Ant. E. Wilt thou still talk?

[Beats him.

Cour. How say you now? is not your husband mad?
Adr. His incivility confirms no less.-
Good doctor Pinch, you are a conjurer;
Establish him in his true sense again,
And I will please you what you will demand.
Luc. Alas, how fiery and how sharp he looks!
Cour. Mark, how he trembles in his ecstasy.

Pinch. Give me your hand, and let me feel your pulse.
Ant. E. There is my hand, and let it feel your ear.
Pinch. I charge thee, Satan, housed within this man,
To yield possesion to my holy prayers,

And to thy state of darkness hie thee straight;

I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven.

Ant. E. Peace, doting wizard, peace, I am not mad.
Adr. O, that thou wert not, poor distressed soul!

Ant. E. You minion you, are these your customers?
Did this companion* with a saffron face

Revel and feast it at my house to-day,

Whilst upon me the guilty doors were shut,

And I denied to enter in my house?

Adr. O, husband, God doth know, you dined at home, Where 'would you had remained until this time,

Free from these slanders, and this open shame!

Ant. E. I dined at home! Thou villain, what say'st thou ?
Dro. E. Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at home.
Ant. E. Were not my doors lock'd up, and I shut out?
Dro. E. Perdy,t your doors were lock'd, and you shut out.
Ant. E. And did not she herself revile me there?
Dro. E. Sans fable, she herself reviled you there.

Ant. E. Did not her kitchen-maid rail, taunt, and scorn me?
Dro. E. Certes, she did; the kitchen-vestal scorn'd you.
Ant. E. And did not I in rage depart from thence?
Dro. E. In verity you did;-my bones bear witness,

That since have felt the vigour of his rage.

Adr. Is't good to sooth him in these contraries?
Pinch. It is no shame; the fellow finds his vein,

And, yielding to him, humours well his frenzy.

Ant. E. Thou hast suborn'd the goldsmith to arrest me.
Adr. Alas, I sent you money to redeem you,

By Dromio here, who came in haste for it.

Dro. E. Money by me? heart and good-will you might,

But surely, master, not a rag of money.

Ant. E. Went'st not thou to her for a purse of ducats?
Adr. He came to me, and I delivered it.

Luc. And I am witness with her, that she did.

Dro. E. God and the rope-maker, bear me witness,

That I was sent for nothing but a rope!

Pinch. Mistress, both man and master is possess'd:

I know it by their pale and deadly looks:

They must be bound, and laid in some dark room.

Ant. E Say, wherefore didst thou lock me forth to-day, And why dost thou deny the bag of gold?

Adr. I did not, gentle husband, lock thee forth.
Dro. E. And, gentle master, I received no gold;
But I confess, Sir, that we were lock'd out.

Adr. Dissembling villain, thou speak'st false in both.
Ant. E. Dissembling harlot, thou art false in all;
And art confederate with a damned pack,
To make a loathsome abject scorn of me:

But with these nails I'll pluck out these false eyes,
That would behold in me this shameful sport.

[PINCH and his assistants bind ANT. and DROMIO.
Adr. O, bind him, bind him, let him not come near me.
Pinch. More company; the fiend is strong within him.
Luc. Ah me, poor man, how pale and wan he looks!
Ant. E. What, will you murder me? Thou jailer, thou,
I am thy prisoner; wilt thou suffer them

To make a rescue?

Offi. Masters, let him go;

He is my prisoner, and you shall not have him.
Pinch. Go, bind this man, for he is frantic too.
Adr. What wilt thou do, thou peevish* officer?
Hast thou delight to see a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself?

Offi. He is my prisoner; if I let him go,
The debt he owes will be required of me.

Adr. I will discharge thee, ere I go from thee:
Bear me forthwith unto his creditor,

And, knowing how the debt grows, I will pay it.
Good master doctor, see him safe convey'd
Home to my house.-O most unhappy day!

Ant. E. O most unhappy+ strumpet!

Dro. E. Master, I am here enter'd in bond for you.

Ant. E. Out on thee, villain! wherefore dost thou mad me ? Dro. E. Will you be bound for nothing? be mad,

Good master; cry, the devil.

Luc. God help, poor souls, how idly do they talk!
Adr. Go bear him hence.-Sister, go you with me.-

[Exeunt PINCH and assistants with ANT. and DRO.

Say now, whose suit is he arrested at?

Offi. One Angelo, a goldsmith; Do you know him?
Adr. I know the man: What is the sum he owes ?
Offi. Two hundred ducats.

Adr. Say, how grows it due ?

Offi. Due for a chain, your husband had of him.
Adr. He did bespeak a chain for me, but had it not
Cour. When as your husband, all in rage, to-day
Came to my house, and took away my ring
(The ring I saw upon his finger now),
Straight after, did I meet him with a chain.
Adr. It may be so, but I did never see it :-

Come, jailer, bring me where the goldsmith is,

I long to know the truth hereof at large.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse, with his rapier drawn, and DROMIO of Syracuse.

Luc. God, for thy mercy! they are loose again.

Adr. And come with naked swords; let's call more help,

To have them bound again.

Oft. Away, they'll kill us. [Exeunt OFFICER, ADR. and LUC. Ant. S. I see these witches are afraid of swords.

Dro. S. She, that would be your wife, now ran from you. Ant. S. Come to the Centaur; fetch our stuff from thence: I long, that we were safe and sound aboard.

Dro. S. Faith, stay here this night, they will surely do us no harm; you saw, they speak us fair, give us gold: methinks, they are such a gentle nation, that but for the mountain of mad flesh that claims marriage of me, I could find in my heart to stay here still, and turn witch.

Ant. S. I will not stay to-night for all the town; Therefore away, to get our stuff aboard.

[Exeuni.

Enter MERCHANT and ANGELO.

Ang. I am sorry, Sir, that I have hinder'd you; But, I protest, he had the chain of me,

Though most dishonestly he doth deny it.

Mer. How is the man esteem'd here in the city?
Ang. Of very reverend reputation, Sir,

Of credit infinite, highly beloved,
Second to none that lives here in the city;
His word might bear my wealth at any time.
Mer. Speak softly: yonder, as I think, he walks.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS and DROMIO of Syracuse.

Ang. "Tis so; and that self chain about his neck,
Which he forswore, most monstrously, to have.
Good Sir, draw near to me, I'll speak to him.-
Signior Antipholus, I wonder much

That you would put me to this shame and trouble;
And not without some scandal to yourself,
With circumstance, and oaths, so to deny
This chain, which now you wear so openly:
Besides the charge, the shame, imprisonment,

You have done wrong to this my honest friend;
Who, but for staying on our controversy,
Had hoisted sail, and put to sea to-day:
This chain you had of me, can you deny it?

Ant. S. I think, I had; I never did deny it.

Mer. Yes, that you did, Sir; and forswore it too.
Ant. S. Who heard me to deny it, or forswear it?
Mer. These ears of mine, thou know'st, did hear thee:
Fie on thee, wretch! 'tis pity, that thou liv'st

To walk where any honest men resort.

Ant. S. Thou art a villain, to impeach me thus:
I'll prove mine honour, and mine honesty
Against thee presently, if thou dar'st stand.
Mer. I dare, and do defy thee for a villain.

[They draw.

Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, COURTEZAN, and others.

Adr. Hold, hurt him not, for God's sake; he is mad :Some get within him, take his sword away:

Bind Dromio too, and bear them to my house.

Dro. S. Run, master, run; for God's sake, take* a house. This is some priory;-In, or we are spoil'd.

[Exeunt ANTIPH. and DROMIO to the Priory.

Enter the ABBESS.

Abb. Be quiet, people; Wherefore throng you hither.
Adr. To fetch my poor distracted husband hence:
Let us come in, that we may bind him fast,
And bear him home for his recovery.

Ang. I knew, he was not in his perfect wits.
Mer. I am sorry now, that I did draw on him.
Abb. How long hath this possession held the man?
Adr. This week he hath been heavy, sour, and sad,
And much, much different from the man he was;
But, till this afternoon, his passion

Ne'er brake into extremity of rage.

Abb. Hath he not lost much wealth by wreck at sea?
Buried some dear friend? Hath not else his eye
Stray'd his affection in unlawful love?

A sin, prevailing much in youthful men,
Who give their eyes the liberty of gazing.
Which of these sorrows is he subject to?

Adr. To none of these, except it be the last;
Namely, some love, that drew him oft from home.
Abb. You should for that have reprehended him.
Adr. Why, so I did.

Abb. Ay, but not rough enough.

Adr. As roughly as my modesty would let me.

Abb. Haply, in private.

Adr. And in assemblies too.

Abb. Ay, but not enough.

Adr. It was the copy of our conference:

In bed, he slept not for my urging it;
At board, he fed not for my urging it;
Alone, it was the subject of my theme;

In company, I often glanced it;

Still did I tell him it was vile and bad.

Abb. And thereof came it, that the man was mad: The venom clamours of a jealous woman

Poison more deadly than a mad dog's tooth.

It seems his sleeps were hinder'd by thy railing:

And thereof comes it that his head is light.

Thou say'st, his meat was sauced with thy upbraidings:
Unquiet meals make ill digestions,

Thereof the raging fire of fever bred;

And what's a fever but a fit of madness?

Thou say'st, his sports were hinder'd by thy brawls:
Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue,
But moody and dull melancholy

(Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair);
And, at her heels, a huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures, and foes to life?
In food, in sport, and life-preserving rest
To be disturb'd, would mad or man, or beast:
The consequence is then, thy jealous fits
Have scared thy husband from the use of wits.
Luc. She never reprehended him but mildly,
When he demean'd himself rough, rude, and wildly.-
Why bear you these rebukes, and answer not?
Adr. She did betray me to my own reproof.-

Good people, enter, and lay hold on him.

Abb. No, not a creature enters in my house.

Adr. Then, let your servants bring my husband forth.
Abb. Neither; he took this place for sanctuary,

And it shall privilege him from your hands,

Till I have brought him to his wits again,

Or lose my labour in assaying it.

Adr. I will attend my husband, be his nurse,
Diet his sickness, for it is my office,
And will have no attorney but myself;

And therefore let me have him home with me.
Abb. Be patient; for I will not let him stir,
Till I have used the approved means I have,
With wholesome syrups, drugs, and holy prayers,
To make of him a formal* man again.

It is a branch and parcel of mine oath,

A charitable duty of my order;

Therefore depart, and leave him here with me.

Adr. I will not hence, and leave my husband here;

And ill it doth beseem your holiness,

To separate the husband and the wife.

Abb. Be quiet, and depart, thou shalt not have him.

Luc. Complain unto the duke of this indignity." Adr. Come, go; I will fall prostrate at his feet, And never rise until my tears and prayers

* Sane.

[Exit ABBESS.