Luc. Then pleaded I for you. Adr.

IO

And what said he? Luc. That love I begg'd for you he begg'd of me.

Adr. With what persuasion did he tempt thy love?

Luc. With words that in an honest suit might

move.

First he did praise my beauty, then my speech.
Adr. Didst speak him fair?
Luc.

Have patience, I beseech. Adr. I cannot, nor I will not, hold me still; My tongue, though not my heart, shall have his will.

He is deformed, crooked, old and sere,

strikes one.

Adr. The hours come back! that did I never hear.

Dro. S. O, yes; if any hour meet a sergeant, a' turns back for very fear.

Adr. As if Time were in debt! how fondly dost thou reason!

Dro. S. Time is a very bankrupt and owes more than he's worth to season.

Nay, he's a thief too: have you not heard men say, That Time comes stealing on by night and day? 60 If Time be in debt and theft, and a sergeant in the way,

Hath he not reason to turn back an hour in a day? Re-enter LUCIANA with a purse.

Luc. Who would be jealous then of such a one? No evil lost is wail'd when it is gone.

Enter DROMIO of Syracuse.

Dro. S. Here! go; the desk, the purse! sweet, now, make haste.

Luc. How hast thou lost thy breath?
Dro. S.
By running fast.

30 Adr. Where is thy master, Dromio? is he well?

Dro. S. No, he's in Tartar limbo, worse than hell.

A devil in an everlasting garment hath him; One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel; A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough; A wolf, nay, worse, a fellow all in buff;

A back-friend, a shoulder-clapper, one that countermands

The passages of alleys, creeks and narrow lands; A hound that runs counter and yet draws dry-foot well;

One that before the judgement carries poor souls to hell.

40

Adr. Why, man, what is the matter? Dro. S. I do not know the matter: he is 'rested on the case.

Adr. What, is he arrested? Tell me at whose suit.

Dro. S. I know not at whose suit he is arrested well;

But he's in a suit of buff which 'rested him, that can I tell.

Will you send him, mistress, redemption, the money in his desk?

Adr. Go fetch it, sister. [Exit Luciana.]
This I wonder at,

That he, unknown to me, should be in debt.
Tell me, was he arrested on a band?

Dro. S. Not on a band, but on a stronger thing;

A chain, a chain! Do you not hear it ring?
Adr. What, the chain?

50

Dro. S. No, no, the bell: 'tis time that I were gone:

straight,

And bring thy master home immediately. Come, sister: I am press'd down with conceit-— Conceit, my comfort and my injury. [Exeunt. SCENE III. A public place.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse. Ant. S. There's not a man I meet but doth salute me

As if I were their well-acquainted friend;
And every one doth call me by my name.
Some tender money to me; some invite me ;
Some other give me thanks for kindnesses;
Some offer me commodities to buy:
Even now a tailor call'd me in his shop
And show'd.me silks that he had bought for me
And therewithal took measure of my body.
Sure, these are but imaginary wiles
And Lapland sorcerers inhabit here.

Enter DROMIO of Syracuse.

10

Dro. S. Master, here's the gold you sent me for. What, have you got the picture of old Adam new-apparelled?

Ant. S. What gold is this? what Adam dost thou mean?

Dro. S. Not that Adam that kept the Paradise, but that Adam that keeps the prison: he that goes in the calf's skin that was killed for the Prodigal; he that came behind you, sir, like an evil angel, and bid you forsake your liberty. Ant. S. I understand thee not.

20

Dro. S. No? why, 'tis a plain case: he that went, like a bass-viol, in a case of leather; the man, sir, that, when gentlemen are tired, gives them a sob and 'rests them; he, sir, that takes pity on decayed men and gives them suits of durance; he that sets up his rest to do more exploits with his mace than a morris-pike.

Ant. S. What, thou meanest an officer? Drc. S. Ay, sir, the sergeant of the band; he that brings any man to answer it that breaks his band; one that thinks a man always going to bed and says 'God give you good rest!'

Ant. S. Well, sir, there rest in your foolery. Is there any ship puts forth to-night? may we be gone?

Dro. S. Why, sir, I brought you word an hour since that the bark Expedition put forth to-night; and then were you hindered by the

Dro. S. Nay, she is worse, she is the devil's dam; and here she comes in the habit of a light wench and thereof comes that the wenches say 'God damn me;' that's as much to say 'God make me a light wench.' It is written, they appear to men like angels of light: light is an effect of fire, and fire will burn; ergo, light wenches will burn. Come not near her.

Cour. Your man and you are marvellous merry, sir.

Will you go with me? We'll mend our dinner here?

60

one's nail,

A rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin,

A nut, a cherry-stone;

But she, more covetous, would have a chain.
Master, be wise: an if you give it her,

The devil will shake her chain and fright us with it.

Cour. I pray you, sir, my ring, or else the chain:

I hope you do not mean to cheat me so. Ant. S. Avaunt, thou witch! Come, Dromio, let us go. 80 Dro. S.Fly pride,' says the peacock: mistress, that you know.

[Exeunt Ant. S. and Dro. S. Cour. Now, out of doubt Antipholus is mad, Else would he never so demean himself. A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats, And for the same he promised me a chain : Both one and other he denies me now. The reason that I gather he is mad, Besides this present instance of his rage, Is a mad tale he told to-day at dinner,

91

Of his own doors being shut against his entrance.
Belike his wife, acquainted with his fits,
On purpose shut the doors against his way.
My way is now to hie home to his house,
And tell his wife that, being lunatic,

Ant. E. But where's the money? Dro. E. Why, sir, I gave the money for the rope.

Ant. E. Five hundred ducats, villain, for a rope?

Dro. E. I'll serve you, sir, five hundred at

the rate.

Ant. E. To what end did I bid thee hie thee home?

Dro. E. To a rope's-end, sir; and to that end am I returned.

Ant. E. And to that end, sir, I will welcome you. [Beating him.

Off. Good sir, be patient. Dro. E. Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adversity.

Off. Good, now, hold thy tongue.

21

Dro. E. Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands.

Ant. E. Thou whoreson, senseless villain ! Dro. E. I would I were senseless, sir, that I might not feel your blows.

Ant. E. Thou art sensible in nothing but blows, and so is an ass.

Dro. E. I am an ass, indeed; you may prove it by my long ears. I have served him from the hour of my nativity to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service but blows. When I am cold, he heats me with beating; when I am warm, he cools me with beating: I am waked with it when I sleep; raised with it when I sit; driven out of doors with it when I go from home; welcomed home with it when I return nay, Í bear it on my shoulders, as a beggar wont her brat; and, I think, when he hath lamed me, I shall beg with it from door to door.

Ant. E. Come, go along; my wife is coming yonder.

Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, the Courtezan, and PINCH.

Dro. E. Mistress, 'respice finem,' respect your end; or rather, the prophecy like the parrot, 'beware the rope's-end.'

Ant. E. Wilt thou still talk? [Beating him.

50

Adr. His incivility confirms no less. Good Doctor Pinch, you are a conjurer; Establish him in his true sense again, And I will please you what you will demand. Luc. Alas, how fiery and how sharp he looks! Cour. Mark how he trembles in his ecstasy! Pinch. Give me your hand and let me feel your pulse.

Ant. E. There is my hand, and let it feel
your ear.
[Striking him.
Pinch. I charge thee, Satan, housed within
this man,

To yield possession to my holy prayers
And to thy state of darkness hie thee straight:
I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven!
Ant. E. Peace, doting wizard, peace! I am
not mad.

60

Adr. O, that thou wert not, poor distressed soul ! Ant. E.

You minion, you, are these your customers?

Did this companion with the saffron face
Revel and feast it at my house to-day,
Whilst upon me the guilty doors were shut
And I denied to enter in my house?

Adr. O husband, God doth know you dined at home;

Where would you had remain'd until this time, Free from these slanders and this open shame! Ant. E. Dined at home! Thou villain, what sayest thou?

71 Dro. E. Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at home.

Ant. E. Were not my doors lock'd up and I shut out?

Dro. E. Perdie, your doors were lock'd and you shut out.

Ant. E. And did not she herself revile me there?

Dro. E. Sans fable, she herself reviled you there.

Ant. E. Did not her kitchen-maid rail, taunt and scorn me?

Dro. E. Certes, she did; the kitchen-vestal scorn'd you.

Ant. E. And did not I in rage depart from thence?

Dro. E. In verity you did; my bones bear witness,

80

That since have felt the vigour of his rage. Adr. Is't good to soothe him in these contraries?

Pinch. It is no shame: the fellow finds his vein And yielding to him humours well his frenzy. Ant. E. Thou hast suborn'd the goldsmith to

Pinch. Mistress, both man and master is possess'd;

I know it by their pale and deadly looks:
They must be bound and laid in some dark room.
Ant. E. Say, wherefore didst thou lock me
forth to-day?

And why dost thou deny the bag of gold?
Adr. I did not, gentle husband, lock thee
forth.

100

Dro. E. And, gentle master, I received no gold;

But I confess, sir, that we were lock'd out. Adr. Dissembling villain, thou speak'st false in both..

Ant. E. Dissembling harlot, thou art false in all And art confederate with a damned pack To make a loathsome abject scorn of me: But with these nails I'll pluck out these false eyes That would behold in me this shameful sport. Enter three or four, and offer to bind him. He strives.

Adr. O, bind him, bind him! let him not

come near me.

Pinch. More company! The fiend is strong within him.

ΙΙΟ

Luc. Ay me, poor man, how pale and wan he looks!

Ant. E. What, will you murder me? Thou gaoler, thou,

I am thy prisoner: wilt thou suffer them
To make a rescue?
Off.
Masters, let him go:
He is my prisoner, and you shall not have him.
Pinch. Go bind this man, for he is frantic too.
[They offer to bind Dro. E.
Adr. What wilt thou do, thou peevish officer?
Hast thou delight to see a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself?

120

Off. He is my prisoner: if I let him go, The debt he owes will be required of me. Adr. I will discharge thee ere I go from thee: Bear me forthwith unto his creditor And, knowing how the debt grows, I will pay it. Good master doctor, see him safe convey'd Home to my house. O most unhappy day! Ant. E. O most unhappy strumpet!

Dro. E. Master, I am here entered in bond for you.

Ant. E. Out on thee, villain! wherefore dost thou mad me?

80

Thereof the raging fire of fever bred;
And what's a fever but a fit of madness?
Thou say'st his sports were hinder'd by thy brawls:
Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue
But moody and dull melancholy,
Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair,
And at her heels a huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures and foes to life?
In food, in sport and life-preserving rest
To be disturb'd, would mad or man or beast:
The consequence is then thy jealous fits
Have scared thy husband from the use of wits.
Luc. She never reprehended him but mildly,
When he demean'd himself rough, rude and wildly.
Why bear you these rebukes and answer not?

Adr. She did betray me to my own reproof.
Good people, enter and lay hold on him."

90

Abb. No, not a creature enters in my house. Adr. Then let your servants bring my husband forth.

Abb. Neither he took this place for sanctuary, And it shall privilege him from your hands Till I have brought him to his wits again, Or lose my labour in assaying it.

100

Adr. "I will attend my husband, be his nurse, Diet his sickness, for it is my office, And will have no attorney but myself; And therefore let me have him home with me. Abb. Be patient; for I will not let him stir Till I have used the approved means I have, With wholesome syrups, drugs and holy prayers, To make of him a formal man again: It is a branch and parcel of mine oath, A charitable duty of my order.

Therefore depart and leave him here with me. Adr. I will not hence and leave my husband here:

And ill it doth beseem your holiness
To separate the husband and the wife.

110

Abb. Be quiet and depart: thou shalt not have him.

[Exit.
Luc. Complain unto the duke of this indignity.
Adr. Come, go: I will fall prostrate at his feet
And never rise until my tears and prayers
Have won his grace to come in person hither
And take perforce my husband from the abbess.
Sec. Mer. By this, I think, the dial points at
five:

Anon, I'm sure, the duke himself in person
Comes this way to the melancholy vale,
The place of death and sorry execution,
Behind the ditches of the abbey here.
Ang. Upon what cause?

120

Sec. Mer. To see a reverend Syracusian merchant,

Who put unluckily into this bay
Against the laws and statutes of this town,
Beheaded publicly for his offence.

Ang. See where they come: we will behold his death.

Luc. Kneel to the duke before he pass the abbey.

Enter DUKE, attended; ÆGEON bareheaded; with the Headsman and other Officers. Duke. Yet once again proclaim it publicly, 130 If any friend will pay the sun for him, He shall not die; so much we tender him.

Adr. Justice, most sacred duke, against the abbess !

Duke. She is a virtuous and a reverend lady:
It cannot be that she hath done thee wrong.
Adr. May it please your grace, Antipholus
my husband,

Whom I made lord of me and all I had,
At your important letters,-this ill day
A most outrageous fit of madness took him;
That desperately he hurried through the street,-
With him his bondman, all as mad as he,- 141
Doing displeasure to the citizens

By rushing in their houses, bearing thence
Rings, jewels, any thing his rage did like.
Once did I get him bound and sent him home,
Whilst to take order for the wrongs I went
That here and there his fury had committed.
Anon, I wot not by what strong escape,
He broke from those that had the guard of
him;

150

And with his mad attendant and himself,
Each one with ireful passion, with drawn swords,
Met us again and madly bent on us
Chased us away, till raising of more aid
We came again to bind them. Then they fled
Into this abbey, whither we pursued them:
And here the abbess shuts the gates on us
And will not suffer us to fetch him out,

Nor send him forth that we may bear him hence. Therefore, most gracious duke, with thy command

Let him be brought forth and borne hence for help. Duke. Long since thy husband served me in my wars, 161

And I to thee engaged a prince's word,
When thou didst make him master of thy bed,
To do him all the grace and good I could.
Go, some of you, knock at the abbey-gate
And bid the lady abbess come to me.
I will determine this before I stir.
Enter a Servant.

of fire;

And ever, as it blazed, they threw on him
Great pails of puddled mire to quench the hair:
My master preaches patience to him and the while
His man with scissors nicks him like a fool,
And sure, unless you send some present help,
Between them they will kill the conjurer.

Adr. Peace, fool! thy master and his man are here,

And that is false thou dost report to us.

Serv. Mistress, upon my life, I tell you true; I have not breathed almost since I did see it. 181 He cries for you and vows, if he can take you, To scorch your face and to disfigure you.

[Cry within. Hark, hark! I hear him, mistress: fly, be gone! Duke. Come, stand by me; fear nothing.

Guard with halberds!

Adr. Ay me, it is my husband! Witness you, That he is borne about invisible:

Even now we housed him in the abbey here; And now he's there, past thought of human reason.