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.
William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens, Isaac Reed (1819). “Henry V. King Henry VI, part 1. King Henry VI, part 2. King Henry VI, part 3. King Richard III. King Henry VIII. Troilus and Cressida. Timon of Athens. Coriolanus. Julius Caesar. Antony and Cleopatra. Cymbeline. Titus Andronicus. Pericles. King Lear. Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet. Othello”, p.419