Perfons Represented.

SOLINUS, Duke of Ephefus.

Ægeon, a Merchant of Syracufe.
Antipholis of Ephefus,
Antipholis of Syracufe,

Twin-Brothers, and Sons to unknown to each other. Ægeon and Emilia, but

Dromio of Ephefus, Twin-Brothers, and Slaves to the Dromio of Syracuse, S two Antipholis's.

Balthazar, a Merchant.

Angelo, a Goldsmith.

A Merchant, Friend to Antipholis of Syracufe.
Dr. Pinch, a School master, and a Conjurer.

Emilia, Wife to Ægeon, an Abbefs at Ephefus.
Adriana, Wife to Antipholis of Ephefus.

Luciana, Sifter to Adriana.

Luce, Servant to Adriana.

Jailor, Officers, and other Attendants.

SCENE, Ephefus.

THE

THE

COMEDY of ERRORS. *

ACT I. SCENE I.

The Duke's Palace.

Enter the Duke of Ephefus, Egeon, Jailor, and etker Attendants.

EGEON.

ROCEED, Solinus, to procure my fall;

PRO

And, by the doom of death, end woes and all:
Duke. Merchant of Syracufa, plead no more;

I am not partial, to infringe our laws:

The enmity, and difcord, which of late

'Shakespeare certainly took the general plan of this comedy from a tranflation of the Menæchmi of Plautus, by W. W.in 1595. The tranflator's argument is this.

"Two twinne-born fonnes, a Sicill marchant had,
"Menechmus one, and Soficles the other;
"The first his father loft a little lad,
"The grandfire namde the latter like his brother:
"This (growne a man) long travell tooke to feeke

"His brother, and to Epidamnum came,

"Where th' other dwelt inricht, and him fo like,
"That citizens there take him for the fame:

"Father, wife, neighbours, each mistaking either,
Much pleasant error, ere they meete togither."

Perhaps, the laft of thefe lines fuggefted to Shakespeare the title

for his piece. STEEVENS.

Sprung from the rancorous outrage of your duke,
To merchants, our well-dealing countrymen,
(Who, wanting gilders to redeem their lives,
Have feal'd his rigorous ftatutes with their bloods)
Excludes all pity from our threat'ning looks.
For, fince the mortal and inteftine jars
'Twixt thy feditious countrymen and us,
It hath in folemn fynods been decreed,
Both by the Syracufans and ourselves,
To admit no traffick to our adverse towns:
Nay, more, If any born at Ephefus
Be feen at Syracufan marts and fairs,
Again, if any, Syracufan born,
Come to the bay of Ephefus, he dies,
His goods confifcate to the duke's difpofe;
Unless a thousand marks be levied
To quit the penalty, and ranfom him.
Thy fubftance, valu'd at the highest rate,
Cannot amount unto a hundred marks;
Therefore, by law thou art condemn'd to die.
Egeon. Yet this my comfort, when your words are
done,

My woes end likewife with the evening sun.

Duke. Well, Syracufan, fay, in brief, the cause, Why thou departedst from thy native home; And for what caufe thou cam'ft to Ephefus. Ægeon. A heavier task could not have been impos'd, Than I to speak my griefs unfpeakable: Yet, that the world may witnefs, that my end Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence,

Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence,] All his hearers understood that the punishment he was about to undergo was in confequence of no private crime, but of the public enmity between two states, to one of which he belonged: but it was a general fuperftition amongst the ancients, that every great and fudden misfortune was the vengeance of Heaven pursuing men for their fecret offences. Hence the fentiment put into the mouth of the speaker

was

I'll utter what my forrow gives me leave.
In Syracufa 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 profperous 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 abfence was not fix months old,
Before herself (almost at fainting under
The pleasing punishment that women bear)
Had made provifion for her following me,
And foon, and fafe, arrived where I was.
There she had not been long, but she became
A joyful mother of two goodly fons;

And, which was ftrange, the one fo like the other,
As could not be diftinguish'd but by names.
That very hour, and in the self-fame inn,
A poor mean woman was delivered

Of such a burden, male-twins, both alike :
Thofe, for their parents were exceeding poor,
I bought, and brought up to attend my fons.
My wife, not meanly proud of two fuch boys,
Made daily motions for our home return:
Unwilling, I agreed; alas, too foon.
We came aboard:

A league from Epidamnum had we fail'd,
Before the always-wind-obeying deep
Gave any tragic inftance of our harm:
But longer did we not retain much hope;
For what obfcured light the heavens did grant,

was proper. By my paft life, (fays he) which I am going to relate, the world may understand, that my prefent death is according to the ordinary courfe of Providence, [wrought by nature] and not the effects of divine vengeance overtaking me for my crimes, [not by vile effence.] WARBURTON.

Did but convey unto our fearful minds
A doubtful warrant of immediate death;
Which, tho' myself would gladly have embrac'd,
Yet the inceffant weepings of my wife,

Weeping before, for what fhe faw must come ;
And piteous plainings of the pretty babes,
That mourn'd for fashion, ignorant what to fear,
Forc'd me to feek delays for them and me:
And this it was; for other means were none.
The failors fought for fafety by our boat,
And left the fhip, then finking-ripe, to us:
My wife, more careful for the elder-born,
Had faften'd him unto a small spare mast,
Such as fea-faring men provide for ftorms;
To him one of the other twins was bound,
Whilft I had been like heedful of the other.
The children thus difpos'd, my wife and I,
Fixing our eyes on whom our care was fix'd,
Faften'd ourselves at either end the maft;
And floating ftraight, obedient to the stream,
Were carry'd towards Corinth, as we thought.
At length the fun, gazing upon the earth,
Difpers'd thofe vapours that offended us;
And, by the benefit of his wifh'd light,
The feas wax'd calm, and we discovered
Two fhips from far making amain to us,
Of Corinth that, of Epidaurus this:

But ere they came-oh, let me fay no more!
Gather the fequel by that went before.

Duke. Nay, forward, old man, do not break off fo; For we may pity, tho' not pardon thee.

Egeon. Oh, had the Gods done so, I had not now Worthily term'd them merciless to us!

For, ere the fhips could meet by twice five leagues,
We were encountred by a mighty rock;
Which being violently borne upon,
Our helpless ship was fplitted in the midft:

SQ