But soft, I see the goldsmith:-get thee gone; Dro. E. I buy a thousand pound a year! I buy a rope! [Exit Dromio. Ant. E. A man is well holp up, that trusts to you: I promised your presence, and the chain; But neither chain, nor goldsmith, came to me: I pray you, see him presently discharg'd, For he is bound to sea, and stays but for it. Ant. E. I am not furnish'd with the present mo ney; Besides, I have some business in the town: Ang. Then you will bring the chain to her your. self? Ant. E. No; bear it with you, lest I come not time enough. Ang. Well, sir, I will: Have you the chain about you? Ant. E. An if I have not, sir, I hope you have; Both wind and tide stays for this gentleman, cuse Your breach of promise to the Porcupine: • I shall. I should have chid you for not bringing it, 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. Fy! now you run this humour out of breath: Come, where's the chain? I pray you let me see it. 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 1 give thee bail: But, sirrah, you shall buy this sport as dear Ang. Sir, sir, I shall have law in Ephesus, 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 peevisht sheep, What ship of Epidamnum stays for me? Dro. S. A ship you sent me to, to hire waftaget. Ant. E. Thou drunken slave, I sent thee for a rope; And told thee to what purpose and what end. 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, Aud 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 he din'd, Where Dowsabel did claim me for her husband: * Freight, cargo. + Silly. Carriage. She is too big, I hope, for me to compass.. [Exit. SCENE II. The same. Enter Adriana and Luciana. Adr. Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so? Luc. First, he denied you had in him no right. Adr. He meant, he did me none; the more my spite. Luc. Then swore he, that he was a stranger here. Adr. And true he swore, though yet forsworn he were. Luc. Then pleaded I for you. Adr. And what said he? Luc. That love I begg'd for you, be 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. An allusion to the redness of the northern lights likened to the appearance of armies. He is deformed, crooked, old, and sere*, 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, 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. Adr. Where is thy master, Dromio? is he well? Dro. S. No, he's in tartar limbo, worse than hell: A devil in an everlasting garment hath him, One, whose hard heart is button'd up with steel; A fiend, a fairy, pityless and rough; A wolf, nay, worse, a fellow all in buff§; A back-friend, a shoulder-clapper, one that countermands The passages of alleys, creeks, and narrow lands; well; One that, before the judgement, carries poor souls to hell. Adr. Why, man, what is the matter? * Dry, withered. + Marked by nature with deformity. Who crieth most where her nest is not. The officers in those days were clad in buff, which is also a cant expression for a man's skin. Hell was the cant term for prison. |