"Two twinne borne sonnes a Sicell merchant had, "Menechmus one, and Sosicles the other; "The first his father lost, a little lad;

"The grandsire namde the latter like his brother: "This (growne a man) long travell took to seeke "His brother, and to Epidamnum came, "Where th' other dwelt inricht, and him so like, "That citizens there take him for the same : “Father, wife, neighbours, each mistaking either, "Much pleasant error, ere they meet togither."

THE

COMEDY OF ERRORS.

ACT THE FIRST.

SCENE I.

A Hall.

DUKE, ÆGEON, Two OFFICERS, GAOLER, Four GUARDS, and ATTENDANTS, discovered.

Egeon. Proceed, Salinus, to procure my fall,
And terminate, by this, thy rig'rous doom,
Ægeon's life and miseries together.

Duke. Merchant of Syracuse, plead no more.
The enmity and discord, which, of late,
Sprung from the ranc'rous outrage of your duke,
To merchants, our well-dealing countrymen,
(Who, wanting gilders to redeem their lives,
Have seal'd his rig'rous statutes with their blood)
Excludes all pity from our threat'ning looks.
For, since the mortal and intestine jars,
"Twixt thy seditious countrymen and us,
It hath, in solemn synods, been decreed,

Both by the Syracusans and ourselves,
Tadmit no traffic to our adverse towns.
Nay, more-If any, born at Ephesus,
Be seen at Syracusan marts or fairs:
Again-If any Syracusan born,
Come to the bay of Ephesus, he dies;
His goods confiscate to the duke's dispose,
Unless a thousand marks be levied,
To quit the penalty, and ransom him.
Thy substance, valued at the highest rate,
Cannot amount unto an hundred marks;
Therefore, by law, thou art condemn'd to die.
Egeon. This comfort, then, (the wretch's last re-
source)

At least, I gain from the severe decree-
My woes must finish ere the setting sun.

Duke. Yet, Syracusan, say in brief the cause,
Why thou departedst from my native home,
And for what cause thou cam'st to Ephesus.
Egeon. A heavier task could not have been im-
pos'd,

Yet will I utter what my grief permits.—
In Syracusa was I born; and wed
Unto a woman, happy but for me!
With her I liv'd in joy; our wealth increas'd
By prosp'rous traffic-till my factor's death,
Drew us unwillingly to Epidamnum.
There had we not been long, but she became
A joyful mother of two goodly sons,
And, strange to hear, the one so like the other,
They hardly by ourselves could be distinguish'd.
That very hour, and in the self-same house,
A poor mean woman was delivered

Of such a burden, male twins, both alike.
These (for their parents were exceeding poor)
I bought, and brought up, to attend my sons.
My wife, not meanly proud of her two boys,
Made daily motions for our home return.