Our dinner done, and he not coming thither, I did obey; and sent my peasant home 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 mere anatomy, a mountebank, A threadbare juggler, and a fortune-teller, For these deep shames and great indignities. Ang. My lord, in truth, thus far I witness with Duke. Why, what an intricate impeach is this! I think you all have drunk 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? Dro. E. Sir, he din'd with her there, at the Porcupine. Cour. He did; and from my finger snatch'd that ring. Ant. E. '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 For lately we were bound, as you are now. Ant. E. I never saw you in my life till now. Ege. Oh, grief hath chang'd me since you saw me last; And careful hours, with Time's deformèd hand, 26 Ege. Dromio, nor thou? No, trust me, sir, nor I. Ege. I am sure thou dost. Dro. E. Ay, sir, but I am sure I do not; and whatsoever a man denies, you are now bound to believe him.23 hours" mean 'hours full of care,' in the sense of sorrow, trouble. "Deformed" is here used for deforming.' 27. Defeatures. Disfigurements. See Note 12, Act ii. 28. You are now bound to believe him. The quibbling Dromio is still facetiously alluding to Egeon's being led, "bound," to the place of execution; as he just before joked him upon the fact, in the words "lately we were bound, as you are now." Ege. Not know my voice! Oh, Time's extremity! Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poor tongue Ant. E. I never saw my father in my life. Æge. But seven years since, in Syracusa, boy, Thou know'st we parted: but, perhaps, my son, Thou sham'st to acknowledge me in misery. Ant. E. 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 Re-enter Abbess, with ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse and DROMIO of Syracuse. Abb. Most mighty duke, behold a man much wrong'd. [All gather to see them. 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? Dro. S. I, sir, am Dromio: command him away. Dro. E. 1, sir, am Dromio: pray, let me stay. Ant. S. Ægeon art thou not? or else his ghost? Dro. S. Oh, my old master! who hath bound him here? Abb. Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds, That bore thee at a burden two fair sons: 29 My feeble key of untun'd cares? The weak tone in which harsh griefs cause me to speak.' 30. Grained. Lined and indented with wrinkles, like the grain of wood. 31 If I dream not, &c. This and the following speech are misplaced in the Folio, coming between the two concluding lines of the Duke's address; whereas they evidently precede it. The needful transposition was made by Capell. 32. Morning story. The narration given by Egeon in the fifth speech of the play. Be it observed that, by this allusion and by several other indications during the course of the various scenes (such as "dinner-time," i. 2, ii. 1 and 2; "supper-time," Ege. 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: 22 These two Antipholus', these two so like, 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 famous warrior, Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle. And are not you my husband? 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 received from And I was ta'en for him, and he for me; Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father Duke. It shall not need; thy father hath his life. Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff" from ship-board? Ant. S. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou Dro. S. Your goods that lay at host, sir, in the Ant. S. He speaks to me.-I am your master, Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon: 43 pains To go with us into the abbey here, And hear at large discoursèd all our fortunes ;— The duke, my husband, and my children both, Duke. With all my heart; I'll gossip at this [Exeunt Duke, Abbess, ÆGEON, Courtesan, 35. These Errors all arose. The Folio misprints are' for "all" (Rowe's correction). Mr. Staunton proposes 'rare,' which, he says, is nearer to the original; but the word "all" in this line strikes our ear as being more Shakespearian than either 'rare' or 'are,' and the latter would be an easy misprint for “all.” Moreover, "all" here is quite in Shakespeare's style, and in his way of drawing attention to the many errors that have occurred, and given the play its name. 36. Twenty-five. Misprinted in the Folio 'Thirtie-three :' and possibly this, and other similar misprints there, arose from the original manuscript having numbers, instead of words, to express amounts. Theobald made the correction; pointing out that Egeon had stated his son's leaving him at "eighteen," and had mentioned "seven years" as having elapsed since they met, which precisely determines the Antipholuses present age. In the next line but one, the Folio misprints are' for "ne'er 39 37. The calendars of their nativity. See Note 20, Act i. 38. Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me. This second go" is changed to 'joy,' and 'gaud,' by various editors; but go with me" is the burden of the Abbess's speech throughout. 39. Such nativity! "Nativity" here has been altered by different editors to 'felicity,' and 'festivity;' but there is some Embrace thy brother there; rejoice with him. [Exeunt ANT. S. and ANT. 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 Dro. E. Methinks you are my glass, and not I see by you I am a sweet-fac'd youth. Dro. E. That's a question: how shall we try it? Dro. S. 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 another. [Exeunt. thing in the repetition of nativity" in this speech which harmonises with Emilia's dwelling on the fact that "this present hour" is the birth-hour of her sons. Such reiterations in speeches at the close of a play are not unfrequent with Shakespeare, who often, as it appears to us, gives these kind of confusedly-repeated constructions, partly to indicate the tumult of feeling in the speaker, partly to impress upon the audience any special point towards which he desires to draw their attention. 40. I'll gossip at this feast. "Gossip," used as a noun two lines before, and used as a verb in this line, refers to the practice of playing the merry-maker at a christening-feast. It originated in the word 'Godsib,' meaning those who stood at the baptismal font as sponsors for a child, and became thus what was called of kin together through God.' But it afterward became employed for all those present at the ceremony; and, eventually, for those who joined in any festivity pertaining to childbirth and christening. 41. Stuff. See Note 58, Act iv. 42. Lay at host. See Note 15, Act i. Here used for 'by-and-by,' 'some time rather |