But, though thou art adjudged to the death,
And passed sentence may not be recall'd,
But to our honour's great disparagement,
Yet will I favour thee in what I can:
Therefore, merchant, I'll limit thee this day,
To seek thy help by beneficial help:
Try all the friends thou hast in Ephesus;
Beg thou, or borrow, to make up the sum,

And live; if not 11, then thou art doom'd to die :-
Gaoler, take him to thy custody.

Gaol. I will, my lord.

Ege. Hopeless, and helpless, doth Ægeon wend 12, But to procrastinate his lifeless end.

SCENE II. A publick Place.

[Exeunt.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS and DROMIO of Syracuse, and a Merchant.

Mer. Therefore, give out, you are of Epidamnum,
Lest that your goods too soon be confiscate.
This very day, a Syracusan merchant
Is apprehended for arrival here;

And, not being able to buy out his life,
According to the statute of the town,
Dies ere the weary sun set in the west.
There is your money that I had to keep.

Ant. S. Go bear it to the Centaur, where we host,
And stay there, Dromio, till I come to thee.
Within this hour it will be dinner-time:
Till that, I'll view the manners of the town,
Peruse the traders, gaze upon the buildings,
And then return, and sleep within mine inn;
For with long travel I am stiff and weary.
Get thee away.

11 No, which is the reading of the first folio, was anciently often used for not. The second folio reads not.

12 Go.

Dro. S. Many a man would take you at your word, And go indeed, having so good a mean.

[Exit DRO. S.

Ant. S. A trusty villain1, sir; that very oft, When I am dull with care and melancholy, Lightens my humour with his merry jests. What, will you walk with me about the town, And then go to my inn, and dine with me? Mer. I am invited, sir, to certain merchants, Of whom I hope to make much benefit; I crave your pardon. Soon, at five o'clock, Please you, I'll meet with you upon the mart: And afterwards consort you till bed-time; My present business calls me from you now. Ant. S. Farewell till then: I will go lose myself, And wander up and down, to view the city. Mer. Sir, I commend you to your own content. [Exit Merchant.

Ant. S. He that commends me to mine own content, Commends me to the thing I cannot get. I to the world am like a drop of water, That in the ocean seeks another drop; Who, falling there to find his fellow forth, Unseen, inquisitive, confounds 3 himself: So I, to find a mother, and a brother, In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself.

Enter DROMIO of Ephesus.

Here comes the almanack of my true date*,-
What now? How chance, thou art return'd so soon?

1 That is, a faithful slave. It is the French sense of the word. 2 i. e. 'accompany you.' In this line the emphasis must be laid on time, at the end of the line, to preserve the metre.

3 Confounded, here, does not signify destroyed, as Malone asserts; but overwhelmed, mixed confusedly together, lost.

4 They were both born in the same hour, and therefore the date of Dromio's birth ascertains that of his master.

Dro. E. Return'd so soon! rather approach'd too

late:

The capon burns, the pig falls from the spit:
The clock hath strucken twelve upon the bell,
My mistress made it one upon my cheek:
She is so hot, because the meat is cold;

The meat is cold, because you come not home;
You come not home, because you have no stomach;
You have no stomach, having broke your fast;
But we, that know what 'tis to fast and pray,
Are penitent for your default to-day.

Ant. S. Stop in your wind, sir; tell me this, I pray; Where have you left the money that I gave you? Dro. E. 0,-sixpence, that I had o'Wednesday last,

Το
pay the saddler for my mistress' crupper;-
The saddler had it, sir, I kept it not.

Ant. S. I am not in a sportive humour now:
Tell me, and dally not, where is the money?
We being strangers here, how dar'st thou trust
So great a charge from thine own custody?
Dro. E. I pray you, jest, sir, as you sit at dinner:
I from my mistress come to you in post;
If I return, I shall be post indeed;

For she will score your fault upon my pate. Methinks, your maw, like mine,should be your clock 5, And strike you home without a messenger.

Ant. S. Come, Dromio, come, these jests are out

of season;

Reserve them till a merrier hour than this:

Where is the gold I gave in charge to thee?

Dro. E. To me, sir? why you gave no gold to me. Ant. S. Come on, sir knave, have done your foolishness,

'tell me, how thou hast dispos'd thy charge.

> old copy reads cook. The emendation is Pope's.

Dro. E. My charge was but to fetch you from

the mart

Home to your house, the Phoenix, sir, to dinner; My mistress, and her sister, stay for you.

Ant. S. Now, as I am a christian, answer me, In what safe place you have bestow'd my money; Or I shall break that merry sconce of yours, That stands on tricks when I am undispos'd: Where is the thousand marks thou hadst of me? Dro. E. I have some marks of yours upon my pate, Some of my mistress' marks upon my shoulders, But not a thousand marks between you both.If I should pay your worship those again, Perchance, you will not bear them patiently.

Ant. S. Thy mistress' marks! what mistress, slave, hast thou?

Dro. E. Your worship's wife, my mistress at the Phoenix;

She that doth fast, till you come home to dinner, And prays, that will hie you you home to dinner. Ant. S. What, wilt thou flout me thus unto my face, Being forbid? There, take you that, sir knave. [Strikes him. Dro. E. What mean you, sir? for God's sake, hold your hands;

Nay, an you will not, sir, I'll take my heels.

[Exit DROMIO E.

Ant. S. Upon my life, by some device or other, The villain is o'er-raught of all my money. They say, this town is full of cozenageR:

6 Sconce is head. So in Hamlet, Act v. Sc. 1:-'Why does he suffer this rude knave to knock him about the sconce.' A sconce signified a blockhouse, or strong fortification, ' for the most part round, in fashion of a head,' says Blount. I suppose that it was anciently used for a lantern also, on account of the round form of that implement.

7 i. e. overreached.

8 This was the character which the ancients gave of it. 'Epoca αλεξιφάρμακα was proverbial among them. Thus Menander

As, nimble jugglers, that deceive the eye;
Dark-working sorcerers, that change the mind;
Soul-killing witches, that deform the body;
Disguised cheaters, prating mountebanks,
And many such like liberties of sin 9:
If it prove so, I will be gone the sooner.
I'll to the Centaur, to go seek this slave;
I greatly fear
my money is not safe.

[Exit.

ACT II.

SCENE I. A publick Place.

Enter ADRIANA, and LUCIANA.

Adr. Neither my husband, nor the slave return'd, That in such haste I sent to seek his master!

Sure, Luciana, it is two o'clock.

Luc. Perhaps, some merchant hath invited him, And from the mart he's somewhere gone to dinner; Good sister, let us dine, and never fret:

A man is master of his liberty:

Time is their master; and, when they see time,
They'll go, or come: If so, be patient, sister.

Adr. Why should their liberty than ours be more?
Luc. Because their business still lies out o'door.
Adr. Look, when I serve him so, he takes it ill.
Luc. O, know, he is the bridle of your will.
Adr. There's none, but asses, will be bridled so.
Luc. Why, headstrong liberty is lash'd with woe1.

uses Εφεσια γράμματα in the same sense.

The hint for the

meration of cheats, &c. Shakspeare might have received from Tenæchmi, published in English in 1595.

bat is licentious actions, sinful liberties.

e meaning of this passage may be, that those who refuse dle must bear the lash, and that woe is the punishment of Strong liberty.