What is the course and drift of your compact? Dro. S. I, sir? I never saw her till this time. Ant. S. Villain, thou liest; for even her very

words

Didst thou deliver to me on the mart.

Dro. S. I never spake with her in all my life.

Ant. S. How can she thus then call us by our

names,

Unless it be by inspiration ?

Adr. How ill agrees it with your gravity, To counterfeit thus grossly with your slave, Abetting him to thwart me in my mood? Be it my wrong, you are from me exempt, But wrong not that wrong with a more con

tempt.

Come, I will fasten on this sleeve of thine:
Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine;
Whose weakness, married to thy stronger state,
Makes me with thy strength to communicate:
If aught possess thee from me, it is dross,
Usurping ivy, briar, or idle moss;
Who, all for want of pruning, with intrusion
Infect thy sap, and live on thy confusion.

Ant. S. To me she speaks; she moves me for

her theme:

What, was I married to her in my dream?
Or sleep I now, and think I hear all this?
What error drives our eyes and ears amiss?
Until I know this sure uncertainty,

I'll entertain the offer'd fallacy.

4

-

you are from me exempt,] Johnson says that exempt means separated, parted; yet I think that Adriana does not use the word exempt in that sense, but means to say, that as he was her husband she had no power over him, and that he was privileged to do her wrong. M. MASON.

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- idle moss;] That is, moss that produces no fruit, but being unfertile is useless.

Luc. Dromio, go bid the servants spread for dinner.

Dro. S. O, for my beads! I cross me for a sinner.

This is the fairy land; -O, spite of spites!-
We talk with goblins, owls, and elvish sprites;
If we obey them not, this will ensue,
They'll suck our breath, or pinch us black and blue.

Luc. Why prat'st thou to thyself, and answer'st

not?

Dromio, thou drone, thou snail, thou slug, thou sot! Dro. S. I am transformed, master, am not I? Ant. S. I think, thou art, in mind, and so am I. Dro. S. Nay, master, both in mind, and in my

shape.

Ant. S. Thou hast thine own form. 200
Dro. S.
No, I am an ape.
Luc. If thou art chang'd to aught, 'tis to an ass.
Dro. S. 'Tis true; she rides me, and I long for

grass.

'Tis so, I am an ass; else it could never be, But I should know her as well as she knows me.

Adr. Come, come, no longer will I be a fool, To put the finger in the eye and weep, Whilst man, and master, laugh my woes to scorn.Come, sir, to dinner; Dromio, keep the gate:Husband, I'll dine above with you to-day, And shrive you of a thousand idle pranks: Sirrah, if any ask you for your master, Say, he dines forth, and let no creature enter.Come, sister:-Dromio, play the porter well. Ant. S. Am I in earth, in heaven, or in hell? Sleeping or waking? mad, or well advis'd? Known unto these, and to myself disguis'd!

And shrive you] That is, I will call you to confession, and make you tell your tricks.onch woh tran

I'll say as they say, and perséver so,
And in this mist at all adventures go.

Dro. S. Master, shall I be porter at the gate?

Adr. Ay; and let none enter, lest I break your

pate.

Luc. Come, come, Antipholus, we dine too late. [Exeunt.

euld has Aba

ACT III.

SCENE I. The same.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus, DROMIO of Ephesus, ANGELO, and BALTHAZAR.

Ant. E. Good signior Angelo, you must excuse

us all;

My wife is shrewish, when I keep not hours:
Say, that I linger'd with you at your shop,
To see the making of her carkanet,"

And that to-morrow you will bring it home.
But here's a villain, that would face me down
He met me on the mart; and that I beat him,

And charg'd him with

gold;

a

thousand marks in

And that I did deny my wife and house :-

Thou drunkard, thou, what didst thou mean by

this?

Dro. E. Say what you will, sir, but I know what I know:

That you beat me at the mart, I have your hand to

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show:

- carkanet,] Seems to have been a necklace, or rather

chain, perhaps hanging down double from the neck. the low act

If the skin were parchment, and the blows you gave were ink,

Your own handwriting would tell you what I

think.

Ant. E. I think, thou art an ass.
Dro. E.

Marry, so it doth appear
By the wrongs I suffer, and the blows I bear.
I should kick, being kick'd; and, being at that

pass,

You would keep from my heels, and beware of an

ass.

Ant. E. You are sad, signior Balthazar: 'Pray God, our cheer May answer my good will, and your good welcome here. Bal. I hold your dainties cheap, sir, and your welcome dear.

Ant. E. O, signior Balthazar, either at flesh or fish, A table full of welcome makes scarce one dainty dish.

Bal. Good meat, sir, is common; that every churl affords.

Ant. E. And welcome more common; for that's

nothing but words.

Bal. Small cheer, and great welcome, makes a

merry feast.

Ant. E. Ay, to a niggardly host, and more sparing guest:

But though my cates be mean, take them in good part; Better cheer may you have, but not with better

heart.

But, soft; my door is lock'd; Go bid them let us

in.

Dro. E. Maud, Bridget, Marian, Cicely, Gillian, Jen'!

Dro. S. [Within.] Mome, malt-horse, capon, coxcomb, idiot, patch!

Either get thee from the door, or sit down at the

hatch:

Dost thou conjure for wenches, that thou call'st for

such store,

When one is one too many? Go, get thee from the

door.

Dro. E. What patch is made our porter? My master stays in the street.

Dro. S. Let him walk from whence he came, lest

he catch cold on's feet.

Ant. E. Who talks within there? ho, open the door.

Dro. S. Right, sir, I'll tell you when, an you'll tell me wherefóre.

Ant. E. Wherefore? for my dinner; I have not din'd to-day.

Dro. S. Nor to-day here you must not; come

again, when you may.

Ant. E. What art thou, that keep'st me out from

the house I owe?1

Dro. S. The porter for this time, sir, and my

name is Dromio.

Dro. E. O villain, thou hast stolen both mine

office and my name;

The one ne'er got me credit, the other mickle

blame.

* Mome,] A dull stupid blockhead, a stock, a post. This owes its original to the French word Momon, which signifies the gaming at dice in masquerade, the custom and rule of which is, that a strict silence is to be observed: whatever sum one stakes, another covers, but not a word is to be spoken. From hence also comes our word mum! for silence. HAWKINS.

9

patch!] i. e. fool. Alluding to the parti-coloured coats

worn by the licensed fools or jesters of the age. I owe?] i. e. I own, am owner of,

1