Ino. Like some bless'd man that, griev'd for others' sins,
Could,[91] out of a good nature, part with half
His own whiteness to purge the others' stains.
Plan. Now thou soothest, and, like some flattering glass,
Present'st me to advantage. I am, in short,
One born to make Iberia unhappy.
Had I as black a face as is my soul, you would
Find in respect of it Ægyptians were snow-white.
Methinks I hear Heaven tell me I am slow,
And it is time I had begun revenge.
Ephorbas has done him wrong, who lov'd him
More than heaven or his happiness, and would
Have run out of the world to have left him
Free [to] whatever he would lay claim to, but
Andromana—
Nay, she also had been
His, so it could have been without a sin.
But she knew the sin she acted, and yet did it;
And [yet she] lives free from the stroke of thunder!
Is there such a thing as heaven, or such a one
As Justice dwells there? and can I ask the question?
O, the tameness of a conscience loaded with sin.
Which reasons and talks, when it should do!
But I will be reveng'd, and thus I begin. Inophilus,
[He draws.
Be sure, when I am dead, to meet my ghost,
And do as that instructs thee. 'Twill tell all the particulars
Of my revenge, who must die first, who last, and
What way too. I have my lesson perfect.
[He leans the pommel on the ground to fall on it: Inophilus kicks it by with his foot.
Ino. Is this the revenge befits great Plangus?
Plan. Had this been done two days ago, thou durst
As well have met the lightning naked
As have opposed my will thus.
[He draws.
Ino. Hear me;
Ask me no questions, nor answer me; or if you do,
By Heav'n, I'll never speak more. It is revenge
You'd have, and 'tis a great one, a very noble one,
To kill yourself! Be confident, your greatest foes
Wish nothing more.
When after-ages come to hear your story,
What will they say? Just as they did of Cato:
He durst not look great Cæsar in the face—
So Plangus was afraid, and died.
A very pretty story, and much to a man's credit:
For shame, dear Plangus (let friendship use that title):
Show your great soul the world believes you're master of—
And I dare swear you are in this action.
Nay, rally up yourself, and fight it stoutly.
Shake from your mind revenge, and having laid
That passion by, put on that virtue the world
Admires in you; 'tis now the time to show it.
The sun, broke from a cloud, doubles his light;
And fire, the more resisted, flames more bright.
Andromana has injur'd you; scorn her, therefore,
As though[92] she had done nothing; I'd not do her the favour
To have one thought of her, or could be troubled
At that she did. As for your father, sir,
Besides the tie of nature, he knows not
He hath wrong'd you: or if he doth,
'Tis love that caus'd him;
A word that once made an excuse with Plangus
For what offence soever.
Plan. Thou hast wrought upon me,
And I am resolved to live a day or two more:
But if I like it not—well, I'll go try
To sleep a little; perhaps that may—I am
Strangely melancholy: prythee, lie down by me,
Inophilus, I'm safe while in thy company.