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Therefore make present fatisfaction;

Or I'll attach you by this Officer.

Ang. Ev'n juft the fum, that I do owe to you, (16) Is growing to me by Antipholis;

And, in the instant that I met with you,

He had of me a Chain: at five o' clock,
I shall receive the mony for the fame:

Please you but walk with me down to his house,
I will discharge my bond, and thank you too.

Enter Antiph. Ephe. and Drom. Ephe. as from the
Courtezan's.

Offi. That labour you may fave: fee, where he comes.
E. Ant. While I go to the goldfmith's houfe, go thou
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, foft; I fee the goldfmith: get thee gone,
Buy thou a rope, and bring it home to me.

É. Dro. I buy a thousand pound a year! I buy a rope!
[Exit Dromio.
E. Ant. A man is well holp up, that trufts to you:
I promised your prefence, and the Chain:
But neither Chain nor goldfmith came to me:
Belike, you thought, our love would laft too long
If it were chain'd together; therefore came not.

Ang. Saving your merry humour, here's the note, How much your Chain weighs to the utmoft carat; The fineness of the gold, the chargeful fashion;

(16) Ev'n just the Sum, that I do owe to you,

Is owing to me by Antipholis.] Mr. Pope, who pretends that he makes no Innovations but ex fide Codicum, has fophifticated this Paffage for no Reafon in the World as I apprehend. The oldeft Folio, and all the other Copies that I have seen, read in the second Line;

Is growing to Me by Antipholis.

So twice, afterwards, in this very Play;

Adr. Bear me forthwith unto his Creditor,

And, knowing how the Debt grows, I will pay it.

Adr. I know the Man; what is the Sum he owes?

Offi. Two hundred Ducats.

Adr. Say, how grows it due?

D 2

Which

Which do amount to three odd ducats more,
Than I ftand debted to this gentleman;
I pray you, fee him prefently discharg'd;
For he is bound to fea, and ftays but for it.

E. Ant. I am not furnish'd with the present mony;
Befides, I have fome bufinefs in the town;
Good Signior, take the ftranger to my house,
And with you take the Chain, and bid my wife
Disburse the fum on the receipt thereof;
Perchance, I will be there as soon as you.

Ant. Then you will bring the Chain to her your felf? E. Ant. No; bear it with you, left I come not time enough.

Ang. Well, Sir, I will: have you the Chain about you?

E. Ant. An if I have not, Sir, I hope, you have: Or else you may return without your mony.

Ang. Nay, come, I pray you, Sir, give me the Chain; Both wind and tide ftay for this gentleman;

And I, to blame, have held him here too long.
E. Ant. Good lord, you use this dalliance to excuse
Your breach of promife to the Porcupine:

I should have chid you for not bringing it;
But, like a fhrew, you firft begin to brawl.

Mer. The hour fteals on; I pray you, Sir, dispatch.
Ang. You hear, how he importunes me; the Chain--
E. Ant. Why, give it to my wife, and fetch your

mony.

Ang. Come, come, you know, I gave it you ev'n now. Or fend the Chain, or fend me by fome token.

E. Ant. Fie, now you run this humour out of breath: Come, where's the Chain? I pray you, let me see it, Mer. My bufiness cannot brook this dalliance: Good Sir, fay, whe'r you'll answer me, or no; If not, I'll leave him to the officer.

E. Ant. I answer you? why fhould I answer you? Ang. The mony, that you owe me for the Chain. E. Ant. I owe you none, 'till I receive the Chain. Ang. You know, I gave it you half an hour fince.

E. Ant.

E. Ant. You gave me none; you wrong me much to fay fo.

Ang. You wrong me more, Sir, in denying it; Confider, how it ftands upon my credit.

Mer. Well, officer, arreft him at my

fuit.

Offi. I do, and charge you in the Duke's name to obey me.

Ang. This touches me in reputation. Either confent to pay the fum for me, Or I attach you by this officer.

E. Ant. Confent to pay for That I never had! Arrest me, foolish fellow, if thou dar'ft.

Ang. Here is thy fee; arreft him, officer;
I would not fpare my brother in this case,
If he fhould fcorn me fo apparently.

Qffi. I do arreft you, Sir; you hear the fuit.
E. Ant. I do obey thee, 'till I give thee bail.
But, firrah, you fhall buy this fport as dear
As all the metal in your fhop will answer.

Ang. Sir, Sir, I fhall have law in Ephesus,
To your notorious fhame, I doubt it not.

Enter Dromio Sira. from the Bay.

S. Dro. Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum,
That stays but, till her owner comes aboard;
Then, Sir, the bears away. Our fraughtage, Sir,
I have convey'd aboard; and I have bought
The Oyl, the Balfamum, and Aqua-vite.
The fhip is in her trim; the merry wind
Blows fair from land; they ftay for nought at all,
But for their owner, mafter, and your self.

E. Ant. How now! a mad man! why, thou peevish sheep,

What ship of Epidamnum ftays for me?

S. Dro. A fhip you fent me to, to hire waftage. E. Ant. Thou drunken flave, I fent thee for a rope And told thee to what purpose, and what end. S. Dro. You sent me for a rope's-end as foon: You fent me to the Bay, Sir, for a bark.

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E. Ant. I will debate this matter at more leifure,
And teach your ears to lift me with more heed.
To Adriana, villain, hie thee ftrait,

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 fend it:
Tell her, I am arrested in the street,

And that shall bail me; hie thee, flave; be gone:
On, officer, to prifon 'till it come.

[Exeunt.

S. Dro. To Adriana! that is where we din'd, Where Dowfabel did claim me for her husband; She is too big, I hope, for me to compass. Thither I muft, altho' against my will,

For fervants muft their mafters minds fulfil.

[Exit.

SCENE changes to E. Antipholis's House.

Enter Adriana and Luciana.

Adr. H, Luciana, did he tempt thee fo?

Might'ft thou perceive aufterely in his eye

That he did plead in earnest, yea or no?
Look'd he or red or pale, or fad or merrily?
What observation mad'st thou in this cafe,
Of his heart's meteors tilting in his face?

Luc. First he deny'd, you had in him no Right.
Adr. He meant, he did me none; the more my fpight.
Luc. Then fwore he, that he was a ftranger here.
Adr. And true he swore, though yet forfworn he

were.

Luc. Then pleaded I for you.

Adr. And what faid he?

Luc. That love I begg'd for you, he begg'd of me. Adr. With what perfuafion did he tempt thy love? Luc. With words, that in an honeft fuit might move. Firft, he did praise my beauty, then my speech. Adr. Did'ft fpeak him fair?

Luc. Have patience, I beseech.

Adr. I cannot, nor I will not, hold me ftill; My tongue, though not my heart, fhall have its will.

Не

He is deformed, crooked, old and fere,
I'll-fac'd, worfe-body'd, fhapeless every where;
Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind,
Stigmatical in making, worfe in mind.

Luc. Who would be jealous then of fuch a one?
No Evil loft is wail'd, when it is gone.

Adr. Ah! but I think him better than I fay, And yet, would herein others eyes were worse: Far from her neft the lapwing cries away;

My heart prays for him, tho' my tongue do curfe
Enter S. Dromio.

S. Dro. Here, go; the desk, the purfe; fweet now make hafte.

Luc. How haft thou loft thy breath?

S. Dro. By running faft.

Adr. Where is thy mafter, Dromio? is he well?

S. Dro. No, he's in Tartar Limbo, worse than hell; A devil in an everlafting garment hath him, One, whofe hard heart is button'd up with fteel: A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough, (17)

A wolf, nay, worse, a fellow all in buff;

A back-friend, a fhoulder-clapper, one that commands The paffages of allies, creeks, and narrow lands;

A hound that runs counter, and yet draws dry-foot well; One, that, before the judgment, carries poor fouls to hell.

Adr. Why, man, what is the matter?

S. Dro. I do not know the matter; he is 'rested on the cafe.

(17) A Fiend, a Fairy, pitiless and rough,] Dromio here bringing Word in hafte that his Mafter is arrefted, defcribes the Bailiff by Names proper to raise Horror and Deteftation of fuch a Creature, fuch as, a Devil, a Fiend, a Wolf, &c. But how does Fairy come up to these terrible Ideas? Or with what Propriety can it be ufed here? Does he mean, that a Bailiff is like a Fairy in ftealing away his Mafter? The trueft Believers of thofe little Phantoms never pretended to think, that they ftole any thing but Children. Certainly, it will fort better in Sense with the other Names annex'd, as well as the Character of a Catch-pole, to conclude that the Poet wrote ;- - a Fiend, a Fury, &c. I made this Conjecture in my SHAKESPEARE reftor'd; and Mr. Pope has thought fit to embrace it in his laft Edition.

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