Till I have brought him to his wits again,
Or lose my labour in as
saying it.
ADRIANA. 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.
ABBESS. Be patient; for I will not let him stir
Till I have us'd 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.
ADRIANA. I will not hence and leave my husband here;
And ill it doth beseem your holiness
To separate the husband and the wife.
ABBESS. Be quiet, and depart; thou shalt not have him. Exit
LUCIANA. Complain unto the Duke of this indignity.
ADRIANA. Come, go; I will fall
prostrate at his feet,
And never rise until my tears and prayers
Have won his Grace to come in person
hitherAnd take perforce my husband from the Abbess.
SECOND MERCHANT. By this, I think, the dial points at five;
Anon, I'm sure, the Duke himself in person
Comes this way to the
melancholy vale,
The place of death and sorry execution,
Behind the ditches of the abbey here.
ANGELO. Upon what cause?
SECOND MERCHANT. To see a
reverend Syracusian merchant,
Who put unluckily into this bay
Against the laws and statutes of this town,
Beheaded
publicly for his offence.
ANGELO. See where they come; we will behold his death.
LUCIANA. Kneel to the Duke before he pass the abbey.
Enter the DUKE, attended; AEGEON, bareheaded; with the
HEADSMAN and other OFFICERS
DUKE. Yet once again
proclaim it
publicly,
If any friend will pay the sum for him,
He shall not die; so much we tender him.
ADRIANA. Justice, most
sacred Duke, against the Abbess!
DUKE. She is a
virtuous and a
reverend lady;
It cannot be that she hath done thee wrong.
ADRIANA. May it please your Grace, Antipholus, my husband,
Who I made lord of me and all I had
At your important letters-this ill day
A most
outrageous fit of
madness took him,
That desp'rately he
hurried through the street,
With him his bondman all as mad as he,
Doing
displeasure to the citizens
By rushing in their houses,
bearing thence
Rings, jewels, anything his rage did like.
Once did I get him bound and sent him home,
Whilst to take order for the wrongs I went,
That here and there his fury had committed.
Anon, I wot not by what strong escape,
He broke from those that had the guard of him,
And with his mad
attendant and himself,
Each one with ireful
passion, with drawn swords,
Met us again and, madly bent on us,
Chas'd us away; till, raising of more aid,
We came again to bind them. Then they fled
Into this abbey, w
hither we pursu'd them;
And here the Abbess shuts the gates on us,
And will not suffer us to fetch him out,
Nor send him forth that we may bear him hence.
Therefore, most
gracious Duke, with thy command
Let him be brought forth and borne hence for help.
DUKE. Long since thy husband serv'd me in my wars,
And I to thee engag'd a
prince's word,
When thou didst make him master of thy bed,
To do him all the grace and good I could.
Go, some of you, knock at the abbey gate,
And bid the Lady Abbess come to me,
I will determine this before I stir.
Enter a MESSENGER
MESSENGER. O
mistress,
mistress, shift and save yourself!
My master and his man are both broke loose,
Beaten the maids a-row and bound the doctor,
Whose beard they have sing'd off with brands of fire;
And ever, as it blaz'd, they threw on him
Great pails of puddled mire to
quench the hair.
My master preaches
patience to him, and the while
His man with
scissors nicks him like a fool;
And sure, unless you send some present help,
Between them they will kill the conjurer.
ADRIANA. Peace, fool! thy master and his man are here,
And that is false thou dost report to us.
MESSENGER. Mistress, upon my life, I tell you true;
I have not breath'd almost since I did see it.
He cries for you, and vows, if he can take you,
To
scorch your face, and to
disfigure you. [Cry within]
Hark, hark, I hear him,
mistress; fly, be gone!
DUKE. Come, stand by me; fear nothing. Guard with halberds.
ADRIANA. Ay me, it is my husband! Witness you
That he is borne about invisible.
Even now we hous'd him in the abbey here,
And now he's there, past thought of human reason.
Enter ANTIPHOLUS OFEPHESUS and DROMIO OFEPHESUS
ANTIPHOLUS OFEPHESUS. Justice, most
gracious Duke; O, grant me
justice!
Even for the service that long since I did thee,
When I bestrid thee in the wars, and took
Deep scars to save thy life; even for the blood
That then I lost for thee, now grant me justice.
AEGEON. Unless the fear of death doth make me dote,
I see my son Antipholus, and Dromio.
ANTIPHOLUS OFEPHESUS. Justice, sweet Prince, against that woman
there!
She whom thou gav'st to me to be my wife,
That hath abused and dishonoured me
Even in the strength and
height of injury.
Beyond
imagination is the wrong
That she this day hath shameless thrown on me.
DUKE. Discover how, and thou shalt find me just.
ANTIPHOLUS OFEPHESUS. This day, great Duke, she shut the doors
upon me,
While she with harlots feasted in my house.
DUKE. A
grievous fault. Say, woman, didst thou so?
ADRIANA. No, my good lord. Myself, he, and my sister,
To-day did dine together. So
befall my soul
As this is false he burdens me withal!
LUCIANA. Ne'er may I look on day nor sleep on night
But she tells to your Highness simple truth!
ANGELO. O peflur'd woman! They are both forsworn.
In this the
madmanjustly chargeth them.
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. My liege, I am advised what I say;
Neither disturbed with the effect of wine,
Nor heady-rash, provok'd with raging ire,
Albeit my wrongs might make one wiser mad.
This woman lock'd me out this day from dinner;
That
goldsmith there, were he not pack'd with her,
Could
witness it, for he was with me then;
Who parted with me to go fetch a chain,
Promising to bring it to the Porpentine,
Where Balthazar and I did dine together.
Our dinner done, and he not coming t
hither,
I went to seek him. In the street I met him,
And in his company that gentleman.
There did this perjur'd
goldsmith swear me down
That I this day of him receiv'd the chain,
Which, God he knows, I saw not; for the which
He did
arrest me with an officer.
I did obey, and sent my
peasant home
For certain ducats; he with none return'd.
Then fairly I bespoke the officer
To go in person with me to my house.
By th' way we met my wife, her sister, and a rabble more
Of vile confederates. Along with them
They brought one Pinch, a hungry lean-fac'd villain,
A mere
anatomy, a mountebank,
A threadbare juggler, and a fortune-teller,
A needy, hollow-ey'd, sharp-looking wretch,
A living dead man. This
pernicious slave,
Forsooth, took on him as a conjurer,
And gazing in mine eyes, feeling my pulse,
And with no face, as 'twere, outfacing me,
Cries out I was possess'd. Then all together
They fell upon me, bound me, bore me thence,
And in a dark and dankish vault at home
There left me and my man, both bound together;
Till, gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder,
I gain'd my freedom, and immediately
Ran
hither to your Grace; whom I beseech
To give me ample satisfaction
For these deep shames and great indignities.
ANGELO. My lord, in truth, thus far I
witness with him,
That he din'd not at home, but was lock'd out.
DUKE. But had he such a chain of thee, or no?
ANGELO. He had, my lord, and when he ran in here,
These people saw the chain about his neck.
SECOND MERCHANT. Besides, I will be sworn these ears of mine
Heard you
confess you had the chain of him,
After you first forswore it on the mart;
And
thereupon I drew my sword on you,
And then you fled into this abbey here,
From
whence, I think, you are come by miracle.
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. I never came within these abbey walls,
Nor ever didst thou draw thy sword on me;
I never saw the chain, so help me Heaven!
And this is false you burden me withal.
DUKE. Why, what an
intricateimpeach is this!
I think you all have drunk of Circe's cup.
If here you hous'd him, here he would have been;
If he were mad, he would not plead so coldly.
You say he din'd at home: the
goldsmith here
Denies that
saying. Sirrah, what say you?
DROMIO OF EPHESUS. Sir, he din'd with her there, at the Porpentine.
COURTEZAN. He did; and from my finger snatch'd that ring.
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. 'Tis true, my liege; this ring I had of her.
DUKE. Saw'st thou him enter at the abbey here?
COURTEZAN. As sure, my liege, as I do see your Grace.
DUKE. Why, this is strange. Go call the Abbess
hither.
I think you are all mated or stark mad.
Exit one to the ABBESS
AEGEON. Most
mighty Duke,
vouchsafe me speak a word:
Haply I see a friend will save my life
And pay the sum that may deliver me.
DUKE. Speak
freely, Syracusian, what thou wilt.
AEGEON. Is not your name, sir, call'd Antipholus?
And is not that your bondman Dromio?
DROMIO OF EPHESUS. Within this hour I was his bondman, sir,