And gain a husband by his liberty.—
Speak, old Ægeon, if thou be'st the man
That hadst a wife once call'd Æmilia,

That bore thee at a burden two fair sons.
O! if thou be'st the same Ægeon, speak,
And speak unto the same Emilia!

Ege. If I dream not, thou art Æmilia.
If thou art she, tell me, where is that son
That floated with thee on the fatal raft?

Abb. By men of Epidamnum, he, and I,
And the twin Dromio, all were taken up;
But, by and by, rude fishermen of Corinth
By force took Dromio and my son from them,
And me they left with those of Epidamnum.
What then became of them, I cannot tell;
I, to this fortune that you see me in.

Duke. Why, here begins his morning story right'. These two Antipholus', these two so like,

And these two Dromios, one in semblance,-
Besides her urging of her wreck at sea ;-
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Antipholus, thou cam'st from Corinth first.

Ant. S. No, sir, not I: I came from Syracuse.
Duke. Stay, stand apart: I know not which is which.
Ant. E. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.
Dro. E. And I with him.

Ant. E. Brought to this town by that most famous warrior,

3 If I dream not,] In the old copies this speech of Ægeon, and the subsequent one of the abbess, follow the speech of the duke, beginning with the words "Why, here," &c. Malone made the necessary change.

4 Why, here begins his MORNING story right:] The "morning story" is what Ægeon has told the Duke in the first scene of this play.

3 Besides her urging of her wreck at sea,] Malone contends that a line has been lost here; but it is quite unnecessary, if we suppose the circumstances stated by Ægeon in the morning, and their confirmation by Æmilia afterwards, to occur to the duke's mind suddenly, so as to lead him at once to the conclusion, "These are the parents of these children." "Children" is to be read as a tri-syllable.

Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.

Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to-day? Ant. S. I, gentle mistress.

Adr. And are not you my husband?

Ant. E. No; I say nay to that.

Ant. S. And so do I, yet did she call me so;
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother.-What I told you then,
I hope, I shall have leisure to make good,
If this be not a dream I see, and hear.

Ang. That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.
Ant. S. I think it be, sir: I deny it not.
Ant. E. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.
Ang. I think I did, sir: I deny it not.
Adr. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,
By Dromio; but I think, he brought it not.

Dro. E. No, none by me.

Ant. S. This purse of ducats I received from you,
And Dromio, my man, did bring them me.

I see, we still did meet each other's man,
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me,
And thereupon these errors are arose 6.

Το

Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father here.
Duke. It shall not need: thy father hath his life.
Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.
Ant. E. There, take it; and much thanks for my
good cheer.

Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains go with us into the abbey here,

And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes;

And all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathized one day's error
Have suffered wrong, go, keep us company,
And we shall make full satisfaction.

And thereupon these errors ARE arose.] The reading of the first folio is, "these errors are arose;" and it is repeated in the second, as well as in the later folios, but it may be a question whether Shakespeare did not write "these errors all arose." There is, however, no warrant for alteration.

VOL. II.

N

Twenty-five years' have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; and 'till this present hour
My heavy burden undelivered 8.-

The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me:
After so long grief such nativity!

Duke. With all my heart: I'll gossip at this feast. [Exeunt Duke, Abbess, ÆGEON, Courtezan, Merchant, ANGELO, and Attendants. Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from ship

board?

Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou embark'd?

Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur.

Ant. S. He speaks to me.-I am your master, Dromio:

Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon.

Embrace thy brother there; rejoice with him.

[Exeunt ANT. S. and E., ADR., and Luc. Dro. S. There is a fat friend at your master's house, That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner:

7 Twenty-five years] In all the old copies "thirty-three years," which must be wrong. Twenty-five is the correct number; for Ægeon says, in a former part of the play, that he had parted from his son seven years ago, when the boy was only eighteen, making together the "twenty-five years." Theobald made the correction.

8 My heavy burden UNDELIVERED :] The folios have this line

"My heavy burden are delivered;"

which must be an error of the press. The meaning of Æmilia is, that she considers she has gone in travail with her twin sons twenty-five years, and that till this present hour her heavy burden had been undelivered. Malone thought fit to alter "and 'till," in the preceding line, to until, and substituted "not delivered" for "are delivered," but the only change required is un for are, which was a very easy misprint.

? Exeunt Ant. S. and E., Adr. and Luc.] The old stage-direction is, "Exeunt omnes. Mane[n]t the two Dromios and two brothers." Such may have been the case; but it is more likely that the two Antipholuses went out with Adriana and Luciana, the two Dromios only remaining to conclude the play. Possibly, the conjunction ought to be omitted, and then it would stand, "Manent the two Dromios, two brothers."

She now shall be my sister, not my wife.

Dro. E. Methinks, you are my glass, and not my
brother:

I see by you I am a sweet-faced youth.
Will you walk in to see their gossiping?

Dro. S. Not I, sir; you are my elder.

Dro. E. That's a question: how shall we try it? Dro. S. We'll draw cuts for the senior: till then, lead thou first.

Dro. E. Nay, then thus:

We came into the world, like brother and brother;
And now, let's hand in hand, not one before another.

go

[Exeunt.