Titus Andronicus: Act 4, Scene 3 Translation

Enter Titus, old Marcus, his son Publius, young
Lucius, and other gentlemen (Caius and Sempronius)
with bows, and Titus bears the arrows with letters on
the ends of them.

TITUS
Come, Marcus, come. Kinsmen, this is the way.—
Sir boy, let me see your archery.
Look you draw home enough and ’tis there straight.—
Terras Astraea reliquit.
Be you remembered, Marcus, she’s gone, she’s fled.— 5
Sirs, take you to your tools. You, cousins, shall
Go sound the ocean and cast your nets;
Happily you may catch her in the sea;
Yet there’s as little justice as at land.
No; Publius and Sempronius, you must do it. 10
’Tis you must dig with mattock and with spade,
And pierce the inmost center of the Earth.
Then, when you come to Pluto’s region,
I pray you, deliver him this petition.
Tell him it is for justice and for aid, 15
And that it comes from old Andronicus,
Shaken with sorrows in ungrateful Rome.
Ah, Rome! Well, well, I made thee miserable
What time I threw the people’s suffrages
On him that thus doth tyrannize o’er me. 20
Go, get you gone, and pray be careful all,
And leave you not a man-of-war unsearched.
This wicked emperor may have shipped her hence,
And, kinsmen, then we may go pipe for justice.

MARCUS
O Publius, is not this a heavy case 25
To see thy noble uncle thus distract?

PUBLIUS
Therefore, my lords, it highly us concerns
By day and night t’ attend him carefully,
And feed his humor kindly as we may,
Till time beget some careful remedy. 30

MARCUS
Kinsmen, his sorrows are past remedy
But …
Join with the Goths, and with revengeful war
Take wreak on Rome for this ingratitude,
And vengeance on the traitor Saturnine. 35

TITUS
Publius, how now? How now, my masters?
What, have you met with her?

PUBLIUS
No, my good lord, but Pluto sends you word,
If you will have Revenge from hell, you shall.
Marry, for Justice, she is so employed, 40
He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere else,
So that perforce you must needs stay a time.

TITUS
He doth me wrong to feed me with delays.
I’ll dive into the burning lake below
And pull her out of Acheron by the heels. 45
Marcus, we are but shrubs, no cedars we,
No big-boned men framed of the Cyclops’ size,
But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back,
Yet wrung with wrongs more than our backs can
bear; 50
And sith there’s no justice in Earth nor hell,
We will solicit heaven and move the gods
To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs.
Come, to this gear. You are a good archer, Marcus.
He gives them the arrows.
“Ad Jovem,” that’s for you;—here, “Ad Apollinem”;— 55
“Ad Martem,” that’s for myself;—
Here, boy, “to Pallas”;—here, “to Mercury”;—
“To Saturn,” Caius—not to Saturnine!
You were as good to shoot against the wind.
To it, boy!—Marcus, loose when I bid. 60
Of my word, I have written to effect;
There’s not a god left unsolicited.

MARCUS
Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the court.
We will afflict the Emperor in his pride.

TITUS
Now, masters, draw. (They shoot.) O, well said, 65
Lucius!
Good boy, in Virgo’s lap! Give it Pallas.

MARCUS
My lord, I aim a mile beyond the moon.
Your letter is with Jupiter by this.

TITUS
Ha, ha! Publius, Publius, what hast thou done? 70
See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus’ horns!

MARCUS
This was the sport, my lord; when Publius shot,
The Bull, being galled, gave Aries such a knock
That down fell both the Ram’s horns in the court,
And who should find them but the Empress’ villain? 75
She laughed and told the Moor he should not choose
But give them to his master for a present.

TITUS
Why, there it goes. God give his Lordship joy!

Enter a country fellow with a basket and two
pigeons in it.

TITUS
News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is
come.— 80
Sirrah, what tidings? Have you any letters?
Shall I have Justice? What says Jupiter?

COUNTRY FELLOW Ho, the gibbet-maker? He says that
he hath taken them down again, for the man must
not be hanged till the next week. 85

TITUS But what says Jupiter, I ask thee?

COUNTRY FELLOW Alas, sir, I know not Jubiter; I never
drank with him in all my life.

TITUS Why, villain, art not thou the carrier?

COUNTRY FELLOW Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else. 90

TITUS Why, didst thou not come from heaven?

COUNTRY FELLOW From heaven? Alas, sir, I never
came there. God forbid I should be so bold to press
to heaven in my young days. Why, I am going with
my pigeons to the tribunal plebs, to take up a matter 95
of brawl betwixt my uncle and one of the Emperal’s
men.

MARCUS, to Titus Why, sir, that is as fit as can be to
serve for your oration; and let him deliver the pigeons
to the Emperor from you. 100

TITUS Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the Emperor
with a grace?

COUNTRY FELLOW Nay, truly, sir, I could never say
grace in all my life.

TITUS
Sirrah, come hither. Make no more ado, 105
But give your pigeons to the Emperor.
By me thou shalt have justice at his hands.
Hold, hold; meanwhile here’s money for thy
charges.—Give me pen and ink.—Sirrah, can you
with a grace deliver up a supplication? 110
He writes.

COUNTRY FELLOW Ay, sir.

TITUS Then here is a supplication for you, and when
you come to him, at the first approach you must
kneel, then kiss his foot, then deliver up your pigeons,
and then look for your reward. I’ll be at 115
hand, sir. See you do it bravely.
He hands him a paper.

COUNTRY FELLOW I warrant you, sir. Let me alone.

TITUS
Sirrah, hast thou a knife? Come, let me see it.—
He takes the knife and gives it to Marcus.
Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration,
For thou hast made it like an humble suppliant.— 120
And when thou hast given it to the Emperor,
Knock at my door and tell me what he says.

COUNTRY FELLOW God be with you, sir. I will.
He exits.

TITUS Come, Marcus, let us go.—Publius, follow me.
They exit.