Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.

Dro. E. No, none by me.

Ant. S. 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.

Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father here.
Duke. It shall not need, thy father hath his life.
Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.
Ant. E. There, take it; and much thanks for my
good cheer.

Abb. 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.-
Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail 40
Of you, my sons; nor, till this present hour,
My heavy burdens are delivered :-

The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you, the calendars of their nativity,

Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me 41;
After so long grief, such nativity 42!

Duke. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast. [Exeunt Duke, Abbess, Egeon, Courtezan, Merchant, Angelo, and Attendants.

Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from ship

board?

Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou em

bark'd?

Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the

[merged small][ocr errors]

Ant. S. 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 S. and E. Adr. and Luc. Dro. S. 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.

Dro. E. 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?

Dro. S. Not I, sir; you are my elder.

Dro. E. That's a question: how shall we try it? Dro. S. We will draw cuts for the senior: till

then, lead thou first.

Dro. E. Nay, then thus:

We came into the world, like brother and brother:

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

other.

[Exeunt.

ANNOTATIONS

UPON

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS.

Was wrought by nature,] i. c. by natural affection.

2

Roaming clean through the bounds of Asia.] Clean had anciently the sense of quite or entirely.

3 A trusty villain-] Villain means here slave. Ægeon informed the duke in the first scene that he had bought the poor woman's twin-children to grow up as attendants on his boys.

40'er-raught-] i. e. over-reached, defrauded. They say this town is full of coxenage.] This was the character the ancients gave of it. Hence EpεσIX αλεξιφάρμακα was proverbial amongst them. Thus Menander uses it, and 'Eperia yeaμuara, in the

same sense.

WARBURTON.

• As nimble jugglers, that deceive the eye, Dark-working sorcerers, that change the mind, Soul-killing witches that deform the body-] Those, who attentively consider these three lines, must confess, that the poet intended the epithet given to each of these miscreants, should declare the power

by which they perform their feats, and which would therefore be a just characteristic of each of them. Thus, by nimble jugglers, we are taught, that they perform their tricks by slight of hand: and by soulkilling witches, we are informed, the mischief they do is by the assistance of the devil, to whom they have given their souls: but then, by dark-working sorcerers, we are not instructed in the means by which they perform their ends. Besides, this epithet agrees as well to witches as to them; and therefore certainly our author could not design this in their characteristick. We should read,

Drug-working sorcerers, that change the mind; and we know by the history of ancient and modern superstition, that these kind of jugglers always pretended to work changes of the mind by these applications.

WARBURTON.

The learned commentator has endeavoured with much earnestness to recommend his alteration; but, if I may judge of other apprehensions by my own, without great success. This interpretation of soulkilling is forced and harsh. Sir T. Hanmer reads soul-selling, agreeable enough to the common opinion, but without such improvement as may justify the change. Perhaps the epithets have only been misplaced, and the lines should be read thus,

Soul-killing sorcerers, that change the mind; Dark-working witches that deform the body. This change seems to remove all difficulties.

By soul-killing I understand destroying the rational

« AnteriorContinuar »