ACT IV. SCENE I.

A public place.

  _Enter _Second Merchant_, ANGELO, and an _Officer_._

_Sec. Mer._ You know since Pentecost the sum is due,
And since I have not much importuned you;
Nor now I had not, but that I am bound
To Persia, and want guilders for my voyage:
Therefore make present satisfaction,                                 5
Or I'll attach you by this officer.

_Ang._ Even just the sum that I do owe to you
Is growing to me by Antipholus;
And in the instant that I met with you
He had of me a chain: at five o'clock                               10
I shall receive the money for the same.
Pleaseth you walk with me down to his house,
I will discharge my bond, and thank you too.

  _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus_ and _DROMIO of Ephesus_ from
  the courtezan's._

_Off._ That labour may you save: see where he comes.

_Ant. E._ While I go to the goldsmith's house, go thou              15
And buy a rope's end: that will I bestow
Among my wife and her confederates,
For locking me out of my doors by day.--
But, soft! I see the goldsmith. Get thee gone;
Buy thou a rope, and bring it home to me.                           20

_Dro. E._ I buy a thousand pound a year: I buy a rope.
    [_Exit._

_Ant. E._ A man is well holp up that trusts to you:
I promised your presence and the chain;
But neither chain nor goldsmith came to me.
Belike you thought our love would last too long,                    25
If it were chain'd together, and therefore came not.

_Ang._ Saving your merry humour, here's the note
How much your chain weighs to the utmost carat,
The fineness of the gold, and chargeful fashion,
Which doth amount to three odd ducats more                          30
Than I stand debted to this gentleman:
I pray you, see him presently discharged,
For he is bound to sea, and stays but for it.

_Ant. E._ I am not furnish'd with the present money;
Besides, I have some business in the town.                          35
Good signior, take the stranger to my house,
And with you take the chain, and bid my wife
Disburse the sum on the receipt thereof:
Perchance I will be there as soon as you.

_Ang._ Then you will bring the chain to her yourself?               40

_Ant. E._ No; bear it with you, lest I come not time enough.

_Ang._ Well, sir, I will. Have you the chain about you?

_Ant. E._ An if I have not, sir, I hope you have;
Or else you may return without your money.

_Ang._ Nay, come, I pray you, sir, give me the chain:               45
Both wind and tide stays for this gentleman,
And I, to blame, have held him here too long.

_Ant. E._ Good Lord! you use this dalliance to excuse
Your breach of promise to the Porpentine.
I should have chid you for not bringing it,                         50
But, like a shrew, you first begin to brawl.

_Sec. Mer._ The hour steals on; I pray you, sir, dispatch.

_Ang._ You hear how he importunes me;--the chain!

_Ant. E._ Why, give it to my wife, and fetch your money.

_Ang._ Come, come, you know I gave it you even now.                 55
Either send the chain, or send me by some token.

_Ant. E._ Fie, now you run this humour out of breath.
Come, where's the chain? I pray you, let me see it.

_Sec. Mer._ My business cannot brook this dalliance.
Good sir, say whether you'll answer me or no:                       60
If not, I'll leave him to the officer.

_Ant. E._ I answer you! what should I answer you?

_Ang._ The money that you owe me for the chain.

_Ant. E._ I owe you none till I receive the chain.

_Ang._ You know I gave it you half an hour since.                   65

_Ant. E._ You gave me none: you wrong me much to say so.

_Ang._ You wrong me more, sir, in denying it:
Consider how it stands upon my credit.

_Sec. Mer._ Well, officer, arrest him at my suit.

_Off._ I do; and charge you in the duke's name to obey me.          70

_Ang._ This touches me in reputation.
Either consent to pay this sum for me,
Or I attach you by this officer.

_Ant. E._ Consent to pay thee that I never had!
Arrest me, foolish fellow, if thou darest.                          75

_Ang._ Here is thy fee; arrest him, officer.
I would not spare my brother in this case,
If he should scorn me so apparently.

_Off._ I do arrest you, sir: you hear the suit.

_Ant. E._ I do obey thee till I give thee bail.                     80
But, sirrah, you shall buy this sport as dear
As all the metal in your shop will answer.

_Ang._ Sir, sir, I shall have law in Ephesus,
To your notorious shame; I doubt it not.

  _Enter _DROMIO of Syracuse_, from the bay._

_Dro. S._ Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum                      85
That stays but till her owner comes aboard,
And then, sir, she bears away. Our fraughtage, sir,
I have convey'd aboard; and I have bought
The oil, the balsamum, and aqua-vitae.
The ship is in her trim; the merry wind                             90
Blows fair from land: they stay for nought at all
But for their owner, master, and yourself.

_Ant. E._ How now! a madman! Why, thou peevish sheep,
What ship of Epidamnum stays for me?

_Dro. S._ A ship you sent me to, to hire waftage.                   95

_Ant. E._ Thou drunken slave, I sent thee for a rope,
And told thee to what purpose and what end.

_Dro. S._ You sent me for a rope's end as soon:
You sent me to the bay, sir, for a bark.

_Ant. E._ I will debate this matter at more leisure,               100
And teach your ears to list me with more heed.
To Adriana, villain, hie thee straight:
Give her this key, and tell her, in the desk
That's cover'd o'er with Turkish tapestry
There is a purse of ducats; let her send it:                       105
Tell her I am arrested in the street,
And that shall bail me: hie thee, slave, be gone!
On, officer, to prison till it come.

    [_Exeunt Sec. Merchant, Angelo, Officer, and Ant. E._

_Dro. S._ To Adriana! that is where we dined,
Where Dowsabel did claim me for her husband:                       110
She is too big, I hope, for me to compass.
Thither I must, although against my will,
For servants must their masters' minds fulfil.    [_Exit._

  NOTES: IV, 1.

  8: _growing_] _owing_ Pope.
  12: _Pleaseth you_] Ff. _Please you but_ Pope. _Please it you_
    Anon. conj.
  14: _may you_] F1 F2 F3. _you may_ F4.
  17: _her_] Rowe. _their_ Ff. _these_ Collier MS.
  26: _and_] om. Pope.
  28: _carat_] Pope. _charect_ F1. _Raccat_ F2 F3 F4. _caract_ Collier.
  29: _chargeful_] _charge for_ Anon. conj.
  41: _time enough_] _in time_ Hanmer.
  46: _stays_] _stay_ Pope.
  _this_] F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.
  47: _to blame_] F3. _too blame_ F1 F2 F4.
  53: _the chain!_] Dyce. _the chain,_ Ff. _the chain--_ Johnson.
  56: _Either_] _Or_ Pope.
  _me by_] _by me_ Heath conj.
  60: _whether_] _whe'r_ Ff. _where_ Rowe. _if_ Pope.
  62: _what_] F1. _why_ F2 F3 F4.
  67: _more_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
  70: Printed as verse by Capell.
  73: _this_] F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.
  74: _thee_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4. _for_ Rowe.
  85: SCENE II. Pope.
  _there is_] Pope. _there's_ Ff.
  87: _And then, sir,_] F1. _Then, sir,_ F2 F3 F4. _And then_ Capell.
  _she_] om. Steevens.
  88: _bought_] F1. _brought_ F2 F3 F4.
  98: _You sent me_] _A rope! You sent me_ Capell.
    _You sent me, Sir,_ Steevens.

At the marketplace in Ephesus, Angelo the goldsmith talks with a merchant. Apparently, Angelo owes him some money, and the Merchant wants to collect it before he sets sail to Persia. Angelo expects to pay off the Merchant with the money he'll get from E. Antipholus, who he thinks owes him for Adriana's necklace...which he would, if Angelo hadn't just given the necklace to S. Antipholus. Just then, E. Antipholus and E. Dromio enter the scene, having just left the Porpentine. E. Antipholus has arrived, expecting to collect the necklace from Angelo , but he's in for a surprise. E. Antipholus sends E. Dromio off to buy some rope and then chides Angelo for not showing up at the Porpentine with the necklace. A squabble ensues, where it becomes clear that neither man has the necklace. Angelo insists he gave it to Antipholus not half an hour ago , but E. Antipholus insists he got no such thing . Are you following this? Payment for the chain is increasingly important, as the Merchant is halting his sails until Angelo pays him, though Angelo needs to get the money from Antipholus first. Ultimately, the Merchant calls for E. Antipholus to be arrested. Though Angelo regrets it, as he isn't getting paid, he corroborates with the Merchant to get E. Antipholus jailed. Justifiably, E. Antipholus is angry and confused. To add to the confusion, S. Dromio arrives, mistakes E. Antipholus for his master, and informs him that he's secured the ship to get out of Ephesus. E. Antipholus curses S. Dromio for talking nonsense , and then gives him instructions to go to Adriana and get money for his bail. As the jailer runs off with E. Antipholus, S. Dromio is left to wonder why he's instructed to go back to the awful place where they had dinner. Still, he follows E. Antipholus's instructions, because he knows his place as a servant.


SCENE II.

The house of _ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus_.

  _Enter ADRIANA and LUCIANA._

_Adr._ Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
    Mightst thou perceive austerely in his eye
That he did plead in earnest? yea or no?
    Look'd he or red or pale, or sad or merrily?
What observation madest thou, in this case,                          5
Of his heart's meteors tilting in his face?

_Luc._ First he denied you had in him no right.

_Adr._ He meant he did me none; the more my spite.

_Luc._ Then swore he that he was a stranger here.

_Adr._ And true he swore, though yet forsworn he were.              10

_Luc._ Then pleaded I for you.

_Adr._                       And what said he?

_Luc._ That love I begg'd for you he begg'd of me.

_Adr._ With what persuasion did he tempt thy love?

_Luc._ With words that in an honest suit might move.
First he did praise my beauty, then my speech.                      15

_Adr._ Didst speak him fair?

_Luc._                      Have patience, I beseech.

_Adr._ I cannot, nor I will not, hold me still;
My tongue, though not my heart, shall have his will.
He is deformed, crooked, old, and sere,
Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere;                      20
Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind;
Stigmatical in making, worse in mind.

_Luc._ Who would be jealous, then, of such a one?
No evil lost is wail'd when it is gone.

_Adr._ Ah, but I think him better than I say,                       25
    And yet would herein others' eyes were worse.
Far from her nest the lapwing cries away:
    My heart prays for him, though my tongue do curse.

  _Enter _DROMIO of Syracuse_._

_Dro. S._ Here! go; the desk, the purse! sweet, now, make haste.

_Luc._ How hast thou lost thy breath?

_Dro. S._                            By running fast.               30

_Adr._ Where is thy master, Dromio? is he well?

_Dro. S._ No, he's in Tartar limbo, worse than hell.
A devil in an everlasting garment hath him;
One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel;
A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough;                                35
A wolf, nay, worse; a fellow all in buff;
A back-friend, a shoulder-clapper, one that countermands
The passages of alleys, creeks, and narrow lands;
A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry-foot well;
One that, before the Judgment, carries poor souls to hell.          40

_Adr._ Why, man, what is the matter?

_Dro. S._ I do not know the matter: he is 'rested on the case.

_Adr._ What, is he arrested? Tell me at whose suit.

_Dro. S._ I know not at whose suit he is arrested well;
But he's in a suit of buff which 'rested him, that can I tell.      45
Will you send him, mistress, redemption, the money in his desk?

_Adr._ Go fetch it, sister. [_Exit Luciana._] This I wonder at,
That he, unknown to me, should be in debt.
Tell me, was he arrested on a band?

_Dro. S._ Not on a band, but on a stronger thing;                   50
A chain, a chain! Do you not hear it ring?

_Adr._ What, the chain?

_Dro. S._ No, no, the bell: 'tis time that I were gone:
It was two ere I left him, and now the clock strikes one.

_Adr._ The hours come back! that did I never hear.                  55

_Dro. S._ O, yes; if any hour meet a sergeant, 'a turns back
        for very fear.

_Adr._ As if Time were in debt! how fondly dost thou reason!

_Dro. S._ Time is a very bankrupt, and owes more than he's
        worth to season.
Nay, he's a thief too: have you not heard men say,
That Time comes stealing on by night and day?                       60
If Time be in debt and theft, and a sergeant in the way,
Hath he not reason to turn back an hour in a day?

  _Re-enter LUCIANA with a purse._

_Adr._ Go, Dromio; there's the money, bear it straight;
  And bring thy master home immediately.
Come, sister: I am press'd down with conceit,--                     65
  Conceit, my comfort and my injury.

    [_Exeunt._

  NOTES: IV, 2.

  SCENE II.] SCENE III. Pope.
  2: _austerely_] _assuredly_ Heath conj.
  4: _or sad or_] _sad_ Capell.
  _merrily_] _merry_ Collier MS.
  6: _Of_] F2 F3 F4. _Oh,_ F1.
  7: _you_] _you; you_ Capell.
  _no_] _a_ Rowe.
  18: _his_] _it's_ Rowe.
  22: _in mind_] F1. _the mind_ F2 F3 F4.
  26: _herein_] _he in_ Hanmer.
  29: SCENE IV. Pope.
  _sweet_] _swift_ Collier MS.
  33: _hath him_] _hath him fell_ Collier MS. _hath him by the heel_
    Spedding conj.
  34: _One_] F2 F3 F4. _On_ F1.
  After this line Collier MS. inserts: _Who knows no touch of mercy,
    cannot feel_.
  35: _fury_] Pope, ed. 2 (Theobald). _Fairie_ Ff.
  37: _countermands_] _commands_ Theobald.
  38: _of_] _and_ Collier MS.
  _alleys_] _allies_ Ff.
  _lands_] _lanes_ Grey conj. See note (V).
  37, 38: _countermands The ... lands_] _his court maintains I' the
    ... lanes_ Becket conj.
  42, 45: _'rested_] Theobald. _rested_ Ff.
  43: _Tell_] _Well, tell_ Edd. conj.
  44: _arrested well;_] F1. _arrested, well;_ F2 F3.
    _arrested: well:_ F4.
  45: _But he's_] F3 F4. _But is_ F1 F2. _But 'a's_ Edd. conj.
  _can I_] F1 F2. _I can_ F3 F4.
  46: _mistress, redemption_] Hanmer. _Mistris redemption_ F1 F2 F3.
    _Mistris Redemption_ F4. See note (VI).
  48: _That_] _Thus_ F1.
  49, 50: _band_] _bond_ Rowe.
  50: _but on_] _but_ Pope.
  54-62: Put in the margin as spurious by Pope.
  55: _hear_] _here_ F1.
  56: _'a turns_] _it turns_ Pope. _he turns_ Capell.
  58: _bankrupt_] _bankrout_ Ff.
  _to season_] om. Pope.
  61: _Time_] Rowe. _I_ Ff. _he_ Malone. _'a_ Staunton.
  62: _an hour_] _any hour_ Collier MS.

At E. Antipholus's house, the women are a mess. Luciana tells Adriana about E. Antipholus's proclamations of love. Adriana wants every dirty detail of her husband's trespass. Luciana admits that S. Antipholus's words were exactly the right kind to win a girl--if a girl were to be won, of course. This continues on for a while, with Adriana declaring her hatred for E. Antipholus, even as she still prays for him. S. Dromio arrives, out of breath, and explains that Antipholus has been jailed. S. Dromio can't explain the details exactly, but h gets the bail money from Adriana and rushes off. Adriana is left to wonder at why her husband is locked up.


SCENE III.

A public place.

  _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse_._

_Ant. S._ There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
As if I were their well-acquainted friend;
And every one doth call me by my name.
Some tender money to me; some invite me;
Some other give me thanks for kindnesses;                            5
Some offer me commodities to buy;--
Even now a tailor call'd me in his shop,
And show'd me silks that he had bought for me,
And therewithal took measure of my body.
Sure, these are but imaginary wiles,                                10
And Lapland sorcerers inhabit here.

  _Enter _DROMIO of Syracuse_._

_Dro. S._ Master, here's the gold you sent me for.--
What, have you got the picture of old Adam new-apparelled?

_Ant. S._ What gold is this? what Adam dost thou mean?

_Dro. S._ Not that Adam that kept the Paradise, but that            15
Adam that keeps the prison: he that goes in the calf's skin
that was killed for the Prodigal; he that came behind you,
sir, like an evil angel, and bid you forsake your liberty.

_Ant. S._ I understand thee not.

_Dro. S._ No? why, 'tis a plain case: he that went, like a          20
base-viol, in a case of leather; the man, sir, that, when
gentlemen are tired, gives them a sob, and 'rests them; he, sir,
that takes pity on decayed men, and gives them suits of
durance; he that sets up his rest to do more exploits with
his mace than a morris-pike.                                        25

_Ant. S._ What, thou meanest an officer?

_Dro. S._ Ay, sir, the sergeant of the band; he that
brings any man to answer it that breaks his band; one that
thinks a man always going to bed, and says, 'God give you
good rest!'                                                         30

_Ant. S._ Well, sir, there rest in your foolery. Is there
any ship puts forth to-night? may we be gone?

_Dro. S._ Why, sir, I brought you word an hour since,
that the bark Expedition put forth to-night; and then were
you hindered by the sergeant, to tarry for the hoy Delay.           35
Here are the angels that you sent for to deliver you.

_Ant. S._ The fellow is distract, and so am I;
And here we wander in illusions:
Some blessed power deliver us from hence!

  _Enter a _Courtezan_._

_Cour._ Well met, well met, Master Antipholus.                      40
I see, sir, you have found the goldsmith now:
Is that the chain you promised me to-day?

_Ant. S._ Satan, avoid! I charge thee, tempt me not.

_Dro. S._ Master, is this Mistress Satan?

_Ant. S._ It is the devil.                                          45

_Dro. S._ Nay, she is worse, she is the devil's dam; and
here she comes in the habit of a light wench: and thereof
comes that the wenches say, 'God damn me;' that's as
much to say, 'God make me a light wench.' It is written,
they appear to men like angels of light: light is an effect of      50
fire, and fire will burn; ergo, light wenches will burn. Come
not near her.

_Cour._ Your man and you are marvellous merry, sir.
Will you go with me? We'll mend our dinner here?

_Dro. S._ Master, if you do, expect spoon-meat; or bespeak          55
a long spoon.

_Ant. S._ Why, Dromio?

_Dro. S._ Marry, he must have a long spoon that must
eat with the devil.

_Ant. S._ Avoid then, fiend! what tell'st thou me of supping?       60
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.                         65

_Dro. S._ Some devils ask but the parings of one's nail,
A rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin,
A nut, a cherry-stone;
But she, more covetous, would have a chain.
Master, be wise: an if you give it her,                             70
The devil will shake her chain, and fright us with it.

_Cour._ I pray you, sir, my ring, or else the chain:
I hope you do not mean to cheat me so.

_Ant. S._ Avaunt, thou witch! --Come, Dromio, let us go.

_Dro. S._ 'Fly pride,' says the peacock: mistress, that you know.

    [_Exeunt Ant. S. and Dro. S._                                   75

_Cour._ Now, out of doubt Antipholus is mad,
Else would he never so demean himself.
A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats,
And for the same he promised me a chain:
Both one and other he denies me now.                                80
The reason that I gather he is mad,--
Besides this present instance of his rage,--
Is a mad tale he told to-day at dinner,
Of his own doors being shut against his entrance.
Belike his wife, acquainted with his fits,                          85
On purpose shut the doors against his way.
My way is now to his home to his house,
And tell his wife that, being lunatic,
He rush'd into my house, and took perforce
My ring away. This course I fittest choose;                         90
For forty ducats is too much to lose.    [_Exit._

  NOTES: IV, 3.

  SCENE III.] SCENE V. Pope.
  13: _What, have_] Pope. _What have_ Ff.
  _got_] _got rid of_ Theobald. _not_ Anon. conj.
  16: _calf's skin_] _calves-skin_ Ff.
  22: _sob_] _fob_ Rowe. _bob_ Hanmer. _sop_ Dyce conj.
    _stop_ Grant White.
  _'rests_] Warburton. _rests_ Ff.
  25: _morris_] _Moris_ Ff. _Maurice_ Hanmer (Warburton).
  28: _band_] _bond_ Rowe.
  29: _says_] Capell. _saies_ F1. _saieth_ F2. _saith_ F3 F4.
  32: _ship_] F2 F3 F4. _ships_ F1.
  34: _put_] _puts_ Pope.
  40: SCENE VI. Pope.
  44-62: Put in the margin as spurious by Pope.
  47-49: _and ... wench.'_] Marked as spurious by Capell, MS.
  48, 49: _as much_] _as much as_ Pope.
  54: _me? ... here?_] _me, ... here?_ Ff. _me? ... here._ Steevens.
  55: _if you do, expect_] F2 F3 F4. _if do expect_ F1.
  _or_] om. Rowe. _so_ Capell. _either stay away, or_ Malone conj.
    _and_ Ritson conj. _Oh!_ Anon. conj.
  60: _then_] F1 F2 F3. _thou_ F4. _thee_ Dyce.
  61: _are all_] _all are_ Boswell.
  66-71: Printed as prose by Ff, as verse by Capell, ending the
    third line at _covetous_.
  75: Put in the margin as spurious by Pope.
  76: SCENE VII. Pope.
  84: _doors_] _door_ Johnson.

S. Antipholus is still at the marketplace, waiting for S. Dromio to come tell him about whether any ships are leaving. S. Antipholus wonders at his good luck; it seems everyone in the whole city knows him and is kind to him, though he has no idea who they are. He's convinced the place is overrun with sorcery, and his mind is being played with. S. Dromio then arrives with the gold to pay E. Antipholus's debt, and tries to give it to S. Antipholus. S. Dromio then has to explain to the confused S. Antipholus that he was recently arrested, which one would think a person would remember. S. Antipholus, however, just wants to know about the ships he asked S. Dromio to look for. He is certain he already told S. Antipholus about a departing ship a long time ago, only to be told to bring money for bail instead. S. Antipholus, rather than investigate the matter further, simply declares the two of them seem insane as they wander in an illusion. A Courtesan enters, seeming another vision of the devil. Of course she's familiar with E. Antipholus, but S. Antipholus only recognizes in her the usual courtesanly stuff--gaudy but sweet temptation. S. Antipholus and S. Dromio joke happily about light, which they pun on. They call the Courtesan light, as the devil himself was an angel of light, and they also twist the notion that the woman is "light," meaning "easy." Finally, they decide that she is light like fire, which will burn. Anyway, the Courtesan talks about the dinner she just had with E. Antipholus, where he took a ring from her worth forty ducats, and promised her a gold chain in exchange. She notes S. Antipholus wears the chain, but when she asks for it, or her ring back, he runs away. The Courtesan, out a ring and a customer, decides she'll go to his wife, which is a dangerous but useful tactic. The Courtesan is sure Antipholus is mad, and she intends to tell Adriana that Antipholus ran into her house and stole her valuable ring.


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.                            5
That I should be attach'd in Ephesus,
I tell you, 'twill sound harshly in her ears.

  _Enter _DROMIO of Ephesus_ with a ropes-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.            10

_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?                 15

_Dro. E._ To a rope's-end, sir; and to that end am I
returned.

_Ant. E._ And to that end, sir, I will welcome you.
    [_Beating him._

_Off._ Good sir, be patient.

_Dro. E._ Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adversity.        20

_Off._ Good, now, hold thy tongue.

_Dro. E._ Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands.

_Ant. E._ Thou whoreson, senseless villain!

_Dro. E._ I would I were senseless, sir, that I might not
feel your blows.                                                    25

_Ant. E._ Thou art sensible in nothing but blows, and
so is an ass.

_Dro. E._ I am an ass, indeed; you may prove it by my
long ears. I have served him from the hour of my nativity
to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service       30
but blows. When I am cold, he heats me with beating;
when I am warm, he cools me with beating: I am waked
with it when I sleep; raised with it when I sit; driven out
of doors with it when I go from home; welcomed home
with it when I return: nay, I bear it on my shoulders, as           35
a beggar wont her brat; and, I think, when he hath lamed
me, I shall beg with it from door to door.

_Ant. E._ Come, go along; my wife is coming yonder.

  _Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, the _Courtezan_, and PINCH._

_Dro. E._ Mistress, 'respice finem,' respect your end; or
rather, the prophecy like the parrot, 'beware the rope's-end.'      40

_Ant. E._ Wilt thou still talk?    [_Beating him._

_Cour._ How say you now? is not your husband mad?

_Adr._ His incivility confirms no less.
Good Doctor Pinch, you are a conjurer;
Establish him in his true sense again,                              45
And I will please you what you will demand.

_Luc._ Alas, how fiery and how sharp he looks!

_Cour._ Mark how he trembles in his ecstasy!

_Pinch._ Give me your hand, and let me feel your pulse.

_Ant. E._ There is my hand, and let it feel your ear.               50
    [_Striking him._

_Pinch._ I charge thee, Satan, housed within this man,
To yield possession to my holy prayers,
And to thy state of darkness his thee straight:
I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven!

_Ant. E._ Peace, doting wizard, peace! I am not mad.                55

_Adr._ O, that thou wert not, poor distressed soul!

_Ant. E._ You minion, you, are these your customers?
Did this companion with the saffron face
Revel and feast it at my house to-day,
Whilst upon me the guilty doors were shut,                          60
And I denied to enter in my house?

_Adr._ O husband, God doth know you dined at home;
Where would you had remain'd until this time,
Free from these slanders and this open shame!

_Ant. E._ Dined at home!--Thou villain, what sayest thou?           65

_Dro. E._ Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at home.

_Ant. E._ Were not my doors lock'd up, and I shut out?

_Dro. E._ Perdie, your doors were lock'd, and you shut out.

_Ant. E._ And did not she herself revile me there?

_Dro. E._ Sans fable, she herself reviled you there.                70

_Ant. E._ Did not her kitchen-maid rail, taunt, and scorn me?

_Dro. E._ Certes, she did; the kitchen-vestal scorn'd you.

_Ant. E._ And did not I in rage depart from thence?

_Dro. E._ In verity you did; my bones bear witness,
That since have felt the vigour of his rage.                        75

_Adr._ Is't good to soothe him in these contraries?

_Pinch._ It is no shame: the fellow finds his vein,
And, yielding to him, humours well his frenzy.

_Ant. E._ Thou hast suborn'd the goldsmith to arrest me.

_Adr._ Alas, I sent you money to redeem you,                        80
By Dromio here, who came in haste for it.

_Dro. E._ Money by me! heart and good-will you might;
But surely, master, not a rag of money.

_Ant. E._ Went'st not thou to her for a purse of ducats?

_Adr._ He came to me, and I deliver'd it.                           85

_Luc._ And I am witness with her that she did.

_Dro. E._ God and the rope-maker bear me witness
That I was sent for nothing but a rope!

_Pinch._ Mistress, both man and master is possess'd;
I know it by their pale and deadly looks:                           90
They must be bound, and laid in some dark room.

_Ant. E._ Say, wherefore didst them lock me forth to-day?
And why dost thou deny the bag of gold?

_Adr._ I did not, gentle husband, lock thee forth.

_Dro. E._ And, gentle master, I received no gold;                   95
But I confess, sir, that we were lock'd out.

_Adr._ Dissembling villain, them speak'st false in both.

_Ant. E._ Dissembling harlot, them art false in all,
And art confederate with a damned pack
To make a loathsome abject scorn of me:                            100
But with these nails I'll pluck out these false eyes,
That would behold in me this shameful sport.

  _Enter three or four, and offer to bind him. He strives._

_Adr._ O, bind him, bind him! let him not come near me.

_Pinch._ More company! The fiend is strong within him.

_Luc._ Ay me, poor man, how pale and wan he looks!                 105

_Ant. E._ What, will you murder me? Thou gaoler, thou,
I am thy prisoner: wilt thou suffer them
To make a rescue?

_Off._          Masters, let him go:
He is my prisoner, and you shall not have him.

_Pinch._ Go bind this man, for he is frantic too.                  110

    [_They offer to bind Dro. E._

_Adr._ What wilt thou do, thou peevish officer?
Hast thou delight to see a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself?

_Off._ He is my prisoner: if I let him go,
The debt he owes will be required of me.                           115

_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 it.
Good master doctor, see him safe convey'd
Home to my house. O most unhappy day!                              120

_Ant. E._ O most unhappy strumpet!

_Dro. E._ Master, I am here entered 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!                                            125

_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?                    130

_Off._ Two hundred ducats.

_Adr._                   Say, how grows it due?

_Off._ Due for a chain your husband had of him.

_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,--                         135
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, gaoler, bring me where the goldsmith is:
I long to know the truth hereof at large.                          140

  _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.
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.                145

_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:              150
methinks they are 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._                                                     155

  NOTES: IV, 4.

  SCENE IV.] SCENE VIII. Pope.
  and the Officer.] Capell. with a Jailor. Ff.
  5, 6: _messenger. That ... Ephesus,_] Rowe.
    _messenger, That ... Ephesus,_ F1 F2 F3.
    _messenger; That ... Ephesus,_ F4.
    _messenger, That ... Ephesus:_ Capell.
  14: Dro. E.] Off. Edd. conj.
  15: _hie_] _high_ F2.
  17: _returned_] _come_ Anon. conj.
  18: [Beating him.] Capell. [Beats Dro. Pope. om. Ff.
  29: _ears_] See note (VII).
  38: SCENE IX. Pope. The stage direction 'Enter ... Pinch,'
    precedes line 38 in Ff, and all editions till Dyce's.
  Pinch.] a schoolmaster, call'd Pinch. Ff.
  40: _the prophecy_] _the prophesie_ F1 F2 F3 F4. _prophesie_ Rowe.
    _to prophesy_ Dyce.
  39-41: _or rather ... talk?_] _or rather, 'prospice funem,'
    beware the rope's end._ Ant. E. _Wilt thou still talk like
    the parrot?_ Edd. conj.
  41: [Beating him.] [Beats Dro. Ff.
  46: _what_] _in what_ Hanmer.
  65: _Dined_] _Din'd I_ Theobald. _I din'd_ Capell.
  72: _Certes_] Pope. _certis_ Ff.
  74: _bear_] _beares_ F1.
  75: _vigour_] _rigour_ Collier MS.
  _his_] _your_ Pope.
  83: _master_] _mistress_ Dyce conj.
  _rag_] _bag_ Becket conj.
  84: _not thou_] _thou not_ Capell.
  87: _bear_] _do bear_ Pope. _now bear_ Collier MS.
  89: _is_] _are_ Rowe.
  101: _these false_] Ff. _those false_ Rowe.
  102: [Flying at his wife. Capell.
  Enter ...] The stage direction is transferred by Dyce to follow 105.
  106: _me? Thou ... thou,_] Rowe. _me, thou ... thou?_ Ff.
  110: [They ... Dro. E.] Edd. om. Ff.
  117: [They bind ANT. and DRO. Rowe.
  124: _nothing?_] _nothing thus?_ Hanmer, reading as verse.
  126: _help, poor_] Theobald. _help poor_ Ff.
  _idly_] Pope. _idlely_ Ff.
  127: _go_] _stay_ Pope.
  [Exeunt all but ...] Exeunt. Manet ... Ff (after line 128).
  129: SCENE X. Pope.
  133: _for me_] om. Hanmer.
  141: SCENE XI. Pope.
  143: [Runne all out. Ff.
  144: [Exeunt ...] Exeunt omnes, as fast as may be, frighted. Ff.
  150: _saw ... speak us ... give_] F1.
    _saw ... spake us ... give_ F2 F3 F4.
    _saw ... spake to us ... give_ Rowe.
    _saw ... spake us ... gave_ Pope.
    _see ... speak us ... give_ Capell.

E. Antipholus is still at the marketplace. He fumes about how he'll give it to everyone once he's bailed out, and he spots E. Dromio just in time to think he's saved. When E. Dromio relates that all he's brought is a piece of rope , E. Dromio receives a beating. E. Dromio laments that this is his usual undeserved payment, but doesn't mention that E. Antipholus never asked him for any bail money. Adriana, Luciana, the Courtesan, and a schoolmaster named Pinch all enter the scene. This is reason enough for E. Antipholus to again beat E. Dromio, at which point all the women descend on E. Antipholus, treating him like he's a raging lunatic. They plead with Pinch, who is a schoolmaster and a conjurer, to exorcise whatever demon possesses E. Antipholus. Now E. Antipholus starts beating Pinch as well. Everyone's stories then begin to work against each other, as E. Antipholus insists that he's not mad. He asks whether this witch-doctor is the man Adriana dined with, and the reason he was locked out of his own house. Adriana insists that E. Antipholus was at dinner, and E. Antipholus and E. Dromio insist they were not. E. Antipholus also is a bit unhappy about being arrested. Adriana promises she sent the bail money via Dromio. Poor E. Dromio is certain that he was neither asked to bring the money, nor given any money, and he certainly didn't deliver the money, as everyone is sure of. Basically, everyone seems crazy, and Pinch concludes the men are possessed and must be bound and put into a dark room for their own good. E. Antipholus is driven into greater fury - he declares his wife a false harlot, and promises to pluck out her eyes with his bare hands. After a bit of a scuffle, E. Dromio is tied up, and he and E. Antipholus are taken away. Adriana then tries to deal with her husband's debt. The officer explains the debt was called in by Angelo the goldsmith for a certain necklace. Adriana notes she never got the necklace her husband had spoken of, and this is when the Courtesan pipes up. The Courtesan says E. Antipholus ran into her house and took a ring from her, promising a gold chain in return. She says she saw Antipholus earlier, wearing the chain. Adriana, confused, and not the recipient of the chain, asks to be taken to Angelo the goldsmith to hear the whole truth. Before they can all leave, S. Antipholus runs in with his sword drawn and S. Dromio in tow. Luciana speaks, shocked that the men are loose again. Adriana decides they should run off and get help to tie the men up again. As the officer runs off with the women, S. Antipholus and S. Dromio are left alone, marveling at the fact that these "witches" fear their swords. S. Antipholus hurriedly tells S. Dromio to go grab their things from the Centaur inn so they can leave Ephesus quickly. S. Dromio thinks out loud that S. Antipholus might be being a bit hasty about departing. After all, everyone's so nice to them, and gives them gifts of gold. In fact, if it weren't for "the mountain of mad flesh" that wanted to mount him , S. Dromio might be happy to stay. S. Antipholus insists on leaving ASAP.


ACT V. 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,                             5
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,                          15
With circumstance and oaths 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,                            20
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.

_Sec. Mer._ Yes, that you did, sir, and forswore it too.

_Ant. S._ Who heard me to deny it or forswear it?                   25

_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 honour 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.                         35

_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,                     45
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;                     55
Namely, some love that drew him oft from home.

_Abb._ You should for that have reprehended him.

_Adr._ Why, so I did.

_Abb._              Ay, but not rough enough.

_Adr._ As roughly as my modesty would let me.

_Abb._ Haply, in private.

_Adr._                  And in assemblies too.                      60

_Abb._ Ay, but not enough.

_Adr._ It was the copy of our conference:
In bed, he slept not for my urging it;
At board, he fed not for my urging it;
Alone, it was the subject of my theme;                              65
In company I often glanced it;
Still did I tell him it was vile and bad.

_Abb._ And thereof came it that the man was mad:--
The venom clamours of a jealous woman,
Poisons more deadly than a mad dog's tooth.                         70
It seems his sleeps were hinder'd by thy railing:
And thereof comes it that his head is light.
Thou say'st his meat was sauced with thy upbraidings:
Unquiet meals make ill digestions;
Thereof the raging fire of fever bred;                              75
And what's a fever but a fit of madness?
Thou say'st his sports were hinder'd by thy brawls:
Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue
But moody and dull melancholy,
Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair;                            80
And at her heels a huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures and foes to life?
In food, in sport, and life-preserving rest
To be disturb'd, would mad or man or beast:
The consequence is, then, thy jealous fits                          85
Have scared thy husband from the use of wits.

_Luc._ She never reprehended him but mildly,
When he demean'd himself rough, rude, and wildly.
Why bear you these rebukes, and answer not?

_Adr._ She did betray me to my own reproof.                         90
Good people, enter, and lay hold on him.

_Abb._ No, not a creature enters in my house.

_Adr._ Then let your servants bring my husband forth.

_Abb._ Neither: he took this place for sanctuary,
And it shall privilege him from your hands                          95
Till I have brought him to his wits again,
Or lose my labour in assaying it.

_Adr._ I will attend my husband, be his nurse,
Diet his sickness, for it is my office,
And will have no attorney but myself;                              100
And therefore let me have him home with me.

_Abb._ Be patient; for I will not let him stir
Till I have used the approved means I have,
With wholesome syrups, drugs and holy prayers,
To make of him a formal man again:                                 105
It is a branch and parcel of mine oath,
A charitable duty of my order.
Therefore depart, and leave him here with me.

_Adr._ I will not hence, and leave my husband here:
And ill it doth beseem your holiness                               110
To separate the husband and the wife.

_Abb._ Be quiet, and depart: thou shalt not have him.
    [_Exit._

_Luc._ Complain unto the Duke of this indignity.

_Adr._ Come, go: I will fall prostrate at his feet,
And never rise until my tears and prayers                          115
Have won his Grace to come in person hither,
And take perforce my husband from the abbess.

_Sec. Mer._ By this, I think, the dial points at five:
Anon, I'm sure, the Duke himself in person
Comes this way to the melancholy vale,                             120
The place of death and sorry execution,
Behind the ditches of the abbey here.

_Ang._ Upon what cause?

_Sec. Mer._ To see a reverend Syracusian merchant,
Who put unluckily into this bay                                    125
Against the laws and statutes of this town,
Beheaded publicly for his offence.

_Ang._ See where they come: we will behold his death.

_Luc._ Kneel to the Duke before he pass the abbey.

  _Enter DUKE, attended; AEGEON bareheaded; with the _Headsman_
  and other _Officers_._

_Duke._ Yet once again proclaim it publicly,                       130
If any friend will pay the sum for him,
He shall not die; so much we tender him.

_Adr._ Justice, most sacred Duke, against the abbess!

_Duke._ She is a virtuous and a reverend lady:
It cannot be that she hath done thee wrong.                        135

_Adr._ May it please your Grace, Antipholus my husband,--
Whom I made lord of me and all I had,
At your important letters,--this ill day
A most outrageous fit of madness took him;
That desperately he hurried through the street,--                  140
With him his bondman, all as mad as he,--
Doing displeasure to the citizens
By rushing in their houses, bearing thence
Rings, jewels, any thing his rage did like.
Once did I get him bound, and sent him home,                       145
Whilst to take order for the wrongs I went,
That here and there his fury had committed.
Anon, I wot not by what strong escape,
He broke from those that had the guard of him;
And with his mad attendant and himself,                            150
Each one with ireful passion, with drawn swords,
Met us again, and, madly bent on us,
Chased us away; till, raising of more aid,
We came again to bind them. Then they fled
Into this abbey, whither we pursued them;                          155
And here the abbess shuts the gates on us,
And will not suffer us to fetch him out,
Nor send him forth, that we may bear him hence.
Therefore, most gracious Duke, with thy command
Let him be brought forth, and borne hence for help.                160

_Duke._ Long since thy husband served me in my wars;
And I to thee engaged a prince's word,
When thou didst make him master of thy bed,
To do him all the grace and good I could.
Go, some of you, knock at the abbey-gate,                          165
And bid the lady abbess come to me.
I will determine this before I stir.

  _Enter a _Servant_._

_Serv._ O mistress, mistress, shift and save yourself!
My master and his man are both broke loose,
Beaten the maids a-row, and bound the doctor,                      170
Whose beard they have singed off with brands of fire;
And ever, as it blazed, they threw on him
Great pails of puddled mire to quench the hair:
My master preaches patience to him, and the while
His man with scissors nicks him like a fool;                       175
And sure, unless you send some present help,
Between them they will kill the conjurer.

_Adr._ Peace, fool! thy master and his man are here;
And that is false thou dost report to us.

_Serv._ Mistress, upon my life, I tell you true;                   180
I have not breathed almost since I did see it.
He cries for you, and vows, if he can take you,
To scorch your face and to disfigure you.    [_Cry within._
Hark, hark! I hear him, mistress: fly, be gone!

_Duke._ Come, stand by me; fear nothing. Guard with halberds!      185

_Adr._ Ay me, it is my husband! Witness you,
That he is borne about invisible:
Even now we housed him in the abbey here;
And now he's there, past thought of human reason.

  _Enter _ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus_ and _DROMIO of Ephesus_._

_Ant. E._ Justice, most gracious Duke, O, grant me justice!        190
Even for the service that long since I did thee,
When I bestrid thee in the wars, and took
Deep scars to save thy life; even for the blood
That then I lost for thee, now grant me justice.

_Aege._ Unless the fear of death doth make me dote,                195
I see my son Antipholus, and Dromio.

_Ant. E._ Justice, sweet prince, against that woman there!
She whom thou gavest to me to be my wife,
That hath abused and dishonour'd me
Even in the strength and height of injury:                         200
Beyond imagination is the wrong
That she this day hath shameless thrown on me.

_Duke._ Discover how, and thou shalt find me just.

_Ant. E._ This day, great Duke, she shut the doors upon me,
While she with harlots feasted in my house.                        205

_Duke._ A grievous fault! Say, woman, didst thou so?

_Adr._ No, my good lord: myself, he and my sister
To-day did dine together. So befal my soul
As this is false he burdens me withal!

_Luc._ Ne'er may I look on day, nor sleep on night,                210
But she tells to your Highness simple truth!

_Ang._ O perjured woman! They are both forsworn:
In this the madman justly chargeth them.

_Ant. E._ My liege, I am advised what I say;
Neither disturbed with the effect of wine,                         215
Nor heady-rash, provoked with raging ire,
Albeit my wrongs might make one wiser mad.
This woman lock'd me out this day from dinner:
That goldsmith there, were he not pack'd with her,
Could witness it, for he was with me then;                         220
Who parted with me to go fetch a chain,
Promising to bring it to the Porpentine,
Where Balthazar and I did dine together.
Our dinner done, and he not coming thither,
I went to seek him: in the street I met him,                       225
And in his company that gentleman.
There did this perjured goldsmith swear me down
That I this day of him received the chain,
Which, God he knows, I saw not: for the which
He did arrest me with an officer.                                  230
I did obey; and sent my peasant home
For certain ducats: he with none return'd.
Then fairly I bespoke the officer
To go in person with me to my house.
By the way we met my wife, her sister, and a rabble more           235
Of vile confederates. Along with them
They brought one Pinch, a hungry lean-faced villain,
A mere anatomy, a mountebank,
A threadbare juggler, and a fortune-teller,
A needy, hollow-eyed, sharp-looking wretch,                        240
A living-dead man: this pernicious slave,
Forsooth, took on him as a conjurer;
And, gazing in mine eyes, feeling my pulse,
And with no face, as 'twere, outfacing me,
Cries out, I was possess'd. Then all together                      245
They fell upon me, bound me, bore me thence,
And in a dark and dankish vault at home
There left me and my man, both bound together;
Till, gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder,
I gain'd my freedom, and immediately                               250
Ran hither to your Grace; whom I beseech
To give me ample satisfaction
For these deep shames and great indignities.

_Ang._ My lord, in truth, thus far I witness with him,
That he dined not at home, but was lock'd out.                     255

_Duke._ But had he such a chain of thee or no?

_Ang._ He had, my lord: and when he ran in here,
These people saw the chain about his neck.

_Sec. Mer._ Besides, I will be sworn these ears of mine
Heard you confess you had the chain of him,                        260
After you first forswore it on the mart:
And thereupon I drew my sword on you;
And then you fled into this abbey here,
From whence, I think, you are come by miracle.

_Ant. E._ I never came within these abbey-walls;                   265
Nor ever didst thou draw thy sword on me:
I never saw the chain, so help me Heaven:
And this is false you burden me withal!

_Duke._ Why, what an intricate impeach is this!
I think you all have drunk of Circe's cup.                         270
If here you housed him, here he would have been;
If he were mad, he would not plead so coldly:
You say he dined at home; the goldsmith here
Denies that saying. Sirrah, what say you?

_Dro. E._ Sir, he dined with her there, at the Porpentine.         275

_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 Grace.

_Duke._ Why, this is strange. Go call the abbess hither.           280
I think you are all mated, or stark mad.

    [_Exit one to the Abbess._

_Aege._ Most mighty Duke, vouchsafe me speak a word:
Haply I see a friend will save my life,
And pay the sum that may deliver me.

_Duke._ Speak freely, Syracusian, what thou wilt.                  285

_Aege._ Is not your name, sir, call'd Antipholus?
And is not that your bondman, Dromio?

_Dro. E._ Within this hour I was his bondman, sir,
But he, I thank him, gnaw'd in two my cords:
Now am I Dromio, and his man unbound.                              290

_Aege._ I am sure you both of you remember me.

_Dro. E._ Ourselves we do remember, sir, by you;
For lately we were bound, as you are now.
You are not Pinch's patient, are you, sir?

_Aege._ Why look you strange on me? you know me well.              295

_Ant. E._ I never saw you in my life till now.

_Aege._ O, grief hath changed me since you saw me last,
And careful hours with time's deformed hand
Have written strange defeatures in my face:
But tell me yet, dost thou not know my voice?                      300

_Ant. E._ Neither.

_Aege._ Dromio, nor thou?

_Dro. E._              No, trust me, sir, nor I.

_Aege._ 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.                    305

_Aege._ Not know my voice! O time's extremity,
Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poor tongue
In seven short years, that here my only son
Knows not my feeble key of untuned cares?
Though now this grained face of mine be hid                        310
In sap-consuming winter's drizzled snow,
And all the conduits of my blood froze up,
Yet hath my night of life some memory,
My wasting lamps some fading glimmer left,
My dull deaf ears a little use to hear:                            315
All these old witnesses--I cannot err--
Tell me thou art my son Antipholus.

_Ant. E._ I never saw my father in my life.

_Aege._ But seven years since, in Syracusa, boy,
Thou know'st we parted: but perhaps, my son,                       320
Thou shamest 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, Syracusian, twenty years                      325
Have I been patron to Antipholus,
During which time he ne'er saw Syracusa:
I see thy age and dangers make thee dote.

  _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.                330

_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._ I, sir, am Dromio: pray, let me stay.                    335

_Ant. S._ Aegeon art thou not? or else his ghost?

_Dro. S._ O, my old master! who hath bound him here?

_Abb._ Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds,
And gain a husband by his liberty.
Speak, old Aegeon, if thou be'st the man                           340
That hadst a wife once call'd Aemilia,
That bore thee at a burden two fair sons:
O, if thou be'st the same Aegeon, speak,
And speak unto the same Aemilia!

_Aege._ If I dream not, thou art Aemilia:                          345
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                            350
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:                  355
These two Antipholuses, these two so like,
And these two Dromios, one in semblance,--
Besides her urging of her wreck at sea,--
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.                               360
Antipholus, thou camest 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.                                          365

_Ant. E._ Brought to this town by that most famous warrior.
Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.

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

_Ant. S._ I, gentle mistress.

_Adr._                      And are not you my husband?

_Ant. E._ No; I say nay to that.                                   370

_Ant. S._ And so do I; yet did she call me so:
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother. [_To Lucia._] What I told you then,
I hope I shall have leisure to make good;
If this be not a dream I see and hear.                             375

_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,                     380
By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.

_Dro. E._ No, none by me.

_Ant. S._ This purse of ducats I received from you,
And Dromio my man did bring them me.
I see we still did meet each other's man;                          385
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me;
And thereupon these ERRORS are 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.                    390

_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,                          395
That by this sympathized one day's error
Have suffer'd wrong, go keep us company,
And we shall make full satisfaction.--
Thirty-three years have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; and till this present hour                        400
My heavy burthen ne'er delivered.
The Duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossips' feast, and go with me;
After so long grief, such nativity!                                405

_Duke._ With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast.

    [_Exeunt all but Ant. S., Ant. E., Dro. S., and Dro. E._

_Dro. S._ Master, shall I fetch your stuff from ship-board?

_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:             410
Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon:
Embrace thy brother there; rejoice with him.

    [_Exeunt Ant. S. and Ant. E._

_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.                           415

_Dro. E._ Methinks you are my glass, and not my brother:
I see by you I am a sweet-faced youth.
Will you walk in to see their gossiping?

_Dro. S._ Not I, sir; you are my elder.

_Dro. E._ That's a question: how shall we try it?                  420

_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._

  NOTES: V, 1.

  SCENE I. A street ... Priory] Pope. See note (VIII).
  3: _doth_] F1. _did_ F2 F3 F4.
  9: Enter ...] Enter Antipholis and Dromio againe. Ff.
  12: _to me_] _with me_ Collier MS.
  18: _Beside_] Ff. _Besides_ Pope.
  26: _know'st ... thee._] Ff. _knowest ... thee._ Pope.
    _knowest well ... thee._ Hanmer. _know'st ... thee, sir._ Capell.
    _know'st ... thee swear_ Grant White conj.
  30: _mine honesty_] F1 F2 F3. _my honesty_ F4.
  33: SCENE II. Pope.
  33, 36: _God's ... God's_] F3 F4. _God ... God's_ F1 F2.
  38: _quiet, people._] Theobald. _quiet people._ Ff.
  45: _sour_] Rowe. _sower_ Ff.
  46: _much_] F1 F4. _much, much_ F2 F3.
  49: _of sea_] F1. _at sea_ F2 F3 F4.
  50: _Hath not else his eye_] _Hath nought else his eye?_ Anon. conj.
  51: _his ... in_] _in ... and_ Anon. conj.
  61: _Ay_] _Ay, ay_ Hanmer.
  66: _it_] _at it_ Pope.
  69: _venom_] _venome_ F1 F2. _venomous_ F3 F4. _venom'd_ Pope.
  _woman,_] _woman_ Pope.
  69, 70: _clamours ... Poisons_] _clamours ... Poison_ Pope.
    _clamour ... Poisons_ Capell.
  72, 75: _thereof_] _therefore_ Johnson.
  74: _make_] F1. _makes_ F2 F3 F4.
  77: _by_] _with_ Pope.
  79: _moody_] F1. _muddy_ F2 F3 F4.] _moody, moping_ Hanmer.
    _moody sadness_ Singer conj.
  _melancholy_] _melancholia_ Anon. conj.
  80: _Kinsman_] _kins-woman_ Capell. ending line 79 at _kins-_.
    _A'kin_ Hanmer.
  Warburton marks this line as spurious.
  81: _her_] _their_ Malone (Heath conj.).
  86: _Have_] F2 F3 F4. _Hath_ F1.
  88: _wildly_] _wild_ Capell.
  89: _these_] F1 F2. _those_ F3 F4.
  112: [Exit.] Theobald.
  117: [Exeunt. Enter Merchant and Goldsmith. F2.
  121: _death_] F3 F4. _depth_ F1 F2.
  _sorry_] _solemn_ Collier MS.
  124: _reverend_ F3 F4. _reverent_ F1 F2.
  128: Enter Adriana and Lucia. F2.
  130: SCENE III. Pope.
  attended] Theobald.
  132: Enter Adriana. F2.
  134: _reverend_] Ff.
  137: _Whom_] F2 F3 F4. _Who_ F1.
  138: _important_] F1. _impoteant_ F2. _impotent_ F3 F4.
    _all-potent_ Rowe.
  _letters_] F1 F2 F3. _letter_ F4.
  148: _strong_] _strange_ Malone conj.
  150: _with_] _here_ Capell. _then_ Ritson conj.
  _and himself_] mad himself Warburton.
  158: _hence_] F1 F2. _thence_ F3 F4.
  168: SCENE IV. Pope.
  Enter a servant.] Capell. Enter a Messenger. Ff.
  174: _to him_] om. Capell.
  _and_] om. Hanmer. _and the_ om. Steevens.
  176: _some_] F1 _some other_ F2 F3 F4.
  179: _to_] F1 F3 F4. _of_ F2.
  183: _scorch_] _scotch_ Warburton.
  205: _While_] F1 _Whilst_ F2 F3 F4.
  208: _To-day_] om. Hanmer.
  _So befal_] _So fall_ Capell.
  212, 213: [To Mer. Capell.
  228: _of_] F1. _from_ F2 F3 F4.
  235: _By the way_] _To which he yielded: by the way_ Capell,
    making two verses of 235. See note (IX).
  235, 236: Pope ends these lines _and ... confederates_.
  236: _Along with them_] om. Pope.
  247: _And in_] _Into_ Lettsom conj.
  248: _There_] _They_ Collier MS.
  249: _in sunder_] F1. _asunder_ F2 F3 F4.
  267, 268: _chain, so ... Heaven: And_] _chain. So ... heaven As_
    Dyce.
  281: _mad_] _made_ F2.
  [Exit ...] F1 F2. [Enter ... F3 F4.
  291: _you both_] F1. _both_ F2 F3 F4.
  298: _deformed_] _deforming_ Capell.
  304: _Ay, sir,_] Capell. _I sir,_ Ff. _I, sir?_ Pope.
    _Ay, sir?_ Malone.
  304, 305: Printed as verse by Capell: _But ... whatsoever A ... him_.
  307: _crack'd and splitted_] _crack'd my voice, split_ Collier MS.
  309: _of untuned cares_] _untuned of cares_ Anon. conj.
  _cares_] _ears_ Anon. conj.
  314: _lamps_] _lamp_ Pope.
  316: _All_] _And all_ Rowe.
  _old_] _hold_ Warburton.
  _witnesses--I cannot err--_] _witnesses, I cannot erre._ Ff.
  319: _Syracusa, boy_] Capell. _Syracusa boy_ Ff. _Syracusa bay_ Rowe.
    _Syracusa's bay_ Hanmer.
  329: SCENE VII. Pope.
  [All ... them.] [All ... him. Warburton.
  332: _these. Which_] _these, which_ Ff.
  355-360: _Why ... together_] Ff insert this speech after 344.
    The alteration is due to Capell.
  355: _his_] F1 F2. _this_ F3 F4. _the_ Pope.
  _story right_] _story's light_ Capell.
  356: _Antipholuses, these_] _Antipholus, these_ F1.
    _Antipholis, these_ F2 F3 F4. _Antipholis's_ Hanmer. See note (I).
  357: _these_] F1 F4. _those_ F2 F3.
  _semblance_] _semblance prove_ Capell.
  358: _Besides her urging of her_]
    _Both sides emerging from their_ Hanmer.
    _Besides his urging of his_ Collier MS.
    _Besides his urging of her_ Dyce conj.
    Malone supposes a line, beginning with _These_, lost after 358.
  _wreck at sea,--_] _wreck,--all say,_ Jackson conj.
  359: _These are_] _These plainly are_ Pope.
  361: Ff prefix 'Duke.'
  372: _her sister_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
  373: [To Lucia.] [Aside to Lucia. Staunton conj.
  387: _are arose_] Ff. _all arose_ Rowe. _rare arose_ Staunton.
    _here arose_ Anon. conj.
  394: _hear_] _here_ Johnson.
  398: _we shall make_] _ye shalt have_ Pope.
  399: _Thirty-three_] Ff. _Twenty-five_ Theobald.
    _Twenty-three_ Capell. See note (X).
  _but_] F1. _been_ F2 F3 F4. om. Hanmer.
  400: _and till_] _nor till_ Theobald. _until_ Malone (Boaden conj.).
    _and at_ Collier MS.
  401: _burthen ne'er_] Dyce. _burthen are_ F1.
    _burthens are_ F2 F3 F4. _burden not_ Capell.
    _burden undelivered_ Collier. _burden here_ Grant White.
    _burden has_ Anon. conj. (ap. Halliwell).
  404: _Go ... and go_] _Hence ... along_ Lettsom conj.
    _So ... all go_ Edd. conj.
  _and go_] F1 F3 F4. _and goe_ F2. _and gaud_ Warburton.
    _and joy_ Heath conj. _and gout_ Jackson conj. _and see_
    Anon. conj.
  405: _nativity_] Ff. _felicity_ Hanmer. _festivity_ Dyce
    (Johnson conj.).
  _such nativity!_] _suits festivity._ Anon. conj.
  406: [Exeunt ...] [Exeunt omnes. Manet the two Dromio's and two
    brothers. Ff.
  407: SCENE VIII. Pope.
  _fetch_] _go fetch_ S. Walker conj.
  _ship-board_] _shipboard for you_ Capell conj.
  412: [Exeunt ...] [Exit. Ff.
  420: _we try it?_] _we trie it._ F1 _I try it._ F2 F3 F4.
    _we try it, brother?_ Capell.
  421: _We'll_] _We will_ Capell, ending lines 419-421 at
    _question ... draw ... first._
  _senior_] Pope. _signior_ F1 F2. _signiority_ F3 F4.
  422: [embracing. Rowe.

NOTES.

NOTE I.

In the spelling of the name of 'Solinus' we have followed the first
Folio. In the subsequent Folios it was altered, most probably by an
accident in F2 to 'Salinus.' The name occurs only once in the copies,
and that in the first line of the text. The name which we have given as
'Antipholus' is spelt indifferently thus, and 'Antipholis' in the
Folios. It will hardly be doubted that the lines in the rhyming passage,
III. 2. 2, 4, where the Folios read 'Antipholus,' are correctly amended
by Capell, and prove that 'Antipholus' is the spelling of Shakespeare.
Either word is evidently corrupted from 'Antiphilus.' These names are
merely arbitrary, but the surnames, 'Erotes' and 'Sereptus,' are most
probably errors for 'Errans,' or 'Erraticus' and 'Surreptus,' of which
the latter is plainly derived from Plautus' _Menaechmus Surreptus_,
a well-known character in Shakespeare's day: see Brian Melbancke's
_Philotimus_ (1582), p. 160: 'Thou art like Menechmus Subreptus his wife
... whose "husband shall not neede to be justice of peace" for she "will
have a charter to make her justice of coram."' See _Merry Wives_, I. 1.
4, 5. In spelling 'Syracusian' instead of 'Syracusan' we follow the
practice of the Folios in an indifferent matter. 'Epidamnum' not
'Epidamium' is found in the English translation of the _Menaechmi_,
1595, so the latter form in F1 is probably a printer's error.

NOTE II.

I. 2. 1. That this scene is laid at the Mart appears from Antipholus's
allusion to this place in II. 2. 5, 6:

  'I could not speak with Dromio since at first
   I sent him from the mart.'

As this play is derived from a classical prototype, Capell has supposed
no change of scene, but lays the whole action in 'a Publick Place;'
evidently with much inconvenience to the Persons.

NOTE III.

II. 1. 30. Johnson's ingenious conjecture may have been suggested to him
by a passage in _As you like it_, IV. 3. 17:

  'Her love is not the hare that I do hunt.'

But the received reading of the Folios is perhaps confirmed by a line in
the present play, III. 2. 7:

  'Or if you like elsewhere, do it by stealth.'

NOTE IV.

II. 1. 108 sqq. The only correction of this passage which we believe to
be quite free from doubt is that in line 112, 'Wear' for 'Where.'
Accordingly, with this exception, we have retained the precise words of
the first Folio.

NOTE V.

IV. 2. 38. Grey's conjecture of 'lanes' for 'lands' is made somewhat
more probable by the existence of copies of F1 in which the word
appears 'lans.' A corrector would naturally change this rather to
'lands' than to 'lanes,' because of the rhyme.

NOTE VI.

IV. 2. 46. The Folios have 'send him Mistris redemption,' and Rowe, by
his punctuation and capital R, made Dromio call Luciana 'Redemption.'
Pope and Theobald seem to have followed him, though they give the small
r. The Folios cannot be made chargeable with this error, for the comma
does not regularly follow vocatives in these editions where we expect
it. There is no comma, for instance, following the word 'Mistress' in
IV. 3. 75 or in IV. 4. 39.

NOTE VII.

IV. 4. 29. The word 'ears' might probably be better printed ''ears' for
'years;' for a pun--hitherto, however, unnoticed--seems to be indicated
by the following words. A very farfetched explanation has been offered
by Steevens, and accepted by Delius and, we believe, by all the modern
editors, namely, that Antipholus has wrung Dromio's ears so often that
they have attained a length like an ass's.

NOTE VIII.

V. 1. 1. Shakespeare uses the words 'Priory' and 'Abbey' as synonymous.
Compare V. 1. 37 and V. 1. 122.

NOTE IX.

V. 1. 235. It might possibly be better to print this line as two lines,
the first being broken:

  'By the way we met
   My wife....'

But the place is probably corrupt.

NOTE X.

V. 1. 399. The number Thirty-three has been altered by editors to bring
the figures into harmony with other periods named in the play. From
I. 1. 126, 133 the age of Antipholus has been computed at twenty-three;
from I. 1. 126 and V. 1. 308 we derive twenty-five. The Duke says he has
been patron to Antipholus for twenty years, V. 1. 325; but three or five
seems too small an age to assign for the commencement of this patronage.
Antipholus saved the Duke's life in the wars 'long since,' V. 1. 161,
191. His 'long experience' of his wife's 'wisdom' and her 'years' are
mentioned, III. 1. 89, 90. But Shakespeare probably did not compute the
result of his own figures with any great care or accuracy.

       *       *       *       *       *
           *       *       *       *
       *       *       *       *       *

Sources:

The editors' Preface (e-text 23041) discusses the 17th- and
18th-century editions in detail; the newer (19th-century) editions
are simply listed by name. The following editions may appear in the
Notes. All inset text is quoted from the Preface.

  Folios:
  F1 1623; F2 (no date given); F3 1663; F4 1685.
    "The five plays contained in this volume occur in the first Folio
    in the same order, and ... were there printed for the first time."

  Early editions:
  Rowe 1709
  Pope 1715
    "Pope was the first to indicate the _place_ of each new scene;
    as, for instance, _Tempest_, I. 1. 'On a ship at sea.' He also
    subdivided the scenes as given by the Folios and Rowe, making
    a fresh scene whenever a new character entered--an arrangement
    followed by Hanmer, Warburton, and Johnson. For convenience of
    reference to these editions, we have always recorded the
    commencement of Pope's scenes."
  Theobald 1733
  Hanmer ("Oxford edition") 1744
  Warburton 1747
  Johnson 1765
  Capell 1768; _also Capell's annotated copy of F2_
  Steevens 1773
  Malone 1790
  Reed 1803

  Later editions:
  Singer, Knight, Cornwall, Collier, Phelps, Halliwell, Dyce, Staunton

       *       *       *       *       *
           *       *       *       *
       *       *       *       *       *

Errata

  IV. 2. 17 note: ... Anon.  [Aonn.]
  Note IV. ... line 112, 'Wear' for 'Where.'  [line 111]
  Note VI. ... the word 'Mistress' in / IV. 3. 75 ...  [IV. 3. 74]

Angelo the goldsmith apologizes to the Merchant to whom he owes money. Angelo's sorry to have made the Merchant wait, but he's really shocked that E. Antipholus hasn't come through. Then, to everyone's surprise, S. Antipholus approaches, wearing Angelo's necklace. Angelo confronts S. Antipholus about the necklace, and S. Antipholus rightly says he never denied he had it. The Merchant gets involved, and says he heard Antipholus deny he had the necklace he now wears. Tempers get hot and the men draw their swords. Adriana thankfully enters just in time to break up the fight. She tells the Merchant that her husband is mad, and she calls upon others present to bind up the mad men. S. Antipholus and S. Dromio, sensing their doom, run off into the priory and seek sanctuary. Just then an abbess enters, and asks just what exactly everybody thinks they're doing, disturbing God's peace. Adriana informs the Abbess she's just trying to get her man, who's been strange over the last week, but seems to be particularly insane today. The Abbess wonders what it is that has made the man mad. She asks if he's lost money in a sea venture, or perhaps buried a friend, or fallen in love with another woman. Adriana admits it might be the last one about another woman . The Abbess says Adriana should have been more firm about this. Adriana insists she did nag him about it often, and the Abbess decides it was Adriana's nagging that did the man in. The Abbess goes on for a bit, painting Adriana as a nagging shrew, and Luciana is surprised that her sister just lies down and takes it. Adriana says the Abbess's criticisms of her are basically how she would've criticized herself. Regardless, she'd just like them to go into the priory and fetch her husband. The Abbess is all, "I don't think so." She says if the guys went into the priory for sanctuary, it's sanctuary they'll get. The Abbess also insists the man won't leave her care until she tries all sorts of drugs and prayers and "wholesome syrups" on him. The Abbess is insistent, and she leaves Adriana distressed and without a man. At Luciana's suggestion, Adriana decides she'll go to the Duke and weep at his feet until he has her husband forcibly removed from the Abbess's care. The Merchant points out that it's 5pm, so the Duke should be along soon to oversee the public beheading of a poor Syracusian merchant for showing up in Ephesus. The Duke enters with Egeon and some officers. He reminds the crowd that if anyone will provide the sum of 1,000 marks, Egeon's life will be spared. Adriana doesn't care so much about Egeon, and instead shouts out that she seeks some other justice, specifically against the tiny old nun. She explains to the Duke that her husband seems mad, and that the Abbess won't let him out of, nor let anyone into, the priory. A messenger arrives and claims that Antipholus and Dromio have broken their bonds and attacked the doctor who has been attending them with fire and scissors. The messenger says Antipholus promised he was coming to get his wife next. Adriana is incredulous, as she thinks her husband is actually in the priory. But she's wrong! Of course, just then, E. Antipholus shows up with E. Dromio. Adriana is shocked and convinced he moves about invisibly, as there's no way to explain how he left the priory without her notice. E. Antipholus pleads that the Duke owes him justice, especially in exchange for all the service E. Antipholus did for him in war. Egeon offers that he recognizes these men as his son and his son's servant, Dromio, but the old man is ignored. Egeon's claims are drowned out by E. Antipholus railing against his wife for abusing and dishonoring him. The Duke then gets the whole story from E. Antipholus's perspective: E. Antipholus complains that his wife locked him out of the house and that Angelo wrongly accused him of taking the golden necklace. Then he was wrongly arrested, and his servant, Dromio, didn't bring his bail. When he finally got fed up and went with the officer to collect the bail from his house, he found his wife with a quack doctor, who declared him possessed and left him tied up and sealed in a dark vault in his own home. He gnawed open his bonds with his own teeth, and escaped to see the Duke. It's been quite a day. All this would be reason to feel really bad for E. Antipholus, but Angelo points out that he actually did give E. Antipholus the necklace, and the man was seen wearing it. The Merchant asks whether E. Antipholus doesn't remember being challenged to a duel and running into the priory . Of course, E. Antipholus has no idea about any of this; S. Antipholus is still locked in the priory, and frankly this whole situation is getting a bit tiresome. The Duke squabbles around about the Courtesan's ring, and finally he decides everyone is mad, and someone should call the Abbess. Egeon finally speaks up, saying he thinks he's found men to pay his bond. He identifies Antipholus and Dromio correctly, but they have no idea who he is. He laments that he must appear much changed by grief, and then gives a beautiful speech about the passage of time. Though his face is grizzled and wrinkled, and he hasn't aged gracefully, he says his memory still glimmers--he recognizes in this man his son, Antipholus. Antipholus of Ephesus, seemingly unmoved, offers that he's never met his dad. Like, ever. Egeon is insistent, he says it's only been seven years since the men parted in Syracuse. He wonders if his son is ashamed to acknowledge him because of his miserable state. E. Antipholus insists he's never even been to Syracuse and the Duke also asserts that he's known E. Antipholus for twenty years, and the young man has never been to Syracuse in all that time. Egeon is about to be dismissed as a doddering old man when the Abbess enters. Actually, not only has the Abbess come, she's brought with her Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse. Finally, everyone is face to face with the two sets of identical twins. The Abbess reveals that she's Aemilia, Egeon's long lost wife. After the shipwreck, her boys were taken from her by some Corinthian fisherman, leaving her alone in Epidamium. She didn't know what happened to them from there, but it's been her lot to live as a nun ever since. The Duke dons his Captain Obvious hat and declares, "These sets of identical twins are long lost brothers. The Antipholuses are sons of Egeon and Aemilia, and the Dromios are the two servant boys!" The boys who were taken to Corinth by the fisherman explain that they eventually came to Ephesus with the warrior Duke Menaphon, who is the Duke's uncle. Moving briskly along, the pairs then clear up the calamity about who had dinner with Adriana, who got the necklace, who was sent for bail money, and who brought bail money. E. Antipholus tries to pay the Duke bail for his father, but the Duke demurs, and instead just grants Egeon his life. The Courtesan gets her ring back; Egeon gets his sons back; and Aemilia gets her husband back. Also, now that it's clear that he isn't Adriana's husband, S. Antipholus reiterates his offer to Luciana to be her husband and give her happiness. Finally, Aemilia ushers everyone into the abbey so they can talk over that bad, fateful day when they were separated, and the fateful day that's brought them together again.

Angelo the goldsmith and the Second Merchant are discussing how Antipholus of Ephesus claimed to have never received the gold chain from Angelo, when they encounter Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse. Angelo sees the gold chain hanging from Antipholus' neck, and they exchange harsh words that lead to drawn swords. Just then Adriana, Luciana, and the Courtesan come in, and Antipholus and Dromio flee into a nearby abbey. The Abbess comes out and demands to know what is going on. Adriana describes her husband's madness, but after hearing the story, the Abbess blames Adriana's jealousy for driving Antipholus mad and denies everyone entry into her house, saying that she will cure the man herself. It is now five o'clock, and Duke Solinus appears, leading Egeon to his execution. Adriana, seeing the Duke, appeals to him for aid in removing her husband from the abbey, describing his madness and their attempts to control him. The Duke, remembering promises that he made to Adriana when she married Antipholus, agrees to mediate--but just then a messenger comes in, with news that Antipholus and Dromio  have escaped from Pinch's clutches. Adriana calls him a liar, saying that her husband is in the abbey, but then Antipholus himself rushes in, accompanied by his slave and demanding that the Duke grant him justice against his wife, who has locked him out of the house, allowed him to be arrested, and then placed him in the hands of Pinch. There is a flurry of charges and countercharges, and the Duke summons the Abbess, hoping that she can untangle the mess. Egeon, meanwhile, goes up to Antipholus of Ephesus and, mistaking him for the son he brought up, and greets him happily. Antipholus E. is confused and says that he never saw his father in his life, and that he has always been a citizen of Ephesus. Then, mercifully, the Abbess enters, bringing with her Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse, which causes general consternation. The Abbess greets Egeon and declares that she is his wife, Emilia, long separated from him, and that the identical Antipholi are their twin sons. The rest of the tangle is quickly explained: The ring is returned to the Courtesan, the gold chain is paid for, and the Duke refuses an offer of payment for Egeon's life, declaring that the old man is pardoned. Then, the entire company retires inside the Abbey for a celebratory feast, with the two Dromios going last, hand in hand, "like brother and brother .

"  Commentary The final act consists of a mounting confusion that is finally ended by the intervention of the Abbess, Emilia. Her character appears for the first time here and acts as a kind of deus ex machina to untangle the web of errors in which the other characters are trapped. Her social status within the city, however, is a matter of debate: some critics see her as a priestess of Diana, the pagan protectress of Ephesus, while others see her as a Catholic nun. Making her a Catholic would be an interesting choice for a playwright surrounded by the fervent Protestantism of Elizabethan England; there are other references to Catholic practices in the text, especially from the two Dromios, who repeatedly refer to their "beads"  and cross themselves--both of which would have been immediately recognized as Catholic behavior by the religiously aware audience of Shakespeare's time. Regardless of her religious affiliation, Emilia's appearance and explanation erases what was quickly turning into an ugly scene, as even the sensible Duke had begun to lean toward witchcraft as an explanation. "I think you have all drunk of Circe's cup ," he says, referring to a mythological Greek sorceress; and when the two pairs of twins are on stage together for the first time, he demands to know "of these, which is the natural man, and which the spirit? Who deciphers them?". The decipherer, of course, is Emilia, and her quick explanation is such a relief that the audience may gloss over the peculiar question of why she spent 20 years in Ephesus without ever revealing herself to the son who was living there, let alone telling him about the missing half of his family. This is a farce, so we accept a little improbability--after all, the fact that both Antipholus brothers  are wearing the same clothes on the day that they meet in Ephesus is coincidence enough to make all others pale in comparison. So all ends happily, and even the Duke, previously a model of legalism, is willing to waive the requirements of his city's law in the face of such general happiness. It is worth noting, however, that the Antipholus brothers seem less than enthusiastic to finally meet one another. The Ephesian twin is anxious to get back to his wife and his role as a solid citizen and tradesman, while the Syracusan seems to have overcome his earlier angst and spiritual incompleteness and wants to get down to the important business of pursuing Luciana. Significantly, it is their slaves, the comic centers of a comic play, who are most affected by the reunion. "I see by you I am a sweet-faced youth ," Dromio of Ephesus says, and then they walk offstage arm in arm, as two happy clowns should.