finished_summaries/shmoop/The Comedy of Errors/section_1_part_0.txt
The Comedy of Errors.act i.scene ii
act i, scene ii
{"name": "Act I, Scene ii", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201219160210/https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/comedy-of-errors/summary/act-i-scene-ii", "summary": "As soon as Egeon and the Duke leave the Ephesian marketplace, Egeon's missing son, Antipholus, and his servant, Dromio, both of Syracuse, show up. The Syracusian men are advised by an Ephesian merchant, who recommends that they both pretend to be from Epidamium. The Merchant warns that if they're found out to be Syracusian, they'll get the death sentence, just like another poor Syracusian merchant the Duke has just condemned to die at sunset. S. Antipholus decides he wants to wander about the town and explore a little, and he sends S. Dromio off with some money to get them a room at an inn named the Centaur. Left alone, S. Antipholus unloads his heart to us in a beautiful speech: he can't be happy because he's like a drop of water that's fallen into the ocean, looking for its fellow drop of water. In the process of the search, he's lost his mother and brother , and seems to have lost himself, too. Warning: When Dromio of Ephesus--the other Dromio--enters, and S. Antipholus mistakes him for his Dromio , all of the confusion begins. Turns out the lost set of twins have been in Ephesus the whole time. Remember the boys also share names: Egeon's twin sons are both named Antipholus, and the twin servants are named Dromio. So, like we said, when Dromio of Ephesus shows up at the marketplace, all sorts of mix-ups ensue. E. Dromio has been sent by E. Antipholus' wife to bring the tardy E. Antipholus home. E. Dromio mistakes S. Antipholus for his master, and begs him to come to dinner. Meanwhile, E. Antipholus's wife is so peeved he's late that she's been beating poor E. Dromio. S. Antipholus gets testy, as he mistakes E. Dromio for his S. Dromio, and thinks this man is talking nonsense . S. Antipholus asks about the 1,000 marks he gave S. Dromio to use to get a room at the Centaur . S. Antipholus figures that his servant is just messing with him. Tensions get higher as E. Dromio keeps trying to get the wrong guy, S. Antipholus, to come home to E. Antipholus's wife at their house, the Phoenix. S. Antipholus, fed up, smacks poor E. Dromio, and E. Dromio runs off, confused and now beaten twice. S. Antipholus, once again alone, wonders at the strange and confusing exchange. He decides that S. Dromio was cheated of the money and didn't want to admit it. Furthermore, S. Antipholus concludes that Ephesus is a crazy country, full of quacks and sorcerers. Satisfied with this perfectly reasonable explanation, S. Antipholus heads off to the Centaur to find S. Dromio and his money.", "analysis": ""}
_SCENE II. 

The Mart._

  _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse_, _DROMIO of Syracuse_, and
  _First Merchant_._

_First Mer._ Therefore give out you are of Epidamnum,
Lest that your goods too soon be confiscate.
This very day a Syracusian merchant
Is apprehended for arrival here;
And, not being able to buy out his life,                             5
According to the statute of the town,
Dies ere the weary sun set in the west.
There is your money that I had to keep.

_Ant. S._ Go bear it to the Centaur, where we host,
And stay there, Dromio, till I come to thee.                        10
Within this hour it will be dinner-time:
Till that. I'll view the manners of the town,
Peruse the traders, gaze upon the buildings,
And then return, and sleep within mine inn;
For with long travel I am stiff and weary.                          15
Get thee away.

_Dro. S._ Many a man would take you at your word,
And go indeed, having so good a mean.    [_Exit._

_Ant. S._ A trusty villain, sir; that very oft,
When I am dull with care and melancholy,                            20
Lightens my humour with his merry jests.
What, will you walk with me about the town,
And then go to my inn, and dine with me?

_First Mer._ I am invited, sir, to certain merchants,
Of whom I hope to make much benefit;                                25
I crave your pardon. Soon at five o'clock,
Please you, I'll meet with you upon the mart,
And afterward consort you till bed-time:
My present business calls me from you now.

_Ant. S._ Farewell till then: I will go lose myself,                30
And wander up and down to view the city.

_First Mer._ Sir, I commend you to your own content.    [_Exit._

_Ant. S._ He that commends me to mine own content
Commends me to the thing I cannot get.
I to the world am like a drop of water,                             35
That in the ocean seeks another drop;
Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself:
So I, to find a mother and a brother,
In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself.                             40

  _Enter _DROMIO of Ephesus_._

Here comes the almanac of my true date.
What now? how chance thou art return'd so soon?

_Dro. E._ Return'd so soon! rather approach'd too late:
The capon burns, the pig falls from the spit;
The clock hath strucken twelve upon the bell;                       45
My mistress made it one upon my cheek:
She is so hot, because the meat is cold;
The meat is cold, because you come not home;
You come not home, because you have no stomach;
You have no stomach, having broke your fast;                        50
But we, that know what 'tis to fast and pray,
Are penitent for your default to-day.

_Ant. S._ Stop in your wind, sir: tell me this, I pray:
Where have you left the money that I gave you?

_Dro. E._ O,--sixpence, that I had o' Wednesday last                55
To pay the saddler for my mistress' crupper?
The saddler had it, sir; I kept it not.

_Ant. S._ I am not in a sportive humour now:
Tell me, and dally not, where is the money?
We being strangers here, how darest thou trust                      60
So great a charge from thine own custody?

_Dro. E._ I pray you, jest, sir, as you sit at dinner:
I from my mistress come to you in post;
If I return, I shall be post indeed,
For she will score your fault upon my pate.                         65
Methinks your maw, like mine, should be your clock,
And strike you home without a messenger.

_Ant. S._ Come, Dromio, come, these jests are out of season;
Reserve them till a merrier hour than this.
Where is the gold I gave in charge to thee?                         70

_Dro. E._ To me, sir? why, you gave no gold to me.

_Ant. S._ Come on, sir knave, have done your foolishness,
And tell me how thou hast disposed thy charge.

_Dro. E._ My charge was but to fetch you from the mart
Home to your house, the Phoenix, sir, to dinner:                    75
My mistress and her sister stays for you.

_Ant. S._ Now, as I am a Christian, answer me,
In what safe place you have bestow'd my money;
Or I shall break that merry sconce of yours,
That stands on tricks when I am undisposed:                         80
Where is the thousand marks thou hadst of me?

_Dro. E._ I have some marks of yours upon my pate,
Some of my mistress' marks upon my shoulders;
But not a thousand marks between you both.
If I should pay your worship those again,                           85
Perchance you will not bear them patiently.

_Ant. S._ Thy mistress' marks? what mistress, slave, hast thou?

_Dro. E._ Your worship's wife, my mistress at the Phoenix;
She that doth fast till you come home to dinner,
And prays that you will hie you home to dinner.                     90

_Ant. S._ What, wilt thou flout me thus unto my face,
Being forbid? There, take you that, sir knave.

_Dro. E._ What mean you, sir? for God's sake, hold your hands!
Nay, an you will not, sir, I'll take my heels.    [_Exit._

_Ant. S._ Upon my life, by some device or other                     95
The villain is o'er-raught of all my money.
They say this town is full of cozenage;
As, nimble jugglers that deceive the eye,
Dark-working sorcerers that change the mind.
Soul-killing witches that deform the body,                         100
Disguised cheaters, prating mountebanks,
And many such-like liberties of sin:
If it prove so, I will be gone the sooner.
I'll to the Centaur, to go seek this slave:
I greatly fear my money is not safe.    [_Exit._                   105



  NOTES: I, 2.

  SCENE II.] Pope. No division in Ff.
  The Mart.] Edd. A public place. Capell. The Street. Pope.
    See note (II).
  Enter ...] Enter Antipholis Erotes, a Marchant, and Dromio. Ff.
  4: _arrival_] _a rivall_ F1.
  10: _till_] _tell_ F2.
  11, 12: The order of these lines is inverted by F2 F3 F4.
  12: _that_] _then_ Collier MS.
  18: _mean_] F1. _means_ F2 F3 F4.
  23: _my_] F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.
  28: _consort_] _consort with_ Malone conj.
  30: _myself_] F1. _my life_ F2 F3 F4.
  33: SCENE III. Pope.
  _mine_] F1. _my_ F2 F3 F4.
  37: _falling_] _failing_ Barron Field conj.
  37, 38: _fellow forth, Unseen,_] _fellow, for Th' unseen_ Anon. conj.
  38: _Unseen,_] _In search_ Spedding conj.
  _Unseen, inquisitive,_] _Unseen inquisitive!_ Staunton.
  40: _them_] F1. _him_ F2 F3 F4.
  _unhappy_,] F2 F3 F4. (_unhappie a_) F1. _unhappier_, Edd. conj.
  65: _score_] Rowe. _scoure_ F1 F2 F3. _scour_ F4.
  66: _your clock_] Pope. _your cooke_ F1. _you cooke_ F2.
    _your cook_ F3 F4.
  76: _stays_] _stay_ Rowe.
  86: _will_] _would_ Collier MS.
  93: _God's_] Hanmer. _God_ Ff.
  96: _o'er-raught_] Hanmer. _ore-wrought_ Ff.
  99: _Dark-working_] _Drug-working_ Warburton.
  99, 100: _Dark-working ... Soul-killing_] _Soul-killing ...
    Dark-working_ Johnson conj.
  100: _Soul-killing_] _Soul-selling_ Hanmer.
  102: _liberties_] _libertines_ Hanmer.




Act I, Scene ii
As soon as Egeon and the Duke leave the Ephesian marketplace, Egeon's missing son, Antipholus, and his servant, Dromio, both of Syracuse, show up. The Syracusian men are advised by an Ephesian merchant, who recommends that they both pretend to be from Epidamium. The Merchant warns that if they're found out to be Syracusian, they'll get the death sentence, just like another poor Syracusian merchant the Duke has just condemned to die at sunset. S. Antipholus decides he wants to wander about the town and explore a little, and he sends S. Dromio off with some money to get them a room at an inn named the Centaur. Left alone, S. Antipholus unloads his heart to us in a beautiful speech: he can't be happy because he's like a drop of water that's fallen into the ocean, looking for its fellow drop of water. In the process of the search, he's lost his mother and brother , and seems to have lost himself, too. Warning: When Dromio of Ephesus--the other Dromio--enters, and S. Antipholus mistakes him for his Dromio , all of the confusion begins. Turns out the lost set of twins have been in Ephesus the whole time. Remember the boys also share names: Egeon's twin sons are both named Antipholus, and the twin servants are named Dromio. So, like we said, when Dromio of Ephesus shows up at the marketplace, all sorts of mix-ups ensue. E. Dromio has been sent by E. Antipholus' wife to bring the tardy E. Antipholus home. E. Dromio mistakes S. Antipholus for his master, and begs him to come to dinner. Meanwhile, E. Antipholus's wife is so peeved he's late that she's been beating poor E. Dromio. S. Antipholus gets testy, as he mistakes E. Dromio for his S. Dromio, and thinks this man is talking nonsense . S. Antipholus asks about the 1,000 marks he gave S. Dromio to use to get a room at the Centaur . S. Antipholus figures that his servant is just messing with him. Tensions get higher as E. Dromio keeps trying to get the wrong guy, S. Antipholus, to come home to E. Antipholus's wife at their house, the Phoenix. S. Antipholus, fed up, smacks poor E. Dromio, and E. Dromio runs off, confused and now beaten twice. S. Antipholus, once again alone, wonders at the strange and confusing exchange. He decides that S. Dromio was cheated of the money and didn't want to admit it. Furthermore, S. Antipholus concludes that Ephesus is a crazy country, full of quacks and sorcerers. Satisfied with this perfectly reasonable explanation, S. Antipholus heads off to the Centaur to find S. Dromio and his money.