prompt:
Chapter: ACT III. SCENE I.
Rome. A street

Enter the JUDGES, TRIBUNES, and SENATORS, with TITUS' two sons
MARTIUS and QUINTUS bound, passing on the stage to the place of
execution,
and TITUS going before, pleading

  TITUS. Hear me, grave fathers; noble Tribunes, stay!
    For pity of mine age, whose youth was spent
    In dangerous wars whilst you securely slept;
    For all my blood in Rome's great quarrel shed,
    For all the frosty nights that I have watch'd,
    And for these bitter tears, which now you see
    Filling the aged wrinkles in my cheeks,
    Be pitiful to my condemned sons,
    Whose souls are not corrupted as 'tis thought.
    For two and twenty sons I never wept,
    Because they died in honour's lofty bed.
                          [ANDRONICUS lieth down, and the judges
                     pass by him with the prisoners, and exeunt]
    For these, Tribunes, in the dust I write
    My heart's deep languor and my soul's sad tears.
    Let my tears stanch the earth's dry appetite;
    My sons' sweet blood will make it shame and blush.
    O earth, I will befriend thee more with rain
    That shall distil from these two ancient urns,
    Than youthful April shall with all his show'rs.
    In summer's drought I'll drop upon thee still;
    In winter with warm tears I'll melt the snow
    And keep eternal spring-time on thy face,
    So thou refuse to drink my dear sons' blood.

             Enter Lucius with his weapon drawn

    O reverend Tribunes! O gentle aged men!
    Unbind my sons, reverse the doom of death,
    And let me say, that never wept before,
    My tears are now prevailing orators.
  LUCIUS. O noble father, you lament in vain;
    The Tribunes hear you not, no man is by,
    And you recount your sorrows to a stone.
  TITUS. Ah, Lucius, for thy brothers let me plead!
    Grave Tribunes, once more I entreat of you.
  LUCIUS. My gracious lord, no tribune hears you speak.
  TITUS. Why, 'tis no matter, man: if they did hear,
    They would not mark me; if they did mark,
    They would not pity me; yet plead I must,
    And bootless unto them.
    Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones;
    Who though they cannot answer my distress,
    Yet in some sort they are better than the Tribunes,
    For that they will not intercept my tale.
    When I do weep, they humbly at my feet
    Receive my tears, and seem to weep with me;
    And were they but attired in grave weeds,
    Rome could afford no tribunes like to these.
    A stone is soft as wax: tribunes more hard than stones.
    A stone is silent and offendeth not,
    And tribunes with their tongues doom men to death.
                                                         [Rises]
    But wherefore stand'st thou with thy weapon drawn?
  LUCIUS. To rescue my two brothers from their death;
    For which attempt the judges have pronounc'd
    My everlasting doom of banishment.
  TITUS. O happy man! they have befriended thee.
    Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive
    That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers?
    Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey
    But me and mine; how happy art thou then
    From these devourers to be banished!
    But who comes with our brother Marcus here?

                 Enter MARCUS with LAVINIA

  MARCUS. Titus, prepare thy aged eyes to weep,
    Or if not so, thy noble heart to break.
    I bring consuming sorrow to thine age.
  TITUS. Will it consume me? Let me see it then.
  MARCUS. This was thy daughter.
  TITUS. Why, Marcus, so she is.
  LUCIUS. Ay me! this object kills me.
  TITUS. Faint-hearted boy, arise, and look upon her.
    Speak, Lavinia, what accursed hand
    Hath made thee handless in thy father's sight?
    What fool hath added water to the sea,
    Or brought a fagot to bright-burning Troy?
    My grief was at the height before thou cam'st,
    And now like Nilus it disdaineth bounds.
    Give me a sword, I'll chop off my hands too,
    For they have fought for Rome, and all in vain;
    And they have nurs'd this woe in feeding life;
    In bootless prayer have they been held up,
    And they have serv'd me to effectless use.
    Now all the service I require of them
    Is that the one will help to cut the other.
    'Tis well, Lavinia, that thou hast no hands;
    For hands to do Rome service is but vain.
  LUCIUS. Speak, gentle sister, who hath martyr'd thee?
  MARCUS. O, that delightful engine of her thoughts
    That blabb'd them with such pleasing eloquence
    Is torn from forth that pretty hollow cage,
    Where like a sweet melodious bird it sung
    Sweet varied notes, enchanting every ear!
  LUCIUS. O, say thou for her, who hath done this deed?
  MARCUS. O, thus I found her straying in the park,
    Seeking to hide herself as doth the deer
    That hath receiv'd some unrecuring wound.
  TITUS. It was my dear, and he that wounded her
    Hath hurt me more than had he kill'd me dead;
    For now I stand as one upon a rock,
    Environ'd with a wilderness of sea,
    Who marks the waxing tide grow wave by wave,
    Expecting ever when some envious surge
    Will in his brinish bowels swallow him.
    This way to death my wretched sons are gone;
    Here stands my other son, a banish'd man,
    And here my brother, weeping at my woes.
    But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn
    Is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul.
    Had I but seen thy picture in this plight,
    It would have madded me; what shall I do
    Now I behold thy lively body so?
    Thou hast no hands to wipe away thy tears,
    Nor tongue to tell me who hath martyr'd thee;
    Thy husband he is dead, and for his death
    Thy brothers are condemn'd, and dead by this.
    Look, Marcus! Ah, son Lucius, look on her!
    When I did name her brothers, then fresh tears
    Stood on her cheeks, as doth the honey dew
    Upon a gath'red lily almost withered.
  MARCUS. Perchance she weeps because they kill'd her husband;
    Perchance because she knows them innocent.
  TITUS. If they did kill thy husband, then be joyful,
    Because the law hath ta'en revenge on them.
    No, no, they would not do so foul a deed;
    Witness the sorrow that their sister makes.
    Gentle Lavinia, let me kiss thy lips,
    Or make some sign how I may do thee ease.
    Shall thy good uncle and thy brother Lucius
    And thou and I sit round about some fountain,
    Looking all downwards to behold our cheeks
    How they are stain'd, like meadows yet not dry
    With miry slime left on them by a flood?
    And in the fountain shall we gaze so long,
    Till the fresh taste be taken from that clearness,
    And made a brine-pit with our bitter tears?
    Or shall we cut away our hands like thine?
    Or shall we bite our tongues, and in dumb shows
    Pass the remainder of our hateful days?
    What shall we do? Let us that have our tongues
    Plot some device of further misery
    To make us wonder'd at in time to come.
  LUCIUS. Sweet father, cease your tears; for at your grief
    See how my wretched sister sobs and weeps.
  MARCUS. Patience, dear niece. Good Titus, dry thine eyes.
  TITUS. Ah, Marcus, Marcus! Brother, well I wot
    Thy napkin cannot drink a tear of mine,
    For thou, poor man, hast drown'd it with thine own.
  LUCIUS. Ah, my Lavinia, I will wipe thy cheeks.
  TITUS. Mark, Marcus, mark! I understand her signs.
    Had she a tongue to speak, now would she say
    That to her brother which I said to thee:
    His napkin, with his true tears all bewet,
    Can do no service on her sorrowful cheeks.
    O, what a sympathy of woe is this
    As far from help as Limbo is from bliss!

                   Enter AARON the Moor

  AARON. Titus Andronicus, my lord the Emperor
    Sends thee this word, that, if thou love thy sons,
    Let Marcus, Lucius, or thyself, old Titus,
    Or any one of you, chop off your hand
    And send it to the King: he for the same
    Will send thee hither both thy sons alive,
    And that shall be the ransom for their fault.
  TITUS. O gracious Emperor! O gentle Aaron!
    Did ever raven sing so like a lark
    That gives sweet tidings of the sun's uprise?
    With all my heart I'll send the Emperor my hand.
    Good Aaron, wilt thou help to chop it off?
  LUCIUS. Stay, father! for that noble hand of thine,
    That hath thrown down so many enemies,
    Shall not be sent. My hand will serve the turn,
    My youth can better spare my blood than you,
    And therefore mine shall save my brothers' lives.
  MARCUS. Which of your hands hath not defended Rome
    And rear'd aloft the bloody battle-axe,
    Writing destruction on the enemy's castle?
    O, none of both but are of high desert!
    My hand hath been but idle; let it serve
    To ransom my two nephews from their death;
    Then have I kept it to a worthy end.
  AARON. Nay, come, agree whose hand shall go along,
    For fear they die before their pardon come.
  MARCUS. My hand shall go.
  LUCIUS. By heaven, it shall not go!
  TITUS. Sirs, strive no more; such with'red herbs as these
    Are meet for plucking up, and therefore mine.
  LUCIUS. Sweet father, if I shall be thought thy son,
    Let me redeem my brothers both from death.
  MARCUS. And for our father's sake and mother's care,
    Now let me show a brother's love to thee.
  TITUS. Agree between you; I will spare my hand.
  LUCIUS. Then I'll go fetch an axe.
  MARCUS. But I will use the axe.
                                        Exeunt LUCIUS and MARCUS
  TITUS. Come hither, Aaron, I'll deceive them both;
    Lend me thy hand, and I will give thee mine.
  AARON.  [Aside]  If that be call'd deceit, I will be honest,
    And never whilst I live deceive men so;
    But I'll deceive you in another sort,
    And that you'll say ere half an hour pass.
                                       [He cuts off TITUS' hand]

                 Re-enter LUCIUS and MARCUS

 TITUS. Now stay your strife. What shall be is dispatch'd.
    Good Aaron, give his Majesty my hand;
    Tell him it was a hand that warded him
    From thousand dangers; bid him bury it.
    More hath it merited- that let it have.
    As for my sons, say I account of them
    As jewels purchas'd at an easy price;
    And yet dear too, because I bought mine own.
  AARON. I go, Andronicus; and for thy hand
    Look by and by to have thy sons with thee.
    [Aside]  Their heads I mean. O, how this villainy
    Doth fat me with the very thoughts of it!
    Let fools do good, and fair men call for grace:
    Aaron will have his soul black like his face.           Exit
  TITUS. O, here I lift this one hand up to heaven,
    And bow this feeble ruin to the earth;
    If any power pities wretched tears,
    To that I call!  [To LAVINIA]  What, would'st thou kneel with
me?
    Do, then, dear heart; for heaven shall hear our prayers,
    Or with our sighs we'll breathe the welkin dim
    And stain the sun with fog, as sometime clouds
    When they do hug him in their melting bosoms.
  MARCUS. O brother, speak with possibility,
    And do not break into these deep extremes.
  TITUS. Is not my sorrow deep, having no bottom?
    Then be my passions bottomless with them.
  MARCUS. But yet let reason govern thy lament.
  TITUS. If there were reason for these miseries,
    Then into limits could I bind my woes.
    When heaven doth weep, doth not the earth o'erflow?
    If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad,
    Threat'ning the welkin with his big-swol'n face?
    And wilt thou have a reason for this coil?
    I am the sea; hark how her sighs do blow.
    She is the weeping welkin, I the earth;
    Then must my sea be moved with her sighs;
    Then must my earth with her continual tears
    Become a deluge, overflow'd and drown'd;
    For why my bowels cannot hide her woes,
    But like a drunkard must I vomit them.
    Then give me leave; for losers will have leave
    To ease their stomachs with their bitter tongues.

        Enter a MESSENGER, with two heads and a hand

  MESSENGER. Worthy Andronicus, ill art thou repaid
    For that good hand thou sent'st the Emperor.
    Here are the heads of thy two noble sons;
    And here's thy hand, in scorn to thee sent back-
    Thy grief their sports, thy resolution mock'd,
    That woe is me to think upon thy woes,
    More than remembrance of my father's death.             Exit
  MARCUS. Now let hot Aetna cool in Sicily,
    And be my heart an ever-burning hell!
    These miseries are more than may be borne.
    To weep with them that weep doth ease some deal,
    But sorrow flouted at is double death.
  LUCIUS. Ah, that this sight should make so deep a wound,
    And yet detested life not shrink thereat!
    That ever death should let life bear his name,
    Where life hath no more interest but to breathe!
                                          [LAVINIA kisses TITUS]
  MARCUS. Alas, poor heart, that kiss is comfortless
    As frozen water to a starved snake.
  TITUS. When will this fearful slumber have an end?
  MARCUS. Now farewell, flatt'ry; die, Andronicus.
    Thou dost not slumber: see thy two sons' heads,
    Thy warlike hand, thy mangled daughter here;
    Thy other banish'd son with this dear sight
    Struck pale and bloodless; and thy brother, I,
    Even like a stony image, cold and numb.
    Ah! now no more will I control thy griefs.
    Rent off thy silver hair, thy other hand
    Gnawing with thy teeth; and be this dismal sight
    The closing up of our most wretched eyes.
    Now is a time to storm; why art thou still?
  TITUS. Ha, ha, ha!
  MARCUS. Why dost thou laugh? It fits not with this hour.
  TITUS. Why, I have not another tear to shed;
    Besides, this sorrow is an enemy,
    And would usurp upon my wat'ry eyes
    And make them blind with tributary tears.
    Then which way shall I find Revenge's cave?
    For these two heads do seem to speak to me,
    And threat me I shall never come to bliss
    Till all these mischiefs be return'd again
    Even in their throats that have committed them.
    Come, let me see what task I have to do.
    You heavy people, circle me about,
    That I may turn me to each one of you
    And swear unto my soul to right your wrongs.
    The vow is made. Come, brother, take a head,
    And in this hand the other will I bear.
    And, Lavinia, thou shalt be employ'd in this;
    Bear thou my hand, sweet wench, between thy teeth.
    As for thee, boy, go, get thee from my sight;
    Thou art an exile, and thou must not stay.
    Hie to the Goths and raise an army there;
    And if ye love me, as I think you do,
    Let's kiss and part, for we have much to do.
                                           Exeunt all but Lucius
  LUCIUS. Farewell, Andronicus, my noble father,
    The woefull'st man that ever liv'd in Rome.
    Farewell, proud Rome; till Lucius come again,
    He leaves his pledges dearer than his life.
    Farewell, Lavinia, my noble sister;
    O, would thou wert as thou tofore hast been!
    But now nor Lucius nor Lavinia lives
    But in oblivion and hateful griefs.
    If Lucius live, he will requite your wrongs
    And make proud Saturnine and his empress
    Beg at the gates like Tarquin and his queen.
    Now will I to the Goths, and raise a pow'r
    To be reveng'd on Rome and Saturnine.                   Exit

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: On a street in Rome, a group of judges, tribunes, and senators troop along with the prisoners, Martius and Quintus, who have been framed for Bassianus's murder. Titus confronts them and plays the "I'm a war hero" card, pleading for mercy on behalf of his sons. Titus lies down on the ground in protest of his sons' imprisonment, but the judges just walk past him. With nobody left to plead to, Titus begs the "earth" not to drink his sons' blood and promises to cry enough tears to "staunch" the "earth's appetite." Lucius shows up with his sword drawn and tells his dad to quit with the begging and crying since nobody's around to hear it. Lucius announces that he just attempted a dramatic rescue of his falsely accused brothers. As punishment, the judges pronounced an "everlasting doom of banishment." Titus laments that Rome is "a wilderness of tigers," and the Andronicus family is its "prey." Enter Marcus and Lavinia. Marcus approaches and warns Titus to brace himself because he's about to reveal something awful. Lucius takes one look at his sister and says the sight of Lavinia "kills" him. Titus orders Lucius not to be a wimp and asks Lavinia to reveal who chopped off her hands. Titus declares that this is the worst thing that has ever happened to him. Marcus explains that he found Lavinia wandering around the forest like a wounded deer, and Titus repeats that Lavinia's assault is the worst thing that could possibly happen to him. As Lavinia stands crying before her family, Titus states the obvious: Lavinia has no tongue to tell them what happened to her. Marcus speculates that Lavinia is crying because 1) she thinks her brothers killed her husband, or 2) Lavinia knows her brothers didn't kill Bassianus and she can't do anything about it. Titus wonders aloud what he, Lucius, and Marcus should do next. Should they cut off their hands or bite off their tongues to commiserate with Lavinia? Nah, he decides. Marcus and Titus should use their tongues to talk about how they're going to get revenge for what happened to Lavinia. As if on cue, Aaron enters and announces that Saturninus is willing to make a deal with the Andronicus family. If one of them will cut off his hand and send it to the emperor, then Saturninus will let Quintus and Martius go free. Titus immediately asks Aaron if he'll help him chop off his hand. Before Aaron can agree, Lucius and Marcus both offer to cut off one of theirs and proceed to bicker over who gets to mutilate himself to save Quintus and Martius. While Lucius and Marcus run off to fetch the ax, Aaron lends Titus a hand and chops off Titus's, promising to deliver it as ransom for Titus's sons. As Aaron runs off with Titus's hand, he gleefully announces that he loves being a villain. "Let fools do good, and fair men call for grace," he says. "Aaron will have his soul black like his face." As Titus laments his suffering, a messenger arrives with a bag containing - you guessed it - the heads of Martius and Quintus, along with Titus's hand. We interrupt this program for a brain snack: in Elizabethan England, criminals were often punished by getting their hands lopped off. Just saying. The Messenger declares that Titus is being mocked for his loyalty to Rome. Marcus announces that things just couldn't be any worse than they are now , and Titus begins to laugh like a madman. Titus vows to get revenge and starts ordering his family around like a general. Lucius should go to the Goths and raise an army against Saturninus and Tamora. Everyone else is to head home. Marcus will carry one head while Titus carries the other. Lavinia will carry Titus's hand in her teeth, since she doesn't have any hands of her own.


prompt:
Chapter: SCENE II.
Rome. TITUS' house

A banquet.

Enter TITUS, MARCUS, LAVINIA, and the boy YOUNG LUCIUS

  TITUS. So so, now sit; and look you eat no more
    Than will preserve just so much strength in us
    As will revenge these bitter woes of ours.
    Marcus, unknit that sorrow-wreathen knot;
    Thy niece and I, poor creatures, want our hands,
    And cannot passionate our tenfold grief
    With folded arms. This poor right hand of mine
    Is left to tyrannize upon my breast;
    And, when my heart, all mad with misery,
    Beats in this hollow prison of my flesh,
    Then thus I thump it down.
    [To LAVINIA]  Thou map of woe, that thus dost talk in signs!
    When thy poor heart beats with outrageous beating,
    Thou canst not strike it thus to make it still.
    Wound it with sighing, girl, kill it with groans;
    Or get some little knife between thy teeth
    And just against thy heart make thou a hole,
    That all the tears that thy poor eyes let fall
    May run into that sink and, soaking in,
    Drown the lamenting fool in sea-salt tears.
  MARCUS. Fie, brother, fie! Teach her not thus to lay
    Such violent hands upon her tender life.
  TITUS. How now! Has sorrow made thee dote already?
    Why, Marcus, no man should be mad but I.
    What violent hands can she lay on her life?
    Ah, wherefore dost thou urge the name of hands?
    To bid Aeneas tell the tale twice o'er
    How Troy was burnt and he made miserable?
    O, handle not the theme, to talk of hands,
    Lest we remember still that we have none.
    Fie, fie, how franticly I square my talk,
    As if we should forget we had no hands,
    If Marcus did not name the word of hands!
    Come, let's fall to; and, gentle girl, eat this:
    Here is no drink. Hark, Marcus, what she says-
    I can interpret all her martyr'd signs;
    She says she drinks no other drink but tears,
    Brew'd with her sorrow, mesh'd upon her cheeks.
    Speechless complainer, I will learn thy thought;
    In thy dumb action will I be as perfect
    As begging hermits in their holy prayers.
    Thou shalt not sigh, nor hold thy stumps to heaven,
    Nor wink, nor nod, nor kneel, nor make a sign,
    But I of these will wrest an alphabet,
    And by still practice learn to know thy meaning.
  BOY. Good grandsire, leave these bitter deep laments;
    Make my aunt merry with some pleasing tale.
  MARCUS. Alas, the tender boy, in passion mov'd,
    Doth weep to see his grandsire's heaviness.
  TITUS. Peace, tender sapling; thou art made of tears,
    And tears will quickly melt thy life away.
                          [MARCUS strikes the dish with a knife]
    What dost thou strike at, Marcus, with thy knife?
  MARCUS. At that that I have kill'd, my lord- a fly.
  TITUS. Out on thee, murderer, thou kill'st my heart!
    Mine eyes are cloy'd with view of tyranny;
    A deed of death done on the innocent
    Becomes not Titus' brother. Get thee gone;
    I see thou art not for my company.
  MARCUS. Alas, my lord, I have but kill'd a fly.
  TITUS. 'But!' How if that fly had a father and mother?
    How would he hang his slender gilded wings
    And buzz lamenting doings in the air!
    Poor harmless fly,
    That with his pretty buzzing melody
    Came here to make us merry! And thou hast kill'd him.
  MARCUS. Pardon me, sir; it was a black ill-favour'd fly,
    Like to the Empress' Moor; therefore I kill'd him.
  TITUS. O, O, O!
    Then pardon me for reprehending thee,
    For thou hast done a charitable deed.
    Give me thy knife, I will insult on him,
    Flattering myself as if it were the Moor
    Come hither purposely to poison me.
    There's for thyself, and that's for Tamora.
    Ah, sirrah!
    Yet, I think, we are not brought so low
    But that between us we can kill a fly
    That comes in likeness of a coal-black Moor.
  MARCUS. Alas, poor man! grief has so wrought on him,
    He takes false shadows for true substances.
  TITUS. Come, take away. Lavinia, go with me;
    I'll to thy closet, and go read with thee
    Sad stories chanced in the times of old.
    Come, boy, and go with me; thy sight is young,
    And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.        Exeunt

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: At the Andronicus house, Titus, Lavinia, and Marcus sit around the table and enjoy a little snack. Titus announces that he's grateful he has one hand left so he can use it to beat his chest in woe. Poor Lavinia can't even do that. Perhaps, suggests Titus, Lavinia should put a knife in her mouth and stab her chest. That way, when she cries, her tears will have a place to drain into. Marcus wisely advises Titus not to say such horrible things to his daughter, who might take him seriously and hurt herself. Only Marcus doesn't exactly choose his words well. He says "teach her not thus to lay / Such violent hands upon her tender life" . Titus flips out over Marcus's unintended "hand" pun and screams that Lavinia doesn't have any way to "lay such violent hands upon" herself because she doesn't have any hands. Young Lucius enters crying and asks his grandfather to stop being so mean to everyone. Marcus swats a fly with his knife and Titus goes nuts, asking what if "that fly had a father and mother"? Marcus smoothes things over by suggesting that it was a "black, ill-favo'd fly" like the "Empress's Moor," which is why Marcus had to kill him. Titus thinks this explanation is totally logical and proceeds to join in on the fly-stabbing fun. Marcus says he feels sorry for Titus because the old guy has obviously lost his marbles. Now that the fly is dead, Titus, Lavinia, and Young Lucius go off to read a book together.


prompt:
Chapter: ACT IV. SCENE I.
Rome. TITUS' garden

Enter YOUNG LUCIUS and LAVINIA running after him,
and the boy flies from her with his books under his arm.

Enter TITUS and MARCUS

  BOY. Help, grandsire, help! my aunt Lavinia
    Follows me everywhere, I know not why.
    Good uncle Marcus, see how swift she comes!
    Alas, sweet aunt, I know not what you mean.
  MARCUS. Stand by me, Lucius; do not fear thine aunt.
  TITUS. She loves thee, boy, too well to do thee harm.
  BOY. Ay, when my father was in Rome she did.
  MARCUS. What means my niece Lavinia by these signs?
  TITUS. Fear her not, Lucius; somewhat doth she mean.
    See, Lucius, see how much she makes of thee.
    Somewhither would she have thee go with her.
    Ah, boy, Cornelia never with more care
    Read to her sons than she hath read to thee
    Sweet poetry and Tully's Orator.
  MARCUS. Canst thou not guess wherefore she plies thee thus?
  BOY. My lord, I know not, I, nor can I guess,
    Unless some fit or frenzy do possess her;
    For I have heard my grandsire say full oft
    Extremity of griefs would make men mad;
    And I have read that Hecuba of Troy
    Ran mad for sorrow. That made me to fear;
    Although, my lord, I know my noble aunt
    Loves me as dear as e'er my mother did,
    And would not, but in fury, fright my youth;
    Which made me down to throw my books, and fly-
    Causeless, perhaps. But pardon me, sweet aunt;
    And, madam, if my uncle Marcus go,
    I will most willingly attend your ladyship.
  MARCUS. Lucius, I will.           [LAVINIA turns over with her
                     stumps the books which Lucius has let fall]
  TITUS. How now, Lavinia! Marcus, what means this?
    Some book there is that she desires to see.
    Which is it, girl, of these?- Open them, boy.-
    But thou art deeper read and better skill'd;
    Come and take choice of all my library,
    And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens
    Reveal the damn'd contriver of this deed.
    Why lifts she up her arms in sequence thus?
  MARCUS. I think she means that there were more than one
    Confederate in the fact; ay, more there was,
    Or else to heaven she heaves them for revenge.
  TITUS. Lucius, what book is that she tosseth so?
  BOY. Grandsire, 'tis Ovid's Metamorphoses;
    My mother gave it me.
  MARCUS. For love of her that's gone,
    Perhaps she cull'd it from among the rest.
  TITUS. Soft! So busily she turns the leaves! Help her.
    What would she find? Lavinia, shall I read?
    This is the tragic tale of Philomel
    And treats of Tereus' treason and his rape;
    And rape, I fear, was root of thy annoy.
  MARCUS. See, brother, see! Note how she quotes the leaves.
  TITUS. Lavinia, wert thou thus surpris'd, sweet girl,
    Ravish'd and wrong'd as Philomela was,
    Forc'd in the ruthless, vast, and gloomy woods?
    See, see!
    Ay, such a place there is where we did hunt-
    O, had we never, never hunted there!-
    Pattern'd by that the poet here describes,
    By nature made for murders and for rapes.
  MARCUS. O, why should nature build so foul a den,
    Unless the gods delight in tragedies?
  TITUS. Give signs, sweet girl, for here are none but friends,
    What Roman lord it was durst do the deed.
    Or slunk not Saturnine, as Tarquin erst,
    That left the camp to sin in Lucrece' bed?
  MARCUS. Sit down, sweet niece; brother, sit down by me.
    Apollo, Pallas, Jove, or Mercury,
    Inspire me, that I may this treason find!
    My lord, look here! Look here, Lavinia!
                                    [He writes his name with his
                       staff, and guides it with feet and mouth]
    This sandy plot is plain; guide, if thou canst,
    This after me. I have writ my name
    Without the help of any hand at all.
    Curs'd be that heart that forc'd us to this shift!
    Write thou, good niece, and here display at last
    What God will have discovered for revenge.
    Heaven guide thy pen to print thy sorrows plain,
    That we may know the traitors and the truth!
                               [She takes the staff in her mouth
                          and guides it with stumps, and writes]
    O, do ye read, my lord, what she hath writ?
  TITUS. 'Stuprum- Chiron- Demetrius.'
  MARCUS. What, what! the lustful sons of Tamora
    Performers of this heinous bloody deed?
  TITUS. Magni Dominator poli,
    Tam lentus audis scelera? tam lentus vides?
  MARCUS. O, calm thee, gentle lord! although I know
    There is enough written upon this earth
    To stir a mutiny in the mildest thoughts,
    And arm the minds of infants to exclaims.
    My lord, kneel down with me; Lavinia, kneel;
    And kneel, sweet boy, the Roman Hector's hope;
    And swear with me- as, with the woeful fere
    And father of that chaste dishonoured dame,
    Lord Junius Brutus sware for Lucrece' rape-
    That we will prosecute, by good advice,
    Mortal revenge upon these traitorous Goths,
    And see their blood or die with this reproach.
  TITUS. 'Tis sure enough, an you knew how;
    But if you hunt these bear-whelps, then beware:
    The dam will wake; and if she wind ye once,
    She's with the lion deeply still in league,
    And lulls him whilst she playeth on her back,
    And when he sleeps will she do what she list.
    You are a young huntsman, Marcus; let alone;
    And come, I will go get a leaf of brass,
    And with a gad of steel will write these words,
    And lay it by. The angry northern wind
    Will blow these sands like Sibyl's leaves abroad,
    And where's our lesson, then? Boy, what say you?
  BOY. I say, my lord, that if I were a man
    Their mother's bedchamber should not be safe
    For these base bondmen to the yoke of Rome.
  MARCUS. Ay, that's my boy! Thy father hath full oft
    For his ungrateful country done the like.
  BOY. And, uncle, so will I, an if I live.
  TITUS. Come, go with me into mine armoury.
    Lucius, I'll fit thee; and withal my boy
    Shall carry from me to the Empress' sons
    Presents that I intend to send them both.
    Come, come; thou'lt do my message, wilt thou not?
  BOY. Ay, with my dagger in their bosoms, grandsire.
  TITUS. No, boy, not so; I'll teach thee another course.
    Lavinia, come. Marcus, look to my house.
    Lucius and I'll go brave it at the court;
    Ay, marry, will we, sir! and we'll be waited on.
                         Exeunt TITUS, LAVINIA, and YOUNG LUCIUS
  MARCUS. O heavens, can you hear a good man groan
    And not relent, or not compassion him?
    Marcus, attend him in his ecstasy,
    That hath more scars of sorrow in his heart
    Than foemen's marks upon his batt'red shield,
    But yet so just that he will not revenge.
    Revenge the heavens for old Andronicus!                 Exit

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: The next thing we know, Young Lucius is running across the house with his storybooks under his arm while Lavinia gives chase. Lucius drops his books. Young Lucius is terrified of Auntie Lavinia, but his grandfather and uncle tell him not to be afraid, because Lavinia - who is like a mother to Young Lucius - would never hurt him. With her stumps, Lavinia flips through the pages of Ovid's Metamorphoses until she lands on the story of Philomel's rape. Brain Snack: In Book 6 of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Philomel is raped by her brother-in-law, Tereus, who also cuts out her tongue so she can't expose him verbally. Philomel cleverly stitches the name of her rapist and Procne, Philomel's sister, gets revenge by serving their son for dinner. Titus and Marcus look at the book and correctly guess that Lavinia is communicating that she was raped, just like Philomel. Marcus grabs a staff and uses his hands and mouth to spell out his name, showing Lavinia how to write the names of her attackers. Lavinia, of course, spells out Chiron and Demetrius. Marcus asks everyone to kneel down and promise to exact revenge on Chiron and Demetrius for what they've done. Young Lucius declares that, if he were a man, Tamora's "bedchamber should not be safe." Marcus is all "atta boy," and everyone runs off to plot their revenge.


prompt:
Chapter: SCENE II.
Rome. The palace

Enter AARON, DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, at one door; and at the other
door,
YOUNG LUCIUS and another with a bundle of weapons, and verses
writ upon them

  CHIRON. Demetrius, here's the son of Lucius;
    He hath some message to deliver us.
  AARON. Ay, some mad message from his mad grandfather.
  BOY. My lords, with all the humbleness I may,
    I greet your honours from Andronicus-
    [Aside]  And pray the Roman gods confound you both!
  DEMETRIUS. Gramercy, lovely Lucius. What's the news?
  BOY.  [Aside]  That you are both decipher'd, that's the news,
    For villains mark'd with rape.- May it please you,
    My grandsire, well advis'd, hath sent by me
    The goodliest weapons of his armoury
    To gratify your honourable youth,
    The hope of Rome; for so he bid me say;
    And so I do, and with his gifts present
    Your lordships, that, whenever you have need,
    You may be armed and appointed well.
    And so I leave you both-  [Aside]  like bloody villains.
                               Exeunt YOUNG LUCIUS and attendant
  DEMETRIUS. What's here? A scroll, and written round about.
    Let's see:
    [Reads]  'Integer vitae, scelerisque purus,
    Non eget Mauri iaculis, nec arcu.'
  CHIRON. O, 'tis a verse in Horace, I know it well;
    I read it in the grammar long ago.
  AARON. Ay, just- a verse in Horace. Right, you have it.
    [Aside]  Now, what a thing it is to be an ass!
    Here's no sound jest! The old man hath found their guilt,
    And sends them weapons wrapp'd about with lines
    That wound, beyond their feeling, to the quick.
    But were our witty Empress well afoot,
    She would applaud Andronicus' conceit.
    But let her rest in her unrest awhile-
    And now, young lords, was't not a happy star
    Led us to Rome, strangers, and more than so,
    Captives, to be advanced to this height?
    It did me good before the palace gate
    To brave the Tribune in his brother's hearing.
  DEMETRIUS. But me more good to see so great a lord
    Basely insinuate and send us gifts.
  AARON. Had he not reason, Lord Demetrius?
    Did you not use his daughter very friendly?
  DEMETRIUS. I would we had a thousand Roman dames
    At such a bay, by turn to serve our lust.
  CHIRON. A charitable wish and full of love.
  AARON. Here lacks but your mother for to say amen.
  CHIRON. And that would she for twenty thousand more.
  DEMETRIUS. Come, let us go and pray to all the gods
    For our beloved mother in her pains.
  AARON.  [Aside]  Pray to the devils; the gods have given us
over.
                                                [Trumpets sound]
  DEMETRIUS. Why do the Emperor's trumpets flourish thus?
  CHIRON. Belike, for joy the Emperor hath a son.
  DEMETRIUS. Soft! who comes here?

            Enter NURSE, with a blackamoor CHILD

  NURSE. Good morrow, lords.
    O, tell me, did you see Aaron the Moor?
  AARON. Well, more or less, or ne'er a whit at all,
    Here Aaron is; and what with Aaron now?
  NURSE. O gentle Aaron, we are all undone!
    Now help, or woe betide thee evermore!
  AARON. Why, what a caterwauling dost thou keep!
    What dost thou wrap and fumble in thy arms?
  NURSE. O, that which I would hide from heaven's eye:
    Our Empress' shame and stately Rome's disgrace!
    She is delivered, lord; she is delivered.
  AARON. To whom?
  NURSE. I mean she is brought a-bed.
  AARON. Well, God give her good rest! What hath he sent her?
  NURSE. A devil.
  AARON. Why, then she is the devil's dam;
    A joyful issue.
  NURSE. A joyless, dismal, black, and sorrowful issue!
    Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad
    Amongst the fair-fac'd breeders of our clime;
    The Empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal,
    And bids thee christen it with thy dagger's point.
  AARON. Zounds, ye whore! Is black so base a hue?
    Sweet blowse, you are a beauteous blossom sure.
  DEMETRIUS. Villain, what hast thou done?
  AARON. That which thou canst not undo.
  CHIRON. Thou hast undone our mother.
  AARON. Villain, I have done thy mother.
  DEMETRIUS. And therein, hellish dog, thou hast undone her.
    Woe to her chance, and damn'd her loathed choice!
    Accurs'd the offspring of so foul a fiend!
  CHIRON. It shall not live.
  AARON. It shall not die.
  NURSE. Aaron, it must; the mother wills it so.
  AARON. What, must it, nurse? Then let no man but I
    Do execution on my flesh and blood.
  DEMETRIUS. I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point.
    Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon dispatch it.
  AARON. Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up.
                     [Takes the CHILD from the NURSE, and draws]
    Stay, murderous villains, will you kill your brother!
    Now, by the burning tapers of the sky
    That shone so brightly when this boy was got,
    He dies upon my scimitar's sharp point
    That touches this my first-born son and heir.
    I tell you, younglings, not Enceladus,
    With all his threat'ning band of Typhon's brood,
    Nor great Alcides, nor the god of war,
    Shall seize this prey out of his father's hands.
    What, what, ye sanguine, shallow-hearted boys!
    Ye white-lim'd walls! ye alehouse painted signs!
    Coal-black is better than another hue
    In that it scorns to bear another hue;
    For all the water in the ocean
    Can never turn the swan's black legs to white,
    Although she lave them hourly in the flood.
    Tell the Empress from me I am of age
    To keep mine own- excuse it how she can.
  DEMETRIUS. Wilt thou betray thy noble mistress thus?
  AARON. My mistress is my mistress: this my self,
    The vigour and the picture of my youth.
    This before all the world do I prefer;
    This maugre all the world will I keep safe,
    Or some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.
  DEMETRIUS. By this our mother is for ever sham'd.
  CHIRON. Rome will despise her for this foul escape.
  NURSE. The Emperor in his rage will doom her death.
  CHIRON. I blush to think upon this ignomy.
  AARON. Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears:
    Fie, treacherous hue, that will betray with blushing
    The close enacts and counsels of thy heart!
    Here's a young lad fram'd of another leer.
    Look how the black slave smiles upon the father,
    As who should say 'Old lad, I am thine own.'
    He is your brother, lords, sensibly fed
    Of that self-blood that first gave life to you;
    And from your womb where you imprisoned were
    He is enfranchised and come to light.
    Nay, he is your brother by the surer side,
    Although my seal be stamped in his face.
  NURSE. Aaron, what shall I say unto the Empress?
  DEMETRIUS. Advise thee, Aaron, what is to be done,
    And we will all subscribe to thy advice.
    Save thou the child, so we may all be safe.
  AARON. Then sit we down and let us all consult.
    My son and I will have the wind of you:
    Keep there; now talk at pleasure of your safety.
                                                      [They sit]
  DEMETRIUS. How many women saw this child of his?
  AARON. Why, so, brave lords! When we join in league
    I am a lamb; but if you brave the Moor,
    The chafed boar, the mountain lioness,
    The ocean swells not so as Aaron storms.
    But say, again, how many saw the child?
  NURSE. Cornelia the midwife and myself;
    And no one else but the delivered Empress.
  AARON. The Empress, the midwife, and yourself.
    Two may keep counsel when the third's away:
    Go to the Empress, tell her this I said.      [He kills her]
    Weeke weeke!
    So cries a pig prepared to the spit.
  DEMETRIUS. What mean'st thou, Aaron? Wherefore didst thou this?
  AARON. O Lord, sir, 'tis a deed of policy.
    Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours-
    A long-tongu'd babbling gossip? No, lords, no.
    And now be it known to you my full intent:
    Not far, one Muliteus lives, my countryman-
    His wife but yesternight was brought to bed;
    His child is like to her, fair as you are.
    Go pack with him, and give the mother gold,
    And tell them both the circumstance of all,
    And how by this their child shall be advanc'd,
    And be received for the Emperor's heir
    And substituted in the place of mine,
    To calm this tempest whirling in the court;
    And let the Emperor dandle him for his own.
    Hark ye, lords. You see I have given her physic,
                                         [Pointing to the NURSE]
    And you must needs bestow her funeral;
    The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms.
    This done, see that you take no longer days,
    But send the midwife presently to me.
    The midwife and the nurse well made away,
    Then let the ladies tattle what they please.
  CHIRON. Aaron, I see thou wilt not trust the air
    With secrets.
  DEMETRIUS. For this care of Tamora,
    Herself and hers are highly bound to thee.

         Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, bearing off the dead NURSE

  AARON. Now to the Goths, as swift as swallow flies,
    There to dispose this treasure in mine arms,
    And secretly to greet the Empress' friends.
    Come on, you thick-lipp'd slave, I'll bear you hence;
    For it is you that puts us to our shifts.
    I'll make you feed on berries and on roots,
    And feed on curds and whey, and suck the goat,
    And cabin in a cave, and bring you up
    To be a warrior and command a camp.
                                             Exit with the CHILD

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: Young Lucius arrives at the door of the emperor's palace with gifts. Titus has sent Chiron and Demetrius the best weapons from his arsenal, along with a note that says something like: "The man who is pure of life and free from crime needs not the arrows or the bows of the Moor." This, by the way, is a quote from Horace's Odes . Chiron is all "Hey, I know that line. I read Horace in school." Aaron is the only one who gets Titus's little joke, and he says as much. A nurse enters the room with dark-skinned baby: Tamora has just given birth. The nurse declares that everyone's in trouble now because the little bundle of joy, unlike its mother and her husband the emperor, is very dark-skinned. Aaron is the only person happy about this news. The nurse calls the baby a "devil" that's "as loathsome as a toad" and says that Tamora wants Aaron to "christen it" with a "dagger's point." Aaron screams "Zounds, ye whore, is black so base a hue?" and proceeds to make fun of the nurse's ruddy complexion. Chiron says that Aaron has "undone" his mother, and Aaron promptly retorts that, no, he's actually "done" Chiron's mother, which is why she just gave birth to a baby with skin as dark as his. Demetrius threatens to stab the little "tadpole," and Aaron, who has suddenly become a protective father, threatens to stab someone in the guts if they mess with his kid. Demetrius, Chiron, and the nurse worry that Tamora is going to be in serious trouble when the emperor sees the baby. After hearing that the nurse and a midwife named Cornelia are the only people who know about the baby , Aaron kills the nurse and coldly yells out "Weeke! Weeke! So cries a pig prepared to the spit." Aaron orders Chiron and Demetrius to take a bunch of money to a couple that lives in the country. They've just given birth to a baby with a light complexion. Aaron wants to buy it and pass it off as the child of Saturninus and Tamora. He reasons that the couple will agree, because who wouldn't want their kid to be raised as an heir to the Roman empery? Aaron takes his baby to a cave, where he plans to feed the child goat's milk and berries and raise it to be a great warrior.


prompt:
Chapter: SCENE III.
Rome. A public place

Enter TITUS, bearing arrows with letters on the ends of them;
with him MARCUS, YOUNG LUCIUS, and other gentlemen,
PUBLIUS, SEMPRONIUS, and CAIUS, with bows

  TITUS. Come, Marcus, come; kinsmen, this is the way.
    Sir boy, let me see your archery;
    Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight.
    Terras Astrea reliquit,
    Be you rememb'red, Marcus; she's gone, she's fled.
    Sirs, take you to your tools. You, cousins, shall
    Go sound the ocean and cast your nets;
    Happily you may catch her in the sea;
    Yet there's as little justice as at land.
    No; Publius and Sempronius, you must do it;
    'Tis you must dig with mattock and with spade,
    And pierce the inmost centre of the earth;
    Then, when you come to Pluto's region,
    I pray you deliver him this petition.
    Tell him it is for justice and for aid,
    And that it comes from old Andronicus,
    Shaken with sorrows in ungrateful Rome.
    Ah, Rome! Well, well, I made thee miserable
    What time I threw the people's suffrages
    On him that thus doth tyrannize o'er me.
    Go get you gone; and pray be careful all,
    And leave you not a man-of-war unsearch'd.
    This wicked Emperor may have shipp'd her hence;
    And, kinsmen, then we may go pipe for justice.
  MARCUS. O Publius, is not this a heavy case,
    To see thy noble uncle thus distract?
  PUBLIUS. Therefore, my lords, it highly us concerns
    By day and night t' attend him carefully,
    And feed his humour kindly as we may
    Till time beget some careful remedy.
  MARCUS. Kinsmen, his sorrows are past remedy.
    Join with the Goths, and with revengeful war
    Take wreak on Rome for this ingratitude,
    And vengeance on the traitor Saturnine.
  TITUS. Publius, how now? How now, my masters?
    What, have you met with her?
  PUBLIUS. No, my good lord; but Pluto sends you word,
    If you will have Revenge from hell, you shall.
    Marry, for Justice, she is so employ'd,
    He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere else,
    So that perforce you must needs stay a time.
  TITUS. He doth me wrong to feed me with delays.
    I'll dive into the burning lake below
    And pull her out of Acheron by the heels.
    Marcus, we are but shrubs, no cedars we,
    No big-bon'd men fram'd of the Cyclops' size;
    But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back,
    Yet wrung with wrongs more than our backs can bear;
    And, sith there's no justice in earth nor hell,
    We will solicit heaven, and move the gods
    To send down justice for to wreak our wrongs.
    Come, to this gear. You are a good archer, Marcus.
                                      [He gives them the arrows]
    'Ad Jovem' that's for you; here 'Ad Apollinem.'
    'Ad Martem' that's for myself.
    Here, boy, 'To Pallas'; here 'To Mercury.'
    'To Saturn,' Caius- not to Saturnine:
    You were as good to shoot against the wind.
    To it, boy. Marcus, loose when I bid.
    Of my word, I have written to effect;
    There's not a god left unsolicited.
  MARCUS. Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the court;
    We will afflict the Emperor in his pride.
  TITUS. Now, masters, draw.  [They shoot]  O, well said, Lucius!
    Good boy, in Virgo's lap! Give it Pallas.
  MARCUS. My lord, I aim a mile beyond the moon;
    Your letter is with Jupiter by this.
  TITUS. Ha! ha!
    Publius, Publius, hast thou done?
    See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns.
  MARCUS. This was the sport, my lord: when Publius shot,
    The Bull, being gall'd, gave Aries such a knock
    That down fell both the Ram's horns in the court;
    And who should find them but the Empress' villain?
    She laugh'd, and told the Moor he should not choose
    But give them to his master for a present.
  TITUS. Why, there it goes! God give his lordship joy!

    Enter the CLOWN, with a basket and two pigeons in it

    News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is come.
    Sirrah, what tidings? Have you any letters?
    Shall I have justice? What says Jupiter?
  CLOWN. Ho, the gibbet-maker? He says that he hath taken them
down
    again, for the man must not be hang'd till the next week.
  TITUS. But what says Jupiter, I ask thee?
  CLOWN. Alas, sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank with him in
all
    my life.
  TITUS. Why, villain, art not thou the carrier?
  CLOWN. Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else.
  TITUS. Why, didst thou not come from heaven?
  CLOWN. From heaven! Alas, sir, I never came there. God forbid I
    should be so bold to press to heaven in my young days. Why, I
am
    going with my pigeons to the Tribunal Plebs, to take up a
matter
    of brawl betwixt my uncle and one of the Emperal's men.
  MARCUS. Why, sir, that is as fit as can be to serve for your
    oration; and let him deliver the pigeons to the Emperor from
you.
  TITUS. Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the Emperor with
a
    grace?
  CLOWN. Nay, truly, sir, I could never say grace in all my life.
  TITUS. Sirrah, come hither. Make no more ado,
    But give your pigeons to the Emperor;
    By me thou shalt have justice at his hands.
    Hold, hold! Meanwhile here's money for thy charges.
    Give me pen and ink. Sirrah, can you with a grace deliver up
a
    supplication?
  CLOWN. Ay, sir.
  TITUS. Then here is a supplication for you. And when you come
to
    him, at the first approach you must kneel; then kiss his
foot;
    then deliver up your pigeons; and then look for your reward.
I'll
    be at hand, sir; see you do it bravely.
  CLOWN. I warrant you, sir; let me alone.
  TITUS. Sirrah, hast thou a knife? Come let me see it.
    Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration;
    For thou hast made it like a humble suppliant.
    And when thou hast given it to the Emperor,
    Knock at my door, and tell me what he says.
  CLOWN. God be with you, sir; I will.
  TITUS. Come, Marcus, let us go. Publius, follow me.     Exeunt

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: Titus, Marcus, Young Lucius, Publius, Sempronius, and Caius shoot arrows into Saturninus's court. The arrows have letters attached to them addressed to the gods, seeking revenge. Titus declares that the god of Justice has left the earth and orders Publius and Sempronius to find "her," even if they have to travel to hell to ask for Pluto's help. Marcus and Publius note how sad it is to see Titus behaving this way - they think the old man is completely off his rocker. Publius plays along with Titus and says that Pluto has sent Titus a message - "Revenge" and her good pal "Justice" are ready and willing to help him. A Clown walks by with a basket full of pigeons. Titus offers him money to deliver a message to the emperor. The Clown agrees.


prompt:
Chapter: SCENE IV.
Rome. Before the palace

Enter the EMPEROR, and the EMPRESS and her two sons, DEMETRIUS
and CHIRON;
LORDS and others. The EMPEROR brings the arrows in his hand that
TITUS
shot at him

  SATURNINUS. Why, lords, what wrongs are these! Was ever seen
    An emperor in Rome thus overborne,
    Troubled, confronted thus; and, for the extent
    Of egal justice, us'd in such contempt?
    My lords, you know, as know the mightful gods,
    However these disturbers of our peace
    Buzz in the people's ears, there nought hath pass'd
    But even with law against the wilful sons
    Of old Andronicus. And what an if
    His sorrows have so overwhelm'd his wits,
    Shall we be thus afflicted in his wreaks,
    His fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness?
    And now he writes to heaven for his redress.
    See, here's 'To Jove' and this 'To Mercury';
    This 'To Apollo'; this 'To the God of War'-
    Sweet scrolls to fly about the streets of Rome!
    What's this but libelling against the Senate,
    And blazoning our unjustice every where?
    A goodly humour, is it not, my lords?
    As who would say in Rome no justice were.
    But if I live, his feigned ecstasies
    Shall be no shelter to these outrages;
    But he and his shall know that justice lives
    In Saturninus' health; whom, if she sleep,
    He'll so awake as he in fury shall
    Cut off the proud'st conspirator that lives.
  TAMORA. My gracious lord, my lovely Saturnine,
    Lord of my life, commander of my thoughts,
    Calm thee, and bear the faults of Titus' age,
    Th' effects of sorrow for his valiant sons
    Whose loss hath pierc'd him deep and scarr'd his heart;
    And rather comfort his distressed plight
    Than prosecute the meanest or the best
    For these contempts.  [Aside]  Why, thus it shall become
    High-witted Tamora to gloze with all.
    But, Titus, I have touch'd thee to the quick,
    Thy life-blood on't; if Aaron now be wise,
    Then is all safe, the anchor in the port.

                       Enter CLOWN

    How now, good fellow! Wouldst thou speak with us?
  CLOWN. Yes, forsooth, an your mistriship be Emperial.
  TAMORA. Empress I am, but yonder sits the Emperor.
  CLOWN. 'Tis he.- God and Saint Stephen give you godden. I have
    brought you a letter and a couple of pigeons here.
                                   [SATURNINUS reads the letter]
  SATURNINUS. Go take him away, and hang him presently.
  CLOWN. How much money must I have?
  TAMORA. Come, sirrah, you must be hang'd.
  CLOWN. Hang'd! by'r lady, then I have brought up a neck to a
fair
    end.                                          [Exit guarded]
  SATURNINUS. Despiteful and intolerable wrongs!
    Shall I endure this monstrous villainy?
    I know from whence this same device proceeds.
    May this be borne- as if his traitorous sons
    That died by law for murder of our brother
    Have by my means been butchered wrongfully?
    Go drag the villain hither by the hair;
    Nor age nor honour shall shape privilege.
    For this proud mock I'll be thy slaughterman,
    Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make me great,
    In hope thyself should govern Rome and me.

                   Enter NUNTIUS AEMILIUS

    What news with thee, Aemilius?
  AEMILIUS. Arm, my lords! Rome never had more cause.
    The Goths have gathered head; and with a power
    Of high resolved men, bent to the spoil,
    They hither march amain, under conduct
    Of Lucius, son to old Andronicus;
    Who threats in course of this revenge to do
    As much as ever Coriolanus did.
  SATURNINUS. Is warlike Lucius general of the Goths?
    These tidings nip me, and I hang the head
    As flowers with frost, or grass beat down with storms.
    Ay, now begins our sorrows to approach.
    'Tis he the common people love so much;
    Myself hath often heard them say-
    When I have walked like a private man-
    That Lucius' banishment was wrongfully,
    And they have wish'd that Lucius were their emperor.
  TAMORA. Why should you fear? Is not your city strong?
  SATURNINUS. Ay, but the citizens favour Lucius,
    And will revolt from me to succour him.
  TAMORA. King, be thy thoughts imperious like thy name!
    Is the sun dimm'd, that gnats do fly in it?
    The eagle suffers little birds to sing,
    And is not careful what they mean thereby,
    Knowing that with the shadow of his wings
    He can at pleasure stint their melody;
    Even so mayest thou the giddy men of Rome.
    Then cheer thy spirit; for know thou, Emperor,
    I will enchant the old Andronicus
    With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,
    Than baits to fish or honey-stalks to sheep,
    When as the one is wounded with the bait,
    The other rotted with delicious feed.
  SATURNINUS. But he will not entreat his son for us.
  TAMORA. If Tamora entreat him, then he will;
    For I can smooth and fill his aged ears
    With golden promises, that, were his heart
    Almost impregnable, his old ears deaf,
    Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue.
    [To AEMILIUS]  Go thou before to be our ambassador;
    Say that the Emperor requests a parley
    Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting
    Even at his father's house, the old Andronicus.
  SATURNINUS. Aemilius, do this message honourably;
    And if he stand on hostage for his safety,
    Bid him demand what pledge will please him best.
  AEMILIUS. Your bidding shall I do effectually.            Exit
  TAMORA. Now will I to that old Andronicus,
    And temper him with all the art I have,
    To pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths.
    And now, sweet Emperor, be blithe again,
    And bury all thy fear in my devices.
  SATURNINUS. Then go successantly, and plead to him.
                                                          Exeunt

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: At the palace, Saturninus complains to Tamora, Demetrius, and Chiron about Titus shooting arrows at him. Saturninus is not amused by this stunt and believes Titus is just pretending to be a madman. The old man better watch out, because Saturninus isn't buying into his crazy act. Tamora steps in and smoothes Saturninus's ruffled feathers, saying that Titus's grief and old age really have made him crazy. Then she whispers to the audience that everything is going according to her deliciously evil plan. The Clown enters and offers up the basket of pigeons and Titus's letter. Saturninus reads the letter and then immediately sentences the Clown to death by hanging. The Clown, who has no idea what's going, stands around waiting to be tipped for his efforts. Saturninus orders his men to fetch Titus, who is totally going to pay for whatever it was that he wrote in the letter. Aemilius enters and announces that Lucius has amassed an army of Goths and they're getting ready to attack. Saturninus decides that this could be bad. There's a huge army coming after him, and it also seems like his people love Lucius more than him - everyone wants Lucius to be the emperor. Saturninus apparently knows this because, in his spare time, he disguises himself as a commoner and walks the streets of Rome so he can keep tabs on what everyone is saying about him. Tamora tells Saturninus not to worry - she's going to pay Titus a visit and convince the crazy old guy to stop badmouthing Saturninus.


prompt:
Chapter: ACT V. SCENE I.
Plains near Rome

Enter LUCIUS with an army of GOTHS with drums and colours

  LUCIUS. Approved warriors and my faithful friends,
    I have received letters from great Rome
    Which signifies what hate they bear their Emperor
    And how desirous of our sight they are.
    Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness,
    Imperious and impatient of your wrongs;
    And wherein Rome hath done you any scath,
    Let him make treble satisfaction.
  FIRST GOTH. Brave slip, sprung from the great Andronicus,
    Whose name was once our terror, now our comfort,
    Whose high exploits and honourable deeds
    Ingrateful Rome requites with foul contempt,
    Be bold in us: we'll follow where thou lead'st,
    Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day,
    Led by their master to the flow'red fields,
    And be aveng'd on cursed Tamora.
  ALL THE GOTHS. And as he saith, so say we all with him.
  LUCIUS. I humbly thank him, and I thank you all.
    But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth?

     Enter a GOTH, leading AARON with his CHILD in his arms

  SECOND GOTH. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I stray'd
    To gaze upon a ruinous monastery;
    And as I earnestly did fix mine eye
    Upon the wasted building, suddenly
    I heard a child cry underneath a wall.
    I made unto the noise, when soon I heard
    The crying babe controll'd with this discourse:
    'Peace, tawny slave, half me and half thy dam!
    Did not thy hue bewray whose brat thou art,
    Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look,
    Villain, thou mightst have been an emperor;
    But where the bull and cow are both milk-white,
    They never do beget a coal-black calf.
    Peace, villain, peace!'- even thus he rates the babe-
    'For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth,
    Who, when he knows thou art the Empress' babe,
    Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's sake.'
    With this, my weapon drawn, I rush'd upon him,
    Surpris'd him suddenly, and brought him hither
    To use as you think needful of the man.
  LUCIUS. O worthy Goth, this is the incarnate devil
    That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand;
    This is the pearl that pleas'd your Empress' eye;
    And here's the base fruit of her burning lust.
    Say, wall-ey'd slave, whither wouldst thou convey
    This growing image of thy fiend-like face?
    Why dost not speak? What, deaf? Not a word?
    A halter, soldiers! Hang him on this tree,
    And by his side his fruit of bastardy.
  AARON. Touch not the boy, he is of royal blood.
  LUCIUS. Too like the sire for ever being good.
    First hang the child, that he may see it sprawl-
    A sight to vex the father's soul withal.
    Get me a ladder.
                [A ladder brought, which AARON is made to climb]
  AARON. Lucius, save the child,
    And bear it from me to the Empress.
    If thou do this, I'll show thee wondrous things
    That highly may advantage thee to hear;
    If thou wilt not, befall what may befall,
    I'll speak no more but 'Vengeance rot you all!'
  LUCIUS. Say on; an if it please me which thou speak'st,
    Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish'd.
  AARON. An if it please thee! Why, assure thee, Lucius,
    'Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak;
    For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres,
    Acts of black night, abominable deeds,
    Complots of mischief, treason, villainies,
    Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd;
    And this shall all be buried in my death,
    Unless thou swear to me my child shall live.
  LUCIUS. Tell on thy mind; I say thy child shall live.
  AARON. Swear that he shall, and then I will begin.
  LUCIUS. Who should I swear by? Thou believest no god;
    That granted, how canst thou believe an oath?
  AARON. What if I do not? as indeed I do not;
    Yet, for I know thou art religious
    And hast a thing within thee called conscience,
    With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies
    Which I have seen thee careful to observe,
    Therefore I urge thy oath. For that I know
    An idiot holds his bauble for a god,
    And keeps the oath which by that god he swears,
    To that I'll urge him. Therefore thou shalt vow
    By that same god- what god soe'er it be
    That thou adorest and hast in reverence-
    To save my boy, to nourish and bring him up;
    Or else I will discover nought to thee.
  LUCIUS. Even by my god I swear to thee I will.
  AARON. First know thou, I begot him on the Empress.
  LUCIUS. O most insatiate and luxurious woman!
  AARON. Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charity
    To that which thou shalt hear of me anon.
    'Twas her two sons that murdered Bassianus;
    They cut thy sister's tongue, and ravish'd her,
    And cut her hands, and trimm'd her as thou sawest.
  LUCIUS. O detestable villain! Call'st thou that trimming?
  AARON. Why, she was wash'd, and cut, and trimm'd, and 'twas
    Trim sport for them which had the doing of it.
  LUCIUS. O barbarous beastly villains like thyself!
  AARON. Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them.
    That codding spirit had they from their mother,
    As sure a card as ever won the set;
    That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me,
    As true a dog as ever fought at head.
    Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth.
    I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole
    Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay;
    I wrote the letter that thy father found,
    And hid the gold within that letter mention'd,
    Confederate with the Queen and her two sons;
    And what not done, that thou hast cause to rue,
    Wherein I had no stroke of mischief in it?
    I play'd the cheater for thy father's hand,
    And, when I had it, drew myself apart
    And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter.
    I pried me through the crevice of a wall,
    When, for his hand, he had his two sons' heads;
    Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily
    That both mine eyes were rainy like to his;
    And when I told the Empress of this sport,
    She swooned almost at my pleasing tale,
    And for my tidings gave me twenty kisses.
  GOTH. What, canst thou say all this and never blush?
  AARON. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.
  LUCIUS. Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?
  AARON. Ay, that I had not done a thousand more.
    Even now I curse the day- and yet, I think,
    Few come within the compass of my curse-
    Wherein I did not some notorious ill;
    As kill a man, or else devise his death;
    Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;
    Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself;
    Set deadly enmity between two friends;
    Make poor men's cattle break their necks;
    Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
    And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
    Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,
    And set them upright at their dear friends' door
    Even when their sorrows almost was forgot,
    And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
    Have with my knife carved in Roman letters
    'Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.'
    Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things
    As willingly as one would kill a fly;
    And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
    But that I cannot do ten thousand more.
  LUCIUS. Bring down the devil, for he must not die
    So sweet a death as hanging presently.
  AARON. If there be devils, would I were a devil,
    To live and burn in everlasting fire,
    So I might have your company in hell
    But to torment you with my bitter tongue!
  LUCIUS. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no more.

                       Enter AEMILIUS

  GOTH. My lord, there is a messenger from Rome
    Desires to be admitted to your presence.
  LUCIUS. Let him come near.
    Welcome, Aemilius. What's the news from Rome?
  AEMILIUS. Lord Lucius, and you Princes of the Goths,
    The Roman Emperor greets you all by me;
    And, for he understands you are in arms,
    He craves a parley at your father's house,
    Willing you to demand your hostages,
    And they shall be immediately deliver'd.
  FIRST GOTH. What says our general?
  LUCIUS. Aemilius, let the Emperor give his pledges
    Unto my father and my uncle Marcus.
    And we will come. March away.                         Exeunt

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: In a field near Rome, Lucius has gathered an army of Goths and Roman supporters of Titus. It turns out that the Roman people hate their current emperor. Lucius delivers a rousing speech to the Goths - now's their chance to pay back Rome for everything she ever did to them! A Goth announces that they're ready to rumble. Then another Goth shows up with Aaron and his baby. Apparently this Goth warrior was off sightseeing some Roman ruins when he heard a baby crying and a man telling the kid to pipe down. Lucius orders Aaron and his "fruit of bastardy" to be hanged in a tree. Aaron promises to reveal some juicy information if Lucius promises not to kill his child. Lucius agrees, sort of. Aaron reveals that Chiron and Demetrius raped and mutilated Lavinia and confesses that it was all his idea. He also admits that he tricked Titus into cutting off his hand and, when he told Tamora what he had done, the couple celebrated Aaron's mischief by making out. Before Lucius orders his men to stop up Aaron's mouth, Aaron makes a startling declaration: Aemilius enters with a message from Saturninus: the emperor wants to meet at Titus's house to work out a peace treaty. Lucius agrees to go.


prompt:
Chapter: SCENE II.
Rome. Before TITUS' house

Enter TAMORA, and her two sons, DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, disguised

  TAMORA. Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment,
    I will encounter with Andronicus,
    And say I am Revenge, sent from below
    To join with him and right his heinous wrongs.
    Knock at his study, where they say he keeps
    To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge;
    Tell him Revenge is come to join with him,
    And work confusion on his enemies.

         They knock and TITUS opens his study door, above

  TITUS. Who doth molest my contemplation?
    Is it your trick to make me ope the door,
    That so my sad decrees may fly away
    And all my study be to no effect?
    You are deceiv'd; for what I mean to do
    See here in bloody lines I have set down;
    And what is written shall be executed.
  TAMORA. Titus, I am come to talk with thee.
  TITUS. No, not a word. How can I grace my talk,
    Wanting a hand to give it that accord?
    Thou hast the odds of me; therefore no more.
  TAMORA. If thou didst know me, thou wouldst talk with me.
  TITUS. I am not mad, I know thee well enough:
    Witness this wretched stump, witness these crimson lines;
    Witness these trenches made by grief and care;
    Witness the tiring day and heavy night;
    Witness all sorrow that I know thee well
    For our proud Empress, mighty Tamora.
    Is not thy coming for my other hand?
  TAMORA. Know thou, sad man, I am not Tamora:
    She is thy enemy and I thy friend.
    I am Revenge, sent from th' infernal kingdom
    To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind
    By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes.
    Come down and welcome me to this world's light;
    Confer with me of murder and of death;
    There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place,
    No vast obscurity or misty vale,
    Where bloody murder or detested rape
    Can couch for fear but I will find them out;
    And in their ears tell them my dreadful name-
    Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.
  TITUS. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me
    To be a torment to mine enemies?
  TAMORA. I am; therefore come down and welcome me.
  TITUS. Do me some service ere I come to thee.
    Lo, by thy side where Rape and Murder stands;
    Now give some surance that thou art Revenge-
    Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot wheels;
    And then I'll come and be thy waggoner
    And whirl along with thee about the globes.
    Provide thee two proper palfreys, black as jet,
    To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away,
    And find out murderers in their guilty caves;
    And when thy car is loaden with their heads,
    I will dismount, and by thy waggon wheel
    Trot, like a servile footman, all day long,
    Even from Hyperion's rising in the east
    Until his very downfall in the sea.
    And day by day I'll do this heavy task,
    So thou destroy Rapine and Murder there.
  TAMORA. These are my ministers, and come with me.
  TITUS. Are they thy ministers? What are they call'd?
  TAMORA. Rape and Murder; therefore called so
    'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.
  TITUS. Good Lord, how like the Empress' sons they are!
    And you the Empress! But we worldly men
    Have miserable, mad, mistaking eyes.
    O sweet Revenge, now do I come to thee;
    And, if one arm's embracement will content thee,
    I will embrace thee in it by and by.
  TAMORA. This closing with him fits his lunacy.
    Whate'er I forge to feed his brain-sick humours,
    Do you uphold and maintain in your speeches,
    For now he firmly takes me for Revenge;
    And, being credulous in this mad thought,
    I'll make him send for Lucius his son,
    And whilst I at a banquet hold him sure,
    I'll find some cunning practice out of hand
    To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths,
    Or, at the least, make them his enemies.
    See, here he comes, and I must ply my theme.

                 Enter TITUS, below

  TITUS. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee.
    Welcome, dread Fury, to my woeful house.
    Rapine and Murder, you are welcome too.
    How like the Empress and her sons you are!
    Well are you fitted, had you but a Moor.
    Could not all hell afford you such a devil?
    For well I wot the Empress never wags
    But in her company there is a Moor;
    And, would you represent our queen aright,
    It were convenient you had such a devil.
    But welcome as you are. What shall we do?
  TAMORA. What wouldst thou have us do, Andronicus?
  DEMETRIUS. Show me a murderer, I'll deal with him.
  CHIRON. Show me a villain that hath done a rape,
    And I am sent to be reveng'd on him.
  TAMORA. Show me a thousand that hath done thee wrong,
    And I will be revenged on them all.
  TITUS. Look round about the wicked streets of Rome,
    And when thou find'st a man that's like thyself,
    Good Murder, stab him; he's a murderer.
    Go thou with him, and when it is thy hap
    To find another that is like to thee,
    Good Rapine, stab him; he is a ravisher.
    Go thou with them; and in the Emperor's court
    There is a queen, attended by a Moor;
    Well shalt thou know her by thine own proportion,
    For up and down she doth resemble thee.
    I pray thee, do on them some violent death;
    They have been violent to me and mine.
  TAMORA. Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall we do.
    But would it please thee, good Andronicus,
    To send for Lucius, thy thrice-valiant son,
    Who leads towards Rome a band of warlike Goths,
    And bid him come and banquet at thy house;
    When he is here, even at thy solemn feast,
    I will bring in the Empress and her sons,
    The Emperor himself, and all thy foes;
    And at thy mercy shall they stoop and kneel,
    And on them shalt thou ease thy angry heart.
    What says Andronicus to this device?
  TITUS. Marcus, my brother! 'Tis sad Titus calls.

                  Enter MARCUS

    Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius;
    Thou shalt inquire him out among the Goths.
    Bid him repair to me, and bring with him
    Some of the chiefest princes of the Goths;
    Bid him encamp his soldiers where they are.
    Tell him the Emperor and the Empress too
    Feast at my house, and he shall feast with them.
    This do thou for my love; and so let him,
    As he regards his aged father's life.
  MARCUS. This will I do, and soon return again.            Exit
  TAMORA. Now will I hence about thy business,
    And take my ministers along with me.
  TITUS. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with me,
    Or else I'll call my brother back again,
    And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.
  TAMORA.  [Aside to her sons]  What say you, boys? Will you
abide
      with him,
    Whiles I go tell my lord the Emperor
    How I have govern'd our determin'd jest?
    Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair,
    And tarry with him till I turn again.
  TITUS.  [Aside]  I knew them all, though they suppos'd me mad,
    And will o'er reach them in their own devices,
    A pair of cursed hell-hounds and their dam.
  DEMETRIUS. Madam, depart at pleasure; leave us here.
  TAMORA. Farewell, Andronicus, Revenge now goes
    To lay a complot to betray thy foes.
  TITUS. I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, farewell.
                                                     Exit TAMORA
  CHIRON. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd?
  TITUS. Tut, I have work enough for you to do.
    Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine.

          Enter PUBLIUS, CAIUS, and VALENTINE

  PUBLIUS. What is your will?
  TITUS. Know you these two?
  PUBLIUS. The Empress' sons, I take them: Chiron, Demetrius.
  TITUS. Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much deceiv'd.
    The one is Murder, and Rape is the other's name;
    And therefore bind them, gentle Publius-
    Caius and Valentine, lay hands on them.
    Oft have you heard me wish for such an hour,
    And now I find it; therefore bind them sure,
    And stop their mouths if they begin to cry.             Exit
                         [They lay hold on CHIRON and DEMETRIUS]
  CHIRON. Villains, forbear! we are the Empress' sons.
  PUBLIUS. And therefore do we what we are commanded.
    Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a word.
    Is he sure bound? Look that you bind them fast.

               Re-enter TITUS ANDRONICUS
        with a knife, and LAVINIA, with a basin

  TITUS. Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are bound.
    Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me;
    But let them hear what fearful words I utter.
    O villains, Chiron and Demetrius!
    Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd with mud;
    This goodly summer with your winter mix'd.
    You kill'd her husband; and for that vile fault
    Two of her brothers were condemn'd to death,
    My hand cut off and made a merry jest;
    Both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that more dear
    Than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity,
    Inhuman traitors, you constrain'd and forc'd.
    What would you say, if I should let you speak?
    Villains, for shame you could not beg for grace.
    Hark, wretches! how I mean to martyr you.
    This one hand yet is left to cut your throats,
    Whiles that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold
    The basin that receives your guilty blood.
    You know your mother means to feast with me,
    And calls herself Revenge, and thinks me mad.
    Hark, villains! I will grind your bones to dust,
    And with your blood and it I'll make a paste;
    And of the paste a coffin I will rear,
    And make two pasties of your shameful heads;
    And bid that strumpet, your unhallowed dam,
    Like to the earth, swallow her own increase.
    This is the feast that I have bid her to,
    And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
    For worse than Philomel you us'd my daughter,
    And worse than Progne I will be reveng'd.
    And now prepare your throats. Lavinia, come,
    Receive the blood; and when that they are dead,
    Let me go grind their bones to powder small,
    And with this hateful liquor temper it;
    And in that paste let their vile heads be bak'd.
    Come, come, be every one officious
    To make this banquet, which I wish may prove
    More stern and bloody than the Centaurs' feast.
                                         [He cuts their throats]
    So.
    Now bring them in, for I will play the cook,
    And see them ready against their mother comes.
                                 Exeunt, bearing the dead bodies

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: Tamora arrives at Titus's house disguised as "Revenge" and claiming to want to help Titus "right his heinous wrongs." Titus knows it's Tamora but plays along with her little game. He takes one look at Demetrius and Chiron and is all "Oh, I see you have brought 'Rape' and 'Murder' along with you. Gee, they sure do look like the Empress's sons. Come to think of it, you look a lot like Tamora." Tamora thinks she's fooled Titus and pats herself on the back for being so clever. Then she asks Titus to bring his son Lucius home so she can have a little chat with him over dinner. She'll bring the emperor and his family so Titus can get his revenge. Titus convinces "Revenge" to leave Demetrius and Chiron behind. Titus tells the audience that, even though it looks like he's crazy, he's not. Publius, Caius, and Valentine show up. Titus orders them to tie up Demetrius and Chiron and then gag them so they can't talk. Titus goes into another room, then reemerges with his daughter and a big knife. He declares that Chiron and Demetrius are about to pay for what they've done to his family. Titus announces that he's going to make a tasty human pie out of Demetrius and Chiron and then he's going to feed it to their mom. Titus slits their throats while Lavinia catches the blood in a big bowl.


prompt:
Chapter: SCENE III.
The court of TITUS' house

Enter Lucius, MARCUS, and the GOTHS, with AARON prisoner,
and his CHILD in the arms of an attendant

  LUCIUS. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind
    That I repair to Rome, I am content.
    FIRST GOTH. And ours with thine, befall what fortune will.
  LUCIUS. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor,
    This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;
    Let him receive no sust'nance, fetter him,
    Till he be brought unto the Empress' face
    For testimony of her foul proceedings.
    And see the ambush of our friends be strong;
    I fear the Emperor means no good to us.
  AARON. Some devil whisper curses in my ear,
    And prompt me that my tongue may utter forth
    The venomous malice of my swelling heart!
  LUCIUS. Away, inhuman dog, unhallowed slave!
    Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.
                        Exeunt GOTHS with AARON. Flourish within
    The trumpets show the Emperor is at hand.

            Sound trumpets. Enter SATURNINUS and
    TAMORA, with AEMILIUS, TRIBUNES, SENATORS, and others

  SATURNINUS. What, hath the firmament more suns than one?
  LUCIUS. What boots it thee to call thyself a sun?
  MARCUS. Rome's Emperor, and nephew, break the parle;
    These quarrels must be quietly debated.
    The feast is ready which the careful Titus
    Hath ordain'd to an honourable end,
    For peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome.
    Please you, therefore, draw nigh and take your places.
  SATURNINUS. Marcus, we will.
                      [A table brought in. The company sit down]

               Trumpets sounding, enter TITUS
         like a cook, placing the dishes, and LAVINIA
   with a veil over her face; also YOUNG LUCIUS, and others

  TITUS. Welcome, my lord; welcome, dread Queen;
    Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius;
    And welcome all. Although the cheer be poor,
    'Twill fill your stomachs; please you eat of it.
  SATURNINUS. Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus?
  TITUS. Because I would be sure to have all well
    To entertain your Highness and your Empress.
  TAMORA. We are beholding to you, good Andronicus.
  TITUS. An if your Highness knew my heart, you were.
    My lord the Emperor, resolve me this:
    Was it well done of rash Virginius
    To slay his daughter with his own right hand,
    Because she was enforc'd, stain'd, and deflower'd?
  SATURNINUS. It was, Andronicus.
  TITUS. Your reason, mighty lord.
  SATURNINUS. Because the girl should not survive her shame,
    And by her presence still renew his sorrows.
  TITUS. A reason mighty, strong, and effectual;
    A pattern, precedent, and lively warrant
    For me, most wretched, to perform the like.
    Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee;   [He kills her]
    And with thy shame thy father's sorrow die!
  SATURNINUS. What hast thou done, unnatural and unkind?
  TITUS. Kill'd her for whom my tears have made me blind.
    I am as woeful as Virginius was,
    And have a thousand times more cause than he
    To do this outrage; and it now is done.
  SATURNINUS. What, was she ravish'd? Tell who did the deed.
  TITUS. Will't please you eat?  Will't please your Highness
feed?
  TAMORA. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus?
  TITUS. Not I; 'twas Chiron and Demetrius.
    They ravish'd her, and cut away her tongue;
    And they, 'twas they, that did her all this wrong.
  SATURNINUS. Go, fetch them hither to us presently.
  TITUS. Why, there they are, both baked in this pie,
    Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
    Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
    'Tis true, 'tis true: witness my knife's sharp point.
                                          [He stabs the EMPRESS]
  SATURNINUS. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed!
                                                [He stabs TITUS]
  LUCIUS. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed?
    There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.
                   [He stabs SATURNINUS. A great tumult. LUCIUS,
               MARCUS, and their friends go up into the balcony]
  MARCUS. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome,
    By uproars sever'd, as a flight of fowl
    Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts?
    O, let me teach you how to knit again
    This scattered corn into one mutual sheaf,
    These broken limbs again into one body;
    Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself,
    And she whom mighty kingdoms curtsy to,
    Like a forlorn and desperate castaway,
    Do shameful execution on herself.
    But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
    Grave witnesses of true experience,
    Cannot induce you to attend my words,
    [To Lucius]  Speak, Rome's dear friend, as erst our ancestor,

    When with his solemn tongue he did discourse
    To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear
    The story of that baleful burning night,
    When subtle Greeks surpris'd King Priam's Troy.
    Tell us what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
    Or who hath brought the fatal engine in
    That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil wound.
    My heart is not compact of flint nor steel;
    Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,
    But floods of tears will drown my oratory
    And break my utt'rance, even in the time
    When it should move ye to attend me most,
    And force you to commiseration.
    Here's Rome's young Captain, let him tell the tale;
    While I stand by and weep to hear him speak.
  LUCIUS. Then, gracious auditory, be it known to you
    That Chiron and the damn'd Demetrius
    Were they that murd'red our Emperor's brother;
    And they it were that ravished our sister.
    For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded,
    Our father's tears despis'd, and basely cozen'd
    Of that true hand that fought Rome's quarrel out
    And sent her enemies unto the grave.
    Lastly, myself unkindly banished,
    The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out,
    To beg relief among Rome's enemies;
    Who drown'd their enmity in my true tears,
    And op'd their arms to embrace me as a friend.
    I am the turned forth, be it known to you,
    That have preserv'd her welfare in my blood
    And from her bosom took the enemy's point,
    Sheathing the steel in my advent'rous body.
    Alas! you know I am no vaunter, I;
    My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
    That my report is just and full of truth.
    But, soft! methinks I do digress too much,
    Citing my worthless praise. O, pardon me!
    For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.
  MARCUS. Now is my turn to speak. Behold the child.
                  [Pointing to the CHILD in an attendant's arms]
    Of this was Tamora delivered,
    The issue of an irreligious Moor,
    Chief architect and plotter of these woes.
    The villain is alive in Titus' house,
    Damn'd as he is, to witness this is true.
    Now judge what cause had Titus to revenge
    These wrongs unspeakable, past patience,
    Or more than any living man could bear.
    Now have you heard the truth: what say you, Romans?
    Have we done aught amiss, show us wherein,
    And, from the place where you behold us pleading,
    The poor remainder of Andronici
    Will, hand in hand, all headlong hurl ourselves,
    And on the ragged stones beat forth our souls,
    And make a mutual closure of our house.
    Speak, Romans, speak; and if you say we shall,
    Lo, hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.
  AEMILIUS. Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome,
    And bring our Emperor gently in thy hand,
    Lucius our Emperor; for well I know
    The common voice do cry it shall be so.
  ALL. Lucius, all hail, Rome's royal Emperor!
  MARCUS. Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house,
    And hither hale that misbelieving Moor
    To be adjudg'd some direful slaught'ring death,
    As punishment for his most wicked life.          Exeunt some
              attendants. LUCIUS, MARCUS, and the others descend
  ALL. Lucius, all hail, Rome's gracious governor!
  LUCIUS. Thanks, gentle Romans! May I govern so
    To heal Rome's harms and wipe away her woe!
    But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,
    For nature puts me to a heavy task.
    Stand all aloof; but, uncle, draw you near
    To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk.
    O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips.  [Kisses TITUS]
    These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face,
    The last true duties of thy noble son!
  MARCUS. Tear for tear and loving kiss for kiss
    Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips.
    O, were the sum of these that I should pay
    Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them!
  LUCIUS. Come hither, boy; come, come, come, and learn of us
    To melt in showers. Thy grandsire lov'd thee well;
    Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,
    Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow;
    Many a story hath he told to thee,
    And bid thee bear his pretty tales in mind
    And talk of them when he was dead and gone.
  MARCUS. How many thousand times hath these poor lips,
    When they were living, warm'd themselves on thine!
    O, now, sweet boy, give them their latest kiss!
    Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;
    Do them that kindness, and take leave of them.
  BOY. O grandsire, grandsire! ev'n with all my heart
    Would I were dead, so you did live again!
    O Lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping;
    My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth.

            Re-enter attendants with AARON

  A ROMAN. You sad Andronici, have done with woes;
    Give sentence on the execrable wretch
    That hath been breeder of these dire events.
  LUCIUS. Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish him;
    There let him stand and rave and cry for food.
    If any one relieves or pities him,
    For the offence he dies. This is our doom.
    Some stay to see him fast'ned in the earth.
  AARON. Ah, why should wrath be mute and fury dumb?
    I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
    I should repent the evils I have done;
    Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did
    Would I perform, if I might have my will.
    If one good deed in all my life I did,
    I do repent it from my very soul.
  LUCIUS. Some loving friends convey the Emperor hence,
    And give him burial in his father's grave.
    My father and Lavinia shall forthwith
    Be closed in our household's monument.
    As for that ravenous tiger, Tamora,
    No funeral rite, nor man in mourning weed,
    No mournful bell shall ring her burial;
    But throw her forth to beasts and birds to prey.
    Her life was beastly and devoid of pity,
    And being dead, let birds on her take pity.           Exeunt

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: At Titus's house, everyone has gathered for the much-anticipated dinner banquet. Lucius, who knows Saturninus's promise of a peace treaty is probably a setup, tells his men to tie Aaron up and starve him until Tamora can be confronted. Saturninus shows up. He and Lucius proceed to insult each other until Marcus steps in and tries to make peace. Titus enters in a chef's get-up and places the tasty entrees on the banquet table. Over dinner, Titus chit-chats with his guests, asking them what they think about the story of Virginius. Saturninus says Virginius was right to kill his daughter because the girl wouldn't "survive her shame" . Plus, he says, if she lived, she would be a burden on her father, who would feel bad every time he looked at her. Titus says he couldn't agree more, then shocks everyone by killing Lavinia. Tamora is all, "what'd you do that for?" Titus says it's Demetrius's and Chiron's fault because they raped her and then cut out her tongue. Saturninus demands that Chiron and Demetrius be brought forward - they have some serious explaining to do. Titus says "Why, there they are, both baked in this pie, / Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, / Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred." Titus leaps up and stabs Tamora. Saturninus leaps up and stabs Titus. Lucius doesn't want to be left out, so he leaps up and stabs Saturninus. With all the dead bodies littering the stage, Marcus makes a big speech about how Rome is an absolute mess and needs to be restored. First, though, Lucius should tell everyone about what Tamora and Aaron have been up to. Lucius obliges, and Marcus holds up Aaron and Tamora's love child as proof that they are bad people and that the Andronici have been completely justified in their recent actions. Everyone begins to shout that Lucius is awesome and should be Rome's new emperor. Lucius promises to "heal Rome's harms," starting with Aaron's punishment, which involves being buried alive and left to starve. Lucius announces that Titus and Lavinia will be placed in the family tomb. Tamora, on the other hand, doesn't get a burial. Instead, her body will be left for the animals to devour. The End.