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 to ransom him'.
Thy substance, valued at the highest rate,
Cannot amount unto a hundred marks;
Therefore, by law thou art condemn'd to die.
ÆGE. 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 departedst from thy native home;
And for what cause thou cam'st to Ephesus.
ÆGE. A heavier task could not have been impos'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 prosperous 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)
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 burthen, male twins, both alike:
Those, for their parents were exceeding poor,
I bought, and brought up to attend my sons.

By nature-by the impulses of nature, by natural affection,-as opposed to vile offence, the violation of the municipal laws of Ephesus.

The word too in this line was supplied in the second folio.

• The first folio reads

"And he great care of goods at random left." Malone made the text easy and clear by the substitution of the. The word poor in this line was added in the second folio.

We came aboard a :

My wife, not meanly proud of two such boys,
Made daily motions for our home return:
Unwilling I agreed; alas, too soon.
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 unto our fearful minds

A doubtful warrant of immediate death;

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, most careful for the latter born,
Had fastened 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 wished 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,—O, 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. O, 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,

The punctuation of the original gives somewhat of a different meaning:

Unwilling I agreed, alas, too soon we came aboard."

The line is printed thus, without a hemistich.

We were encounter'd by a mighty rock;
Which being violently borne upona,
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 healthful welcome to their shipwreck'd guests;
And would have reft the fishers of their prey,
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 importun'd me,
That his attendant (so his case was like,
Reft of his brother, but retain'd 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 Egeon, whom the fates have mark'd
To bear the extremity of dire mishap!

Now, trust me, were it not against our laws,

Upon-the original has up.

So his case was like. So is the reading of the first folio;-his case was so like that of Antipholus.

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 passed 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 helpa:
Try all the friends thou hast in Ephesus:

Beg thou, or borrow, to make

up the sum,

And live; if no, then thou art doom'd to die :

Gaoler, take him into thy custody.

GAOL. I will, my lord.

ÆGE. Hopeless, and helpless, doth Ægeon wend,

But to procrastinate his liveless end.

SCENE II.-A public Place.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS and DROMIO of Syracuse, and a Merchant.

MER. Therefore, give out, you are of Epidamnum,

Lest that your goods too soon be confiscate.

This very day, a Syracusan 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 set in the west.
There is your money that I had to keep.

ANT. S. Go, bear it to the Centaur, where we host,
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 sleep within mine inn;
For with long travel I am stiff and weary.
Get thee away.

DRO. S. Many a man would take you at your word,
And go indeed, having so good a mean.

[Exeunt.

[Exit DRO. S.

To seek thy help. This is the reading of the folio. Mr. Collier has suggested the reading of "To seek thy hope by beneficial help." Mr. Barron Field, in an interesting article on "Obscure Passages," (Shakespeare Society's Papers,' vol. ii.) considers this conjecture valuable, and we agree with him. It is consistent with Ægeon's reply:

66 Hopeless, and helpless, doth Ægeon wend."

Liveless. So the original: lifeless and liveless are the same; as lively and lifely also are the

same.

When I am dull with care and melancholy,
Lightens my humour with his merry jests.
What, will you walk with me about the town,
And then go to my 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 a,
Please you, I'll meet with you upon the mart,
And afterward consort you till bed-time;
My present business calls me from you now.
ANT. S. Farewell till then: I will go lose myself,
And wander up and down, to view the city.
MER. Sir, I commend you to your own content.
ANT. S. He that commends me to mine own content
Commends me to the thing I cannot get.

I to the world am like a drop of water,
That in the ocean seeks another drop;
Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself:
So I, to find a mother and a brother,
In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself.

Enter DROMIO of Ephesus.

Here comes the almanac of my true date.—

What now? How chance thou art return'd so soon?

DRO. E. 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 't is to fast and pray,
Are penitent for your default to-day.

ANT. S. Stop in your wind, sir; tell me this, I

pray:

Where have you left the money that I gave you? DRO. E. 0,-sixpence, that I had o' Wednesday last,

To pay the saddler for my mistress' crupper;

[Exit Merchant.

"Soon at five o'clock. This is ordinarily printed, "Soon, at five o'clock." But Antipholus says— "Within this hour it will be dinner-time."

The time of dinner was twelve; therefore five o'clock would not have been soon. We must therefore understand the phrase as about five o'clock.

Penitent-in the sense of doing penance.