SCENE I.
A Street, before a Priory.
Enter the Merchant and Angelo.
Ang.
I am sorry, sir, that I have hinder'd you;
But, I protest, he had the chain of me,
Though most dishonestly he doth deny it.
Mer.
How is the man esteem'd here in the city?
-- 231 --
Ang.
Of very reverent reputation, sir,
Of credit infinite, highly belov'd,
Second to none that lives here in the city;
His word might bear my wealth at any time.
Mer.
Speak softly: yonder, as I think, he walks.
Enter Antipholis and Dromio of Syracuse.
Ang.
'Tis so; and that self-chain about his neck,
Which he forswore, most monstrously, to have.
Good sir, draw near to me, I'll speak to him.—
Signior Antipholis, I wonder much
That you would put me to this shame and trouble;
And not without some scandal to yourself,
With circumstance, and oaths, so to deny
This chain, which now you wear so openly:
Besides the charge, the shame, imprisonment,
You have done wrong to this my honest friend;
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.
Mer.
Yes, that you did, sir; and forswore it too.
S. Ant.
Who heard me to deny it, or forswear it?
Mer.
These ears of mine, thou knowest, 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.
[They draw.
Enter Adriana, Luciana, Courtezan, and others.
Adr.
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.
-- 232 --
S. Dro.
Run, master, run; for God's sake, take a house.
This is some priory;—In, or we are spoil'd.
Exeunt to the priory.
Enter Lady Abbess.
Abb.
Be quiet, people; Wherefore throng you hither?
Adr.
To fetch my poor distracted husband hence:
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 man?
Adr.
This week he hath been heavy, sour, sad,
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 wealth by wreck at sea?
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?
Adr.
To none of these, except it be the last;
Namely, some love, that drew him oft from home.
Abb.
You should for that have reprehended him.
Adr.
Why, so I did.
Abb.
But not rough enough.
Adr.
As roughly, as my modesty would let me.
Abb.
Haply, in private.
Adr.
And in assemblies too.
Abb.
Ay, but not enough.
Adr.
It was the copy5 note of our conference:
In bed, he slept not for my urging it;
At board, he fed not for my urging it;
-- 233 --
Alone, it was the subject of my theme;
In company, I often glanc'd at it;
Still did I tell him it was vile and bad.
Abb.
And therefore came it, that the man was mad:
The venom clamours of a jealous woman
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 upbraidings:
Unquiet meals make ill digestions,
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,
But moody and dull melancholy,
6 note
Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair; 9Q0222
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:
-- 234 --
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'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.
Abb.
No, not a creature enter 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.
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 us'd the approved means I have,
With wholesome syrups, drugs, and holy prayers,
To make of him a formal man again7 note:
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.
Abb.
Be quiet, and depart, thou shalt not have him.
Luc.
Complain unto the duke of this indignity.
[Exit Abbess.
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.
-- 235 --
Mer.
By this, I think, the dial points at five:
Anon, I am sure, the duke himself in person
Comes this way to the melancholy vale;
The place of death and sorry execution8 note
,
Behind the ditches of the abbey here.
Ang.
Upon what cause?
Mer.
To see a reverend Syracusan merchant,
Who put unluckily into this bay
Against the laws and statutes of this town,
Beheaded publickly for his offence.
Ang.
See, where they come; we will behold his death.
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 publickly,
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 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, Antipholis, my husband,—
Whom I made lord of me and all I had,
At your important letters9 note
,—this ill day
-- 236 --
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 take1 note
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 attendant2 note
and himself,
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,
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.
-- 237 --
Duke.
Long since, thy husband serv'd me in my wars;
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.
Enter a Messenger.
Mess.
O mistress, mistress, shift and save yourself!
My master and his man are both broke loose,
Beaten the maids a-row3 note
, and bound the doctor,
4 note
Whose beard they have sing'd off with brands of fire;
And ever as it blaz'd, 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 scissars nicks him like a fool5 note
:
-- 238 --
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.
Mess.
Mistress, upon my life, I tell you true;
I have not breath'd almost, since I did see it.
He cries for you, and vows, if he can take you,
6 note
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 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
Deep scars to save thy life; even for the blood
That then I lost for thee, now grant me justice.
Ægeon.
Unless the fear of death doth make me dote,
I see my son Antipholis, and Dromio.
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,
That she this day hath shameless thrown on me.
-- 239 --
Duke.
Discover how, and thou shalt find me just.
E. Ant.
This day, great duke, she shut the doors upon me,
Whilst she with harlots7 note
feasted in my house.
Duke.
A grievous fault: Say, woman, didst thou so?
Adr.
No, my good lord;—myself, he, and my sister,
To-day did dine together: So befal my soul,
As this is false, he burdens me withal!
Luc.
Ne'er may I look on day, nor sleep on night,
But she tells to your highness simple truth!
Ang.
O perjur'd woman! They are both forsworn.
In this the madman justly chargeth them.
-- 240 --
E. Ant.
My liege, I am advised8 note what I say;
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 her,
Could witness it, for he was with me then,
Who parted with me to go fetch a chain,
Promising to bring it to the Porcupine,
Where Balthazar and I did dine together.
Our dinner done, and he not coming thither,
I went to seek him: in the street I met him;
And in his company, that gentleman.
There did this perjur'd goldsmith swear me down,
That I this day of him receiv'd the chain,
Which, God he knows, I saw not: for the which,
He did arrest me with an officer.
I did obey; and sent my peasant home
For certain ducats: he with none return'd.
Then fairly I bespoke the officer,
To go in person with me to my house.
By the way we met my wife, her sister, and
A rabble more of vile confederates;
Along with them
They brought one Pinch; a hungry lean-fac'd villain,
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 altogether
They fell upon me, bound me, bore me thence;
And in a dark and dankish vault at home
-- 241 --
There left me and my man, both bound together;
'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.
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
Denies that saying:—Sirrah, what say you?
E. Dro.
Sir, he din'd with her there, at the Porcupine.
Cour.
He did; and from my finger snatch'd that ring.
E. Ant.
'Tis true, my liege, this ring I had of her.
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 abbess hither;
I think you are all mated9 note
, or stark mad.
[Exit one to the Abbess.
-- 242 --
Ægeon.
Most mighty duke, vouchsafe me speak a word;
Haply, I see a friend, will save my life,
And pay the sum that may deliver me.
Duke.
Speak freely, Syracusan, what thou wilt.
Ægeon.
Is not your name, sir, call'd Antipholis?
And is not that your bondman Dromio?
E. Dro.
Within this hour I was his bond-man, sir,
But he, I thank him, gnaw'd in two my cords;
Now am I Dromio, and his man, unbound.
Ægeon.
I am sure, you both of you remember me.
E. Dro.
Ourselves we do remember, sir, by you;
For lately we were bound, as you are now.
You are not Pinch's patient, are you, sir?
Ægeon.
Why look you strange on me? you know me well.
E. Ant.
I never saw you in my life, 'till now.
Ægeon.
Oh! grief hath chang'd me, since you saw me last;
And careful hours, with time's deformed1 note hand
Have written 2 note
strange defeatures 9Q0224 in my face:
But tell me yet, dost thou not know my voice?
E. Ant.
Neither.
Ægeon.
Dromio, nor thou?
E. Dro.
No, trust me, sir, nor I.
Ægeon.
I am sure, thou dost.
E. Dro.
Ay, sir?
But I am sure, I do not; and whatsoever
A man denies, you are now bound to believe him.
-- 243 --
Ægeon.
Not know my voice! Oh, time's extremity!
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 face3 note
of mine be hid
In sapconsuming 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:
4 note
All these old witnesses (I cannot err)
Tell me thou art my son Antipholis.
E. Ant.
I never saw my father in my life.
Ægeon.
But seven years since, in Syracusa, boy,
Thou knowest, we parted: but, perhaps, my son,
Thou sham'st to acknowledge me in misery.
E. Ant.
The duke, and all that know me in the city,
Can witness with me that it is not so;
I ne'er saw Syracusa in my life.
Duke.
I tell thee, Syracusan, twenty years
Have I been patron to Antipholis,
During which time he ne'er saw Syracusa:
I see, thy age and dangers make thee dote.
-- 244 --
Enter the Abbess, with Antipholis Syracusan and Dromio Syracusan.
Abb.
Most mighty Duke, behold a man much wrong'd.
[All gather to see him.
Adr.
I see two husbands, or mine eyes deceive me.
Duke.
One of these men is Genius to the other;
And so of these: Which is the natural man,
And which the spirit? who deciphers them?
S. Dro.
I, sir, am Dromio; command 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 him here?
Abb.
Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds,
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!
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 sea5 note,—
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Ægeon.
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,
-- 245 --
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 first.
S. Ant.
No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse.
Duke.
Stay, stand apart; I know not which is which.
E. Ant.
I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.
E. Dro.
And I with him.
E. Ant.
Brought to this town by that most famous warrior
Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.
Adr.
Which of you two did dine with me to-day?
S. Ant.
I, gentle mistress.
Adr.
And are you not my husband?
E. Ant.
No, I say, nay to that.
S. Ant.
And so do 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 me.
S. Ant.
I think it be, sir; I deny it not.
E. Ant.
And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.
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 you,
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 here.
Duke.
It shall not need, thy father hath his life.
Cour.
Sir, I must have that diamond from you.
E. Ant.
There, take it; and much thanks for my good cheer.
-- 246 --
Abb.
Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains
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,
And ye shall have full satisfaction.—
6 note
Twenty-five years have I but gone in travel
Of you, my sons; and, till this present hour,
My heavy burden not delivered:—
The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossip's feast, and 7 note
go with me;
-- 247 --
After so long grief such nativity8 note
!
Duke.
With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast.
[Exeunt.
Manent the two Antipholis's, and two Dromio's.
S. Dro.
Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard?
E. Ant.
Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou imbark'd?
S. Dro.
Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur.
S. Ant.
He speaks to me; I am your master, Dromio:
Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon:
Embrace thy brother there, rejoice with him.
[Exeunt Antipholis S. and E.
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.
E. Dro.
Methinks, you are my glass, and not my brother:
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.
E. Dro.
That's a question:
How shall we try it?
S. Dro.
We will draw
Cuts for the senior: till then lead thou first.
-- 248 --
E. Dro.
Nay, then thus:
We came into the world, like brother and brother;
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another9.
[Exeunt.
