Francis Beaumont

“ Luce: Oh, Jasper, be not cruel!
If thou wilt kill me, smile, and do it quickly, And let not many deaths appear before me; I am a woman, made of fear and love, A weak, weak woman; kill not with thy eyes, They shoot me through and through: strike, I am ready; And, dying, still I love thee. [They both quietly emerged from inside the cavern and headed towards the trees.]
[ [ [Enter Venturewell, Humphrey and Attendants.] |] ]
Venturewell: Whereabouts?
Jasper: [Aside.] No more of this; now to myself again.
Humphrey: There, there he stands, with sword, like martial knight,
Drawn in his hand ”

“ Then with an engine, which he hath prepared, With forty teeth, he claws his courtly crown; Next makes him wink, and underneath his chin He plants a brazen piece of mighty bord, And knocks his bullets round about his cheeks; Whilst with his fingers, and an instrument With which he snaps his hair off, he doth fill The wretch's ears with a most hideous noise: Thus every knight-adventurer he doth trim, And now no creature dares encounter him. ”

“ Ralph. Go, squire and dwarf, search in this dreadful cave,
And free the wretched prisoners from their bonds. [Exeunt Tim and George.
Bar. I crave for mercy, as thou art a knight,
And scorn'st to spill the blood of those that beg. Ralph. Thou show'd'st no mercy, nor shalt thou have any;
Prepare thyself, for thou shalt surely die. 60
Re-enter Tim leading a Man winking, with a Basin under his Chin.
Tim. Behold, brave knight, here is one prisoner,
Whom this vile man hath usèd as you see. [Wife. This is the first wise word I heard the
squire speak.] Ralph. ”

“ I dare not stay to sound; he will appear. [Exit the Host.]
Ralph: Oh, faint not, heart! Susan, my lady dear,
The cobbler's maid in Milk-street, for whose sake I take these arms, oh, let the thought of thee Carry thy knight through all adventurous deeds; And, in the honour of thy beauteous self, May I destroy this monster Barbarossa!— Knock, squire, upon the basin, till it break With the shrill strokes, or till the giant speak. [Tim knocks upon the basin.]
[ [ [Enter the Barber.] |] ]
Wife: Oh, George, the giant, the giant! ”

“ Oh, thou child Bred from despair, I dare not entertain thee, Having a love without the faults of women, And greater in her perfect goods than men! Which to make good, and please myself the stronger, Though certainly I am certain of her love, I'll try her, that the world and memory May sing to after-times her constancy.— [Draws his sword.] ”

“ Cit. Fetch him o'er the hip, boy! [Ralph knocks down the Barber.
Wife. There, boy! kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, Ralph!
Cit. No, Ralph; get all out of him first.]
Ralph. Presumptuous man, see to what desperate end
Thy treachery hath brought thee! The just gods, Who never prosper those that do despise them, For all the villanies which thou hast done To knights and ladies, now have paid thee home By my stiff arm, a knight adventurous. 50
But say, vile wretch, before I send thy soul To sad Avernus, (whither it must go) What captives holdst thou in thy sable cave? Bar. Go in, and free them all ”

“ But the great venture, where full many a knight Hath tried his prowess, and come off with shame; And where I would not have you lose your life Against no man, but furious fiend of hell. Ralph: Speak on, Sir Knight ”

“ And henceforth never gentle blood will spill. Ralph. I give thee mercy; but yet shalt thou swear
Upon my Burning Pestle, to perform Thy promise utterèd. Bar. I swear and kiss. [Kisses the Pestle.
Ralph. Depart, then, and amend.— [Exit Barber.
Come, squire and dwarf; the sun grows towards his set, And we have many more adventures yet. [Exeunt.
[Cit. Now Ralph is in this humour, I know he
would ha' beaten all the boys in the house, if they had been set on him. 170
Wife. Ay, George, but it is well as it is: I warrant
you, the gentlemen do consider what it is to overthrow a giant.] ”

“ Mistress Merrythought, when your youth comes home, let him rub all the soles of his feet, and his heels, and his ankles with a mouse-skin; or, if none of your people can catch a mouse, when he goes to bed, let him roll his feet in the warm embers, and, I warrant you, he shall be well ”

“ Citizen: Cap Ralph! No. — Hold your hand, Sir
Knight of the Bell; there's your money [He gives him some money.] : have you any thing to say to Ralph
now? Cap Ralph! Wife: I would you should know it, Ralph has
Friends that will not suffer him to be capt for ten times so much, and ten times to the end of that.—Now take thy course, Ralph. Mistress Merrythought: Mer. Come, Michael; thou and I will go
home to thy father; he hath enough left to keep us a day or two, and we'll set fellows abroad to cry our purse and our casket: shall we, Michael? Michael: Ay, I pray, mother ”

“ Ralph. Run, squire and dwarf; deliver them with speed. [Exeunt Tim and George.
[Wife. But will not Ralph kill this giant? Surely
I am afraid, if he let him go, he will do as much hurt as ever he did. Cit. Not so, mouse, neither, if he could convert
him. 120
Wife. Ay, George, if he could convert him; but a
giant is not so soon converted as one of us ordinary people. There's a pretty tale of a witch, that had the devil's mark about her, (God bless us!) that had a giant to her son, that was called Lob-lie-by-the-fire; didst never hear it, George? Cit. Peace, Nell, here comes the prisoners.] ”

“ And I, faint knight, to ease my weary limbs, Light at this cave; when straight this furious fiend, With sharpest instrument of purest steel, Did cut the gristle of my nose away, And in the place this velvet plaster stands: Relieve me, gentle knight, out of his hands! [Wife. Good Ralph, relieve Sir Pockhole, and
send him away; for in truth his breath stinks.] 100
Ralph. Convey him straight after the other knight.—
Sir Pockhole, fare you well. 2nd Man. Kind sir, good night. [Exit with George, who presently re-enters.
3rd Man [within] . Deliver us!
[Cries within.
Woman [within] . Deliver us! ”