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The Comedy of Errors

Act IV, Scene 4

A street.
 
[Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus and the Officer]
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
        ,        ,   ,              T    T   . T
      Fear me | not man,/ I will | not break away,
             ,          ,        ,           ,         ,     2->
      I'll give | thee ere | I leave | thee so | much mon||ey
          ,         ,       ,        ,      ,
      To war|rant thee | as I | am rest|ed for.
           ,        ,      ,         ,       ,
      My wife | is in | a way|ward mood | today,
            ,          ,        ,          ,      ,
      And will | not light|ly trust | the mes|senger,
           ,           ,        ,         ,    ,
      That I | should be | attached | in Eph|esus,
          ,           ,       ,     ,                 ,
      I tell | you 'twill | sound harsh/ly in | her ears.
              ,         ,        ,           ,          ,      ->
      Here* comes | my man,| I think | he brings | the mon||ey.
       ,     ,          ,            2    ,         ,
      How | now sir?| Have you | that I sent | you for?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
               ,       ,        ,          ,          ,
      Here's that | I war|rant you | will pay | them all.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
But where's the money?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
Why sir, I gave the money for the rope.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Five hundred ducats villain for a rope?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
I'll serve you sir five hundred at the rate.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
To what end did I bid thee hie thee home?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
To a rope's end sir, and to that end am I returned.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
And to that end sir, I will welcome you.
 
OFFICER
Good sir be patient.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
Nay 'tis for me to be patient, I am in adversity.
 
OFFICER
Good now hold thy tongue.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Thou whoreson senseless villain.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
I would I were senseless sir, that I might not feel your blows.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Thou art sensible in nothing but blows, and so is an ass.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
I am an ass indeed, you may prove it by my long ears. I have served 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 waked with it when I sleep, raised 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.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Come go along, my wife is coming yonder.
 
[Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, the Courtezan, and PINCH]
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
Mistress respice finem, respect your end, or rather the prophecy like the parrot, beware the rope's end.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Wilt thou still talk?
 
[Beating him]
 
COURTEZAN
           ,         ,        ,          ,        ,
      How say | you now?| Is not | your hus|band mad?
 
ADRIANA
           ,    ,    ,        ,          ,
      His in|civil|ity | confirms | no less:
            ,        ,      ,           ,     ,
      Good^Doc|tor Pinch,| you are | a con|jurer,
         ,        ,               ,    ,        ,
      Estab|lish him | in his / true sense | again,
          ,           ,           ,          ,        ,
      And I | will please | you what | you will | demand.
 
LUCIANA
        ,         ,       ,          ,          ,
      Alas | how fie|ry, and | how sharp | he looks.
 
COURTEZAN
        ,              ,        ,        ,     ,
      Mark, how | he trem|bles in | his ec|stasy.
 
PINCH
        ,              ,         ,         ,           ,
      Give me | your hand,| and let | me feel | your pulse.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
        ,             ,         ,         ,          ,
      There is | my hand,| and let | it feel | your ear.
 
PINCH
           ,           ,         ,         ,          ,
      I charge | thee Sat|an, housed | within | this man,
           ,         ,        ,       ,       ,
      To yield | posses|sion to | my ho|ly prayers,
           ,         ,          ,        ,             ,
      And to | thy state | of dark|ness hie | thee straight,
         ,         ,        ,           ,           x
      I con|jure thee | by all | the saints | in heaven.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
       ___     ,        ,        ___            ,   ,
      Peace | doting | wizard,| peace;| I am / not mad.
 
ADRIANA
       ,          ,         ___     ,        ,        __
      Oh that | thou wert | not,| poor dis|tressed | soul. (hex with prev)
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
           ,       ,          ,           ,      ,
      You min|ion you,| are these | your cust|omers?
            ,        ,        ,         ,         ,
      Did this | compan|ion with | the saf|fron face
       ,            ,         ,        ,        ,
      Revel | and feast | it at | my house | today,
        T    . T   T         ,       ,            ,
      Whilst upon me | the guilt|y doors | were shut,
          ,       ,        ,      ,        ,
      And I | denied | to ent|er in | my house.
 
ADRIANA
         ,         ,           ,          ,          ,
      O hus|band, God | doth know | you dined | at home
               ,          ,         ,        ,           ,
      Where* would | you had | remained | until | this time,
        ,                 ,         ,          ,      ,
      Free from | these^sland|ers, and | this op|en shame.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
        ,          ,           ,              ,        ,
      Dined at | home? Thou | villain,| what say|est thou?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
            ,         ,               ,    ,         ,
      Sir sooth | to say,| you did / not dine | at home.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
            ,         ,             ,       ,         ,
      Were not | my doors | locked^up,| and I | shut^out?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
       ,              ,             ,          ,          ,
      Perdie,| your doors | were locked,| and you | shut out.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
           ,         ,         ,        ,         ,
      And did | not she | herself | revile | me there?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
        T   Tx     T         ,        ,           ,
      Sans fable, she | herself | reviled | you there.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
       ,     2        ,             ,      ,            ,
      Did not her | kitchen-|maid^rail,| taunt, and | scorn me?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
       ,    2       ,          ,        ,          ,
      Certes she | did, the | kitchen-|vestal | scorned you.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
           ,        ,        ,        ,            ,
      And did | not I | in rage | depart | from thence?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
       ,  ,   2          ,          ,           ,
      In ver/ity* you | did, my | bones bear*| witness,
             ,            ,         ,      ,         ,
      That since | have felt | the vig|or of | his rage.
 
ADRIANA
        2     ,          ,      ,         ,        ,
      Is it good | to soothe | him in | these con|traries?
 
PINCH
               ,   ,          ,        ,           ,
      It is / no shame,| the fel|low finds | his vein,
            ,        ,         ,        ,          ,     ->
      And yield|ing to | him, hum|ors well | his fren||zy.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
        ,        2     ,           ,    ,     2     ,
      Thou | hast suborned | the gold|smith to ar|rest me.
 
ADRIANA
        ,        ,         ,       2     ,   ,
      Alas,| I sent | you mon|ey to re/deem you,
          ,   2    ,          ,         ,          ,
      By Dro|mio here,| who came | in haste | for it.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
       ,          ,     ,               ,          ,
      Money | by me?| Heart and | goodwill | you might,
            ,      ,       ,       ,        ,     ->
      But sure|ly mast|er not | a rag | of mon||ey.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
        ,            ,        ,       2    ,         ,       2->
      Wentst | not^thou | to her | for a purse | of duc||ats?
 
ADRIANA
           ,        ,       ,      ,        ,
      He came | to me,| and I | deliv|ered it.
 
LUCIANA
          ,       ,         ,          ,         ,
      And I | am wit|ness with | her that | she did.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
       ,              ,    ,        ,        ,
      God and | the rope-|maker | bear me | witness,
           ,         ,         ,        ,        ,
      That I | was sent | for noth|ing but | a rope.
 
PINCH
       ,               ,         ,       ,         ,
      Mistress,| both man | and mast|er is | possessed,
          ,        ,           ,          ,       ,
      I know | it by | their pale | and dead|ly looks,
             ,         ,           ,                ,    ,
      They must | be bound | and laid | in some*/ dark room.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
            ,          ,            ,         ,        ,
      Say where|fore didst | thou lock | me forth | today,
           ,           ,       ,        ,         ,
      And why | dost^thou | deny | the bag | of gold?
 
ADRIANA
               ,    ,      ,         ,           ,
      I did / not gent|le hus|band lock | thee forth.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
            ,       ,              ,    ,   ,
      And gent|le mast|er I re//ceived no gold:
          ,        ,                      ,     ,    ,
      But I | confess | sir, that we // were locked out.
 
ADRIANA
          ,         ,          ,       T      T    .   T
      Dissem|bling vil|lain, thou | speakst false in both.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
          ,         ,         ,          ,         ,
      Dissem|bling har|lot, thou | art false | in all,
           ,        ,    2     ,       ,        ,
      And art | confed|erate with | a damn|ed pack,
           ,        ,         ,   ,    ,
      To make | a loath|some ab|ject scorn / of me:
         2       ,       ,             ,          T     T    T
      But with these | nails, I'll | pluck out^|these false eyes,
             ,         ,        ,          ,         ,
      That would | behold | in me | this shame|ful sport.
 
[Enter three or four, and offer to bind him. He strives]
 
ADRIANA
Oh bind him, bind him, let him not come near me.
 
PINCH
More company, the fiend is strong within him.
 
LUCIANA
Aye me poor man, how pale and wan he looks.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
What will you murder me, thou Jailer thou? I am thy prisoner, wilt thou suffer them to make a rescue?
 
OFFICER
Masters let him go: He is my prisoner, and you shall not have him.
 
PINCH
Go bind this man, for he is frantic too.
 
[They offer to bind Dromio of Ephesus]
 
ADRIANA
             ,          ,          ,       ,    ,
      What wilt | thou do,| thou peev|ish of|ficer?
             ,        ,         ,         ,       ,
      Hast^thou | delight | to see | a wretch|ed man
          ,    ,             ,        ,        ,
      Do out|rage and | displeas|ure to | himself?
 
OFFICER
       ,          ,     ,      2   ,         ,
      He is | my pris|oner,| if I let | him go,
            ,         ,          ,        ,         ,
      The debt | he owes | will be | required | of me.
 
ADRIANA
      ,              ,           ,       ,          ,
      I will | discharge | thee ere | I go | from thee,
        ,              ,       ,         ,    ,
      Bear me | forthwith | unto | his cred|itor,
            ,       ,          ,      ,               x
      And know|ing how | the debt | grows I | will pay it.
             ,       ,       ,          ,         ,
      Good* mast|er doc|tor see | him safe | conveyed
        ,            ,          ,       ,      ,
      Home to | my house,| oh most | unhap|py day.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
O most unhappy strumpet.
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
Master, I am here entered in bond for you.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Out on thee villain, wherefore dost thou mad me?
 
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
Will you be bound for nothing, be mad good master, cry the devil.
 
LUCIANA
God help poor souls, how idly do they talk.
 
ADRIANA
           ,          ,      ,           ,          ,
      Go bear | him hence,| sister | go you | with me:
       T   T     T       ,         2   ,       ,
      Say now, whose | suit is | he arrest|ed at?
 
[Exeunt all but Adriana, Luciana, Officer and Courtezan]
 
OFFICER
           ,    ,       ,    ,      2        ,
      One ang|elo | a gold|smith, do you | know him?
 
ADRIANA
          ,         ,      ,            ,         ,
      I know | the man:| What is | the sum | he owes?
 
OFFICER
            ,        ,
      Two* hund|red duc|ats.
 
ADRIANA
                              ,          ,         ,
                             Say,| how grows | it due.
 
OFFICER
       ,            ,           ,        ,        ,
      Due for | a chain | your hus|band had | of him.
 
ADRIANA
          ,        ,         ,        2             x    ,
      He did | bespeak | a chain | for me, but / had it not.
 
COURTEZAN
        ,             ,        ,         ,       ,
      When as | your hus|band all | in rage | today
        ,            ,           ,      ,         ,
      Came to | my house,| and took | away | my ring,
            ,       ,      ,          ,      ,
      The ring | I saw | upon | his fing|er now,
         ,      ,               ,          ,        ,
      Straight af/ter did | I meet | him with | a chain.
 
ADRIANA
          ,        ,       ,        ,        x
      It may | be so,| but I | did nev|er see it.
            ,         ,          ,           ,         ,
      Come^jail|er, bring | me where | the gold|smith^is,
          ,         ,          ,          ,        ,
      I long | to know | the truth | hereof | at large.
 
[Enter ANTIPHOLUS of SYRACUSE with his rapier drawn, and DROMIO of SYRACUSE]
 
LUCIANA
       ,             ,        ,          ,        ,
      God for | thy mer|cy, they | are loose | again.
 
ADRIANA
            ,          ,        ,
      And come | with nak|ed swords,  \\
              ,            ,         ,           ,        ,
      Let's^call | more* help | to have | them bound | again.
 
OFFICER
        ,                x
      Away,| they'll kill us.  \\
 
[Exeunt all but Antipholus of SYRACUSE and Dromio of SYRACUSE]
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
         ,            ,       ,       ,           ,
     
I see | these witch|es are | afraid | of swords.
 
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
       ,                ,          ,          ,          ,
     
She that | would be | your wife,| now* ran | from you.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
        ,             ,         ,           ,             ,
     
Come to | the Cent|aur, fetch | our stuff | from thence:
          ,          ,          ,          ,        ,
     
I long | that we | were safe | and sound | aboard.
 
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
Faith stay here this night, they will surely do us no harm: you saw they speak us fair, give us gold: methinks they are such a gentle nation, that but for the mountain of mad flesh that claims marriage of me, I could find in my heart to stay here still, and turn witch.
 
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
          ,          ,        ,          ,          ,
      I will | not stay | tonight | for all | the town,
        ,           ,        ,          ,        ,
      Therefore | away,| to get | our stuff | aboard.
 
[Exeunt]

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