Ang. Well, sir, I will: Have you the chain about you?

Ant. E. An if I have not, sir, I hope you have; Or else you may return without your money.

Ang. Nay, come, I pray you, sir, give me the chain;

Both wind and tide stays for this gentleman,
And I, to blame, have held him here too long.
Ant. E. Good lord, you use this dalliance, to

excuse

Your breach of promise to the Porcupine:
I should have chid you for not bringing it,
But, like a shrew, you first begin to brawl.

Mer. The hour steals on; I pray you, sir, despatch.

Ang. You hear, how he impórtunes me; the chain

Ant. E. Why, give it to my wife, and fetch your money.

Ang. Come, come, you know, I gave it you even

now;

Either send the chain, or send me by some token. Ant. E. Fye! now you run this humour out of

breath:

Come, where's the chain? I pray you, let me see it.
Mer. My business cannot brook this dalliance:
Good sir, say, whe'r you'll answer me, or no;
If not, I'll leave him to the officer.

Ant. E. I answer you! What should I answer you?

Ang. The money, that you owe me for the chain. Ant. E. I owe you none, till I receive the chain. Ang. You know, I gave it you half an hour since. Ant. E. You gave me none; you wrong me much

to say so.

Ang. You wrong me more, sir, in denying it: Consider, how it stands upon my credit.

Mer. Well, officer, arrest him at my suit.

Off. I do; and charge you, in the duke's name,
to obey me.

Ang. This touches me in reputation:-
Either consent to pay this sum for me,
Or I attach you by this officer.

Ant. E. Consent to pay thee that I never had!
Arrest me, foolish fellow, if thou dar'st.

Ang. Here is thy fee; arrest him, officer;—
I would not spare my brother in this case,
If he should scorn me so apparently.

Off. I do arrest you, sir; you hear the suit.
Ant. E. I do obey thee, till I give thee bail:-
But, sirrah, you shall buy this sport as dear
As all the metal in your shop will answer.

Ang. Sir, sir, I shall have law in Ephesus,
To your notorious shame, I doubt it not.

Enter DROMIO of Syracuse.

-

Dro. S. Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum, That stays but till her owner comes aboard, And then, sir, bears away: our fraughtage, sir, I have convey'd aboard; and I have bought The oil, the balsamum, and aqua-vitæ. The ship is in her trim; the merry wind Blows fair from land: they stay for nought at all, But for their owner, master, and yourself.

Ant. E. How now! a madman? Why thou peevish sheep,7

What ship of Epidamnum stays for me?

Dro. S. A ship you sent me to, to hire waftage. Ant. E. Thou drunken slave, I sent thee for a

rope;

And told thee to what purpose, and what end.

7 thou peevish sheep,] Peevish is silly.

Dro. S. You sent me, sir, for a rope's-end as

soon:

You sent me to the bay, sir, for a bark.

Ant. E. I will debate this matter at more leisure, And teach your ears to listen with more heed. To Adriana, villain, hie thee straight; Give her this key, and tell her, in the desk That's cover'd o'er with Turkish tapestry, There is a purse of ducats; let her send it; Tell her, I am arrested in the street,

And that shall bail me: hie thee, slave; be gone. On, officer, to prison till it come.

Exeunt Merchant, ANGELO, Officer, and ANT. E. Dro. S. To Adriana! that is where we din'd, Where Dowsabel did claim me for her husband: She is too big, I hope, for me to compass. Thither I must, although against my will, For servants must their masters' minds fulfil. [Exit.

SCENE II.

The same.

Enter ADRIANA and LUCIANA.

Adr. Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
Might'st thou perceive austerely in his eye

That he did plead in earnest, yea or no?

Look'd he or red, or pale; or sad, or merrily?

What observation mad'st thou in this case,
Of his heart's meteors tilting in his face ?

8

Luc. First, he denied you had in him no right.
Adr. He meant, he did me none; the more my

spite.

meteors tilting in his face?] Alluding to those meteors in the sky, which have the appearance of lines of armies meeting in the shock.

Luc. Then swore he, that he was a stranger here.
Adr. And true he swore, though yet forsworn he

were.

you.

Luc. Then pleaded I for
Adr.
And what said he?
Luc. That love I begg'd for you, he begg'd of me.
Adr. With what persuasion did he tempt thy love?
Luc. With words, that in an honest suit might

move.

First, he did praise my beauty; then, my speech.
Adr. Did'st speak him fair?
Luc.

Have patience, I beseech.
Adr. I cannot, nor I will not, hold me still;
My tongue, though not my heart, shall have his will.
He is deformed, crooked, old, and sere,
Ill-fac'd, worse-bodied, shapeless every where;
Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind;
Stigmatical in making,' worse in mind.

Luc. Who would be jealous then of such a one? No evil lost is wail'd when it is gone

Adr. Ah! but I think him better than I say,
And yet would herein others' eyes were worse:

Far from her nest the lapwing cries away;2

My heart prays for him, though my tongue do

curse.

Enter DROMIO of Syracuse.

Dro. S. Here, go; the desk, the purse; sweet now, make haste.

Luc. How hast thou lost thy breath?

Dro. S.

By running fast.

sere,] That is, dry, withered. JOHNSON.

1 Stigmatical in making,] That is, marked or stigmatized by nature with deformity, as a token of his vicious disposition.

2 Far from her nest the lapwing, &c.] This expression seems to be proverbial-I have met with it in many of the old comick writers. STEEVENS.

That he, unknown to me, should be in debt:—
Tell me, was he arrested on a band?"

Dro. S. Not on a band, but on a stronger thing; A chain, a chain; do you not hear it ring?

Adr. What, the chain?

Dro. S. No, no, the bell: 'tis time, that I were

gone.

It was two ere I left him, and now the clock strikes

one.

Adr. The hours come back! that did I never

hear.

Dro. S. O yes, If any hour meet a sergeant, a'turns back for very fear.

Adr. As if time were in debt! how fondly dost thou reason?

Dro. S. Time is a very bankrupt, and owes more than he's worth, to season.

Nay, he's a thief too: Have you not heard men say,
That time comes stealing on by night and day?
If he be in debt, and theft, and a sergeant in the

way,

Hath he not reason to turn back an hour in a day?

Enter LUCIANA.

Adr. Go, Dromio; there's the money, bear it straight;

8

And bring thy master home immediately.— Come, sister; I am press'd down with conceit; Conceit, my comfort, and my injury.

7

[Exeunt.

was he arrested on a band?] A bond, i. e. an obligatory writing to pay a sum of money, was anciently spelt band. A band is likewise a neckcloth. On this circumstance the humour of the passage turns.

8

conceit;] i. e. fanciful conception.