DUKE. And, for the sake of them thou sorrowest

for,

Do me the favour to dilate at full

What hath befall'n of them, and thee, till now9. ÆGE. My youngest boy, and yet my eldest

care

2

At eighteen years became inquisitive
After his brother; and impórtun'd me,
That his attendant, (so his case was like
Reft of his brother, but retain'd his name"
Might bear him company in the quest of him:
Whom whilst I labour'd of a love to see,
I hazarded the loss of whom I lov'd.

Five summers have I spent in farthest Greece,
Roaming clean through the bounds of Asia*,

1

9 — and THEE, till now.] The first copy erroneously reads― and they. The correction was made in the second folio. MALONE. MY YOUNGEST BOY, and yet my eldest care,] Shakspeare has here been guilty of a little forgetfulness. Ægeon had said, page 156, that the youngest son was that which his wife had taken care of:

66

My wife, more careful for the latter-born,
"Had fasten'd him unto a small spare mast.'

He himself did the same by the other; and then each, fixing their eyes on whom their care was fixed, fastened themselves at either end of the mast. M. MASON.

2

so his case was like,] i. e. his case being so like that of Antipholus. The reviser of the second folio inserted for, instead of so; and this unnecessary change was adopted by all the subsequent editors. MALONE.

3

- but retain'd his name,] i. e. he retained his name. Here we have another instance of what frequently occurs in these plays, the suppression of the personal pronoun. See the essay on the Phraseology of Shakspeare. MALONE.

4 Roaming CLEAN through the bounds of Asia,] In the northern parts of England this word is still used instead of quite, fully, perfectly, completely. So, in Coriolanus:

166

This is clean kam."

Again, in Julius Cæsar :

"Clean from the purpose of the things themselves."

The reader will likewise find it in the 77th Psalm. STEEVENS.

And, coasting homeward, came to Ephesus;
Hopeless to find, yet loth to leave unsought,
Or that, or any place that harbours men.
But here must end the story of my life;
And happy were I in my timely death,
Could all my travels warrant me they live.
DUKE. Hapless Egeon, whom the fates have
mark'd

To bear the extremity of dire mishap!
Now, trust me, were it not against our laws,
Against my crown, my oath, my dignity,
Which princes, would they, may not disannul,
My soul should sue as advocate for thee.
But, though thou art adjudged to the death,
And passed sentence may not be recall❜d,
But to our honour's great disparagement,
Yet will I favour thee in what I can :
Therefore, merchant, I'll limit thee this day,
To seek thy help by beneficial help":
Try all the friends thou hast in Ephesus;
Beg thou, or borrow, to make up the sum,
And live; if no", then thou art doom'd to die :-
Jailer, take him to thy custody.

Again, in Chloris, or the Complaint of the Passionate Despised Shepheard, by W. Smith, 4to. 1596:

"Yet let me rather cleane forget myselfe."

MALONE.

5 To seek thy HELP by beneficial help,] Pope and some other modern editors read-To seek thy life, &c. But the jingle has much of Shakspeare's manner. MALONE.

To seek thy life, can hardly be the true reading, for, in ancient language, it signifies a base endeavour to take life away. Thus, Antonio says of Shylock :

"He seeks my life."

I believe, therefore, the word-help, was accidentally repeated by the compositor, and that our author wrote,

"To seek thy help by beneficial means.

STEEVENS.

This emendation seems to have been proposed on a principle which Mr. Steevens seems to have adopted, that we are at liberty to substitute any one word for another. MALONE.

-if No,] Thus the old copy. The reviser of the second

JAIL. I will, my lord.

EGE. Hopeless, and helpless, doth Ægeon wend", But to procrastinate his lifeless * end.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

A publick Place.

Enter ANTIPHOLUS and DROMIO of Syracuse, and a Merchant.

MER. Therefore, give out, you are of Epidamnum, Lest that your goods too soon be confiscate. This very day, a Syracusian merchant Is apprehended for arrival here; And, not being able to buy out his life, According to the statute of the town, Dies ere the weary sun set in the west There is your money that I had to keep.

8

ANT. S. Go bear it to the Centaur, where we

host,

And stay there, Dromio, till I come to thee.
Within this hour it will be dinner time:
Till that, I'll view the manners of the town,
Peruse the traders, gaze upon the buildings,
And then return, and sleep within mine inn;

*First folio, liveless.

folio substituted not for no. But it appears from other passages that no was sometimes used with the sense of not. So, in the common language-Say whether you will or no?

Again, in Measure for Measure:

7

"Canst thou tell if Claudio die to-morrow, or no?"

WEND,] i. e. go. An obsolete word. So, in A Midsummer Night's Dream:

"And back to Athens shall the lovers wend." STEEVENs. 8 ere the WEARY sun set in the west.] So, in King John : the feeble and day-wearied sun."

66

Again, in King Richard III. :

"The weary sun hath made a golden set." STEEVens.

For with long travel I am stiff and weary.
Get thee away.

DRO. S. Many a man would take you at your

word,

And go indeed, having so good a mean.

[Exit DRO. S. ANT. S. A trusty villain, sir; that very oft, When I am dull with care and melancholy, Lightens my humour with his merry jests. What, will you walk with me about the town, And then go to my inn, and dine with me? MER. I am invited, sir, to certain merchants, Of whom I hope to make much benefit; I crave your pardon. Soon at five o'clock1, Please you, I'll meet with you upon the mart, And afterwards consort you till bed-time2;

9 A trusty villain,] A faithful bondman or slave. By these appellations, each Antipholus throughout this comedy denominates the Dromio attached to him. So, in The Rape of Lucrece, where a Roman slave is mentioned:

1

"The homely villain curt'sies to her low." MALONE.

SOON at five o'clock,] As these words have been pointed hitherto, with a comma after the word soon, they must mean that the Merchant would meet Antipholus soon, namely, at five o'clock; but the present hour is about eleven, for the dinner hour was twelve; and five o'clock would not be soon, reckoning from eleven, or even from twelve.

But the Merchant, I conceive, means that he will meet his friend in the evening, nearly at five o'clock; either a little before or soon after that hour. I therefore placed no stop after the word soon; following, in this respect the original copy, of which the punctuation, though it has been so much depretiated, in all doubtful cases stands for somewhat. MALONE.

2 And afterwards CONSORT YOU till bed-time;] We should read, I believe,

"And afterwards consort with you till bed-time."

So, in Romeo and Juliet:

66

Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo." MALONE. There is no need of emendation. The old reading is supported by the following passage in Love's Labour's Lost, Act II. Sc. I.: Sweet health and fair desires consort your grace." VOL. IV.

66

M

My present business calls me from you now.
ANT. S. Farewell till then: I will go lose myself,
And wander up and down to view the city.
MER. Sir, I commend you to your own content.
[Exit Merchant.

ANT. S. He that commends me to mine own

Commends me to the thing I cannot get.
I to the world am like a drop of water,
That in the ocean seeks another drop;
Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself":
So I, to find a mother, and a brother,
In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself.

Enter DROMIO of Ephesus.

Here comes the almanack of my true date 4.-
What now? How chance, thou art return'd so soon?
DRO. E. Return'd so soon! rather approach'd

too late:

The capon burns, the pig falls from the spit;
The clock hath strucken twelve upon the bell,
My mistress made it one upon my cheek:
She is so hot, because the meat is cold;
The meat is cold, because you come not home;

Again, in Romeo and Juliet:

"Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here—.” STEEVENS.

The emphasis must, according to this reading, be laid not on bed, but time, which will preserve the metre. BOSWELL. CONFOUNDS himself:] To confound, in old language, signifies to destroy.

3

So, in Coriolanus:

"How could'st thou in a mile confound an hour,

"And bring thy news so late." MALONE.

4 Here comes the almanack of my true date.-] He thus denominates Dromio, because they were both born in the same hour, and therefore the date of Dromio's birth ascertains that of his master, MALONE.