E. Ant. Diffembling harlot, thou art false in all;
And art confederate with a damned pack,
To make a loathsome abject scorn of me :
But with thefe nails I'll pluck out thofe falfe eyes,
That would behold in me this fhameful fport.

Enter three or four, and offer to bind him: he firives.

Adr. Oh, bind him, bind him, let him not come

near me.

Pinch. More company ;

him.

--

the fiend is ftrong within

Luc. Ay me, poor man, how pale and wan he looks! E. Ant. What, will you murther me? thou jailor, thou, I am thy prifoner, wilt thou fuffer them

To make a rescue ?

Offi. Mafters; let him go:

He is my prifoner, and you fhall not have him.

Pinch. Go, bind this man, for he is frantick too.
Adr. What wilt thou do, thou peevish officer?
Haft thou delight to fee a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself ?

Offi. He is my prifoner; if I let him go.
The debt, he owes, will be requir'd of me.
Adr. I will discharge thee, ere I go from thee;
Bear me forthwith unto his creditor,

[They bind Antipholis and Dromio.
And, knowing how the debt grows, I will pay it.
Good mafter Doctor, fee him fafe convey'd
Home to my houfe. Oh, most unhappy day!
E. Ant. Oh, most unhappy ftrumpet!

E. Dro. Mafter, I'm here enter'd in bond for you. E. Ant. Out on thee, villain! wherefore doft thou mad me?

E. Dro. Will you be bound for nothing? be mad, good mafter; cry, the devil.

Luc. God help, poor fouls, how idly do they talk! Adr. Go bear him hence; fifter, ftay you with me. [Exeunt Pinch, Antipholis, and Dromio. Say now, whofe fuit is he arrefted at ?

Manent Officer, Adriana, Luciana, and Courtezan. Offi. One Angelo, a goldfmith; do you know him? Adr. I know the man; what is the fum he owes ? Offi. Two hundred ducats.

Adr. Say, how grows it due?

Offi. Due for a chain, your husband had of him. Adr. He did befpeak a chain for me, but had it not. Cour. When as your husband all in rage to day Came to my houfe, and took away my ring, (The ring I faw upon his finger now) Strait after, did I meet him with a chain.

Adr. It may be fo, but I did never see it. Come, jailor, bring me where the goldfmith is, I long to know the truth hereof at large.

Enter Antipholis of Syracufe, with his Rapier drawn, and Dromio of Syracufe.

Luc. God, for thy mercy! they are loofe again.
Adr. And come with naked fwords;

Let's call more help to have them bound again.
Ofi. Away, they'll kill us.

[They run out.

Manent Antipholis and Dromio.

S. Ant. I fee, thefe witches are afraid of fwords.
S. Dro. She, that would be your wife, now ran from

you.

S. Ant. Come to the Centaur, fetch our stuff from thence :

1 long, that we were fafe and found aboard.

S. Dro. Faith, ftay here this night; they will furely do us no harm; you faw, they fpake us fair, gave us gold; methinks, they are fuch 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 ftill, and turn witch.

S. Ant. I will not stay to night for all the town; Therefore away, to get our ftuff aboard. [Exeunt.

ACT

I

SCENE, A Street, before a Priory.

Enter the Merchant and Angelo.

ANGEL 0.

AM forry, Sir, that I have hinder'd you;
But, I proteft, he had the chain of me,

Tho' most dishonestly he doth deny it.

Mer. How is the man esteem'd here in the city?
Ang. Of very reverent reputation, Sir,

Of credit infinite, highly belov'd,

Second to none that lives here in the city;
His word might bear my wealth at any time.
Mer. Speak foftly: yonder, as I think, he walks.
Enter Antipholis and Dromio of Syracufe.
Ang. 'Tis fo; and that felf-chain about his neck,
Which he forfwore most monftrously to have.
Good Sir, draw near to me, I'll speak to him.
Signior Antipholis, I wonder much

That you would put me to this shame and trouble;
And not without fome fcandal to yourself,
With circumftance and oaths fo to deny
This chain, which now you wear fo openly;
Befides the charge, the fhame, imprifonment,
You have done wrong to this my honeft friend;
Who, but for staying on our controverfie,
Had hoisted fail, and put to fea to day:
This chain you had of me, can you deny it?
S. Ant. I think, I had; I never did deny it.
Mer. Yes, that you did, Sir; and fortwore it too.
S. Ant. Who heard me to deny it, or forfwear it?
Mer. These ears of mine, thou knoweft, did hear thee:
Fie on thee, wretch! 'tis pity, that thou liv'st
To walk where any honeft men refort.

K 5

S. Ant.

S. Ant. Thou art a villain, to impeach me thus. I'll prove mine honour and my honefty

Against thee presently, if thou dar'ft ftand. Mer. I dare, and do defie thee for a villain. [They dra

Enter Adriana, Luciana, Courtezan, and others. Adr. Hold, hurt him not, for God's fake; he is mad Some get within him, take his fword away : Bind Dromio too, and bear them to my house.

S. Dro. Rin, mafter, run; for God's fake, take a houfe This is fome Priory; in, or we are spoil'd.

[Exeunt to the Priory

Enter Lady Abbefs.

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 faft, And bear him home for his recovery.

Ang. I knew, he was not in his perfect wits. Mer. I'm forry now, that I did draw on him. Abb. How long hath this poffeffion held the man? Adr. This week he hath been heavy, fower, fad, And much, much different from the man he was: But, 'till this afternoon, his paffion

Ne'er brake into extremity of rage.

Abb. Hath he not loft much wealth by wreck at fea Bury'd fome dear friend? hath not elfe his eye Stray'd his affection in unlawful love?

A fin, prevailing much in youthful men,
Who give their eyes the liberty of gazing.
Which of thefe forrows is he fubject to?

Adr. To none of thefe, except it be the laft; Namely, fome love, that drew him oft from home. Abb. You fhould for that have reprehended him. Adr. Why, fo I did.

Abb. Ay, but not rough enough.

Adr. As roughly, as my modefty would let me.
Abb. Haply, in private.

Adr. And in affemblies too.

Abb.

Abb. Ay, but not enough.

Adr. It was the copy of our conference. (16)
In bed, he flept not for my urging it;
At board, he fed not for my urging it;
Alone, it was the subject of my theam;
company, I often glanc'd at it;

In

Still did I tell him, it was vile and bad.

Abb. And therefore came it, that the man was mad. The venom clamours of a jealous woman

Poifon more deadly, than a mad dog's tooth.

It feems, his fleeps were hinder'd by thy railing;
And thereof comes it, that his head is light.

Thou fay'ft, his meat was fauc'd with thy upbraidings
Unquiet meals make ill digestions;

Thereof the raging fire of fever bred ;
And what's a fever, but a fit of madness?
Thou fay'ft, his fports were hinder'd by thy brawls.
Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue,
But moodie and dull melancholy,

Kinfman to grim and comfortless defpair?
And at her heels a huge infectious troop
Of pale diftemperatures, and foes to life.
In food, in fport, and life-preferving reft,
To be difturb'd, would mad or man or beast:
The confequence is then, thy jealous fits
Have feared thy husband from the use of wits.
Luc. She never reprehended him but mildly,
When he demeaned himself rough, rude and wildly
Why bear you thefe rebukes, and answer not?
Adr. She did betray me to my own reproof.
Good people, enter, and lay hold on him.

(16) It was the Copy of our Conference.] We are not to undeiftand this Word here, as it is now ufed, in Oppofition to an Original; any Thing done after a Pattern; but we are to take it in the nearest Senfe to the Latine Word Copia, from which it is derived. Adriana would fay, her Reproofs were the Burden,, the Fulnefs of her Conference, all the Subject of her Talk. And in thefe Acceptations the Word Copie was used by Writers before our Author's Time, as well as by his Contemporaries.

ALL