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Was carry'd with more fpeed before the wind,
And in our fight they three were taken up
By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought.
At length, another fhip had feiz'd on us;
And knowing whom it was their hap to fave,
Gave helpful welcome to their fhipwrackt guests;
And would have reft the fishers of their prey,
Had not their bark been very flow of fail;

And therefore homeward did they bend their course.-
Thus have you heard me fever'd from my blifs,
That by misfortunes was my life prolong'd,
To tell fad ftories of my own mishaps.

Duke. And, for the fakes of them thou forrow'ft for, Do me the favour to dilate at full

What hath befall'n of them, and thee, 'till now.
Egeon. My youngest boy, and yet my eldest care,
At eighteen years became inquifitive

After his brother, and importun'd me,
That his attendant, (for his cafe was like,
Reft of his brother, but retain'd his name,)
Might bear him company in queft of him:
Whom whilst I labour'd of a love to fee,
I hazarded the lofs of whom I lov'd.

Five fummers have I spent in fartheft Greece,
Roaming clean through the bounds of Afia,
And coafting homeward, came to Ephefus:
Hopeless to find, yet loth to leave unfought,
Or that, or any place that harbours men.
But here must end the ftory of my life;
And happy were I in my timely death,
Could all my travels warrant me, they live.

Duke. Haplefs Egeon, whom the fates haye markt To bear th' extremity of dire mishap;

Now, truft me, were it not against our laws, (3)

(3) Now trust me, were it not against our Laws,

Against my Crown, my Oath, my Dignity,

Which Princes would, they may not difannul,] Thus are thefe Lines placed in all the former Editions. But as the fingle Verb does not agree with all the Subftantives, which fhould be govern'd of it, I have ventur'd to make a Tranfpofition; and by a Change in the Pointing, clear'd up the Perplexity of the Sense.

B 4

(Which

Which Princes, would they, may not difanul;)
Against my Crown, my Oath, my Dignity,
My foul fhould fue as advocate for thee.
But, tho' thou art adjudged to the death,
And paffed Sentence may not be recall'd,
But to our Honour's great difparagement;
Yet will I favour thee in what I can;
I therefore, Merchant, limit thee this day,
To feek thy life by beneficial help:
Try all the friends thou haft in Ephefus,
Beg thou, or borrow, to make up the fum,
And live; if not, then thou art doom'd to die.
Jailor, take him to thy cuftody.

Jail. I will, my lord.

[Exeunt Duke, and Train,

Egeon. Hopeless and helplefs doth Egeon wend,

But to procraftinate his livelefs end.

[Exeunt Egeons and Failor.

SCENE changes to the Street.

Enter Antipholis of Syracufe, a Merchant, and Dromio.

Mer. There that your goods too foon be confifcate. Herefore give out, you are of Epidamnum, This very day, a Syracufan 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 fet in the weft:
There is your mony, that I had to keep.

Ant. Go bear it to the Centaur, where we hoft,
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 fleep within mine Inn;
For with long travel I am ftiff and weary.
Get thee away.

Dro.

Dro. Many a man would take you at your word, And go indeed, having fo good a means, [Exit Dromio. Ant. A trufty villain, Sir, that very oft, When I am dull with care and melancholy, Lightens my humour with his merry jefts. What, will you walk with me about the town, And then go to the 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 afterward confort you 'till bed-time: My present business calls me from you now. Ant. Farewel 'till then, I will go lofe my felf, And wander up and down to view the city. Mer. Sir, I commend you to your own content. [Ex. Mer, Ant. He that commends me to my own content, Commends me to the thing I cannot get. I to the world am like a drop of water, That in the ocean feeks another drop, Who falling there to find his fellow forth, Unfeen, inquifitive, confounds himself: So I, to find a mother and a brother, In queft of them, unhappy, lofe my felf,

Enter Dromio of Ephefus.

Here comes the almanack of my true date.
What now? how chance, thou art return'd fo foon?
E. Dro. Return'd fo foon! rather approach'd toa

late:

pie falls fro The capon burns, the pig falls from the fpit, The clock has ftrucken twelve upon the bell; My mistress made it one upon my cheek; She is fo hot, because the meat is cold; The meat is cold, because you come not home; You come not home, because you have no ftomach; You have no ftomach, having broke your faft: But we, that know what 'tis to faft and pray, Are penitent for your default to day.

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Ant. Stop in your wind, Sir; tell me this, I pray,
Where you have left the mony that I gave you?
E. Dro. Oh,-fix pence, that I had a Wednesday-laft,
Το pay the fadler for my miftrefs' crupper?
The fadler had it, Sir; I kept it not.

Ant. I am not in a sportive humour now;
Tell me and dally not, where is the mony?
We being strangers here, how dar'ft thou truft
So great a charge from thine own cuftody?

as you fit at dinner
I from my mistress come to you in poft;
If I return, I fhall be poft indeed;

E. Dro. I pray you, jeft, Sir 4

For fhe will score your fault upon my pate:

Methinks, your maw, like mine, fhould be your clock;
And ftrike you home without a meffenger.

Ant. Come, Dromio, come, thefe jefts are out of
season;

Reserve them 'till a merrier hour than this:
Where is the gold I gave in charge to thee?

E. Dro. To me, Sir? why, you gave no gold to me.
Ant. Come on, Sir knave, have done your foolish
nefs;

And tell me, how thou haft difpos'd thy charge?

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

mart

Home to your houfe, the Phenix, Sir, to dinner;
My mistress and her fifter ftay for you.

Ant. Now, as I am a chriftian, answer me,
In what fafe place you have beftow'd my mony;
Or I fhall break that merry fconce of yours,
That ftands on tricks when I am undifpos'd:
Where are the thousand Marks thou hadst of me?
E. Dro. I have fome marks of yours upon my pate
Some of my miftrefs' marks upon my fhoulders;
But not a thousand marks between you both.-
If I fhould pay your Worship thofe again,
Perchance, you will not bear them patiently.

Ant. Thy miftrefs' marks? what mistress, flave, haft
thou?

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

She, that doth faft, 'till you come home to dinner; And prays, that you will hie you home to dinner. Ant. What wilt thou flout me thus unto my face, Being forbid? there take you that, Sir knave.

E. Dro. What mean you, Sir? for God fake hold your hands;

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

[Ex. Dromio Ant. Upon my life, by fome device or other, The villain is o'er-wrought of all my mony. They fay, this town is full of couzenage; As, nimble jugglers, that deceive the eye; (4)

(4) As, nimble Jugglers, that deceive the Eye;

Dark-working Sorcerers, that change the Mind;

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Soul-killing Witches, that deform the Body;] Tho' I have not dif. turb'd the Text, the ingenious Conjecture, Mr. Warburton made to me upon this Paffage, has fuch an Appearance of Juftnefs and Likelihood, that I fhall fubjoin it in his own Words. Thofe, who attentively con"fider these three Lines, must confefs, that the Poet intended, the Epi"thet given to each of these Mifcreants fhould declare the Power by "which they perform their Feats, and which would therefore be a *juft Characteristick of each of them. Thus, by nimble Jugglers, we are taught that they perform their Tricks by flight of hand: and by "Soul killing Witches, we are inform'd, the Mifchief they do is by the "Affiftance of the Devil to whom they have given their Souls: But then, "by dark-working Sorcerers, we are not inftructed in the Means by "which they perform their Ends. Befides, this Epithet agrees as well "to Witches, as to them; and therefore, certainly, our Author could "not defign This in their Characteristick. I am confident, we should "read;

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Drug-working Sorcerers, that change the Mind;

"And we know by the whole Hiftory of antient and modern Super"ftition, that these kind of Jugglers always pretended to work Changes "of the Mind by thefe Applications. Hence all the Superftition of Love potions, which in this Line is alluded to: And this Practice was "fo common amongst the Greeks, that they gave the Name of Papuanos "to this Operator: and therefore has Theocritus call'd his fecond Eidyl"lium, whofe Subject is built on this kind of Sorcery, Papuancúтed. Mr. Warburton,

Brabantio, I remember, in Orbello, where he thinks his Daughter's Senfes and Inclinations must have been perverted by the Moor's Practices, speaks not a little in Confirmation of my Friend's Conjecture.

Judge me the World, if 'tis not grofs in Senfe,
That thou haft pracas'd on her with foul Charms,
Abus'd ber delicate Youth with Drugs, or Minerals,
That weaken Notion.

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