DRO. S. Why, fir, I brought you word an hour fince, that the bark Expedition put forth to-night; and then were you hindered by the sergeant, to carry for the hoy, Delay: Here are the angels that you fent for, to deliver you.

ANT. S. The fellow is distract, and fo am I; And here we wander in illufions;

Some bleffed power deliver us from hence!

Enter a Courtezan.

COUR. Well met, well met, mafter Antipholus. I fee, fir, you have found the goldsmith now: Is that the chain, you promis'd me to-day?

ANT. S. Satan, avoid! I charge thee tempt me not!

DRO. S. Master, is this mistress Satan?

ANT. S. It is the devil.

DRO. S. Nay, fhe is worse, she is the devil's dam; and here fhe comes in the habit of a light wench; and thereof comes, that the wenches fay, God damn me, that's as much as to fay, God make me a light wench. It is written, they appear to men like angels of light: light is an effect of fire, and fire will burn; ergo, light wenches will burn; Come not near her.

COUR. Your man and you are marvellous, merry,

fir.

Will you go with me? We'll mend our dinner. here.'

DRO. S. Master, if you do expect spoon-meat, or bespeak a long spoon.s

7 We'll mend our dinner here.] i. e. by purchafing fomething additional in the adjoining market. MALONE.

if you do expect Spoon-meat, or befpeak a long Spoon.] The

ANT. S. Why, Dromio?

DRO. S. Marry, he muft have a long fpoon, that muft eat with the devil.

ANT. S. Avoid then, fiend! what tell'ft thou me of fupping?

Thou art, as you are all, a forcerefs:

I conjure thee to leave me, and be gone.

COUR. Give me the ring of mine you had at
dinner,

Or, for my diamond, the chain you promis'd;
And I'll be gone, fir, and not trouble you.

DRO. S. Some devils afk but the paring of one's
nail,

A rush, a hair, a drop of blood, a pin,

A nut, a cherry-ftone; but fhe, more covetous,
Would have a chain.

Master, be wife; an' if you give it her,

The devil will shake her chain, and fright us with it.

COUR. I pray you, fir, my ring, or else the chain; I hope, you do not mean to cheat me fo.

paffage is wrong pointed, and the or, a mistake for and: Cour. We'll mend our dinner here.

Dro. S. Mafter, if you do, expect fpoon meat, and befpeak a long spoon. RITSON.

In the old copy you is accidentally omitted. It was fupplied by the editor of the fecond folio. I believe fome other words were ,pafled over by the compofitor,-perhaps of this import :-" if you do expect fpoon-meat, either flay away, or bespeak a long fpoon."

The proverb mentioned afterwards by Dromio, is again alluded to in The Tempeft. See Vol. III. p. 81, n. 5. MALONE.

9 a drop of blood,] So, in The Witch by Middleton, when

a fpirit defcends, Hecate exclaims

"There's one come downe to fetch his dues,

"A kiffe, a coll, a fip of blood," &c. STEEVENS,

ANT. S. Avaunt, thou witch! Come Dromio, let

us go.

DRO. S. Fly pride, fays the peacock: Mistress, that you know.

[Exeunt ANT. and DRO.
COUR. Now, out of doubt, Antipholus is mad,
Elfe would he never fo demean himself:
A ring he hath of mine worth forty ducats,
And for the fame he promis'd me a chain;
Both one, and other, he denies me now.
The reason that I gather he is mad,
(Befides this present inftance of his rage,)
Ìs a mad tale, he told to-day at dinner,

Of his own doors being shut against his entrance.
Belike, his wife, acquainted with his fits,
On purpose shut the doors against his way.
My way is now, to hie home to his houfe,
And tell his wife, that, being lunatick,
He rush'd into my houfe, and took perforce
My ring away: This courfe I fitteft choose;
For forty ducats is too much to lose.

[Exit.

SCENE IV.

The fame.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephefus, and an Officer.

ANT. E. Fear me not, man, I will not break away;

I'll give thee, ere I leave thee, fo much money
To warrant thee, as I am 'refted for.
My wife is in a wayward mood to-day;
And will not lightly truft the meffenger,
That I should be attach'd in Ephefus:

I tell you, 'twill found harshly in her ears.

Enter DROMIO of Ephefus with a rope's end.

Here comes my man; I think, he brings the money. How now, fir? have you that I fent you for?

DRO. E. Here's that, I warrant you, will pay them all.R

ANT. E. But where's the money?

DRO. E. Why, fir, I gave the money for the

rope.

ANT. E. Five hundred ducats, villain, for a rope?

DRO. E. I'll serve you, fir, five hundred at the

rate.

ANT. E. To what end did I bid thee hie thee home? DRO. E. To a rope's end, fir; and to that end am I return'd.

8

avill pay them all.] i. e. ferve to hit, ftrike, correct them all. So, in Twelfth-Night: "He pays you as furely as your feet hit the ground they ftep on." STEEVENS.

ANT. E. And to that end, fir, I will welcome you. [beating him.

OFF. Good fir, be patient.

DRO. E. Nay, 'tis for me to be patient; I am in adverfity.

OFF. Good now, hold thy tongue.

DRO. E. Nay, rather perfuade him to hold his hands.

ANT. E. Thou whorefon, fenseless villain!

DRO. E. I would I were fenfelefs, fir, that I might not feel your blows.

ANT..E. Thou art fenfible in nothing but blows, and fo is an afs.

DRO. E. I am an ass, indeed; you may prove it by my long ears." I have ferv'd him from the hour of my nativity to this inftant, and have nothing at his hands for my fervice, 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 fleep; raised with it, when I fit; 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.

9

ANT. E. Come, go along; my wife is coming yonder.

by my long ears.] He means, that his mafter had lengthened his ears by frequently pulling them. STEEVENS.

2

Pinch,] The direction in the old copy is,

"and a