TAMBURLAINE. So shall he have his life, and all the rest: But, if he stay until the bloody flag Be once advanc'd on my vermilion tent, He dies, and those that kept us out so long; And, when they see me march in black array, With mournful streamers hanging down their heads, Were in that city all the world contain'd, Not one should scape, but perish by our swords. ZENOCRATE. Yet would you have some pity for my sake, Because it is my country [213] and my father's. TAMBURLAINE. Not for the world, Zenocrate, if I have sworn.-- Come; bring in the Turk. [Exeunt.] SCENE III. Enter SOLDAN, KING OF ARABIA, [214] CAPOLIN, and SOLDIERS, with streaming colours. SOLDAN. Methinks we march as Meleager did, Environed with brave Argolian knights, To chase the savage Calydonian [215] boar, Or Cephalus, with lusty [216] Theban youths, Against the wolf that angry Themis sent To waste and spoil the sweet Aonian fields. A monster of five hundred thousand heads, Compact of rapine, piracy, and spoil, The scum of men, the hate and scourge of God, Raves in Aegyptia, and annoyeth us: My lord, it is the bloody Tamburlaine, A sturdy felon, and [217] a base-bred thief, By murder raised to the Persian crown, That dare control us in our territories. To tame the pride of this presumptuous beast, Join your Arabians with the Soldan's power; Let us unite our royal bands in one, And hasten to remove Damascus' siege. It is a blemish to the majesty And high estate of mighty emperors, That such a base usurping vagabond Should brave a king, or wear a princely crown. KING OF ARABIA. Renowmed [218] Soldan, have you lately heard The overthrow of mighty Bajazeth About the confines of Bithynia? The slavery wherewith he persecutes The noble Turk and his great emperess? SOLDAN. I have, and sorrow for his bad success; But, noble lord of great Arabia, Be so persuaded that the Soldan is No more dismay'd with tidings of his fall, Than in the haven when the pilot stands, And views a stranger's ship rent in the winds, And shivered against a craggy rock: Yet in compassion to his wretched state, A sacred vow to heaven and him I make, Confirming it with Ibis' holy name, [219] That Tamburlaine shall rue the day, the [220] hour, Wherein he wrought such ignominious wrong Unto the hallow'd person of a prince, Or kept the fair Zenocrate so long, As concubine, I fear, to feed his lust.