and when a man would talk of business with a female those of his country are noted for taking off his atten tion. Agnes. Out on thee! thou would'st turn jealous shortly Well, night is near; and, when I am gone with the lady Zorayda, thou wilt think kinder of me. Sadi. How!-what!-what, dost thou go with her Agnes? Agnes. Surely. Sadi. What, and leave-umph! Agnes. Would'st have me tarry behind, when my good lady is in danger, and lose, too, the means of freedom? thou know'st that-why, what is it ails thee, Sadi?—art not well? Sadi. Yes-nothing-'tis a-tis the cholic, Agnes. Tonight, said you? Agnes. Ay, Sadi: and here-I have a little rosary; you shall keep it for my sake: let me tie it on thy neck-sothou❜lt think of me now sometimes, when thou look'st at it, Sadi? Sadi. Agnes, I-I cannot well speak at present. I thought we had bid fair to stick together through life. I will not upbraid you. Allah bless you, Agnes! and should you meet a lighter-skinned lover, may he be as fond and as faithful as the poor dusky fellow you leave broken-hearted behind you. Agnes. Nay, but Sadi— Sadi. Farewell! I looked shortly to have been taken to be christened, had you proved steady to me. I am now neither Moor nor Catholic:-and should thy unkindness wear me to the grave, I can claim little better than piebald burial. Go, Agnes, and happiness be with you. Agnes. And when I go a step without you, Sadi, may I never know what 'tis to be happy again. Sadi. Eh! Agnes. Oh, my poor dear Sadi! forgive the pain I have put thee to; but you seemed jealous of me, Sadi; and in punishing you for't, beshrew me, now, but I have punished myself. Sadi. Now could I be displeased in my turn, were I not too glad to be angry. Your hand, Agnes-1 have of fended, and thou carry'st the whip. Do not fear finding me guilty again; for thou hast, now, laid it on so tightly, that, were I to live a thousand years, the smart on't would never out of my memory. Agnes. Comfort thee, Sadi:-The lady Zorayda has consented that thou should'st along with me. Liberty is now before me, and as thou lovest me, let us away. Prepare thee quickly, for night is coming on. Fetches a guitar from R. Sadi. Farewell, master! I will pack up straight. With five years' pay, a true heart, three shirts, Christianity in my head, and thee under my arm, will I this night take a long leave of Granada. Hang care, and a guitar at thy back, Agnes, and we'll jog merrily over the mountains into Andalusia. Sadi. DUETT.-SADI and AGNES. Oh! happy tawny Moor!-when you, love The music play? Your sweet guitar a tinkling-Sadi Tang, tanki, tanki, tang, tang, Agnes. Oh! bonny tawny Moor! together, Sadi. Agres Both. From Agnes stray? While their guitars are tinkling-Sadi, Tang, tanki, tanki, tang, tang Cease, pretty Agnes, cease:-no beauty Let them all the day Their music play. Then my guitar a tinkling-Sadi Follow now your Spanish lady. Tang, tanki, tanki, tang, tang Then my guitar, &c. Her sweet guitar a tinkling-Sadi Follows now his Spanish lady. Tang, tanki, tanki, tang tang SCENE III.-The Market-Place in the Town of Granada. Enter the MOORISH GUARD, OFFICERS, &c., with Standard and Pikes, R. U. E. Pacha. Ali Beg! Ali. Here, my Pacha. Pacha. Ali, having this day raised thee from the ranks, 'tis fit I do commend the care with which thou hast drawn forth the soldiery. How long hast thou borne arms, Ali? Ali. Five-and-twenty-years, so please you, the last moon of Moharram. Pacha. And see, thou art now promoted. Mark, Ali, the advantage of the Mussulman army. While the wornout Catholic soldier retires, that a younger man may fill his place, then is the happy Moor advanced to all the glorious fatigues of duty. His aching bones never draw upon him the neglect of his officer, who heaps threefold employment upon his aged shoulders, in reward of his past service!-thou hast now, Ali, the full pay of thy deceased predecessor. Ali. Thy slave thanks thee, noble Pacha. Pacha. Out of which, Ali, thou hast simply to maintain his four widows left behind him.-Bless thyself, Ali, that thou art born to fight under Moorish leaders; who are distinguished by such charity as is never thought of in a Christian army. Is each man here according to the roll? Ali. All. Pacha. I will first address them; then, Ali, march them to their posts for the night.-Moors and soldiers! under the renowned Mahomet Bobadili Chiquito, King of Granada! 'tis the regard of your commander now cautions you that you relax not from your charge. My tenderness bids you be vigilant through the night, that ye may 'scape the bowstring to which I should otherwise sentence you in the morning. The true soldier thinks his duty a pleasure; and none of you, my honest fellows, on pain of death, shall forego the pleasure of your duty. The Spaniards who besiege us are Christians-you are Moors. member, then, you fight in the cause of your religion; maintain its amiable doctrines to the last, and show your Re enemies no mercy!-now to your watch, where, out of kindness, I forbid you to fortify your stomachs against the raw air of the night;-for he who lifts wine to his mouth, my worthy friends, speedily loses his head.-Strike, and away! GRAND CHORUS of MOORISH SOLDIERS. The sun is sunk ;-and from afar, March to your posts and take your stand! March! SCENE I.-The Inside of a Venta or Spanish Inn, in Andalusia. A Stable Door in the background-over it a Hay Loft. A Lamp against the Wall. A Fire in the midst of the Room. MULETEERS discovered, drinking. Enter LOPE TOCHO, R. Tocho. Bravely pulled, gallants, and merrily! Of all the worthy tuggers at a bottle, give me your noble gentlemen carriers! who while away the heavy hours in the amusing exercise of driving mules over the mountains. 1st Mule. Certain, mine host, in respect to deep drinking, we muleteers have hard heads. Tocho. Nay, that ye have. Ye are a pack of the hardest heads of any in Spain. "Fifteen years have I been "host of this venta, at the foot of the Sierra de Ronda. "Tocho is my name- -Lope Tocho of the Province of An"dalusia. I live by the hunger and thirst of the traveller, "and keep a yearly account of my thanks due to stomachs "and throats; and in striking my balance, gentlemen, I find "the generous maw of a gentleman muleteer calls for five "times the food of the best grandee's that journeys the country.-Worthy signors! I am your sweet throats and "stomachs debtor and servant." [Drinks. 66 2d Mule. Harkye, Lope Tocho, mine host. Tocho. What say you, signor? 2d Mule. Methinks, mine host, the kid you gave us at supper, had somewhat of an unsavoury smell with it. It did, as it were, stink most abominably. Tocho. I know not well how that could be, signor! for I have bestowed wondrous pains on it, these three weeks past, to keep it sweet. For delicate eating, and right Malaga, there's not an inn can match me between this and Antequera-no, verily, not one. 3d Mule. 'Tis a wild road thither. 66 Tocho. You will not set eyes on a house till you reach "the town, signor. 'Tis some league and a half over the 'mountains-and affords, truly, but indifferent accommodation. Here's to your good entertainment on the way, "signors." [Drinks. 66 1st Mule. Hast any news stirring in these parts, honest Lope? Tocho. War, gentlemen, war with the Moors-we are here on the skirts of their kingdom of Granada—and in the very heart of those skirts, as I may say, King Ferdinand, of Castile and Arragon, does now most closely stick. Saint Iago be his speed, say I! I could never away with these infidels. Their's must be a devil of a religion that forbids the drinking of wine. 2d Mule. One cup to the Christian cause, mine host! Tocho. Right willingly-confusion to the barbarous Moors!-and may the King of a Christian people never want loving subjects to drink his prosperity, and give the enemies of humanity a drubbing. [All drink. 4th Mule. I prithee, Perez, as we passed through Cor dova, didst bethink thee to get my pack-saddle mended for the blind mule ? 3d Mule. Truly, brother, I cared not to pay five good reals, when I may never chance to see them again. 4th Mule. [Starting up.] Santa Maria; reflect on the honour of a Spaniard! death and my mustachios! thou shalt not live! [Draws his Stiletto. |