Eph. O, O!
[He faints.
Rin. O cowardly boy! for that base word includes
All baseness, doth not shame kill thee,
Or fear chill thy dastard blood to an ice,
At sight of that most noble injur'd ghost?
'Tis well, dear Plangus (if thy divinity deserve not
A more lasting name) that thou art come
To take revenge on that most traitorous son,
In's father's presence, who detests his baseness
More than thyself can do——
Plan. Excuse us, dear Rinatus,
That wonder froze to such a silence,
If when we expected such a welcome
As had that Roman son whose mother died
For joy to see him, we found so cold
An entertainment, something made us look'd upon
So like an inconvenience, that we could
Not but put on some small amazement.
Eph. And do I hear thee speak again,
And see thee, or only dream a happiness,
Whose reality stars and my genius deny me?
Or art thou Plangus' angel, come to rouse
Me from despair?
Plan. Sir, pray, believe it; and be not
Backward in th' entertainment of these soldiers,
If you esteem't a happiness; in a word,
You are a conqueror: and th' audacious Argives
Have paid their lives as sacrifices
To your offended sword.
Eph. A messenger of comfort to a despairing lover
Is a less acceptable thing than this thy presence;
If what yon fellow told me were untruth,
Thy welcome sight hath amply made amends
For those tormenting fears he put me to.
But if it were not, let me know what chance
Redeem'd you?
Plan. If you have heard how things then went, when I
Sent away that messenger——
Eph. Yes, I have heard it.
Plan. Then know, when death and our own fates had sworn
Our ruin, and we, like some strong wall that long
Resists the iron vomits of the flaming cannon,
At last shakes itself into a dreadful ruin
To those who throw it down; so had the Iberians,
With valour great as the cause they fought for,
Strove with a noble envy, who should first[86]
Outgo his fellow in slaughtering the Argives:
At last, oppress'd with multitude and toil,
We sunk under the unequal burden;
Then was our emulation chang'd, and who before
Strove to outdo each other, now eagerly contended
To run the race of death first. Sir, there it was
I (and many other braver captains) fell,
Being one wound from head to foot. O, then
It was Inophilus came in,
With about twenty other gallants, and with what speed
The nimble lightning flies from east to west,
Redeem'd this bleeding trunk, which the
Insulting Argive had encompass'd,
Blown up with victory and pride; he with
A gallantry like none but great Inophilus,
Being bravely back'd by his own soldiers,
Whose actions spoke them more than men, had not
Inophilus been by, redeem'd the honour
Of a bleeding day. And thus are[87] [now] our troops,
As little in number[88] as their valour great,
Enrich'd with victory, blood, and jewels,
Of which the opposite army wanted no store,
Return'd with the renown of an achievement,
As full of glory and honour to the conquerors,
As ruin to the Argives.