SCENE V.

_Enter_ ZARACK _and_ BALTHAZAR, _with calivers_.

BAL. Is thy cock ready, and thy powder dry?

ZAR. My cock stands perching like a cock o' the game, with a red coal for his crest, instead of a comb; and for my powder, 'tis but touch and take.

BAL. I have tickling gear too; anon I'll cry, here I have it, and yonder I see it. But, Zarack, is't policy for us to kill these bald-pates?

ZAR. Is't policy for us to save ourselves? If they live, we die. Is't not wisdom then to send them to heaven, rather than be sent ourselves? Come, you black slave, be resolute. This way they come; here they will stand, and yonder will I stand.

BAL. And in yonder hole I.

ZAR. Our amiable faces cannot be seen if we keep close; therefore hide your cock's head, lest his burning cock's-comb betray us. But soft; which of the two shall be thy white?[65]

BAL. That black villain friar Cole.

ZAR. I shall have a sharp piece of service; friar Crab shall be my man. Farewell, and be resolute.

BAL. Zounds! Zarack, I shall never have the heart to do it.

ZAR. You rogue, think who commands--Eleazar. Who shall rise--Balthazar. Who shall die--a lousy friar. Who shall live--our good lord and master, the negro-king of Spain.

BAL. Cole, thou art but a dead man, and shalt turn to ashes.

[_Exit._

ZAR. Crab, here's that shall make vinegar of thy carcase.

[_Exit._

_Enter_ CRAB _and_ COLE, _two friars, with a rout of stinkards following them_.

CRAB. Ah! brother, 'tis best so. Now we have drawn them to a head, we'll begin here i' the market-place. Tut, so long as we be commanded by the mother-queen, we'll say her son is a bastard, an' he were ten Philips.

COLE. Take you one market-form, I'll take another.

CRAB. No, God's-so',[66] we must both keep one form.

COLE. Ay, in oration, but not in station. Mount, mount.

1ST STINK. Well, my masters, you know him not so well as I, on my word. Friar Crab is a sour fellow.

2D STINK. Yet he may utter sweet doctrine, by your leave. But what think you of friar Cole?

1ST STINK. He? all fire: an' he be kindled once, a hot catholic.

3D STINK. And you mark him, he has a zealous nose, and richly inflamed.

1ST STINK. Peace, you rogues! Now they begin.

CRAB. _Incipe, Frater._

COLE. _Non ego, Domine._

CRAB. _Nec ego._

COLE. _Quare?_

CRAB. _Quia?_

COLE. _QuA|so._

ALL. Here's a queasy beginning, methinks. Silence! silence!

CRAB. Brethren, citizens, and market-folks of Seville.

COLE. Well-beloved and honoured Castilians.

CRAB. It is not unknown to you.

COLE. I am sure you are not ignorant.

CRAB. How villanous and strong!

COLE. How monstrous and huge!

CRAB. The faction of Prince Philip is.

COLE. Philip, that is a bastard.

CRAB. Philip, that is a dastard.

COLE. Philip, that killed your king.

CRAB. Only to make himself king.

COLE. And, by Gad's blessed lady, you are all damned, and you suffer it.

1ST STINK. Friar Cole says true: he speaks out to the heat of his zeal: look how he glows!

2D STINK. Well, friar Crab for my money; he has set my teeth an edge against this bastard.

1ST STINK. O, his words are like vergis to whet a man's stomach.

ALL. Silence! silence!

CRAB. Now contrariwise.

COLE. Your noble king the Moor----

CRAB. Is a valiant gentleman;

COLE. A noble gentleman;

CRAB. An honourable gentleman;

COLE. A fair black gentleman.

CRAB. A friend to Castilians,

COLE. A champion for Castilians,

CRAB. A man fit to be a king.

COLE. If he were not borne down by him that would be king, who (as I said before) is a bastard, and no king.

1ST STINK. What think you, my masters? Do you mark his words well?

CRAB. Further, compare them together.

ALL. S'blood! there's no comparison between them.

COLE. Nay, but hear us, good countrymen.

ALL. Hear friar Cole! hear friar Cole!

COLE. Set[67] that bastard and Eleazar together.

1ST STINK. How? mean you by the ears?

CRAB. No, but compare them.

COLE. Do but compare them.

2D STINK. Zounds! we say again, comparisons are odious.

1ST STINK. But say on, say on.

[_Pieces go off; friars die._

ALL. Treason! treason! every man shift for himself. This is Philip's treason. Arm, arm, arm!

[_Exeunt._