ABB. Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds,
And gain a husband by his liberty:
Speak, old Ægeon, if thou be'st the man
That hadst a wife once call'd Æmilia,
That bore thee at a burthen two fair sons:
O, if thou be'st the same Ægeon, speak,
And speak unto the same Emilia !

ÆGE. If I dream not, thou art Æmilia:
If thou art she, tell me, where is that son
That floated with thee on the fatal raft?

ABB. By men of Epidamnum, he, and I,
And the twin Dromio, all were taken up:
But, by and by, rude fishermen of Corinth
By force took Dromio and my son from them,
And me they left with those of Epidamnum:
What then became of them I cannot tell;
I, to this fortune that you see me in.

DUKE. Why, here begins his morning story right.
These two Antipholus', these two so like,

And these two Dromios, one in semblance,-
Besides her urging of her wrack at sea,-
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Antipholus, thou cam'st from Corinth first?

ANT. S. No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse.

DUKE. Stay, stand apart; I know not which is which. ANT. E. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord. DRO. E. And I with him.

ANT. E. Brought to this town by that most 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.

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

ANG. That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.

ANT. S. I think it be, sir; I deny it not.

ANT. E. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.
ANG. I think I did, sir; I deny it not.
ADR. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,
By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.

DRO. E. No, none by me.

ANT. S. This purse of ducats I receiv'd from you,
And Dromio my man did bring them me:
I see, we still did meet each other's man,
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me,
And thereupon these Errors 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.

ANT. E. There, take it; and much thanks for my good cheer.

ABB. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains

To go with us into the abbey here,

And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes:
And all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathised one day's error
Have suffer'd wrong, go, keep us company,
And we shall make full satisfaction.
Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; nor, till this present hour,
My heavy burthens are delivered:

The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,

Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me;

After so long grief, such nativity!

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

[Exeunt DUKE, ABBESS, ÆGEON, Courtezan, Merchant,

ANGELO, and Attendants.

DRO. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard? ANT. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou embark'd? DRO. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur. ANT. S. He speaks to me; I am your master, Dromio: Come, go with us; we 'll look to that anon: Embrace thy brother there, rejoice with him.

[Exeunt ANT. S. and E., ADR., and Luc.

DRO. S. There is a fat friend at your master's house, That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner;

She now shall be my sister, not my wife.

DRO. E. Methinks, you are my glass, and not my brother: I see, by you, I am a sweet-fac'd youth. Will you walk in to see their gossiping? DRO. S. Not I, sir; you are my elder.

DRO. E. That's a question: how shall we try it? DRO. S. We'll draw cuts for the senior: till then, lead thou first.

DRO. E. Nay, then thus:

We came into the world like brother and brother:

And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.

[Exeunt.

VARIOUS READINGS.

"Yet, that the world may witness that my end
Was wrought by fortune, not by vile offence."

"The manuscript corrector of the folio, 1632," says Mr. Collier, "states that nature ought to be fortune, since Ægeon was not about to lose his life in the course of nature."

(ACT I., Sc. 1.)

He was brought to his end by nature, by the impulses of nature, in the desire to find his children, as he subsequently tells;not by "offence" against the laws of Ephesus.

"To seek thy hope by beneficial help." (ACT I., Sc. 1.)

Mr. Collier, in his edition of 1842, suggested this alteration of the line of the folio,

"To seek thy help by beneficial help."

The MS. Corrector has the same change.

Malone holds to the original. We have not altered the text, but we have expressed a former opinion that Mr. Collier's own suggestion was valuable. But still, it may be asked, what hope has Ægeon? He is ready to welcome death. His character is stoical.

"If thou had'st been Dromio to-day in my place,

Thou would'st have chang'd thy face for a name, or thy name

for a fuce."

The original has, "thy name for an ass." This correction would 66 seem more accurately to preserve the antithesis and the rhyme."

(ACT III., Sc. 1.)

at

It is scarcely necessary to preserve the antithesis. Antipholus had called him 66 an ass," which he is very indignant; and he cannot forget his indignation.

"Far more, far more to you do I incline." (ACT III., Sc. 2.)

The original line is,

"Far more, far more, to you do

I decline."

Mr. Collier thinks the change of the Corrector is preferable.

Mr. Dyce truly says of this proposed change, that the MS. corrector merely substituted a word more familiar to himself, and those of his time, than "decline."

66

"No, he 's in Tartar limbo, worse than hell :

A devil in an everlasting garment hath him, fell:
One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel,

Who has no touch of mercy, cannot feel." (Acr IV., Sc. 2.)

Mr. Collier gives the additional word, and the additional line of the MS. Corrector, as valuable things that had been lost.

We cannot but consider these additions as sentimental stuff, very much out of character-added in a more recent period than that of Shakspere, to make couplets.

GLOSSARY.

A-ROW. Act. V., Sc. 1.

In a row; one after the other.

ASSURED. Act III., Sc. 2. Affianced.

"Swore I was assured to her."

The word is used in the same sense of contracted or affianced, in 'King John.'

BAND. Act IV., Sc. 2. Bond.

So, in 'Richard II.'

"Hast thou, according to thy oath and band."

BUFF. Act IV., Sc. 2.

"A fellow all in buff."

The "shoulder-clapper," the bailiff, of Shakspere's time, was clothed in the buffjerkin, the coat of ox-skin, which was worn for defence by great captains as well as by humble ministers of the law.

CARCANET. Act III., Sc. 1. Chain, or necklace.

CIRCE. Act V., Sc. 1.

"I think you all have drunk of Circe's cup."

The companions of Ulysses, as described in Homer's Odyssey,' were transformed into swine, upon drinking out of the cup of the enchantress Circe.

COMPACT OF CREDIT. Act III., Sc. 2. Credulous.