heart I will not in danger be daintie but reueale to you the man saide to haue subdued my liberty What should I more say nay what might I with modesty lesse say or at the least suffer you to aime before I name theÌ„ y t here teares drowning her words gaue a short pause to this y t foloweth thy selfe my deare Crisippus art that one whoÌ„ I long time haue loued do loue wil loue And if this thing seemeth ambiguous for likly-hoode or strange for loue then for further triall commaunde me yea presently commaund me for that the shortnes of the time promising an ouer-speedy marriage betwixt Staurobates me can suffer no long delay to disrobe my selfe of this rich attire so disguised to follow thee wheresoeuer my Conductor Doubt not my sweete friend I would I might aswell call thee husbande but that making an easie escape from hence we may liue as contentedly elswhere being lawfull wedded for that is the bounds of my loue mutually haue fruition of loues delight that not in want I being prouided of Iewels a light cariage worth aboundant of wealth neither may they want that faithfully loue much is it that I leaue but much more would I loose onely to win thee to my selfe for Crisippus from the first day that I viewed God grant I may say luckely viewed thy face personage I wholy haue setled my selfe only thine own wherefore neither scorne nor feare to enioy what onely is thine or at the least-wise let her presently vnderstand thy pleasure whose good or badde dayes wholy consist on thy good or bad answere The teares thus stopping her words she wringeth his moist fist amorously betwixt her delicate hands hauing dried her eyes thus proceedeth if happely Crisippus you finde ought of modestie escaping my tongue impute the same to the integrity of loue y e necessity of spedy dispatch the answere of your own question and to your owne late speech against coynesse And so Maidenly bashfulnesse hardly restraining a coniunction of lippes shee endeth to speak and beginneth againe to weepe Cap. 24. CRisippus albeit he did palpably beholde feele and heare this angelical Temptatrisse and her sweete Incantations yet stoode he still like a headlesse flie meruelously amased and hardly parswading himselfe but that he had seene some vision or in a dreame heard that melodious hermonie or rather accounted by him an vnpractised Songster iarring discorde as by his answere appeared for feeling perfectly that he did wake and not sleepe that he looked on her with open eyes that had thus louingly laid open to him her heart because he had neuer yet receiued prest-mony or thought to haue marched after loues Onset a beautifull blushing made him seeme more louely but his ignorance in loue to answere thus absurdly When Serpents qd he but hisse then no man so foolish as to trust them but vntill women sting few men so wise as to mistrust them your grace I knowe expecteth an answere and I feare more to offend rudely then that your Ladiship will pardon redily Is it possible that you so beautifull a Ladie the onely daughter and heire of a king forsaking those personages whom for their worthinesse in euery respect you might well fantesie should forsake them and your liberty and betake you to me that am as you knowe no more if so much then a poore gentleman the sonne of a Marchant whose wealth in his store-houses is more then his gentrie with the Heralds and my countenance such as it is in the Court more theÌ„ the coine he can leaue in his Coffers with whom you cannot liue but in exile and danger is it possible I say you should so much embace your selfe as to embrace so homely an husband as is Crisippus no Madam no Crisippus feareth he should clime to high if Marpissa should fâ—l so low or perhaps hath learned by others â—osse that a pleasant foe doth esily supplant Yet pardon me Madam I will not iudge but that your Ladiship may intend the same loue you outwardly pretend which admitted what else followeth but that you prising so cheape your loue shold be ouergreat a Loser and I buying so daungerous abargaine a sorrowfull Gainer for kings haue eyes that pearce into euerie CraÌ„nie eares that heare in euerie companie and hands that stretch into euerie Countrie in whose affaires but onely to aime is little better then to holde the Wolfe by the eares or to walke vpon right narrow Bridges ouer most deepe Foordes Seeing therfore Madam that such loue would be so much losse to you such danger to me so preiudiciall to vs both let it suffise that I humble euen the knees of mine heart to acknowledge your so rare bountie and vouchsafe the same to impetrate pardoÌ„ for denial of so vnprofitable proceedinges When Marpissa hearde him make this vnkinde Conclusion a bitter Acceptance thought she of so bountiful an Offer only replying with cutting sighes and shaking her mistempred head as who should say ah dessolat wentch I hard-hearted wreatch thou she sorrowfully departed to her lodging whether by the teares trickling from downe her eyes she might haue bene tracted leaueing Crisippus all alone in the same place where they had thus talked of this euill hanselled loue who seeing her thus suddenly gone returned then to the Duke his lodging certifying to him the euill successe of his sute with Marpissa Well qd the Duke setting a good face on a bad matter what remedie but perforced patience they that may not loue where they would must leaue when they may and for ought I see the losse woulde bee light were the fondnesse of mine affection lesse for it is commonly seene that praying Haggardes and peeuish women as they are caught when they woulde not so they checke when they should not Thus did he smooth Brag smite Beautie when his thought might wel haue controuled his tongue bidding Crisippus farewel whom loue did thus welcom to his lodging Cap. 25. HIs Pedantie the weather being moiste brought drie slippers to put on his feete the Maister his wits being on wol-gathering hauing more neede of warme carchifes to binde on his head the which was now become a hiue of bussing Bees not standing as he thought on his shoulders but hanging by Geometrie he knoweth not sweete yongling what loue meaneth yet he loueth he would not loue and yet could not but loue yea and that so feruently that hauing acquainted himselfe but a small time with the Copesmate of loue Solitarines he might haue ben vsed in a CoÌ„sistorie of louers in place of an Anothomie being so much y e more wretched by how much him self was y e Author of his own wretchednes in forslowing goulden Oportunity the smiling handmaide of Fortune But as loue did triumphe ouer Crisippus so the same furie did tyrannyse ouer Marpissa who a tollerable fault in that sex liued with as small felicitie as shee loued vnfortunatly but yet not vtterly hopeles of better
while driue forth the time vntil in the end not able any longer to hide that swelling sicknesse which she knew to be other than a Tympany one morning betimes she secretly windeth her selfe from out the Court in disguised apparel not to be recouered by any searche or heard of by any inquirie After which her departure within lesse than a seuen-night Duke Menophis and we ariue at Cicyona but intelligence being there had of this euill newes making short tariance there we resaile with sorrow ynough to India and certifie to Staurobates our euill aduentures on the seas with the heauie tidings of Pheone her missing Staurobates who had pitifully heard the report of our mishaps and tooke most patiently the losse of his so great treasure hearing now such newes of her whom he loued as his own life fetching pitifull sighes and eftsoones falling into perilous sownes could hardly be reuiued wanting little but that he had presently died and long after remained at point vtterly to haue forsworne wiuing by reason that Fortune had euen then so awkly adnihilated his Commencing whē hauing already his Grace he accounted himselfe a Graduate Cap. 22. BUt what is it that time doth not determine or at least wise diminish diuers yeares after he yet continuing a broken batchiler when his pensiuenes was grown from a wound to a skarre he ariued at Cicyona there familiarly to visite his old friend and brother in law that might haue bene King Selchim who gladly gaue him entertainment answerable to his magnificence During the time of Staurobates his now abode in Cicyona Marpissa King Selchim his only daughter and heire a perfit blossome of beautie a matchlesse Paragō for personage perfected by Nature and pullished by Nurture and one whome Enuie it selfe could not in any wise impeach occcupied so great a portion of now more hers than his own hart that Pheone was thē diszeased but Marpissa seazed the Aunt dismissed but the Niece admitted the one lacked but the other loued Staurobates therefore firste mouing Selchim of this match and there preuailing did secondlye make loue to Marpissa but there fayled howbeit like a wilie wenche she finely smootheth him off with such delatorie answers that cunningly she leaueth her selfe at liberty and giueth to him neuerthelesse cause to play on the bridle for hee assured himselfe of nothing more than that he had gotten a wife when she perswaded herselfe of nothing lesse then to take him for husband There was at that time in the Court attendaunt vpon a young Duke which Duke had bene in vaine a long suter to the Princesse one Crisippus knowne to be no other than a ritche Marchants sonne of the same Citie where the Court than lay but yet a youthful Gallant and a brauing Courtier he at the commaundement and in the behalfe of the Duke his maister vsed often repaire to Marpissa and had much conference with her as touching the same Duke his loue But shee careleslye neglecting the curteous proffers of the master did contemplatiuely respect the comly personage of the man who being scarcely xviii winters old both for actiuitie maners and well making was at y e least wise in her eye not second to any This Crisippus I say this affiansed factor fauoured Soliciter was the only sleping Endimion secretly kissed of Phoebe so far-forth as her loue wanting a second consent might extend it selfe to Galatea an Acis to Venus an Adonis and to Marpissa the first of her loue or the last of her life Wherfore after that she had with earnest long endeuour sought to resist vndesistable loue at the length taking courage boldly to persist she entreth with her-self into these Arguments What reason hast thou Marpissa to contend with Loue that is both restlesse and vnreasonable adding so to fire fewell or what standest thou vppon these ouer-curious points thy fathers displeasure Crisippus his Pettigree or thine own Modestie when the first may be pacified or else by meanes auoided for from whom we are deriued by birth to thē what can we more returne than reuerent mindes but to whome wee are driuen by loue from thē what may we lesse with-hold than our own parsōs yea Marpissa thou maist also reuerēce as a daughter and loue as a wife and yet the later not preiudicial to the first Secondly and as concerning Crisippus his Pettigree or Pouertie what is that to be respected seeing thou doest delight in his parsonage not descant of his parentage whose vertue doth counteruaile the want of Nobilitie for better the man lacking wealth then wealth lacking the man Thirdly what shouldest thou bee more nise than wise that art therefore to be pardoned because in loue and who is ignorant that loue respecteth no persons for howsoeuer in all other things hapneth a superioritie yet Nature that hath giuen to vs alone Birth one Breath and one Death in this one only thing remaineth vncorrupt and is to all alike indifferent making Phoebus a Sheapheard and Hercules a Cot-queane but admit the Discord yet mariage maketh the Concord Mariage qd I yea but all the craft in catching and cunning in keeping I marie Marpissa this was sweetly spoken if faire words might win him but Crisippus is no Pigeon to be taken with a beane nor a child to be intised with a Ball he may be perhaps a Louer but not loue for losse and will more esteeme a dowrie that is bountifull than a Kings Daughter though beautifull Alas Marpissa what dowrie canst thou bring him Ah Death if he be taken Banishment if he escape and Pouertie howsoeuer he speedeth Wherfore if thou wilt loue him then leane to loue him but that alas will neuer be except thou also leaue to liue Nay rather moue the question and afterwards dispose of thy selfe according to his answere they are more than miserable that seeke a sword to perish on the point before a salue to applie to their paine the vexed parson that in most anguish crieth out to be deliuered of greefe the same would not with the least violence be then dispatched of life speake Marpissa nowe or else neuer speede sue to him for loue that perhaps would but feares to attempt thee in the like thou shalt no doubt obtaine he is neither discurteous nor timerous so constāt a Partner shal the rather make him venterous of the perill Cap. 23. LVpus in fabula labouring yet in these passions she perceaued Crisippus dauncing attendance about the pursute of the Duke his loue whom more for that shee had now a new plea of her own to plie than vpon any will to heare the olde pleaded cause of his maister the whiche she had already both in thought by word dismissed she calleth into a withdrawing chamber where giuing him intertainment more than vsuall but yet no more than stood with modestie they enter into this Dialogue Mar. WHat newes Crisippus My Lord your Master is I hope satisfied and not offended with the returne of my late aunswere if then
your hether Repaire be not his Replie but your owne preferment giue me leaue to intrude my self a dealer in your demaund and doubt not of my diligence to whomsoeuer and for whatsoeuer in your behalfe Cr. Neither is it possible Madame my Lord should be satisfyed being so vnfortunate in your loue or your Ladiship offensiue to him that only to you hath vowed all dutie as for my hether Repaire it is humbly as before to prosecute his Succour whom you may presently esteeme the very Substance of sorrow and lastly for the recept of such your so gratious offers vnworthie Crisippus sayeth himselfe disabled to measure part of that thankfulnesse to your Ladiships eare whiche without all measure is contained in his heart Mar. Few thankes may serue where benefites are so small but Crisippus as it would not hurt me to bee more amiable so woulde it helpe the Duke to be lesse amorous Cr. As touching your Ladiship I aunswere that to a Perfection a Supplie were needlesse but as to my Lord I say that perswasion or disswasion were bootelesse for so farre off is he from being cleare of that which to all louers is common that thē he forceth most for you when he heareth himselfe least fauoured of you and yet to couple vp at the losse would sayth he argue an idle Huntesman Mar. But to be still at losse is tedious hunting Cr. Yet hope of finding rebateth from suche tediousnesse Mar. You speake in clowdes Crisippus how mean you that finding Cr. As doth my Father finde my Mother sometimes at boord sometimes in bed Mar. A breefe construction but all the better for Staurobates thinking to find me so Cr. And this a bad comfort and all the worser for my Lord threatned to loose you so Mar. Well Suresby well I perceaue were the case yours you that are for an other so earnest would bee for your selfe importunate Cr. What I coulde bee Madame that resteth but what I should be that is euident wiser my thinks then to runne on so sleeuelesse an errand or prosecute so bootelesse an action Mar. Yet euen now you maintained that a man perseuering in loue may preuaile at the length Cr. Then did I argue for my Lord as a Louer now doe I answere your Ladiship as Crisippus who in loues May seeth included no end Mar. But in the same May is expected an ende and in the Ebbe not to watche the Tyde is to loose the Tyde through negligence Cr. But in the Ebbe say I suche a watchman maye swealt with heate starue with colde or tire with tariance only he watcheth well that findeth the tide fit for his passage Mar. If to trie the constancie of men we linger a while is it not thinke you good policie Cr. Yes if in that while to kill me with languor you account it no bad victorie Mar. But should women consent lightly their Louers would conceaue ouer lewdly Cr. But because they are Louers therfore ignoraunt that coy wenches are for the most part cunning wantōs Mar. As who would say when men be wilfull in loue women must then be witlesse in choise Cr. Wilfull fooles in-deede are fayre Gamsters pittifull Soldiours faithful Louers and vnder your Ladiships correction bee it spoken so wise in their choyse oftentimes are women that whilst they desire to be woed disdained to be wone it fareth with them as with Hobbyes that turning taile to the Larke make winge to the Dorre Say Crisippus we be Hobbies so you serue vs as Falkners graunting vs to seaze where we happen to sousse as sweete a morsel ywis to Iuno had their loue ben currant was Ixion as Iupiter and to Ioue Io as Iuno and the reason is loue feeleth no lacke howbeit such doinges make not to vs for documents you speake of disdaine but where I pray you were constancie to anie should we bee alike curteous to all and yet forsooth if we remoue any for comlinesse we anon are rebuked for coynes when credit me Crisippus in loue diuerse thinges may diuersly hinder amongst which not alwaies Obstinacie but sometimes and chiefly want of Oportunitie for they that bandon the ball marke not euer the Chace my selfe for example may and perhaps doe beare an especiall liking to some one man but looke not thinke you my parents and friendes to like or mislike of the match yes Crisippus put case your selfe might winne me without their Consent yet I gesse it would greeue you so doungerously to conclude Cr. Be this coynes or be it cōlmes sure I am that loue it is not for loue straineth curtesitie with friendes and parentes shaketh handes with wealth and pleasures yea it biddeth life and all farewell loue if loue it be in deede is of such efficacie Mar. Tush Crisippus you now talke of Apollo his laughter Cr. And why not Madam of Apollo his loue he with infinite others haue done the like why my selfe were I a louer would doe no lesse but what better president then that of my Lorde who presently is at point to performe fully asmuch or might any thing be more then losse of breath ready also for your loue to fulfil that more If therfore not offending good manners I might gesse in iest at what I wish in earnest I would leuell at my Lord to hit your Louer that one especiall man I meane standing as is partly confessed so highly in your Ladiships fauour because then he no man hath better deserued the good happe of so gracious a Lot as is the prize of your Loue. When Marpissa had thus priuely felt Crisippus his pulses although not beating so amorously as shee did wishe yet bringing oportunity to vtter what shee would not omitting therefore so good an occasion she saith I cannot tell Crisippus whether I may thinke you Cauilous in threatning kindnes where none is credulēt in beleeuing what at no time was or constant in pursuing what shall neuer be but me-thinkes your labours alredy lost in the Duke his behalf might long since haue disswaded both him you from groping after a Shadow as much more now Staurobates being a Competitor from gaping after a Substance neuertheles not tyred with a dead effect you harpe still to a deaffe hope That I may therefore remoue such errors besides that my father no longer ago then yeasterday last promised me in marriage to Staurobates which Banes also I meane to forbid I swere by youder Sunne I haue bene am and meane to bee so farre off from matching with the Duke that hence-forth I protest neuer more to talke with him or with any other soliciting his loue wherfore good Crisippus cease to counsell him or intreate me any further herein let him also suffer himselfe to digest this a finall answere But Crisippus although silēce may you perhaps think would be more seemely in a Maiden yet because I am vrged by loue violently by your demaunde willingly and by posting occasion of necessitie to direct you as it were by the hand to my
successe she thought it labour not altogether lost to finish that reply in written tables at their last departure begone only by pitifull gestures the which purporting many louing arguments enterlaced also with some desperate conclusions were by her messenger deliuered to his perusing When Crisippus had with ioy enough viewed reueiwed those plausable lines he by the same messenger thus reanswered in writing her letters SO often do I accuse my selfe of cowardise most worthy Lady as the hardines of the silly Snaile meeteth my remembrance whose courage is such that the boulde worme is seene venterously to clime the tops of the most loftiest Towers when to say troth I through Timeritie haue baulked the proffered bountie of you a Lady then whom liueth not any more louely in excuse wherof I infer the cause not to be any mislike of the matter but a mistrust of the maner no defect of willingnes but my too too vnworthynes no light acceptaÌ„ce of your so rare beautie but the vnlikelihood of so strang bounty wherfore seeing that feare only hath bene my fault I hope your curtious nature sweete Lady will make a fauorable construction of my childish errour for the which I haue alredy performed such extreme pennaÌ„ce that had I not conceiued hope of life by your writing to day death no doubt had taken away both hope life before to morrow For my passed simplicitie I aske pardon of my following fidelitie I craue triall forgiue the one affie in the other to whatsoeuer affaires you shal imploy my seruice to that only office shal I applie al duety what you henceforth account but an errour that same shall I conclude an heresie only liue Marpissa to continue your loue or Crisippus dieth to end his langour Your Graces more willing then worthy Crisippus From this day forwardes they enioyed the benefit of many amorous meetinges and in conclusion of their vnsuspected familiaritie proceeded a secret marriage Anon after the time drewe fast on wherein a marriage should haue bene consummated betwixt Marpissa king Staurobates but she and Crisippus rather carelesse of their liues then inconstant in their loues fled together from the Court more priuely then prouidently as hapned for long were they not absent but by by missed the Portes Hauens whole Country being narrowly laide for their appreheÌ„sioÌ„ so that not able to flee far y t were pursued so fast they might not be more couertly hid then they were curiouslie sought in the ende as crookedly found When the two Loues were brought into the presence of the two kinges Staurobates sweating in a new chaffe as cast in his second accompt sendeth as fierce lookes at Crisippus that had so forstalled his mariage as did Selchim a sterne countinaunce at Marpissa that had thus disobeied his meaning who adding these following speches proceeded also to a terrible sentence Cap. 26. WHy suffer I the presence of thee so dishonest a child by whose practise I am become so dishonoured a father why haue I bene so carefull of thy wel-fare that art so carelesse of thine owne preferment were it not thou impudent Strumpet that I rather shunne to be noted of impacience in giuing the bridle to my iust anger then doubt to be charged of iniustice in punishing so vniust a Trespasser this heart of mine could redily consent these handes willingly contriue and these eyes gâ—adly beholde that thy carcasse mine onely deede deade beweltered in blood before my face and trampled vppon with my feete but liue harlot I say liue yet a while that hast alredy liued ouer long to me no lesse vnluckely to thine own selfe that I am offended and thou the offender thou shalt anon feele if contrary to kinde the deuowring wilde beastes in the desertes shall not shew more curtesie then I iustly occasioned pretend pittie Beleeue me thy light lookes haue made me before now suspitious of thy loose life as alwaies more fearefull to preuent y e danger y t might proceed of thy waÌ„ton gestures theÌ„ careful to recouer thee of any thy sicknesses esteeming it lesse difficile to incounter my opeÌ„ enemies in battle theÌ„ easie to countermaund the secret AssalaÌ„ts of they beauty This feare is incident to carefull fathers that are sped of such amorous daughters for whom and that or euer they are iudged marriageable besides dowries more then easily disbursed thankfully accepted or profitably employed must also be prouided husbands least they impatient of tariaunce procure vnto themselues Paramours yea rather than suche hast with a vengeaunce should be hindered by non-sufficiencie the louing Pigeons will first or grow in their Shooes or walke on their Toes or adde to their Yeares or subtract from Childishnesse or if yet disabled suffer perhaps a large triall before a long suspition better knowing to entertaine a Louer at Thirteene than to obay a Father at Thirtie Let vs proffer a wealthie matche and a man personable the simpring Saintes will then on Gods name liue stil maidens or haue change of excuses not to marrie when anon after themselues fantasing or flattered of some Iack or Clinchpoupe bag they first or begge they after must in the Diuels name marrie or not liue patiently Maidens thus their first and cheefe studie is husbandes and their last and least care huswiferie But amâ—â—â—us Peate seeing thou diddest refuse to be a Queene to Staurobates and hast rather chosen to bee a Queane to Crisippus whilste the one doth abhorre thy lightnesse the other shall abie his liking Wherefore my sentence is that of thy dâ—ath the sauadge Monsters doe execution yet to thee before thou passe to this punishmeÌ„t the heart of this Leacher thy Louer a gifte no doubte more pretious than the price shall be deliuered that as liuing on lust I cannot terme it loue of two framed one masse of wickednesse so perhaps dead the bowels of one Beast to eyther heart maye afoorde one and the same Tombe Then commaundeth he that Crisippus should be forthwith bound and his heart a present for Marpissa to bee carâ—â—ed from out his body When the afflicted Ladye hardlye obtaining audience to vtter these fewe wordes sayd Alas my deare Crisippus howe daintie a dowrie haste thou found my loue how mercilesse a father in law hath thy wise giuen thee I would the price of my life mighte purchase thy libertie but alas I wish too wel to obtain so well let it therefore suffice for a poore comfort that thy Marpissa is gladly thy deaths Companion Crisippus hearing these sweete speeches to proceede from her that had the present Possession and promised Reuersion of his hart not being suffered to acquit words with words did only manifest the integritie of his vnremoueable loue by often kissing the deadly Instrument that should anon bereaue him his heart promised to Marpissa as a present Cap. 27. THe brute of this seuere sentence thus passed vpon Crisippus and Marpissa brought thether many pitifull beholders to haue seene the threatned Tragedie
the end to such familiaritie as neyther Companye doubted at their own pleasures friendly to boorde and reboorde eche others and whilste the rest feast merely and are tyed to the Canne by the teeth Atys made a long and lamentable report to Tymaetes the Lycian Captaine for the strange Ship was of Licia of the misse or rather losse of Sorares and his companie saying thus hath Fortune assailed the Father and now assauteth the Children triumphing his on Bale and threatning our Blisse And no maruell answered Tymaetes considering that Fortune is only constant in inconstancie and as touching Blisse it may be your opinion is hereticall for that true Blisse in deede performeth a perpetuitie whereas the flattering pleasures of this world cannot promise one howers certaintie and therefore it may not be aptly termed Blisse whereof a chaunge is to bee doubted and yet to attaine or rather to attempt the sweetenesse of a cleare conscience to exercise Uirtue to combate with our Affections to eschew euill and doe good to loue all and hate none and to liue in the world as not of the world are no doubt great arguments of blessednesse but no full assurances of Blisse for that none may be sayd blessed vntill his last gaspe hath dissolued him from his naturall infirmities and then and not before followeth blessednesse the stipend of vertue As for worldly Prosperitie I esteeme the same nothing lesse then prosperous as a thing whose sower neuer fayleth and whose sweet euer fleeteth as a spurre to wickednesse and a bridle to well-doing yea what glorious Titles or wealth can this Step-dame of Uertue bequeath vs y t perish not with or before the Possessors so y t were not y e followers of Fortune more blind thā their Guide of the two Prosperitie and Aduersitie they would accounte the later as the more necessarie because it openeth the eyes of the hart that Prosperitie stoppeth and oftētimes redeemeth Uertue as it were out of a filthie Dungion But to wish Aduersitie is lesse needefull than necessarie for so infinite and inscident are the Calamities that follow vs euen from our Cradles that wel may we wish either not to haue bene borne or quickly to die and so many are the wronges that men inflict vpon men that to reuenge all were impietie and to suffer all impossible wherfore iniuries think I not honestly to be dissembled may discreetely be reuenged or at the worst to seeke or worke reuenge is so much the lesse infamous by howe much the offered occasion thereof is iniurious That I should thus mention iniuries you maye perhaps muse but whether there be cause or no I make you my Iudges thus standing the case Cap. 29. AFter the continuaunce of long and wastfull warres betweene the Lydians and the Lycians a Truse for certaine yeares was concluded for assurance whereof either side did deliuer their Pledges the king my Father for a King is my father sent into Licia a Noble man his Nephew called Deipyrus whome hee had not long before preferred to a Dukedome otherwise highly aduaunced and the other king sent into Lydia a Noble yong Gentleman called Xenarchus whose Father is king of Cilicia and also at this present vsurpeth in Lydia whereof my father only retaineth the name of king but he the kingdom and that by means of a Rebellion moued by the same Deipyrus after his returne from hostage wherof thus followeth the circumstance Deipyrus partly of his own aspiring courage partlye suborned with rewards by my father his enemie the then Lycian king but cheefely for loue of Eurymone the same king his daughter with whom and him aw-lesse loue had already vnited harts did secretly gather a rebellious Armie and suddenly besieged my 〈◊〉 in his owne Citie Who seeing his Citizens not able to holde wage with the Besiegers after long resistance leauing behind him in the Citie the Queene my mother and with her two Infants their children conuaied himself into Cylicia there desiring assistance against the Rebels the which in an ill hower he easily obtained But or euer any rescue might be conuaied into Lydia my mother fearing to stay the Sack of the Citie and entrie of the foe hourely expected for flead priuily with her two infants into a great Forrest not farre from the besieged Citie where rootes and such wild berries as the place afoorded making an exchaunge of their wonted fare hardly lingered the soule in their bodies In the mean while the king of Cilicia lāded his men rescued the Citie and pursued with great slaughter the flying Rebels but myne vncle Deipyrus the chiefe Captaine conductour of these trayterous Rebels by chaunce recouered the before named Forrest and by that meanes escaped the sworde of the Pursuers Long had he not wandred here but that he hearde the pittifull shriekes of a woman wherefore making to the place from whence the sounde came he perceiued a Lady likely to haue bene abused by two stragling souldiours of Cilicia in whose defence at once he assailed them both and in the ende valiantly chasing them away deliuered her of their purposed trecherie which done not knowing whō he had so rescued he demaunded what she was and how it fortuned her and her two infants to wander so daungerously in the same Forrest My miserable mother for it was my Queene mother not knowing in that case the man vnto whose questions she was then to answere drying her dropping eyes and falling at his feete when she had stilled her yonglinges who with their pretie golles hugging about her necke cried out which her selfe wanted for foode not daring to bewray what one she was saide Cap. 30. LIke as good Sir no desertes other then your owne valour perswaded you erwhile to vse courage in my defence euen so the defect of mine abilitie respecting my wretched estate may disswade you from all hope of any small Recompence only accept of her poore thankes that shall ply the gods with often prayers that they hearing my wish may furnish my wāt with a reward for your merits otherwise I continually rest your disabled debtor But in that you aske what one I am alas Sir see you not y t I am a most desolat woman not borne to beg though now lesse happie thē a Begger who late did wāt nothing and now haue nothing not longe since as wealthy as I now am wretched able to haue harboured the best but now more harbourlesse than the worst and therfore feele I affliction so much the more burdenous by how much I once possessed aboundance for no want more miserable then to haue bene wealthy Who is it that feeleth not or at the least wise heareth not vnto what spoile and penurie the Rebels haue nowe left all Lidia to auoide whose outragious proceedinges I haue chosen with these my poore infantes to linger out our dying liues in this Forrest though death no doubt would haue bene to vs misers farre more sweeter Woe yea endlesse woe befall that vngratfull Traitor Deipyrus
owne manhoode so that in excusing I should accuse as I will not in perswading I should not disswade as I woulde and in agreeing to you I should disagree with you as I must but alas my Lord aduise your selfe better and deale not so outragiously with him that friendly not fearefully beseecheth you of pacience for if the losse of my life might reuiue Tymaetes or pleasure you Tymaetes should liue and you be pleased mine owne handes should hasten it your weapon not hasard it But seeing it may not so bee or if my submissiue wordes may not preuent your vnintreatable furie then know Xenarchus that Mazeres is a Knight no Coward but were I a Cowarde yet Cowardes in like extremities be desperatly valiant and being inforced to fight naturally will rather kill then be killed when if it should so proue as in fight the victorie is vncertaine that by euill hap you perrish one my weapon then alas howsoeuer it pleaseth you to flout me or feare me with the promised comfort of your death wherin I should conceiue nothing lesse then comfort whereof againe and againe I intreate you not to inforce the occasion you may assure your selfe of this comfort from me that your deade bones shall more persecute me then your lyuing body can punish me the one I may not flie the other I doe not feare the reason is if you demaund a reason if my death be not the prise of your blood yet must I of necessitie forsake Lydia the which to leaue were intollerable so forgo Aphrodite whom not to loue is impossible Now when Xenarchus would admit no excuses others then by Combate to discide the discorde the two knights so valiantly giue the charge ech on the other that whilst both strike both seeme rather to shrinke with the blowes then to shun the weapons either of them shewed enough of courage neither of them were to seeke of cunning and fret more with scorne to be wounded then feele the smart of their woundes In few after many breathings Xenarchus disaduauntaging himselfe by his ouer fearce desperat fight receiued a wound whereof fainting he falleth to the earth and then perswading himselfe of no other hope then present death he charitably forgaue wofull wounded Mazeres the deede constantly imbracing him indeuouring all in vaine to giue succour desired to be conueied vnto Tymaetes his Tombe there to offer vp his last gaspe a sacrifice to his friends ghost in performance of which his request Mazeres shewed himselfe no lesse dutifull then dolefull Cap. 44. WHilst perplexed Aphrodite discheuiled as shee was washed her Louers Tombe with her lamentable teares bewayling his vntimely destinie and esteeming the date of hir owne life ouer dilatorie lifting vp her flowing eyes she espyed Mazeres supporting thetherwards the imbrued body of her dying brother at sight whereof when wepings gaue passage to wordes shee thus cryeth out Now woe and out alas woe is me forspoken Aphrodite how hapneth it my deare brother that I viewe thee a second buriall and what see I more doest thou Mazeres mischieuous Mazeres by a new murder adde to my liuing martirdom if thou I say if thou the tormentor of me and Traitor to mine either in respect of y e loue thou pretendest to owe me or in reueng of the hate I protest euer to beare thee wilt shew me pity by being pitiles for somuch as the gods seeme deaffe and not to heare me and the destinies dull and not to helpe me vse once more thy murtherous weapon to dispatch me of life that otherwise may neuer be eased of griefe oh how aptly in one Tombe maist thou bestow three murthers leaue not alas leaue not haplesse Aphrodite so vtterly helpeles that also present death be exempted her succour As Xenarchus for yet he liued with fainting tounge endeuoured to pacifie his sister and acquite his inforsed foe Mazeres of his selfe procured death Atys and Abynados hyding them selues as before amongest the sepulchers and hearing those well known names lamentable tearmes and the voice of out-crying Aphrodite partly to assist her vnto whom they supposed Mazeres to offer force partly to reuenge the death of the curtious knight Tymaetes and withall to be meete with Mazeres for their owne priuate quarrels as not a little affrighthed at the noise ran forth to see what had hapned But when they perceiued their late deliuerer Xenarchus to lie there aliue more then halfe deade and by him standing their late betraier Mazeres smoaking in bloode without any further words they fearsly ran vpon twise-wounded Mazeres plying him with woundes to whome it wel pleased to dy who also being thus spead of his deaths wound aiming with his dying eyes to gasping Xenarchus did with him yeald vp the ghost either in the bosom of the other This new occurrant gaue to Aphrodite fresh occasion thus to continue her former lamentations in these words What doest thou yet liue Aphrodite long since the beginner and not yet the ender or at the least wise the fourth actor in this vnfinished Tragedie O my deare brother Xenarchus and which art more deerer to mee then a brother my sweete Tymetes content your selues yea a verie little while be contented with these wasted teares the whole remaine that continuall weepings haue left me with these cold comfortles kisses the last that euer Aphrodite shal giue you Neither thinke thou Mazeres that I deeme thee vtterly vnworthy my weping that which hath vndone vs all diddest esteeme me altogether worthy thy woing I cannot but lament thee deade that lyuing could neuer loue thee Which saide bestowing two kisses on the two Corses and two hundred on the watered Marbell that inclosed Tymaetes she forthwith entred the Lician campe and carelesse of her own safety rushing into the Pauilion of y e two kinges her fathers enimies when they rather gased on her beautie then gessed of her businesse shee disclosed her selfe and as much as in her lay stirreth them vppe â—o reuenge vppon her Tymaetes his death for whose onely loue hee had forgone life Aprodite saith shee is as deare to her Father as was Tymaetes to his and therefore the reuenge though it be smale yet it is somewhat In the meane time whilst she yet spake in came Atys and Abynados reporting the pittifull spectacle then to be seene at the Tombe of Tymaetes to the view whereof the Kinges and Captaines hyed and after them Aprodite followed But she perceiuing the gratious father of Tymaetes to be so farre off from seeking such reuenge for the death of his Sonne that he did not onely bewaile bitterly the deade bodies of Xenarchus and Mazares but spake to her so comfortably as if shee had bene his owne daughter being now the rather ouercome with the surcharge of this kinde sorrowe standing a while speechlesse and anon sinking downe vppon the deade bodies did good Ladie without any violente acte finishe her life not vnlamented for euen of her Fathers enimies The nexte
Arbaces and therefore not likely is it that Arbaces him selfe speaking for him selfe or rather for me shall speede worser then doth Orchamus neither do I make it a doubt but that Sorares sonne to Arbaces and you is alike deare to either parent and of the saffetie of Atys and Abynados his sonnes naturall loue I presume tendereth a warrantize but now generally and briefly as touching all these Assirians my selfe Dircilla will be their Borrowe if Arbaces his Baile may deliuer them of their Banoes To make shorte tale Dircilla now hearing and seeing sufficient to the acknowledging of her husbande vnable then to moderate her sudden ioy in respect of her yeares and whom euen now shee seemed vnlike to her selfe shee lightly clasped Arbaces as redy to imbrace as to be imbraced betwixt her armes who mutually mixing their ioyfull teares with louing kysses were either of them long time bereft the vse of their toÌ„gues of which pleasant passions Orchamus Sorares Atys and Abynodos were also glad Copartners neither were the by-standers aswell Assirians as Ilanders exempted for idle inspectoures 〈◊〉 euill appayed Actours in this ioyfull Accident After therefore more then a little ioy on all sides ouerpassed by reason of this happie meeting thus disclosed wherein after many yeares and euerie person seuerally scattered in a sundrie Countrie the Husbande had recouered his Wife shee her Husbande both their Sonne he his Parents him his sonnes hee them the brother his brother the kinsman his kindred and the friend his friend and whiche more is after extreme miseries attaining to such inspeakeable ioyes yea and at that instant when nothing was lesse hoped for then life after I say this ioyful meeting the Prisoners were all set at libertie and bountifully feasted by Dircilla and her Ilanders And then euery of the Meades seuerally reported what had befalne them since their chasing out of their countrie as before by Ninus First Arbaces tolde of their tragicall ariuall into the barren Iland and how he and his fellow suruiuing the rest after they had bene long shut vp there in great miserie did deliuer themselues from thence as in the beginning of this Booke is remembered in the ship of Sorares whome then or before this very time he knew not for his Sonne then showeth he of their safe ariuall and good intertaiâ—ment in Sarmatia from whence hauing obtained a shippe and men as pittying the distresse wherein they had left Sorares and his Assirians and for their deliuery they againe resailed to the barren Iland then lastly how they had no sooner taken Sorares and his miserable souldiours aboord and put their ship againe to the Seas but that a sudden storme droue them perforce vpon that same pleasaunt Iland wherin this their ieoberdious ioy thus hapned Sorares Atys and Abynados did in effect no other then iâ—terate the former reporte of Orchamus and nowe was it come to Dircilla her turne to speake whose wordes containing a more pittiful profitable and pleasant discourse then a curious deliuerie thus follow Cap. 57. WHen Arbaces the Mariners had landed and left me post alone in this Iland the day was farre spent and my wits almost at an ebbe then was thy name rife in my mouth though also in vaine the extincte names of my dead parents and bretheren yea mine eyes with feare my hart with loue did both twain follow those enuious Sayles whereby Sorares my sonne then an Infant was carried Captiue into a straunge Countrey from mee his helpelesse mother and when mine eyes mighte no longer accompanie him through distaunce of Seas yet did my hart ariue with him euen in Assiria Anon with freshe supplies did sorrowes confusedly succeede sorrowes being in number so great and in nature so greeuous that one of my then passions might haue set twentie toungs a work one of those toungs haue coÌ„strained a milioÌ„ eies to teares the least cause of those teares haue killed y e wepers hart neither did it alone suffise y t I thus sorrowed for thinges past but I also feared a world of woes not vnlikly to haue followed Here perceaued I a pleasaunt Iland but vnmanured as might seeme of people retire back I could not go forwards I durst not behind me raged the wide seas before me mustered the wild Deserts and on either side heard I the vnacquainted noyse of dreadful Monsters and yet troth to saye I lesse doubted the fiercenesse of anye Monster that could but deuoure my body then the falshood of men if any were that mighte haue abused my beautie for besides that mine Attire not vnbeseming the daughter of Farnus was then very gorgious and myne age I being then in the flower of my youth answerable to mine Attire my beautie also though I say it was then sutable to both in commendation wherof thy self my Arbaces diddest in those our altian dayes affect ouer-much the figure Hyperbole with the Ilanders here was y e same not a little effectuall to winne me fauour but this braue bragge to such as now heare me and did not then see me wil no doubt seeme more audatious in report then autenticall for credit yet do I speake it in this place where erre â— cannot without controulment These feares I say and a thousande like fantasies thus ocâ—upying my thoughts suddenly I hearde a boysterous rushing amongst the next boughes foure of these IlaÌ„ders anon disclosing themselues vnto my vew euerye of them held in his right hand a cragged Dart and in the lefte a great quantitie of raw flesh at sight wherof and a greater horror then so when not meanly affrighted I beheld how gluttonously they crammed down their Mâ—wes the same fâ—esh yet reaking in their teeth how their Chaps beardes breastes armes handes and whatsoeuer griâ—â—â—e part of them leaues had left bare were al besmeared with blood though death was then the least of all my feares yet beleeue mee the crueltie prefigurated by this sauadge Spectacle did strike to my hart such incomprehensible terrour that if at the least sorrowes had not bereft me of sence in comparison hereof the sufferaunce of a simple death had bene no death or in no part so dreadfull Now whilst I applie this horrible presidente to feede my new feare and rather dreaded then doubted that anon their imbrewed hands should seaze their rauinous teeth tire vpon me and my flesh and I so receiue an vnnaturall buriall within their bowels the barbarous people had espied out me who then as Deare newly broughte to the stande with Countinances indifferently inclining to admiration and feare stood a great while aloofe off at gaze Anon seeing me to approch them nearer and nearer after many Satirlike freakes with nimble feet swift flight they skud awaye into the nearest woods wildly boulting through the Thickets and with incredible facilitie mounting and dismounting the sharp and steepe Roches then a strange and preposterous course mighte it seeme if not in so desparate a case that the Hare should followe