it be, this is the short and long,
I dare not gainsay the king, be it right or wrong:
I am sorry, and that is all I may or can do in this case:
Nought availeth persuasion, where froward opinion taketh place.
Pithias. Sir, if humble suits you would not despise,
Then bow on[65] me your pitiful eyes.
My name is Pithias, in Greece well known,
A perfect friend to that woful Damon,
Which now a poor captive in this court doth lie,
By the king’s own mouth, as I hear, condemned to die;
For whom I crave your mastership’s goodness,
To stand his friend in this his great distress.
Nought hath he done worthy of death; but very fondly,
Being a stranger, he viewed this city:
For no evil practices, but to feed his eyes.
But seeing Dionysius is informed otherwise,
My suit is to you, when you see time and place,
To assuage the king’s anger, and to purchase his grace:
In which doing you shall not do good to one only,
But you shall further two,[66] and that fully.
Aristippus. My friend, in this case I can do you no pleasure.
Pithias. Sir, you serve in the court, as fame doth tell.
Aristippus. I am of the court indeed, but none of the council.
Pithias. As I hear, none is in greater favour with the king, than you at this day.
Aristippus. The more in favour, the less I dare say.
Pithias. It is a courtier’s praise to help strangers in misery.
Aristippus. To help another, and hurt myself, it is an evil point of courtesy.
Pithias. You shall not hurt yourself to speak for the innocent.
Aristippus. He is not innocent, whom the king judgeth nocent.
Pithias. Why, sir, do you think this matter past all remedy?
Aristippus. So far past, that Dionysius hath sworn, Damon to-morrow shall die.
Pithias. This word my trembling heart cutteth in two.
Ah, sir, in this woful case that[67] wist I best to do?
Aristippus. Best to content yourself, when there is no remedy,
He is well relieved that foreknoweth his misery:
Yet, if any comfort be, it resteth in Eubulus,
The chiefest councillor about King Dionysius:
Which pitieth Damon’s case in this great extremity,
Persuading the king from all kind of cruelty.
Pithias. The mighty gods preserve you for this word of comfort.
Taking my leave of your goodness, I will now resort
To Eubulus, that good councillor:
But hark! methink I hear a trumpet blow.
Aristippus. The king is at hand, stand close in the prease.[68] Beware, if he know
You are friend to Damon, he will take you for a spy also.
Farewell, I dare not be seen with you.
Here entereth King Dionysius, Eubulus the Councillor, and Gronno the Hangman.
Dionysius. Gronno, do my commandment: strike off Damon’s irons by and by.
Then bring him forth, I myself will see him executed presently.
Gronno. O mighty king, your commandment will I do speedily.
Dionysius. Eubulus, thou hast talked in vain, for sure he shall die.
Shall I suffer my life to stand in peril of every spy?
Eubulus. That he conspired against your person, his accuser cannot say:
He only viewed your city, and will you for that make him away?
Dionysius. What he would have done, the guess is great: he minded me to hurt,
That came so slyly to search out the secret estate of my court.
Shall I still lie in fear? no, no: I will cut off such imps betime,
Lest that to my farther danger too high they climb.
Eubulus. Yet have the mighty gods immortal fame assigned
To all worldly princes, which in mercy be inclined.
Dionysius. Let fame talk what she list, so I may live in safety.
Eubulus. The only mean to that is, to use mercy,
Dionysius. A mild prince the people despiseth.
Eubulus. A cruel king the people hateth.
Dionysius. Let them hate me, so they fear me.
Eubulus. That is not the way to live in safety.
Dionysius. My sword and power shall purchase my quietness.
Eubulus. That is sooner procured by mercy and gentleness.
Dionysius. Dionysius ought to be feared.
Eubulus. Better for him to be well beloved.
Dionysius. Fortune maketh all things subject to my power.
Eubulus. Believe her not, she is a light goddess; she can laugh and low’r.
Dionysius. A king’s praise standeth in the revenging of his enemy.
Eubulus. A greater praise to win him by clemency.
Dionysius. To suffer the wicked to live it is no mercy.
Eubulus. To kill the innocent it is great cruelty.
Dionysius. Is Damon innocent, which so craftily undermined Carisophus,
To understand what he could of king Dionysius?
Which
