ACT I. SCENE I.

A Hall in the Duke's Palace.

Enter Duke, ÆGEON, Gaoler, Officers, and other Attendants.

EGE. Proceed, Solinus, 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 from the rancorous 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 threat'ning 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,
To admit no traffick to our adverse towns:
Nay, more,

If any, born at Ephefus, be feen

At any 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 to ransom him.
Thy fubftance, valued at the highest rate,

Cannot amount unto a hundred marks;
Therefore, by law thou art condemn'd to die.

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

ÆGE. A heavier task could not have been impos'd, Than I to speak my griefs unfpeakable: 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 increas'd,

3 Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence,] All his hearers -understood that the punishment he was about to undergo was in confequence of no private crime, but of the publick enmity be. tween two ftates, to one of which he belonged: but it was a general fuperftition amongst the ancients, that every great and fudden misfortune was the vengeance of heaven purfuing men for their fecret offences. Hence the fentiment put into the mouth of the fpeaker was proper. By my paft life, (fays he) which I am going to relate, the world may understand, that my prefent death is according to the ordinary courfe of Providence [wrought by nature] and not the effects of divine vengeance overtaking me for my crimes, [not by vile offence.] WARBURTON.

The real meaning of this paffage is much lefs abftrufe, than that which Warburton attributes to it. By nature is meant natural affection.-Egeon came to Ephefus in fearch of his fon, and tells his ftory, in order to fhew that his death was in confequence of natural affection for his child, not of any criminal intention. M. MASON.

4 And by me too,] Too, which is not found in the original copy, was added by the editor of the fecond folio, to complete the metre. MALONE

By profperous voyages I often made
To Epidamnum, till my factor's death;
And he, great care of goods at random left,*
Drew me from kind embracements of my spouse:
From whom my abfence was not fix months old,
Before herself (almost at fainting, under
The pleafing punishment that women bear,)
Had made provision for her following me,
And foon, and safe, arrived where I was.
There fhe 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 diftinguish'd but by names.
That very hour, and in the felfsame inn,

A

6
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
Gave any tragic inftance of our harm:
But longer did we not retain much hope;
For what obfcured light the heavens did grant

4 And he, great care of goods at random left,] Surely we should read:

And the great care of goods at random left

Drew me, &c.

The text, as exhibited in the old copy, can fcarcely be reconciled to grammar. MALONE.

It was

5 A poor mean woman — ] Poor is not in the old copy. inferted for the fake of the metre by the editor of the fecond folio.

MALONE,

Did but convey unto our fearful minds
A doubtful warrant of immediate death;
Which, though myself would gladly have embrac'd,
Yet the inceffant weepings of my wife,
Weeping before for what she saw must come,
And piteous plainings of the pretty babes,
That mourn'd for fashion, ignorant what to fear,
Forc'd me to feek delays for them and me.
And this it was,-for other means was none.-
The failors fought for fafety by our boat,
And left the fhip, then finking-ripe, to us:
My wife, more careful for the latter-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 fix'd,
Faften'd ourselves at either end the mast;
And floating ftraight, obedient to the stream,
Were carried 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 wax'd calm, and we discovered
Two fhips from far making amain to us,
Of Corinth that, of Epidaurus this:
But ere they came,-O, let me fay no more!
Gather the fequel by that went before.

DUKE. Nay, forward, old man, do not break
off so ;

For we may pity, though not pardon thee.

ÆGE. O, had the gods done fo, I had not now Worthily term'd them mercilefs to us!

For, ere the fhips could meet by twice five leagues, We were encounter'd by a mighty rock;

Which being violently borne upon,"
Our helpful ship was splitted in the midft,
So that, in this unjuft 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 carried with more speed before the wind;
And in our fight they three were taken up
By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought.
At length, another ship had seiz'd on us;
And, knowing whom it was their hap to fave,
Gave helpful welcome to their fhipwreck'd guests;
And would have reft the fishers of their

7

prey,

Had not their bark been very flow of fail,

And therefore homeward did they bend their

courfe.

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 fake of them thou forrowest for,

Do me the favour to dilate at full

What hath befall'n of them, and thee, till now." EGE. My youngest boy, and yet my eldest care,

6

borne upon,] The original copy reads-borne up. The additional fyllable was fupplied by the editor of the fecond folio. MALONE,

7 Gave helpful welcome] Old copy-healthful welcome. Corrected by the editor of the fecond folio.-So, in K. Henry IV. P. I:

8

"And gave the tongue a helpful welcome." MALONE.

and thee, till now.] The first copy erroneously reads→ and they. The correction was made in the fecond folio. MALONE.

9 My youngest boy, and yet my eldeft care,] Shakspeare has here