1594

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

by William Shakespeare

DRAMATIS PERSONAE -

SOLINUS, Duke of Ephesus

AEGEON, a merchant of Syracuse -

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS twin brothers and sons to

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Aegion and Aemelia -

DROMIO OF EPHESUS twin brothers, and attendants on

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE the two Antipholuses -

BALTHAZAR, a merchant

ANGELO, a goldsmith

FIRST MERCHANT, friend to Antipholus of Syracuse

SECOND MERCHANT, to whom Angelo is a debtor

PINCH, a schoolmaster -

AEMILIA, wife to AEgeon; an abbess at Ephesus

ADRIANA, wife to Antipholus of Ephesus

LUCIANA, her sister

LUCE, servant to Adriana

A COURTEZAN -

Gaoler, Officers, Attendants -

SCENE:

Ephesus

ACT I

SCENE 1 -

A hall in the DUKE'S palace -

Enter the DUKE OF EPHESUS, AEGEON, the Merchant

of Syracuse, GAOLER, OFFICERS, and other ATTENDANTS -

AEGEON. Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall,

And by the doom of death end woes and all.

DUKE. Merchant of Syracuse, 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 guilders 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 synods been decreed,

Both by the Syracusians and ourselves,

To admit no traffic to our adverse towns;

Nay, more: if any born at Ephesus

Be seen at any Syracusian marts and fairs;

Again, if any Syracusian born

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.

AEGEON. Yet this my comfort: when your words are done,

My woes end likewise with the evening sun.

DUKE. Well, Syracusian, say in brief the cause

Why thou departed'st from thy native home,

And for what cause thou cam'st to Ephesus.

AEGEON. 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 Syracuse was I born, and wed

Unto a woman, happy but for me,

And by me, 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 disdnguish'd but by names.

That very hour, and in the self-same inn,

A 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.

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 instance of our harm: