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THE

COMEDY OF ERRORS.'

ACT I.

SCENE 1-A ball in the DUKE'S Palace.
Enter DUKE, GEON, Gaoler, Officers, and other
Attendants.

Ege. Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall,
And by the doom of death end woes and all.
Duke. Merchant of Syracusa, plead no more.
I am not partial to infringe our laws:
The enmity and discord which of late
Sprung from the rancorous outrage of your duke
To merchants, our well-dealing countrymen,—
Who, wanting gilders to redeem their lives,
Have seal'd his rigorous statutes with their bloods,
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 synods3 been decreed
Both by the Syracusans and ourselves,
To admit no traffic to our adverse towns:
Nay, more, if any born at Ephesus
Be seen at Syracusan marts and 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 levièd,
To quit the penalty and to ransom him.

1. The first known copy of this play is in the 1623 Folio.
There is allusion to it in the "Palladis Tamia" of Meres, 1598,
which shows its first appearance to have been prior to that date;
and, indeed, internal evidence manifests its having been one
of Shakespeare's earliest compositions. The source of its plot
is found in the "Menæchmi" of Plautus, of which it is sup-
posed some English translation fell into Shakespeare's hands;
but we, who are not sceptics as to his knowledge of Greek
and Latin, can well believe that he met with the original comedy
among his school classics while still a lad.
at present; and even in the Stratford grammar-school it
more general accomplishment in Elizabeth's day than it is
was most probably taught among other studies.

Latin was a

If, as we

Thy substance, valu'd at the highest rate,
Cannot amount unto a hundred marks;
Therefore, by law thou art condemn'd to die.
Ege. Yet this my comfort, when your words
are done,

My woes end likewise with the evening sun.

Duke. Well, Syracusan, say, in brief, the cause
Why thou departed'st from thy native home,
And for what cause thou cam'st to Ephesus.

Ege. A heavier task could not have been im-
pos'd

Than I to speak my griefs unspeakable :
Yet, that the world may witness that my end
Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence,
I'll utter what my sorrow gives me leave.
In Syracusa was I born; and wed
Unto a woman, happy but for me,
And by me too, had not our hap been bad.
With her I liv'd in joy; our wealth increas'd
By prosp'rous voyages I often made
To Epidamnum; till my factor's death,
And the great care of goods at random left,
Drew me from kind embracements of my spouse:
From whom my absence was not six months old,
Before herself-almost at fainting under
The pleasing punishment that women bear-

imagine possible, Shakespeare had a short period of college learning, then an acquaintance with Latin was sure to have been made by such a mind as his, in what would have been an incredibly brief space of time for a youth of ordinary talent.

2. Gilders. A " gilder," or guilder, is a coin worth from one and sixpence to two shillings.

3. Synods. State councils.

4. My end was wrought by nature. Egeon means that this pass to which he is come was occasioned by his natural affection, which prompted him to seek his lost sons.

5. And the great care of goods. In the Folio, 'he' is misprinted for "the" (Theobald's correction).

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Had made provision for her following me,
And soon and safe arrived where I was.
There had she not been long, but she became
A joyful mother of two goodly sons;

And, which was strange, the one so like the other,
As could not be distinguish'd but by names.
That very hour, and in the self-same inn,

A poor mean woman' was delivered
Of such a burden, male twins, both alike.
Those,-for their parents were exceeding poor,-
I bought, and brought up to attend my sons.

6. Distinguish'd but by names. We must imagine that the four boys had originally some distinguishing appellation: but afterwards, one of each pair of twins, in remembrance of his lost brother, took his name. This we find indicated in the line, "Reft of his brother, but retain'd his name." That the two pair of twins should be named alike was necessary for the maintenance of the dramatic equivoke.

7. A poor mean woman. The first Folio prints this line without the word "poor," which was added in the second Folio, and has been given in all editions since. The recurrence of

Act I. Scene I.

My wife, not meanly proud of two such boys,
Made daily motions for our home return:
Unwilling I agreed. Alas! too soon we came
aboard!

A league from Epidamnum had we sail'd,
Before the always wind-obeying deep
Gave any tragic instances of our harm:
But longer did we not retain much hope;
For what obscured light the heavens did grant,
Did but convey unto our fearful minds
A doubtful warrant of immediate death;

that word two lines farther on has been pointed out as making it improbable that "poor" is what Shakespeare wrote here; but "meanly" also comes very soon after "mean" in the speech. Moreover, the word "poor" being first used, and then "exceeding poor," is not unlike one of those emphatic repetitions which our dramatist occasionally employs to mark a point that he wishes to impress on his audience, and which here accounts for the "parents" selling their new-born children.

8. Instance. Used here for indication.

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Which though myself would gladly have embrac'd,
Yet the incessant weepings of my wife,
Weeping before for what she saw must come,
And piteous plainings of the pretty babes,
That mourn'd for fashion, ignorant what to fear,
Forc'd me to seek delays for them and me.
And this it was, -for other means was none.
The sailors sought for safety by our boat,
And left the ship, then sinking-ripe, to us.
My wife, more careful for the latter-born,
Had fasten'd him unto a small spare mast,
Such as seafaring men provide for storms:
To him one of the other twins was bound,
Whilst I had been like heedful of the other.
The children thus dispos'd, my wife and I,
Fixing our eyes on whom our care was fix'd,
Fasten'd ourselves at either end the mast;
And floating straight, obedient to the stream,
Were carried towards Corinth, as we thought.
At length, the sun, gazing upon the earth,
Dispers'd those vapours that offended us;
And, by the benefit of his wish'd light,
The seas wax'd calm, and we discovered

Two ships from far making amain to us;
Of Corinth that, of Epidaurus this:
But ere they came,-oh, let me say no more!
Gather the sequel by that went before.

Duke. Nay, forward, old man; do not break off

so;

For we may pity, though not pardon thee.

Æge. Oh, had the gods done so, I had not now Worthily term'd them merciless to us! For, ere the ships could meet by twice five leagues, We were encounter'd by a mighty rock; Which being violently borne upon, Our helpful ship was splitted in the midst ; So that, in this unjust divorce of us, Fortune had left to both of us alike What to delight in, what to sorrow for. Her part, poor soul! seeming as burdened With lesser weight, but not with lesser woe, Was carried with more speed before the wind; And in our sight they three were taken up By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought. At length, another ship had seiz'd on us; And, knowing whom it was their hap to save, Gave healthfuls, welcome to their shipwreck'd

guests;

And would have reft the fishers of their prey,

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9 Healthful. Used here for salutary, advantageous. 10. My youngest boy. It seems, though the mother, more careful for the latter-born, had fastened him" to the mast, yet that she had herself become fastened to the other end where her elder twin son was secured; and thus, being somewhat confusedly described (perhaps to give the effect of the confusion of the wreck), some commentators have accused Shakespeare of oversight here.

11. For his case was like. 'Because his case was similar.'

Had not their bark been very slow of sail,
And therefore homeward did they bend their

course.

Thus have you heard me sever'd from my bliss; That by misfortunes was my life prolong'd,

To tell sad stories of my own mishaps.

Duke. And for the sake of them thou sorrowest

for,

Do me the favour to dilate at full

What hath befall'n of them, and thee, till now. Ege. My youngest boy, and yet my eldest

care,

At eighteen years became inquisitive
After his brother; and impórtun'd me
That his attendant-for his case was like,"
Reft of his brother, but retained his name-
Might bear him company in the quest of him :
Whom whilst I labour'd of a love to see,
I hazarded the loss of whom I lov'd.
Five summers have I spent in farthest Greece,
Roaming clean through the bounds of Asia;
And, coasting homeward, came to Ephesus,
Hopeless to find, yet loth to leave unsought
Or that, or any place that harbours men.
But here must end the story of my life;
And happy were I in my timely death,
Could all my travels warrant me they live.
Duke. Hapless Ægeon, whom the fates have
mark'd

To bear the extremity of dire mishap!
Now, trust me, were it not against our laws,
Against my crown, my oath, my dignity,—
Which princes, would they, may not disannul,—
My soul should sue as advocate for thee.
But, though thou art adjudged to the death,
And passèd 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.12
Try all the friends thou hast in Ephesus;
Beg thou, or borrow, to make up the sum,
And live; if no,13 then thou art doom'd to die.-
Gaoler, take him to thy custody.

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"For" is printed in the second Folio instead of 'so' in the first Folio.

12. To seek thy help by beneficial help. It has been proposed to substitute other words that may obviate the repetition of "help" in this line. But that very repetition has something in it of Shakespeare's style, and the sentence may be interpreted to mean, I'll give you the extent of this day to seek for aid by charitable assistance.' 13. If no. "No" was often used formerly for 'not.' 14. Wend. See Note 61, Act iv., Measure for Measure."

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