Ant. E. To what end did I bid thee hie thee home? Dro. E. To a rope's end, sir; and to that end am I returned. Ant. E. And to that end, sir, I will welcome you. Offi. Good sir, be patient. [Beating him. Dro. E. Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adversity. Offi. Good now, hold thy tongue. Dro. E. Nay, rather persuade him to hold his hands. Ant. E. Thou whoreson, senseless villain! Dro. E. I would I were senseless, sir, that I might not feel your blows. Ant. E. Thou art sensible in nothing but blows, and so is an ass. Dro. E. I am an ass, indeed; you may prove it by my long ears. I have served him from the hour of my nativity to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service, but blows: when I am cold, he heats me with beating: when I am warm, he cools me with beating: I am waked with it, when I sleep; raised with it, when I sit; driven out of doors with it, when I go from home; welcomed home with it, when I return: nay, I bear it on my shoulders, as a beggar wont her brat; and, I think, when he hath lamed me, I shall beg with it from door to door. Enter ADRIANA, LUCIANA, and the Courtezan, with PINCH, and Others. Ant. E. Come, go along; my wife is coming yonder. Dro. E. Mistress, respice finem, respect your end; or rather the prophecy, like the parrot, Beware the rofie's end.6 4 by my long ears.] He means, that his master had lengthened his ears by frequently pulling them. Steevens. 5 Pinch,] The direction in the old copy is,"and a schoolmaster called Pinch." In many country villages the pedagogue is still a reputed conjurer. So, in Ben Jonson's Staple of News: "I would have ne'er a cunning school-master in England, I mean a cunning man as a schoolmaster; that is, a conjurour,” &c. Steevens. 6 Mistress, respice finem, respect your end; or rather the prophecy, like the parrot, Beware the rope's end.] These words seem to allude to a famous pamphlet of that time, wrote by Buchanan Ant. E. Wilt thou still talk? [Beats him. Cour. How say you now? is not your husband mad? And I will please you what you will demand. And to thy state of darkness hie thee straight; 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?7 Did this companion with the 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 din'd at home, Where 'would you had remain'd until this time, Free from these slanders, and this open shame! against the Lord of Liddington; which ends with these words, Respice finem, respice funem. But to what purpose, unless our author could show that he could quibble as well in English, as the other in Latin, I confess I know not. As for prophesying like the parrot, this alludes to people's teaching that bird unlucky words; with which, when any passenger was offended, it was the standing joke of the wise owner to say, Take heed sir, my parrot prophesies. To this, Butler hints, where, speaking of Ralpho's skill in augury, he says "Could tell what subtlest parrots mean, "When they cry rope, and walk, knave, walk." Warburton. So, in Decker's Satiromastix: "But come, respice funem." Steevens. 7 your customers?] A customer is used in Othello for a ommon woman. Here it seems to signify one who visits such omen. 8 Malone. companion] A word of contempt, anciently used, as ve now use-fellow. Steevens. Ant. E. I din'd at home!' Thou villain, what say'st thou? Dro. E. Sir, sooth to say, you did not dine at home. shut out. Ant. E. And did not she herself revile me there? scorn me? Dro. E. Certes,2 she did; the kitchen-vestal3 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, Ant. E. Went'st not thou to her for a purse of ducats? 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? 9 I din'd at home!] I is not found in the old copy. It was inserted by Mr. Theobald. Malone. 1 Perdy,] A corruption of the common French oath—Pardieu. Chaucer's personages are frequent in their use of it. Steevens. 2 Certes,] i. e. certainly. So, in The Tempest: 3 "For certes, these are people of the island." Steevens. - kitchen-vestal —] Her charge being like that of the ves tal virgins, to keep the fire burning. Johnson. Adr. I did not, gentle husband, lock thee forth. Dro. E. And, gentle master, I receiv'd no gold; But I confess, sir, that we were lock'd out. Adr. Dissembling villain, thou speak'st false in both. To make a loathsome abject scorn of me: [PINCH and his Assistants bind ANT. E. and DRO. E. 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 gaoler, thou, I am thy prisoner; wilt thou suffer them To make a rescue? Offi. Masters, let him go: pay it. And, knowing how the debt grows, I will 4 Dro. E. Will you be bound for nothing? be mad, thou peevish officer?] This is the second time that, in e course of this play, peevish has been used for foolish. 5 Steevens. unhappy strumpet!] Unhappy is here used in one of the nses of unlucky; i. e. mischievous. Steevens. 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. E. and DRO. E. 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, gaoler, 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. help, To have them bound again. Offi. Away, they'll kill us. [Exeunt Offi. 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 • He did bespeak a chain for me, but had it not.] I suppose, the words-for me, which spoil the metre, might safely be omitted. Steevens. 7 — our stuff-] i. e. our baggage. In the orders that were issued for the Royal Progresses in the last century, the king's baggage was always thus denominated. Malone. |