'Tis so,
I am an ass; else it could never be,
But I should know her as well as she knows me.
Adr. Come, come, no longer will I be a fool,
To put the finger in the and weep,
Whilst man, and master, laugh my woes to scorn.-
Come, sir, to dinner; Dromio, keep the gate:--
Husband, I'll dine above with you to-day,
And shrive13 you of a thousand idle pranks :
Sirrah, if any ask you for

your master,
Say, he dines forth, and let no creature enter.-
Come, sister:-Dromio, play the porter well.

Ant. S. Am I in earth, in heaven, or in hell?
Sleeping or waking? mad, or well advis'd?
Known unto these, and to myself disguis'd!
I'll say as they say, and persever so,
And in this mist at all adventures go.

Dro. S. Master, shall I be porter at the gate? Adr. Ay; and let none enter, lest I break your pate.

Luc. Come, come, Antipholus, we dine too late.

1 A carcanet or chain for a lady's neck; a collar or chain of gold and precious stones: from the French lost; in which Luce might be threatened with a rope; 6 It seems probable that a line following this has been carcan. It was sometimes spelled karkanet and quar-which would have furnished the rhyme now wanting. quenet.

Ant. E. Well, I'll break in; Go borrow me a | Let not my sister read it in your eye;

Muffle your false love with some show of blind-It is thyself, mine own self's better part;

5 In the old copy the first four lines stand thus :And may it be that you have quite forgot A husband's office? shall, Antipholus, Even in the spring of love, thy love-springs rot? Shall love in buildings grow so ruinate? The present emendation was proposed by Steevens, though he admitted Theobald's into his own text. Lovesprings are the buds of love, or rather the young shoots. The spring, or young shoots that grow stems or roots of trees.'-Baret.

Ant. S. Call thyself sister, sweet, for I aim1
thee:

Thee will I love, and with thee lead my life;
Thou hast ro husband yet, nor I no wife :

Give me thy hand.

Luc.

O, soft, sir, hold you still;

I'll fetch my sister, to get her good will. [Exit Luc.

Enter, from the House of ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus,
DROMIO of Syracuse.

Ant S. Why, how now, Dromio? where run'st thou so fast?

Ant. S. Where America, the Indies? Dro. S. O, sir, upon her nose, all o'er embel Dro. S. Do you know me, sir? am I Dromio?lish'd with rubies, carbuncles, sapphires, dechning am I your man? am I myself? their rich aspect to the hot breath of Spain; who

Ant. S. Thou art Dromio, thou art my man, thou sent whole armadas of carracks to be ballast at art thyself. her nose. Dro. S. I am an ass, I am a woman's man, and besides myself.

Ant. S. What woman's man? and how besides thyself?

Dro. S. Marry, sir, besides myself, I am due to a woman: one that claims me, one that haunts me,

Ant. S. Where stood Belgia, the Netherlands! Dro. S. O, sir, I did not look so low. To cotclude, this drudge, or diviner, laid claim to me; call'd me Dromio, swore, I was assur'd to her; told me what privy marks I had about me, as the mark of my shoulder, the mole in my neck, the great wart on my left arm, that I, amazed, ran from Ant. S. What claim lays she to thee? her as a witch: and, I think, if my breast had not Dro. S. Marry, sir, such claim as you would lay been made of faith, and my heart of steel, she had to your horse; and she would have me as a beast:transform'd me to a curtail-dog, and made me tara not that, I being a beast, she would have me; but i' the wheel.10 that she, being a very beastly creature, lays claim

one that will have me.

to me.

Ant. S. What is she?

Dro. S. A very reverend body; ay, such a one as a man may not speak of, without he say, sirreverence: I have but lean luck in the match, and yet is she a wondrous fat marriage.

Ant. S. How dost thou mean, a fat marriage? Dro. S. Marry, sir, she's the kitchen wench, and all grease; and I know not what use to put her to, but to make a lamp of her, and run from her by her own light. I warrant, her rags, and the tallow in them, will burn a Poland winter: if she lives till doomsday, she'll burn a week longer than the whole world.

Ant. S. What complexion is she of?

Dro. S. Swart,3 li my shoe, but her face, nothing like so clean kept: For why? she sweats, a man may go over shoes in the grime of it.

Ant. S. That's a fault that water will mend. Dro. S. No, sir, 'tis in grain; Noah's flood could not do it.

Ant. S. What's her name?

Dro. S. Nell, sir;-but her name and three quarters, that is, an ell and three quarters, will not measure her from hip to hip.

Ant. S. Then she bears some breadth?

Dro, S. No longer from head to foot, than from hip to hip; she is spherical, like a globe; I could find out countries in her.

Ant. S. In what part of her body stands Ireland? Dro. S. Marry, sir, in her buttocks; I found it out by the bogs.

Ant. S. Where Scotland?

Ant. S. Go, hic thee presently, post to the road;
And if the wind blow any way from shore,
I will not harbour in this town to night.
If any bark put forth, come to the mart,
Where I will walk, till thou return to me.
If every one knows us, and we know none,
'Tis time, I think, to trudge, pack, and be gone.
Dro. S. As from a bear a man would run for
life,

So fly I from her that would be my wife.
Ant. S. There's none but witches do inhabit

here;

And therefore 'tis high time that I were hence.
She that doth call me husband, even my soul
Doth for a wife abhor: but her fair sister,
Possess'd with such a gentle sovereign grace,
Of such enchanting presence and discourse,
Hath almost made me traitor to myself:
But, lest myself be guilty to self-wrong,
I'll stop my ears against the mermaid's song.
Enter ANGELO.

Ang. Master Antipholus?
Ant. S. Ay, that's my name.

Ang. I know it well, sir: Lo, here is the chain;
I thought to have ta'en you at the Porcupine:12
The chain unfinish'd made me stay thus long.

Ant. S. What is your will, that I shall do with

this?

Ant. S. Made it for me, sir! I bespoke it not. Ang. Not once nor twice, but twenty times you have:

Dro. S. I found it by the barrenness; hard, in Go home with it, and please your wife withal; the palm of the hand.""

Ant. S. Where France?

1 The old copy reads I am thee. The present read. ing is Steevens'. Others have proposed I mean thee; but aim for aim at was sometimes used.

2 This is a very old corruption of save reverence, salva reverentia. See Blount's Glossography, 1652. 3 Swart, or swarth, i. e. dark, dusky, infuscus. 4 This poor conundrum is borrowed by Massinger in The Old Law.

5 Had this play been revived after the accession of James, it is probable this passage would have been struck out; as was that relative to the Scotch lord in The Merchant of Venice, Act i. Sc. 1.

And soon at supper-time I'll visit you,
And then receive my money for the chain.

6 An equivoque,' says Theobald, 'is intended. In 1589, Henry III. of France, being stabbed, was succeed. ed by Henry IV. of Navarre, whom he had appointedgy his successor; but whose claim the states of France resisted on account of his being a protestant. This I take to be what is meant by France making war against her heir. Elizabeth had sent over the Earl of Essex with four thousand men to the assistance of Henry of

12 Porcupine throughout the old editions of these plays is written porpentine. I find it written porpyn in an old phrase book, called Hormanni Vulgaria, 1519, thus: 'Porpyns have longer prickles than Yrchins.'

Ant. S. I pray you, sir, receive the money now,
For fear you ne'er see chain, nor money, more.
Ang. You are a merry man, sir; fare you well.
[Exit.
Ant. S. What I should think of this, I cannot tell;
But this I think, there's no man is so vain,
That would refuse so fair an offer'd chain.
I see, a man here needs not live by shifts,
When in the streets he meets such golden gifts.
I'll to the mart, and there for Dromio stay;
If any ship put out, then straight away.

ACT IV.

[Exit.

SCENE I. The same. Enter a Merchant, AN-
GELO, and an Officer.

Mer. You know, since pentecost the sum is due,
And since I have not much importun'd you;
Nor now I had not, but that I am bound
To Persia, and want gilders for my voyage:
Therefore make present satisfaction,
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,
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.

Of. That labour may you save; see where he

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.

go

Dro. E. I buy a thousand pound a year! I buy
rope!
[Exit DROMIO.
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,
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
Than I stand debted to this gentleman;
I pray you, see him presently discharg'd,
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:
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 your-
self?

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.

1 ie, accruing.

2 The old copy reads their.

3 I will for I shall is a Scotticism; but it is not unfrequent in old writers on this side of the Tweed.

4 Malone has a very long note on this passage, in which he says: it was not Angelo's meaning, that Antipholus of Ephesus should send a jewel or other token by him, but that Antipholus should send him with a verbal token to his wife, by which it might be ascer tained that he came from Antipholus; and that she might safely pay the price of the chain. In the name of common sense, what does this prove?-Can it signify

Your breach of promise to the Porcupine:
I should have clad you for not bringing it,
But, like a shrew, you first begin to brawl.
Mer. The hour steals on; I pray you, sir, des-
patch.

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;

Either send the chain, or send by me some token.4
Ant. E. Fie! now you run this humour out of

breath:

Come, where's the chain? I pray you let me see it.
Mer. My business cannot brook this dalliance;
Good sir, say, whe'r you'll answer me, or no;
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.
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.
Mer. Well, officer, arrest him at my suit.
Off. I do; and charge you in the duke's name to
obey me.

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 dar'st,

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:-
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.

Dro. S. Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum,
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-vitæ.
The ship is in her trim; the merry wind
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 pee.
vish sheep,

What ship of Epidamnum stays for me?

Dro. S. A ship you sent me to, to hire waftage." 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,
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,

whether the token Angelo wishes Antipholus to send
by him was to be verbal or material? Tokens were
common in Shakspeare's time of many kinds; there
were tavern tokens, which were counters of lead or
leather. There were written tokens or billes, as they
were then called, given to men by which they might
receive a certain sum of money,' &c. Such a one An-
gelo probably requires.

5 Freight, cargo.

6 Peerish was used for mad, or foolish

7 i. e. carriage; hire is here a dissyllable, and is spelt hier in the old copy.