Enter BELLAMIRA and PILIA-BORSA.

Bell. O, bring us to the governor.

Fern. Away with her! she is a courtesan.

Bell. 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. Who, besides the slaughter of these gentlemen, Poisoned his own daughter and the nuns,

Strangled a friar and I know not what

Mischief besides.

Fern. Had we but proof of this

ΙΟ

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

Fern. Go fetch him straight (exeunt Officers). I always feared that Jew.

Enter Officers with BARABAS and ITHAMORE.

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

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

20

Bar. (aside). One dram of powder more had made all

sure;

What a damned slave was I!

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

1st Knight. Nay, stay, my lord; 't may be he will confess. Bar. Confess! what mean you, lords? who should confess?

Fern. Thou and thy Turk; 'twas you that slew my son. Itha. Guilty, my lord, I confess. Your son and Mathias were both contracted unto Abigail; he forged a counterfeit challenge.

31

Bar. Who carried that challenge?

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

Fern. Away with him! his sight is death to me.

Bar. For what, you men of Malta? hear me speak: She is a courtesan, and he a thief,

And he my bondman. Let me have [the] law,1

For none of this can prejudice my life.

40

Fern. Once more, away with him; you shall have law. Bar. (aside). Devils, do your worst! I'll live in spite of

As these have spoke, so be it to their souls! —

(Aside) I hope the poisoned flowers will work anon.

[Exeunt Officers with BARABAS and ITHAMORE, BELLAMIRA and PILIA-BORSA.

Enter KATHERINE.

Kath. Was my Mathias murdered by the Jew?
Ferneze, 'twas thy son that murdered him.
Fern. Be patient, gentle madam, it was he;
He forged the daring challenge made them fight.
Kath. Where is the Jew? where is that murderer?
Fern. In prison till the law has passed on him.

Re-enter First Officer.

1st Off. My lord, the courtesan and her man are dead : So is the Turk and Barabas the Jew.

Fern. Dead!

1st Off. Dead, my lord, and here they bring his body. Bosco. This sudden death of his is very strange.

1 The metre requires the insertion of the.

50

Re-enter Officers carrying BARABAS as dead.

Fern. 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 pray for vultures and wild beasts.

So now away, and fortify the town.

60

[Exeunt all, leaving BARABAS on the floor.

SCENE II.- Outside the City Walls.

BARABAS discovered rising.

Bar. 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.

Caly. Whom have we here, a spy?

Bar. 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.

Caly. Art thou that Jew whose goods we heard were sold

For tribute-money?

Bar. 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.
Caly. Did'st break prison?

Bar. No, no ;

I drank of poppy and cold mandrake juice : 1
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.

Caly. 'Twas bravely done: but tell me, Barabas,
Canst thou, as thou report'st, make Malta ours?
Bar. Fear not, my lord, for here against the sluice,
The rock is hollow, and of purpose digged,

To make a passage for the running streams
And common channels 2 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.

Caly. If this be true, I'll make thee governor.
Bar. And if it not be true, then let me die.
Caly. Thou'st doomed thyself. Assault it presently.

SCENE III.A Square in the City.

20

30

[Exeunt.

Alarums within. Enter CALYMATH, Bassoes, Turks, and BARABAS, with FERNEZE and Knights prisoners.

Caly. Now vail your pride, you captive Christians,

And kneel for mercy to your conquering foe :

Now where's the hope you had of haughty Spain?

1 Cf. Othello, iii, 3: "not poppy, nor mandragora." Mandrake is a corruption of mandragora.

Ferneze, speak, had it not been much better

T'have kept thy promise than be thus surprised?

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

Caly. 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.

Bar. Thanks, my lord.

Fern. O fatal day, to fall into the hands
Of such a traitor and unhallowed Jew!
What greater misery could Heaven inflict?
Caly. 'Tis our command: and Barabas, we give
To guard thy person these our Janizaries :
Entreat 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!
Bar. May all good fortune follow Calymath!

ΤΟ

20

[Exeunt CALYMATH and Bassoes.

And now, as entrance to our safety,
To prison with the governor and these

Captains, his consorts and confederates.

Fern. O villain! Heaven will be revenged on thee.

[Exeunt Turks, with FERNEZE and Knights.

Bar. Away! no more; let him not trouble me.2

Thus hast thou gotten, by thy policy,

No simple place, no small authority:

1 Treat.

2 The scene here is shifted to the governor's residence, inside the citadel.