Ant. S. I understand thee not.

Dro. S. No? why, 'tis a plain case: he that went like a base-viol, in a case of leather; the man, sir, that, when gentlemen are tired, gives them a fob, and 'rests them; he, sir, that takes pity on decayed men, and gives them suits of durance; he that sets up his rest to do more exploits with his mace, than a morris-pike.

Ant. S. What! thou mean'st an officer?

Dro. S. Ay, sir, the sergeant of the band: he, that brings any man to answer it, that breaks his band; one that thinks a man always going to bed, and says, God give you good rest!

Ant. S. Well, sir, there rest in your foolery. Is there any ship puts forth to-night? may we be gone?

Dro. S. Why, sir, I brought you word an hour since, that the bark Expedition puts forth to-night; and then were you hindered by the sergeant, to tarry for the hoy Delay: Here are the angels that you sent for, to deliver you. Ant. S. The fellow is distract, and so am I;

And here we wander in illusions ;

Some blessed power deliver us from hence!
Enter a Courtezan.

Cour. Well met, well met, master Antipholus.
I see, sir, you have found the goldsmith now:
Is that the chain, you promis'd me to-day?

Ant. S. Satan, avoid! I charge thee tempt me not!
Dro. S. Master, is this mistress Satan?

Ant. S. It is the devil.

Dro. S. Nay, she is worse, she is the devil's dam; and here she comes in the habit of a light wench; and thereof comes, that the wenches say God damn me, that's as much as to say, God make me a light wench. It is written, they appear to men like angels of light light is an effect of fire, and fire will burn; ergo, light wenches will burn; Come not near her.

Cour. Your man and you are marvellous merry, sir.

[9] Sets up his rest, is a phrase taken from military exercise. When gunpowder was first invented, its force was very weak compared to that in present use. This necessarily required fire-arms to be of an extraordinary length. As the artists improved the strength of their powder, the soldiers proportionably shortened their arms and artillery; so that the cannon, which Froissart tells us was once fifty feet long, was contracted to less than ten. This proportion likewise held in their mus kets; so that, till the middle of the 16th century, the musketeers always supported their pieces, when they gave fire, with a rest stuck before them in the ground, which they called setting up their rest, and is here alluded to. WARBUBTON. VOL. II.

F

Will you go with me? We'll mend our dinner here. Dro. S. Master, if you do expect spoon-meat, or bespeak a long spoon.'

Ant. S. Why, Dromio ?

Dro. S. Marry, he must have a long spoon, that must eat with the devil.

Ant. S. Avoid then, fiend! what tell'st thou me of supping?

Thou art, as you are all, a sorceress :

I conjure thee to leave me, and be gone.

Cour. Give me the ring of mine you had at dinner,

Or, for my diamond, the chain you promis'd;

And I'll be gone, sir, and not trouble you.

Dro. S. Some devils

Ask but the paring of one's nail, a rush,

A hair, a drop of blood, a pin,

A nut, a cherry-stone; but she, more covetous,
Would have a chain.

Master, be wise; an' if you give it her,

The devil will shake her chain, and fright us with it.
Cour. I pray you, sir, my ring, or else the chain;

I hope, you do not mean to cheat me so ?

Ant. S. Avaunt, thou witch!-Come, Dromio, let us go. Dro. S. Fly, pride, says the peacock: Mistress, that you [Exe. ANT. S. and DRO. S.

know.

Cour. Now, out of doubt, Antipholus is mad,
Else would he never so demean himself:
A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats,
And for the same he promis'd me a chain;
Both one, and other, he denies me now.
The reason that I gather he is mad,
(Besides this present instance of his rage)
Is a mad tale he told to-day at dinner,

Of his own doors being shut against his entrance.
Belike, his wife, acquainted with his fits,
On purpose shut the doors against his way.
My way is now, to hie home to his house,
And tell his wife, that, being lunatic,
He rush'd into my house, and took perforce
My ring away: This course I fittest choose;
For forty ducats is too much to lose.

[1] The passage is wrong pointed, and the or a mistake for and:
Cour. We'll mend our dinner here.

[Exit

Dro. S. Master, if you do, expect spoon-meat, and bespeak a long spoon. RITSON.

The same.

SCENE IV.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus, and an Officer.

Ant. E. Fear me not, man, I will not break away;
I'll give thee, ere I leave thee, so much money
To warrant thee, as I am 'rested for.
My wife is in a wayward mood to-day;
And will not lightly trust the messenger,
That I should be attach'd in Ephesus :
I tell you, 'twill sound harshly in her ears.—

Enter DROMIO of Ephesus, with a rope's end.
Here comes my man; I think, he brings the money.
-How now, sir? have you that I sent you for?

Dro. E. Here's that, I warrant you, will pay them all.
Ant. E. But where's the money?

Dro. E. Why, sir, I gave the money for the rope.
Ant. E. Five hundred ducats, villain, for a rope?
Dro. E. I'll serve you, sir, five hundred at the rate.
Ant. E. To what end did I bid thee hie thee home?
Dro. E. To a rope's end, sir; and to that end am I re

turned.

Ant. E. And to that end, sir, I will welcome you.

Offi. Good sir, be patient.

[Beating him.

Dro. E. Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adversity
Offi. Good now, hold thy tongue.

Dro. E. Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands.
Ant. E. Thou whoreson, senseless villain!

Dro. E. I would I were senseless, sir, that I might not feel your blows.

Ant. E. Thou art sensible in nothing but blows, and so

is an ass.

Dro. E. I am an ass, indeed; you may prove it by my long ears. I have served him from the hour of my nativity to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service, but blows: when I am cold, he heats me with beating when I am warm, he cools me with beating: I am waked with it, when I sleep; raised with it, when I sit; driven out of doors with it, when I go from home; welcomed home with it, when I return: nay, I bear it on my shoulders, as a beggar wont her brat; and, I think, when he hath lamed me, I shall beg with it from door to door.

Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, and the Courtezan, with PINCH, and others.

Ant. E. Come, go along; my wife is coming yonder. Dro. E. Mistress, respice finem, respect your end; or rather the prophecy, like the parrot, Beware the rope's end. Ant. E. Wilt thou still talk?

[Beats him. Cour. How say you now? is not your husband mad? Adr. His incivility confirms no less.

-Good doctor Pinch, you are a conjurer;
Establish him in his true sense again,

And I will please you what you will demand.
Luc. Alas, how fiery and how sharp he looks!
Cour. Mark, how he trembles in his extacy!
Pinch. Give me your hand, and let me feel your pulse.
Ant. E. There is my hand, and let it feel your ear.
Pinch. I charge thee, Satan, hous'd within this man,
To yield possession to my holy prayers,

And to thy state of darkness hie thee straight;

I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven.

Ant. E. Peace, doting wizard, peace; I am not mad.
Adr. O, that thou wert not, poor distressed soul!
Ant. E. You minion, you, are these your customers?
Did this companion with the saffron face
Revel and feast it at my house to-day,

Whilst upon me the guilty doors were shut,
And I denied to enter in my house?

Adr. O, husband, God doth know, you din'd at home ;
Where 'would you had remain'd until this time,
Free from these slanders, and this open shame!

Ant. E. I din'd at home! Thou villain, what say'st thou?
Dro. E. Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at home.
Ant. E. Were not my doors lock'd up, and I shut out!
Dro. E. Perdy, your doors were lock'd, and you shut out.
Ant. E. And did not she herself revile me there?
Dro. E. Sans fable, she herself revil'd you there.
Ant. E. Did not her kitchen-maid rail, taunt, and scorn

me?

Dro. E. Certes, she did; the kitchen-vestal scorn'd you. Ant. E. And did not I in rage depart from thence? Dro. E. In verity, you did ;-my bones bear witness, That since have felt the vigour of his rage.

[9] Her charge being, like that of the vestal virgins, to keep the fire burning. JOHNSON

ACT IV.

COMEDY OF ERRORS.

Adr. Is't good to sooth him in these contraries? Pinch. It is no shame; the fellow finds his vein, And, yielding to him, humours well his frenzy.

125

Ant. E. Thou hast suborn'd the goldsmith to arrest me. Adr. Alas, I sent you money to redeem you, By Dromio here, who came in haste for it.

Dro. E. Money by me? heart and good will you might, But, surely, master, not a rag of money.

Ant. E. Went'st not thou to her for a purse of ducats? Adr. He came to me, and I deliver'd it.

Luc. And I am witness with her, that she did.

Dro. E. God and the rope-maker, bear me witness, That I was sent for nothing but a rope!

Pinch. Mistress, both man and master is possess'd;

I know it by their pale and deadly looks:

They must be bound, and laid in some dark room.

Ant. E. Say, wherefore didst thou lock me forth to-day; -And why dost thou deny the bag of gold?

Adr. I did not, gentle husband, lock thee forth.
Dro. E. And, gentle master, I receiv'd no gold;

But, I confess, sir, that we were lock'd out.

Adr. Dissembling villain, thou speak'st false in both. Ant. E. Dissembling harlot, thou art false in all; And art confederate with a damned pack,

To make a loathsome abject scorn of me :

But with these nails I'll pluck out these false eyes,
That would behold me in this shameful sport.

[Pinch and his Assistants bind ANT.E. and DRO.E. Adr. Ŏ, bind him, bind him, let him not come near me. Pinch. More company ;—the fiend is strong within him. Luc. Ah me, poor man, how pale and wan he looks! Ant. E. What, will you murder me ?-Thou gaoler, thou, I am thy prisoner; wilt thou suffer them

To make a rescue?

Offi. Masters, let him go:

He is my prisoner, and you shall not have him.

Pinch. Go, bind this man, for he is frantic too.
Adr. What wilt thou do, thou peevish officer ?1
Hast thou delight to see a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself?
Offi. He is my prisoner; if I let him go,

[1] This is the second time that, in the course of this play, peevish has been used STEEVENS. for foolish.