.

Barabas

And, if it be not true, then let me die.

Calymath

Thou’st doomed thyself. Assault it presently.

| Exeunt.

Scene
III

| Alarums within. Enter Calymath, Bassoes, Turks, and Barabas; with Ferneze and Knights prisoners.95

Calymath

Now vail96 your pride, you captive Christians
And kneel for mercy to your conquering foe:
Now where’s the hope you had of haughty Spain?
Ferneze, speak, had it not been much better
T’have kept thy promise than be thus surprised?

Ferneze

What should I say? We are captives and must yield.

Calymath

Ay, villains, you must yield, and under Turkish yokes
Shall groaning bear the burden of our ire;
And, Barabas, as erst we promised thee,
For thy desert we make thee governor;
Use them at thy discretion.

Barabas

Thanks, my lord.

Ferneze

O fatal day, to fall into the hands
Of such a traitor and unhallowed Jew!
What greater misery could Heaven inflict?

Calymath

’Tis our command: and, Barabas, we give,
To guard thy person, these our Janizaries:
Entreat97 them well, as we have used thee.
And now, brave bassoes, come, we’ll walk about
The ruined town, and see the wreck we made:—
Farewell, brave Jew; farewell, great Barabas!

Barabas

May all good fortune follow Calymath!

| Exeunt Calymath and Bassoes.

And now, as entrance to our safety,
To prison with the governor and these
Captains, his consorts and confederates.

Ferneze

O villain! Heaven will be revenged on thee.

| Exeunt Turks with Ferenze and Knights.

Away! no more; let him not trouble me.98
Thus hast thou gotten, by thy policy,
No simple place, no small authority,
I now am governor of Malta; true—
But Malta hates me, and, in hating me,
My life’s in danger; and what boots it thee,
Poor Barabas, to be the governor,
Whenas thy life shall be at their command?
No, Barabas, this must be looked into;
And, since by wrong thou got’st authority,
Maintain it bravely by firm policy,
At least unprofitably lose it not:
For he that liveth in authority,
And neither gets him friends, nor fills his bags,
Lives like the ass that Aesop speaketh of,
That labours with a load of bread and wine,
And leaves it off to snap on thistle-tops:
But Barabas will be more circumspect.
Begin betimes; occasion’s bald behind;
Slip not thine opportunity, for fear too late
Thou seek’st for much, but canst not compass it.—
Within here!

| Enter Ferneze, with a Guard.

Ferneze

My lord?

Barabas

Ay, “lord;” thus slaves will learn.
Now, governor;—stand by there, wait within.

| Exeunt Guard.

This is the reason that I sent for thee;
Thou seest thy life and Malta’s happiness
Are at my arbitrement; and Barabas
At his discretion may dispose of both;
Now tell me, governor, and plainly too,
What think’st thou shall become of it and thee?

Ferneze

This, Barabas; since things are in thy power,
I see no reason but of Malta’s wreck,
Nor hope of thee but extreme cruelty:
Nor fear I death, nor will I flatter thee.

Barabas

Governor, good words; be not so furious.
’Tis not thy life which can avail me aught;
Yet you do live, and live for me you shall:
And as for Malta’s ruin, think you not
’Twere slender policy for Barabas
To dispossess himself of such a place?
For sith, as once you said, ’tis in this isle,
In Malta here, that I have got my goods,
And in this city still have had success,
And now at length am grown your governor,
Yourselves shall see it shall not be forgot:
For, as a friend not known but in distress,
I’ll rear up Malta, now remediless.

Ferneze

Will Barabas recover Malta’s loss?
Will Barabas be good to Christians?

Barabas

What wilt thou give me, governor, to procure
A dissolution of the slavish bands
Wherein the Turk hath yoked your land and you?
What will you give me if I render you
The life of Calymath, surprise his men
And in an outhouse of the city shut
His soldiers, till I have consumed ’em all with fire?
What will you give him that procureth this?

Ferneze

Do but bring this to pass which thou pretendest,
Deal truly with us as thou intimatest,
And I will send amongst the citizens,
And by my letters privately procure
Great sums of money for thy recompense:
Nay more, do this, and live thou governor still.

Barabas

Nay, do thou this, Ferneze, and be free;
Governor, I enlarge thee; live with me,
Go walk about the city, see thy friends:
Tush, send not letters to ’em, go thyself,
And let me see what money thou canst make;
Here is my hand that I’ll set Malta free:
And thus we cast it: to a solemn feast
I will invite young Selim Calymath,
Where be thou present only to perform
One stratagem that I’ll impart to thee,
Wherein no danger shall betide thy life,
And I will warrant Malta free for ever.

Ferneze

Here is my hand; believe me, Barabas,
I will be there, and do as thou desirest.
When is the time?

Barabas

Governor, presently:
For Calymath, when he hath viewed the town,
Will take his leave, and sail toward Ottoman.

Ferneze

Then will I, Barabas, about this coin,
And bring it with me to thee in the evening.

Barabas

Do so, but fail not; now farewell, Ferneze!—

| Exit Ferenze.

And thus far roundly goes the business:
Thus, loving neither, will I live with both,
Making a profit of my policy;
And he from whom my most advantage comes
Shall be my friend.
This is the life we Jews are used to lead;
And reason too, for Christians do the like.
Well, now about effecting this device;
First, to surprise great Selim’s soldiers,
And then to make provision for the feast,
That at one instant all things may be done:
My policy detests prevention.
To what event my secret purpose drives,
I know; and they shall witness with their lives.

| Exeunt.

Scene
IV

| Enter Calymath and Bassoes.99

Calymath

Thus have we viewed the city, seen the sack,
And caused the ruins to be new-repaired,
Which with our bombards’100 shot and basilisks
We rent in sunder at our entry:
And now I see the situation,
And how secure this conquered island stands
Environed with the Mediterranean sea,
Strong-countermined with other petty isles;
And, toward Calabria, backed by Sicily,
(Where Syracusian Dionysius reigned),
Two lofty turrets that command the town;
I wonder how it could be conquered thus.

| Enter a Messenger.

Messenger

From Barabas, Malta’s governor, I bring
A message unto mighty Calymath;
Hearing his sovereign was bound for sea,
To sail to Turkey, to great Ottoman,
He humbly would entreat your majesty
To come and see his homely citadel,
And banquet with him ere thou leav’st the isle.

Calymath

To banquet with him in his citadel?
I fear me, messenger, to feast my train
Within a town of war so lately pillaged,
Will be too costly and too troublesome:
Yet would I gladly visit Barabas,
For well has Barabas deserved of us.

Messenger

Selim, for that, thus saith the governor,
That he hath in his store a pearl so big,
So precious, and withal so orient,
As, be it valued but indifferently,
The price thereof will serve to entertain
Selim and all his soldiers for a month;
Therefore he humbly would entreat your highness
Not to depart till he has feasted you.

Calymath

I cannot feast my men in Malta-walls,
Except he place his tables in the streets.

Messenger

Know, Selim, that there is a monastery
Which standeth as an outhouse to the town:
There will he banquet them; but thee at home,
With all thy bassoes and brave followers.

Calymath

Well, tell the governor we grant his suit,
We’ll in this summer evening feast with him.

Messenger

I shall, my lord.

| Exit.

Calymath

And now, bold bassoes, let us to our tents,
And meditate how we may grace us best
To solemnize our governor’s great feast.

| Exeunt.

Scene
V

| Enter Ferneze, Knights and Martin del Bosco.101

Ferneze

In this, my countrymen, be ruled by me,
Have special care that no man sally forth
Till you shall hear a culverin discharged
By him that bears the linstock,102 kindled thus;
Then issue out and come to rescue me,
For happily I shall be in distress,
Or you released of this servitude.

First Knight

Rather than thus to live as Turkish thralls,103
What will we not adventure?

Ferneze

On, then, begone.

Knights

Farewell, grave governor!

| Exeunt on one side Knights and Martin del Bosco; on the other Ferneze.

Scene
VI

| Enter, above, Barabas, with a hammer, very busy; and Carpenters.104

Barabas

How stand the cords? how hang these hinges? fast?
Are all the cranes and pulleys sure?

First Carpenter

All fast.

Barabas

Leave nothing loose, all levelled to my mind.
Why now I see that you have art indeed.
There, carpenters, divide that gold amongst you: Give money.
Go swill in bowls of sack and muscadine!
Down to the cellar, taste of all my wines.

First Carpenter

We shall, my lord, and thank you.

| Exeunt Carpenters.

Barabas

And, if you like them, drink your fill and die:
For so I live, perish may all the world!
Now Selim Calymath return me word
That thou wilt come, and I am satisfied.

| Enter Messenger.

Now, sirrah, what, will he come?

Messenger

He will; and has commanded all his men
To come ashore, and march through Malta streets,
That thou mayst feast them in thy citadel.

Barabas

Then now are all things as my wish would have ’em;
There wanteth nothing but the governor’s pelf;
And see, he brings it.

| Enter Ferneze.

Now, governor, the sum.

Ferneze

With free consent, a hundred thousand pounds.

Barabas

Pounds say’st thou, governor? well, since it is no more,
I’ll satisfy myself with that; nay, keep it still,
For if I keep not promise, trust not me.
And, governor, now partake my policy:
First, for his army; they are sent before,
Entered the monastery, and underneath
In several places are field-pieces pitched,
Bombards, whole barrels full of gunpowder
That on the sudden shall dissever it,
And batter all the stones about their ears,
Whence none can possibly escape alive.
Now, as for Calymath and his consorts
Here have I made a dainty gallery,
The floor whereof, this cable being cut,
Doth fall asunder; so that it doth sink
Into a deep pit past recovery.
Here, hold that knife, Throws down a knife. and when thou seest he comes,
And with his bassoes shall be blithely set,
A warning-piece shall be shot off from the tower,
To give thee knowledge when to cut the cord,
And fire the house; say, will not this be brave?

Ferneze

O, excellent! here, hold thee, Barabas
I trust thy word, take what I promised thee.

Barabas

No, governor; I’ll satisfy thee first,
Thou shalt not live in doubt of any thing.
Stand close, for here they come.

| Firenze retires.

Why, is not this
A kingly kind of trade, to purchase towns
By treachery and sell ’em by deceit?
Now tell me, worldlings, underneath the sun
If greater falsehood ever has been done?

| Enter Calymath and Bassoes.

Calymath

Come, my companion bassoes: see, I pray,
How busy Barabas is there above
To entertain us in his gallery;
Let us salute him. Save thee, Barabas!

Barabas

Welcome, great Calymath!

Ferneze

How the slave jeers at him! Aside.

Barabas

Will ’t please thee, mighty Selim Calymath,
To ascend our homely stairs?

Calymath

Ay, Barabas;—
Come, bassoes, ascend.

Ferneze

Coming forward. Stay, Calymath!
For I will show thee greater courtesy
Than Barabas would have afforded thee.

Knight

Within. Sound a charge there!

A charge sounded within. Ferneze cuts the cord: the floor of the gallery gives way, and Barabas falls into a cauldron placed in a pit.

| Enter Martin del Bosco and Knights.

Calymath

How now! what means this?

Barabas

Help, help me! Christians, help!

Ferneze

See, Calymath! this was devised for thee!

Calymath

Treason! treason! bassoes, fly!

Ferneze

No, Selim, do not fly;
See his end first, and fly then if thou canst.

Barabas

O, help me, Selim! help me, Christians!
Governor, why stand you all so pitiless?

Ferneze

Should I in pity of thy plaints or thee,
Accursed Barabas, base Jew, relent?
No, thus I’ll see thy treachery repaid,
But wish thou hadst behaved thee otherwise.

Barabas

You will not help me, then?

Ferneze

No, villain, no.

Barabas

And, villains, know you cannot help me now.—
Then, Barabas, breathe forth thy latest hate,
And in the fury of thy torments strive
To end thy life with resolution.
Know, governor, ’twas I that slew thy son;
I framed the challenge that did make them meet:
Know, Calymath, I aimed thy overthrow,
And had I but escaped this stratagem,
I would have brought confusion on you all,
Damned Christian dogs! and Turkish infidels!
But now begins the extremity of heat
To pinch me with intolerable pangs:
Die, life! fly, soul! tongue, curse thy fill, and die! Dies.

Calymath

Tell me, you Christians, what doth this portend?

Ferneze

This train he laid to have entrapped thy life;
Now, Selim, note the unhallowed deeds of Jews:
Thus he determined to have handled thee,
But I have rather chose to save thy life.

Calymath

Was this the banquet he prepared for us?
Let’s hence, lest further mischief be pretended.105

Ferneze

Nay, Selim, stay; for, since we have thee here,
We will not let thee part so suddenly:
Besides, if we should let thee go, all’s one,
For with thy galleys couldst thou not get hence,
Without fresh men to rig and furnish them.

Calymath

Tush, governor, take thou no care for that,
My men are all aboard,
And do attend my coming there by this.

Ferneze

Why, heard’st thou not the trumpet sound a charge?

Calymath

Yes, what of that?

Ferneze

Why then the house was fired,
Blown up, and all thy soldiers massacred.

Calymath

O, monstrous treason!

Ferneze

A Jew’s courtesy:
For he that did by treason work our fall,
By treason hath delivered thee to us:
Know, therefore, till thy father hath made good
The ruins done to Malta and to us,
Thou canst not part; for Malta shall be freed,
Or Selim ne’er return to Ottoman.

Calymath

Nay, rather, Christians, let me go to Turkey,
In person there to mediate your peace;
To keep me here will naught advantage you.

Ferneze

Content thee, Calymath, here thou must stay,
And live in Malta prisoner; for come all the world
To rescue thee, so will we guard us now,
As sooner shall they drink the ocean dry
Than conquer Malta, or endanger us.
So, march away, and let due praise be given
Neither to Fate nor Fortune, but to Heaven.

| Exeunt.

Endnotes

1. This distinguished Florentine, degraded into a personification of unscrupulous policy, was frequently appealed to on the Elizabethan stage

2. The Due de Guise, who had organised the Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572, and was assassinated in 1588.

3. Old ed. “Samintes;” modern editors print “Samnites,” between whom and the “men of Uz” there can be no possible connection. We have Saba for Sabraea in Faustus [see p. 195]. —Bullen

4. Count.

5. Seldom seen.

6. It was an ancient belief that a suspended stuffed halcyon (i.e. kingfisher) would indicate the quarter from which the wind blew.

7. Enter them at the custom-house.

8. Freight.

9. Scrambled.

10. The scene is here supposed to be shifted to a street or to the Exchange.

11. I.e. Foolish.

12. Misquoted from Terence’s Andria, iv. 1, 12. The words should be “Proximus sum egomet mibi.”

13. The scene is supposed to be inside the council-house.

14. Bashaws or Pashas.

15. I.e. Haply.

16. Refuses.

17. Convert.

18. Violent emotion.

19. Dyce suggests that on the Jews’ departure the scene is supposed to shift to a street near Barabas’s house.

20. I.e. Repair.

21. Foolish.

22. Portuguese gold coins.

23. I.e. Sex.

24. The old edition has † inserted here, presumably to indicate the sign that Barabas was to make with his hand.

25. The scene is before Barabas’s house, now turned into a nunnery.

26. We have a kind of echo of this in Shylock’s “My daughter, O my ducats,” etc.

27. I.e. Treat.

28. Freight.

29. I.e. Did not lower our flags.

30. Old ed. “Spanish,”

31. Old ed. “left and tooke.” The correction was made by Dyce.

32. Established.

33. The scene is the market-place.

34. This recalls Shylock’s “Still have I borne it with a patient shrug.”

35. Defiled.

36. Pieces of silver coin.

37. An allegorical character in the old moralities.

38. I.e. Break off our conversation.

39. Barabas was represented on the stage with a large false nose. In Rowley’s Search for Money (1609) allusion is made to the “artificiall Jewe of Maltaes nose.”

40. Use.

41. I.e. In good earnest.

42. Dyce supposes a change of scene here to the outside of Barabas’s house.

43. Affianced.

44. A piece of money with a cross marked on one of its sides, like the Portuguese cruzado.

45. Satisfied.

46. The scene is the outside of Bellamira’s house, and it is suggested that she makes her appearance on the verandah or on a balcony.

47. The scene is a street.

48. Brave.

49. The scene is a room in Barabas’s house.

50. “Prior” in the old editions, which both Dyce and Bullen follow. Cunningham substituted “governor,” which is evidently correct.

51. The scene is still within Barabas’s house, but an interval of time has elapsed.

52. I.e. Portendeth.

53. I.e. In short.

54. The juice of ebony, formerly regarded as a deadly poison.

55. The scene is the interior of the council-house.

56. Cannon.

57. The scene is the interior of the convent.

58. I.e. Hated. Formerly the word was in common use in this sense.

59. Artifice.

60. This was a crime of which the Jews were often accused, especially, according to Tovey (in his Anglia Judaica), when the king happened to be in want of money.

61. The scene is a street in Malta.

62. I.e. Equal to.

63. Attics; lofts (Latin, solarium). The word is still in use in some parts of England and in legal documents.

64. Ithamore.

65. Convent (as in “Covent Garden”).

66. The scene is a room in the house of Barabas.

67. The old edition has “save,” but from Barabas’s retort, “You would have had my goods,” the word is most likely a misprint.

68. It would appear from the following scene that the body was stood up outside of the house.

69. The scene is outside Barabas’s house.

70. Succeed.

71. The scene is a verandah of Bellamira’s house.

72. Brave.

73. The verse which criminals had to read to entitle them to “benefit of clergy,” and which was usually the first verse of the 51st Psalm.

74. I.e. Looking on.

75. Sermon.

76. Mustachios.

77. A derogatory expression often found in writers of this period.

78. Hasty.

79. A quibble upon “realm” and “kingdom”; “realm,” which was often written without the l being commonly pronounced “ream.”

80. A musical term.

81. Dyce suggests that the scene is a room in Barabas’s house, but as Barabas presently enquires of Pilia-Borsa when he shall see him at his house, their meeting probably takes place in the street.

82. Tattered.

83. Knavery (from cazzo).

84. Swindling.

85. Reckoning.

86. The scene is a verandah or open porch of Bellamira’s house.

87. I.e. On.

88. A familiar Bacchanalian exhortation of doubtful origin.

89. A corrupt passage. “Snickle” is a noose or slipknot, and the word is commonly applied to the hangman’s halter, and to snares set for hares and rabbits. Cunningham proposed to read “Snickle hard and fast.”

90. Dainty, sweet.

91. Judas is said to have hanged himself on an elder-tree.

92. The scene is inside the council-house.

93. The scene is outside the city walls, over which Barabas has been thrown in accordance with Ferneze’s orders.

94. Old edition—“truce.” Dyce printed “trench.”

95. The scene is an open place in the city.

96. Lower.

97. I.e. Treat.

98. The scene is here supposed to shift to the governor’s residence inside the citadel.

99. The scene is outside the city walls.

100. Cannons.

101. The scene is a street in Malta.

102. The stick which held the match used by gunners.

103. Slaves.

104. The scene is a hall in the citadel, with a gallery at the end.

105. I.e. Intended.

Colophon

The Jew of Malta
was published in 1589 by
Christopher Marlowe.

This ebook was produced for
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B. Timothy Keith,
and is based on a transcription produced in 1997 by
Gary R. Young and David Widger
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Internet Archive.

The cover page is adapted from
Shylock,
a painting completed in 1897 by
Eduard von Grützner.
The cover and title pages feature the
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