THE

(1) COMEDY of ERRORS.

ACT
C T I.

SCENE, the Duke's PALACE.

Enter the Duke of Ephefus, Egeon, failor, and other Attendants.

P

EGION.

Roceed, Salinus, to procure my fall,

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

Sprung

(1) Comedy of ERRORS.] The controverfy of our Author's acquaintance with the Latin tongue has been partly canvass'd upon his having writ this Play. "It is in great measure taken (fays "Mr. Rowe) from the Menæchmi of Plautus. How that happen'd, "I cannot eafily divine; fince I do not take him to have been maf"ter of Latin enough to read it in the original: and I know of no "tranflation of Plautus fo old as his time". -Thus far, his acquaintance

Sprung from the ranc'rous 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 threatning 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,
T'admit no trafick to our adverfe 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 fun..

Duke. Well, Syracufan, fay, in brief, the cause, acquaintance with the Roman language is rather disputed, than afcertain'd. Let us fee, what Mr. Gildon has obferv'd upon this. "I confefs with fubmiffion to the writer of his life, that I can find "no fuch need of divination on this head. For as it is beyond "contradiction plain, that this comedy is taken from that of "Plautus; fo I think it as obvious to conclude from that, that "Shakespeare did understand Latin enough to read him, and knew "fo much of him as to be able to form a defign out of that of the "Roman Poet". We now find his title to learning a little better grounded. After thefe Gentlemen comes Mr. Pope, and diffidently corroborates Mr. Gildon's opinion. "He appears (Jays "be) alfo to have been converfant in Plautus, from whom he has "taken the Plot of One of his Plays." The Comedy of Errors is the Play meant here. But tho', perhaps, I may believe our Author better acquainted with the ancient languages, than these three learned men profefs to do; yet, with deference to them, his literature will not come into difpute on this account. For the Menæchmi of Plautus was tranflated into English, (which our criticks might have known from Langbaine) and printed in quarto in the year 1515, half a century before our Author was born.

Why

Why thou departed'ft from thy native home;
And for what cause thou cam'ft to Ephesus.

Egeon. A heavier task could not have been impos'd (2) Than I to speak my grief unspeakable:

Yet that the world may witnefs, that my end
Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence,
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 encreas'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 fpoufe;
From whom my abfence was not fix months old,
Before herfelf (almoft at fainting under
The pleafing punishment that women bear)
And 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 diftinguifh'd but by names.
That very hour, and in the felf-fame inn,
A poor mean woman was delivered

Of fuch 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

(2) A beavier task could not have been impos'dy

Than I to speak my Grief unspeakable.] The Poet feems to me here to have had in his eye the exordium of Æneas's speech to Dido, in the second book of Virgil's Æneis.

Gave any tragick inftance of our harm;
But longer did we not retain much hope:
For what obfcured light the heav'ns did grant,
Did but convey unto our fearful minds
A doubtful warrant of immediate death;
Which, tho' myself would gladly have embrac'd,
Yet the inceffant weeping of my wife,

(Weeping before, for what the faw must come;)
And piteous plainings of the pretty babes,
That mourn'd for fathion, 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 maft,
Such as fea-faring men provide for storms;
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 fixt,
Faften'd ourselves at either end the mast;
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 waxt 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 fo, I had not now Worthily term'd them merciless to us;

For ere the ships could meet by twice five leagues,
We were encountred by a mighty rock;
Which being violently borne upon,

Qur

Our helpless fhip, was fplitted in the midft:
So that, in this unjust divorce of us,
Fortune had left to both of us alike
What to delight in, what to forrow for.
Her part, poor foul! feeming as burdened
With leffer weight, but not with leffer woe,
Was carry'd with more fpeed before the wind,
And in our fight they three were taken up
By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought.
At length, another ship had fiez'd on us;
And knowing whom it was their hap to fave,
Gave helpful welcome to their fhipwrackt guests;
And would have reft the fishers of their prey,
Had not their bark been very flow of fail;

And therefore homeward did they bend their course.-
Thus have you heard me fever'd from my blifs;
That by misfortunes was my life prolong'd,
To tell fad ftories of my own mishaps.

Duke. And, for the fakes of them thou forrow'ft for, Do me the favour to dilate at full

What hath befall'n of them, and thee, 'till now.
Egeon. My youngest boy, and yet my eldest care,
At eighteen years became inquifitive
After his brother, and importun'd me,
That his attendant, (for his case was like,
Reft of his brother, but retain'd his name,)
Might bear him company in queft of him:
Whom whilft I labour'd of a love to fee,
I hazarded the lofs of whom I lov'd.
Five fummers have I spent in farthest Greece,
Roaming clean through the bounds of Afia,
And coafting homeward, came to Ephefus:
Hopeless to find, yet loth to leave unfought,
Or that, or any place that harbours men.
But here must end the ftory of my life;
And happy were I in my timely death,
Could all my travels warrant me, they live.

Duke. Haplefs Egeon, whom the fates have markt To bear th' extremity of dire mishap;

I

Now