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Give her this key, and tell her, in the desk
That's cover'd o'er with Turkish tapestry,
There is a purse of ducats: let her send it;
Tell her, I am arrested in the street,

Adr. Why, man, what is the matter?

And that shall bail me: hie thee, slave; be gone.
On, officer, to prison till it come.

[Exeunt Merchant, ANGELO, Officer, and
ANT. E.

Dro. S. To Adriana! that is where he din'd,
Where Dowsabel did claim me for her husband:
Thither I must, although against my will,
For servants must their masters' minds fulfil. [Exit.

SCENE II. - The same.

Enter ADRIANA and LUCIANA.

Adr. Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
Mightst thou perceive austerely in his eye
That he did plead in earnest, yea or no?

Look'd he or red, or pale; or sad or merily?
What observations mad'st thou in this case,
Of his heart's meteors tilting in his face?6

Luc. First, he denied you had in him no right.
Adr. He meant, he did me none; the more my
spite.

Luc. Then swore he, that he was a stranger here.
Adr. And true he swore, though yet forsworn he

were.

Luc. Then pleaded I for you.
Adr.
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.
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 7,
Ill-fac'd, worse-bodied, shapeless every where:
Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind;
Stigmatical in making 8, worse in mind.

Have patience, I beseech.

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

Adr. Ah! but I think him better than I say,
And yet would herein others' eyes were worse:
Fai from her nest the lapwing cries away 9;
My heart prays for him, though my tongue do

curse.

Enter DROMIO of Syracuse.

Dro. S. I do not know the matter: he is 'rested

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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?
If he be in debt, and theft, and a sergeant in the way,
Hath he not reason to turn back an hour in a day?

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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.

Dro. S. Here, go; the desk, the purse; sweet Sure, these are but imaginary wiles,

now, make haste.

Luc. How hast thou lost thy breath?
Dro. S.

By running fast.
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 1 hath him,
One, whose hard heart is button'd up with steel;
A fiend, a fairy, 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.

6 An allusion to the redness of the northern lights, likened to the appearance of armies. 7 Dry, withered.

8 Marked by nature with deformity.

9 Who crieth most where her nest is not,

1 The officers in those days were clad in buff, which is also a cant expression for a man's skin.

And Lapland sorcerers inhabit here.

Enter DROMIO of Syracuse.

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

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

Dro. S. 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; he, sir, that takes pity on decayed

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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 mean'st an officer?

Dro. 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 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; And here we wander in illusions;

Some blessed power deliver us from hence!

Enter a Courtezan.

Cour. Well met, well met, master Antipholus. I see, sir, you have found the goldsmith now; Is that the chain, you promis'd me to-day?

Ant. S. 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.

Dro. S. Some devils ask but the paring of 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; and 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.

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 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.
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 lunatick,
He rush'd into my house, and took perforce
My ring away: This course I fittest choose;
For forty ducats is too much to lose.

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[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 To warrant thee, as I am 'rested for. My wife is in a wayward mood to-day: And will not lightly trust the messenger, That I should be attach'd in Ephesus: I tell you, 'twill sound harshly in her ears. —

Enter DROMIO of Ephesus, with a rope's end. Here comes my man; I think, he brings the money. How now, sir? have you that I sent you for?

Dro. E. Here's that, I warrant you, will pay them all. 4

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 return'd.

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.

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 serv'd 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.

Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, and the Courtezan,
with PINCH, and others.

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

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?

[Beats him.

Cour. How say you now? is not your husband

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Adr. O, husband, God doth know, you din'd at home,

Where 'would you had remain'd until this time,
Free from these slanders, and this open shame!

Ant. E. I din'd at home! Thou villain, what say'st 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 frantick too.
Adr. What wilt thou do, thou peevish 8 officer.

Dro. E. Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at Hast thou delight to see a wretched man

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Ad. Alas, I sent you money to redeem you, By Dromio here, who came in haste for it

Dro. E. Money by me? heart and good-will you might,

But, surely, master, not a rag of money.

Ant. E. Went'st not thou to her for a purse of ducats?

Adr. He came to me, and I deliver'd it.
Luc. And I am witness with her, that she did.
Dro. E. Heaven and the rope-maker, bear me

witness,

That I was sent for nothing but a rope!

Do outrage and displeasure to himself?
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.

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Cour. When as your husband, all in rage, to-day Came to my house, and took away my ring, (The ring I saw upon his finger now,)

Pinch. Mistress, both man and master is pos- Straight after, did I meet him with a chain.

sess'd;

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Adr. It may be so, but I did never see it :Come, gaoler, bring me where the goldsmith is, I long to know the truth hereof at large.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse, with his rapier drawn, and DROMIO of Syracuse.

Luc. Heaven, for thy mercy! they are loose again. Adr. And come with naked swords; let's call more help,

To have them bound again. off.

Away, they'll kill us. [Exeunt Officer, ADR. and Luc. Ant. S. I see, these witches are afraid of swords. Dro. S. She, that would be your wife, now ran from you.

Ant. S. Come to the Centaur; fetch our stuff9 from thence:

I long, that we were safe and sound aboard.

Dro. S. Faith, stay here this night, they will surely do us no harm; you saw, they speak us fair, give us gold: methinks, they are such a gentle nation, that but for the mountain of mad flesh that claims marriage of me, I could find in my heart to stay here still, and turn witch.

Ant. S. I will not stay to-night for all the town; Therefore away, to get our stuff aboard. [Exeunt. • Baggage.

8 Foolish.

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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?
Ang. Of very reverend 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 ANTIPHOLUS, 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 Antipholus, 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?
Ant. S. I think, I had; I never did deny it?
Mer. Yes, that you did, sir; and forswore it too.
Ant. S. 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.
Ant. S. Thou art a villain, to impeach me thus:
I'll prove mine honour, and mine 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 heaven's sake; he is mad;

Some get within him ', take his sword away:
Bind Dromio too, and bear them to my house.
Dro. S. Run, master, run; for heaven's sake,
take a house.

This is some priory ; — In, or we are spoil'd.

[Exeunt ANT. S. and DRO. S. to the Priory.

Enter the 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.

Buried 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.

Ay, 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 copy of our conference:
In bed, he slept not for my urging it;
At board, he fed not for my urging it
Alone, it was the subject of my theme;
In company, I often glanced it;

Still did I tell him it was vile and bad.

;

Abb. And thereof 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 thereof comes it that his head is light.
Thou say'st his meat was sauc'd with thy up-
braidings:

Unquiet meals make ill digestions,
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,

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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 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 essaying 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 again 3:
It is a branch and parcel of mine oath,
A charitable duty of my order;

Abb. Hath he not lost much wealth by wreck at sea? Therefore depart, and leave him here with me.

i. e. Close, grapple with him.

2 The theme

ie To bring him back to his senses

Adr. I will not hence, and leave my husband here;

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

him

Abb. Be quiet, and depart, thou shalt not have [Exit ABBESS. 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. 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 execution, 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 DUKE attended; GEON 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, Antipholus, my husband,

-

Whom I made lord of me and all I had,
At your important 5 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,)
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 6 for the wrongs I went,
That here and there his fury had committed.
Anon, I wot 7 not by what strong escape,
He broke from those that had the guard of him;
And, with his mad attendant 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 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 serv'd me in my

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Enter a Servant.

Serv. O mistress, mistress, shift and save yourself! My master and his man are both broke loose, Beaten the maids a-row 8, and bound the doctor, Whose beard they have singed off with brands 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, while His man with scissars 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 breath'd almost since I did see it.
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 halberts.

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 ANTIPHOLUS and DROMIO of Ephesus.
Ant. E. 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.

Ege. Unless the fear of death doth make me dote, I see my son Antipholus, and Dromio.

Ant. E. 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.
Duke. Discover how, and thou shalt find me just.
Ant. E. This day, great duke, she shut the doors

upon me,

While she with harlots9 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.

Ant. E. My liege, I am advised what I say; Neither disturb'd with the effect of wine, Albeit, my wrongs might make one wiser mad. Nor heady-rash, provok'd with raging ire, 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,

8 i. c. Successively, one after another.

9 Harlot was a term of reproach applied to cheats among men as well as to wantons among women.

X

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