Robert Greene

“ When you have done, march with your female troop To Naples’ town, to succor Amurack; And so, by marriage of Iphigina, You soon shall drive the danger clean away. Iphigina
So shall we soon eschew Charybdis’ lake, And headlong fall to Scylla’s greedy gulf. I vowed before, and now do vow again, Before I wed Alphonsus, I’ll be slain. Medea
In vain it is, to strive against the stream; Fates must be followed, and the gods’ decree Must needs take place in every kind of cause. Therefore, fair maid, bridle these brutish thoughts, And learn to follow what the fates assign. ”

“ Miles, thy share the Milan Dukedom is, For, well I wot, thy sword deserved no less; Set the crown on his head.
The which Alphonsus frankly giveth thee, In presence of his warlike men at arms; And if that any stomach this my deed, Alphonsus can revenge thy wrong with speed. Sound trumpets and drums.
Now to Albinius, which in all my toils I have both faithful, yea, and friendly found: Since that the gods and friendly fates assign This present time to me to recompense The sundry pleasures thou hast done to me, Sit down by them, and on thy faithful head Take the crown from thy own head. ”

“ Nay, proud Albinius, never build on that, For though the gods do chance for to appoint Alphonsus victor of Belinus’ land, Yet shalt thou never live to see that day; And therefore, Fabius, stand not lingering, But presently slash off his traitorous head. Albinius
Slash off his head? As though Albinius’ head Were then so easy to be slashed off. In faith, sir, no; when you are gone and dead, I hope to flourish like the pleasant spring. Belinus
Why, how now, Fabius! What, do you stand in doubt To do the deed? What fear you? ”

“ Why, proud Alphonsus, thinkest thou Amurack, Whose mighty force doth terrify the gods, Can e’er be found to turn his heels, and fly Away for fear from such a boy as thou? No, no, although that Mars this mickle while Hath fortified thy weak and feeble arm, And Fortune oft hath viewed with friendly face Thy armies marching victors from the field, Yet at the presence of high Amurack Fortune shall change, and Mars, that god of might, Shall succor me, and leave Alphonsus quite. ”

“ What, dost thou think Flaminius hath no friends For to revenge his death on thee again? Yes, be you sure that, ere you scape from hence, Thy gasping ghost shall bear him company, Or else myself, fighting for his defense, Will be content by those thy hands to die. Alphonsus
Laelius, few words would better thee become, Especially as now the case doth stand; And didst thou know whom thou dost threaten thus, We should you have more calmer out of hand: For, Laelius, know that I Alphonsus am, The son and heir to old Carinus, whom The traitorous father of Flaminius Did secretly bereave his diadem. ”

“ It ill becomes me for to wear a crown Whenas my lord is destitute himself. Why, high Alphonsus, if I should receive This crown of you, the which high love forbid, Where would yourself obtain a diadem? Naples is gone, Milan possessed is, And naught is left for you but Aragon. Alphonsus
And naught is left for me but Aragon? Yes, surely, yes, my fates have so decreed, That Aragon should be too base a thing For to obtain Alphonsus for her king. What, hear you not how that our scattered foes, Belinus, Fabius, and the Milan Duke, Are fled for succor to the Turkish court? ”

“ Feed not thyself with fond persuasions, But presently come yield thy crown to me, And do me homage, or by heavens I swear I’ll force thee to it maugre all thy train. Belinus
How now, base brat! What, are thy wits thine own, That thou darest thus abraid me in my land? ‘Tis best for thee these speeches to recall, Or else by Jove I’ll make thee to repent That e’er thou settest thy foot in Naples’ soil. Alphonsus
“Base brat,” sayest thou? As good a man as thou. ”

“ Pardon, dear lord, the world goes very hard When womenkind are forced for to woe. If that your son had loved me so well, Why did he not inform me of the same? Carinus
Why did he not? What, have you clean forgot What ample proffers he did make to you, When hand to hand he did encounter you? Iphigina
No, worthy sir, I have not it forgot; But Cupid cannot enter in the breast Where Mars before had took possession. That was no time to talk of Venus’ games When all our fellows were pressed in the wars. Carinus
Well, let that pass: now canst thou be content To love Alphonsus, and become his spouse? ”

“ More would I say, but horses that be free Do need no spurs, and soldiers which themselves Long and desire to buckle with the foe Do need no words to egg them to the same. Enter Alphonsus, with a canopy carried over him by three lords, hailing over each corner a king’s head, crowned; with him, Albinius, Laelius, Miles, with crowns on their heads, and their soldiers.
Besides the same, behold whereas our foes Are marching towards us most speedily. Courage, my lords, ours is the victory. Alphonsus
Thou pagan dog, how darest thou be so bold To set thy foot within Alphonsus’ land? ”

“ I will, my lord. Exit Laelius.
Alphonsus
Full little thinks Belinus and his peers What thoughts Alphonsus casteth in his mind; For if they did, they would not greatly haste To pay the same the which they promised me. Enter Belinus, Albinius, Fabius, with their soldiers, marching.
Belinus
Like simple sheep, when shepherd absent is Far from his flock, assailed by greedy wolves, [10] Do scattering fly about, some here, some there, To keep their bodies from their ravening jaws, So do the fearful youths of Aragon Run round about the green and pleasant plains, And hide their heads from Neapolitans ”

“ Some lay as dead as either stock or stone, Some other tumbled, wounded to the death; But most of them, as to their sovereign king, Did offer duly homage unto him. As thus I stood beholding of this pomp, Methought Alphonsus did espy me out, And, at a trice, he leaving throne alone, Came to embrace me in his blessed arms. Then noise of drums and sound of trumpets shrill Did wake Carinus from this pleasant dream. Something, I know, is now foreshown by this: The gods forfend that aught should hap amiss. Carinus walk up and down. ”

“ Amongst the famous tales Which you rehearsed done by our sires in war, Whenas you came unto your father’s days, With sobbing notes, with sighs and blubbering tears, And much ado, at length you thus began; “Next to Alphonsus should my father come For to possess the diadem by right Of Aragon, but that the wicked wretch His younger brother, with aspiring mind, By secret treason robbed him of his life, And me his son of that which was my due.” ”

“ Stay, provost, stay, let Fabius alone: More fitteth now that every lusty lad Be buckling on his helmet, then to stand In carrying soldiers to the Marshalsea. Amurack
Why, what art thou, that darest once presume For to gainsay that Amurack did bid? Messenger
I am, my Lord, the wretcheds (t) man alive, Born underneath the planet of mishap; Erewhile, a soldier of Belinus’ band, But now— Amurack
What now? ”

“ Carinus
Albinius, go call forth Amurack: We’ll see what he doth say unto this match. Exit Albinius; bring forth Amurack.
Most mighty Turk, I, with my warlike son Alphonsus, loathing that so great a prince As you should live in such unseemly sort, Have sent for you to proffer life or death; Life, if you do consent to our demand, And death, if that you dare gainsay the same. Your wife, high Fausta, with Iphigina, Have given consent that this my warlike son Should have your daughter for his bedfellow ”

“ Now, Amurack, advise thee what thou sayest: Bethink thee well what answer thou wilt make: Thy life and death dependeth on thy words. If thou deny to be Alphonsus’ sire, Death is thy share: but if that thou consent, Thy life is saved. Consent? nay, rather die; Should I consent to give Iphigina Into the hands of such a beggar’s brat? What, Amurack, thou dost deceive thyself; Alphonsus is the son unto a king; What then? The [n] worthy of thy daughter’s love. She is agreed, and Fausta is content; Then Amurack will not be discontent. Take Iphigina by the hand, and give her to Alphonsus. ”

“ Yes, too too much, the Milan Duke may say. Alphonsus first by secret means did get To be a soldier in Belinus’ wars, Wherein he did behave himself so well As that he got the Crown of Aragon; Which being got, he dispossessed also The king Belinus which had fostered him. As for Carinus he is dead and gone; I would his son were his companion. Carinus
A blister build upon that traitor’s tongue! But, for thy friendship which thou showedest me, Take that of me, I frankly give it thee. Stab him. ”

“ But now, my lord, to answer your demand, It happens so, that the usurping king Of Aragon makes war upon this land For certain tribute which he claimeth here; Wherefore Belinus sent me round about His country for to gather up [his] men For to withstand this most injurious foe; Which being done, returning with the king, Despitefully I did so taunt your grace, Imagining you had some soldier been, The which, for fear, had sneaked from the camp. Alphonsus
Enough, Albinius, I do know thy mind. ”

“ Thou wretched witch, when wilt thou make an end Of troubling us with these thy cursed charms? What meanst thou thus to call me from my grave? Shall ne’er my ghost obtain his quiet rest? Medea
Yes, Calchas, yes, your rest doth now approach; Medea means to trouble thee no more, Whenas thou hast fulfilled her mind this once. Go, get thee hence to Pluto back again, And there enquire of the Destinies How Amurack shall speed in these his wars? Peruse their books, and mark what is decreed By Jove himself, and all his fellow gods ”

“ You counsel well; therefore, Belinus, haste, And, Claramont, go bear him company, With King Arcastus, to the city walls: Then bend with speed unto the darksome grove, Where Mahomet this many a hundred year Hath prophesied unto our ancestors. Tell to his priests that Amurack your king Is now selecting all his men at arms To set upon that proud Alphonsus’ troop. The cause you know, and can inform him well, That makes me take these bloody broils in hand ”

“ And are the vows so solemnly you swore Unto Belinus, my most friendly niece, Now washed so clearly from thy traitorous heart? Is all the rancor which you erst did bear Unto Alphonsus worn so out of mind, As, where thou shouldest pursue him to [the] death, You seek to give our daughter to his hands? The gods forbid that such a heinous deed With my consent should ever be decreed; And rather then thou shouldst it bring to pass, If all the army of Amazons Will be sufficient to withhold the same, Assure thyself that Fausta means to fight ‘Gainst Amurack, for to maintain the right. ”

“ The wanton colt is tamed in his youth, Wounds must be cured when they be fresh and green, And pleurisies, when they begin to breed, With little care [20] are driven away with speed. Had Fausta then, when Amurack begun With spiteful speeches to control and check, Sought to prevent it by her martial force, This banishment had never happed to me. But the echinus, fearing to be gored, Doth keep her younglings in her paunch so long, Till, when their pricks be waxen long and sharp, They put their dam at length to double pain ”

“ And dost thou think, thou proud injurious god, Mahound I mean, since thy vain prophesies Led Amurack into this doleful case, To have his princely feet in irons clapped, Which erst the proudest kings were forced to kiss, That thou shalt scape unpunished for the same? No, no, as soon as by the help of Jove I scape this bondage, down go all thy groves, Thy altars tumble round about the streets, And whereas erst we sacrificed to thee, Now all the Turks thy mortal foes shall be. Sound instruments awhile within ”

“ To scape away without thy praise of her. I do not doubt but long or ere this time, Alphonsus’ fame unto the heavens should climb; Alphonsus’ fame, that man of Jove his seed, Sprung from the loins of the immortal gods, Whose sire, although he habit on the earth, May claim a portion in the fiery pole, As well as any one whate’er he be. But, setting by Alphonsus’ power divine, What man alive, or now amongst the ghosts, Could countervail his courage and his strength? But thou art dead, yea, Virgil, thou art gone, And all his acts drowned in oblivion. ”

“ Albinius
My friend, what art thou, that so like a spy Dost sneak about Belinus’ royal camp? Alphonsus
I am a man. Fabius
A man? We know the same: But prithee, tell me, and set scoffing by, What countryman thou art, and why you come, That we may soon resolve the king thereof? ”

“ Thrice Hesperus with pomp and peerless pride Hath heaved his head forth of the eastern seas, Thrice Cynthia, with Phoebus’ borrowed beams, Hath shown her beauty through the darkish clouds, Since that I, wretched duke, have tasted aught, Or drunk a drop of any kind of drink. Instead of beds set forth with ebony, The greenish grass hath been my resting place, And for my pillow stuffed [soft [27] ] with down, The hardish hillocks have sufficed my turn. Thus I, which erst had all things at my will, A life more hard then death do follow still. ”

“ Then hie, Alphonsus, hie, To try thy fortune where thy fates do call. A noble mind disdains to hide his head, And let his foes triumph in his overthrow. Alphonsus starts to go out, but Albinius enters and speaks. ”

“ What, know you not, how that it is decreed By all the gods, and chiefly by myself, That you with triumph should all crowned be? Make haste [then] kings, lest when the fates do see How carelessly you do neglect their words, They call a council, and force Mahomet Against his will some other things to set. Send Fabius back to Amurack again, To haste him forwards in his enterprise; And march you on, with all the troops you have, To Naples ward, to conquer Aragon. For if you stay, both you and all your men Must needs be sent down straight to Limbo den. ”

“ How now, Alphonsus! You which have so long Been trained up in bloody broils of Mars, What know you not, that castles are not won At first assault, and women are not wooed When first their suitors proffer love to them? As for my part, I should account that maid A wanton wench, unconstant, lewd and light, That yields the field, before she venture fight, Especially unto her mortal foe, As you were then unto Iphigina. ”