 | Comedy of Errors |  |
7
Aegeon
Proceed, Salinus, to procure my fall,
And terminate, by this, thy rig'rous doom,
Aegeon's life and miseries together.
Duke
Merchant of Syracuse, plead no more.
The enmity and discord which, of late,
Sprung from the ranc'rous outrage of your duke,
To merchants, our well-dealing countrymen,
(Who, wanting guilders to redeem their lives,
Have seal'd his rig'rous statutes with their blood)
Excludes all pity from our threat'ning looks.
For since the mortal and intestine jars
'Twixt thy seditious countrymen and us,
It hath in solemn synods been decreed,
Both by the Syracusans and ourselves,
T'admit no traffic to our adverse towns.
Nay, more -If any, born at Ephesus,
Be seen at Syracusan marts or fairs:
Again -If any Syracusan born,
Come to the bay of Ephesus, he dies;
His goods confiscate to the duke's dispose,
Unless a thousand marks be levied
To quit the penalty, and ransom him.
Thy substance, valued at the highest rate,
Cannot amount unto an hundred marks;
Therefore, by law, thou art condemn'd to die.
8
Aegeon
This comfort then (the wretch's last resource)
At least, I gain from the severe decree -
My woes must finish e'er the setting sun.
Duke
Yet, Syracusan, say in briefe the cause,
Why thou departedst from thy native home,
And for what cause thou cam'st to to Euphesus.
Aegeon
A heavier task could not have been impos'd,
Yet will I utter what my grief permits. -
In Syracusa was I born; and wed
Unto a woman, happy but for me!
With her I liv'd in joy; our wealth increas'd
By prosp'rous traffic -till my factor's death,
Drew us unwillingly to Epidamnum.
There had we not been long, but she became
A joyful mother of two goodly sons,
And, strange to hear, the one so like the other,
They hardly by ourselves could be distinguished.
That very hour, and in the self-same house,
A poor mean woman was delivered
Of such a burthen, male twins, both alike.
These (for their parents were exceeding poor)
I bought, and brought up, to attend my sons.
My wife, not meanly proud of her two boys,
Made daily motions for our home return.
Unwilling I agreed. -We came aboard -
O bitter recollection!
Duke
Stop thy tears -
I long, yet almost dread to hear the rest.
Aegeon
A league from Epidamnum had we sail'd,
Before the always wind-obeying deep
Gave any tragic instance of our harm;
But longer did we not retain much hope,
For what obscured light the heavens did grant,
Did but convey into our fearful minds
A dreadful warrant of immediate death.
The sailors sought for safety by our boat,
And left the ship, then sinking-ripe, to us.
My wife, more careful for the elder born,
Had fasten'd him unto a small spare mast;
To him, one of the other twins was bound;
While I had been like heedful of the younger.
The children thus dispos'd, my wife and I
Fasten'd ourselves at either end the mast;
And, floating strait, obedient to the stream,
9
At length the sea wax'd calm; and we discover'd
Two ships, from far, making amain to us;
But ere they came -
Duke
Pursue thy tale, old man.
Aegeon
Being encounter'd by a mighty rock,
our helpless raft was splitted in the midst.
Her part (poor soul) burthen'd with lesser weight,
Was carried with more speed, before the wind;
And, in our fight, they three were taken up
By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought.
At length another ship had seiz'd on us:
And would have 'reft the fishers of their prey,
Had not their bark been very slow of sail.
Duke
Relate at full
What hath befallen to them, and thee 'till now.
Aegeon
My youngest boy, and yet my eldest care,
At eighteen years, became inquisitive
After his brother, and importun'd me
That his 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 pentinent for your default to-day.
An. of Syr.
Stop in your wind, sir; -tell me this, I pray,
Where have you left the money that I gave you?
12
Dr. of Eph.
Money! -oh, the money that I had on
Wednesday last, to pay for mending my
mistress's saddle. -The sadler had it, sir,
I kept it not.
An. of Syr.
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?
Dr. of Eph.
I pray you, jest, sir, as you sit at dinner -
I from my mistress come to you in haste.
Methinks your stomach, like mine, should be your clock,
And send you home without a messenger.
An. of Syr.
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?
Dr. of Eph.
To me, sir! -why, you gave no gold to me!
An. of Syr.
Come, come, have done your foolishness,
And tell me how thou hast dispos'd my charge.
Dr. of Eph.
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.
An. of Syr.
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 your's,
That stands on tricks when I am undispos'd.
Where are the thousand marks thou had'st of me?
Dr. of Eph.
I have some marks of your's upon my pate,
Some of my mistress' marks upon my shoulders,
Between you both they make perhaps a thousand:
If I should pay your worship these again,
Perchance you will not take it patiently.
An.of Syr.
Thy mistress' marks! -what mistress, slave, hast
thou?
Dr. of Eph.
Your worship's wife, my mistress, at the Phoenix,
She that doth fast till you come home to dinner,
And prays that you will haste you.
An. of Syr.
What, wilt thou flout me thus unto my face,
Being forbid? -There, take you that, sir knave.
Dr. of Eph.
What mean you sir? -for Heaven's sake, hold
your hands -
Nay, an you will not, sir, I'll take my heels.
Exit
An.of Syr.
Upon my life, by some device or other,
The villain has been trick'd of all my money.
13
If it proves so, I will be gone the sooner.
Misguided by my hopes, in doubt I stray,
To seek what I, perchance, may never find.
May not the cruel hand of destiny,
Ere this, have render'd all my searches vain?
If so, how wretched has my folly made me!
In luckless hour, alas! I left my home,
And the fond comforts of a father's love,
That only bliss my fortune had in store,
For dubious pleasures on a foreign shore.
Exit
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