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 Good master doctor, see him safe convey'd Home to my house. O most unhappy day! Ant. E. O most unhappy strumpet!

it.

130

Dro. E. Master, I am here enter'd in bond for

you.

Ant. E. Out on thee, villain! wherefore dost thou mad me?

Dro. E. Will you be bound for nothing? be mad, good master: cry, The devil!

Luc. God help, poor souls, how idly do they talk! Adr. Go bear him hence. Sister, go you with me. [Exeunt all but Adriana, Luciana, Officer and Courtezan. Say now; whose suit is he arrested at?

Off. One Angelo, a goldsmith: do you know him?

Adr. I know the man.

What is the sum he owes?

Say, how grows it due?

Off. Two hundred ducats.

Adr.

Off. Due for a chain your husband had of him. 141 Adr. He did bespeak a chain for me, but had it

not.

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,-
Straight after did I meet him with a chain.
Adr. It may be so, but I did never see it.
Come, jailer, 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. God, for thy mercy! they are loose again. Adr. And come with naked swords.

151

Let's call more help to have them bound again. Off. Away! they'll kill us.

[Exeunt all but Ant. S. and Dro. S. 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 stuff 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 160 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.

ACT FIFTH

SCENE I

A street before a Priory.

Enter Second 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. Sec. Mer. How is the man esteem'd here in the city?

Ang. Of very reverent reputation, sir,

Of credit infinite, highly beloved,

Second to none that lives here in the city:

His word might bear my wealth at any time. Sec. Mer. Speak softly: yonder, as I think, he walks.

Enter Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of

Syracuse.

Ang. 'Tis so; and that self chain about his neck, 10 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 oath so to deny This chain which now you wear so openly: Beside 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.

20

Sec. Mer. Yes, that you did, sir, and forswore it

too.

Ant. S. Who heard me to deny it or forswear it? Sec. Mer. These ears of mine, thou know'st, did hear thee.

Fie on thee, wretch! 'tis pity that thou livest
To walk where any honest men resort.
Ant. S. Thou art a villain to impeach me thus:
I'll prove mine honor and mine honesty,

30

Against thee presently, if thou darest stand. Sec. Mer. I dare, and do defy thee for a villain. [They draw.

Enter Adriana, Luciana, the 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. Dro. S. Run, master, run; for God'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 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, 40
And bear him home for his recovery.

Ang. I knew he was not in his perfect wits.
Sec. 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 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 of sea?

Buried some dear friend? Hath not else his

eye

50

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.

Aye, but not rough enough. Adr. As roughly as my modesty would let me.

46. "And much different," &c., the second Folio, for the sake of the meter, reads much much; a reading which does not commend itself; too much has been conjectured. The line as it stands is certainly doubtful; different does not occur in Shakespeare.-I. G.