Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ACT III Scene I Jericho: a court of palm-trees in the royal pleasure-house Cleopatra, dressed as the goddess I sis, Herod and Seleucus Herod. Since you have now returned back from Euphrates, Leaving the Emperor to his wars, in duty I have collected all my rents From your Arabia, about Jericho, And from the Eleutherian cities—all The districts that I farm of you. Seleucus! Here are the papers. Queen, the sums are here : Twelve hundred talents; six from Araby, Four from these cities, two from Jericho. Cleopatra. No more from Jericho, with that rare drug Of native balsam, and such palms as gender Huge, sable cones of fruit ? Herod. The sum ! I beg For no deduction, though the locusts nipped Our odorous gardens close, and scarcity Has been upon the palm-yards from the greed Of former and of latter flights in cloud On every smooth wind of the sun-rising. Cleopatra. Your husbandry is sad for me. Seleucus, Take these small payments to our purse. Fie, Herod, Fie! You are niggard in our revenues. [Exit Seleucus with the bags of gold and papers. Herod. I bring you all the farms can yield. Cleopatra. O Herod! I saw you but this morning exercise With spear and darts, as Greek Apollo chose An Edomite to mask in. ... Herod. Queen of Egypt, I am a Jew of Babylonian race. Cleopatra. Are you, bold, arrowing archer? You so quick Of motion, and quick-sighted at your game Are now but blind. . . . (Close to Ms ear.) We love you, king of Jewry. As yonder female clusters of the palm Are bound with sprays of blossom for achievement, We would be yoked. So monarchs Make open treaty. Herod. Tangling politician! Ha, ha! A snare ! Would you not win Judaea Out of such wickedness, if I complied With your own sort of pleas...