SCENE IV.-The Same. Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus, and a Jailer. Ant. E. Fear me not, man; I will not break away: I'll give thee, ere I leave thee, so much money, 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 return'd. Ant. E. And to that end, sir, I will welcome you. [Beating him. Jail. Good sir, be patient. Dro. E. Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adversity. Jail. 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 serv'd 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 wak'd with it, when I sleep; rais'd 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. Ant. E. Come, go along: my wife is coming yonder. Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, the Courtesan, and a Schoolmaster called PINCH. Pinch. I charge thee, Satan, hous'd within this man, To yield possession to my holy prayers, Adr. O, that thou were not, poor distressed soul! Ant. E. You minion, you; are these your customers? Did this companion with the saffron face 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. 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. Adr. Is't good to soothe him in these contraries? Pinch. It is no shame: the fellow finds his vein, And, yielding to him, humours well his frenzy 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. Dro. E. Mistress, respice finem, respect your end; They must be bound, and laid in some dark room. 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 ecstacy! Pinch. Give me your hand, and let me feel your pulse. Ant. E. There is iny hand, and let it feel your ear. 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 in me this shameful sport. Do outrage and displeasure to himself? Adr. I will discharge thee, ere I go from thee. Dro. E. Master, I am here enter'd in bond for you. Ant. E. Out on thee, villain! wherefore dost thou [Exeunt PINCH and Assistants, with ANT. E. and DRO. E. Say now, whose suit is he arrested at ? Jail. One Angelo, a goldsmith; do you know him? Adr. I know the man. What is the sum he owes? Jail. Two hundred ducats. Say, how grows it due? Jail. Due for a chain your husband had of him. Adr. He did bespeak a chain for me, but had it not. Cour. When as your husband, all in day Came to my house, and took away my ring, (The ring I saw upon his finger now,) Straight after did I meet him with a chain. Adr. It may be so, but I did never see it.Come, jailer, bring me where the goldsmith is: I long to know the truth hereof at large. Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse, with his rapier drawn, and DROMIO of Syracuse. Luc. God, for thy mercy! they are loose again. Adr. And come with naked swords. Let's call more help, To have them bound again. ACT V SCENE I. The Same. Before an Abbey. Enter Merchant, and ANGELO. Ang. I am sorry, sir, that I have hinder'd you; But, I protest, he had the chain of me, Though most dishonestly he doth deny it. Mer. How is the man esteem'd here in the city? That you would put me to this shame and trouble; Fie on thee, wretch! 'tis pity that thou liv'st Ant. S. Thou art a villain to impeach me thus. [They draw. Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, Courtesan, and others. Adr. Hold hurt him not, for God's sake! he is mad. Some get within him; take his sword away. This is some priory :-in, or we are spoil'd. Abb. Be quiet, people. Wherefore throng you hither? Adr. To fetch my poor distracted husband hence. Let us come in, that we may bind him fast, And bear him home for his recovery. Ang. I knew, he was not in his perfect wits. Mer. I am sorry now, that I did draw on him. Abb. How long hath this possession held the man? Adr. This week he hath been heavy, sour, sad; And much different from the man he was; But, till this afternoon, his passion Ne'er brake into extremity of rage. Abb. Hath he not lost much wealth by wreck of sea ? Buried some dear friend? Hath not else his eye Adr. To none of these, except it be the last; Namely, some love, that drew him oft from home. Abb. You should for that have reprehended him. Adr. Why, so I did. Abb. Adr. And in assemblies too. Abb. Ay, but not enough. Still did I tell him it was vile and bad. Abb. And thereof came it that the man was mad: The venom clamours of a jealous woman Poison more deadly than a mad dog's tooth. It seems, his sleeps were hinder'd by thy railing, And thereof comes it, that his head is light. Thou say'st, his meat was sauc'd with thy upbraidings: Unquiet meals make ill digestions ; Thereof the raging fire of fever bred : And what's a fever but a fit of madness? Luc. She never reprehended him but mildly, When he demean'd himself rough, rude, and wildly. Why bear you these rebukes, and answer not? Adr. She did betray me to my own reproof.Good people, enter, and lay hold on him. Abb. No; not a creature enters in my house. Adr. Then, let your servants bring my husband forth. Abb. Neither he took this place for sanctuary, Adr. I will attend my husband, be his nurse, And therefore let me have him home with me. It is a branch and parcel of mine oath, Therefore depart, and leave him here with me. 45 Adr. I will not hence, and leave my husband here; And ill it doth beseem your holiness To separate the husband and the wife. him. Abb. Be quiet, and depart: thou shalt not have [Exit Abbess. Luc. Complain unto the duke of this indignity. Adr. Come, go: I will fall prostrate at his feet, And never rise until my tears and prayers Have won his grace to come in person hither, And take perforce my husband from the abbess. Mer. By this, I think, the dial points at five: Anon, I'm sure, the duke himself in person Comes this way to the melancholy vale, The place of death and sorry execution, Behind the ditches of the abbey here. Ang. Upon what cause? Mer. To see a reverend Syracusian merchant, Who put unluckily into this bay Against the laws and statutes of this town, Ang. See, where they come: we will behold his death. Luc. Kneel to the duke before he pass the abbey. 29 |