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And here we wander in illusions:

Some blessed power deliver us fro

Enter a Courtesan

Cour. Well met, well met, Master Ant I see, sir, you have found the gold Is that the chain you promised m Ant. S. Satan, avoid! I charge thee, Dro. S. Master, is this Mistress Satan Ant. S. It is the devil.

Dro. S. Nay, she is worse, she is the here she comes in the habit of a 1 thereof comes that the wenches s me," that's as much as to say, light wench." It is written, they like angels of light: light is an e fire will burn; ergo, light wenches not near her.

Cour. Your man and you are marve

Will you go with me? we'll mend 45. SCENE VI. Pope. 53. damn] Capell; a Rowe (ed. 2); as much Ff. 60. me?.

me?... here. Steevens (1778); me? . . . there

51. devil's dam] "the devil and his dam" is not uncommon in the earlier plays of Shakespeare, but it occurs as late as Othello (1604), IV. i. 153: "Let the devil and his dam haunt you!" H. Chichester Hart, in his note on the latter passage, says that it was derived from a medieval legend, and he quotes the York Mystery Plays (ed. Toulmin Smith, p. 300): "What pe deuyll and his dame schall I now doo?" (circ. 1400). 52, 55, 57. light] So Portia, in the Merchant of Venice, v. i. 129, 130:"Let me give light, but let me not be light;

For a hea

The quibb manner. 54. as undoubted remarks i mula Sha omits the sometimes after the Two Gen [308]; Mu iii. [269], a

60. men additional

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Dro. S. Master, if you do, expect spoon-meat; or bespeak a long spoon.

Ant. S. Why, Dromio?

Dro. S. Marry, he must have a long spoon that must

eat with the devil.

65

Ant. S. Avoid, thou fiend! what tell'st thou me of sup

ping?

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 promised,
And I'll be gone, sir, and not trouble you.
Dro. S. Some devils ask but the parings of one's nail,
A rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a . . .

a pin, a nut, a cherry-stone;

70

61. if you do, expect] Ff 2, 3, 4; if do expect F 1; if you do expect Rowe. if... bespeak] if you do, or expect spoon-meat, bespeak Collier (ed. 2). or] omitted by Rowe; so Capell; Either stay away, or Malone conj.; and Grant White, ed. 1 (Ritson conj.). 66. thou] F 4; then Ff 1, 2, 3; thee Dyce. 67. are all] all are Boswell. 72-77. Printed as prose by Ff; as verse by Capell, ending the third line at covetous. line 73 with a kiss, and begin line 74 with A coll, Editor.

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73, 74. End

probably refers to Marlowe's Faustus, and his signature of the bond in his own blood.

74. The Folio is here at fault. Steevens aptly refers to Middleton's Witch [(? 1604), III. iii. 50; Bullen, v. 417 (1885)]:

"There's one come downe to fetch his dues,

A kisse, a coll, a sip of blood,"

etc.

See also ib. I. ii. 25: "Dance, kiss and coll, use everything.' On the ground that Middleton may have taken them from his recollection of The Errors, I think the words kiss and coll should be included in the

text-until something better is pro

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Cour. Now, out of doubt, Antipholus Else would he never so demean A ring he hath of mine worth for And for the same he promised m Both one and other he denies me The reason that I gather he is m Besides this present instance of Is a mad tale he told to-day at d Of his own doors being shut aga Belike, his wife, acquainted with On purpose shut the doors again My way is now, to hie home to h And tell his wife that, being luna He rush'd into my house, and to

76. an] Theobald; and Ff. 79. so] Hann .] Exeunt Dromio, and Antiphilis Capell; 82. SCENE VII. Pope. go. doors] door Johnso

posed. Shakespeare, I think, does not use coll meaning embrace, etc., elsewhere. But he may have found the collocation in Erasmus, Praise of Folly, 1549, sig. B, 2 (quoted by Nares, s.v.): "For els, what is it in young babes, that we do kysse so, do colle so."

81. "Fly pride"] Craig refers to Harsnet's Declaration of Popish Im

postures asked m part fro cock." rebuke t

master

cheat,
(line 80

83. d

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My ring away. This course I fittest choose;
For forty ducats is too much to lose.

SCENE IV.-A Street.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus and the 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.
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?
97. [Exit] omitted in F 1.

Scene IV.

SCENE IV.] Capell; SCENE VIII. Pope. Enter . .
Enter Antipholus Ephes. with a Iailor Ff.

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[Exit.

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15

and the Officer] Capell;

3. 'rested] Hanmer; rested

Ff. 5, 6. messenger. That Ephesus,] Rowe; Messenger, That
Ephesus, Ff 1, 2, 3; Messenger; That .. Ephesus, F 4; messenger, That
Ephesus: Capell. 15. hie] high F 2.

14. I'll serve certainly has little mouth of Dromio E.

rate] This line meaning in the The Cambridge

Editors somewhat ingeniously suggest that it should be assigned to the officer.

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Dro. E. To a rope's end, sir; and to t
Ant. E. And to that end, sir, I will welco
Off. Good sir, be patient.

Dro. E. Nay, 'tis for me to be patient
Off. Good now, hold thy tongue.
Dro. E. Nay, rather persuade him to
Ant. E. Thou whoreson, senseless vill
Dro. E. I would I were senseless, sir,
feel your blows.

Ant. E. Thou art sensible in nothing

Dro. E. I am an ass, indeed; you ma long ears. I have served him from nativity to this instant, and hav hands for my service but blows. he heats me with beating; when cools me with beating; I am wal I sleep; raised with it, when I s doors with it, when I go from 1 home with it, when I return; nay shoulders, as a beggar wont her b when he hath lamed me, I shall door to door.

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

17. [Beating him] Capell; Beats Dro. Pope; now] Good, now Dyce.

20. Good now] The phrase also occurs in Troilus and Cressida, III. i. 122; Hamlet, I. i. 70; Antony and Cleopatra, 1. ii. 25, 1. iii. 78; and Winter's Tale, v. i. 19.

25. sensible] perhaps with a quibble on the sense of "sensitive."

39. Pinch] The stage-direction of

the Folio Pinch," is Staple o "Censure than I, I school-ma

a cunning is, a conj

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