I might with my honour, I would recall my word.
Pithias. Stand to your word, O king, for kings ought nothing say,
But that they would perform in perfect deeds alway.
A pledge you did require, when Damon his suit did meve,
For which with heart and stretched hands most humble thanks I give:
And that you may not say but Damon hath a friend,
That loves him better than his own life, and will do to his end,
Take me, O mighty king: my life I pawn[75] for his:
Strike off my head, if Damon hap at his day to miss.
Dionysius. What art thou, that chargest me with my word so boldly here?
Pithias. I am Pithias, a Greek born, which hold Damon my friend full dear.
Dionysius. Too dear perhaps, to hazard thy life for him: what fondness[76] moveth thee?
Pithias. No fondness at all, but perfect amity.
Dionysius. A mad kind of amity! advise thyself well: if Damon fail at his day,
Which shall be justly appointed, wilt thou die for him, to me his life to pay?
Pithias. Most willingly, O mighty king: if Damon fail, let Pithias die.
Dionysius. Thou seemest to trust his words, that pawnest thy life so frankly.
Pithias. What Damon saith, Pithias believeth assuredly.
Dionysius. Take heed, for [your] life:[77] wordly men break promise in many things.
Pithias. Though wordly men do so, it never haps amongst friends.
Dionysius. What callest thou friends? are they not men, is not this true?
Pithias. Men they be, but such men as love one another only for virtue.
Dionysius. For what virtue dost thou love this spy, this Damon?
Pithias. For that virtue which yet to you is unknown.
Dionysius. Eubulus, what shall I do? I would despatch this Damon fain,
But this foolish fellow so chargeth me, that I may not call back my word again.
Eubulus. The reverent majesty of a king stands chiefly in keeping his promise.
What you have said this whole court beareth witness,
Save your honour, whatsoever you do.
Dionysius. For saving mine honour, I must forbear my will: go to.
Pithias, seeing thou tookest me at my word, take Damon to thee:
For two months he is thine: unbind him, I set him free;
Which time once expired, if he appear not the next day by noon,
Without further delay thou shalt lose thy life, and that full soon.
Whether he die by the way, or lie sick in his bed,
If he return not then, thou shalt either hang or lose thy head.
Pithias. For this, O mighty king, I yield immortal thanks. O joyful day!
Dionysius. Gronno, take him to thee: bind him, see him kept in safety:
If he escape, assure thyself for him thou shalt die.
Eubulus, let us depart, to talk of this strange thing within.
Eubulus. I follow.
[Exeunt.
Gronno. Damon, thou servest the gods well today; be thou of comfort.
As for you, sir, I think you will be hanged in sport.
You heard what the king said; I must keep you safely:
By Cock, so I will, you shall rather hang than I.
Come on your way.
Pithias. My Damon, farewell; the gods have thee in keeping.
Damon. O my Pithias, my pledge, farewell; I part from thee weeping.
But joyful at my day appointed I will return again,
When I will deliver thee from all trouble and pain,
Stephano will I leave behind me to wait upon thee in prison alone,
And I, whom fortune hath reserved to this misery, will walk home.
Ah my Pithias, my pledge, my life, my friend, farewell.
Pithias. Farewell, my Damon.
Damon. Loth am I to depart. Sith sobs my trembling tongue doth stay,
O music, sound my doleful plaints, when I am gone my way.
[Exit Damon.
Gronno. I am glad he is gone, I had almost wept too. Come, Pithias,
So God help me, I am sorry for thy foolish case
Wilt thou venter thy life for a man so fondly?
Pithias. It is no venter: my friend is just, for whom I desire to die.
Gronno. Here is a madman! I tell thee, I have a wife whom I love well,
And if ich would die for her, chould ich were in hell.
Wilt thou do more for a man than I would for a woman?
Pithias. Yea, that I will.
Gronno. Then come on your ways, you must to prison haste.
I fear you will repent this folly at last.
Pithias. That shalt thou never see. But O music, as my Damon requested thee,
Sound out thy doleful tunes in this time of calamity.
[Exeunt. Here the regals play a mourning song, and Damon cometh in in mariner apparel and Stephano with him.
Damon. Weep no more, Stephano, this is but destiny:
Had not this happ’d, yet I know I am born to die:
Where or in what place, the gods know alone,
To whose judgment myself I commit. Therefore leave off thy moan,
And wait upon Pithias in prison till I return again,
In whom my joy, my care and life doth only remain.
Stephano.
