Enter ORCANES king of Natolia, GAZELLUS viceroy of Byron, URIBASSA,<4> and their train, with drums and trumpets.
ORCANES.Egregious viceroys of these eastern parts, Plac'd by the issue of great Bajazeth, And sacred lord, the mighty Callapine, Who lives in Egypt prisoner to that slave Which kept his father in an iron cage,--
Now have we march'd from fair Natolia Two hundred leagues, and on Danubius' banks Our warlike host, in complete armour, rest, Where Sigismund, the king of Hungary, Should meet our person to conclude a truce:
What! shall we parle with the Christian?
Or cross the stream, and meet him in the field?
GAZELLUS.King of Natolia, let us treat of peace:
We all are glutted with the Christians' blood, And have a greater foe to fight against,--
Proud Tamburlaine, that now in Asia, Near Guyron's head, doth set his conquering feet, And means to fire Turkey as he goes:
'Gainst him, my lord, you must address your power.
URIBASSA.Besides, King Sigismund hath brought from Christendom More than his camp of stout Hungarians,--
Sclavonians, Almains, Rutters,<5> Muffs, and Danes, That with the halberd, lance, and murdering axe, Will hazard that we might with surety hold.
ORCANES.<6> Though from the shortest northern parallel, Vast Grantland, compass'd with the Frozen Sea, (Inhabited with tall and sturdy men, Giants as big as hugy<7> Polypheme,)
Millions of soldiers cut the<8> arctic line, Bringing the strength of Europe to these arms, Our Turkey blades shall glide through all their throats, And make this champion<9> mead a bloody fen:
Danubius' stream, that runs to Trebizon, Shall carry, wrapt within his scarlet waves, As martial presents to our friends at home, The slaughter'd bodies of these Christians:
The Terrene<10> main, wherein Danubius falls, Shall by this battle be the bloody sea:
The wandering sailors of proud Italy Shall meet those Christians, fleeting with the tide, Beating in heaps against their argosies, And make fair Europe, mounted on her bull, Trapp'd with the wealth and riches of the world, Alight, and wear a woful mourning weed.
GAZELLUS.Yet, stout Orcanes, pro-rex of the world, Since Tamburlaine hath muster'd all his men, Marching from Cairo<11> northward, with his camp, To Alexandria and the frontier towns, Meaning to make a conquest of our land, 'Tis requisite to parle for a peace With Sigismund, the king of Hungary, And save our forces for the hot assaults Proud Tamburlaine intends Natolia.
ORCANES.Viceroy of Byron, wisely hast thou said.
My realm, the centre of our empery, Once lost, all Turkey would be overthrown;
And for that cause the Christians shall have peace.
Sclavonians, Almains, Rutters, Muffs, and Danes, Fear<12> not Orcanes, but great Tamburlaine;
Nor he, but Fortune that hath made him great.
We have revolted Grecians, Albanese, Sicilians, Jews, Arabians, Turks, and Moors, Natolians, Sorians,<13> black<14> Egyptians, Illyrians, Thracians, and Bithynians,<15>
Enough to swallow forceless Sigismund, Yet scarce enough t' encounter Tamburlaine.
He brings a world of people to the field, >From Scythia to the oriental plage<16>
Of India, where raging Lantchidol Beats on the regions with his boisterous blows, That never seaman yet discovered.
All Asia is in arms with Tamburlaine, Even from the midst of fiery Cancer's tropic To Amazonia under Capricorn;
And thence, as far as Archipelago, All Afric is in arms with Tamburlaine:
Therefore, viceroy,<17> the Christians must have peace.
Enter SIGISMUND, FREDERICK, BALDWIN, and their train, with drums and trumpets.
SIGISMUND.Orcanes, (as our legates promis'd thee,)
