Ant. E. You gave me none: you wrong me much to say so. Ang. You wrong me more, sir, in denying it: Consider how it stands upon my credit.' Sec. Mer. Well, officer, arrest him at my suit. Off. I do ;And charge you in the duke's name to obey me. Ang. This touches me in reputation.— Either consent to pay this sum for me, Or I attach you by this officer. Ant. E. Consent to pay thee that I never had! Arrest me, foolish fellow, if thou dar'st. Ang. Here is thy fee; arrest him, officer.- Off. I do arrest you, sir: you hear the suit. Ang. Sir, sir, I shall have law in Ephesus, To your notorious shame, I doubt it not. Enter DROMIO of Syracuse. Dro. S. Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum I have convey'd aboard; and I have bought Ant. E. How now! a madman! Why, thou peevish sheep, What ship' of Epidamnum stays for me? Dro. S. A ship you sent me to, to hire waftage.10 Ant. E. Thou drunken slave, I sent thee for a rope, And told thee to what purpose and what end. Dro. S. You sent me for a rope's end as soon: You sent me to the bay, sir, for a bark. Ant. E. I will debate this matter at more leisure, And teach your ears to list me with more heed. To Adriana, villain, hie thee straight: Give her this key, and tell her, in the desk "Peevish" is wayward 8. Apparently. Openly, evidently. 9. Peevish sheep, what ship, &c. and silly. There is the same play on the word "sheep" and "ship" in "Two Gentlemen of Verona," i. 1. 10. To hire waflage. To hire conveyance, or carriage. "Hire" is here used as a dissyllable; and is spelt "hier" in the Folio. 11. Dowsabel. Inasmuch as Dromio has before said that the kitchen-wench's name is " Nell," we must imagine that he now calls her "Dowsabel" by way of a fleer at the assault she made That's cover'd o'er with Turkish tapestry [Exeunt Sec. Merchant, ANGELO, Officer, and ANT. E. Dro. S. To Adriana! that is where we din'd, Where Dowsabel" did claim me for her husband: She is too big, I hope, for me to compass,12 Thither I must, although against my will, For servants must their masters' minds fulfil. upon him to 'dowse,' in old English parlance, signifying to give a blow on the face, to strike. 12. Compass. Used in two of its senses; to clasp round or enclose with the arms, and to obtain or gain possession of 13. Austerely. Strictly, rigidly; it applies to the strict observation, the rigid scrutiny made. 14. His heart's meteors tilting in his face? An allusion to the meteoric appearances in the sky which seem to be contending against each other; here figuratively applied to the varying flashes of colour depicted in the countenance of a man swayed by contending emotions. 15. He denied you had in him no right. This form of double negative was not only used in Shakespeare's time for My tongue, though not my heart, shall have his He is deformed, crooked, old, and sere,1— Luc. Who would be jealous, then, of such a one? Adr. Ah! but I think him better than I say, curse. Enter DROMIO of Syracuse. 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. Dro. S. Here, go; the desk, the purse! sweet, Nay, he's a thief, too: have you not heard men say, now, make haste. Luc. How hast thou lost thy breath? By running fast. A wolf, nay, worse,-a fellow all in buff; 21 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.22 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? That Time comes stealing on by night and day? 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? Ant. S. There's not a man I meet but doth As if I were their well-acquainted friend; Adr. Go fetch it, sister.-[Exit LUCIANA.] This Some offer me commodities to buy ; 19 Far from her nest the lapwing cries away. See Note 44, Act i., "Measure for Measure." 20. A fairy, pitiless and rough. It has been proposed to change "fairy" here to 'fury.' But the "fairy" here alluded to, we may suppose to be of that kind called "urchins." See Note 52. Act i, "Tempest ;" and Note 24, Act iv., "Merry Wives of Windsor." 21. A fellow all in buff. Sheriffs' officers formerly wore a Even now a tailor call'd me in his shop, suit of buff-leather; which afforded numerous jokes and plays on the word to dramatists of that period. 22. A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry-foot well. To "run counter" is to run in a contrary direction from the game, by following on a wrong scent; to "draw dry-foot" is to track by the print left by the foot of the game; and the reason that Dromio says the sheriff's officer does both these incongruous things is, because by playing on the words, the speaker hints at the Counter prison,' and tracking out debtors who are "dryfoot," a cant term for those whose means are dried up. 23. Arrested on a band? Adriana uses "band" in its sense of a legal bond; Dromio replies by quibbling on the word in its sense of a covering for the throat, a neckcloth. 24. A sergeant. An arresting officer. 25. Conceit. Imaginative conception; fancies, conjectures, surinises. Sure, these are but imaginary wiles, Dro. S. Master, here's the gold you sent me for.- What! have you got the picture of old Adam new-apparelled P27 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. Dro. S. No? why, 'tis a plain case: he that went like a base-viol, in a case of leather; the man, sir, that, when gentlemen are tired, gives them a fob, and 'rests them; 28 he, sir, that takes pity on decayed men, and gives them suits of durance;29 he that sets up his rest 30 to do more exploits with his mace than a morris-pike.31 he Ant. S. What! thou meanest an officer? Dro. S. Ay, sir, the sergeant of the band; 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 sergeant, to tarry for the hoy Delay. Here are the angels that you sent for to deliver you." Ant. S. The fellow is distract, and so am I; 26. Lapland sorcerers. Lapland seems always to have been noted for the practice of magic. Milton also alludes ("Paradise Lost," book ii., line 665) to "Lapland witches." 27. Have you got the picture of old Adam new-apparelled? Dromio calls the sergeant "old Adam," in allusion to his wearing "buff;" a slang word for bare skin. By "new-apparelled" he means furnished with a new suit; which shall prevent the officer from prosecuting the one against Antipholus. 28. When gentlemen are tired, gives them a fob, and 'rests them. "Fob" is printed 'sob' (with a long s) in the Folio; but we take it to be "fob," that is, a check, or balk, by being rapped on the shoulder. There is a play on the word "'rests;" used in the sense of rest, as opposed to "tired," and arrested by a bailiff. 29. Gives them suits of durance. A 'suit of durance' was a cant term for imprisonment. 30. Sets up his rest. A phrase borrowed from the game of primero, in which it meant to remain satisfied with the game then held and, from that, came to mean being resolved or determined; also, to have made up one's mind, to be convinced. 31. More exploits with his mace than a morris-pike. "A morris-pike" was a Moorish pike; a military weapon much used in the sixteenth century. "Maces" were employed in Thou art, as you are all, a sorceress : I conjure thee to leave me and be gone. Cour. Give me the ring of mine you had at dinner, Or, for my diamond, the chain you promis'd; And I'll be gone, sir, and not trouble you. A rush, a hair, a drop of blood," a pin, But she, more covetous, would have a chain. 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. both battles and tournaments, as well as by the Turkish horsemen; but Dromio plays on the word "mace," as the sergeant's staff of office and has a pun on the previous word "rest,” in allusion to the way in which pikes were occasionally fixed in rest to receive a charge during an engagement. 32. The sergeant of the band. Here there is another quibble on the word "band:" first, in its sense of company or association; secondly, in its sense of legal bond. 33. Here are the angels that you sent for to deliver you. Dromio's master had sent him for "ducats:" but he calls them now by the name of another coin, "angels" [see Note 45, Act i., "Merry Wives of Windsor"], because they are to be ministers of deliverance. 34. We'll mend our dinner here. We take this to mean a proposal that the "dinner," which had been marred by Angelo's failing in his appointment with Antipholus of Ephesus at the Porcupine, shall now be "mended" by a supper: as Antipholus of Syracuse soon after replies, "What tell'st thou me of supping?" 35. If you do, expect spoon-meat; so bespeak, &c. In the Folio "you" is omitted, and 'or' printed instead of “so." 36. A long spoon that must eat with the devil. See Note 43, Act ii., "The Tempest." Dro. S. Fly pride," says the peacock : mistress, that you know. Dro. E. rate. [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 promis'd 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, Of his own doors being shut against his entrance. SCENE IV.-A Street. [Exit. Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus and an Officer. Ant. E. Fear me not, man; I will not break away: I'll give thee, ere I leave thee, so much money, Enter DROMIO of Ephesus with a rope's end. 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? &c. This enumeration of trifles required as tokens of affiance in compacts made with fiends, alludes to an ancient superstition. 38. "Fly pride," says the peacock. A proverbial phrase, by which Dromio rebukes the woman, whom he thinks a cheat, for accusing his master of cheating. 39. That I should be attached in Ephesus. See Note 2, Act iv. 40. Will pay them all. Shakespeare often uses the word "pay," as we now say 'pay them out,' punish them. 41. My long ears. He means, his ears made long by being often pulled. 42. As a beggar wont her brat. 'As a beggar is wont to bear her brat.' "Wont" is an old word for accustomed to, used to. 43. Pinch. This character is introduced on the scene in the Folio, by the words "a Schoole-master, call'd Pinch;" and he is immediately afterwards addressed as "Doctor Pinch," who is, moreover, "a conjurer;" all of which shows how learning was I'll serve you, sir, five hundred at the 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 bim. Off. Good sir, be patient. Dro. E. Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adversity. Off. Good, now, hold thy tongue. Dro. E. Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands. Ant. E. Thou 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, I 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. 42 Ant. E. Come, go along; my wife is coming yonder. Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, the Courtesan, and PINCH.43 Dro. E. Mistress, respice finem," respect your end; or rather, to prophesy like the parrot, "Beware the rope's end."45 Ant. E. Wilt thou still talk ? [Beating him. Cour. How say you now? is not your husband mad? Adr. His incivility confirms no less. deemed necessary for an exorcist, and how the vocations of pedagogue and wizard came to be associated in common estimation. 44 Respice finem. A Latin phrase proverbially used in more than one book of Shakespeare's time. 45. To prophecy like the parrot, "Beware the rope's end." It used to be a fashion with jocose keepers of parrots to teach their birds sentences which should predict hanging to those who had been previously warned by the words-' Take heed, sir, my parrot prophesies.' That these taught sentences generally included some allusion to a "rope," we find from various passages in other authors; and very pointedly in these lines from Butler's Hudibras:" "Could tell what subtlest parrots mean, What member 'tis of whom they talk, |