Imatges de pàgina
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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.
O! if thou be'st the same Ægeon, speak,
And speak unto the same Æmilia!

Æge. 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. Why, here begins his morning story right.
These two Antipholus', these two so like,
And these two Dromios, one in semblance, -
Besides her urging of her wrack at sea;
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Antipholus, thou cam'st from Corinth first.

Ant. S. No, sir, not I: I came from Syracuse. Duke. Stay, stand apart: I know not which is

which.

Ant. E. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.

Dro. E. And I with him.

Ant. E. Brought to this town by that most fa

mous warrior,

Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.

Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to-day?

Ant. S. I, gentle mistress.

M2

Adr. And are not you my husband?
Ant. E. No; I say nay to that.

Ant. S. And so do I, yet did she 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.
Ant. S. I think it be, sir: I deny it not.
Ant. E. 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.
Dro. E. No, none by me.

Ant. S. 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 all arose.

Ant. E. 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. Ant. E. There, take it; and much thanks for my

good cheer.

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 we shall make full satisfaction.

Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; and till this present hour
My heavy burthen here delivered.
The Duke, my husband, and my children both,

-

And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossips' feast, and joy with me:
After so long grief, such nativity!

Duke. With all my heart: I'll gossip at this feast. [Exeunt Duke, Abbess, ÆGEON, Courtezan, Merchant, ANGELO, and Attendants.

Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard?

Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou embark'd?

Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur.

Ant. S. 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 ANT. S. and E., ADR., and Luc. Dro. S. 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.

Dro. E. 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?

Dro. S. Not I, sir: you are my elder.

Dro. E.

Dro. S.

That's a question: how shall we try it?
We'll draw cuts for the senior: till then,

lead thou first.

Dro. E. Nay, then thus:

We came into the world like brother and brother;

And now, let's go hand in hand, not one before an[Exeunt.

other.

NOTES ON THE COMEDY OF ERRORS.

ACT FIRST.

SCENE I.

p. 141.

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wanting guilders" : - The guilder is both a Flemish and a German coin; the former being about thirty-eight cents in value, the latter about eighty-seven. "Both by the Syracusians" : - This is the uniform orthography of the folio, showing plainly that the presence of the i is not accidental, and indicating the pronunciation of the word. Therefore, and not because Bentley approved of it, it is retained. Bentley was at the needless trouble of deriving Syracusians from Συρακόσιοι; but a similar introduction of i is a very common error in classic neology.

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" And by me [too] ": - 'Too,' omitted in the first, was added in the second folio.

66

voyages I often made" : - A merchant was said to make a voyage when he sent a ship on one. It is evident, from the context, that Ægeon did not go to Epidamnum until after the death of his factor there.

"To Epidamnum": - This word is uniformly spelled " Epidamium" in the first folio; but being a proper name, it is corrected, although an English adjective formed from it, like "Syracusian," above, should not be. The case differs, too, from that of 'Argier' in The Tempest; that being a different word from 'Algiers,' not an improper spelling of it. Epidamnum is the town at which the travelling brother in the Menæchmi arrives.

"A meaner woman," &c.: - The folio has "A meane woman," - ther having dropped out. This slight error not having been perceived, the interpolation of poor,' " A poor mean woman," - made in the second folio, has,

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