Who, but for staying on our controversy,
Had hoisted sail, and put to sea to-day:
This chain you had of me, can you deny it?
S. Ant. I think, I had; I never did deny it.
Poison more deadly than a mad dog's tooth.
It seems his sleeps were hinder'd by thy railing:
And therefore comes it, that his head is light.
Thou say'st his meat was sauc'd with thy upbraid-
[ings:
Mer. Yes, that you did, sir, and forswore it too. 5 Unquiet meals make ill digestions,
S. Ant. Whoheard me to deny it, or forswear it?
Mer. These ears of mine, thou know'st, did
hear thee:
Fye on thee, wretch! 'tis pity, that thou liv'st
To walk where any honest men resort.
S. Ant. Thou art a villain to impeach me thus:
I'll prove mine honour and my honesty
Against thee presently, if thou dar'st stand.
Mer. I dare, and do defy thee for a villain.
Therefore 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,
10 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
[They draw. 15 To be disturb'd, would mad or man or beast:
The consequence is then, thy jealous fits
Have scar'd thy husband from the use of wits.
Luc. She never reprehended him but mildly,
When he demean'dhimselfrough, rude, and wildly.
Enter Adriana, Luciana, Courtezan, and others. Adri. Hold, hurt him not, for God's sake; he is mad;
Some get within him, take his sword away:
Bind Dromio too, and bear them to my house. 20 Why bear you these rebukes, and answer not? S. Dro. Run, master, run; for God's sake,
take a house. This is some priory;-In, or we are spoild. [Exeunt to the priory.
Enter Lady Abbess.
Abb. Be quiet, people; Wherefore throng you
hither?
[hence:
Adr. To fetch my poor distracted husband
Let us come in, that we may bind him fast,
And bear him home for his recovery.
Ang. I knew, he was not in his perfect wits.
Mer. I am sorry now, that I did draw on him.
Abb. How long hath this possession held the
Adr. She did betray me to my own reproof.-
Good people, enter, and lay hold on him.
Abb. No, not a creature enter in my house.
Adr. Then, let your servants bring my hus-
band 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.
30 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,
Adr. This week he hath been heavy, sour, sad, 35 Till I have us'd the approved means I have, And much, much different from the man he was; But, till this afternoon, his passion
Ne'er brake into extremity of rage.
Abb. Hath he not lost much weaith by wreck at
Bury'd some dear friend? Hath not else his eye
Stray'd his affection in unlawful love?
A sin, prevailing much in youthful men,
Who give their eyes the liberty of gazing.
Which of these sorrows is he subject to?
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;
40 Therefore, depart, and leave him here with me..
Adr. I will not hence, and leave my husband
And ill it doth beseem your holiness, [here;
To separate the husband and the wife. [him.
Abb. Be quiet, and depart, thou shalt not have
Adr. To none of these, except it be the last; 45 Luc. Complain unto the duke of this indignity.
Namely, some love that drew him oft from home.
Abb. You should for that have reprehended
Adr. Come, go; I will fall prostrate at his feet,
And never rise until my tears and prayers
Abb. Ay, but not rough enough.
Have won his grace to come in person hither,
Adr. As roughly, as my modesty would let 50 And take perforce my husband from the abbess.
Mer. By this, I think, the dial points at five;
Adr. And in assemblies too.
Anon, I am sure, the duke himself in person
Comes this way to the melancholy vale:
The place of death and sorry3 execution,
Who put unluckily into this bay
Against the laws and statutes of this town,
Abb. And therefore came it that the man was 60 Beheaded publickly for his offence. The venom clamours of a jealous woman
Ang. See, where they come; we will behold his
That is, the theme, or subject. 2 i. e. restored to his senses. Sorry here means lamented, as Ægeon was not to be executed for any crime, but by the decree to prevent the traffic between Syracusę and Ephesus.
55 Behind the ditches of the abbey here.
Mer. To see a reverend Syracusan merchant,
Luc. Kneel to the duke, before he pass the abbey.
Enter the Duke, and Ægeon bare-headed; with
the headsman and other officers.
Duke. Yet once again proclaim it publicly,
If any friend will pay the sum for him,
He shall not die, so much we tender him.
Adr. Justice, most sacred duke, against the
Duke. She is a virtuous and reverend lady;
It cannot be, that she hath done thee wrong.
Adr. May it please your grace, Antipholis, my
husband,-
Whom I made lord of me and all I had,
At your important1 letters, this ill day
A most outrageous fit of madness took him;
That desperately he hurry'd through the street,
(With him his bondman all as mad as he)
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 :
And, with his mad attendant and himself,
To scorch your face, and to disfigure you:
[Cry within.
Hark, hark, I hear him, mistress; fly, begone.
Duke. Come, stand by me, fear nothing:
Guard with halberds.
Adr. Ah me, it is my husband! Witness you,
That he is borne about invisible:
Even now we hous'd him in the abbey here;
And now he's there, past thought of human reason.
Enter Antipholis, and Dromio, of Ephesus.
E. Ant. Justice, most gracious duke, oh, grant
me justice!
Even for the service that long since I did thee, When I bestrid thee in the wars, and took 15 Deep scars to save thy life; even for the blood That then I lost for thee, now grant me justice. Ageon. Unless the fear of death doth make me I see my son Antipholis and Dromio. [dote, E. Ant. Justice, sweet prince, against that woman there.
She whom thou gav'st to me to be my wife;
That hath abused and dishonour'd me,
Even in the strength and height of injury!
Beyond imagination is the wrong,
25 That she this day hath shameless thrown on me. Duke. Discover how, and thou shalt find me just. E. Ant. This day, great duke, she shut the doors
Each one with ireful passion, with drawn swords,
Met us again, and, madly bent on us,
Chas'd us away; till, raising of more aid,
We came again to bind them: then they fled
Into this abbey, whither we pursu'd them;
And here the abbess shuts the gates on us,
And will not suffer us to fetch him out,
Whilst she with harlots feasted in my house. 30 Duke. A grievous fault: Say, woman, didst [sister,
Adr. No, my good lord;-myself, he, and my To-day did dine together: So betal my soul, As this is false, he burdens me withal !
Nor send him forth, that we may bear him hence. 35 Luc. Ne'er may I look on day, nor sleep on night,
Therefore, most gracious duke with thycommand,
Let him be brought forth, and borne hence for
help.
[wars:
Duke. Long since thy husband serv'd me in my
And I to thee engag'd 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.
But she tells to your highness simple truth!
Ang. O perjur'd women! They are both for-
In this the madman justly chargeth them. [sworn.
E. Ant. My liege, I am advised what I say;
40 Neither disturb'd with the effect of wine,
Nor heady-rash, provok'd with raging ire,
Albeit, my wrongs might make one wiser mad.
This woman lock'd me out this day from dinner:
That goldsmith there, were he not pack'd with
45 Could witness it, for he was with me then, (her,
Who parted with me to go fetch a chain,
Promising to bring it to the Porcupine,
Where Balthazar and I did dinë together.
Our dinner done, and he not coming thither,
Mess. O mistress, mistress, shift and save yourself! My master and his man are both broke loose! Beaten the maids a row3, and bound the doctor,
Whose beard they have sing'd off with brands of 50 I went to seek him: in the street I met him;
And ever as it blaz'd, they threw on him [fire;
And in his company, that gentleman.
Great pails of puddled mire to quench the hair:
There did this perjur'd goldsmith swear me down,
My master preaches patience to him, and the
That I this day of him receiv'd the chain,
His man with scissars nicks him like a fool. [while
Which, God he knows, I saw not: for the which,
And, sure, unless you send some present help, 55 He did arrest me with an officer.
• Perhaps we should read importunate. i. e. to take measures. Harlots here means cheats.
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Along with them
They brought one Pinch; a hungry lean-fac'd
A meer anatomy, a mountebank,
A thread-bare juggler, and a fortune-teller;
A needy, hollow-ey'd, sharp-looking wretch,
A living dead-man: this pernicious slave,
Forsooth, took on him as a conjurer;
And, gazing in my eyes, feeling my pulse,
And with no-face, as it were, out-facing me,
Cries out, I was possess'd: then all together
They fell upon me, bound me, bore me thence;
And in a dark and dankish vault at home [ther;
There left me and my man, both bound toge-
'Till gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder,
I gain'd my freedom, and immediately
Ran hither to your grace; whom I beseech
To give me ample satisfaction
For these deep shames and great indignities.
Ang. My lord, in truth, thus far I witness with
him;
That he din'd not at home, but was lock'd out.
Duke. But had he such a chain of thee, or no?
Ang. He had, my lord: and when he ran in
here,
These people saw the chain about his neck.
Mer. Besides, I will be sworn, these ears of mine
Heard you confess, you had the chain of him,
After you first forswore it on the mart,
And, thereupon, I drew my sword on you;
And then you fled into this abbey here,
From whence, I think you are come by miracle.
E. Ant. I never came within these abbey-walls,
Nor ever didst thou draw thy sword on me;
I never saw the chain, so help me heaven!
And this is false, you burden me withal.
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Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poor tongue
In seven short years, that here my only son
Knows not my feeble key of untun'd cares?
Though now this grained face of mine be hid
25 In sap-consuming winter's drizled snow,
And all the conduits of my blood froze up;
Yet hath my night of life some memory,
My wasting lamps some fading glimmer left,
My dull deaf ears a little use to hear:
30 All these old witnesses (I cannot err)
Tell me thou art my son Antipholis.
E. Ant. I never saw my father in my life.
Egeon. But seven years since, in Syracusa, boy,
Thou knowest, we parted: but, perhaps, my son,
35 Thou sham'st to acknowledge me in misery.
Duke. Why, what an intricate impeach is this!
I think, you all have drank of Circe's cup.
If here you hous'd him, here he would have been;
If he were mad, he would not plead so coldly:-
You say, he din'd at home; the goldsmith here 40 Have I been patron to Antipholis,
E. Ant. The duke, and all that know me in
Can witness with me that it is not so; [the city,
I ne'er saw Syracusa in my life.
Denies that saying:-Sirrah, what say you?
Duke. I tell thee, Syracusan, twenty years
During which time he ne'er saw Syracusa:
I see, thy age and dangers make thee dote.
Enter the Abbess, with Antipholis Syracusan,
and Dromio Syracusan.
E. Dro. Sir, he din'd with her there, at the
Porcupine.
[ring.
Cour. Hedid; and from my finger snatch'd that
E. Ant. 'Tis true, my liege, this ring I had of 45 Abb. Most mighty duke, behold a man much
Duke. Saw'st thou him enter at the abbey here?
Cour. As sure, my liege, as I do see your grace.
Duke. Why, this is strange: -Go call the ab-
bess hither;
I think you are all mated', or stark mad.
[Exit one to the Abbess.
Ageon. Most mighty duke, vouchsafe me speak
Haply, I see a friend, will save my life, [a word;
And pay the sum that may deliver me.
Duke. Speak freely, Syracusan, what thou wilt.
Ageon. Is not your name, sir, call'd Antipholis?
And is not that your bondman, Dromio?
wrong'd. [All gather to see him.
Adr. I see two husbands, ormine eyes deceive me.
Duke. One of these men is Genius to the other;
And so of these: Which is the natural man,
50 And which the spirit? who deciphers them?
S. Dro. I, sir, am Dromio; conimand him away.
E Dro. I, sir, am Dromio; pray let me stay.
S. Ant. Ægeon, art thou not or else his ghost?
S. Dro. O, my old master! who hath bound
[bonds,
Abb. Whoever bound him, I will loose his
And gain a husband by his liberty :-
Speak, old Ægeon, if thou be'st the man
That hadst a wife once call'd Æmilia,
That bore thee at a burden two fair sons?
Oh, if thou be'st the same Ægeon, speak,
And speak unto the same Æmilia!
E. Dro. Within this hour I was his bond-man, But he, I thank hiin, gnaw'd in two my cords; 60 Now am I Dromio, and his man, unbound. [me. Ageon. I am sure, you both of you remember.
i. e. wild, foolish. For deforming.i.e. strange alteration of features. i. e. furrow'd.
Duke. Why, here begins his morning story right:
These two Antipholis's, these two so like,
And those two Dromio's, one in semblance,-
Besides her urging of her wreck at sea,-
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Agton. If I dream not, thou art Æmilia;
If thou art she, tell me, where is that son
That floated with thee on the fatal raft?
Abb. By men of Epidamnum, he and I,
And the twin Dromio, all were taken up;
But, by-and-by, rude fishermen of Corinth
By force took Dromio and my son from them,
And me they left with those of Epidamnum:
What then became of them, I cannot tell;
I, to this fortune that you see me in.
Duke. Antipholis, thou cam'st from Corinth
S. Ant. No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse.
Duke. Stay, stand apart; I know not which is
which.
Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.
E. Ant. There, take it; and much thanks for
[pains
Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the
5 To go with us into the abbey here,
And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes:-
And all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathized one day's Error
Have suffer'd wrong, go, keep us company,
10 And ye shall have all satisfaction.
Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; and, till this present hour,
My heavy burden not delivered:-
The duke, my husband, and my children both,
15 And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossip's feast, and go' with me;
After so long grief such nativity!
Duke. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast.
[Exeunt.
[ous lord. 20 Manent the two Antipholis's, and two Dromio's. S. Dro. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from [imbark'd?
E. Ant. I came from Corinth, my most graci
E. Dro. And I with him. [mous warrior
E. Ant. Brought to this town by that most faDuke Menaphou, your most renowned uncle. Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to-25 S. Ant. I, gentle mistress.
E. Ant. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou
Adr. And are you not my husband?
S. Ant. He speaks to me; I am your master,
Dromio:
E. Ant. No, I say nay to that.
S. Ant. And so did I, yet she did call me so;
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother: What I told you then,
I hope, I shall have leisure to make good;
If this be not a dream, I see, and hear.
Ang. That is the chain, sir, which you had of
S. Dro. There is a fat friend at your master's
house,
That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner;
She now shall be my sister, not my wife.
S. Ant. I think it be, sir; I deny it not. [me. 35 E. Dro. Methinks you are my glass, and not
E. Ant. And you, sir, for this chain arrested
Ang. I think I did, sir; I deny it not.
Adr. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,
By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.
E. Dro. No, none by me.
S. Ant. This purse of ducats I receiv'd from
I see by you, I am a sweet-fac'd youth.
Will you walk in to see their gossiping?
S. Dro. Not I, sir; you are my elder.
[you, 40 E. Dro. That's a question :
How shall we try it?
And Dromio my man did bring them me;
I see, we still did meet each other's man,
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me,
And thereupon these Errors are arose.
E. Ant. These ducats pawn I for my father
Duke. It shall not need, thy father hath his life.
Cuts for the senior; till then lead thou first.
E. Dro. Nay, then thus:
[here. 45 We came into the world, like brother and brother;
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before
[Exeunt.
Dr. Warburton thinks we should read, and gaude; that is, rejoice with me.
A Friar, Messenger, Watch, Town-Clerk, Sexton, and Attendants.
Mess. He is very near by this; he was not three
leagues off when I left him.
Leon. How many gentlemen have you lost in 10 no faces truer than those that are so wash'd. How this action?
Mess. But few of any sort2, and none of name.
Leon. Did he break out into tears?
Mess. In great measure.
Leon. A kind overflow of kindness: There are
much better is it to weep at joy, than to joy at weeping!
Leon. A victory is twice itself, when the atchiever brings home full numbers. I find here,
Beat. I pray you, is signior Montanto return'd from the wars, or no?
that Don Pedro hath bestowed much honour on 15 Mess. I know none of that name, lady; there
a young Florentine call'd Claudio.
Mess. Much deserv'd on his part, and equally remember'd by Don Pedro: He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age; doing, in the figure of a lamb, the feats of a lion: he hath, in-20 deed, better better'd expectation, than you must expect of me to tell you how.
was none such in the army of any sort.
Leon. What is he that you ask for, niece?
Hero. Mycousin meanssignior Benedick of Padua.
Mess. O, he's return'd; and as pleasant as ever.
he was.
Beat. He set up his bills here in Messina, and challenged Cupidattheflight': and myuncle's fool
Mr. Pope was of opinion, that the story of this play is taken from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, b. v. Mr. Steevens, however, supposes, that a novel of of Belleforest, copied from another of Bandello, furnished Shakspeare with his fable. 2 That is, of any rank. Montante, in Spanish, is a huge two-handed sword, given, with much humour, to one, the speaker would represent as a boaster or bravado. * This alludes to the custom of fencers, or prize-fighters, setting up bills, containing a general challenge. * To challenge at the flight, was a challenge to shoot with an arrow of a particular kind, with narrow feathers,
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