Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

Ant. of Eph. An if I have not, sir, I hope you have,
Or else you may return without your money.
Angelo. Nay, come, I pray you, sir, give me the
jewel,

Both wind and tide stay for the gentleman,
And I, to blame, have held him here too long.
Ant. of Eph I guess you use this dalliance to ex-

cuse

Your breach of promise at the Porcupine.
I should have chid you for not bringing it,
But, like a shrew, you first begin to brawl.

Chares. The hour steals on-I pray you, sir, dispatch.

Angelo. You hear how he importunes me;-the bracelet

Ant. of Eph. Why, give it to my wife, and fetch

your money.

Angelo. Come, come, you know I gave

now;

Or give it me, or send by me some token.

[blocks in formation]

Ant. of Eph. Fie! now you run this humour out of breath

Come, where is it?-I pray you let me see

it.

Chares. My business cannot brook this dalliance

Good sir, say, if you'll answer me or no;

If not, I'll leave him to the officer.

Ant. of Eph. I answer you!-what should I answer you?

Angelo. The

let.

money that you owe me for the brace

Ant. of Eph. I owe you none, till I receive the bracelet.

Angelo. You know I gave it you half an hour since. Ant. of Eph. You gave me none; you wrong me much to say so.

Angelo. You wrong me more, sir, in denying it; Consider how it stands upon my credit.

[ocr errors]

Chares. Well, Officer, arrest him at my suit.

Off. I do, and charge you, in the duke's name, to obey me

Angelo. This touches me, sir, in my reputation; Either consent to pay the sum for me, Or I attach you by this officer.

Ant. of Eph. Consent to pay for what I never had! Arrest me, foolish fellow, if thou darest.

Angelo. Here is thy fee-arrest him, officer-
I would not spare my brother in this case,
If he should scorn me so apparently.

Offi. I do arrest you, sir-you hear the suit.
Ant. of Eph. I do obey thee, till I give thee bail.
But, sirrah, you shall buy this sport as dear,
As all the metal in your shop will answer.

Το

Angelo. Sir, sir, I shall have law in Ephesus, your notorious shame, I doubt it not.

Enter DROMIO OF SYRACUSE.

Dro. of Syr. Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum That stays but till her owner comes aboard; Then, sir, she bears away. Our fraughtage, sir, I have convey'd aboard; and I have bought The oil, the balsamum, and aqua vitæ. The ship is in her trim, the merry wind Blows fair from land, they stay for nought at all, But for the owner, master, and yourself.

Ant. of Eph. How now, madman! Why, thou peevish sheep,

What ship of Epidamnum stays for me?

Dro. of Syr. A ship you sent me to, sir, to hire waftage.

Ant. of Eph. Thou drunken slave, I sent thee for

a rope :

And told thee to what purpose, and for whom.

Dro. of Syr. You sent me to the bay, sir, for a

bark.

Ant. of Eph. I will debate the matter at more leisure,

And teach your ears to list me with more heed.
To Adriana, villain, hie thee straight,
Give her this key, and tell her, in the desk
That's cover'd o'er with Turkish tapestry,
There is a purse of ducats, let her send it;
Tell her I am arrested in the street,

And that shall bail me.- Hie thee, slave, begone.
On, Officer, to prison, till he comes.

[Exeunt ANTIPHOLIS OF EPHESus, Angelo, CHARES, and OFFICER.

Dro. of Syr. To Adriana's!-that is where we dined-Go there again!-Surely my poor master's mind is strangely altered.But now he sent me to seek a vessel, and swore he would not stay an hour longer-now he denies it all, and rather seems inclined to take up his abode here; for, upon the strength of one visit only, he has got the key of Adriana's treasure, I see; and sends for her ducats as familiarly as he would for his own.- Then how he should come arrested!-I'll venture, however, to her house once more, and get the money for him, if that Blowzabel, who claimed me for her husband, does not set her kitchen-stuff countenance in my way, and fright me from my purpose. [Exit.

SCENE 11.

A Chamber in the House of ANTIPHOLIS OF
EPHESUS.

Enter ADRIANA and LUCIANA.

Adr. What, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
Might'st thou perceive austerely in his eye,
That he did plead in earnest? Didst thou mark,

[ocr errors]

Look'd he or pale, or red, or sad, or merry ?
What observation, tell me, could'st thou nake
Of his heart's meteors tiiting in his face?

Luc. First, he denied you had in him a right.
Adr. He meant, he did me none-the more my
wrong.

Luc. Then swore he, that he was a stranger here.
Adr. And true he swore, though yet forsworn he

be.

Luc. Then pleaded I for you.

Adr. What said he then?

Luc. That love I begg'd for you, he begg'd of me.
Adr. With what persuasion did he tempt thy love?
Luc. With words that in an honest suit might

move;

First did he praise my beauty, then my speech.
Adr. Didst speak him fair?

Luc. Have patience, I beseech you.

Adr. I cannot, nor I will not hold me still. My tongue, though not my heart, must have its scope. Oh, he is shapeless, crooked, old, and sere, Vicious, ungentle, foolish, rude, unkind, Deform'd in person, more deform'd in soul.

Luc. Yet do not give such way to your affliction, But call your better reason to your aid :— Oh, did my brother's mind but mate his person, Were but his conduct graceful as his visage, What woman might with Adriana boast So vast a fund of hymeneal bliss!

Trust then to time, and fault-repairing wisdom,
To change his mind; nor soil, with partial breath,
A form in nature's fairest colours drest.

Adr. Oh, but I think him better than I say,
And wish him kind and fair to me alone.
Thus, lapwing like, far from my nest I

cry,

To puzzle and mislead intruding eyes,
That seek to rob me of my treasured bliss.

Enter DROMIO OF SYRACUSE.

Dro. of Syr. Here, go!—the desk—the purse! now, make haste.

Luc. How hast thou lost thy breath?

Dro. of Syr. By running fast.

Adr. Where is thy master, Dromio? is he well? Dro. of Syr. No; he's in Tartar limbo-a devil hath him;

One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel;
A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough;

A back friend; one that commands
The passages of alleys, creeks, and lanes.
Adr. Why, man, what is the matter?

Dro. of Syr. I do not know the matter, but he is arrested.

Adr. Arrested, is he?-tell me, at whose suit? Dro. of Syr. I do not know at whose suit he is arrested, but arrested he is-and his suit to you is, that you will send him Mistress Redemption, the money in his desk.

Adr. Go, fetch it, sister..

This I wonder at,

[Exit LUCIANA.

That he, unknown to me, should be in debt.

Tell me, was he arrested on a bond?

Dro. of Syr. No, on the Mart.-Come, 'tis time that I were gone.

Enter LUCIANA with a Purse.

Adr. Go, Dromio, there's the money, bear it strait, And bring thy master home immediately.

[Exit DROMIO. Yet wherefore bring him home, since he has lost All token of regard, and slights the place Where, once, he said, his ev'ry comfort dwelt? Why should I wish him here? and yet, without him, What is this home to me?

Luc. Some vague conceit,

« AnteriorContinua »