William Shakespeare - William Shakespeare - Complete Works

ABBESS. Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds,

And gain a husband by his liberty.

Speak, old Aegeon, if thou be'st the man

That hadst a wife once call'd Aemilia,

That bore thee at a burden two fair sons.

O, if thou be'st the same Aegeon, speak,

And speak unto the same Aemilia!

AEGEON. If I dream not, thou art Aemilia.

If thou art she, tell me where is that son

That floated with thee on the fatal raft?

ABBESS. 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?

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE. No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse.

DUKE. Stay, stand apart; I know not which is which.

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.

DROMIO OF EPHESUS. And I with him.

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. Brought to this town by that most famous warrior,

Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.

ADRIANA. Which of you two did dine with me to-day?

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE. I, gentle mistress.

ADRIANA. And are not you my husband?

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. No; I say nay to that.

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE. And so do I, yet did she call me so;

And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,

Did call me brother. [To LUCIANA] What I told you then,

I hope I shall have leisure to make good;

If this be not a dream I see and hear.

ANGELO. That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE. I think it be, sir; I deny it not.

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.

ANGELO. I think I did, sir; I deny it not.

ADRIANA. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,

By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.

DROMIO OF EPHESUS. No, none by me.

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE. This purse of ducats I receiv'd 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.

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. These ducats pawn I for my father here.

DUKE. It shall not need; thy father hath his life.

COURTEZAN. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. There, take it; and much thanks for my

good cheer.

ABBESS. Renowned Duke, vouchsafe to take the pains

To 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 suffer'd wrong, go keep us company,

And we shall make full satisfaction.

Thirty-three years have I but gone in travail

Of you, my sons; and till this present hour

My heavy burden ne'er delivered.

The Duke, my husband, and my children both,

And you the calendars of their nativity,

Go to a gossips' feast, and go with me;

After so long grief, such nativity!

DUKE. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast.

[Exeunt all but ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE, ANTIPHOLUS OF

EPHESUS, DROMIO OF SYRACUSE, and DROMIO OF EPHESUS

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard?

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou embark'd?

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE. Your goods that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur.

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE. 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 ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE and ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE. There is a fat friend at your master's house,

That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner;

She now shall be my sister, not my wife.

DROMIO OF EPHESUS. Methinks you are my glass, and not my brother;

I see by you I am a sweet-fac'd youth.

Will you walk in to see their gossiping?

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE. Not I, sir; you are my elder.

DROMIO OF EPHESUS. That's a question; how shall we try it?

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE. We'll draw cuts for the senior; till then,

lead thou first.

DROMIO OF EPHESUS. Nay, then, thus:

We came into the world like brother and brother,

And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.

[Exeunt

THE END

1608

Dramatis Personae

CAIUS MARCIUS, afterwards CAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS

Generals against the Volscians

TITUS LARTIUS

COMINIUS

MENENIUS AGRIPPA, friend to Coriolanus

Tribunes of the People

SICINIUS VELUTUS

JUNIUS BRUTUS

YOUNG MARCIUS, son to Coriolanus

A ROMAN HERALD

NICANOR, a Roman

TULLUS AUFIDIUS, General of the Volscians

LIEUTENANT, to Aufidius

CONSPIRATORS, With Aufidius

ADRIAN, a Volscian

A CITIZEN of Antium

TWO VOLSCIAN GUARDS

VOLUMNIA, mother to Coriolanus

VIRGILIA, wife to Coriolanus

VALERIA, friend to Virgilia

GENTLEWOMAN attending on Virgilia

Roman and Volscian Senators, Patricians, Aediles, Lictors,

Soldiers, Citizens, Messengers, Servants to Aufidius, and other

Attendants

Enter a company of mutinous citizens, with staves, clubs, and other weapons

FIRST CITIZEN. Before we proceed any further, hear me speak.

ALL. Speak, speak.

FIRST CITIZEN. YOU are all resolv'd rather to die than to famish?

ALL. Resolv'd, resolv'd.

FIRST CITIZEN. First, you know Caius Marcius is chief enemy to the

people.

ALL. We know't, we know't.

FIRST CITIZEN. Let us kill him, and we'll have corn at our own

price. Is't a verdict?

ALL. No more talking on't; let it be done. Away, away!

SECOND CITIZEN. One word, good citizens.

FIRST CITIZEN. We are accounted poor citizens, the patricians good.

What authority surfeits on would relieve us; if they would yield

us but the superfluity while it were wholesome, we might guess

they relieved us humanely; but they think we are too dear. The

leanness that afflicts us, the object of our misery, is as an

inventory to particularize their abundance; our sufferance is a

gain to them. Let us revenge this with our pikes ere we become

rakes; for the gods know I speak this in hunger for bread, not in

thirst for revenge.

SECOND CITIZEN. Would you proceed especially against Caius Marcius?

FIRST CITIZEN. Against him first; he's a very dog to the

commonalty.

SECOND CITIZEN. Consider you what services he has done for his

country?

FIRST CITIZEN. Very well, and could be content to give him good

report for't but that he pays himself with being proud.

SECOND CITIZEN. Nay, but speak not maliciously.

FIRST CITIZEN. I say unto you, what he hath done famously he did it

to that end; though soft-conscienc'd men can be content to say it

was for his country, he did it to please his mother and to be

partly proud, which he is, even to the altitude of his virtue.

SECOND CITIZEN. What he cannot help in his nature you account a

vice in him. You must in no way say he is covetous.

FIRST CITIZEN. If I must not, I need not be barren of accusations;