MARCUS.
Pardon me, sir; ’twas a black ill-favoured fly,
Like to the empress’ Moor; therefore I killed him.
TITUS.
O, O, O!
Then pardon me for reprehending thee,
For thou hast done a charitable deed.
Give me thy knife, I will insult on him,
Flattering myself as if it were the Moor
Come hither purposely to poison me.
There’s for thyself, and that’s for Tamora.
Ah, sirrah!
Yet, I think, we are not brought so low
But that between us we can kill a fly
That comes in likeness of a coal-black Moor.
MARCUS.
Alas, poor man, grief has so wrought on him,
He takes false shadows for true substances.
TITUS.
Come, take away. Lavinia, go with me.
I’ll to thy closet, and go read with thee
Sad stories chanced in the times of old.
Come, boy, and go with me. Thy sight is young,
And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.
[Exeunt.]
ACT IV
SCENE I. Rome. Before Titus’s House
Enter Young Lucius and Lavinia running after him, and the boy flies from her with his books under his arm. Enter Titus and Marcus.
YOUNG LUCIUS.
Help, grandsire, help! My aunt Lavinia
Follows me everywhere, I know not why.
Good uncle Marcus, see how swift she comes!
Alas, sweet aunt, I know not what you mean.
MARCUS.
Stand by me, Lucius. Do not fear thine aunt.